Alan raised his left hand, and a bone spur erupted from his palm.
Puff!
The bone spur pierced the green-robed apprentice's corpse, injecting poison.
At the same time, Alan retracted his venom glands, suppressing his own toxic aura to ensure he remained undetected.
He lifted the green-robed corpse, half-standing, half-leaning against the thick mushroom stem.
The dagger in his hand, half exposed, gleamed with a cold light.
At first glance, he looked like an assassin lurking in the shadows.
Even from a closer inspection, it was hard to tell he was dead.
Furthermore, the toxin Alan had injected into the corpse was evaporating through the wound.
It replaced Alan himself, becoming a conspicuous signal source.
Alan turned and hid behind another giant mushroom, observing from the shadows.
Soon, a soft rustling sound emanated from the moss, like the crawling of a python.
The snakeman's eyes flickered in the darkness.
Based on the toxin's reaction, she had locked onto her prey.
Closer...
Closer!
Hmm? The prey stopped, motionless!
The snakeman's steps also stopped.
Hesitation flickered in her eyes.
It seemed she had noticed something.
Did she hear me crawling?
After a moment's thought, the snakeman decided to take a risk and move closer.
The snakeman's eyesight was excellent.
Through the night, she could see a corner of a green robe sleeve peeking out from behind the thick mushroom stem, and a faint glint of a knife.
"Haha... clever little thing, your ears are quite sharp!"
The snakeman chuckled inwardly.
Yes, the prey had heard her crawling on the ground.
He had hidden himself in advance, planning a sneak attack.
"Too bad, little one! I'm smarter than you!"
The snakeman feigned oblivion.
He twisted his body, clutching his waist, feigning pain.
He walked, muttering to himself, complaining loudly.
"Damn griffin! You hurt my waist!"
"Hiss... it hurts so much!"
"My waist is seriously injured. I need treatment as soon as possible..."
The snakeman approached the giant mushroom, suddenly turning on the spot and, with lightning speed, pounced behind the mushroom forest!
"Little bastard! Die for me!"
The snakeman howled, stretching his neck.
His neck vertebrae stretched over three meters in an instant, twisting in an arc in the air.
It bypassed the mushroom stem, biting the green-robed man's sword-wielding arm!
Hmm?!
This stiff texture...
This cold blood...
Something's wrong!!
The snakeman suddenly realized he'd bitten a dead man.
He quickly retracted his neck and looked back in horror.
A tall, ferocious figure had appeared behind her.
A right palm thrust forward through the air towards her!
A powerful wave of magical power, so intense it distorted space, erupted from his palm, accompanied by a roar that shook the earth and sky!
Level 3 Magical Martial Skill—Thundering Explosive Wave!!
Boom!!
Amid the explosion, the sturdy giant mushroom shattered into pieces, transforming into a cloud of flying wood chips!
Alan slowly lowered his right arm and strode forward. Amidst the chaotic veil of sawdust and dust, a faint scent of blood lingered.
The snakeman, along with the green-robed apprentice serving as bait, were shattered by this "Thunder Blast Wave."
The only traces left were bloodstains and minced meat clung to the ground.
Amidst the bloody mess, Allen also found a crystal fragment the size of a grain of rice.
"I was careless. My bad."
Allen picked up a fragment of magic stone and sighed, shaking his head.
"Thunder Blast Wave," in his first actual combat test, had proven its power very satisfying.
Unfortunately, it had a minor side effect.
"Thunder Blast Wave" doubled its damage to crystals.
Unfortunately, magic stone was a type of crystalline mineral.
While instantly killing the snake charmer, the magic stone she carried was also destroyed.
Fortunately, trace amounts of Level 4 snake venom could be recovered from the remains of the snake charmer.
This is the toxin secreted by the snakeman, extremely valuable!
Collecting a trace amount as a sample, it can be synthesized from the venom glands.
A red ball of light appeared out of thin air.
In the ball of light, the emblem of a crossed whip and dagger flickered.
Alan grasped the communication ball and read Sonia's letter.
"Brother Alan! Come here!"
"The grand finale has begun!"
"Come and watch with me!"
Alan picked up his club and swiftly made his way through the mushroom forest.
Not far away, he met up with Sonia.
Sonia was accompanied by two wolves, two storage bags hanging from her waist, and a bulging storage bag in her hand.
It was clear that the harvest had been quite fruitful.
Alan wore only a pair of shorts, with three storage bags hanging from his waistband.
The two exchanged a smile, feeling somewhat like they'd met a kindred spirit.
"Brother Alan! Let's go to the main battlefield and watch the excitement!"
Sonia took his hand and hurried forward.
"The main battlefield?" Alan whispered. "Who's fighting whom?"
"One side is Captain Ethan, the Puppet Master, the Strongman, and two First-Rank Human Demons."
"The other side is your enemy, Hubert, along with his guide, Charlie, two female apprentices, and a bunch of cannon fodder apprentices!"
Alan nodded.
From Sonia's description of the two sides' lineups, Hubert's side had more men and should have the upper hand.
Arriving at the scene, however, the opposite was true.
Hubert's side, despite having a large force, had few capable fighters.
Besides Hubert himself, only his niece Olivia and his direct disciple Angela were at the highest level.
Both girls were in the late Second Stage.
Next up was Charlie, in the early Second Stage.
The remaining five green-robed men were merely advanced apprentices.
Ethan's two human demons were enough to suppress the five advanced apprentices.
The puppeteer and the strongman were both in the early Third Stage.
Ethan himself was in the late Third Stage!
The three of them joined forces to fight against Hubert, his apprentice, and Charlie, gaining a clear advantage.
By the time Allen and Sonia arrived, the melee had already raged on.
The first casualty appeared on the battlefield.
A green-robed apprentice was entangled by the long, thin tongue of the toad-headed human demon and forcibly dragged to his side.
The toad demon opened its maw, grunted, and bit off half the apprentice's face.
The apprentice fell with a scream, blood gushing out.
The apprentices, only sixteen or seventeen years old, had lived in the academy since childhood and had never witnessed such a bloody scene. Seeing their classmate mauled to death by the demon, they were all terrified and panicked.
Hubert sensed his team's disarray and morale plummeted, his face as gloomy as ice.
Raising his hand, he unleashed "Summon Arrow Rain," forcing Ethan and the other two back and initiating his third-order Atavism!
This thin man had transformed into a tree over ten meters tall!
To be more precise, a half-man, half-tree monster!
The vast crown was his head.
The dense branches and leaves were his hair.
From the middle of the trunk, two exceptionally thick branches stretched out, like a pair of powerful arms.
At the tips of the branches, they split into five branches, like broad palms.
In the center of the trunk, black patterns emerged on the pale bark.
The patterns formed a vaguely human face, vaguely Hubert's face magnified tenfold.
The human-faced bark cracked horizontally.
Inside was a hollow, like a throat!
At the lower end of the trunk, it split into two, like a pair of massive legs.
Beneath these legs, billions of roots came alive!
The roots swarmed like a swarm of snakes.
They dug into the soil, gripping the ground tightly, like a pair of giant feet.
Supporting the enormous tree-man, it walked upon the earth!
"Ancestors, behold!"
Sonia, watching the battle from the shadows, was startled by Hubert's atavistic form.
"Brother Allen! Your enemy... turned into a giant tree?!"