Fall Night said nothing. He uncorked a small flask—the snake-blood soup he had brewed earlier—and took a slow sip. The warmth dulled the pain just enough for him to breathe again.
"When did you do that?" Purple Night asked.
"Before we left."
"Crafty. Maybe too crafty."
Fall Night tossed some of the roasted meat he had taken back from Jagged toward Purple Night.
Purple Night watched him for a moment before laughing.
"You are definitely crafty. You must have given your parents plenty of trouble."
"Yeah, something like that."
She simply shook her head, began eating the meat, then turned and continued walking. Within moments, both figures melted into the mist, their silhouettes fading into the gray-green haze of the forest.
Meanwhile, deeper in the woods, Death Sword and Jagged moved in silence.
After several miles, Death Sword suddenly stopped. Jagged froze as well, unease prickling at the back of his neck. For a brief second, he thought Death Sword was finally going to deal with him.
But then Death Sword spoke, calm and cold.
"Do you know why I slashed you with my hand instead of either of my swords, Jagged?"
Jagged blinked. "I'm not that clever, Death Sword."
"The first mistake," Death Sword said slowly, "was thinking you could command someone in front of me. As long as I am the leader, you never have that right. The second was your greed. The third—and most fatal—you talk too damn much."
Jagged tilted his head.
"I get the first and last, but the second?"
Death Sword's eyes glinted.
"We all can't cook. Fall Night isn't great, but he's the best among us. I'm tired of eating burnt food."
Jagged barked out a short laugh.
"Oh. Guess I'm the real idiot here. But why slash him?"
"Because," Death Sword sneered, "he pissed me off by not handing over that container."
Jagged grinned wickedly.
"Then let's go back and finish him off!"
Before he could blink, a blade was at his throat.
Noble Death gleamed against Jagged's skin, cold and merciless. Jagged froze. If it had been Dishonorable Death, he would already be writhing in agony.
"There you go again," Death Sword whispered. "Talking nonsense. Don't trifle with him. I don't know what rank he holds in the Midnight Clan, but he's not simple. He's got layers—tricks, methods, patience. You keep playing around, and one day it won't be me who ends you. It'll be him."
Jagged's jaw clenched.
"How do you know? You've never seen him fight before that little tussle. That brat would've been dead if I had gotten serious. Only you and Purple Night can actually hurt me. My methods are cruel, my power absolute. He'll need a thousand years before he can kill me."
Death Sword didn't even look at him.
"You really are stupid," he muttered.
"I don't know what price you'd have to pay to kill Fall Night—but it'd be too steep. And it's not one I'm willing to pay. Not for him, not for this mission, and not for anyone."
He turned his gaze on Jagged, his voice like frost.
"This is your final warning: the mission comes first. Personal gains come second. Now move."
He sheathed Noble Death and strode off, his pace doubling.
Jagged stood there for a moment, muttering curses under his breath before following.
After a short while, Jagged started looking around for the meat he had taken from Fall Night.
"Where is it?"
Death Sword stopped moving.
"Where is what?"
"The meat!!!"
"You're telling me you didn't get anything for your trouble?"
Jagged started playing with his hands.
"Maybe."
"You better find something."
Jagged quickly searched around and found some roasted meat from the night before.
"I... did manage to get some."
Death Sword sighed.
"Glad I took some for myself, or I would be an idiot like you."
Death Sword resumed moving through the Misty Rain Forest at the same speed as before.
Jagged remained there for a moment, sulking.
Damn. No meat, no soup, just leftovers. I better catch up to Death Sword. I can't afford another injury.
Jagged quickly started following after Death Sword.
As the mist slowly grew thicker, making it increasingly difficult to see, they finally encountered their first Tier 1 ferocious beast.
It was a herd of Wind Deer.
One of the deer looked at Death Sword and paid him no mind. The rest of the herd, however, looked toward Jagged.
Something about Jagged seemed to disgust them.
The two bucks at the front of the herd suddenly rushed toward Jagged in a wild stampede.
"Finally, some action!"
Jagged pulled out his two machetes and rushed forward to clash with the bucks.
Yet Death Sword found it strange that none of the deer attacked him. Instead, they went straight for Jagged.
Wind Blades shot forth from the two bucks.
The rest of the herd began stampeding behind them.
Sensing how things were developing, Death Sword moved as well.
"Ggigigigggii! Hahahahaa!"
"Yes! Now I can let off some steam!"
Just as the first Wind Blade was about to hit Jagged, he performed [Nimble].
In an instant, he appeared in front of the buck, his left-hand machete coming down in a ruthless slash that severed its head.
As soon as the blood touched the machete, the runes lit up and began absorbing the blood and life force of the slain buck.
This made the rest of the herd furious, and they unleashed a storm of Wind Blades.
Seeing this, Death Sword threw Noble Death at the second buck.
The second buck could not get out of the way. Noble Death pierced through its neck, pinning it against a tree.
Death Sword quickly formed a series of hand seals, calling Noble Death back into his hand.
Dropping into his fighting stance, he activated [Six Paths of Death: Third Sword—Misery].
A simple arc of his sword produced two or three bladed slashes that tore through the legs of the herd stampeding toward Jagged.
"No! Fun, Death Sword!"
"We are not here for fun. Finish this now, and let's move."
"It's never 'Jagged, you did a good job.' It's always 'Jagged this' or 'Jagged that.'"
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that and hurt you."
After Jagged cleaned up the battle, there were no corpses remaining.
Simply put, if Jagged's machetes did not drain the life force from the deer, Jagged would devour them using his sinister techniques.
From that point on, Jagged and Death Sword escaped from one battle after another, facing multiple threat levels throughout their journey.
Still, both pairs made incredible time through the Misty Rain Forest, avoiding unnecessary battles and ignoring treasures that would have delayed them.
After two full weeks—and the five days they had spent traveling before that—they finally emerged from the choking mist.