CHAPTER 35: EGGS

Richard didn’t eat breakfast or take a bath. He walked straight out of the orphanage to see the situation.

The Sky Armor Knights were still roaming around on their horses, searching for the reason the birds had fled the mountain.

So far, their investigation seemed to have yielded no results.

Sniff! Sniff!

Suddenly, Richard heard the sound of a horse, as if calling out to him. It even raised both front legs when it saw him.

Richard quickly approached.

"What is it?" he asked while stroking its head.

The horse responded as if urging him toward a place in the forest, though in a different direction from his ancestor’s location.

Curious, Richard nodded, mounted its back, and let Athena take him where she wished to go.

Richard strongly suspected his horse had sensed something.

After all, she had become a Primordial Beast. Matters related to beasts were likely things she could sense more quickly than others.

Not only did she feel the threat—she also knew the location of that threat.

"Richard..."

As Richard set out, he heard Augus’s voice and saw him riding up from behind, already looking recovered even though his nose and mouth had been bleeding earlier.

Perhaps he had relied on something to recover faster.

"Where are you going?" Augus asked when his horse came up beside Athena.

His tone once again resembled that of a subordinate, like the old days when he always followed Richard wherever he went.

Of course, now it was likely because he was curious about Richard’s strength.

"You’ll see," Richard answered, too lazy to explain further since there really wasn’t much he could explain.

Athena walked at a slow pace into the forest, whose trees were thick and tangled with countless vines hanging from tree to tree, blocking the path.

Yet Athena was a clever horse, always able to find a way through, so Richard didn’t have to do anything.

"Have we ever been here before?" Augus wondered aloud as he looked around.

Richard didn’t respond. By his own memory, he had never been here.

Athena carried him deeper and deeper, where the forest grew so dense that sunlight barely penetrated below.

Though it was still morning and the sun was bright, here in the forest it felt like twilight beneath storm clouds.

Augus began to look uneasy, visibly unsettled by such a silent area.

Elsewhere there would be the sounds of insects, but here, everything was silent.

He could only hear his own breathing and the hooves of the horses.

Soon, Richard spotted a cave, entirely green with vines that covered it.

It was massive, even taller than the surrounding trees.

Inside, it looked bright—apparently, the cave’s ceiling had many openings where light streamed in.

"How can there be a cave here?" Augus muttered, while Richard signaled Athena to keep moving forward.

He couldn’t just look at the cave. He had to go inside.

At the entrance, he had to push away several vines before they could enter.

Though hesitant, Augus still followed when Richard went in.

What they found inside left them both stunned.

The cave was so vast that Richard thought it was larger than two football fields.

The shocking part was that it held thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of massive eggs, each about as tall as a seven-year-old boy like him.

Some of the eggs were already cracked, as if ready to hatch at any moment, and Richard could feel the aura of beasts emanating from those broken shells.

Beasts that hatched from eggs—serpents, crocodiles, lizards, all sorts of reptiles—would consume their shells upon birth, gaining high-level nutrients. That would allow them to grow strong enough to instantly become Tier 1 or Tier 1+ Beasts.

"So this is what you felt," Richard said to Athena, who gave a light nod.

But who had placed so many beast eggs in this cave? Richard wondered.

"What—?" Augus suddenly seemed shocked by something else.

Richard turned to him with a confused look, seeing nothing else surprising.

"Richard, the knights are returning to the fortress," Augus said, causing Richard to furrow his brows.

Sky Armor users could transmit messages to each other, so long as they weren’t too far apart.

It seemed Augus had just received such a message.

"Why would they return to the fortress?" Richard asked.

The problem hadn’t been solved, yet they were withdrawing. Richard felt a scheme at work.

"I don’t know, maybe an order from above. They said everything is fine," Augus answered.

"You know everything is not fine," Richard replied.

Augus’s eyes trembled.

"Someone must be planning to slaughter Purple Rose Village with these beasts," he said.

"Yes—and someone influential enough to make the knights withdraw," Richard replied.

He wondered who it might be. Many Magi committed massacres of common folk as part of their training.

Of course, the person didn’t have to be overwhelmingly strong. But they might very well have a strong background.

"Richard, let’s just destroy the eggs," Augus said.

"At least you know what must be done," Richard answered.

There was indeed a sinister scheme—but if these eggs were destroyed, could that scheme still proceed?

"You wait outside. I can handle this alone," he added.

"Richard, there are too many of them. I can help you," Augus protested, unwilling to leave.

"I don’t want my attack to accidentally kill you," Richard replied, sending a wave into Augus’s body without causing harm.

Of course, Augus immediately felt the threatening force inside his body, paling as he realized it truly could kill him.

"Go!" Richard ordered sharply.

Augus quickly commanded his horse to leave.

Richard directed Athena to move deeper into the cave.

Now, the beasts were still weak inside their eggs. Killing them would be as easy as killing ants for him.

The only problem was the sheer number of ants he had to kill.

Luckily, he possessed Wave attacks that could reach farther than fire.

Richard closed his eyes, spreading his waves, sharper and more dangerous than before.

They could even be used for cutting.

Clop! Clop! Clop!

Faint popping sounds echoed from egg after egg as Richard’s waves passed through them.

What he did was nothing more than shattering the hearts of the beast infants within.

As they died, the eggs cracked open, but only lifeless bodies spilled out.

Richard smiled at the result, though he couldn’t reach all of them in one go.

Afterward, he moved dozens of meters forward before repeating the action.

Clop! Clop! Clop!

The popping sounds echoed again, hundreds, then thousands of times.

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