Chapter Ninety-Eight: Eerie Ice Mist (3)

"What!? ... Garoe dung!"

Upon hearing Daken's words, Veil's eyes widened. He stared fixedly at the black, oozy mass in Daken's hands, gritting his teeth hard before he barely managed to keep from vomiting.

It was not that Veil was overly delicate; the stuff was simply revolting. It was pitch-black and sticky, with a faint, eerie green tinge mixed in. Not only did it reek so badly it burned the nose, it was also like filthy mud, nauseating to the point of turning the stomach.

In no time at all, Daken had smeared it over his own body, and by then Veil had roughly guessed what they intended to do...

Use Garoe dung to erase the scent on their bodies, then, through Skanoli's peculiar control ability, manipulate these few Garoes, hiding beneath them and slipping quietly into the mist region.

It sounded like a good plan, but it was full of danger. The moment they were discovered, they would surely be swarmed by countless undead creatures. By then, even if Veil's light magic could drive them back, it would likely do little good.

Daken handed a little of the foul stuff to everyone, including Skanoli, but not to Nasa.

Nasa frowned and stepped in front of Daken, holding out his hand. His meaning was clear: he wanted some of the Garoe dung. Yet surprisingly, Daken, who in Veil's eyes had always been generous, grew awkward. He took a half-step back and turned to look at Skanoli.

Seeing this, Veil faintly guessed the reason. It was probably tied to Nasa's identity... Those golden spiral beast horns of his were the mark of royal blood among the beastfolk.

"Give him some."

Skanoli stepped forward. This time he did not use human speech, but the language of the beastfolk. "If you are loyal to him, then do not defy any of his requests. Even if he ordered you to kill me now, you would still have to do it!"

"But..."

Daken seemed about to say more, but when he met Skanoli's sharp gaze, like a blade freshly drawn from its sheath, he finally relented. With a sigh, and very reluctantly, he handed Nasa a small portion of the little dung left in his hand. Nasa, however, showed no hesitation. He grabbed it at once and smeared it over himself twice, not even sparing his face.

Thus, among the dozen or so of them, Veil became the only one who had not been coated with Garoe dung.

After casually rubbing some Garoe dung over himself, Skanoli turned to look at Veil, a teasing, mocking smile at the corner of his mouth.

That damned old man!

Veil cursed inwardly, but still took the black mass from Daken and smeared it hard over his own body. Whatever else, he could not lose face for humanity in front of a group of other races.

Clenching his teeth, Veil even rubbed some on his face. Then he shot Skanoli a fierce glare and gave a provocative snort.

"All right, let's go!"

This time, Skanoli first spoke in the beastfolk tongue, then repeated himself in human language. According to his plan, everyone would hide beneath the Garoes, slip into the group ahead, and gradually move through and deeper into the mist region.

Some of the beastmen immediately sprang into action, cutting vines from nearby trees and bringing them back to tie each Garoe beast down, also rigging hanging loops beneath their bodies for the others to cling to.

Filo, the bull-headed beastman, led the way. Together with several other beastmen, he hid on the first Garoe. Four beastmen concealed themselves beneath it, while Filo and another hid on its back.

"We'll go and test it first!"

Filo said to Skanoli. Skanoli nodded and gave a soft hum. The enormous Garoe beast then slowly lifted its feet and moved forward, inch by inch.

Because of the mist, the Garoe carrying Filo vanished from sight after only a few steps, leaving behind only the deep, huge footprints on the ground... footprints left by the Garoe.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

After a full five minutes had passed, Skanoli finally relaxed. He instructed Daken, who, together with the other beastmen, hid themselves on the other two Garoes, and slowly entered the Garoe pack ahead.

In this way, after all that, the dozen-odd people were left with only Veil, Skanoli, and Nasa.

Another five minutes later, Veil turned to Skanoli and asked, "Isn't it about time?"

"Mm."

Skanoli estimated the time and nodded. With only a soft nasal murmur, the last Garoe slowly rose from the ground. Veil did not say a word and immediately climbed onto its back. To his surprise, Skanoli and Nasa made the same choice and hid on the Garoe's back as well.

The Garoe itself was enormous, so concealing two or three beastmen was no problem. The three of them together were about the size of two beastmen, and with one man and two beasts hidden on its back, it did not feel crowded at all.

"Let's go!"

Skanoli called out softly, and the Garoe obediently walked forward. Veil gripped the short spear Nasa had handed him and sharpened his senses to the limit, remaining alert to everything around him.

As the Garoe beneath them stepped forward, great swathes of dark shapes gradually emerged in the crowd ahead. When Veil made out those shadows clearly, his heart gave a violent lurch.

What an appalling number!

The entire forest was filled with Garoes. Though the thick fog blocked much of Veil's sight, his senses told him there were at least two hundred of them here.

Two hundred giant beasts, each five meters tall!

Although most of the Garoes were asleep at the moment, the shock they gave everyone was still no less intense. Skanoli and Nasa in particular could not help but change color at the sight.

Even in the last war, there had not been this many Garoes! Could it really be, as Veil had said, that this ten-year cycle would unleash more undead creatures than ever before?

The more Skanoli thought about it, the colder he felt. Looking at the scene before him, he immediately realized what a colossal disaster this would bring to the entire beastfolk in the months to come. Frowning, he made a decisive choice at once and hurriedly hummed a low nasal tone, sending out a deep sound wave. As the wave reached the Garoes' ears, their pace quickened noticeably.

It was clear that Skanoli had already realized they had to reach the depths of the mist region as quickly as possible and find every possible way to close the Gate to the Demon Realm.

While these undead creatures were still asleep...

Skanoli gritted his teeth hard. In his anxiety, he urged the Garoe beneath him to move faster, but at that very moment, a strange and piercing howl suddenly rose from among the surrounding Garoes. Though the howl was not as loud as a Garoe's roar, in an instant it awakened every sleeping Garoe!

"Gurodoe!"

When Skanoli heard that howl, he was so startled he nearly cried out. Had Nasa not reacted swiftly and clamped a hand over his mouth, Veil and the other two would likely already have been exposed because of Skanoli's involuntary cry.

"What exactly happened?"

Seeing the blood drain from Skanoli's face, Veil's heart sank. He knew Skanoli possessed the strange ability to peer into their thoughts, and so he yanked at him hard, asking anxiously in his mind.

Drawing in several deep breaths, Skanoli turned his body and took Veil's hand and Nasa's as well. Then, with both human letters and the script of the beastfolk, he wrote three words:

Get ready. Run.