Murphy appeared, clutching a book to his chest.
“What we need to deal with are not these parasitic organisms, but that fellow in the middle!” Leylin pointed to the centre of the cave, and smiled bitterly.
Leylin and the rest entered a large underground cave earlier, where the ceiling was littered with stalactites and Flash Jellyfish, which allowed them a panoramic view of the interior.
At this moment, in the cave, there were many mutated, yet familiar creatures. There were lizards, brown bears, and elks, all numbering over a dozen. At the centre most of them all, there was an enormous yellow snake that seemed to be the king, as it was guarded by the other creatures.
“It’s Mankestre – Great Withering Snake Mankestre!” Murphy’s book fell from his hands to the floor, letting off a bang.
“A.I. Chip, scan!” Leylin instructed.
[Great Withering Snake – Mankestre (Half-adult body) Strength: 11.9, Agility: 6.5, Vitality: 14, Spiritual Force: 8]
[Abilities: 1 – Parasitic. A Mankestre is able to develop an extremely strong parasite in its body, and spread it to other organisms, making them its underlings.]
[2 – Wither. In any areas where a Mankestre has passed by, the plants will die, and become a type of nutrient for the Mankestre. An adult Mankestre possesses the strength of an official Magus, and can transform an entire forest into withering ashes.]
[Source of information:
The A.I. Chip delivered the information immediately in front of Leylin.
“Half-adult body? It doesn’t seem to be at its adult stage!” Leylin first heaved a breath of relief, before shouting out loud, “Murphy, don’t be fooled by its appearance. This is but a non-adult Mankestre. We still have a chance!”
“Indeed!” Murphy scrutinised the brown yellow colour of the huge snake and finally recovered from his fright, “An adult Mankestre is at least 100 metres long, and this snake is obviously not of that length yet. A number of parasites that it produces is also not right!”
“This huge snake is the cause of the withering woods?” Jackson asked at the side while staring at the huge snake as his Adam’s apple moved.
“That’s right! A Mankestre uses the juice of plants as their food. They are rather crafty and lazy, and also hate to move about. Basically, it uses the parasites to gather food for itself!”
Murphy, who had bountiful experience and wisdom, was extremely aware of the habits of the huge Mankestre Snake.
“So then, if we kill it, the herb production in Dark Night Woods can recover again?” Jackson used his long sword and pointed at the huge yellow snake that was protected by its parasitic mutated creatures.
“In theory, it should be the case as long as you kill it or drive it away. Although its death cannot revive the withering woods, it can still allow the prey and woods to slowly recover back to what it once was!”
Murphy smiled wryly.
* Hiss! * The snake coiled in the centre of the cave hissed, and let off a low, snake-like speech.
It was a kind of sound made by the friction of rubbing two pieces rotten leather together, which was extremely unpleasant to the ears.
The creatures surrounding Leylin and the rest seemed to have received orders, and howled as they charged forward!
Leylin casually took a look, “There are too many creatures, and the parent body is not yet dealt with, I must conserve my magic power!”
“A.I. Chip! Simulate the most optimal method of attack!”
Leylin pulled out his cross blade.
[Beep! Inputting situation data, initiating build with Host’s stats!]
[Calculating battle simulation for the most optimal method!] The A.I. Chip continuously displayed the attack style of creatures surrounding home.
Leylin’s feet moved as he dodged a brown bear’s attack. The cross blade in his right hand drew a strange trajectory, and deflected the paw of the bear, and directly pierced through its skull.
* Bang! * The huge brown corpse of the bear fell to the ground, and even the Mankestre Snake had taken notice, looking at Leylin.
Leylin’s scalp tingled, as he hurriedly kept his distance.
“Nicely done!” Jackson shouted in admiration. His body seemed to turn into a gust of wind, and continuously ravaged the mob of creatures, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
“It seems that Jackson has ignited the secret Knight technique! His technique should be enhancing his agility ”
The few acolytes also casted their Rank 0 spells that they had prepared and assisted in killing these creatures.
Leylin only took a look and did not bother about them anymore.
* Sssii! *The corpse of the brown bear that Leylin had killed rapidly decomposed. From the bones, many veins appeared, which turned into the creature that Leylin and the rest had been chasing earlier. The creature then climbed into the Mankestre’s mouth.
