Green Monster Epic

Chapter 682 Tracking

If a person's personality and behavior change drastically, and their thoughts may not truly originate from their own heart, is that person still the same person?

This is a philosophical question, and for Allen, a hobgoblin from the wilderness who has had little formal schooling or systematic education, it is somewhat profound, yet it is also a major problem that he cannot avoid now.

The notes left by the human genius scholar named Duncan have indeed solved Allen's current confusion and helped him understand the various changes in himself, but they have also shaken his confidence in the path he is currently taking.

If the path to becoming a god, possessing supreme power and turning decay into magic, comes at the cost of sacrificing oneself, Allen believes that he would probably find it difficult to accept, even if such a choice would turn his long-pursued goal—the prosperity and long-term continuation of the Green Field tribe—into reality.

However, a more cruel reality is before Allen. The faith system, which already has a solid and stable foundation, makes it difficult for Allen to stop, reorganize, and adjust his path, even if he tries to do so now.

He can't just cleanse the group of believers who firmly believe in him and say that the so-called 'God of Food' does not exist, right?

Not to mention that the scale of these believers now numbers in the thousands of goblins, among whom there are many tribal leaders and supervisors who hold key positions. Just the large-scale cleansing operation would inevitably attract the attention of the Maple Leaf Chapel of the Oak Church. By then, his plan to become a god would inevitably be exposed, and Allen is unwilling to bear this risk.

Allen's heart is now filled with mixed feelings, unspeakable distress and regret. Perhaps he should not have rashly embarked on this path in the first place, or at least he should have collected more information about becoming a god. Why was he so impulsive at the time and made this choice directly?

Tap tap!!

Allen's legs landed on the soft soil, and even the way home became particularly heavy at this moment. The hobgoblin was eager to find a quiet place to sort out his chaotic thoughts, and also to read through the information obtained from the Council of Truth carefully, to gain a deeper understanding of the path he is gradually taking now.

No sooner said than done, Allen did not care where he was at this time, in the strange land of the human principality, and the environment was also relatively harsh.

In the deep valley, a strange guest was welcomed, and after easily carving out a cave on a stone wall that could shelter him from the wind and rain, he seemed ready to live here for a long time.

… … … …

In the camp of the Southern Legion of the Four Seasons Kingdom, it was a mess. The various damages caused by the sudden attack by a hobgoblin powerhouse a few days ago have not been completely cleaned up until now.

At this moment, a team of three people came to this camp belatedly, and ordered the human guard captain who was on guard in front of the camp in a condescending tone to ask the legion commander Barnard to come out of the camp to greet them.

The human guard captain's eyes were unkind, revealing flames of anger, but seeing the gorgeous and exquisite armor on the other party, and the mount was also a griffon, such an expensive and rare flying beast, he knew that the other party had an extraordinary origin, and he could only let people watch them, and he hurried to the camp.

"Where did these bastards come from, putting on such a big show, and even asking me to come out to greet them!!"

Barnard was in a bad mood. After a fierce battle, he was physically and mentally exhausted. Except for the damage caused by the encounter with Allen when he felt the aura of a powerhouse and went south to check, he did not suffer much physical trauma after returning to the military camp.

However, the opponent's powerful strength and crazy momentum still left a deep impression on Barnard.

Barnard even secretly rejoiced that his legion was large and its members were well-trained, otherwise, if the great battle continued, he and his soldiers would probably be on the losing side.

"Barnard, His Majesty has given you the important authority to guard the south, prevent the Ice and Snow Kingdom, and maintain the order of the southern provinces. Is this how you act??"

As soon as he came out of the newly built military tent, a majestic voice came from above. When Barnard looked up and saw the three faces above his head, he immediately lowered his head and chest and replied in a low voice: "I'm sorry, it's my dereliction of duty!!!"

Barnard did not dare to argue, because the three people who ignored the surveillance and warnings and flew directly over the military camp wall were all high-level members of the Four Seasons Church. The leader was Adler. King, the chief priest of the Church's Punishment Court.

