Monster, a creature that mutated upon contact with the remnants of the gods after their fall.
They are typically characterized by:
Powerful magic, but extremely low intelligence.
Once they build a nest somewhere, they quickly alter the local environment to suit their own needs.
With these traits, they spread rapidly over the six hundred years following the fall of the gods.
Step by step, they occupied more than half the territory of Aeltia.
Even dragons found themselves helpless against these monsters—harder to kill than cockroaches and masters of reproduction.
A moment’s carelessness, and you could end up bitten all over.
The good news is, monsters aren’t without their weaknesses.
For example.
Their movement is highly restricted!
Unless under special circumstances, most monsters won’t leave the area around their nests!
As long as ordinary people know how to avoid monster nests.
They can avoid 99% of encounters with monsters outside of Monster Tide events!
Unfortunately.
If everyone played it safe, there’d be no such profession as Adventurer!
The rising death rate in the Giant Oak Forest each year.
If not for such people, there’d be no statistics for the denominator!
On average, every week, a Mercenary Squad perishes in the Giant Oak Forest!
In a way.
The outskirts of the Giant Oak Forest are even more lively than the small towns of many Human Kingdoms.
On a tree so large it took four people to encircle it,
Leaf Zhi sat on the trunk, letting out a heavy sigh.
“I did say I came out to catch a few reckless idiots to make into NPCs.”
“But isn’t this speed of finding people a bit too fast?”
He’d barely left the range of the Sweetwater Town Magic Array when he discovered bloodstains and numerous footprints nearby.
Following the tracks, he found over a dozen people!
And the weakest among them were all intermediate-level mages!
Look, just a little way down from the tree!
Leaf Zhi could only sigh in despair!
“When did there get to be so many mages outside? And why are they all running to the Giant Oak Forest to die?”
He muttered to himself.
Currently, the strength Leaf Zhi could muster was only that of an intermediate mage.
Let alone dragging anyone back to Sweetwater Town as an NPC.
He’d count himself lucky not to get caught up in the mess and lose his own life!
To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, he had no choice but to climb the tree and watch from above.
Below the tree.
Ailian’s clothes were tattered, her face smeared with blood and unwillingness.
She tried once more to chant a spell, but pain surged through her body.
“Puh!”
Ailian spat out a mouthful of blood, her complexion turning even paler.
The Black-robed Men surrounding her retreated, avoiding the blood.
The leader of the Black-robed Men flicked his sleeve in disgust.
“Give it up, Ailian. You still think you’re the magic prodigy you once were?”
“You’re nothing now but a useless ordinary person, crippled by Godhood Failure Backlash after stealing and practicing the magic of Other Gods!”
A nearby Black-robed Man folded his arms, mocking Ailian’s miserable state.
“Look at her. Still refuses to accept her fate!”
“If you ask me, the Lord’s punishment of merely exiling her to the outskirts of the Giant Oak Forest was too merciful. She should have been thrown straight into a monster nest! Not a shred of hope left for her!”
“Heresy should be burned alive!”
“Sigh, even so, she was the Lord’s adopted daughter. There must have been some affection. What a pity… to raise such a thankless wolf!”
Ailian lowered her head, unmoved by their words.
She felt the shattered Path of Magical Cultivation within her.
The once-powerful Magical Power Source was now like a dried-up well.
No magic could be drawn forth—instead, only waves of pain emerged.
It wasn’t until the Black-robed Men grew even more excessive in their words that Ailian finally raised her head, revealing her heterochromatic eyes.
Someone stepped back in disgust, cursing her as a two-faced Heresy.
Ailian licked her dry, cracked lips—parched from lack of water.
Then she spoke her first words since being brought here.
“I didn’t.”
Afraid they hadn’t heard, she repeated herself.
“I didn’t practice the magic of Other Gods.”
Her voice was dry, as if she held grains of sand in her mouth.
“What?”
A Black-robed Man cried in disbelief.
“The evidence is conclusive. At this point, you still refuse to confess?”
Another Black-robed Man chimed in.
“Exactly. We all saw you use Storm God’s Magic with our own eyes! Are you saying we all hallucinated?”
“Heresy always has a hard mouth, just like the Fallen Sword!”
The leader of the Black-robed Men waited until the insults died down before speaking.
“All right, we can’t stay in the Giant Oak Forest for long. Now that the job’s done, we should leave as soon as possible!”
“Don’t be stupid, Carl! Ailian’s a strange one—what if she actually escapes?”
“That’s right! I want to see the damned Heresy’s end with my own eyes!”
As soon as the words were spoken, the distant roar of beasts echoed.
It sounded as though something was running toward them.
The crowd, once loud and fervent, instantly fell silent like a flock of geese with their necks wrung.
Bearing witness to the end of Heresy was one thing.
But when faced with actual mortal danger, it was an entirely different matter.