Escape

"Commander Hisslaj of the Kolmo Kingdom's First Legion, along with the soldiers of the First Legion, pay their respects to His Supreme Emperor."

"We pay our respects to His Majesty the Emperor."

The many soldiers shouted in unison, their resounding voices clearly audible to Samlet and Chen Cheng, who had already run off.

Hughes Hopps, dragging his frail body, approached Hisslaj, who lowered his head even further.

Hughes extended his pale palm and placed it on Hisslaj's head, speaking softly:

"In the name of the fifteenth Emperor of the Thornflower Kingdom, I bestow upon you my sincere blessings."

Then, Hughes Hopps withdrew his hand and leaned close to Hisslaj's ear, saying:

"I am His Majesty the Emperor."

Upon hearing this, Hisslaj immediately prostrated himself on the ground and shouted:

"We humbly request His Majesty the Emperor to ascend the dragon and rule the heavens."

Following this, the generals and soldiers behind Hisslaj were somewhat bewildered, not understanding why their general was acting this way.

Although he was still the so-called Emperor in name, his Thornflower Empire had long since fallen.

Amidst the confusion of these soldiers, they eventually all prostrated themselves and shouted for His Majesty the Emperor to ascend the dragon and rule the heavens.

When Hughes turned around, his cheeks grew even paler, presenting an extremely sickly white hue.

As he entered the small wooden cabin, Queen Sophia on the bed was already asleep, like a beautiful thornflower.

Hughes approached the bed, a smile on his lips as he embraced Sophia and fell into a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, Hisslaj outside, sensing that the person inside had ceased to have any life force, stood up. Then, with a wave of his hand, tens of thousands of soldiers turned and marched away in unison.

Afterward, the clouds in the sky above this area churned, and a massive shadow covered the entire sky.

A Red Dragon flew out from the clouds and swooped down towards the wooden house below. A breath of dragon fire then directly struck the wooden house. Under the intense heat of this dragon's breath, His Majesty the Emperor, who had lived his entire life in pursuit and evasion, and the commoner Queen were both burned to ashes.

Hisslaj clenched his hand towards the pile of ashes, and a large, exquisite earth-yellow magic array appeared. Then, the soil on the ground churned, and a brand-new burial mound emerged.

The magic array also seemed to possess life, slowly descending and attaching itself to the burial mound.

The Red Dragon, after its fiery breath, landed steadily behind Hisslaj. The strong wind from its massive wings as it landed blew at Hisslaj, who was facing the burial mound, whipping his fiery red long hair against his cheeks.

At this moment, behind him, the Red Dragon's enormous head stretched forward, and it spoke with a hint of mockery:

"You humans are truly sentimental. He was just a fallen descendant of a long-dead kingdom, yet you still knelt before him. Aren't you afraid your King will be angry?

And for this small dirt mound, you've even set up such a powerful seal. Is this necessary? If you hadn't been so sentimental here just now, I would have chased after that little fellow and eaten him."

However, at this moment, Hisslaj looked at the Red Dragon beside him with icy eyes and said:

"His Majesty the Emperor will always be His Majesty the Emperor. This is not something a beast like you can understand.

Furthermore, I believe His Majesty the King will not be angered by my actions, because this is the fundamental difference between us humans and beasts like you.

And do you think you could have truly dealt with Samlet if you had chased after him? Even I don't have absolute certainty of capturing him.

Moreover, the King's Shadow Guard are not to be trifled with. Even if the Prince escapes, with the King's Shadow Guard in pursuit, he will no longer be able to cause much of a stir."

Seeing the look in Hisslaj's eyes, the Red Dragon said no more, but the rage in its eyes was evident to everyone. However, Hisslaj did not concern himself with the inner thoughts of a great dragon that had already submitted to him.

He leaped onto the Red Dragon's back, and with a flap of its wings, the Red Dragon carried Hisslaj away from the location.

"Order the entire army: the vanguard becomes the rearguard. Triumph."

Hisslaj's voice echoed throughout the First Legion, and then the vanguard became the rearguard, following Hisslaj's figure towards the royal capital.

In the wilderness forest, Samlet had been running with Chen Cheng for three days.

During these three days, Chen Cheng had a general understanding of what kind of world this was. This burly man who had taken him to escape was simply a monster.

Chen Cheng, based on his own estimations, calculated that the running speed of this burly man was no less than that of a supercar, and he was the type of monster who could run continuously at this speed for three days without stopping.

Chen Cheng truly suspected that the man holding him considered him an infant and hadn't exerted his full strength while running.

Moreover, during these three days, he had witnessed all sorts of strange creatures, as well as the bizarre methods employed by those pursuing him and the burly man.

Although the laws of physics still held true here, the people here were simply a group of monsters. Whether it was their physical bodies easily smashing giant rocks and old trees, or their ability to conjure lightning and flames with their bare hands for continuous attacks, these things completely disregarded biological science.

