The maid squad is too strong, what use is there for me, the Demon King?

"Your Majesty, please follow me." The old village chief bowed and led the way.

The team set off again, but the atmosphere was completely different from when they had infiltrated before.

No longer a stealthy advance, but a steady and determined stride, they headed towards the area behind the village, the region known as the "Mystic Forest." Gray led the way, with the old village chief slightly ahead to guide them.

Sita and Aita followed closely behind, while the servants were scattered on the left and right flanks and at the rear, maintaining a vigilant formation. Their cold gazes swept over everything around them. Despite the villagers' utmost respect, they remained steadfast in their duty as guards.

Along the way, more and more villagers emerged from their houses, spontaneously gathering on both sides of the road, kneeling silently to see him off. Their gazes followed Gray's retreating figure, filled with complex emotions—reverence, excitement, anticipation, and a hint of worry for the king about to embark on a perilous journey. The children, also moved by the solemn atmosphere, knelt obediently beside their parents, blinking their big eyes.

The group passed through the last cultivated medicinal herb field on the edge of the village, stepping onto truly undeveloped land, where the primeval atmosphere was palpable. The village and the kneeling villagers behind them were gradually obscured by the dense vegetation.

The scenery ahead began to change noticeably.

The closer they got to the forest, the wilder and denser the life energy in the air became, almost to the point of being viscous. Every breath carried a heavy energy load, forcing the lower-ranking servants to slightly exert their internal energy to resist. The light also became strange, with the amber glow from the sky intertwining with the shimmering halos emanating from the blue-purple and silver-white trees in the forest, forming a hazy, dreamlike, yet unsettling mist of light.

Huge, bizarrely shaped plants began to appear: glowing vines coiled around towering ancient trees like giant snakes, and huge, colorful mushrooms grew in layers, emitting dizzying spore dust. The thick moss on the ground felt soft and spongy underfoot, as if an unknown space was hidden beneath.

The old village chief and the hunters noticeably slowed their pace, becoming more cautious. They nervously surveyed their surroundings, gripping their weapons tightly. "Your Majesty, if we go any further, we'll truly enter the outer reaches of the Mystic Forest," the old village chief solemnly warned. "The energy here is becoming extremely unstable, and... those brutal monsters will become more numerous and stronger."

As if to confirm his words, a long, inhuman roar, chilling and terrifying, echoed from the depths of the forest. The sound was filled with chaos and violence, completely out of place with the vibrant life of this secret realm.

Gray didn't stop. The ancient patterns on the pair of black iron and gold demonic horns on his forehead seemed to flow more clearly.

“It’s alright.” Gray’s voice was calm and even, as if the dangerous roar was just a gentle breeze. “Continue leading the way.”

His calmness infected everyone. The waiters' auras became even more focused, Sita's hand remained lightly on his waist, and Aita's claws were already extended, his orange-gold vertical pupils scanning the glowing plants and dark corners warily.

Like a small boat adrift in a magnificent yet perilous ocean of light, the group steadfastly sailed deeper into the Mystic Forest, towards the ancient source of its call. The village guides' faces were a mixture of awe and fear, yet their steps, guided by the king, never faltered.

As the group stepped into the outer edge of the Mystic Forest, it felt as if they had instantly entered a bizarre and perilous alternate dimension.

The branches and leaves of the towering ancient trees blocked out most of the sunlight. Instead, the trees themselves emitted an ever-changing halo of blue-purple and silver-white light, which, together with the luminous spores floating in the air like living dust, wove together a huge and eerie net of light.

The air was as thick as liquid energy, each breath carrying a heavy burden, mixed with the rich scent of pollen, the pungent smell of humus, and a faint, unsettling aura of violence and chaos.

The old village chief and his hunter guides grew increasingly tense, almost walking on tiptoe, spears and arrows aimed at every swaying shadow, their breathing heavy. In stark contrast were Gray and his servants.

Gray's steps remained steady and composed; the dark hem of his robe barely reflected the light in the eerie glow, as if he were strolling in his own backyard.

He didn't even need to consciously try to sense the direction anymore; the map's guidance was like a lighthouse in the darkness, clearly and unmistakably pointing him forward.

His attention seemed to be mostly absorbed in the deep resonance with this call, as if he were completely oblivious to the disturbances of the outside world.

However, this forest clearly does not welcome any outsiders.

"Left side! Underground!" A low-ranking waiter suddenly issued a short alarm, his voice suppressed to the lowest possible level, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears.

Before the words were finished, the ground on the left, covered with glowing moss, suddenly exploded open, and several tentacles covered with disgusting pustules, like enlarged versions of thorny roots, burst out, carrying foul-smelling slime and chaotic mental screams, and wrapped around the outermost waiter.

The waiter didn't even turn around; the poisoned dagger he held in his backhand, like a viper flicking its tongue, drew a cold, dark purple arc with unparalleled precision.

"Tsk-!"

The pustule's tentacle snapped off instantly, spraying out a corrosive, foul-smelling liquid. But the waiter had already slipped to the side like a ghost, and the liquid missed its mark, only sizzling black smoke rising from the moss.

Another waiter skillfully followed up with a Shadow Needle, precisely driving it into the writhing remnant root beneath the ground, completely annihilating it.

"Tree canopy to the right! Approach silently!" Sita's icy voice rang out almost simultaneously. She didn't make a move, but simply gave a precise call to action.

In the shadow of the wide, fluorescent canopy of a giant mushroom tree to the right, several moth-like monsters with transparent wings, almost blending into the light mist, were silently swooping down. Their mouthparts were sharp and gleamed with a ghostly light that could paralyze the nerves.

call out!call out!call out!

Several almost invisible shadow needles shot out from the servants' hands at different angles, weaving a web of death in the air. The moth-like monsters were as if they had crashed into an invisible wall, instantly pierced and frozen, then turned into fine dust and dissipated without even making a sound.

Aita, like an orange lightning bolt, moved swiftly along the flank of the team. Her senses seemed exceptionally adapted to this chaotic energy environment, always able to spot small, agile monsters attempting to attack from blind spots first.

"You annoying jumping mushroom meow!" she snorted, slashing out with her claws and slicing several colorful, bouncy mushrooms that had sprung from rotting tree stumps and were trying to spray paralyzing spores into pieces in mid-air.

"Hide your head and show your tail!" She suddenly pushed off the ground again, soaring into the air. Her claws were wrapped in purplish-black magic, and she fiercely grabbed a seemingly ordinary vine above her head. The vine twisted violently in pain, revealing a sucker-like mouth full of sharp teeth, which was then completely torn apart by Aita's magic.