Spar With Me!

"Gilgamesh? You mean... that child? Didn't he disappear in the mystic realm?" The Forest Master was pleasantly surprised by the information he was receiving.

He also glanced at his uncle and gave him a knowing nod.

"Master, there's something else you need to know," Hunter started to tell the Forest Master about Gilgamesh's more impressive feat.

As he listened, the Forest Master's expression morphed quite a few times. Shock, horror, delight and curious fear could all be seen, and in the end he was left trembling.

Finally, the Old Patriarch stated his own observations.

"When I cast my divine sense onto that misty red aura of his, I felt a profound sensation of reverence. Instantly, my soul itself told me that I had to submit to that aura. If I didn't, I somehow knew that I would die."

"My basest instincts told me that, in order to live, I had to submit to Gilgamesh."

Hearing this, even the two Guardians were speechless. As for the Forest Master, he had entered a strange state.

His eyes seemed to lose focus as he stared off into space, and he temporarily lost himself in thought.

"You said what!?"

The Forest Master suddenly flared up and broke the silence, seeming more excited than enraged.

Hunter, Pacifist and the Old Patriarch instantly recognized this expression, and they became uneasy.

"Seph, please wait," the Old Patriarch tried to interject.

Sadly, they were already too late to stop him.

The Forest Master's eyes exuded bright white light as his aura expanded, instantly covering an area of several kilometers. At the same time, his divine sense extended and covered an even larger distance than that.

In a matter of seconds, every cultivator in the sect could feel the Forest Master's aura.

Some of them were able to discern whose it was, while others were unable to even bear the brunt of it, and foamed at the mouth before falling unconscious.

"Seph, calm yourself! Are you trying to throw the entire Forest into a state of panic!?" The Old Patriarch seemed to hesitate slightly as he spoke, as though he were unsure of what he wanted to say.

"Master, Gilgamesh's temperament is ...special. I don't think provoking him is a good idea," Pacifist blurted, making it clear that she was worried for her Master and not Gilgamesh.

Hunter and the Old Patriarch blinked at her, and realized that she had a point.

It was entirely possible that the Forest Master was putting himself in terrible danger here!

Seph, the Forest Master, seemed to have not even heard their words. Instead, his head snapped in a certain direction and he smiled wildly, looking like an excited beast.

"Found you!"

In that moment, his body blurred before he vanished into the air, traversing a distance of several kilometers in less than an instant.

Hovering above his Tower, the Forest Master's eyes stared down directly at a young man of about seventeen years, shopping for clothes with a little girl.

His brows furrowed.

While everyone else was either gazing up at the sky in fear, passing out or staring directly at him like worshipful ants, Gilgamesh and that little girl were completely ignoring his existence.

He frowned. Bolstering his voice with his terribly mighty true energy, the Forest Master's shout shook the earth.

"GILGAMESH! SPAR WITH ME!"

After those words reverberated throughout the entire sect- and perhaps even the entire Forest Nation- there was utter and total silence.

To those in faraway places, who could not even see the Forest Master, it appeared as though the world itself was issuing a challenge.

A challenge to someone called Gilgamesh.

As for the person who was challenged, he picked up a blouse and held it out for Little Feather to see.

Then, he sent a cursory glance in the way of the Forest Master and added some true energy to his own voice.

"I'm out shopping with my Little Feather, so my mood can be considered good right now."

Gilgamesh's casual glance became a glare, "Piss off, or your death will be your own fault."

As if he had just spoken to no one but himself, Gilgamesh spat the words out then continued what he was doing.

Little Feather also totally disregarded the Forest Master.

"How much for this?" Gilgamesh asked the vending disciple.

That disciple's jaw was slack and his eyes were already opened as wide as was humanly possible.

He managed to shut his mouth and slowly swallowed as fear gripped him, "For you, Sir, it's all free. Take whatever you want."

Unbeknownst to both Gilgamesh and the Forest Master was the fact that the recently returned Guardians had been drawn to the commotion.

Gathered in a large group, they stood atop the Forest Master's Tower and looked down at the scene.

"Who is this kid?" Dragon Guardian asked as she leaned forward seductively, getting a closer look at Gilgamesh.