As a newly established country, the bloodline of the Goddess had already made a decision, and the former royal family collectively hated and resented her betrayal, so how could they defect to this newly established country. Therefore, the current Four Seasons Kingdom took the path of theocracy when establishing the system. Saint Spreit, the Pope of the Four Seasons Kingdom Church, is also the leader of the Four Seasons Kingdom's regime, so the Kingdom's army must also obey their dispatch and orders when facing high-level church officials.

"Hum!!!"

Adler looked around the scene with a gloomy face, glaring sternly at Barnard.

"Your military camp was attacked by a hobgoblin single-handedly, and you lost more than a thousand elite soldiers. How have you been training your army in the Southern Legion for so many years??"

"If this matter spreads, do you think the generals of the other three legions will treat you as a laughing stock for the next few years??"

Adler was not polite, and directly criticized the commander who commanded tens of thousands of troops, but Barnard below did not dare to answer back at all, because he was able to sit in his current position because of the support of the Punishment Court.

"Tell me in detail, how strong is that hobgoblin."

After Barnard welcomed Adler and his companions into the military tent, and after another round of reprimands and questions, the expression on Adler's face softened a little, and he began to inquire about the purpose of their visit.

"Sir, it's not that I was careless, nor that my soldiers were not brave enough. It's just that the hobgoblin powerhouse we encountered this time was too powerful."

Only then did Barnard begin to explain his failure: "At that time, I felt that there was a disturbance in the place guarding the Atlas Pass, so I personally went to check the situation. After seeing the mountain pass camp and construction site destroyed, I locked on the hobgoblin who was holding a sword and gathering strength in mid-air."

"To be ashamed to say, I was riding a phoenix-tailed lion and launched a sprint from three miles away, using my strongest killing move, but I didn't expect that in just one face-to-face encounter, I was severely injured by this hobgoblin powerhouse. If I hadn't transferred most of the damage to the phoenix-tailed lion at a critical moment, I might have been beheaded by him."

“… …Later, the opponent kept tailing me and fought all the way into the military camp, contending against the two legions stationed in my camp for half a day… …”

“… …To be honest, that opponent is the strongest existence I have ever seen in my life, perhaps only slightly weaker than His Holiness the Pope.”

Barnard never expected that this embarrassing incident in his military camp would alarm Adler, a high-ranking official. However, he frankly told his superior about his experience and judgment.

“Are you saying that the opponent's strength is at least demigod-level??”

Adler exchanged glances with his two companions, then turned to stare into Barnard's eyes.

“It must be a powerhouse above the demigod level, otherwise, the opponent couldn't have contended against my legions!!”

Barnard replied affirmatively, not just to excuse his failure this time.

“Did you manage to injure the opponent during the battle, causing them to leave behind bloodstains, or flesh, or anything like that??”

Another middle-aged human man, whose face was unfamiliar to Barnard, spoke, asking in a sinister tone.

“He exchanged over a hundred moves with my legions of twenty thousand soldiers. It's certain that he sustained minor injuries, but I don't know why you gentlemen are asking about this. Is there anything you need me to do?”

Barnard carefully recalled the battle, replying decisively and curiously asking a question in return.

“No, you just stay in the military camp and reflect on your actions. Await the kingdom's punishment!!!”

Adler glared at the fellow who had just lost a great deal of face, flatly rejecting his suggestion.

“Yes!!”

Barnard lowered his head humbly.

“Then next, I'll have to trouble Lei to take action!!”

After reprimanding Barnard, Adler turned his head, looking towards the serene-faced elderly human on his left.

“Leave it to me.”

The three of them walked out of the military tent again, their figures slowly rising to a height of several dozen meters. Then, the old man named Lei, dressed in light green linen clothing, waved his hands, and countless small flying insects buzzed out from his body, beginning to fly around in the space where a faint bloody smell could still be detected.

Barnard, who followed the three out, couldn't help but shiver. After being with the three for more than a magic hour, he never expected that this elderly human's clothes would contain so many small flying insects. As the buzzing sound grew louder and louder, the number of flying insects in the sky was enough to directly scare someone with trypophobia into fainting.

“Go!!”

