CHAPTER 156 ROCKY FEIGNS INNOCENCE

When Rocky and Uriah were almost at the edge of the mist-shrouded Death Forest, a giant shadow

appeared in front of them. It appeared to belong to a gigantic beast. It moved so quickly the ground

shook beneath it.

'Is the Dark Heaven Insect finally going to show itself?' Rocky thought to himself. He gazed into the

distance and found a giant shadowy figure. A powerful aura coming from the beast instantly engulfed

the forest.

"That's some intense aura," Rocky uttered to himself. He was astonished by how immensely he was

feeling the beast's aura, considering it was still at a great distance from them. Rocky theorized this

spirit-manipulated beast harnessed the same capabilities as a spirit manipulator above eighth grade of

the Earthly Stage.

The giant shadowy figure slowly approached them. Rocky was preparing to catch himself a Dark

Heaven Insect. Much to his dismay, it was not the kind of spirit-manipulated beast he was waiting for. It

was some common wild spirit-manipulated beast. It was mammoth-like. It had a single eye, enormous

mouth, and even larger legs. Rocky could tell it was a strong one, maybe a third-grade spirit

manipulated beast of three stars.

"This must be the Cyclops Elephant. This war beast has high level of combat power, sometimes as

high as four-star. It possesses strong physical strength and a strong tusk that can be used for offense.

Who on earth thought a Cyclops Elephant would come?" Rocky hastily browsed the Beast

Encyclopedia, looking for this certain spirit-manipulated beast. There were an unbelievably huge

amount of information about this beast. Needless to say, Rocky was terrified out of his wits and started

to panic. They were hunting for a Dark Heaven Insect in this insufferable Death Forest, but instead,

they were given a one-eyed elephant to deal with. This beast was so powerful, his and Uriah's

combined power would not suffice to kill it.

Rocky decided not to waste too much energy on this wild one-eyed beast; it was not what they went

here for. He immediately took action. His body started gleaming brightly, and he was suddenly covered

in multicolored light. In an instant, he release an enormous amount of spiritual power. He was preparing

himself to fetch back the magical saliva used to lure the Dark Heaven Insect out.

All of a sudden, the ground below them started shaking forcefully. Rocky's eyes grew wide in disbelief

as the slush of mud in the marsh began bubbling. It was not too far from the magical saliva. It was not

long when the marsh slush got into a roaring boil.

Rocky was frozen on his tracks when he saw a huge beast emerge from the marsh. It was around ten

meters long with two cobra-like heads, both flat and long. Its torso looked like that of a centipede's. It

was as wide as a tree trunk. It also released a strong spiritual aura, similar to the one-eyed elephant's.

Rocky's entire body was paralyzed by fear at the sight of this wild spirit-manipulated beast.

'When will I get a break? A single three-star beast would be enough to kill me. And now, there are two

of them, ' Rocky thought to himself. He frantically browsed through the Beast Encyclopedia, hoping a

few information about this beast would help him in defeating it.

"Centipede-snake: a war beast with high combat abilities. Its skill-level could be as high as the four-star

level. It lives at the bottom of marshes, and has poisonous protruding spines. Any creature to be of

contact with its poisonous spines will be paralyzed and is sure to die," Rocky read from the Beast

Encyclopedia. Cold sweat broke from his forehead. Two extremely powerful spirit-manipulated beast

stood before him. He was surely to die from encountering one three-star beast, but with his luck, he

needed to deal with two. Rocky bade his hopes of retrieving magical saliva goodbye.

Rocky knew he had to pull back. He and Uriah started moving to retreat somewhere safer.

As they cautiously traced back their steps, the Centipede-snake took off and charged toward the

magical saliva. It was supposed to bait the Dark Heaven Insect out of its hiding place. The one-eyed

elephant saw what the Centipede-snake was trying to do. It let out an otherworldly shriek and also

bolted to where the magical saliva was. The ground shook ever so ferociously as everything took place.

The Centipede-snake almost had the magical saliva when the one-eyed elephant attacked it from the

behind. Its powerful tusks easily pinned down the Centipede-snake's tail on the ground, rendering it

unable to move.

Rocky had decided to flee but having just witnessed the two spirit-manipulated beast fight each other,

he was once again unable to move. An idea rushed into his mind. Rocky let out a cheeky snicker as he

found them a place to hide in. He wanted to wait and see the outcome of this scuffle.

The one-eyed elephant fiercely lunged towards the magical saliva. The entirety of the Death Forest

shook at it steps. Anything its feet landed on was instantly crushed flat.

It did not take long for the one-eyed elephant to reach the magical saliva. It opened its expectedly large

mouth and was ready to devour the totality of the magical spit, including the bottle.

