Chapter 3 : Prey and Predator

"Can you tell me why we're here again?"

Bari, exhausted and covered in mud and leaves up to his knees, complained once again. His repetitive words rang hollow in the ears of Uzan who ignored the heat and humidity in his pursuit of the exotic last human.

With slumped shoulders and heavy breaths, Bari accepted the silence of his two clanmates and stopped his pointless protests.

"Uzan, I know complaining won't get us anywhere, but what is our plan here? We have been walking for hours and there is no sign of the human, we might be chasing ghosts here."

Shiira was the one to speak this time.

"He has to rest and eat, humans can't last a day without water or food, not to mention sleep. Don't worry, we'll find something sooner or later."

His pride was clearly clouding his judgment, but neither Shiira nor Bari had the authority to challenge the next clan leader or criticize his decisions.

Silence returned again, and the three demons continued their walk into heart of the forest, following the non-existent tracks of Adam.

Noon came and went, and the demons were still on the move with no direction.

Damn it, this is getting out of hand, we need to return to town and reinvestigate, walking around aimlessly here is useless.

Shiira, who is usually calm and composed, was unable to hide her irritation with her leader's unreasonable commands.

"Uzan, this is enough. We need to reconsider our options, humans leave tracks and there are none here. So, let's just take a short break to reorganize."

She was a warrior who took countless lives and came close to death herself but, disobeying the demon destined to be the Ash'ai clan leader made her nervous.

"…Fine, I suppose a short rest can't hurt."

"Finally—I can hear water close by, I want to clean my boots so let's go there."

Bari made an exaggerated sigh and hurriedly led the way.

It didn't take long before the three arrived at a small river flowing with clear sparkling water. Bari dashed towards it alone, thrilled to finally get the chance to clean himself.

Shiira approaches the river slowly while conversing with Uzan, trying to convince him to call off the futile search.

"Uzan, why are you so committed to this, we don't even know if this human really exists, and even—"

She was cut off by Uzan's cold and hateful gaze.

"you dare question the orders of the demon lord and the Ash'ai clan?"

"n-no…I just have questions is all."

Why is he like this? what happened to him in the capital?

"keep them to yourself, don't forget where you came from before the Ash'ai clan uplifted you."

She couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. Memories she locked away long ago flooded her mind, nearly paralyzing her.

"Uzan, Shiira come here, you'll want to see this."

Uzan started walking to where Bari's was without a second word, leaving Shiira, shaking and covered in a cold sweat, behind.

"Bari, what did you find?"

Bari pointed at the ground in front of him, where embers and fish carcasses littered the ground—and a clear path of disturbed grass and footprints ahead.

"look at that, who would've guessed that I would be the one to find a lead on the human—what's wrong with you Shiira?"

"…I'm okay…good job."

Her words were shaky and weak, a complete contrast to her usual self.

Bari shrugged and bent down closer to the still-warm embers; he picked up one of the fish carcasses and chuckled.

"haha, he was fishing while you were losing your mind Uzan, that's hilarious."

Before he could continue his mockery of the situation, a loud bang sounded through the forest, making all three jump in surprise. A bright blue explosion came from a nearby tree, sending a wooden arrow flying toward Bari.

The arrow struck his chest and shattered inches away from his body, stopped by the powerful magic barrier developed and mastered by the Ash'ai clan.

"What was that?"

Bari picked up the remnants of the destroyed arrow and displayed it to the others.

"how primitive. He must've set up a trap with his augment powers, but all he could manage was a wooden arrow with no enhancement. Look under your right foot, that looks like the ensnarement magic of the Sho'oi clan."

Bari moved his foot to reveal a small burned spot on the ground.

Hahaha, what a fool I was to let your words affect me Onvyr.

"This is odd, the lowborns in the village said that his augment powers were rather strong. Why would he use them this way now that he is well rested and fed, he should have more power not less."

