My Celestial Ascension

As they progressed farther into the Forest Of Never Return, the atmosphere and surroundings changed dramatically; they could only feel it but not see it clearly since fog obscured their view.

They could detect many powerful presences within the fog; their very presence made the majority of the lower-ranking Hunters shudder in fear, as they had never encountered such scenarios before. Most of them have never encountered such powerful, dangerous beasts.

The current monsters' presence is twice as powerful as the Orc Lord they destroyed not long ago; the Orc Lord was already intimidating for some Hunters, and now they are sensing the presence of even stronger monsters; why wouldn't they be scared?

"Be cautious and be vigilant; we are broadcasting the presence of incredibly strong monsters ahead, and I'd prefer to avoid confronting them as much as possible..." King Richard's voice resounded, making everyone in the party become more serious and vigilant.

Everyone agreed with the King that dealing with numerous formidable monsters at once would be extremely difficult for them.

Not to mention that a few Hunters, Warriors, and Mages had already sustained injuries from the previous fight.

Although their injuries have healed, they have not yet returned to full health. It would take some time to replenish their stamina and health, and they couldn't even protect themselves without attacking.

'Confronting monsters may result in significant injuries and even death...I will attempt to avoid those monsters as much as possible.' King Richard thought with a serious expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Holy Son Aurther was quivering with fear as he sensed the presence of a strong creature lurking close, which worried him and prompted him to pray to the goddess of light and justice for protection.

'Fuck! Why did His Eminence assign me on this mission? I should never have accepted this and stayed at the church in luxury; this is not what I wanted!' He cried inwardly, and his expression was horrible.

"Holy Son, are you feeling okay?!"

Suddenly, one of the Holy Knights pushed his horse closer to Aurther and urged him to notice the pale expression on his face, as if he had seen a ghost.

*Cough!* Auther cleared his throat at hearing that. "No…I am absolutely fine. Let us continue moving forward."

Damn it! Damn it. If I lose my cool here, I will shame myself, the Empire, and the church. This is such a pain in the ass!' Aurther yelled inwardly in frustration, and the prospect of the beasts he would confront made his body shiver.

"It's good that you're doing well, Holy Son. Please let us know if you have any problems." Said the Holy Knight.

Crown Prince Daniel was paying close attention to Aurther at this point, and seeing the pale expression on his face, he was delighted and decided to taunt the Holy Son a little, as such an opportunity rarely comes around.

"Holy Son Aurther, please excuse my audacity, but you appear quite pale; are you sure you're okay?" Daniel murmured, a devious smirk flickering over his lips, a clear provocation to Aurther. "Do not tell me that the esteemed holy son of the Holy Light Empire is afraid of simple monsters? It would be a real shame if that were the situation here."

"…You!" Aurther's face went incredibly ugly after hearing Daniel's remarks; his face twisted in displeasure, and he wanted to skin Daniel alive.

Even though everyone was looking at him, he took a deep breath and managed to maintain his composure.

"No, I'm good, thank you," Aurther said calmly, but inside, he was screaming like a madman.

'This bastard! I'll never forget how humiliating this was! How could he try to make me thinner in front of so many people? I will make him pay…!' Aurther exclaims inwardly, gritting his teeth with frustration.

"I see…In that case, please assist us in battle if we come across any monsters," Daniel said, furrowing his brow and smiling deviously. "You've been standing on the sidelines, watching us do all the work, but that won't do this time."

"Presumptuous! How dare you expect anything from the Holy Son?"

One of the Holy Knights exclaimed angrily, laying his palm on the hilt of his sword as if to threaten him.

"When did the dogs of the holy church get so brazen to address the Crown Prince of the Lionheart Empire in such a tone and manner?!" Daniel frowned and released a powerful pressure from his body, making it difficult for the Holy Knights to breathe.

"Crown Prince Daniel, you have no authority to discipline my bodyguards; remember your bounds." Seeing that Danial was punishing his bodyguards, Auther expressed frustration.

"Oh! So why don't you put a leash on them? Do your guard dogs have the right to speak to me in such a way?" Daniel gazed at Auther with a bold smile and a mocking tone.

Even though Aurther is the Holy Son of the Holy Light Empire and the Holy Church of Light and Justice, Daniel is not afraid of him simply because he is a significant character in the continent's most powerful empire.

