The company of imps hid behind the tree lines as they watched the battle between the mystic race and the cursed children. The mystic race definitely saw the cursed children moving away and decided to investigate.

But then pushed into a confrontation.

The imps looked at each other. Their leader, Rytus, signaled for them to back away. He must be intending to speak with them. Given that beastmen have powerful hearings, their whispering might be heard. They may be busy fighting, but they shouldn’t let their guard down. Most of all, they didn’t want to get the attention of the cursed children.

After moving far away from the battle, Rytus crossed his arms.

The others waited for his command.

“... Things have gotten tensed, huh. Which side we helping? Or should we take them all out?” Droz flexed his fists.

Venzus smacked him on the back of his head. “Ow.” he reacted but in a small voice then glared at Venzus.

“Don’t be fucking stupid, we’re siding with no one.”

One side wants to protect the princess, the demons’ target, while the other faction wanted the princess dead, which the demons definitely do not want. There was no side to help, nor could they even handle killing all of them — much more the cursed children, which would be basically impossible.

“Alright — fucking piece of shit.”

“You two love each other so much, reminds me of my siblings.” Arashia casually said to them while sitting on a tree branch.

Venzus grimaced. “How is that damn love of all things? This guy’s an annoyance.”

“What a stupid thing to say.” Droz scoffed.

“It’s not stupid,” she pouted. “Dad said the more two guys fight, the more they care for each other. In other words, they love each other.”

“You should really stop listening to your old man’s ramblings. It’s rotting your head.”

“It’s not — Dumb Venzus — jerk—” she immediately covered her mouth as she was about to shout, realizing that would be a mistake.

“Alright, stop it you guys. I have thought of what we can do.”

Everyone quieted down and listened to Rytus.

“We definitely are not going to fight, it will be a waste of our people.” They have other members in other parts of the city, but there was no way he would call them here for a reconnaissance. “We also can’t risk exposing all of us here. We need a safer and more quiet approach.”

Rytus looked up at Arashia. “We will be withdrawing, but you Arashia, with your stealth skills, will be able to navigate this forest with ease. Figure out what’s going on. If going further is going to risk your discovery, you are free to retreat. I don’t want our enemies to know that we are here.”

Arashia nodded her head. “Alriiiight. But I would definitely retreat when it’s very risky. Dad wants me to return home.”

“Of course. Now go.”

Arashia stood up and left the vicinity.

Rytus faced his remaining allies. “Let’s go back to the safe house.”

***

The lion-type beastman, Welmut, huffed loudly, wounds all over his body. He growled as his mind succumbed to the bestial instinct while glaring at a pair of cursed children. The wind covered the area, keeping everyone in, still howling.

Welmut stiffened his body as he endured the fatal wounds he received, but thanks to going into true berserk, he was still able to stand. He lunged at his enemy and swung down his magic-coated claws, missing a few but hitting one, wounding a cursed child. The latter groaned, but after stepping back, the wound gradually closed.

It was one of the reasons why the mystic race in the human capital refused to fight the cursed children head-on. The cursed children were basically an undying army, no matter how many fatal wounds they receive, they will heal, as such their curse. It would be foolish to fight outright against such creatures.

Welmut was starting to feel weak. Even a beastmen tires and weaken after suffering a number of powerful attacks. A cursed child charged at him and Welmut received his attack, then another came right behind him and struck with his monstrous hand, piercing through Welmut’s body.

The moment Welmut paused after taking the attack, the one in front of him took the chance and thrust his hand through Welmut’s neck. Welmut wheezed as he fell to his knees, unable to resist anymore.

But then all of a sudden, a sharp wind cleaved through Welmut’s body, cutting his body in half, along with him was a cursed child — but the cursed child promptly began regenerating.

Needless to say, the one who killed Welmut was one of the elves, Henfred, his ally. He committed such a treasonous act after concluding that Welmut would no longer be helpful, thus he made sure the opposition would find no use for him in the future.

“Ah, I’ve seen this before…” a cursed child right next to the regenerating one muttered, recalling the time when the mystics encountered the Church.

The two elves standing next to each other sent numerous slashes of wind in all directions. Some cursed children dodged, while others merely took it all and immediately began regenerating.

“Should we retreat?” Isen asked.

Henfred shook his head. “Can’t let them follow us to base.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Then, what should we do?”

“Buy as much time for Felsurd.”

“Alright.”

They clashed once again, burning through their mana. They swung their swords along with magic, but all their efforts would only amount to buying time. Then after a couple of minutes, Isen lost his sword after being grabbed by his enemy.

With mana almost depleted, he only had one choice, and thus he instantly aimed a slashing wind at his neck, blood spurted as his head went flying.

“Gah! I hate it when they do that.” one cursed child said bitterly.

Henfred furrowed his brows, the wind barrier slowly disappearing. He gathered his mana, and then a powerful blast of wind exploded around him pushing the cursed children away. With that, he aimed a slashing wind at his neck, killing himself.

It was silent for a moment.

The cursed children in the area walked toward the corpses.

One kicked an elf’s corpse. “They’re crazy, but I’m envious. So easy to their own life.”

“Suicidal acts is not one to be envious about.”

“Really? You’re saying that?”

“Yes. But I suppose we have different mindsets. After all, I have hope that we get to return to what we truly are through her eminence. While you just want to end it all.”

“... Apparently so…”

Another cursed child stepped forward. “Is this a waste? We could have used them in some ways.”

Another one joined in. “I don’t think this was a waste, we can just kill them whenever they appear anyways. So I think it’s fine.”

They had utter confidence they can take care of anyone that may go against them, as they never die. Besides that, it was not like they were planning to take one in as a captive.

