"Even demi-gods can't escape?"
Kurose Akira asked Lucia,"If someone enters the Forest Birdcage… is there any way to leave?"
Lucia shook her head.
"I'm not certain. You may need to ask the races that guard the forest."
The moment he heard that, a shadow fell across Akira's face.
If things were truly as Lucia described—if that girl named Virola had already fled into the Forest Birdcage—then how was he supposed to rescue her?
And yet, since the system task explicitly required him to save that adventurer, there had to be a way to get her out.
After a brief moment of thought, Akira made his decision.
"Let's go to the vicinity of the Forest Birdcage first and assess the situation. We'll figure something out once we're there."
"Mm."
The others nodded in agreement.
Deep within the forest, a group of centaur warriors blocked the path of a human army.
"Humans! Entry beyond this point is forbidden!"
Standing at the front was a well-built centaur female warrior. The spear in her hand scraped harshly across the ground as she planted it firmly, her gaze unwavering as she stared down the human forces before her.
If Akira were here, he would immediately recognize her—
Azkman.
Facing a human army numbering in the hundreds, the centaur force seemed pitifully small—only twenty or thirty warriors at most.
Yet their imposing figures and fierce aura instilled an unmistakable sense of dread in the human ranks. Especially Azkman herself—her presence alone was enough to make one's blood run cold.
"Centaur warrior," a knight stepped forward and said,"We are acting under the orders of Prince Tydes. We ask that you grant us passage."
"No," the centaurs replied firmly.
At that moment, a middle-aged knight without a helmet stepped forward. He spat out his cigarette butt, a faint smile on his lips.
"Our mission is to capture that centaur girl. She stole something belonging to the Prince. We hope you won't interfere. Otherwise…" His eyes narrowed."…the peace between the Starfall Kingdom and the Centaur Tribes may not last."
Hearing Prince Tydes' name, Azkman's brows furrowed deeply.
As the younger brother of the Starfall King, Prince Tydes wielded authority over tens of thousands of troops. If the Starfall Kingdom truly decided to invade the forest, the centaur tribe she belonged to would have no hope of resisting.
But after a brief pause, Azkman's resolve hardened.
"These are the laws of the forest. Even that Prince cannot violate them. Take one more step forward, and you will face the forest's wrath."
"It seems words won't lead us to an agreement," the middle-aged knight said with a helpless shrug.
Then he drew the sword at his waist, pointed it at Azkman, and sneered.
"Fine by me. I've never tasted centaur meat before. Today I—"
Before he could finish his sentence—
A massive body fell from above.
With a thunderous impact, the knight was crushed into a paste of flesh and bone.
"Eugh—stepped on a little ant. Disgusting!"
Marei Rhine spoke with clear disdain, even using dragon breath to disinfect her claw. Though her scales were thick and impenetrable, she despised the stench of humans.
The moment the human army saw her, their faces drained of all color.
"A d-dragon!"
"It crushed the knight captain!"
"That thing is over a hundred meters long! We can't fight that—run!"
"By the gods! I've never seen a dragon in my life—this is insane!"
"Stop gawking and flee!"
The human army collapsed instantly, scattering in all directions.
From atop the dragon's back, Akira noticed something else—
Among the fleeing soldiers, there seemed to be players as well.
As that thought crossed his mind, his gaze shifted toward the centaurs below.
Even hardened centaur warriors couldn't hide their fear when facing a true dragon.
Of course, Akira had ordered Marei Rhine to land here for a reason.
He had spotted Azkman.
Perhaps he could obtain some valuable information from her.
"Azkman!"
Akira called out as he leapt down from the dragon's back, landing in front of her.
"…Akira?"
Seeing him, Azkman's expression turned to surprise—but the first thing she did was address her people.
"It's fine. He's my friend."
Only then did the centaurs lower their weapons.
"Why are you here?"Azkman trotted forward, her hooves stopping in front of Akira as she asked in confusion.
"There's a task here," Akira replied. "And just now—you were…?"
"Those humans wanted to enter deeper into the forest," Azkman explained."But under forest law, no army is allowed beyond that point. Everyone must obey this rule."
"Only armies?" Akira asked."Then the few of us should be fine, right?"
"You can enter," Azkman said, "but you must follow the forest's rules. You cannot harm any living being within it."
As she spoke, her gaze shifted toward Marei Rhine. The other centaurs did the same.
Thankfully, she had landed in an open area—otherwise, her massive dragon form would have caused devastating damage to the forest.
"Change back into human form," Akira said to Marei Rhine.
"Why should I listen to you, you arrogant human!" she snapped, swishing her dragon tail in irritation.
