Deep in the core outer perimeter of the Mirkwood forest an old man was running for his life. Thought he looked fragile with a white beard and white hair accentuating his wrinkled old face he was moving quite fast for someone that old. Several types of beasts were hot on his trail as if trying to devour him whole. Trails of blood trickled down the corner of his mouth evidence of a fight had taken place.
"I have to tell someone about this even if it's using my dying breath. The Scarlet duke's territory should be the closest to where I am. I have to find a way to tell him as this could be the beginning of the collapse of the Evergreen kingdom. If only I was a little younger I would have been able to get out of this in one piece. I guess this is my last mission." As this myriad of thoughts flashed past his mind he sped up pushing himself to the limit.
Ruberno white, the old running man, was a member of the secret force that carried out the orders of the king of the Evergreen kingdom in the dark. Suffice to say they were an extension of his arms if not his arms as a whole.They acted when the interest of the royal family were threatened or when the whole kingdom was in peril. For almost five centuries he had served the royal family ensuring that annoying flies were eliminated or kept in check if they still had some value.
After five whole centuries of service his lifespan was catching up to him. Having been stuck as a rank eight knight for almost almost two centuries he was unable to break through to the next class as he had sustained multiple hidden injuries that hindered him from going further. As his lifespan was running out, he already made arrangements for his family and this was his last mission which he only did because the captain of his squad assured him his descendants would be protected as that was the only attachment he cared about as he inched closer towards death.
The Mirkwood forest had known beast kings who were the equivalent of a rank ten or great mages or knights residing in it. They kept each other in check and normally never left their territories. That is normally, but when there was the birth of a new beast king a territorial fight happens as the new beast king requires surbodinates and a territory. A fitting example only by chaos can there be order. This leads to a massive beat riot in the outer perimeter as the fight between the beast kings can only include some of their stronger beast lords subordinates who are the equivalent to high rank class professional. As this displacement happens, it affects the human territories and some weaker territories get destroyed. This makes information of any evolving beast king is crucial to a kingdoms survival.
That is exactly the mission Ruberno was doing now. His mission was to find out whether there really was an evolving beast lord and if possible the type and species would help in fighting the beast. As there were signs of restlessness among the beast in the Mirkwood forest which could mean a normal beast tide or an evolving beast lord and the intial investigation suggested the latter. He also had to see if it had any weakness that could be used by someone to kill it before it evolved. This had happen countless times before but as it was a dangerous mission they decided to send him due to his high combat power and declining lifespan. All he had left were a few decades which seemed like a lot but he had lived through countless centuries so decades sounded like days to him.
The mission was dangerous but as long as he was careful he could make it back but an accident happen while he was on the mission. When he went in to look for the evolving beast lord he found traces of undead energy. This was worrying as if the new beast king was a undead type it would lead to a fatal war that could become a precursor to the kingdom's destruction. Undead creatures be it human or beasts were extremely hostile towards the living. If the evolution was successful the first thing that it would do was send hoardes and hoardes of undead towards any nearby kingdom and that just happen to be the Evergreen kingdom. Though the hoardes consisted of only low rank beasts they made up for it in numbers.
As he snuck in to investigate he found a relic emitting undead energy close to the evolving beast aiding it's evolution, as it absorbed the energy to evolve. He immediately stole the relic and made a run for it, to use as evidence as it was evident there was foul play in the mix of this all. The enraged evolving beast lord attacked him which only managed to scrape him as it had restricted movement during it's evolution and ordered the beast lords guarding it to go after him. Though he was a wind elemental knight who excelled in speed he could not show it now as the attack almost killed him. He was only alive due to his own luck and willpower, both of which seemed to be running out.