Chapter 786 New Ride
*GROWWLLl* *BOOM* *BOOM* Inside the snowy forest, a loud explosion raged along the area. Despite this, no one could hear a single sound from outside.
"Brat, are you sure you took the right road? This place is filled with these monsters." complained Kusibella while butchering the nearby red-veined monster.
"Well, we can't just keep avoiding everyone. It is either these monsters or being found by those guardians." said Angus casually while casting spells without stopping.
"Urgh…. But aren't they too many? It is as if we enter a monster habitat or something.." said Bornja.
"Ohh… Did I forget to tell you we are currently inside their nest or habitat." said Angus casually.
"Their nest?!!" retorted Kusibella.
*GROOOOARR* Before the two female dwarves could complain more, a loud roar trembled the snowy forest. Hearing the loud roar, the monsters in the surroundings immediately escape the area as if meeting their top predator.
Everyone sees a giant salamander monster with similar features to the other red-veined monster. The monster has a snow-white skin with a jagged spike around its body.
However, its shape is similar to a giant salamander. To everyone's surprise, there are a lot of bruises on these monster bodies. One of its eyes was so swollen that it seemed like a black-eyed panda.
Angus and the others also notice familiar people standing on top of it, especially the little girl jumping around on its head.
"Yipppi!! Go! Go! Go!" said Anna while riding on top of the giant monster.
"Anna, don't jump around!!" called Jayna from Anna's side.
"Ahhh… Daddy!! Anna finds a new ride." called Anna while waving at Angus below.
Previously, Anna ran out alone when they arrived at this snowy forest. The worried Jayna decides to follow the little troublemaker.
Since Angus knows Jayna will be targeted by these monsters, he also sends Brigida and Lilith to Jayna, though Lilith refuses to leave Angus alone. In the end, Jayna and Brigida follow Anna.
Not long after that, the two women find Anna beating this giant salamander monster while complaining about the lazy Porky. It is only after Anna remembers she is trying to tame the giant Salamander that she finally stops beating the poor guy.
Fortunately, Jayna is nearby and could prevent the giant Salamander from its miserable death. Still, everyone was quite surprised at this since the giant salamander monster is a fourth-grade monster.
A monster higher than third grade already develops intelligence and has a very unyielding will to submit. Even for Angus and Jayna [Allegiance], it is still hard to tame these monster levels.
However, Angus and Jayna weren't surprised at such a feat since they knew Anna had a talent for taming bizarre things. Moreover, they also know this big Salamander is only big but not very strong.
Its main power is similar to Magen's Anna crabfrog. It utilizes fire and ice poison to fight and battle. The poison is quite deadly but not unsolvable like the Crabfrog. If someone prepares the antidote beforehand, it will lose its most fighting power besides its huge body.
Still, it could become an apex predator in the wilderness, especially against the other ordinary monsters who couldn't resist its poison. At most, the monster will only rely on its natural immunity to fight against its fire and ice poison.
Now, it has become a perfect choice for Angus' group as a ride since most monsters will avoid this salamander monster. After putting their stuff and carriage on the Salamander's body, they continue their journey and move through the snowy forest.
During this moment, Angus is researching the monster remnant he picked up from before. He finds these monsters quite intriguing. First, the monster comes in various shapes and races. It could even resemble ordinary animals, like the giant Salamander.
Its body also possesses fire and ice elemental. The monster could also use some of these two elementals to attack. They also have strong regeneration ability, though their body will explode from the unstable fire elemental if used too much.
Still, it doesn't mean the monster will only die through its explosion. When Angus and the others heavily damage their body or cut it to pieces, they will still die like any ordinary monster.
This makes Angus speculate that if they damage the monster fast enough, they will die without being able to regenerate. But the most concerning thing about these monsters is their spawning number.
From Angus' observation, this monster was somehow formed by nature and classified as a strong monster. Each newly formed monster has the power of at least grade two. It means putting one down takes at least a group of third knights.
