Desolate World

It showed that one or some creatures had become a third party in the battle and smashed everything on the site with a powerful attack or combination of attacks. 

The report made the higher up of the Iron Gate fortress startled. He, with some of his advisers, then concluded that their battle with the parasite had made a powerful force in the misty forest angry. 

It was no wonder, because, from the data that they got after that, tens of thousands of monsters lost their mind and ran amok in the misty forest that night because of the parasite's skill.

On that day onward, he decided to order all undead to withdraw from the misty forest. He didn't want to annoy the powerful force in the forest while the undead's main force was waging war with the parasites in the East. 

He didn't want to risk losing the Iron Gate Fortress that became the bridge of the undead to attack the East and the North. This location was too vital for them to expand their territory and influence.

If he lost the fortress, the main army's retreat would be cut off. And it could cause millions of undead in the East to be annihilated. 

Jordan heard it himself from their meeting. It was the good news that he had been waiting for a month by infiltrating the enemy's base.

Because of his information, the shadows who were wanted by the undead dared to cross the prairie with all of their force to escape to the South.

But, he had never thought that, because of his mistake, his family would provoke the strong force that annihilated a 50 strong skeleton platoon in the Misty Forest.

He didn't doubt his and other stalkers' ability to escape. But priests and knights were impossible to escape. He really regretted what he had done.

It took him 10 minutes to take Ace to the place where the shadows were resting. On the surface, it was only a giant tree with an eerie atmosphere. But, there were more than 200 shadows resting.

Jordan had seen Ace's agility in their short battle. But finding that he could follow him, who moved at fast speed with ease, made him astonished. For a note, he was an elite in level 37 and Ace was just a level 26 guardian. Furthermore, he was a stalker, whose agility was the highest among his other attributes.

'He was not an ordinary guardian. Maybe he is a leader of a guild. It's no wonder he is so domineering,' Jordan thought.

***

"Is it your resting place?" Ace asked. He looked around, but couldn't find any creature there. 

However, he felt many pairs of eyes staring at them. It made him pretty anxious. However, he never showed it. He hoped his plan could work. If so, they would get the eighth race that they needed. 

"Yes, wait a bit," Jordan said while walking towards the big tree.

Then tens of shadows emerged from the darkness. Some of them wore clothes like Jordan, some of them wore dark full-body plate armors, and some of them wore black loose robes.

Ace was surprised. He had never thought all of them could enter and exit the darkness like Jordan. He concluded that it was their racial skill or trait.

"Who is the friend that you bring, Jordan?" A lady, who wore a robe asked. She then walked towards them. A man in armor followed her.

The lady looked elegant and friendly, although she was a shadow. As for the armored shadow, he didn't show much emotion. He then checked their information.

[Andrea Voidcrow] (Elite)

Race: Shadow (Priest)

Level: 45

[Peter Voidcrow] (Elite)

Race: Shadow (Knight)

Level: 48

After knowing that she had such a high level, Ace didn't dare to belittle her. It seemed she was the one that held authority in the shadows. As for the shadow knight, he looked quite difficult to communicate with, so, for the time being, he would focus on the priest. 

And he didn't pay too much attention when he checked Jordan's information, but it seemed all of the shadows in this place were from a family, as they had the same last name.

"Andrea, meet our friend, Ace. He was a guardian who participated in the annihilation of the undead some days ago," Jordan said.

Ace wanted to laugh at the way Jordan introduced him. He thought, 'What are you afraid of?'

But, he felt weird. All of the shadows' expressions became serious after hearing what Jordan said. Ace wondered just how wild the rumor that they had heard about what Mars had did.

"My name is Ace. I'm a guardian from Laketown village. I met Jordan while patrolling the area," Ace said.

"Welcome, Ace. We are sorry, we couldn't give you the treatment that you deserved. As you can see, we are in the wild. So please understand," Andrea said.

Ace didn't know why he received such politeness. But, he thought that it would make his plan easier.

"You are too polite, miss Andrea. Then, let me be direct. I came here as part of my duty. Mars, our village head ordered me to patrol around the forest to see if there are dangerous monsters around here, the appearance of refugees, or the invasion of the enemy. 

I heard from Jordan that his group is refugees from the North. So I decided to take a look," Ace explained. 

"Yes, we are escapees from the North. For some reason, our race was wanted by the undead. So, as we got information that the undead evacuated from this forest, we decided to break through their territory and enter the Misty Forest," Andrea explained.

Ace nodded. He then said, "I'm sorry to hear that. But, if I may ask, what is your group's plan?"

Andrea seemed to be puzzled by Ace's question. She then said, "We haven't thought that far actually. What we really care for the time being is to get away from the undead's reach as far as we can. Well, I hope we can find a place to live peacefully, in the South."

***