Chapter 163: The Unseen Force [3]

"I-It wasn't your doing, right?" Serena stammered, unable to believe her eyes. Perhaps this was one of Nyx's hidden moves she wasn't aware of; after all, it was no secret that Nyx liked to keep her abilities hidden, only revealing them at crucial moments.

This was a habit only Nyx had adopted because all the other kids openly used their skills.

"It wasn't me. I didn't even make a move," Nyx responded, her gaze still fixed in the direction the blazing red trail had headed. She briefly thought about her brother, recalling the speed he had used to overwhelm Wendy.

'But... he's much faster than this,' Nyx thought. 'And he's still far away, so it's definitely not him... then who? Who could move at such speed?'

"Whatever that thing is, it could've hurt me if it wanted to," Nyx said aloud in a serious voice. She then looked at Serena, whose gaze was still fixed on the beast, unable to take her eyes off it.

"Come, let's go report to Grandpa!" The two girls nodded at each other and disappeared from their spot.

---

"Look at this," Hans pointed at the tiny, precise cut on the beast's body.

The others, now squatting, were at first confused because they couldn't spot anything unusual about the beast. What stared back at them was the red innards of the creature, which weren't appealing to look at.

"You fool, are you joking around again?" Elvin, the archer, exclaimed, his features twisting in annoyance.

"I'm not," Hans responded in a calm voice. "Can't you see it..."

At that moment, Nathan's eyes flashed. "T-these aren't sword wounds."

Gordon leaned in closely. "Nor are they claw marks."

"Indeed, now that I look closely, they're too precise and tiny," Celine nodded, her eyes shining in realization. "It's definitely not the handiwork of a human."

"Sigh, I'm confused. If it's not a beast or human, then what?" Nathan felt a splitting headache the more he tried to think about the situation. "And why kill the beast? What's their end goal?"

"Maybe to lure more beasts to our walls?" Hans shrugged. "I mean, isn't it common knowledge that magical beasts can sense blood from afar?"

Nathan seriously considered Hans' words for a split second before shaking his head in denial. "It can't be. Without the need for the blood, the beast had already been coming close to the walls... I don't see the need for the extra effort."

Hans' expression gradually shifted into one of annoyance, then he said in a tone filled with sarcasm: "I hope you're not delusional enough to think some sort of hidden entity is helping us?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Nathan nodded with a serious expression.

"Y-you--" Before Hans could retort, a gust of wind hit everyone, and both Nyx and Serena appeared. Everyone's attention was momentarily drawn to the two girls. While Serena was panting heavily, Nyx proceeded to explain everything they had witnessed.

"Didn't I tell you?" Nathan turned to Hans, an irritatingly triumphant smile on his face.

"Don't say it," Hans' eyebrows twitched.

"I... was... right. There is indeed something protecting us." Then he paused, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "But what?"

---

While the conversation was going on...

"Don't let them breach the gate!" The booming voice of a man echoed, his eyes shining fiercely. He coldly glared at the horde of goblins and flicked his wrist.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of thick green vines the size of pillars burst out of the ground with a deafening sound capable of making blood spew from one's ears.

As if the vines had a life of their own, they quickly lunged toward the beasts. The vines, thick as ship ropes, wrapped around the goblins, constraining their flailing limbs. The man's gaze never wavered, his eyes burning with unyielding intensity as he bellowed at the other armored Awakened who were fighting the goblins in fierce combat. seaʀᴄh thё novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Hold the line!"

The goblins' shrill screams pierced the air.

The vines constricted, their tendrils digging deep into the goblins' scrawny flesh. The sound of cracking bones and tearing sinew filled the air, accompanied by the sickly sweet stench of crushed vegetation.

To the man's left, a goblin managed to slip free, its eyes blazing with fury. But before it could do anything, a spear hurtled through the air and impaled it, spraying green blood on the ground.

The green-haired man looked in the direction the spear had come from and saw a boy with green hair and eyes, a carrot in his mouth.

"Thank you, Jared," the Baron of Landon Barony nodded to his son, a brief flash of pride in his eyes as he charged in to join the fight.

"T-ten people have died already. How are these monsters so strong?" the man wondered aloud, his fist clenched, his nails digging into his skin, drawing blood.

As the blood dripped one after another like tears, the man clenched his fist even tighter.

---

The Cromwell and Landon Baronies weren't the only ones experiencing beasts drawing close to the walls. All the towns in the western region were experiencing the same thing; although the beasts came in smaller groups and they managed to get rid of them, many people were still injured.

This was more common in towns that weren't as developed as the Astrong Duchy, the Cromwell Barony, and the Landon Barony.

The Luminary River was connected to several smaller bodies of water in the Vermilion Kingdom, a few even branching into other kingdoms. It was the main source of water for magical beasts and even some humans, hence this river was pristine and kept in good condition.

Inside the Luminary Forest, in the same cavern where Nox had awakened his class, a large man in a black cloak with a giant flaming rose on his back was standing at the edge of the underground river. In his hands was a vial of milky substance that seemed to bubble.

The man gently knocked the cover off this vial and emptied its contents into the river. As soon as the liquid entered the water, it bubbled slightly before merging as if a harmful substance that would forcefully evolve beasts, making them more ravenous, hadn't just been added. thank you for using NovelFire _l _e _mpy _