“Roar!”
Tall trees grew chaotically, almost completely blocking out the sky and sunlight. The environment was dark, with occasional howls and roars of monsters echoing through the forest.
This was Aiden Forest…
The surroundings here were somewhat different from what Xia Li had seen in the game. After all, this place was a “starter village” in the game, where only forest wolves roamed and mid-tier monsters were considered big bosses.
But now, mid-tier monsters were everywhere.
Thankfully, with Veronika—the fully automated monster farming machine—around, those mid-tier monsters could only hide several hundred meters away.
Those that hadn’t escaped, like this camouflaged Dark Hollow Treant before them, tried to shed their disguise when sensing danger, only to be burned to ashes by the holy light in their screams.
If they entered the magic crystal minefield, wouldn’t all the monsters arranged by Lucifiel be incinerated?
Looks like a few more magic arrays needed to be set up inside the mine to suppress Veronika’s holy light…
“Having Veron makes things efficient, but it’s so boring~”
Furce tossed the crystal core in her hand, eyes scanning the surroundings as she sniffed the air. “There are nine mid-tier monsters and four high-tier monsters nearby. Can I go find them to play?”
“We’re almost at our destination.” Veronika shook her head.
“You seem to know a lot about monsters?” Xia Li asked curiously.
“No, I just have a keen sensitivity to magical energy.” Furce smiled. “Usually, after I finish having fun, someone always wants to hit me with magic. After so many times, I just got used to it.”
So she knew her behavior invited trouble… Xia Li glanced in the direction of the high-tier monsters Furce indicated.
Through the dense trees, all she could see was darkness and the roars echoing every few hundred meters.
Even the high-tier monsters didn’t dare approach Veronika.
Xia Li pulled back her gaze and followed Veronika for another ten minutes. Not far ahead, they finally left the thick forest behind.
But even upon entering this clearing, the scene before them was still gloomy.
Above the sky was a massive fissure, blocking the sunlight like an inverted abyss hanging in the sky. Black mud constantly dripped from it, and the nearby vegetation withered, the ground stained black.
Beneath the fissure lay a massive monster.
It stood nearly thirty meters tall, its head fierce and lizard-like, with a pair of fleshy wings and a thick, spiked tail on its back. At that moment, it was bathed in the black mud, emitting intermittent snores.
“A Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon…”
Xia Li’s hand rested on the hilt of her magic sword.
This was a transcendent-tier monster transformed by accidentally ingesting dragon blood, titled a “Lord-level” creature. It was a notoriously difficult mid-to-late wild boss found in the West Corruption Caverns of the Demon Clan.
Its attack, health, defense, and magic stats were all top-tier among lord-level monsters.
Because of the dragon blood within its body, it naturally carried magical power. A single strike from its claws could easily crush even high-tier mages with fully activated magic barriers.
And aside from its weak points, its body could only be breached by transcendent-tier magic. The dragon blood also granted it regenerative abilities far beyond ordinary monsters.
For transcendent-tier mages facing it alone, victory was nearly impossible. It was a problem that required a team effort.
But why had the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon left the Demon Clan’s Corruption Caverns, appearing tens of kilometers away in Aiden Forest?
And what was that black-mud-dripping fissure in the sky?
Xia Li looked at Veronika with a puzzled expression.
“In discussions among the saints, we call it Pollution.” Judging by Veronika’s expression, she seemed to have expected this situation.
“Pollution? Explain in detail.” Xia Li hadn’t seen anything like this in the game.
“It’s a disaster that only started appearing in the Englia Empire five years ago. It contains a large amount of special magical energy that attracts and contaminates nearby monsters.”
“Why have I never heard of this?” Furce jumped onto a stone not yet submerged in the black mud, poking the scales on the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon’s tail with a twig.
Veronika grabbed Furce’s hair and pulled her back. “Such fissures have only appeared three times in the past five years, all promptly discovered and dealt with. This is the fourth—and largest—incident.”
“How do we deal with it?” Xia Li frowned as the giant monster’s body shifted beneath the black mud. She stepped back half a pace, shielding Veronika in front of her.
“Pray to the Goddess of Night. Only the power of the gods can purify such filth.”
“That sounds unreliable…”
“From my past experience, it’s the only way. But the prayer process requires at least ten minutes. First, this lord-level monster must be dealt with.”
“Huh? Who’s going to handle that?” Xia Li took two steps back.
“Of course, me.” Veronika’s hand slipped into her storage magic and pulled out a magic wand embedded with a waning moon-shaped gem at its tip. The holy light it radiated suddenly withdrew.
“I will kill it with a forbidden spell in one strike. Because the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon is sensitive to magic, it will try to interrupt my chant by force. I need you to delay it for ten seconds.”
“Hey! Wait, you never said before we came here that you’d be facing a lord-level monster head-on! Weren’t we just supposed to investigate and leave?” Xia Li twitched at the corner of her mouth.
She was quite aware of her own strength.
Dealing with high-tier monsters was fine, but facing a lord-level like the Pseudo-Dragon? Even ten of her wouldn’t survive one slap from it!
“Monsters bathing in Pollution become stronger. If we delay further and the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon crosses into forbidden spell rank beyond transcendent, it won’t be something I can handle alone.” Veronika’s tone carried a hint of pleading.
“Then you should be looking for high-tier and transcendent-tier mages to help, not making me, a newbie adventurer, take the risk!” Xia Li didn’t care about her lofty reasoning.
“I actually think it’s pretty interesting~” Furce drew a short dagger from her waist, licking her lips. “It’s my first time encountering a lord-level monster. I wonder how strong it really is.”
“Then I’ll begin.” Veronika’s wand tapped the earth. A waning moon seemed to rise in the darkness under the fissure, its protective light shining down on them.
“Listen to me!” Xia Li cursed these two reckless fools in her heart, but before she could say more, the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon was already climbing out of the black mud.
“Roar!!!”
Alongside the roar came a heavy thud.
The Pseudo-Dragon’s tail whipped like a whip, cutting through the air and striking right before Furce’s chest. Even though she raised her dagger in time, the blow still sent her flying backward.
Furce tumbled across the ground several times, her body aching as if crushed by a boulder. She coughed lightly, a trickle of fresh blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.
Serves her right… Xia Li wanted to mock.
If only the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon hadn’t turned its attention to her.