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Chapter 199
Luna’s expression looked dead serious, but all I could think about was that I needed to know more.
"You need to explain what that thing is."
"How did you end up getting involved with it?"
"It just sort of happened."
"..."
After a moment of silent hesitation, Luna grabbed my hand tightly.
"Leon, it’s dangerous. I can't explain it fully, but it doesn't belong to this world."
"It’s not like I got involved with it by choice."
"Promise me. Promise you’ll stay away from it as much as you can."
"I’ll try."
Honestly, it was a promise I probably couldn’t keep.
Maybe there were other cases of the Red Moon phenomenon elsewhere, but so far, every single one had happened near me, and along the way, I'd witnessed the deaths of people around me.
Come to think of it, doesn’t that make me a walking disaster?
‘Librarian.'
[Confirmed.]
'Why the hell does the Red Moon keep happening around me?'
Not that it would be any better if it happened somewhere else.
[There are no confirmed details. However, it is believed that certain conditions must be met for the Red Moon to manifest.]
If that's the case...
"Anyway, could you check on those two?"
"They just fainted. They’ll wake up after some time."
If Luna said so, that was good enough for me.
After handing the unconscious siblings over to the knights, I casually surveyed the area.
Nothing seemed particularly dangerous anymore.
"I want to check if Coral’s reinforcements have arrived."
"I’m coming too."
Maybe it was because of the Red Moon incident — even though she didn’t need to come, she insisted on staying by my side.
Since even just one encounter with that thing was enough to know how dangerous it was, I didn’t bother arguing.
"...Hah."
Coral’s reinforcements were surprisingly already very close.
However—
Not a single one of them was alive.
The scene of the massacre was absolutely brutal.
There were about 30 to 40 people.
The problem was...
"They were all killed by one person."
The marks left on the corpses were terrifyingly clean and efficient.
And I knew exactly one person capable of leaving such traces.
"The leader of the Moon Watchers. Looks like she was here."
The Moon Watchers.
I didn’t know their exact purpose, but they seemed to know something and killed people to prevent certain events from happening.
Of course, I had no intention of sympathizing with or siding with their cause.
Still, I had no reason to be hostile toward them either, and thanks to them, annoying cultists were being kept in check.
"They haven’t been dead for long,"
Luna said after quickly scanning the bodies.
Which meant the Moon Watchers must’ve left not too long ago.
And yet, they had left barely any trace behind.
It was clear that the leader of the Moon Watchers had far more tricks up her sleeve than I had imagined.
At that moment, I sensed a very faint presence.
"Looks like someone’s still here. Well, since you’re here, let’s have a chat. What kind of wind blew you over to cause another bloodbath?"
I asked, looking at a seemingly empty tree.
Luna narrowed her eyes and muttered,
"Doesn’t feel human. Definitely not."
The response came immediately.
As if a gust of wind had blown through, a figure cloaked in a black robe and wearing a mask appeared before me.
The leader of the Moon Watchers — currently, aside from Luna, the one person I'd have to risk my life to fight against.
Because of the distorted voice, it was hard to figure out exactly who she was, but as Luna said, she didn't feel quite human.
"No need to worry about it,"
She said.
"More importantly, did anything happen?"
"For now, no."
"Strange... That shouldn’t be the case..."
I silently observed her.
She didn’t have a single scratch on her.
I couldn't tell exactly how strong the fallen knights were, but considering their numbers, they must have been quite formidable — and she had wiped them out effortlessly.
"The Four Great Houses have allied with the cult."
"I heard about that Blood Cult or whatever. So you came here to deal with them?"
"And because they are ones that must not be left alive."
Her firm tone sparked my curiosity.
"That kill list of yours... how long is it?"
They weren’t just randomly killing people — they only assassinated those who started to emit dangerous signs from the list.
Yet, given how often news of Moon Watcher assassinations popped up, the list must be quite extensive.
"Just know that it’s longer than you think."
"You're playing god at this point."
Even so, I didn’t attack her.
Partly because of instinct, and partly because fighting her head-on would cause massive casualties.
"Just don't cross the line. I let things slide because the ones you’ve killed really did deserve it, but if you cross that line, I won’t stay silent."
At my warning, she chuckled.
"Don’t forget — your name is on that list too."
"Well, that’s your business. It’s not like you kill everyone on the list, right?"
I said with confidence, having understood their way of operating to some extent.
"Take good care of the Four Great Houses’ siblings. They’ll become great assets for humanity’s survival."
