Anthony's eyes darted between his unconscious companion and the mage's impassive face. Kael's earlier strike had been surgical - precise pressure applied to the vagus nerve rather than brute force. The display of anatomical knowledge chilled the bandit more than any magic.
"Verification protocol," Kael explained pleasantly, dusting his hands. "Your answers will be cross-checked. Discrepancies earn permanent retirement."
The captive's throat bobbed. "Ask. Anything."
"Genesis of the beast tide."
Anthony's laugh emerged strangled. "We're bottom-feeders, m'lord! The deep woods..." He gestured northward where mist coiled like living smoke. "Five days past, night patrols started vanishing. Then came the tremors. Heard a Crimson Fang mercenary say something's awakened near Mount Vostra's roots."
Kael's staff tip glowed faintly against the man's temple. "Specifics."
"Rumors!" Anthony yelped. "Of... of something old. Hungry. The forest's been... whispering." His gaze turned inward, genuine fear surfacing. "Three nights back, my cousin swore he saw trees walking. Next dawn they found his camp - tents shredded, firepit filled with black thorns."
"Goldenmane Lion King," Kael pressed.
Recognition flashed. "Blackthorn Company's prize! Their young master's been hunting it near the Obsidian Ravine. Two days' northwest." Anthony licked cracked lips. "They lost eight men last week. The lion... it's not right. Moves like stormclouds, they say. Kills with... with laughter in its throat."
Amelia's blade hissed free. "Hyperbole wastes breath."
"Truth! By the Twin Moons!" The bandit recoiled from steel kissing his jugular. "Three survivors described it - golden fur matted with ash, horns crackling like lightning rods. And its eyes..." He shuddered. "Said they burned without fire."
Kael exchanged glances with Amelia. Mutated beasts weren't uncommon near ancient sites, but this description hinted at corruption beyond natural evolution.
"Enough." The mage stepped back, dissolving the fiery cage with a gesture. "Run. If our paths cross again..."
Anthony needed no encouragement. He fled into the mist, his unconscious comrade forgotten in the undergrowth. Amelia's dagger flipped a pebble into the sleeping thug's ear, jolting him awake to stagger after his leader.
"Mount Vostra's roots," Amelia mused, cleaning her blade with a cloth. "The Blackthorn heir's folly."
Kael studied Samuel's map where inked peaks clustered. "We'll let them soften the target."
Dawn's first light breached the horizon as they broke camp. Somewhere northwest, a corrupted lion king roared beneath skies heavy with portent.
"Blackthorn Company's young master?" Kael's fingers tightened around his staff.
Anthony nodded fervently. "Sebastian Blackthorn - prodigy of Solaris City's mercenary circles. Reached Level Six warrior status at twenty-five. Their company fields three hundred blades."
A low whistle escaped Kael. While not matching the elite talents of Emberflame Academy, such prowess marked Sebastian as formidable. "Others hunting the Goldenmane?"
"Yuri Volkov, heir to Alabaster Citadel - Level Six mage. Daniel Loire, Viscount of Roya's son - peak Level Five warrior." Anthony's words tumbled out like coins from a ruptured purse.
Amelia's boot scuffed the ash-strewn earth. "Noble spawn swarming like carrion crows."
Kael's mind raced. Alabaster Citadel's influence spanned half the kingdom, while House Loire controlled vital trade routes. Such heavyweights converging suggested more than a beauty's favor at stake.
"Sleep," Kael ordered, delivering precise nerve strikes to both bandits. The subsequent interrogation of Anthony's groggy companion yielded identical intel - confirmation through fear-induced honesty.
Amelia's blade hovered over the unconscious men. "Disposal?"
"Mercy breeds future knives," Kael replied coldly. Twin firebolts extinguished the bandits mid-snore, their ashes joining the forest's carpet of decay.
Dawn's first light stained the eastern horizon when the roar came.
It shook the mist itself - a basso profundo tremor that sent icicles shattering from distant pines. Amelia's hand flew to her sword hilt, instincts honed through countless hunts. "Goldenmane's territorial call. Northwest bearing."
Kael's map unfurled with a snap. Obsidian Ravine's jagged contour lay precisely where Anthony's intel suggested. "Our path converges with destiny."
They moved through the waking forest like wraiths, the morning mist clinging to their cloaks. Recent revelations hung between them - noble heirs, corrupted beasts, and the unspoken truth that whatever drew these players to the Goldenmane's domain held value beyond crowns or glory.
