Herag looked expressionlessly at the ground and released the woman in his arms.

He took a few steps forward, appearing as if he were taking a leisurely stroll.

Finally, he stopped beside the campfire, holding a longsword in his hand.

Herag gazed at the ground, silently holding his longsword.

A moment later, he suddenly stabbed the longsword fiercely into the ground, driving it deep inside.

A gush of blood shot out from below, faint howls of pain from a demon could be heard.

Underground was a long-shaped demon, its body covered in numerous tentacles, clinging to it like plant roots.

This demon was summoned through the Shadow Altar, so it wouldn't attack Herag.

Herag watched the demon's movement trajectory and patiently waited at this spot.

As the demon slithered past, with a single strike he killed it on the spot.

Herag's goal was to reach Talres County smoothly, and this demon, in its way, contributed to that.

These demons were summoned to assist the wizards, and now it merely served a different purpose.

Tole and Fei Rui were relieved after witnessing this; demons lurking underground are the most challenging to deal with.

Demons that operate underground usually move very quickly, making it hard to accurately track them.

Even if one can locate them precisely, it's difficult to inflict effective harm.

Their usual methods seemed helpless against demons hidden underground, as their great power was dulled by the thick layers of earth.

Under such circumstances, only casters have special methods to handle it well, but casters are exceedingly rare nowadays.

Due to the ongoing war with the wizards, the importance of casters has been rising.

Anyone with the potential for casting is mostly recruited by major forces, with very few adventuring outside.

This means that even if an adventurer group offers a high price, casters rarely choose to become adventurers.

Even a powerful adventurer group like Fei Rui's has trouble recruiting casters these days.

It's not that they can't afford it, but rather that others are unwilling to join.

After Herag dealt with the underground trouble, Fei Rui's adventurer group found it easier to handle the other demons.

About half an hour later, the attacking demon horde was completely annihilated.

Although a few of Fei Rui's men were injured, no one was killed, which was considered quite fortunate.

After that night, the people in the caravan gained a clearer impression of this silent, emaciated man's strength, growing more reverent of him.

...

Two months later, the caravan reached Talres County, though eight people were missing from the group.

Herag had lost count of how many times they'd been attacked by demons along the way; it had become routine.

In the remaining half of the Noen Kingdom's territory, apart from areas near the cities, everywhere else was quite dangerous.

At least, for ordinary people, it was relatively perilous.

The farther from the border, the fewer demons there were.

By the time they reached Talres County, demons were already scarce.

Even if demons appeared, they would quickly be eradicated by the local defense forces.

It was still somewhat difficult for demons to travel long distances to reach here.

"Mr. Luwak, here is your reward; thank you for all your efforts during this journey," Tole said, handing over a bag of gold coins.

Herag was unassuming but incredibly powerful, having intervened numerous times to avert disasters along the way.

He received the heavy purse, inside of which there were likely over three hundred gold coins, far exceeding the initially agreed price.

Herag said, "Isn't this reward a bit too much?"

Tole smiled and said, "You deserve it. We'll be staying in Talres County for about six months. If you're interested, you can come find me later."

"No problem." Herag nodded slightly, showing no expression, nor did he say anything further.

Tole didn't mind, long accustomed to Herag's manner, knowing that he was simply like that and not talkative.

After bidding farewell to Tole and the others, Herag went to town to buy a horse, resupplied with some provisions, and then left the city heading towards Miracle Valley.

During this time, Herag had learned that ever since Miracle Valley was invaded, the World Tree there had been uprooted.

Now Miracle Valley was uninhabited by elves, with no humans living there either.

Only a few people visited to see the site, but they wouldn't stay long.

Since it was still the territory of the Elf Race, no one dared linger too long, fearing to upset them.

From Talres County to Miracle Valley, it takes about a month; Herag saw few people and not many caravans on this stretch.

Previously, many caravans traveled this road, dealing specifically with the Elf Race.

But now that the Elf Race over there was annihilated, these caravans naturally moved on.

A month later.

Herag arrived at the small town outside Miracle Valley.

When he followed the Ruby Commerce Association to this town, it was thriving with constant traffic.

But now, a dead silence hung over the place, the entire town lying in ruins.

Several buildings had collapsed, and occasionally a few adventurers could be seen resting in some abandoned houses within the town.

They only used this place as a stopping point while traveling.

Herag's arrival made these people wary.

In these times, anyone daring to act alone was not a simple person.

Herag paid no attention to them and took a stroll around the town.

The inn where he once stayed was now in ruins, signs of fierce conflict suggested the building's main structure had been destroyed.

After wandering around the town for a while, Herag headed into the depths of Miracle Valley.

When he reached the outskirts of Miracle Valley, he was stunned.

The outskirts, once a forest, served as an outer defensive structure for Miracle Valley.

But now there wasn't any forest left; only a desolate wasteland remained, with not a single blade of grass.

Scattered charred remnants dotted the ground, along with numerous chaotic footprints.

Herag gazed at the scene, as if seeing many people had taken the charcoal remains away.

It seemed that forest was indeed unusual; even burned to charcoal, people treated it as a treasure.

The original fence was also gone as Herag stepped into the wasteland, moving deeper in.

He looked up into the distance; the enormous World Tree had vanished.

The houses within Miracle Valley were gone too, replaced by various large pits and cracks.

The fissures in the ground were extremely exaggerated, some as wide as seven or eight meters, resembling a gorge.

Herag quickened his pace and arrived where the World Tree once stood.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.