A few years ago, when Kristina and Eugene crossed the Samar Rainforest by themselves, Eugene had many things that he needed to be cautious of.

At that time, their purpose had been to search for Sienna, who had gone into seclusion, by investigating the elven territory. Along the way, they had even managed to discover a village of wandering elves. In order to avoid any unnecessary disputes, they had circled around any of the native tribes, and it had also taken them a long time to search here and there.

This time, however, there wasn’t any need for all that caution. The one leading the way for them was Ivatar, who was familiar with the paths leading through this incredibly vast forest.

Though rather than being familiar with the paths, it would be more accurate to say that the forest itself was opening up a path for Ivatar.

Ivatar was simply walking forward, but the densely packed trees would move their trunks aside as if they were alive and open a new path for him. The rough, muddy ground that was hard to walk on would also become flat and hard as soon as Ivatar raised his foot above it. Not only that, but the ground itself pulled his feet forward, and the wind pushed against his back.

“This is the Blessing of the Forest that is passed down through the Chieftains of the Zoran Tribe,” Ivatar explained.

The natives of Samar were loved by the forest and its primal spirits.

Yet among all the signs of affection the forest showed to the natives, its Blessing was the most blatant and strongest expression of its love. It was a power that could be described as the ancestor of all spirit magic and had been passed down since time immemorial. Ivatar hadn’t yet been ready to inherit this power when they first met a few years ago, but as the situation in this forest became increasingly unstable, and Ivatar came of age, the Divine Blessing had been passed down to him.

This time, there was no need for their party to circle around the other tribes. The natives were extremely sensitive to any violations of their tribe’s territories, but Ivatar was able to simply lead them straight through the other tribes’ lands without paying any attention to all that.

This was because the Zorans were one of the largest tribes in the forest, and Ivatar had already been confirmed as the next Chieftain of the tribe after participating in a ceremonial duel.

Lovellian’s summoned creatures were also of great help. The horses he summoned were able to move swiftly without slowing down, even in the complex terrain of this forest. Thanks to that, in the mere week since they had left the trade city, their party had already been able to arrive at the territory of the Zoran Tribe that lay deep within the forest.

Among all the tribes that Eugene had seen in this forest, the Zoran Tribe held the largest territory. This was partly thanks to the fact that the Rainforest itself was so vast, but this tribe’s territory was indeed larger than most noble territories Eugene had seen.

After entering the outskirts of the tribe’s territory, they walked for another day and a half. Even in the outskirts, there were already warriors standing guard, and after passing through dozens of villages, they were finally close to the capital city of the Zoran Tribe.

“Sir Eugene,” Mer, who was riding one of the summoned beasts, turned to look back at Eugene with a worried expression on her face. “She keeps acting weird.”

Raimira was riding in front of Mer on the same saddle. Even though Mer kept blatantly bullying Raimira, perhaps because they had so many things in common, they kept getting closer to each other by the day.

While they usually followed a pattern where Raimira would arrogantly say something that revealed how ignorant she was of the world, only for Mer to poke holes in her pride, they actually got along quite well and had even ridden on the same summoned beast the whole time that the party traveled through the forest.

Raimira immediately tried to reply, “This Lady is fine…,” but her voice didn’t have its usual strength.

Eugene stared at Raimira’s face, which had paled drastically.

Her condition had started to turn strange from the previous night. While she was sleeping, Raimira had suddenly woken up with a scream, and after that, she wasn’t able to resume her calm rest and kept suffering from nightmares. Even after waking up, she couldn’t muster the strength needed to take a drink of water properly, let alone eat, and her body kept shivering while letting out so much cold sweat it was as if she had been caught in the rain.

That was still the case even now. Raimira was sitting with her head resting against Mer’s chest as Mer gently supported her shoulders. Raimira’s lips, which she kept chewing, weren’t split open, but the teeth marks left on them were deep and swollen red. Her bangs were also drenched in sweat and hanging limply down her forehead.

Raimira tried to make an excuse, “This Lady… ever since this Lady was born, I have never left my palace. That means I was like a flower that had grown inside a greenhouse. As such, for one such as this Lady to have left my villa and trekked across this hot and sticky forest, it is like I am being subjected to severe torture…, so it is only natural for my body to be in such a poor state.”

“A dragon like you?” Eugene pointed out skeptically.

“This Lady doesn’t see this as an issue that has anything to do with whether or not I am a dragon,” Raimira sniffed. “This is… this is not a physical issue; it is a mental one.”

