Adelman's horse is black. The horse that had been with him since the first war that followed had suffered some injuries as well. Luckily the horse is healthy now due to good care. As soon as it saw Adelman coming out of the entrance of his fort, the horse plopped to the ground, impatient to be mounted by its master.
The knights gathered were almost as many as this morning when they were searching for Cyril. But this time among the pre-knights there were quite a few who could use magic. After all, Adelman's goal was no longer the search for a runaway knight, but the strange trail of a monstrous beast that ignored anything but the attack on the Varden Fortress. It was as if the black beast they had faced two days ago had evolved and could now be commanded.
Adelman mounted his war horse first. On the horse, he paced to and fro beside the knights who each held their bridles as well. "We will go quite far into the Black Forest and walk around the fortress according to the investigation route before the black beast explosion occurs. There is something odd about this animal that we have to find out. All of you be wary of the black beast's ambush which could suddenly form a group of various kinds. Whatever oddities you guys report after I share the route cast warning magic immediately!"
Adelman waited a few moments on his horse but did not hear a single question. "I will divide the group now. Once you enter the forest and I give the order you will take opposite routes. We will meet at the rear of the fort."
Then Adelman backed down, letting his deputy split the group. Each group consists of nine knights and one magician who can fire warning magic. As soon as the group division was complete, Adelman returned to giving orders.
"Destin, I leave the security of the fort to you! WE ARE GOING!"
Adelman's horse-headed toward the main exit. Behind him, another 20 horses soon followed. They crossed the path and made a slight turn following the direction of the road. The trees, which were sparse at first, grew denser and darker. The sunlight seemed not allowed to pass through the shade of the leaves above.
Adelman stopped about 30 minutes into the ride, waiting for the other horses to gather near him. "We will split up here! You will go east and I will go west. As per my orders, our route is to circle the Varden Fortress area and meet at a rear point."
"READY GENERAL!" shouted the knight who was about to go in the opposite direction to Adelman.
The two of them led the line to leave.
Adelman waited until the last horseman's back was out of sight and then turned around and led the small troop in charge of investigating his own. "Don't let your guard down since we repelled them yesterday! We can be ambushed by those black stars!" Adelman alerted the knights behind him after ten minutes of riding.
In the distance, Adelman saw a pile of something quite high. He quickened his horse's pace first to reach a heap that was mistaken for a rock and turned out to be a black animal carcass. The carcasses appeared to have decomposed.
Just as Adelman jumped down and his horse neighed in displeasure at the smell of blood, the knights that had come with him arrived. Their horses all gasped uncomfortably at the sight of the horror. The wind blew suddenly and the stench immediately assaulted their nostrils.
Adelman covered his nose and mouth with his arm. "Those who don't have magic don't come forward!" Adelman exclaimed, not even looking back.
The carcasses of the black beasts they killed, usually burned directly at the scene to experience this kind of incident. The black beasts were beasts that evolved due to impure and tainted magic. Hence, if the carcass is not burned it will cause damage to the surrounding land. Burning black beasts was tantamount to directly purifying the tainted magic they had in their flesh and blood.
"General, haven't all the black beasts here lost their hearts?"
Adelman gasped for a moment. He narrowed his eyes and did see what one of his knights had said. "No heart on them!" muttered Adelman under his breath.
Adelman circled the pile of carcasses and found not a single animal that had been forgotten for the heart. The black beasts didn't attack each other like this even in their power struggle.
"Devil." Adelman whispered. A whisper that only he could hear.
If there was a devil's interference in the legend that should no longer exist here, then surely the strange thing that happened to the black beasts could be explained.
Adelman quickly remembered what the Crown Prince had told him. Count Affonso's son, Ferdinant has been tricked by someone into using a tainted power stone to increase the magical capacity within his body. The man who called himself Ker.
"General!"
Adelman flinched. He turned to his knights who were gathered at one point, still holding the stances that were eager to run away. Then the knight's hand pointed at the ceiling which looked reddish among the thick leaves. The reddish sky should only appear when the sun is about to set and not at noon like now. It was warning magic. Another group that was in the opposite direction also discovered something. Or it could be that they were attacked by the remnants of the black beasts that had been repelled two days ago.
Everyone ran on their horses. Adelman pressed his lips to his thumb and exhaled loudly. Adelman's whistle was the loudest single sound in the forest. It didn't take long for Adelman's war horse to approach him near a pile of corpses. The horse tiptoed around in displeasure but didn't drop the master on its back.
BACK THE WAY WE COME AND FOLLOW THE OTHER GROUP'S DIRECTION!" Adelman shouted the first command. "HELP ME TO BURN ALL CORPSES WITH MAGIC!"
Then the knight who could do simple attack magic started chanting his magic spell. Adelman did the same and almost simultaneously they carried out the order.
"FIREBALLS!"
Once it was confirmed that their magic had struck all of the black beast carcasses, Adelman galloped his horse leading the way back. He stomped quickly back to the path he'd been on earlier. Adelman was no longer keeping track of time like when he left. He just wanted to get to the place where the group had fired the warning magic as soon as possible.
Faintly he heard explosions and the sound of swords in the distance. Adelman quickly drew his sword. His horse was spurred to go faster than before. In a few seconds, the scene of the battle was in Adelman's sight.
One of his knights seemed to be having a hard time defending himself from the two black wolves. The wolves were quite a number, but would soon be taken care of by the arrival of the pack. Adelman quickly dismounted from the horse. He patted his war horse's rear to make it run back into the forest.
The black wolf growled at those who had just arrived and somehow retreated regularly around the slightly hunched figure in the middle of the fight.
"This isn't fun!" the figure said to Adelman.
Adelman wanted to know who that figure was. The trick is to open the cloak that covers the entire slightly bent body. He fixed his stance and jumped with all his might. Three black wolves quickly threw themselves to protect the robed man.
"You apparently!" growled Adelman.
He managed to cut down the wolves that became shields and made one of them die. The other two were injured and retreated but did not appear to be running away at all.
"What are you doing dear general?"
After Adelman heard the second time the hunchback in the robe's voice, it sounded like a child teasing while playing. Adelman grew even more curious about the identity of the cloaked man surrounded by black wolves.
"I will disrobe you and make you say everything!"
The robed hunchback laughed happily. "You can't do that! I am happy to meet the war hero, but I am not coming for you!"
The hunchback flicked the tail of his robes, turning to leave.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" shouted Adelman furiously.
The hunchback stopped and laughed again. "You are not going anywhere, Mr. General! See you again!"
Adelman took a swing at the hunchback. Right at that moment the pack of black wolves attacked him blindly. The surrounding knights started shouting for alert and the screams and shouts of knights who were not prepared to attack reverberated through the forest.
Adelman still wanted to chase after the hunchback in the robe. He was sure he could catch the hunchback. However, what about the knights under his protection? Who will save the 20 people that were brought from the fort.
"DAMN IT!" cursed Adelman angrily.
He slashed the wolf that was bounding at him in two and kicked the other one in the side. The knights who were brought started to scatter because of their lack of vigilance.
"MAKE A GROUP OF TWO TO FIGHT THEM!"
Adelman's suggestion was immediately carried out by the knights. They instantly leaned against each other and were quickly able to control the rhythm of the battle. Adelman had almost wiped out a third of the black beasts that were attacking blindly.
"I told you, General!"
Adelman turned to where the hunchback was, but what he wanted to catch was no longer there. However, Adelman could hear the chuckle of pleasure from the hunchback in the robe. For some reason, Adelman was sure that he would meet that hunchbacked figure again.