12 The Mysterious Man

Unlike George and Celia, Albert had prior knowledge about this place.

He had learned about the underground forest and the giant divine tree in the center from Master Harley in advance.

However, once he was there in person, the scenery still took his breath away.

Once he was inside the forest, Albert dusted the dirt off his body.

Unlike George, Albert did not possess something as convenient as Noxkaius. Thus, he did not jump down the way George did. Instead, he had to slowly climb down the cliff.

Klonk

Boom!

Just as Albert was about to set off for the central region, strange sounds emerged from behind him.

It was the sound of falling gravel.

The moment he heard the sound, Albert, experienced as he was, instantly knew that something was wrong. He quickly drew his sword and turned around to defend himself.

Clang!

Thanks to his well-trained physique, Albert managed to raise his sword just in time to block the attack before it landed on him.

With the help of the light coming from the glowing rocks on the cave wall, Albert was able to see what had attacked him.

It was a huge serpent made of rocks.

The reason why he did not discover its existence in time was because the serpent had blended into the surroundings.

The serpent's tail collided with Albert's sword, producing hissing sounds and even occasional sparks.

Sensing fearsome force from the attacks he parried, Albert chose not to fight the monster head-on. Instead, he used the monster's strength to move backwards and put some distance between himself and the monster.

A Rock Serpent?

Albert did not escape immediately. The biggest taboo when out in the wild was to expose your back to monsters.

That would be extremely dangerous.

Albert bent his legs and stared unblinkingly at the Rock Serpent. But internally, he was thinking about something else.

Why were there still Rock Serpents here?

Logically speaking, monsters that like to ambush its prey near the entrance like the Rock Serpent should have already been taken care of by George's party, who came in first.

But this Rock Serpent did not look like it had seen any battle.

Did the two just happen to not meet?

It wasn't entirely impossible. But what kind of luck did they have to avoid the attention of seven Rock Serpents?

The wall behind the previous Rock Serpent rippled and warped. And from it, six more emerged.

The situation had taken a turn for the worse. Although Albert had many questions, he couldn't afford to think about them right now

He needed to think of an escape plan.

There was no way he could defeat all seven Rock Serpents by himself. Escape was the only option.

While Albert was caught up in his thoughts, the seven Rock Serpents attacked. Mouths wide open, they launched numerous mud shots towards Albert.

Thankfully, Albert had predicted the movements of the Rock Serpents the moment they opened their mouths.

Clearing his mind to focus on the battle at hand, Albert charged forward. He closed the distance between him and the rock serpents with great speed, leaving only his afterimage behind him.

Moving at high speeds, George was able to hide or dodge the serpents' attack before it could hit him.

Boom!

The mud shots hit the ground loudly, splattering everywhere.

However, the splatters of the mud shots only lasted for less than a second before turning into tiny pebbles.

Rock Serpents. One might think, just by looking at the name, that they were pure earth-type monsters.

But in actuality, they were a species of multi-element monster adept at using water and earth magic.

Their specialty was controlling transmutational mud that could solidify at will.

Behind Albert, strange rock pillars began appearing one by one, sealing off his path of retreat.

But all these were all within his expectations.

The Rock Serpent closest to Albert swung its tail at him as he approached.

At the same time, a faint glimmer of light suffused Albert's sword. He parried the serpents' attack fearlessly.

Although the light was faint, it was fatal.

A simple upswing followed by a flash of white light.

Then, brownish-red blood spurted from the wound and onto the ground, instantly solidifying.

The blood of the Rock Serpents had the same characteristics as the mud it spew. Anything that touched either substance would become petrified.

Therefore, the moment the tail was severed, Albert quickly moved aside before the spray of blood could catch him.

"Of all the things to run into, it had to be the Rock Serpent. What awful luck."

Unlike Barron and Gared, Albert specialized in swordsmanship, he was what one might call a 'pure Knight'.

All of his strength came from his martial arts training that started when he was young.

As a result, he found it very difficult to deal with the monsters like the Rock Serpent, which could restrain him in close combat.

Not to mention dealing with seven of them at once.

Inside a grand hall, a gaunt man with pointy ears and sunken eye-sockets sat in the main throne.

In the depths of the empty sockets, where the eyeballs would normally be, were two eerie dots of red light.

The man slowly raised his head, and with no other movements from him, two viewing portals appeared in the middle of the hall.

The left portal showed a man and a woman happily harvesting, cooking and eating fruits.

Most of the time, it was just the man eating. The woman only took a bite or two occasionally.

The gaunt man wasn't very interested in what was happening in the left portal.

All his attention was focused on the right portal.

"Another intruder?"

The gaunt man's lips twitched, seemingly forming a smile, as he enjoyed the scene of Albert fighting against the seven Rock Serpents.

How many years had it been since someone visited this place?

George and Celia's arrival was already a big surprise for him. He hadn't expected another one to show up.

"Curious knight, are you here to save those two children?"

It was inevitable that the man thought this way. The probabilities of two separate groups of people barging into this place was inconceivable.

But he also didn't eliminate that possibility entirely.

"Or… is he aiming for this place as well?"

Upon considering that possibility, the gaunt man's indifferent tone cooled several degrees. The frigid tone of his voice was like piercing winter winds, and it caused the temperature of the entire hall to plummet.

A layer of frost quietly appeared on the ground.

"Come to think of it, the fruit is about to ripen. It's not entirely improbable that some prophet somewhere made a prediction about this."

His eerie voice reverberated in the hall. The gaunt man minimized the image on the left and expanded the portal that Albert was in.

"Oh hardworking knight, if you are really here for the fruit, hehehe…"

At that thought, the gaunt man suddenly started laughing. Compared to his previously chilling voice, this laughter was unexpectedly hearty.

Hearty, and with a hint of anticipation.