Caw! Caw!
Rustle! Rustle!
Deep within the Tob Forest, thick vines entwined around strangely shaped trees, and dappled sunlight filtered through the branches, casting fragmented light onto the forest floor covered in thick fallen leaves and moss.
In the dim and profound environment,
An ordinary Ogre walked at the forefront, his massive body easily pushing aside the overgrown bushes, literally carving a path through the dense vegetation.
Following behind this Ogre was a Ghost Bear with brown-black fur, its size comparable to the Ogre in front.
Its crimson eyes and the ghost-face-like patterns on its fur proclaimed its identity as one of the Tob Forest's top predators!
Its powerful limbs pressed down on the thick fallen leaves, continuously emitting muffled thuds.
"Your leader called this old man over, has something happened?" A vicissitudes of life, raspy voice echoed from the Ghost Bear's back.
Indeed!
Riding on the back of the Ghost Bear, which followed the Ogre, was a strange figure. Its lower half was a snake's body,
The skin of its tail had a layer of delicate, pale scales, faintly shimmering with a jade-green luster.
Its upper body appeared to be that of a gaunt old man, with a head of dry, black-green hair and a face full of wrinkles,
tightly packed together, looking somewhat terrifying.
This was none other than Naga, one of the three Western Rulers.
Bang!
The Ogre in front, with a powerful arm, punched and broke a thick branch blocking its path, emitting a dull thud, and continued to trudge forward without any intention of answering.
The wrinkles at Naga's mouth twitched.
A brainless lump of useless flesh!
He had given up on asking further questions.
Trying to get useful information from such an arrogant Ogre, who struggled with basic communication, was harder than talking to an animal.
Naga had no intention of trying to guess what a muscle-brained fellow was thinking.
However!
Something must have happened with Ogre Gu.
Naga speculated this in his mind, though it was mostly curiosity.
As for worry?
He didn't think anything in this forest could threaten them. The only thing to worry about was Ogre Gu losing his mind and suddenly wanting to kill him.
That's why he brought this Ghost Bear along. With the Ghost Bear, even if Ogre Gu went crazy, he could hold him off for a while, allowing Naga to leave calmly.
"I truly wish your brains were as developed as your muscles. Of course, if that were the case, this old man would probably have a headache."
Naga flicked his snake tail, striking the Ghost Bear's rump to make him speed up and catch up with the Ogre in front.
The three Rulers of the Tob Forest.
Ogre Gu was a foolish, brainless fellow. Although he had a large number of subordinates, he didn't know how to utilize them.
The Forest Sage King was an extremely lazy demon beast who did nothing but eat and sleep.
If either of these two were as intelligent as him, they would have long since ruled the entire Tob Forest.
"Truly perplexing," Naga chuckled hoarsely.
As they gradually approached the forest rift where Ogre Gu resided,
Naga could distinctly smell that the bloody scent in the air had become much stronger.
Here...
Naga's snake-like eyes narrowed, observing that many tree trunks and the ground in the forest retained a lot of darkened blood.
This dried blood had been there for some time!
The lush trees began to thin, and the wide forest rift area appeared before them.
Naga looked on, unable to help but widen his eyes. The area, which should have been filled with gnawed animal bones and swarming with mosquitoes and flies, was surprisingly clean.
"What's going on?"
Naga found it somewhat unbelievable: "What exactly happened?"
He would rather believe that this group of Ogres had truly lost their minds than believe that these Ogres, who preferred to live in dirty, dark environments, would clean their living area.
Wait!
A hint of doubt appeared in Naga's eyes. He noticed that the soil in this area was somewhat reddish.
Those were traces of blood!
However, the area of these traces was too large. Even though the blood had dried for a long time, the pungent smell of blood in the air still lingered.
So, how many creatures did Ogre Gu kill?
"Faster!"
Naga swung his tail, striking the Ghost Bear to make him speed up.
"Roar!" The Ghost Bear roared, its powerful limbs moving rapidly, quickly overtaking the leading Ogre and heading towards the cave.
A wooden shed, haphazardly constructed from thick tree trunks, first entered Naga's vision. Inside, there was a medium-sized Ghoul Hound.
