"Chirp..."
The Fire Phoenix immediately pounced onto the Crystal Giant Spider. The battle with the outer barrier had severely injured the Crystal Giant Spider, preventing it from using its full strength.
The Fire Phoenix's sharp claws gripped the Crystal Giant Spider's body tightly, and its sharp beak bit fiercely into the Crystal Giant Spider's abdomen. The terrifying flames on its body were also constantly burning the Crystal Giant Spider's broken body.
After repeated attacks, the Crystal Giant Spider's body gradually lost its vitality, and green blood flowed everywhere. It seemed to have completely given up resistance.
"Chirp..."
The Fire Phoenix tilted its head and pecked at the Crystal Giant Spider's head a few times. Then it flapped its wings and used its sharp claws to strike the Crystal Giant Spider several times, tearing the Crystal Giant Spider to "shreds".
"Awoo... Chirp..."
At this moment, the Crystal Giant Spider's huge abdomen suddenly burst open, and a smaller and more agile Crystal Giant Spider pounced on the Fire Phoenix, its sharp mouthparts biting directly onto the Fire Phoenix's head.
The Flame Shield burned the Crystal Giant Spider's body, charring it black. After its energy was depleted, the Fire Phoenix let out a mournful cry and turned to ashes.
The Crystal Giant Spider's body was now nearly half its original size, but it seemed even more agile.
The Crystal Giant Spider turned its body, letting out a hiss in Marco's direction. Its single eye was twisted and distorted, and a dark blue energy surged throughout its body, as if it were accumulating a terrifying power.
"Screech..."
But before the Crystal Giant Spider could launch its attack, a phoenix's cry interrupted its power buildup. Following this, the Crystal Giant Spider felt an attack on its body.
Intense pain surged from the Crystal Giant Spider's back, causing the energy it had accumulated to become chaotic. The Fire Phoenix's pecking was incredibly fierce, leaving the Crystal Giant Spider with no way to defend itself.
Then, a wave of dark blue light erupted from the Crystal Giant Spider's body. Its front claws moved quickly, as if it was preparing to burrow into the mud.
At this moment, a mud-like creature suddenly blocked the Crystal Giant Spider's path. It was the corpse of the Ghoul Sea Monster from earlier; Marco had secretly used "Undead Resurrection" after the Fire Phoenix died.
Although the Ghoul Sea Monster had turned into a puddle of mud, its size was still enormous. Marco "recycled" it, and the effect was quite obvious.
The Ghoul Sea Monster, like mud, stuck to the Crystal Giant Spider's body, while the Crystal Giant Spider kept biting at it. Under Marco's control, the Ghoul Sea Monster directly burrowed into the Crystal Giant Spider's mouth.
The Crystal Giant Spider's body kept emitting blue light, but this power still couldn't stop the Ghoul Sea Monster from entering. The Fire Phoenix seized the opportunity and pecked a large hole in the Crystal Giant Spider's body.
The Crystal Giant Spider twisted violently, turning its target towards Marco and the others, but soon its movement speed began to slow down considerably.
Danni used all of her dark magic on it. Without the protection of a force field and with its body injured, the magical effects reached their optimal effectiveness.
Following that, two huge fireballs also attacked the Crystal Giant Spider's head. The violent explosion blew off half of its head. Although the power of "Chain Fireball" wasn't the strongest, it was more than enough to deal with the current Crystal Giant Spider.
Then, the Crystal Giant Spider's body began to writhe, as if something was emerging from it, especially at the location of its wounds.
Boom...
Seeing that the attack was futile, the Crystal Giant Spider detonated its own body. The violent explosion directly annihilated the Fire Phoenix. Fortunately, the Ghoul Sea Monster had been attacking it from within, which minimized the explosion's impact.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host. You have eliminated the ancient beast, the Crystal Spider Mother, and successfully found the source of the crystal creatures. Reward: Crystal Magic Book."
Crystal Magic
Introduction: This magic is based on the summoning magic, "Mysterious Crystal." Crystal magic originated from the Aide People and was greatly developed by the Elves. It is a powerful special summoning magic.
Categories: Creature Magic (Crystal Spider, Crystal Eye, Crystal Tower, Crystal Warrior)
Attack Magic (Crystal Erosion, Crystal Shield, Crystal Blade, Crystal Cage)
Combination Magic (Crystal Holy Light, Crystal Energy Gathering, Crystal Shaping, Crystal Creation)
Consumption: Creature magic and attack magic consume 20 magic points. Combination magic consumes 50 magic points.
