Chapter 1 Scorched Earth

The air reeked of acrid, burnt matter and a strange ozone-like odor, as if the very air had been ionized.

A considerable swathe of forest had been incinerated. Something wielding intense heat had ravaged the area, laying waste to hundreds of ancient trees and leaving behind a trail of smoldering, scorching earth. As far as the eye could see, charred trunks lay scattered on the ground, interspersed with impact craters of varying depths, and embers smoldered in every corner, refusing to be completely extinguished. A thick layer of ash blanketed the desolate landscape, like grey-black snow.

At the edge of this fiery wasteland, the black pine forest writhed as it attempted to heal. The trees and undergrowth, shattered by the shockwave, rustled and groaned, visibly growing back. But their recovery was clearly hampered: only the vegetation at the fringes of the scorched earth could successfully regrow. Where the flames had utterly consumed everything, not a single sign of plant life could be seen.

The powerful life cycle of the black pine forest had been halted by the power emanating from the Gorgon Abyss. It had taken the Empire centuries to "carve" a Greenway out of the edge of the Black Pine Forest, yet a Lord-level Gorgon demon had easily and permanently destroyed a section deep within the forest.

This fact astonished even the Broken Sword Knight, Kaim, who was quite familiar with Gorgon demons.

Seeing the still-smoldering, almost unhealed wasteland before him, the dark-skinned warrior wore an expression of disbelief. "I've been gone a long time… but these burnt black pines haven't even begun to regenerate?"

"Is that so unusual?" Hao Ren raised his eyebrows. He had assumed this was a normal phenomenon caused by the power of the Gorgon demon, but he didn't expect even Kaim to be so surprised.

"It's… not right," Kaim nodded. "Although no Gorgon demon has ever rampaged through the Black Pine Forest before, scholars have continuously studied both. In theory, Gorgon fire shouldn't be able to completely extinguish the Black Pine Forest's life cycle. The fact that this area hasn't recovered… is definitely off."

Lily, her mind normally filled with novels, blurted out, "Maybe that 'Demon Lord' also has a protagonist template, with some kind of 'domain' ability."

"Domain? What's that?" Kaim was baffled. "Some kind of magic?"

"Never mind her. It's hot here, and it's affecting her mental state," Hao Ren casually pushed Lily aside, observing the large expanse of charred forest ahead to find any traces related to the "demon." "Speaking of which, we've dealt with demons quite a bit, but we don't really know much about Gorgons. Are they particularly territorial?"

He wasn't exaggerating. He and his companions dealt with demons quite frequently. The content of their dealings included, but was not limited to, playing Dou Dizhu (a Chinese card game), Mahjong, hotpot, barbeque, and occasionally asking demons to exchange gas tanks. If they were to test their demonology knowledge, Hao Ren dared to say he'd at least be at the master level.

"Territorial? More than just strong – Gorgon demons are practically insane when it comes to territory. Once they establish themselves somewhere, you can't take back the land unless you tear them to shreds. Even approaching that land is out of the question."

As Kaim spoke, he removed his weapon from his waist – the strange-looking black metal baton. His close-fitting armor shimmered with a faint, almost imperceptible glow, and dim light flowed through the seams. The baton hummed softly, then two beams of red light, each over a meter long, suddenly extended from both ends.

Hao Ren was searching for signs of the enemy when he saw the Broken Sword Knight suddenly produce a double-bladed lightsaber. He was so startled that he instinctively blurted out, "Wait – do you Broken Sword Knights have to say 'May the Force be with you' before you fight?"

Kaim, who was tense and alert to his surroundings, was completely bewildered by Hao Ren's interruption. "The Force? What is that? The only things with us are the Knight's Oath and Her Highness's glory…"

"Oh, never mind. Your weapon is just too similar," Hao Ren quickly chuckled, trying to cover up his embarrassment. "Speaking of which, Broken Sword Knights probably don't usually team up with outsiders, right?"

Kaim frowned, wondering why Hao Ren was asking about this. "Broken Sword Knights usually operate in small teams, and we rarely work with anyone outside of our order. Is there a problem?"

Hao Ren watched Kaim nonchalantly put the double-bladed lightsaber behind him, crouching into a guard stance, and nodded slightly. "No wonder. Your weapon is really unsafe. Anyone standing behind you could easily get accidentally stabbed when you sheathe your sword…"

Kaim felt like he was going to go crazy if he continued to communicate with this inexplicable guy: what exactly was the World Tree Temple for? Are all the people who come out of it mentally unsound?

Just as these battle-irrelevant thoughts were churning in his mind, a sudden surge of alertness seized his nerves.

Countless battles had cultivated the old warrior's combat instincts, and he quickly made the right choice: he shouted a warning, and his body exploded with speed, leaping aside at the last moment, while simultaneously swinging his lightsaber in a parry!

