This passage was not too wide. Its walls were painted with dimly glowing magical runes. Although these runes had a kind of sound suppressing effect, Punk's sensitive elvish ears could still pick up the faint heart ranching screams of the people who were being mercilessly slaughtered through the layer of soil above him. Those screams, which seemed to contain endless despair and resentment, added a touch of gloom and uneasiness to this passage's already dark and depressing environment. 

However, no matter how unwilling the soldiers were to just run like some beaten dogs, and no matter how guilty they felt for the comrades in Konola, all the soldiers sensibly knew that now it was impossible to do anything, and their top priority should be to protect the princess as her elite guards. So, all of them gritted teeth and endured today's shame while secretly vowed that one day they would come back and avenge their dead comrades. Then they sped up the pace of evacuation and continue to flee.

All the soldiers, including the old Mage walking next to Punk, were gritting their teeth angrily, but Punk was still calm and indifferent as before. Now he and these princess's guards had completely different concerns.  While walking in this long dark passage, Punk ordered the system to thoroughly analyze the obscure magical fluctuations attached to the passage walls. Soon, the analysis was completed, and the results showed that these seemingly plain and simple fluctuations worked together and became a seemingly chaotic but also coherent runic circuit with its own internal structure. 

When Punk closed his eyes, he could faintly perceive that this invisible rune formation completely blocked everything; the magic fluctuations, battle qi fluctuations, and even the heat, sounds, and vitality emitted by the entire group, and even a little bit of information could not reach the outside of this passage.

"This formation! It is so similar to the programming diagram of earth!" 

Looking carefully at the data analyzed by the system, Punk felt that he had gained a lot of inspiration from the magic formation of this escape tunnel. Like- If the rune formation here had so much similarities with the computer programming, did that mean that it was also possible to decipher and even crack it? 

"Huuu! It's a pity! My soul level is still too low." 

Punk sighed and somewhat unwillingly shelved these ideas in the future plan, as now he could not learn or practice magic formation with his current level. 

Time always flies quicker when one thinking about something very attentively, and before Punk knew it, the exit of the passageway was already in front of him. Watching the soldiers in front of him going out one by one, Punk had to let go of his research on the magic runes and figure out a comprehensive plan to get ready for the escape journey! 

The exit of the tunnel was located in a forest. It was the same forest on the south side of Konola City, called Endless Swamp. There was a reason why this forest was called Endless Swamp; although it was not genuinely endless or even close, it was just massive enough that an ordinary person could not travel to the other side on foot. And as it was filled with sludge, there were no roads where horse carts or other conveyances could travel through. As for why there was so much sludge in this forest was a kind of tree that could store a large amount of water in its roots. The Haike tree. This tree didn't grow naturally, a Druid actually planted it in large numbers to irrigate this land. Obviously, that Druid's plan didn't go that well, and excessive irrigation caused this troublesome situation in this forest where there was mud everywhere. The Druid, who loved balance in everything, soon abandoned this area, but the Haike trees with strong vitality were slowly spread, and after thousands of years, this sparse but gigantic forest came into existence. 

After leaving the long and narrow tunnel, a ground almost entirely composed of moss came into Punk's view. These mosses covered the entire ground of this swampy forest, making this forest look like a playground with artificial turf. There were few trees like that of coconut trees that grew in this swamp, but these trees had large roots, and most of those roots were all above the green turf. If one looked from the outside, those trees seemed like rubber toys that someone gently placed over the mossy ground. In addition, there were some beads of small flowers with pink light spots rooted on the green turf. And the atmosphere in the entire forest was very tranquil.

But, this was definitely not the true face of the Endless Swamp! 

As Punk Lightly stepped on the muddy ground, almost three centimeters of mud squeezed out from under the soles of his shoes. The mud was also mixed with some rotten leaves. From the color and the smell of this mud, It seemed as if this swamp would be able to produce oil in a few decades.

Punk lifted his feet out of the sticky and stinky mud; however, instead of disgust, there was a little bit of satisfaction on his face.

 "I have to admit that McNeesey chose a very good retreat route." 

 This kind of muddy terrain was not a hindrance to professionals. However, it was an insurmountable speed bumper for ordinary soldiers. It was almost impossible for ordinary soldiers to conduct searches in this swampy forest. And if only the enemy's professional teams searched for them in this vast forest, the possibility of being discovered was extremely low. 

But although very suitable as a retreat route, the environment of this place was really unbearable. As the marching troops stirred the mud a lot, the rotten smell that had been sealed for years all came out, and the stink was so bad that people couldn't help but wonder if the whole forest was covering piles of excrement. Princess Nesa, who had never endured such a harsh environment, frequently waved her slender hands in front of her small jade-like nose to drive away the smell. Of course, it was ineffective. 

Punk didn't found this little smell that intolerable. Now, he was thinking again and again about whether or not to leave this group. 

Punk was rubbing his smooth chin with his hand while carefully thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of traveling alone. 

If he left this army right now, then the chances of encountering  Prince William's search party would become very small, but by any chance, he, as a person who was very high profile in the previous war, was noticed by the search party, they would definitely not let him go. And if he alone confronted a large group of vengeance-seeking professionals, that would be extremely dangerous. Thinking about it, Punk's brows couldn't help but tremble a little.

Punk was not a martial hero who could defeat an entire army by himself. It was already hard enough for him to win against a single trainee-level powerhouse, and if he encountered a team with multiple of them, then he would certainly die.

But if he continued to follow this escaping army until he reached the Kingdom of Dylan, the chances of colliding with the enemy search team were very high. But then again, there were these loyal trainee-level meat shields from the Princess's Guard, and as long as he hid behind and gave some surface-level assistance, the danger would be greatly reduced.

Punk, even as a decisive person, could not help but hesitate for a while.......