Chapter 139: Crisis in the Red Leaf Forest! Finally Arrived!

The medics scrambled to carry the blood-soaked Red Leaf Forest Hunter away.

A heavy scent of blood permeated the hall in silence, diluting the lingering aroma of wine and meat from the banquet just held.

The air seemed to freeze in an instant.

Roko stood where he was, the smile on his face already gone.

His gaze fell upon the glaring pool of blood on the floor, his eyes turning profound.

Martina walked to his side, her snow-white brows knitting tightly together.

"The situation is unclear; mobilizing the main force now is too great a risk."

Her voice was soft, yet carried an unquestionable calmness.

"The walls of Vanguard Valley have just been completed, the internal defense system has not yet been fully integrated, and many new recruits need time to adapt."

"We cannot afford any major losses right now."

Roko did not answer immediately.

He knew that Martina was right.

Analyzing it from a rational perspective, holding Vanguard Valley and waiting for clear intelligence was the most prudent choice.

But Zewen Brick was not a pawn that could be discarded at will.

He was Roko's first, and most steadfast, ally in New Wind Province.

At the most critical moment for Vanguard Valley, it was Zewen who led the Red Leaf Forest Hunters to deliver a fatal blow to the Purification Army of the Temple of Light from the flank.

This debt of gratitude, Roko had to repay.

More importantly, the Red Leaf Forest was the most vital natural barrier on the west side of Vanguard Valley.

If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.

If the Red Leaf Forest falls, the next target for those enemies hiding in the shadows will inevitably be Vanguard Valley.

"I must go."

Roko's voice was calm, yet carried an unshakable resolve.

He turned his head and looked at Martina.

"Vanguard Valley is left to you."

"I trust you."

Martina looked into Roko's eyes; in those pitch-black pupils, there was not a hint of hesitation.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing more.

She simply nodded.

"I understand."

"I'll wait for your return."

Just then, a medic hurried in.

"Master! That hunter has woken up!"

In the side chamber of the council hall, a rich scent of medicinal herbs rushed to meet them.

The hunter who had been rescued lay on the bed, his face as pale as paper.

His chest was wrapped in thick bandages, but dark red blood was still continuously seeping through.

Seeing Roko walk in, he struggled to sit up.

"Master Roko—"

His voice was as weak as a flickering candle in the wind.

Roko stepped forward quickly and pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don't move, your wounds are severe."

The hunter's eyes were filled with despair and pain.

"Save, save our leader—"

He gasped for breath, every word seeming to exhaust all his strength.

"A group of monsters in black robes suddenly attacked our camp—"

"They were too strong—"

"So many of our people died—"

Black robes?

Roko's pupils shrank slightly.

"What do they want?"

"The altar, they are going to the Ancient Altar deep in the forest—"

The hunter's voice grew lower and lower.

"And, and a traitor—"

"It is, it is Ano, he betrayed the leader—"

"Leader Zewen was surrounded by them to protect our retreat, his life or death is unknown—" After finishing this last sentence, the hunter's head lolled to the side, and he fainted once again.

Ancient Altar.

Traitor.

People in black robes.

These fragmented words quickly pieced together into a clear outline in Roko's mind.

The Poison Scorpion Society!

Their goal was indeed not simple looting.

It is the Ancient Altar deep within the Red Leaf Forest, the origin of which even Zewen himself cannot clearly explain.

Roko's gaze turned icy in an instant.

He stood up without the slightest hesitation, "Hart!"

Knight Captain Hart immediately walked in from outside the door.

The armor on his body still carried the scent of wine from the banquet, but his eyes had already regained the sharpness peculiar to a soldier.

"Master!"

"Assemble the Storm Knights."

"Select one hundred knights equipped with full sets of Obsidian Gold Equipment."

"Gather outside the castle in ten minutes."

"Yes!"

Hart did not ask for any reason; he struck his breastplate heavily and turned to stride away.

Roko looked toward Fula again.

The cat-eared girl had been following quietly behind him; at this moment, cold killing intent was already burning in those heterochromatic pupils.

"Fula, you are coming with me."

"Yes, Master."

Fula nodded gently.

Roko's gaze finally landed on Mike.

This son of a Count had also put away his usual laziness, his face carrying a trace of gravity.

