Return of the Lost One

Danger

Dugo Zugath who was running continuously and cautiously into the woods finally halted his steps after some time. Although he was panting, his body didn't show any trace of fatigue at all.

Taking a deep breath, Dugo Zugath's breathing finally turned stable. His eyes that were still gleaming in a faint luster descended in front of him as it appeared that it was the reason why did he stop.

“So this is the Purple Mist Forest...” Dugo muttered in a low voice. Upon seeing the forest this close, he couldn't help but feel a bit astonished.

In front of him, there was a purple mist covering the towering trees ahead. He didn't know how wide the place was but he could tell that once he entered that place, the danger would surely increase. He could even feel that that purple mist was somewhat strange as trouble was hiding behind it.

In any case, when he was certain that no danger was behind him or somewhere around, Dugo Zugath took another deep breath. After a moment, he finally took a step forward as he strode towards the Purple Mist Forest.

And upon entering that place, Dugo Zugath had immediately felt the temperature seemed to go down. Although he was already expecting it, he still felt a little uneasy and amazed. He knew that it was caused by the purple mist lingering in the area. And he couldn't help but wonder about the effect of the purple mist.

As Dugo Zugath was slowly striding forward, his gaze was naturally shifting around him warily. Although the purple mist didn't completely block his sight, it was still enough for it to hide everything around 50 to 100 meters away from him.

Thankfully, the purple mist didn't block his other senses such as hearing and feeling. Otherwise, he would take extra precautions since he was just all alone.

But since he could still use his other senses that were naturally enhanced and much better compared to any other normal people, he had taken some reliefs. But of course, he never lowered his guard down just because of it.

Dugo continued to stride forward. Although the wind was calm, he could hear the creaking sound of the woods and the rustle of the leaves here and there. He could also hear some cries of the beasts or wild animals from time to time echoing almost everywhere in the forest.

The sound in the area was just like that not until...

Boom!

Dugo Zugath suddenly heard a loud explosion ahead of him as he was startled by the sudden event. Just what the hell had happened? Dugo Zugath wanted to go there to see what was going on but his second thought was telling him to stay away as soon as possible. Curiosity and cautiousness were fighting inside Dugo's mind.

“Damn it!” In the end, Dugo Zugath gritted his teeth as he ran forward accompanied by a few cursing under his breath. He decided to see what was going on and see if there was anything useful in there. With his tracking and anti-tracking ability, he could at least find something and avoid the possible danger, right? Although he was a bit doubtful, he was still hoping that he could hide his presence from whatever was ahead of him and gain anything useful.

Dugo Zugath had already set in his mind that it was more dangerous in that place compared to wherever he went before. And with his personality, he naturally wouldn't always run away upon sensing some danger. He would instead look for it and try to see if he could gain anything that he could use as a lead to find the Portia. He also knew that wherever the danger was, an opportunity was following behind.

Unfortunately, when Dugo Zugath sneakily went in the direction where the explosion was, what he found was more than enough to make him shiver in fear. What the hell was that?! Dugo Zugath found his face soaking in cold sweats as his expressions went pale. Could he even take it as an opportunity? No, this was an utter danger!

Run!

Dugo Zugath had only one thought in mind and that was to stay away from that place as soon as possible. But unfortunately for him, his body wasn't obeying him anymore as he was shivering in fear instead. His strength left his knees as he fell on the ground behind the the tree he was hiding.

In Dugo's line of sight, he could see many bodies lying on the ground. Although those people were still breathing, they could only do slight movements as it appeared that it wouldn't take long for them to turn into corpses. And in fact, some of them had already turned into corpses now.

Those people had their bodies being dried. It was as if their blood was sucked out from them. What was more was that there was no lack of sign of fight in the area.

Trees were cut down. Grasses were turned upside down. Boulders popped out unnaturally. Craters appeared here and there. And some trees were burning. From the looks of it, the fight that occurred there only broke out not long ago.

No, instead of a fight, Dugo Zugath could see that it was a one-sided m******e.

Amidst the pile of corpses in the area, Dugo found a humanoid creature standing mightily. The creature had masculine features. It was about six feet in height and had a slim body. Its skin was purplish in color but it didn't wear anything at all for its purplish furs were covering its private parts.

The humanoid creature had a long and thin tail that looked like a whip as it swung back and forth. The end of its tail seemed like an arrow that could pierce even the sturdiest metal. But what was more attention-grabbing was the evil aura lingering around the creature. It was as if the presence of death was enveloping that creature.

The creature had its right hand raised forward as Dugo could see that it was grabbing the neck of a certain human with a lifeless expression. Blood dyed the human's face as it was apparent that his life wouldn't last for too long.

However, despite the difficulty, the human who was being grabbed by that humanoid creature still managed to open his mouth as he let out a word saying, “D-d-demon...”

Dugo Zugath who had a sharp hearing naturally heard what did that human had said. And it only gave him an even more uneasiness and ominous feeling. He could tell that a real danger was now ready to take place at any moment.