The masked stranger

Meanwhile, on the other side,

" Sis, do you feel that as well? " (Mark)

" I do, more so than you. It feels like a silent embrace of death. " (Lily)

A sinister presence was felt in the forest ahead.

Its movement sounded like dry branches snapping.

A chill pervaded their bodies as they got tense.

Lily activated her clairvoyance and intuition.

She summoned her first familiar, a horde of bumblebee bats that spread throughout the forest, looking for the source of the disturbance.

Then, she summoned her second familiar, a pair of komainus, lion-dog like creatures with a hint of Ancient Qilin bloodline in them.

She then summoned her third familiar, an elder fairy. Barely the size twice that of Lily's palm(fingers included), it had a minimal presence, yet, the komainus trembled in fear upon seeing her.

Only a level lower than the fairy queen in terms of bloodline, she was a force to be reckoned with.

" Lily, I am so sleepy, why did you ... wait a moment, a leshy!?!, what is a spirit of such calibre doing here? " (Fairy)

" Leshy!!! " (Lily and Mark)

A withered branch emerged from the mist around them, barely resembling a hand.

Small firefly-like insects floated around the hand like some divine aura.

The mist around the branch-like hand darkened as a figure emerged from it.

It was a hunchbacked man(?) with a crooked, green-coloured face, tree-bark like skin, several sharp branch-like appendages protruding from its back and chest, his head appearing like a half-dried skull, with sunken, lifeless eyes resembling vortices.

Moss grew in a substantial amount on it, forming a large heap on its back while the sharp branches on its chest had withered skulls impaled on them, one on each.

The skulls were of different sizes and species, some reptile-like, some beast-like, some double its own skull in size, some small enough to fit in the palm of the hand.

Yet, they gave off a heavy aura of death and destruction. In contrast, the moss heap on his back gave off a strong pulse of life, making it feel enigmatic.

The Leshy was known as the master of the forest, its guardian and caretaker.

It was supposed to be an enigmatic creature ruling over both life and death of the denizens of the forest.

Lily and Mark trembled in fear as the Leshy approached them, or the fairy, to be more precise.

" ***** ** ****** **** ***** " The Leshy spoke in a language unintelligible to the duo whereas the komainus already fainted out of sheer terror but, the fairy replied in the same language to the Leshy.

It dug into its moss heap to retrieve a translucent pearl which it duly handed over to the fairy before leaving. The moment the Leshy left, the duo collapsed onto the ground, panting.

" Lily, good job. If you hadn't summoned me, the outcome would've been vastly different, a bloodbath, to be exact. They are pretty whimsical creatures, unreliable at best, vile at worst. Keep me summoned until you leave this place. " (Fairy)

" Was it scared of you? " (Mark)

" Not exactly. We of the fairy race are an old branch of the spirit race while they are slightly new ones. Hence, they tend to show respect to us alongside forest spirits whom they used to directly work under, High sprites, and so on. " (Fairy)

" When will captain and others return? " (Lily)

~roar~ (A bloodcurdling scream that resembled the wail of a ghost)

" What happened? the sound came from the cave!! " (Mark)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Meanwhile in the cave,

~~kh~~

Sarcony panted, every breath cutting through her lungs like hot knives.

Her body radiated a large amount of heat.

Sweat and mud caked her clothes, her sword (temporary) lay in pieces on the ground.

She was the only one besides Mo'er who remained standing.

Sakura had fainted a while ago, taking the blow that would have been fatal for Maria in her stead.

Maria, having been knocked over by Sakura's body slamming into her, collapsed as well.

Mo'er had numerous injuries all over her body, ranging from small cuts and scrapes to huge claw gashes and bite wounds.

If not for her infinitely regenerating stamina and passive healing due to the presence of natural energy, she would have long been a cold corpse on the ground.

Sarcony wasn't far off, judging from her bloodied clothes and trembling body. Exchanging blows with the wendigo felt no different from punching a metal wall, rendering her arms numb.

The wendigo, wary of the pair who remained standing even after so many wounds tickled its bestial instincts. It was cautious, giving a breather for the duo.

<<Onee sama, we cannot fight this thing>>

<<It is ridiculously strong, even the attack that scared Luna is barely affecting it, first off, it evaded an attack so fast, I barely have any words to express my shock>>

Even the playfight with Mantle wasn't as taxing on them.

Not because wendigo was stronger, but because both Luna and Mantle, not being the natural denizens of the realm, were highly restricted in terms of the power they can utilise in any given moment, giving enough leeway/advantage to the duo.

But the wendigo is a denizen of this realm, hence, no restrictions were applied on its power.

Just like the o*e r*ng from the L**d of **e *in*s, the restrictions were dependent on the power of the person under question, stronger the person, higher the restraints.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside the cave,

Just as Lily and Mark were about to go in, a guttural scream blew them away, instantly dematerialising the komainus and the bat horde. The fairy was barely able to remain manifested.

A wendigo, drenched in blood from head to toe, walked towards them with a glint in its eyes, totally regarding the trio as tasty morsels/prey to feast on.

" We ... Wendigo, run... " the fairy shouted at the top of her lungs while pelting it with all types of spells it could remember.

Yet, all they managed to do was enrage the wendigo, akin to naughty children pelting an adult with a peashooter.

The wendigo moved so fast, it almost appeared as if it teleported in front of the fairy, and severed it in two with its claws, dematerialising it.

Lily collapsed, spitting blood, as some of the damage done to the fairy would be transferred to her as the fairy was her familiar.

A tiny bird, Mark's familiar, rushed towards the village to inform them of the impending doom only to end as scraps of meat on the ground that dematerialised soon after.

The wendigo was fast enough to snatch a bird from midair and tear it apart.

Mark, spat blood, falling to his knees.

'Is this the end?' the duo thought as the wendigo approached Lily.

Lily's prided swordsmanship couldn't be used in her current condition, and Mark's scales weren't tough enough to last more than a moment under the wendigo's claws or fangs.

Just as the wendigo was about to tear the jugular of Lily, a whistling sound distracted it.

A thin dagger, made entirely of bone sprouted on the wendigo's head, sending it reeling away in pain, the wendigo roaring like a wailing ghost.

A woman, dressed in black, from head to toe, the bottom portion of her face obscured by a black mask with golden engraving on it, her hand clutching a bunch of bone daggers, similar to the one that hit the wendigo.

Her sharp, sky blue eyes, the only visible feature on her face, were glaring at the beast.

Her platinum blonde hair danced in the autumn wind.

" You are ... " (Mark)

" I am ... " (the mysterious woman)