Under the light of both Plota, the blue moon of wisdom, and Gelb, the yellow moon of wealth, the two groups headed out of Nachtville once more. The cloak everyone wore blended in with the ground, and with the faint moonlight shining down, everyone else looked indistinguishable from the terrain beneath them.
Placing a hand on her sword, Dia nodded at the others, and scuttled into the depths of the forest. From what she knew, most people would drop their guard from around eight to ten, after the sun fully went down. Their guard would rise as the night deepened, since the deep night was when carnivorous animals and monsters became the most active.
Eight to ten was the best time for them to strike, when most people were full from their dinner.
Dia's heartbeat began to slow down as they closed in on the forest. Haber and Lucid had split up from them, as agreed, and were heading down the route they took in the afternoon. The same went for her and Risti, and before long, they had entered the undergrowth. The silence was extra-deafening; the insects and birds that had been making sounds in the afternoon had fallen silent, while the predators that created small rustles were still resting.
Sliding through the gaps in leaves and branches alike, Dia led the way. She had cleared out the path this afternoon, taking extra care to shift aside anything that would make loud noises when stepped on or brushed against. Risti stuck to her like a shadow, displaying movements that were almost as good as her.
It was clear that her experience at observing animals and stalking a particular personage alike had did her wonders in being really stealthy. In contrast, Dia knew that the only reason why she was this proficient in navigating the forest at night was due to her Experiential Potions; if she hadn't taken them, she would have been dead weight here.
Proficient…That word lingered in Dia's mind. She didn't quite understand why such a word was stuck there, but this was not the first time something like this had happened. Restraining the urge to growl in frustration, Dia clamped down on her emotions and let the thought slip through her conscious mind for now. Once again, she had failed to capture the burgeoning stroke of inspiration, but given that they were closing in on a deadly murderer, there wasn't much of a choice.
Darting through gap after gap, it didn't take long before the two of them arrived at the huge tree that they had stopped at earlier. Immediately afterwards, Dia raised a hand, and the two of them halted their movements.
Risti gestured. 'I'll take the lead from here.'
Dia nodded and stepped aside. As Risti took the lead, she took out a skillstrip. With a gentleness that Dia had only seen when parents carried their babies, Risti tore the skillstrip into two and gazed out into the dark forest. Her head turned slowly, the careful way in which she scanned the forest an exact replica of her movements this afternoon.
She nodded and beckoned for Dia to follow.
Dia's heartbeat slowed down even more, as she fought to control her breathing. They were now entering an area where they didn't explore during the day, and her instincts were tingling. The forest was home to all sorts of animals and dangers, but the previous time they were here, it was daytime. Furthermore, unlike their journey to Nachtville, they weren't relying on footpaths created through use; they were literally pathfinding.
The pseudo-mercenary within her didn't like the prospect of that at all.
Restraining her desire to back away, Dia followed Risti carefully, her eyeballs swivelling from side to side. Turning heads quickly would create a motion that could be captured with an attentive eye, and predators were trained to jump on jerky movements.
After what felt like fifteen minutes, Dia could hear the faint crackling of a fire, and she reached out to Risti's shoulder. Risti paused, and then turned a pair of enquiring eyes to Dia, who gestured in return.
Moving her arms slowly, she pointed at a small rock. A fire was burning behind it, a fire that would have been hard to spot for people and animals that weren't on the lookout. In fact, the glow from the fire was so muted that the scant moonlight streaming down through the forest canopy had drowned it out.
Risti stared at the rock for a good few minutes, and then turned to Dia, her expression of disbelief barely visible under the faint moonlight.
Dia rolled her eyes and pointed at her sword.
Risti nodded. Retreating into the shadow of a tree, her entire body seemed to vanish a moment later, and Dia began to move. The plan was simple; when either team located the target, one of them would move to assault the murderer, while the other would fire a projectile of mana that would explode a few seconds later, illuminating the forest.
Creating a projectile bright enough to light up the dark forest required some time, so one person had to stay behind. Ideally, Dia would strike when Risti released the mana flare, which would ensure that she had the advantage of surprise.
Running the plans through her mind, she slithered through the forest and closed in on the rock. Now that she was up close, she could see a small fire and someone huddling around it. Most telling, however, was the ten or so spears that had been illuminated by the small fire.
Without a doubt, this was their target.
Unsheathing her sword slowly, Dia fixed her gaze on the target, who was leaning back on the rock. The fire was in incredibly close proximity to him — the murderer was almost certainly a man — but he seemed to be utterly confident that it wouldn't burn him.
Lowering her body, Dia prepared to move at any time.
Her heartbeat was now abnormally slow, her breathing so faint that Dia herself couldn't feel it. At the same time, her sword was readied; the moment light fell on her target…
The man's neck jerked upwards as the area above him blazed a brilliant blue, and Dia moved, her predatory instincts on full display. Stimulated by that abrupt jerk, one that radiated both fear and surprise, a silvery-blue arc accelerated towards the target.
An arm flew and blood gushed out as her sword bit into his arm, and Dia narrowed her eyes. At the last moment, before Dia's strike could bisect him from head to toe, he had managed to sidestep her slash at the cost of his arm. It was somewhat inconceivable how he had managed to react to her sudden attack, given the prevailing circumstances, and Dia raised her guard even more.
She already knew that this man wasn't an ordinary murderer, from the sheer accuracy of his spears.
Silver light flashed towards her as the man kicked the spears near him at her. Dodging the first two spears, Dia deflected the third one, before grimacing at the strength behind them. The man's accuracy at using spears, even with his legs, was top-notch; proof that he was almost certainly the culprit behind the recent murders.
Her blade slowed as she smashed aside the fourth spear, but before the fifth one could reach her heart, mana gushed out of her, blasting Dia to her right. Ignoring the pain, Dia closed in by expelling mana from her back, freeing her arms from the cloak she had on at the same time.
Dia shuddered as she drew close enough to see the man's features.
His eyes were…hollow. Empty. His face was equally expressionless, even as he took in the sight of an incoming blade, and with an inhuman calmness, the man met her blade with his other arm.
Blood gushed out in droves from the stumps of his severed arms, but the man didn't seem to care all that much. At the same time, a monstrous fear began to take root inside of Dia's heart, a fear that the rational side of her knew was a result of his skill.
It was clear that he wasn't a mana-user, but this man, who couldn't be more than thirty, had mastered his spear skills, adding his own twist to it. As Dia sidestepped yet another spear, she couldn't help but wonder if she could win, had she not sliced off his arms.
Blue flame danced around her as the others finally burst into the scene, surrounding the man from all directions.
"You alright?" Risti asked.
"Yes, but don't let your guard down," Dia replied. "This man is unbelievably skilled with spears. He can even kick them with pinpoint accuracy."
"That formidable?" Haber asked.
"Yes. It would be troublesome if any of us got injured, so—hmm?"
Before Dia could complete her sentence, the torrent of blood gushing out of the man's arms thinned, and the murderer keeled over.
"Death from blood loss…" Dia shook her head. "Looks like that's it, then."
She stared at the corpse, a corpse that belonged to an expert spear-user, and felt all kinds of mixed emotions. Driving them out a moment later, Dia said, "Let's check the surrounding area out. Look for clues and things like that."
It was…quite an anti-climactic end to this case, all things considered, but for some reason, Dia had a feeling that he was but a part of a bigger game.
Sighing, she joined the rest in their search.