My Celestial Ascension

After two weeks of continuous travel, the expedition party of thousands finally saw the light outside the Forest of Never Return. The entire journey had been very dangerous from the beginning, and they lost many people while defeating and eradicating the corrupted creatures.

Though they had to sacrifice many lives to achieve this feat, in the end, it was worth it. With the help of Yuan and his wives, they managed to keep the casualties to a minimum and successfully complete the mission by eradicating the corrupted creatures completely.

Now, two weeks later, they could finally see the sunlight outside the dangerous forest, and a gentle smile appeared on many faces. They had made it out of the forest, alive.

“T-This is it… We’re finally out of the forest,” a young hunter mumbled in a dazed voice, gazing at the vast open field before her eyes.

“F-Finally… Finally, we’re out of the forest! This is great!”

“I-I can’t believe we came out of the dangerous forest alive!”

“We seem to have made history today! Our names will be written in history!”

As soon as they emerged from the forest, the air filled with excited murmurs. Some people even began to shed tears of joy.

After hearing the numerous murmurs, a kind and satisfied smile appeared on King Richard’s face as he looked at the people celebrating their safe return.

However, looking around, he noticed something strange. The carriages and the people they had left behind to take care of them were nowhere to be seen.

“Your Majesty, it appears that we have arrived at a different location than where we entered the forest,” Archmage Isadora said to King Richard, standing beside him.

“Apparently, that seems to be the case… I wonder where we are,” King Richard sighed deeply and looked around, trying to figure out their current location.

Archmage Eldrick surveyed the surroundings for a moment before saying, “It looks like we came out two hundred meters away from where we entered the forest.”

“And how are you so sure about that, Archmage Eldrick?” Crown Prince Daniel asked, a curious look on his face.

“Well, it’s quite simple,” Archmage Eldrick chuckled, pointing his finger at the rows of massive trees in the distance. “See those trees? They should have been on our right side…”

“But they’re currently on our left side… I see now,” Crown Prince Daniel nodded in understanding after looking at the rows of massive trees in the distance.

When they entered the forest, those rows of massive trees were on their right side. However, they were now on the left side, making it quite obvious that they had exited the forest by a different route, leading them to a different location.

“Now let’s head back to where our carriages are and get away from the forest. I feel very sick after staying inside for such a long time,” Arthur said, coming from behind with an irritated and frustrated tone.

“Here he goes again… At this rate, his personality will never change. He’ll always be an arrogant bastard,” Crown Prince Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Some people never change. So, you don’t need to worry about others; focus on what matters most,” Archmage Isadora replied with a gentle smile, also feeling that Daniel’s behavior was very revolting.

“Our carriages are parked two hundred meters from here. Let’s keep moving until we arrive there!” King Richard’s loud voice suddenly resounded, reaching everyone’s ears immediately.

“Understood, Your Majesty!”

Everyone nodded immediately, their voices filled with excitement and anticipation to return to the city and meet their friends and family.

King Richard then began leading everyone toward the location where their carriages were parked, where a group of people was protecting them and waiting for their return.

After traveling for a few minutes, they could finally see their carriages parked at the edge of the forest, and a group of almost a hundred people relaxing in smaller groups, appearing to be playing some kind of board game.

The group of people was totally focused on their games and had no idea that the expedition party had returned from the Forest of Never Return and was now approaching them.

Suddenly, one of them noticed the presence of many powerful figures approaching from the distance. He immediately became alert and turned around.

As soon as he turned his head, his expression froze. He saw King Richard and everyone else coming toward them. At first, the man didn’t believe it and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things or dreaming due to drinking too much with his friends.

“A-Am I seeing things because I’m drunk, or am I really seeing His Majesty and everyone else coming our way?” the man mumbled in a low voice, rubbing his eyes repeatedly.

The others looked at him with confused expressions, seeing him suddenly act so strangely.

“Hey, Orto, what are you mumbling about? Did you get drunk from drinking so little?” another man asked, laughing.