A refreshing natural divine spell emanated from the outstretched hands of the elderly druid. The massive swarm of flying insects, like dark clouds, immediately dispersed like birds and beasts, beginning to shuttle throughout the entire military camp.

After half a magic hour, the numerous small flying insects, which had originally scattered without a trace, reassembled. The druid Lei lightly closed his eyes, concentrating and beginning to communicate with these numerous tiny creatures, sensing their weak consciousness and obtaining the answers he wanted to know.

“The target should be heading in a northeast direction.”

After a long time, Lei reopened his eyes. A sense of fatigue, as if he hadn't slept for several days and nights, flowed out from his gaze. Even for a legendary druid with an affinity for insects, sensing the consciousness of hundreds of thousands of flying insects at once was an extremely difficult task.

“Did you see the direction the opponent retreated in at the time? Was it heading in this direction?”

Adler lowered his head, looking towards the quiet duchy general on the ground and asked.

“Yes.”

Barnard secretly disapproved in his heart. It turned out that the opponent was just trying to discern the direction the opponent left in. He could have just told him directly, why bother making it so troublesome!!

“The aura has already been locked on. The only thing I'm afraid of is that after this encounter, the opponent will leave the duchy's territory and head to the wilderness or the beastman empire.”

“Let's chase after him and see. What if he thinks he is powerful and doesn't take our human powerhouses seriously?”

“I second that…”

“Alright…”

The three of them didn't explain to Barnard, directly lowering their voices in the sky and discussing softly.

The discussion quickly reached a conclusion, and at the same time that an agreement was reached, the figures of the three flew towards the northeast, not even bothering to greet Barnard, completely treating him as air.

When Barnard raised his eyes again, there was a bit more gloom and resentment in the depths of his pupils. As a legendary powerhouse and the general commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the southern legions, he hadn't been looked down upon like this for many years.

However, he could only hide these emotions in his heart. Who told him that his current position and power were closely related to Adler, the chief high priest? Now that he was being humiliated by him, he could only endure it.

But sooner or later, the humiliation that he, Barnard, suffered today would definitely be repaid in double!!

The three powerhouses moving forward didn't know the psychological changes of the legendary behind them, especially Adler, Barnard's superior. His original intention was actually to take care of the legendary commander supported by their Punishment Court and didn't want to wade into this muddy water.

Several months ago, a strange change suddenly appeared in the Mingxi Forbidden Land. A powerful golden light dispelled the abyssal black mist that had shrouded the forbidden land for hundreds of years. It wasn't until a long, long time later that the abyssal black mist in the forbidden land re-shrouded the entire forbidden land.

Although the royal capital of the Four Seasons Kingdom has now moved eastward by hundreds of miles, closer to the territory of the beastman empire, attention to the former location of the royal capital, the Land of Godfall, has never stopped.

Not long after the change occurred, the church legendary closest to the forbidden land rushed to the forbidden land to investigate and quickly reported the situation in the forbidden land to the Four Seasons Church General Court.

His Holiness the Pope of the Four Seasons Church, Saint Spreet, also dared not be negligent, sending church elites to the forbidden land while informing the surrounding human kingdoms about the matter.

As a newly built country, the Four Seasons Church has a shortage of legendary powerhouses, and the only demigod-level figure who can truly be called a top powerhouse is Saint Spreet. Moreover, his own strength was forcibly elevated by relying on the divine grace of the Goddess of the Four Seasons, not through his own training and improvement. Therefore, his strength is also at the bottom of the demigods.

The Lionheart Kingdom and the Dawn Empire were the most active in this matter, and they quickly sent their representatives to investigate this matter together with the members of the Four Seasons Duchy.

There was no way around it. The Mingxi Forbidden Land concerned a great deity, and no one could guarantee whether this deity had left any backup plans for his awakening.

If there were, then the human deities who had spent huge costs and energy, as well as long years, to complete the layout would definitely not sit idly by the awakening of the Father of the Oak Tree and would definitely obliterate this hope in its budding state.

It was precisely because of the possible risks of this matter that Adler severely reprimanded Barnard at the beginning and snubbed him, excluding him from this matter.