As she did so, she licked her dark-colored lips with a moist and tender tongue. Only one of her eyes was visible under her long hair, but it was clear to see that she was taken up with Gilgamesh.

"Keep it in your pants, Dragon. I know you have a thing for the recalcitrant ones." Flower Guardian, a monstrously muscular man with no shirt on and a long beard, huffed.

Covering his upper body were multiple tattoos of varying flowers. He turned his nose up at Gilgamesh.

"Does that brat not know who the Forest Master is? Even among the elite of the Empire, our Master knows no equal. His words carry as much weight as the Emperor himself!"

Stepping forward, a man dressed in sage clothing, with long cloud-like white hair and wise eyes regarded Gilgamesh with disdain.

"Watch and wait. Our Master will teach him his place."

The Guardians looked on eagerly, awaiting their Master's response.

When the Forest Master heard Gilgamesh's answer to his challenge, his wild smile only intensified.

'No matter what, I have to test the limits of his power!'

Strongly motivated for reasons only he knew, the Forest Master pressed on with increased zeal.

"I am Seph Monstrum, Forest Master of the Forest-Gate Guardians' Society, and Sole Ruler of the Ancient Forest Nation!"

"Gilgamesh, I challenge you to a sparring match! Dare you refuse me now!?"

The Forest Master worded his challenge in a new way, trying to talk down to Gilgamesh in an attempt to provoke him.

Gilgamesh carried on ignoring him, but that was mostly because he was enjoying the sight of Little Feather way too much.

She was gleefully grabbing stuff up and evaluating them; she had never actually been shopping before.

Once she heard the vending disciple say that the items were free, she hurried to take everything she liked.

"This dress is lovely, isn't it Big Brother?"

"Oh! Look at this jade pendant! Don't you think its cute, Gilgamesh?"

"Oh, I love those shoes. Do you think they suit me, Big Brother?"

Gilgamesh gladly have her whatever answer she wanted to hear, and took the place of her personal storage unit.

He carried everything for her with a doting gaze, as though he were her father.

Gilgamesh relished the feeling, and allowed it to seep in.

The Forest Master's eyes twitched.

'So that's the way it is, huh? Then what if I do this!'

Suddenly, a malicious grin appeared on the Forest Master's face and he aimed a finger. Those who were focused on what was going on gasped, and began to wonder whether the Forest Master was an insane individual.

That was because, the person he was aiming his finger at...

Was Little Feather!

"Life-Erasure!" A wave of ghastly true energy exploded from the Forest Master's finger, and spread toward Little Feather at an insane speed.

'Heh! This should do the trick. Although it seems deadly, it's actually just a harmless aura.'

Self-satisfied, the Forest Master watched as Gilgamesh's face changed. His red eyes glowed brightly, and an aura of red mist appeared around his body.

'Success!' The Forest Master raised a fist into the air in his heart, but merely smiled on the outside.

His fake 'Life-Erasure' attack was easily negated by Gilgamesh, who then turned a horribly wrathful glare upward at him.

"Fucking imbecile! Do you think she is someone you can afford to harm!!!"

Gilgamesh was truly pissed, and more of his aura than had ever been released before started billowing out of him.

There was even more of it than when he had fought the Heavenly Master.

Despite the fact that he was still at the Condesation stage, his presence instantly countered the Forest Master's before supressing it entirely.

At the same time, his aura began to naturally bend all other things to his will, just barely.

To those watching, it felt like Gilgamesh was the Ruler of All Things, come down to flex his power.

"This power..." The sage-like Guardian froze.

"It can't be..." Flower Guardian took involuntary steps back.

Dragon Guardian moaned as she placed a hand between her voluptuous legs, her face flushed, "Oh my... His aura... It's making me so ...wet... Mm..."

The Forest Master was taken aback at Gilgamesh's response. It was as though he wasn't expecting such a large reaction.

By the time he opened his mouth to speak, Gilgamesh had drawn Samael and vanished from sight.

Within the same second, he appeared above the Forest Master, his sword already cleaving the air as it chopped down toward his head.

The Forest Master only then realized the dreadful mistake he had made, and numerous beads of sweat covered his forehead.

His desperate cries reverberated throughout the entire Nation in the next instant.

"Shit! Gilgamesh, wait! Wait, wait, wai- AIIEEE!!!"