Knights and Magic Wand

In the dim, dusky depths of the forest, Leon led the way with a dazzling Spirit Lamp.

As the group made progress, the soul light within the wooden cage drove away the eerie darkness atop everything around, restoring the glory of all things to their natural state in the real world.

Yet as the range of the Spirit Lamp was left behind with Leon's steps, the original dull gray again enveloped the path they'd come by like a creeping shadow.

After using the Earth Vein Spirit Lamp, Leon slowly came to understand what the girl's voice had meant by time-space confusion.

When they moved straight forward following the light of the Spirit Lamp, the brightness would often suddenly dim, indicating that they'd unconsciously strayed from the path.

Leon had no choice but to lift the Spirit Lamp and probe around, readjusting to the position where the light shone brightest.

Sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right... even what appeared to their eyes to be the way they'd come from before, which meant they had to suppress their sense of direction and common instincts, retreating the way they'd come to find the correct "direction."

It wasn't that the soul in the lamp wanted to go somewhere different; what truly changed constantly was the seemingly tranquil space-time beneath their feet.

The whole Spirit-like Field was like a labyrinth with no discernible rule to follow, with time-space mixing like a blend of paint stirred ceaselessly in a bucket.

No wonder there were tales that no one could ever escape this so-called "Cursed Land." Leon mused while standing still, watching the flashing light of the Spirit Lamp in his hand, its brightness now unstable no matter which direction he turned.

This wasn't the first time they'd encountered such a situation; following the girl's voice's suggestion, it was best for Leon and his companions to wait in place rather than forging ahead rashly and veering even further off course.

It was only when the light of the Spirit Lamp stabilized in the chaotic space-time that Leon and the others could turn toward the newly stable direction.

The long sword cleaved through the obstructive thorns with a crackling sound. Because detours might inevitably lead them in the wrong direction, the three could only continue to clamber directly over all the rugged terrain ahead.

The arduous journey saw them encounter a few wild beasts and human living corpses, but nothing more disturbing. Although ordinary wandering souls and corpse ghosts still posed some threat, the three young men, armed and working closely together, managed them with relative ease.

Especially Leon, wielding the knight's treasure sword, felt that cutting through regular corpse ghosts was as easy as slicing through vegetables.

Time passed, and they had no idea how long it had been or how far they'd traveled in every direction when suddenly, ahead, they heard a pitiful cry filled with pain and sorrow.

"What is that?"

Azeryan and Lokhak immediately went on alert behind him.

The undertone of the sound was like an eagle's screech but carried the loud, resonant depth of a lion or tiger, indicating it must be a mighty beast.

Was it another living corpse-turned undead wild animal?

Leon took a few nervous steps forward and quietly peered through the dense branches.

What he saw surprised him... it wasn't undead.

Not far away, a huge beast lay on its side in a pool of blood, wailing.

It was the first genuinely living creature they had come across so far!

The massive beast had the body, limbs, and tail of a majestic lion, but on its back were a pair of colossal wings. One of its wings flapped weakly at its side, stirring gust after gust of wind, while the other was pinned to the ground, its brown feathers stained with blood.

As Leon glanced at the beast's giant bird-like head and beak, a word immediately jumped into his brain—even without anyone explaining to him.

Both from the original owner's memories and Leon's memories from Earth, he recognized the fantasy creature:

—Griffin.

But right now, the mighty beast's condition was unlike the fierce, graceful portrayal from traditional impressions; it was in a pitiful, badly injured state.

It lay atop a pile of broken trees, likely knocked down during its fall from the sky. Of course, the impact of the fall was not what caused the gryphon's mournful cries. Beneath its side, where its chest and abdomen could be seen, the tail of an extremely thick crossbow arrow protrude, and blood flowing from the wound pooled on the ground.

Azeryan and Lokhak, too, poked their heads out beside him.

"Should we go around?" Azeryan asked Leon, turning his head; after encountering various monsters and demons, the youth had become somewhat desensitized and was no longer astonished by any sight.

"It looks like it's dying," Lokhak commented, glancing at the severely injured chest and abdomen of the creature known as the king of beasts, with a touch of compassion.

"I wonder who committed such desecration," Azeryan frowned, puzzled. Whoever used a large crossbow to attack the gryphon was clearly another intelligent being, but it wasn't clear whether the gryphon had been injured outside or after it had strayed into the Cursed Land.

He felt it as desecration because, in the minds of the Seryan, a gryphon was seen as a noble, pure, and friendly life form, especially in the stories circulated by the Holy Sun Church, where it was endowed with divinity beyond that of a wild beast.

Even though these masters of the skies that nested atop lofty mountains stood at the top of the food chain, they rarely attacked humans in the wild. The Seryan never imagined a gryphon as a man-eating beast; the Kingdom even had clear laws against harming one.

But now, they were indeed not within the borders of the Seryan Kingdom, so who could say how the Kantadar people and the Orland people viewed gryphons? With that thought, Azeryan could only sadly withdraw his gaze from the gryphon with regret.

