The crystalline golems radiated an ominous energy, but once destroyed, they lost their power and reverted to ordinary crystals. These crystals were used to craft nurous ornants, significantly boosting the treasury of the Fanny Kingdom.
The crystal golems, residing deep within the Forest of Beasts, were formidable monsters boasting unparalleled defense. Even knights imbued with mana could only inflict minor scratches on them. Their high magic resistance often left attackers struggling.
Boom!
As Parniel swung her massive mace, the charging crystal golems were shattered into countless pieces.
“Hm, their defense isn’t very impressive,” she remarked nonchalantly.
Ghislain, watching in disbelief, retorted, “Don’t you think you’re just too strong?”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ghislain swung his sword at the advancing golems. These creatures were tough enough to withstand aura blades, and even Ghislain couldn’t easily cut through them with a normal strike.
However, when he pushed his strength further—
Boom!
The golems started disintegrating with each swing of his blade.
Parniel, observing this, murmured, “It’s all the sa in the end.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Julien, Gillian, Tenant, Kaor, and other superhumans effortlessly dealt with the crystal golems. The soldiers and mages didn’t even need to intervene. Their only role was to maintain vigilance and protect the laborers from any unexpected attacks.
Yet, there were those who stepped forward to fight, even without extraordinary power.
“Hiyahhh!”
Boom!
Elena swung a massive hamr with determination. Her mana reserves were on par with an average knight.
Because of this, her attacks only made the crystal golems stagger instead of breaking them.
“Ugh! Why won’t you break?!”
Grinding her teeth, Elena poured more strength into her swings. While she usually held back her full power, the golems’ toughness left her no choice.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each strike of her terrifying hamr, cracks began forming on the golems’ bodies. She was physically smashing apart creatures that even knights struggled to damage.
Due to her lack of supernatural ability, her attacks were raw and unrefined, resulting in shards of the golems flying everywhere with each blow.
The soldiers, watching this display, couldn’t help but murmur among themselves.
“Wow...”
“Poor golems...”
“As expected of the Princess of Destruction...”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thanks to the superhumans, the hundreds of crystal golems were swiftly obliterated. The shattered remnants of the golems emitted a brilliant blue light, marking the end of their lives.
Ghislain stretched his arms and comnted, “Ugh, this is so... boring.”
He hadn’t even exerted half his strength, barely breaking a sweat.
Even though the Forest of Beasts was considered dangerous, it was no match for those who had faced down dragons.
Ghislain turned to Julien with a grin. “How is it? Comfortable, right? This feels like a leisure trip, doesn’t it?”
“...Hmm.”
Julien paused to think. Whether this could be called leisurely was debatable, but it certainly wasn’t difficult. Eventually, he nodded.
This forest evoked strange emotions in him. The aura emanating from the monsters and the surroundings felt oddly familiar.
‘How curious.’
Julien attributed this sensation to the dragon’s energy coursing through him. There was no other reason why this ominous aura spread throughout the forest could feel so familiar.
The peculiar monsters were a fascinating spectacle. Julien regarded them with a casual indifference, unaware that he was experiencing such feelings for the first ti.
With the crystal golems swiftly dealt with, the laborers resud their work.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As trees were felled and the area was cleared, Jero looked ahead and remarked, “Hmm, the interference with magic seems to grow stronger the deeper we go.”
The closer they got to the center, the harder it beca to see far ahead. Jero found this phenonon intriguing.
Despite reaching the 8th Circle, he couldn’t fully grasp the energy saturating the forest.
There was clearly sothing here, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.
Magic usage itself wasn’t impaired, but so sort of interference clouded his vision whenever he tried to look further ahead.
“Would it look different from above?”
Ghislain shook his head. “No point in going up. That’s why we’re not using hot air balloons.”
“Why not?”
“There’s sothing that attacks anything up there.”
“How do you know that?”
