"This sickening aura.."

"What is happening on the mountain?"

"This is bad news, isn't it?"

The troops were looking at each other with a solemn expression. The pressure they had felt from the mountain wasn't one that they could easily ignore; unless there was a powerful Demon living in the mountain, which was impossible, such a thing shouldn't have occurred.

Tinuviel instinctively turned to Basil. Amongst the people, other than her and her army, only Basil and his company knew about the existence of Yamata no Orochi, so she wanted to know if Basil was aware of what had happened.

Unlike the others, of course, the three Pacifers were aware of what had happened. They nodded their head lightly upon receiving her gaze, letting her know that they were ready.

"On position!" Basil commanded. "Maintain your rank!"

The soldiers under his command immediately did what he commanded without questioning anything. The scene alarmed Cyane and his army since it implicitly told Basil was anticipating a battle upon climbing the mountain.

"Knights, stand in formation!"

'There will be a battle soon,' those who didn't know anything about the real ordeal thought as soon as they heard Cyane also command his soldiers to immediately assume their battle formation.

When the people were ready, Tinuviel took the lead again and climbed the mountain. None of them got down from their horses; their horses could climb a mountain just as good, if not better than humans.

There were countless interesting things they could see in their surroundings, but their attention was only focused on their way. The higher they climbed, the more powerful the pressure became—their mind was occupied by their assumption of what was there.

'Everyone is tense, but my soldiers are just as tense,' Tinuviel thought to herself. 'I wonder if knowing what they will face matters. That pressure alone seems to be enough to let the others know how troublesome the opponent we will be facing is.'

Hiss!

Everyone immediately frowned the moment they heard the hissing sound that was too loud to come from an ordinary snake. Those who didn't know thought that maybe there was a Magical Beast that assumed the form of a snake, but those who knew became more solemn.

'Yamata no Orochi is nearby,' they thought.

Trying to act as unbothered as they could to not alarm the human soldiers, the Elves were internally sweating. They had heard how the elites amongst them got completely demolished by Yamata no Orochi—they couldn't help but worry.

Many as they were, regardless, the fact that they barely knew anything about the Beast was worrisome. In battles, information was crucial—they didn't have it, so they were essentially relying on their luck and their tact to win the battle or just survive it.

Rustle!

When they heard the bushes in their surroundings rustling, the human soldiers immediately tensed up. They couldn't feel any presence nearby, so they were alarmed when they detected movements from the bushes.

Being experienced fighters, the soldiers immediately faced said direction while simultaneously readying their weapons. They spread their Qi and Mana Senses to get a better scan of the area in front of them but still found nothing.

"Hold," Basil simply instructed. He didn't elaborate, but the soldiers trusted his judgment enough to not question it.

Cyane looked at that Basil in bewilderment; he couldn't believe how lax Basil was. The Pacifer looked like he was looking down on the problem they might face.

'Unless he could sense what is in front of him, he shouldn't be that calm,' Cyane mused. 'Still, what kind of Beast or even individual can sneak up on us this well?'

As a Peak Stage Violet Core Knight, Cyane took pride in his prowess. It was very hard for him to believe that despite being one of the strongest Knights in the Human Empire, there was still someone or some Beast that could conceal themselves from him.

Rustle!

'Now, show me what you—oh, it's them?'

The moment the cause of the rustling showed themselves, the soldiers all heaved a sigh of relief. Still, none of them lowered their guard, because what, or rather, who came out of the bushes might also turn the situation for the worse.

.. At least, that was the case for the human soldiers.

The Elves were secretly glad that they encountered their allies—the Dark Elves from the tribe that they were having a "conflict" with. They had, after all, promised to "accidentally" encounter each other on the way, so they could "accidentally" find out the truth together.

For it to happen, still, they needed to act as if they weren't allies, which wasn't very hard. As one might expect from people who had strained relationships, the Elves interacted with each other awkwardly.

"What a coincidence meeting you here, the Tribe Chief of Skudera, Aegnor teo Skudera."

"What a coincidence it is indeed, the Tribe Chief of Alphoetra, Tinuviel tia Alphoetra."

The reason why the two Tribe Chiefs could act awkward so naturally, however, wasn't because they were good actors. Despite having a pretty good relationship, the two rarely met due to their schedules, so the awkwardness was expected.

None, except the Elves, knew of that fact, but both sides still cringed at the interaction regardless; albeit for a different reason. Luckily for the Elves, though, none of the human soldiers suspected them of being allies.

"What are you doing here, Aegnor?" Tinuviel asked.

