บท 52: Visiting the Dark Forest (3)
The earth shook and a strong gust of wind assaulted them. They were not a child so as not to know at what level that roar belonged to. From level 1-6 of low class beasts, level 1-4 of intermediate beasts and level 1-4 of high class beast, the roar surely did not belong to any of it. A legendary beast, a saint beast or a celestial beast were all an option. But how would they accurately guess when those types of beasts simply appeared in the legends.
The bandits dispersed in a blink of an eye. Henry could not have moved a second later. Cheska retracted the formation, while Henry scooped Madel from the ground, ready to flee any time. Who would have thought the girl did not even noticed the fight but continously slept all through out.
Looking at her move to the side earlier was not her waking up but getting in a more comfortable position.
In front of them, Francis remained unmoving. He was in a daze and was completely unaware of what is happening.
Was he in a state of shock because of the roar?
The second later he gripped his head and stumbled on the ground.
[Oh great, now we have to two people to protect!]
Helen rushed over to assess the condition of her friend. He was clearly not injured physically. Cheska went over to help Helen carry him. Finding a safe place to hide was urgent.
Just then another load roar broke the tranquility in the medow.
Madel who was in Henry's arm, gently opened her eyes upon hearing the roar.
"Looks like my friends are worried now, we must get going." She said in a sleepy manner. But all her desire to sleep was blown away when she looked up and saw Henry's indescribable expression. He was worried, irritated, afraid, and so much more that she could not describe. The first thing that she did was to push her body away, jumping to the ground as if she was afraid of contracting some germs from him.
Henry frowned and the look of displeasure was obvious in his eyes. He was obviously blaming her for something.
"We have to go back some other time Madel, this time we need a safe place to hide." Henry held back his irritation and tried to act rationally.
"What happened to Francis?" Madel saw the man lying unconscious to the ground.
The sense of urgency to escape made Cheska and Henry feel uncomfortable while looking at Madel's carefree expression. They both wanted to scold her.
Cheska looked at Henry and asked him to decide which he did without any reservations.
This time, only Madel who truly knew the ins and outs of the forest can save them.
Madel, a saint beast is coming, we need to hide as fast as we can or else even with my level of cultivation I would not be able to endure.
Madel looked at her in a puzzled expression. She looked at Francis again. Just like Henry, she could not see through his body. She could not assess what is wrong with him. The best choice was to bring him to the dark forest were the spiritual energy was rich.
It was just then that she noticed the corpses of the bandits in the area. The spirit moving away from the corpses were unclean for them. Staying in the area may contaminate them. She looked at Henry who had drips of blood in his clothes and some on the skin.
She raised her hands and a bird suddenly appeared. She simply instructed the bird and it flew away with her orders.
"We will need a ride" Her friends clearly heard it.
A ride? If they could get a ride it would have saved them from all the trouble from the very beginning. But didn't she asked them if they wanted to walk from the start? And didn't they say that they were alright with walking.
Henry thought of the Nori and his face was distorted. If they will ride that Nori again he would rather walk. Within just three minutes, they saw their rides swiftly approaching. It was not a Nori, nor any four legged beast. It was none other than a Winged King Howler. From afar it looked like an eagle.
But as it flew nearer, The beak was noticeably larger which was golden in color and the feather was darker with traces of gold.
But what surprised them that this winged King Howler was a Celstial beast. Beasts could not cultivate, but looking at a level 6 low class beast appear as Celestial beast made them all surprised. The golden traces in its fingers and a faint purple aura that it emitted told them so.
"Jiji, please help Francis up." Madel said.
It was truly their ride. The celestial beast was truly and their ride, and "Jiji?" wasn't Celestial beasts proud and unyielding? Weren't they the king of kings in the food chain? Henry, Cheska and even Helen were all stunned.
As an interplanetary traveler, she was not ignorant that there are planet who had these types of beasts, legendary and powerful. Her years of training told her activate an escape pod (Blue) and send a distress signal in nearest station or interplanetary ports. But there was none.
The bird scooped up Francis and threw him in the air. The bird slightly moved forward and caught Francis letting him fall on its back.
It then knelt down with its feathers spread allowing them to climb up.
Henry was still astonished but he moved anyways. With the speed of the beast in coming there, he did not dare to put his guard down unlike the other time.
"Cheska, Helen, hold on tightly." He reminded.
When they were all in place, the bird flew straight to towards the dark forest. Observing their direction, Cheska could not help but to shiver. In their vision the trees are growing taller and taller. The trunks of the trees were as big a hill, the thick leaves covered the ground, not allowing the light to pass through it.
"We are going to the dark forest?" Henry asked. The fear that he was experiencing now and the adrenaline could not compare when he heard the loud roar earlier. There was no one who was able to enter the dark forest for ages. A special form of barrier which spanned over a 100 kilometers isolated the area for almost 18 years and no one was sure how it was now.
The degree of uncertainty that they had in entering the place, what to see inside and how they could get out alive plunged over him like a raging tsunami. Cheska was thinking of the same thing. They both looked at Madel with an anxious expression.
However looking at her calm face, they were mortified. She does not have intention of changing direction. They are going directly to the dark forest.
[will we make it? Will we be able to pass through this barrier?]
The glistening barrier was growing clearer. It was not just protection barrier. It was a celestial barrier. The rumors were true. The beast hall had indeed used the highest formation there is.
Henry strengthened his heart and chose to believe in Madel, that she was not out to get them or have any ill intentions towards them.
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