It's not only the monsters that made the hairs on Byron's body stand straight. The giant trees, wood-like brown and without any intention of ever growing leaves could be seen hundreds of meters away, the stormy skies above them bringing chills down Byron's spine.
'The Dead Forest!'
Based on the strength of the sun and its position, Byron could tell it was approaching noon. However, no light could be seen at the forest. The very reason the Dead Forest made him shudder.
'What am I scared of? It's the only obstacle we have to overcome to reach the dungeon. We also are many. I have nothing to be scared of.'
Despite these thoughts, Byron wondered how on earth would he have been able to reach the Dungeon of Desires if he had continued his journey alone back then.
'I would have died... or maybe gave up and returned to the castle.'
Even if he could have been able to trick all those Ruby Wolves he fought back then, he was a few steps from a place where hordes of them roamed. He would not have survived their on slaughter.
'I'm glad I met Peony!'
"Stop the dragons!" he shouted at the bald man in front of him and jumped off the dragon, summoning the Purple Bubbles afterwards.
It would be unwise to ride the dragon near the Infected Monsters. They would scare them away when he badly wanted to fight and kill them to increase his Pigment Brightness. This time, he would also extract Pigment Pots and see what they would change in his body.
The dragon riders obeyed him.
Soon, he was standing next to Snake, Kyron a meter away walking toward them with Lynn and the twins.
"These monsters walk in groups. That means we have also to spilt into groups. Two for each group, covering one's back."
Automatically, Lynn and Snake made a group. Byron and Kyron were left to form a group when the twins decided to not spilt.
"I don't want to group!" It was Kyron. This made everyone look at him.
"He's weak," he explained. "I don't want to babysit him."
'Really?'
Byron raised an eyebrow.
It was true that Kyron was stronger than him. Actually, the strongest of all. However, Byron had fought these monsters before. He knew them better than Kyron did, not to mention that he had a two lifetimes experience. If he didn't want to group with him, it was OK. He also didn't need to rely on someone who could stab him in the back at any moment.
"If you want, you can go alone too. I was only trying to make sure no one under my command gets hurt."
"Kyron, stop that nonsense and group with him." It was Snake. Byron's first time hearing her talking for a long time. "What could be the meaning of strength if you can't use it properly?"
"But he's weak?" Kyron tried to complain. "He can drag me down."
Snake harrumphed with a mocking merely visible smile.
"You know what? He might be a weakling, but you, you're are a coward. Selfish."
"Stop it!" Byron intervened.
"Kyron, go your way! I think fighting without you will be much better for me, anyway."
He turned to leave, but Snake rushed to stand straight in his way. "Don't put your life in danger to show him you're OK," she said. "Let me go with you."
"No! It's OK! Go with Lynn. If something sinister happens, these riders can rush to my rescue with their dragons."
He glanced at one of the riders.
"Won't you?"
"Of course we will! It's our duty to protect the future consort of our Princess."
This made the expression on Kyron's face turn more gloomier.
"Good! Let's go then!"
The dragons had landed on a somewhat of a raised area, the monsters roaming the deserted valley below, this one with mysterious groups of grass as if it had once been a swamp. It was not only the Ruby Wolves there, but they were the ones in huge numbers.
'I want to kill wolves!'
Byron summoned the Slice of Heavens, the sword the Patriarch had gave him before his first expedition. The beautiful jian sword sparked as the sun lays caressed its mirrored blade and blinded Byron when he glanced at it.
'I'm coming for you, bastards!'
He internally said this before lunching toward a group of Ruby Wolves. These ones were not twelve like those he once fought. They were five, three of them so small, a bigger one and the biggest guy with three eyes.
'I wish it was that bastard who forced me to jump off the canyon.'
Going down the canyon was why he met Peony. However, this was not a reason to forget that the bastard would have killed him if there was no lake to jump into.
As he lunched toward them, he found that his speed had increased tremendously. It was above that of a normal human.
'I guess this is what a small increase in Pigment Brightness does to your body. Can't wait to get more.'
