“Who are you? Why should we trust you?” Kyran cautiously asked. He had formulated several plans in his mind to deal with the little girl if she really appeared to be an enemy, but seeing Carol’s reaction, he doubted if they could make it in one piece. He could not sense her rwach, still he could tell by instinct that this little girl was not normal.

The girl said nothing, taking something out of her pocket. Kyran grew more cautious and strengthen his grip on the spear.

It was actually a candy wrapped in light blue. The girl opened the wrapper, put the candy in her mouth and closed her eyes. She seemed to savor it. Then, she put the wrapper in her hand, and with the other hand flicked it five meters away. It landed on the ground where Kyran’s previously headed to and sank into the ground in an instant. It’s a demonic living quicksand! It's known that in certain terrain, there's demonic living quicksand which could sink any creature in a minute regardless of their size. What made it even more terrifying was it would suck one’s rwach for each second passed.

It surprised Kyran and Carol. If they had not stopped in time, they would have been dead. Kyran stared at the little girl, trying to figure out her intention.

After pondering, they choose to trust her and headed to the direction she pointed at.

Kyran walked toward her and said, “Thank you!”

He reached for something in his pocket, took out two candies wrapped in yellow and handed them before walking away. It’s Alice’s favorite candy that she gave as a good-luck charm before he departed.

Kyran turned his head to take a glimpse at the girl for the last time. The girl spoke nothing more, silently stood and watched as they disappeared into the forest.

At first, they walked in a slow pace to observe the situation and gradually increased their speed, They realized it's not safe yet. Thanks to Carol’s fireball, they could still grasp the surrounding pretty well. They dashed, hoping to reach the end of the forest soon.

Kyran suddenly gave a sign to stop. He noticed a shadow moving behind a tree just now. Enemies again? What a busy day! Kyran thought. He took his stance and wait for the perfect time to strike. Carol was ready with her spell. The other party seemed to notice them also as it made no sound nor movement anymore.

They abruptly charged at the same time. Kyran dashed forward and aimed for the head.

Clang!

A sword met his spear, creating a reverberating sound.

“Wait, it’s me!” Polbo yelled.

“Polbo?” Carol said in disbelief.

“Is that you guys?” Hex’s voice came from right behind Polbo.

Kyran could not hide his excitement and exclaimed, “Hex, Polbo!”

“Save it for later. Let’s get out of here first!” Hex said. One of the iron rule of a mercenary was one should be always vigilant until safety was confirmed. Not to mention, they’re still in the forest infested with beasts, noone knows what could happen in the next second.

..............…

At the rain tribe settlement.

The shaman, beastmaster and the rest of the tribe were presence. For some reason, the festive atmoshpere just a moment ago was nowhere to be found. No one uttered a single word. It‘s drizzling again, yet they could hardly rejoice. Their god seemed to be powerless to protect them from their current situation.

Everyone presence knelt and bowed with their head on the ground. Even the silver sabertooth tigers lowered their head in fear and did not dare to look at the being standing at the center.

A little girl was standing there with her hands behind her back, expresionless and unmoving. Only her mouth showed a slight, occasional movement as if chewing something. The pressurized air and dominating aura emanating from the little girl scared them witless. They had never encountered such a being before. They knew they had no chance to survive if they fought. The being was far beyond comprehension. It‘s even comparable to their god’s servant, Leviathan, if not even greater.

“Forgive us, venerable one. We have no idea you’re with those guys.” the shaman said with bated breath, fearing to offend her.

“We won’t pursue them as you wish, venerable one. Please spare us!” the beastmaster said.

The girl look at them indifferently. A brief, eerie silence once again fell over the crowd.

Poof!

Several silver sabertooth tiger stood far away exploded into puddle of blood without warning at the same time. If one didn’t witness what had happened, noone could guess what creature the puddle of blood originally were as it left no trace. Cold sweat rushed down their forehead. They had no idea what had just happened. They saw nothing strange. Even the little girl did not move her finger.

At the moment, the shaman almost wanted to dig a hole to allow him to lower his head even deeper and hide himself, if possible. He couldn’t fathom the girl’s strength. He once heard a legend passed down from his predecessors that if one’s power reached the supreme level or above, one could manipulated rwach at will, creating a certain kind of rwach domain that could demonstrate unimaginable power. Judging from the indistinguishable rwach fluctuation, this little girl might be using one just now. Still it’s only a conjenture he had no way to prove as it’s on the realm of power surpassing their understanding. Even the strongest warrior of their tribe’s history never reached the high rank, not to mention the supreme one. A being of that level was almost god-like to the rain tribe.

The shaman trembled and managed to open his mouth, “We swear we won’t tell anyone about what happened tonight!”

“......”

After a while, the girl turned back and ambling on into the cover of trees, disappearing from their sight. It looked like her intention was fulfilled without wasting her breath. Only when the candy melted completely in her mouth did she comment on how good it was.

As she strolled along, she had not encountered a single beast. From far away, more inteligent beasts sensing her presence had madlly rushed into opposite direction to avoid encountering her. Suddenly something caught her attention. She stopped and lifted her head, staring at one of the ordinary-looking tree.

“It’s a surprise to meet you here, Kong!” the little girl said. 

A man wrapped in dull-brown robe covering up to his head gradually appear from the thin air, standing silently on the branch. As if it’s an illussion, the next second he had vanished and reappeared in front of the girl.

“It’s just a coincidence. I’m just happened to be on a recoinassance mission, milady” the man called Kong nonchalantly said.

The little girl sighed as she continued to walk, “What a lame excuse. Besides, do you think I don’t know it must be Fenrir’s work?”

“Haha. You got me. That’s partly true. When Fenrir made the request, I’m the nearest one from this place. Besides, it’s reasonable for the general to worry about you since you’re in another kingdom’s territory without any guard, though you don‘t really need one.” Kong said.

Her hand reached for the pocket, taking out a candy-this time wrapped in yellow and put it in her mouth. The moment it entered her mouth, she widened her eyes and nodded lightly.

She continued, “I told you and Fenrir many times, whenever we’re alone, you can drop the honorific.” 

Kong shook his head and said. “You know I have a loose tongue. I can slip anytime when we’re in formal occasions.”

He continued to ask in playful tone, “How come you’re shrinking?”

The little girl halted her step, seemingly not bothered at all by his casual remark. She reply with a smile “You’ve been away for too long.”

The people closed to her knew clearly how she loved candies. Due to her pride, she couldn’t enjoy one in her real appearance. It’s all because of that Taiga. A long time ago, he teased her by saying only kids loved candy, thus she had been eating one in secret or only in her kid appearance.

“Ishtar has eyes even in the outer part of this forest. It’s better if milady doesn’t cause any ruckus here, if not she’ll notice-“ Kong said.

“I know. I know. I just want to see how the chosen one looks like” the little girl interrupted and started to walk again. 

“Ooh, And?” Kong curiously asked.

The little girl shook her head, “Pathetic. Weak. On top of that, his look was a disaster”

How come the look was relevant to the chosen one‘s status? Still, he bothered to reply with a smug face, “He’s currently cursed. Noone will look any good in that situation, noone but me of course!”

“Even if he’s not, he’d still nowhere close to Taiga.” the little girl replied.

“.........”

“It’s pardonable though.” the little girl said as she held a candy wrapped in yellow.

Kong let out a sigh and smile.

“I’ve seen enough. No need to escort me.” the girl said. 

“Very well. Have a safe journey, milady. Until we meet again!” Kong said before vanishing into thin air.