NOVEL WEB Chapter 214: The Royal Affair
[You have killed a Level 1240 Berserk Hound.]
[+EXP Earned.]
"Bobby, consume it." Vritra killed another 1st Legion rank demon and allowed Bobby to devour its soul. This was already the third demon he had killed in the Small Forest.
The number of demons at his level wasn't too high, but there were many of them. No wonder this was called one of the most dangerous areas of the Blue Kingdom—though it was an easy hunting ground for him.
After walking around a little longer, Vritra suddenly felt that the air was becoming hot; it certainly wasn't a natural change. Previously, because of the shade of the thick trees, the surrounding was rather cool, but suddenly the temperature was rising.
"What's happening around here?" Vritra flew into the sky and observed the surroundings. A big part of the forest was suddenly becoming hot, but after a few more minutes, everything started to become normal.
"How strange, it certainly wasn't a natural change. What could have caused it? I can't sense anything in our surroundings," Yasmine spoke in confusion.
"Yeah, it feels like something started but ended before its completion. Whatever… I guess it is time to return," Vritra mumbled. It was time for the three women to rest. He had watched their entire fight and could only shake his head.
In less than a minute, he appeared close to their location. Vanessa, Fiona, and Diana were already resting after their long battle while Ghoul and Ghost were working hard—bringing one barely alive demon after another.
The three of them just needed to launch one light attack and they gained a large amount of experience points. They just sat on chairs and rested. Though there was still anger towards Diana, they had made some progress.
"So, how is the hunting going?" Vritra suddenly appeared beside them and asked, sitting on the empty chair.
"Everything is fine, right?" Vanessa asked, glancing at the goddess.
"Yes, everything is fine. It feels a little hot, isn't it?" Diana replied, while fanning her face with an expensive-looking paper fan.
"Something feels off. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like this warmth is a bit familiar," Fiona spoke, looking at the surroundings with a puzzling look on her face.
"Hmm… Is it somehow related to your Phoenix bloodline?" Vritra pondered.
The four of them fell silent, and just as he was about to speak, Vritra's brows shot up in surprise as he gestured for everyone to stay quiet.
From the direction of the city, he sensed dozens upon dozens of presences rushing in their direction—and all of them were really strong.
Vritra and Vanessa hastily formed several layers of barriers around them. Vritra even created a dust dome around them that didn't stand out much because of the uneven surface.
All of them sat silently in the darkness as they soon heard the sound of wind whistling—clearly, lots of people were flying in the air.
[Nether Eye Activated.]
Vritra didn't use his senses directly to probe. Instead, he opened the third eye and began to observe them. There were at least a hundred men in white clothes, all seeming as if they had just come out of a temple in a hurry. They were flying aimlessly in the Small Forest.
'The Grieves?!!' Vritra exclaimed in his mind, wondering what all of them were doing here all of a sudden.
The men in white ran all over the Small Forest, and after around forty or so minutes, it seemed they had failed to find whatever it was they were searching for. Finally, they flew back toward the city.
After waiting a little longer and sensing his surroundings, Vritra finally removed the dust dune and the barrier.
"What happened?" Vanessa asked, while Fiona and Diana had the same doubt. They too didn't try to sense the outside after Vritra's warning.
"It was those dangerous people from the temple. It seemed they were searching for something here," Vritra replied, while thinking of various possibilities.
'Could it be that they don't know the location of the mythic halo yet? Or are they really looking for a different inheritance? Whatever may be the case, I have to be more careful of them.'
"Should we stay or…" Fiona asked. She was a little curious about those people from the temple.
"Ghoul, Ghost, have you hunted enough demons yet?" Vritra asked, and the two soul wraiths pointed toward a small mountain of demons who were barely breathing.
"Kill them all, and then we will return to the castle." He said, and the three women instantly got to work. Without any hesitation, they delivered final blows to the demons and killed them all within seconds.
They were surprised how easily the two soul wraiths had hunted such strong demons and even brought them all here without killing them. Ghost and Ghoul disappeared under Vritra's feet. As they got ready to leave, he was extra careful with their surroundings.
Thankfully, all the Grieves had already left. They made their way to the carriage and began the journey back to the castle.
…
This time, it took a bit longer to return. The streets were full of people, and they all made way after seeing the royal carriage.
"Will we be going to hunt in the Small Forest in the future?" Diana asked. She had a really bad feeling about those people from the temple.
"… I will think about that. Anyway, let me tell you a bit about those people. They are called Grieves and they aren't humans. Those creatures possess the ability to possess anyone. Little is known about them…" Vritra continued to explain along the way.
After a while, the carriage finally came to a halt. They had finally arrived at the castle. Getting out of the carriage, they passed through the door directly since the guards had already been informed about them.
"Go and rest in your rooms. I will meet with Shit—Sonia first." Vritra said, feeling that this name suited the monk better.
"Okay." The three women nodded and went towards their rooms. Their faces were already covered by the veils and their bodies covered by the barriers.
"Now, I wonder where my sister Sonia is." Vritra wondered. After walking towards the Crown Prince's working chamber, he didn't seem to be there.
"Do you know where the Crown Prince is?" Vritra stopped one of the guards and asked.
"Uh… Yeah, I did see him walking towards the back garden along with Lady Sonia," the guard replied. The budding affair between the Crown Prince and Sonia had already become a hot topic in the castle, and almost everyone knew about it.
The other princes wouldn't waste such a chance. They added fuel to the fire and tried to make the Crown Prince look bad in the king's eyes.
"Okay, thank you." Vritra had already seen almost every part of the castle. He started heading toward the back garden and could clearly hear most of the people talking about the Crown Prince's affair.
'Things are going quite smoothly for now, it seems.' He thought.
And soon, Vritra arrived close to the back garden—and what he saw surprised him quite a lot. Monk Shitless was sitting in a comfortable position over a chair that was rocking back and forth, while the Crown Prince was sitting over her knees, feeding her fruits.
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