Rog, with his sharp senses, was quick to notice Red’s restlessness, no matter how well the boy disguised it.

The hunter looked at him with a frown. “Is something the matter?”

Red shook his head. “I’m not sure, but even if there was, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Rimold frowned in concern. “What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t bother asking.” Rog cut him off. “If the kid says we can’t do anything about it, I’m willing to trust his words.”

The rogue hesitated, but still nodded in the end. It seems at the very least Red’s recent actions had earned Rimold’s trust.

“I’ll lead the way back to where we came from, but I’m not too confident in my power to detect everything.” Red said. “I didn’t notice the head back then, so there’s no guarantee I will see it coming again. That’s why I need the help of both of you.”

Out of their group, Rog and Rimold had both the sharpest senses and experience navigating the forest. He didn’t know how much that would avail them against a teleporting, floating head, but it was better than nothing.

Rimold nodded. “Do you need to even ask? Of course I’ll be keeping an eye out!”

Rog also nodded, but didn’t say anything.

After getting their agreement, Red didn’t hesitate any longer. He turned around and led the way back from where they came.

Upon seeing all the dug up holes in their path, Rimold frowned. “Was I the one that did all this?”

“Your possessed body, yes.” Red nodded.

The rogue shook his head in disbelief. “This seems absurd. Besides, why was the ghost digging his way around looking for that dagger? I don’t remember where he put it, but I’m sure he didn’t just hide it beneath the earth! No, he left it somewhere else…”

The boy frowned. “So the ghost was misremembering?”

This certainly wouldn’t be far-fetched for an evil spirit who just awakened from the dead, but somehow Red didn’t believe that was the case.

“No, I’m quite certain the dagger is not here, but… There was something else. Something he buried here…” The rogue frowned in thought before shaking his head in frustration. “Agh, I can’t remember it! Just thinking about these dreams gives me a headache!”

“Then don’t try to dwell on it.” Red said. “We can look into this after we have dealt with the horde.”

The boy was, of course, curious about this supposed buried treasure, but he knew better than to get his priorities twisted at the moment. The rogue also nodded, but Red felt that there was a glimmer of hesitation behind his eyes.

Was this an after-effect of being possessed, or was it just Rimold’s greed speaking? The boy couldn’t tell, but he decided to keep a close eye on the man nonetheless.

…

The journey back was lengthy. They couldn’t break out in a full sprint, since that would only lower their perception of their surroundings and leave them more susceptible to ambushes. Instead, they opted for a brisk pace, or at least as fast as they could go while still being completely aware of their surroundings.

This made the journey back to the road take a few hours.

They were all eager to reunite with their companions, but safety came first. It was in these types of situations where many lesser warriors threw caution to the wind in their impatience and ended up being killed by an unseen enemy. Not the trio, though.

Out of everyone in the sect, Red, Rog, and Rimold were the best survivalists. They knew better than to commit such fundamental mistakes in this kind of hostile environment.

Thankfully, they encountered no monsters or enemy ambushes on their way over. Eventually, they found themselves back on the road.

“Is this where you met the guards?” Rimold asked.

Red shook his head. “It should be further along. I imagine the wolf's body is still there.”

The rogue nodded. They were just about to continue along when they noticed Rog was lagging behind.

The hunter had a pondering expression as he looked around.

Rimold frowned when he saw this. “What is it, Rog? Did you find something?”

“There're no monsters.” The hunter said.

“Huh?” The rogue seemed confused. “The bulk of the horde is still being held at the river line, so that is not surprising.”

“That’s not it.” Rog shook his head. “I mean, we’ve yet to come across any native monsters.”

Rimold’s frown deepened. “Now that you mention it… We were pretty deep in the forest, weren’t we?”

Red understood where this was going.

Rog nodded. “You’re right, but that’s not all. Hordes can cause a lot of chaos and destruction, and this affects native monsters too. They should be distressed, wounded, afraid, angered… They shouldn’t be hiding from our eyes.”

Rimold’s eyes widened. “This… What do you think happened?”

Rog scratched his beard in thought. “I don’t know, but there’s something else going on around here… Then again, I suppose we already knew that, didn’t we?”

Red was also considering some possibilities, but the group was lacking any kind of definite evidence to point them towards one way or another. Was that head somehow responsible for this? What about what happened to the wolf pack earlier? Was it all connected?

They didn’t know what they were dealing with, and this lack of information could be fatal in this kind of environment, as Red had come to learn.

“Let’s meet with the others.” The boy said. “Maybe the guards also have more information about this.”

