Gradually.
Night fell.
The fog in the Blood Demon Flower Forest thickened, and even with high-intensity lights, visibility was less than 100 meters. The terrifying creatures deep within the fog seemed to be gradually awakening, and terrifying sounds could be heard from time to time.
Before it was contaminated, this place was still the territory of the blue-clad ogres.
The Blue-Clad Ogres, a medium-sized race in the Hengduan Mountains who worship their guardians, possess a vast and extremely dangerous territory. Outsiders rarely venture into it, so it wasn't until two years after the Blood Demon Flower mutated that anyone discovered the strangeness of the place.
The last rays of the setting sun.
A group of exploratory mercenaries, upon seeing the Fear Tree in the mist ahead, were filled with apprehension.
"What is that?!"
They were covered in a dark green liquid, clearly indicating that they had just been in a fierce battle.
The one-eyed, elderly mage in the mercenary squad unleashed a surge of Mental Power; such a mental scanning ability requires an immense amount of Mental Power to sustain.
With a soft question, the old magician gestured for the tense and vigilant crowd to relax slightly.
"It is a magician's pet."
pet!!?
Everyone gasped when they saw the Fear Tree.
"He's all alone, could he be Witcher?"
The male archer with a White-headed Eagle perched on his shoulder frowned.
The mercenary captain rode on the back of a blazing rhinoceros. The blazing rhinoceros was four meters long, and each step it took made a "thump-thump" sound. Most of its skin was as hard as steel armor, and only the folds of soft flesh where the hard skin met emitted wisps of red light like flames.
The captain looked at the old magician with a questioning expression.
He had absolute trust in the old magician's wisdom, and it was thanks to his wisdom that the mercenary group escaped life-or-death crises several times!
The one-eyed old magician, dressed in a gray-blue robe.
"This mission is far too difficult for our C-rank mercenary group. My intuition tells me that it will be even more dangerous here at night. Perhaps we should go and visit him, and with his wisdom, make the most rational judgment on whether to continue this mission."
The mercenaries exchanged glances and nodded.
Hehehe.
Hehehehehe...
From afar, the crowd could hear bursts of dark, excited laughter, tinged with a hint of fanaticism.
The one-eyed old mage in the grey robes tensed, warning, "This could be a powerful, elderly mage. Be careful with your words and actions, and don't offend him."
Glug.
However, the mercenaries were already terrified by the Fear Tree at such close range.
In the hazy mist, a giant tree with heads hanging like fruits had a huge, strange worm wrapped around its branches. A tiny human hung Crystal Lamp on a branch, his back to the others. His shadow was long and narrow under the Crystal Lamp. Next to him, a toolbox contained neatly arranged, densely packed, exquisite metal knives.
Having completed a phase of the dissection, the excited and frenzied figure slowly turned around.
His body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of silvery-gray moonlight, with wisps of black smoke swirling around him, refusing to dissipate. The scalpel in his hand, stained with the dark green blood of the strange insects, slowly dripped down. Against the backdrop of the eerie atmosphere, he appeared grotesque, bizarre, and evil, sending chills down one's spine.
Upon witnessing this scene, the Elves healer instinctively covered his mouth.
The one-eyed old magician took a deep breath, carefully choosing his words.
"I apologize for interrupting your experiment, and I have no intention of offending you. I am Garon Seid, the chief mage of the Azure Emblem Mercenary Group. I am here on a mission to explore the origins of the Blood Demon Flower's mutation. I am visiting you to inquire about your opinion on this place."
"Hehe, you're too kind, Master."
Reilo couldn't help but laugh out loud.
An old man was being so polite to me.
It was clearly the eerie environment here, coupled with his special Mental Power shielding his senses, and the Fear Tree, that made him mistakenly believe he was some terrifying Old Monster.
Having spent a lot of time with Corleon during this period, Reilo has unknowingly begun to resemble that old monster in some ways.
Well?
This magician seems quite young?
Not only was the old mage astonished, but the members of the Azure Emblem Mercenary Group were also staring at each other in disbelief.
