Chapter 535, Section 534: The Search
In the occupied territory of the kingdom, in a forest near the west coast.
Glug... Glug...
A pale blue slime emerged from a bare burrow.
Its gelatinous body swayed back and forth, and inside its translucent body, one could see some undigested mycelium and mushrooms.
Slimes are magical creatures formed from the magical energy floating in the environment, mixed with simple basic elements such as water and earth. For them, magic is not only the foundation of survival, but also the only nourishment for their growth.
Most of their behavior revolves around consuming more magic power.
Therefore, when a swarm of slimes attacks an adventurer's party, they will instinctively target the mage in the party first.
Therefore, when a powerful magical trinket is activated, it can easily cause slimes to gather.
Therefore, compared to ordinary flowers, trees, and even other ordinary monsters, these greedy slimes will prioritize eating the magical creep and the poop that are nurtured by the creep!
Unfortunately, the few remnants carried by this newly emerged slime might be the last remaining bacteria that escaped detection in the vicinity.
The slime seemed to feel that it hadn't eaten enough and was about to grab some dry grass and rotten leaves to make do when it suddenly sensed an alluring source of magic nearby.
The slime clung to the ground, flowing silently in that direction.
Approach the target, lock onto its location, and launch yourself!
Its jelly-like body arced through the air, hurtling straight toward the perceived source of magic!
A curved blade swept past at an astonishing speed, slicing into its body. The blade not only cut through the outer membrane but also pierced through the core inside.
With a "thud," the slime crashed to the ground like a punctured water sac, turning into a puddle of slime.
Vera flicked her wrist, shaking off a little sticky liquid from the scimitar. She then quickly took out a soft cloth soaked in special oil and began to wipe the blade with practiced and meticulous movements.
Most adventurers don't like slimes. These monsters rarely produce valuable materials, and their highly acidic fluids easily corrode metals, making weapon maintenance a hassle.
Novice adventurers who can't pinpoint the core location often can't kill many enemies before they have to watch their blades become pitted and dented.
"How many slimes are there now?" Fei Yin frowned slightly as she looked at the puddle of slime at her feet. "It feels like there are more slimes here than in the dungeon."
Fei Ling leaped lightly from a higher branch and landed silently.
She bent down and used the tip of her dagger to pick out a slime core the size of a fingernail from the puddle of slime, then put it into the small leather pouch at her waist.
"There's nothing we can do. There don't seem to be many monsters around here that feed on them. They lack natural predators, and the concentration of magic in the environment isn't low, so they've naturally proliferated."
Vera finished maintaining her weapon, sheathed it, and turned to look at the two sisters: "Have you found any traces nearby?"
“No.” Felix shook her head, her expression immediately darkening, and her voice lowering. “If only Sirian were here… he could always ‘ask’ things out of plants that we couldn’t detect.”
The name caused the air to freeze for a moment.
When the mist incident ended, the three did not witness Cirien's disappearance.
Once the fog cleared, they abandoned their plan to follow the Jingu City convoy and searched the surrounding area repeatedly for a long time, but to no avail. In the end, they could only leave dejectedly.
When human adventurers resumed their activities in this fallen territory, they were among the first to return.
Vera and his group knew this perfectly well.
In the final misty illusion, Fei Ling and Fei Yin hid in the cellar, while Vera lured away the pursuers. Although they tried their best, their efforts were far from enough to dispel the mist.
The only one who could truly pull them out of their predicament was Sirius.
However, he disappeared.
Even knowing that Sirion was probably dead, they hoped that at least they could find his remains and send their companion's body back to the Elven Forest.
Unfortunately, there are still no clues, and in the process, we have become involved in other things.
They were currently lingering on the outskirts of this mountain forest, searching for traces of a missing adventurer team.
The squad leader was named Anton. When Vera and her two companions were being chased by a demon squad, he collapsed a section of a hillside, successfully slowing down the pursuers and doing them a great favor.
However, not long ago, Anton's team took on the mission to explore this area and never returned.
They are the second team to lose contact here recently.
For a time, this mountain forest near the west coast was considered an extremely dangerous area among adventurers, and no one was willing to approach it.
Only Vera and her two companions, who had received favors from Anton, came looking for them.
Of course, they did not venture too far into the heart of the territory, but instead cautiously started from the periphery, trying to find any possible clues or traces.
So far, however, the results have been meager.
“Let’s go a little deeper, if…” Before Vera could finish speaking, Philing suddenly reached out and covered his mouth.
Fei Ling put the index finger of her other hand to her lips, then pointed to her ear—she heard an unusual noise.
Vera immediately fell silent, while Fei Yin tacitly took out a small packet containing pale pink powder from her waist pouch. With a flick of her wrist, the fine powder sprinkled onto the three of them, briefly obscuring their magical aura—a simple method to evade detection.
The three held their breath and, led by Fei Ling, stealthily made their way towards the source of the sound, using the trees and rocks as cover.
Gently parting the dense foliage, they discovered a demon, or more precisely, a succubus.
The succubus had her back to this side, her signature heart-shaped tail swaying gently behind her.
She was intently pulling out the thorns from a section of vine, repeatedly muttering incomprehensible demonic language.
The three exchanged a glance, and Fei Ling took the short bow from her back and drew an arrow from her quiver...
...
"Go to save you... I won't go to save you... I'll go to save you... I won't go to save you..." Mengya muttered as she used her long, thin fingernails to pry open the thorns on the vines.
"I won't save you!" After removing the last thorn, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, or as if she had found some excuse, and muttered to herself, "You stinky fish, you can't blame me for being disloyal, it's the vines... uh, it's fate's will."
Then, as if to convince herself, she added, "Besides, even if I wanted to save you, what could I do? I'm just a little succubus; I might not even be as strong as you in a real fight. Those lunatics who captured you are all as hard as stone, extremely difficult to charm. What can I do?"
She clapped her hands, as if to brush away the faint guilt in her heart.
"Rest in peace, my good partner. They say that dying in their hands is not painful... You lived quite a long time, which is a pretty good ending for a goblin."
She stretched her body, which was a little numb from squatting for so long, looked up at the morning light appearing on the horizon, took a deep breath, and prepared herself to let go of the past and embrace a brand new future!
With a "whoosh," an arrow pierced through her side abdomen, and excruciating pain exploded instantly!
enemy!
Were they human adventurers? Or the lunatics who captured the stinky fish?
Damn it, if that stinky fish guy were still here, he would have noticed someone approaching long ago!
Despite the tearing pain in her abdomen, Mengya gritted her teeth and reached for the dagger at her waist, attempting to turn and face her enemy.
However, Vera was faster than her.
The curved blade was placed against her slender neck first, the edge pressed against her skin, sending chills through her.
(End of this chapter)
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