Beast Tide Strikes

Night deepened, and the atmosphere in the forest grew increasingly unsettling, yet nothing happened.

Pandora sat in the clearing, hugging a heavy wooden club, her expression cold. From time to time, she turned to look toward the Dragon Cave, but Gregory still had not returned, which made her somewhat worried. Occasionally, she also looked at Richard. Whenever Richard noticed and met her gaze, Pandora instantly put on an expression that said, "Look at me again and I'll beat you up."

Richard felt somewhat helpless. After thinking for a moment, he walked back into the castle.

Entering a room in the castle, Richard sat cross-legged on the bed and began meditating. The next moment, he successfully left his body, his consciousness breaking out of the castle and drifting beyond the small hill.

By now, Richard understood his consciousness body very well. As long as his Mental Strength was powerful enough, he could go almost anywhere, including underground, deep beneath the sea, and into space. Now, he intended to explore the forest.

Mental Strength surged forth, and his consciousness body began to move faster. In the end, it swept over the entire forest like an arrow, the transparent tether connected to the back of its neck continuously stretching longer.

Scene after scene within the forest was swiftly perceived by Richard's consciousness body.

Tigers, cheetahs, Black Bears, wild wolves... all kinds of carnivorous beasts were growing increasingly frenzied, as if they had been provoked by some unknown stimulus. Their eyes turned bloodshot as they continuously let out all manner of roars.

Goats, Sika Deer, Wild Cattle... all kinds of herbivores had also become strange and crazed. Their gentle temperaments had turned bloodthirsty and irritable. Richard clearly saw a goat in the forest trip over a rock by accident, only to ram the rock again and again with red eyes. It refused to stop even after smashing its head bloody. Clearly, it had lost even the most basic reason in its rage.

What had caused this? Richard wondered. He glanced at the moon in the sky, but it did not seem to have changed in any noticeable way. After thinking for a moment, he began raising his consciousness body higher, looking over the entire forest in search of an answer.

A short while later, Richard discovered something on another mountain not far from the hill where the castle stood.

It was a mountain over a hundred meters tall, imposing in appearance. At this moment, many savage beasts had gathered there, fighting bloody battles without fear of death.

A tiger roared and pounced on a cheetah. The cheetah swiftly dodged, then sprang up like a coiled spring, landing on the tiger's back and opening its jaws to tear into it. Several wild wolves were attacking a Wild Boar. The Wild Boar had been bitten until its flesh was torn open, yet it showed no fear. It charged forward and slammed into the middle of one of the attacking wolves. With a crack, the wolf collapsed. The next moment, the remaining wolves pounced on it and devoured their companion before it had even stopped breathing, then turned their eyes on the Wild Boar once more.

A strange wave after wave of fluctuations arose from within the mountain, first affecting the many creatures on it before rapidly spreading outward in all directions.

Richard could clearly feel waves of mental energy sweep over his consciousness body. In an instant, his mind became somewhat muddled, negative emotions surging up within him and filling him with an urge to kill, to destroy everything.

This virus-like infection came continuously, as though it wanted to forcibly take control of his consciousness body.

Richard made a snap decision and unleashed all his Mental Strength.

With a bang, it felt as though he had collided with something. Richard felt his entire consciousness body shudder violently, but the next moment, it returned to normal.

Letting out a long breath inwardly, Richard wrapped his entire consciousness body in Mental Strength to avoid further assault from the strange mental energy. He could not help thinking, So the source of everything isn't the moon, but inside this mountain. What erupted just now... should have been a powerful Mental Spell. It appears to be an area-of-effect spell, one that could possibly affect more than half the forest.

Even spread across such a vast area, it's this powerful. If it were concentrated on a single living creature, wouldn't it instantly shatter that creature's will and turn it into a machine controlled purely by rage? That's somewhat terrifying, but also somewhat... interesting.

Controlling his consciousness body to rise even higher, Richard discovered that as the mental energy within the mountain continued to spread, every creature in the forest erupted with unprecedented aggression. Not only tigers, cheetahs, goats, and Wild Cattle, but even rabbits, squirrels, and mice joined in, crazily attacking everything they saw.

In a clearing, two Gray Rabbits leaped high into the air and bit into a Black Bear's eyes, successfully blinding it. In the woods, a squirrel nimbly landed on a gorilla and viciously gnawed at its back with its two front teeth, making the gorilla howl in agony. Beside a stream, a swarm of mice engulfed an injured jackal. A moment later, they left, leaving behind only a skeleton...

The tide of madness surged higher and higher, sweeping outward in every direction and quickly spreading to the small hill where the castle stood.

One creature, two creatures, three creatures... thousands upon thousands of creatures gathered at the foot of the hill...

Whoosh!

With a thought, the transparent tether behind his consciousness body's neck produced a powerful pulling force, dragging it rapidly back toward his body. Richard only felt his entire body grow heavy, and the scene before his eyes blurred. One moment, he had been floating above the distant forest; the next, he was back in a room within the castle.

As he controlled his consciousness body to merge with his physical body, a low buzzing sounded in his ears. His whole body shook violently, and the next moment, Richard opened his eyes, rose from the wooden bed, quickly left the room, and walked out of the castle.

In the clearing outside the castle, Pandora was still sitting there, holding a massive wooden club more than ten meters long in her arms. Her expression was icy, her eyes carrying a trace of boredom. She turned to glance toward the Dragon Cave, and her gaze became tinged with irritation.

Suddenly hearing a sound, Pandora frowned and stood, looking sharply down the hill. She could sense an incomparably frenzied tide rushing toward them.

How annoying...

The next moment, Pandora sensed something else. Tilting her head, she looked toward the castle entrance and saw Richard. Her brows furrowed, and after a long while, she said, "Go inside!"

Perhaps feeling that her tone was too stiff and commanding, Pandora added after a brief silence, "Dangerous!" She also gave him a look that said, "If you don't listen, I'll flatten you."

Richard stood at the castle entrance, his eyes flickering, his expression calm as he slowly said, "I know you think my combat ability is very weak. I won't explain myself on that point. You told me to go into the castle out of kindness, and I'm not angry about that either. But... honestly, with so many forest animals closing in from all directions, at most you can protect one side.

"So even if I go into the castle, that doesn't mean I'll be safe. I could very well be hurt by animals that quietly sneak inside. In that case, staying here is safer. At least if something happens to me, you can see it and help.

"Of course, if you feel that my safety means nothing to you and you can't be bothered to protect me, then there should be no problem with me standing here, right? Don't worry, I won't get in your way. In fact, I can even help a little. Even if I can't beat the weakest animal, at least... I can help draw some aggro for you, right?"

Pandora looked at Richard with an icy face for a long while. In the end, she said nothing and turned to look down the hill.

Patter, patter...

An incredibly chaotic din rose up as the vanguard of the crazed animals climbed the hill and appeared at the summit: foxes, Gray Wolves, wildcats, Black Bears...

A vast number of crazed animals surrounded the entire hilltop from all directions, staring covetously at Pandora as though she were a fortress that had to be breached. Low growls continuously rumbled from their throats, their bodies crouched low as if they could launch an attack at any moment.

However, the first to attack was not them, but... Pandora.

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