Chapter 179 – The Mysterious Visitor
"Damn it…" Dale's brows tightened.
The slight advantage they had just built instantly collapsed.
Poisonous or not, losing visibility at a time like this was absolutely disastrous.
"I really hope those creatures get affected by the smoke too—"
He hadn't even finished the thought when a Mountain Man staggered past him… then suddenly spun around, raising an axe and swinging straight for Dale's skull.
"Why did I have to jinx it?!"
Dale cursed internally.
In that instant, he remembered one of the Safety Rules:
"Until the danger is fully resolved, never think or say anything that expresses hope or optimism."
Back then, Dale thought that rule was ridiculous.
Now, he wanted nothing more than to shout, I was wrong, Father Gideon—completely wrong!
Thankfully, his combat instincts hadn't dulled.
He dodged the blow and took the Mountain Man down with a clean counter.
But not everyone was so lucky.
Behind another tree, Mara was trembling uncontrollably.
The smoke blinded her completely, yet the Mountain Men seemed totally unaffected, weaving through the mist like predators born of it.
Her heart pounded violently.
Every few seconds, a grotesque silhouette lunged from the haze.
Right beside her, Michael—instead of helping—was still clutching his camera.
"Oh my god, sweetheart, you look just like Rambo out here!"
"Help me, you idiot!"
Mara was on the brink of breaking.
After dodging one more attack, she finally snapped and ran blindly in a random direction.
Unfortunately, a Mountain Man had been waiting exactly there.
The moment she passed a large tree, something cleaved into her shoulder.
A burning pain exploded through her body—
Her entire left arm had been severed clean off.
"AH—! AHHHH!"
Her scream tore through the forest, drawing even more Mountain Men her way.
Gritting her teeth until they nearly broke, Mara fumbled for the vial of holy water.
She bit the cap off and splashed the liquid forward with all her strength.
It worked instantly.
The nearest Mountain Men froze—
And then their flesh began melting away like wax under fire.
Skin dissolved.
Flesh sloughed off.
Bone turned to sludge.
They died without ever understanding what had touched them.
The remaining monsters recoiled in shock.
Abandoning close combat, they retreated into the smoke and raised their bows.
This time, Mara's hope vanished completely.
All the other teams fared no better—even Jack had sustained multiple wounds.
And more Mountain Men were flooding in from all sides.
Then—
A sharp whoosh cut through the air.
A long, silver cross-shaped sword tore through the smoke, blowing a wide corridor of clear air in its wake.
THUNK!
The blade buried itself deep into a Mountain Man's skull—the very one aiming to kill the fallen Mara.
A slender silhouette descended from the treetops, landing with the elegance of a predatory hawk.
She wrenched the sword free and stood tall.
Mara forced her blurry eyes upward…
A poised, graceful woman stood before her.
"This salve is made from bloodvine blossoms. It will stop the bleeding."
A soft, calm voice drifted through the chaos.
A small wooden case was gently placed into Mara's arms.
She lifted the small box and sniffed—
a refreshing herbal scent drifted out, easing the pain in her mangled shoulder.
Seeing her briefly stunned, the woman spoke again:
"You can use it without worry. My name is Leia Lancelot—a knight."
Mara didn't know what knight meant in this context,
but she understood the woman's real message: Treat your wound immediately.
She hurriedly opened the box.
Inside was a paste of dark-green salve. Mara scooped up a clump and smeared it across her bloody wound.
To her shock, a cool sensation spread instantly across her shoulder—
the bleeding stopped almost at once.
Meanwhile, Leia vanished back into the fog.
Her movements were swift—brutally precise.
A mountain man barely had time to raise his weapon before his torso split in half.
In less than ten seconds, corpses littered the forest floor.
Leia then reversed her grip on the cruciform sword, chanting softly as she drove the blade into the earth.
A violent wind erupted—
blasting the yellow miasma clean out of the woods.
Seeing this, the towering mountain man roared and charged straight toward her.
Its massive fist slammed into the sword.
Leia held tight, but her entire body was thrown backward like a rag doll.
A deep furrow etched across the dirt from the force before she finally skidded to a stop more than ten meters away.
She frowned—clearly not expecting such overwhelming strength.
"I call upon the Seal of Compassion.
Let the ancient spirit descend into this iron."
Leia whispered the invocation.
A layer of bright crimson radiance flowed across the cruciform blade.
Energy surged through her body like a tide.
Her eyes sharpened—
and in the blink of an eye, she vanished.
Among the branches, a monocular lens poked through the leaves.
"Oh? A female knight?"
Gideon raised an eyebrow.
"And judging by her stance, she's inherited a Knight's Sigil."
The Sigils were unique powers bestowed upon chosen knights.
According to the Church's scarce records, when a great knight died,
their inner strength transformed into spiritual essence drifting across the world.
If someone worthy encountered it,
that essence would acknowledge them—
granting tremendous power.
"Just now she mentioned the Sigil of Compassion.
Could that be the spirit she inherited?"
Gideon rubbed his chin.
Of the eight Knightly Spirits, the Church only confirmed three:
Compassion, Honor, and Justice.
Compassion was the power of redemption.
It could purify evil—similar to holy relics.
But the knight before him…
her strength wasn't at its peak.
Her sword did purify the corruption inside the giant mountain man,
but its monstrous regenerative abilities counteracted the effect almost immediately.
Leia was being pushed back.
Gideon had actually arrived moments after Mara was injured.
He originally intended to intervene immediately—
until he sensed the knight's presence.
Once she halted the monster and helped Mara survive,
he decided to remain hidden, setting a binding circle around the battlefield.
Realizing his foe was troublesome,
the towering mountain man convulsed violently.
Its bloated sacs expanded—
then ruptured, spewing ink-black smoke that flooded the forest at terrifying speed.
Gideon's expression hardened.
The energy in that smoke…
was far more vile than before.
Leia attempted again to summon the cleansing gale,
her crimson-lit sword stabbing into the soil.
This time, however—
Nothing happened.
Instead, the moment the wind swept across the black smoke,
the smoke clung to the blade—
devouring the holy light.
Leia's eyes widened.
"It absorbed the Spirit's power?
How is that possible!?"
Her brief shock proved fatal.
A shadow lunged from the smoke.
Leia barely had time to raise her sword before she was hurled backward,
slamming into a thick tree.
Crack.
The trunk split in half.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Worse yet—
the black mist she inhaled began twisting her vision.
"Damn… careless."
She forced herself to stay conscious.
The hulking mountain man appeared in front of her,
its rancid breath washing over her face.
Leia held her breath, but the monster leaned closer—
a grotesque tongue extending toward her cheek,
slick with putrid slime.
Leia's eyes filled with despair.
If this filth touches me, I'd rather die right here…
The tongue snapped forward—
whipping toward her—