Simon slowly channeled jet-black to the tips of his hidden fingers. In an instant, he formed a magic circle at his index finger, drawing a drop of blood to mix with the dark energy.
’Cloud’
Thrusting his arm forward, an emerald flash sparked and shot into the darkness. But the distance was too great. The spell missed the suspicious figure by a hair’s breadth, smashing into a tree behind them. Leaves rustled as the figure immediately turned and fled.
"Who’s there?!" Simon shouted, swinging his arm forcefully. The spell wrapped tightly around the tree’s base, and he used it to slingshot himself forward, launching into a dead sprint.
"Ugh... w-what’s going on?" Dick mumbled, woken by the commotion.
There was no time to answer. Simon released his hold on the spell and hit the dirt just as his quarry vanished into the dense brush.
"Stop!" Gritting his teeth, Simon sparked jet-black through both legs and gave chase.
The midnight pursuit was on.
The figure moved with bizarre, erratic agility, weaving around rocks and trees. It was hard to believe such movements came from a bipedal human; their speed was closer to a wild animal’s. Simon pushed himself harder.
’Internal Jet-Black Eruption!’
The Combat Dark Magic skill drastically enhanced his physical abilities for a short burst. Jet-black surged through his entire body, seeping from his pores like beads of dark oil. His speed skyrocketed, closing the gap. The moment Simon kicked off the ground, lunging for the back of the figure’s neck...
The figure’s neck snapped backward with a sickening ’creak’, turning at an impossible angle to look dead at Simon. They bared their gums in a wide, eerie grin. Simon’s hand swiped through empty air with a soft ’swoosh’, passing right through their face.
’What?’
Simon hastily brought both legs down, his boots screeching as they carved long gouges into the earth. He slid quite a distance before finally skidding to a halt. He sprinted back to where the figure had been standing, but...
There was absolutely nothing there. They had vanished like a phantom.
’That person, definitely...’
Their clothing had been roughly woven from raw natural materials—something rarely seen in modern cities or villages. Even for a grassland native, their appearance was far too primitive. Simon quickly scanned the ground where the figure had disappeared.
’Ah.’
His boot brushed against something hard. Crouching, he thrust his hand into the mud and pulled the object free. It was a human skull. It was incredibly old—so ancient that a necromancer wouldn’t even be able to raise it as an undead.
It was less a corpse’s remains and more of a historical relic. Expression grim, Simon set the skull back down on the ground.
After a thorough sweep of the perimeter, Simon returned to their makeshift camp. It was in a state of total uproar. Meirin and Kamibarez, woken by the commotion, were huddled together, looking up at Simon with terrified expressions. Dick, still half-asleep, had grabbed a nearby branch and was wildly swinging it back and forth.
"What is it?! What’s going on?!" he yelled, his voice cracking.
"Did something happen?" Meirin asked, her voice trembling.
Simon let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, it was just a deer. I must have been seeing things."
"Jeez! What the heck!" Meirin stomped her foot in frustration before her adrenaline faded, leaving her slumped in relief. Kamibarez placed a hand over her heart, exhaling a long sigh.
"Y-You startled us," she murmured. "Still, I’m glad you’re safe, Simon."
"Sorry for yelling like that. I guess I was just on edge."
Simon took his seat back in front of the campfire to finish his night watch. Relieved, Meirin and Kamibarez quickly drifted back to sleep, their soft breathing filling the quiet air as they held onto each other. Simon tossed another log into the dying flames.
"Hey."
Dick, whom Simon assumed was asleep, walked over and plopped down next to him.
"It’s not your watch yet. Get some more sleep; I’ll wake you when it’s time."
"Nah, it’s fine. I’m wide awake now." Dick let out a long yawn, then turned to Simon, his eyes cool and serious. "Simon. You saw something, didn’t you?"
Simon stayed quiet.
"It’s okay, just tell me." Dick glanced over his shoulder to ensure Meirin and Kamibarez were sound asleep before continuing. "No matter how I look at it, something’s off about this place. We need to figure out how this grassland works."
Simon had planned to tell everyone once the sun came up anyway. He quickly recounted the encounter. A suspicious figure had been spying on them. He had given chase, but the person vanished like a phantom, leaving only an ancient skull buried in the mud where they disappeared.
Upon hearing the explanation, Dick’s expression grew grave.
