Dawn, Mountain Pass

Brando lowered his sword.

"It's too dark. Choosing this time to come out for a stroll doesn't seem like a good idea." He smiled, glanced at the group, and walked straight through the more than twenty people as though no one else were there.

The young members of the Guard Detachment instinctively parted to make way. Bresen gripped the sword in his hand tightly, staring at Brando with a gloomy expression, but he restrained himself. He understood that if they started fighting, there would be no hiding the commotion here. When someone beside him tried to rush forward, he stopped them with a hand.

For a moment, the little grove was taut with tension.

Yet Brando walked all the way to the other side of the forest before stopping and saying, "So this is what you learned in the Guard Detachment, Bresen? How to disobey military orders? And with such a terrible plan, too. You should know Captain Maden's temper. You actually planned to force him into agreeing to your demands? If it were me, I'd just take everyone and sneak out. You only need to leave one person behind to notify him—"

Everyone fell silent.

Bresen's hand shifted on the sword hilt. A flicker of confusion passed through his eyes, and he could not help wondering what this fellow was trying to do. What was his intention?

"Go on. When are you launching the attack? So I can decide when to leave."

"Before dawn."

The young vice-captain of the Guard Detachment considered it. Though he still somewhat doubted Brando's motives, the other man's plan did indeed sound more appealing, and it was far more feasible than their original one.

"Then you'd better hide around Fox Forest. That should be the safest place closest to Madara's Undead Army. Also, I'll happen to find a note and deliver it to Maden, so he'll know that you'll launch your attack around the time Crimson Star disappears, right?"

"..."

"One more thing: when dealing with Liches, stay focused. Their spells only affect those with weak Willpower!"

"Brando, what are you trying to do? How did you find Zeta and the others? Where did you learn your swordsmanship?" Bresen lowered his hand from his sword and asked darkly.

"All right, after we part here, I may never see you again, and you may never see me again. Whether we're mortal enemies or simply can't stand each other, perhaps it will all become a memory. In the end, we're all subjects of Eluin. Good luck."

But Brando merely waved a hand, indicating that what he intended to do was hardly worth mentioning.

Bresen fell silent.

Leaving aside how Bresen's unauthorized actions made Maden fly into a rage, Freya had gathered the Militia squad but found herself with nowhere left to go. Helplessly, the veteran of the November War could only have her organize more villagers into a self-defense force, then prepare to head north toward Dagger Riverbank and break through.

At the same time, Josen, who had lost an arm, and Little Finis were seeing Brando and Romane off. Because he was too young, Little Finis had been ordered by Freya to leave the Militia, which left him deeply dissatisfied. But he was still a boy at heart; after Brando praised him a couple of times, he immediately perked up again and clamored to follow them to Ridenburg for adventure.

Naturally, Brando could not agree. Otherwise, when they reached Anzek, Freya would probably skewer the boy with a sword. Though Brando did need someone to help him, Little Finis was too young and unsuitable.

He patted the brat on the head.

Josen, standing nearby, fidgeted and did not dare speak. He looked at Brando with unbearable shame. He knew that he had survived only because of this young man. Of course, he could not blame anyone else for it; he could only blame himself for being too cowardly at the time.

"I'm... sorry, Brando. Thank you... for saving me back then."

"It's all right. Everyone has moments of confusion. Josen, everyone was willing to bring you along because they believed you could return to them. All right, pull yourself together. Don't let the others look down on you."

"Thank you."

Brando nodded and looked at the sky—the stars were fading, signaling the arrival of dawn. But with the light of the stars and moon gone, this would be the darkest hour on earth. Still, it did not matter, because the morning light was already beyond the distant mountains.

Drawing his gaze back from the dark mountain silhouettes on the horizon, he and Romane lit their torches. Lighting torches in the darkness was not especially wise, but their destination lay far from the area controlled by Madara's army. Even if they occasionally encountered wild beasts, Brando thought that the greatest threat in Beledor Forest was no more than wolves. Even if there were three or five of them, he could handle them easily.

Besides, wild beasts feared fire by nature.

The two headed south through the dense forest. Everywhere the torchlight reached stood the black pine forests common to the Golan Region, with the occasional shadow of an animal vanishing in an instant. They crossed one or two ridges, and as they looked down, the terrain gradually became more rugged. Strangely, the surrounding trees seemed to be withering. Jagged sharp rocks jutted from the ground in clusters, especially at the bottom of the valley, where broken stones lay everywhere.

"Brando?" Romane asked. The abruptly changed surroundings were somewhat frightening.

"Mm, it's nothing. Stay close to me."

Seeing this landscape, Brando knew they were close to their destination.

He had been to Xavier Mountain Pass in the game before. It was an extremely famous place, and for characters below Level 20, the dangers within could truly be called certain death. But Brando knew of one exception.

