Thud, thud, thud...
Crack. The sound of snapping branches rang out as figures sprinted for their lives.
Santner and the others were fleeing desperately through the dense forest, completely ignoring the pain of the branches whipping against their bodies.
"Run!" Karl shouted, his face ashen with terror as he constantly glanced back over his shoulder.
Scenes like this had become their norm over the past few days; they were either running for their lives or hiding like rats.
Roar... Brutal, savage roars echoed from behind Santner and his group, terrifying them into running even faster.
Everyone's eyes were filled with endless dread. A giant beast was chasing them from behind.
"Ahhhhh—" A miserable shriek echoed from behind before being abruptly cut short.
Thump, thump, thump... The giant beast's eyes were brimming with cruelty. Its massive upper and lower teeth were coated in blood and bits of minced flesh.
The trees behind Santner and his group were continuously knocked down as the giant beast crashed through them.
"My Lord, there's a cave ahead. Let's go in and hide!" Karl said in a panic.
Pant, pant... Santner gasped heavily for air and nodded, his face deathly pale.
He looked up in the direction Karl had pointed and saw a cave entrance about two meters wide, covered in vines. Not caring what dangers might lie inside, he took the lead and dashed toward the cave.
Seeing this, Karl and the others immediately followed.
Agonized wails continued to sound from behind them, only to be quickly drowned out by the giant beast's savage roars.
Gulp... Karl swallowed hard with dry lips. He slumped weakly to the floor of the cave, staring out the entrance in terror, deathly afraid the giant beast would charge in.
After a good while, the giant beast didn't appear, and its roars gradually faded into the distance. Only then did everyone finally relax.
Pant, pant... "Karl, how many of us are left?" Santner asked between heavy pants.
These past few days of fleeing for his life had long since stripped the Prince of the Valtoria Kingdom of his former glory.
"Your Highness..." Karl licked his parched lips, turned his head to scan the group, and replied, "Including the two of us, there are seven left."
"Dammit. After all these days, we still haven't made it into that valley," Santner gritted his teeth, biting the corner of his mouth until it bled.
Over the past few days, Santner and his group had been following the tracks left behind by Amos, eventually spotting a valley in the distance. They occasionally saw giant beasts emerging from it—beasts with bizarre appearances unlike anything they had ever seen before. The trees in the valley were also incredibly tall.
The first time Santner and his men tried to sneak in, they were attacked by a giant beast, losing many men and forcing them to retreat. But Santner was unwilling to stop there. They went in a second time, lost even more men, and had no choice but to retreat again.
This was their third attempt. They had fared slightly better than the previous two times and made it halfway in, but they encountered a different type of giant beast. The resulting casualties were disastrous, leaving only the seven of them.
"My Lord, are we still going to keep moving forward?" A beastkin knight beside them asked, still badly shaken. His body was covered in scratches from branches and bruises from falling.
"Of course. The Divine Heavenly Kingdom is right before our eyes." Santner's pupils contracted, the depths of his eyes filled with fanaticism as the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
"Your Highness, what should be our next step? It's getting late," Karl asked, squinting slightly as he clutched his bleeding right hand.
"Then we rest here. That giant beast is definitely still nearby!" Santner curled his lip and said.
Santner looked at the other five miserable and battered men and couldn't help but sigh. Out of so many knights originally, only seven remained.
"Karl, take two men and go find some dry firewood for a campfire, as well as some wild fruits or something," Santner turned his head and told Karl.
While searching for the Divine Heavenly Kingdom these past few days, Santner and his group had been surviving solely on wild fruits.
"Your Highness, b-but outside..." Karl stammered, his eyes widening in fear.
"Just look around the cave entrance; you don't need to go far," Santner waved his hand. He didn't have many men left, and he didn't want them all dying off, leaving him with no one to protect him.
Phew... Karl breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it was only near the entrance; he was terrified of being ordered to go far away.
Step, step, step...
Karl led two lightly injured beastkin knights toward the entrance. He pressed his ear to the opening to make sure there was no movement outside before waving the other two knights to follow.
Half an hour later, the three of them had found some wild fruits and dry firewood. Not daring to wander too far, they quickly returned to the cave.
Once inside, Karl gestured for the other two knights to start the campfire while he took the wild fruits and passed them around.
The wild fruits were completely pitch-black and the size of fists, killing any desire to actually take a bite. Unfortunately, these weird-looking, pungent-smelling fruits were the only things growing near the cave entrance.
"Hiss..." Santner took a bite, choked on the pungent taste, and immediately spat it out. He glared viciously at Karl.
Seeing the thick brown liquid oozing from the corner of Santner's mouth, Karl silently took the fruit he was about to stuff into his own mouth and immediately set it aside.
Some of the other beastkin knights, completely famished from days of fleeing for their lives, had no choice but to pinch their noses and force the fruit down. Others, unable to stomach the taste, threw them on the ground.
Fwoosh...
A dropped black fruit slowly rolled into the campfire, and instantly, the flames surged and burned fiercely.
Seeing this, Santner walked over to the campfire. He curled his parched lips, watching the fruit burn vigorously in the flames.
"Karl, go find some more of those fruits. They are ugly and impossible to swallow anyway," Santner looked at Karl with a face full of resentment.
If they weren't the only ones left, with Santner's temper, he would have killed Karl long ago.
Roar...
Savage roars from various ferocious beasts echoed outside once more. Karl and the others immediately huddled together in fear.
"Forget it, forget it. Wait until it's quiet later before going out," Santner waved his hand upon hearing the noises outside.
Phew... Karl breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on a protruding rock, staring at the pitch-black wild fruits.
"Your Highness, this wild fruit seems to make the campfire burn much brighter," Karl said, squeezing one of the fruits.
"Mm. Then use these wild fruits to replace the firewood for now!" Santner said, pressing his lips together as if the bitter taste was still in his mouth.
The wild fruit that had rolled in earlier burned continuously in the campfire for over two hours before finally turning to ash. This left Santner and the others absolutely amazed.
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