This Ghoul Hound was looking up and watching him.
Ogre Gu's food?
Or a pet?
Normally, facing the gaze of such a weak creature,
Naga would not hesitate to casually dispose of it to demonstrate his power as a Ruler.
But now!
Naga inexplicably sensed something strange in this area. His heart tightened slightly, and his snake-like eyes darted around, showing a hint of cunning and caution.
At the Ghost Bear's running speed,
A huge cave appeared ahead, and Ogre Gu's massive, three-meter-tall figure also appeared at the cave entrance, his back to him.
Seeing Ogre Gu, Naga raised his withered arm and pressed the Ghost Bear's head, making him slow down. At the same time, his slightly tense nerves relaxed. "Gu, what is it that you sent someone to call this old man for?"
"Also, what happened here?" Naga straightened his upper body, his voice ancient.
Out of a certain instinctive caution,
Naga rode steadily on the Ghost Bear while maintaining a distance of about fifty meters from Ogre Gu in front.
A splashing sound, like water, came from in front of Ogre Gu. The sound was not loud, so Naga didn't notice it at first.
"I know you don't care about etiquette."
"But doing such a thing outside your own cave still leaves this old man unable to comprehend." Naga's eyes widened a bit, then he spoke with a hint of disgust in his snake-like eyes.
Ogre Gu still didn't answer, standing there stiffly.
It was at this moment.
A somewhat gentle voice came from in front of Ogre Gu.
"Apologies, you must have misunderstood."
It wasn't Ogre Gu's voice; it was completely unfamiliar.
Naga was stunned.
Thump!
Ogre Gu's massive body moved aside, revealing the figure in front.
A weak human?
Naga's snake-like eyes widened in surprise, and an expression of shock appeared on his face.
This was a young human male dressed in a white robe. Compared to Ogre Gu's massive size, he was so tiny he could be ignored.
He was sitting on a wooden stump, with a large wooden barrel in front of him. The "splashing" sound of water,
was not what he imagined at all.
Instead, it was blood flowing from Ogre Gu's body!
Indeed.
On Ogre Gu's thigh, there was a fist-sized wound, from which blood continuously gushed, flowing into the wooden barrel in front of the human.
Such a bizarre scene unfolded before him.
Naga instinctively clutched the fur on the Ghost Bear's head.
With Ogre Gu's regenerative ability, a wound of that magnitude should heal in the blink of an eye. Why was it still bleeding?
Wait!
That question wasn't important!
"Who are you? A human?"
Naga's wrinkled face showed a sinister expression as he looked at Lyle, while quickly glancing at Ogre Gu. He immediately noticed the latter's dazed state.
Charm magic?
A human spellcaster.
This idiot was actually controlled by a human!
Several thoughts flashed quickly through Naga's mind.
"It wasn't him who invited you, but I, Western Ruler Naga, sir."
Lyle looked up at Naga and smiled: "Nice to meet you—"
"Don't joke around, human, who do you think you are!" Naga's snake-like eyes showed contempt.
Before Lyle could finish speaking, a flash of magical light appeared on his body: "This is our domain!"
"Human Race Charm!"
"Undying Spirit."
Lyle's eyelids lifted, dispelling the opponent's charm magic, then he chanted: "All-Race Charm!"
Naga's entire body glowed with a jade-green luster, his gaze unwavering, completely unaffected.
The brief confrontation ended in the blink of an eye.
"See? Weak human."
"Your charm magic is useless against this old man." Naga's eyes flickered, and he sneered: "Even if you can control Gu, what then? You can't kill him."
"This old man will make you understand the consequences of daring to invade our territory!"
A dazzling red light bloomed at Naga's fingertips.
"Fireball!"
A basin-sized ball of flame quickly condensed, transforming into a fireball in the blink of an eye, and shot towards Lyle.
"Calling me a weak human, perhaps humans are indeed weak."
Facing the incoming fireball, Lyle lifted the magical greatsword placed beside him with one hand, and a translucent bright glow condensed on the blade:
"But, you haven't met me!"
Magic Slash!