Afterward, Marco instructed Egon to summon the Marsh People army while he himself materialized the newly acquired artifact, the Crystal Magic Book.
Crystal magic had never appeared in the game before. The only related spell was a summoning spell called "Mysterious Crystal." Marco estimated that this was something that appeared after the system integrated the remains of the Crystal Giant Spider. Although it wasn't as flashy as destructive magic, it opened a new world for Marco.
While Marco was deducing the formulas for crystal magic, a large number of Marsh People warriors gathered around him. Judging from their appearance, they seemed to have been through a tough battle.
"Your Majesty! Lord Reed says that the surrounding Crystal Monsters have been mostly cleared, but some have run far away. It will take a long time to completely clear them," Egon reported to Marco. Horan Reed, standing behind him, looked somewhat dejected. Having not been able to help, Horan Reed felt a little disappointed.
Marco saw his thoughts and comforted him, "The strength of your Marsh People is already very impressive. You must remember that this fellow is backed by a god. If you want to eliminate it, you probably need to study the Druid Way for some time."
Horan Reed quickly bowed respectfully to Marco and then said:
"Sorry, Your Majesty! This is our home. We failed to protect it. I think our warriors are strong enough, but compared to you, we are still far behind."
"This is also my territory, and you are all my people. Protecting you is my responsibility. Alright, now we set off to find Sandy and the others' hidden place. Who knows what kind of nasty things we'll find there!"
With that, Marco called everyone to follow him towards Sandy's hidden location, which was situated in the northeastern corner of the Neck Marsh.
It was about a two-hour journey from their current position. After the recent battles, the ordinary warriors were starting to feel the strain on both their bodies and minds.
Therefore, after they had covered almost half the distance, Marco ordered them to rest. The number of Crystal Monsters in this area wasn't high, but their individual strength was surprisingly formidable.
Next, Marco beckoned Sandy to come forward. Sandy possessed a pair of golden-green eyes and radiated the unique life energy of the Children of the Forest.
She looked similar to the other Children of the Forest, with skin as dark as coal. The Children of the Forest and the giants once had a powerful civilization and beautiful appearances, but due to the fall and slumber of the Old Gods.
This led to the curse of the Aide Gods affecting them. First came the loss of magic, then their intelligence, and finally, even the beautiful appearance they were so proud of was lost.
The one responsible for all of this was the most mysterious of the Aide Gods, the Death God. According to some of the memories Marco had gained in the past, the Death God was the most enigmatic of the Aide People.
It possessed the most powerful strength, but no Aide People had ever seen its true form. Although the Aide People were beings similar to energy bodies, they still had their specific forms.
Just like humans have appearances and DNA, the Aide People distinguished individuals and their power composition by their forms. They also named their divine names based on their forms and strengths.
Sealed within Moonshadow and the others' place of seclusion was a part of the Death God's body, or rather, a portion of its power.
Even the Children of the Forest, who had lived the longest, couldn't recall why such a seal existed here. Most of the Children of the Forest in the Neck Marsh were born during the Heroic Age.
The oldest of the Children of the Forest was the Fallen Green Prophet here, but because it awakened the Death God's power, it had now completely become its puppet.
That Green Prophet, as its body was about to be eroded, used powerful magic to seal itself. However, due to the Death God's overwhelming power, many of its kin were corrupted.
"The slumber of the Old Gods caused many of our kin's hearts to die. Although we possess near-immortal lives, only the joy and beauty of nature can make us happy. The place of seclusion, filled with death, caused many of our kin to not endure."
Sandy's voice was filled with sorrow, and that emotion permeated everywhere, causing the surrounding animals and Weirwood trees to rustle, as if they were weeping.
The Children of the Forest, though stripped of their magic and beautiful appearances, possessed beautiful souls and voices that resonated deep within the heart, making it impossible to associate ugliness with them.
Moonshadow gently comforted her while Sandy took the opportunity to briefly describe the situation of their hidden refuge.
With a rough plan in mind, Marco and the others set off toward their destination. Once this mission was complete, Marco would have completely conquered the Neck Marsh.
Northeastern Neck Marsh, Entrance to an Unknown Cave
One enormous humanoid Crystal Monster was constantly calling out to its companions. Within their chaotic minds, a faint voice was currently directing their actions.
In a short while, over 200 terrifying Crystal Monsters had gathered nearby. Their appearances had completely transformed into pure crystal creations.
These Crystal Monsters couldn't roar like the Crystal Giant Spiders; instead, they could only produce a sound-like frequency by rubbing the crystals in their mouths, which sounded extremely harsh.
