Chapter 1278: 36. The Old Man in the Forest

The carriage disappeared beyond the distant horizon.

The enormous setting sun sank behind the mountain peaks, and the fading rainbow glow cast a desolate hue over the entire world. Across the empty wilderness, only the gradually awakening howls of wild beasts made Hamreign feel that she was not completely alone.

Hamreign still stood where she was, with no intention of chasing after the carriage. She was still thinking about several questions for which she temporarily had no answers.

For example, why had she thought that wine tasted bad, and why had she said that it tasted good at that particular moment?

She was a calamity, the Dragon of Death and Doom, the strongest creature beneath the heavens.

There should not be anything in this world capable of making her lie.

And then there was......

Why did she feel somewhat irritated right now?

Was it because those human women had actually guessed correctly, and she really did have those kinds of......

No. Absolutely impossible.

Hamreign immediately rejected that possibility."

She would never harbor the same filthy and dirty thoughts as those human women.

So-called love, something so fragile, could only earn her contempt.^

As for her irritation......

It was probably because those two human women, whose heads were filled with nothing but desire, had repeatedly provoked her with their self-righteous suspicions, making her feel somewhat offended and ridiculous..

She was not irritated because she possessed feelings of love.

She was irritated because others believed that she possessed feelings of love.

Yes. That had to be it./

Having finally explained half of this baffling problem, Hamreign nodded in relief.

As for the other half......_

She would not think about it for now.

Perhaps it had merely been an unconscious and meaningless action. Human wine tasting bad was perfectly normal. There was no reason to keep dwelling on it.^

“Then next......”

Hamreign raised her head. The carriage had already traveled very far away, yet she still showed no intention of moving to catch up.^

If she followed them now......she would only hear those pitiful sounds filled with desire.

Therefore......_

Hamreign looked around, wondering how she might pass the time.

But in these remote mountains and deep forests, aside from demonic beasts that became active at night, what else was there for her to use to kill time......

“Mm?”

Suddenly, she sensed something and raised an eyebrow.

......

......

“Sigh. Looks like these old bones of mine are going to be buried here today.”

The sky gradually darkened.

Especially within such a dense forest, the moment the sun began kissing the far side of the mountains, the woods had already become pitch-black.

Old Mark carried a lantern in one hand as he stumbled along the forest path. Blood streamed down one of his arms and dripped onto the ground, forming a clear trail behind him.

In a place like this, continuously bleeding was a grave taboo.

But Old Mark had no other choice. The few lowest-tier magic scrolls he had painstakingly saved up had all been exhausted just now, and all they had bought him was a brief moment to catch his breath.

He had not even been given the chance to bandage his wounds.

He knew that thing was still following behind him, merely waiting for him to completely run out of strength before leisurely stepping forward to savor the taste of these old, aged bones.

“Seriously......I don’t taste good. Why bother?”

Old Mark muttered endlessly. He knew that damned thing had not yet reached the point where it could understand human speech, but fear forced him to keep saying something so that he would not collapse under his own terror before death even arrived.

He still had something he needed to accomplish. He could not......

“Cough, cough......”

At last, amid the complicated terrain, he tripped over a thick branch.

The lantern fell to the ground and swayed wildly. Its increasingly dim light cast chaotic shadows all around him.

Old Mark gasped heavily. The wounds on his shoulder and leg caused him unbearable pain, while both his strength and vitality rapidly drained away with the blood.

He tried to stand again, but this frail body could no longer accomplish even such a simple movement.

“Damn it......”

Old Mark cursed under his breath, gritted his teeth, and tried again.

Again and again.

Yet every attempt ended in failure.

He wanted to simply give up, but some obsession deep in his heart continued forcing him to repeat this ridiculous act......even though every attempt to force himself upright brought terrible pain.

“I really......can’t do it anymore......”

At last, he exhausted the final trace of his strength.

And from within the darkness, faint rustling sounds began echoing around him exactly as expected, like the whispers of demons.

The flame inside the lantern still burned stubbornly. Within that dim light, an enormous demonic beast gradually approached Old Mark.

“Grr......”

A foul wind swept past, carrying an unbearable stench. The demonic beast’s eyes were filled with savagery, while several scorched marks could be seen across its fur—the traces left behind by their earlier struggle.

Yet even though Old Mark had used every method at his disposal, that was all he had managed to accomplish.

He had not even pierced through its hide.

His battle aura was nearly exhausted as well. After living for most of his life, he had only ever reached the level of a Second-Rank warrior. And now that he was old and physically weakened, his strength was far inferior to what it had once been.

The difference between them was enormous.

From the moment he encountered the creature, Old Mark had known that his ending was already decided. The only reason he had managed to survive until now was because of that obsession......

“Sorry......”

The demonic beast’s pacing gradually turned into a charge.

Having confirmed that Old Mark no longer posed any threat whatsoever, it stopped circling him and lunged directly toward him.

Old Mark closed his eyes in despair......

