The demon was even more shocked; it never expected a demon dog would speak, its expression hesitant.
Ronan was more anxious than the demon and didn't care whether it recognized him. He urged, "Do you want Kael to die for nothing?"
The three-eyed demon opened its mouth, but Ronan noticed it couldn't speak.
"You?"
It seemed the demon's tongue had been cut by some sharp object.
The demon crawled out of the cage and looked down at him.
Ronan knew it wasn't the right time to talk; the Sanguibearus was indiscriminate in its rage. Just moments ago, another demonic creature had run past, only to be swatted down by the Sanguibearus.
"Let's get out of here first," he urged again, glancing at the dissipating wall of fire.
After charging through the flames, the Sanguibearus killed several more mercenaries.
As if their morale had shattered, the remaining mercenaries lost all will to fight and began to flee in panic.
"Vlad." Remembering the demon's name, Ronan commanded, "Run!"
The Sanguibearus caught up to a mercenary, slamming its paws together and flattening the poor man's head in a gruesome scene.
The three-eyed demon finally moved. Vlad glanced back one last time before safely entering the dense forest.
He was curious why Ronan didn't leave, but his survival instincts compelled him to flee quickly. That strange demon dog was right; Kael was dead, and he couldn't let Kael die for nothing.
Seeing Vlad successfully escape, Ronan hesitated for a moment before running in the direction the humans were fleeing.
Not for any other reason, but that the man in the gray robe had saved him. Without his intervention, he would have been killed by the other mercenaries.
For that reason alone, he wanted to see if he could help, even a little; he didn't want to owe anyone anything.
As he chased after the gray robed man, he saw several human corpses along the way, all of them were killed after being caught by the Sanguibearus. He quickly reached the second battlefield, where the remaining humans were forced to fight again.
It most likely that they realized they had no chance of escaping.
By the time he arrived, the formation they had organized had already been shattered again, with the Sanguibearus charging toward the mage who had saved him.
Ronan didn't think much; he leaped up with all his might. His intention was to bite the Sanguibearus's paw to stop it, but he didn't expect the Sanguibearus's massive body to be so agile. The Sanguibearus just swatted him away as if he were a fly and changing direction effortlessly.
As soon as the Sanguibearus's paw made contact with the demon dog's head, everything went black for Ronan. His shattered organs splattered on the Sanguibearus's body, and his body hit the ground like a cake that had been smashed to pieces.
Ronan was dead.
More accurately, the demon dog was dead.
Dead as can be; the Sanguibearus's paw had obliterated Ronan, not distinguishing between species.
And that gray-robed mage, thinking he was done for, had even closed his eyes. He didn't expect that at a critical moment, a shadow would recklessly leap out to save him. When the shadow was sent flying, he saw it clearly: it was the demon dog he had once let go of in his moment of mercy.
"Mr. Troia, come here quickly!" The surviving mercenaries shouted, unable to worry about anything else.
The gray-robed mage didn't even have time for another glance at Ronan and hurried back to the group.
Ronan stared at his own corpse... that's right, he was staring.
The fighting continued in the distance; the mercenaries had no way to retreat and could only fight desperately.
As they fled, someone on horseback was caught and had their horse killed by the Sanguibearus. Ronan hid behind the horse's corpse, contemplating the "body" of himself lying on the ground.
He transformed back again, becoming a mass of mist once more.
During his daze, the Sanguibearus killed three more mercenaries. Just as the gray-robed mage he had saved was about to meet his end, Ronan hesitated, contemplating whether to do something. Suddenly, a very unpleasant aura filled the air.
Ronan found it hard to describe this feeling; even in his formless state, he felt uneasy instinctively.
The Sanguibearus felt it too; despite its massive body that was still charging forward, it suddenly backed away as if sensing something.
The next second, a blinding light circle appeared above it, pressing down like a mountain. Even without contact, the Sanguibearus's body was forced down toward the ground.
"What's happening?" The remaining mercenaries heard the commotion and turned around to look back in unison.
The sound of hooves echoed through the forest, and soon, two knights riding the white horses appeared in front of them.
Before they arrived, Ronan who feels uneasy had noticed a cage that was crushed beneath the horse corpse. Inside the cage was a demonic snake that had just died.
He approached it cautiously and like a soul returning to a body, his misty form quickly vanished as the snake's eyes opened once again.
The two knights wore identical armor and held knightly swords in their hands, advancing calmly as if the brutal scene before them was of no concern.
Unlike the mercenaries who had been so fragile when facing the Sanguibearus, the Sanguibearus on the ground finally broke free of the light circle, with bloodshot eyes it's launching another attack.
The remaining mercenaries quickly retreated.
Ronan who is now watching this scene through the demon snake's body, observed the sudden arrival of the two knights, who, positioned on either side of the bear, began to bleed it dry.
They didn't fight the bear head-on, but instead inflicted small, accumulating wounds. Unlike the weapons used by the mercenaries earlier, the long swords wielded by these knights caused injuries that did not heal. Though the Sanguibearus remained fierce, its weakening was visible to the naked eye.
Ronan finally understood the source of the ominous aura he had sensed earlier. Unlike other humans, these two knights were surrounded by a faint white glow, and their powers seemed to directly counter the Sanguibearus.