Shiira, who was quiet until now, finally spoke up. Only to be met with mockery from Uzan and Bari.

"If you are so cowardly to even fear wooden arrows then you don't belong on this mission."

"I-I'm not… It's just—"

"you can leave if you want, I don't want a coward watching my back anyway."

Uzan walked away once again, leaving a shocked Shiira behind.

The walk continued, but now they had a trail to follow. A path of footprints led them toward an even thicker part of the forest.

The more they followed the path, the more traps they encountered. Arrows with no enchantment shot out, some came from trees, others from deep holes in the ground, but they were all equally ineffective.

They attempted to locate and disable the traps before setting them off but gave up after the first 7. It was a waste of time and magic to stop attacks that couldn't even hurt them.

Bari, who was leading the way, took most of the arrows and was irritated by the annoyance they presented. The weak projectiles, while they posed no threat, got dust and wood shrapnel on his robes infuriating him beyond belief.

"what the hell… does this human think we're stupid? That one is so obvious even an animal wouldn't fall for it."

Bari looked at a close-by tree with a clearly hollowed-out hole in it. it had no leaves or dirt covering it.

It was too obvious, as if no effort went into hiding it. Uzan simply saw it as a primitive act of defiance from a foolish weak being and moved on, however, Bari wanted to mock the poor effort by triggering the trap.

"Bari, don't do it. just leave it be, it's a little too obvious—"

Shiira tried to ward Bari but was stopped by Uzan who was now holding a grudge against her, for a reason unknown.

"Let him have his fun. It's just a wooden arrow with no magic."

Shiira grew quiet once again, letting Bari walk toward the obvious trap.

The two moved ahead as the loud explosion sounded again, expecting more of Bari's mockery to be heard from behind them, but none came.

Instead, the sound of pained gurgling and pleads for help hit their ears causing them to turn around in the blink of an eye, only to be met with a grizzly scene.

Bari was on his knees impaled by an arrow, bleeding profusely while feebly attempting to pull it out of his chest with no success.

"why? Why did this arrow pass through the barrier?"

Uzan froze in place, shocked by the unexpected turn of events.

"Bari, hold on, I'll remove the arrow and heal you. Take a deep breath and prepare yourself, this is going to hurt."

Shiira on the other hand quickly ran to him and started applying healing magic while pulling the arrow out of his quivering body.

"this tip… it's jet black… it also burns my magic away as soon as I touch it—this is one of the anti-magic weapons we were warned about. Uzan, come help me."

Uzan couldn't move a muscle, his mind was assaulted by Onvyr's words. His last warning about prey and predator replayed again and again in his head.

As he slowly analyzed the situation more thoroughly, he comprehended what Onvyr meant by his words. They were led too far away from the starting point so they couldn't rush back to get help.

The weak traps lulled them into a false sense of security only to take out one of them with ease. even the extra wooded area they were currently in was disadvantageous for a magic user due to the plenty of cover it offered.

They didn't come here willingly, they were herded here, like cattle to the killing floor. He was always the strongest, always the smartest, but now he was mere prey to be cornered and hunted.

"UZAN, I NEED HELP."

Shiira's words broke through to him, pulling him away from the spiral of fear and self-doubt.

"w-why aren't you healing him? You aren't a healing specialist but at least close his wound."

"she can't, you see when the anti-magic tip impaled him, shards broke off and are stuck inside of him now. You'll need a real powerful healer to overpower them and close the wound."

The answer did not come from Shiira nor Uzan. It came from a large tree behind the two.

They both looked at it in disbelief in surprise as Adam, the human they chased after for so long, climbed down from it nimbly.

"you wanted me, so here I am."

Uzan and Shiira were too shocked to speak, they were in the presence of their species' greatest rival. A 500-year-old ghost who had no right to exist, a monster who led them to their doom and nearly killed their companion. He was now right in front of them. And for the first time in their lives, they knew true fear.