We were led inside, the inside of the castle was what you'd expect from a royalty, the only difference is, the inside was decorated with the king's portrait. It was all over the place and honestly, I'm surprised that he didn't run out of poses.

Each door had 2 guards on each side, and those guards seem to be watching my every move. At the door to the throne room where the King is waiting, one of the guards there walk towards me inspected me with his eyes. He's taller and his full plated armor only added to his "Intimidation", I looked at him straight in the eyes.

Gram pulled the guard away while Brunhilde told the guard off, I can only chuckle at him as he grit his teeth in embarrassment. Gram entered first because he would notify of our arrival and if allowed, we will see the King. I held Cynthia's hand to assure her that nothing bad will happen... to the King I hope.

Gram soon came out with an apologetic face, something must've happened

"I'm sorry Zeno... the King has asked me to head east towards the bamboo forest, according to reports, there have been frequent earthquakes around there" Gram notified me

"I see, we can't meet the King if we don't take care of this right?" I asked

"Yes and I'm only allowed to watch over you guys this time" Gram was downcast

"So he's testing me?" I chuckled

"Stupid King" Cynthia remarked

"Hey! what did you say about our King?!" The guard who I had a staring match earlier aimed his pike at Cynthia's head

I held the pike and broke it in half

"Next time, it will be you" I warned him before pulling Cynthia away

We left the castle in a hurry only to stop in a public park near the castle inside the high-class area. The park was wide and it its center was a large circular fountain that had the statue of the King holding out his sword, Cynthia sighed and looked up at me

"I'm sorry, you were probably trying to gain the trust of the King right?" She apologized

"No, I wasn't. I only need this Kingdom's support not the King's trust, an enemy of my friend is also my enemy" I knocked on her helmet before sitting down on one of the benches

I still have to wait for Gram since he's going to watch us investigate this phenomenon, Cynthia sat beside me and under the shade of the tree, we enjoyed the peace and serenity the park had to offer

A few minutes later, Gram and Brunhilde walked up to us.

"So this is where you guys are, as for the mission, we're ready to go anytime" Gram stated

"Cynthia, you good to go?" I asked

"Yes" She nodded and grabbed the magic rod that she leaned on the bench

'Lilith, did you map out the castle?" I asked

'Only to the places you've been through such as the entrance, halls leading to the King's throne and the ballroom which you passed by'

'I see, we might need this map in the future so keep mapping out the places we've never been through'

'Automatically'

Gram got a carriage and headed for the Bamboo forest in the east which was 12 kilometers a day and would take half the day to travel.

We arrived in the afternoon

'Lilith, scan the area please'

'Multiple lifeforms, insects, birds, rodents, but no monsters'

'Alright, thanks'

I know what's inside the forest but I still have to tread carefully

I slowly walked into the forest, Cynthia, Gram, and Brunhilde behind me. The bamboo's reached up to 30 ft in height, they were thick and healthy. It's a good thing there was a footpath because if there wasn't, I would have to cut through them.

A few minutes of walking and a strange bamboo caught my attention, unlike others, this one was pitch black and was covered in mosses, it had no limbs and no shoot surrounding it

'Lilith, scan this one, it seems... oddly familiar'

'Running scans, please wait'

I stood up and the ground started to rumble, a small scale earthquake was taking place. Gram, Brunhilde, and Cynthia ducked down while I held on to a nearby bamboo. I am having serious deja vu moments here.

'Zeno, move out of the area, we've misjudged the bamboo' Lilith warned me

"Move!" I picked up Cynthia and started moving away from the area

Running during an earthquake is hard, I ran through the footpath awkwardly. Gram and Brunhilde were puzzled yet they still followed me back, we've distanced ourselves from the black bamboo just us the earthquake stopped but another black bamboo popped up out in the middle of the footpath near the other black bamboo and this time, it is not swaying to the wind.

'Zeno, we're in a centipede brood site' Lilith warned me

'So that thing there is a nest?!'

'Yes, immediate action is required' Lilith suggested

"Gram, please get ready" I requested, I have no idea as to what stage the eggs are

Gram and Brunhilde brought out their weapons, Cynthia was holding her rod

'Eye in the sky' I voiced out a command under my breath

The small sun icon appeared and I pointed at the spot in between the two black bamboo or the centipede's legs

"What are you saying?" Gram asked

Crap, I forgot Gram and the others were near me

"Listen Gram, you have to chant to use your spells right?"

