Infinite Realm

The broken carriage was coloured a pristine white with a mixture of gold decorating the edges and vertices of the ride. On one of the broken doors of the carriage, there was an emblem of a noble household. It was a crest that looked a grey Eagle-like creature standing on a golden halberd with its wings spread open. A red Sun was rising on the background as the Eagle's eye glanced up ahead, looking as if it was able to see whoever was staring back at it. The same emblem was also imprinted on the armour of the guards, both on their chests and backs.

As Sato wasn't versed with the nobility of the Fallen Heart Kingdom, much less Black Rock City, he couldn't recognise which family the emblem represented. However, for them to be found within this region, it meant three things. Either the family was on the run from their enemies or that they were powerful enough that Maldora Canyon didn't seem so scary to them so the owner of the carriage probably came hunting or something else. The third possibility was that the owner of the carriage was in a hurry to deliver a message or head/return to their destination.

While it was true that Maldora Canyon was an infamous spot for NPCs, the area had the advantage as it could serve as a shortcut to the southern part of the kingdom. It should be recalled that the Lorls River that ran through the Canyon and headed straight south of the kingdom. If one were to head the same place via land, they would have to make a lot of turns as the road wasn't straight. However, by following the river, they could make it to the south of the kingdom faster and vice versa. But this was on the condition that they could survive the attacks of the monsters in the river so hardly anyone used this method of travel.

If the noble family that owned this carriage had employed this route, then it meant was that they were confident in their strength or that they were in dire straits and needed to make it to their destination quickly, no matter the cost. So in summary, the third option still led to the first two: either the family was in dire straits or were confident in their strength.

However, if the owner of the carriage was confident in their strength, for them to have fallen here either meant that the owner was overestimating themselves or that they had encountered something terrifying that even the powerful carriage owner and guards couldn't handle. Sato didn't doubt this as whole the NPC guards were dead, he could still feel a bit of their aura.

No doubt, these guys were above level 20 at the very least and could possibly be stronger than level 40. Therefore, whatever killed them had to be level 50 or so.

Looking a the huge monster corpse that lay alongside the warriors and the wrecked carriage, Sato felt that it was the culprit of the entire event. Not only did its feet match the footsteps Sato had been tracking, but its terrifying size and appearance made him feel like this was no ordinary monster.

The corpse was that of a gigantic beast and by gigantic, it was at least 5 metres(16.404 feet) in height; and this was with the monster laying sideways. If it were to be standing upright, considering the length of 10 metres(32.808 feet) it had laying sideways, its height would also be the same. A 10 metres tall monster. If one has seen a human of 2 metres(6.56 feet) or 2.5 metres(8.2021 feet) in height, then they would know how huge 10 metres was. And the width of the monster was a stunning 5 metres; not something you would see everyday.

Even though he was separated from the corpse by a distance of at least 10 metres, Sato still felt a sense of agitation upon staring at it. It wasn't that he was scared but rather, the aura from the corpse was still enough to force his senses into auto-alert mode.

Despite seeing the blood flowing front he creature nonstop, Sato didn't approach it for fear that the monster maybe faking its death or still be on its last breath. If that were so, then even thought it was terribly injured, it could still end his life with one attack. Losing a ton of Experience points over something that could have been avoided was an act Sato was willing to pull off. Hence, he stood at a safe distance and inspected the corpse. Luckily for him, the angle Sato stood at was good enough.

The monster was a strange creature and a chimera of sorts. It had the head of a hyena but with the body of a leopard. On its paws were sharp claws that extended from the knuckles of the paws. A fixated gaze at them made Sato realise that those weren't simple claws but bone claws; extension of the bones in its body that broke free from the protection of the skin and got exposed. Those were dangerous hunting 'equipment' and Sato even had a feeling that they could destroy a level 20 Upper-tier Rare-Steel rank without effort.

Level 20 Upper-tier Rare-Steel rank weapon. This was something that no player had ever laid their hands on. Not even level 15 Upper-tier Rare-Steel rank. However, Sato was a blacksmith so he could easily simulate the strength of such equipment in his head. For the chimera's claws to be able to turn a level 20 Upper-tier Rare-Steel rank weapon to scrap, meant that the quality of its claws were such that one shouldn't underestimate it.