"I could say the same thing to you, Tinuviel," Aegnor replied. "I won't cause unnecessary trouble, of course, so I will give you the answer that you might already expect: I am here to investigate."

"That is also what we are doing—what a coincidence."

historical

".."

Hearing the response Tinuviel gave to Aegnor, the human soldiers couldn't help wincing. The awkwardness between the two was so unbearable, they were afraid a conflict might break if the two kept conversing.

'Come on, just end the conversation already,' they thought. 'We will gain nothing out of it. Just look at how flat the other party's face is!'

Basil could feel the anxiety of the soldiers, and couldn't help shaking his head in amusement. The two Tribe Chiefs were bad at acting; but it, ironically, became the reason why it worked on the people—it was as funny as it was ridiculous.

"What do you think of conducting an investigation together, so we can somehow find the truth behind the whole ordeal sooner?"

At Tinuviel's suggestion, the human soldiers inwardly exclaimed, 'That's what you are going with?'

Much to their bewilderment however, Aegnor nodded his head immediately. "That is a good suggestion."

'He accepted it easily—what the hell?!'

While the others were thinking about how absurd the interaction between the two was, Cyane was looking at it from a different perspective.

'As expected of the Elven Race, they are not the most peaceful race for no reason. Look at them, even though they are having a conflict, they can still act civilly.'

Although he found it rather suspicious, his high view towards Elves, in general, made him instantly discard his suspicion. He knew Elves weren't very fond of lying and being lied to, so he was sure there was no other meaning to their interaction—they were just awkward.

"Let us resume our investigation, shall we?"

At Tinuviel's suggestion, Aegnor merely nodded his head solemnly. He immediately integrated the soldiers he brought into Tinuviel's, and they mixed so well together, they looked like they had fought together for a long time.

Since all of them, again, got occupied by what the source of the sickening aura was, however, none of them cared about that fact. The moment they resumed climbing, their attention was focused on whatever was in front of them.

Whoosh!

Minutes passed, and the higher they climbed, the eerier the aura in their surroundings got. The sickening pressure that was coming from the peak of the mountain also became more apparent, making the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end.

The number of actively moving life-forms—the Magical Beasts inhabiting the mountain—they could detect from their surroundings had lessened. This could only mean one thing: there was something dangerous at the peak of Khirokiev Mountain.

In anticipation and full alertness, they climbed. Even after half an hour, however, nothing happened; they were as relieved as they were disappointed—it was a very conflicting feeling, but they kept climbing regardless.

Fifteen more minutes passed. At this point, all of them were sure something was bound to happen.

They could no longer sense any actively moving life-form from their surroundings, but they could sense the one terrifying presence at the peak of the mountain. Forgetting they were just there to investigate, they gulped their saliva dryly as they prepared themselves for battle.

"Ready yourselves!" Basil softly commanded.

Boom!

The sudden fluctuation of Mana from Basil's army startled the others. The moment they turned around, his entire army was already engulfed in the light of the Magic Circle below them.

Seeing that Basil's army had already activated their Magic Battle Formation, Cyane also immediately ordered his to do the same. The entire human army was inside their Magic Battle Formation in the next moment, ready to face whatever would show up.

The Elves, although they didn't have any Magic Battle Formation they could use, were also ready to fight. Unlike the humans, who needed a Formation to share their power, they could connect themselves to each other through Nature.

Dash!

Much to the people's bewilderment, Deacon galloped to the front even before Yamata no Orochi showed itself and surprised those who were clueless about it. They wondered whether Basil had lost his mind or wanted to bring them down with him.

"Master Basil, please stay in your Formation!" Tinuviel exclaimed.

"Sir Basil, I don't think it is a perfect time to test the water!" Cyane warned urgently.

"Get back—don't be rash!" Aegnor shouted.

Basil turned a deaf ear to their warning. He still instructed Deacon to keep advancing, even though the terrifying presence was getting closer.

The people instinctively turned to the army he had left behind to look at their reaction. Much to their bewilderment, however, instead of finding the army confused and baffled, they found the army smirking to themselves.

Iliana and Ione, replacing Basil, took the lead of the army. They raised their hands, and shouted at the same time, "Dodge!"

Whoosh!

An absurdly strong and lethal wind blade swept the area they were standing by in the blink of an eye. It cut the vegetation in their surroundings cleanly, allowing them to see what was happening in front of them.

There, they found a gigantic eight-headed eight-tailed serpent hissing menacingly at Basil, who was staring at said Magical Beast gallantly.