"Not all, some spells can be used without the use of a chant although they're not really powerful" Gram replied

"We also do the same thing back in our homeland" I replied before continuing "In brightest day through blackest night, fear my all-encompassing might, Obliterate!"

Gram and Brunhilde was shocked to see me chant as a pillar of light struck the ground where I pointed, it was too bright for Brunhilde and Gram so they had to cover the light by sticking out their arms and blocking it from their eyes

The light show lasted for 5 seconds but the damage done was massive, the ground has been dug up and the Centipede brood was scooped out of the ground. The mother was torn in half and was struggling to get away, as for the children, they were a month old. The young centipedes had about 6-8 legs and their numbers reached up to 38, almost half was decimated from my attack earlier, the others that survived was thrown away by the blast

"Get them!" I shouted before running forward with Azazel in hand

Lilith estimated that 17 of the young centipedes survived the blast, as for the mother, she was as good as dead.

The young centipedes were at least 12 foot long and 12-inches wide, they still haven't developed the shells on their back yet but

"Be careful, their bites are poisonous, also, be careful of the gas they will emit, smash the head and move on to the next" I warned everyone before splitting a centipede in half

Gram easily broke the heads by other smashing them with his shield or splitting it open with his sword, as for Brunhilde, she stabbed their heads before backing away. Cynthia fried the centipede's head with her [Lightning], after a few minutes we were done with cleaning up the rest of the enemies

"Everyone alright?" Cynthia asked

"I got a scratch from debris flying around during the blast" Brunhilde raised her arm and showed her left arm which had a small scrape

Cynthia quickly healed her scrape

"I should've warned you, I'm sorry" I apologized but was met with Brunhilde's pat on the shoulder

"Not only are you a strong warrior, you are also a terrifying mage" She chuckled

"Ah no, that was just something I-" I looked at Brunhilde and she seems to have a lot of respect for me, I can't carelessly make up reasons here

"I learned it through hard work, so you must work hard too" If I were too modest, it would be like I'm mocking her hard work

"Yes" She replied energetically as Gram wiped imaginary tears from his eyes

"Ah, my daughter is so lucky" He remarked and soon after, a pebble hit his head

I could only chuckle but then, the ground rumbled once again but this time, a centipede appeared from the ground not far from here, she dug out of the ground as her children came burrowing out around her.

The centipede children had developed their shells, are 24 foot long and 13 inches wide... I can take on the Centipede mother alone but can Cynthia and the others take care of the others?

"Let's go back to the carriage!" I pointed towards the footpath leading back outside of the forest

Everyone nodded before running, I let them go first so I can watch the rear. We reached the carriage and I brought out the briefcase

"I wanted to give these in a more festive time but that'll have to wait" I opened the briefcase and revealed the weapons inside

"Use them" I gave the weapons to Cynthia and Brunhilde

They held the weapons and was surprised, they both looked at each other and nodded

"I'll take care of the big one, can you take care of others?" I asked Gram and Brunhilde

"Of course we can" Gram replied

"No problem, be careful" Brunhilde warned me

"Thanks, Cynthia, get on top of the carriage and provide support" Cynthia nodded

I'll have to kite away the mother centipede because the gas she will release covers a large amount of area and I can't let Gram and the others get affected by it. The gas is not poisonous but it is pungent and can cause nausea

'Lilith, switch to speed'

'Switching, switch complete' The reddish glow of DK turned green, maybe I should test the thrusters too

Like an arrow released, I shot back into the forest, decimating any centipede that dared to block my path. I headed straight for the Centipede mother and delivered a knee to its head, some shells fell off as the mother centipede was pushed back.

The length of the centipede should be around 4 school bus and is almost 6 foot wide

It stood up with a roar and tried to bite down, I jumped to the side but the centipede raised its spiky tail and slammed it down, I can't take this attack so I rolled to the side before jumping on her back and switching to strength before impaling Azazel on the tail.

The centipede was unable to move it's tail so I ran up towards its body with Silver edge, the centipede knew what I was going to do so it kept struggling and spinning its body. Its movements paid off and pulled out Azazel from the ground which prevented the centipede from moving around, I was thrown off and I landed on the ground.

I quickly stood up and readied my stance against the centipede that stood up, its jaws dripping with poison