Chapter 183. To the Eastern Great Forest (2)
Just as Caron had expected...
"Shii—" Adina said.
"Shii what?" Caron asked.
"What the hell is wrong with this place...? Adina, don't eat that!" Leo shouted.
"Ptuh! I wasn't going to eat it, Leo! I'm just biting it off!" Adina explained herself.
"This is driving me insane," Caron said.
It had already been fourteen hours since they entered the Eastern Great Forest. Even though dawn had arrived, Caron's group still hadn't found a place to rest. They needed a campsite, but demonic monsters kept crawling out from every direction.
"These persistent little bastards!" Leo cursed as he effortlessly sliced through the neck of a hellhound that lunged at him.
At best, they had managed three hours of rest, or maybe less.
In the past, Leo would have collapsed from exhaustion by now. But not anymore. He thought, I can't afford to fall behind just yet.
To keep up with Caron, he had pushed himself relentlessly, training his stamina without pause. And there was also the Dew of the World Tree that Caron had given him. After consuming it, not only had his mana strengthened, his entire body had also undergone a transformation.
The fact that Adina was performing beyond expectations only fueled his determination further.
"Caron, don't you think these things got tougher than before?" Leo asked.
Caron replied in a bored tone, "Can't say I've noticed."
"How do you not notice?" Leo asked.
"Because it's still easy," Caron answered.
Crunch.
Caron grinned as he plunged Guillotine into the heart of a fallen monster, saying, "You should be grateful that these dark mana-infested things keep running straight at us."
Whoosh!
Guillotine greedily devoured the black energy seeping from the monster's corpse.
Leo shook his head, looking thoroughly unsettled, then said, "...That has to be a cursed sword."
"It's our first ancestor's sword," Caron corrected. "Leo, are you calling our ancestor a demon?"
"Hey, hey, how'd you twist it like that?! I just meant that thing is ominous!" Leo explained himself.
Caron had to admit, the sword had been making their journey easier. For some reason, even the most aggressive demonic monsters froze the moment they stepped into Guillotine's range.
"Ahhh, that was a good meal," Caron said, patting his stomach in satisfaction after absorbing the last of the remaining monster's dark mana. He remarked, "This is nice. I want to stay here for, what, half a year?"
Adina and Leo turned to glare at him with a frown.
"Don't jinx it, you idiot!" Leo shouted.
"Even as a joke, don't say things like that!" Adina added.
"I'm not joking," Caron said, feigning innocence. "This is the problem with young ones these days. There's a saying that in your young days, you pay for hardships."
"You're the youngest one here!" Leo said.
"It's just an expression, obviously," Caron said.
For him, this place was a mana goldmine. The refined Ocean Dominance Arts were performing even better than expected. The process of absorbing dark mana through Guillotine and converting it into Azure Mana was now at least twice as fast as before. Even after fourteen hours of nonstop fighting, his mana reserves hadn't dwindled in the slightest. In fact, he had more than when they had first entered.
"Phew." Caron exhaled lightly and took a slow look around.
Piles of demonic monster corpses were stacked like mountains. He would have preferred to burn them and be done with it, but setting a fire in a forest this dark would only get them noticed.
So far, only the demonic monsters had come after them. It was only a matter of time before the dark elves noticed them, but there was no reason to rush that encounter.
"Adina, how much farther to our destination?" Caron asked.
Their destination lay deep in the Eastern Great Forest. It was Aileen, the city of the elves, located on the eastern side near a vast lake. According to Adina, the city had been built along the lakeshore.
"At this pace, we'll need at least a week," Adina replied.
"Is that the only elven city?" Caron asked.
"No, there are a few villages along the way," Adina said, before frowning and adding, "But judging by what we've seen so far... I doubt any of them are still standing."
From the very entrance of the forest, demonic monsters had been swarming. It was hard to imagine the villages had survived unscathed.
"Where's the closest one?" Caron asked.
"If we keep going, we'll reach it in three hours," Adina replied.
"I guess that means we'll get there around dawn," Caron said.
