Not the Act of a Wise Man

Chapter 34 - 34 - Not a Task for the Wise

From atop the levitating magic-guided skateboard, Ivette gazed into the distance. The center of the Mount Ish mountain range was covered in withered vegetation, exuding an aura of death under the setting sun's afterglow. This, she surmised, must be the "Corrupt Forest" that housed the lord.

Because soldiers were being deployed to two locations simultaneously, there were few signs of living creatures in the Corrupt Forest to the naked eye. The wind whistled through the skeletal branches, emitting hollow moans, transforming the entire forest into a vast, ominous tomb.

After a moment of silence, Ivette turned to the Twin-Blade Demon. "Around the Mother Nest... how many Stage Three Aberrations are there?"

"The weakest are on the front lines. Aside from the Nest Lord, who is currently evolving, there should be four others... I can give you all the intel on them," the Twin-Blade Demon said. "If you decide to make a move, I can help keep one of them busy when you attack the Mother Nest."

"Are you really that kind?" Rosaline asked suspiciously.

"As I said, once the lord appears, it's all over..." The Twin-Blade Demon tugged at the corner of its mouth and chuckled. "At my stage, I have a Mana Core... I imagine your teacher would be quite fond of such a thing..."

"Aberrations have Mana Cores too?" Ivette looked at it, clearly intrigued.

The essence of a Mana Core was a solidified energy form, exceptionally easy for nature mages to absorb, practically melting in the mouth. If one could obtain it, it could directly serve as a mana potion replacement, replenishing emergency mana.

Of course, things like elemental batteries and energy storage panels, while sounding similar in function, were vastly different. These stored energy through material mediums and were specifically designed to serve magic mechas. For mages to draw energy from them was like trying to squeeze water from a sponge as hard as a rock; after much effort, only a tiny amount would emerge, making them useless in critical moments.

"Of course, they do..." The Twin-Blade Demon subtly shifted its distance. "I only need the corpses of those foolish dogs. The Mana Core will be yours..."

Ivette fell into contemplation.

Based on the Twin-Blade Demon's intel, there were a total of six Stage Three Aberrations in the Mount Ish mountain range faction: one Nest Lord, one engaged in battle with Luya City on the front lines, and the remaining four were Mother Nest guardians... If its information was accurate and their actions went according to plan, the situation would unfold with the Twin-Blade Demon and Rosaline each handling one, leaving Ivette to deal with the other two Mother Nest guardians.

However, the Nest Lord within the Mother Nest also posed a significant threat, and there was no ruling out the possibility of additional guardians hidden in the forest that even the Twin-Blade Demon was unaware of.

"Can we attack in batches? Like deal with some of them first?" Rosaline suggested.

"Foolish! That will just cause the insects to return and defend the Mother Nest!" the Twin-Blade Demon retorted, its tone becoming more fluent. "And the other two Mother Nests, including their Nest Lords, are also foolish dogs! You know it's unrealistic to expect them to function properly. With their forces spread thin and only four high-tier powers available now, it's most important to seize the time to prevent the lord's birth!"

"Teacher, what do you think?" Rosaline, who had been scolded, turned to her teacher with a pout. She still didn't quite trust this creature that had attacked her upon first meeting, especially since its smile was so creepy, looking like an evil villain.

"Prepare for five days," Ivette lowered her gaze.

"I hope we have a pleasant cooperation, beautiful... powerful... mage lady." The Twin-Blade Demon curved its lips, finishing the sentence with a slightly flattering tone, then immediately flapped its wings and vanished in an instant.

"Can we really trust this guy, Teacher?" Rosaline asked uneasily after the Twin-Blade Demon had left.

"No," Ivette sighed after a moment of silence. "But we can't afford not to gamble, because we can't leave this island. There is no second option. Even if it's a trap, we have to take a look to be at ease."

"That's true..." Rosaline said dejectedly.

Over the next five days, Ivette expedited the optimization of the "Regeneration Pump."

Now, as a life-saving spell, it not only greatly enhanced the body's regeneration speed but could also, the instant a wound was contaminated, condense a phantom energy heart near the wound, drawing in all infected blood. The phantom heart would forcibly strip and contain the aberration factors from the blood, then slowly pump the purified blood back into the body. Finally, the corrupted factors would be compressed into a viscous black fluid, expelled from the body through vomiting or magical guidance.

This had to be completed within 20 seconds; exceeding this time limit meant the aberration factors would spread rapidly, and the Regeneration Pump would be unable to save the patient.

