Aoki braved the wind and snow.
The temperature here was extremely low, but it had almost no effect on him.
His body recovered instantly from any damage, without feeling any discomfort.
Continuous damage posed no threat to demons; what demons feared was instantaneous, massive damage.
He could now regenerate almost infinitely, but the speed of regeneration was limited. If someone's destructive speed exceeded his regeneration speed, he would still be killed.
Infinite regeneration was indeed very powerful, but it did not mean immortality, much less invincibility.
As he approached the village, Aoki sensed something was wrong.
It was too quiet!
Apart from the sound of the wind, there was no other sound.
The village had not been properly planned; all the houses were piled together, appearing extremely chaotic.
Aoki walked along the street, sighing inwardly.
The street was covered with a thick layer of snow, and most of the houses on both sides had their doors open, but he didn't see anyone.
Yes.
The entire village was deserted.
Large patches of black stains could be seen on the walls from time to time; Aoki immediately recognized them as dried blood.
All the houses showed signs of vandalism and destruction.
He didn't know what had happened, but the fate of the residents here was probably not good.
"Let's go check out another village!"
Aoki spread his wings, his figure soaring into the sky, flying in another direction.
Just then,
a gust of wind swept from above, and the sky suddenly darkened.
Aoki turned his head.
A terrifying giant bird came into view, its wingspan exceeding ten meters, its head resembling a crocodile but covered in ferocious teeth, its yellow eyes devoid of any emotion, only the cruelty and bloodlust of a predator.
Aoki's figure flashed and disappeared from the spot.
The giant bird rushed past where he had been, but failed to hit anyone, a hint of doubt appearing in its eyes.
Aoki suddenly appeared on the giant bird's back.
Splat!
Blood splattered from its head, and the giant bird let out a shrill scream, struggling frantically, and Aoki's figure vanished.
The giant bird flapped its wings, about to escape.
At this moment,
Aoki reappeared on its back.
The next moment, a burst of blood erupted from the same spot on its head again, and a hand plunged into its skull.
This time, it didn't even struggle. Its body stiffened, its wings stopped flapping, and it fell like a shooting star.
Boom!
A large crater appeared in the ground, the giant bird's carcass lying silently in the center.
Aoki's figure appeared beside it, looking up at the corpse with astonishment in his eyes.
It was the first time he had ever seen such a large bird.
With its wingspan over ten meters, it was practically a small fighter jet.
"Is this a Dangerous Species? I wonder what level it is?"
Aoki gently stroked the giant bird's carcass; its golden feathers were like metal, not only hard but also extremely sharp at the edges.
Dangerous Species were a unique feature of this world.
They were all powerful monsters.
Among them, the strongest, the Super Dangerous Species, were all incredibly terrifying, some even like natural disasters.
Aoki grabbed the giant bird's head, and with a thought, entered a special space.
Compared to before, this alternate space had undergone a dramatic change, its length, width, and height all increasing a hundredfold, meaning it had become a gigantic space exceeding one thousand meters in length, width, and height.
Larger than the original Infinite City.
This was thanks to "Limit Enhancement."
"Spatial travel" and "spatial imprint travel" remained unchanged, but the "alternate dimension" was significantly enhanced, a pleasant surprise.
Unlike the Infinite City,this vast space contained only a house in the center; the rest was empty.
The previous space was directly taken from the Infinite City.
This time, it was an expansion of the existing space, so naturally, no additional buildings were included.
Thump!
The enormous corpse fell with a dull thud.
Only things he could pick up could be brought into the alternate dimension, and the conditions for taking them out were the same.
Fortunately, this giant bird wasn't stronger than him.
After placing it down, Aoki left the alternate dimension and continued flying towards another village.
But this time, as soon as he took to the sky, a flock of crow-like strange birds targeted him. All of them were as large as basketballs, and one, seemingly a crow king, was as large as a millstone.
These crow-like strange birds all had bloodshot eyes, filled with a bloodthirsty hunger.
One-on-one, Aoki wasn't afraid at all, but these strange birds numbered in the hundreds or even thousands, making them even more troublesome than the giant bird from before.
