Chapter 151: Falkor Valley III

Demonic power was known for its flexible and spontaneous characteristics.

A human didn’t even need to come into contact with a demon to become demonized for demonic power originates from various sources.

The only place where demonizations didn’t happen was in the Holy Kingdom as they had a barrier blessed by the Goddess herself.

At this moment, the group moved carefully through the crevices of the mountains under Regis and Alaric’s lead.

The former was the one to scout if the way was safe while the latter pointed the directions.

On the other hand, Killian stayed at the rear to prevent any monster from attacking them while Pandora stayed with Aurelia in the center.

"Was it really alright for us to ignore the demonized griffin?"

Regis whispered while enhancing his senses with aura, scouring the perimeters to make sure that they could thread safely.

The reason why he wasn’t using mana deapite it being a more effective way of detection was because of Alaric’s advice.

Detection through mana requires the user to emit a thin wave of mana in order to detect the things that it would touch upon.

Meanwhile, aura would only enhance the user’s senses to a certain extent.

One could look as one being external and the other, internal.

As griffins had extremely sensitive senses, they could also easily sense if there was a thin wave of foreign mana in the surroundings.

Therefore, it was a safer option to use aura for detection instead.

After a moment, Alaric replied, "It will be fine. It isn’t strange for spontaneous demonizations to happen in the wild. Besides, I believe that the other griffins will take care of it."

"If you say so..." Regis chose to not speak any longer as they both knew that the quest takes precedence.

They spent the rest of the day travelling in silence and only rested when they saw that the sun was already down.

As the sky became shrouded in darkness, they took camp in a shallow cave-like space inside one of the mountain walls.

According to Alaric, it was the common resting area of adventurers whenever they went hunting in the Falkor Valley.

Since campfires might attract monsters, only the cool light of the moon served as soft illumination in the area.

Unlike when they were travelling in the plains towards the valley, they didn’t have the luxury to have a conversation under the sea of stars.

Since they were met with danger and had to be careful along the way, it was inevitable that they would be exhausted.

Therefore, after having a meal while Pandora’s mana barrier was erected, they immediately rested and slept afterwards.

***

Adventures weren’t just sunshines and rainbows.

It was not like in the fairy tales where every moment of the journey was fun, lively, or filled with battles.

In reality, the majority of the group’s journey inside the Falkor Valley could be seen from two perspectives.

"Thank goodness our journey is peaceful..."

"I’m bored as hell already, how long before we can have some action?"

Alaric and Killian glanced at one another upon hearing what the other said, their expressions turning strange.

It had already been around three days since they started going through the Falkor Valley and not once did they encounter a monster.

With the experienced Alaric’s skillful navigation and Regis making sure that they would be able to avoid the path with monsters, as well as a lot of luck, they were able to travel without encountering any obstacles along the way.

Their routine of travelling through the crevices of the mountain walls, eating, and resting, were the only thing that they did.

They then continued along with their journey carefully, making sure to not bump into any monsters as they traversed through the Falkor Valley.

A horde of desert goblins with skin the color of sand, giant vultures that scavenged the corpses that littered the sides of the mountains.

It could be seen that the griffins hoarded the area near the giant stream while the other monsters had no choice but to scurry to the mountain sides.

Unbeknownst to the creatures that inhabited the valley, a group of adventurers were moving through the crevices of the mountain walls.

"How far are we?" Aurelia couldn’t help but ask as she couldn’t even feel her legs from exhaustion.

Alaric responded while keeping his eyes forward, "If I’m not wrong, then we’ll be able to successfully reach the other end of the Falkor Valley in about a month..."

Aurelia’s face visibly darkened as she heard his words, though determination filled her eyes after a second.

’My dad entrusted me with such a great task! I can’t give up just because I’m tired!!’ The imaginary flames of determination blazed in her eyes.

***

One week later...

’I take back everything I said! I just want to go back!! Let me go back!!!’

