121: Chapter 121 The Return Journey

Several days later, Byron stood alone on a hill. After casting one last glance back at the dilapidated castle, he turned and walked deep into the wilderness without hesitation or lingering attachment.

After leaving the church, Byron did not depart the castle immediately; instead, he chose to seek out the three nobles from before.

After all, there were still some matters that would be easier to handle with the help of these local snakes.

For instance, completely purging the devotees who deeply believed in the God of War, and ensuring those shallow believers would no longer worship the God of War.

Even if Mortals continued to provide faith to the God of War, the probability of Him escaping was likely less than one in ten million.

However, given Byron's personality, he absolutely would not allow for any future trouble, at least not while this thing was in his hands.

Therefore, he was willing to waste a few days to resolve this issue and eliminate any future trouble once and for all.

There was also the matter of aiding those innocent people.

After all, those people had suffered such a great calamity because of him; while he wouldn't say he felt immense guilt, he still felt a little sympathy.

Besides, this task did not occupy much of Byron's time or energy at this moment; he only needed to give the order, so he did it as a matter of convenience.

After cleaning up all the loose ends, Byron chose not to linger. He quickly detached himself from the state of decadence and being above all others, choosing to leave without hesitation.

As for Byron's departure, the remaining nobles in the castle breathed a collective sigh of relief.

After all, most of them had experienced what happened that day and were naturally filled with fear toward Byron.

As for the small remaining portion who had not experienced it, their eyes were not blind; they could see the changes in the castle.

As for the commoners' attitude toward Byron's departure, it was the exact opposite of the nobles'.

To say something quite absurd, they actually harbored little resentment toward Byron in their hearts, even though they knew that the events of that day were caused by him.

But that was more out of awe than fear and anger.

The reason for this change was largely because the nobles had previously oppressed them too harshly, not treating them as humans at all; they killed as they pleased.

Yet, during the few days Byron was there, they had truly and tangibly experienced what it felt like to be treated as a human.

Byron was well aware of the commoners' starkly different attitude toward him, but he remained silent and said nothing more.

"People must rely on themselves!"

"Boom—!!!"

A fireball exploded in mid-air, and a charred corpse fell from the sky, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Seeing that the danger had passed, Byron, who was hiding behind a large tree, slowly stepped out from behind it and dispelled the 'Light Refraction Concealment' spell.

However, even so, Byron did not completely relax. His body remained in a state of alertness, and his mind stayed vigilant of his surroundings.

The reason Byron acted this way was entirely the result of the transformation he underwent after experiencing the baptism of blood and fire during this period.

After leaving the castle, Byron did not immediately return to the academy. Instead, he took a short detour to go to the small town where he had first arrived via teleportation.

He had been penniless when he first arrived, and White had given him quite a bit.

So, regardless of anything else, this matter still needed to be settled.

Byron did not want to disturb the normal life of White's family again. He left some money he had casually taken from the castle at White's house, left a note, and then quietly departed.

Besides being worried about disturbing White's family, Byron also feared that, just like last time, White would again instigate his granddaughter to approach him, which would be rather awkward.

After leaving White's house, Byron immediately set off in the direction of the academy.

For the first part of the journey, before entering the forest, Byron bought a carriage and traveled in it. Everything was so calm and peaceful; nothing happened.

But upon entering the forest, it was fraught with danger, and he never knew when he might encounter an attack from a Demonic Beast hidden within.

In the first few times, due to insufficient preparation, Byron even sustained some injuries.

However, after those few lessons, Byron reacted quickly and became much more vigilant.

Although this slowed down his travel speed, the advantage was that it was safer.

Furthermore, in this forest surrounding the Dark Erosion Academy, only the section bordering the ocean was the smallest and closest to the academy; traveling to the academy from other directions was at least several times longer than that route.

Therefore, Byron understood that given such a long distance and the current situation, he certainly could not return to the academy in a short time.

Since that was the case, it was better to prioritize his own safety first.

Smelling the aroma of meat wafting around and looking at the charred corpse roasted by flames at his feet, Byron felt no disgust.

He directly peeled away the outer layer of charred feathers, revealing the meat inside that had been roasted thoroughly by the high heat and was full of juices.

Byron tore off a piece of thigh meat and began to eat it directly.

He had to hurry up and eat; the commotion here just now would attract other Demonic Beasts before long.

As for whether this thing was edible or poisonous, who was he, Byron? A Potion Master! When it came to the knowledge of Materials, apart from that bunch of alchemists, no one could surpass him.

After eating his fill, Byron did not delay any further. After identifying the direction, he continued to advance toward the academy.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the expression on Byron's face suddenly changed.

He walked on tiptoes toward a large tree that had fallen to the ground, appearing as if it had been quickly severed by a sharp blade, leaving a smooth cut.

Walking up to the fallen tree, Byron looked at the blood splattered on the tree and the thick fallen leaves.

He did not mobilize elemental power or use any spells to help him brush aside the pile of leaves; instead, he used his foot to push them away.

The reason he did this was not because he was worried about damaging the corpse buried under the leaves, but because he was worried that fluctuations in elements and magic would attract unnecessary trouble.

If he had really cared about the corpse underneath, he wouldn't have used his foot.

Not long after, the thick leaves were pushed aside, revealing the somewhat decomposed corpse buried underneath.

It was a woman, and she had been quite good-looking.

Speaking of which, since it had already started to decompose, how could Byron still know she had been good-looking?

That was because Byron recognized this corpse and knew her appearance when she was alive.

This person was none other than the sales clerk who had leaked his information when Byron first returned to the Wizard Settlement in the Ghost Marrow Crystal Nest Plane.

Looking at the corpse at his feet, watching the fear still lingering on her decomposed face, Byron's expression remained unchanged.

He had originally planned that after returning to the academy, he would demand an explanation from this person; if she didn't provide him with some compensation, this matter would not be over.

Who would have thought she would just die like this, dying so silently.

If he hadn't passed by here, perhaps no one would have discovered this corpse until it turned into bones and decayed.

As for sighs or regrets, not a trace appeared on Byron's face; he remained as calm as ever.

He was not familiar with this person, and they were even enemies; where would any feelings come from, and why would he show such an expression?

Then why did he go out of his way to push aside the leaves? Could it be just to take a look at the corpse?

Please, Byron was not bored to that extent.

He pushed aside the leaves because this woman still owed him compensation, didn't she? Now that she was dead, the debt had not yet been erased.

Byron was definitely going to collect it!