The Infected Monsters were feeding on a mysterious monster. To know how cruel the bastards were, the monster was still wiggling and struggling to get away. It was still alive.
The thought that they would have eaten him alive that day pushed him closer to the monsters, and swooshed his sword in the air before they could notice him.
Byron knew he would not be able to kill the big bastard in one slash so he aimed for the neck of a small Infected Monster.
Just like that, the head of that unlucky small Ruby Wolf fell onto the ground and blood shot in the air like a geyser to drench other monsters.
This alerted them.
[Vanquished a Provoked Monster, Ruby Wolf.]
[Your Pigment becomes brighter.]
'This is good!'
As Almighty Interpreter whispered to him, the three eyed monster roared in anger and sent its front legs into the air. When it brought them back on the ground, the earth shook and sent other monsters into a frenzy.
Despite this, Byron felt no fear. He had found that his sword was much sharper than the mundane swords. It boosted his confidence had increased and determination to eliminate them all.
He didn't know if it was the powerful Legacy or his powerful body that made the sword slice through the monster as if a knife on butter. To know that, he would have to check the Legacy's tier. As for now, he needed to kill all these vile monsters.
His sword shot in the air once again and split another small monsters into two halves from its muzzle slicing through its back. Another small monster was behind it, then the bigger one, and finally, the big guy.
'Why does it always remain at the back?'
Well, even the generals remain somewhere safe to instruct ordinary soldiers during the war. They only join when in need. Perhaps that's why the three-eyed guy always remained at the back. Who knows? Maybe it feared for its life.
'Stop that nonsense and focus, fool!"
Byron would have slashed through the body of the remaining small monster. However, this would put him in danger. It would also steal him a chance to reach the back of the three-eyed bastard. Like usual, he was going to use its subordinates as a staircase to reach its top; killing it on the ground was impossible.
With this plan, Byron hopped onto the back of the small monster, jumping toward the bigger one in no seconds. All that remained was to hop onto the three-eyed guy, kill it and deal with the remaining bastards later.
Well, that was his plan. The reality was different.
As he tried to jump off the bigger monster to launch himself toward the three-eyed guy, something that made his eyes go wide happened.
The three-eyed monster dodged his feet and left him to plummet toward the ground.
'Why does it have to be so fast, dammit!'
Instinctively, he let of the Slice of Heavens and grabbed onto its fur, trying hard to pull him self on its back. Unfortunately, the silky long hairs were too slippery for his hands to keep hold of them.
'No no!'
Byron shouted internally as he felt the familiar feeling of falling shrouding his entire body.
'I cannot allow myself to fall!'
Falling meant death. Though the dragon riders had agreed to come to his rescue when in need, he didn't think they could reach him before the three-eyed bastard stomped onto him.
Despite his plea to not fall and his right grip onto the fur of that bastard, the ground kept drawing closer and closer a second after another. He was falling. Not long after, he crushed onto the deserted and dusty ground.
Maybe it was painful. However, Byron didn't feel it. He was too frightened by the bastard's second move to allow something as trivial as pain to distract him.
'When with life, pain is nothing.'
The bastard had took a few steps as he fell. Now, there was a two to five meter interval between them. This didn't mea
he was safe. He was even too scared to go back to his feet and run away.
Byron watched as the big guy turned around, the rage in its ruby eyes, especially the third eye making his entire body feel numb.
'Not like this! I don't feel like dying!'
He clumsily crawled backwards, keeping an eye on it afraid that turning around would increase its speed.
It was going to be a matter of seconds...
Maybe the gods were dead, but their mercy did not. Because, before the big bastard could even take a step, an arrow cut through the air and pierced the bastard right in the eye. Two more arrows appeared. They were tall and fat, powerful enough to force the monster's head to jerk backwards.
A roar escaped the bastard's wide maw but Byron didn't give a damn. His eyes were darting toward the origin of the arrows. He wanted to know who among the dragon riders was that good of an archer.
Surprisingly, it was not any of the riders. It was a top-notch beauty instead. Before Byron could even take in every detail of the girl, the Goddess of Beauty's voice reverberated inside his mind.
"That's a Venomous Beauty."