Rescue

The footprints led directly to the forest Ace had sighted after his failed landing in Kaishi's world.

The forest itself was little different from a normal forest, but something was wrong, this forest would give chills even to the biggest killer in history, it gives a feeling of insecurity and an extremely feeling scary as if an old monster sees and watches your every move.

Ace shivered couldn't give up, he remembered little Mia, he had to protect her.

Sadness appeared deep in his heart, remembering his past, strangely Mia's story reminded him a little of the one he lived as a child.

' I think she went to this forest for a chance to escape the bandits chasing her. Hell, old Lupo told me about this place and told me not to go near it. '

Squeezing the iron sword tighter, Ace continued to follow the footsteps, as on the horizon the last strands of light disappeared closing the day with in passing.

What Ace didn't know and Old Lupo didn't say was that this forest was called "The Forbidden Forest" and inside it hides a tragic legend, a giant monster controlling trees and nature, lived in the place, but no one really knows what the creature looks like. The story tells of two people returning there to find food for their children, only they were born face to face with the monster and were devoured alive, leaving no trace of their existence.

****

After ten minutes or so, Ace arrived at the entrance to the forest, with all his senses on the alert.

Thanks to serumes, humans are able to improve all their common senses, but also the last one which evolved naturally and which is the sixth sense, also called instinct.

And that instinctive sense advised Ace to turn around quickly.

As a touch of anxiety and beads of sweat flowed from his forehead like a fountain of water, Ace plucked up courage and went back into the forest to find Mia.

'I find her and I go out of here, and even if this monster appears I would kill him no matter what' determination and dominance shone deep inside him and in his ocean blue eyes as he sank into the monster's lair.

After a while Ace weakened and fell to the ground from everything he had been doing for days, with the injury he sustained by Moth in the abdomen still causing him pain. and the fact that he hadn't slept for 5 to 6 days already didn't help.

Also the forest before entering it seemed normal, rather small, but once inside it feels like the forest is huge, like a giant labyrinth trying to lose visitors in constant exhaustion for all those trying to find a way out.

"Help! Help me, please!" Suddenly Ace heard a scream in a shrill, thin, barely audible voice that was close enough to him to hear it.

He knew whose voice belonged, he got up with difficulty using the hilt of the sword and quickly ran towards the direction where the voice was coming from.

He walked through the forest and spotted wolves there, the problem was that the wolves had died strangely with cuts all over their bodies, but the strangest part of it all was that since he was in that forest, Ace hadn't seen no animal whether they are insects or birds.

Not having time to think about all that, Ace made small jumps to dodge the branches and vines on the ground trying to make anyone fall to the misfortune of wrapping around one of them.

Ace came from where the voice was coming from and saw a little girl in a white dress full of dirt, indicating that she had fallen several times, holding her hands on whose face salty water was flowing through her thin little ones. hands, purple skin was its main feature. She was sobbing with her head and knees bent, leaning against a massive, thick tree.

But what made Ace boil with rage were the two men who were in the spirits staring at the little girl with dirty looks and vicious mouths.

"Come on little one, come here, I'll make you an adult" the man started to approach the girl as his colleague took her arm.

"Don't do that Kusu, we don't need her entirely, from what superiors say, she could help the organization"

"Okay Yaro, but we can still-" Before he even finished his sentence he was stabbed in the heart by a blade.

The man named Kusu turned around with difficulty as blood flowed from his lips, and what he saw made him shiver.

A man with extremely cold blue eyes, for the bandit, was not a human, but death that had come looking for him.

Eventually, he passed out and fell to the ground in his own blood, terrified.

"Yours" Said Ace as he watched the next bandit to be killed.