"Hmm’... If you chased them that far, you definitely didn’t just imagine it." He tapped his fingertips against his knee, lost in thought, before suddenly standing up. "You said I still have a while before my watch, right? I’m gonna go take a look around. Call it a midnight stroll."
"Alright. Be careful."
"Where exactly was that skull?"
Simon gave him the directions, and Dick wandered off into the dark to see for himself.
The next morning.
Simon’s group boarded their boat once again, continuing their journey upstream. The mana engine hummed perfectly, sparing them the grueling task of rowing. All they had to do was follow the river’s path.
"The fog is thick today," Dick muttered.
The early morning grassland had taken on a dreary, oppressive atmosphere. The sky was bruised purple and gray, threatening rain at any moment, and a thick fog blanketed the water. It felt completely different from the vibrant landscape of yesterday. Between the early wake-up and the miserable sleeping arrangements, no one was in peak condition.
They agreed to take turns resting. Kamibarez dozed off almost immediately. The soft rustle of pages broke the silence. Simon, of course, didn’t rest.
He sat near the bow, engrossed in a book.
"What are you reading?"
A sweet floral scent wafted over as Meirin approached his side. She leaned in, blinking her eyes with unabashed curiosity. Simon glanced up.
"It’s a book on the history of the grassland."
"Uh-huh." Meirin narrowed her eyes at him before letting out a soft chuckle. "You’re surprisingly interested in history, huh? It doesn’t really suit you."
"Then what does suit me?"
"You’re a Summoning nut. I figured you’d be reading up on what kind of undead you could stitch together from the local monsters."
’Ah.’
Why hadn’t he thought of that? Next time, he would have to bring a field guide on regional materials and specialized undead.
"But this looks interesting!" Drawn by the illustrations, Meirin sat down closely beside him. Simon unconsciously flinched, his jaw stiffening at the sudden proximity.
"Who’s this ’High Priest’ here?"
"Ah, well. To understand that, I have to explain the earlier Chapters..." Simon summarized what he had read so far.
An ancient civilization once thrived in the grassland. While people currently only inhabited the upper regions, long ago, the lower grassland was also populated. The inhabitants of the lower grassland built a brilliant civilization. Despite the harsh, seemingly uninhabitable environment, their population reportedly exceeded hundreds of thousands.
They worshipped a unique god and lived according to the will of the High Priest, who claimed to receive divine revelations. However, they practiced a custom that modern society would find utterly gruesome.
"Human sacrifice?" Meirin sounded out the words, shuddering in horror. "So they actually offered living people as sacrifices?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, that’s completely evil! What kind of people do that?"
"They maintained the custom because they believed it was a direct command from their god. Being an isolated civilization, it probably fostered an environment where no one dared defy the priesthood."
Typically, the victims were slaves and foreigners. The lower grasslanders frequently raided the upper regions, kidnapping people to offer at their altars. Naturally, the two factions despised each other. The upper grasslanders’ main military force was their cavalry, which was utterly useless in the dense, overgrown jungle of the lower grassland.
No matter how many troops they sent, they suffered defeat after defeat. Worse still, the lower grasslanders wielded a mysterious force known as the ’power of god.’ A giant snake large enough to encircle the entire region. An eagle whose wingspan blotted out the sun.
Even a monstrous crocodile capable of flooding the entire basin. Faced with a High Priest who wielded divine magic akin to natural disasters, the upper grasslanders’ invasions were repeatedly crushed just as they reached the enemy city’s gates.
Meirin fell silent. Listening up to this point, she crossed her arms.
"This isn’t history. It’s just a myth, right? It has to be made up!"
"I’m not sure," Simon admitted. He shrugged and continued the story.
The reason this civilization—which had flourished through divine power and blood sacrifice—collapsed remained a mystery. According to upper grassland records, that incredible ancient empire perished in a single night. The texts claimed:
’—Their god grew furious and passed judgment upon them.’
At the very end of the historical account, there was a passage about the civilization’s final High Priest. It was said that the High Priest, the sole survivor of that night of death, was overwhelmed with grief, lamenting that the destruction was entirely his fault. He eventually took his own life, but his resentment was so powerful that he rose as a phantom. Even in death, he sought to resurrect the civilization he had doomed.
Even to this day.
"That’s the gist of it." Simon closed the book.
Meirin frowned, rubbing her temples. "What a creepy story. Now I just feel uneasy for no reason."
