Meanwhile.

Throughout the palace, those who knew about the princess being taken away were in a state of panic.

Guards and servants alike were all thrown into a frenzy.

Confusion, bewilderment, despair, and anxiety filled the air.

Where was the princess? She had been taken away by Viktor!

At this point, they didn't even dare to report this news to the emperor.

Who would dare tell the emperor?

The princess had been snatched right under their noses. If the emperor got even slightly angry, their heads might roll the next second!

As things stood, they had to find the princess before the emperor learned of this!

But how to find her? Where to look?

That was a fourth-tier mage's teleportation magic, with a vast coverage area!

Viktor could have appeared in any corner of the capital, or even worse! He might have taken the princess out of the capital altogether!

Suddenly, Aurelianne's personal female guard thought of something and hurriedly said,

"Knight Commander Gwen! She's Viktor's fiancée!"

"Perhaps she knows where Viktor is!"

At this point, this seemed to be the only option left.

She put on a black cloak and said to the panicking servants,

"Don't panic, keep the news contained."

"What if Knight Commander Gwen doesn't know where Viktor is?" one of the servants asked anxiously.

A flicker of despair passed through the female guard's eyes.

"Then, immediately inform His Majesty of this matter."

"The princess absolutely cannot come to harm."

.......

At the Delin mansion.

Gwen stood at the door, looking bewildered at the royal guard.

She blinked, listening to the news brought by the royal guard.

Her Highness the Princess had been taken away by Viktor?

What was wrong with Viktor now? Was he uncomfortable if he didn't cause trouble for a day?

"The situation is urgent. We request Knight Commander Gwen to immediately set out to find Viktor."

Seeing the guard's request before her, Gwen was also at a loss.

She had no idea where Viktor would take the princess, or how to find Viktor.

But Gwen was also troubled, where could she go to find Viktor now?

Kevlar beside her, poked Gwen's waist with her finger.

Gwen's body shuddered, giving Kevlar a somewhat resentful look.

But Kevlar said with a grin,

"Of course you can find Viktor, he left something for you."

"Something?"

Gwen was stunned, suddenly remembering.

Viktor had indeed left something for her.

She hurriedly took out a piece of golden parchment from her waist, which still had faint traces of magic on it.

That was the magic Viktor had left behind.

He had requested a batch of fine steel and specifically left this parchment to tell her.

This parchment could locate his position.

Instantly, a sense of confusion arose in Gwen's heart.

'What exactly does Viktor want to do?'

If he wanted to take away the princess, why would he give her something in advance that could locate his position?

Was it an oversight?

Impossible, Viktor was definitely not that careless.

Seeing the hesitation and confusion on Gwen's face, Kevlar suggested:

"Since you can find Viktor, why not bring more people along?"

Gwen was perplexed, but Kevlar seemed to already know something, saying,

"Maybe Viktor deliberately wants others to find him?"

……

By now, Aurelianne had already covered most of her journey.

She encountered another monster ambush on the way, this time with one more flower monster.

But Aurelianne remained incredibly calm this time.

She calmly cast spells continuously, attacking the monsters' weak points. Terrifying flames engulfed the monsters, leaving not even ashes behind.

Even though the monsters were dead, she still felt a bit scared.

It was like bungee jumping; even though there were safety measures, the repeated near-death tension kept tugging at her nerves.

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But this time, she wouldn't lose.

The next second, several monsters reappeared, pouncing towards Aurelianne.

She continuously cast spells, gradually depleting her mana.

Under Aurelianne's surprisingly talented abilities, her mana wasn't consumed much, and these common tree spirits were swept away by her.

Increasingly skilled attacks on weak points made her more adept at handling these monsters.

Aurelianne was slightly out of breath, her cheeks flushed with fatigue.

Walking to the side of the corpses, she didn't forget to pick up materials like Viktor had done earlier.

She had been walking this mountain path for almost two hours.

During this time, she had 'died' no less than twenty times.

Every time she was near death, Teacher Viktor's flames would spread to all the monsters.

But this also meant that she needed to start over.

The monsters seemed to be deliberately drawn back, and she repeatedly challenged this path more than twenty times.

She could clearly feel her combat experience increasing.

Countless spell casts made her feel increasingly skilled and at ease, and even second-tier magic no longer felt as taxing as before.

Aurelianne continued walking forward. The forest grew denser, gradually blocking out the sunlight that could no longer penetrate through the leaves.

Darkness gradually engulfed the remaining mountain path ahead.

White mist slowly rose, shrouding the last part of the mountain path ahead.

Her instincts told her that there was danger within the white mist before her.

It felt as if once she stepped in, she would be unable to turn back, like entering an abyss.

Aurelianne reached out a hand, touching the white mist before her.

"..."

