Meanwhile, Kiro's eyes became heavier and heavier, until he decided to close them. He found himself once again lying on the flowers of the endless blossomed field of the Spiritual Realm. Esgrieth was sitting with her legs crossed, she stood up and said as usual:
-Come on, don't waste my time
Kiro stood up with her and they both continued their journey.
-Sleeping early aren't we?
-I just needed a rest and now I got it, nothing surprising.
-So any questions?
-Yes, How were you able to leave my body, I saw you in Vallerie's Dream
-I didn't?
-But you saved me?
-You know well that I'm not allowed to leave your body until you are finally deceased, which is going to take a long time.
-What do you mean?
-Since you started using my mana, your strength, speed and agility got enhanced, a detail you are aware of.
-What's your point, tell me.
-My mana has enhanced even your endurance and life span, As you have seen yourself, your wounds heal faster than that of a normal human being, and your life span is expected to surpass that of a human.
-So how long am I supposed to live?
-I would say somewhere from 152 to 200 years.
-Are you kidding?
-Don't get carried out so fast, a person like you isn't that likely to die from old age.
-We will see about that.
Esgrieth stops, she sits down and looks at Kiro.
-What's the matter?
-I just want to enjoy the sight, to be honest with you, I never get tired of this sigh, but I always wonder if there's an end to this
-What exactly do you expect to find?
-I don't know, that's the reason why I'm seeking for it, by the way, It's time for you to wake up.
Kiro is wakes up, the sun hadn't risen yet.
"Well, another job to be done, I thought Vesper wanted to keep low, is he now coming to the open?"
Kiro gets up and begins to gets dressed, He gears up and leaves quietly, not to wake up Luchia and Vallerie. In his way out, he grabs a carrot and leaves the mansion. He heads to his horse and feeds it the carrot.
-Get ready buddy, we got a long way to go today.
Kiro mounts his horse and sets off to The Bethea's forest. He leaves the mansion and follows the trail through the wood that leads to the Acadia crossing. Time passes, Kiro finally reaches Acadia crossing, Then he follows the path that leads to the infamous Bethea's Forest. On his way, he was thinking of a plan to fit his mission.
"Now this bastard is accompanied by bodyguards and nobles, each of them could have Divine protection. Coming out in the open can give the prince time to escape, failing the mission. It would be a lot easier if Vesper would want him dead. I can use beast mastering to control nearby monsters to get rid of the bodyguards and nobles since they are protected only from abilities that affect directly. But If I think they would be prepared to handle some monsters, plus I still don't know how far I can extend this ability and which monsters I can or cannot control. Well, it's still a better idea than coming out in the open. I will observe them from a distance and have monsters attack them. "
Kiro continues his journey, until he arrives at Bethea's forest. He hides his horse and starts walking and searching for the hunting party.
-Bloodlust
Kiro's eyes turn pitch black, he sees some men on horses in a distance:
-Those must be the prince, the nobles and the bodyguards.
Kiro follows their trails until he gets close enough to observe them without using bloodlust. He hides behind trees, stalking the party in quiet. Kiro notices a wolf along the way and he comes up with a plan:
"If I force the wolf to go through the trees, they will be forced to follow it, leaving their horses behind"
Kiro looks the wolf at the eyes, despite their distance:
"Run you little scum, run through the trees like your life depends on it"
The wolf starts running as fast as it could, the hunting party noticed it.
-Gentlemen, dismount your horses and follow the wolf.
They leave their horses behind and follow the wolf through the forest, going deeper and deeper inside. Kiro follows them, making himself as quiet as possible. The men cornered the wolf and finally put an end to it's life.
-This is going to be easier than I thought. Monsters and undead appear merging through the forest. Kiro grabs this chance and uses beast mastering on them.
"Tear them apart, do not let anyone alive except the man wearing the most gold."
The beasts and undead successfully kill some of the weaker bodyguards but the stronger ones protect the prince and the nobles. A bodyguard was fighting without weapons, just with his bare hands
"I guess it's my time to shine"
After every monster was killed, Kiro appears from the shadows.
-Who are you, state yourself!
-That won't be necessary besides, it would be stupid to state my identity to a dead man, Time leap
The time slows down, Kiro penetrates his sword into the man's skull, and uses his dagger to separate the head from the neck. The time goes back to normal.
-He's the reaper, the goddamn boogeyman.
-The bodyguards separate and escort the nobles from the forest. A bodyguard reaches for the prince, but is quickly killed by Kiro. Only one stays, that hunk of a man that was killing wolves with his bare hands. A giant, he says.
-Stay behind me your majesty, I'll take care of him.
The prince nods and stays behind the bodyguard.
-I am Endar Augs, commander of the royal bodyguards and titular Hero, be prepared!
-I guess I got to kill another Hero, with that body you will feed the beasts of Bethea for weeks.
-I'm going to send your head right to Hellar as a trophy for his majesty.
He punches a pine and it breaks in half , then he takes an aggressive stance, preparing himself to attack.