The situation here is more complex than imagined.
From the mouths of the Lake sisters, Shawn roughly learned about some things nearby. The Poison Gas Swamp was just the outermost area of the Ancient Race’s old territory, and the mutant lizardmen were barely even considered a threat, not ranking anywhere within the Ancient Race. There were more ferocious creatures in the swamp like the crocodile people, Chaos Toadmen, and Snake Lizard Race, which were the truly dangerous entities. Especially the crocodile people, who were the nearest, said to be descendants of a demigod. Once grown, they stood over three meters tall, with thick skin and immense strength.
The Black Forest was once the territory of the Owlman species, but after their Divine Spirit fell, the Owlmen were also twisted by the Ancient Race.
At the end of the forest is the Supreme Cliff, a towering cliff over ten thousand meters high, once a Holy Land for the Owlmen. It’s said that the corpses of dead Divine Spirits transformed into Evil Objects still roam there, birthed from the flesh of Divine Spirits, posing as incredibly dangerous and terrifying enemies.
These crow people are not true Owlmen, because Owlmen could ascend to become Lords of the Sky, a progression that allowed control over Storm Power.
Before being twisted, the crow people were merely a vassal race of the Owlmen, a small branch of the clan.
"Beware of the berserk owl bears," the Lake Fairy warned.
Those creatures with owl heads and bear bodies are terrifying and immensely powerful. They roam in the southern reaches of the Black Forest, residing along the path to the Supreme Cliff. The Owlmen were once one of the strongest races on this planet, even having their own Divine System. However, their race has become history.
The Ancient Race destroyed the gods.
There was once an ancient, unnameable existence, the source of all the Ancient Race. Its brief proximity directly led to the gods being twisted and driven to madness. Some fell instantly, others transformed into unspeakable monsters. The fortunate Divine Spirits that survived were cast down to become saints.
Humanity managed to survive, partly because they relied little on the power of the gods. In the Bizarre Realm, humans believed a bit of everything but were not devoted to any particular belief, so when the Divine Spirits fell, the impact on humans was minimal.
That ancient, unspeakable existence still resides in the cosmos.
As Shawn left, he felt a bit of a heavy heart.
The extinction of the Owlman species is a shadow of the history of the Bizarre Realm. During the Dark Era, too many races perished. Those that survived were all twisted into unspeakable, grotesque forms.
Eye Demon Nest.
Shawn hadn’t even gotten close before noticing something was wrong. There was blood around the lair and many scattered footprints, looking wet with outlines different from human feet.
"Lizardman?"
Shawn instantly entered an Invisible State, stealthily approaching the lair.
All were dead.
There wasn’t a single living person here.
Inside the lair were scattered arrows, and the eyeless barbarians had been completely wiped out. The enemy suffered no casualties, having come prepared.
"The Lizardmen came for revenge?" Shawn’s expression was grave.
From the battle’s traces, he could discern that the eyeless barbarians were all taken down in a single assault. The large bloodstains were from when the Lizardmen decapitated them. They used poison arrows to paralyze the eyeless barbarians, quickly wrapping up the fight after a surprise attack, cleaning up the battlefield, and even taking all the corpses.
The Lake Fairy had frightened the eyeless barbarians back with a Frightening Technique.
Yet they inadvertently took the fall for Shawn.
Yesterday, Shawn had taken down so many Lizardmen, and today their elite team came for revenge. It seemed there were formidable Hunters among them. In Shawn’s assault, he left no survivors, so the enemy could only track him through traces. From the footprints, it was clear he was human, which led them here.
"Damn. My new underlings didn’t last a day!"
Shawn had planned to take these eyeless barbarians to the Black Forest for some monster hunting. With them as meat shields to draw some fire, things would have been much easier, but in half a day, they were all dead.
"I can’t face off directly with the Lizardmen just yet."
"I’ll start farming around nearby, gain some power from [Knowledge] quickly."
Shawn quickly packed up and bolted, fearing the Lizardmen might return. With his ability, handling three Lizardman Hunters at once was already tough enough; facing more would be very dangerous.
Before nightfall.
Shawn reached the edge of the Black Forest. He planned to hunt around the area, hoping to gather some Extraordinary Relics.
The whole process was fairly smooth, thanks to his previous encounter. Shawn had ambushed and taken out three patrolling crow people. He found them easier to deal with than the Lizardmen because they were very fragile. With the advantage of surprise, the battle could be resolved quickly.
—Entanglement Technique!
At the edge of the Black Forest, in the bizarre, shadowy woods, Shawn suddenly raised his Magic Staff. Mysterious knowledge flowed out, and in the moment when his Invisibility broke, plants began to grow furiously on the ground not far away. They transformed into tough vines, entangling the enemies in place.
The Druid’s Curios are incredibly handy!
The first ring Entanglement Technique directly trapped three enemies in place, and one of them was even wrapped into a bundle by the vines.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The ensuing battle was too easy.
Shawn had already fortified himself with an Energy Shift Force Field to defend against ranged attacks. He and his three Invisible Hands opened fire simultaneously, with the entire crow people patrol squad ensnared by the Entanglement Technique. It was hard for them to break free in a short time. All Shawn needed to do was stand and shoot.