I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 458: Crimson Earth

In the endless expanse of the forest.The sunlight was abundant, the climate hot and humid.

Centuries-old ancient trees could be seen everywhere, and towering millennium-old trees stood like small mountains on the undulating terrain.

Beneath this ocean of verdant trees lay a natural ecological garden composed of various shrubs, vines, ferns, and moss.

They were the nurturing beds for small lives like insects, squirrels, and snakes.

Don't underestimate these tiny creatures, because if an ordinary person walked through here, even if they didn't encounter dangerous monsters, the bites of these inconspicuous little things could cost them their lives.

Diseases that humans had never been exposed to could spread through them.

And right now, in a certain patch of forest, these insidious "assassins" suddenly fell silent in unison, as if sensing some terrifying aura.

Even the cicadas that had been recklessly singing because of the hot weather stopped chirping.

"Splash!"

By a calm, wide river, a massive, dignified reptilian head suddenly emerged.

Then came its entire body, its moist scales reflecting a bright red glow under the sunlight.

Clearly, this was a Red Dragon.

The moment it surfaced, it immediately checked the humanoid creature held in its claws.

Seeing that it was unharmed, the Red Dragon breathed a sigh of relief.

Then it moved its four limbs, heading toward the direction of the dense forest.

"Boom!"

Only after it had completely disappeared did the insects and small animals in the forest dare to poke their heads out of their nests to observe the situation.

Everything seemed to return to its usual liveliness.

These past few days, Hephaestus felt like it was in a very troublesome situation.

The Green Dragon Queen's Transcendent vassals in the forest must have already learned about the situation at the juvenile dragon lair. They had all gone insane, conducting a carpet search of the entire Emerald Forest, especially the area around the dragon lair.

Fortunately, Gauss had made the right decision before falling unconscious.

Go in the opposite direction; otherwise, on the very first day after completing the commission, they might have already been blocked on the way back by Transcendent monsters.

But this deception could only be temporary.

After failing to find any trace of Gauss, the Transcendent monsters began directing their many vassals to sweep deeper into the forest.

These past few days, Hephaestus had seen flying monsters soaring overhead several times.

Because of this, it had to move Gauss deeper into the forest, ahead of the ground search teams.

For now, there was no going back.

It also wasn't confident enough to take on Transcendent monsters and their monster armies with Gauss in tow.

If discovered, monsters would soon pour in endlessly, eventually overwhelming them completely.

During the constant relocation, Gauss slept like the dead, completely unfazed even as Hephaestus carried him around in its claws. That was probably the only good thing to happen recently.

Thinking about this, Hephaestus couldn't help but shoot a resentful glance at its master.

He was sleeping soundly, while it had been on edge day and night.

Hephaestus looked deeper into the forest.

Sensing the Transcendent monsters getting closer, Hephaestus racked its brain and finally came up with an idea.

Well, to be honest, it might not have been its idea.

The truth was that two days ago, a crisp, inexplicable voice had suddenly sounded in its head, reminding it.

At first, it was terrified, but after giving the suggestion, the voice didn't appear again, so it just chalked it up to an auditory hallucination.

No, it should be its hidden brain working overtime, thinking of the result.

Anyway, having been enlightened, it prepared to venture deep into the monsters' territory, cross the Emerald Forest, and enter a completely new monster territory.

If it left the Emerald Forest's range, presumably the monsters in that forest would be wary of the monsters in another region.

As for whether this idea was good or bad, there was no one around to analyze it for him now.

It could only think based on its own experience. Back when it was the local tyrant throwing its weight around near Gold-Silver Town, it had driven away and even secretly killed many monsters that invaded its territory.

Conflicts between monsters happened no less frequently than those with humans.

United against a common enemy?

That was more for the relatively disciplined Demon King's army. Most wild monsters only had bloody struggles between them on a daily basis.

After all, when numbers increased, they had to compete for limited resources.

And the monster leader of another region certainly wouldn't tolerate the Green Dragon Queen's forces so blatantly entering its territory to search.

In the world of monsters, this kind of mortal insult was no different from being trampled into the dirt.

It just needed to take Gauss to the border between the two domains, and while the Green Dragon Army was hesitant to act, find a suitable hiding spot and wait quietly for Gauss to wake up.

During this time, it had grown unbearably tired.

