"I can't tell you anything about the operation, this is a secret operation, and Lord Roman–" the scout leader tried to use Roman Waskin's name to scare the party, but he noticed that the man's smile fell and was replaced with a scary expression.
"Oh, man, I just want to act like a gentleman, just in case someone witnesses this. This would be bad for our name," Garen got his head closer to the scout leader, and a shade of darkness covered his eyes, "If you don't want to tell, I can make your corpse talk! Our mage has a spell to do that, make your choice!"
The scout leader gulped nervously. He was just a scout, they might be experts but fighting was not their forte. Outrunning Diamond Rank Party was a stupid choice too, there was no way theh could outrun them with two mages there.
In the end, the scout leader told everything he knew about the operation to Garen and his party. He had no choice with his life at the stake here.
Swoosh!
As soon as the scout leader told Garen everything, his hand reached toward the scout leader's neck, "You should have obediently told everything when I asked you nicely. But since you have seen the real us, you have to die!"
The scout leader's eyes widened in shock. He turned around, even though he was caught, as long as his subordinates could escape, they could report this to Lord Roman. But when he turned his head around, he found his four subordinates were dead with their throats slithered.
Two people with black clothes stood between the corpses. The scout leader realized where the missing party members were. He was about to say something, but Garen did not give him a chance to speak.
With his big palm, Garen twisted the scout leader's neck with a simple move. The scout team was easily disposed of and Garen turned around, "This is our chance."
*** ***
Mark led his knights at a steady pace, he did not rush out as he was afraid of alerting the target. They should go for the target stealthily, searching the target in this big and unexplored forest was the worst idea.
Soon the Royal Knight reached a thousand meters sign. The sign left behind by the about was clear, so Mark had to signal his knights to slow their pace even more but they still had to move in a formation.
When they reached the sign that showed the distance was five hundred meters away from the village, all their effort turned into a waste. The target appeared from behind the tree, watching him and his subordinates from around fifty meters away.
Mark signaled his people to stop as he scanned the surroundings. He wanted to know how the man could find out about their arrival. He was pretty sure that the target was anticipating their arrival, 'but how did he know about our arrival?'
The Grand Royal Knight scanned the area with his mana. However, his effort was futile since there was no one but Tang Shaoyang and his party members.
Mark was about to give his order to his people until a green streak landed next to Tang Shaoyang. Then he heard their conversation and realized their target allied with the beastmen.
The Grand Royal Knight was shocked by this, he was not expecting the beast would be willing to work together with Tang Shaoyang. Not only that, but the eagle beastmen also released out a strong presence. He could tell that the beastmen was a tough opponent even for him.
"That's Jade Eagle and it has turned into a beastmen. Based on the Adventurer Guild's rank book, Jade Eagle is equal to Emerald Rank while the Jade Eagle that evolved into a beastmen is as strong as Sky-Emerald Rank, at the least," Brand shared the information to his friends, "The bad news is, this Jade Eagle Beastmen seems to evolve into the beastmen a long time ago, it should be around Diamond Rank, or maybe even Hell-Diamond!"
Hell-Diamond instead of Heaven-Diamond was to differentiate the rank between beast and adventurer. Different but in the term of strength should be about the same.
"This is indeed bad, this should be enough for us to slay the beastmen and capture the man and his party," even though his opponent was not an easy one, Mark was confident not only in his strength but in his subordinate's strength as well.
But then, Kairu came out of his hiding spot. The giant lion beastmen easily attracted the attention of the knights. His massive build and his strong wild aura were enough to disrupt the calmness in the Royal Knight's formation. They shook at the sight of Kairu.
"That's Flaming Lion…" Brand blurted out and his words trailed off. One Jade Eagle beastmen was bad enough for them but there was an additional Flaming Lion beastmen. This was the worst possibility that could happen for them.
He did not need to explain anything to his friends since Flaming Lion was one of the most dangerous beasts in the Orin Forest. However…
'This is not even closer to their region, why would a Flaming Lion appear here? One that has turned into a beastmen too, at that,' Brand slightly panicked at the unexpected situation.
Mark remained composed in the face of two dangerous beastmen. He took two steps forward, "We are sorry to intrude into your territory, but we are looking for this man," he pointed his index finger at Tang Shaoyang, "In order to avoid casualties from both sides, can you not meddle in our affair? I promise and I can even make an oath that we will leave the forest as soon as possible after capturing our target."
He was not afraid of these two beastmen even if they had to fight. However, if he could minimize the damage for the Royal Knight, that was the best for them. He was trying to negotiate with the beastmen to avoid the worst scenario.
"To avoid casualties from both sides? Are you joking with me, stupid human?" Kairu responded to Mark's words aggressively, "First of all, the casualties only from your side. Weaklings like you guys are not strong enough to make me bleed. Second, that man is Our King's guest. Third, since when pieces of disgusting humans like you negotiate with us? Didn't we always speak with our blood?"
From the short response, Brand could tell that the Flaming Lion was the irrational one. Talking with the lion would be pointless, but talking with the Jade Eagle might work.
Brand knew what his friend was trying to achieve by negotiating with the beastmen, "Just like my friend said, we just want to capture the criminal!" He pointed at Tang Shaoyang, "We will leave the forest as soon as we catch them, and I hope you don't meddle in our affair."
The Jade Eagle looked more reasonable to talk with.
"Stupid! Do you think we will listen to you just because you say so? We have been in a war for years, do you think we will have your way easily in our territory?" Wen looked at Brand like someone looking at an idiot.
"Talk is not possible, then our sword will do the job now!" Mark pulled out his sword and directed toward Flaming Lion, "Kill them and capture Tang!"
"This is what I have been waiting for!" Kairu dashed forward excitedly.