Chapter 66: Terror

The idea Peace had in mind... was risky.

One wrong move, and Ralph might convince Volkar that Peace wasn’t a ’friend’.

Thankfully, Peace had gotten a better grasp of how to handle Volkar, but the Giant trusted Ralph more than anyone else.

It was an uphill battle, but...

As Peace sailed toward the Wisp, he closed his mouth and tilted his head up and away, careful to avoid any happy little accidents.

’Come on...!’

A moment later, he landed hard, belly-first.

Before he could even pick himself up, Ralph shouted from behind him.

"What the— Pariah, explain!"

Pushing himself up, Peace looked at the dancing flame... the Wisp he’d passed straight through. Something typically only possible if all his available slots were filled.

Turning back to Ralph, who now had his sword pointed at him, Peace merely smiled.

"Ah, I was trying to keep it hidden, but I’ve been training my muscles in secret. My muscles don’t need help growing."

Yulis and Maura looked just as tense, though an odd sadness had settled in Yulis’ eyes.

’Did they really expect me to tell them the whole truth about me?’

Ralph cocked his head at Peace’s strange explanation.

"What...?"

On the other hand...

"Really?!"

Volkar smashed his fist into his open palm.

Ralph glanced at the young Giant, his exasperated murmur nearly lost to the breeze:

"Oh..."

Volkar added:

"Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been training your muscles, weak friend! I would have helped!"

Ralph took a deep breath, then lowered his sword and sighed again:

"Oh, damn."

Peace braced for a fierce debate to defend his status as ’friend,’ but Ralph merely shrugged.

"It appears I’d underestimated you."

Looking over at Yulis, Ralph said:

"It’s up to you, kid, whether you want it or not. Neither ability it gives is particularly good for you, but neither is particularly bad."

Even as Ralph addressed him, Yulis kept his eyes fixed on Peace.

"I... I don’t want it."

’That look... why is it making me feel bad? Why is he looking at me like I betrayed him?!’

Peace shook his head.

’He looked ready to kill me anytime yesterday; what happened?!’

Peace trudged over and reclaimed his sword. Ralph gave him a few more suspicious looks, then probed him with vague questions about his hidden Resonance — a Resonance that didn’t exist. Eventually, the group resumed its march.

Ralph seemed far more wary of Peace’s earlier claim that he possessed ’something.’ Before, it had sounded like empty posturing. Now, it carried weight, however illusory.

The question was whether the threat of some hidden ability — one powerful enough to turn the tables — would be enough to scare Ralph off his original intentions.

’I wonder if I made the right choice...’

Sighing, Peace hung his head and closed his eyes.

Only for a sharp cry to tear through the air.

Peace spun toward the source of the sound... Ralph.

He’d dropped to one knee, an arrow jutting from his calf.

"Gah!"

Following the arrow’s shaft back toward its source, Peace looked up into the trees behind them.

’Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.’

A cloaked bowman was perched among the branches, his face concealed beneath a cloth wrap. He was already nocking another arrow, this one aimed at Ralph’s head.

The fact that they’d targeted Ralph instead of Peace suggested they weren’t there for twisted vengeance against Peace... but here to kill and steal.

’It really is one thing after another!’

The archer let loose his arrow, but Ralph twisted in time, deflecting it with his shield.

Ralph tore the arrow from his calf and shouted:

"Get around me!"

Peace scanned the forest, searching for more attackers. To the right, two figures approached, their faces shrouded in the kind of gear worn in the Corrupted Lands.

Another stood farther ahead. A fifth was closing in from behind.

’S-should I run?’

There was one certainty when it came to ambushers and their unsuspecting prey...

The former had the luxury of preparation. Time to observe, assess, and measure their own strength against that of their targets before choosing when to strike.

And an ambush like this — not some desperate military maneuver, but one intended for plunder — was rarely sprung on the prospect of a coin toss. The attackers had chosen their targets, the time, and the place because they believed the outcome was already decided.

They hadn’t merely judged themselves capable of winning. They’d calculated that they could do so with minimal losses, if any.

The only reason he hadn’t tried running before was that he’d be summoned right back to Ralph’s side the next time the dungeon opened...

But that only held true if Ralph was alive.

Peace looked toward the others. Ralph kept his shield raised against the archer while Yulis fired back into the branches. Maura held the right flank against the approaching pair, and Volkar, visibly fuming, guarded their rear.

Peace angled his feet toward a gap between the trees...

Ralph glanced his way, his gaze briefly dropping to Peace’s feet. It was clear he understood what Peace intended, yet his expression stayed still.

’...’

Then Peace noted the fury in Volkar’s eyes as he fought desperately to restrain himself from blindly charging and hold his position.

He saw the fear and despair in Yulis’ eyes as his arrows kept failing to find their mark. The gap in skill between him and the archer above was painfully obvious.

Maura wore her usual stern expression, but beneath it was something that looked almost like resignation.

Peace still stood apart from them, his feet pointed toward escape.

’...’

Yet, he didn’t move.

’Fuck me, man...’

Before he knew it, he was charging toward the base of the tree where the archer was perched.

Peace might not have been in the small body of a monster anymore, but...

"The trees are my domain, asshole!"

A familiar madness crept into Peace’s mind. His eyes began to glow faintly, and his nails thickened, curving into hooks.

Yet his mind remained clear enough to recognize what was happening this time.

This change wasn’t the result of his locked Trait...

It was the result of his Class.

It was the result of being a Terror.