He hadn't eaten for three days, and Chen Cheng knew that the nutrients he had brought from his mother's womb were almost depleted. He had to eat, otherwise, he would starve to death.

This was the first cry Chen Cheng had made in three days. Before this, he had tried to remain as quiet as possible to avoid disturbing the burly man as he escaped with him.

He also had a general understanding of his situation: he was the target being pursued by those who easily overpowered and trampled upon the wise men of science. Whether he could survive depended entirely on the burly man carrying him to escape.

Chen Cheng's crying served as a reminder to the burly man that he needed to eat.

When Samlet heard Chen Cheng's crying, he also remembered that Chen Cheng had not eaten since he was born.

But now, in a state of escape, where could Samlet find food for Chen Cheng?

Just as Samlet was hesitating, the pursuers behind him used a spatial teleportation array constructed by a high-level mage to catch up.

Samlet was furious upon seeing these individuals. He wrapped Chen Cheng in a piece of cloth and tied him to his chest. Then, he took out the Mithril Sword, turned around, and charged towards the pursuers.

Although there were many powerful warriors and high-level mages among these pursuers, they were still no match for Samlet, a legendary warrior. Samlet's slaughter of these individuals was as simple as cutting melons and vegetables, and these individuals knew that their role was to delay time.

Chen Cheng no longer felt anything when he saw these bloody scenes, as Samlet had killed no less than hundreds of people like this over the past three days.

However, just as Samlet was about to continue fleeing, a beast's roar suddenly came from deep within the woods.

Then, a level twelve Cloud Leopard with two cubs appeared in their sight.

This Cloud Leopard must have been attracted by the smell of blood here, and the cubs behind her were all opening their mouths and making "ah ah" sounds.

The mother Cloud Leopard also adopted a posture ready to attack at any moment.

If an ordinary person encountered this level twelve Magical Beast, it would be certain death. However, it was very unfortunate for her that she, while foraging with her cubs, encountered Samlet.

When Samlet heard the sounds of the young Cloud Leopards, his eyes lit up. Such sounds indicated that these young Cloud Leopards had only recently been born, their vocal cords not yet fully developed. This meant that the two cubs were either still nursing or about to be weaned.

Afterward, Samlet turned his gaze to the mother Cloud Leopard.

He placed Chen Cheng on the treetop of a large tree, and then lunged at the mother Cloud Leopard with his bare hands.

After hearing a roar, Chen Cheng was picked up by Samlet again.

Then, Chen Cheng saw that the mother Cloud Leopard no longer had her fierce demeanor. Instead, she was obediently prostrating herself before Samlet, with her two cubs whimpering beside her.

Samlet placed Chen Cheng on the mother Cloud Leopard's belly, and Chen Cheng understood what was happening.

Chen Cheng directly sucked hard at the Cloud Leopard's teat and then spat out a fishy-smelling liquid, which he drank.

After Chen Cheng had drunk his fill, Samlet took down his wine skin from his waist, drank the remaining small amount of wine in one gulp, and then directly squeezed a bag of beast milk for Chen Cheng to use as a backup.

"Alright, my little Emperor Your Majesty, my fine wine is all gone now. My wine skin is now Your Majesty's milk bottle."

During their escape these past few days, Samlet would often talk to him like this.

After receiving the beast milk, he took Chen Cheng and continued on their way.

Chen Cheng paid no mind to the smell of alcohol wafting from Samlet's mouth. His small eyes remained fixed on the mother Cloud Leopard.

And within Chen Cheng's tiny field of vision, the mother Cloud Leopard got up, picked up her cubs with her mouth, then glanced at Chen Cheng before disappearing into the forest.

Another three months passed. Chen Cheng had been carried by Samlet through the mountains for three months, and during these three months, he had been fed the milk of that mother Cloud Leopard.

Honestly, Chen Cheng truly never expected that this mother Cloud Leopard would become attached to him and Samlet.

Whenever he was hungry, the mother Cloud Leopard would appear from somewhere not long after, allowing Samlet to squeeze milk to feed him.

It had been like this for the past three months. Even if the Cloud Leopard wasn't seen sometimes, Samlet would always have a bag of milk left in his leather pouch as a backup.

And during these three months, Samlet had also killed wave after wave of pursuers.

When Samlet brought Chen Cheng to see the red mountain outside the forest, he knew that the escape journey was finally coming to an end.

However, when Chen Cheng saw the red mountain, his eyes widened in surprise, because this so-called red mountain turned out to be a hematite mountain of extremely high quality.

Samlet stopped at the boundary between the forest and the red mountain. He took down the leather pouch from his waist, which had had its contents changed from beast milk several times, and fed Chen Cheng the beast milk from it.

After three months of running, Samlet also realized that Chen Cheng, whom he was holding, was extraordinary. He was very intelligent, only crying when he was hungry or needed to relieve himself. At all other times, no matter what happened, he was quiet.

It was precisely because of Chen Cheng's quietness that Samlet found his journey much more comfortable, as he didn't have to worry about enemies being attracted by Chen Cheng's crying.