"Bleurgh!"
"Bleurgh!"
In a clearing somewhere in the Reed Plains, two figures, one large and one small, crouched on the ground with ghastly pale faces, vomiting.
Not only were the two victims wracked by stomach cramps, but acid kept rising in their throats, and their tongues were so numb they felt nothing, as if they were holding a piece of wood in their mouths.
"Um, was the grilled fish I made really that bad?"
Behind them, the White-Haired Succubus rubbed his chin, raised a dry branch, and asked tentatively.
The two fish that had been bitten a few times had sharp teeth and showed signs of demonic transformation. One side was charred and blistered, like pitted crocodile skin, while the other was reddish-white, clearly half-raw.
The ingredients' bulging eyeballs stared straight ahead, deathly pale and horrifying, wearing the look of something that had died with eyes wide open.
"Bleurgh..."
The two victims turned back to glance at the two ghastly grilled fish on the branch. Their stomachs immediately churned again, and the burnt stench mixed with fishy reek made them crouch down and dry-heave once more.
"How about giving them another try?"
Merlin still refused to give up and nudged the two branches forward.
"Get lost!"
"Go die, Merlin!"
Samael and Anna cursed in unison. Only then did the Great Sage, who had apparently changed careers to become a chef, resentfully stick the two skewers of failed fish beside the fire.
After vomiting for a while and emptying their stomachs, the victims repeatedly rinsed their mouths with clean water before finally recovering enough to sit back down with gloomy faces.
Samael glanced at the two grilled fish beside him, their eyes fixed straight on the sky, and could not help recalling a famous British dish from later generations.
Starry Sky Pie...
Simply put, it was a pie stuffed with sardines, tuna, gurnard, herring, dogfish, cod, and another kind of fish to make seven in total. Their heads protruded outside, staring straight up at the sky, their dead-eyed appearance immensely shocking, while its mix of sweet and salty flavors was equally impactful.
Although Merlin's two grilled fish were not as notoriously infamous as that dark cuisine, their destructive power had absolutely reached the level of biological weapons.
Moreover, Starry Sky Pie originated in Cornwall, Britain, in the sixteenth century.
Tracing further back, that place was also King Arthur's birthplace. Great Sage Merlin, who had been responsible for teaching the King of Knights, would inevitably have wandered around there.
If the timelines had not failed to match up, Samael would have deeply suspected that these two grilled fish might have been one of the origins of Starry Sky Pie.
"Is it really that bad? Why don't I think so?"
The still-unrepentant succubus looked at his proud creations and could not help muttering softly.
"You bastard, Merlin! That's because you didn't eat any!"
Anna furiously waved her little fist, her silver teeth grinding. She now had a psychological trauma around fish. The mere thought of them filled her mouth with that nauseating fishy taste.
"Exactly. How can you not eat something you made yourself?"
Samael came to his senses, picked up a skewer of grilled fish, and handed it over with a false smile.
The moment these two fish had been cooked, Anna and he had unconsciously accepted the seemingly golden, fragrant, tender grilled fish. But the instant they took a bite, all their fantasies had turned into nightmares.
Damn it! That heartless Merlin had actually used an illusion spell just to save face!
"Little brother, I appreciate the thought."
"But I'm a half-succubus. I eat dreams..."
Merlin blinked and unobtrusively pushed the biological weapon away.
You bastard! You've barely eaten human food, and you still dared to cook!
This was what you called a reward and thanks? Screw this!
The veins on the two victims' foreheads bulged. They wanted nothing more than to grab this succubus and give him a thorough beating.
"Ara ara, it's getting late. Let's get moving."
Seeing that things were going badly, the White-Haired Succubus immediately stood up with a smile and used leading the way as an excuse to slip away.
As he traveled, he dissolved into drifting petals, then reassembled somewhere else. His method of moving was dazzling to an absurd degree.
The two victims tried several times to catch up, but there was always an elusive distance between them, making their teeth itch with frustration.
"Merlin deserves to die!"
Anna, having been tricked, snorted and vented her resentment, while the slightly lagging Samael recorded this debt in his little notebook.
At the same time, as the ancient serpent glanced back, his gaze fell upon the marsh amid the reeds, and a golden-red pattern surfaced across his fingers and palm.
After a full day and night of trouble, he had finally gained something.
While Merlin and Anna had both gone off, he, the injured man left behind, had absorbed the corpse of a wrathful lion and supplemented the Beast Spirit Core within him, which had lacked a trace of divine essence.
Moreover, even without transforming into Uridim, he could still display some of its traits.
For example, beastly instincts, increased arm strength, enhanced speed, and perhaps some resistance to fire.
However, Wrathful Lion Uridim was a relatively low-level existence among the Eleven Demon Beasts, and the enhancement it provided was quite limited.
Besides, to avoid alerting that crafty old succubus, he did not dare make too much of a spectacle of absorbing demon beast corpses and had only chosen one.
Afterward, Samael had even carefully thrown it into the marsh to destroy the evidence.
Improving one's strength was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
In this age where heroes roamed freely and monsters appeared everywhere, freaks were everywhere. Brains kept one alive far longer than brute force, and there was nothing wrong with keeping a low profile while steadily developing.
After briefly calming his thoughts, Samael withdrew his gaze and bid farewell to the Reed Plains that buried a trace of his secret.
After hurrying onward for several hours, the three had crossed most of the Reed Plains and approached its border.
"Slash!"
As they passed through a patch of wetlands, a brownish-green, scorpion-like hooked tail suddenly sliced through the reeds along its path and shot toward them.
"Clang!"
Samael, who bore the brunt of the attack, sensed the shift in air pressure and almost instinctively swung his longsword, knocking the scorpion tail aside.
"Roar!"
A strange howl followed. A pointed-headed demon beast, Mushushshu, covered in blue-green scales and shaped like a lizard, crushed the reed beds on both sides beneath its four short legs and pounced viciously.
Damn it! Me again! You all think I'm the easiest target to bully, don't you?
The ancient serpent, once again chosen as the priority target, was furious enough to curse.
However, before he could confront this heavily armored demon beast head-on, little angel Anna, who had always taken great care of him, stepped forward of her own accord.
Her purplish-red scythe blade came crashing down, directly slicing the monster's head off at the neck in a smooth cut.
As the smell of blood spread, rustling crawling sounds rose one after another from nearby.
The three exchanged glances, immediately surged with magical power, and left the marsh at top speed.
Finally, after more than ten minutes of frantic running, they crossed the Reed Plains without incident.
Looking into the distance from the open, level ground, they could vaguely see the magnificent outline of Uruk, the fortress city that defended humanity's dignity.
They had reached their destination!
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