After the commotion subsided.
Arthur sat on a cold stone, silently watching the thief's body half-sunk and half-floating in the muddy water. He reached into the inner lining of his chest armor and took out that flower.
The white flower had long since completely dried up and withered, its petals twisted and curled, having lost all their color, like the shriveled wings of dead insects.
A wild flower?
The knight's soul fire flickered. In the world composed of his fragmented memories and undead obsessions, this flower was the only thing that had stubbornly grown in that sunless ruins.
It was no wild flower.
It was the most unique existence, the most precious color.
Just like himself.
An undead capable of thought, possessing vague memories and emotions, who believed in nature.
Alice.
Brown braids like amber honey, crisp laughter like wind chimes... she should be the cutest... skeleton in the world.
The knight's logic fell into brief confusion.
Since he was a pile of bones, then that cutest little sister Alice in his memories... logically, should also be a small, bouncing cute skeleton.
This thought brought warmth to his cold soul fire, but when he looked up and scanned his surroundings, that warmth was instantly replaced by bewilderment.
But where is this?
He had been so focused on chasing people that he had no idea where he had ended up.
He seemed... lost.
Just then, a pitch-black feather spiraled down elegantly and landed on the knight's shoulder armor. With a "poof!" it exploded into a black crow.
"Count Bran has arrived!"
The crow elegantly preened the feathers on its chest with the tip of its wing.
"Look at our poor Arthur, who has made this knight so melancholy? I hope this Count hasn't disturbed you."
The knight remained silent, not responding, like a solidified statue. After quite a while, he finally looked up toward the depths of the swamp where Chen Yu and Little Ka had disappeared.
"I saw... life... nature..."
"Caw caw caw!!"
Count Crow was amused, flapping its wings and pointing around.
"Oh oh... poor Arthur, my poor retainer, you've been addled by the poisonous mist. Look at this pitch-black muck pond, this place with nothing but mosquitoes and rotting trees. Where would a nature's blessed be here?"
The knight ignored the crow's chattering, his gaze still stubbornly fixed in that direction.
"Swamp... Lord."
"Swamp Lord?"
Count Crow paused for a moment, then let out an even louder series of "caw caw" laughter.
"Caw hahaha! You mean that 'Swamp Lord' that made those ignorant thieves piss their pants? You're treating it as a 'nature's blessed' and want to pay homage?"
"This is literally the funniest joke I've... no, this Count has heard in all these years, caw hahaha!"
Count Crow laughed so hard it rocked back and forth. Finally managing to stop its hysterical laughter, it wiped away tears of laughter with the tip of its wing and raised its noble head once more.
"Alright alright, my respectable retainer, although your judgment deeply concerns this Count, who let this Count be such a merciful and generous master."
"Never mind a mere swamp, even if that so-called 'Swamp Lord' were some ancient crocodile king, cruel and savage, capable of swallowing a land dragon in one bite... with the great Count Bran here, a mere flick of my feathers would scare it shitless."
Count Crow immersed itself in self-praise, not noticing that Arthur paid it no mind, simply slowly standing up, mounting his warhorse, and riding into the forest.
"...don't know the way..."
"With this Count here, what's there to fear? I'm famously good with directions."
"Good."
The figure on horseback and the crow's chattering voice gradually faded into the mist.
......
In the forest, a Slime was leisurely riding a crocodile along a small path between the trees.
Anyone unaware would think this was a blooming backyard garden rather than a perilous swamp.
Chen Yu just felt the weather was so changeable - clearly sunny skies in the morning, but by afternoon it was overcast with dark clouds, and now it was drizzling.
It seemed like a heavy storm was coming.
Many abnormal mana convergence points had appeared in the forest.
The Magical Creatures had become restless and agitated, and even the well-trained Wasp Soldiers had lost two.
"Kaka..."
Compared to the calm Chen Yu, Little Ka was fearfully shrinking its head, its timid gaze unable to stop looking around.
It was most afraid of rain.
Every time it rained, terrifying Magical Creatures would appear. The giant crocodiles would push it out of the nest to guard the entrance, forcing it to spend the night in terrified anxiety.
If not for the King's presence, it would have already found a place to bury its head.
"Little Ka, there's mana ahead, let's go check it out."
"...kaka... mana... scary monsters..."
Chen Yu patted its head. "Could anything be scarier than me?"
"This mana is all my asset. Thinking they can absorb it without paying? Where would such a good deal exist?"
"...as... asset?"
The little crocodile didn't understand what an asset was, but it understood territory.
This was all the King's territory, so the mana rightfully belonged to the King.
As the King's servant, if it didn't drive away those bad guys and failed to perform its duties, it would definitely get fired.
Please don't let that happen.
"...have King... not afraid..."
The little crocodile muttered to itself, mustering courage, and charged headfirst into a patch of Gray Mist.
Threads of cool mist directly penetrated the Magic Organ, refreshing Chen Yu's spirit, as if he could see "+1 +1 experience" popping up above his head.
No wonder these Magical Creatures got addicted to the Gray Mist's mana.
This was basically free experience packs.
Couldn't be more satisfying.
However, Chen Yu remembered that this kind of mana could cause Magical Creatures to become frenzied, so he couldn't help but glance at Little Ka beneath him.
Immediately he felt his worry was unnecessary.
This timid creature's small eyes were still anxiously darting around - far from frenzied, it would be an achievement if it wasn't trembling.
"...King... ahead..."
Little Ka discovered a Swamp Wild Boar lying at the center of the mana.
Clearly this guy had already driven away all other Magical Creatures and monopolized this place alone.
The wild boar grunted as it heard movement and stood up, discovering that the intruders in its territory were the strange combination of a Slime and a crocodile.
"Oink!!"
Seeing the invaders, the last remnants of reason in its mind were swallowed by frenzy. Its eyes turned blood red as it charged straight at them.
[Little Arrow Technique]
"Boom!"
Little Ka was so scared it trembled on the spot, even closing its eyes tightly.
But when it opened its eyes again, it saw that the beast had instantly flown far away, lying on the ground twitching.
The fear in its eyes was immediately replaced by worship.
"...King... great..."
As the Gray Mist poured in, drowsiness set in. Chen Yu yawned.
"You absorb more. Being this skinny won't do."
"...kaka..."
They stayed in the mana for half an hour, repelling several waves of invaders, before finally draining the mana here.
"Charge, to the next abnormal mana point."