Chapter 237: A Monster Crawls Out of a Corpse.

Shu Li opened a gap in the defensive barrier, then sealed it again once the three of them had stepped outside.

Seriu advanced cautiously, silver sword in hand. Amanda followed with an enormous sword slung casually over his shoulder, swaggering along without a care in the world. Shu Li brought up the rear, extending the range of his magical senses to scan their surroundings in case another attacker appeared.

Before long, they reached the edge of the enormous crater.

It was roughly six meters across and three meters deep. The ground had been scorched black by fire, and wisps of white smoke rose from the surface, where embers still glimmered.

"That thing's... completely charred." Amanda lowered his enormous sword and pointed at the "humanoid lump of charcoal" in the center of the crater. "It's dead, right?"

Shu Li frowned slightly at the "corpse," which was clearly twice the size of an ordinary human.

After such a dramatic entrance, radiating such a tremendous amount of dark power, had it really died that easily?

"I'll go down and take a look," he said.

If it wasn't completely dead, he would finish it off to make absolutely certain.

High-ranking magical beasts generally had ways of preserving their lives. Monsters infused with dark power were bound to have a few tricks up their sleeves as well.

"Sperien, let me check!" Amanda volunteered. With his enormous sword on his shoulder, he leaped straight into the crater.

"Be careful! If anything seems wrong, get out of there immediately!" Shu Li shouted anxiously.

"Got it!" Amanda waved a hand.

"I should have gone instead," Seriu said gravely.

Amanda was wearing an ordinary magic robe, which offered limited protection. Besides, no one knew exactly how powerful he was.

Shu Li smiled at him. "It's fine. We should have faith in Amanda."

Amanda might look refined and delicate, but he was actually extraordinarily tough. Even a young dragon possessed sturdy scales that ordinary blades could not penetrate.

Something shifted in Seriu's eyes.

He had accumulated quite a few questions since the fight began. Once this was over, he would have to ask them properly.

After all, as a member of the Light Squad, he had a right to know.

Avoiding the scattered embers, Amanda approached the humanoid lump of charcoal at the center of the crater. When he was half a meter away, he prodded it with his enormous sword.

It remained completely motionless, without the slightest trace of life.

Amanda blinked, moved around to another angle near its head, and poked it again.

Crack!

The charred figure's head abruptly separated from its body.

Startled, Amanda took two steps backward.

"What happened?" Shu Li asked quickly.

Amanda turned and waved dismissively. "Nothing, nothing. Its head just broke off."

There was no question about it now. The creature was thoroughly dead, with absolutely no chance of survival.

Shu Li let out a long breath of relief. "That's great. We managed to kill it."

Amanda hoisted his enormous sword onto his shoulder and started away from the center of the crater.

"I didn't even get a chance to do anything," he lamented.

Shu Li grinned. "If you'd switched to your magic staff earlier, you could've joined us in bombarding it."

Amanda stuck out his tongue. "The magic staff my brother prepared for me isn't as high-ranking as yours."

After taking a couple of steps, Amanda glanced back at the decapitated lump of charcoal.

"Should we bury it?"

It would be best to bury all the other monster corpses scattered around, too. Otherwise, wouldn't adventuring parties passing through later be frightened by the sight of so many hideous bodies?

Shu Li raised an eyebrow. "That's easy enough."

He lifted his magic staff, preparing to use wind magic to gather the nearby monster corpses into the crater, then bury them all together with earth magic.

Seeing this, Amanda broke into a jog.

"Let me get out first!"

Whoosh!

"Watch out!" Seriu's expression sharpened, and he shot into the crater like an arrow.

A chill ran down Amanda's spine. Instinctively, he swung his sword.

Hiss!

A severed tentacle resembling an octopus arm fell onto the blackened ground, where it writhed and twisted. Green blood oozed from the stump.

What is that?

Amanda stared in astonishment.

"Don't just stand there!" Seriu swung his silver sword and severed another tentacle.

But more tentacles came hurtling toward them, vicious and agile as snakes. Amanda and Seriu swung their swords without hesitation, slicing through more than a dozen.

The tentacles, however, possessed an utterly astonishing capacity for regeneration. One became another, then four, then eight... In the blink of an eye, their numbers had multiplied into the hundreds.

Only ten seconds had passed since Amanda severed the first tentacle.

Standing at the edge of the crater, Shu Li could see everything happening below. Those tentacles were actually growing out of the humanoid lump of charcoal!

Without hesitation, he unleashed light magic.

Two bolts of lightning shot forward and struck the charred figure.

"Get back here!" he shouted to Amanda and Seriu. "That thing isn't dead!"

Not only was it still alive, but it had enough strength left to retaliate. The tentacles growing from its charred body were profoundly unnatural.

Amanda and Seriu had no intention of prolonging the fight. Seeing that Shu Li had created an opening for their escape, they immediately rushed toward the edge of the crater.

"Heh, heh, heh... Don't leave, my little cuties. Stay and play with me a little longer... Heh, heh, heh..."

An icy voice sounded out of nowhere.

The hundreds of writhing tentacles withdrew into the charred figure's body. Then a pair of sharp purple claws tore the "charcoal" open from within.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The blackened shell fractured into countless pieces. At the same time, what looked like a human head emerged from the "corpse's" abdomen, followed by a torso and limbs.

