After six hours of rest, the group had regained some of their strength. The pills had taken effect, stabilizing the wounded and restoring most of their spiritual energy. When the time limit expired, the protective golden barrier quietly dissolved, signaling that their respite had ended.
“Do we head up, or search sideways for another route?” Grace asked the group. “Up,” one of the retainers suggested. “If this trial is about climbing the mountain, then the higher we go, the better.”
Dustin shook his head slightly.
“Climbing higher might not be the point of Mount Aethermoor’s trial,” he said. “At this elevation, there are multiple connected tforms and paths. If we move along the ridge instead, we may run into other teams. And right now, there’s strength in numbers.”
Grace epted his reasoning and decided they would explore along the ridge at their current altitude.
The group advanced carefully. The terrain rose and dipped unpredictably, broken by ravines and sheer cliff edges that forced them to detour or climb over the rock faces. Progress was slow, butpared to the chaotic killing field they had passed through earlier, the mountain here felt eerily quiet.
asionally, they spotted lone cultivators or frightened civilians moving through the area. Both sides kept their distance, watching each other warily before slipping away.
After nearly two hours of climbing and navigating the broken terrain, the distant sound of fighting carried across the mountain.
Grace immediately raised a hand, signaling the group to take cover. While the others hid themselves among the rocks, she sent a scout ahead to investigate. A momentter, the scout returned.
“Your Royal Highness, it’s General Scarlet and General Adam. They’re being surrounded by a group of rogue cultivators, “he reported urgently. Grace’s eyes hardened.
“Prepare to move,” she said. “We’re assisting them.” The group advanced immediately. As they rounded a bend in the path, the battlefield came into view.
Scarlet stood at the center of the clearing, her signature crimson spear whipping in wide arcs as she fought off more than seven rogue cultivators. Her red robes were stained with blood, and her breathing had grown ragged. She had clearly been fighting for some time.
Adam stood behind his sister, guarding a cluster of more than a dozen wounded soldiers. While directing their defensive formation, he sent arcs of sword light shing past her shoulders to keep the attackers at bay. Even so, the pressure from the attackers kept building.
Three of the rogue cultivators leading the assault were early-stage Adepts, while the rest were peak-stage First-Circle Arcanists. They attacked relentlessly while shouting their demands.
“Hand over the spiritual herbs!” one of them yelled. “Do that, and we might spare your life.”
“Not a chance!” Scarlet snapped, whipping her Wildfire Spear across her body and forcing the attackers back.
“Move!” Gracemanded, and the Sovereign Aegis guards instantly charged forward. The sudden arrival of reinforcements caught the rogue cultivatorspletely off guard. Grace moved first. Her sword shed like falling snow as she stepped into the melee.
With a single strike, she killed a rogue cultivator leader at the early Adept stage. Behind her, the Sovereign Aegis guards surged forward. Each of them fought like a force of ten. Within moments, the rogue cultivators’ formation copsed, and the survivors scattered in panic.
“Your Royal Highness!” Scarlet eximed. Her eyes lit up when she saw Grace. Then, her gaze shifted past her to Dustin standing among the group. She froze for a moment, clearly surprised.
“Thank goodness. Dustin, why did youe up the mountain, too?” she asked, clearly worried. “With your cultivation…”
“It’s a long story,” he replied, briefly exining the upheaval that had happened at the mountain below. Adam stepped forward and offered a quick salute. Compared to his sister, he was far moreposed. Without wasting time, he summarized their situation.
“We’ve already cleared three trials and gained a few opportunities along the way,” he said. “But we lost nearly half our people. Later, a group of rogue cultivators discovered some spiritual herbs we recovered from a ruin. They’ve been pursuing us ever since.”
“Are your men still able to fight?” Grace asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “Thank you for saving us, Your Royal Highness.”
She waved it off. “No need for formalities. On this mountain, we’re all on the same side. Let’sbine our forces. Arger group will give us better odds moving forward.”
After the two teams merged, their numbers rose to more than 30, significantly increasing their overall strength. But arger group also meant their supplies would run out faster. They needed to find fresh resources and a safe ce to rest as soon as possible. Adam then shared an important piece of information.
“While we were scouting earlier, we discovered a dense forest about six miles ahead. There might be demonic beasts inside, but we also sensed the presence of spiritual fruit. If we can make it through that area, we might find a better ce to regroup.”
After a brief discussion with Dustin, Grace decided they would head for the forest. Half an hourter, the group reached the edge of a dense, ancient forest. Massive trees loomed overhead, their twisted branches forming a tangled canopy that blocked most of the sunlight.
A light mist drifted between the trunks, and the distant roar of unseen beasts echoed through the woods, keeping everyone on edge.
“Stay in formation once we enter. No one breaks off,” Grace ordered. The group tightened into abat formation and advanced into the forest.
At first, the march was uneventful. But only a few miles in, everything changed. The surrounding trees suddenly shook violently. Branches thrashed overhead as dark shadows dropped from the canopy.
They were ape-like demonic beasts with long arms and jagged fangs, known as Iron -Arm Demonic Apes. Each one possessed strength ranging fromte-stage First-Circle Arcanist to early-stage Adept. There were at least 40 of them.
“It’s an ambush! Form a defensive line.”
The fight exploded instantly. The Iron-Arm Demonic Apes were enormously strong and frighteningly agile. In the forest, they moved with terrifying ease, leaping between branches and attacking from every direction.
In contrast, Sovereign Aegis guards locked into formation and held the line. des shed as steel shed against ws, and bursts of blood sprayed through the trees. Grace fought like a storm at the front. Each strike of her sword killed an ape.
Adam directed the formation from behind the line, trapping several of the stronger beasts in coordinated attacks. Scarlet was even more terrifying. Her spear tore across the battlefield like lightning, and the demonic apes scattered wherever she drove forward.
But there were simply too many of them. The apes kepting in relentless waves, and before long, the group began to suffer casualties.
Dustin stood near the center of the formation, shielded by the others as he watched the fight closely. Something about the apes’ movements caught his attention.
They attacked wildly, yet they never pushed toward one section deeper in the forest, as if they were avoiding it.
“They’re herding us!” he shouted. ”
They’re not trying to kill us but driving us in a certain direction!” Grace heard him and immediately noticed the pattern. The demonic apes attacked fiercely. But whenever a killing blow should havended, their strikes shifted just enough to drive the group backward.
“Break out toward the direction they’re avoiding!” Dustin shouted, pointing toward the direction the apes avoided. Grace made the decision immediately.
“Everyone! Break out to the northeast!”
The group changed direction and charged northeast with everything they had. Just as Dustin predicted, the demonic apes faltered the moment they neared that direction. Their advance slowed, and several even retreated.
The group seized the opening and forced their way through the encirclement, sprinting deeper into the forest. They ran for what felt like ages before the sounds of pursuit finally faded.
Only then did they slow to a halt, gasping for breath. When they looked up, they realized they had already crossed the forest and arrived at the entrance to a secluded valley. At the valley’s entrance stood a broken stone stele. Two words were carved across its weathered surface.
“Spiritfruit Valley.”