She wasn’t entirely wrong. Kristina and Anise were also among the members of the party. When Raimira’s condition had turned strange last night, the two had immediately checked her status, but Raimira’s abnormality seemed to have nothing to do with her body.

Eugene sighed, “Well, it’s not like I don’t have any idea what is causing this.”

Raimira was startled, “Wh-what is it?”

“Your father is watching you,” Eugene revealed with a smirk.

If he had to come up with a reason for Raimira’s condition to suddenly turn strange, then that was the only reason he could think of.

After entering the Rainforest, Euguene kept periodically checking with the Draconic spell. As he had initially thought, he concluded that it would be impossible to open a doorway to Raizakia from the outskirts of the forest.

From the moment he was banished to an external dimension, even someone like Raizakia couldn’t help but become desperate. Out of a tenacious desire to save his life and someday return to this world, Raizakia had somehow tied his own existence to the Rainforest. Eugene had confirmed that the deeper they went into the forest, the stronger the connection that was detected, but it seemed that they would still have to go all the way to the center of the forest in order to open the doorway.

As they got closer, close enough to check Raiziakia’s current condition from this side of the dimensional wall, that tenacious black dragon should also be able to extend his senses towards them from the other direction. Especially since they had brought Raimira with them; the ruby embedded in her forehead was once part of Raizakia’s Dragonheart.

Eugene prodded, “If it’s a psychological factor that is causing these abnormalities in your condition, you must have a vague sense of why that is, right?”

Raimira whimpered, “Uwuuuuu….”

Eugene kept pressing, “When I asked you yesterday, didn’t you say you just had a bad dream? But was that really all that it was? Do you really not remember what you saw in your dream?”

Raimira’s eyes shook with anxiety.

Eugene’s words were correct. Although Raimira had said that she didn’t remember, in fact, she could vaguely recall the contents of her dream.

Raimira thought back to that dark gloom. It had been so dark that she couldn’t even see her own body, and the darkness she was in had a sticky and unpleasant quality to it. She had thought that she was just standing there blankly, all by herself, but that wasn’t the case.

Something had been staring at Raimira from the other side of that dark space. She had tried to escape due to instinctive misgiving and fear, but in Raimira’s dream, it had been impossible for her to escape.

Your existence is all to serve me.

Raimiria heard these words in the voice of the Black Dragon — her own father— a voice that had been deeply engraved into her memories. The darkness that slowly encroached, no, the darkness that had already engulfed Raimira in the first place grew increasingly heavier with an added sense of hostility and greed.

At that moment, the darkness around her seemed to have changed. This change wasn’t something that she had ever experienced in her life, so Raimira couldn’t really tell what that feeling had been. Nevertheless, this had led Raimira to understand what her current situation in the dream had been.

Raimira was actually trapped in the mouth of something. She was still alive and in good condition, but she had somehow entered the mouth of a gigantic creature… and she was now sitting on its frigid tongue.

The mouth’s sharp fangs didn’t chew her up, nor did the mouth try to swallow her. Yet instead of reassuring her, this filled Raimira with even greater fear.

She was about to be swallowed alive in just a single gulp.

“Heeeeek…,” Raimira squeaked.

She really didn’t want to recall that nightmare. After waking up once, Raimira had tried to go back to sleep. That nightmare hadn’t repeated itself; instead, she had nightmares that left her feeling even worse and had worn out her consciousness.

From a place outside of this world, someone was glaring at Raimira. Although he wasn’t able to reach out to her directly, it felt like her soul was getting pulled to him from the touch of his gaze alone….

Mer felt sorry for the trembling and shaking Raimira. As such, she gently reached out and patted the crown of Raimira’s head. At some point, Kristina had also approached Raimira while mounted on her own summoned beast.

As Kristina gently rubbed the back of Raimira’s hands and Mer patted the top of her head, Raimira’s trembling gradually eased.

“I-I know what’s going on,” Raimira sobbed once she had reopened her eyes and started glaring at Eugene. “You wicked human. You’re definitely the one who’s invading this Lady’s head.”

Eugene raised an eyebrow, “What are you talking about now?”

“There’s no way that the nightmare I saw can be anything but a lie,” Raimira insisted. “The only one who would benefit from showing me such a dream is you, Eugene Lionheart.”

Raimira’s words weren’t just spouted at random.

What reason would the Black Dragon have for swallowing his daughter whole? So it must be that this sinister hero had an evil plan to create a rift between her and her father, the Black Dragon.

