Chapter 61: The Eastern Forest - II
Luka led the group on Furia at a canter.
Unlike previous battles, he couldn’t rush and exert himself too much. Though the distance to the eastern forest wasn’t that far, if Fura and the others beca fatigued, then their chances of victory would collapse.
Once he left the ramparts, the remaining forces sealed the doors.
"Let’s go, we have less than two hours to clear the forest." He glanced back at the main gate, knowing that Iris would soon guide Gerard to the secret passage the Amol Warriors created over the past few decades.
Behind him, Galatea, Luvia, Vaun and Brea followed in almost silence.
Surprisingly, Luvia, Vaun and Brea ford a row, while Galatea walked ahead of them with a slight frown and furrowed brows.
’I have to improve their relations—It’s detrintal for them to hate each other.’
"Forget it, there’s nothing I can do right now."
He snagged Furia’s reins before galloping towards the distant forest, each step sending reverberations through his body.
...
They soon ca to a massive, gloomy mass of dark-coloured leaves hanging from pitch-black trees, which oozed a faint trace of Miasma.
Unlike the Western forest, the gloom on the eastern side was truly innate.
"Why is this place so dark?"
Luvia asked while atop Reina, who kept growling and antagonising Fura.
At so point, she’d snuck beside him.
"Hmmm?" He observed the massive tree with beautiful purple leaves before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He could almost taste the sweetness in the air from the forest’s natural blend of Mana and Miasma.
"That’s because of the concentration of Miasma and Mana in the air." Brea broke into the conversation as they started to demount.
She approached the forest’s edge and touched the surface of a pitch-black trunk with her hand, which glowed faintly golden.
Grrrrrr~
A strange noise echoed, almost like a groan, accompanied by the creak of wood.
"Are the trees alive?!" Luvia gasped.
"No, this is just the reaction of the Miasma rapidly condensing to avoid the holy elent coming from Brea’s palm." Luka gently stroked Furia before pulling her reins to the edge of the forest.
"This is why I didn’t want to bring you, girl." He felt the slight shivers travelling through her body as she approached the forest.
"Brrrrrh!" She protested, her beautiful eyes fixated on his.
"Okay, okay, but you have to let
know if it gets too much. I won’t ever force you to suffer."
The black horse nuzzled his face with narrowed eyes.
"Wooof!"
Reina barked from beside with a strangely smug grin on her wolf-lips.
Luka didn’t linger on this and instead turned to the group behind him, a mixture of hunters, warriors and the won entangled with him.
"Do you know how this forest ford?"
Though there wasn’t a lot of ti, he avoided rushing.
"Nope."
"I’ve heard a little, but you should know more, right?" Brea answered, avoiding his gaze.
Luvia shook her head, but her glowing golden orbs gave away her desire to know.
"Okay, well... the story is quite simple."
He spread his arms, then started the tale passed down through the de Babylon family, a part of their important history and information on their territory that only he and a few trusted mbers would know.
’Gerard should’ve told Galatea the gist.’
His voice then spread through the air, as Vaun leaned against one of the trunks, adjusting her pitch-black bow.
"When the first settlers ca to this barren place.
My ancestor, who led them, chose to plant various trees, plants, and vegetable seeds across the vast stretch of fertile land in Babylon’s territory. At this point, the Amol warriors hadn’t taken root here, and the Fallen Lands were unknown factors.
But what they didn’t realise was the effects high concentrations of Mana and Miasma could have on natural life.
At the sa ti, when he planted this forest, it might’ve been a saving grace for the entire basin.
Thanks to this forest absorbing the dense concentration of Miasma that leaked from across the border through the soil, which mixed with the concentrated Mana from all the buried minerals beneath the forest.
This coincidence saved most of the Amol Plains.
Because this forest keeps the Miasma and Mana locked inside its borders.
Though my ancestors worshipped and praised this forest as a natural guardian, another problem arose from the concentrated energies.
They spawned the first monsters in Babylon."
