After staying in the Royal City for a month, Gray bid farewell to Sophia, Francis, and the others and left the Royal City. After teleporting several times, he appeared in the basement of the Storm Mercenary Group's residence in Mercenary City.
"Lord Gray!"
Marlow Sydney bowed respectfully when he saw Gray.
Gray nodded and asked.
"Did you contact me because you've found an ice-type king-level blood fiend?"
"Yes, Lord. We've found the ice-type king-level blood fiend you asked us to search for."
Marlow Sydney replied.
"Oh, where is it?"
Gray's interest was piqued and he hurriedly asked.
"In the Crocodile Swamp."
"Do you have a detailed map?"
Gray knew about the Crocodile Swamp. It was a swamp in the western part of the kingdom. Because there were many crocodile-type blood fiends in the swamp, it was called the Crocodile Swamp.
"Yes, the place where the ice-type king-level blood fiend was found has been marked with a red cross."
Marlow Sydney hurriedly handed over a map. Gray took it and opened it. On the map, there was a red cross that was extremely eye-catching.
"Lord, do you need me to arrange for someone to lead the way?"
Marlow Sydney asked cautiously.
"No need. Just maintain the Storm Mercenary Group's status quo. Be careful not to expose your relationship with me. Also, if there's any news about the Flame Kingdom, inform me immediately."
Gray shook his head and instructed.
"Yes, Lord."
Marlow Sydney respectfully replied. Although he was a third level desolate-level expert, he did not show any arrogance in front of Gray. In fact, he did not even have the slightest dissatisfaction with Gray in his heart.
After being resurrected, his soul was no longer his original soul. It was a new soul created by Gray's ability. His respect and loyalty towards Gray was definitely greater than that of a so-called Death Warrior.
After using the spatial teleportation to travel a short distance, Gray transformed his greenish-black wings and began to fly. It took him a day to reach the Crocodile Swamp.
It was getting late. He stopped at a small town hotel outside the Crocodile Swamp.
"Have you heard?
Something strange happened in Crocodile Swamp. "
In the hotel, there were more than ten tables, and a few of them were already occupied. The diners should be from the same mercenary group.
The crocodile's leather was an excellent material for making battle armor. Therefore, mercenary groups would come here from time to time to hunt for crocodile-type blood fiends.
A conversation between five mercenaries at one of the tables attracted Gray's attention.
"What strange thing?"
Someone at the same table asked.
"There's fog in the crocodile swamp."
The mercenary who spoke earlier said.
"Fog at this time?"
Someone beside him exclaimed in surprise.
It was currently summer, the hottest time of the year. According to common sense, there shouldn't be any fog.
"And that's not even the strangest part."
The person who spoke earlier glanced at the people at the same table and said.
"That's not the strangest thing.
What's even stranger? "
The people at the same table looked at the former curiously. Even the people at the other tables also looked over when they heard their conversation.
"Some mercenary groups felt that it was strange, so they sent people in to investigate. In the end, all the people who went in to investigate returned to their original place."
Being stared at by so many people, the mercenary who spoke felt that his vanity was greatly satisfied. He immediately spoke loudly.
"Returned to their original place?"
"Yes, the people who were sent to investigate would eventually return to their original place no matter where they went. They couldn't enter the depths of the fog at all."
…
Gray supported his chin with one hand. Obviously, this fog was very abnormal. Whether it was the time it appeared or the characteristic of making people return to their original place, it indicated that this fog was not normal and was not naturally produced.
"What kind of blood fiend created this fog?"
According to Gray's estimation, this fog was most likely created by a blood fiend's blood fiend ability. It should have the ability to cause hallucinations and affect people's senses, which was why people unknowingly returned to their original place.
The next day, Gray set off for the Crocodile Swamp.
The Crocodile Swamp was naturally a swamp terrain. The soil was excessively moist, the ground was soft, and there was a lot of rotten mud. If one was not careful, one would fall deeper and deeper into the mud. Eventually, one's entire body would be buried in the mud.
Every year, only a small portion of the people who died in the Crocodile Swamp were killed by blood fiends. A large number of people died in the Crocodile Swamp's terrain.
Such terrain was naturally nothing to Gray, who had the ability to fly. He flapped his wings and flew over the swamp, heading toward the location marked on the map where the ice-type king-level blood fiend was found.
Swish!
In the mud of the swamp, a brown-skinned blood fiend, which was the same color as the mud, noticed Gray flying in the air. It opened its huge mouth and a compressed water blade slashed toward Gray.
Crack!
Crack! Just as the water blade was about to hit Gray, it suddenly turned into ice. Then, the ice blade changed direction and slashed toward the brown-skinned blood fiend.
Pfft!