Both Rog and Rimold agreed.

They walked a few minutes down the road before coming across the place where the Skycrown wolf’s body should have been. Instead, what they found was just a large pool of blood, with no signs of the corpse.

Red frowned. “It was right here…”

Rog shrugged. “Maybe they moved the body.”

“No.” The boy shook his head. “It was too big, and they were in too much of a hurry.”

Rimold snorted. “Then what? Did the dead wolf just get up and walk away?”

A heavy silence settled around them once the rogue said that.

The man’s expression changed as he seemed to notice the implications. “Wait, do you think…”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if there was necromancy involved.” Red nodded.

The rogue gritted his teeth. “Was it that head or was it that damn necromancer?”

The boy sighed. “It’s impossible to tell.”

“Here.” Rog called out to them. “There are some tracks going deeper into the forest from the pool of blood.”

Red approached the hunter and examined the ground. The footprints were faint, but sure enough, the unmistakable mark of the paw of a monster heavier than two adults put together was there.

“It went down south.” Rog said. “The same direction we just came from.”

Red frowned, but didn’t say anything. He was already considering some possibilities in his mind.

“We should ignore it for now.” Rimold said. “Our companions need us right now, not to mention those damn Curse Breakers are still around the forest. Let them deal with it!”

Rog grunted and looked over at Red. “Did you agree to meet anyone here?”

“Not really.” The boy shook his head. “They told me to meet them at their camp near the river.”

The hunter frowned. “Hmm, even then, I find it hard to imagine they wouldn’t leave at least one scout around the area to speak with us once we appeared.”

“Maybe an emergency then, or maybe…” Rimold gulped as he stared at the pool of blood. “Our undead wolf got whoever was still around.”

Rog shook his head. “Let’s search further ahead before making any conclusions.”

They did as much. Yet, even after almost half an hour of walking down the road, the group had yet to find the presence of any scouts along the way. In fact, they couldn’t find anyone or anything at all on their way over.

The whole forest was eerily quiet the further along they got on the road. They could barely even hear any insects or bird sounds.

It was a heavy, suffocating silence.

“This is all so… wrong.” Rog massaged his forehead. “I feel like I’m having a bad dream.”

Rimold, who also seemed bothered by their surroundings, shook his head. “We’ve come too far already. Even if something bad is going on, we still need to reunite with the rest of our companions.”

“Of course.” Rog nodded. “I just feel like I can’t think very well with this silence.”

Red didn’t share the hunter’s difficulties in concentrating, but that was because he lived most of his life in a network of tunnels. He had gotten used to hearing nothing but the sound of his own breathing in there.

They walked along the road for another hour until their arrival on the river line was imminent. Still, they failed to find any evidence to point out what was going on.

That was when they heard it. At least, it was Rog who heard it first.

“There’s a distant noise.” the hunter said with a frown. “Sounds like a battle.”

Rimold’s expression paled. “Are they fighting the horde again?”

Rog didn’t say anything, and instead just waved them on so they could get closer. Both Red and Rimold started to hear it at the same time, a feat the boy accomplished thanks to his open Five Senses Vein.

Indeed, it sounded like a battle. In fact, the closer they got, the louder the sounds became, until they notice this wasn’t just the sound of a single, small fight.

Instead, it was the cacophony of metal clashing, explosions, screaming voices, and the roars of raging monsters. It was the sound of war.

“We should hurry.” Red said.

The others all agreed with him. They no longer maintained a brisk pace, instead breaking out into a full-blown sprint to cover the final distance of their journey. The sounds of combat only got louder until it was almost deafening.

Too many voices and noises to discern.

From above the trees, the group even saw the flash of lights of different colors, a sign of Spiritual Energy being used. Then, finally, a few seconds later, they laid their eyes on the battlefield.

An improvised fort stood at the center of it all. Barracks and a wall made of wood trunks should have been there, but now all that remained was debris in every direction they looked. A consequence of the battle that still raged on.

Dozens of monsters surrounded this half-destroyed fortification, roaring in absolute rage and bloodlust and almost climbing over each other to reach forward. Red almost failed to notice the human figures behind this unceasing pile of monsters, who were doing their best to keep the beasts at bay.

“Is this… The horde?” Rimold stood agape as he looked at the scene.

Red understood where his shock came from. For in the middle of it all, weren’t just creatures from the mountains. Instead, native monsters acted in their midst, seeking to kill every human life in their way.

The very creatures that should have opposed the horde with every instinct of their body, were now helping them kill and destroy everything in front of them.