Lord: I can see loyalty.

Just as the churning black mud was about to completely engulf Glenn, a roar that had been building up for decades erupted from his mouth!

ah--!!!

It didn't sound like a human roar; it sounded more like the howl of a wild beast.

Glenn's eyes, which had been empty with shock, were instantly filled with almost manic rage.

He didn't retreat at all. Instead, facing the oncoming torrent of black mud, he used all his strength to swing the greatsword in his hand from bottom to top with an extremely angry upward slash!

call! ! !

The giant sword, carrying an invisible impact, slammed solidly into the front of the black mud monster.

It poured out with the most savage force! The viscous black substance was blasted backward by this terrifying blow, and large amounts of filthy mud splashed backward.

The monster's massive body was forced backward several meters by this brute force, leaving a charred, corroded mark on the ground.

Glenn didn't stop. He rushed forward, his greatsword becoming a series of afterimages as he frantically slashed at the monster.

The giant sword sank deeper and deeper, then savagely stirred and pried open, as he searched for the face he had just seen.

Finally, after a heavy blow that nearly cleaved the monster in two, the sticky black mud failed to completely close up for the time being.

Ignoring the burning pain from the highly corrosive mud splattering on his arms and cheeks, Glenn stared wide-eyed into the filthy darkness.

But there was nothing there.

There were no more densely packed heads, only churning black mucus; the mother's face, which had been so clearly visible just moments before, seemed like a hallucination.

But Glenn knew it couldn't be a hallucination.

The black mud monster seemed to have been defeated by the rapid series of blows from the giant sword, and was slowly emitting a foul stench before becoming still.

A few minutes later, when the monster's aura completely disappeared, the remaining barbarian warriors of the Haro tribe quietly retreated, leaving behind the terrified militiamen.

The battlefield was filled with the silence of survivors, with only the groans of the wounded and their heavy breathing.

"Glen! Are you alright?" The one-eyed captain and the tall, thin captain led their men over, and they were both shocked when they saw Glen's appearance.

His body was covered in wounds and black mud, and his face was bloodless. Glenn did not answer.

He slowly turned around, his gaze passing over the village and landing in the deepest part of Mount Loba, where the sacred forest was located.

He gripped the greatsword again, then strode off towards the forest.

The one-eyed captain quickly stopped him, "Glen! That's the Harlow tribe's stronghold! Are you going to your death alone?!"

"Let's wait for the Count!" the tall, thin captain hurriedly said, his rapier pointing towards Bordeaux. "Reinforcements will be here soon!"

Glenn stopped and looked at them, his voice unusually calm: "Don't worry, I'm not going to my death."

He raised his hand and pointed to the forest: "That thing has appeared, but it is clearly not the real thing. Ronan, the king of the forest, said that their lair is deep in the mountains."

"I need to...I'll go check things out ahead first." He paused, his voice even lower, "..."

The one-eyed captain gritted his teeth: "Damn it, I'll go with you! More men mean more protection!"

"No." This time, it was the tall, thin captain who spoke up to stop them. He calmly analyzed, "One-Eye, you and I are both exhausted. Captain Glenn is currently... in a special condition, but we can't all lose our minds."

"Savannah village has just been attacked. The defenses need to be rebuilt, the wounded need to be treated, and more importantly, we must have someone here to wait for the Earl's reinforcements and to accurately inform them of everything that has happened here."

He then looked at Glenn, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "Captain Glenn, I understand how you feel, but please be careful. We will stay here, please come back alive."

Glenn looked at the tall, thin captain, then at the one-eyed man with a face full of anxiety, and slowly nodded.

He didn't say anything more, but patted the one-eyed man and the tall, thin captain hard on the shoulders, then turned around, carrying the filthy greatsword on his back, and strode into the dense forest in front of Mount Loba without looking back.

His figure quickly disappeared into the trees.

The one-eyed captain slammed his fist into the wooden fence beside him, muttering under his breath, "That idiot!"

The tall, thin captain stared intently in the direction Glenn had disappeared, his brow furrowed. He quickly ordered those around him, "Quickly, clear the battlefield, treat the wounded, and reinforce the defenses!"

He knew that the Haro barbarians' offensive might not be a single wave.

……

Glenn, upon entering the forest, was not as completely dominated by his emotions as he appeared.

A cold mountain wind blew, and the stinging pain on his cheeks and arms cooled his boiling body slightly. He began to force himself to think, just as he had done countless times before, sorting through clues.

"Is it an illusion created by that monster? Or... are my mother's remains really there, just quickly moved away..." He carefully chose his footing, avoiding the soft mud that might hide danger, while recalling every detail.

Ronan's words might be the key...

The gray-robed man and the distorted symbol that my mother encountered back then were very likely brought by members of a cult that worshipped that black slime monster.

But what do they do with the believers? Sacrifice them? Transform them into those immortal Haro warriors? Or... directly become nourishment for that monster?

Glenn felt a chill run down his spine.

If that were the case, his family would probably be dead by now... He gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down again. No matter what the outcome was, he had to take revenge on that monster.

He followed the subtle traces left by the Haro people during their retreat.

The deeper you go, the taller and older the trees become, the dim light and the damp, cold air become.

He began to encounter sporadic Haro tribal sentries, but they were all dealt with quickly and efficiently, as if he had returned to being the village guard of Kuoqiao Village.

After an unknown amount of time, he emerged from an unusually quiet thicket of strangely twisted trees, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

This was a clearing in the woods halfway up the mountain. It was quite large, but the sight made Glenn realize something was wrong, and he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

The land in the center of the open space was stained dark red and barren. Several rough stone pillars stood around it, with distorted symbols carved on them from the mother's belongings.

The stench of decay in the air was even stronger than what I had smelled at the village entrance before.

What was most unsettling was the silence of the open space; there were no insects chirping or birds singing, which was clearly illogical.

Glenn slowly stepped into the open space, each step extremely cautious.

His gaze swept over the stone pillars and the dark red ground, and he could vaguely sense that someone was watching him.

As he walked to near the center of the open space, he suddenly heard a very slight cracking sound under his feet.

He lowered his head and carefully used the tip of his sword to pry away a layer of soft soil.

What's visible below are still distorted symbols, but a layer of blood plasma floats on top.

Just as he panicked at this discovery, several short figures silently appeared behind the twisted stone pillars at the edge of the clearing, blocking all his escape routes.

At the same time, on the dark red soil in the center of the open space, the soil began to bulge slightly, as if something was about to break through the earth.

Glenn took a deep breath, but his face showed no fear. He gripped the greatsword tightly, and his muscles and veins began to tremble.

He had already discovered the enemy's ambush, or rather, this was also his ambush.