An ominous gray-black aura was spreading toward the emerald swamp, attempting to permeate and transform the area.
Amidst the transport convoy sailing toward the muddy plains, the bearded middle-aged man at the head of the group surveyed the area from his strange mount.
His brow furrowed, his thoughts etched in a veil.
In the water, Jason, his feet resting on crystal slabs, approached the leader and observed his solemn expression.
He asked, "Uncle Madru, you don't look well. Is this journey unsafe?"
They had been following this advancing group, traveling in the same direction for two days and nights.
Jason had already become acquainted with most of the group.
"Jason," Madru turned, saw Jason, and smiled.
Then he sighed, "Yeah, those damn monsters from the Profaned Land seem a bit agitated this time."
The natives of the Land of the Spirits call the borderland between life and death the Profaned Land.
"They weren't this anxious before. Let's hope we don't get attacked by them midway. That would be troublesome."
Hearing this, Jason asked curiously, "Have you experienced this many times? How long have these attacks from the borderland of life and death lasted?"
Jason believed the war between the borderland of life and death and the Land of the Spirits hadn't lasted very long.
Because, according to the information Simon had previously obtained from the Great Library, there were only a few relevant records, and they were only from recent years.
This suggests that it had only recently begun and was not some ancient tradition.
"Indeed, there have been about a dozen attacks on the Desecrated Lands in the past 30 years, roughly one every two or three years.
Even before, when I was a kid, there weren't any such attacks at all. Everyone was relatively peaceful, and those monsters rarely came our way."
Jason nodded. This was pretty much what he knew.
"There's someone up ahead, dressed similarly to you. Do you recognize them?"
Simon, flying in mid-air on a specially designed flying platform, asked.
"Someone? Can you describe them in detail?"
Simon nodded. "They're dressed similarly to you, and they seem to be dragging something."
Madru nodded in relief. "They should be the group from the Mudlands, delivering supplies to the village."
This made the two of them feel a little strange.
This side was delivering supplies to the other side, and the other side was also delivering supplies to the village.
However, he only briefly wondered and didn't ask any further questions.
Because the other team had already appeared in the distance.
The two teams continued their journey towards each other, soon encountering each other.
The leader and the soldiers accompanying him were significantly superior to the village militia in terms of strength, weapons, and armor.
But their clothing styles were very similar.
The leader's strength was around the third level.
He glanced at Alka and the others with caution, then briefly inquired. He simply nodded to Alka and the others.
The two teams then didn't linger for long, crossing paths and heading in the direction they had come from.
Alka took a quick look. The cargo carried by the team behind them was mostly round, unknown objects.
They even handed a bag to Madru.
Madru walked over, opened the bag, and distributed the white, spherical objects inside to Alka and the others one by one.
"What is this?" Sofia looked at the white, round object in his hand, tapped it, and squeezed it.
It looked and felt a bit like some kind of fruit.
Madru took the one in his hand and took a big bite, gushing out juice.
A slightly sweet aroma filled the air.
"Flower fruit, a gift from the flower fairy."
Do the natives here seem to call the brilliant and fragrant "flower fairy"? Alka couldn't help but wonder.
Then he took a bite of the fruit in his hand.
The juice gushed out, but the taste wasn't overly sweet, just the right amount.
And as he bit into it, he could clearly feel the liquid flowing into his mouth, effectively quenching his thirst.
The juice inside had a very light salty taste.
Overall, it could be described as delicious.
"Not bad, it's a delicacy that can only be grown in the mud. The village usually exchanges it for fish."
Madero said this before leaving and returning to the lead of the group, leading them onward.
Everyone bit into the fruit and exchanged glances.
They noticed that each person's fruit tasted different.
They each cut off a piece and handed it to Juanlu.
This little incident didn't slow their progress.
...
"Finally, we're almost there. Whew."
Madero couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief from the lead. They were only a few hours' journey from the mud.
From their sides, they could see the gray-black aura growing darker. They could already smell the faint scent of danger in the air.
And that strange smell.
I'd smelled this strange smell before, while battling enemy ghost ships at sea.
A faint, rusty smell that didn't quite resemble blood.
This day's journey had made Madero extremely nervous, fearing they wouldn't reach the muddy area in time and would be attacked by the enemy mid-journey.
"Are we almost there?" Jason beside him asked doubtfully.
From what Madero meant, that seemed to be the case.
Madero nodded.
"That's good! I thought we'd actually be attacked mid-journey," Jason said with a smile.
As soon as he finished speaking,
The gray-black fog in the distance began to sway enchantingly.
Ripples echoed across the water.
"Enemy attack! Those monsters are coming!"
Simon Fei shouted from the air.
Upon hearing this, Madru immediately took control of the team and organized a defense.
"Quick, protect this cargo."
Alka and the others quickly prepared themselves.
Jason silently returned to his team.
The creature in the sky flapped its wings, and the crystal dragon that had been following them flew down, landing in the water.
