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"Help me with hair dye."
Valeria extended the hair dye she had received from Jin earlier.
"I don't want to show this hair when I meet Vermont or Zipfel."
Jin shrugged his shoulders. Then he turned around and dripped a bit of the hair dye onto Valeria's red hair.
Glossiness emerged from the hair that was turning black. Jin's fingers gently passed through it, spreading the dye. Somehow, the Felinoid tribesmen opened their mouths wide and stared, with their eyes twinkling.
'Their atmosphere is strange, isn't it?'
'The two of them look good, don't they?'
Contrary to the thoughts of the Felinoid tribesmen, the two of them didn't feel any particular feeling by each other's physical contact.
Valeria was momentarily dizzy, busy gathering her thoughts, and Jin was only worried about whether her body had truly recovered to a decent level.
"It's done."
Jin wiped off the dye on his hands with a cloth.
After briefly examining her newly dyed hair in a hand mirror, Valeria nodded in satisfaction. The red color was neatly concealed.
[Let's go!]
They followed Lulu and Miru into the passage.
The interior of the passage was hazy like fog and their vision was wavering like they were underwater, yet strangely, they didn't feel fatigue while walking. It felt more like wandering in a pleasant dream.
They exited the passage before taking a hundred steps.
Originally, the distance required a considerable amount of time even for a trained martial artist, but the Felinoid tribe's passages were nothing short of teleportation gates.
[They just arrived, Lulu. Your abilities are impressive as always.]
[Still, since we had time to create the passage, I'm not sure if we can evade their pursuit.]
Outside the passage, the area was filled with strangely bent trees. Despite their bent appearance, they were tall and thick enough to be compared with the central pillar of the castle.
The densely blooming leaves prevented even a speck of moonlight from entering. Consequently, the vast lake spread out beneath looked like black oil.
'Is Temar's tomb hidden inside there?'
Jin remembered Olmango, who sealed the second tomb deep in the sea. Sheila also had concealed a medium linking to a tomb beneath the lake.
La, la-la-la...
Sheila began to sing.
Her voice was incredibly pleasant. It felt like sugar crystals were causing delightful vibrations in one's ears. Even Valeria couldn't help but smile unknowingly at Sheila's singing.
Tiny particles, like glass dust, were flowing out of Sheila's small mouth. The particles floated towards the lake, and the ripples were changing along with them.
Gentle whirlpools. That was the only way to describe the phenomenon. Small and gentle whirlpools danced on the surface of the lake as if in response to the song.
Several minutes passed like that. Finally, something exceptionally bright emerged from the surface of the lake, much like a star rising.
It was a slender bottle.
The Drink of Regal Hymn.
The reason the powerful beings hadn't damaged this forest, the significance of Wantaramo's existence.
The slender bottle slowly flew towards Sheila's side. The moment she embraced the bottle with her small body, the particles of light that were illuminating the lake disappeared, and the forest darkened again.
[Take it, Jin Runcandel.]
Politely, he accepted the Drink of Regal Hymn.
(Drink of Regal Hymn - Shil Damiro)
In the Drink of Regal Hymn, the name of the person who intended to brew the alcohol is engraved, not the creator or the recipient.
That's why when they brewed the Drink of Regal Hymn about Shuri, it was not the name of a fairy or Luna's, but Chiron's name that was attached.
'Shil Damiro...? An individual with the same name as Luet Damiro Yul from the records of the third tomb. A blood relative, perhaps.'
Shil Damiro was also a name Jin saw in the recording device of the third tomb.
-(March 3rd, 797, Runcandel records the history manipulation of Zipfel related to the Fairy tribe. March 4th, 797, among the Fairy tribe, five individuals including Shil Damiro, Beka Tishke, Mulias Mon, Trika Tredos, and Zen Mainu are forgotten...)
"In the recording device of the third tomb, I saw the name Luet Damiro Yul. It seems that it was a request from that person's bloodline to brew the alcohol."
[Luet Damiro Yul...?]
"Do you know the name?"
Sheila closed her eyes as if trying to recall something.
[...I don't remember. However, the name Yul is reserved only for the ruler of the Fairy Tribe, so that person must have been the most noble existence among the fairies.]
Myla described herself as a fairy, but Sheila had always distinguished between fairies and the descendants of the Fairy tribe.
[Drink.]
As Jin was about to pour the alcohol, he looked at Sheila.
"How long will it take?"
[What are you talking about?]
"Two days had passed outside when I entered and exited the third tomb. I want to know how much time will pass if I drink this Drink of Regal Hymn."
[I cannot know that.]
"The pursuers will arrive soon. If too much time passes, it will be up to Ms. Sheila, Lulu, and Miru to face them alone."
[You're worrying about nothing.]
"No, it's not an unwarranted worry. Ms. Lulu and Miru have exhausted their energy just now by creating the passage, and Ms. Sheila, you mentioned not knowing your own fighting ability."
[This is my forest.]
"You said you lost control over the power that controls the forest."