Once he finished speaking, he glanced around the group with a smile.
A few listened to him intently while others only gave him half their attention, but no one ignored him, which was a plus.
"Do you understand the significance of this forest now, Luvia?"
"Mhm, but... what’s the difference between the goblins which ca from the Fallen Land and the monsters spawned from pure Mana or Misama?"
The difference between the goblins born in the Fallen Land and the goblins found in the wild was significant, but in essence, there was no difference.
Goblins born from corruption, intercourse, or reproduction were referred to as mbers of the Fallen race.
Monsters spawned from a concentration of Mana (Wild Goblins) were not technically Fallen, but rather sothing quite different. In most folktales and tales written throughout human lands, these monsters were akin to fairies.
The difference between a monster and a fairy is as thin as a piece of paper.
Even the prettiest and most delightful fairies would eat a human if pushed enough.
However, the main difference was that Monsters born from Mana or Corrupted Mana couldn’t reproduce like the monsters born naturally in the Fallen Lands.
The reason...
Monsters in the Fallen Lands were once humans, elves, dwarves or fairies.
The pure Miasma corrupted their bodies until they surpassed Stage One, Two and Three, becoming completely abandoned by the Divine and Holy.
The Fallen seek such pleasure because they have an endless hunger for what they lacked during their mortal lives due to being born from pure sin and debauchery.
While Monsters eat to survive, fight to protect their kin and have no reproductive desires.
Though so have developed such tastes as a source of feeding.
Succubi, Alrunae and other similar creatures.
...
His long story and lesson on the forest ca to an end, just as he planned to end the break they had taken. Luvia glanced at the forest with an inquisitive look, but he found that even Galatea and Brea seed not to know the full details.
’A Templar should know the details...’
Nonetheless, he didn’t know her story or the situation that brought her here, so he chose to ignore any discrepancies for now.
He stepped past the border, where the vibrant green grass turned dark blue with hints of purple.
"Shall we continue inside?" Luka turned back with a smile. "Ah, but do rember, anything inside this forest might look familiar, but don’t put things in your mouth or treat them the sa, as they’re likely flooded with Miasma and Pure Mana."
His eyes focused on Luvia, who squatted beside him.
Her hands wrapped around a colourful mushroom as if about to pick it.
"Hmph... I knew that!"
’Well, you might be okay, since you’re not a normal race.’ He thought to himself as she stepped ahead, crushing the long grass under her black boots.
The mont he pulled Furia inside, her pupils dilated and beca bloodshot.
"Furia?"
"Neeeeghh!" She struggled against his grasp, her muscles bulging and clenching simultaneously, creating a distracting sight.
"Furia!" He shouted, yanking at her reins. But it was useless, she raised her front legs with a petrified cry and suddenly dashed into the depths of the forest.
Her hooves tore apart the dirt as she galloped faster than ever before.
"...damn it." Luka cursed under his breath.
He turned back and glanced at the group; so watched him with pity, others were a little taken aback by what had happened.
"Do you see why I brought a small group now? Rember this. If anyone starts acting strangely, speaking to themselves or as if hallucinating." He paused for a mont, glancing towards Furia’s fading body. "Be sure to restrain them and bring them to Brea."
Without waiting for their response, he stepped towards the Northern passage, a small well-trodden path by hunters from the Amol Warriors.
"Aren’t you going to chase her?"
Galatea’s voice stabbed his chest like unintentional knives.
’Of course I want to rush and save her right now!’ His heart scread, but his face remained cold as he turned slightly and spoke in a raspy monotone.
"To sacrifice the lives of Iris and hundreds of our people for a horse? I am not foolish enough that I would mistake what is most important, Galatea."
"Eh?"
Her blue eyes opened wide as she stopped following for a second.
A sharp tightness wrapped his chest when saying such heartless things; if possible, he would love to run off.
Nevertheless, that wasn’t permitted.
He wasn’t Lucifer, the archangel.
But Luka de Babylon a human Lord who didn’t have such power.
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