Chapter 157: Abyssal Beast Forest
"The second choice is to form a pact with someone they truly love and wish to spend their entire life with. Once that pact is formed, they can never betray that person or make love with anyone else."
"In the end, it is a choice between love and lust. The current head of the Lust Clan has clearly chosen the path of lust. That is why the Princess hates those who follow that path... but not those who choose love."
Nova understood her explanation. So that was how it actually worked. He had always pictured something completely different.
{ Yeah... I already told you before. Reality is very different from the fantasies you used to know. }
Nova silently agreed with Liya as Velena continued.
"And I’m only a half-succubus. My mother chose the second path. As a half-succubus, I have a certain degree of control over my urges until I decide which path to take. Because of that, I can use my succubus demonic powers more efficiently."
Nova nodded. After that, the two of them continued talking about various common matters regarding the Abyss — its population, daily life, and other general things that had been on his mind.
Around twenty minutes later, they finally landed at the entrance of the Abyssal Beast Forest.
From above, the forest looked completely dark and dense. The trees themselves were a deep black color, giving the entire place a dangerous and almost horrific atmosphere.
Nova asked, "How strong are the beasts here?"
Velena answered calmly.
"The majority range from the Grandmaster Realm to the peak of the King Realm. Only a few are at the Emperor Realm, and their territories are located deep in the center of the forest.
I strongly suggest you avoid going there unless you want to lose your life. The strongest beast in this forest is at Level 5 of the Emperor Realm."
"On top of that, every beast here is different from the ordinary demonic beasts you encountered on the human continent. Because the atmosphere is filled with dense demonic energy, their overall power far surpasses that of normal demonic beasts."
"Of course... you may already understand that to some extent, since you came from the Fourth Level. The demonic beasts there exist on an entirely different scale."
Nova nodded. Without further hesitation, he stepped into the forest with Velena by his side.
After going inside, Nova encountered many low-level Grandmaster Realm beasts engaged in battle with a few demons who had also come here to level up or hunt.
Many of the other demons began whispering among themselves when they saw Nova and Velena. They instantly recognized Velena, as she was quite well known and belonged to the territory of Zarok.
The Abyssal Beast Forest did not fall under the territory of any Royal Demon Clan, making it a neutral place. Because of this, demons from all the clans frequently visited the forest to level up or hunt.
Nova and Velena ignored the low-level Grandmaster beasts as they continued deeper into the forest, where mid-level Grandmaster Realm beasts could be found.
Nova wanted to keep a few mid-level and peak-level Grandmaster beasts alive for his family to level up with later.
However, he needed to do it carefully, as he couldn’t let Velena find out that he could keep living beasts inside his spatial ring, which was actually a cover for his inventory.
Although Nova knew he wouldn’t be able to hide it from her forever, as she was an Emperor Realm expert whose senses could extend hundreds of kilometers,
he could only claim that he possessed a very high-grade spatial storage ring—one capable of even storing living beings inside.
Nova turned toward her and said, "I’ll go in that direction. You can wait here. I’ll need a few beast bodies to take back with me so I can eat them later—or better yet, sell them."
Velena didn’t say anything, as it was perfectly normal for someone to do that. She simply sat down on a fallen tree nearby and said, "You can come back here to find me if you want to go deeper."
Nova nodded with a smile. Internally, he was quite pleased to have this nonchalant milf-maid accompanying him.
With that, he disappeared and headed in the direction where he could sense several mid-level Grandmaster Realm beasts.
After reaching his destination, Nova saw a large horde of demonic beasts. They looked similar to bears, but their bodies were covered in black, spiky fur, while their pitch-black eyes radiated dense demonic energy. After appraising them, Nova discovered that they were called Abyssal Spike Bears.
They were known for their destructive strength and poisonous spike attacks, but Nova wasn’t worried in the slightest. These beasts were nothing in front of him.
Nova took out Rouve but didn’t activate any skills—not even judgement flash . His natural speed alone was more than enough to overpower them.
His body blurred as he moved at incredible speed.
Within seconds, he tore through one of the Abyssal Spike Bears before it could even see the attack coming. However, Nova had no intention of killing them. He needed them alive, albeit barely.
So, he immediately used his Voidborne Telekinesis.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The massive bears were lifted into the air before being violently smashed against the ground again and again. Nova continued the assault until all of their poisonous spikes had broken apart, leaving the beasts barely clinging to life.
He did the same to all of them, making sure none of them died. Once they were all on their last breath, Nova stored every single one of them inside his inventory.
With that done, Nova captured a few more mid-level Grandmaster Realm demonic beasts of different species. After that, he quickly ventured deeper into the territory inhabited by peak-level Grandmaster Realm demonic beasts.
Surprisingly, all the demonic beasts in this area were A-Rank.
After entering the territory of the peak-level Grandmaster Realm beasts, Nova followed the same method. These beasts were no match for his current strength, allowing him to capture them just as easily as the mid-level Grandmaster beasts.
Once his collection was complete, Nova returned to Velena, who was still sitting on the same fallen tree, patiently waiting for him. It had taken Nova only around fifteen minutes to finish everything.
"Are you done, Lord Nova? Shall we head deeper?"
"Yeah, let’s go."
With that, Nova and Velena continued deeper into the forest.
As they ventured farther inside, the number of demons they encountered gradually decreased. The deeper they went, the more dangerous the forest became, and naturally, fewer demons were willing to venture this far.
Eventually, they reached the territory of King Realm demonic beasts.
The creatures roaming this region were enormous drakes, their bodies covered in thick, pitch-black scales that gleamed ominously beneath the dim light of the forest.
Fiery embers constantly leaked from between their scales, while blazing flames curled around their massive bodies and escaped from their nostrils with every breath.
Just their presence alone was enough to make the surrounding air feel scorching and oppressive.
If an ordinary demon were to step into this territory, they would likely be overwhelmed by fear before even seeing the beasts clearly.
Yet Nova and Velena walked through the area as casually as if they were strolling through a peaceful garden.
To them, these King Realm drakes posed no threat whatsoever.
Velena knew that although Nova’s natural strength displayed that of a low-level King Realm expert, his aura was already on par with that of a peak-level King Realm expert.
The moment the Abyssal Drakes sensed the auras of Nova and Velena, they immediately tried to flee. Velena didn’t even bother moving, clearly unwilling to waste her time dealing with these flies.
Nova, however, shot into the sky after them.
Once he had distanced himself from Velena, he raised his hand and activated Voidborne Telekinesis.
The escaping Abyssal Drakes were instantly pinned down in midair, their enormous bodies rendered completely immobile by the invisible force pressing against them.
This time, Nova also used Blood Manipulation.
He copied one of Nyxara’s techniques and condensed hundreds of razor-sharp blood arrows in the air around him. The crimson arrows shimmered with a deadly aura before shooting toward the restrained drakes like a rain of blood.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Nova’s demonic aura was exceptionally pure, making his Blood Manipulation far more potent and deadly than it would have been for an ordinary demon.
However, Nova wasn’t trying to kill them.
His goal was only to severely wound and capture them.
With a single attack, dozens of Abyssal Drakes were pierced and brought to the verge of death. At times, Nova managed to capture fifty to eighty Abyssal Drakes at once, storing their barely surviving bodies inside his inventory.
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