“Youngsters nowadays are so weak, they can’t even handle a small glass of alcohol… How disappointing,” another man sighed deeply before drinking his entire glass of alcohol in a single go.

“I’m not muttering nonsense, look over there! His Majesty and the others are coming our way… They’ve completed the mission!” the man shouted, pointing his finger toward King Richard and the others behind him.

“…”

“What did you say…?”

Everyone looked at him as though they had heard something unbelievable, and they immediately became conscious as if they had never been drunk at all. They all turned their heads and saw King Richard and the others coming towards them. From the look of it, they had won the war against the corrupted creatures deep within the forest.

“Quick! His Majesty and the others are coming, hide the drinks or else we will get punished by His Majesty if he sees them!” One of them quickly ordered the others to hide the alcohol bottles and clean the area, removing any sign of their drinking.

A couple of minutes later, King Richard arrived near the carriages and saw that the group he had arranged to keep an eye on the carriages was doing their job.

However, his nose quickly picked up the smell of alcohol in the air. As a strong Master Rank mage, he could not miss such a detail; it was clear that the men had been drinking a moment ago.

‘So, they’ve been drinking while we were away…well, I can’t blame them since they took care of the carriages,’ King Richard sighed inwardly and decided to forgive them.

“Y-Your Majesty and everyone else, we welcome you all back!” One of the men stepped forward, bowed his head towards King Richard and the others, and welcomed them with a trembling voice, fearing punishment for drinking in broad daylight.

“Hmmm, prepare the carriages. We will leave this place at once.” King Richard didn’t say anything further and entered his carriage after a brief conversation with Archmage Isadora and the others.

At the same time, Yuan retrieved their carriage from his system storage and tied the horses to it. Shortly, the carriage was ready to drive.

“Finally, some fresh air. I was bored staying inside the forest for so long…and now we can finally relax,” Yuan mumbled as he tied the last horse to the carriage.

“Indeed. I feel terrible inside the forest, not being able to take a bath for so many days… I can feel my clothes and skin being sticky… ugh, it’s very irritating!” Mireya muttered with a frustrated look on her face, feeling disgusted by her body odor. As a High Elf, she liked to stay clean and hygienic, but due to circumstances, she wasn’t able to clean herself inside the forest.

“Well, don’t worry, there is a massive lake not far from here. We can all clean ourselves there when we arrive,” Yuan said to her with a smile before getting inside the carriage as it was about time they started moving toward the capital.

Anna and the others also got inside the carriage following Yuan, and at the same time, the other carriages were ready to move.

Then, Lily got onto the carriage, took the role of a coachman, and shortly drove the carriage forward along with the others.

Sometime later, they arrived at the location near the lake where they had set up camp before entering the Forest of Never Return. Since it was about to get dark, they decided to set up camp in this place once again. Most of the people were tired from moving inside the forest, so this would be a good place to rest for the night.

Once all the carriages had stopped, King Richard emerged from his luxurious carriage, along with representatives from other nations. They looked quite tired since their carriages didn’t have the suspension systems like Yuan’s.

King Richard ordered a few people to set up the tents and then looked at Archmage Isadora and said, “We will be spending the night here. Once the sun comes out, we will resume our journey. What do you think, Miss Isadora?”

“I think it’s wonderful. Since everyone is tired and needs rest, including ourselves, this place is quite good as there is a water source nearby,” Archmage Isadora replied with a smile, looking at the vast lake in the distance with a dazed look on her face.

‘I have to find a good opportunity to clean myself at the lake. It has been many days since I last cleaned my body… It was extremely terrible for me…’ Archmage Isadora thought, her gaze fixed on the massive lake, the cool water sparkling on the surface under the evening sunlight.

Meanwhile, Yuan finished setting up the tent while his mom Anna and Ava prepared food for them with the help of Leah. As for Lily, she was sitting with Grace like a boss lady.