He could not help recalling some memories of that place:

Xavier Mountain Pass lay in the southern part of Beledor Forest, cutting through Yusong River Valley amid lush woods. It had originally been opened to transport timber downstream along the Yusong River, but as Madara's influence expanded, most of those lumber mills had declined.

Xavier Mountain Pass thus fell into disuse and became a route used only by illegal merchants smuggling goods past checkpoints. Later, a Golden Demon Tree took root here. It drained the earth of nutrients, causing the forests in the area to wither, and killed every creature that entered carelessly. Gradually, Xavier Mountain Pass became a forbidden zone of death.

The Level 31 Golden Demon Tree Leader had already awakened its second tier of power. In terms of raw strength, it was comparable to an Iron-ranked swordsman or an intermediate wizard. Even regular armies would not lightly provoke such a troublesome enemy. Since it did not cut off contact between Ridenburg and Buchi, the kingdom's knights could not be bothered to deal with it either.

In the game, this was a famous dungeon monster zone. The Golden Demon Tree Leader dominated this place for the first three years after the game began. The NPCs' response was to put up a wooden board at the entrance, written in Dwarven, Elven, and the Cruz common tongue:

"Danger! All who enter here should abandon all hope!"

Naturally, there had initially been some clueless players who wanted to challenge themselves, but those who entered alone could not even catch sight of the Golden Demon Tree. It was only around a year after the game began that people gradually started entering in groups to explore, though most only reached the Yusong River Valley area before being forced to retreat.

Even in the latter half of the second year, news of player parties being wiped out was still often Conveyed between local taverns, becoming casual conversation after meals. Then came the period of the Second Black Rose War. Fewer parties ventured into Xavier Mountain Pass, but they became more professional.

Brando remembered that he had entered this valley during that era. His experience in the game had been fairly ordinary—neither aggressive nor overly cautious. He remembered that his party had reached Yusong Riverbank, where they could even gaze into the distance at the endless dense Black Forest on the southern bank and the mountains hidden in shadow.

Yet what left the deepest impression on him from that adventure was not the scenery, so vastly different from the Buchi area, but rather the strength of the dungeon monsters and the frequency of their encounters. Overall, the party's resources were pushed almost to their limit every day, and in the end, everyone could no longer endure and had to withdraw.

But less than two months later, a guild called "Mutian" completely solved the problem in this area. That guild became famous for a time, though people later learned that they were not actually very powerful. They had merely happened to figure out a special strategy. Later, someone posted that strategy online, sparking a wave of solo runs against the Golden Demon Tree.

And back then, in order to farm a Golden Tree Heart, Brando had happened to be one of the people who benefited from that video.

However, at that time, the average level in Buchi was Level 27, and Brando remembered that he had also been Level 27 when he entered this dungeon. Fortunately, this time he only needed to pass through Xavier Mountain Pass rather than kill the Golden Demon Tree Leader. Moreover, he had the Wind Queen Ring and the Gleaming Thorn, which had a purification effect and dealt tremendous damage to dark creatures. Otherwise, he truly would have been at a loss.

Thinking back on those days filled him with emotion. The prices of magical equipment had remained exorbitant in the game until the end of the first year. When he entered Xavier Mountain Pass, equipment with more than 10 Oz of power had been beyond his imagination. As for divine items like the Wind Queen Ring and Gleaming Thorn, they had seemed as distant as clouds in the sky.

Yet in this life, thanks to his foreknowledge, he possessed both items from the very beginning. It gave him an unreal feeling. If he was fortunate enough to escape this disaster, then thinking of his future prospects made Brando feel heat rise through his body.

But precisely because of that, he had to cherish this opportunity all the more. He tightened his grip on his sword, turned back to tell Romane to stay closer, and saw that the future Merchant's Daughter truly seemed to have some talent for adventure. With her arms stretched out for balance, she hopped left and right over the jagged rocks in the ravine, moving with surprising agility.

Dawn finally arrived, and the stars vanished. The surroundings sank into dark, deathly stillness, with only the crackling torches left burning, their flickering light casting deep ravines and shadows across the piled rocks.

From afar, they looked like two sparks in the mountains and forests.

Brando remembered there was a sheltered hollow here. Entering Xavier Mountain Pass at this hour was too dangerous, so he decided it would be safer to set out during the day. Besides, they had already more or less left the Madara Undead Army's area of activity.

Historically, the first Madara troops to reach Ridenburg had been the Cabes Corps, arriving on the morning of the third day. In other words, he still had an entire day to arrange his plans. There was plenty of time.

He raised his head and vaguely made out a signpost ahead.

(PS: Today was the birthday of Decadent, the author of Reborn Demon Hunter. Tomorrow was the day he started taking clients—seemed like it foretold something auspicious. Those of you with monthly votes, remember to support Decadent tomorrow as a belated birthday gift for him. As for recommendation votes, of course, save those for me.

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