Chapter 1714 - The Gorgonian Demon in the Black Forest (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hao Ren had heard of Longwind Mountains when he was scouting for Dragon Empire’s details. This was a very short mountain range, near the south of the empire bordering the Black Forest and the Broken Shores, the Broken Shores was a narrow strait that connected with the World Scar, and was a natural border of the Empire. The Longwind Mountains starts from the Broken Shores and extends a few hundred kilometers deep into the empire before plateauing, becoming part of the southern ridges.

This short mountain range was not eye-catching within the empire, but it was still rather famous as it was an obvious border of the Black Forest, and south of the range was a vast and populous area, while further north it was the endless Black Forest, and the unusual life energies of the Black Forest had allows giant trees to spread and grow until half of the north side of the mountain range, and stopped at the place called the ‘Razor’s Edge’.

The elves who were obsessed with the secrets of the Black Forest were intrigued by this, and had excavated some of the rocks on the north side of Longwind Mountain to investigate, and they soon realized that the rocks had some magical properties that could disrupt the life energies of the Black Forest, and they had carved runes into the rock and created a special type of runic bricks in the process. The bricks on the Verdant Barrier of Greenway came from that.

But that was story hundreds of years ago.

As the elves had excavated a massive about of rocks to create the runic bricks, plus the Black Forest itself was not a stable area, the Razor’s Edge had suffered two massive tectonic shifts in the past few hundred years, and that shifts caused the mountain to suffer multiple serious collapses under the weight of the Black Forest’s infestation, and was reduced into a natural hazard that was difficult for normal people to pass through. Even the elves who were accustomed to moving through mountains and woods had to tread lightly there, plus the northern side of the Longwind Mountains were directly connected to the ‘Woods of the Lost’ within the Black Forest. And without the marked pathways,it was an area that normal humans will simply get lost within, so normally people would avoid entering the forest there, and naturally there were no imperial outposts there either.

And in truth, aside from the already discovered entrance connected to the pathways, the imperial army had not bothered setting up outposts along the vast forest. As aside from the pathway within the woods, and the nearby roads, entering the forest from any other places meant death, so any outposts were unnecessary.

Hence, upon hearing what Graeme said, Hao Ren was curious, “You went over the Longwind Mountains? How did you do that? Aren’t you afraid of getting lost within the Woods of the Lost?

“For us Broken Blades, the Longwind Mountains is nothing,” Graeme smiled, “Simply climb up the mountain, and jump off the cliff facing the forest. As for getting lost within the Woods of the Lost… Don’t you know? The Broken Blades will never get lost in the Black Forest.”

As they heard that Hao Ren and his team looked at each other.

“So you mean that the Broken Blades could walk in and out of the Black Forest freely, right.” Vivian looked at Graeme in the eyes, “And that means… you are walking on the ‘forest path’ that normal people cannot see, and that path is the correct… path.”

Graeme nodded slightly and as he looked at Hao Ren and his team, his expression changed so ever slightly again, “I thought you’d know about this… as you are like me, able to enter this lost kingdom.”

Rheia blinked as she gave Graeme an intrigued look, “So you guys call this place the Lost Kingdom huh. Interesting… Seems like you are not affected by the phantoms in the Black Forest.”

Hao Ren then took over, “We are actually from an organization that is hidden away from the world and have a unique way to move around in the Black Forest, but as we were isolated from the world, we are pretty much clueless about many things of the outside world and are not even sure of the Broken Blades. In fact, we had only heard of your order from our friends here.”

As he said he pointed towards Charlemagne and Awenna.

“The Basilica of the World Tree,” Charlemagne nodded. “That’s the name of their organization. Me and my sister were fortuitously saved by them, so we are now traveling together.”

“I have never heard of that,” Graeme shook his head, “But that doesn’t matter. There are secrets in the world that we will not know, especially when the world is broken in two. Regardless, you have saved my life, and as long as it does not go against my oath, I will help you out, if you need my help.”

Of course, his help was needed. Being able to gain information from a Knight of the Broken Blade was the biggest possible help they could get, but it was not something Hao Ren could ask straight away, so he shifted the topic to what happened after Graeme had entered the forest. “Our matters aside, what happened to you and your comrades? Don’t tell me you were attacked after entering the Black Forest?”

Based on what Graeme had said, he and a few other Broken Blades had entered the Black Forest together, and that meant they had already escaped the imperial soldiers and Ebon Blades’ pursuit, but now he was alone, and heavily wounded in the ruins of the ‘lost kingdom’ and his comrades were nowhere to be found. Plus only part of the damage on his armor were caused by the black chainswords, and the other damage were clearly did not originate from a bladed weapon. And that only meant something: Graeme and his fellow knights were attacked by something else after entering the Black Forest.