"Mike, you stay behind."

Roko's voice was beyond question.

"You and Talos assist Martina and guard Vanguard Valley well."

"Before I return, the defense of Vanguard Valley is left to you."

Mike froze for a moment, as if wanting to say something.

But seeing Roko's stern gaze, he ultimately swallowed his words.

He knew this was not the time for him to be willful.

"Yes, I understand."

He solemnly performed a knight's salute.

With the deployment complete, Roko turned and walked outside.

The black cloak behind him traced a cold, rigid arc.

Outside the gates of Vanguard Valley, one hundred heavy armored knights in Obsidian Gold had already finished assembling.

They sat astride warhorses also clad in Obsidian Gold horse armor, like one hundred silent steel statues.

Beneath black helmets, only pairs of cold, ruthless eyes were revealed.

An intangible baleful aura permeated from them, making the surrounding air oppressive.

This was the most elite force of Vanguard Valley.

A torrent of death capable of making any Bronze Rank powerhouse tremble with fear.

Roko mounted his horse and rode to the very front of the formation.

He did not deliver any pre-battle mobilization.

He simply drew the longsword at his waist and pointed it toward the west.

"Advance!"

A cold word was spat from his mouth.

"Boom!"

One hundred warhorses stepped forward in unison.

The earth began to tremble violently under the torrent of steel.

Like a bolt of black lightning, they tore through the heavy night curtain and galloped toward the direction of the Red Leaf Forest.

The night wind whistled, blowing Fula's silver-gray long hair.

She sat behind Roko, clutching the small beast Tain tightly in her arms.

She could clearly feel the cold and resolute aura radiating from her Master.

She raised her head, looking at Roko's broad back.

That back, as always, made her feel incomparably at ease.

She reached out and gently grabbed the corner of Roko's garment.

No matter if there were mountains of blades or seas of fire ahead.

As long as she could stay by her Master's side, she would fear nothing.

On the road to the Red Leaf Forest, the atmosphere was terrifyingly oppressive; the knights were silent, with only the sound of hooves and the clashing of armor echoing in the quiet night.

The closer they got to the Red Leaf Forest, the thicker the stench of blood in the air became.

Traces of battle began to appear on the trees along both sides of the road.

Broken arrows, shattered weapons, and land stained red with blood.

When they entered the outskirts of the Red Leaf Forest, a tragic scene appeared before everyone's eyes.

It was a patrol squad of Red Leaf Forest Hunters.

Seven or eight corpses lay scattered on the ground.

On their faces, the shock and unwillingness from before their deaths still remained.

The fatal wounds were almost all at the throat.

A single strike to kill, clean and efficient.

Hart dismounted and carefully examined the wounds.

"They were caused by some kind of very sharp short blade."

He stood up and said to Roko with a grave expression.

"The technique is very professional; it doesn't look like ordinary bandits."

Roko's gaze landed on the tightly clenched hand of a hunter.

In that hand was a small piece of black fabric.

On the fabric, a ferocious scorpion pattern was embroidered with silver thread.

It really was them.

The killing intent in Roko's eyes grew even stronger.

He did not linger any longer and led the troop to continue advancing into the depths of the Red Leaf Forest.

Soon, the sound of weapons clashing and angry roars came from the dense forest ahead.

The battle was still ongoing!

Roko took the lead and charged out of the dense forest.

The scene before his eyes made his eyes split with rage.

The central camp of the Red Leaf Forest had already turned into a sea of fire.

Hundreds of people in black robes were besieging the last line of defense in the center of the camp like a tidal wave.

They held Scorpion Tail Blades that glinted with cold light, their movements eerie and lethal.

The remaining hundreds of Red Leaf Forest Hunters stood back-to-back, forming a circular formation, resisting with all their might.

But their defensive line was already crumbling under the fierce assault of the black-robed men.

Every moment, hunters fell with screams.

In the center of the formation, a tall figure was fighting a bloody battle.

It was none other than the leader of the Red Leaf Forest, Zewen Brick!

He was covered in blood, with at least a dozen wounds deep enough to see bone.

But he was still like an angry lion, brandishing the giant axe in his hand, cleaving the black-robed men who approached one by one in half.