Reilo continued, "Hasn't the master realized yet that our enemies are not just these mutated creatures?"
"Oh? What do you mean?"
The old magician asked in surprise.
Reilo carefully wiped the scalpel, put it down gently, and after putting away his toolbox, he meaningfully grabbed a handful of the pale red mist in the air.
Can you see these fogs?
Um?
The Azure Emblem Mercenary Group was taken aback. The old mage said, "Of course we can see it."
Reilo pushed aside the mist, which floated like wisps of smoke, looking quite meaningful.
"In fact, the reason we can see these mists is because we haven't yet integrated into them. Just like the natural energy in the eyes of these nocturnal creatures, it's a pale green, highly toxic fumes. These seemingly terrifying creatures will have a severe reaction if they inhale even a little of it. We can call this pale red mist 'nocturnal energy,' an energy completely different from natural energy."
With that, Reilo closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the pale red smoke.
"Can you feel it? The restlessness and agitation of the cells. The master may have long forgotten that feeling of being rejected by the world's magnetic field, but I remember it very well. It was a sense of crisis that I might be squeezed and explode by the world's magnetic field at any time, as if I were the enemy of the whole world."
"Hiss!"
Sensing something, the old scholar took a deep breath.
"You mean, something is affecting the magnetic field properties of this world?"
Reilo shook his head and stroked the giant insect behind him as if he were petting a pet.
"Perhaps the Night's Veil Power is itself part of the world's magnetic field. This world's magnetic field contains all sorts of forces, and the Night's Veil Power and the forces of nature are merely characteristics of a certain region of the world's magnetic field, which in turn evolve into different ecosystems. Our so-called adaptation to the world's magnetic field through our Medium Companion is merely adaptation to the natural forces of the Starveil Land region. From the perspective of the world, we are still insignificant and humble."
The one-eyed old scholar was quite clear-headed, diligently trying to uncover the deeper information in Reilo's words.
"You've already determined that this place has some connection to the Night's Veil Land?"
"Hehehehe, it's not that I'm certain, it's that the person who issued this investigation task has been identified, they just lack evidence that others will acknowledge it. Isn't our task precisely to find that evidence?"
Quack quack quack quack...
Sudden.
The flock of Blood Raven in the distance erupted in a frenzy, numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands.
"Listen! It's as if the entire mutated forest has come alive. It seems the dangers we encountered before were nothing more than the fate of rats scurrying in the night. If we don't hide or integrate into this forest, unless we grow into a higher life form that transcends it, we will eventually be devoured by it!"
This seems to confirm what Reilo said.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
Heavy footsteps approached, and an enormous, unimaginably heavy creature drew nearer.
Even Reilo's expression changed, and he took the lead, leaping into the underground cave of the strange insect.
The members of the Azure Emblem Mercenary Group also realized what was happening and followed Reilo into the underground cave. Only the mercenary group leader's Fiery Rhinoceros mount was unable to enter, causing him great anxiety.
However, the ground tremors grew more and more intense, and the people hiding in the pit looked up at humans like ants.
As a giant hand descended from high above, the fiery rhinoceros was seized and swallowed by the horrified gazes of the onlookers, disappearing into the depths of the dark mist in the sky.
The cries stopped abruptly.
The Fear Tree instinctively fled.
With a loud "boom," a giant foot stepped into the dark mist, landing Fear Tree, sending dirt flying.
On the Fear Tree, numerous heads looked up at the dark sky.
Countless soft, fleshy tentacles descended from the sky, each as thick as a rope, coiling around the twenty-meter-tall Fear Tree, before disappearing into the dark sky amidst the Fear Tree's screams.
Reilo watched as the Fear Tree disappeared.
No one could even guess what form the creature took; all they knew was that it was enormous, exceptionally enormous!
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
The giant object gradually disappeared into the distance.
In the distant darkness, all sorts of terrifying noises rose and fell, as if killing was everywhere. Compared to the tranquility of the daytime, the night was the time for nocturnal creatures to be active.
"The real danger lies at night."
Reilo murmured to himself, a look of regret on his face.
"What a pity about the specimen."