"The world is cold, cruel and heartless place, Remember this little lamb" The Earthly Knigh said while grinning, revealing a vicious smile that sent shivers running down Gray's spine.
Here, the knight wasn't exaggerating; the three Foundation Realms: The Earthly Knight, the Sky Knight, and lastly the Legendary Knight, gave an insane amount of power to these beings.
The power wielded by the Earthly Knight was something that someone like Gray, who hadn't even started on the path of knighthood, could ever hope to match.
"How do you know my grandfather?" Gray pretended to be shocked and tried to buy as much time as possible for him to get away from this situation.
Moreover, Gray had never met his grandfather; his grandfather had long died defending the village.
"You dare to hurt me even after knowing my grandfather? Is this how you treat a Hero's grandson?" Gray continued while backing away slowly, all this time keeping his eyes locked on the knight.
"Hero, he was just another blood old animal." The Knight spoke in disdain, a cruel smile hanging at the corners of his lips.
Suddenly, Gray's scalp tingled. He felt an unprecedented sense of danger that he had never felt before and quickly tried to move to the side.
The Earthly Knight struck at lightning speed, his hands chopping Gray's neck. He fainted immediately.
Gray's body fell down to the ground helplessly, and the Earthly Knight's hand quickly moved, holding him by the throat. Next, the Earthly Knight started to move deeper into the forest.
Blood Moon forest was huge, filled with bizarre and extremely powerful Apocalypse beasts. The deeper one moved inside, the more dangerous beasts they encountered.
In these past six months, Gray hadn't dared to venture deeper into the forest. He hunted at the forest's fringes all the time, closer to the village in case things went south, so he could rush toward the village.
When Gray woke up in a sleepy state, he found himself surrounded by tall trees.
His hands were tied behind his back; he was hanging upside down with his legs tied on a tree branch with the help of a long rope.
"You don't look afraid!"
Suddenly Gray heard the voice of the Earthly Knight, but his figure was nowhere to be seen, as if he had merged with the forest.
"Let's get started, shall we." The voice of the Earthly Knight sounded once again.
However, before Gray could even reply, he felt a stinging pain coursing through his body.
The calf muscle of his right leg had burst open, and crimson blood started to flow down towards the ground. Before the blood could even reach his face, Gray felt an intense burning sensation.
The pain was too much for him; Gray let out a painful whimper.
"Argh! You bastards, come out." Gray shouted while gritting his teeth.
Why was this Bastard playing with him?
Without even realizing, a drop of crimson blood slid down Gray's forehead and fell to the ground.
Tap!
For a moment, the very world seemed to have come to a standstill as the drop landed on the ground gently.
The surrounding forest suddenly became too quiet; the chirping of the birds disappeared. Even the air seemed to have been frozen.
Gray felt a faint chill creeping up on him.
He started to struggle, trying to raise his body upwards, but his desperate attempts were making the situation even more chaotic.
Gray's body refused to listen to his commands.
Suddenly, his ears twitched; something was moving closer to his position at fast speed.
He gathered all his strength and jerked his waist. The dagger that he was holding in his pocket started to fall down. Before it could hit the ground, Gray caught the dagger between his teeth.
The catch wasn't perfect as some parts of his cheeks seemed to have been nicked by the dagger, and a long red line had started to appear on his pale face.
But now was not the time to care about such things; his body was high on adrenaline, allowing him to ignore the intense pain.
"Sour smell, tall trees; this should be the territory of Phantom Tiger." Gray's thoughts moved at lightning speed as he analyzed his surroundings.
However, before he could continue pondering about his situation.
Argh! Gray let out a painful scream.
A huge monster had struck his body, sending his feeble form flying through the air and hitting the ground.
Bleh! Blood started to leak out of Gray's mouth along with pieces of his internal organs mixed in.
Several bones inside his body seemed to have been crushed by the impact; the pain almost made him insane. He lost the ability to think.
Roar! A subdued roar filled with bloodthirstiness echoed in the surroundings.
A young Phantom tiger, almost as big as a Rhino, stood before Gray, its eyes filled with uncontrollable malice, as if Gray had killed its only offspring.
"This bastard, I will never Forgive." Gray finally had a moment of clarity and roared, but what came out of his mouth was another mouthful of blood.
That Earthly Knight had thrown him in the territory of Phantom Tigers to be eaten alive.
Gray's mind was filled with both rage and pain, and a little bit of helplessness, not understanding how he landed in such a situation.
"If I made it out of this situation alive…" before Gray could finish this thought, the Phantom moved its sturdy legs and got closer.
Gray immediately tried to get up but failed miserably. He was suddenly afraid as his irises shrunk to pin size, for at this moment, he felt an intense sensation of Death.
The Phantom Tiger's claw struck, and the sound of it breaking through air could be heard.
With a loud sound, the young man's skull was hit, and the intense force broke his thin neck.
His head was tilted at a creepy angle, broken and twisted at one end.
One moment he was a young man filled with dreams and aspirations, armed with the otherworldly powers that could even make a Rank 10 Eternal Dawn magus drool.
In the next moment, he was nothing more than an insect dying with a mangled body in some random corner of the forest.
Some would wonder if the Earthly Knight was here to watch this scene or if he had already left.
Gray wasn't even given enough time to curse; his life ended abruptly.
At this time, without even needing the Earthly Knight to do anything, the Phantom tiger opened its bloody mouth and took a bite out of Gray's head. The force behind the bite was tremendous as the skull was immediately crushed into several pieces.
The Phantom didn't seem to mind the burst of blood that suddenly seemed to have hit its face and continued to eat. In a few minutes, it had entirely gobbled up Gray's body.
After enjoying a sumptuous meal, the tiger left.
Gray seemed to have gone forever from this world. The only trace of his existence were the broken pieces of flesh that lay scattered across the ground.
Maybe Gray died today because of his weak strength, or maybe because of his bad luck.
Whatever the case may be, he was dead…
.
.
.
Suddenly, a voice that Gray was familiar with was heard in the surroundings, but no one seemed to notice it.
[The condition to activate SSS title - Ultimate Defier had been successfully met]