Boom!
Gray's body smashed down like a meteorite, creating a crater in the forest and causing the ground to shake.
Such a commotion naturally alarmed the three people besieging Francis. They temporarily gave up on besieging Francis and looked at Gray warily.
They naturally noticed the rune ship in the sky. They were originally worried that the other party would interfere, but they were relieved when they saw that the people on the rune ship did not do anything other than watch.
However, they did not expect that just as they were about to kill Francis, the people on the rune ship moved and a young man jumped down.
"Sir, we are from the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom. He is someone that the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom wants to kill.
“
The cold-faced middle-aged man sized up Gray and said with some fear.
A family that could afford a rune ship was definitely a top family. Such a family was not simple. Even the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom would not be willing to provoke them.
"West Hermit Kingdom, a kingdom force. You are from the Eternal Dominion?"
Gray's expression turned cold as he looked at the three.
There were two large territories near the Forbidden Forest. One of them was called the Chaos Territory, which was overseen by the Chaos Temple. The forces there were in the form of family clans.
The other territory was called the Eternal Dominion, which was overseen by the Eternal Holy Empire, which was not weaker than the Chaos Temple. The forces there were in the form of a kingdom. Since the other party claimed to be from the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom, they naturally came from the Eternal Dominion.
"Yes, sir. He is someone that the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom wants to kill. Please don't get involved in this matter for the sake of the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom."
The cold-faced middle-aged man lowered his posture, but there was a hint of threat in his words. Clearly, he wanted the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom to intimidate Gray.
"The royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom?"
Gray's expression turned cold in the next moment.
"What great respect. A force from the Eternal Dominion wants a force from the Chaos Territory to give them face. I'm afraid the royal family of the West Hermit Kingdom doesn't have that much respect."
"You … are courting death!"
The three middle-aged men were instantly infuriated. The short man was unable to stop himself from wanting to attack Gray. However, the sinister-looking man stopped him, his eyes gesturing towards the sky.
Ever since the young man in front of them jumped down from the rune ship floating in the sky, the expressions of everyone on the ship who had been waiting to watch a good show disappeared. Many people stared coldly at the three of them.
"Cough, cough —"
Francis coughed and tried to stand up with the support of his spear. Gray hurried over to support him and handed him a bottle of Advanced Healing Potion.
After drinking the Advanced Healing Potion, Francis's complexion improved a little.
"I didn't expect to meet you here!"
"I didn't expect to meet you here. What's going on?
Why is he being pursued by the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family? "
"It's a long story."
Francis smiled bitterly and shook his head. There was a trace of loneliness in his eyes.
"You know each other?"
Hearing the conversation between Gray and Francis, the three of them were shocked. Then, they pulled away without hesitation.
They originally thought that there was still room for mediation. After all, the other party just happened to meet them. If they paid a price, the other party might hand over Francis.
However, they didn't expect that the other party actually knew each other. Moreover, it seemed that their relationship wasn't shallow. They immediately felt that something was wrong and turned to flee.
Chi chi —
The three of them didn't run far before three black fog swiftly wrapped around their bodies. Then, they felt a sharp pain. The three of them were shocked to find that their bodies were actually melting.
"Ah …"
The intense pain caused the three of them to scream. They used their abilities to struggle violently, but they couldn't break free. Although the black fog shrouding them was like a shadow substance, it had extraordinary tenacity. No matter how they struggled, it was useless.
"You can't … kill us. We're … from the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family. If you kill … us, you'll … become an enemy of the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family!"
The short man screamed in horror and despair. Unfortunately, Gray had no intention of changing his mind. In the end, under the black fog, the flesh of the three of them disappeared. Even their bones were melted.
The three of them didn't know that it was precisely because they were from the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family that Gray wanted to kill them.
Although he wasn't afraid of the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family, he wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible. If he could kill the three of them and cut off the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family's trail of Francis, that would naturally be the best.
"After being saved by you, you've actually become so much stronger. I originally thought that I could get closer to you, but now it seems that the distance between us is getting farther and farther!"
Seeing that Gray killed the three of them so easily and even completely erased all traces of their existence, Francis exclaimed in surprise.
"Your strength has also improved a lot. You've actually reached the fourth stage of the King Stage. It seems that you've gained a lot after coming to the Source World."
Gray smiled and joked.
