World Online

They faced not a single beast on their way.

The calmer the situation, the more turbulent the storm that was going to come. Jake knew it.

If the Evil God had no intention of stopping them even as they were rapidly gaining on Loviel Territory, that could only mean that he was utterly confident that when that beast that had roared from the distance got to them, it would destroy this group.

"Whatever that beast is, these people are expecting it. They know what we are up against. I can only hope to god that they know what they are doing." Jake muttered as he kept walking.

To the side, the trees, unmarked, could only mean that they were walking straight in the right direction.

Jake\'s own map that was currently functioning told him that they were just a few hours away from reaching Loviel borders.

And the moment they reached Loviel Borders, the sun would shine bright enough to repel any evil beasts.

"We are almost upon the borders. Just a dozen more miles to go. At any point, we might face a barrier, or an ambush. We have to be prepared for this." Ganshin shouted.

The party didn\'t pause. It kept moving, and the pace went up even more. At this point, Jake was no longer walking. He was race walking, with his feet barely on the ground.

His sword was back in his inventory. Even though it did increase his agility a little, it wasn\'t quite comfortable walking so quickly while waving his sword.

Jake took a quick survey of his surroundings, a small scan that he was undertaking every hour to make sure that he wasn\'t missing any important details around him.

Sometimes, the slightest changes in the forest could mean that someone was almost upon them.

And yet, this forest seemed lifeless. It made no sense that not a single beast had come to stop them. No matter how strong that beast was supposed to be, why would the evil god just stop pursuing them and stop them?

"That evil beast might even be of the sixth tier, for everyone\'s faces to be so tense. We don\'t even have Father Joseph with us. We have to be so careful at this time." Jake sighed and told himself.

Jake momentarily paused to catch his breath before he was back to speed walking again. And as he did that, in the corner of his eye, he felt like he saw a blur.

A blur of black that just rushed ahead of him.

"Enemy! There might be an enemy!" Jake shouted as loud as he could, his sword appearing in his hands.

It was a pitiful display that he put together though.

If even the tier four and tier five powerhouses in front of him were so tensed about facing the beast that had just roared, then what good would someone like him do?

The entire party stopped, some of them looking around to search for this enemy, while others looked at Jake.

"Are you sure that you saw a beast?" The swordsman standing right next to Jake asked.

"I am not fond of lying. I saw a blur of black, a blur that is only possible if a beast runs by me fast enough. The beast that you all recognized, is it extraordinarily fast?" Jake asked.

"You… all you saw was a blur of black. It could be a bird, for all we know." One of the swordsmen shook his head, irritated by this halt.

"Alright. Look around. Show me one living being around me and I will agree with you that it is a bird. In the entire journey back, have we seen a single living thing?" Jake asked.

The man who just spoke paused, unable to come up with an answer.

Meanwhile, Ganshin was at the front, looking around, frowning.

"No. I do not sense any evil presence. But there is nothing wrong in being on the look out." Ganshin shook his head and said.

"And to everyone else in the party, you might think that we are carrying this young noble of ours here to drag us down because of aristocracy. But let me remind you all that he was the only one with me in the center of the labyrinth when all of you were late." Ganshin glanced coldly at the swordsman who looked irritated.

"And he is also the reason that we were able to defeat the Ninth with such ease. If it weren\'t for him, maybe I would have even lost my life." Ganshin said.

Everyone maintained silence.

"You are too flattering, Sword master, but as you said, if I am wrong, I am wrong. Let us keep moving. I don\'t want to keep the party any longer." Jake nodded at Ganshin.

At the least, he was happy that at least one person stood up for him.

Ganshin nodded back and looked forward once more. They started walking again, and were back to a frighteningly fast pace.

Jake was the only one here who looked like he was jogging. Everyone was just walking, but their strides were insane. Each stride took them what a couple steps took Jake.

"I could swear that I saw a beast." Jake muttered to himself as he looked around once more.

The trees were still, the bark unmarked, and the leaves not even moving even though cold wind seemed to blow against them.

There was nothing wrong about the surroundings, except the absence of life itself.

And yet Jake was completely certain that there was something else in the shadows along with them.

Something that was following them, and something that came close enough for Jake to be able to see it.

"How can we be so sure that it can\'t suppress its evil energy. Damn this, I am so sure that our enemy is with us right now."

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