A miracle. That was the only thing inside Zuria's head at this moment. How could he not think like that after witnessing the scene in front of him?
The purple sludge, now the size of a small ping-pong ball, continued to shrink as if being devoured by an unknown force. Zuria didn't dare go near, afraid he would end up like that too.
Not to mention his broken body was in no condition to move around.
Every ounce of his body was in pain. Even the small act of moving his jaw felt as though a bodybuilder were punching him.
Right now, all he wanted was the comfort of a soft bed, to lie down and rest his weary body to death. But he knew that staying still in this place was a form of suicide.
He wanted to analyze and make sense of what had just happened, but he was in no mood, and had no time, to think about it. So he forced his body to move, though not toward the deep part of the forest. He wasn't stupid enough to charge straight into that hell.
Who knows what kind of creatures are waiting there?
He tried to circle back toward the outer layer of the forest, while avoiding the place where he had first entered.
Zuria continued to walk with trembling legs in silence. But his mind was far from quiet. It was busy making plans, deciding where to go from now on.
None of the depressing thoughts came this time. He was too scared, too stimulated, and too tired to wallow in misery.
The Abyssal Forest was located in the western part of the Gwanbelt Empire, and it was absurdly huge, so vast that crossing it on foot took months. If he wasn't mistaken, he was walking north right now, and if he kept going like this, it would take two months of travel just to reach the forest's edge and the nearest settlement.
There was a small village near the northern entrance of the forest.
Thinking that way, he kept walking, then suddenly stopped. He gritted his teeth as if he had realized something.
No, I can't go there! If I think of going there, they must be thinking the same!
He knew who "they" were: the people who had pursued him, the rebel army and its assassins, who would assume he was dead and be waiting to make sure of it if he wasn't. They would definitely check the nearest, most logical escape route. A frown deepened the lines of dirt and dried blood on his face.
His gaze flicked up, piercing the gloom of the dense canopy above. The thought of walking for two months only to find a bunch of killers waiting for him sent a fresh spike of panic through his chest, overwhelming the constant throb of pain. He didn't have the right preparation or the time. Maybe he could fight them, but they would come after him endlessly.
He needed a better idea, a riskier one.
"They'll expect me to run toward the light," he muttered, his voice a dry, gravelly rasp that hurt his throat. "To the settlement, to the safety of the Empire's roads."
Although he was anxious and worried, Zuria kept walking north, still muttering between ragged breaths.
"If I don't stop at the village and keep moving, I'll reach the end of the continent in three months from here. The sea..."
"Gwanbelt has 24 nations and many villages spread far and wide across this continent. All under the Empire's rule..."
"If I choose to go... Where should I go? A place that can stand up to the Empire..."
He stopped muttering and pondered his destination as he kept walking. His injuries were much heavier than before he entered this forest.
Curse those bastards! Curse those fucking Demonic Beasts!
No. I can't let anger cloud my mind! Let's think again. The leader of the Rebellion was Duke Saphoron. He was the Emperor's youngest brother, which makes him the younger brother of this body's father too. My uncle.
The previous Emperor of Gwanbelt had three children. Alfred Inverio D Gwanbelt, the Emperor. Fredrin Inverio V Epemerald, the Southern Duke, this body's father. And lastly, Claude Inverio V Saphoron, the Eastern Duke.
A thought, sharp and cold as a shard of ice, pierced the fog of his exhaustion.
The sea is too far. Too exposed. Even if I made it, the Imperial Navy rules those waters.
Two months of travel, broken and hunted, was a death sentence masquerading as a plan. They wouldn't just check the village. They'd secure the whole northern coast.
Assuming I'm still alive, they'll keep searching until they see my dead body. That bastard uncle is a paranoid man. He won't rest easy until there are no enemies and no loose ends left.
Just as he was thinking, trying to distract himself from the pain, a sound that wasn't the forest's usual rustle broke through his stupor. It was a rhythmic, crunching sound of footsteps. Heavy. Too heavy for a deer, too measured for a predatory beast, and too light for another gigantic one.
Someone was close. A human!
He took a combat stance and summoned the Fireball again. It hovered above his right hand.
"Well, well, well! What do we have here?!"
The voice was heavy and deep, spoken in a playful tone, as if its owner were amused by the sight of Zuria.
From the direction of the deep Abyssal Forest came a man in menacing armor.
The armor was a stark black all over, looking less like forged metal and more like cooled volcanic rock. Its surface wasn't polished. It was dull and pitted, as if it had absorbed every scrap of light and sound from the world. Along the edges of the breastplate and gauntlets, the metal was jagged and splintered, giving it a tooth-like appearance.
The helmet offered no discernible features, no eye slits, no vent holes, just a smooth, featureless dome of shadow that made it impossible to guess where he was looking.
Despite the intimidating appearance, Zuria was more fixated on the helmet. With no holes for eyes, how can he even see in that thing?
The armored man stopped at the treeline, a dark silhouette against the shadowed wood, standing there like a ghost in that black armor.
No one spoke for a few seconds before the armored man broke the awkward silence with a cough. "Cough... Kid, I don't know if you're brave or stupid, but coming here is the dumbest thing you've ever done in your entire life."
He paused, looking Zuria over from head to toe with a slow, scrutinizing, mocking gaze. At least, that's what he seemed to be doing...
"Nonetheless, I have to congratulate you for surviving this long in here. That's no small feat. You can be proud of that, at least."
The armored man let out a soft, dry chuckle that scraped across the silence of the forest.
"I've spent a year in this hellish place, boy," the man said, his voice losing its playful tone and turning cold and hard as stone. "And I know a rat when I smell one. You reek of the city, of noble blood, and of cheap panic. Now, the congratulations are over. I have two questions, and you only get one chance to answer them correctly."
Zuria felt the air suddenly turn heavy, making his breathing hard and labored. A pressure like a boulder pressed down on him, and the sudden panic made the Fireball in his hand vanish.
"First," the armored man said, raising the index finger of his right hand, "what's going on right now in the Empire?" He waited for Zuria's answer.
Though nervous, Zuria answered the man's question.
"Duke Saphoron rebelled. He succeeded in killing his two brothers and nearly their entire families..."
"What?!" the black-armored man shouted, as if in disbelief, a sudden, explosive sound that cut through the forest's gloom.
"Saphoron!" the man rasped, his deep voice thick with genuine alarm. "He... he succeeded? Both the Emperor and the Duke of the South?"
Zuria was relieved that the suffocating pressure was gone. This man was clearly an enemy of the new regime, which made him a potential, if temporary and unstable, ally.
"The capital fell two weeks ago," Zuria confirmed, his throat tight. "I was with the Southern Duke's family. We were ambushed during the retreat. Saphoron's forces are hunting down any survivors."
The armored man lowered his head, the featureless dome of his helmet seeming to focus on the ground. A heavy sigh rattled inside the black armor.
"What a foolish man... Whatever, what's done is done. Now for my second question. What do you want to do now, boy?"
Zuria swallowed, the dry air scratching his throat. The pressure was gone, but the immense danger this man represented remained. He pondered for a while in silence before finally making up his mind.
"I want to go far away from the Empire. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore," he said with strong conviction.
Honestly, Zuria was feeling really stressed and just wanted to go somewhere to relax. All that throne-and-ruler business felt so exhausting and troublesome.