He was not afraid of death.

It was just......he would no longer be able to keep his promise.

“I’m really......sorry.”

But perhaps that was fine.

Even if he could not keep the appointment, at least he could......

“No......I still can’t die!”

A blurry image surfaced in his mind.

At the final moment, Old Mark somehow found strength from somewhere. He tightly gripped the dagger at his waist, preparing to launch one final desperate strike the instant the beast attacked......

Even if the hope was impossibly faint, he still had to......

But......at that moment, the foul, bloody wind abruptly stopped.

Death did not arrive as expected.

Instead, there came a pitiful whimper like that of a small dog.

Old Mark felt the shadow of death that had clung to him all this time suddenly vanish in an instant.

He thought it might be an illusion, or perhaps merely another method the creature was using to toy with its prey. So he still did not dare relax. He kept his eyes shut, extending only his senses around himself as he waited for a long time.

Until......

“You can open your eyes.”

He heard an indifferent voice.

“This demonic beast is already dead.”

“Eh?”

Old Mark slowly opened his eyes.

Through his confusion, he saw that the demonic beast truly had died miserably beside him. There was not even a wound visible on its body. Rather than having been killed......judging from its terrified posture, it looked more as though it had literally been frightened to death.

Yet Old Mark could no longer care about that.

His gaze was immediately drawn completely toward a fiery-red figure.

—It was a tall, graceful woman. Her long hair was as striking as flame, while a thorn-covered gown fell all the way to the ground. Despite standing in the middle of the forest, not even the slightest trace of dirt stained it.

She was beautiful.

So beautiful that it made one sigh.

So beautiful that she seemed as though she should not exist in this world at all.

The makeup at the corners of her eyes resembled the burning sunset clouds that had only just filled the sky, giving her an unreal, ethereal quality.

One that made others instinctively afraid to offend her.

“W-was it you who saved me?”

Having just walked along the edge of death, Old Mark was almost completely exhausted. It took him another moment to react before he hurriedly tried to stand and offer his thanks, only to aggravate his wounds once again and fall back down with a grimace.

“Hiss......forgive me. I’m badly injured and unable to properly express my gratitude.”

“There is no need.”

The voice carried the same ethereal quality.

As the fiery-red figure lightly waved one delicate hand, Old Mark immediately felt his entire body become much lighter.

The wounds across his body actually began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“It was nothing more than a trivial effort. There is no need to thank me.”

Hamreign said, “I happened to be somewhat irritated. Saving you was merely something I did in passing, while also giving me a chance to vent.”

“I-is that so?”

Seeing his wounds heal, Old Mark was overjoyed.

His mind still had not fully processed what had just °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° happened, but instinctively he understood that this impossibly beautiful lady before him was absolutely no ordinary person. He hurriedly stood and bowed with restrained respect.

Yet at the same time, he could not help feeling puzzled.

Irritated?

Could such a powerful and mysterious existence have troubles as well?

“Normally, I would not feel irritated either. Today is simply somewhat strange......”

Hamreign herself did not know why she had bothered explaining that, but she quickly ended the topic. Her carefully restrained golden pupils turned toward Old Mark:

“But what about you, human? Why are you here?”

“Me?”

Old Mark had not expected such an important figure to actually concern herself with him, so he hurriedly answered honestly, “I want to cross this forest and reach an abandoned village on the other side.”

“Cross this place?”

Hamreign glanced at the forest.

Her perception spread outward, instantly revealing the strength of every level of demonic beast throughout the surrounding area. Countless beasts had no idea what was happening and fled in terror.

“With your strength, crossing this place is extremely dangerous.”

Hamreign found it difficult to understand.

This human had clearly entered the forest deliberately, yet given his strength and advanced age, entering a place like this was almost no different from seeking death.

As long as there was nothing wrong with his head, he should never have done such a thing.

There were more than enough creatures here capable of killing him without even trying.

“I know. It truly is a foolish thing to do. Many people around me don’t understand it, including my own children......”

Old Mark gave a bitter smile. “But I have a reason that leaves me no choice.”

“Is that abandoned village important to you?”

“It’s the village where I once lived. It was abandoned after a beast tide. I haven’t returned there in twenty years. I can barely remember what it looks like anymore.”

“Then why......”

“Although I haven’t returned to that village in twenty years, not far to the east of it there is a small hill that, at this time of year, is always covered in flowers. I go there once every year. I haven’t missed a single year in twenty years.”

“Why? Is there something special about that little hill?”

Hamreign could sense Old Mark’s emotions.

For something to allow such a frail old man to overcome his fear and risk crossing a forest that was unimaginably dangerous to him, that place had to......

“There’s nothing particularly special about it.”

Old Mark bent down and picked up the lantern.

Then he patted the bundle at his side—the same bundle he had refused to abandon even while fleeing for his life.

As though speaking about something utterly ordinary, he calmly said:

“It’s merely......my wife’s grave.”