Seeing that Evan had not turned and fled, the Crow Hag split her mouth in a grin, exposing jagged blackish-yellow teeth as she let out two crowlike cackles.
She casually plucked a black feather from her arm and tossed it down at Evan.
The feather drifted slowly downward, light and soft...
Not knowing what trick she was playing, Evan held his sword and remained vigilantly on guard, but he did not attack first.
The abilities of Spellcaster Extraordinaries were unpredictable, and that remained true even after they became monsters. The Crow Hag had most likely inherited some of the witch's abilities from when she was alive. He absolutely could not treat them as ordinary monsters.
Caution was a virtue.
But if this had happened a few years later, experienced Evan would never have let a spellcaster cast freely without interference. The proper thing to do would have been to cut her down with a sword without another word!
One second, two seconds...
Only when Evan realized something was wrong did he suddenly discover that his body had become rigid and completely refused to obey him.
It was as though he had fallen into a nightmare. His eyes were open and his mind was perfectly clear, yet his body simply would not move.
This was clearly a form of Spirit Sorcery. Even when Evan had unknowingly gone in circles at the beginning and thought he had encountered a ghostly maze, that had been an unusual effect of this sorcery.
Fortunately, Evan was not the only one lacking combat experience against opponents from different Extraordinary paths!
The Crow Hag clearly did not understand just how vastly different an ordinary person's resistance to sorcery was from that of a Formal Knight. Secretly guiding him astray earlier had been one thing, but this kind of Spirit Sorcery, equivalent to a direct attack, was simply not enough to fully control Evan, who had already undergone an Extraordinary Transformation.
Crack—
Just as she leaped down from the tree, preparing to dig out the boy's fresh heart and liver for a feast.
Screech—
A dazzling Sword Light rushed toward her. Before she could nearly react, it passed through half her shoulder without the slightest resistance.
"Thud!"
A limb that was half wing, half claw hit the ground.
Had Evan's body not still been somewhat stiff, causing the blade to miss its intended point, what would have fallen now might have been her ugly head.
Caw—!!!
As the Crow Hag let out a piercing wail, Evan felt as though a sharp spike had viciously stabbed into his head. In the instant he hesitated, countless crows wheeling in the sky swooped down, blocking his route to pursue her.
Having just suffered once, Evan did not dare let such a monster escape. Through the barrier formed by the crows, he could already see the Crow Hag staggering backward, about to hide behind the trees again.
Without hesitation, he drew his short pistol from his waist with his right hand. Data Vision immediately analyzed the crows' flight paths. Seizing that fleeting opening, Evan decisively fired.
Bang—
The Crow Hag fell in response. A large hole had been blasted through her ugly head, and white and dark-red rotten matter spilled all over the ground.
A foul stench spread through the woods.
Flap, flap—flap, flap—
The flock still blocking Evan instantly panicked, beating their wings as they scattered in all directions.
He casually spun the pistol, gently blew the smoke from its muzzle, and coolly tucked it back into his belt.
Evan was just about to breathe a sigh of relief...
"Caw—!!!" "Caw—!!!"
Two consecutive shrill cries rang out from distant, different directions.
Without even having time for looting corpses, Evan turned and ran! His handsome face twisted violently, though it was impossible to tell whether it was from anger or fear.
"Fuck, there are two more?!!!"
While Evan fled desperately toward the edge of the tangled woods, three strangely dressed figures strode into the swamp forest shrouded in thick mist.
The three wore matching long leather trench coats, military boots, and longswords at their waists. Three standard short pistols were lined up in the weapon belts slung over their shoulders. Leather gloves covered their hands, and not a sliver of skin was exposed anywhere on their bodies.
Most bizarrely, each of them wore a full-face Bird Beak Mask, relying on transparent crystal lenses near the eyes to see.
Combined with their black attire, they looked from afar like three more enormous crows had arrived!
Both their longswords and pistols bore silver emblems of humanoid crows. They appeared to be combat personnel belonging to some official organization.
"Sean, Cedric, although you have only just joined the Crow-Men Unit, you must strictly follow operational protocol from this moment onward," said the apparent leader walking in front. His voice was slightly distorted through the mask, but the other two could still hear him clearly.
"We are still some distance from the mission site. Sean, repeat the intelligence we have gathered."
"Yes, sir!" one of the people following behind immediately answered.
Mission target: monster, "Crow Hag."
Species and traits: a twisted Sorcery Creation. Be wary of possible Spirit Sorcery.
Confirmed intelligence: the earliest sighting was two days ago, when four hunters armed with hunting bows were killed by the monster...
"Mission objective: determine whether this Crow Hag is connected to the Three Sisters who fled from Frost Leaf Forest. If not, kill her on the spot. If she is, weaken and eliminate her as much as possible while ensuring your own safety."
Two days earlier, hunters had discovered a Humanoid Monster with crowlike features in the woods near Saltwater Swamp. After several casualties, survivors who had escaped by luck reported the situation to City Hall.
Afterward, the Crow-Men Unit under the kingdom's Extraordinary Event Management Department dispatched a three-person team to handle the matter.
"We have entered the Crow Hag's activity range described in the intelligence. I order you to enter combat status now.
Check your equipment and amulets. Stay alert for mental attacks. Adopt combat formation. Advance! For Her Majesty the Queen!"
The officer led the way while the two newcomers guarded the flanks, and they began moving.
"For Her Majesty the Queen!"
Flap, flap—
Caw caw caw—caw caw caw—
Enduring the relentless assault of crows, Evan raced through the forest.
Now that he was on guard, the Crow Hag's mental misdirection could no longer affect Evan's judgment. He quickly advanced along the route he had opened on the way in.