The crow-like birds hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't attack Aoki. Led by the Crow King, they continued flying north.
"What a dangerous world!"
Aoki shook his head, deciding to keep a low profile.
He'd easily dealt with the giant bird he'd encountered before, and this flock of crow-like monsters
wouldn't be too difficult either. But who knew if even more troublesome monsters would appear?
Fortunately, nothing else happened.
Aoki landed in an open area outside the village and walked towards it.
This village was very similar in size and area to the abandoned village he'd just encountered.
"Thankfully, people still live here."
Aoki looked around; most of the villagers were emaciated, their eyes vacant, and their clothes tattered.
"Hello."
He stopped a middle-aged man passing by, but the man quickly dodged, giving him a wary look before hurrying away.
Aoki realized this wasn't an isolated case.
Most of the villagers looked at him with suspicion.
Just then, a tall, strong young man named Aoki, dressed in animal skins, walked past.
"I apologize, the village was attacked by bandits yesterday, and everyone is very uneasy now."
Aoki glanced at him, inwardly praising, "Such a strong physique."
In this world, human physiques are stronger than in the Demon Slayer world.
In terms of physical strength alone, even the Pillars might not be able to match this young man.
"I didn't intend to end up here. I wanted to inquire about this place and how to get to the capital."
The young man in animal skin said in a deep voice, "Getting to the capital is not an easy task. This is the northern border of the empire, only a few dozen kilometers away from the fortress of the northern barbarians.
The capital is thousands of miles away, and there are countless dangerous creature lairs along the way."
"The northern barbarians?"
Aoki pondered.
There are three major barbarian tribes surrounding the empire, located in the south, north, and west, while the east is the land of barbarians.
The three major barbarian tribes have been at war with the empire for many years.
Esdeath must have come to attack the northern barbarians this time.
He roughly knew what time it was.
"What is the current situation?" Aoki asked.
The young man in animal skin looked grave: "It's terrible! Under the leadership of the hero Numa Seka, the northern tribes are gaining an increasingly stronger advantage.
Most of the nearby villages have already moved. If this continues, we'll probably have to leave too!"
Moving is no simple matter.
For the poor, their houses are often their most important possessions; leaving their hometown could mean becoming homeless.
In this cold weather, not having a place to shelter from the wind and rain is tantamount to suicide.
Not to mention, the journey will be fraught with danger; a slight mishap could lead to the destruction of their families.
"I think you don't need to move. Esdeath has arrived,"
Aoki said.
That so-called northern hero might indeed have some skill, but compared to Esdeath, he's nothing.
Strong personal strength, outstanding military talent, generous and kind to her subordinates, unpretentious… from a purely military perspective, Esdeath is almost perfect.
The young man in animal skin paused for a moment, then his expression quickly brightened: "Esdeath? Is it General Esdeath?"
Aoki nodded.
Just as he thought.
As he knew, Esdeath was very popular among the common people,
especially in border regions plagued by foreign invasions.
However, that woman didn't fight for the country or the people; it was purely to satisfy her own desire for battle and slaughter.
Of course,
he wouldn't tell the young man in animal skins these things.
Objectively speaking, Esdeath's decimation of the northern barbarians made her a great benefactor to everyone living on the northern border.
Aoki waved his hand.
Boom!
A giant bird appeared out of thin air, landing on the open ground by the roadside, shaking the earth.
"This, this is, a Level 1 Dangerous Species Giant Bird, Oriel?" The young man in animal skins was stunned.
"Consider this your reward, thank you for the information."
Aoki nodded to the young man in animal skins, spread his bat wings, and soared into the sky.
By the time the young man in animal skins came to his senses, Aoki's figure had already disappeared into the horizon.
"Could it be the legendary Imperial Arms user?"
The young man in animal skins took a deep breath, looking at the giant bird's corpse on the ground, his expression becoming excited.
Great!
General Esdeath has arrived.
Now that they have this meat again, they don't need to worry about migrating for the time being.
Ps .
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(End of Chapter)