A Survivor from Marina

Several weeks later.

As night fell at the southern border of Death Valley, a group of mounted soldiers halted in their tracks as they came upon the face of Death Valley before them.

"Halt!"

Commanded a burly man, raising one hand. His white armor gleamed as bright as snow, while the armor of the soldiers behind him was a metallic ash gray.

From the symbols of a white wolf and a crystal palace on their chests, and the banner they flew, it was clear that this was a troop from the Kingdom of Huntara. Specifically, they were from the city of Blackwinter, located in the southern part of the kingdom.

Blackwinter was a city that bordered directly with the Kingdom of Farnodt and the demon lands in the middle of the continent, Abyss.

The troops from Blackwinter were in pursuit of the sole survivor from the Farnodt troops that was sent to the Abyss border. About five hundred soldiers were sent to investigate the increasingly active demon lands, but only one, the deputy captain of the unit, managed to escape.

The mission of the Blackwinter troops was to eliminate all of the Farnodt soldiers without leaving any survivors. If there were witnesses to the slaughter, it would damage the position of the leader of Blackwinter.

Now, seeing the survivor fleeing into Death Valley, the captain of the troop felt like he was eating a bitter fruit.

Death Valley was a place where death always accompanied. Even the Champions from each kingdom, who were considered the strongest humans, would hesitate to enter the cursed place.

"This crazy guy. He's really daring to enter there," muttered the Captain, as he saw the forest ahead, seeming to call out to him. But he knew that the call was not a good sign.

"What should we do, Captain Zack?"

Zack, a burly man with a long white beard and mustache, squinted towards Death Valley. In truth, he was unsure of what to do. The order to not let any survivors escape was absolute. His lord would be in big trouble if that order was not carried out.

But chasing after the survivor into Death Valley was akin to suicide. Zack didn't want to send his subordinates to their deaths.

"We will wait here for three days. He may not go far from the border because he knows we won't pursue him. He might return. If he doesn't return within three days, one team will be assigned to wait for him here. The others will return to Blackwinter. Our lord must be very anxious right now."

His order was immediately agreed upon by the Blackwinter soldiers. They, too, were reluctant to enter the forbidden area. Even before entering, they could feel the aura of death emanating from the forest. The survivor, the deputy captain of Marina troops, must be crazy to run into there.

***

"Huff...huff...huff..."

A middle-aged man wearing metallic armor and a long-sleeved red shirt leaned against a large rock.

His body was covered in numerous scars from sharp weapons and dried blood stains.

He was the deputy captain of the Marina City troops in the Kingdom of Farnodt.

Yesterday morning, a total of five hundred Marina soldiers went on an expedition to the kingdom's border with the Demon lands, Abyss. There were many reports from nearby villages stating that many people had gone missing. And some reports claimed that they saw demons sneaking in the darkness of the night.

Not only because of these reports, but also because of the increasing activity of the demons from Abyss at the borders of other kingdoms, the government of the Kingdom of Farnodt was restless and sent an expeditionary force to investigate the situation at their borders.

But unexpectedly, in the early morning hours, the resting Marina troops were suddenly attacked by the demon race. Although their numbers were perhaps only half of the Marina's, their physical and magical strength far surpassed that of humans, making the battle fiercely intense.

In the midst of the battle, another army suddenly appeared. Seeing that they were human, the Marina troops initially thought they were reinforcements. But alas, they were reinforcements for the demon race, not for them.

The second attack by the two different armies closed in on the Marina troops, and in just about two hours, the Marina troops were whittled down to only a few dozen people. The deputy captain and the remaining few escaped with all their might. Time seemed to pass by quickly, and without realizing it, he was the only one left. As night fell, the Blackwinter cavalry was approaching him.

In the distance, he saw the cursed forest, emitting an aura of death. He felt that once he entered, he would never be able to leave. But behind him, the sound of galloping horses could already be faintly heard. His life now had only two choices.

To die at the hands of the Blackwinter troops or to die in the embrace of Death Valley.

"Damn it! I'd rather be eaten by monsters than be at the mercy of traitors!"

Strengthening his resolve, he ran into the land where the demons and Champions themselves feared to tread. A place where death became a faithful friend that followed him.

Night had arrived.

The deputy captain of the Marina troops, named Reiss, fell silent and rested behind a rock. Since entering the Death Valley forest, his hair had not stopped standing on end. He felt that many eyes were watching him ever since he stepped foot on that ground.

Logically, he knew that this feeling was only his fear. However, even though his logic continued to function, the feelings of fear, anxiety, and confusion did not disappear.

"Grrr..."

Reiss immediately heard a growling sound from his right side. He looked, but he couldn't see anything there, just darkness in front of him. His eyes couldn't penetrate the darkness.

A few seconds later, he heard another growling sound, this time coming from the front. Then he heard a howling sound in the distance behind him. Soon, his ears picked up many terrifying sounds around him.

Sweat flowed instantly all over Reiss's body. "No, I can't stay here. I have to keep moving!" Reiss thought in a panic. He wanted to run out through the path he had passed earlier. But when he looked around, everything disappeared into the darkness. Reiss couldn't see the direction he had come from.

His legs trembled in fear. The growling sound was getting closer. Reiss immediately crouched down and crawled slowly towards the bushes, trying not to make any noise.

Dom dom dom dom.

The sound of footsteps shook the ground, getting louder and louder, and Reiss realized that the sound was very close to him. He was hiding in a cluster of bushes and peeked towards the source of the vibration.

There he saw a silhouette of a large five-meter-tall monster with glowing blue eyes observing its surroundings. Reiss couldn't see clearly what kind of monster it was, but he knew that its strength far exceeded his own.

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!"

In despair, he caught sight of a small hole in the trunk of a tree. The hole seemed big enough for him to enter.

In a panic, he looked back at the monster, which was still motionless in the distance. He dared to move slowly towards the tree hole about ten meters away.

As he crawled closer, his heart felt like it was about to burst. Reiss, who was not a religious person, prayed with all his heart, hoping that the terrifying monster wouldn't notice his presence.

After arriving, Reiss immediately crawled into the hole. His body just fit, and inside, he tried to hold his breath to avoid making any noise and made himself as small as possible. His eyes occasionally checked the outside situation.

After about half an hour, the terrifying monster finally left. Reiss could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Sigh…"

"Ssssss…."

"!!"

A hissing sound suddenly came from above his head. He immediately turned his head and saw a snake head as big as his thigh staring sharply at him.

"Fu*k!"

***

Elsewhere, in a cabin that was also a store located deep in Death Valley, a man was smoothing a piece of wood with a knife. The wood was long and had antique grooves.

The piece of wood was actually the same one that was knocked down by Cien a few weeks ago during his [Tongue of Fire] technique practice. Feeling sorry for leaving the wood unused, Cien decided to make some wooden equipment from it. One of them was the chair he was currently sitting on, which was placed on the cabin's porch.

Another example was the piece of wood he was currently carving, which he planned to make into a bow and arrow.

Sraat sraat sraat…

Cien carved leisurely, occasionally checking the balance of the bow. Next to him was a fire with some pieces of Inferno Bear meat on it. Not far from his chair was a wooden block used as a table, with some cooked meat and a glass of warm tea on top.

Stopping his hand, Cien picked up the tea and sipped it, feeling the warmth flow from his throat to his stomach. Then he skewered a piece of meat and enjoyed the taste on his tongue.

"Ah~ this is life…"

On the peaceful porch, illuminated by a bright lamp, Cien enjoyed carving and barbecuing meat while sipping warm tea in the cold night.