It missed the days when Gauss made all the decisions.

For the first time, it realized that taking on all the responsibilities and making decisions was so exhausting.

After this was over, it would definitely make Gauss reward it with ten sheep... no, a hundred sheep.

It was going to let loose like crazy.

As Hephaestus continued forward, it finally brought Gauss to the edge of the Emerald Forest.

The vegetation thinned, and the heat in the air grew more intense.

Of course, as a powerful species capable of surviving inside volcanic craters, Hephaestus was extremely well-adapted to this hot climate.

Hephaestus looked up at the clear sky.

It was very close to the border, and the silhouettes of the searching flying monsters could no longer be seen.

At this moment, just as Hephaestus had guessed, the Green Dragon Queen's minions were also finding it troublesome to possibly invade the territory of another monster lord.

After all, the Green Dragon Queen was not in the forest right now. She had taken part of the Green Dragon Army to invade human territory and probably couldn't break away anytime soon.

If they started another war with another monster lord, their immediate superior would probably want to eat them alive.

Although they knew the importance of capturing the destroyer of the dragon lair, was it worth the risk of angering another lord?

Approaching the border, or even crossing into the other's territory to search, was undoubtedly a blatant provocation.

No Transcendent commander could bear that responsibility.

In the end, after a meeting, they decided to slow down the search for now.

They would strictly guard the area along the forest's edge. If the fugitive tried to return, they could intercept him at any time.

At the same time, they sent messengers to the lord of the Crimson Earth to request assistance in searching for the bandit, promising to offer enough treasures.

At this critical juncture, they simply couldn't afford to make mistakes.

Although the lord of the Crimson Earth had received orders from the Demon King's palace not to take advantage of the border lords who had launched the first wave of war against humans, if the Green Dragon Army gave them a reason, they wouldn't mind taking a huge bite out of the resource-rich Emerald Forest.

The fact that the Crimson Earth and Emerald Forest masters were at odds was well-known among the surrounding monster factions.

The Green Dragon Queen coveted the Crimson Earth's excellent grain cultivation conditions and mana mine resources, while the Crimson Earth side was equally envious of the relatively livable, species-rich forest.

Thus, with the Green Dragon Army halting their search, Hephaestus managed to cross the border just in time before being captured, sneaking into the Crimson Earth.

After crossing the natural barrier adjacent to the Emerald Forest—those endless red earth highlands that looked like giant tree stumps—what lay before Hephaestus was a relatively desolate red wasteland.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

The scorching wind of the Crimson Earth swept tumbleweeds across the land.

It was precisely the barrier of the border red earth highlands that prevented the desertification from spreading further into the Emerald Forest.

"Hmm~"

Perhaps because the hot climate made Hephaestus comfortable, or because it had temporarily shaken off the relentless pursuers and felt relieved, either way, Hephaestus was in a good mood now.

This royal land also made its scales a natural camouflage.

But before fully scouting the surrounding area, it still didn't dare to act recklessly.

Where did the monsters here live? How many Transcendent monsters were in the vicinity? These were things it needed to investigate.

As for monsters below Transcendent, it wasn't too worried about them now.

It just needed to be careful of a few super-lifeforms.

Its top priority now was to leave the border and find a no-man's land to lie low.

As for food, it could still hold out for now and didn't need to go out to find food or water.

When it got hungry or thirsty, it would just use mana to open Gauss's Storage Bag.

Gauss had prepared enough supplies before departure, mostly meant for it to eat anyway.

Another day passed.

Hephaestus had successfully found an abandoned mine pit large enough to accommodate its body.

On this solid red earth, abandoned mine pits of all sizes were everywhere.

It was just that some might have a few small resident creatures, such as goblin-like creatures, gnolls, goblins, or...

The humans before it.

Hephaestus held Gauss with one claw and scratched its body with the other.

Before it stood a group of terrified humans holding torches and stone spears.

They were wrapped in animal skins and hard leather, looking up by torchlight at the giant beast that had invaded their home, swallowing hard.

What the hell...?

Even though they were still holding stone spears aimed at the giant beast, their minds had gone completely blank.

Facing such a creature, needless to say, they were no match.

Why were they so unlucky today?

They had just been preparing to go out hunting when they ran headfirst into this giant beast that had barged into the mine.

