The sun had already set, and Hisui was making her way through the lost forest at night with a lantern in hand.
As I followed her, I decided to ask her something that I had wondered about for a long time.
“Hey, Hisui. I wonder…”
“What is it?”
“I know Nocturne only appears at night with a full moon, but… can’t I just wait for it to appear at night in a restricted area?”
This was a question that I had been having since Hakuyo had told me that she would guide me.
When I thought of defeating a monster with a [Timed Spawn] like the Nocturne, which only appears on full-moon nights, the first thing I thought of was to wait for it.
Stand by on the place and time before the monster appears, and fight it as soon as it appears.
Especially in a game like WLO, where all players are on the same server could create multiple parties but cannot fight the same Named at the same time.
If you want to get the Named monster before anyone else, there is no more reliable way than waiting for them to appear.
By the way, there seem to be quite many players at the place where we are going.
Perhaps those players are also trying to fight the Moon Wolf before we do, or maybe they already have.
And that was a given since they know there’s a new Named that will appear at the designated time. Of course, they would at least try to fight it.
I’m not sure if Hisui understood what I was trying to say, but she smiled and answered.
“The moment our world crosses each other and appears on that place, all living things within its radius will be wiped out. Those that don’t have the right to cross the world will be crushed to death in the space between the two worlds. That land we’re going to will be replaced by a completely different world for this one night only.”
“Oh…”
“That’s why that place is designated as a forbidden area so that no one from the village will get caught in it by chance. Well… The danger zone has been sealed off with barrier, so at least anything with an intelligence won’t die.”
Crushed to death in the space between worlds. It sounds like something she would try.
If it’s Rin-chan, she would be happy to go into it since if she’s lucky, her character will get a chance to be bugged out and fall into a rift between the worlds.
“Still, I think it would be better if waited outside that area, though.” A-chan said after listening to our conversation.
“It’s dangerous to stay in the forest at night for a long time, so Hakuyo-sama must have been wary of that. Or maybe she wanted to see us off properly, or perhaps she didn’t want to unnecessarily increase the amount of time we were detained.
I don’t know what Hakuyo-sama’s true intentions are, but if Arthur believes that someone will be able to take down Moon wolf-sama, then I think your concerns are unfounded.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s simple. Moon Wolf-sama is strong. In my opinion, of all the travelers who have visited the village so far, the only one who is strong enough to have a chance is Sukuna-sama, who is wearing that special equipment. I hate to say this, but the fight is out of the question for a player whose level doesn’t reach triple digits in the first place.”
“Out of the question, huh… myself is curious, how strong the Moon Wolf is?”
“The level of Moon Wolf-sama in battle is 150. Do you see my point now?”
“…I see. Then it’s true that a triple-digit level is almost a requirement.”
A-chan looked a little grim after hearing the Moon Wolf’s additional info that Hisui gave her.
Level 150 that’s more than 1.5 times higher than my current level. Hisui was right. Even with this equipment, it was still far below the equal fight.
I don’t know the specific level of A-chan and her helper, but I’m pretty sure that triple-digit level is a realm that almost no player has currently reached.
Then again, it’s true that if you look at the status alone, I’m probably the only one who is somehow able to deal with it.
Hisui probably thinks that even if there are people fighting before us, they have no chance to win against the Moon Wolf.
But if you ask my personal opinion, I don’t want to see them lose.
If they met, fought, and defeated the Moon Wolf before I did, I think that’s something that should be honestly praised.
However, I needed to have the curse lifted, so I would be thankful if they allowed me to do that first. And I don’t know if the Moon Wolf will immediately spawn again or not, so in the end, I was hoping the Moon Wolf won’t be defeated.
“We’ll be there in about ten minutes. Please be prepared for anything.”
“Okay… nn?”
When I was about to reply to Hisui’s advice, I was at a loss for words.
“Sukuna, what’s wrong?”
“No… I’ve been picking up a life sign and sounds in the forest for a while now, but something is not right.”