Seeing Eugene’s fists begin to tremble, Lovellian and Kristina quickly chimed in.

“Sir Eugene, please hold it in.”

“You have to hold on to your temper.”

Anise disagreed, Why should he hold back? Even if she’s right, after saying such unpleasant things about you, you should still give her a taste of discipline.

Melkith and Cyan also gave their different opinions.

“After all, isn’t it rare to get the opportunity to smack a dragon on its head?”

“If I behaved like that, would you hold back?”

Bam!

Before Eugene could even step forward to do so, Mer had struck Raimira on top of her head.

“We’ve arrived,” Ivatar announced.

This was the capital of the Zoran Tribe, a city that had been built within the forest.

Even from this distance, the temple constructed from piled-up stones could be seen. It was a temple dedicated to the God of the Land, the dominant religion in Samar. Their pyramid-shaped temple was the largest and tallest structure in their capital. The other buildings were all low, square, and monotonous, much like those homes they had seen on their way here.

The capital of the Zoran Tribe was huge. Of course, it couldn’t compare to Kiehl’s capital, but it was at least bigger than Eugene’s hometown of Gidol.

Eugene sighed, “I’ve only just now realized, but my hometown really is out in the country.”

“Are you able to admit that now?” Cyan asked as he turned back to look at Eugene with an aggrieved expression. “Even though you insisted that it wasn’t so when we were young, your body truly did smell like cow dung. When even a city like this, that’s located inside of a forest, doesn’t give off the smell of cow dung like you did.”

“Be quiet before I shove your face into a pile of dung,” Eugene threatened.

Cyan was well aware that this wasn’t just a verbal threat on Eugene’s part. He quietly kept his mouth shut as he stared at the capital’s walls with narrowed eyes.

“The mood feels strange,” Cyan observed.

It wasn’t a very welcoming atmosphere. The gates were closed, and the vigilance of the guards on the walls was strong. The warriors guarding the walls, who had even put on their war paint, were glaring down at them with fierce eyes.

“Are you going to make a move?” Eugene asked as he looked at Ivatar, who was standing in front of them.

Eugene knew why the atmosphere was like this. Before they had even started traveling to Samar, he had heard the whole story from Ivatar.

The air around Ivatar was also unusual. The muscles of his body were flexing hard enough to be seen with the naked eye, and his obvious display of rage and killing intent was making the space around him seem to vibrate.

“Of course, I have to take action,” Ivatar ground out.

Climbing off his summoned steed, Ivatar steadily strode forwards.

“Ivatar Jahav!” shouted a man loudly who was standing on top of the wall.

Although he was slightly shorter than Ivatar, his especially rough-looking face made it seem like he could possibly be a crossbreed of a human and a gorilla.

The man continued shouting, “Even if you are the next chieftain, your actions cannot be tolerated!”

“What are you talking about?” Ivatar calmly responded.

“This is a war that must be decided by the Zorans and our allies alone. However, you—! You took advantage of the Patriarch’s infirmity to act on your own volition!” the man accused. “Have you abandoned your pride as a Zoran!”

All this shouting was getting annoying.

It had been Ivatar’s personal decision to come to the Lionhearts looking for help. During that first battle, in which both sides had retreated without being able to determine a victor or a loser, Ivatar’s father, the Chieftain of the Zoran Tribe, had been mortally wounded and left on the brink of death.

Ivatar had also participated in that first battle. They neither won nor lost, and no one managed to advance or retreat…. At the very least, that’s what Ivatar insisted, but — the difference in strength could be felt right from the beginning. Kochillas still had enough slack to keep forces in reserve. They didn’t use any of the demonic beasts they had received as support from Helmuth, nor did they mobilize any of their wicked shamans. 𝘪.𝑐ℴ𝘮

However, the Zorans also had cards that they hadn’t played yet. The battle had started all too quickly, so the gathering of their tribal alliance hadn’t yet been fully finished. They also hadn’t been able to perform their ceremonial prayer for victory to the God of the Land. Just like how the Kochillas had yet to mobilize their shamans, the Zorans and their allied tribes were also keeping their shamans in reserve.

The Zoran Tribe’s elders and Ivatar’s relatives, all warriors with strong senses of pride, as well as the chieftains of the allied tribes, had all insisted that they still had a chance of seizing victory. However, Ivatar couldn’t agree with their point of view. During that first battle against the Kochilla Tribe, Ivatar had foreseen the eventual destruction of the Zoran Tribe and the eradication of his fellow tribesmen.