Aurelia, who had a considerably exhausted expression, protested deep in her heart as she mustered all her strength with every step.

These past few days of walking tirelessly while not being able to sleep nor bath comfortably had been unbearable for her.

All she wished was for everything to be done already so she could go back home.

Even though Aurelia was the one who had it worst, the others were also not that better off as the journey began to take its toll on them.

After all, countless consecutive hours of being alert would surely mentally exhaust anyone.

Of course, among them, Regis and Alaric were a little better off since they both had some advantages.

The latter already had years of experiences under his belt while the former had lived with worse conditions than this as a demonic human along with his gift of Tranquility.

Still, it was inevitable that they would be bored out of their mind which might even cause some lapse in their judgment.

KREEEE—!!!!

At this moment, a piercing screech resounded in the area.

However, it could be seen that it didn’t even cause anyone’s expression to slightly falter as they had been used to it by now.

Though after a moment, Regis’s pupils suddenly constricted.

"Retreat!!!"

His unexpected shout caused the others to flinch slightly before moving backwards.

Still, this moment of delay was enough.

BOOM—!!!

A loud sound echoed in the valley as something suddenly crashed onto the mountain walls where Regis and his group were.

The impact was so powerful that boulder-sized debris rained upon them mercilessly.

’What the hell happened!?’

Was the thought in their minds as they retreated while maintaining caution.

Regis and the others immediately prepared their weapons while Aurelia hid herself to avoid getting in their way.

It took more than a minute for the thick cloud of dust to settle.

What greeted their sight made them shocked.

Laying on the ground was the large figure of a creature that was a mix between an eagle and a lion.

Its figure was so large to the point that it was nearly two meters tall even while laying down.

However, the most noticeable thing about it was the numerous wounds that covered up its whole body.

"What could possibly hurt such a big griffin this much?" Alaric whispered, his expression grim.

Although not absolute, it was common knowledge that the bigger the monster was, the stronger it would be.

KREEEEE!!!!

At this moment, another deafening screech sounded as a shadow was casted upon the injured griffin.

FWOO— FWOO— FWOO—

The loud flapping of wings resounded in the area as another griffin slowly descended.

It remained hovering just slightly above the injured griffin, its red glowing eyes seemingly looking at it with bloodlust.

’A demonized griffin...’ Regis thought as he saw the black miasma coming from it.

During the time that they had been travelling through the valley, he had noticed that there were more and more instances of them seeing a demonized griffin.

Alaric also had a deep frown on his face as various thoughts went wild in his mind.

KREE! KREE!! KREE!!

KREEEEE—!!!!!

The demonized griffin that was even larger than the injured one let out a few screeches.

Fortunately, due to Pandora’s quick thinking, she was able to erect a mana barrier around their group.

This helped them evade the senses of the griffins by preventing their scent and other things that might give their location away from leaking.

KREEE— KREEE—

The two griffins screeched back and forth, as if conversing in their own language.

Well, it wasn’t really strange since even though monsters commonly had no way of communicating with humans, their intelligence must never be underestimated.

Their "conversation" lasted for a minute before the demonized griffin drove its beak towards the injured griffin’s neck.

Seemingly accepting its fate, the latter only glared at its opponent.

It didn’t even let out a cry as it met its death.

Regis and the others stared unblinkingly at the event that had transpired before them.

If it was in the past, they wouldn’t hesitate to help the injured griffin due to their conscience and sense of responsibility.

However, a year of being adventurers opened their eyes to the cruelty of reality.

Thus, all they could do was hold their breaths as the demonized griffin feasted on its now dead opponent.

After the demonized griffin had left, their group continued with their journey, afraid that more such events would come their way.

***

In the grand building known as the Royal Academy...

Students littered the hallway, gossiping with each other as they glanced at someone walking through the hallway.

That someone was a girl with shell pink hair and pale pink eyes.

Even though she could clearly hear the others speaking about her, she didn’t pay any attention to them and only kept looking forward.