But the Centipede-snake was not quite done yet. He charged forward and wrapped itself around the

one-eyed elephant's legs. It then used its poisoned spines to prick its opponent. The one-eyed

elephant growled in pain as it shook with fear. It tried to vigorously shake the Centipede-snake off its

limbs, but failed.

It did not take long for the spine venom to kick in. Soon enough, the one-eyed elephant was paralyzed.

As if on surrender, it dropped to the ground and rolled over.

The Centipede-snake was still wounded tightly around the legs of the one-eyed elephant.

It was reduced to a mush of blood and flesh after being squashed by the other wild spirit-manipulated

beast.

Not long after, the elephant breathed the last bit of air from its body. These two literally just fought each

other to death for a measly amount of magical saliva.

It was just like what they said— when two dogs fight over a bone, the third one runs away with it. The

now both dead wild spirit-manipulated beast did not know their greed would lead to their own ruins and

put Rocky in a favorable position. He just sat there quietly, waiting for the fight to be over.

"I may have not caught a Dark Heaven Insect, but these two wild spirit-manipulated beasts might be of

great value. The Centipede-snake's venom is precious and can be used for medicinal purposes. The

tusks of the one-eyed elephant can be made into different tools. There are also other parts I can

scavenge." Rocky obtained a lot of information about these wild spirit-manipulated beasts from reading

the Beast Encyclopedia. He found out extensive uses for the guts and bones of the two wild beasts

who just fought each other to death.

With Uriah by his side, Rocky built up enough courage to inspect the carnage that were the dead

beasts. He cleared up the mess and searched the bodies.

"I meant no harm, but you two were too greedy," Rocky said with a tinge of disgust. He picked up the content rights.

bottle of magical saliva. The eyes of the two dead spirit-manipulated beasts looked at him emptily.

Even after death, the two wild spirit-manipulated beasts managed to look angry towards Rocky's words

of sarcasm.

Rocky pulled out the Frozen Wind Dagger and began dissecting the dead bodies.

The following day, Rocky and Uriah traveled back to the village carrying a bag each. Both bags were

almost bursting in the seams with guts and bones of the one-eyed elephant and the Centipede-snake.

The villagers were already up and eating their breakfast when Rocky and Uriah reached their place.

Rocky went straight to Jackson's place and called him twice. Jackson appeared immediately.

"Jackson, may I trouble you to sell these two bags of guts and bones of the two wild beasts for me?

Any price will do." Rocky handed Jackson both the bags that contained everything they harvested from

the beast except the Centipede-snake venom and the one-eyed elephant's tusks.

"Rocky, where did you get such valuable stuff?" Jackson asked in surprise. Jackson had developed an

eye for the wild beast.

"I just happened to pass them by," Rocky said mindlessly.

Sue had just returned from a morning stroll. She was cuddling Rubygon by her arms. When she saw

Rocky, she handed Rubygon over without question. She still seemed reluctant, though.

"It is a wonder how easily you returned Rubygon to me," Rocky almost teasingly said, gazing intensely

at Sue's eyes.

"Keep teasing and I might just steal Rubygon away from you. This time for good. You're still Rubygon's

owner. I still have some moral ascendancy, you know," Sue replied. She had gotten so good at playing

along with Rocky.

His lips curled up into a smile. He returned his attention to Jackson and asked for a jar. He rested for a

while and headed back to the military camp with Uriah, carrying the Centipede-snake venom and a

couple of one-eyed elephant's tusks.

Rocky stayed out all night that day. The following morning, Thor and Joss were found waiting by

Rocky's doorstep. They almost went crazy worrying about their squad leader. Finally, Rocky arrived.

"Captain, where were you last night? Why didn't you return to your quarters?" Thor and Joss nagged.

They were pestering Rocky as if they were his butlers.

"If you're not here to report anything of importance, you can leave," Rocky said, not answering any of

their queries. He looked at Thor and Joss nonchalantly.

"Captain, the Commander asked us about you yesterday." Thor and Joss showed hesitation as they

gave each other a worried look.

"In fact, she told us not to tell you. But we did anyways because we think you're in danger," Joss went

on to say.

"What did she ask about me?" Rocky stopped and turned around to look at Thor and Joss.

"She asked us whether there was anything off with you and what were you busy with these days,

something like that. She seemed to consider you a spy," Thor told Rocky bewildered.

"What did you tell her?" Rocky asked with a lifted brow. Rocky knew Marin to be difficult.

"We didn't say anything else. We just told her that you were in your room all the time, except for

working hours," Thor and Joss answered. They answered as honestly as they could.

"Very well. From today on, if our Commander asks you anything about me, tell her to come to me. Any

time!" Rocky ordered them as he headed inside his room.