Human vs Divine vs Beast-kin (II)

(P.O.V General Gravion, one of the three Major Generals, of Kingdom of Dragons)

A man in his later forties with brown hair stood fixated towards the distance of the Forgotten Forest. His silver and green military uniform with three stars on his shoulders gleamed with gold. His name was Gravion Helio.

They have traveled for three days nonstop with the army. There has been disturbing news that the Black Gryphon had been spotted at the edge of the Forgotten Forest. The King had ordered all three major generals to take the armies and kill the Black Gryphon.

This was a suicide mission if they were to go against the Black Gryphon. But, General Gravion had a nagging suspicion there was something else. One can't help but think that the King has more of a reason to want to make war with the supposed Black Gryphon in the Forgotten Forest.

Though this is a fabrication in itself. There have been rumors that there is a high wizard who can create God's Blood and God's Magic living here. Others stated that it's the deal with the devil that produces these strange inventions and magic, but honestly, he didn't think so.

Spies had been placed outside the Forest to monitor these groups of people, or should he say the Beast kin. But so far they haven't found any High Wizard anywhere.

They weren't able to follow them inside the Forgotten Forest. Something strange is living in that woods, making it impossible to find the way out. There have been weird noises, monsters that have never been seen before, and even mist that could dull one's senses. He didn't know how they were able to bypass all that and come out unscathed.

The famous Wonder Shop creates unusual inventions and even creates the priceless God's Magic and God's Blood sold for quite a reasonable price. It doesn't compare to the Bishop's high-quality God's Blood, but it's enough to rival the quantity sold. He heard that their God's Magic and God's Blood are actually called Red Potion and Blue Potion.

What was even more groundbreaking was the new Red, and Blue Potion that has come out is five times more effective than their regular sold Potions. If he remembers them correctly, it's called High Red and Blue Potion. In which case, these High Red and Blue Potion rivals or even exceeds the Bishop's God's Blood and Magic by three folds. Such a thing should have been impossible, but Wonder Shop has miraculously made it. They even had quite a bit of powerful backing from other kingdoms because of their quality products, in which case they are all super A-plus grade times.

No shop in the human kingdom can rival such a product. This had created the Bishop to move against the buying of the Potion on a national level. How is it possible for the Wonder Shop to develop such high-quality Potions. It's truly unheard of.

Not only that, their inventions are revolutionary. It all started with the lamp lights, then not even three months past this so-called refrigerator, bathtubs, toilets, and many unusual devices that he had never heard of. Even saying these words was challenging in itself. But every nobles were scampering around trying to buy up these products that come by month from the Forgotten Forest.

Personally, he believes the Magic Stones that are brought out to sell to the ordinary folks are truly more priceless than any items that they have sold so far. These so-called Magic Stones have the power equivalent to a low-level mage, and anyone can use magic with a single word to activate. Even if it can only be used once or a couple of times, it's enough to bring a completely different strategy to war and the daily lives of the people.

Everything that the Wonder shop has given out is groundbreaking to the point where one wonders who is the genius behind all these products. Honestly, it's frightening, what else could this person make, what else could this person do with all this power in their hand. It makes him shiver thinking about such things, but it's reality. Whoever this person is, it will be best if he dies or keeps in check.

He knew that the King wanted the secret ingredients to create these products very badly for himself. The King had sent many spies and even people to negotiate, but they had failed or disappeared.

There is something sinister living in this Forest, he bet his life on this fact. The King has lost his mind to greed, but he was surprised that the other Kingdoms haven't moved yet to deal with them. Words have been sent to the other generals to meet up together to take down this so-called wizard that sleeps in the Forgotten Forest.

General Burn will arrive in less than a week, while General Slovan will be here in two. When everyone is present, they will march in and take custody of the Wonder Shop. The plan is simple, surround, and conqueror on all sides.

The three Generals were the famous army of the King. The undefeatable, three kingdom general, where other kingdoms fear for our might. It is just one high wizard and a group of slave Beast-kin, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. He believed that all three generals being here is a bit too much for one wizard. Either way, the King wants it done this way, and so it shall be done.

A week has passed, and General Burn arrived with his group of fifty thousand archers. While he has brought over One hundred thousand foot soldiers. Their green flag with a burst of a lady with wings for an arm was present on their flags. Even the soldiers were all wearing silver armor with green cloth intricate entwined with their clothes.

Mix not too far away from them was the eastern General Burn archers with their blue colors. Each and every one of them were elites that have been hand-picked by General Burn himself.

"General Gravion." An elderly man with brown hair and a strong jawline approached me. He was clad in complete silver and blue military clothes with three stars on his shoulder.

"You're finally here, General Burn."

The two men faced each other and grasped each other's hands.

"I'm glad that you made it."

"Same. How is the situation here? Anything unusual happened?" asked General Burn, who was looking toward the Forgotten Forest.

"None whatsoever."

"That is a relief. I don't want to deal with any strange occurrence with the Forgotten Forest any time soon. Honestly, I rather not bother the Forgotten Forest at all."

"Really? I don't think there is much to it."

"I think you're not taking this seriously."

"I actually am." General Burn half-heartedly chuckled. "We can't be too serious all the time, can we?"

"True, but this is a problem. So far, we haven't been able to even map out a fourth of the Forgotten Forest. I keep losing my men in the Forest. At this rate, it might be better not to send them in at all."

"That wouldn't be a good idea. I'll send in my scouts. They're better at this type of mission. Salvazar!" General Burn called a timid small archer that looks more like a young teenage boy than a soldier stepped forth and saluted.

