Chase Battle

The sudden appearance of Som the Dwarf, whom he hadn't seen for nearly a week, left Rhode unable to hide his surprise.

Still, he hurried forward and caught Som, who was covered in blood: "How did you end up here?"

Som gasped for breath: "I, I ran into the Demon Race," he pointed toward the depths of the swamp, "and they have countless Monsters with them, surrounding the two of you."

Ever since Serie had easily defeated him last time, Som had wanted to adventure with them both, and during this time he had been trailing their steps from afar.

He had originally planned to wait until he grew stronger, then reveal himself at the perfect moment to formally request joining their journey.

But plans never kept up with change.

Seeing Rhode and Serie enter the Death Swamp, he followed without a second thought.

Yet without Detection Magic, he couldn't avoid the Monsters and simply plunged headfirst into their midst.

Fortunately, the Demon Race in this area had focused all their attention on Rhode—or rather, on Serie—so Som managed to fight his way out by sheer luck.

And then he ran into Rhode and the other.

Time was tight, and Som couldn't spare the words to explain in detail, so he just gave a rough summary in a few sentences.

But that brief delay was enough for the surrounding Monster horde to spring into action instantly.

Serie's golden eyes turned grave: "They're here."

"Can you still fight?"

Rhode looked at Som. Though the dwarf was panting heavily and drenched in blood, a closer look revealed that most of the blood came from Monsters, not from himself.

"I can manage." Som let out a long breath, steadying his breathing.

"Serie, do you know Healing Magic?"

Serie shook her head: "Impossible. Only by deciphering the Sacred Codex can one learn Healing Magic."

Rhode slapped his forehead—he had actually forgotten that detail.

It seemed he would have to add deciphering the Sacred Codex to his plans.

"We'll have to force our way out." Serie's voice was low.

The Monsters had closed to less than twenty meters. The surrounding bushes began to shake violently, and dozens of crimson eyes gleamed in the shadows.

"Move!" With no time to think, Serie grabbed Rhode's hand. "Follow me!"

The latter part was naturally directed at Som the Dwarf.

Serie raised her hand and unleashed a wide-area Light Magic—not her usual Light Arrow, but something like a pillar of light.

A beam of light appeared above the Monster horde ahead, then crashed down with a blinding flash and a deafening explosion.

"So strong!"

When the light faded, a vacuum zone dozens of meters wide lay before them, where everything—plants and Monsters alike—had been reduced to ash.

Before Rhode could even exclaim, Serie pulled him forward and ran.

For Serie to be this tense, even using a spell she had never employed before, the situation was clearly extremely dangerous.

The smoke from the explosion hadn't yet cleared when Serie dragged Rhode into the corridor, and he could feel the scorching heat from the ground beneath his feet.

Som the Dwarf followed close behind, swinging his Battle Axe and activating its attached skill, blasting the pursuing Monsters into oblivion.

"You take the right!" Rhode shouted to Serie.

Three crocodile-like Monsters charged forward, lunging at them, while several more closed in from the other side.

Without turning her head, Serie flicked her hand and shot three Light Arrows.

The three Monsters on the right were pierced through the skulls mid-air, their bodies crashing heavily to the ground.

Rhode lacked Serie's precise control, so he simply unleashed a wide-area Arrow Rain, barely managing to wipe out the Monsters attacking from the left.

"Stay close to me!"

Serie reminded him again. Though she was already gripping his hand tightly, if Rhode failed to keep pace and fell behind, she wasn't confident she could rescue him.

Indeed, she should have chosen to take the detour from the start.

But it was too late for regrets now.

"What do Monsters usually rely on to hunt prey?"

Rhode's sudden, out-of-the-blue question caught Serie off guard, but she still answered: "Mostly on sight and scent."

"Then I have an idea."

Running as he cast spells, Rhode picked up a twig and released Water Magic and Fire Magic simultaneously.

His Fire Magic couldn't generate flames directly—it needed a medium, like a tinder source in his hand.

But oddly enough, he could create water directly, and even he didn't understand why.

By casting both spells at once, thick white mist appeared in his hand, like setting off several smoke bombs at once, blanketing dozens of meters in seconds.

The Monsters' roars turned chaotic. Losing their most important sense of sight, relying only on scent left these low-intelligence creatures completely disoriented.

Many even crashed into each other, turning to fight among themselves.

"Impressive!" Som grinned, his face full of admiration, but he suddenly spun around and swung his battle axe. "Watch your back!"

A lurking Giant Snake Demon was cleaved in two by the axe, foul blood splattering everywhere.

Som quickly dodged—the blood of this snake-type monster carried a certain toxicity. Previously, when he had slain monsters in this swamp, he had also tried to avoid getting this poisonous monster blood on himself.

"Did you create this too?"

Sensing the chaos among the surrounding monsters, Serie asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. You saw it before when I put out the fire with water, right? It produces white smoke."

Serie nodded. During her travels with Rhode, she had naturally seen him extinguish campfires several times. On multiple occasions, he had stood staring blankly at the dying embers, which had puzzled her.

Only now did she realize that back then, he had been trying to create this magic.

"Don't get carried away!" Seeing the dwarf Som looking like he was about to go on a killing spree now that the surrounding monsters had lost their sight, Serie barked sharply.

The three of them were close together, so they could barely make out each other's figures in the thick fog. But once they moved too far apart, they would lose their sense of direction just like these monsters.

She raised her hands again, and a dazzling halo spread outward from her.

The monsters that came into contact with the halo screamed and collapsed.

Then she cast another spell—this time, Plant Magic.

Green light flickered in her hands as countless thorny vines burst from the ground, forming a barrier behind the three of them.

The monsters crashed into the Thorn Barrier, letting out agonized howls.

In all these days, this was the first time Rhode had seen Serie use Plant Magic. No wonder she rarely used it—compared to her Light attribute, which was a lethal magic, Plant Magic seemed more like a support type.