The Quest Is Simply To NTR All The Heroes

Chapter 101: The Big Talk

The next day, when he woke up, neither Alice nor Sable were near him.

He found himself covered only by a bedsheet. He glanced at the map to confirm Alice's location, making sure she hadn't wandered far from the camp.

"Damn, I slept like a dog."

He woke up, dressed, then ventured out to find Maximus.

Though he received numerous system messages, he chose to ignore them for the time being.

Maximus was near the pool they had built, a satisfied and proud expression on his face as it brimmed with water.

"Maximus, come on, let's go for a ride."

Maximus suddenly shuddered at the words and looked back to see Kaisen calling him out.

A small blush spread across his face as he recalled what this man had done to his fiancée yesterday evening at this same place.

Few minutes later, they were galloping on their steeds. Kaisen had now become a skilled horse rider.

There was no awkwardness or discomfort now.

After riding in silence for half an hour, they finally stopped near a large tree. There was a broken rope tied around the tree.

They walked towards the tree.

'It's not broken by magic. It's from a blade.'

Kaisen thought, nodding his head in understanding.

Looks like he was right about something.

"Why is there a rope here, Kaisen-kun?"

Maximus asked, crouching down.

"This is where I tied Alwyn."

?!

Maximus's eyes widened, and he looked back and forth between the tree and Kaisen.

He didn't ask anything, though.

Finally, after a pause, the knight asked without turning his head around.

"You let him go?"

"I want answers."

Kaisen replied.

"I don't think I have the answers you seek, Kaisen-kun."

"I know you know something. I know even Sable knows something, but not everything. And I can't deal with this without knowing what I'm up against, Maximus. If you know something, speak now."

Kaisen crouched beside Maximus and placed a hand on the knight's shoulder.

Maximus shook his head and started to pull the rope.

"I know only as much as you do, Kaisen-kun."

"I've seen the way you and your fiance look at each other when this matter comes up. I've noticed how you urge us to just abort this mission and turn back. Come on, Maximus, you know something."

Maximus sighed and stood up, and Kaisen followed suit.

"We're just wasting our time here, Kaisen-kun. There's nothing out here. It's been over a week, and we still haven't found out anything. Not a single thing that connects to the Night Shade."

Maximus said, shaking his head and walking back.

"We should go back while we can. Food is running out."

Maximus tied the rope onto his horse.

"I saw them yesterday."

Kaisen said, and there was a pause.

The knight took a sudden breath and stopped tying the rope.

"I have been sensing their presence for a few days, and finally I saw their red eyes yesterday night. One moment they were there, and in another, they vanished."

There was a pause. Then Maximus sighed and turned back.

"This is a suicide mission. We cannot hope to win against whatever we are up against. Hell, they have been here before the third Lightbearer. Even he was defeated here. What made you guys even think we have a chance against that thing?"

Then suddenly Kaisen got a system message that made his eyes widen.

[The third Lightbearer wasn't defeated by the Nightshade.]

'What the hell?! Why is it responding now?'

"B-but the third Lightbearer wasn't defeated though, right?"

Kaisen didn't know why he was saying that.

The idea that the system was actually listening to his conversations and only sporadically responding made him very suspicious.

It was like that before, and now it was happening again. It never answered when he wanted something.

"Oh yeah? He wasn't defeated? Ah, that's right, he wasn't. You know why? Because he got corru--"

Before Kaisen could hear Maximus's words, Kaisen suddenly clutched his head and screamed.

He felt immense stabbing pain in his head, as if a splintered wooden pole had been stabbed into his skull and was being twisted.

The agony coursed through his body.

Maximus ran towards Kaisen and caught him before he could fall.

"Dammit! Can't even speak his name."

The knight was saying something, but Kaisen couldn't hear it clearly.

After a moment, the pain subsided, and Kaisen regained his footing.

"You alright, Kaisen-kun? What happened?"

Maximus asked, concerned.

"I-I don't know. Felt immense pain in my head, like something was being stabbed into it."

Kaisen replied, still feeling the lingering discomfort.

Maximus looked at him for a moment before nodding.

"Come on, let's go back to camp. It's not safe here."

He grabbed Kaisen's shoulder and led him to the horse.

"I know a way to reach the Nightshade. But I want to know what that thing is if I have to face it."

Kaisen said, stopping the knight, who had a hand on his arm.

Maximus's eyes shook, and he suddenly looked back at the tree that had the rope in it.

Suddenly, as if he remembered something, the knight's eyes widened in realization.

"Is that why you left him..."

Maximus muttered.

Kaisen nodded.

"I need to either know what that thing is, or else we need to get the hell out of here as fast as possible before he comes back."

"You won't win."

"I won't know that until I try."

Maximus held his breath and locked eyes with Kaisen for a second before urging him to climb onto the horse.

The ride back to camp was very awkward. Neither of them spoke much, each lost in their own thoughts.

Kaisen realized that the only way he could win this fight against whatever it was, was by having the people he trusted trust him in return.

And he needed to earn their trust as quickly as possible.

Moreover, he needed to know what he was up against before he lost one of their party members forever.

He had already planned to sacrifice someone for the plan to work out.