The Hag of the Sewers

Chapter 25: The Hag in the Sewers

A rich life aura spread throughout the dirty, decaying sewers, creating a small haven that allowed Naomi to breathe.

With just a casual glance, Amber Xiu knew that at least three buffs were attached to the statue.

Health regeneration, poison immunity, freedom of movement... all wide-area buffs that made Amber Xiu quite envious.

This was a divine artifact, an artifact that could unleash powerful effects even in the hands of a mortal. If this thing were put up for sale, it would start at at least a million Gold Coins.

However, a Druid's divine artifact required regular sacrificial rituals to maintain its power and prevent it from dissipating. If someone else took it, it might become ineffective within three to five months.

But no matter how powerful this divine artifact was, Amber Xiu had no luck in benefiting from it.

For the Undead, Sylvanus's divine power was more terrifying than the poisonous gas in the sewers.

The sewer environment merely made Amber Xiu uncomfortable, but the green natural barrier before him would corrode his Undead body like sulfuric acid.

After all, the Undead were a race that completely defied the natural order, essentially an arch-enemy of Sylvanus.

"The Sylvanus Statue can purify the sewer's toxins and should also have the power to break illusions. This is your reliance for saving your people, isn't it?" Amber Xiu asked.

Naomi took several deep breaths, and after recovering, she replied, "Yes, I've entered the sewers more than once, but by the time I found the location where my people had their accident, they had already disappeared. Although I have the protection of the Sylvanus Statue's power, I need your help to find them."

This little Druid girl indeed had no ill intentions, so Amber Xiu didn't plan to break their contract, lest he be caught by Alchemy City and have his home raided.

"Then let's continue moving forward. Let's go to the location where your people had their accident first," Amber Xiu said.

No matter what illusion it was, it would always leave some trace. If they could figure out what was creating the illusion, finding the people would be much easier.

Naomi held the Sylvanus Statue and walked ahead. With the statue's enhancement, the harsh environment of the sewers had almost no effect on her. To speed things up, Naomi directly cast her Wild Shape, transforming into a swift black panther. Gripping the statue in her mouth, she sprinted through the sewers. Amber Xiu had to use his Flight spell to keep up with Naomi's pace.

Before long, the two arrived at a slightly open flat area, seemingly a buffer zone with a large expanse of flat rocky ground. However, it was still surrounded by dirty water channels, and the stench was even more potent than at the entrance.

Yet, this place was remarkably clean. There were no Druid corpses, not even many cockroaches.

"I've been here several times, but there's nothing left here," Naomi said to Amber Xiu.

But before Amber Xiu could inspect the area, a large number of scarlet points of light suddenly appeared around them.

Before Naomi could even see what these things were, the scarlet points of light rapidly charged towards her. The green light emanating from her body was as conspicuous as a torch in the darkness within the sewers.

Naomi was a bit slow to react. On her previous two trips into the sewers, she hadn't encountered any danger. The power of the Sylvanus Statue could dispel all sewer monsters. Why were monsters daring to charge at her this time?

Naomi's reaction was a beat too slow, but Amber Xiu's was not.

Two rays of frost shot from his palms, leaving large frost marks in front of Naomi. The monsters that charged the fastest were hit by the frost rays and quickly frozen into ice sculptures.

Only then did Naomi clearly see what kind of monsters were charging at her – a pack of giant rats, each as large as a wolf. Their fur was covered in various scabs and pustules; just looking at them made her eyes feel like they were being infected with fatal germs.

Amber Xiu's frost rays swept out relentlessly, as if they were free. Only after all these mutated giant rats were frozen into blocks of ice did they temporarily overcome the crisis.

Naomi was shocked by Amber Xiu's power. Although frost ray was the simplest ice spell, could an ordinary Mage play with such a basic spell like a repeating crossbow?

Naomi couldn't help but lean closer to Amber Xiu, but Amber Xiu had to take two steps back, maintaining his distance outside the natural barrier.

Amber Xiu quickly warned, "Be careful. Are you trying to sacrifice me to Sylvanus?"

Naomi felt a little embarrassed. It was rather absurd for a Druid like herself to instinctively seek refuge with an Undead when facing danger.

Naomi could only change the subject, "What on earth are these things? I've never encountered them before."

Amber Xiu walked over to the giant rats that had turned into ice sculptures. A scalpel suddenly appeared in his hand, and he began to disembowel the mutated giant rats. The bloody and cruel sight made Naomi involuntarily look away.

Amber Xiu, however, felt no discomfort. This level of gore was child's play.

Fur, muscle, blood vessels, nerves, internal organs, bones... Amber Xiu stripped away various fragments, and after thoroughly studying the body structure, he even extracted the mutated rats' souls for examination.

After a short while, Amber Xiu reached a conclusion: "I think I know what happened to your people."

Naomi quickly asked, "You know? What kind of monster is it?"

Naomi's expression was puzzled.

"You haven't even heard of a Hag? Don't you Druids scare your children by saying they'll be taken by a Hag if they're disobedient?" Amber Xiu asked.

Naomi gritted her teeth and said, "We Druids would never do such a thing. Using scary stories to frighten children is something you Undead would do, right?"

"Are you stupid? Undead don't have children," Amber Xiu said.

Naomi: ...

This naive Druid girl was utterly speechless. She had felt a sliver of good impression towards Amber Xiu just moments ago, thinking this Undead was powerful and reliable. Now, she immediately recited Sylvanus's teachings in her mind—Undead are indeed all bad!

"Alright, back to the main topic," Amber Xiu explained. "Hags are originally monsters from the Feywild, but they came to the material plane a long time ago. Tales of Hags occasionally appear in the Nine Kingdoms. They are a group of evil, ugly old women, cruel in nature, and most of them are arrogant and conceited. They love to harm humans in various ways.

"Using magic to modify creatures and use them as servants is a common tactic of Hags. These rats were magically modified by a Hag, possessing potent poison and strong aggression. However, they aren't particularly powerful monsters. An ordinary person with enough courage could kill a few. But without an antidote, one would quickly die from poisoning. Even after death, these creatures can still spread viruses."