Chapter 4: The Depths of the Dark Forest

The subsequent exploration was incredibly smooth, almost unnaturally so. The magical beasts they encountered along the way were even weaker than the previous day.

“Something’s off. We’ve clearly delved deep into the Dark Forest,” one person frowned.

“Could the companion beast of the man-eating vine be nearby?” the scout speculated. “Perhaps it has devoured the mid-ranked beasts that could boost our strength.”

Everyone became alert, sensing that lethal danger could strike at any moment.

Song Ze listened from the side. He knew the coming situation was far worse than they imagined!

Rather than a single high-rank magical beast as they feared… what would actually appear was a rampaging tide of beasts.

Rare high-rank beasts would be everywhere in that tide, and even the relatively strong students wouldn’t survive a single breath.

All of this stemmed from the game’s main quest: the invasion of the demon race.

The demon world had successfully activated the teleportation array deep within the Dark Forest, attempting to conquer the human continent and even sacrifice members of other races.

Every anomaly now was merely because the teleportation array leaked demonic energy, agitating high-rank beasts. The true disaster would come later when the demon army—with its terrifying levels—marched forth.

Fortunately, this was late-game content. He was almost level 16, riding the experience wave, so he wouldn’t encounter the demon invasion.

Of course, in the game, this plot was only meant to introduce a new love interest: the demon princess. But recalling that terrifying target of affection, Song Ze felt a chill run down his spine. He even started wondering if he could avoid the main storyline.

Just then, a cold wind swept through. Vines suddenly spread across the ground, lunging at everyone.

Their faces turned pale. “Man-eating vines! And so many—”

In the cramped forest, there was no open space to dodge. They had no choice but to grapple with the vines. Unfortunately, the vines were troublesome to deal with; a single misstep could entangle them, leaving everyone flustered.

Song Ze was the first to hide beside Aliel. Even the man-eating vines seemed to know their place; none dared to stretch toward her.

Aliel glanced around coldly, her brow slightly furrowed. The next moment, dazzling light fell from her fingertips. Several streaks of energy radiated outward, severing all the vines and turning them to ash.

“Thank you, Lady Aliel,” the group said gratefully. Without her, they would have been entangled for who knows how long.

“It’s not over yet,” Aliel said, her jade eyes darkening. “So many man-eating vines mean there must be an even more powerful beast behind them.”

The ground shook. Leaves scattered as a hideous giant beast appeared before them. It resembled a lizard, with cold eyes and saliva that corroded fallen leaves on contact. The aura of a high-rank beast pressed down on them, making it hard to breathe.

“A fifth-rank giant lizard!” someone exclaimed. “Why would such a high-rank beast appear here?!”

“Terrible! Even Lady Aliel might struggle against this…”

Panic spread. These were mere students from the Paladin Academy, at most level twenty-something in power. A fifth-rank beast was easily over level fifty; ordinary students had no chance of survival.

Song Ze knew that Aliel was actually a level 99 powerhouse. But while disguised as a human, not only was her appearance sealed, but her strength was also restricted… Of course, dealing with this beast was still a piece of cake for her, but it would expose her astonishing power, and her true identity might be discovered.

“Everyone leave,” Aliel commanded coldly. “I can handle this alone.”

Some hesitated, but under the pressure of such a powerful beast, they lacked the courage to stay. They cast an apologetic glance and hurried away.

When the surroundings quieted, Aliel’s gaze at the giant lizard turned even icier. Just then, a figure suddenly ran out and stood in front of her.

Aliel’s jade eyes clearly reflected the back of that person. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Song Ze, why did you stay?” Aliel’s face darkened as she grabbed his slender wrist, which seemed fragile enough to snap. “Leave now! This is no time for games.”

Song Ze turned around, his body trembling slightly from fear. Tears welled in his blue eyes, but he showed no intention of leaving. His voice quivered. “A useless person like me has no purpose in living.”

