The Silverdusk Bear didn’t look as terrifying as it used to, but that was understandable. Instead of terrifying others, it had been torn into shreds, nourishing the ground with its deep red blood as it poured out of the torn body parts. The blood either flung through the air as smaller body parts were hurled around mindlessly or trickled into the ground, where they merged with soil.

Percy didn’t have the nerve or time to analyze what type of Elite Demon appeared in the clearing. He was too focused on killing one Archyeas and searching for the brothers to think about anything else. It was only fortunate that the Elite Demon paid no attention to its surroundings. All it cared for was to keep tearing the Silverdusk Bear’s carcass apart.

There they are!

Percy found the brothers. They’d retracted their summoned Monsters after also killing one Archyeas each. They rushed to Percy while gesturing to him to turn around and run.

Percy was the one who told everyone to run but had yet to flee the scene. He turned and dashed into the thicket. Erik and Tarlek caught up to him, but the situation was far from over.

There were still more than two dozen Archyeas in their surroundings, and nobody knew if there were more in the Moonlight Forest. Maybe they were currently headed to a group of Demons and didn’t know about it.

“The Elite Demon is coming for us!” Tarlek cursed and slowed down, “I’ll stall it. You better reach the Wintermoon estate quickly!”

He stopped, brandished his sword, and coated his entire body, including the broadsword, in a thick silver hue.

Why is he doing that? Is Tarlek suicidal?

Percy was about to stop and turn around to help Tarlek, but Erik grasped his shoulder and pushed him forward.

“Don’t even think about it. You will kill both of you if you stop now.” Erik said dead-serious, not a trace of sadness in his eyes.

Doesn’t he care about his brother? No. I know he cares a lot about Tarlek, but…he is confident Tarlek will survive this… is that it?

Percy was unsure about this, but he circulated mana through his lower body and pushed ahead. They moved quickly through the Moonlight Forest, ignoring the commotion behind them. Tarlek roared, and the sound of metal colliding with metal resounded. That was the last thing they heard before a small group of Archyeas appeared before them.

“I swear…These Demons never learn their lesson,” Erik growled, summoning the Crimson Wolf and bloody war axes. He threw one of the war axes at one Archyeas, who lifted his claws to block the attack. But before the bloody war axe could impact, it split apart and transformed into a set of daggers. The projectiles’ trajectory changed once the war axe split up, and they struck one of the nearby Archyeas in the arm and another in his chest. The daggers burst apart and transformed into bloody red fog.

An icicle descended from the sky and pierced the gaping hole in the injured Archyeas’ chest, killing the Lesser Demon on the spot. Simultaneously, Percy made his move, attacking the Archyeas on the right. He cleaved through the Archyeas’ arm, severed it, and executed a quick follow-up attack to kill the demon. [Blade Mastery] worked better than expected, especially once combined with [Hawk Eyes]. Percy could pinpoint various openings through the latter because his understanding of the blade and bladed combat was so high. It elevated his combat prowess drastically.

He didn’t lose much momentum and pushed forward. The Crimson Wolf eliminated another Archyeas, while Erik and Percy dealt with the last one together.

Percy’s mind rattled like crazy, but he didn’t forget to use [Consume]. Even now, Erik didn’t consider the Archyeas as his property. The abomination of his Ego shot out and split up, consuming the group of Archyeas instantly.

[Four Archyeas have been consumed. 71,593 Prosperity has been added.]

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

He ignored the message and continued moving. Maybe the Prosperity was needed soon. If it was, Percy would be happy to have enough stored. If not, that would be great, too.

Percy didn’t know how long it took them to reach the Wintermoon estate, but it shouldn’t have been long. His legs burned fiercely, and dozens of cuts indicated that he’d charged through a few thorny bushes, but none of that mattered. He looked at Erik, whose expression changed slowly.

“What now?” He asked, looking back to the Moonlight Forest with a trace of worry. Now that they were in the clearing of the Wintermoon estate, Erik’s confidence in his brother’s survival plummeted slowly.

“We will–...Melissa!” Percy scanned the people in the Wintermoon estate, hoping to find Ulfhar, but he located Melissa instead. That might as well be better.

Melissa was with her noble friends. Under normal circumstances, Percy wouldn’t have approached her, but the situation was dire, and it was unclear what was about to happen. However, one thing was sure. If there was a Demon, chaos, death, and destruction would follow sooner rather than later.

Percy rushed to Melissa and her friends. He ignored their disgusted expressions and stared straight at Melissa, who studied him from head to toe. She and her friends were dressed in light dresses and ready to relax for the first time in weeks. There was no way in the seven hells she would allow Percy to destroy her first day off. Still, Melissa didn’t say anything when she saw the fresh, dark blood splatters on his face and clothes.

A bad feeling resurfaced on Melissa’s mind all while her noble friends scowled at Percy. One of them was about to say something, but Percy was faster. He sensed the situation would escalate if he didn’t speak up before the nobles.

“There are Demons in the forest. Something is out there…Something stronger than the Mutant Pleacis. It should be an Elite Demon, but–…”

Percy was interrupted when one of the nobles said, “A Demon Ward protects the entire Moonlight Forest and the Mana Vein empowers the Demon Ward. Not even Greater Demons should have an easy time entering the Moonlight Forest. Why are you lying, peasant?”

Percy squinted his eyes, but it was Melissa who silenced the noble before he could continue to throw insults at Percy.

“Shut it, Felix.”

Melissa looked at the Wintermoon estate mansion for a moment and turned back to study Percy’s clothes and his eyes. She also noticed Erik, who had been bragging about his new friend and noticed the dark blood on his clothes.

“His brother?” Melissa asked, and Percy understood right away.

“Tarlek stayed behind to stall time for us. I…don’t know if he’s still alive.” He winced and clenched his fists tightly until his fingernails dug deep into his palm. Blood trickled to the ground.

Melissa nodded and turned to Felix.

“Gather the others,” She told him, but the young noble wasn’t having it, “But Melissa–...”

Melissa glared at Felix, “That was not a request.”

“Okay…”

Felix glared at Percy but rushed back to the Wintermoon estate, where he gathered the others. Melissa gave her friends a series of orders, who didn’t even try to retort. They weren’t sure if Percy could be trusted, but it was better to follow Melissa’s order and complain to her or use her as a scapegoat if it was a false alarm than doing nothing. If something was about to happen and they didn’t do anything even though they knew something might happen…their reputation would suffer greatly.

Not only would their image be crushed and tarnished, but their families would suffer alongside.

Melissa’s friends rushed to their Knights’ camps, where they gathered their forces and Artifacts to prepare for whatever awaited them. Melissa looked at Percy once but didn’t utter a single word. She gestured to him to follow and rushed to the Glacia Knight Order’s camp.

“Glacia Knights, get ready for combat!!” She bellowed, bringing a motion to the camp.

It’s good that she trusts me, but I don’t know if the Demons will attack the Wintermoon estate in the first place. I just said that there are Demons. But then again…it’s probably better to be prepared and ready to jump into the offense than stay passive and in defense against the Demons.

Despite the danger, Percy couldn’t help but smile faintly. Melissa had grown a lot. She was not the same person he used to know. The Melissa of the past wouldn’t have trusted him. She would have laughed at him, maybe even punished Percy for speaking up to her. Fortunately, Melissa didn’t do that anymore. She trusted him but depended on whatever her senses picked up to determine the truth.

This Melissa was much better than the old one.

Unfortunately, Percy’s smile didn’t last long.

A piercing scream echoed through the Wintermoon estate, stirring the entire clearing awake.

The threat wasn’t coming from the Moonlight Forest. The enemy was already here!