Time passed slowly, and the next day arrived, announcing the departure of the merchant convoy. The convoy consisted of six large carts led by horses carrying the merchant's goods, with four guards positioned at the front and the rear of the carts.
"Huh, what is this?" While waiting beside the guards for the rest of the cultivators, Clifford noticed something strange about the two latecomers who, like him, had come from the capital. Using his eyes to check their life force, Clifford found nothing. Despite appearing alive, they seemed no different from rocks to his eyes. This reminded him of corpses, yet both seemed to function fine for some reason.
With everyone ready, the convoy marched toward the city gates. Marching with the guards at the front of the second cart, Clifford kept his eyes on the two suspicious cultivators who were assigned to the front. To ensure the convoy's safety, Nathan distributed the cultivators based on their strength, leaving one of the strongest at the front with the two suspicious cultivators and the other at the rear with the remaining one.
Shortly, the convoy left the city gates, slowly heading toward Elmar. So far, nothing unusual had happened, just passersby and travelers on the road between the two cities. Around eight hours later, the convoy was nearly a quarter of the way through the journey after passing a decorated rock engraved with "48 KM" and "Dravas <—> Elmar." Following Nathan's orders, the convoy went off-road and settled in the plains, where the road was visible and the surroundings were clear.
Guards took turns, and cultivators remained awake through the night, watching the convoy's surroundings. Time passed quickly, and dawn arrived, prompting the convoy to get going again. A couple of hours later, the convoy approached a dangerous spot where the forest came too close to the road. Following Nathan's orders, the guards kept a close eye on the forest, ready to handle any threats in time.
While the guards were completely focused on the roadside, Clifford noticed suspicious activity from the cultivators at the front as they closed in on the leader. Suddenly, the one on the left retrieved a dagger, ready to strike the leader. Sensing the impending danger, a large axe formed in the leader's hands. Swinging his left hand back with all his might, the leader lodged the axe into the side of the attacker before violently pulling it back.
Despite the massive wound, the attacker didn't seem to feel any pain, and his facial expression remained unchanged. Looking at the axe, the leader was shocked to see it was clean. Shifting his gaze to the attacker, the leader's expression changed from shock to fear as he witnessed the wound closing with no sign of blood at all.
"PUPPETS!" Letting out an intense scream, the leader alerted the entire convoy to the danger. In a matter of seconds, things escalated quickly as the two cultivators in the back rushed to the front to assist the leader against the two puppets. Taking advantage of the chaos, Clifford transformed into his eagle form and flew high into the sky to observe the situation from above while keeping an eye on the rear, as it was his duty to ensure his employer's safety.
The puppets always healed, returning to peak condition no matter how much damage they received, making them hard to deal with. Shortly, Clifford noticed a group of masked figures stealthily moving toward the carts at the end. Once again, Clifford noticed that some of them had no halo at all, which meant they were puppets. Although he didn't know what puppets were exactly, he understood how troublesome they were.
Aiming for one of those with a halo, Clifford dived down in his human form, landing on the ground with a heavy impact, forming a dusty cloud. Moving right away, Clifford slashed the neck of his target with his fingernails, severing the head. Witnessing this, the masked men distanced themselves from him, leaving the puppets to attack him alone.
Unlike the other cultivators, Clifford knew who were puppets and who were not. Throwing the puppets aside, Clifford charged at those standing a little farther away, catching them by surprise.
"Demon! He's a demon!" Seeing Clifford's pupils, one of the targets screamed, pointing his finger at Clifford, only to be kicked heavily by one of his mates, causing Clifford to miss his attack.
"Don't interfere, I will take him on. Leave the puppets with us; the rest of you go assist the two puppets with the Evergreens," the man shouted, ordering his squid to leave this one to him.
"Demon? What is a demon?" Clifford asked, diverting his attention to the one who had spoken before charging at him. "Can demons do this?" Shifting into his wyvern form, Clifford intended to bite with his massive jaws to get the answer from the man's head right away.
Watching the massive beast coming at him, the man stomped the ground, causing spikes to form in front of him. Preparing to swing his right wing to crush the spiked rocks, Clifford found a couple of puppets riding on it with their daggers. Ignoring them, Clifford swung his wing roughly, shattering the rocks and throwing the puppets far away. A burning sensation came from his wing a little later, making him glance at it. Seeing it was just dagger injuries, he dismissed it and focused on his target.
"It's just an ability," the man sneered. Digging his right hand into his stomach, he retrieved a short black sword from his body, then did the same with his left hand before retrieving another sword. "And you are not the only one who has an ability." Dissolving into a dark liquid, the man's body sped through the floor, charging at Clifford. Caught off guard, Clifford was unable to react as the liquid's speed surpassed his expectations.
"Demons are creatures that plague the outer world," the man said, bursting high from the ground and flying above Clifford's gigantic body. "Certainly far worse than dealing with you." Landing on Clifford's back, the man raised his swords high, preparing to impale them into his neck.