In the morning on the next day.

There were many tiny sprouts around the vegetation in the forest due to the previous night’s spring rain. The jade green hues gave everyone a clean and comfortable feeling, while the air was also extremely clear and fresh. The plants’ faint aroma permeated the air and made everyone feel relaxed and happy.

Blue Maple followed diagonally behind the dwarves at a controlled pace. He looked so casual to the point where he didn’t seem like he had any vigilance that he should have while escorting at all.

The team had impressive disciple However, Blue Maple could tell that they had an extremely strict hierarchy. Normal goblins could only go about doing things with their heads lowered, while they had to bow and move aside when dwarves, who were considered senior, passed by. This was one of the reasons why Blue Maple was staying diagonally behind the group as he didn’t like the atmosphere.

They ran into some wild monsters along the way, but Blue Maple didn’t do anything at all. He didn’t seem like he wanted to do anything, and it felt like he was just there to enjoy the scenery.

“Uncle, are you sure there’s no problem with this human? Why do I feel like we’re escorting him?” Kruje whispered to Klubdi.

“So what if we’re escorting him? He’s already helped us. Furthermore, even our bodyguards can deal with these wild beasts which have appeared along the way. Do you think he’s interested in doing anything?”

“Yes. Uncle, we should hurry along. You did say yesterday that we should get back as quickly as possible.”

“Yes. It’s a pity that our tribe doesn’t have a teleportation portal. That would have saved us a lot of time.”

Kruje and his family was only part of a small dwarven tribe. They didn’t possess things like teleportation portals as those small portals in towns and villages weren’t very useful for them.

They were just a small tribe after all, and they weren’t part of an urban living network like humans were.

Everyone continued towards Gong Liang City. Blue Maple was strolling coldly by himself diagonally behind them, but he still paid attention and monitored to their surroundings like he was supposed to do. He would definitely be able to react if even a blade of grass swayed in the wind.

Quests like this one seem quite boring. This is worse than travelling by myself. Blue Maple thought to himself coldly.

Blue Maple glanced at the dwarves in front of them and felt like he didn’t fit in the group. However, he always felt like he didn’t fit into any group…

I hope the so-called demons will make their move soon. Otherwise, the journey is going to be so boring.

Blue Maple continued thinking as he stroked his hair, which had become a lot longer than before, especially his fringe which was almost covering half his face. This was when he was brave enough to use his own knife to cut his hair back in Elven Forest. If he didn’t cut his hair back then, he would probably have hair long enough to tie into a ponytail. His hair was already very long.

I’ll get a haircut first after reaching Gong Liang City. Doing it myself is no good. Blue Maple thought to himself plainy.

Suddenly!

Blue Maple was still considering his residence problem when his eyes suddenly turned sharp!

The next person who reacted was Klubdi, the Lightning Wizard. Klubdi’s actions raised the alarm for the other dwarves as everyone picked up their weapons and prepared to fight.

In this moment! On the other side, opposite to Blue Maple’s position next to the team.

“Crack, crack…”

Branches and trees were violently broken as a dark human-shaped figure could be faintly seen.

Klubdi immediately felt his heart skip a beat. He could see the black human-shaped shadow, and he could feel… dense demonic energy!

The incoming individual was a Demon General , and it was stronger than he was!

Shit. I didn’t expect that Demon Ancestor to be so persistent about this ring to send a powerful Demon General. What should we do? Klubdi was very worried.

He could feel that this Demon General was at least Rank 80! This Demon General was close to his fourth class advancement, and Klubdi was only a rank 80 magic-type Boss. He had no chance against this Demon General!

At this point, he didn’t expect Blue Maple to be of any help at all because their enemy was just too powerful!

No. I have to hold him back so that the two little ones can escape! This Demon General is coming at us so aggressively and not trying to hide at all. He doesn’t look like just an average grunt. I wonder how long we can hold him back for… Klubdi thought to himself bitterly.

Only then did he think about Blue Maple.

How about the human youth? I can only hope that he will help the siblings escape. If all else fails, I’ll have to toss the ring!

He turned towards Blue Maple before he suddenly froze.

Blue Maple stepped towards the back of the team casually, and he looked like he was trying to circle around the team to meet the Demon General head-on. Furthermore, he still looked very calm and emotionless, like the approaching enemy was just a normal Boss.

“Blue Maple, take the two kids away. I will try to hold him back. Don’t make futile sacrifices!”

“Uncle!” The siblings shouted grievously.

Evidently, they could feel that Klubdi would be in mortal danger if he tried to buy them some time.

Klubdi was very pleased that Blue Maple was trying to complete his quest like he was supposed do. However, he was still very worried because Blue Maple was the only person who could take the siblings away and escape. Nobody would be able to protect the siblings if Blue Maple was dead.

