Chapter 699: The Ethereal Butterfly

The corpses would soon attract more beasts. If they stayed, they would be forced to fight another battle. Moreover, the rotten carcasses might even bring a plague and spread diseases among the soldiers.

Under the command of the various leaders, the soldiers of the allied forces quickly dismantled their camp. They salvaged the resources that were still usable and discarded those that could no longer be needed.

"What should we do with the monster corpses and their beast soul crystals?" Alaric asked the Astanian Emperor.

They had killed a considerable number of beasts, leaving thousands of beast soul crystals to be extracted. He was tempted to take all these resources for they could be distributed to the beast soul warriors in their army.

However, the Astanian Emperor wasn’t on the same page as him.

"We leave them here. If we stay here, we do not know what kind of monster would come." John Phillip Astania responded with a serious expression.

"The safety of our troops is our top priority. We cannot take such a risk when we do not even know how far we are from our destination." He added grimly.

Hearing this, Alaric nodded, understanding his meaning. "Alright. I will find Lord Bellator and inform him of the situation."

The Astanian Emperor nodded. "Go on. I do not sense any movement in his location. Perhaps the fight there is also over."

Alaric saluted, turned around, and left. Yskaela followed him.

...

Bellator looked down and stared at the dying monster in the middle of a crater. It lay in a pool of blood, its huge body covered in cuts and burns.

"You should have listened to me. It didn’t have to end this way." He sighed with a shake of his head.

He tried to persuade the beast to surrender, but it was as stubborn as it could be. It refused to lower its head. Even when Bellator had beaten it back and forth, it just snorted proudly.

The beast looked at him, its body trembling. "I have been betrayed by you humans time and again. I will never trust you humans again!"

Its voice was filled with hatred and loathing.

"Fine. I respect your decision." Bellator gave up.

The flame divine spear hovered above him covered in fearsome flames. With a gesture of his hand, it tore through the air and penetrated the monster’s head.

Khshk!

The flame divine spear impaled deeply into its skull and nailed its head to the ground.

The beast’s proud eyes slowly dimmed, its life force slipping away.

"What a pity. I could have used it as a pet." He clicked his tongue, looking quite regretful at the missed opportunity.

Suddenly, he sensed two presences approaching.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Alaric and Yskaela landed behind him.

"Lord Bellator." Alaric nodded and turned his eyes on the huge monster beneath the crater. He was astounded. Although it was already dead, he could tell at a glance that it was a monster like no other. It brought him immense pressure.

"It is a fine creature. Too bad it is too proud to lower its head." Bellator tapped his shoulder with a wistful sigh.

"So that is a Calamity-grade beast. It looks terrifying..." Yskaela mumbled, also stunned by the beast’s appearance.

With a stern expression, Alaric nodded in agreement.

Bellator chuckled. "It is strong, but its power is limited by its poor bloodline. It must have taken it thousands of years to reach this level. In Cangnan, such beasts are aplenty."

Just as Alaric was about to respond, Bellator furrowed his eyebrows and gestured at him with his hand.

"Something is coming... and it is more dangerous." He mumbled as he stared in a certain direction.

With his power as Beyonder, he could sense two formidable monsters approaching, and one of them was a lot stronger than the beast he had just killed.

I thought this was just an ordinary forest. It seems like I have underestimated it.

"Go and inform the others to make haste! I will try to reason with it!" Bellator didn’t wait for his response and hurried in the direction of the approaching monsters.

Looking at his disappearing figure, Alaric looked at Yskaela and spoke with urgency. "Let’s go!"

He had never seen Bellator looking so serious before.

Whatever he saw must have been something that could destroy their allied forces.

The two quickly left to relay this information to the various leaders.

Meanwhile, Bellator intentionally released his aura to announce his presence to the monsters and also to deter them from advancing.

Unfortunately, the monsters didn’t seem to be afraid of him. They didn’t slow down.

With a frown, Bellator mumbled.

"Is this a Cataclysmic-grade monster? No... It’s not there yet, but close."

Soon, he finally caught sight of the two monsters.

One looked like a winged giant deer with golden horns. Its neck was covered in a thick brown mane similar to that of an alpha male lion. Its hind legs resembled the legs of an eagle.

The other one was a butterfly with glittering, ethereal wings. Its body was almost incorporeal, looking like an illusion, so mysterious and beautiful.

Bellator landed on a tree branch, his eyes fixed on the two.

A beast with peryton bloodline?

He raised an eyebrow when he saw the deer-like creature, but when his eyes landed on the ethereal butterfly, he revealed a trace of fear.

Impossible! That is...

"So it has come after all." A graceful yet resonant voice of a woman drifted into the air.

Bellator looked at the butterfly, forcing himself to calm down. "What is a spiritual being like yourself doing in this forest?"

Mist began to spread around the butterfly’s figure as it slowly transformed into a white-haired woman. Her skin was pale like the snow untouched by the sun. Her image was indescribable. If there was a goddess, they would look like her.

The woman spoke with an unchanging tone. "The place you are headed to is fraught with danger. If you go there, there would be a great upheaval."

Bellator couldn’t understand her words.