“But, Lady Aliel, you are the empire’s future… the rising sun… the one I admire most…”

He took a deep breath, trying to muster courage, but tears streamed down uncontrollably. He wiped them hastily and said, “You go first! Even I can hold out for a while…”

Aliel was momentarily stunned.

[Aliel’s affection increased by 30. Current affection: 81.]

The giant lizard was drawing closer, and vines were about to ensnare them again.

Aliel’s expression shifted. She held Song Ze’s hand tighter, then pulled him aside. Before Song Ze could react, she tore a teleportation scroll glowing with holy light and tossed it along with a ring onto him.

Song Ze caught the ring instinctively, staring at Aliel with a tear-streaked face, as if to ask something. The next moment, teleportation energy engulfed him.

He vaguely saw the rare gentleness in Aliel’s jade eyes and heard her soft murmur.

“Idiot…”

A violent dizziness overwhelmed Song Ze. When he opened his eyes again, he was somewhere else.

He clutched the ring Aliel had thrown him. It was a storage ring, stocked with supplies, healing medicine, bandages, and even self-defense functions.

Storage rings were rare in this world, each worth a fortune. And the teleportation scroll Aliel had used, a life-saving treasure in times of crisis, was priceless. Yet she had unhesitatingly used them on him.

All his hard work had paid off—he finally raised Aliel’s affection to 80! This was the threshold for a guaranteed successful confession.

Song Ze was moved and carefully put away the ring. This was proof of his wife Aili’s love! In the game, such an item would definitely be a token of love! He would cherish it for life!

“Speaking of which, where is this?” Song Ze looked around. Normally, the temple’s teleportation scrolls would send someone to the vicinity of the temple or the teleportation arrays around the Paladin Academy.

But where he stood now, the demonic energy was thick enough to be almost tangible, and the surroundings were pitch-black without a hint of sunlight. No matter how he looked at it, this was the depths of the Dark Forest.

Song Ze: “…??”

What… is going on?

He took a few confused steps forward when suddenly light appeared ahead. That light, however, gave him an uneasy feeling.

He crept closer and immediately caught a strong smell of blood. The scene before him left him stunned.

The ground was littered with horrifying corpses, demonic energy rampant. In the midst of it all sat a young boy, hugging his knees. He had short black hair like crow feathers, appeared around fifteen or sixteen, with skin whiter than snow and red eyes like the most beautiful gems. His countenance was stunning.

The boy trembled among the corpses, with dazzling light streaming down from the branches above, casting a glow on him.

Any passerby would think this boy was the sole survivor protected by a group of mages.

His demeanor was so noble, yet he carried an innocence that only the most lavish upbringing could provide, pure and beautiful like the child of a god.

‘He must be from a royal or great noble family.’

‘He must be terrified after such despair. I have to take him out of here.’

But Song Ze knew that this seemingly innocent and harmless boy was actually the demon princess disguised as a human—Andreya!

She wasn’t trembling from surviving a disaster; she was trembling with excitement from killing.

The demon princess was also one of the game’s love interests. When she first appeared, she disguised herself as a boy for convenience.

But Song Ze hated her. He absolutely didn’t want to pursue her.

…This person was an extremely cruel yandere girl, with an intense possessiveness toward her beloved and a terrifyingly high combat power.

Although yandere is a cute trope, being blackened and imprisoned by a yandere girl, getting ridden and pounded every day felt great… but only if she didn’t try to kill the other harem members!

Andreya… really killed them. That was why it was so hard to achieve the harem ending in this game. Song Ze had played until he died from overwork just to barely avoid capsizing.

In the game, eight out of ten bad endings he got were because of her! And those bad endings were all horrifyingly tragic.

Song Ze instinctively wanted to run away.

But as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Andreya suddenly lifted her head.

She looked at Song Ze from afar and flashed a fragile smile. In a soft voice, she called out, “Brave young warrior, please save me.”