Pursuit and Counterattack

From the countless slits that might have been eyes or mouthparts came an inhuman scream, and at the same time, Lynn felt as if he had been locked onto by countless gazes.

The trees around him and Charlotte twisted madly and began to writhe. Their trunks, branches, and leaves all took on the texture of flesh.

Just like the vortex of flesh that had appeared on the Stone Altar moments ago, these mutated plants gathered together.

Then Lynn watched, eyes wide, as they abruptly changed—and Rigel, who had been standing on the mountaintop only a second ago, appeared right before them!

Meanwhile, on the summit, a dead, broken tree had shifted to where Rigel had just been standing, as if it had melted and then solidified again!

"Careful!" he hurriedly warned Charlotte, who was sitting in front of him.

Charlotte turned her head for a sidelong look, and her expression instantly darkened. She quickly blew a whistle.

The Magic Wolf beneath them immediately sped up.

Roar!

Seeing this, the tumor formed from the fusion of the Dark Elf Rigel and numerous living creatures lunged at once. Its deformed legs were as thick as elephant hooves, and when they kicked off the ground, the tremendous force tore two deep trenches through the earth, yet its figure was agile and swift beyond imagination!

It slammed sideways toward Lynn, and a barrier of white light abruptly appeared!

It was even stronger than Lynn's own Shield Spell.

It was one of the three Shield Spells old Barton had given him!

Under the impact of Rigel's massive body, the Shield Spell's barrier stood as steady as Mount Tai, easily blocking the attack.

Lynn's heart pounded wildly with fright. Even through the barrier, he seemed to feel that savage power. That was definitely not something his mere First Ring Shield Spell could resist!

Fortunately, the Magic Wolf was fast enough. After Rigel's strike, it paused for the moment and was soon thrown far behind them.

Lynn immediately warned Charlotte, "That monster seems to have the ability to swap places with plants. Be careful of it suddenly appearing."

It might not even be limited to plants. Lynn suspected it could perform that kind of exchange with all living creatures.

Charlotte answered lightly, but through the back of her loose golden hair, Lynn actually sensed her unease.

"Rigel... no, that monster is coming for me..." An imperceptible tremor appeared in Charlotte's calm voice. "Lynn, I can't drag you into this..."

She blew the whistle, and soon, out of the corner of his eye, Lynn caught sight of a long-horned white deer that seemed draped in moonlight. It was the very one Elaine was riding.

They had only just fled out of the mountains, and in their haste, they had gone in different directions. Now they were working hard to regroup.

"Escape with Elaine. I'll take the Magic Wolf and draw it away in another direction," Charlotte said.

As she spoke, she turned to Elaine and asked, "You brought Mana Potions, right?"

The Heart of Nature consumed an enormous amount of mana, and after she had used several Second and Third Ring spells in succession earlier, the mana in her body was already bottoming out.

Hearing this, Elaine immediately nodded, took out two bottles of Mana Potion from her staff, and handed them over while the White Deer and Magic Wolf were running side by side and relatively steady.

The pale-blue potions were pure and translucent. Charlotte glanced at them, and her brows knitted.

She had almost forgotten. With Elaine's authority as an Apprentice Mage, she could only buy corresponding, lower-quality Mana Potions.

For an Initiate Level Druid, this kind of potion was already somewhat inadequate.

But better than nothing. She did not hesitate for long and quickly drank both bottles of Mana Potion.

Lynn was even more familiar with this common knowledge than Elaine. He looked at Charlotte with some worry. That bit of resupply was nothing more than a cup of water against a cartload of burning firewood for her.

Moreover, they were now in a mana-depleted zone, which meant they could not use magic tools to recover mana normally.

The more powerful a spellcaster was, the more they suffered in a situation like this.

"Hurry and leave. Being with me is truly too dangerous. Besides, I'm very familiar with the Whispering Forest. If I'm the one to hold it back, our chances of survival will increase greatly."

She urged Lynn, but her tone did not seem as certain as her words.

With her current mana, she could only cast one more Second Ring spell. She could not even use Heart of Nature anymore.

Lynn did not hesitate too much. With his current strength, he simply could not fight Rigel.

As for the Frost Ring he had always relied on, leaving aside the fact that its effect was greatly reduced against undead creatures, with the monster's power that could activate old Barton's Ring-Ascended Shield Spell with one punch, his frost ring seemed far too fragile.

He sighed silently, his heart full of unwillingness. Only now did he realize that he still had too many shortcomings, and his strength was still far too weak.

The Magic Wolf and White Deer stopped briefly. Lynn slid down from the Magic Wolf's back and was just about to use Elaine's hand to climb onto the White Deer's back.

Suddenly, his spirituality churned wildly, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Magic Wolf under Charlotte begin to twist and melt. Slits split open across its surface, giving off an evil, chaotic aura, like mouths yet not eyes.

"Danger!" He hurriedly turned and grabbed Charlotte's arm. Fortunately, Charlotte also noticed the abnormality at the same time and struggled along with the motion, falling from the Magic Wolf's back. The two of them tumbled to the side.

The Giant-Horned White Deer immediately tossed its head and slammed fiercely into the mutated Magic Wolf, knocking it several meters away.

At the same time, the Magic Wolf's entire body twisted into an indescribable mass, and in the blink of an eye, Rigel appeared once again!

The area within several meters around them seemed to have been struck by an explosion!

Thanks to Lynn's timely reaction, he and Charlotte were not caught in it.

The two quickly got up and both drew the staffs at their waists. Lynn chanted an incantation, and a Fire Arrow splashed onto it, but it was as painless as an itch.

Aside from Rigel's twisted limbs, all its other organs seemed to have melted together. Even its neck and head could no longer be distinguished.

But Lynn instantly felt a fierce, evil gaze filled with madness lock onto him.

More precisely, it had locked onto Charlotte behind him!

Rigel charged over violently, his speed shockingly fast.

Bang!

"Shield Spell" activated again. This time, though, it was Lynn's own, but unfortunately it lasted less than a second before shattering with a crash.

But that brief buffer was enough for the Giant-Horned White Deer to wheel around again and charge over, its tremendous force knocking away the monster covered in melting flesh and blood.

Lynn sighed inwardly. What an incredible summon!

He had long since seen that this Giant-Horned White Deer was the magical creature Charlotte had summoned, but he had not expected it to be this powerful, to the point that in terms of strength, it could even stand shoulder to shoulder with the thing Rigel had created through sacrificial fusion!

It was just that Elaine, riding on its back, was not having such an easy time of it...

Because the White Deer had made "intimate contact" with the mutated Rigel twice, Elaine had effectively observed the monster's graceful figure from close range as well.

She was retching again and again, her green eyes filled with utter collapse...

Relying on the White Deer to keep him pinned down, Lynn quickly condensed Frost Ring and controlled it to keep cutting into the enemy.

The surface of its body was not hard; he could easily slice open long, deep wounds, but not a single drop of blood flowed from inside them.

And in the blink of an eye, they healed again, like gelatin.

This is completely useless... Just as Lynn was feeling discouraged, a sharp arrow came tearing through the air, wrapped in dazzling firelight, and pierced straight through Rigel's body.

The flames immediately blazed up, burning fiercely. Sizzle, sizzle—the sound of flesh being scorched at high temperature rang out at once.

Immediately afterward, Ulshi appeared in Lynn's field of vision, riding on a Magic Wolf's back, both hands drawing a bow and nocking an arrow.

Following close behind him were Celine and Liam.