At this moment, the Crystal Giant leader seemed to have discovered five "kin" that were different from them. There were humanoid and beast-shaped Crystal Monsters around, but none with eight legs.
Just as the Crystal Giant Spider leader was "thinking," those five Crystal Giant Spiders immediately launched their attack, throwing the entire area into chaos.
The Crystal Monsters began to fight amongst themselves. They had been forcibly gathered together and were completely uncontrollable. The Crystal Spiders' interference was enough to set them against each other.
"Roar... Screech..."
Crystal Wyverns and an Ice Dragon descended from the sky, their terrifying dragon breath sweeping through the Crystal Monster group, intensifying the chaos.
Then came the attack of the Royal Griffins. Led by Swan, the griffins launched a dive attack on the monsters below.
After that, the four elements also appeared on the battlefield. Although the Crystal Monsters outnumbered Marco's forces, they were in a state of disorder, and were quickly eliminated by Marco's summoned creatures.
"Is this the entrance? It seems much larger than the one Moonshadow and the others found. Could it be that this wasn't built by the Children of the Forest?"
Marco thought silently to himself, standing before the entrance to the cave.
This was an entrance similar to a staircase passage, surrounded by dense special runes, but they were now somewhat blurred, making it impossible for Marco to see what the characters were.
The entrance was sealed with a Weirwood branch barrier placed by the Children of the Forest. Due to the curse, the Children of the Forest's mastery of magic was also weakening.
Many source language rune spells could no longer be used. Marco had thought about this before when he met Moonshadow and the three-eyed crow. Why would a magical race that could use the magic of the Great Flood and Great Storm be so crude when using magic?
After arranging Horan Reed's tasks, Marco and his group entered the passage. This guy had originally wanted to come in too, but Marco had sternly refused.
No kidding, Horan Reed was the leader of the Marsh People, and one of the first to learn the Druid Way. If he fell here, it was hard to guarantee that no one among the Marsh People would have ulterior motives.
The Neck Marsh was a vast, sparsely populated place. Even if Marco wanted to use the druids to preach, he had to find the place first. At this time, a leader with a voice was very important.
After arranging for the Marsh People to guard the exit and eliminate the surrounding Crystal Monsters, Marco led his strongest forces into the passage.
Egon was left outside by Marco. He was truly one of his own, and Marco would feel at ease with him at the exit.
With the light from the glass candles, Marco finally found some clues in the blurry murals, although much of the writing was too faded to read clearly.
However, Marco immediately recognized that these were the ancient writings of the Aide People. During the Aide People period, due to the destruction caused by the Aide Gods, the entire ancient continent was filled with deserts.
Therefore, the architecture of the Aide People mostly had an Arabian style, with many circular buildings and crystal glass decorations being their characteristics.
The buildings and murals in the passage were very similar to the descriptions of the Deep Divers. After arriving at the first wide-open space, Marco also understood the Aide People's purpose in building this structure.
Due to the internal war of the Aide Gods in ancient times, the entire continent turned into a vast desert, but the life energy at that time was still very stable and active.
After the Aide People established a powerful magical civilization, they split into many factions due to different research ideas. One faction of the Aide People attempted to use magic to completely transform the desert, turning the wasteland into a habitable place.
They allied with the god-makers and the Aide People of the Weirwood faction, and during their research on magic, they discovered a part of the Death God's body here.
Therefore, these Aide People built a huge underground city here, using the Death God's divine body as the energy source for the underground city.
The Aide People, with the power of the divine body, established a weirwood network that spanned the entire region. The roots of the weirwood were like a single entity, acting like a nutrient solution for soilless cultivation. As long as a plant was inserted, it would begin to grow.
This was also the reason why the weirwood was immortal. As long as the weirwood root network remained, there was no fear of the weirwood dying, and it could continuously absorb life energy.
This is truly a great creation. It's just a pity that in the end, it was still turned into something for the Death God to use, time and time again. The Aide People, the Old Gods, they were all tricked and killed by it, one by one.
Marco silently thought in his mind, having understood the reason. These Aide People were worthy of their status as a top-tier magical civilization.
In terms of controlling magic, they were completely unmatched by the natives of this world. Facing this situation, one civilization after another was powerless, and could only be "fleeced" by the Aide Gods time and time again.
"Interesting, an out-of-realm visitor!"
Just then, a voice suddenly appeared in Marco's mind, causing cold sweat to instantly pour down his back.
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