However, Evan had not expected the flock that had originally fled to return after hearing the cries of the other Crow Hags, causing enormous trouble for his escape.
Clang—
He ran while attacking.
The longsword in Evan's hand had almost turned into a mass of silver light, forcibly cutting down one fearless giant crow after another.
At a time like this, he did not dare gamble with his own body on whether these clearly abnormal crows had deadly poison or pathogens on their claws and beaks.
Fortunately.
After activating the Extraordinary Transformation of Savage Body Transformation, Evan's physical fitness had surpassed the Mortal Limit. He could keep swinging a sword for a long time through sheer endurance alone.
But Evan did not dare relax in the slightest.
Not long after killing the first Crow Hag, he had been surrounded by an even larger flock, severely slowing his retreat.
Knowing that two Crow Hags could catch up at any moment, killing more ordinary crows was utterly meaningless.
If there had been only one Crow Hag behind him, Evan might have tried to kill her. The problem was that there were at least two.
He would bet that if he tried to turn around and kill them, they would not mind taking turns casting "Stiffness" on him, then commanding the endless flock to swarm him and tear him into strips of flesh.
The desperate chase continued for nearly thirty minutes.
Evan estimated that he was close to the forest's outer edge. Even the scattered puddles and mud pits had mostly vanished here, proving that he had chosen the right direction.
Apparently realizing that ordinary crows could no longer stop Evan, five crows larger than eagles accelerated out of the forest behind him following two strange cries of "Caw caw."
Hearing the familiar cawing, Evan sensed that the Crow Hags were already very close. These five oversized crows were probably their final measure.
Without slowing his pace, Evan focused to the utmost, constantly watching the giant crows that had flown above his head.
Caw—
Caw—
With the cries of the crows, the attack arrived as expected. Yet it was not the physical attack he had imagined, but the Spirit Sorcery that should have belonged to the Crow Hags—and its effect was incredibly disgusting.
Sorcery · Loss of Will!
All five attacks descended at once, and Evan was instantly swallowed by endless, merciless feelings of dejection.
Depressed! So incredibly depressed! He could not summon the slightest motivation.
His nimble steps gradually became heavy. Swinging his longsword felt like wielding a mountain, while voices full of negativity and despair rose from within him.
"Why run? Escaping is so tiring. Just forget it!"
"Everyone's life ends sooner or later. What difference does it make whether it's sooner or later?"
"My arms are so tired. I really want to throw away this heavy sword..."
An ordinary person would have already surrendered to death under such an attack, but Evan gritted his teeth and used immense willpower to suppress the despair threatening to drown him.
In truth, this was somewhat similar to the situation when a Formal Knight made a breakthrough. Both involved using one's own will to restrain Negative Emotion. Having experienced something similar before, Evan could still endure through gritted teeth.
"Dammit, I need to find a chance to take down these rotten birds first!"
Caw—
"Sir, there is movement ahead. It sounds like crows!"
On the other side, the three-person Crow-Men team was also slowly approaching the battlefield.
At that, the Crow-Men officer made a gesture. The entire team took cover and cautiously moved toward the source of the sound. Their movements were swift and capable, clearly revealing them as professionally trained elites.
As the group continued drawing closer, the cries of crows and the flapping of wings grew louder and louder. Soon, the stealthily advancing Crow-Men reached the edge of the battlefield where man and birds clashed.
"Hiss—such huge crows!"
Although Cedric was an elite among his peers, he was still young. He had seen many strange monsters in bestiaries, but this was his first time seeing one in person.
"Someone is fighting the crows. What powerful swordsmanship!"
Everyone's focus was clearly different. Sean then asked:
"Sir, should we help?"
Unaware that he was already being inhumanely watched, Evan had at this moment suddenly launched an ambush and successfully killed two giant crows capable of using Spirit Sorcery. Though their abilities were unusual, they were fundamentally still ordinary creatures. Other than their larger size, their close-combat ability was not much stronger than that of ordinary crows.
Evan was extremely glad that these giant crows had a very limited attack range. They had to get close to use Loss of Will on him. If they could really throw debuffs at him from afar like spellcasters while protected by the ordinary flock, even Evan would be helpless.
Whoosh—
"Third one, die!" Taking advantage of their approach once more, Evan used the same trick. Like an agile ape, he sprang up from the treetops, swinging his longsword as he prepared to cut down the third giant crow.
Unexpectedly, after several exchanges, the naturally intelligent crows had learned their lesson. Seeing him leap high into the air, it immediately beat its wings and rapidly climbed, narrowly escaping disaster.
Only its wing was cut by Evan's sword tip. It flapped desperately to maintain balance, tumbling crookedly toward the other side.
Evan made a nimble spin atop the treetops, pushed off the trunk with the tip of his toe, and dove down like a bird of prey.
His killing intent surged!
Once a crow landed, he had to finish it off!
Caw—
"Not good, it's Loss of Will! Move! Stay away from it."
By pure coincidence, the injured giant crow swayed down directly where the Crow-Men team was hiding. Then Evan saw three strange black figures leap out of the grass, startling him.
"Goddamn it, did I kick over a crow's nest today?!!"
Evan felt that he had sworn more today than in his entire life combined.
But the Crow-Men had no time to care about Evan's emotions.
As the three leaped away to evade it, the Silver Amulets around their necks had already weakened the effects of Loss of Will for them. The battle-hardened Crow-Men officer was the first to draw his pistol, firing rapidly as he retreated.
Bang—
"Caw!" The brief crow cry abruptly ceased.
Before you continue