Being intimately close with a goddess is something a man would greatly enjoy.
Especially when this Flower Goddess carries the fragrance of a hundred flowers, tastes as sweet as nectar, and possesses a body as plump and tender as a flower bud.
No wonder legends tell of so many warriors and heroes utterly captivated by goddesses, willing to sacrifice their lives.
Guilliman, of course, hadn't reached that level, but he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling.
It was like savoring a delicious dish, drinking a delightful beverage, or watching a wonderful movie—utterly comfortable.
The arrival of this Flower Goddess wasn't for anything urgent, actually.
She merely wished to express her welcome to him, a warrior who had traveled a long way.
Perhaps the breeze brought her some message, for suddenly the goddess said thoughtfully:
"You have chosen a marvelous time, my warrior."
"Perhaps you will encounter a peculiar comrade today."
A peculiar comrade?
Guilliman couldn't guess who it might be.
Nor did he understand what kind of comrade a goddess would call peculiar.
However, he was too lazy to guess further. Looking at the Flower Goddess, who resembled a riddle-speaker, he suddenly pounced, hoping to get a bit more of the goddess's 'tender tofu' and extract more information.
Unfortunately, this goddess knew very well how to tantalize a man's emotions.
Watching the Witcher pounce, she showed a mischievous smile and, in a blink, transformed into a shower of petals and vanished.
"Good luck, my warrior."
"I will reward you after you eliminate that Ancient Leshen."
Watching the goddess disappear, Guilliman sighed, realizing that getting something good wasn't easy.
But then again, things too easily obtained never brought much sense of accomplishment.
Rewards earned through hard work were far more enjoyable... Several tens of minutes later, guided by the breeze and small animals.
Guilliman arrived in the primeval forest, twisted by evil forces and ruled by the Ancient Leshen.
This seemed to be a corrupted forest with ever-expanding borders.
For some unknown reason, the trees here had long withered, leaving only twisted grey-black trunks, fallen dead leaves, thorny weeds, and ugly, gnarled vines covering the entire ground.
It looked quite unsettling.
And as soon as he entered the forest, Guilliman felt a sense of being watched, as if countless eyes were observing him.
He swept an Igni in the direction of the gazes, igniting large patches of dry trees and vines, only to find that those watching him were merely fat, ugly rats.
These rats, he didn't know what they ate to grow so large, had eerie green eyes.
Not only that.
Unbeknownst to him, several black crows had flown in from somewhere above his head.
They circled above him, cawing unpleasantly, refusing to leave.
These crows all had red eyes, and there were even traces of magic flowing within them, making them appear highly unusual. They were very likely the Ancient Leshen's scouts.
Guilliman was fearless of these minor tricks and continued to walk deeper into the twisted forest.
Along the way, more and more twisted and terrifying animals appeared before the Witcher.
There were ugly, drooling wolves with half their fur missing, wild deer covered in pustules yet still numbly grazing, and some alarmingly large spiders and venomous snakes that would occasionally dart out from the grass.
It seemed all the animals and plants in this forest had been affected by some force, becoming highly unusual.
Finally, after walking another hour deeper into the forest, guided by the breeze.
The crows circling above him had unknowingly gathered into several hundreds, but they flew very high, almost dozens of meters up, making it difficult for Igni's flames to harm them.
Until he reached the deepest part of the forest.
This was a place where the trees were even drier and more twisted, resembling gallows, strangely shaped.
What was terrifying was that many humanoid corpses were tied to these trees, left for crows and other birds and beasts to peck at.
There were humans, elves, dwarves, and even large trolls.
Some had already become pitted white bones, some were half-eaten, and others seemed to have not died long ago, their bodies already rotting.
Guilliman scanned with his gaze.
He found that the number of these corpses and bones already exceeded three or four hundred at least. If the scattered bone fragments on the ground were added, probably close to five or six hundred people had perished here.
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