A few days ago.
Before Freya and Tidebreaker reached the shores of Sunhaven.
Deep within a lush green forest that was as vast as one could imagine.
Earlier, this forest used to be naless. It had no identifying marks on anyone's map. However, a certain soone had decided to blow himself up along with Nira Nightshade's Alchemy Doll, making everyone take note of the forest eventually.
At this point, this forest was recognized as the Wrathful Red Forest.
The sky above this region was always red, and the woods of the forest had acquired deep red hues. Even the soil was red as if soone had soaked it in fresh blood.
This was not all. Even the mana beasts that called this forest their ho had developed so red stripes on their skin.
The entire ecosystem in the forest had been altered, giving rise to various mutant mana beast species and so rare mana-rich resources that couldn't be found anywhere else.
The beasts with red runic stripes covering their bodies were of various species and sizes. However, they had one thing in common: red eyes, suggesting a permanent state of berserk rage. It seed they desired to destroy anything and anyone in their path.
It wasn't that these beasts had low intelligence; on the contrary, they were far more cunning and vicious than their counterparts. However, their wrathful emotions seed beyond their control.
This was the case for most of the red-striped beasts. However, among them were so who had managed to channel their wrath effectively in recent months. This allowed them to unlock new potential paths of developnt.
By harnessing their internal rage, they deepened their red stripes, enabling rapid progress in their Paths to Power and unlocking new evolutionary stages.
Why did the Wrathful Red Forest develop this unique ecosystem?
It was because Lemaar Saaya—Eren's pseudo-avatar—had used Wrath Mana to empower his detonation, intending to kill Nira Nightshade's Alchemy Doll and most of her allies.
This single act transford the forest into a haven for the most aggressive and ferocious of entities, a wrathful paradise ant to be conquered.
***
At this point…
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
Various groups of practitioners from different Professions landed at the forest's edge. They had flown from various directions, choosing this spot as their eting point.
So belonged to the Darkmoon Fellowship, the demonic cult to which Shaai Sena and Jolly Jalen belonged. Others were their allies.
The practitioners avoided flying directly into the heart of the Wrathful Red Forest. The increasing potency of the Wrath Mana would have hindered their flying Skills.
Flying deep into the forest would have left them vulnerable, a risk they wanted to avoid at all costs. Why? Because they knew other groups of practitioners were already there. The wrathful mana beasts weren't their only concern; they also had to watch out for these other groups, who posed even greater threats. Or rather, for most practitioners present in the groups, the enemy practitioners were their only concern.
The wrathful beasts could be tackled easily because of their relatively straightforward nature. But the sneaky and greedy practitioners could not be dealt with using similar ans. It made them alert and always on the lookout as they reached their destination.
"What… What exactly happened in this forest? A demonic ritual related to Demon Prince Samael?" asked one of the Darkmoon Fellowship elders as she surveyed the surroundings with her Spirit Sense and vision. Her expressions were grim and one could tell that she had raised her alertness.
Her na was Rumiya Reed, an S-Ranked witch—a Siren.
Rumiya assud that the demonic cults related to Demon Prince Samael were responsible for changing the ecosystem of the forest. Who else could invoke enough Wrath Mana that had the power to change the ecosystem of the region?
What she didn't know was the fact that the puppeteer who had caused this incident was with her, standing beside her with his wife.
"Soone committed suicide here. They literally blew themself up and claid a number of lives. The explosion caused the entire forest to change," said one of the Warlocks, opening his closed eyes as he spoke in a grim tone.
He was Darkmoon Fellowship's ally who had been invited to the wedding between Jolly Jalen and Shaai Sena. The mission to visit this place was created soon after Jolly's wedding ceremony when he finished interrogating the spies from other cults.
As such, he stayed in the Darkmoon Fellowship instead of returning to his stronghold and ca to visit this place along with the majority of the Darkmoon Fellowship's mbers. His na was Riolos Ridhoor.
Just like the three elders of the Darkmoon Fellowship who had joined this expedition, Riolos was also an S-Ranked warlock—an Evoker. Evoker was the title given to warlocks who had obtained the S-Rank.
It seed that Ridhoor used his Profession-specific perks and abilities to find out the main reason behind the change in the forest's ecosystem. However, he didn't find anything else.
After all, as comprehensive as the Warlock Path was, Riolos was no Historian. He had many limitations. Plus, even as an S-Ranked Evoker, Riolos felt that finding more about the person who had caused this incident was sort of way above his pay grade.
"What kind of demon can pull this off? Did an incarnation of Demon Prince of Wrath stage this?" Rumiya asked Riolos in a grave tone.
"I don't know what happened here, and I don't care," Shaai Sena stepped forward and said in a determined voice.
"Let's start exploring the forest. The more we delay here, the lesser our chances of getting into 'that' place," she said as she surveyed the faces of all the S-Ranked entities who were her colleagues and allies.
Including her and two other elders of Darkmoon Fellowship, there were 3 more S-Ranked allies that the cult had dispatched at the place. It ant that there were a total 6 S-Ranked powerhouses in the entire team. The rest of the practitioners who were deed qualified to beco part of this expedition were at least of the B-Rank or higher. And all of them were well equipped with artifacts, potions, and potent Skills.
Jolly's demonic interrogation had yielded pretty solid results. The information he extracted from the spies was what brought so many practitioners here.
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