It made them wonder if they were still dreaming.

Little did they know, Hephaestus was even more confused than they were.

It thought it must have seen wrong.

How could there be humans here?

This wasn't at the edge of the Emerald Forest; they had crossed a vast stretch of forest and were now in the southern Crimson Earth.

Even if someone got lost, they couldn't have wandered this far, right?

In the past, it would have swept away these ants occupying the cave and daring to point weapons at it without a second thought.

But after spending time with Gauss, Aria, and the others, some of its thinking had quietly changed.

For example, right now, it didn't have much desire to fight.

They were too weak.

Even holding weapons at it couldn't hurt it at all.

It could see real emotions on their faces: fear, retreat, unease...

That was the instinctive fear the weak felt when facing the strong.

Forget it...

Hephaestus shook its head.

It had scouted dozens of miles around.

There were no medium or large monster factions nearby. In other words, this was a barren land, with even drinkable water on the surface being pitifully scarce.

This also meant that the number of lives here was sparse.

Not that it looked down on these humans, but with their strength, even if they wanted to tip off other monster tribes, they probably couldn't.

Besides, if they appeared in the eyes of monsters, they would probably be devoured on the spot like lambs to the slaughter.

"Thump!"

The aura unintentionally emanating from Hephaestus was simply too terrifying.

It gradually approached these humans, yet their bodies remained completely still.

They seemed to be firmly controlled, losing control of their bodies.

Just when they thought they were about to be eaten by this dragon...

"Thump!"

Hephaestus's dragon foot landed in the gap between the crowd, then stepped over their heads.

It ignored them all, carrying Gauss deeper into the cave.

Only after it had left did the people regain their mobility.

"Thud!"

Most of them plopped down onto the hard ground, their foreheads and backs already drenched in cold sweat.

They looked at each other.

"Alive... We survived!?"

Still shaken, they also felt incredulous.

Why had that dragon let them go?

And even when passing by, it had deliberately avoided stepping on them.

"Dad... Dad, I think I saw that big thing holding a person in its claw."

A somewhat slender woman spoke up, reminding them.

Although the dragon claw had wrapped around the figure tightly, she had still seen a humanoid shape through the gaps.

"A person?"

The leading big man took a deep breath.

His sixth sense told him that their survival might have something to do with the human in that dragon claw.

"A captured compatriot?"

Beside him, another young man asked with a frown.

With their life experience, it was hard to guess what relationship a human could have with a dragon.

If it was food, a human's flesh wasn't even enough to fill that giant beast's teeth, so it wouldn't carry one around constantly.

Besides, judging by how it had spared them, it seemed to be a benevolent dragon that was relatively friendly to people?

"Don't think about these things." The leading big man's rough face twisted into a bitter smile.

No matter what the truth was, it seemed irrelevant to them, savages living in the cracks.

Although that Red Dragon had been kind enough to spare them, if they actively sought it out, it might change its mind and crush them on the spot.

Beasts were fickle.

"Next, we need to consider another thing."

"Should we move out of this mine?"

The group exchanged glances.

Moving was undoubtedly a massive project, especially since they had lived in this mine for many years.

The water collection point, passageways, various food traps, and shelters were all built quite neatly. If they moved, it would be hard to find a suitable place to live in a short time.

Besides, going above ground for a long, large-scale migration also meant danger.

Although there weren't many creatures nearby, some monsters still dwelled here.

But if they didn't move, what about this dragon? They couldn't just pretend nothing happened and continue living under the nose of this terrifying creature, could they?

The crowd fell into silence.

In the end, they decided to stick to their original plan for this trip: go out and gather food.

Regardless, food was necessary. Even if they were going to die, they didn't want to starve.

In the crowd, only the woman who had glimpsed the figure in the dragon claw was still in a daze.

Although she hadn't seen the person clearly, she instinctively felt it was a man, and an exceptionally handsome one at that.

He seemed to have a strange charm that made her can't help but wonder what kind of person he was.

"Nira! Nira!"

"Huh?"

"What are you spacing out for? We need to go out and gather and hunt first. Food is running low. Keep up."

Seeing her father's furrowed brows, Nira ultimately gave up thinking.

"Coming, coming."

Despite being a woman, she was one of the tribe's best hunters, having already awakened mana and mastered its crude application.