Chapter 6: The God-Forsaken Land

Mary stepped onto this glowing little path, took a step forward, but in the blink of an eye, she was back where she started.

Looking closely, the light before her vanished, the dust scattered, and the little path disappeared.

“What’s going on?” An anxious Mary turned back to ask Aude, only to find the path made of dust appearing beneath Aude’s feet.

“Legend has it that the Path of Soul Songs leads to the place where the gods fell. Only pure-hearted beings can set foot upon it.”

Aude’s voice was calm and clear. She took a step, and the clump of dust scattered again, drifting in the air for a while before regrouping into a path not far from everyone.

“Then what about Will?”

“The brat didn’t sleep in the middle of the night; he snuck up wanting to kill the Hunter Rat King.” Samir jumped down from the tree, stirring up a ground full of shimmer as he landed.

“Coincidentally, the Hunter Rat King broke free from its restraints a step ahead and fled toward the Path of Soul Songs. Will only had time to grab onto the King’s tail and was taken into the path with it.”

“Good grief, that kid. I almost want to praise him for his grip strength.” Jack scratched his head.

They had found Will with great difficulty, only needing to wait for dawn to go home.

Who would have thought that although Will cried buckets during the day, at night he’d stage a performance of “I know I was wrong, but I’ll do it again next time.”

Three nights had passed since Will ran away from the monastery; Mother Anna must have discovered he was missing long ago and was surely frantic with worry.

Mary secretly regretted not keeping a closer eye on that audacious brat. He had been lost twice now.

But something wasn’t right.

“Will is a child with a pure heart; it’s somewhat reasonable that he could enter the Path of Soul Songs.”

“A ‘pure’ child who’s always shouting about revenge,” Samir muttered.

Mary turned a deaf ear, as she had another question that needed answering. “Lord Aude, when I woke up, I found all the mercenaries in the camp were asleep. Yet you all left the camp and are standing here completely awake.”

“Am I to believe that you deliberately allowed Will to seek revenge just so you could follow him and find the Path of Soul Songs?”

“What? Lord Aude, is this true?” Jack asked in disbelief.

“I was indeed the one who hypnotized you and the other mercenaries.” Aude maintained her cold expression, her tone and pitch unchanging, as if she wasn’t the one being questioned.

“You were also the one who released the magic restraints on the Hunter Rat King, weren’t you? There are no coincidences, only man-made opportunities.”

“I did indeed release the restraints on the Hunter Rat King as well.”

“In your eyes, is Will’s life so insignificant that it can be used and discarded at will?”

Aude merely gazed at the Path of Soul Songs in the distance, saying nothing.

Mary’s hand gripped the hilt of her blade. Jack and his men also looked displeased. The atmosphere was at a breaking point.

“Alright, if you don’t know how to speak, then shut your mouth!” Samir stepped between Aude and Mary, speaking impatiently. “Actually, our initial plan was to follow the Hunter Rat King to find the Path. Aude was indeed the one who let it go, but she didn’t notice Will crouching nearby at the time.”

“After the incident occurred, we immediately gave chase, but we couldn’t catch up.” The coachman, York, stood firmly by Aude’s side, fearing Mary and the others might suddenly lash out and harm her.

Mary was skeptical of their explanation. “Your Lord Aude just said that only pure-hearted beings can enter the path.”

“Right, can a Hunter Rat King even be considered a pure-hearted being?” Jack also questioned.

“I also said it was just a legend,” Aude replied from behind the two men.

“Huh?”

Aude stepped out from York’s protection, and Samir made way. Aude walked calmly up to Mary.

“Troubadours always exaggerate.”

“From beginning to end, only magic beasts can enter the Path of Soul Songs.”

“Will was simply an accidental tag-along.”

During the time of year when the daylight is strongest and the moonlight is entirely absent at night, the finest glowing dust near the center of the Misty Forest forms the Path of Soul Songs, pointing toward the Land of Divine Abandonment—the place where the gods fell.

The gods are gone, but their power remains intense.

Whenever this time arrives, the kings of the magic beasts in the forest tread upon countless “paths of light” to reach the Land of Divine Abandonment.

“Then why can’t humans step on it?” Jack tentatively placed his foot on the “light path,” and several mercenaries secretly followed suit. Without exception, none could step on it.

“Because the fallen god was the protector of magic beasts.” Samir answered everyone’s question while hanging upside down from a tree branch.

“What god wouldn’t favor their own kin and help outsiders instead?”

Magic beasts must rely on devouring their own kind to evolve into lords of a region, only then earning the qualification to walk the Path of Soul Songs and absorb the power left by the gods, in hopes of evolving once more.

“If a magic beast king evolves again, it will become a new god.” Aude’s expressionless words shocked everyone.

“Become a god?”

“It’s that simple to become a god?”

“So they followed the Hunter Rat King because they also want to…” A shocked Jack and his subordinates began to whisper and exchange ideas, and all sorts of outrageous guesses emerged.

