Chapter 50: Ordeal Party, Prowling Wolves

At the same time, the simulation view switched.

「Day One Hundred Thirty-Seven.」

Not far from the Swamp Territory.

In a vast forest, a group of young men and women were venturing deep into the Wilderness, escorted by a squad of fully armed Guard Knights.

"Master Rayleigh, we’ve been in the Demon Beast Wilderness for so long. Why haven’t we run into a single Demon Beast?"

Teresa, the young lady of the Duke’s Mansion, was dressed in a suit of Light Armor and seemed a little out of breath.

"That’s right, Knight Commander Rayleigh. Didn’t you say there were many Demon Beasts in the Wilderness Jungle at the foot of the Demon Beast Mountain Range? So why have we been in the Wilderness for a whole day without seeing a single one?"

"Yeah, we haven’t even seen a Tierless one."

"Could we be in the wrong area? Maybe the Demon Beasts rarely come to this spot?"

"..."

The group of young men and women from the Duke’s Mansion was now tired and hungry, feeling as though their day’s journey had been for nothing.

Knight Commander Lionheart Rayleigh was also a little confused by this.

After all, even if this particular area of the Wilderness below the Demon Beast Mountain Range had no Demon Beasts, it shouldn’t be this quiet.

And yet, after a full day in the Wilderness, they stubbornly hadn’t encountered a single Demon Beast.

There were ordinary beasts and birds, but as for Demon Beasts, there truly wasn’t a single one.

Faced with this situation, Rayleigh was clearly baffled, his brow furrowed.

"Knight Commander, do you think it might be because of the Beast Tide that invaded the Swamp Territory before?"

"The Swamp Territory’s strength made the Demon Beasts feel an intense threat and fear, so they chose to leave the surrounding area? After all, Demon Beasts have some intelligence."

A Guard Knight spoke up at just the right moment.

Hearing this, Knight Commander Rayleigh’s expression relaxed slightly.

"That’s not impossible."

"However, don’t forget that Demon Beasts are territorial."

"That scenario is possible, but a Lord Level Demon Beast needs its own territory no matter where it goes. Therefore, the risk of challenging another Demon Beast for its territory is no lower than that of attacking the Swamp Territory."

"Furthermore, nearly two hundred days have passed since the Swamp Territory was last attacked. The possibility you mentioned is extremely low."

"Don’t forget, the Demon Beast Mountain Range is never short on Low Tier Demon Beasts. If one leaves, another will inevitably arrive to occupy its territory."

As he said this, Knight Commander Rayleigh’s expression suddenly turned grave.

"Or perhaps... the worst-case scenario is about to unfold."

Seeing Knight Commander Rayleigh’s suddenly grave expression, the surrounding Guard Knights seemed to react in an instant.

For these battle-hardened Knights, there was only one worst-case scenario they could imagine encountering in the Western Realm.

In that instant, the expressions of all the Guard Knights turned solemn. They began to vigilantly scan the surrounding jungle, simultaneously moving to form a protective circle around the dozen or so young men and women.

"Master Rayleigh?!"

"What is this worst-case scenario you’re talking about? Why are you and everyone else so tense?"

Teresa looked at Rayleigh, her own expression growing tense.

"Yeah, Master Rayleigh, you’re an Earth Knight, aren’t you? Is this worst-case scenario something that even you can’t handle?" Odi, Triss’s younger brother, also blurted out nervously.

Like the other young men and women, although Teresa and her brother Odi had both recently become Entry Tier, they were, in the end, just children who had never ventured far from home.

They were naturally very nervous about this sudden, unknown situation.

Looking at the young master and young lady of the Duke’s Mansion, Rayleigh’s expression was grave.

He gestured for all the Guard Knights to cover the children as they retreated back the way they came.

Although the worst-case scenario had not yet occurred, Rayleigh had every reason to believe it would.

Moreover, he absolutely could not—and would not dare—gamble with the lives of these children!

"No one make a sound. Retreat slowly!"

Rayleigh didn’t answer Teresa’s question. He simply gave the order to everyone in a low voice, then gestured for Teresa and her brother to fall back with the others.

They continued like this until starlight filled the sky and they were less than twenty li from the Swamp Territory. Only then were they allowed to stop and rest.

By this point, the group of young men and women in Light Armor was thoroughly exhausted.

Many of them were pale-faced; two of the young women had even been carried here on the backs of Guard Knights.

In the end, the Wilderness was a primeval jungle.

