Overnight, the [Deep Valley] where the Council of Elders resided became a river of blood. The Elven Iron Guard was currently surrounding the location, and ordinary Elven inhabitants couldn't approach.

The people of Thousand Leaves Forest felt alarmed for some time.

A Ranger residing not far from the valley claimed that he saw a Hellhound leaving the place at dawn. Furthermore, there were many Devils!

No one from the Council of Elders survived the disaster.

His Highness Ivan quickly set up a memorial, and after that, no one voiced a complaint against him.

The Wood Elves united as one in their anger, brought together by this invasion of outside Races.

But most people still felt something strange.

The Deep Valley was in the depths of Thousand Leaves Forest, defended by the Elven Iron Guard.

It just so happened that yesterday, the Elven Iron Guard headed east to search for the traces of Devils. The Devils lured them away and extinguished the lives in the Deep Valley...

The situation had many odd points.

However, even if many Wood Elves were aware, those supporting Ivan naturally would not say anything, and those who were fighting against him decided to remain silent.

The reason was simple. If this matter wasn't related to Ivan, it was proof that there was really a large amount of Devils active near the Thousand Leaves Forest, and they would need Ivan's protection.

And if this was done by Ivan… then this person who was considered gentle and lukewarm by the Elves was actually willing to use truly ruthless methods. That was enough to intimidate most people.

In short, after the event, Ivan had solidified his position as the new ruler of the Wood Elves, and he had the obedience of the troops.

In exchange, Ivan had no choice but to arrange a meal with the Sea Elven Queen.

...

Marvin left Thousand Leaves Forest before dawn along with the Hellhound. When the Chaos Magic invaded the land, the Hellhound became excited and violent.

Because of the contract, Marvin could feel his excitement and his changing mood.

The Hellhound was simply like a fish back in water in this land. He rarely met a predator and his soul-swallowing ability was quite fearsome.

The reason the Hellhound still had yet to advance to Legend was the lack of an inheritance.

Feinan wasn't Hell, so if he wanted to transcend his current boundary, he would have to return to the Hellhound territory of the Nine Hells and undergo a ritual.

Marvin understood its thoughts through the contract.

After hesitating for a bit, he ultimately removed the contract.

This Hellhound had helped him a lot. Marvin had originally only taken advantage of it to handle the Shadow Shrine's forces.

As for what happened afterward... Marvin rescued it because of a moment of compassion.

They rarely interacted after that, so it was completely different from a relationship between a Ranger and his animal companion.

But he could feel the Hellhound's loyalty.

Even if Hell's lifeforms were Evil, they were also Lawful.

As long as the contract was in place, the Hellhound wouldn't leave Marvin.

But Marvin could still feel what the Hellhound truly wanted from time to time.

He longed for freedom.

He was a noble wild Hellhound, and was a bit unwilling to stay as a Ranger Pet.

Hell was its homeland.

Marvin had been considering how to handle the Hellhound for a while.

He was incompatible with White River Valley, so he had always been wandering outside the Sanctuary, silently massacring Monsters and reducing the threat on White River Valley by a lot. But Marvin felt like this kind of restriction of freedom was a torture for the Hellhound.

Marvin had never been the kind of person who liked to prevent others from making their own choices, especially when it came to his own people.

Daniela was a good example.

And the Hellhound was another.

Thus, before dawn, Marvin went to the edge of Thousand Leaves Forest and removed the pet contract, letting the Hellhound leave.

The latter seemed extremely shocked, his three heads looking exceptionally malevolent.

But even though there was no longer a contract between the two, he clearly understood Marvin.

He lowered his three heads, rubbing them against Marvin's chest one after the other, before frantically rushing back toward the wilderness!

The large silhouette gradually disappeared toward the horizon. Marvin faintly saw a gate opening in the wilderness.

The Hellhound went in.

Because the first two layers of the Universe Magic Pool had shattered, the barriers between the planes were a lot weaker. It was still very difficult to open a gate from the lower planes to the top plane, as in from the Abyss, Hell, Negative Energy Planes to Feinan. But it was a lot easier to open a gate from the Prime Material Plane to a lower one.

The Hellhound relied on his own abilities to open a Gate of Hell to return to his home.

Marvin sighed.

They might meet again one day if they were fated to.

When that time came, the little guy who struggled out of the Shadow Shrine's ruins might have turned into one of Hell's hegemons.

...

Marvin waited by the hills.

A Golden Griffon slowly appeared when the sun rose up.

Butterfly.

The Wood Elven girl frowned as she commented, "You reek of blood."

Marvin grimaced. "You again?"

He told Ivan that he wanted a way to get to Supreme Jungle, but not through a Teleportation array. He did not want to be seen by the Migratory Bird Council; he wanted to sneak in.

Thus, using the Supreme Jungle Teleportation Array would be no good.

The best way was to fly over.

Now that the first stages of the Great Calamity were over, the sky was relatively safe. The Supreme Jungle was vast. It was north of the Millennium Mountain Range, far away from the Lavis Dukedom.

Normally, flying would take somewhere from ten days to half a month.

But Marvin remembered that Thousand Leaves Forest had many fantastic beasts, so it would be great if he could borrow one.

He hadn't expected that Ivan would dispatch Butterfly and the Gold Feathered Griffin.

Marvin did have to admit that the Golden Griffin flew very fast, at least no slower than a Dragon... but this Butterfly girl always gave him a strange feeling.

In a fight, she was a dead weight. He didn't know how she was able to obtain the Golden Griffin's approval.

"Of course it's me."

"I am one of His Highness' most trusted people," Butterfly proudly said. "Let's go."

"I heard that we have a long trip this time, so let's hurry."

Marvin rolled his eyes and asked, "Didn't you say last time that Blackie couldn't support the weight of two people?"

Butterfly denied it with a brilliant smile on her face. "You must have remembered wrongly."

"If Sir Marvin is unwilling, I can return and report to His Highness Ivan to send someone else."

Marvin thought for a moment before deciding to let it be.

There wasn't much time right now so he wouldn't bother bickering with Butterfly.

He quickly got on the Golden Griffin. This beast had a very large back with enough room for even five people to sit there, so one man and one woman would be a breeze.

"Let's go," Marvin said. "First stop, Steel City."