Klubdi couldn’t do it by himself because he was a Wizard. There was no way he could outrun a close-combat style Demon General.

He could already see that a long bright blade had appeared in the Demon General’s hands. Its grip was as black as ink, but the blade itself was bright silver.

“Hahaha1 Did I hear something about futile sacrifice? What, do you still want to escape?” The Demon General laughed hysterically as he continued walking towards them.

All the dwarves felt their hearts skip a beat, and the normal dwarves who had weapons in their hands started sweating in their grips.

Blue Maple had an entirely different expression on his face. He looked like he was contemplating as he watched the demon appear from the trees. There were too many leaves and branches, so he couldn’t tell what the demon looked like.

“Uncle, give him the ring if we really can’t handle this. We can run away afterwards because his target is the ring. He probably won’t go out of his way to chase us down once he has the ring.” Kruje forced himself to calm down.

Kruse’s eyes lit up when she heard his words, like she felt that this was a great method.

“No. What if he still wants to chase us down? You cannot overlook how brutal and ruthless demons can be. We will have even less hope than we already do if he gets to use the ring!” Kludbi disagreed vehemently.

“Ai, ya. Am I really a ‘ruthless’ and ‘brutal’ demon? Can you not see that I haven’t made my move yet? I’m waiting for you to hand over the ring on your own initiative. I don’t want to provoke you after all. You’re a Lightning Wizard, and that’s one of the entities that demons want to avoid most.” The Demon General’s casual voice could be heard.

Lightning-type magic was a natural counter to demons, to a certain extent, so demons typically didn’t want to provoke Lightning Wizards. Of course, they really hated Lightning Wizards too.

He finally passed through the last bush and appeared before everyone at the same time.

“Hmph! How can I trust the words of a demon? Perhaps you don’t want to provoke a Lightning Wizard, but howis it possible for you not to hate us? You’re probably going to kill us in that moment you get your hand son the ring.” Klubdi mocked the Demon General.

“Seems like there’s nothing else to be said. Let me destroy you!” the Demon General’s voice suddenly turned savage.

“Swash!”

Suddenly, the Demon General surged out from behind the bushes. He had a frightening murderous aura around him as he charged at Klubdi! He was like a rainbow as the long blade in his hands was engulfed with dense demonic energy, while his white blade became dark and black. Thick demonic energy blasted forth and everyone felt suppressed.

The Demon General’s hideous face was revealed as his eyes were filled with bloodlust and the excitement of killing.

Klubdi was very nervous as he conjured a lightning shield around his body. He didn’t want to use Flash, which all Wizards could use, as Kruje and his sister were still nearby. He wouldn’t use Flash even if they weren’t nearby, because the Demon General would still shift targets if he couldn’t lock onto him.

Kruje and his sister had already gone pale with fright. They could see the long and terrifying blade in the Demon General’s hands, and Klubdi would be in a lot of trouble if the Demon General slashed down with it. He could even be heavily wounded!

The Demon General revelled in their nervous and terrified expressions. His enemies’ negative emotions gave him great joy, and he wanted to see more frightened faces in this moment as he quickly scanned all the dwarves around him.

Then, his eyes suddenly froze when he saw Blue Maple, who had a plain look on his face. The demon’s bloodthirsty eyes suddenly contracted as the blade that he was wielding also froze.

Klubdi was face to face with a formidable enemy, and he was about to take the brunt of this hit when something changed.

The Demon General suddenly pressed his blade against the ground and lifted up a huge piece of dirt before he suddenly switched directions and charged straight at Blue Maple, who still had a very calm and plain look on his face.

“Shit! He wants to kill Blue Maple. If Blue Maple is killed…” Klubdi was terrified.

Nobody could take the siblings away if Blue Maple was dead, so him buying more time would be meaningless!

Klubdi was still feeling frightened when the Demon General did something that nobody could understand.

He held his blade with both hands, with one hand on the grip and the other hand on the back of his blade. His grip didn’t look like he was trying to attack, and he looked like he was trying to hand his knife over! The Demon General suddenly bent his knees and lowered his head.

The Demon General was still charging when he suddenly knelt down and was offering his blade!

“Tch, tch, tch!!!”

The Demon General knelt down on the ground, and two long grooves appeared after he landed on the ground as his enormous frame was almost prostrate on the ground while he offered his blade with both hands.

The Demon General was just kneeling in front of Blue Maple, and he was almost prone!

“Please have mercy, human sir. I was just trying to scare them, and I’m under orders to retrieve the ring. I didn’t want to kill anyone!”

The Demon General spoke very quickly, but his words and enunciation was unnaturally clear!

The Demon General’s reverent tone made Klubdi and the others, who understood humans’ languages, to open their eyes wide while their jaws hung open!

Klubdi and the others had their eyes wide open like they had seen a ghost. Their mouths were open wide, and their chins were almost on the ground!