“Well... I ran so experints before,” he replied vaguely, drawing from his past-life knowledge but choosing not to elaborate.
Despite his words, Jero seed eager to confirm it himself, slowly beginning to levitate.
“I’ll take a quick look.”
“Suit yourself.”
Soone of Jero’s caliber wouldn’t be easily caught off guard. There was no reason to stop him if he wanted to investigate.
As he ascended, Jero took in the vast scenery and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow.”
The forest stretched endlessly, with no visible end even from his vantage point.
The densely packed, enormous trees obscured everything beneath them, shrouding the area in darkness. Truly, this region deserved its reputation as a cursed land.
Feeling adventurous, Jero flew further ahead, curious about the forest’s center.
‘Should I take a quick peek?’
Since they had to clear a path anyway, he figured he could scout ahead before returning.
As he moved forward—
Whoosh!
A massive tree, uprooted entirely, ca hurtling toward him at an astonishing speed from the forest’s center.
“Whoa!”
Jero dodged just in ti, narrowly avoiding being impaled.
“What... what was that?”
Whoosh!
Before he could collect himself, another tree ca flying at him. Forced to retreat, Jero descended to the ground.
“What the hell is attacking us?”
“I have no idea, but it seems like there’s sothing truly monstrous out there,” Ghislain replied.
“Ugh... it’s not another dragon, is it?”
The sheer speed of the flying trees was unnatural. Even as a superhuman, Jero had barely managed to evade them.
Ghislain smirked and shook his head. “Nah, it’s not a dragon. If it were, we’d all be dead already.”
Whatever it was, it wasn’t at the level of a dragon. There was no need to panic before even identifying it.
Jero let out a sigh of relief, muttering, “Phew, almost got myself killed just trying to satisfy my curiosity.”
Regrettably, he had no choice but to proceed cautiously with the group while continuing their expedition.
As the workers pressed on, Ghislain approached Lumina.
“How are you holding up? We’ve co much deeper this ti. Is the forest still trying to talk to you?”
“Yes, it keeps whispering, asking to join it,” Lumina replied with a somber expression.
She had insisted on participating in this expedition despite the risks.
Previously, the forest had constantly tempted her to rge with it, speaking in ominous tones.
Now, they all knew that this was the voice of the Demon God’s lingering thoughts and the forest’s cursed energy.
Ereneth had warned her:
"Be cautious. That is the essence of the Demon God’s lingering will. If you succumb, your mind will eventually align with the Salvation Order’s goals."
Unlike the artificially created priests of the Salvation Order, Lumina was naturally drawn to the forest’s call.
Though the Rift had been sealed, the Demon God’s malevolent thoughts still lingered in the world, enabling the Salvation Order to grow in power and influence.
As ti passed, the lingering will of the Demon God grew stronger, signifying that their king was slowly regaining the power to be resurrected.
Ghislain turned to Lumina and spoke softly.
“Do you want to go back? You can leave if you feel like it.”
Lumina shook her head firmly. She trusted the people here and wanted to keep listening to the whispers the forest was sharing. Perhaps they held the key to uncovering the secrets of the Salvation Order.
Initially, Ghislain had planned to exclude Lumina from this expedition. However, she had insisted on joining, determined to help in any way she could.
Just in case, Piote continuously placed blessings on Lumina to protect her. Whether it was because of this or sheer willpower, Lumina had shown no serious signs of being affected yet.
As preparations were completed, the Northern Army resud their advance.
Screeeech!
The na "Forest of Beasts" wasn’t for show. The deeper they went, the more monsters charged at them. At one point, thousands of creatures attacked all at once.
But even that number couldn’t faze the battle-hardened Northern Army. No ordinary monster horde could overco their overwhelming strength and experience.
This was the sa army that had faced hundreds of thousands of Rift beings. Whatever monsters appeared were quickly overwheld as they pressed forward.
In fact, any soldiers who sustained injuries during skirmishes were scolded by their commanders for their lack of training.
