Seeing the Sanguibearus being suppressed, the mercenaries, who had believed they were doomed, shouted in excitement, "The Holy Knight, it's the Holy Knight!"
Ronan wisely continued to play dead.
Since the power of these so-called Holy Knights restrained the Sanguibearus, it was likely they could restrain him as well, given he was also a demonic creature. After witnessing the battlefield after the massacre of the demonic creatures and demons and Kael's death, he did not dare to gamble on the goodwill of humans toward demons.
The battle continued for a while longer. When the moment was right, one of the knights conjured a knight's spear out of thin air and, with all his strength, hurled it at the Sanguibearus's head.
The whistling of the spear through the air alerted the Sanguibearus, and just as it tried to react, the same light circle from before appeared once more above its head.
The bear's movements slowed for just two seconds due to the light circle, but it was enough. The spear pierced through its skull, and the massive beast collapsed backward.
The Sanguibearus had been slain with ease, and the two knights hadn't even dismounted from their horses. Holding their reins, they looked down at the remaining people with an air of superiority.
"You there?" the knight on the left lifted his chin slightly, his tone reserved.
The mercenary leader immediately stepped forward and respectfully explained their presence, including when they had encountered the demon bear.
After hearing the leader identify himself, one of the knights spoke, "You're carrying too many demonic creatures." Though he hadn't seen them, his tone was certain. "There must be demons among you as well?"
"Yes..." The mercenary leader quickly assured, "But we have them completely under control. Those two demons are gravely injured."
"Foolish," the knight replied, his expression unchanged. "A mercenary group of your level dares to travel through demon territory with injured demons in tow? Do you really think the previous purge made this place safe?"
The mercenary leader had indeed thought so. Not long ago, the coalition of the four races had swept through the Dark Forest, and if not for that, he would never have dared lead his group this deep into the area.
"Enough," the knight said.
When they sensed the aura of a high-level demonic creature in a frenzy and a human distress signal, a three-man squad had hurried to the scene.
While the knight spoke with the mercenaries, another figure emerged from the depths of the forest.
Unlike the two knights in the white horse, this man wore a white cloak, distinct from the gray-robed mages. A golden sun emblem was pinned at his collar, and in his hand was an exorcist's staff. He muttered a soft incantation and white flames consumed the corpse of the demon bear.
Standing before the fire, he closed his eyes for a moment as if sensing something, then furrowed his brow. Without sparing a glance at the mercenaries, he simply said, "Let's go."
Ronan grew even more uneasy. Even though he was hidden inside the demon snake's body, the approach of these three men made his heart race.
It wasn't just fear—his heart raced with a mix of disgust, even though he didn't know these three people.
"You should leave quickly as well," one of the knights said indifferently before turning away. "The Dark Forest isn't as peaceful as you think. There's no telling if other high-level demonic creatures will be stirred."
The earlier "purge" had merely carved out an area to hunt down the strongest demon. The Dark Forest was simply too vast, and wiping out all the demonic creatures living within it was unrealistic.
As they watched the knights depart, the remaining mercenaries finally collapsed to the ground, embracing each other in tears of relief, grateful to have narrowly escaped with their lives.
It was hard to say whether they were lucky or unlucky. If they were lucky, they had encountered a demon bear that nearly wiped them out. But if they were unlucky, despite being targeted by a high-level demonic creature, they were lucky enough to be saved by the Holy Knights and the Lumen Mage in the forest.
Ronan, also breathing a sigh of relief, raised the upper half of the demon snake's body and hissed softly.
The mercenaries began collecting the fallen items, and one of them lifted Ronan in his cage, examining him with surprise. "I thought this Najarala had been crushed to death."
Ronan hissed again, his red eyes unblinking as they fixed on the man.
The man wiped the blood off his face and turned to another mercenary, saying, "Throw it onto the horse."
A living Najarala was worth a higher price.
This trip had started out promising, with the group capturing many demonic creatures, including a few demons. But they had been ambushed by a Strutarians, losing several comrades and freeing an entire cage of demon and demonic creatures. To make matters worse, they had then run into the Sanguibearus and only managed to escape with a small portion of their haul. During their frantic retreat, they had lost even more, while some demons and demonic creatures took advantage of the chaos to flee.
Ronan's cage was thrown back onto the wagon. The mercenaries that had been injured badly, no longer dared to linger in the Black Forest.
Ronan is calm and composed in his cage, he was tossed onto the wagon along with other demonic creatures. Some of the demonic creatures were already near death, while others, despite being dead, were of such value that the mercenaries carried their corpse back as well.
With no need to walk by himself, Ronan had more time to observe his surroundings.
Towering trees were everywhere, and small animals scurried about. He had lived in this forest for some time, but his memories here were far from pleasant. All he could recall was the constant hunger and the taste of bitter fruits and leaves that did little to ease it.