327 Great Forest 1 (1/2)

Graham moaned as he looked at the pile of bodies.

”Leylacs got them.”

Graham shook his head in pity at the corpses.

”Leylacs? What's that?” Jinpok asked as the group was curious.

”They are swamp monsters the size of humans. They have green, slimy skin and a distinct smell...”

”Smell?”

”Yes. This foul stench is not only from the rotting corpses. It's partly due to their lingering odor.”

”Oh, I see. It sure stinks.”

”Yeah. The worst part is that this smell only slightly less.”

Graham proceeded to brief them on what he knew about Leylacs. He was the guide for the party, but he wasn't doing much aside from giving them some information, so he was glad that he had a chance to do more.

”Let's go that way.”

After a long talk, Graham took the lead and the rest followed. Their travel path was quite a comfortable one. Graham was a good guide that knew many shortcuts and that allowed them to avoid needless fights with monsters. After moving for a few days, Joonbum realized that Graham had also been guiding them to avoid areas where hunters and mercenaries were fighting against other monsters.

The Khalodian Empire had not yet explored this Great Forest. They made an earlier attempt by sending in drones, but it had failed as the drones were taken out by flying monsters. They had also tried using armed helicopters, but that failed too, as the number of flying monsters were too numerous.