After the soul blood beasts gobbled up the titan wolves, the group continued to head deeper into the forests.
"How long will it take to reach the guardian?" Liam asked curiously as he couldn't help but be concerned about the vastness of this place.
"Who knows?" Eldrin laughed casually. "It would take months if not years to traverse." He paused and then added, "If one did not know the way."
Liam sighed at the antics of the elf. The damned guy was calculative no matter what the information was. He was also always feeding incomplete information so that he would never be left out.
It was irritating, but Liam had to admit that it was also smart, especially in a place as unpredictable as this forbidden forest.
Not long after, they ran into the next set of beasts or rather it would be more appropriate to call it a horde.
The moment the quartet stepped into a region, without warning, hundreds and thousands of spiders started crawling out of the ground, out of every single nook and corner.
Since it was dark in the forest because of the thick tree cover, the eyes of the spiders glowed bright yellow and it looked like the glowing yellow eyes were all around them, pouring in endlessly.
Eldrin once again did not make any move as he simply watched Liam.
Hmmm. Liam did not care. By now only an idiot would not understand what was going on. The other party wanted to gauge his strength and he wasn't afraid to show it.
Lifting off the ground, he summoned his minions. This time he did not hold back. He summoned the entirety of his soul minions to match the numbers of the spiders.
He also summoned the soul blood beasts unit, completely overwhelming the spiders.
Each of the spiders was around level 200 and they were pretty good cannon fodder for his soul army. Besides he did not know if these spiders possessed some sort of unique venom so he did not take any chances.
In an instant, the entire forest flooded with a bluish white fog as the soul minions marched forward menacingly. Several hundreds of creatures of varied shapes and sizes stepped out, ready for battle.
Liam turned to look at Eldrin. "Is this what you wanted to see?"
Eldrin stood stunned. He did not even hear Liam speak to him as he marveled at the scene that was unfolding in front of him.
"So many…" He mumbled as he stared transfixed at the massacre that was taking place. Greenish-brown blood spilled everywhere as the soul minions tore apart the spiders surrounding them.
Even though the number of spiders was much more than the soul minions, it was clear which side held the upper hand.
For each spider that lunged forward, a soul minion would retaliate, wielding swords, axes, or ethereal claws, making quick work of the enemy. The soul blood beasts, massive and intimidating, moved like disciplined soldiers, following unseen orders from Liam and tearing apart anything that got too close.
"Incredible," Eldrin finally managed to speak, turning to face Liam, "I have never seen such an assembly of soul creatures, let alone control over them."
The aura of death in the air was palpable and it was clear that these creatures were not the ordinary undeads. However, Eldrin already knew a bit about Liam's capabilities so it was not difficult for him to analyze the true nature of these undeads.
"Just how high is your ability to manipulate souls?" He asked, almost afraid to know the answer.
When he had first seen Liam deal with the soul blood beasts he assumed the nature of his skill was something similar to a temporary soul distortion attack. Perhaps it had a greater effect on the soul blood beasts because of their nature.
But he had seen a lot more now. He would only be a fool if he still thought that Liam's ability to manipulate souls was superficial.
For a moment, Eldrin subconsciously gulped as he wondered if he had behaved too cheekily to someone who might one day be able to seize and collapse his soul at will.
Was offending a person prudent?
He then thought of something else. Was helping a person prudent?
However, it was already too late. He was knee deep in the mire, he had to see his way through. He could only curse his bad luck for meeting a person in the first place.
Things were going to get far too troublesome now. He definitely did not possess the ability to kill him at the moment, thanks to the soul blood beasts. He could have killed him back then when they first met but that chance was already gone.
And now, it didn't matter if he helped him or not. This was a person who was only going to become stronger and stronger. If powerful necromancers were a headache to deal with, then this human being was going to be a nightmare.
Eldrin let out a sigh and opened up the map of the world. He then zoomed into the forbidden territory and displayed the details to Liam.
"Ahem. There is a chance that we might get separated in the future. So it's best if you take a look at it."
To Liam's amusement, the elf started sharing the trajectory that they needed to be taking in order to reach the area where the guardian was located.
At first sight, it looked like they had to arrive at the center of the forbidden territory but if one looked closer it was a lot more complicated.
For instance, a few sections of the map seemed to be constantly shifting around as if they were moving haphazardly. So the terrain was a lot more complicated than Liam had assumed it was.
"Dangerous beasts are not the only ones who are standing in our way." Eldrin pointed at the same spot and gave a rueful smile.