Unable to ride horses, it was already quite an achievement for these young men and women to have lasted this long.

It was now the middle of the night.

Knight Commander Rayleigh ordered the Guard Knights to set up camp so the young men and women could rest for a while.

Only then did he have a moment to look over at Teresa and Odi, who were kneeling on the ground, panting.

"Tired?"

He looked at the two of them with a smile.

"Not tired!"

"Tired!"

Teresa shot her brother Odi a fierce glare.

"Haha, you’re supposed to be tired!"

"You two, don’t think you’re so incredible just because you’ve reached Entry Tier. In the end, Tier One is merely the beginning of the Path to the Extraordinary."

"You’re much stronger than ordinary people, but that’s about it. You still need more real combat experience. It’s far better than just staying on the training grounds at the Duke’s Mansion."

Knight Commander Rayleigh laughed heartily. Though he appeared to be in his forties, he was actually over eighty years old.

With that, Rayleigh sat down in front of the two of them.

In the firelight, he looked at them.

Only then did he say, "Alright, I’ll clear up your confusion now."

"You wanted to know why I had you all retreat so suddenly, didn’t you?"

"I even bet you think I was making a big deal out of nothing, since nothing happened on the way back, right?"

Rayleigh watched the two of them with a grin.

Teresa and Odi exchanged a glance and just chuckled sheepishly.

Clearly, just as Rayleigh had thought, the brother and sister did indeed feel he might have overreacted.

In response, Rayleigh shook his head with a sigh.

"Regardless of what you think, I have to tell you this."

"When you’re out in the wilds, especially in dangerous places, you must always remain vigilant, no matter how strong you are."

"It’s good that nothing happened, but if something had, it would have been very troublesome."

"You need to remember: never treat your own lives lightly, and especially don’t bet on so-called ’luck’! Otherwise..."

He didn’t need to finish the sentence; the two of them understood.

"Master, we understand! We will take your teachings to heart."

Teresa and Odi immediately patted their chests and promised.

Seeing them like this, Rayleigh smiled in gratification.

He then began to explain why he had immediately ordered a retreat based on a single deduction.

He suspected that a Beast Tide was about to erupt!

This wasn’t the small-scale incident that had struck the Swamp Territory, but a full-scale Beast Tide that the entire Western Realm—including the Silver Lion Duchy and the three neighboring duchies—was about to face.

In other words, it was what the Nobility had passed down for generations as the ’Minor Beast Tide’.

A total war, summoned by the Middle Tier Demon Beasts at the foot of the Demon Beast Mountain Range, where all the Wilderness Demon Beasts would invade the territories of the Human Race!

"Ah! A Beast Tide? Master Rayleigh, didn’t everyone predict that the next Beast Tide was at least twenty years away?"

"How could another one be starting so soon? That’s impossible!"

Teresa was stunned, her expression immediately growing tense.

Rayleigh shook his head in response.

"Of course, this is just my deduction."

"But we’ve passed through at least two Demon Beast territories in a row and haven’t encountered even a single Tierless Demon Beast."

"Given the circumstances, I have good reason to suspect these Demon Beasts have been drawn toward the Demon Beast Mountain Range. And besides, there’s a precedent for this."

"So, no matter what, I cannot gamble your lives and the lives of all the Knights, not even against the slightest possibility of danger."

At this, Rayleigh smiled again.

"It’s a good thing if there’s no Beast Tide. As Knight Kent said earlier, it’s not impossible that the nearby Demon Beasts were just scared off by the Swamp Territory’s strength and abandoned their lands!"

"But whichever it is, I need to confirm the situation first. Only then can I truly ensure your trial proceeds smoothly."

"A trial is a trial. It’s not a call for you to risk your lives in a fight to the death! It’s not your time for that yet, understand?"

Hearing Rayleigh’s explanation, the two of them finally understood and nodded immediately.

However, at that very moment, a Knight suddenly shot to his feet a short distance away and shouted to the camp, "Demon Beasts! A pack of Demon Beasts has been spotted! Everyone, prepare for battle!!!"

Hearing this, Rayleigh’s gaze sharpened, and he stood up, now clad in full heavy armor.

He drew the silver Long Sword from his waist, his cold gaze fixed on the depths of the dense jungle.

In the next moment, everyone saw it in the firelight.

From within the jungle, a vast number of shimmering green eyes emerged, accompanied by low growls.

Wolves!!!

A pack of over a hundred Demon Beast wolves!