Somewhere ahead, a lion king's distorted roar echoed through skeletal trees. Kael's thumb brushed the cool metal of Samuel's compass, its needle quivering toward answers - and fresh oblivion.
"The young master of the Dark Mercenary Group?" Kael's sharp ears caught the critical term in the man's confession.
"Exactly. Sebastian, heir to the Dark Mercenary Group. A twenty-five-year-old sixth-level warrior already famous among Lieyang City's mercenaries. Their faction numbers hundreds, ranking among the city's three major mercenary forces!" Anthony answered hastily, sweat beading on his forehead as he spilled every detail.
"Sixth-level warrior." Kael's brows knitted tightly. The disparity between Mistwood Forest's periphery and its heartlands became glaringly apparent. Though such talent couldn't rival Flamehart Academy's prodigies, achieving sixth-level cultivation at twenty-five still marked Sebastian as exceptional.
"Who else seeks the Golden-Horned Lion King besides him?"
"Yuri, son of Baiyu City's lord - a sixth-level mage. And Daniel, heir to Lord Roy of Loy, rumored to be at peak fifth-level warrior strength." Anthony's words tumbled out like dice from a shaken cup, his eyes darting nervously between his interrogators.
Kael exchanged weighted glances with Amelia. Each named contender represented the region's most promising young elites. Baiyu City's prominence as a renowned city-state in the Keya Kingdom made its lord's son formidable, while Lord Roy's hereditary count title guaranteed his offspring significant influence.
"All these rising stars gathering for a beast hunt?" Kael pondered silently. "And they claim it's for some city lord's daughter dubbed Lieyang's greatest beauty?" Skepticism colored his thoughts. No mere pretty face could magnetize so many ambitious youths - deeper currents surely flowed beneath this hunt.
Their expressions sobered. The Mistwood's core clearly operated by different rules than its periphery, a tangled web of power plays and hidden agendas. Though neither sought the lion king nor cared for legendary beauties, curiosity anchored their resolve to investigate.
"Rest now." Kael's precise chop to Anthony's neck silenced the man. After repeating the interrogation with his companion and verifying their accounts matched, he nodded grimly.
Amelia gestured toward the unconscious forms. "Their fate?"
Cold steel flashed in Kael's eyes. Mercy had no place here - not after these men had attacked with murderous intent. Enemies deserved neither pity nor second chances.
As dawn's pale fingers stretched across the eastern sky, they finished concealing evidence of the confrontation. While stowing supplies into spatial rings, a thunderous roar shook the forest. Trees quivered as flocks of birds erupted skyward in panic.
"The Golden-Horned Lion King!" Amelia declared instantly, her wilderness-honed instincts recognizing the timbre. Though distant, the cry carried primal authority - a monarch proclaiming dominion over its territory.
"The roar came from northeast, though distance remains unclear." Kael's frown deepened as wind whipped through his hair.
They streaked northeastward, boots churning forest debris into swirling eddies. Another thunderous roar shook the air, this time laced with unmistakable fury. The lion king's wrath resonated through Kael's bones as they closed the distance.
Dozens of armored figures materialized through thinning mist, their blackened plate armor etched with matching sigils. Arrows hissed through the clearing where disciplined warriors encircled their prey. At the formation's heart stood a broad-shouldered youth in commander's armor, his bearing radiating controlled power despite lacking physical stature.
Between their ranks reared the Golden-Horned Lion King - a leonine colossus armored in overlapping golden scales. Each plate shimmered like molten metal, its massive horned skull radiating primal dominance that dwarfed any beast Kael had encountered.
"Truly a king among beasts," Kael breathed.
"Humans trespassing my domain court death!" The lion's thunderous voice rolled across the clearing, its articulated words snapping Amelia's head around in shock.
"It's attained sentience!" she hissed. Only supremely evolved magical beasts developed human speech - creatures combining savage power with cunning intellect.
Sebastian stepped forward, longsword gleaming as he addressed the towering beast. "Golden-Horned One, I'd borrow that crown upon your head!" Mockery edged his confident tone, though his whitened knuckles betrayed the tension coiling through him.
Recognition sparked in Kael - this was the sixth-level warrior Anthony had described.
The lion's molten gaze narrowed. "Countless whelps have uttered such folly. Their bones fertilize my hunting grounds." Its clawed paw scored deep gouges in bedrock. "Shall I add your marrow to the soil?"
"Judge my worth yourself, Majesty!" Sebastian's blade erupted in crimson aura as combat energy surged through his meridians. Every warrior tensed, weapons gleaming in the dawn's pallid light.