The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

Chapter 169: Necessary Sacrifice

No matter how Rochester wished for their journey to the Ancient Academy to be unimpeded, he could only close his eyes in regret when a white-robed man came forth towards them with a panicked expression.

"Your Majesty! The sensor division has detected high-level fluctuations gathering ahead of us in our path!"

The sensor division consisted mostly of hypersensitive spirit physiques who were specifically raised for this purpose. Their combat strength was zero, but the tactical advantage they gave to the Terran military was immense.

Unfortunately, their use was quite limited in this type of situation, so they had only brought along one squad of sensors that had been in reserve at the capital, the rest remained deployed for war.

"What is the estimate of their strength?"

"W-We're unable to determine!"

The king waved his hand in dismissal. He could already see three vague silhouettes in the sky. Once he saw them, he could easily determine who they were and their level of strength.

The smooth journey of the Terran army came to an abrupt halt as not one, but three of the hegemons of the Wonderland of Doom decided to intercept them together.

Rochester couldn't help but grit his teeth in anger as he faced the three beasts.

Most of the hegemons of the Wonderland of Doom were at least a few hundred years old. Even if they rarely made a move, the Terrans were aware of most of them. 

These three weren't at the highest level of strength among the beasts in this forest, but they definitely weren't on the weaker side either, aside from the parrot.

If they had to face these creatures one by one, they would definitely be able to quickly suppress it and move on before it could recover. And as for the parrot it would definitely perish. But these clever bastards seemed to have known this.

And since all three of them could fly, it would also be impossible for him to simply speed past them and not suffer any losses.

The 'smallest' of them, the giant parrot, bowed its head gracefully, though the mockery in its voice wasn't concealed. "Greetings, O' Great King, wherever the hell you're from, but you wear a crown so whatever. Ahem, we hate to halt your journey, but it's truly deplorable of you to violate our territories like this! As a king, you must know how terrible it feels when others trespass without permission, no?"

The Terran King's grip on his war hammer tightened as he snorted from atop the flying sword, giving the three flying beasts a dark look. "We're simply passing through. My target today is the academy, not you. Get out of the way!"

The parrot cackled. Of course they knew that, was this guy an idiot? "The King jokes! Friends, shall we have a grand feast today?"

The crow and the eagle didn't seem capable of human speech, and responded in their own language, but the parrot seemed to understand them, and cackled even louder.

Looking at the mass of crow feathers that had started to rain from the sky, and the giant eagle spreading its wings, the Terran army immediately started deploying formations.

Although Eruniel did have a shielding function, it was only to protect the people from the drag while speeding. It may be fine against minor damage, but definitely wouldn't be able to protect them from attacks from hegemons! 

The third general's face turned pale even as the array masters behind him rushed to act. "Y-Your majesty we!"

Rochester gave him a dark look, instantly silencing the man as he turned to the parrot with a snort. He knew, had they intended to attack, they wouldn't talk to him in the first place. "What do you want?!"

He knew better than anyone else what it meant to have a fight with these beasts here. Not only would they be delayed, but the bastards at the academy would also definitely notice!

The parrot cackled, this time even louder than before. "Not much, as the fee for passing through, how about a hundred of those soldiers? For each of us, of course."

The crow made a dissatisfied noise, and the parrot cackled again. "My friend warns you to not send us low-leveled trash, by the way!"

Rochester's eyes turned red in rage. How could he give up the lives of his soldiers like that? If he did, their morale would be shattered along with his majesty!

Meanwhile, Aurora frowned as a parrot feather landed in her hand, and a voice echoed in her mind. "Madam! Emergency! Some fat guy with a hammer is flying in your direction with a lot of thugs! I managed to convince two others to help me intercept him for food, but we might not be able to delay him for long!"

This parrot was both clever and witty, and despite being one of the weakest amongst the hegemons, had managed to survive so long without many fights. Needless to say, it knew when to fight, when to run, and when to surrender.

But although it was clever, it wasn't quite familiar with the ever-changing faces of the human rulers. All it could tell was that the man should be a king of some kind.

Aurora sighed. There was no need to guess, who else could arrive to bother them at this time? The Terrans had already been jumping around in the forest before, so she knew that this day had been fast approaching.

Given that the parrot had sent her the message as soon as it encountered the issue, it was possible that the army had resumed its journey in their direction by now.

The beasts of the Wonderland of Doom didn't have much use for the likes of spirit stones and crystals aside from collecting some for fun, and Rochester wasn't willing to provide them with the food they sought.

The 'negotiations' inevitably 'failed'.

When he had first charged through the Wonderland of Doom, Rochester had been betting on the fact that none of the hegemons would dare to attack them, for fear of retaliation.

After all, the combined might of their army could easily level their whole territory. Even if that hegemonic beast would be able to escape with its life, it would definitely be worse off with its hunting ground in ruins.

The crow feathers that had previously been floating down harmlessly started to explode upon contact, and although they could be easily avoided by most, it was inevitable for some to come in contact with the density of the army on the flying sword.

Painful screams and groans rang out as a beam of rainbow light followed the parrot's tail as it flew over the army, and many lost their minds in confusion as they started attacking their compatriots.

Meanwhile, the eagle remained immobile, staring straight at the leaders at the tip of the flying sword.

"Don't use Eruniel's spirit beam yet! Deploy the arrays!"

The King's roar immediately mobilized the army into orderly action, and he lifted his war hammer to give the flying eagle a grim look before shooting up into the sky.

Inevitably, the Terran army won, and the three flying beasts retreated under the combined might of the high-level opponents. Cheers rang out on the flying sword as they watched the three 'hegemons' fly away in defeat.

Of course, they also suffered some casualties, but most of their army was still standing strong, and their mission shouldn't be jeopardized. 

Rochester smiled grimly. Had these common soldiers realized that their losses amounted to exactly the 'demands' of the three beasts that had been rejected by the king, their reactions might have been entirely different. 

Exactly three hundred soldiers 'sacrificed themselves' for the glory of Terra.

The King couldn't help but sigh. 'It is unfortunate that I don't have the time to waste on them, and it would also have risked attracting other hegemons.'

Obviously, he and the other top-level forces had put up a good show against the strongest of the three beasts. It had been a mutual understanding between them, and neither side suffered injuries.

Otherwise, no matter how strong they were, at least one of the beasts would have fallen here had Rochester used his full strength. Of course, his own loss would have been far greater too.

At this time, he definitely couldn't afford it.

Meanwhile, back at the academy, the pillars and the headmaster had just rushed past the southern forbidden city, and entered the ancient valley guarded by the sentinels.

The headmaster, Harlan, soon came to a halt and raised his hand. "Let's stop and face them here."

Aurora frowned as they landed between the two giant 'statues'. "Is there any need to waste their energy?"

The spirit power within the two sentinels had been greatly exhausted when they fought the 'Thousand Eyed God', after all.

The platinum blonde couldn't help but feel a little anxious when she thought about it. If their academy lost two of their 'powerhouses' at this time, when they barely even managed to put together four pillars to power their main formation, wouldn't their situation turn truly dire?

Not to mention, if the sentinels went out of commission, who would be left guarding the valley against the beasts? 

Although they were usually unwilling to pick a fight with the academy's powerhouses, the beasts weren't always in a reasonable mood.

Even if they were still able to defend the academy itself, the four forbidden cities would still be lost, sooner or later! 

The brown-haired man chuckled. "Lady Aurora, we are about to face a mighty foe. You cannot underestimate them and divide our strength by going out of the sentinels' range, right?"