Somewhere in the forest, the following conversation was being played out:
“Where is that guy now?”
“I don’t know. I heard that the food in yet another area’s been cleaned out .”
“Damned demon, are you trying to kill us all?”
“Where did they come from? Who’s gonna stop them?”
“If this continues, we’ll all starve to death.”
“All the food in my territory is gone. My clansmen are starting to go out of control.”
“Come to think of it, those who didn’t attend the meeting probably didn’t make it ’cause they’ve already started fighting amongst themselves.”
“That’s not entirely true. I heard that other than those two demons, another demon have also entered the forest.”
“The serpents by the river are fighting him. I heard that many of them got injured.”
“Damned demons, are you trying to destroy our home and our world?”
“Are the serpents guys alright? Do they need help?”
“I don’t know the exact situation, but it feels like the demon the serpents are fighting aren’t as terrifying as the other two.”
“Is that so? Perhaps this is an opportunity. We can defeat the demons one by one and protect our home.”
“Agreed. We must act before all our food is wiped out.”
“Great! Since no one has any objections, let’s start with the lone demon!”
“Alright!”
As the meeting came to an end, the entire forest seemed to come alive, and all the monsters began to move.
At the same time, on the other side of the forest, George paused his eating and looked around in confusion.
“What’s going on? It feels like the whole atmosphere in the forest has changed. Something’s coming.”
George narrowed his eyes and looked around vigilantly. His gaze lingering on every spot that looked like an enemy could appear from.
Noticing George’s unusual behavior, Celia came to his side immediately. The tip of her index finger flickered with magic, ready to cast a spell at a moment’s notice.
However, after a long period of stalemate, the expected attack did not come.
George closed his eyes and a 3D image appeared in his mind’s eye.
Strange, there were no enemies. But what was this feeling then?
After some thought, George explained to Celia,
“There are no enemies around, but be careful. I can feel the forest’s malice towards us.”
Celia nodded to show understanding. Then after a moment of thought, she asked,
“Is it because we’re consuming too much?”
However, after the question left her lips, even Celia found her thinking preposterous.
“It can’t be.” George thought the same way. How could eating a couple fruits provoke the wrath of the entire forest?
“Still, it’s strange that till now we haven’t seen a single monster.”
Since the fruits here were so rich in magic, by right there should have been quite a number of powerful monsters in this forest.
But till now, George still had not seen a hide nor tail of any monster.
“Indeed,” Celia agreed. She thought for a moment and she took out a round disc.
She injected magic into the core causing the disc to transform. In the blink of an eye, a mechanical bird appeared in front of them.
“It’s that petty noble’s scouting bird.”
George took one look at this little bird and the face of a stingy bastard came to his mind.
Under Celia’s control, the mechanical bird disappeared into the forest.
Mechanical birds were very useful to normal adventurers as they could scout ahead and give warnings.
But to George who possessed strong perception abilities, they were useless.
As such, their mechanical bird was usually left gathering dust inside their storage space.
However, the current situation was different. He had sensed something, yet nothing happened.
At times like these, the mechanical bird came in handy.
As the figure of the mechanical bird disappeared into the forest, George also didn’t dwell on the source of the malicious intent and continued to enjoy the sumptuous fruits.
Soon, the sound of chewing was heard again.
If Albert knew of George and Celia’s current situation, he was sure to feel very bitter.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
Labored breaths escaped Albert’s lips.
His chest heaved up and down violently, and the sword in his hands was chipped in many places.
His once-handsome silver armor had also become dull and tattered.
In short, he was in dire straits.
Ever since he arrived at this place, Albert had been fighting, fleeing, fighting, and fleeing. There had been no time for him to rest at all.
If it weren’t for his strength and tenacity, he might have already died.
But even so, given his current situation, it was only a matter of time before he succumbed.
Surveying his surroundings, he noticed that there were more enemies than just the Rock Serpents he encountered at the beginning. Be it in terms of species or numbers.
What was going on with these monsters? There had been no end to them since a while ago.
Although Albert had first-hand information of this place, he still couldn’t understand what was going on.
That said, Master Harley wasn’t omniscient. And even if he was, he would not tell Albert everything he knew in detail.
As such, he was very puzzled right now.
“If I’d known that the monsters in this forest were this aggressive, I would have brought Barron along.”
Even while he was thinking, the monsters did not stop their attack.
The Rock Serpents launched mud shots to provide long-distance support while the other monsters seized the opportunity to block Albert’s escape route.
“Damn it.”
Seeing this, Albert took a deep breath, and an invisible ripple spread out in all directions.
This time, Albert did not attempt to avoid the dangerous transmuting mud of the Rock Serpents Nor could he.
All the paths around him were sealed off. The only thing he could do was face them head-on.
“Upon the spirit of my sword do I swear, I will never retreat!”
The moment those words left his lips, a powerful aura erupted from Albert.
The two Gale Wolves charging at the very front were blown backwards as if struck by the impact.
Then, holding his sword tightly in both hands, Albert slashed at the transmuting mud of the Rock Serpents.
The mud solidified and hardened the moment it came into contact with the sword, but it had no effect on Albert or the sword in his hand.
Ga ga ga!
The sword pierced through the mud with an ear-piercing sound, and a large amount of gravel fell to the ground.
“Ha!” Albert let loose an enraged roar, and a terrifying power erupted from his body. Aiming directly ahead, he brought the sword down in one mighty slash.
Boom!
Sword energy flew out as an extension of the sword and sliced towards the monsters in front of Albert.
Sensing danger, the monsters scrambled to get out of the way. As they broke formation, a gap appeared in the encirclement.
A chance!
Albert didn’t continue to fight. Kicking off from the ground with both feet, he launched himself towards the gap with astonishing speed.
When the monsters regained their wits, Albert had already vanished.
The monsters roared as they turned around to give chase.
This scene too, was witnessed by the gaunt man in the big hall.
He tapped his fingers on the armrest of his throne. A hint of nostalgia flashed through his eyes as he looked at Albert
“The Knight of the Oath. How “An Oath Knight.. How nostalgic!”