CHAPTER 325: CHAPTER 221: THE BEAST’S DECEIT

Roland reacted quickly, catching the fainted Sif.

Sif was deeply asleep, unable to be awakened.

Roland looked around, found a flat ground, took off his coat and laid it down for Sif to lie quietly.

He stared at the lifeless ginkgo tree, still somewhat shaken.

This ginkgo tree was of excellent quality, having grown for countless years. Fortunately, without the help of Tree Elf partners to evolve, it fought merely by instinct, with no combat skills.

The ginkgo tree was powerful, but in front of the many human black technologies, it was a joke.

Living people have many ways to deal with dead trees.

Unfortunately, there was no electric saw, only a giant sword for logging. A giant sword is not an ideal tool for logging, but it’s enough against a dead tree.

Roland carefully observed his surroundings, confirming no movement before stepping forward to start logging.

Halfway through chopping, he was surprised to find the giant sword had become nicked.

This was an Aurum Steel giant sword specially crafted by Norton, yet it was nicked by the tree?!

The strength of this tree trunk was even more exaggerated than Aurum Steel, it’s simply...

Roland’s eyes lit up.

He had found the material for the scepter he had been searching for.

This ginkgo tree’s hardness exceeds Aurum Steel, yet it’s much lighter and can store magic, simply a dreamy high-quality scepter material.

Roland disregarded the giant sword’s wear and tear, speeding up the cutting without regard for cost.

The finest scepter material is the ginkgo marrow core.

Ordinary tree marrows are soft and unsuitable for making weapons, but this intelligent ginkgo tree is the opposite.

Their marrow core is not only hard but also has excellent toughness.

Roland was very patient, but the ginkgo tree’s toughness was beyond imagination.

Blood continuously flowed down the trunk, increasing the difficulty of felling.

Just as Roland was busy, sweating profusely, a hoarse and rigid voice came from behind, "Blood, give me, help you chop the tree, okay?"

Roland’s soul nearly froze.

He instinctively glanced at Sif with his peripheral vision, finally relieved.

Luckily, the figure didn’t directly target Sif.

Roland released his grip, allowing the giant sword to fall to the ground, indicating no hostility, then slowly turned around.

The mysterious figure behind must be extremely powerful to approach unnoticed, likely a Tier Seven pinnacle expert, skilled in concealing their presence, probably very fast.

A nicked giant sword was merely a joke to such an expert.

Roland discarded the giant sword to show his stance, but his weapons were all hidden in the moonlit silver armor’s concealed space, ready to use anytime.

He made an instant decision.

If the other party harbors no hostility and only wants to take advantage, they’re negotiable.

If handled properly, they might even gain a friend.

If the other party has ill intentions, the arsenal in his pockets isn’t there for fun.

Turning around, Roland smiled and said, "I don’t need the tree blood, feel free..."

He abruptly stopped speaking.

The mysterious creature before him made his skin crawl.

He found it difficult to use either werewolf or wolf-man to describe the creature before him.

The creature resembled a giant wolf with cold eyes like ice, yet had human expressions.

The wolf-like creature tried to support itself upright, standing on two legs, but anyone could see its common form was four-legged.

"Human, I, Givaudan, blood."

In a flash, Roland weighed the pros and cons in his mind, quickly judging it impossible to defeat the creature head-on, while Sif still slept, decisively abandoning using force.

He smilingly stepped aside, gesturing for Givaudan to go absorb the tree blood.

Seeing Roland being very cooperative, Givaudan showed a creepily horrifying smile, leaping past Roland.

Its speed was incredibly fast, leaving a shadow in the air, even producing a sonic boom.

Roland felt a chill down his spine.

Though uncertain about Givaudan’s true combat power, the speed was too outrageous.

Even if not supersonic, it was close.

A physical body close to the speed of sound is a terrifying existence beyond what human Tier Seven experts can reach.

If Givaudan has matching dynamic vision, ordinary firearms pose little threat to it.

Humans below Tier Seven can’t even see its form clearly.

As the Day of Return approaches, indeed the land is full of demons.

Though vaguely worried, Roland was not too panicked.

He still had many items stored in his moonlit silver armor.

To deal with creatures like the Golden Ginkgo Tree Demon, he had obtained alchemy potions with specific plant-targeting effects from Norton, which he used earlier while handling the ginkgo tree.

Last time, he circled the outskirts of White Mountain but did not dare to go in; afterward, he again found Norton, obtaining a batch of potions specifically for demonized beasts.

Norton received werewolf corpses provided by Roland, concocted special potions for canine magical beasts, werewolves, and wolf-men.

The moonlit silver armor contained several canisters of special potions.

If Givaudan harbors ill intentions, Roland is not without strength to fight.

It seems Roland’s weakness is Sif, yet he sensed Sif awaken several seconds ago.

She was awake but pretending to sleep.

Her acting was as superb as ever, Roland couldn’t discern she was feigning sleep.

It’s best to get along peacefully, but if Givaudan harbors ill intentions, then they’ll fight.

Roland carefully observed Givaudan, confirming it was a hybrid of wolf-man and wolf, Norton’s potion should be effective.

The jungle was particularly quiet, only the eerie sound of Givaudan sipping tree blood.

A few birds happily flew overhead, shrieking and flying away upon seeing Givaudan.

Squinting, Roland was contemplating how to deal with this cursed old wolf when the ground began to tremble.

Both he and Givaudan simultaneously looked toward the mountain path where a massive giant bear was rushing aggressively toward Givaudan.

Givaudan glared at the giant bear, growling ferociously, but the giant bear showed no intention of retreating, responding with an even louder roar.