“Enough talk,” another chimed in. He pointed at three people. “You three, chase down the other one that got away.”

“I’m coming with th—”

“Not you Mr. her miss eminence, you’re staying here.”

He paused and glared. “Damn you.”

The three that were pointed to go, immediately left the area as just the tension in the air was rising. They traversed the forest by turning into fogs until eventually, they noticed a battle happening in the forest.

It was then one of their comrades appeared in front of them. “Stand back and be quiet.”

“We’re not doing anything?” one asked quietly.

“No, we have a plan. So let this fight unfold for a while.”

***

The moment the princess left the scene, the Eternal Wanderer, Taneva, whistled as he stared at the dead beastman. Imagine his surprise upon watching everything unfold, how the princess fought hard and even defeated her adversary while showing impressive skills.

How did she even manage to do all that? I don’t recall her ever being trained to have that skill set.

He scratched his head, utterly confused by everything. Not only that, he felt some disbelief when the princess went after some noble and burned his carriage down. She must have killed him, she even casually killed the coachman with no regrets.

Never did he imagine she was capable of such a deed.

What the hell is going on…?

He had no idea.

He looked around.

“Oi, Heneis! Don’t just hide around!” he called out.

A dark fog emerged from the darkness and a man covered entirely in clothes appeared. “Wanderer, of course, you would be here.”

Taneva chuckled a bit after hearing him speak as if he just discovered he was here, acting all casual.

“I have a job to do, you know.”

“And what is this job?”

“You have nothing to worry about. That aside, did you just watch your precious princess get attacked by a beastman?”

“...”

He didn’t respond, Taneva smiled, he seemed to have hit the mark.

“Now why would you do that?” he began pondering and shortly came up with an answer. “Could you have been planning to save her before death, and that in turn cause her to be in your debt? Since you saved her, she might do what you want as a favor or something.”

“...”

Again, he was met with silence, but that was basically a confirmation. He shook his head, they basically planned to manipulate her.

“How underhanded to do that to the daughter of your old mistress.” he chuckled.

“Does not matter.”

“Really? Don’t you even feel bad? You think she would be pleased if she knew what you were trying to do with her daughter?”

“Again, what we do won’t matter.”

“Hehehe, yeah whatever. But things didn’t seem to go as planned, huh?” Taneva returned to gaze at the beastman's corpse. “You still think you can manipulate her after what you have seen?”

“... I admit, we didn’t expect this outcome. This will make things difficult.”

“Or this might change your entire plan… To be honest, I myself was taken aback. Did she ever train?”

“To get to that level of fighting skills? No. She had only started learning magic, no way she could do that much and go against a beastman. This is unlike with her spar against her knight.”

“As I guessed. You think it's her godly instincts at work?”

“You really think that?”

“Nope, just a random thought.”

There was no way that some person was born with a natural skill and knowledge of fighting. Even gods should need experience. But the princess was not moving like an amateur at all, all were expertly done, calculated, and she responded to a situation instantly.

“... I will need to reflect on today’s event. Farewell, wanderer.”

“Leaving already? Alright, bye.”

Heneis turned into a fog and left for the palace.

Taneva sighed and began leaving the area. But after several steps, he froze in place, his breathing trembling. He felt something weird, something that gave him the chills despite himself being immortal. But it was a familiar sensation.

He looked around.

“So, are you just gonna keep watching like a creepy pervert?”

At that moment, intense power assaulted him, enough that would make a normal man tremble and collapse on their knees. A presence way beyond any mortals slowly appeared. In front of Taneva, a giant eyeball formed, floating in the air, the edges faintly glowing.

Taneva smiled as he greeted the guest. “Long time no see, Observer. Well not personally since you’re here as an eyeball, but whatever.”

“Taneva.” A powerful voice spoke from the eye that shook the air, like thunder after the strike of lightning. “It’s good to see you well.”

“You as well. Especially after I heard that you started fighting against the other gods. You’re one hell of a guy, I tell you.”

In front of Taneva, this powerful presence was a god. He was a god called the “Neverending Observer,” the one who watches everything. He can see everything and thus know everything.

An omniscient being.

He could see what was happening all over the place, he could see one’s mind, one’s heart, the past, the future, literally everything. But he was not as famous as the other gods, very few mortals or inhabitants in this world knew about him.

With that knowledge, Taneva decided to have a little fun.

Damn your eyeball is nasty and disgusting. Looks like a deformed fetus that never got to be born, or a child from someone who slept with their sibling.

The eyeball narrowed its eyes. “Very funny, never change,” it said.

“I won’t, I’m afraid. So, how’s your war?”

“For now, everything is alright, as you can see, I am here.”

“Yeah. What are you even lurking around here for?”

“Something interesting happened that I wanted to watch... No, not precisely, I have been watching for some time, I just want to take a look at what happened here earlier.”

“Earlier… you mean the princess?”

“Yes.”

Taneva furrowed his brows. “I take it that you already knew this would happen.”

“Of course. I have watched this unfold from the future, and the present.”

“To think that you have an interest in what’s happening here…” Taneva then came to realize something. “Hey, do you have something to do with this? With the princess, with the prophecy?”

The eyeball narrowed its eyes. “I have no direct involvement in what is happening here.”

“Huh? Really?”

The eyeball froze for a moment. “I have to go. They’re closing in on me. We will meet again soon.”

“ — Wait! Is she sti—”

Taneva frantically reached out to the Observer, wanting to get an answer to an important question. Something personally important to him. But before he could finish his question, the eyeball vanished, and the surrounding air finally relaxed.

He closed his hand and shook it, and sighed with sadness.

“Soon then…”

Taneva woefully gazed up at the sky.