Bright red blood splattered and mixed with the mud. In the mud, a blood fiend was rolling around in pain. Mud splashed everywhere. After struggling for a while, it stopped.
Gray had no intention of going forward to collect the blood. He flew straight past it. Judging from the power of the water blade, the blood fiend that attacked him should only be a mad level blood fiend. Blood fiends of this level could hardly arouse his interest.
After flying for half a day, Gray had entered the depths of the Crocodile Swamp.
"There is indeed an area covered in fog!"
He discovered an area that extended for a few miles. It was misty and completely covered by a thick fog, which was incompatible with the surrounding yellowish-brown terrain. It was quite strange.
Gray flew over and looked down from the sky.
The fog was very thick. It was so thick that it resembled the white clouds in the sky. Visibility was extremely low. Even if he tried his best to look, he could only see about ten meters away.
"I really want to take a look!"
It was an ability that could create hallucinatory fog. Although it did not have any attacking power, it was a very practical ability.
Not only could it be used to trap enemies, but it could also be used to hide and escape at a critical moment. If there was a chance to obtain the blood of such a blood fiend, he naturally would not miss it.
"Forget it. The most important thing now is the ice-type king-level blood fiend. If I delay for too long, this ice-type king-level blood fiend might have left its original location. That would not be good!"
In the end, Gray dismissed the idea of exploring and resolutely chose to leave. Hunting ice-type king-level blood fiends was the most urgent thing he needed to do now. Everything else had to wait.
After spending a night in the swamp, Gray approached the area marked on the map the next day. He descended from the sky and began to search carefully.
After searching for a while, Gray found several traces left behind by large blood fiends. They were very large. Based on the rough estimation skills he learned from the Hellhound Mercenaries, the blood fiends that left these traces should be over ten meters long.
If he was not mistaken, a king-level blood fiend had indeed stayed in this area. However, it was obvious that this king-level blood fiend had left and did not continue to stay in this area.
"Looks like I have to waste a bottle of hunter's medicine."
Gray touched the purple ring and a bottle of hunter's medicine appeared in his hand.
According to Master Arnold's appraisal, this kind of medicine could temporarily give a person a sense of smell that was comparable to that of a king-level blood fiend, a desolate demonic dog. It could also make a person an expert in tracking. This was also the origin of the name of the hunter's medicine.
He had a total of three bottles of this kind of medicine. Now, it seemed that he had to waste one bottle to search for the ice-type King Beast.
He unscrewed the cork and drank the medicine in one gulp. The medicine had a slightly bitter taste and a hint of blood. After all, the main ingredient of this medicine was blood fiends' blood.
Whoosh —
After swallowing the medicine, Gray felt that his sense of smell had become extremely sharp in an instant.
All kinds of smells came one after another. The freshness of plants, the stench of rotten leaves, the residual smell of wild beasts in the surroundings …
Regardless of whether the smell was small or strong, it was difficult to escape from Gray's nose. Even if it was just a little bit of smell from a few hundred meters away, he could still smell it.
Gray came to one of the places where the King Beast had left its tracks. Very quickly, he smelled a unique scent. The reason why it was unique was because it gave him a sense of danger.
Powerful blood fiends could drive away other blood fiends just by smelling. Obviously, there was a reason for this. Their scent contained a strong sense of danger, forcing other blood fiends to stay far away from them.
Gray followed the scent and quickly chased after it.
A crocodile blood fiend had sunk its body into the mud. Only its two eyes and nostrils were exposed. It had completely merged with the mud.
It discovered that Gray was approaching from a few dozen meters away. It hid in the mud and did not move. It was waiting for Gray to come closer so that it could launch a thunderous attack on Gray.
Gray was getting closer and closer. It was already preparing to attack Gray, but at this moment, Gray casually waved his hand, and a green wind blade slashed out.
Poof!
A few dozen meters long mark appeared on the ground. In the center of the mark, the crocodile blood fiend did not have time to attack before it was cut in half by Gray's wind blade. Blood spurted out like a fountain.
After taking the Hunter's Potion, Gray's sense of smell had become extremely developed. Even from a distance, Gray could already smell the scent of the crocodile blood fiend hiding in the mud. That was why the scene just now had occurred.
Along the way, they had been ambushed by many blood fiends. However, Gray had discovered them in advance and was aware of the dangers ahead of time.
"Ice that hasn't melted!"
In front of Gray, there was a stretch of ice that extended for more than a hundred meters. Judging from the fact that the ice had not completely melted, the blood fiend that had left this ice behind had not left for long.
The feedback from the smell also confirmed this. He smelled an extremely strong scent of blood fiends here. This scent belonged to the suspected king-level blood fiend that he had been tracking.