The giant bear glanced at Roland standing aside, suddenly accelerated, charging at Givaudan.

Givaudan angrily wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, hesitated for less than a second, and roared as he charged at the giant bear.

As he charged, he didn’t forget to call out to Roland.

"Human, act now. This damned bear doesn’t understand compromise at all."

Roland nodded, responding softly, "Lure it over here!"

In just a moment, he made up his mind.

The giant bear and Givaudan both had to die.

The giant bear was vicious and violent, with no possibility of compromise, and Givaudan was no good either.

When he first started talking to Roland, Givaudan’s human language was clumsy and awkward, but in the moment the giant bear pounced, he got anxious and spoke with unusual fluency.

The urgency of the situation meant he didn’t notice these details, but Roland did.

Clearly, he could speak fluent Jin Yuan Language, yet he pretended to be clumsy; he was obviously up to no good.

Givaudan was betting on Sif being asleep, forcing Roland to compromise, pretending to be non-hostile to snatch the chance to drain blood first.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t a prophet; he hadn’t anticipated the sharpness of the giant bear’s sense of smell, or that Roland would see through his deceit.

The trickery of beasts, though cunning, was still somewhat rough.

Roland drew his sharp sword while hiding a silver short sword up his sleeve.

Silver weapons were soft in texture and could only be used against werewolves, vampires, and evil demons.

Before making a move, Roland exchanged a look with Sif, who had quietly opened one eye, conveying his combat intent.

Making deals with demonized beasts never ends well.

Don’t expect beasts to have a concept of trust.

The law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, governs their behavior.

In the battle between the giant bear and Givaudan, the giant bear used its formidable strength and slightly less but sufficient speed to firmly suppress Givaudan.

Givaudan fought back with all his might, retreating continuously.

"Human!"

Givaudan was genuinely anxious; there was still more than half the tree sap, which was his chance to break through—how could he give up?

He didn’t understand the human concept of Rebirth Day, but his survival instincts told him he had to get stronger quickly, or he wouldn’t survive much longer.

What the giant bear was after wasn’t the sap, but his life.

Just as Givaudan was exceedingly anxious, Roland made his move.

Seizing the perfect opportunity when the giant bear and Givaudan clashed teeth against teeth, his wrist flicked, driving the short sword into the giant bear’s nose.

The giant bear’s entire body was covered in thick fur; swinging an Aurum Steel Longsword against it would only leave a white mark; shooting it with firearms would be like tickling it, and a light cannon blast would merely cause minor injury.

However, its nose was its weakness.

The downside of its sensitive sense of smell was having a soft, boneless nose.

The scream was earth-shattering, causing the leaves in the forest to flutter down in showers.

Delighted beyond measure, Givaudan pounced viciously, biting down on the giant bear’s throat.

Although the bear’s hide was thick, there were differences in thickness.

The fur on its throat couldn’t be too thick, as that would affect its breathing.

Givaudan’s canine teeth were like four daggers flashing with cold light, stabbing fiercely into the giant bear’s throat.

The giant bear felt a moment of suffocation and howled, smacking at Givaudan’s back and limbs, attempting to break free.

Yet this was Givaudan’s only chance, and of course, he wouldn’t give it up.

Though the bear broke several of his bones, he didn’t care at all.

As long as he had food, he could recover from any severe injury.

The harder the giant bear struggled, the tighter he bit; he knew the giant bear couldn’t hold on much longer.

If the giant bear were to bite his throat, he wouldn’t be able to hold on either.

In less than a minute, the giant bear’s struggle weakened considerably, leaving it with barely half a breath.

Roland pulled out the short sword, shouted at Givaudan, "Bite tight, I’ll help you!"

Givaudan narrowed his eyes, a cold smile flashing at the bottom of them.

The moment the short sword slashed toward the giant bear was when a human’s guard was weakest, and it was his time to die.

He would bite the human to death, bite the woman on the ground, bite the giant bear, and drain the tree sap.

This hunt’s harvest was too bountiful; he almost fainted with happiness.

The short sword accurately plunged into the giant bear’s eye socket, violently stirring its brain, sending it on its final journey.

Givaudan loosened his mouth.

Just as he was about to leap, another short sword appeared out of nowhere, shoved precisely into his mouth, and thrust with force.

Severe pain struck, and instinctively Givaudan bit down, confusion overwhelming his mind.

Damned human! To think he launched a sneak attack before I could!

Aaaah!

What is this? Why is it a silver weapon!

Givaudan was seized by terror, heavily injured, utterly incapable of resisting, and could only tumble backward rolling toward the sleeping Sif.

Damned human, I’ll repay this sneak attack debt with your wife’s life!

Givaudan let out a sorrowful, fierce laugh, viciously pouncing toward Sif.

Just as his claws were about to strike, the "unconscious" Sif opened her eyes.

Her smile was extraordinarily radiant.

She was so beautiful.

This was Givaudan’s last thought in this world.

Sif drew her gun and fired five consecutive shots, each precisely hitting Givaudan’s eyes, throat, and nostrils.

The approaching Roland roared angrily, transforming his shield into a giant hammer, fiercely striking Givaudan’s back of the head.

Givaudan was incredibly fast, but his defense was far inferior to the giant bear.

The back of the head was also a fatal weakness; one hit from this shield splattered Givaudan’s brains, killing him instantly.

Roland exchanged a glance with the standing Sif, both feeling fortunate to have survived the ordeal.

White Mountain was indeed a fierce land.

They didn’t embrace each other crying, fussing, and kissing like protagonists in romance dramas but instead swiftly cleaned the battlefield.

These spoils were fought for with life, and not even a scrap could be left for others.