He fell silent, weighing their options. They could either make camp here, or push forward and see what state the village was in. He had to choose between the two.
There's no guarantee the village is safe either... Caron thought. His gaze flickered to his companions. He himself was fine, but exhaustion was evident on the others' faces.
Camping here won't exactly let them recover either.
His pouch of dimensional space held elixirs for emergencies. If something went wrong, they could recover quickly and keep fighting. It would only be a temporary solution, but it was better than nothing.
"Let's head to the village," Caron decided at last.
Going straight to the village rather than camping here was the smarter choice. If necessary, they could scan the area with Pluto before entering.
Leo and Adina nodded without complaint.
"Let's rest for thirty minutes before we move out," Leo suggested.
"I need it. Keeping my power of Beast Transformation active for so long is exhausting," Adina admitted. "I should at least eat something."
"Twenty minutes. Leo, you stabilize your core. The dark mana concentration here is too high for proper cultivation. Adina... Let's have some jerky. We'll eat an actual meal once we find a safe place to rest. Alright?" Caron said.
"Jerky is enough. I just need something . Beast Transformation burns too much stamina," Adina muttered.
Caron smirked and tossed her a piece of jerky.
Leo let out a deep sigh and sat down, silently beginning to regulate his mana flow.
Pluto, Caron called internally.
Shhhh.
Pluto unfurled darkness around them, forming a protective veil. This would keep them safe from monsters—at least for a little while.
Satisfied with their defenses, Caron perched himself on a pile of the demonic monsters' corpses and tore into a piece of jerky. It wasn't the imperial jerky he usually ate, but a special recipe crafted by the tiger clan. It had a distinct spiciness to it.
"This is good," Caron mused. He thought it'd be nice to bring some back on the return trip.
Kieeeeeeeeh!
A distant monster's wail echoed through the forest, but for now, Caron and his companions enjoyed a brief moment of rest.
***
After their short rest, Caron and his group resumed their journey. This time, the distance they had to cover wasn't too long, so they made full use of Pluto's abilities.
Maintaining Pluto's power for three hours had drained a significant amount of Caron's mana, but thanks to the immense amount of mana he had absorbed from their previous battle, he was in decent condition.
"This new cultivation technique is incredible. My absorption efficiency has skyrocketed," Guillotine remarked.
"Right?" Caron said.
With Pluto's assistance, they reached the outskirts of the village relatively safely.
"We're here," Caron murmured, gazing at the faintly glowing yellow barrier before him.
There was a massive protective field standing alone in the middle of the forest.
Whoosh.
The mana pulsing from it indicated that survivors could still be inside.
"Pluto, can you get through?" Caron asked.
Meow...
Pluto let out a small whimper and shook its head, looking dejected. It seemed the barrier was too powerful to bypass.
"The elves of the Eastern Great Forest specialize in magic rather than Spirit Magic," Adina remarked as she observed the barrier.
"That makes sense. They're far from the World Tree," Caron replied.
For a barrier of this magnitude, an archmage who was at least at the 7th Circle had to be inside the village.
"What's the plan, Caron? The place looks intact from the outside," Leo asked.
"What do you think we should do?" Caron turned the question back at him.
Leo answered without hesitation, "We should move on."
"Why is that?" Caron asked.
"We have no idea what kind of danger is lurking in there," Leo said firmly.
Leo had a point. The village wasn't a necessary stop. They couldn't assess the situation inside, which meant entering would be a significant risk.
I don't sense any dark mana for sure... Caron thought. The sheer power of the barrier was enough to keep even the monsters at bay.
"As you pointed out, I agree that there's no need to take unnecessary risks," Caron said with a nod. "Let's camp here for the night. Thanks to that barrier, there won't be many monsters around. This spot is safer than most."
With that, he settled on a compromise. They wouldn't enter the village. Instead, they would use the barrier's presence to rest in peace. Given the circumstances, it was the wisest choice.
Caron reached into his pouch of dimensional space and pulled out a tent, which unfurled and set itself up in an instant. It had been a valuable tool on this journey.
