The monsters looked up to see two figures descending from the hilltop: a male and a female forsaken. The woman landed first, with the man following closely behind. The moment their eyes fell upon Elisa and Solanky, recognition struck them like a thunderbolt. Unlike the ordinary forsaken they had encountered before, these two possessed bloodlines and power far beyond anything they had ever witnessed. Only the royal forsaken, the direct descendants of the Forsaken God himself, the mightiest being in their collective memory, carried such overwhelming presence. Without hesitation, the monster leader fell to his knees and begged for mercy. They knew that even the weakest royal forsaken possessed late-entity-level strength, while the strongest stood at peak-entity level, with a rare few brushing the threshold of the quasi-transcendent realm. Their fear was justified. What they could never have imagined was that true transcendent entities also existed among the royal forsaken, hidden away in seclusion and unknown to the outside world.
Elisa calmly raised her hand, and her arm instantly transformed into a razor-sharp blade. The monsters' expressions darkened the instant they saw the transformation. They immediately realized there was no escape. With Solanky standing behind Elisa, every possible route of retreat had already been cut off. Seeing no hope of survival, they chose to ignite their own life force, intending to self-destruct and drag the village youths down with them. Elisa never gave them the opportunity. She activated her Void Escape Technique and vanished. In the next instant, she appeared among them, her blade flashing faster than thought. Before a single monster could utter a scream, every neck had been severed, and their heads struck the ground at the exact same moment.
The youths stood frozen in stunned silence, their eyes filled with awe. It was not merely relief they felt, but a powerful determination. Elisa's display of strength had shown them a realm of power they had never imagined, planting within their hearts an unshakable desire to one day reach the same height.
Elisa gave her arm a casual shake, allowing it to return to its normal form. Every part of a forsaken's body could be reforged into a weapon at will. She then crossed the distance to the injured girl in a single step and gently helped her back onto her feet.
Solanky descended behind her and slowly clenched both fists. The remaining traces of life force and energy lingering within the monsters' corpses were instantly sealed away. With a casual wave of his hand, every fragment of their power, life essence, and consciousness was compressed into a single condensed core.
"Take us to your village," he said.
The youths could barely contain their excitement. Not only had they successfully retrieved the precious grass that had been the purpose of their journey, but they had also gained the company of two incredibly powerful beings whose strength clearly rivaled, or perhaps even surpassed, that of their own village chief.
The group began making their way back, with Elisa and Solanky following close behind.
Curious, Elisa asked how far the village was and how long the journey would take at their current pace.
The young girl, still hugging the precious plant tightly against her chest, smiled and replied, "Big sister, if we travel on foot, it'll take about seven days. Maybe even longer if we're forced to take detours."
Elisa's expression changed slightly. Seven days.
She could only imagine the countless dangers these children had already faced just to obtain the grass, not to mention everything that still awaited them on the journey home.
She turned toward Solanky with a playful smile.
"Would you mind carrying everyone back?"
Solanky raised an eyebrow.
She smiled even wider.
"Well, you're the stronger one between us. Besides, I know you wouldn't make a beautiful lady do all the heavy lifting."
The youths immediately burst into laughter.
At the same time, every one of them silently wondered just how powerful Solanky truly was. Elisa's strength alone already seemed completely unreachable in their eyes, yet she casually admitted that Solanky was even stronger.
Shaking his head with a faint smile, Solanky descended to the ground and asked for directions.
One of the youths quickly stepped forward and handed him a map.
The moment the map touched his hand, his mind had already calculated their precise location in relation to the village. Within seconds, the exact coordinates had been completely mapped inside his consciousness.
With a wave of his hand, he fashioned a simple wooden boat from the timber growing on the hilltop. After all twenty youths had climbed aboard, Solanky slowly rose into the air. The boat floated effortlessly, suspended by nothing more than his telekinetic will.
The next moment, he accelerated to a thousand times the speed of light.
Barely a minute later, the walls surrounding the village appeared on the horizon.
The youths could scarcely comprehend what had happened. A journey that normally required seven perilous days had been reduced to less than five minutes, completely free from danger or hardship.
The village guards stationed along the walls quickly spotted Solanky and Elisa escorting the youths home with the precious plant safely in their possession. Recognizing that the children had returned unharmed, they immediately opened the gates, their faces filled with relief.
Solanky gently lowered the wooden boat to the ground, allowing everyone to disembark before entering the village together.
News of the youths' return spread through the settlement in moments. Whatever the villagers had been doing, they abandoned it without a second thought and rushed toward the entrance, eager to welcome their children home.