Chapter 311 Everyone goes first, I will be the last (4.7k, modified, please refresh)

“Puff, puff, puff!”

Hundreds of fission arrows of light fell from the sky like a meteor shower. Before the dozens of magical beasts roaming in the forest could react, blood spurted out of their bodies, and they fell to the ground with a groan, twitching as they were about to die.

Atalanta, who was squatting between the tree branches, put down the Sky Bow in her hand and waved forward.

A rustling sound came from the dense forest behind, and several fully armed teams stepped out of the fog, raised their shields and spears, and finished off the monsters that were not yet dead.

"Clean up the battlefield and move on!"

Commander Hippomenes' orders came through the magic resonance ritual maintained by the priests.

The crusaders immediately took out their knives, quickly dismembered the monster, and took away the valuable parts as extra trophies of this hunt.

The fur of Warcraft can be used as raw material for making leather armor after being nitrated and stored;

The flesh and blood of monsters are rich in nutrients and can be cooked into food to strengthen the body;

The organs and bones of Warcraft contain special spirituality and are important ingredients for making some magic items and potions.

And the magic cores were the most precious. They were not only used in many fields, from people's livelihood to the mysterious, but also served as a performance certificate for this crusade. As long as you brought the corresponding number and quality of magic cores to the palace or the temple, you could exchange them for a considerable reward...

Most of the descendants of gods who participated in the [Beast Disaster] crusade were not well-known in strength or reputation, nor did they have any prominent backgrounds. The reason they came to Arcadia to help, in addition to having a sense of justice to eliminate harm for the people, more importantly, they wanted to obtain certain resources for themselves through this hunt.

Fortunately, the commander this time, Hippomenes, was quite reasonable and gave them time to harvest the spoils.

However, looking at the formation on the ground that was gradually becoming disorganized as people fought for the spoils, Atalanta frowned slightly.

It is not impossible to clean up the battlefield, but the situation is crisis-ridden. It is not a wise choice not to concentrate our efforts on solving the problems first, but to drag down the overall action for a tiny bit of profit.

Besides, it will be dark soon.

By night, the advantage of the Warcraft will be greatly highlighted, and even an elite team of God-blood heroes may suffer due to the unfamiliar environment of the Arcadia Mountains.

By then, the loss will outweigh the gain.

Just as the local female hunter was about to speak up to persuade him,

There were dull tremors coming from the ground, and violent roars of beasts coming one after another.

"The monster is coming again!"

Atalanta shouted a warning, then with the keen perception of a cat, she looked far into the distance at the area deep in the jungle where leaves were falling, drew her bow and shot a rain of light arrows forward, slowing down the speed of the monster cluster's attack and buying time for her teammates below to reorganize their formation.

“Puff, puff, puff!”

Dozens of magical beasts that were shot into hedgehogs by the light arrows fell to the ground and died on the spot, but more magical beasts spread out like a carpet and swept in densely. A small wave of arrow rain could only bring a drop in the bucket.

"Form a battle array and meet the enemy!"

Fortunately, those who came this time are all elites with divine blood, and they are relatively experienced in combat and know what is more important.

Along with the sound of shields striking each other, the crusaders immediately got ready and returned to their teams, gathering together with their familiar companions, working in coordination like a precision instrument.

"When the stars are in the right position, the ring of truth appears here. The origin is very small, and the expansion is infinite. The output is one-third of the second side of lapis lazuli, and the light of the sky is bestowed on the empty land!"

Under the solemn chanting of divine words, the followers of the Hermetic sect crushed the lapis lazuli in their hands and launched a large-scale ritual spell that combined astrology and alchemy.

Along with the scattering of lapis lazuli light dust, a light ring, large or small, positive or negative, was constructed in the sky, like a cluster of heavy artillery, automatically focusing on the mighty tide of beasts coming ahead.

“Buzz!”

As the chanting paused on the last syllable, the stars in the distance responded with brilliant light.

"boom!"

The earth was shaking, soil was splashing, rumbling vibrations stretched for miles, and a huge explosion cloud rose up.

The dense forest hit by the Starlight artillery turned into a wasteland with pits and potholes, and hundreds of monsters at the center of the explosion were killed and destroyed.

Seeing their colleagues showing off their skills, the followers of the Eleusinian Mysticism were not willing to be outdone and sang blessings together.

"Merciful and dark Mother Earth, may their souls rest in your arms forever!"

As monsters appeared in the dense forest ahead, strange tremors were heard from the ground.

In an instant, the rocks were torn apart, forming deep valleys with gullies and ravines; or the soil layer was uplifted, turning into sharp spikes.

The dense formation of monsters was immediately broken up, and they kept making wailing sounds as if they were falling into the abyss and being pierced by spikes.

Immediately afterwards, red and black spear-like spikes like thorns broke out of the ground.

Those monsters that stopped in an emergency were also stabbed to the core and could not escape this sudden change.

At the same time, dark green fluorescence rose from under the feet of the crowd and penetrated into the bodies of the crusaders like stars.

A rhythm that comes from the earth and the excitement that awakens the potential of life make everyone marvel.