About a kilometer from here, there are about fifty players, I don’t know if they were all players or not, but at least I’m sure that they are all human.
Earlier I couldn’t tell the exact number of people or where they were because of the distance, but now I could tell pretty clearly.
And they were disappearing at a very fast pace. The Signs disappear at the rate of one every few seconds.
My ears also caught a scream, though it was faint.
Could it be that the World Crushing event of the Moon Wolf’s advent that Hisui had mentioned earlier had occurred?
“Does Nocturne appear at this moment?”
“No, at this time of the year, it should have already been an hour or so since its descent.”
“Hmm, I wonder what it is then…. about 20 people already disappeared.”
Does it mean there are some entities that could easily slay players who managed to survive the Lost Forest?
I thought about the possibility of them returning to the city with items, but since I heard their scream, that possibility doesn’t seem very likely either.
Then I wondered if it was some monster that only comes out at night. But there’s no sound of monster rampaging.
Instead, what I hear is the sound of metal clashing. So, is it possible that different groups of people are killing each other?
It’s hard to tell from the sounds and signs.
I wanted to get a little closer, but considering that Hisui was here, I was afraid to jump into unknown danger.
Perhaps sensing my thoughts, I saw Hisui’s strong eyes glare at me.
“Let’s go, Sukuna. It’s no use to prolong our stay here.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am also an Oni warrior, and despite what Hakuyo-sama said, I am always ready.”
Hearing those words, I glanced at A-chan.
When I saw that A-chan nodded, I made up my mind.
“Okay, then let’s go find out what’s going on. It may turn into a battle, so be careful.”
I told the three of them and raised the sensitivity of my senses a little.
I picked up the sound more clearly. I wondered what was going on and followed the movements of one shadow, which had already dwindled the number of presences to less than half.
As the number of people decreased, the pace of disappearance also increased.
And the closer we are, the clearer the screams are.
It was obvious that they were being attacked by something. That much is clear.
“Are there any vicious monsters that only appear in the forest at night?”
“There is one kind of monster called the [Forest Reaper]… and if it appears, it will let out a loud roar that can be heard in every corner of the forest. But it won’t appear at the night when Moon Wolf descends, so I don’t think it’s the culprit.”
“It’s a mystery. As Sukuna said, it’s too quiet for a battle between a group of players, where something close to the massacre is going on….”
And it continues, one by one, people die as we get closer.
The most inexplicable thing is that no one is trying to escape.
I’m not sure if it’s because they don’t care enough to take the Death Penalty, but if that is the case, their reaction is too slow for it to be a fight.
“3…2…1…they all gone.”
“All gone? What about the culprit?”
“My senses are not picking up on the culprit. I’m pretty sure it’s in range of my detection, but for some reason, I cannot.”
“A being with the strength to slaughter 50 people, high levels of concealment enough to mask their sounds and signs?”
A-chan looked truly displeased as she said that.
I guess she had some idea about it. A-chan exhaled and put her hand on her sword’s hilt.
“Be wary, Sukuna. If my guess is right, we’re in for some serious trouble here.”
“Yeah. I’m already here after all.”
“What the ……?”
I never see it coming.
Not a sound, not a sign.
And even you can move without sound. It shouldn’t be enough to get past my detection range just like that.
A-chan already gets into her fighting stance while I calmly greet her.
“It’s been a while, right?”
“….fufu, I got caught.”
I’m not sure if it’s her skill or equipment.
But the moment her shimmering images melted away, a girl was standing there. While being illuminated by the lantern held by Hisui, her figure became clearer.
A gothic lolita dress was even more dazzling and elegant than it had been, with a Named Rapier in her hand.
The one who appeared with a snicker from inside the darkness of the night, while clad in a red polygon that looked like blood mist, was the one I had fought in the past, the [Murder Princess].
“It’s been a while, Sukuna. I’m so happy to see you.”
Rou said with a big smile on her face. She’s a bloodthirsty player who once tried to kill me and then struggled together.
===*
The first volume in which she first appears is on sale right now. The character design is included, so please check it out!
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