"Both of you, get inside," Caron told Leo and Adina.
Leo frowned and asked, "What about you?"
"I have something to check. If anything happens, I'll escape with Pluto immediately. You two just rest. The tent deploys defensive spells automatically, so you'll be fine," Caron assured them.
"How can we rest when you're not resting...?" Leo asked, clearly dissatisfied.
Caron smirked and said, "Leo, lately, I've been proud of you. Let's just call it taking turns. I'll be back soon, so cook something in the meantime. A simple sandwich will do."
"Fine," Leo muttered.
"And don't try anything weird while you're alone with Adina," Caron added casually.
"W-What are you saying?" Leo stuttered.
Ignoring Leo's flustered reaction, Caron simply waved and said, "I'll be back."
Then he slipped into the darkness with Pluto.
"What are you trying to do?" Guillotine asked.
"I'm scouting. I have a bad feeling about this," Caron said.
Srrrrr.
He moved, stopping just in front of the barrier.
"Leo was right. The village looks way too intact. Even if an archmage is inside, there's no way they could have held out this long," Caron said.
The war between the dark elves and the elves of the Eastern Great Forest had been raging for six months now. A village at the very edge of the territory surviving unscathed was impossible. There had to be some hidden secret here.
As Caron carefully examined the barrier...
"Owner," Guillotine said.
"I felt it too," Caron murmured.
Srrrrrr.
Caron quickly slid into the shadows.
A moment later...
Whooooosh!
A gap formed in the village's barrier, and through it, a group of elves emerged. There were five figures, clad in white robes and white masks. They dragged a cart outside the barrier before coming to a stop.
"Dump them here. The collectors will arrive soon," one of them ordered.
"Alright," one of the others answered.
At the command of the one who seemed to be in charge, the other elves tilted the cart.
Thud, thud, thud.
Its contents spilled onto the ground. The moment Caron saw what lay inside, he frowned.
"...Who the hell are those bastards?" Guillotine said.
The cart was filled with elves—parts of their bodies were blackened in patches, corrupted. Their limbs twitched feebly, which meant they were still alive, albeit barely.
"P-Please save... u-us..." A young elf forced out the words, sounding weak and broken.
At that, the one who seemed to be in charge crouched down and gently stroked the child's head.
"Just endure a little longer. Soon, you'll become part of our great cause," he muttered cryptically, then turned to his subordinates and said, "Let's go back."
Whooooosh.
The moment they stepped back inside, the barrier sealed itself quickly, leaving only the wounded elves behind.
People who talk about 'great causes' are never sane, Caron thought.
"I agree. What are you going to do now?" Guillotine asked.
Let's wait and see. They mentioned collectors, Caron replied.
He couldn't yet piece together the full picture. But one thing was clear. Something unbelievable was happening inside that village.
The injured elves lay before him, their suffering visible, but he remained in hiding.
And so, time passed.
Rustle.
A group of figures emerged from the trees. They had dark skin and pointed ears. And the thick stench of dark mana clung to them.
...Dark elves, Caron thought. He was certain that they were dark elves.
There were ten of them in total. They sneered as they looked down at the fallen elves.
"Looks like the farmers did well today," one of them commented.
"There's even a young one in the mix. The king will be pleased. Let's hurry up and move them," another one said.
At their signal, hellhounds emerged from the shadows.
Grrrrrrr.
The dark elves worked skillfully, lifting the injured elves onto the monsters' backs.
Finally, the pieces clicked together in Caron's mind.
Dark elves were said to be elves corrupted by dark mana. And those elves lying on the ground were in the process of turning.
Now I understand, Caron thought. He realized the reason why this village had survived, untouched by war.
A slow smile spread across Caron's face as he watched the dark elves. I must be lucky.
Why is that? Pluto asked.
The ones with dark mana, rich and thick, are delivering themselves right to me. If it's begging to be devoured, I should oblige, Caron replied internally.
"...You should just become a demon already," Guillotine said.
Silently, Caron began trailing the dark elves.
His night was only just beginning.