Krexia found a total of four bodies. Most were missing arms or legs, and one poor soul was half-dismembered—his torso nearly gone and his head nowhere to be found.
She could only roughly gauge the strength of the monsters that killed them by the Adventurer Medals pinned to their chests.
Three Bronze Rank, one Silver Rank, including one Mage.
Ordinary Third Tier monsters couldn’t have caused such damage, but the chance of Fourth Tier monsters appearing here was too low.
Considering the abnormality that occurred during this mission, then…
“Kosan, do you think it’s possible that the leaked portion of the Witch’s Power affected more than just that Greater Goblin?”
“La la la, can’t hear you. I’m a useless God, la la la~”
“Are you some kind of child?”
Krexia held her head, suddenly feeling a headache.
“No, why would a God quarrel with a mere mortal like me?”
“Hmph~”
Unreliable god.
She had no choice but to investigate on her own.
The Magical Power Source hadn’t been found yet, so she continued following its location. Along the way, there was even more destruction, and occasionally she spotted monster corpses.
But no matter how she looked at the bodies, their death throes didn’t seem like they were killed by adventurers or mercenaries.
This situation only confirmed Krexia’s suspicion.
There were definitely other monsters tainted by that impure power, she thought.
“Hey, what do you mean by ‘impure power’?!”
“La la la, can’t hear~”
“You!”
That’s called treating others as they treat you.
“Missing you? Are you planning to return to the city wearing sexy lingerie?”
“!”
Krexia froze. She suddenly realized that aside from being useless in useful situations, this guy was actually quite helpful in useless ones.
“Wrong, wrong, great God, I believe you wouldn’t do something so unwise!”
“Do you think I wouldn’t dare?”
Her skirt and robe began to glow, and her skin even felt the breeze brush against it. The sudden chill gave her goosebumps all over.
“Stop! Damn it, don’t mess around, we still have a fight ahead!”
“Apologize!”
“Sorry!”
Faced with Coutia’s threat to undress her, Krexia sheepishly surrendered.
Her clothes returned to normal, the chill vanished, replaced by the comforting feeling of smooth fabric wrapped around her.
She touched her sleeves, then her top and skirt.
Her heart finally settled.
“Don’t joke about that. Someone could get hurt!”
“It’s just taking off a piece of clothing, not skinning you. What’s the big deal?”
“Doing this to me is worse than skinning me!”
“Fine, then I’ll skin you.”
“But on the other hand…”
***
Following the trail of the Magical Power Source, Krexia gradually neared the monster’s location.
As she closed the distance, she sensed something was wrong. Sounds of a fierce fight reached her.
Also present in her perception was that familiar energy fluctuation—an energy she had felt on the Greater Goblin just an hour ago.
This was definitely the place.
Emerging from the forest were three familiar figures.
A mage dressed in fiery red robes, a heavily armored swordsman, and a small cleric from the church.
But all three looked exhausted, their auras weak. Especially the heavily armored swordsman—the armor was dented in several places, riddled with cracks, and the exposed skin bore many wounds.
“Fana?”
Krexia was momentarily stunned.
The mage called out turned instinctively to the voice. When she saw Krexia, her eyes flickered briefly with a subtle shadow, then filled with joy.
“Miss Krexia!”
Before Krexia could say another word, several fireballs shot out from the mine entrance they were facing. Fana had no time to chant a spell and hurriedly dodged to the side.
The fireballs exploded beside her, flames shooting up in towering columns, a scorching heatwave radiating out from the blast center.
Other fireballs missed, causing no significant damage.
Even tens of meters away, the heatwave made Krexia’s cheeks burn.
“Damn… Fana!”
Without hesitation, Krexia raised her wand. Several magic runes and a magic circle instantly formed, then over a dozen water spheres spread over the blast area, dousing the flames in an instant.
Fana’s figure emerged, seemingly unharmed.
She was covered by a faint golden shield, though faint cracks had already appeared.
“Luckily… it’s a magic item?”
Falco and Elvie rushed over anxiously as Krexia ran to Fana’s side.
At that moment, the golden shield finally gave way, cracks widening until it shattered into pieces with a crisp sound.
“I’m okay, but that magic scroll is ruined.”
Fana pulled a scroll from her lower back. As the shield broke, the scroll turned to ash, disappearing from her fingertips.
Magic Scrolls are one-time use magical items. Thanks to their excellent Magic Power conduction and capacity, they serve as excellent materials for making magic tools.
They can inscribe up to Sixth Tier magic. Their advantage lies in portability, but due to material adaptability, only limited types of magic can be inscribed—usually defensive spells.
Because inscribing is difficult and production time long, and they provide vital life-saving capabilities for mages, demand remains high.
This also means the price on the market is incredibly steep.
Thanks to this item, Fana would have been seriously injured otherwise.
“What was that just now?”
“Slime.”
“Slime? What the heck??”
Krexia was stunned, unsure if she heard correctly.
“We’ll explain later. Watch out, here it comes again!”
Before she finished, another fiery magic missile blasted toward them.
This time, with Krexia alert, at the missile’s appearance, a wave-like flow of water rose from the ground, forming a wide and thick Water Barrier to perfectly shield the four.
[ Elemental Class: Third Rank Defense: Water Barrier ]
The missile hit the barrier, and the powerful magic inside sent ripples across the shield. The high heat met the water, causing a burst of steam.
“Fall back.”
The four retreated quickly.
After a few seconds, the temporary Water Barrier’s magic was depleted. The missile broke through the water flow, striking the ground where they had been standing and scattering sparks.
Krexia’s gaze fell on the mine entrance. It was clearly a mining site, with various Original Ore piled up around.
But due to the prior attacks, everything was in chaos.
At that moment, Krexia recalled that Fana and the others had accepted a mission to eliminate the abnormal monster gathering in the Mithril Mine.
It was obvious something had gone wrong here.
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