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I asked,
"How exactly?"
She hesitated for a moment.
"Specifically—"
But then, she vanished.
I stood there, stunned for a moment, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Luna looked equally dumbfounded, and I scowled deeply.
“What the hell….”
She had returned the exact same method I had used on her before.
Her presence had already long since disappeared.
* * *
As soon as it found me, the Shadow Dragon, Baril, rushed over and stuck its head close.
I tapped its nape a few times, and it let out a short growl before instantly disappearing into my shadow.
“Any problems?”
“No, none.”
The people who had been quite intimidated by Baril visibly sighed in relief once he vanished.
Even expert-level knights seemed to have a hard time enduring the sheer pressure a dragon exudes naturally.
After letting the relieved knights take a short break, Luna and I stood before the rift.
Since only five people had entered, there was no issue with me going in.
But things were different when it came to Luna.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m curious exactly when the penalty condition triggers. Does it activate if you just stick a hand in?”
At my question, she looked at me like I was pathetic.
“You’ll cause an accident if you do that.”
She had a point; the internal exploration was still ongoing.
However, I hadn’t received any danger signals from the Death Knight I had stationed with Melissa.
Naturally so.
Since there were conditions set, as long as you met them, clearing it was possible, and Melissa was an overpowered existence whose limits were basically broken.
The fact that things were going too smoothly was starting to annoy me.
This isn’t what I sent Melissa here for.
A mischievous thought crossed my mind, and I suddenly grabbed Luna’s small, white arm.
I shoved it into the rift and pulled it back out.
-Waaah?! What the heck!
Through the Death Knight, I felt Melissa flinch in surprise as her attack suddenly missed, before she quickly resumed cutting down the enemy.
Now that I checked again, it was obvious there was an issue with the difficulty.
I had told Melissa that if she failed to clear it or encountered danger, I’d block her from leaving the territory...
But the situation I saw through the Death Knight’s eyes inside the rift was going way too easily.
Luna gave me a "what the hell are you doing" look, but I firmly recognized the situation.
If things continued like this, it wouldn’t even be training unless something major happened.
Games aren’t fun if they’re too easy.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
I kept sticking Luna’s hand in and pulling it out while chuckling, and Luna’s face crumpled before she raised her free hand.
Thunk!
And she smacked the back of my head.
“Are you crazy?”
“Ow!!”
“You’ve definitely lost it.”
“If the difficulty’s too low, there’s no point to the training.”
“What’s going on inside to make you say that?”
“It’s like a casual stroll.”
I had intended to use the mechanic where the difficulty spikes when Luna’s body enters the rift to control the pacing, but Luna, seemingly annoyed, refused to play along with my idea.
“This feels awful.”
Judging by her sulky expression, it wasn’t just concern for Melissa’s safety — she probably hated feeling like she was being marked as the "older one."
Still, thanks to my little prank with Luna’s hand earlier, Melissa had started tackling the challenge seriously after a few close calls.
Yes, that’s how it should be.
The battlefield is a place where anything can happen at any time.
So when you see the kind of overwhelming leisure Melissa had before, it’s definitely a bad sign.
Still, it was a good sign that Melissa seemed to have gained some confidence in her abilities.
Eventually, Melissa defeated the boss-like entity — a massive, armored guardian — and I cut off the direct visual link I had with the Death Knight.
“It’s over.”
Not long after, the rift pulsed greatly and then spat out Melissa and the other four.
Then it released a massive burst of energy and faded away like mist.
“What the— you were here? How’s the situation outside?”
“All taken care of. What did you get?”
“Well, I’m not sure what it is, but…”
Melissa showed us a small horn flute she held in her hand.
“This is…”
“If you don’t know, just blow it and find out.”
She lifted the horn to her lips and blew it.
A deep sound echoed out.
Bwooooooooom…
The sound seemed to make the very air vibrate, startling the others, but surprisingly…
Nothing happened.
“What the heck, nothing?”
“Maybe it’s just ornamental?”
“Well, not every ancient relic has to have powers, I guess.”
Watching the others speculate, I asked,
“That’s all you found?”
“Yup, that’s it.”
Seriously?
Then what the hell was Coral after that made them cause such a huge fuss?
The Black Dragon’s Egg, sure, I could understand.
But Coral hadn’t even been targeting that in the first place.
Their goal had clearly been this horn flute.
“Luna, can you figure out what this is?”
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