After that, Abium's group crossed the commoner's district and moved towards the town square.
After a few minutes of travel, Abium and others finally arrived in front of the eastern gate and noticed that the gate was already locked down.
Baron Harry stood at the top of the stone wall while dozens of soldiers stood in front of the three-meter tall wooden gate. At that moment, all of them had already unsheathed their swords and were ready to attack Abium any second.
As Harry saw Abium's group, he curled his lips upward, raised his right hand, and uttered a word in a calm tone.
"Aim."
Meanwhile, tens of soldiers who stood near Harry placed the arrows on the bowstring, aimed their bows at Abium's group, and pulled the bowstrings together.
A moment later, Baron Harry moved his right hand towards the front, pointed his forefinger at Abium, and was ready to send out the following order.
But before he could utter a word, Abium raised his hand and conjured a head-sized fire orb.
"Take cover!" He said calmly and threw the red orb at the wooden gate.
A second later, a devastating explosion occurred at the eastern gate entrance as the fire orb land on the wooden gate and spread fire in all directions.
A large hole around 1-meter diameter appeared in front of everyone's sight.
Frightened by the explosion, Baron Harry almost fell backwards and soon screamed.
"F-Fire!"
Alas, the soldiers who were about to pull the bowstrings were also affected by the shockwave and fell backwards. Some managed to release the strings, but Claude and other soldiers immediately stepped forward and blocked the wooden arrows.
'Did he really think this wooden gate would stop me?' Abium snickered at Baron Harry's stupidity and walked forward without minding other soldiers' terrified looks.
The group soon moved out of the town through the large hole and looked at the snowy mountain range.
"K-Kill him!" Baron hurriedly turned around, moved towards the other side of the stone wall, and stuttered while pointing his trembling finger at Abium.
But no one moved an inch.
That mere zero-tier spell gave everyone a scare. Some soldiers even started to tremble.
'Let's see what those sneaky rats are up to.' Abium quietly took out the Sword of Wrath and placed it on his waist.
At that moment, his amber eyes slowly shifted towards the east and focused on the tall Frozen Mountain Range.
The Frozen Mountain Range was located only a few kilometers from Moondale Town and looked domineering, touching the dark sky. At that moment, dark clouds covered the mountain's peak and released flashes of lightning, along with thunder sounds. Those ominous clouds appeared to be moving in their direction and gave everyone an uneasy feeling.
Behind that large frozen mountain range was the Alastall woodland. It was a home for many pirates, bandits, and even some dangerous magical beasts. As for the territory's size, no one knew the real answer. Some said the Alastall region was almost the same as the average Count's territory, but it was just speculation.
'But I heard there are still many unexplored areas hidden in the woodland.' Abium heaved a deep sigh and continued to walk.
After traveling for half an hour, they soon arrived closer to the foothill of the Frozen Mountain Range. Most of the areas on their way were only farming lands, which made their jobs easier.
But as they got closer to the towering mountain range, Abium noticed that the farmlands were replaced with dense woods and shrubs. Although no wild animals appeared in their path, everyone in the group felt afraid to move forward.
"Is it safe to travel in the woods?" Helena arrived closer to Abium and asked.
Meanwhile, Abium pondered for a moment and decided to act cautiously.
"Let's do an experiment. I'll move ahead and check if there are any dangers in the front, while you guys stay behind with the people and protect them. In that way, we can avoid being targeted by the enemies!"
Abium raised his hand, signaled everyone to stop, and then started walking ahead.
After walking for around 200 meters, he turned around and spoke.
"This distance should be okay. From now on, you guys should never get closer to me unless something extraordinary happens. Your only job is to protect the children, women, and the elders."
Saying so, he turned his gaze towards the front and continued to walk into the dense woods. Meanwhile, Helena, Claude, and others maintained a considerable distance between them and Abium and followed after him quietly.
After a few minutes of travel, Abium suddenly halted his footsteps and furrowed.
At that moment, he felt someone's gaze from the surrounding trees but couldn't find anyone.