"Alright, everyone." Dick, who had been steering the boat, turned to face them. "I think we have a problem."
Simon and Meirin’s eyes widened. Kamibarez stirred from her nap and groggily walked over. Dick unfolded a map.
"Look at this. This is the river we’re on."
The depicted waterway was winding, but it clearly stretched continuously northward. If they simply followed it upstream, they were bound to reach the upper grassland.
"We’ve been following the main branch of the river this whole time, right? If you calculate our speed and the river’s length, we should have made it out of the lower grassland hours ago. So why are we still going in circles?"
Kamibarez tilted her head. "Could we have drifted down a tributary?"
Meirin shrugged. "Or maybe the map is just wrong. It’s not like it’s a city grid. There’s no way a map of such rugged terrain is perfectly accurate, right? Rivers naturally shift their courses over time anyway."
"That’s true, but no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t add up." Dick scratched his head vigorously in frustration. Simon surveyed the dense fog banks around them.
"I agree with Dick," Simon said. "Kill the engine for a second."
"Huh? Why?"
"I need to check our surroundings from a high vantage point before the rain starts again."
Simon bent his knees, coiling his muscles, and leaped high into the air. He snatched a thick vine dangling overhead and swung himself toward the canopy.
’Cloud’
He attached the spell to a massive tree trunk and let go of the vine. Simon landed squarely against the bark. It was the tallest, thickest tree in the vicinity. Channeling jet-black to the tips of his toes, Simon scaled the vertical surface with incredible agility.
Watching from the boat, Dick let out a low whistle. "Wow, seriously. How is that guy a Summoning student?"
"Be careful, Simon!" Kamibarez called out.
Simon rapidly ascended. By the time a dull ache settled into his thighs, the surrounding canopy looked like a sea of green far below. Reaching the very top, Simon balanced on a sturdy branch and scanned the horizon. The landscape was still dominated by the dense jungle of the lower grassland.
He turned to look behind them. He could see the ocean. It was hard to believe. After leaving the coast and traveling upstream for so long, they had barely made any progress.
’This is seriously messed up.’
Simon meticulously inspected the terrain once more. Then, he saw it. His jaw dropped. Unable to believe his own eyes, he rubbed them and stared hard, but the reality didn’t change.
"The grassland is...!"
The grassland was moving.
A deep, seismic rumble echoed through the earth.
The ground was shifting like massive puzzle pieces sliding into new configurations. It moved like a colossal snake pressed flat against the earth, the terrain constantly slithering and rearranging itself. A clearing suddenly became densely packed with trees, while a brand-new river branch carved itself into existence nearby. Something deeply unnatural was happening.
Simon’s eyes sharpened. ’Could it be?’ Realistically, the most likely cause was a dungeon anomaly. It was entirely possible that a dungeon had opened nearby right as they entered the grassland, warping the local geography.
But there was one other, far more dangerous possibility.
’—"I heard that the last traces of Mur, an Ancient Undead of the Legion, were found in the grassland fifteen years ago."
The coincidence was too glaring to ignore. ’I need to regroup with Pier as soon as possible.’
At the same time.
[Kuhuhuhuhu!]
Countless monsters of the grassland lay slaughtered, their tongues lolling from lifeless maws. The corpses literally formed a mountain, their numbers impossible to count. The nearby valley ran red with blood. At the center of the carnage, a skeletal figure trudged forward, a massive white greatsword slung casually over his shoulder.
It was none other than the Legion’s manager and Ancient Undead, Pier. As he casually cleaved through a surviving monster and took a step forward, the terrain violently shifted. Dense trees erupted from the earth, forming an impenetrable barrier to block his path.
[So you were in the grassland after all, Mur!]
Laughing darkly, Pier swung the Greatsword of Ruin with terrifying force. The surrounding trees were cleanly severed, exposing their pale inner rings as their upper trunks were launched into the air. The massive logs crashed back down, shaking the earth with deafening ’booms’.
Pier stepped over the splintered remains and pressed forward, but this time, the nearby cliffs violently shifted to block his front. The river rapidly altered its course, wrapping around him like a castle moat.
[Do you not welcome my visit?]
A dangerous glint flashed in Pier’s hollow eye sockets as he gripped the greatsword with both hands.
[It seems I must regroup with the boy as quickly as possible!]
The war had already begun.

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