Forest Stirred
First, he had inexplicably absorbed Noel Nrack's memories; now he had somehow absorbed the elephant's memories.
If it had only occurred once, Ricky would have attributed it to some mysterious phenomenon.
But now he couldn't.
It appeared that once he became Stage 2, he had gained the ability to absorb memories as well.
The revelation greatly shocked Ricky.
Once he understood what had happened, he focused on analyzing the elephant's memories.
Hmmm?
The elephant's memories unfolded in Ricky's mind like a low-quality TV show, most of them fragmented and difficult to understand.
Ricky ignored the discomfort and continued browsing through them.
Most of the time, the elephant was either feeding on leaves or resting, but recently, the number of encounters it had with fully armed humans was increasing at a rapid rate.
Just yesterday, the elephant had to run for its life.
Ricky's thoughts moved at lightning speed, analyzing all the information to make sense of the situation.
From the very start, there had been something wrong with this forest.
First, the strange man's corpse found in the Stone Courtyard—it was still unclear who had killed him.
"Then there's also Harrier village..." Ricky muttered, a lost look in his eyes, his antenna twitching in nervousness.
Not just Harrier Village—he couldn't forget Noel from the Iron Fang Legion, or Seraphina from the Radiant Knight Order either.
All of them had been inexplicably drawn to the forest devoid of mana.
However, this wasn't what truly made Ricky uncomfortable.
What really unsettled him was the strange aura that seemed to have descended from the heavens above, pushing these mindless animals toward something greater.
The forest was like an ancient monstrosity that was finally stirring awake.
...
Cold wind howled like a banshee.
The silvery moon was inexplicably bright today; the chaos below seemed to have attracted the attention of the celestial body.
Radiant Knight Order Headquarters.
A gigantic statue of a man, more than ten kilometers in length, stood defiantly, seemingly challenging the heavens themselves.
This statue was of the founding knight of the Radiant Knight Order—
Great Knight Theodore Demonbane.
It was said the great knight was a divine sculptor capable of giving life to stone; this statue had been carved by himself from a single piece of BlueIron Marble.
No one knew its true purpose, but it was said that when the world was once again overrun by demonic beings, the statue would come to life and end them once and for all.
Ordinary people believed the rumor and worshipped Great Knight Theodore Demonbane as the world's sole savior.
Over time, a city had been established around it, and the headquarters of the Radiant Knight Order was eventually moved here from the Eldros Kingdom capital.
Inside a castle built on the statue's shoulders—
Seraphina stood with a serious expression on her face, her black hair tied back into a ponytail. She looked all formal and composed.
While escaping from the forest, she had received an urgent summons from the headquarters.
Although she had wanted to continue investigating her brother's whereabouts, she had no choice.
As she thought, her eyes unconsciously drifted toward the man sitting in front of her.
He appeared to be in his early twenties—looking even younger than Seraphina herself.
But Seraphina was well aware that this man was as old as the ancient fossils buried ten thousand feet into the ground.
Feeling her gaze, the man's eyes stirred. He turned to look at her before quickly turning his head away.
Just a glance, and Seraphina felt as if her head had been struck by a hammer; the storm of spiritual force almost fried her brain.
She gently used her jade-white hand to wipe the streak of red that had appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Thankfully for her, the feeling vanished as quickly as it had come.
Seraphina's eyes flashed with a stubborn look; although it hurt, it allowed her to understand Marcus's power better.
From what she could tell, the Vice Leader was very strong—far beyond that mosquito. She even had the feeling that, if he wanted to, the Vice Leader could easily crush the pest to death.
"Ahh! Little Seraphina, when will you learn? You can't directly look in my direction..."
The man spoke in a gentle voice, like flowers blooming, immediately filling Seraphina's body with surging vitality.
Seraphina's mind trembled in awe at the terrifying display of power.
She took a deep breath to calm herself and asked in a shaky voice, "Vice Leader, why did you call me..."
Hearing her words, the man gently nodded. The young-looking man was none other than the Vice Leader of the Radiant Knight Order—
Marcus Rolligstone.
He could even be said to be the de facto ruler of the Order, as the leader of the Radiant Knight Order hadn't appeared in years. The entire Order was managed by Marcus Rolligstone.
Ignoring his own cultivation, which stood at the peak of Stage 2, his authority alone made him one of the top ten powerhouses of the entire Eldros Kingdom.
Marcus looked at little Seraphina and resisted the urge to facepalm; he had warned her repeatedly, but she wouldn't listen.
If he accidentally killed her, Marcus didn't know how he would explain it to his precious daughter.
Marcus internally shook his head and shifted his attention back to Seraphina.
Once he noticed her spiritual power fluctuating, a smile appeared on his face.
"Good! You're very close to breaking through..."
Marcus's praise was genuine; every Stage 2 being was extremely important to the Order.
Although the Radiant Knight Order was the peak power of the Eldros Kingdom, the number of Stage 2 beings it possessed was no more than twenty.
From that alone, it was clear just how rare a Stage 2 being really was.
Although Seraphina was feeling giddy inside, she didn't show it; she was sure the Vice Leader hadn't summoned her just to praise her.
Seeing how calmly Seraphina accepted the praise, Marcus was once again gratified.
Suddenly, his eyes turned sharp as he moved to the important topic.
"The tomb of Demon Queen Noctyss was discovered in the Ten Thousand Emerald Green Forest..."