The Mankestre Snake opened its mouth and revealed rows of razor sharp teeth. Its tongue coiled, as it swallowed the strange red veined creature into its belly.
“Retrieving its parasite huh?” Leylin was rather shocked.
After swallowing the parasite, the Mankestre Snake finally uncoiled and looked at Leylin and the group, who were unrestrainedly slaughtering the creatures. Its crimson eyes showed signs of rage.
* Bang! * The huge body of the snake shot out, and the entire cave trembled violently.
The huge Mankestre Snake’s body moved at an alarming speed, charging towards Jackson.
“6.5”
“It’s too quick! With an agility of 6.5, I can only see its afterimage ” Leylin rapidly retreated, and at the same time, he used the cross blade to block his chest.
A surge of immense force came rushing over, and the cross blade that Leylin held onto flew in the air, completely broken .
“Such a strong force, and it’s only a casual swipe!” Leylin’s pupils constricted.
The Mankestre Snake opened its jaws wide, and its razor sharp teeth snapped at Jackson, bringing about a fish-like smell. If Jackson were to be caught, he would definitely die without a corpse left.
“Sir!” The remaining two Knights and the grey robed person shouted.
“Hah! Good try!” At the brink of death, Jackson finally released all of his internal energy, and the sword pierced at the crown of the snake with a speed that was hard to track by eye.
The sword, however, only left a white spot on the scales of the snake. As for Jackson, he used the force to rebound, and twisted his waist, evading the snap of the snake’s jaw.
“Protect our Lord!” The two Knights rushed forward. The Mankestre Snake let out a ferocious roar, and directly gobbled the two Knights into its belly.
“Secondary Fireball!”
“Acidic Aqua Shot”
At this moment, the other acolytes also cast their spells, striking the body of the huge snake.
* Bang! * A black arrow with a yellow flame exploded from the body of the huge snake, revealing two scorched holes/wounds/gashes.
The huge snake let off a roar, which carried a tinge of agony. Its scales shook, and it sent its tail flying towards the few acolytes.
“The vitality of the snake is too high, any normal Rank 0 spells would not be able to affect its movement at all!”
The huge snake swatted its tail, and a few acolytes who were unable to dodge in time were turned into meat pancakes, and blood oozed from beneath the snake’s body.
“No! Decker! Lancer!” Murphy cried hoarsely in anguish.
“There’s no choice, we have to retreat first!” The few remaining people huddled together, when the grey robed figure behind Jackson spoke in a deep growl.
“No! This damned worm dared to kill Decker and the rest! I will definitely not let it go!” Murphy’s eyes were rather bloodshot.
“I have a spell that can temporarily restrict its movements, the rest will be up to you guys.”
Murphy stepped forward, placed the
monocle that he always carried in his hand, and tossed it towards the huge snake.
* Bang! * The glass shattered on the huge snake, and many dark red runes suddenly surfaced.
The dark red runes multiplied, and turned into the shape of a long chain, binding the snake within it.
“What a powerful restraining spell!” Leylin’s eyes flashed, “It will not be able to move for at least half a minute, so use whatever methods you guys have in that time.”
WMW Chapter 67 - Defence Potion
The fine rune shackles were the size of a strand of hair compared to the huge Mankestre snake. However, under the restraint of the shackles, the huge snake was helplessly locked to the ground, not even able to move.
“Hurry, charge!” Jackson howled, and the huge sword radiated light.
On the other side, the grey-robed person too lifted his cloak, and revealed a Half-Beast Man appearance as he hurriedly chanted an incantation.
* Roar! * The remaining creatures felt the danger that their parent was in, and rushed forward, with no thoughts for their own safety, towards Leylin and the rest.
“Go to hell!” Leylin pulled out a few fire red coloured explosive potions and decimated the remaining creatures into ashes.
“To the Mankestre snake, the eyes are their Achilles heel, and is even more vulnerable than the heart.
Leylin howled, at the same time chanting.
Along with the chanting of the mysterious and ancient Byron language resounding in the cave, a hoard of congealed and thick black oily bodies appeared beside Leylin, completely surrounding him.
These black, oily figures circled around Leylin, giving off bubbles from time to time, and letting off a sound that was akin to decomposing material. While he continued to chant, the black oiled figures continuously changed shape, finally turning into a black lion head-like apparition.
