He didn't expect it to end so quickly, but the fight took much longer than he expected.
The monster was ferocious and tenacious, befitting its huge size.
Even his movements were quick, so it was not easy to land an attack.
Even though only the best were brought in, the soldiers collapsed helplessly before its claws and teeth.
A significant number of people were already incapacitated.
But the hardship was not entirely in vain, and the monster was now breathing heavily.
'We need to end this without wasting any more time.'
Kishian gripped his sword tightly.
The purpose was to take advantage of the moment when the monster rushed in and pierce its neck in one go.
However.
"Run away!"
As soon as it made eye contact with Kishian, it stopped attacking as if it had sensed something.
After that, it took a step back and started running away quickly.
Kishian quickly chased after the monster that easily escaped the soldiers' net.
Several soldiers who were not yet injured followed along, but they were not enough to keep up with the speed of the monster running on all fours.
Eventually, all the soldiers who had been following him fell behind, and only Kishian remained to chase after the monster.
If they let it go like this, everything will have been in vain.
He doggedly pursued the fleeing monster.
Then, when he reached the bottom of a steep cliff, he was finally able to catch up with the monster.
He didn't miss the moment when the gap between him and the monster narrowed.
Kishian summoned up the last of his strength and leapt, landing on the monster's back and piercing its neck.
Boom!
The monster collapsed with a heavy sound.
Kishian finished his hunt by turning his piercing sword half a turn, making sure to cut through the flesh.
"Ha..."
He sighed and picked up the sword, soaked in the monster's blood.
After roughly wiping away the blood and putting the sword back in its scabbard, he finally began to notice his surroundings.
"..."
He was chasing after it without even realizing that he had come to an unfamiliar place.
Judging by the cliffs visible in front of them, they must have reached the western end of the forest.
Just as he was about to turn back, the entrance to a cave caught his eye.
It was a cave located at the bottom of a cliff, and considering that monsters had come all the way here, it was worth searching.
The monsters didn't form groups, but occasionally they would form pairs, so there might be another one hiding in the cave.
He drew his sword again and held it in his hand as he entered the cave with cautious steps.
After that, Kishian slowly walked towards the depths, and when the darkness almost blocked his vision.
"Sigh, huh. sigh..."
A child's cry was heard.
Monsters attack and eat people.
The owner of that crying sound was most likely a victim hunted by a monster.
Soon, deep inside the cave, a small child was discovered shivering naked.
The child's body was full of bruises.
In particular, one leg had a deep scratch mark from the monster's claws.
Seeing the child's desperate appearance, Kishian hurried over and patted the child's shoulder.
"You..."
He was about to ask how he came to be here.
Until the child looked at him with bright red eyes.
The child's pupils were red, and the whites of his eyes, which should have been pure white, were black.
There never existed a human with such strange eyes.
'Demon...!'
As soon as he finished his judgment, he pierced the chest of the child-shaped monster with the sword he was holding.
It was a quick response, but they had already made eye contact.
The moment he met those ominous eyes, contamination began to penetrate deep into his mind, even to the places he normally wouldn't be aware of.
His emotions were agitated, and his thoughts were distorted.
Deep inside his solid reasoning, dark emotions like sadness, anger, and self-loathing began to surface, taking advantage of the cracks in his solid reasoning.
Even as the contamination progressed, his mind was still assessing the situation.
There were two monsters in the first place.
The beast-like monster he dealt with earlier. And the human-like monster that Baron Baldeck reported.
Now he thinks he understands why there were two types of pollution: land pollution and mental pollution, when monsters usually only cause one type of pollution.
'Shit.'
He emerged from the cave, muttering curses under his breath.
After that, Kishian walked absentmindedly and arrived at the water's edge.
He looked at his face in the water and cursed again.
The eyes that had once been a bright gold were now a pale red.
***
"Your Highness, are you alright?"
Baron Baldeck asked worriedly, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders.
The Baron's gaze lingered on my neck, where a red mark had formed.
I nodded my head while stroking my neck, which still had a tingling sensation.
"I'm fine. More importantly, Gert, what happened to your son?"
"The child fell asleep. But what on earth happened..."
It was difficult for me to give a definite answer to the Baron's questiоn.
Just now, even though I was being strangled, I reached out and touched Gert's forehead.
Then, a faint light flowed out from his hand, and Gert's ominous aura subsided.
And at that moment, I could clearly see the eyes that had been bright red because of the contamination, turning back to a light brown.
As his eyes changed color, he calmed down and looked down at me blankly, as if he had never been so angry.
It seemed like he didn't even know what happened to him.
Then suddenly he collapsed and fell asleep.
By the time the Baron arrived with his men gathered to take Gert away from me, the situation was already over.
'What the heck is going on? Has the magic really disappeared?'
I had a vague feeling that something might happen if I touched Gert.
But after seeing him calm down in person, I couldn't believe it.
I really wonder what influence I had on him.
It was at that moment that I thought I would find out properly when Gert woke up.
"Young Master has woken up. However... he is different than usual. I think you should go and get him checked out."
One of the maids who was looking after Gert came running towards me with hurried steps and told me this.
Baron Baldeck couldn't hide his nervousness at the mention of something different than usual.
I said this while carefully helping the confused Baron up with my hands.
"Let's go and check together. It's quiet now, so I think there'll be nothing wrong."
"Yes, Your Highness."
We went up to the top floor together.
And then I opened the door to the attic where Gert was being held.
I saw Gert sitting on the bed blankly.
He wasn't screaming and causing a commotion like he usually did.
The Baron slowly entered the room, unable to hide the anticipation spreading across his face.
“Gert?”
Gert, who had been sitting blankly on the bed, raised his head and stared at his father.
Only then did I see that his eyes were not flashing with red madness.
The plain brown eyes were trembling as they stared at Baron Baldeck.
"Father?"
The eyes returned to their normal color, and the speech became gentle.
There was no trace of contamination on Gert.
Baron Baldeck, who faced him, was frozen as if he had been stuffed in a frozen time.
Then, after a long time, he took a step towards his son.
"Gert, you..."
"What happened to me? I don't remember..."
"Ah..."
The Baron said nothing.
He just hugged his son and sobbed as if he were overwhelmed.
I was shocked as I watched the hat from a step behind.
'The contamination has been cured.'
I vaguely thought that if I touched Gert, I would be able to calm the energy that was eating away at his body... and I actually felt it subsiding.
So, I vaguely thought this time too, that maybe Gert had been cured thanks to me.
But I really thought it would work.
A different kind of shock washed over me as I saw something I had only imagined become reality right before my eyes.
'I cured the contaminated? But Kishian said that once contaminated, it can never be cured...'
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