Two dark red beams of light shot out from afar almost the moment he took action. One beam struck the spot where he had been standing, melting a sizzling hole in the ground, while the other was blocked by the lightsaber. After its changed direction, it struck a black pine in the distance, snapping the giant tree in half.

Hao Ren had also noticed the enemy before Kaim's warning. His shield system activated instantly, and he raised the psionic pistol he had already taken from his dimensional pocket, firing three shots towards the scorched earth.

Three blue beams of light struck something in the air. Large chunks of blue crystal suddenly condensed in the seemingly empty space, then a strange-looking object hovering in mid-air revealed itself before shattering into crystal dust.

"Optical, magnetic, thermal mixed stealth," the data terminal completed its analysis of the target in an instant. "But gravity and information wave detection are effective – detecting more targets, marking them now!"

In Hao Ren's vision, a dozen blurry red figures suddenly appeared from all directions, rapidly approaching.

These must be the "Splinterlings" that Kaim had mentioned earlier – things split from Gorgon demons, somewhere between weapon and creature.

They had such impressive stealth abilities? Why hadn't Kaim mentioned such important information?

Just as this question popped into Hao Ren's mind, Kaim shouted, "Crap! This isn't good. These aren't the enemies we encountered before – there's another Gorgon Lord in the Black Pine Forest!"

"Damn it, this isn't just a slight intelligence discrepancy anymore!" Lily jumped up, her fur standing on end, and halfway through her shout, she suddenly sensed danger approaching from the side. Without thinking, she launched a kick, and with a loud bang, a blurry figure was kicked out of stealth mode, flying past Hao Ren's eyes with a series of sparks and crackling sounds.

Even though she maintained her human form, without even transforming her ears and tail, Lily's brute strength was still not to be trifled with.

"Careful, there are melee types too," Vivian immediately reminded, and centered around her, rings of static electricity, flickering with faint light, spread in all directions. As the rings expanded, the figures hidden in the air began to reveal their blurry outlines one by one.

Tiny sparks of electricity covered their bodies, disrupting the "Splinterlings'" cloaking abilities.

Everyone drew their weapons and unleashed their most proficient magic, beginning to battle the Splinterlings that had revealed themselves, but Hao Ren's attention was drawn to the one that Lily had kicked away.

That Splinterling had landed not far from him. Unlike the first attacker, which had been disintegrated into crystal dust by the psionic rays, it retained a fairly complete structure – although there were obvious signs of fragmentation and breakage in its midsection, its basic form was still discernible. It looked like a curved lobster, shrouded in a rapidly fading cloud of electricity. A complex carapace with obvious metallic features covered the monster's body. Its upper body had several alloy-forged limbs, each with a scorching light blade extending from the end. Its lower body had no limbs for walking or support, only a few glowing circular devices.

Hao Ren recalled the Splinterling's posture when Lily kicked it away, realizing that those glowing circular devices were probably used for hovering.

Ultra-low altitude hovering, high-speed stealth, equipped with photon blades – Hao Ren quickly summarized the characteristics of these "Splinterlings."

Looking at the Splinterling's metal body enveloped in a cloud of electricity, Vivian couldn't help but murmur, "It doesn't look… like a living thing."

The Splinterlings possessed stealth and high-speed capabilities, combined with an attack style that combined photon blades and laser beams, making them extremely deadly to ordinary soldiers. Fortunately, no one present was an ordinary soldier – even the weakest guards brought by Charlemagne possessed the ability to fight these Gorgon cannon fodder that weren't even worth calling grunts.

Various magical auras crisscrossed in the scorched forest, blocking out the laser beams, and enchanted swords formed impenetrable walls, resisting the assault of the swift melee units. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Vivian, Hao Ren, and Lily quickly cleared out the Splinterlings on the scene.

Leia didn't intervene at all. She felt that these "little things" were not a threat at all. Even Lily without transforming could wipe out all the enemies on the scene with headbutts, so she simply chose to watch and focus her attention on the practice workbook of the original body.

But at this moment, Hao Ren heard a low rumble coming from high above.

Kaim, who was bisecting a Splinterling with his lightsaber, heard the sound and his expression changed drastically. "It's a Gorgon Lord! It's coming!"

Hao Ren immediately looked up, following the sound, and a massive shadow appeared in the sky above him from the other side of the destroyed jungle.

It was a behemoth that resembled a manta ray, at least three hundred meters wide. It was enveloped in lightning and mist, and like the Splinterlings, it had a biological appearance and body structure, but was entirely made of metal. Runes and energy currents could be seen flowing between the constantly moving metal parts.

That was the so-called "Gorgon Demon."