'Someone is hiding in the woods.'
He instantly activated the [Spiritual Scan] ability, released a small spiritual wave towards the surroundings, and tried to scan the surroundings.
But before his spiritual power could spread to the surroundings, the ground under his feet shook violently and moved like an earthquake.
The next instant, he noticed that the ground was gone.
Instead, a large pit appeared under his feet.
Before he could think further, he was falling into the pit. Multiple sharp iron blades were installed at the bottom of the pit and seemed to be waiting to tear his body apart. Without any delay, Abium cast the [Blink] spell, disappeared from there, and reappeared 2 feet away from the large pit.
'An ambush?' Abium hurriedly raised his right hand and signaled others to halt their movements.
At that moment, a loud roaring sound came from the right side woods.
"NOW!"
Startled by the voice, Abium turned his gaze towards the right side and saw a human standing on a Maple tree branch.
Before seeing that human figure, another human appeared behind him and kicked at his back, causing him to fall into the pit again.
'Teleportation spell?' A startled expression appeared on Abium's face.
'Tsk!'
He clicked his tongue as he observed the enemy's movement and cast the [Blink] spell again. Although Abium didn't expect the enemy to use a spell scroll to ambush him, he maintained his calm face and responded calmly.
A moment later, his figure turned blurry for a second before disappearing and reappearing above the surface.
Like before, the black-hooded human ran towards him and tried to kick him into the pit again.
But Abium quietly stumped his left foot, jumped up in the air before making a back-flip, and dodged the enemy's attack.
While back-flipping, Abium quietly observed the opponent's face and soon widened his eyes in surprise.
A black-haired young man with deep blue eyes appeared before his vision.
'Watson!' Abium instantly recognized the enemy and got stunned inside.
Meanwhile, Watson raised his long sword, aimed his weapon at Abium, and thrust his sword towards his head while he was in mid-air.
The tip of the sharp blade spurred towards his brow with a screeching sound, ripping the surrounding air.
That blade itself was covered in a ray of sunshine at that moment.
Noticing the danger, Abium opened his mouth and muttered in a hurry.
"Blazing Shield."
The next moment, a raging fire shield appeared around his body, blocking Watson's sword tip.
Bang sound echoed as Watson's sword and Abium's fire shield collided against each other and sent a tremendous shockwave in all directions. Simultaneously, the explosion threw them a few feet away from the large pit.
Only then did Abium notice that the enemy appeared to have made this pit for everyone.
'Thank Mother Nature! I walked ahead out of cautiousness. otherwise, I wouldn't be able to save others.' Abium quickly recovered his senses and utilized the opportunity to unsheath his sword from the sheath.
"I didn't expect you would come all the way here for my head, Watson." Abium slowly stood up and said in a cold tone.
On the other hand, Watson uncovered his black hood and replied with a rough voice.
"Well, you did give me an unforgettable scar a few months ago. I would never forget that incident. Now is the payback time."
As Watson was talking, Abium noticed seven silver-armored knights coming from the left side woods and started moving toward Helena and others at full speed.
'Are they planning to hold hostages and make me surrender voluntarily?'
Abium's eyes grew cold as ice as he saw through their naive plan and snorted inwardly.
He then took a deep breath and shouted,
"EVERYONE, DON'T SHOW ANY MERCY. KILL THEM ALL." He might have shown some mercy if they had targeted him. But this time, they went for others, causing his anger to flare up.
Meanwhile, Watson made a sword stance and thrust his sword tip at Abium again.
But now, Abium casually took a step backward, tilted his sword a little, and blocked the attack.
Simultaneously, he locked his gaze on Watson and asked in a cold tone.
"Do you think you can win against me?"
After all, Abium had grown much stronger than when he first met Watson at the Baxbron Woods and could now kill a regular fourth-tier warrior in seconds.
But soon, he turned his face solemnly and enveloped his sword in a sunshine aura.
At that moment, he noticed that another enemy was moving toward him at an unimaginable speed from his right side.