After all, even if the Holy Light Empire is the continent's largest empire, it cannot openly provoke another empire; the opponent is also an empire.

Furthermore, the Lionheart Empire boasts some of the continent's most powerful soldiers and magicians, and their numbers are quite large in comparison to the Holy Light Empire.

The Holy Light Empire relies completely on its connections and influence, which stems from spreading its ideas about the Goddess of Light and Justice to other nations.

They have created several churches around the continent to preach their views, and the majority of them have grown into powerful branches capable of performing a variety of things inside their respective nations.

"I want to remind you to keep your pets under control, Holy Son. Or they'd be killed for their arrogant behavior; don't take it too seriously; it's simply a reminder." Daniel smiled, but Aurther didn't see it as a grin; instead, he saw it as mockery.

"I hope you do well against the creatures... " Daniel then left Aurther alone with his guards, a wicked smile playing on his lips as he approached his aunt, who was speaking with Yuan's wives as they continued to walk forward.

'Daniel, you bastard! How could you...? How dare you warn me?! I'm going to skin you alive, you and that other bastard!' Aurther yells within, agitated, and directs a hateful stare at Yuan.

Yuan raised his brows, looking in the direction of the deadly intent, and noticed Aurther staring at him, angry.

Seeing this, Yuan twisted his lips into a mischievous grin and extended his middle finger to Aurther. And witnessing this, Aurther's features twisted in annoyance, and his face began to turn red with anger.

The Holy Knights also saw Yuan's brazen provocation of the Holy Son, but unlike before, they did not dare to act rashly, having seen the consequences of their arrogance before.

'Fuck this guy, he's not terrified of the Holy Son at all; who is this person anyway?'

The Holy Knights wondered why Yuan was so daring as to provoke the Holy Son.

After reaching his aunt, Daniel congratulated her on defeating the Orc Lord and obtaining an outstanding weapon that fitted her wonderfully, but when he looked at Yuan, he became confused.

'Didn't he become my uncle after accepting my aunt as his wife? But he's so young; what should I call him then?' He was puzzled, perplexed, and glanced at Yuan with a complex expression.

After a moment of consideration, he chose to address him just by his name, as calling him 'uncle' felt strange to him. "So Yuan, aren't you going to face strong monsters? After all, you didn't even assist us destroy the Orc Lord."

Yuan glanced at him for a time before responding, "Well, I didn't join the battle because I was convinced that you guys would defeat the Orc Lord without me."

"I see…Well, it's a shame you didn't join the combat; it was a lot of fun."

"That may be the case... But I've battled and defeated an Orc Lord before," Yuan said with a smirk, recalling the encounter he had in Clover Town.

"You've faced an Orc Lord before?! That is great!" Daniel was astonished to hear this because he never imagined Yuan to have fought an Orc Lord at such a young age.

They continued to travel forward, and the atmosphere was scary and horrible, with so many powerful monsters lurking under the dense fog, but happily, they hadn't encountered anyone yet.

As they progressed farther into the forest, the dense fog that had previously obscured their view began to dissipate, and they could now see what lay ahead.

They could see gigantic trees that were extraordinarily tall, with massive trunks deeply anchored in the ground; the atmosphere was neither hot nor cold, but rather the ideal temperature.

Everyone was taken aback by the environment, which was both beautiful and dangerous, as they could see gigantic claw marks all over the trees, large scratch marks, and some with blood traces as if this was the territory of a ferocious creature.

"The marks...What kind of monster has such large claws?!" King Richard gazed at the claw marks, astonished, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Those claws couldn't be those of an average S-rank monster; they had to be something higher-rank." General Valeria spoke after examining the claw marks for a while.

The claw marks were deep and ran straight into the tree, indicating that the creature possesses exceptionally keen claws capable of tearing away any charmed armor with ease.

"Do you have any notion what kind of beast this mark might belong to, General Valeria? After all, you've spent a lot of time practicing inside various woodlands." King Richard inquired, a troubled expression on his face, as he had no idea what kind of creature they may encounter at any given time.

And if it's a territorial monster, it'll hate their presence in its region and will go to any length to kill them, so they must be cautious at all times. Furthermore, in a few hours, it will be dark, so they must find a location to spend the night.