Water splashed on both sides.
However, Madru and the others didn't express any surprise. They had been sailing together for several days and had seen this dragon many times.
It had to be said that the crystal dragon seemed to have grown a little bit.
Urulius tilted her head and looked at Jason. She felt that Jason's expression was a little strange.
"Boogie?"
"What? What am I doing? Okay, enough of this. The enemy is coming, stay alert."
In response to the Crystal Dragon's question, Jason waved his hand perfunctorily to change the subject, staring intently ahead.
"Twenty-six monsters! Three of them are enormous."
Simon spoke as he soared high into the air, and the glasses Alka had just tossed him appeared in his hand.
Putting them on, he immediately saw the monsters attacking them and their respective strengths.
"Be careful! There are eleven Stage Three monsters! The rest are all around the perfect Stage Two."
Hearing this, Madru was instantly disheartened.
He didn't know how Alka and the others had discovered the enemy's strength, but he wasn't surprised that outsiders had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves.
What frightened him was the enemy's numbers and strength; they were simply powerless to counter them.
The people escorting the supplies were all militiamen.
They had very few offensive methods, not to mention their overall weakness.
None of them had advanced past the third stage.
"It's over... We're done. If only it had come sooner, just a little bit would have saved us. Flower Fairy, please protect us."
Madru practically knelt in the water, the splashing seawater engulfing him. He had practically given up resistance.
Despair filled his face.
The same was true for the militiamen behind him.
They knew their own strengths perfectly well. If Alka and the others were right, then they were practically dead.
On the contrary.
After hearing the enemy's numbers and strength, Alka and his men breathed a sigh of relief.
They were so few, and their strength was so-so. They weren't even enough to fill their gaps.
They were bringing with them an entire legion of puppet knights. Lucilia's strength wasn't quite up to par with Alka's, who had already reached 21 spirals.
But they had already reached 17. The puppet knights, whose strength was modeled after hers, had already reached the third stage.
But they were all at 11 spirals.
The higher the strength, the weaker the feedback to the puppet army.
Under these circumstances, the enemy's numbers and strength made it difficult for them to make a difference.
As the enemy raced towards them, they finally got a clear look at their appearance.
The three leading monsters were relatively large, about four meters tall.
Though humanoid, their upper bodies were massive, while their lower bodies seemed disproportionately smaller.
Their proportions resembled those of a gorilla, and their sturdy arms left no doubt about their destructive power.
These monsters were entwined with green vines and covered in moss-like vegetation. They clutched wooden clubs.
But no one would underestimate these clubs. The vines on them waved like tentacles, constantly waving. They were also covered in sharp spikes.
Following them was a large group of wolf-like creatures. They still had the signature tangled vines and covered in vegetation.
Seeing such a group of monsters, the uninformed might have mistaken them for guardians of nature rather than undead.
"Quick victory! If these monsters keep coming, it'll be troublesome.
After we're done, let's quickly head to the muddy ground. It should be much safer there."
The black fog was still swirling. Although Simon hadn't detected any more monsters emerging, he still felt safe.
Everyone nodded at Alka's words.
A pink mist immediately surged forward like a tide.
Looking at the three leading gorilla monsters, Alka was about to engage in melee combat. Then, on second thought, the mirror in his hand transformed into a deer head and placed it on his face.
There was no time for leisure now.
Fickles of light, like reflections from shattered mirrors, swirled through the mist.
In an instant, it enveloped all the attacking monsters.
"What...what's going on?" Madru observed the scene in astonishment.
He kept turning his head to look at Alka, then back at the group of monsters.
As the pink mist completely enveloped them, the monsters stopped charging and instead spun in circles.
They spun frantically in circles, as if chasing something, occasionally roaring and waving their arms as if attacking.
To Madru, these monsters seemed possessed.
"Hmm, it seems these half-dead, half-dead undead creatures still possess souls."
Alka, now completely transformed, now wearing a deer-head mask, resembling a strange creature, said.
The moment the enemy was restrained, three figures rushed forward.
The first to bear the brunt of the attack was Sofia, who had transformed into a stream of light, moving at breakneck speed.
In the blink of an eye, Madru and the others had already reached the leading giant creature.
As she emerged, her legs were already touching the monster's skull.
The moment everyone saw her legs make contact with the enemy's head, Sofia vanished once more.
The enemy remained where it was.
"Bang!"
The enormous head had completely caved in, half its face completely destroyed. Branches, leaves, and ancient debris flew out. His entire body lurched, nearly knocking the monster beside him to the ground.
The massive creature lying on the ground didn't seem completely dead, still struggling. The plants and vines on his body were spreading upwards and entwining, attempting to patch up and repair the massive damage to his head.
It was clearly visible.
The attack penetrated deep within, erupting from within.
The monster's protective vegetation was completely ineffective.
The fallen monster hadn't had time to recover, and Sofia hadn't yet launched a pursuit.