'Luckily, it's dead or at least it looks so.' Sato sighed.

If he were to face this monster, Sato wouldn't even be able to exchange a blow with it. Escaping was also out of the question as such a monster would be good at running. Even if it wasn't a good runner, just the difference in strength and attributes would make it such that Sato at his fastest speed, was but a snail in the monster's eyes.

"Let's go." Sato spoke to Milo.

However, the little feline didn't follow him but instead glanced at Sato and pointed towards the carriage with its head.

"Meow."

"Huh? You want me to check it out?" Sato stared at it.

"Alright."

After a moment of silence, he finally agreed as Sato unsheathed his sword and circled around the monster to get to the broken carriage. It was best to be cautious so Sato didn't want to approach the corpse at all. The blood on the ground was still fresh meaning it hasn't been that long since the battle ended. There was still a chance that the monster was on its last breath.

As Sato got closee to the carriage, he was in high alert for any reaction from the monster or elsewhere. The entire ground was tainted with blood and Sato didn't doubt that other monsters would get a whiff of it if Milo did. Hence, he had to be done with whatever he was doing here and escape before that happened.

When Sato was about 2 metres from the carriage, he heard a weak voice that seemed to be whispering. If he wasn't this close and didn't stay on high alert, Sato would have failed to notice this voice. But now he did, Sato realised something; there was someone alive.

Tightening his grasp on his sword, Sato approached the carriage, more cautious than ever. Even though the guards and the owner of the carriage were humans, it didn't mean that they were friendly. So no matter what, Sato still had to keep his guard around them.

"Help, Help me." The weak voice cried out.

Sato approached the wreckage and was immediately stunned at the sight within.

A young lady roughly the same age as he was, laying within the confines of the carriage, injured. Her head was bleeding, her hair a mess with her attire torn apart. She looked so weak that she was incapable of moving a muscle. The only thing the young lady could do was to repeat the same words over and over, in hopes that help would miraculously arrive. But even in her miserable situation, her beauty couldn't be hidden. With blue eyes that looked like precious gems, blonde hair and a lithe figure, there was no doubt that this was a woman in her prime of beauty. Even the blood on her lips added a helpless and pitiful expression to the young lady, surprisingly raising her beauty up a notch. Nonetheless, the injuries on her body made her look pitiful as it seemed like she wasn't so far from death's door.

"Help me." The girl muttered.

Her current appearance managed to touch the cold heart of Sato as he was contemplating bringing her out of here to somewhere safe.

'However, this is Maldora Canyon. Carrying an injured person around would be the same as attracting trouble.' Sato was caught in a tight spot.

"Meow."

Seeing its master hesitating, Milo then shared its thought.

"Hmm? You say there's something strange about her?"

"Meow."

"It could help us both?" Sato frowned.

At this time, the girl seemed to have lost all energy as her breathing slowed and she couldn't let out a sound anymore. If Sato were to decide to save her, then he would have to do so immediately or else she would end up dead. Having such a pressure on his shoulders forced Sato to ignore all manner of caution and take out a vial of Health potion.

While it was well known that the HP potions worked for players, no one knew whether it would do the same for NPCs. However, Sato didn't doubt that after all, players purchased their potions from NPC stores. There was no way that these stores would only sell items catered to players and unusable to themselves.

As the potion entered the soft but bloody lips of the young lady, it began to work rapidly, healing her injuries at a visible rate. Sato left her for a while toet the potion do its work as he began 'inspecting' the area.

"Let's go."

When Sato saw that her breathing had stabilised and most of her injuries were healed, he picked her up in a piggyback ride and left the area with Milo. Staying further would increase the risk of being caught by a wandering monster or scavengers that would be attracted to the blood of the monster or the guards. This was something Sato didn't want to see as there was a very high chance that he wouldn't be the match of those creatures.

"Milo, lead the way." Sato left the role of finding a safe spot to the little feline.

In terms of perception, Milo was way ahead of him, be it in smell or hearing. Hence, it was the best decision to let Milo lead the way as it could help them avoid monsters along the path.

"Meow." The little feline proudly agreed but didn't waste any time to pick a direction as it knew the precariousness of their situation.

'I really hope I made the right decision..' Sato thought as he glanced at the head that rested on his shoulder.

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