"Let's stay out of its way," Leon said, his heart not filled with the same pathos as his two companions; he simply felt that as long as the dying, pitiable beast in front of them couldn't harm them, it was fine.

Cautiously deviating from their path, Leon took the lead, silently sidestepping the obstructive gryphon and continuing forward with the lamp in hand.

Azeryan and Lokhak followed in turn.

In the pool of blood, the griffin was still weakly crying out, panting. Its huge, sharp talons, hook-like in their ferocity, painfully left terrible marks on the ground time and again as it futilely scratched the earth.

The serious injuries were slowly draining the last of its strength away, but its keen hearing and sense of smell enabled the mighty beast to detect everything happening around it. It smelled the human scent that was close at hand.

The Griffin instinctively struggled, trying to get up, fearing that the despicable humans who hunted it might once again track it down to this strange land.

However, even the mere act of trying to get up caused endless pain as it moved its muscles, and the resulting weakness forced it to fall back heavily to the ground.

——Bang!

Leon and his two companions were startled by the griffin's sudden attempt to rise, but seeing the beast half roll over and then thud back to the ground, they realized it was a false alarm.

"Let's go, get moving," Leon urged his companions behind him.

Just as he was eager to get away from the dying griffin, he heard the voice inside his heart suddenly speak up: "…you would do well to help it."

Leon almost thought he had heard wrong.

"Help it? Do you mean… that griffin?" he asked, puzzled, halting his steps and glancing back at the beast behind him whose crying sounds were fading like a thread.

"Do you want me to put it out of its misery, to give it a swift end?" Leon hesitated and raised his long sword, miming a throat-slitting motion.

"?.... Hehe, very good. Then after you make your move, be prepared to face an Undead Gryphon seeking vengeance against you~" The girl's voice couldn't help but chuckle.

"!"

Leon then realized what she meant.

Yes, if this mighty beast died right here in this Spirit-like Field, then soon there would be a Giant Beast Level Living Corpse roaming nearby that was far more powerful and terrifying than the Corpse Demon Knight they had faced before.

And it might even fly!

Leon immediately became anxious. The three of them struggled enough with human and beast living corpses; they certainly couldn't contend with a griffin turned into a living corpse.

"How should we save it then? I'm not a vet, and those injuries are so severe, do you have a way?" Leon asked hurriedly.

"Don't worry, it's not that complicated. Go help it pull out that Crossbow Arrow, leave the rest to its self-healing power. As long as it doesn't die before you get out, that should be enough… right…" Her voice trailed off, becoming a bit melancholy: "…I hope Master Helmond's creation is as tenacious in life as in the past..."

"Helmond what?" Leon failed to catch the girl's soft murmur.

"Do you want to hear a story, or are you going to hurry up and remove the threat before you?" The girl's voice was rather indifferent in her reminder.

Leon promptly cast aside his superfluous curiosity.

He ordered his companions to wait on the side and then hurried toward the griffin.

Azeryan and Lokhak exchanged glances as usual, without objection, not knowing what Leon was up to, but sure that he was always right.

When Leon, resisting his instinctive fear of the beast's huge body, cautiously approached, the gravely injured griffin could hardly react anymore, aside from its slow, futile wing flapping.

He felt somewhat reassured and moved to the other side of the griffin's body, keeping his distance and observing the thick shaft of the Crossbow Arrow in its chest.

The arrow was excessively large—clearly not something a standard Crossbow could fire. Even if not quite a Siege Crossbow, it was a weapon meant for killing large beasts.

Truth be told, considering the position and depth of the wound which would have been fatal to any ordinary beast, Leon even thought it miraculous that the griffin was still alive at all.

His gaze followed along the griffin's body, and Leon glanced at its huge, fierce talons, still feeling an involuntary chill in his heart.

Approaching the griffin's chest without any protective measures to help remove the arrow— if the beast took his actions in good faith that was one thing, but if it didn't and those hooked, razor-like talons suddenly attacked, would his guts not be spilled in an instant?

Leon moved forward tentatively with unease.

The griffin's sharp, vigilant eagle eyes were fixed on the approaching human, and its claws sank deeper into the ground.

Seeing the griffin's tense talons, Leon very sensibly retraced his steps and returned to where he was...

It was indeed too dangerous.

Glancing unintentionally at the griffin's twisted head watching him, Leon felt a bit exasperated as he met the wary gaze of the wild beast.

"Relax, big guy, I'm just trying to save you. Can you not be so tense? If you cause a doctor-patient dispute and kill me, you'll die here too…" He had gotten so desperate he was attempting to converse with the wild beast.

Just as Leon felt utterly at a loss, whether by illusion or not, he thought he could read a trace of complex emotion in the eyes of the beast.

"If you approach with a cold, gleaming sword in your hand, even human beings would be scared of you," the girl's voice sounded almost amused by Leon's folly.