"Yes, sir!" Salvazar stood up straight. He had a falcon on his shoulder with beautiful white colors winged. "How might I assist you?"

"Send Lily up into the sky and scout out the forest with your magic."

"Yes, sir." Salvazar tossed his falcon up into the air and whistled. He suddenly sat down on the ground and closed his eyes.

"What magic would that be?" General Gravion asked, curious about what he was doing.

"He's able to see through the eye of his bird. It's quite a useful ability for scouting. If only we had a couple more of him, it would make information gathering a lot easier."

"So this is your famous spy. I'm impressed."

"That's not all he could do. He's even able to transform his bird into a powerful falcon beast that could devastate a small platoon."

"I see." Scratching his chin, General Gravion watched with interest in what Salvazar would do next. He sat still, doing nothing but zoning out. It took awhile for Salvazar to finally awaken in his trance. The bird came flying back and landed on his arm.

"What did you find out, kid?"

Salvazar stood up with an anxious expression. "I don't know if you'll believe me, but there is something strange inside the Forgotten Forest. A weird magical power that's covering up at the multiple locations inside the Forgotten Forest. Almost like barriers. If I didn't have my powers, no one would've been able to find the place, it's definitely something one can't find with the naked eyes. Reading the energy signature of magical energy was the only way, and that was difficult."

"How many were you able to find?"

"So far, I only have found three." Salvazar picked up a wooden stick as he started to draw out the three locations for them. "Two of them are small, while there is one giant in the middle of the Forgotten Forest. I���m positive there are more pockets of these strange barriers around the Forest. I'm also positive that the high wizard might live in one of these pockets of condensed high-level areas of magic…"

"Which one do you think he's in?"

"That…." Salvazar went silent and was engrossed in his thoughts.

"Is something wrong?"

"Here." He pointed at the biggest circle out of three. I feel a very strong condensation of high-level energy that I have never felt before."

"Is that good or bad?"

"We can look at it in two ways. We found the high wizard, which is a good thing, or we found us a high wizard with formidable power. One could say that he's monstrous."

"That….is a problem."

"Don't worry. Don't worry." General Burn saying with a grin. "We found what we are looking for, that is the most important thing. We'll wait for General Slovan to bring in the magicians. With our formidable lineup, do you really think that it won't be enough?"

General Gravion wasn't sure what to say and thought genuinely of what Salvazar stated. Something was in the Forest, and it was definitely something they needed to be wary of.

Suddenly voices of the people resounded outwards around the field, catching everyone's attention. He turned around to see what was going on, large groups of people started to move towards the injured soldiers that came tumbling out of the Forest. They were bloodied and tattered from horrible cuts and wounds. They were quickly brought over towards the infirmary as the other soldiers gathered together, wondering what was happening.

General Gravion quickly went over towards the infirmary to see what was going on. Opening the curtain backward, he stepped in. There weren't many injured soldiers in the room, but they were a couple that came back alive.

The injured soldiers were covered in puss and bruises. One of the two was delirious and was screaming out loud in agony. Healers came running in, healing the injured as quickly as possible.

"What's going on?"

"Sir!" The majority of the healers got up in salute.

"Stand down. You can get back to work."

"Yes, sir!"

"So how did they become like this?"

"We're not sure, but we're positive that these acids come from a plant."

"A plant?"

"Yes, this corrosive acid that leaves behind a blue color hint is only found in plants. In total, there are seven different types of plants that could spit out this nasty stuff. All of them are carnivorous plants."

"Carnivorous plants, you say…" He didn't like those words at all. This meant that this Forgotten Forest was filled with them. How was it possible for the Beast-kin to be able to get out of this Forest alive? It's truly a wonder. The only viable solution is that they must have a specific route that they follow, but so far, we were not able to find a particular trace of such things.

"General…" A weakly voice called out towards me. The injured soldier that was on the bed reached out towards me. He came over and held onto his hands.

"They are….monster that shouldn't….exist in the Forgotten Forest…." He coughed badly.

"What do you mean? What kind?"

"A Blood Mare War Horse….Black Fire Wolf…and even a One hundred face Spider…" He coughed out blood.

"A Blood Mare War Horse, Black Fire Wolf, and even a One hundred face Spider?! What are they doing here of all places? None of those rare creatures should be living here of all places." He was completely shocked.

"O-Our scouts h-h-have been slain b-by the One Hundred Face Spider…. I c-c-ouldn't do anything, General." The man shuddered as he coughed up more blood.

A Blood Mare War Horse is considered number one in horses that any kings or famous generals want as their steed. Finding one stallion is difficult enough, but to find a Mare that leads the herd is so rare that only one of them is born in each lifetime. They run freely from plain to plain all over the world, so to find one here was unexpected.

While A Black Fire Wolf lives in the volcanic regions with their packs. Even A Black Fire Wolf only appears once every hundred years. They usually appear in front of people, and if one does, they are killed before their prey could tell anyone. Only a handful had a glimpse of a Black Fire Wolf and lived to tell the tale.

Not only that, a one hundred face spider was an evil omen indeed. They are only found in the deepest part of the Forest of Delusion in the Kingdom of Titan. One could say that they have a voracious appetite for meat and even known to torture their prey for hours before eating them.

These three S class monsters are considered a deadly threat to mankind. The thought of running into one of these three made him shiver. He wants to stay clear away from them, but the possibility of that happening is close to ten percent.

There were more things we need to consider when entering into the Forgotten Forest. Hopefully, we would have enough to do what we need to do. But he feared that there was something more sinister living in this Forest.