The group had barely begun to relax when a series of shouts suddenly came from the Twisted Woods, growing louder as they approached. It sounded like a large force marching through the forest. At the same time, torchlights like fireflies began converging from all directions in the dark woods. The commotion made Lily instinctively draw her ice-and-fire dual blades, and everyone else immediately tensed up and prepared for battle.
Amid a burst of hurried hoofbeats, the first figures to charge out from the shadows of the dense forest were a group of knights. They rode tall warhorses and wore gleaming standard-issue armor of the Church Knights' Order, with sacred cloaks bearing the crest of the Radiant Church draped over it. Every knight held a longsword wreathed in magical radiance, looking as though they were about to join a battle. Behind them, groups of soldiers who were clearly mages also rode out on horseback close behind.
More and more soldiers rode out from various parts of the dense forest. The later groups were clearly members of the Kingdom Knights. They shouted murderously as they charged onto the open ground by the lakeshore, only to stare blankly in unison. There were nothing here but black boulders scattered across the ground and a small group of unfamiliar strangers. The "prey" they had been pursuing was nowhere to be seen.
"Whoa—whoa—"
Amid the shouts, the knights reined in their horses. Several officers who looked like captains then urged their mounts over at a trot toward Hao Ren and the others. They did not dismount, merely tightening their grips on their longswords warily. "Who are you?! Why are you loitering around the Sacred Lake?"
Hao Ren was a little dazed. He still had no idea what was going on, but he instinctively recited the tall