The Eleusinian religion regards Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and Persephone, the queen of the underworld, as the light and dark sides of the Earth Mother, who jointly hold the power of life and death. Therefore, the healing warlock of the Eleusinian religion can do more than just serve as a nanny in the team.

After appreciating the successive display of skills by the three sects, Loen pointed to the setting sun in the sky and solemnly reminded the twin brothers beside him.

"It's getting dark. We need to find the source of the [Beast Disaster] as soon as possible and tell them not to waste their time and energy on these guys."

The twin brothers nodded and immediately went to Hippomenes, who was in charge of command and coordination, to offer suggestions.

Hippomenes' eyes flickered, and he felt a little embarrassed.

"We have just experienced several fierce battles and everyone is exhausted. It would be a bit unreasonable to force them to march further."

"We don't know how many monsters are still in the mountains. If we wait until night, the situation will be even more unfavorable to us."

Castor, the older twin, retorted, frowning at Hippomenes.

Hippomenes thought for a moment and came up with a compromise.

"How about this, the two princes are so brave, can you lead the way for the main force? This way, we can avoid meaningless battles and put down the [Beast Disaster] in Arcadia as soon as possible."

The twin brothers, who had come for this purpose, nodded and agreed without thinking.

"Let's go too!"

Just as the two brothers were preparing to set off, Lorne walked out of the formation with Atalanta and Medea and volunteered.

Hearing this, the twins hesitated slightly.

"More people, more care." Luo En smiled and then blinked teasingly, "Why? You two brothers don't think we are in the way, do you?"

Having said that, the twin brothers were at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and had to nod in agreement.

Then, the five of them spontaneously formed a formation, with Atalanta acting as a scout in the front, the twins scattered on the left and right, responsible for guarding the two wings, and Lorne in the center to protect the spellcaster Medea, while also providing support to the entire team.

With the extremely strong breakthrough force, the team easily cut through the charge of hundreds of monsters and went upstream.

The superb fighting skills and tacit cooperation aroused admiration and cheers from the heroes.

“Follow him!”

Hippomenes gave the order in a deep voice, looking at the five figures in front of him, which gradually became darker.

At this time, as they moved away from the team, Loen gave a solemn reminder to the people around him.

"Our goal is not to kill all the monsters in Arcadia, but to find and solve the source of the beast disaster. So, don't fight too long, and move forward quickly!"

The four of them nodded, gave up on clearing out the monsters, tried their best to adopt a strategy of avoiding battle, accelerated their movement through the dense forest, and guided the team behind them to the safest path.

With the assistance of this elite team, the expeditionaries' speed was effectively improved, and they had almost no obstructions along the way.

Even if they were attacked by a small group of monsters occasionally, they would either be blown into pieces by the magicians or killed cleanly and neatly by the heroes of divine blood.

But as they got closer and deeper into the Arcadia Mountains, the five-member exploration team found that the surrounding environment was becoming increasingly strange.

Large areas of grass died, revealing red and black rotten soil, and the bones of various animals were scattered everywhere.

The previously lush forests not only lost all their leaves, leaving only bare trunks and branches, but the shapes of the outer branches also became increasingly bizarre and hideous, like giant coiled snakes.

What is even more unusual is that the inside of the bark of these dead trees actually has red and black lines that look like blood vessels.

The further you go, the more hideous the shapes of the dead trees and branches become, and the clearer the patterns become.

Seeing that the road at the end was almost completely filled with similar things, Loen narrowed his eyes and frowned.

This thing seems a little familiar...

Then he stopped in front of the dead woods and shouted loudly.

"Wait a minute!"

Hearing the voice, everyone stopped and looked at Loen in the center in confusion.

Loen didn't waste any time. Using the remaining force of the impact, he pulled out a javelin and swung his arm forward.

"puff!"

Wood chips flew everywhere amidst the dull, teeth-grinding piercing sound.

But what was even more creepy was that red and black liquid that looked like blood was flowing out of the wound.

“Rustle~~”

The dead branches and vines hanging on the trees twisted violently, like a group of crawling snakes and pythons, slithering towards the five people.

These trees are alive!

Everyone's faces changed, and they immediately distanced themselves, entering combat mode and cutting off the rising dead branches and vines one after another.

But even so, the half-broken branches that fell to the ground still pounced on the five people like snakes and pythons.

Upon seeing this, Medea quickly waved her staff and chanted the words of God at a high speed.

As the little hands inserted the staff into the ground, a fiery red magic array instantly formed around it. The buzzing ether gathered into red flames that rose up, igniting the squirming branches on the ground and the entire strange dead forest.

Suddenly, the strange trees wrapped in flames twisted and swayed, and faint chaotic screams like dragons, snakes, cows, and humans were emitted.

But under the large-scale fire magic, they had nowhere to escape and were burned to ashes one after another.

“Well done!”

Loen patted Medea's shoulder with one hand, and was quite impressed with his junior sister's ability to respond and her control over magic.

Hearing the compliment from her senior brother, the little witch blushed and was immediately flattered.