Regardless, at least there was an emergency measure, allowing Rosaline to engage in close-quarters combat with aberrations more boldly, without fear of injury.

Meanwhile, Rosaline was diligently studying the new intel provided by the Twin-Blade Demon.

According to its description, besides the Stage Three Aberration near Luya City, the five Aberrations in the Corrupt Forest, including the Nest Lord, were the Nest Lord "Tide Worm Queen" and the four great guardians: "Corrosive Beak Demon Vulture," "Night Walker Demon," "Mechanical Tyrant," and "Shepherd Sheep"!

—All temporarily named by Rosaline.

The "Tide Worm Queen" needed no further explanation; it was the Nest Lord of the Mother Nest, the creator and true mastermind behind the swarm, capable of using some form of sensory connection to make Tide Worms its eyes and ears. Although in a semi-dormant state, the Tide Worm Queen could still maintain control over the swarm through the Mother Nest as a medium.

The Corrosive Beak Demon Vulture was a giant, mutated vulture with three heads, possessing the ability to spray corrosive venom. It was also robust, with a wingspan exceeding 30 meters, comparable to a dragon, and possessed formidable close-combat capabilities.

The Night Walker Demon was a bat aberration, slightly smaller than the Corrosive Beak Demon Vulture, but still large. However, its head lacked eyes or other organs, only possessing a mouth that could split open from ear to ear.

The Mechanical Tyrant was clearly a semi-mechanical aberration formed from the erosion of a magic mecha. In terms of evolutionary stage, the Twin-Blade Demon believed it might only be Stage Two, lacking even a developed brain. However, magic mechas were originally small mechs from the Origin Civilization era, and even without intelligence, it was the strongest among the four guardians, even stronger than the Nest Lord. It had to, and could only, be Ivette's responsibility to deal with it.

The Shepherd Sheep appeared as a giant humanoid figure, seven to eight meters tall. However, perhaps due to its sheep-like head, it did not possess intelligence on the level of the Twin-Blade Demon. Its body was covered in dense, stained white fur, with limbs resembling human ones. But during combat, its bloated abdomen would suddenly split open, revealing numerous painfully screaming humanoid heads connected by tentacles – these heads were its primary biting weapons.

Of course, all the above information came solely from the Twin-Blade Demon's account and might only be the tip of the iceberg of the actual situation. Yet, it still carried a significant oppressive weight, preventing any relaxation.

On the sixth day, in the ruins of a small town outside the Mount Ish mountain range, the master and disciple arrived at the agreed meeting point. As soon as they parked their vehicle, they saw the Twin-Blade Demon's head poking out from a window of an abandoned building nearby. Its smooth, black cranial carapace gleamed under the summer sun.

It asked impatiently, "...Are you ready to decide how to allocate the targets?"

"...You scared me! You!" Rosaline thought some Aberration had crawled out... though, it technically was an Aberration.

Seeing the Twin-Blade Demon's disdainful expression, Rosaline said unhappily, "Mechanical Tyrant! Can you handle that one?"

"What unrefined naming, even more unrefined than 'Twin-Blade Demon'," the Twin-Blade Demon said. "Of course not. Who could possibly fight that? Let your teacher handle it."

It was clear that after several days of communication, this Aberration's spoken Chinese had become increasingly fluent.

"Then what about the Shepherd Sheep?" Rosaline asked again.

"That thing is too strange; it's not suited for me."

"Why don't you want to fight anyone?"

"Fighting something whose capabilities are unknown is not a wise course of action. I choose the large vulture; it's not very intelligent, and I can play to my intellectual advantage to toy with it," the Twin-Blade Demon said. "I assume you wouldn't want your partner to drag you down by not being able to utilize their strengths."

"What intellectual advantage? Aren't you just fast?" Rosaline was clearly unhappy. Among the four guardians, this Stage Three Aberration was the most cumbersome, and it was the one she had initially wanted to choose.

"You'll be astonished by my wisdom later."

"I think you just want to slack off and not put in any effort..."

Thus, after some discussion, the Twin-Blade Demon chose the Corrosive Beak Demon Vulture as its target to distract, and Rosaline chose the Night Walker Demon.

The remaining Mechanical Tyrant, Shepherd Sheep, the Tide Worm Queen within the Mother Nest, and any potential surprise attacks would all be handled by Ivette.

With the targets thus decided, they took out magic-guided skateboards suitable for individual combat, and the three of them slowly infiltrated towards the Corrupt Forest.