One second he was talking about that Legendary demon, and the next, he had run into the real thing.
This was no coincidence.
At the very least, this was the third Legendary demon Lin Gui had encountered in the past two days...
Lin Gui’s eyes were nearly losing focus.
The first was Morag Sarn, also known as the Prophet of Rotten Whispers, a Legendary tree demon.
Strictly speaking, it didn't belong to the Black Demon Forest but rather to the Glenn Highlands.
Lin Gui had run into it just as he realized the Black Demon Forest was in an uproar and planned to retreat.
It was then that Lin Gui abandoned the idea of retreating.
Morag Sarn’s strength was already infinitely close to the Epic rank, which was far beyond his capabilities.
The second was Gorog Ironjaw, also known as the Ironclad Sovereign, a Legendary stone monster.
The Ironclad Sovereign was an elemental demon, and unlike other demons, it spent most of its time in a deep sleep.
When Lin Gui passed by, he even managed to scavenge a few fallen stones from its side.
And this third one...
Was the very Legendary demon Theia wanted to subjugate.
The Forest Abyss Devourer—Moragus.
Cold sweat trickled down Lin Gui’s cheek, while Theia stood beside him with a conflicted expression.
“Go, quickly. We’ve only known each other for ten minutes; there’s no need for you to save me.”
The movements of Legendary demons were often accompanied by a demon tide.
The moment Theia spoke the Legendary demon’s name, the surrounding area had already been encircled by demons.
Even without his perception, Lin Gui could hear the sibilant hissing of demons in his ears.
It was the sound of demons crawling, getting closer and closer, becoming more and more dense.
“Ah, well.” Theia sighed, her tone tinged with a hint of regret.
“It was pleasant chatting with you. Do you have any last words you want me to pass on?”
She did indeed have the ability to take Lin Gui and flee, but doing so would significantly lower her own chances of survival.
As an adventurer who lived on the edge of a blade, she would not do that.
Even if taking him along only reduced her survival rate by three percent.
Lin Gui replied calmly.
“Just go. I have no last words. I’m all alone with no kith or kin; just let me die here by myself.”
“Your name?”
“Lin Gui.”
“What an odd name... I’ll remember you, Lin Gui.”
With that, Theia kicked off the ground.
In the blink of an eye, she vanished into the dense woods.
As long as the Legendary demon didn't pursue her personally, she had a high chance of shaking off the pursuers.
Seeing the talkative elf disappear, Lin Gui let out a long breath of relief.
The Shroud of the Gloomy Night was his masterwork.
Before he stepped into the Transcendent rank and completely mastered the Shroud of the Gloomy Night...
He didn't want to expose this trump card in front of a stranger.
The roars of the demons were drawing closer.
In the distance, towering trees fell one after another, creating deafening booms.
Amidst the chaos, he faintly heard human shouts.
“Captain! Let’s split up and run! If we keep this up, we’ll be caught sooner or later! Everyone will die!”
The Vice Leader, Clark, shouted at the top of his lungs.
By now, he was covered in blood, looking like a man made of gore.
Suddenly, a blood eagle dove from the sky, accurately knocking the Priest in the center of the group out of the formation.
“Aah!!”
The Priest’s scream had barely begun before she was torn apart and devoured by the swarming demons.
Watching his team members’ limbs being brutally ripped off, the trees in the distance began to twist and deform unnaturally.
Moragus’s terrifyingly massive figure finally appeared within everyone’s sight.
Captain Barnard showed a look of determination and took one last look at the cherished photograph in his pocket watch.
Then, he stuffed a suicide note and the pocket watch into the hands of the assassin, Camp.
“Tell Evan that as a father, I’m sorry I was always so strict with him. Tell him in the future... never to become an adventurer like his father.”
Camp didn't hesitate; he took the items and was the first to dash out of the group.
The other assassin and the mage in the team followed closely behind him.
Glancing to the side, Barnard saw Clark—the genius warrior he had personally promoted—hadn't left.
Barnard sighed and said, “There’s no need for you to stay and die with me. You still have plenty of youth ahead of you.”
Clark gave a bitter laugh and shed his shattered armor.
Only then did Barnard see that within that strong body, a green plant was actually slithering around.
“Sorry... I... can’t...”
Before Clark could finish.
The mass of thorns inside his body suddenly sprouted rapidly, and countless sharp thorns burst outward from within him.
Blood sprayed wildly, splattering onto Barnard’s aging face.
Staring at Clark, who had been impaled like a hedgehog with bits of flesh flying from his corpse...
Barnard turned pale, and the greatsword he held tightly clattered as it hit the ground.
A shadow covered his body.
He turned his head dazed and saw a massive, decaying, twisted tree with a human face smiling eerily at him.
On the trunk, several familiar faces were hanging.
They were all Transcendent leaders of various Gold Rank adventure groups.
Golden Gryphon's Heart, Immortal Bulwark, Dawn Vanguard...
“Hehehe~ How interesting. Your heads really do look like a bunch of balloons... interesting... hehehe~”
The face on Moragus’s trunk twisted and changed constantly, as if mocking their weakness.
“Tiny, ignorant humans... kekeke... I really didn't expect... that you would actually come out... kekeke.”
Barnard’s body shook, and his eyes widened in disbelief as he muttered to himself.
“What... what did you say?”
“Kekeke~ I said~ I didn't expect~ that person would actually lure you all out. A total of six Transcendents, and you... kekeke... are the last one.”
“This is a trap...”
Before the word could leave his mouth, Barnard’s head was ensnared by tree branches.
The sound of crunching bone echoed repeatedly. Barnard’s pupils dilated, and his limbs went limp.
Ripping the head off, Moragus toyed with it happily for a moment before stuffing it into its mouth.
Before long, Barnard’s painfully twisted face surfaced on the trunk.
Moragus’s aura also intensified slightly.
Moving its massive body, it came before the fallen Clark.
Just as it was about to start cutting, it suddenly looked up in confusion toward an unremarkable tree in the far distance.
It waved its branches, and a one-meter-long sharp tree trunk whistled through the air toward that direction.
The tree fell at the impact, but the spot was completely empty; there was nothing there.
“??”
Moragus tilted its head in confusion.
Intuition told it that something was there, but no matter how it probed, it found nothing.
“Do trees get hallucinations too? Keke~ How strange~ Did eating too many humans rot my brain? Kekeke~ Trees don't have brains.”
On the other side, Camp, who had escaped the heavy encirclement of demons, collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
Not far away, the outline of Audo Canyon was faintly visible.
Just a little further, and he could escape this Black Demon Forest that had claimed too many lives.
A mouthful of blood was vomited from his mouth as Camp gave a tragic smile.
Both of his teammates had been torn apart by demons.
By relying on the speed of a Shadow Assassin, he had barely managed to break through the encirclement.
However, multiple joints had been bitten through by demons, leaving him a bloody mess.
His vision gradually blurred. Before he drew his last breath...
He used every ounce of his remaining strength to throw the Captain’s pocket watch and suicide note toward the direction of Audo Canyon.
Then, he fell into a deep sleep.
One day later.
Lin Gui picked up that blood-stained suicide note and looked up at the steep Audo Canyon in the distance.
Right at that moment, the system’s voice rang out in his mind:
【Ding! Special Commission has been updated】
【Content: Deliver the suicide note and relics of the Captain of the Sword of Heavenly Punishment to his wife and child】
【Route: Black Demon Forest → Audo Canyon → Caran City → Adventurer's Guild】
【Time Limit: 7 natural days】
【Reward: One random special spell】
Rate on N.U.