“I received permission from my father,” Ivatar spat out.

He had been certain that the Zorans and their allied tribes would not be able to defeat the Kochillas alone. With faint hope, Ivatar had thought about getting help from Eugene, so after receiving the Chieftain’s permission, he had left the forest.

“You dare speak of the Chieftain! My brother has already passed away. While you, his own son, were gallivanting away from the tribe! After suffering from the agony of his injuries, he finally entered the Land’s embrace! When you weren’t even here to take your place at my brother’s deathbed!”

The man who revealed this tragedy was the same man who had first yelled at Ivatar. He was the late Chieftain’s brother, as well as Ivatar’s uncle.

As his face contorted into a scowl, he accusingly pointed his finger at his nephew, “You say that you got permission from brother? There is no way that my brother, who always prioritized the honor and pride of the tribe, would allow these people from the outside to enter our sacred battlefield.”

Eugene, who had been silently listening to all the shouting, suddenly spoke up, “This is something that has been on my mind ever since the old days, but most bastards who spout on about things being sacred as a justification tend to be idiots.”

“Are you talking about me?” Kristina opened her lidded eyes and stared piercingly at Eugene.

In the face of that, Eugene could only avoid Kristina’s gaze and shut his mouth.

“Ivatar Jahav,” the uncle continued. “You must have taken advantage of the Chieftain whose mind was clouded as he lay dying.”

“What reason would I have to do something like that?” Ivatar responded.

The man scoffed, “There’s no need to know your reason for doing so. Just by trying to involve outsiders in our war, you have single-handedly abandoned the honor entrusted to you by the Chieftain.”

“The Kochillas are the ones who first drew in outsiders,” Ivatar pointed out.

“The Kochillas are different than us. They may accept aid from Helmuth, but the Zoran Tribe has always rejected any help from outside the forest,” the uncle declared self-righteously.

“What if that leads us to lose the battle?” Ivatar tried to argue.

“We will not be defeated,” the uncle insisted.

The arguments he was roaring were specious without a single trace of logic. Ivatar just shook his head with a vicious smile on his face.

“What do you want me to do?” Ivatar demanded.

“Leave the Zoran Tribe and never return,” his uncle commanded.

“Did you really hate the fact you lost the position of the next Chieftain to your own nephew that much?” Ivatar asked mockingly.

The uncle sneered, “Do you really think that I am being blinded by such ambition? I am doing this for the honor and pride of our tribe.”

Naturally, Ivatar didn’t believe those words. Eugene and the other people standing behind Ivatar didn’t believe them either. Even the expressions of the warriors lined up on the walls shook with disbelief.

However, Ivatar’s uncle, as well as the alliance’s chiefs, who were acting as representatives of their tribes, kept up their stern expressions.

This sight caused Eugene to come up with a clear and despicable image of what was going on here. It seemed that they were just pretending to go to war, and they must have made a secret agreement to be sheltered underneath the umbrella of the Kochilla Tribe once they admitted their defeat.

However, Eugene didn’t really care all that much about the power struggles between the natives living here.

The uncle scoffed, “And look at who you have behind you, Ivatar. Are those seven people really all the reinforcements you’ve brought with you even after abandoning your place at your father’s deathbed?”

“There are only three men among them, and none of them seem to have the courageous demeanor of a warrior,” one of the other tribal chiefs observed mockingly.

‘Are those guys talking about us?’

Eugene asked himself as he glanced over at Cyan and Lovellian, who were standing at his side. He could understand why they would say so after looking at Lovellian, who was a wizard, and Cyan, who didn’t seem all that strong based on his appearance….

“But me?” Eugene muttered in disbelief.

Did they really just say that he didn’t seem to have the courageous demeanor of a warrior?

“And why on earth did you even bring two women with you? Were you hoping to offer them up in exchange for forgiving your filial impiety?”

“Hey, why don’t you become my wife.”

“And the remaining two are children who aren’t even old enough to be cut off from their mother’s apron strings!”

The chieftains laughed as they pointed at Ivatar and Eugene’s party mockingly.

Melkith, who had just been standing there idly, let out a snort, “Hey, about what those guys were just saying, I’m hoping that I just heard them wrong, but did one of those old guys up there really look at me and ask me to become his wife?”

Eugene placated her, “They were probably saying that to Kristina, not you, Lady Melkith.”

Melkith reacted defensively, “Hmm? What? Why would you think that? I think that they were definitely talking to me just now? After all, that old man is still looking at me right now.”

