Chapter 1532: Deviate From The Path

Erend walked out of the facility after sealing the container holding the greenish-blue liquid. But he wasn’t satisfied with just closing the original lid again so he had added several more layers of metal over the opening and welded them together with controlled heat from his Fire Magic.

It was not pretty but it provided considerably more protection than before. Leaving that strange substance exposed to the world was obviously a terrible idea, especially after what he had learned about its connection to the Apocalypse.

As far as Erend was concerned, hiding it and securing it as thoroughly as possible was the best course of action he could take for now.

Once he stepped outside, Erend turned his gaze toward the eastern horizon. Somewhere in that direction lay the distant pool he had sensed through the strange energy.

He stood silently for a moment as he considered what to do next. Should he go there immediately on his own, or should he return to the settlement and bring Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven with him?

There was a possibility that he would encounter the Dragonborn directly once he reached that place, assuming the Dragonborn was still alive.

It was also possible that only their spirit remained, much like the Obsidian Dragon they had met before.

If that was the case, having Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven beside him would probably be better. Whatever they encountered at the distant pool might be more complicated than just following a trail.

Erend eventually made his decision. He would return to the settlement first, gather the other three, and then head toward the eastern location together without wasting any more time.

As for the truth behind the facility, Erend decided that he would eventually tell someone he believed he could trust.

The problem was that he had not found that person yet. Norma seemed like a good person and had already helped him considerably, but Erend still could not say with certainty that he could trust her with something as dangerous as the information he had discovered inside the facility.

The knowledge about the strange energy, the experiments, and the connection to the Apocalypse was not something he could casually share with anyone. There were people who didn’t want the history to be known after all.

For now, it was better to keep it to himself.

Erend began walking back toward the settlement’s direction. He followed roughly the same route he had taken earlier, passing the areas where groups of monsters gathered around their nests and territories.

Several creatures noticed him and immediately attacked but Erend dealt with them without much difficulty before continuing onward.

He crossed the swamps and poisonous areas again with the same ease as before, barely reacting to the toxic air that would have been dangerous for an ordinary human.

However, Erend deliberately slowed his pace.

He could have returned to the settlement in an extremely short amount of time, but doing so would probably raise questions.

Darius already considered his mission dangerous enough to potentially cost him his life. If Erend suddenly returned after passing through the wasteland, the swamps, the monster territories, and the abandoned facility in an absurdly short period, Darius would inevitably become suspicious.

There was no reason to reveal more of his abilities than necessary.

So instead of immediately heading back, Erend decided to explore the surrounding area for a while. Perhaps he would find something interesting before returning.

Valthoria might have been far more desolate than Elyndor, but Erend was still fascinated by unfamiliar places. This was especially true for a world that had its history altered or buried so deep that almost nobody living there knew what had truly happened.

As he walked, Erend eventually turned away from the route leading toward the settlement.

He immediately noticed a forest in the distance.

Erend took out the map Darius had given him and examined the area.

The forest was clearly marked as a restricted region for him. Several warnings had been written around it, describing the place as dangerous and unsuitable for any travelers.

Erend stared at it for a moment. Then he smiled faintly. "That makes me want to see it even more. Hehe."

He changed direction and headed toward the forest.

The vegetation became thicker as he approached. The trees looked similar to the other vegetation he had seen throughout Valthoria.

Their trunks were brown and their branches looked dry and weathered. Their leaves were mostly brown or yellow, giving the entire forest an unhealthy appearance.

Not a single tree has the fresh green color Erend was accustomed to seeing in the forests.

But there was something different about this forest. The soil beneath the trees was reddish.

Erend observed it from the edge of the forest. The color was too deep to simply be caused by the surrounding vegetation. It looked almost as though blood had soaked into the earth.

But for blood to stain the ground to this extent, an enormous quantity would have been required. A small amount would simply have been absorbed into the soil and disappeared beneath the surface. Whatever had caused this coloration had clearly affected a much larger area.

Erend’s Dragon eyes focused on the forest. The moment he did, he could see the signature of a powerful and ominous energy emanated from somewhere deep within the trees.

It was not subtle. Even from the forest’s periphery Erend could sense the presence of something dangerous lurking inside.

His smile became slightly bitter. "I’m definitely going to find some dangerous monsters in there."

Erend looked at the dark forest for another moment before stepping forward.

He entered the forbidden forest with a relaxed pace, completely unconcerned by the warnings on Darius’s map.

The vegetation became thicker the deeper Erend went into the forest. Trees stood densely packed together, far thicker than what he had seen across the rest of Valthoria.

In the wasteland outside, even ordinary grass struggled to grow, yet here the forest was almost overflowing with plant life.

That was enough to tell Erend that something was wrong.

When something that should have been rare suddenly became abundant, there was usually a reason behind it.

The forest was not simply an unusually fertile region. Something had allowed this vegetation to thrive in an environment where almost everything else had withered.

Erend continued walking between the trees, his senses constantly scanning the surroundings. He had only gone deeper for a short while when he suddenly felt a presence nearby.

He stopped when he saw something moving between the trees ahead of him.

A moment later a massive humanoid figure emerged from the vegetation.

The creature stood nearly five meters tall, towering over the surrounding trees. Its entire body was covered in thick brown fur that hung heavily from its arms, shoulders, chest, and legs. It looked powerful enough to crush an ordinary human with a single blow.

Erend looked up at the creature. This was one of the inhabitants of the forbidden forest.

—