“Hey, hey, hey, why are you gossiping about people to their faces? I can hear everything from up here in the tree.” Samir’s voice came from above their heads. “I already said it’s the protector of magic beasts; how could humans possibly use His power to become gods!”

“Besides, Will has been gone for quite a while. You still have the heart to gossip here? What, are you not in a hurry now?”

Of course they were in a hurry. If what Samir said was true and the kings of magic beasts were gathering in the Land of Divine Abandonment, then Will was a little snack that had delivered himself right to their door!

“I’m very sorry. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive and accused you without evidence. I hope you can forgive me.” Mary didn’t hesitate, looking sincerely at Aude and bowing to apologize.

Though she had acted out of urgent concern for Will’s safety, she had indeed wronged the elite team. An apology was only right.

“Oh, I forgive you.” Aude forgave her.

“Lord Aude, thank you for not taking offense at my impudence.”

“Mm, no thanks needed.” Aude didn’t need her thanks.

It seemed this Lord Aude really wasn’t very good at talking.

Better to ask someone else.

“Lord Samir, do you know how to enter the Path of Soul Songs?”

It was common knowledge that the forest where the elves lived bordered the Misty Forest, and from the south to the east, these two forests were mandatory passage. In terms of knowledge about the Misty Forest, everyone present likely couldn’t compare to Samir.

“Hmph, I have to tell you just because you asked? I only felt sorry for that brat, otherwise I would have left long ago.” Samir leapt down from the tree, landing lightly.

After giving Mary a haughty side-eye, he took out a small green wooden flute from the pouch hanging at his waist.

He placed the wooden flute to his lips and played; the melody was melodious and lingering.

A miracle occurred. The leisurely drifting dust seemed to harmonize with the melody, throwing themselves one after another into the “light path.”

Samir’s flute didn’t stop, and more dust drifted from between the leaves and the forest, merging into the increasingly dazzling Path of Soul Songs.

The light of fireflies could actually rival the brilliance of the sun and moon.

Finally, a new Path of Soul Songs took shape. Samir put away his flute and was the first to step onto it.

Without the dust scattering, the elf stood firmly on the new “light path,” the radiance illuminating his exquisite features and his proud, smiling face.

“Let’s go, follow me to save the boy!”

There was no time to lose. Mary quickly stepped onto the Path of Soul Songs, hurriedly thanking Samir before sprinting along the path.

Jack and several of his brothers followed closely behind, followed by the elite team.

This road was extremely long, winding and twisting with no end in sight.

The path was not very wide, so the group had to form a long line and run at full speed.

But this didn’t hinder Samir.

The elf’s movements were nimble; with a few flashes, he flipped over their heads, accelerating slightly to move from the back to a position between Mary and Jack.

“Lord Samir, how is it that after you played the flute a few times, this path became walkable for humans?” Jack asked while running.

“Because the Goddess of Nature and the Protector of Magic Beasts knew each other.” Samir jumped again, this time directly passing Mary.

“Long ago, thousands of years in the past, the Goddess and the Protector were already friends. They both loved music and would often gather at the border of the two forests, one performing music while the other danced gracefully.”

“After the Protector of Magic Beasts fell, His dissipated divine power surged, rushing out of the Misty Forest and affecting the Elven Forest, even threatening to spread throughout the entire south.”

“It was the Goddess who suppressed this chaotic power with Her supreme divine strength, confining it within the Misty Forest.”

“From then on, an un-dispersible mist rose within the Misty Forest—a manifestation of the divine power being imprisoned. The wild beasts in the forest, influenced by this divine power, gradually evolved into the magic beasts of today.”

“But doing so had a drawback.”

“What drawback?” Mary was enthralled, the question escaping her lips.

“Masterless divine power instinctively seeks a master. Whenever the sun rises and the night recedes, it unconsciously gathers from all parts of the forest, forming the current Path of Soul Songs and flowing into the Land of Divine Abandonment.”

“Originally, the divine power would naturally dissipate once daylight appeared. Through such continuous cycles over a long period, this power would eventually disappear quietly and steadily forever. But that speed is simply too slow.”

“So the Goddess passed down a song, instructing the elves to play it whenever they encountered the Path of Soul Songs to accelerate this long process of fading. However, things changed once the magic beasts began absorbing the divine power.”

“As you already know, a magic beast king that absorbs divine power has a chance to advance into a god. Magic beasts are ferocious; a few have brains, but most have lost their reason. If one becomes a god, it will certainly bring disaster to the region.”

Mary had a flash of insight. “So, that is the true purpose of the major guilds joining forces with the Adventurer’s Guild to issue the bounty.”

“Exactly! Capturing the Hunter Rat King alive to let it lead the way was the first step.”

“The second step is to reach the Land of Divine Abandonment and kill the other magic beast kings.”