“As long as they’re normal, they would rather marry Kristina than you, Lady Melkith,” Eugene declared.

Those words settled the irritation and anger that had been bubbling inside Kristina’s chest since earlier.

‘Doesn’t that mean Sir Eugene would also prefer me to be his wife?’ Kristina thought giddily.

Hamel isn’t a normal person, but Kristina, I think it’s safe to take what he said just now as an actual proposal, Anise also excitedly encouraged.

Melkith glared at Eugene with a blank expression, “No way? Why? Both Saint Kristina and I are plenty pretty, no?”

Eugene calmly responded, “Because your age is three times that of Kristina, Lady Melkith.”

Melkith’s eyelashes fluttered in shock at this blunt reply.

Yet even as they were having this leisurely conversation, the mockery coming from the top of the walls continued.

Ivatar’s face was contorted into a vicious scowl as he glared up at the city walls. Then, after taking a deep breath, Ivatar spun around to face everyone.

“My apologies to all of you,” Ivatar bowed his head deeply as he offered his apology. “Although I did say that you might not receive a warm welcome, I never imagined that they would actually offer you such a lowly insult.”

“Ivatar Jahav! How dare you, who claims to be the next Chieftain, bow your head to someone else!” a man shouted.

Ivatar simply ignored these words and continued speaking, “It seems that I was too short-sighted. I never imagined that warriors like them, who are also going on about their honor and pride, would actually show such ugly behavior. Since I don’t dare to burden or offend you with this matter any longer, if you so desire, I can lead you back out of the forest immediately.”

Eugene waved off the offer, “Haaah, there’s no need for that. Like I’ve already said, I also have something that I need to deal with in this forest.”

“If that’s the case, then please wait here for just a moment,” Ivatar requested as he raised his bowed head.

There was no need for him to ask for any help. While grinding his teeth in anger, Ivatar turned around.

Although insults continued to pour down from the city walls, Ivatar had no intention of responding or even listening to them any longer. Without holding any weapons, he simply clenched his bare fists tightly and strode over to the walls.

It happened in an instant. The ground below appeared to bounce Ivatar’s feet upward like a spring. Having been sent flying, Ivatar rose to the top of the walls in a single leap.

The Zoran Tribe’s Deputy-Chieftain, Ivatar’s uncle, wasn’t alarmed by this. Since this was Ivatar they were dealing with, he naturally knew that Ivatar was capable of such actions. No, rather than being surprised, it had been his intention in the first place to provoke Ivatar into attacking in a rage, as he had also been planning to deal with Ivatar once and for all by killing him.

Ivatar wasn’t a warrior who merely relied on an overblown reputation. There were few warriors in the entire tribe who were as strong as he was.

Ivatar’s uncle raised the spear he had been hiding behind his back. The Deputy-Chieftain then gave a mighty roar and threw the spear down at Ivatar. Wrapped in a tremendous amount of mana, the spear pierced through the air with a roar.

Then ever so easily, the fiercely flying spear was caught in Ivatar’s hand. Ivatar twisted his body in midair and threw the spear straight back.

Spluuuurt!

Without even consuming any mana, the spear that was thrown using body strength alone pierced through the Deputy-Chieftain.

Booooom!

Then, without losing any of its power from penetrating into a human body, the spear proceeded to collapse the city walls.

“Haaaah!” the other tribal chiefs who had been standing nearby let out roars.

They leaped off the collapsing wall and threw themselves at the now-falling Ivatar.

It didn’t take long for Ivatar to tear each of their arms off, one by one, with his bare hands alone.

“Gaaaaah…,” the Deputy-Chieftain, who was buried within the rubble of the collapsed wall, let out a cry as he was picked up by the spear that was still stuck in him.

While shaking the spear that his uncle was impaled upon, Ivatar snarled, “You are no warrior.”

Ivatar hadn’t spat out these words while expecting any sort of coherent response from the man. Ivatar slammed the raised spear down into the ground.

Splat!

When the body of the Deputy-Chieftain was smashed into the ground, it exploded, and his blood splattered in all directions. The other tribal chieftains, who had been reduced to being one-handed in mere moments, lacked the courage to order their warriors to kill Ivatar and could only clutch at their wounds.

“Order the gates to be opened,” Ivatar commanded without wiping away the blood that had spattered onto his face.

The gates of the city soon swung open.

𝑖𝘦.𝑐𝘰𝘮