An orange-red, fist-sized sphere had already flown beside him.
The sphere instantly grew larger, becoming the size of a normal head. It opened its massive mouth, which took up half the entire sphere, and began to rapidly devour it with its sharp teeth.
It ate with such swiftness that it didn't even need to chew. It was unknown where in its body all the food it devoured went.
All they could see was Juanlu in the distance, his complexion gradually becoming rosy and radiant.
Seeing their teammates helping to finish off the enemy, Sofia transformed into a beam of light, refracting frantically through the enemy horde.
Every time it flickered and paused, another enemy was touched and attacked.
These monsters weren't as lucky as the giant leader.
Their already small bodies were almost always killed or crippled by Sofia's powerful attacks.
A highly penetrating technique, focusing force at a single point. The moment the attack struck, it penetrated the enemy's body, then exploded.
It was particularly effective against enemies with strong external defenses.
This was one of the techniques Sofia had learned in the Tower of Trials, and combined with her extreme speed, it had a very powerful effect.
After Sofia had already killed three or four monsters, the crystal dragon finally arrived.
The breath from his mouth transformed into iridescent beams, sweeping rapidly.
The first target was also a gigantic, ape-like monster. The moment it was struck by the breath, it was frozen, sealed within the crystal.
The breath continued, gliding in a straight line as it flew.
The monsters behind it connected and were sealed one after another.
In an instant, the number of monsters eliminated approached Sofia's.
Looking at the enemies, they had to eliminate them all.
Pororo leaped.
The water below converged, pushing Pororo forward, arcing through the sky and crashing into the crowd of enemies.
Dense lightning streaks began to spread from his body.
A chilling, winter-like wind blew around him.
Pale gray lightning bolts, entwined and linked madly, weaving through the enemies.
As the violent lightning ravaged the enemy, they dissipated into thin air like ash.
The entire process was smooth and effortless.
Less than half a minute had passed.
Then, with the help of others, the enemy was completely wiped out.
And none of them were injured.
"It seems we've discovered their weakness. I wonder if it'll work on other monsters at the border of life and death."
Alka said with a smile, looking at the corpses.
Even after they were completely cleared, the corpses were still under the control of his dream energy, still in a state of hallucination.
It was too easy.
Especially those monsters that had reached the third stage of strength. Their mental strength was simply cowardly compared to that of Sofia and the others.
The two teams organized by the puppet girls were already collecting any seemingly useful tissue from the corpses.
These two teams were Seven, who wielded spells, and Five, who focused on logistics and mechanical construction.
Using various tools and spell effects, they cleaned up the battlefield in the back.
Madru and the others stood there in a daze.
Watching Alka and the others' actions.
It took about a minute in total.
Not only were the enemies eliminated, but even the battlefield was cleared.
Jason walked over and patted Madru on the shoulder: "What are you still daydreaming about? Don't you want to leave?"
"Yes, we'll be leaving soon."
Madru finally realized what was happening and immediately told the people behind him to organize their team.
They quickly headed forward.
The people in the transport team ahead kept observing Alka and the others from the corner of their eyes.
Madru did the same.
You could clearly sense their attitude becoming respectful.
"Think we're awesome, huh?" Jason asked with a smile.
Madru nodded repeatedly: "Yes, sir. If it weren't for you, we'd all be dead here today."
Then there was a round of thanks and pleasantries.
The strength displayed by Alka and the others was completely different from the third-stage power Madru had imagined.
It was a bit too outrageous.
Alka and the others followed behind, their attention completely focused on the spoils they had collected from the monsters.
They had encountered similar monsters at sea before, but it was at sea after all, and too far away, so they hadn't collected most of the spoils.
"This thing must be very precious. It carries the intertwined power of life and death. If it were activated and used as medicine..." Matlisa couldn't help but exclaim as she looked at the core she had ripped from the giant gorilla's body.
There were only three giant monsters in total, but only two contained this thing.
It must be quite rare.
Matlisa carefully placed the trophies in a specially made bottle and stored them safely.
A medicine made from this would surely be able to cure many difficult and complicated ailments.
Especially in a sudden life-or-death situation, keeping a breath alive and potentially healing is crucial. This kind of residual time-entangled material is the easiest to achieve.
How effective it will be, though.
One core is definitely not enough; it requires a significant upgrade.
In Matresa's eyes, the value of these monsters has increased.
Juanlu had collapsed on the boat.
The three balls behind him had helped him eat and drink profusely, causing an excessive amount of energy to accumulate within him.
He was experiencing some indigestion and needed to rest.
As for Alka and Simon,
they were searching for something useful among the pile of life-rich bones.
This stuff was so strange that they didn't know how to use it.
Bone rich in life.
Hmm...
It was truly a unique spell material.
It's unclear what application this rare material could be used for to fully utilize its unique properties.
At least it's rare, so even if it were sold, it would fetch a reasonable price.