Whether it was Francis or the three people he killed, they all had the strength of the fourth stage of the King Stage. In less than two years, they had reached the fourth stage of the King Stage. Although their improvement wasn't as great as his, it was still extremely great.
"Let's go. Let's get out of here first!"
After bringing Francis onto the rune ship, Gray ordered the rune ship to set off quickly and leave the place where they had just fought.
"They are …?"
Seeing that the people on the rune ship were in awe of Gray, Francis was full of surprise.
As far as he knew, a family that could afford a rune ship must be a top family. Originally, he was already very curious about how Gray could be related to a top family. Now that he saw that the people of the top family were in awe of Gray, he couldn't help but be even more surprised.
"A family that was looking for trouble with me. However, I subdued them after beating them up."
Gray explained briefly.
"As for you, it seems that a lot of things have happened in the past two years."
After talking for a while, Gray learned about Francis's experience in the past two years.
Like Gray, he had also been teleported into the Forbidden Forest. His strength was only at the first stage of the King Stage, and he wasn't good at jungle techniques. Naturally, it was very difficult for him to survive in the Forbidden Forest. He had encountered danger several times.
Once, he encountered a Magic Light level blood beast. He couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried. Fortunately, he was saved in the end. The person who saved him became his teacher.
His teacher was a consecrator of the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family. He was an Annihilation class elite who didn't have much time left in his life. He entered the Forbidden Forest to look for opportunities and accidentally met him.
With the help of the old man, he obtained the Magic Light level Blood Meridian and the subsequent Blood Skills. Because of this, his strength was able to quickly increase and reach the fourth stage of the King Stage. Unfortunately, the old man didn't have much time left. He had passed away a few months ago.
During his time in the West Hermit Kingdom, because of the old man, he met the third princess, Daina Sihe. They started to have feelings for each other and started dating.
With the old man there and the identity of an Annihilation class elite's disciple, the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family didn't have much to say about it. After the old man died, the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family's attitude changed. They tried to stop the two of them from dating.
The two of them decided to elope, but they were discovered by the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family, who had been secretly monitoring them. Daina Sihe was captured, and he was hunted down by the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family.
After running for a month, the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family found him. They chased him all the way here.
"Gray, the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family won't just let this go. When I recover, you should let me off the ship. Otherwise, I will drag you down."
Although he was shocked by Gray's power and the fact that he could make a top family obey him, he knew how scary the West Hermit Kingdom was.
Among the many kingdoms in Eternal Dominion, it was one of the top kingdoms. It was extremely powerful. He didn't think Gray's power and influence could fight against a kingdom like that.
"Don't worry. I can deal with the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family. You can stay here."
Gray shook his head. Not to mention his relationship with Sophia, even if it was his relationship with Francis, it was impossible for him to look on helplessly as the other continued to be hunted down like this.
"But …"
Francis wanted to say something, but Gray waved his hand to stop him.
"You don't have to say anything. You are badly injured. Rest well."
Boom!
Suddenly, the rune ship stopped moving. It went from moving to still in a very short amount of time. Some of the furnishings in the rune ship's room fell to the ground when it suddenly stopped.
"What happened?"
Gray frowned and asked the young man, Joshua, who was walking over.
"Mister Gray, the rune ship has been stopped!"
The young man, Joshua, quickly answered.
"Not good. It must be the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family!"
Francis's face immediately changed when he heard the words of the young man, Joshua.
To be able to stop a runic ship that was flying at such a high speed, that person had to be extremely strong. After all, if a runic ship were to travel at full speed, its speed would be several times faster than Demonshine's. Without a formidable strength, it was impossible to stop a runic ship.
"You rest first. I'll go out and take a look!"
Gray's face was cold. Without any explanation, he told Francis to stay in the room and walked to the deck. Behind him, the young man, Joshua, hurriedly followed.
Gray came to the deck and found that there were five other people besides the Urgas Family. They should be the ones who forced the rune ship to stop.
"Who are you?"
Gray glanced at the five of them and asked with a cold look in his eyes.
"We are very sorry to disturb you. We are members of the West Hermit Kingdom's royal family. We are tracking a criminal on your family's rune ship. We hope your family can hand him over to us."
Among the five people, an old man sensed that Francis was on the rune ship through some unknown method and spoke with certainty.