"It's all thanks to you and Auntie."

When Luo En heard this, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu.

It seems that this is how he praised his great-master Hecate back then?

In view of the excellent tradition of mutual deception between masters and apprentices on Aiyu Island, and Medea's future nickname "The Witch of Betrayal", Loen's eyelids jumped and he coughed dryly to remind her.

"Don't be so modest next time. You've learned well."

Medea nodded shyly, then looked at Loen curiously and asked the question in her mind.

"Brother, how do you know there is something wrong with these trees?"

"Don't you think there are too many dead bones in the woods? Even if the monsters want to have a meal together, they shouldn't be so concentrated, right?"

Loen answered in a deep voice, then his eyes swept across the piles of burnt ashes on the ground, his eyes flickering faintly.

"Besides, I seem to have seen similar things..."

Arima Crypt, black vines growing around Typhon's head!

"roar!"

As if in response to his guess, a low roar like thunder came from the distance.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

Violent collisions and explosions rang out, and violent shock waves spread all around.

Amid the continuous roar, rocks from Mount Arcadia in the distance began to fall, and the mountain began to shake.

At the same time, thousands of magical beasts of various kinds living nearby were crawling on the ground anxiously and uneasily, shivering and looking in a certain direction.

"Left front, seven kilometers!"

Atalanta jumped down from the tree branch and reported the basic position.

"It looks like that's the source. Let's go first and let them catch up quickly!"

Lorne spoke in a deep voice, asked Atalanta to leave a message, and then without waiting for the main team to join him, he led his team to rush towards the destination.

Following the shaking of the ground and tracing its source, the five people soon arrived in the heart of the Arcadia Mountains.

From afar, a huge crack appeared in the belly of the mountain, and red and black light flickered faintly.

“It should be here!”

The twin brothers were excited and wanted to rush forward immediately to completely solve the disaster in Arcadia.

However, a horizontal arm blocked the two men. Loen glanced at the crack not far away, then looked at the two brothers with a smile.

"Look, it's urgent again."

~~

A quarter of an hour later, hundreds of invaders arrived at the mountain.

Hippomenes looked around and asked in a deep voice.

"Where are the people?"

"There are footprints ahead, and they seem to lead to the crack." replied a hero who was exploring the way.

"Hurry up and catch up! What if someone gets into trouble?"

Hippomenes shouted coldly, his face looking inexplicably ugly, as if he was really worried about the safety of his companions.

Everyone immediately formed a team and moved forward towards the crack that was emitting an ominous aura.

At the same time, on the top of a mountain hundreds of meters away, the twin brothers looked at the team of conquerors approaching the rift in the distance with hesitation on their faces.

"Do we really want them to take the lead?"

"How can we take all the benefits? The brother troops behind have been gathering their strength for so long, it's time for them to go first this time."

Loen answered righteously, then took a sip of the unfinished wine in the pot, lay on the bluestone, squinted his eyes and looked at the team that had entered the core area of the beast disaster.

~~

The heroes standing in front of the crack in the mountain were filled with shock.

Looking ahead, it's like looking into the abyss.

The crack that ran across the mountain was scarlet inside.

The intricate channels are connected to each other, like twisted blood vessels spreading from deep within the earth.

Beneath the rich red and black light patterns are the rugged stone walls on both sides of the valley, with countless strange red and black veins densely embedded in the soil, the mountain belly, and the abyss, extending to an unknown place.

These things are like the banyan tree with a well-developed root system, forming a forest of its own.

Only by following the veins to trace the source and concentrating perception to the extreme can one see through the red and black blood light and vaguely see the purple-red heart between reality and illusion, surrounded by countless blood vessels, nodules, and gravel.

As the light patterns flickered, the heart rose and fell, and a huge tide of magic power spread in all directions through the dense blood vessels.

The sticky blood and special liquid around them dried up, forming purple-red spots, like purple-red egg-shaped embryos of nodules all over the sides. One hideous monster after another was sleeping.

What is this?

Everyone was shocked.

As if sensing an outsider entering, the purple-red embryos stuck to the outside of the blood vessels swayed slightly.

The monsters curled up in the purple-red film rushed left and right, trying to break through this thin barrier and come to the world.

"Puff! Puff! Puff!"

A moment later, the sound of vesicles bursting one after another was heard, and dozens of magical beasts of all sizes emerged from the eggs, growing and developing at a speed visible to the naked eye until they matured.

When they saw the appearance of these monsters, everyone's scalp tingled.

The three-headed monster king Chimera! The Sphinx! The nine-headed Hydra! And the Nemean Lion!

The descendant of the Demon Ancestor Typhon, a monster with top-level bloodline!

What was even more terrible was that they saw that the corridors seemed to be covered with the previously dried and cracked sac skins.

As if to verify their guess, violent growls were heard all around, and ferocious figures leaped out from the cracks and dense forests.

Their aura was stronger than the previous waves of beasts that everyone had encountered. Their size and appearance were also more ferocious, and they showed more obvious atavism phenomena.

The invaders who were surrounded felt their scalps tingling.

(End of this chapter)