“Go!” Leylin pointed.
The black lion head roared, and charged towards the crown of the huge snake which was being restrained.
* Pu! * The lion head immediately bit on both of the Mankestre snake’s eyes.
* Sssii! * The huge snake writhed continuously, letting off an agonised screech. The rune shackles on its body were also emitting off red smoke.
“Hurry!” I cannot keep this up much longer!” Murphy completely diverged from his scholarly image and howled without a care.
The black lion head continuously chewed on the head of the huge snake, and finally dissolved, turning into a puddle of greasy black oil, that covering the head of the huge snake, and eventually covered both of its eyes.
“It is now!” Leylin eyes flashed and withdrew a test tube. The contents radiated a blood red light, which excreted feelings of danger.
This was an explosive potion, but was much larger in comparison had a larger blast radius was larger in circumference as in compared to the previous potions.
The muscles of Leylin’s right arm bulged as he tossed the potion directly into the black oil.
* Bang! * A tremendous flame rose, completely engulfing the huge Mankestre snake, and burning it savagely.
The huge snake continuously tossed its head, which looked like a huge burning torch from, side to side.
The rune shackles around it also let off creaking noises which meant that it could not endure for much longer.
“The decomposing oil water that comes from the subterranean area, together with the A.I. Chip’s modified explosive potion gives off a combined attack of at least 9 degrees!”
Blue light in continuously flashed from within Leylin’s eyes, as he recorded the figures from the explosion.
“Pant! Pant! The earlier attack has already broken through most of the huge Mankestre snake’s defence! Now is the time to kill it!”
Leylin panted violently, and his face was extremely pale. It was like he had completely depleted his Spiritual Force and Magic Power, and he staggered several steps behind.
From an area of his sleeve which was concealed from others, another of the modified explosive potions, which was used earlier, appeared in his hands.
Leylin would never place his hopes completely on others, especially at crucial times like this.
At this moment, the Half-Beast Man had finished chanting his spell.
“The strength of my forebearer’s totem, transform now into frigid ice, and grant me the might to slay the Mankestre snake!”
The Half-Beast Man finished his spell, and touched lightly on Jackson’s sword.
* Sssii! *
On the blade of Jackson’s huge sword, a layer of frost began to envelop it, , and the frost grew more and more, before finally enlarging the of the blade to double of its original size, and turning it into a frost greatsword!
What the Half-Beast Man had cast was actually a kind of rarely seen spell which could enhance weapons!
“According to the scan of the A.I. Chip, at this moment, the greatsword in Jackson’s hands already has the strength of a basic level Magic Artifact!”
Leylin eyes flashed, “It is a rather decent enchanting technique!”
Jackson had obviously teamed up with the Half-Beast Man many times before. Earlier, he had been conserving his energy, and once the greatsword had completed the layer of frost, Jackson howled and raised it above him, charging and chopping towards the neck of the Mankestre snake.
The sword, which seemed like a giant crystallised ice sculpture, directly chopped at a blackened patch of the huge snake with Jackson’s strength of a Grand Knight.
* Pu-chi! *
Red hot blood flowed down continuously from a deep gash on the neck of the Mankestre snake, which seemed to be almost half a metre deep. One could even see the whites of the bones. The huge snaked roared, and headbutted with all its strength.
* Bang! * Viscount Jackson was immediately knocked away, and even the breastplate he was wearing was dented inwards.
The frost greatsword landed upright by his side, burying itself halfway into the ground.
* Ping Ping Ping! * The layer of ice continuously cracked, and finally even the sword, which was made of steel, shattered into countless fragments that landed on the floor.
“It seems like this spell isn’t completely flawless either!” Leylin was still in the mood to observe leisurely.
However, at this moment, Murphy’s complexion turned red, “I can’t control it any longer!”
Under the continuous struggles of the Mankestre snake, the rune shackles around it finally collapsed with a rattling sound. As for the price of being able to free itself, the snake had already suffered a dozen wounds which penetrated through its scales.
As for the heavily injured Mankestre snake, its bloodshot eyes turned even more crimson. With lightning speed, it swiped and coiled its tail. Before Leylin could react, he realised that there was one less person beside him. The Half-Beast Man which originally stood there was now wrapped up in the snake’s tail.
Warlock of the Magus World 1-596 Page 53