The workers, initially nervous, soon relaxed entirely.
“As expected from the kingdom’s strongest army.”
“Not just the kingdom’s—this is the continent’s strongest army.”
“There’s no army that can beat the Northern Army.”
Even before this expedition, the Northern Army was praised as an invincible force. Now, they were rely proving it to everyone.
Ascon, observing the atmosphere, muttered under his breath.
“This place isn’t the Forest of Beasts anymore... It’s the Forest of Weaklings.”
True to form, he avoided any fighting, instead cursing while working alongside the laborers. He had been assigned to assist with cutting down trees and other tasks.
Thud! Thud!
Swinging his axe, Ascon grumbled incessantly.
“Damn it, when will this job end? When’s my liberation from this endless labor?”
He longed for a world free of work.
With tens of thousands of people working simultaneously, the densely packed trees that blocked their path were quickly felled, creating wide clearings.
Naturally, this uproar shook the forest, disrupting the balance of its inhabitants. Monsters that had lived quietly in their own territories were forced into chaos.
As giant trees fell, the monsters were left with no place to hide and began charging at the Northern Army in a frenzy.
Screeeech!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Most of the ti, the superhumans stepped in to deal with the onslaught. When monsters ca from all directions, making it difficult for even the superhumans to handle, the mages and soldiers stepped up to finish the job.
Apart from supporting in battles, the mages also beca excellent laborers, helping cut down trees and prepare logs for transport.
Although the mages sped up the work considerably, the pace of the overall advance remained slow.
“Hurry up and load those logs!”
“We’ve got a ssage from the base—they need more timber!”
“Bring in more wagons!”
The laborers bustled about, shouting orders as they worked.
Unlike the days when they had to remain silent out of fear of the forest’s dangers, speed and efficiency were now prioritized.
Simultaneously, several tasks were being carried out: clearing and transporting felled trees to the rear, building wooden fortifications in the cleared areas, and collecting resources discovered along the way.
Even with their overwhelming strength, these tasks inevitably slowed the pace of the advance.
“Wow, look at this!”
“This was here all along?!”
“What isn’t in this forest? It feels like every valuable resource is packed into this one place!”
Every ti they secured an area with rare herbs and ores, the workers couldn’t help but marvel.
Ghislain also smiled in satisfaction. Rare herbs alone would sell like wildfire across the continent, even without processing.
For nearly two months, the Northern Army balanced clearing the forest with hunting monsters, living within the Forest of Beasts.
Although progress was slow, they steadily moved closer to the forest’s center without significant issues.
Ghislain flipped through his journal, where he had recorded notes based on his mories.
“We’re almost at the next critical point,” he murmured.
Before long, they arrived at a vast plain where there were hardly any trees. The forest was so expansive that the appearance of a plain within it didn’t feel unnatural.
Beyond the plain, trees grew densely again, their branches forming an almost impenetrable wall.
As they advanced further, sharp-eyed scouts noticed sothing strange hanging from the trees in the distance.
“What is that?”
“Are those... people?”
“That doesn’t look right.”
They appeared to be cocooned figures, suspended upside down from the trees. Their eerie presence made the soldiers furrow their brows as they prepared for battle.
As the army approached, the hanging forms began to twitch and writhe.
Ghislain turned around and issued orders.
“Archers, mages, prepare yourselves. We strike first.”
The archers imdiately nocked their arrows, and the mages began channeling their mana.
Ghislain stretched his hand forward and commanded, “Make sure to eliminate those things completely.”
Whoosh!
Without hesitation, arrows filled the sky, darkening it as they soared toward their targets. Following closely behind, a barrage of spells shot forth.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Screeech!
The writhing cocoons were torn apart, and sothing burst out in large numbers.
The soldiers’ expressions twisted in disgust as they saw what erged.
Giant bats with human-like faces sward into the air, screeching as they charged toward the army.
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