<h4>Chapter 78: The Creeping Terror (3)</h4>


    The Blood Demon awakening was an event that Amon and Yue had been preparing for the past eight years. While unsure if the monster would appear in this timeline, they had spared no expense preparing for its eventual onught.


    Echelon had been deployed beforehand, allowing twenty skilled operatives to be deployed to Mistwood. Naturally, Bane had tomand them from the shadows to remain unnoticed. Nevertheless, the information they gathered proved helpful as Amon now had a detailed map of the misty woonds.


    Amon navigated the forest confidently through the fallen trees and shattered rock to arrive at a dense thicket. He observed his surroundings, paying additional attention to the depressions on the ground. While there were no signs of blood spill or flesh, Amon could identify the crime scene just by the sinister residual mana that lingered in the air.


    "So this is where they found the bodies." Amon frowned and continued to look for clues.


    "Yeah, and they seem fresh. So the Blood Demon must have awakened recently." Yue added on while in deep thought.


    The pair were out hunting for clues, and as people who knew the Blood Demon better than anyone alive, they could hypothesise what had urred here.


    The Blood Demon''s modus operadi was simple. Find a victim and drain them of their blood. If it found a formidable opponent, the Blood Demon would bide its time byying an ambush or escaping to fight another day.


    Despite having a Dragon''s residue soul, it employed cowardly tactics, making the Blood Demon a tricky foe.


    Preying on the weak and ambushing the strong. Amon felt a tinge of disgust as he thought of the gruesome beast. After living in the Sris House for eighteen years, it was inevitable that some of its code of honour hadtched itself into his psyche.


    "Let''s see..."


    Amon closed his eyes and focused everything on his mana sense. Weaker individuals may not feel it, but the intense leftover mana the Blood Demon dripped was appalling enough to make Amon twitch. As he opened his eyes, Amon was greeted by a faint red stream resembling a trail of blood. Without hesitation, the Knight followed the stream down the thicket and towards an empty cave just a hundred metres away.


    Subconsciously, Amon summoned his trusted de and firmly held onto its handle. He was ready to jump to battle at any given moment. His senses heightened, he could feel every drop of water, every frog''s croak, every leaf rustling. But unfortunately, even as he delved deeper into the foggy cave... Amon couldn''t find the Blood Demon.


    What he did find was...


    "Bloodless corpses and carcasses... And so many of them."


    Amon was stunned to see over a hundred dead animals and humans littered all over the cold, mineral ground. They were haphazardly disced, meaning the culprit who did such a gruesome thing couldn''t bother to dispose of the bodies properly.


    "There are so many of them, yet the residue of Demonic mana feels so weak. They must have been dead before the Blood Demon got to them."


    After the earthquake, there were bound to be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dead carcasses just lying around. Not to mention, all the missing humans passed on in hard-to-reach ces. Although the Blood Demon grew stronger by absorbing the blood of living creatures, dead bodies did the trick for now.


    The Blood Demon was likely still weak and seeking strength, but eventually, when it regained a certain degree of its vitality back... That''s when it would begin hunting humans for blood.


    "I can''t sense its presence here... It must have left a long time ago."


    Amon lowered his de and rxed a little after realising that there weren''t any significant threats in the cave. Heaving a deep sigh, he continued investigating the cave, hoping to find any morsel of information that would help with locating the Blood Demon.


    s, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn''t find anything that could lead to the Blood Demon. The only thing of note was the bloodless corpse at the far corner wearing a pharmacist''s cloak. It had one arm ripped off, which was rare for a bloodless corpse, but nothing too suspicious.


    But just as he was about to leave, Yue appeared from the entrance and stopped the young Knight.


    "Wait, let''s collect some evidence."


    "What?"


    "Hehe, don''t worry. I know what to do."


    Yue didn''t exin much to Amon and reached for the disced arm of the corpse. Unlike girls her age, she wasn''t averse to death and the profane. Comfortably cing the arm in her storage, Yue nced around the cave again before exiting.


    Realising the work here was done, Amon opened his palm and condensed a fall of scorching hot sunfire. The mes engulfed the mossy cave in an instant, burning all the bloodless carcasses and corpses.


    Amon exited the burning cave without taking a second to mourn the dead and continued his hunt for the profane.


    ???


    Two more days had passed since the first bloodless corpses were found. Ever since then, even more bodies have been surfacing, and with each passing expedition, it has be painfully evident that there is something sinister in the forest.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    In the beginning, the Sris Commanders believed that a Demonic beast was behind the bloodless corpses. However, they couldn''t identify any potential beast with that ability. Not just that, the more corpses they found, they began to realise that the threat was growing exponentially. Some of them spected that there must have been more than one thing causing this phenomenon.


    Amon and Yue stayed silent throughout the debates, even though they knew the cause of bloodless corpses. But their silence on the matter didn''t mean inaction.


    Over the past two days, Amon has been trying to locate the Blood Demon as best he could. Unfortunately, the ancient being was good at hiding its presence, making it nearly impossible for Amon to figure out its location. All the while, new bloodless corpses were being found by the day.


    "We should seek back-up."


    The Sris Knight officers stood solemnly around a table and grimly spoke of their reality.


    "We''ve only brought volunteers for aid relief. While we have the Eighteenth Squad of the ck Order, they may not be enough to deal with whatever lies out there."


    "..."


    Jareth Sris, the Captain of the Eighteenth Squad, furrowed his brows at the officer''sments. At the same time, a chilling sensation crept up his back as he wildly spected:


    ''Is this why Amon was adamant abouting here? No, that can''t be right. No matter his talent, he can''t predict the future.''