Beside him followed a few loyal personal guards.

But their situation was already precarious.

More than ten experts among the black-robed men had surrounded them completely.

And outside the encirclement, a man wearing the same black robe but with a noticeably thinner build was looking at the struggling Zewen with a spiteful gaze.

In his hand, he held a hunting bow.

It was that traitor, Ano!

"Kill!"

Only this one word escaped Roko's lips.

The hundred Storm Knights behind him seemed to have heard the horn of a charge.

They raised their lances, spurred their warhorses, and turned into an unstoppable black torrent, crashing fiercely into the flank of the black-robed men.

They raised the Knight lances in their hands, urged on their warhorses, and transformed into an unstoppable black torrent, slamming fiercely into the flank of the black-robed figures.

This was a massacre without suspense.

The formation of the black-robed men was like paper under the charge of the Obsidian Gold knights, instantly torn open with a huge gap. Those Scorpion Tail Blades, hacking at the heavy armor of the Obsidian Gold, could only emit a series of powerless clinking sounds, unable to even leave a white mark.

Yet the lances of the Storm Knights could easily pierce through their fragile bodies.

A black-robed expert had just dodged a hunter's attack, a cruel grin appearing on his face.

A black-robed expert had just dodged an attack from a hunter, a sinister grin appearing on his face.

A black lance, like a venomous dragon emerging from its cave, pierced through his back and into his heart.

He looked down in disbelief.

Watching the cold spear tip protruding from his chest.

Then, his body was directly lifted away by the immense force on the lance.

In the baptism of blood and fire, the new recruit Mike also completed his transformation.

He was no longer that noble young master who needed protection.

He followed closely behind Hart, using the longsword in his hand to hack fiercely at every enemy that approached.

Blood splattered across his cheeks.

But he felt no fear at all.

In his eyes, there was only a cold, murderous intent.

Fula's figure was like an elegant and lethal ghost.

She moved rapidly across the battlefield.

Every time she struck, a black-robed man would inevitably fall under her sword.

A black-robed assassin skilled in stealth appeared silently behind her.

The poisoned blade in his hand stabbed silently toward her back.

However, just as the blade was about to touch her body.

Fula's body suddenly twisted at an incredible angle, as if she had no bones.

Fula's body suddenly twisted around at an incredible angle, as if she had no bones.

Her heterochromatic pupils shimmered with an eerie light under the firelight.

"Frostfire Dual Blades!"

She shouted delicately.

The longsword in her hand traced a strange arc, half frost-white and half crimson.

The assassin's main body suddenly stiffened.

His upper body was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.

While his lower body was burned into a charred stump.

Then, his entire person shattered into a pile of ice shards and ashes.

This eerie and powerful scene caused the surrounding black-robed figures to subconsciously take a step back.

For the first time, expressions of fear appeared in their eyes.

Roko had only one target.

That was Zewen!

He was like a red-hot branding iron fiercely thrust into cold butter.

All the black-robed figures blocking his path were sent flying by his sword.

The longsword in his hand burned with golden flames, as if it were a small sun.

【Great Blazing Sun Slash · Flame Slash!】

A flame sword aura several meters long swept out.

The seven or eight black-robed figures blocking the front were instantly vaporized before they could even let out a scream.

Roko carved out a bloody path and finally arrived before Zewen.

"Zewen!"

Hearing this familiar voice, Zewen turned his head abruptly.

When he saw Roko's resolute face, a surge of wild joy welled up in his bloodshot eyes.

"Roko—brother!"

"You came!"

However, in that very instant he was distracted.

That traitor Ano seized this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.

The bowstring in his hand snapped taut.

A black arrow tipped with potent poison, like the fangs of a viper, shot silently toward Zewen's back.

"Watch out!"

Roko's pupils constricted sharply.

He wanted to save him, but it was already too late.

Just as the poisoned arrow was about to strike Zewen.

A petite figure suddenly flashed behind Zewen.

It was Fula!

She raised the longsword in her hand, attempting to block that lethal arrow.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound rang out.

Fula's body was forced to retreat repeatedly by the immense force of the arrow.

The poisoned arrow was successfully parried.

But a wisp of black poisonous gas crept along the sword blade and spread onto her arm.