Even so, her body was very honest.
In the next moment, she transformed back into her human form.
Because Marei Rhine knew—once she did, Akira would stop riding her.
"Earlier… that human army was trying to capture one of your people?" Akira asked, turning back to Azkman.
"…Yes."
Azkman nodded, her voice heavy.
"They came for one of our kin. But she has already been expelled from the centaur tribe. She…"
She stopped mid-sentence, her brow tightening—clearly dissatisfied with the tribe's decision.
Her words reminded Akira of what Liu Xue, the centaur warrior, had told him before.
There was a centaur who had been expelled for not possessing pure centaur blood.
That detail immediately caught Akira's attention.
He looked around at the centaurs nearby—male and female alike. All of them possessed standard centaur forms.
In such a tribe, the appearance of a half-deer would indeed stand out.
But expelling her outright… wasn't that too harsh?
Still, this was an internal matter of the centaur tribe. Akira had no authority to interfere.
But—
If the centaur tribe didn't want her…
Then he would take her.
"There's something strange about this," Azkman continued."She was expelled only recently, yet the Starfall Kingdom's army entered the forest almost immediately to capture her. I'm afraid…"
Her gaze shifted toward the other centaurs.
She didn't finish the sentence—but Akira understood perfectly.
There was a traitor inside the tribe.
"Azkman, it's time to patrol the next area," a centaur warrior approached and reminded her.
"You go ahead," Azkman replied."I'll stay and supervise them, to ensure they don't harm the forest's creatures."
Akira was a little surprised.
Azkman lied with an impressively straight face.
"Understood."
The centaur warriors nodded and departed.
"We'll be leaving then."
"Azkman, be careful. Humans are cunning and shameless. More than one army has entered the forest. If you encounter them, notify us immediately."
"Mm. I know."
Azkman nodded, watching her kin leave.
She then turned back to Akira.
"Let's talk while we walk."
"Alright."
As they moved through the forest, Azkman spoke quietly.
"It's odd. Several tribes are especially hostile toward that girl. At first, I thought they were trying to promote someone from their own tribe as the centaur leader—but after investigating these past few days, that doesn't seem to be the case."
Her words made Akira frown.
Prince Tydes wasn't just cultivating soul-eating creatures—now he was also targeting a centaur.
What exactly was he planning?
One thing was certain—it was related to the upcoming Starfall Grand Ceremony.
Idis had mentioned that aside from the Second Princess she supported and Princess Vivian, there were also two princes and one prince-regent contending for the throne.
That regent had to be Prince Tydes.
Only he had the qualifications.
"I heard that centaur is a natural-born sage," Akira said."An existence like that should bring enormous change to your people. So why…?"
"Her identity is too sensitive," Azkman sighed."If she were an ordinary centaur, things might not have gone this far. But she has no centaur traits at all. Instead, she has antlers—more like the offspring of another race."
Akira fell silent, thoughtful.
That was the crux of the issue.
She wasn't of pure centaur blood—yet she was born among them.
Like a human child born with a tail.
Such an existence would naturally be labeled a monster.
"Azkman," Akira asked,"What do you think about all this?"
"…Me?"
Azkman paused, then spoke with anger barely restrained.
"I despise those who expelled her. Their decision cost our tribe a natural sage—and created deep rifts among our people! But they don't care about any of that. All they see is the gold and resources offered by humans. Compared to the future of the tribe, they value their own利益 more!"
"…."
Hearing this, Akira finally understood the state of the centaur tribe.
Those in power believed that human benefits outweighed a natural-born sage.
"Oh—right," Azkman suddenly asked,"What's your task? Do you need my help?"
"My task," Akira replied calmly,"is to take that girl with me. She's already a member of my guild."
"…Really?"
Azkman's face lit up instantly.
"That's wonderful! I was worried about how that child would survive in the forest—but if she can join your guild, she'll definitely be happier than staying with the tribe!"
Her personality reminded Akira a bit of Guren—straightforward and bold, yet with a gentleness Guren lacked.
"But we've run into a problem," Akira said suddenly, his expression tightening.
"What problem?"
"She entered the Forest Birdcage."
"The Forest Birdcage!?"
Azkman's expression turned grave at once.
That place was forbidden—even to centaurs.
How could Virola have gone there?
"I want to rescue her, but—"
Before Akira could finish, Azkman suddenly shouted,
"Quick! Get on my back!"
"…Huh?"
"Even though that place is forbidden, I have a way to save that child."
She grinned confidently.
"It might be dangerous—but that just depends on whether you have the courage to come with me."
"Let's go."