Moreover, they also spawned at random locations in incredible numbers. Angus even surprises the guardians or the previous Archduke Dipo, letting these monsters create their own habitat in the snowy forest. However, Angus could also somewhat guess their real reason.
The environment inside the snowy forest is quite brutal. There is a lot of infighting between one monster race and the others. With the apex predator like the Salamander, it also keeps the monster number at a safe level.
This will save the guardian from spending manpower and effort culling these monsters' numbers. The Frostfall County territory is big and second only to the capital, Ashdun.
If these monsters are formed everywhere in this snowy land, they know the guardian force will be spread thin just to secure the area.
In the end, it is better to let these monsters fight each other rather than spend more people to exterminate these monsters. Yet, this also troubled Angus since the rate at which this monster spawned was too high despite the thin miasma in the air.
It is a very unnatural state for monster habitats. However, he also didn't have any definite answer. For now, Angus could only go deeper while picking up the clues. He is confident these magical phenomena will reveal themselves before them in the end.
Meanwhile, a red light flashed around the Frostfall perimeter without stopping. Some of the guardians' patrol members noticed this movement.
However, they also couldn't stop her as she is one of the fastest people in the kingdom. All they could do was complain inwardly after witnessing such a dashing speed.
Suddenly, the red light stopped as someone appeared on its path and caught the stumbling Duchess.
"L-Leon… I.. I can't find them. I need to…" said Duchess Amberblaze.
"*Sigh* Calm down, Lia. Look at you… You are already running non-stop these past few days. Sit down and rest first." said King Leon while embracing her.
During the past few days, the Duchess has been stubbornly searching for Angus' trace despite King Leon's urge to wait and calm down. In the end, King Leon decides to take care of this matter and leaves the capital city early.
"N-No… I must find them first. I.. I need to apologize. I let those kids down. Leon, I need to find them." said Extalia in panic.
"Ssshhttt… Is this the Crimson Flash, the hero of the Heart? Calm down for a moment." said King Leon.
"I don't care!! I am not a hero! I am a traitor! I betrayed his trust, Jayna's trust! I am the worst!!" said Extalia with tears.
Seeing his strong woman filled with guilt and vulnerability, King Leon didn't say anything. He just embraced her while covering their body with his thick fur cloak. It didn't take long before Extalia finally fell asleep in his arms from the warmth and comfort.
The Duchess Amberblaze is exhausted physically and mentally. King Leon knows whatever thing he says will not go through to her. It is better to let her calm down and rest before they talk more.
It also makes the Duchess take more drastic action. Despite King Leon's lack of action in the past few days, it didn't mean he ignored this matter.
In fact, he is so busy pacifying the nobles in the capital city to raise their arms against Frostfall City.
There are plenty of nobles trying to gain merit from these troubles, especially knowing the guardians and Count Flameweaver's background.
To make it worse, all the city wall guards that caused this initial problem are butchered to pieces. From the initial investigation, King Leon knows two people capable of doing this without getting caught by anyone.
'*Sigh* I should go here faster.' thought King Leon inwardly while looking at the Duchess' haggard appearance.
The first person is Angus, the most talented human in history. The second is his beloved woman in his arms. At first, King Leon thought it would be the work of Angus since assassinating someone after the confrontation is more in line with his behavior.
Now, he finds traces of blood in Extalia's armor, which has dried up for at least a few days. He knows this is human blood from the smell. King Leon knows Extalia may not be in the right mind when trying to atone for her actions.
Still, it didn't mean King Leon would blame his woman for her own doing. Even if what she did is wrong, King Leon will still support her as he vows to stand by her side.
However, it didn't mean the King would stay idle either. He may be a king, but he is still a warrior in body and Heart. King Leon still needs to express his own anger and dissatisfaction.
"Now, let's see if you still follow your damn rules." muttered King Leon as the whole area trembled.
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