I Am The Only Witch Hunter-Chapter 329: Profunda

They arrived at another oasis for this part of the forest. However, instead of a tree man, they saw a large stag with antlers branched like a complex tree crown.

On the side of its upper body was a large complex web of purple veins.

"Oh? An animal Forest Guardian?" Siderius’ eyebrows raised up a little.

"Is it bad?" Quinlan whispered carefully.

"Not bad. It won’t attack us unless we give it a reason to. But this kind of guardian is very dangerous. Don’t make any sudden movement and do not grab your weapons. We don’t want it to kill us all." Siderius said grimly.

The others nodded. Their hands rested to the sides.

Siderius approached the oasis. His mouth echoed the language of the forest again.

The stag lifted its head up and turned to Siderius. It opened its mouth and echoed the same inhuman sound.

Siderius said something and raised its hand.

The stag didn’t answer. It stared at Siderius for a while. Everyone else was holding their breath. Their gazes stayed fixed on the stag, worrying that things might go wrong.

The stag turned to the side and showed Siderius its wound.

The hunter stepped forward and touched the dark veins. The veins spread to his hand but were quickly driven away by his mutations and the energy of his silver soul.

His fingers were covered in a silver color and green.

Siderius sighed. He looked up at the guardian and spoke again.

The guardian replied.

Siderius nodded to it and returned to the others.

"How did it go, Master?"

"This task is more difficult than I thought."

"How so?" Jude said.

"The wound on the Forest Guardian comes from the Profunda." Siderius said.

"Profunda?" Bas said. He could already feel what kind of trouble was waiting for them.

"The depths. The beyond. Some called them the hell of darkness. It is a plane within a plane that no man could enter easily. Those who do will never be the same."

"Do you literally mean ’hell’, Siderius?? Quinlan.

"Aye. A true hell."

Everyone’s expression darkened.

"Maybe it is not that good of an idea to help this guardian." Jude said. "I won’t be risking my life messing with a hellish creature just because I can increase my luck."

"Me too." Bas said.

"What will you do, Siderius?" Quinlan said.

"I will continue this mission and help the Forest Guardian. If anyone doesn’t want to follow me, you can go on ahead to the three masters."

Quinlan squinted his eyes a little.

"Well then. I’ll be going to Kynidus first. I’ll meet you there." Jude said.

"Safe travel, Fisher." Siderius nodded.

Bas turned his back and followed Jude but he froze midway when he didn’t see Quinlan. The bodyguard quickly returned and pulled Quinlan’s cloak.

"Don’t tell me..." Bas said.

"I will assist Siderius in this task." Quinlan said.

"Why?!" Bas’s eyes rolled backwards.

Quinlan smirked. "If a man like Siderius is willing to risk his life for a forest blessing, there must be a reason to do so."

"Augh. Fine. But I want double the coins." Bas said.

"If the situation is dire, but don’t think you can get more coins from me without a good reason."

"Hey. I’ve never scammed you before, haven’t I?"

Quinlan smirked. They both knew Bas would do anything in his power to gain more coins.

"How do we get rid of the wound, Master?" Ashe said.

"We need to find the one who inflicted it first."

Siderius squatted to the ground. His left hand quickly leaked out Sulfur to draw a seal. Once he was done, Siderius stretched out his right index finger. On it was a little bit of dark vein left.

"The power of Profunda. The void."

Siderius pressed his finger on the seal. The void leaked out from his finger and climbed to the seal.

The Sulfur seal lit up in color and a faint line led to an unknown direction.

"That is the way to our culprit." Siderius said.

"Better get to it then. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can continue our journey." Bas said.

The group exited the oasis and returned to their horses. Jude’s carriage had disappeared as he had already left.

The group followed the faint orange line.

"Let’s hope it’s not too far away." Siderius mumbled.

They left the lush forest and quickly found themselves in a small quiet town.

The sun was just beginning to disappear over the mountains.

"Keep your guards up. It might get nasty." Siderius said.

Bas nodded and drew his sword. Ashe held a bow in her hand. Quinlan stayed relaxed. He didn’t know much about combat.

The clue disappeared when it led to this town. The creature was here somewhere.

"Should we split up to find whatever that thing is?" Bas said.

"You really haven’t learned from last time, huh, Bas? Let’s stick together." Quinlan said.

Last time they were separated and they were almost killed. If Siderius hadn’t shown up, they would all be consumed by Nora.

"Heh..." Bas scratched his head.

Siderius jumped down from his horse. "Let’s continue on foot."

The others jumped down as well. They started by investigating the nearest house.

Siderius and Bas walked in the front. Quinlan in the middle. Ashe was last with the bow in her hands.

Siderius kicked the front door down. Night was falling but the owners of the house didn’t turn any lights on. Siderius’ pupils spread wider, activating his night vision. The house lit up brightly.

Bas, on the other hand, lit up a torch to shine the way.

Ashe’s eyes weren’t nocturnal so she also needed some light sources.

They saw a man lying on the table motionless.

Siderius approached him and tried to wake him. The man was still asleep. He lifted up the eyelids of the man. His eyes stayed still.

"He’s not dreaming." Siderius said.

Bas went further into the house and checked the bedroom.

"Hey. Look at this!" His voice echoed out.

The group entered the bedroom also. On the bed were a woman and their child. They slept peacefully as well but they couldn’t wake up.

"Is this also a Nightmare Phantom, Master?" Ashe said.

She heard about his mission in Scalize before and thought maybe they were dealing with the same thing.

"No. Not a nightmare. These people aren’t dreaming." Siderius checked the eyes of the woman and the child. They stayed still.

"Nightmare Phantom isn’t a creature of Profunda either."

"Then what could it be?" Quinlan asked.