NOVEL NEXT Chapter 116: Ashfall Mountains
Everyone around Kael tensed up for a moment before they got ready for battle. Even Seth, who was confused about his situation, was ready to tear limbs apart on his master's orders.
Surprisingly, Rias had also unsheathed her katana slightly. Of course, this wasn't her main weapon, as she would never use it on these small flies.
Just as they were about to jump out of their spot, Kael stopped and raised his hand to stop the others too.
All of them halted and turned towards Kael for instructions.
"Let's check the situation first," Kael said after taking a deep breath to calm his mind. That earlier sight had really made his stomach churn in disgust, so he almost acted on impulse.
Fortunately, he reacted in time and stopped himself.
While the others were confused, Rias asked, "What do you mean?"
"I'm just saying that we should assess the situation first," Kael said. "What if there are more of them? I'll follow them and check the power of their tribe."
He stared at the tall ogre and said, "That guy is C-Rank, so there is a possibility there are more powerful Ogres in their tribe. We need to assess their true power first."
"It doesn't matter how many of them are in the tribe or how powerful they are. They will meet their end for daring to mess with Death," Rias's cold voice was more chilling than the Dance of the Dead.
'She really is affected a lot by it. Interesting! So, my guess was right. The Authority she wields has close connection to the Authority of Death.'
He shook his head and patted her shoulder lightly, "I know. That's why I'm going forward with my plan, otherwise, we really don't have anything to do with them."
Rias paused, thinking about his words. Indeed, they really had nothing to do with the Ogres, and Kael could have easily begun to look for some other tribes, but he was thinking of facing these powerful Ogres.
She sighed and nodded, "Alright. I'll follow your lead, but remember that I won't hesitate to take action this time, so you shouldn't hesitate too."
Kael usually didn't involve Rias in their battles even if they were losing. Normally, Rias didn't mind that, but this time it was different.
This time, she really wanted to kill everyone who dared to mess with Death. She didn't know why she had this feeling, but she didn't care either.
Kael smiled and turned towards the group of Ogres who had begun to pack up their things.
"I'll follow them, and you all can follow me. We'll keep distance between us for obvious reasons," Kael said as he focused on his [Beast Sense].
Now, he could sense them leaving and moving through the forest.
Kael didn't start following them yet and said, "That Stag... is it the same one we captured?"
"Yes!" Rias said. "I was also confused about the situation here, but now I am sure. It is because of them that there are so few beasts here."
"'Cause of Dance of the Dead?" Kael asked.
"Yes. It is the blasphemous version of the True Dance of the Dead, so it leaves some remnants of Death Authority. It automatically pushes living beings away," Rias said. "Not to mention they are also snatching souls and ruining the cycle of Life and Death. It would be a surprise if life can thrive in such areas."
Kael nodded in understanding, "I don't think it comes without a cost."
"For sure," Rias said. "He must have paid a huge price to do this."
"Well, even more reason for me to understand things first. Fighting the unknown isn't my style," Kael said as he jumped down. "I'll give you all the signs so you can follow me from some distance. It's not good to move together, especially with the twins."
Then he dashed towards the Ogre group. They were still in his radar, so it was easy to follow them. The forest was mostly empty anyway, so there weren't any distractions.
He also asked Alpha to send the signs to follow him to his group. Though, he didn't think they really needed it considering they had Rias with them.
The chase was surprisingly very peaceful and long. The Ogres seemed to be heading directly towards their destination, so they also didn't stop.
While they were at the front, Kael was following them from some distance, only using his [Beast Sense] to keep track of them.
Fortunately, he had leveled up his mastery of that skill, so even B-Rank beings would find it hard to detect his senses. Only someone at the Demi-God Rank had chances of detecting his sensing.
Behind him were his friends who were running in different paths but still following him through his signs.
'I really am spending my whole day in chasing and running.'
Kael stopped on top of a boulder as he furrowed his brow and muttered, "A C-Rank Beast?"
The Ogre group had stopped to fight a C-Rank Beast. While he couldn't identify what it was, its sheer presence spoke volumes, so Kael was sure of its rank.
He 'watched' them silently and had to say that the beast was tough to kill. Even though it was fighting against a C-Rank Ogre and a couple of D-Rank Ogres, it still held the advantage.
Sadly, it was still just a single beast, so after a few minutes of intense fighting, it was killed by the Leader Ogre. Some of the D-Rank Ogres were injured, but they still celebrated their victory.
After that, they resumed their journey, and Kael also kicked the branch to launch himself towards the next tree. He could go faster, but there was no point in doing so.
On their journey, the Ogres slowed down a few times to fend off the beasts that came after getting attracted by the smell of the beast.
[Master, they're going really far away.]
Kael hummed as he turned to look at the evening orange light peering through the gaps in the tall trees' canopy. It truly was a scene of wonder.
The night was approaching, making Kael wonder if the Ogres planned to make a camp or maybe continue their journey.
But he was proven wrong when they actually reached their destination.
Kael stopped once again and closed his eyes to focus better on his targets. The group of Ogres approached a mountain range.
Kael recognized these mountains as the Ashfall Mountains because they were small mountains surrounding a towering active volcano that constantly released ashes and lava.
He quickly conjured his wings and flew up in the sky to get a better view of the situation.
The Ashfall Mountains loomed like a blackened crown around the fiery heart of the volcano.
Charred ridges and ash-streaked slopes gave way to strange, stubborn life—twisted trees with ember-glowing sap, thorny vines clinging to warm rocks, and patches of grass that shimmered silver under the falling ash.
Closer to the center, life thinned. Steam hissed from cracks in the ground, and the air tasted of sulfur and smoke. There was hardly any life there.
Just from this, Kael could already guess the situation. Ogres were tough and relied heavily on their tyrannical physical strength, which was usually honed under natural threats.
One such example was lava from this volcano.
The Ogres were likely living on the inner slopes of the mountain range in an extreme atmosphere which was suitable for a race like them.
Of course, the mountains still had some distance from the volcano, so they could live there without any fear.
Unless the volcano went full berserk, things would be fine.
"I doubt they'll climb the whole mountain, so there must be a way," Kael muttered as he kept an eye on their movements.
As expected, the Ogres climbed the mountain only a little before they entered a cave which was hidden behind a fallen rock.
But their strength allowed them to move it aside easily.
Kael flew towards the mountain while Alpha made a map of the tunnel that most likely crossed the whole mountain.
But there wasn't any need for maps since the tunnel was quite straight with no diversions.
In no time, the group of Ogres passed through the tunnel and reached the other side. This was also when Kael landed on the mountain peak and began to sense the Ogre settlement.
'More than 300 Ogres. That's a big number,' Kael thought. 'And they are celebrating his return. Well, it's natural because now they can eat meat of a C-Rank Beast.'
Kael wanted to dive down to get more information but decided against it. For the type of information he needed, Rias would do the job way better than him.
He gave a last glance at the hot volcano and the ashes that constantly fell from the sky, turning the slopes and ground grey.
Then, he turned around to leave but found Rias standing beside him. She didn't need wings like him to fly, but Kael was still surprised to see her casually standing in the air.
He heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Go and learn everything about this settlement and don't take action unless it's necessary. I feel we'll get a surprise in this place."