    Jareth''s eyesnded on his subordinate and former squire. Since meeting the boy, Amon has been surprising him repeatedly. But predicting the future was a stretch, even for the prodigal Amon Sris. However, as his eyes wandered off Amon, he saw a beautiful youngdy standing by Amon''s side. She was a face that was hard to forget and was the main reason why Amon was such a defiant cadet in the first ce.


    ''The Elune n''s heiress... I heard that the Elune n could read prophecies... Is that why?''


    Jareth continued to specte while the officers in the tent spoke in sequence. Eventually, a cold, disparate voice cut short their discussion.


    "Excuse me, I have something to say." Amon raised his hand and spoke out loud.


    Even though he was the youngest person in the tent, his voicemanded attention. Not because Amon was one of the most talented Knights of his generation or because he was favoured by the Sris Lord and the ck Order''s Grand Commander.


    Amon''s pure presence alone demanded respect. He didn''t look like a rookie on a battlefield but a hardened veteran who had braved a thousand battles.


    "I have been investigating the phenomenon on my own, and I found other ces that had bloodless corpses. I have reason to believe that a Demon is behind this disaster."


    "A Demon, you say? What proof do you have?"


    The Commander of the aid expedition looked at Amon with a piercing gaze as if he were trying to analyse every molecule of his body for falsehood. However, it took more than an intimidating look to faze Amon.


    "Demonic mana can be felt in the ces I investigated."


    "... is that your proof? Just your ount?"


    "What''s wrong with that?"


    Amon raised his brow with genuine confusion. In his opinion, all that was needed was his word. After all, no one was better than him when it came to detecting Demonic mana. s, the Commander didn''t feel the same way.


    Jareth pped his forehead while Yue stifled augh. They knew Amon''s antics and how he danced to his own tune. So they could understand hiszy reply. However, the Commander wasn''t as amused.


    "Young Knight... Choose your next words carefully, or I''ll return you to Solfea."


    "..."


    "There, there... I apologize for my fiancé''sck of tact." Fortunately, Yue was present to save the day. She stood in front of Amon and tried to exin their position more diplomatically. "Please have a look at this."


    Mana gathered in her hands as she pulled out the amputated arm of the bloodless corpse they found a few days back. After cing it on the table, she reached her right palm over the arm and cast a simple spell.


    "This is..."


    "A spell that detects Demonic energy. I know that it''s faint, but it''s present. Have a look."


    When Yue''s spell waspleted, a sinister red smoke billowed out from the scars and cracks in the arm. It was repulsive and disgusting but solid proof that a Demon had corrupted the arm.


    "Demonic mana... You''re right; it''s hard to mistake that!"


    The Commander''s eyes instantly lit up. Rubbing the bottom of his chin, he carefully observed the faint traces of the Demonic mana, wondering how Amon could detect it without Yue''s spell. But his concentration was broken by Amon''s iron-like voice.


    "While we''re dealing with a Demon, it seems to be weak at the moment. And since we know it sucks the blood of its prey, we will need to keep as many living people away from the forest."


    "What''s your point?"


    "Please suspend the search for missing people," Amon demanded without remorse. "At least until we discover and eliminate the threat. We can''t risk sending our Knights to die in the forest."


    Amon''s actual motivation was to prevent the Blood Demon from obtaining the bodies of the Sris Knights and strengthening itself to unbeatable heights. So before that happens, he would have to locate the Blood Demon and eradicate it from the face of the earth once and for all.


    But the officers in the tent didn''t know that. All they saw was a noble Knight willing to protect hisrades at the expense of his safety.


    "Are you nning on hunting the Demon yourself? It''s too dangerous!"


    "No, I''ll be going with my... f-f-fiancée, Yue Elune." Amon struggled to push those words out of his mouth, but he somehow managed. "Also, I will take my squire along. Us three will be sufficient."


    "Your fiancée? And your squire?!"


    The Commander was utterly aghast. As one of the most talented Knights of his generation, Amon Sris was an asset to be protected. Yue Elune was the heiress of the Elune House, and Leon Bright was hailed as the hero who tamed Ascalon.


    All three were precious members who couldn''t be lost, yet Amon was trying to bring them on a dangerous hunt. Naturally, the Commander would be frantic.


    But a loud wail silenced the tent before he could breathe a word of denial.


    "W-What?"


    All the Knights rapidly hurried out of the tent, some with their des drawn. It didn''t take long for them to trace the scream''s source. A despondent widow crying out at the sight of her deceased husband''s bloodless corpseing back to life.


    Its hollow eye sockets were gleaming red, and a vicious stream of red mana streaked out from the bloodless corpse. It looked like it was set aze, but given how easily it moved, all the Knights knew that the corpse wasn''t burning.


    Instead, it was searching... yearning for something.


    Its hollowed-out eyes stared straight at the tent as it limped its body forward. It was frail and weak, meaning anyone could have stopped its advance. But no one moved forward.


    All but one.


    Without a moment''s hesitation, Amon sliced the bloodless corpse in half. And before it could even touch the ground, his sr mana engulfed the zombie in purifying mes. In less than three seconds, Amon had given the corpse a second death.


    ''It must have reacted to the severed arm.''


    Amon concluded immediately.


    The Blood Demon''s signature ability and the one that brought fear to the general popce... Its ability to create zombies from its victims was disyed for the first time today. Judging from the bloodless corpse''s behaviour, it resonated with the severed arm Yue brought back and yearned to obtain it.


    The stunning scene paralysed Mistwood Hamlet. Many were silent, while others cried out for help. Even the officers'' expressions froze when they realised what they were against.


    And Amon turned to his Commander and asked once more.


    "Please send the order, Commander. Suspend the search operations, and let us hunt the Demon."


    Amon''s question may have been asking for permission, but his tone suggested he wouldn''t ept anything but a firm nod. And unconsciously, the Commander gave the order.


    "A-Approved!"


    "Thank you..."