Free Web NovelFerantul.
A small town near the Elven Forest.
Unlike the famous Aydin main city or the Elven Royal Court, this was a town so obscure that it wasn’t even marked on maps.
Its river was shallow and short—unable to hold even a two-meter boat—just enough for residents to draw water for drinking and washing clothes. The town produced no rare specialties, had no gold or silver veins, and because it lay close to the Elven Forest, it faced a higher density of monsters, making travel for small merchant caravans even more dangerous.
Yet today, this very town welcomed three archbishops and one cardinal. Accompanying them was a full formation of the Holy Lancer Knights.
The paladins swiftly occupied every street and alley. They had the authority to enter and search even the most private personal spaces at any time. Even the town’s most esteemed mayor dared not show the slightest negligence. Even the most remote towns had heard of the Church’s reputation and were unwilling to risk being branded heretics by clashing with them.
The town councilors and the mayor steeled themselves and negotiated with these sunlike clerics, reporting in full detail what had happened in the Elven Forest a few days earlier and the possible changes that might occur soon.
“You know, I’m just the mayor of an unknown little town. It’s impossible for me to be involved with any heretics, and I’ve never had dealings with the elves,” the town councilor explained desperately. “Besides, this is an era of freedom and enlightenment. Using methods from the age of religious wars is far too crude.”
The holy knight in charge of the negotiations was a female knight no more than eighteen years old. She was the captain of the knight order. Every Holy Lancer Knight order was led by a devout young maiden of noble status, whose innocence and purity symbolized the sanctity of the order.
Of course, the maiden captain only needed to maintain purity and holiness. Actual combat was handled by the experienced and highly skilled vice-captain. ƒrēewebnovel.com
“O God of Light, the secular lambs are lost in the torrent of desire. Please redeem these souls filled with blindness and folly!”
Miali, the Holy Lancer Knights’ mascot, gazed compassionately at the councilor and the mayor before her and began praying to herself.
The mayor and councilor exchanged helpless looks, their heads aching. They sincerely felt that this puppet—whose mind had been ruined by holy light, capable only of prayer and mass—was even harder to communicate with than the crude barbarians on the neighboring prairie.
“Respected Captain of the Holy Lancer Knights,” the mayor said deferentially, “if you ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) wish to uncover the truth, I suggest you seek out the Holy Sword’s wielder and confront them directly. It’s rumored that the Sword Master recently entered the Elven Forest...”
The mascot captain blinked and said with a serious expression, “You mean that monster girl who received the favor of holy light? May the God of Light cleanse the evil from her body.”
Mayor: where did this holy-sugar knight come from...
......
Morning.
A molten-gold orange-red sunrise rose from the horizon. The drifting clouds were dyed with a thin layer of dawn-gold, like an oil painting adorning the sky.
The emerald forest swayed gently in the breeze, branches and leaves rubbing together to produce a soft yet vast rustling sound, like rolling waves.
On a path carpeted with dead branches and fallen leaves, three figures moved slowly forward. Small animals in the woods fled in panic.
Vieya walked while studying the map, searching for the route.
Unlike humans, the elves had long since mapped this forest thoroughly. The locations of various resources and forest lakes were clearly marked, as were the lairs of dangerous monsters—complete with portraits and three-dimensional attributes.
First to be eliminated were aquatic monsters. Cold and slippery—how were you supposed to incubate eggs with that?
Then came shelled monsters—too hard. What if they cracked her precious dragon egg?
Cold-blooded snake monsters were out too. Creepy...
After concentrating and searching again and again, Vieya finally settled on feathered avian monsters, as well as cats and dogs with thick, plush fur.
Once the target was decided, traveling became much faster.
Along the way, Jasmine showed boundless curiosity toward everything in the forest. She greeted passing butterflies, picked up wild fruits that had fallen on the ground. Before Vieya could even warn her, her daughter had already swallowed a wild fruit in one bite—only to be jolted by the sourness, fur bristling, and run back to Mom with watery eyes asking for a comforting hug.
The whole process left Vieya both helpless and amused, but it did add some fun to the otherwise dull journey.
“Master. The lair of the Western Poison Tiger is nearby. We should be careful not to scare it away.”
Isabelle took out two colorful scales and handed one each to Vieya and Jasmine.
“It can mask our presence to a certain extent, making other monsters mistake us for their own kind. That way, our chances of capturing the Western Poison Tiger alive will be higher.”
“From your tail?” Vieya’s tone shifted slightly. “They look quite a bit smaller than dragon scales.”
“Have you seen pureblood dragons as well, Master?” Curiosity flickered in Isabelle’s azure eyes. “It’s a pity—after living in the Western Sea for hundreds of years, I only encountered three pureblood dragons. One black, one white, and one golden...”
“I envy your breadth of experience.”
Vieya’s face turned solemn. She pulled her apple-chewing daughter into the nearby bushes and hid. A massive tiger covered in green fur slowly emerged from a cave, then threw back its head and let out a roar that shook the forest. Birds scattered in panic, and those too close were震死 on the spot, dropping down with crackling thuds.
“Master, that’s the Western Poison Tiger!” Isabelle double-checked the map, then rubbed her hands eagerly. “Shall I handle it?”
“No need. You watch my daughter.”
After a brief consideration, Vieya decided to act personally.
First, the maid had contributed two chunks of fish meat yesterday and hadn’t fully recovered her energy yet. Second, Vieya wanted a quick fight—catch a few more monsters before noon so each of them could take turns incubating eggs. Third, she wanted to stretch her muscles.
No risk. Just playing.
Against a mere early-stage seventh-tier little tiger, Vieya didn’t even need the Holy Sword to toy with it.
After thinking for a moment, Vieya stood up, soothingly patted her daughter’s head, then glanced sideways toward the front. Her figure vanished in an instant.
Before Isabelle could recover from her daze, a powerful tiger’s roar echoed not far away.
“ROAR!!!”
Then came a dull thud.
Bang!
“ROAR!!!”
Bang! ƒгeewebnovёl.com
“Awooo...”
Bang!
“Meow...”
Bang!
And then—silence.
A few seconds later, Vieya’s calm voice drifted over from the distance.
“All right. You can come out now.”
Isabelle froze for a moment, then softly said to the still-unresponsive Jasmine beside her, “Come on, let’s go.”
Jasmine nodded mechanically.
Then they saw it—the Western Poison Tiger’s body, over six meters long, lying in a collapsed pit. Just moments ago it had been a peerless ferocious beast roaring through the forest. Now it was nothing more than an oversized cat in Vieya’s hands.
Vieya stood with one foot on the tiger’s massive head, hands on her hips, gazing forward—like a demon king reigning over the entire world.