[Even if that's the case, do you think I cannot handle a few humans like you?]
If Jin were to judge whether Sheila was strong or not, he could easily choose the latter.
She clearly had the dignity of a queen of a certain race, yet she emitted none of the dangerous scent characteristic of the strong.
If Felinoid tribesmen were not tired, Jin would have trusted their abilities and comfortably drunk the Drink of Regal Hymn.
[If you're so concerned, can't you leave that child here and go?]
"That's not possible. I made a promise."
[Then are you saying you'll wait for the pursuers? If the Drink of Regal Hymn gets damaged, it will be a big problem. You might inadvertently reveal the location of the Drink of Regal Hymn to the enemies and might have to retreat.]
"Taking the Drink of Regal Hymn outside entirely and drinking it is impossible, right?"
[As soon as the Drink of Regal Hymn leaves the forest, the stories within the alcohol disappear. If that were possible, would I have told you to drink it immediately?]
Jin nodded.
"I thought so. Still, I feel it would be more reassuring in many ways to deal with the enemies and then leave."
[In the worst case, we might find it difficult to even save our lives.]
"No, it's impossible."
[Why are you so confident?]
"Didn't you say just now? The fight should only take place without causing irreparable damage to the forest. It will be an overwhelmingly advantageous fight for me."
[I can hide well enough with the Felinoid tribe.]
"Look at this. At first, you definitely said that you could easily handle a few humans like me, but now you're talking about hiding. Ms. Sheila, you don't have the strength to face them."
[...Even if they were to capture me, they wouldn't kill me immediately.]
"In that case, if Ms. Sheila and the Felinoid tribesmen are captured, I'll be stuck in a hostage situation. Is that really a good outcome for me?"
He no longer wanted to sacrifice the Felinoid tribesmen and Sheila.
And he had the confidence that except for the commanders, he could suppress anyone who came, be it the imperial guards or the special task forces.
'Even if a commander comes, with my teacher, it's a fight worth attempting. No, it will definitely flow as an overwhelmingly favorable battle.'
Sheila had nothing more to say.
[Lulu, Miru. Try to convince him.]
[Hmm...]
While Lulu and Miru were choosing their words,
They felt a presence from the other side of the lake.
"It seems my judgment was correct after all."
Swoosh...
Jin calmly drew out Bradamante and spoke.
Valeria also tightened her grip on the staff, scanning behind the lake.
[...Have the pursuers already arrived?]
There was still some time before Zipfel's expected arrival.
As Sheila had anticipated, the traitor was not just Myla. Vermont had arrived even before them. Naturally, the Wantaramo Forest was the territory of the Vermonts, so that was to be expected.
'In any case, things are in order on this side. It's better to eliminate all of them and enter the tomb before any additional support arrives.'
If they didn't eliminate all the pursuers and enter, they would be too distracted inside the tomb to focus.
"Step back."
[Sheila, it's best to heed Jin's words. Since things have come to this point, we should act in a way that causes minimal burden.]
Sheila let out a sigh.
[Understood.]
Jin handed the Drink of Regal Hymn to Sheila again, making sure not to damage it during the battle.
'Open armor.'
As he spoke the activation words, the shadow force emanated from Bradamante, enveloping Jin's body.
He detached the cape and handed it to Sheila and the Felinoid tribesmen. A function that Picon had added for moments like this.
[Be careful.]
"Don't worry."
As Sheila and the Felinoid tribesmen stepped back, the light that had been illuminating them disappeared. The spot where the group had been standing returned to darkness.
It was quiet.
There was not a single sound, only the cool breeze rustling through the bushes. Yet, amidst this, Jin and the enemies were sensing faint traces of each other's energy.
With his senses heightened to the extreme, Jin was able to come to one conclusion.
'There are no commanders.'
The moment the biggest concern disappeared.
A smile formed on Jin's lips, and the fierce shadow force surrounding his body and sword began to flicker aggressively. However, due to the darkness of the forest, the sight wasn't apparent.
'Arya.'
Jin whispered, calling for Valeria.
'What?'
'Don't step forward, refine your mana further.'
It seemed better for her to conserve her strength for the fight against Zipfel.
Valeria nodded her head in agreement.
The distance between Jin and the enemies was getting closer and closer.
The Vermonts were thinking that they hadn't yet entered each other's attack range.
Since they had already learned about the presence of 'Jin Runcandel' in the forest through traitorous descendant of the Fairy tribe, the Vermonts believed that the Jin Runcandel they were aware of wouldn't be able to launch effective attacks from this distance.
But that was a significant misconception.
'Six of them.'
Swish!
"Argh!"
Blood suddenly splattered among the Vermont's imperial guards.
The sound of a black blade imbued with shadow force cutting through the throat and the air, and even the sound of Jin's footsteps, were absent.
All that was heard was a chilling sound of a head hitting the cold ground.
'Now five.'
As the imperial guards instinctively scattered, the blades bathed in shadow force gleamed, and Jin was standing behind his second target, thrusting Bradamante into his neck.