After leaving the ruins and pushing on for a long while, Duncan only finally relaxed once he was sure no "aftereffects" were coming. That indescribable aura from the relic clung to him like a parasite. Nothing obvious had happened—no abnormal status, no visible change—but the feeling stayed lodged in his throat, impossible to swallow down.
Maybe it was psychological. Maybe it wasn't.
Duncan had always taken his "gut feelings" seriously. There were simply too many unknowns in this world—any one of them could kill you the moment you let your guard down.
"Duncan, did you notice something bad?" Bell asked.
Duncan's tension hadn't escaped him. Since the first day, this was the first time Bell had seen Duncan this restless and on edge. Earlier, while they were rushing, it hadn't been a good moment to ask. Now that they'd stopped to rest, Bell finally voiced his curiosity.
"No. I didn't find anything," Duncan said, carefully searching for words. "But I feel… off. Especially after hearing your explanation. It's the first time since I came here that I've felt like this. It's not exactly bad—more like… weird."
Even as he said it, the answer felt vague. The sensation was too slippery to pin down in language.
Bell, seeing Duncan's state, thoughtfully didn't press further.
After resting, they set out again. As time passed, daytime-active monsters appeared in greater numbers than in the morning—but nothing they ran into could slow Duncan and Bell anymore.
After so many days of hardening themselves, they'd learned the weaknesses of the Tree Sea's common monsters by heart. Clearing the roadblockers took almost no effort.
As yesterday's campsite came into view, Bell's happiness barely lasted three seconds before Duncan lifted a hand and stopped him.
"Careful. Something's wrong. Don't just walk in."
Duncan's expression was grim. The forest was too quiet. For the last ten minutes they hadn't encountered a single monster—an empty pocket like that in a high-density area was deeply abnormal.
Duncan didn't believe their campsite had some magical "repel monsters" effect. If it did, there wouldn't have been nightly raids.
Normally, there were only two explanations:
The surrounding monsters had been cleared out and hadn't repopulated yet.
A high-level monster had passed through, forcing weaker creatures to scatter.
There were times when both were true—but in a remote, uninhabited Tree Sea, the "adventurers cleared them" option was vanishingly unlikely. And in places like this, other adventurers could be as dangerous as monsters. According to Chardo, ambushing and looting other parties happened all the time in the Dungeon.
In the Dungeon, "watching out for other familias' adventurers" was a mandatory skill—and even a powerhouse like the Zeus Familia still had people bold enough to attack them.
"There are way too few monsters," Duncan said. "A large one probably showed up nearby and scared everything off."
"Then… do we go in?" Bell asked, tightening his grip on his dagger.
Duncan glanced at the sky. They'd lost time at the ruins, and it was already past noon. Reaching the previous campsite before sunset would be almost impossible. Making a new camp in the forest was dangerous—especially when they didn't know where the threat was.
"…We go in," Duncan decided. "But carefully."
Nothing happened on the way in. The surroundings looked much the same as when they'd left that morning. Duncan was just starting to loosen up when the state of the campsite yanked his heart right back up into his throat.
The fence was smashed and scattered everywhere. The bundle of torches they'd piled in the center was torn apart—like someone had deliberately targeted every manmade trace, intent on destroying the camp itself.
It felt like a homeowner discovering strangers had trespassed into his garden—and not only trespassed, but built a mess—and after the intruders vanished, the enraged owner took their "work" and shredded it as a way to vent.
Duncan and Bell exchanged a look, then split left and right, circling the perimeter to inspect.
They didn't need to search long to find the culprit.
A massive claw mark raked across a tree trunk—like the creature had casually rested a paw there and left a "careless" trace.
But the more casual it looked, the more Duncan's face hardened.
Five deep gouges ran more than a meter down the wood. Judging by the spacing, the paw span was wider than an adult man's shoulders.
Duncan didn't even want to imagine the creature's true size.
Against something like that, even the Wolf King suddenly felt small.
"Duncan!" Bell hurried back, breath tight. "There are tracks in the direction we came from!"
Bell's unease was written plainly on his young face. After seeing the claw marks, he couldn't hide it.
Led to the tracks, Duncan frowned.
"From the freshness, it wasn't long ago. It knows exactly where we're coming from—it's trying to cut off our retreat. Probably tracking by scent." He narrowed his eyes. "But then why didn't it follow our outbound trail? Today's scent should be stronger than yesterday's."
"Because… the area ahead isn't its territory?" Bell guessed.
"…No." Duncan rejected it immediately. "It's because of the ruins. It doesn't want to get too close."
The ruins were the only truly anomalous thing in the area. If the beast was furious enough to smash their little camp, then a huge, obvious structure like that should've been destroyed long ago—unless it couldn't.
The only explanation was that the monster wouldn't approach that place.
Or rather… didn't dare.
That was also why the ruins could still exist at all.
In the Tree Sea, surviving time wasn't enough. Trees and monsters would've erased it. Yet the ruin showed only the erosion of years—no sign of being swallowed by the forest or torn apart by beasts.
After a quick calculation, Duncan made his decision.
"We head toward the ruins. If we have to, we retreat into the ruins' boundary. That thing probably won't come near there."
If Duncan hadn't seen the claw marks, he might still have tried to estimate its level and consider options.
But after seeing them?
He chose distance, immediately.
Whatever dread the ruins gave him—a real, present, physical threat was worse.
Only… he'd made the call too late.
A roar exploded from the trees—so thunderous it sent birds and beasts scattering in panic. Duncan and Bell's faces changed instantly.
It was close.
So close it was as if the beast had known they'd come back, leaving "departure tracks" on purpose—setting a trap.
"Too close!" Duncan shouted without thinking. "Move! Retreat toward the ruins—now!"
....
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