Chapter 350: Help me
The cries for help did not stop.
Whoever was behind them no longer seemed interested in hiding.
The two made their way through the forest in silence, moving at a rapid pace. Luke kept his enhanced hearing focused on their surroundings while constantly sending out waves of Echolocation, searching for any sign of an approaching ambush.
"Help me... please!"
The voice remained constant.
Stationary.
That was reassuring.
What bothered Luke was that the source was drawing them farther and farther away from the village.
He had placed some security around his house, and he trusted the village’s guards to handle most threats. But when it came to his family safety, Luke trusted no one more than himself.
"Wait."
Ilya suddenly caught his hand, bringing him to a halt.
Luke immediately understood why.
Ahead of them lay a massive clearing, its terrain covered in grass and scattered flowers. Moonlight bathed the pristine field in a pale glow, giving the entire place an almost ethereal appearance.
"Look." Luke raised a finger toward a slight protrusion in the middle of the field. "The voice was coming from there."
Was.
The cries had stopped.
Could that thing see them?
"Let’s go, then."
Ilya stepped forward before Luke could warn her.
Luke continued sending out waves of Echolocation, using them to monitor the surrounding area and detect anything approaching from the sides.
’Hmm?’
His brows furrowed.
As they drew closer, his Echolocation finally reached the protrusion.
Then the echo vanished.
It was as though something was blocking the signals.
That had never happened before.
No one should have been capable of perceiving his Echolocation, much less interfering with it. So this couldn’t be conscious resistance...
Could it?
His fist tightened.
Luke became even more cautious.
He summoned his dagger and advanced slowly, keeping Ilya at his side.
Just then...
"Aghhh!"
Ilya suddenly cried out in pain.
She clutched her head, staggered, and collapsed.
Thud.
She hit the ground and immediately lost consciousness.
Luke froze.
What... just happened?
He had felt it too.
A repulsive wave had swept through them, yet somehow, it had affected Ilya alone.
[Host, the earrings.]
Luke’s eyes widened.
Right.
The earrings.
They blocked mental attacks.
Which meant whatever had just struck them...
It assaulted her mind.
Luke pulled Ilya a little farther back before making his decision.
Whatever creature had been tormenting him for the past few days, he was going to end it tonight.
He dashed forward, concealing his presence as he circled around the clearing and approached the creature from the left.
Then he saw it.
"Ah..."
Luke stopped dead in his tracks, utterly stunned by what sat before him.
What had appeared to be a mere protrusion in the field was actually the entrance to a cave when viewed from the other side. And within that shallow shelter rested a silver fox.
Its narrow, elegant eyes gleamed beneath the moonlight. Silvery fur covered its body, each strand seeming to reflect the pale radiance above. Behind it stretched three tails, each one shaped almost like a blooming flower.
The creature sat perfectly still, composed and impossibly graceful.
It was far larger than any ordinary fox, standing nearly as large as the direwolf.
For a moment, Luke simply stared.
This was nothing like the creature he had expected to find-
"!!"
Luke’s eyes widened when he realized the fox was staring directly at him.
Even though his presence was concealed.
"I cannot see you, but I can feel you."
The voice reached his ears.
No...
It wasn’t her voice.
It was Monica’s.
Luke immediately dropped his concealment, his expression darkening.
"Will you stop mimicking other people?"
The fox showed no surprise at his sudden appearance. It merely regarded him with those narrow, silver eyes before calmly responding.
"I simply use the voice that affects people the most."
There was a brief pause.
Then her voice changed.
It became quieter, softer, almost soothing.
"But it appears..."
Her gaze remained fixed on him.
"...you want to hear the real me."
Luke was momentarily stunned by the change.
The voice was completely different from the ones she had used before.
He quickly composed himself.
"Why have you been attacking me? And what did you do to my comrade?"
His gaze shifted briefly toward Ilya.
She didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger. The attack seemed to have overwhelmed her rather than physically harmed her, leaving her unconscious from the sudden mental assault.
"I... haven’t been able to control my powers very well lately. That’s why I’ve been calling out to you. I needed you to come and help me."
Luke frowned.
"Why me? There are plenty of others in the village."
"It wasn’t deliberate. You released the purest form of magic back then. That was why I marked you."
Luke hummed thoughtfully.
Then he remembered.
Back then, he had refined Manbaru’s magic stone and swallowed it, causing a sudden surge in his Gamma.
That was also the moment when this fox had marked him.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
So that was the reason.
"And what about the people around me? Why torment them?"
Luke still hadn’t forgotten how distressed Monica had become after hearing Lex’s cries for help. Even now, Ilya had been subjected to the same cruel trick, hearing her father’s voice calling out to her.
"They simply happened to be close to you. I never intended to harm them. I just... desperately needed someone to help me."
The fox’s expression carried a strange mixture of desperation and helplessness. Her voice trembled faintly as she spoke.
Luke could sense it too.
Her Gamma was wavering.
Whatever was happening to her, it was clear that her condition was far worse than he had initially assumed.
Luke crossed his arms and asked. "What do you need my help for?"
The fox suddenly moved and Luke instinctively tense
However the moment she moved her tails and revealed her swollen belly, his lips parted in surprise.
"It’s...my babies...they would die if you don’t help me."