There was no unusual sensation, but she still steeled herself, entering with a nervous heart.

Walking into the mist, almost instantly, everything before her became extraordinarily open.

Before her lay a spacious plain.

Surrounded by dense trees, it looked like a deliberately left open space, appearing quite eerie.

As soon as Aurelianne entered, the path behind her was sealed by a wall of white mist. Startled, she quickly stepped back.

But no matter how she touched or patted it, this layer of mist seemed to have turned into a solid wall, showing no reaction.

She was trapped here.

Soon, rustling sounds came continuously from the dense forest, and the ground no longer remained still.

Accompanied by a shocking tremor of the earth, a huge creature broke through the intertwined underground, appearing before Aurelianne.

Its body was completely wrapped in green leaves, vines, and fur, covering its face, making it impossible to see its true appearance.

Only a pair of glowing red eyes could be seen under the darkness.

"Roar——!"

A powerful roar struck Aurelianne's eardrums, and a damp, stuffy breath entered her nostrils, as if gripping the vitality of her heart.

She widened her eyes, utterly unable to believe the horrifying creature before her.

……

"Forest Demon."

This was the lord-level boss at the end of the Milute Path, a type of wild boss.

It respawned roughly once a week, and after death, had a chance to drop an item — [Demon's Heart].

A material that could be used to craft equipment.

Viktor compared Aurelianne's and the Forest Demon's life values.

This was a level 20 Forest Demon.

It wasn't particularly strong, but due to its boss stats, its thick health and high defense undoubtedly posed a great challenge for the level 15 Aurelianne.

Aurelianne looked at the monster before her, feeling its breath like a large drum being constantly beaten, the heavy sound pounding on Aurelianne's heart.

Under the opponent's strong pressure, she stepped back slightly.

When she touched the white mist wall, she realized that now, she had nowhere to retreat.

Isn't this... a bit too intense?

Aurelianne, who had never had any close combat experience, couldn't possibly defeat it by any means other than magic.

But... this thing.

Would it really give her a chance to attack remotely with magic?

A boss would never give people time to wait. In the moment Aurelianne hesitated, the Forest Demon broke free from countless vines, dragging broken vines as it charged towards Aurelianne.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Each of its steps seemed to vent its anger at the intruder, as if it couldn't believe someone had dared to intrude into its territory!

Just by suddenly raising its giant arm, the shadow had completely covered Aurelianne.

Boom!

As a palm came down, in her stupor, Aurelianne couldn't even react in time.

She seemed to have already seen her own death.

But just as the Forest Demon was about to hit her.

The next second, a white magic formation gradually lit up from the entire forest, and light engulfed everything.

When Aurelianne opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in the original spot.

The Forest Demon had also returned to its original starting point, entangled in heavy vines.

Aurelianne looked at her intact body, but in her memory, it was as if she had already died once.

She touched her neck, her head was still on her shoulders.

On the ground where she stood, a number had appeared.

"1".

This was a record of her failure, or rather...

"Died once... huh?"

Aurelianne raised her head to look at the monster again, seeming as if this beast was also very confused about why it was trapped in heavy vines again.

But it didn't care about these things, it only needed to charge forward again, killing the fragile human in front of it was enough.

Aurelianne finally understood that she couldn't hesitate anymore, and she attempted to start her first resistance.

She couldn't use teleportation magic, but she still had ways to escape the opponent's lock-on.

Like the black mist magic Viktor had her learn today.

She constructed the formation with both hands. Due to her previous experiences, this construction became extremely proficient and swift.

The Forest Demon broke free from the vines again, charging towards Aurelianne.

Before it could reach Aurelianne, vast black mist suddenly enveloped the demon.

The demon let out a screech, starting to attack the surrounding trees in a frenzy.

Aurelianne knew this was the effect of the hallucinogenic magic.

So, she tried to launch an attack from the side.

Countless sparks flew towards the demon, but they extinguished upon merely touching the demon, under its frenzied attacks.

Whether due to the heavy leaves, the damp air, or the monster's enormous body, Aurelianne's attacks became very weak.

The demon had barely taken any damage, and instead was enraged again by Aurelianne's attack.

She was incredibly surprised that her magic had no effect at all, staring wide-eyed and frozen in place, not knowing what to do.

"How is this poss..."

Before she could finish speaking, the demon kicked up a huge dead tree from the forest, sending it flying towards Aurelianne.

In an instant, Aurelianne's vision went black.

Accompanied by the indication of death, after a white light dissipated, she and the monster returned to their original positions once again.

A green glow appeared on the Forest Demon's body, that was a healing spell.

Aurelianne lit up with a blue light, her previously lost magic fully restored.

Her body was also restored to its original state.

As if foretelling something, the number on the ground gained another stroke.

"2".