Within moments, a naked human figure stood where the lump of charcoal had been.

No.

It couldn't be called human.

Humans did not have curved demonic horns growing from their heads, nor did they have black scales covering their foreheads and cheeks.

This was a monster that merely resembled a human.

Its body was enormous, standing a full two and a half meters tall. Rows of sharp, backward-pointing spikes extended from its shoulders down its arms, and thick golden armor covered its chest. Below its waist, it had no legs, only tentacles of varying sizes. Two pairs of black feathered wings grew from its back, spanning approximately four meters when fully extended.

It had purple hair and unexpectedly handsome features. Its eyes were as clear as amethysts, gleaming with an icy light. Its skin was deathly pale, its lips blackish-purple, and its long, pointed ears had jagged, sawtooth edges.

Amanda stared, dumbfounded, nearly forgetting to run.

Seriu recovered quickly from his shock, grabbed Amanda, and pulled him away as fast as the wind.

But however fast they were, the humanoid monster was faster.

With a single flap of its wings, it teleported behind them. It leaned closer with evident curiosity, extended a scarlet tongue, and licked its purple lips.

"Why are you running away? Wouldn't it be nice to stay and play with me?" it asked gently.

Its expression was warm and friendly. If one overlooked the demonic horns on its head and the tentacles beneath its waist, it could almost pass for an amiable older brother from next door.

The question sent chills down Amanda's and Seriu's spines. They immediately swung their swords at the monster.

Its figure flickered, retreating several meters.

"Here I am, speaking to you so nicely, and you greet me with swords?" it complained with a cheerful smile.

Bzzzt!

A sphere of light appeared above the monster's head without warning and suddenly exploded.

The monster looked up in surprise, only to take the blast full on.

Amanda and Seriu seized the opportunity to escape. With a powerful leap, they cleared the crater and landed beside Shu Li.

Holding his magic staff aloft, Shu Li said grimly, "It's not a magical beast. And... it's incredibly strong!"

As a Little Fairy who had grown up roaming the Faerie Forest, he had encountered countless high-ranking magical beasts. He could judge a creature's strength at a glance.

But the monster in the crater was unfathomably powerful.

And what radiated from its body was not dark power, but a bone-chilling aura of death!

"Heh, heh, heh! Little Fairy, you've got a better eye than that young dragon."

The monster spread its wings and slowly rose into the air, letting out a sinister laugh.

Shu Li's and Amanda's pupils contracted sharply.

It had actually seen through their disguises!

Seriu turned toward them in disbelief, wondering whether he had misheard.

The monster was speaking the Continental Common Language, although its accent was rather strange. Some of its words were pronounced incorrectly—or, more precisely, in an archaic manner belonging to a much older age.

Little Fairy? Young dragon?

Weren't Sperien and Amanda human?

As though Seriu wasn't shocked enough already, the monster raised a hand and pointed toward the distant defensive barrier.

"And over there, four more little Fairies, three Dark Elves, and four humans. Heh, heh. What an interesting combination."

It licked the corner of its mouth, greed shining in its purple eyes.

"It's been so long since I last ate a Fairy. What wonderful luck today, finding five young Fairies all at once. Their flesh must be wonderfully tender."

As the monster rose higher, everyone inside the defensive barrier finally got a clear look at it.

They all gasped.

"The monster isn't dead!" Dixio exclaimed.

"What kind of monster is that? It's hideous!" Budno frowned.

"We bombarded it with magic for so long, and it doesn't have a scratch on it?" Angel murmured.

Kumandi tightened his grip on his magic staff, bracing himself for a formidable enemy.

Hector, Sieti, and Nasha huddled together in terror. The situation had gone far beyond anything they could have imagined.

They had only come out to complete a simple herb-gathering assignment. Why did one disaster after another keep happening?

First, countless black serpents had surrounded them. Then a horde of ferocious monsters had appeared. And now they had encountered an enormous monster that looked exceptionally dangerous.

How had things turned out like this?

They hadn't even ventured deep into the canyon! They had only been gathering herbs near its outskirts!

Those five thousand gold coins were proving awfully difficult to earn. One wrong move and they might lose their lives in the process.

Was it still possible for everyone to escape?

"The big monster! The big monster has evolved again!" Lanno cried, his voice trembling with fear as he stared at the purple-haired creature hovering in midair.

"Every time it dies, it comes back to life! And every time it comes back, it gets stronger! We can't kill it!"

"Efit, we have to run!" Luka tugged at Efit's hand.

After they had picked a single herb, this monster had suddenly appeared and attacked them. They had killed it with one strike, but it had quickly revived, grown larger, and summoned even more monsters.

Realizing they were no match for it, Luka and Lanno had turned and fled.

They had been running for two consecutive days, killing the enormous monster several times along the way. Yet each time, it had only grown stronger.

Eventually, they had encountered that adventuring party, which had managed to hold the monster off for a while.

They had thought the adventurers would be able to stop it, never expecting it to catch up with them so quickly.

And now it was even more powerful.

Surely it had already evolved into its ultimate form?

Efit stared coldly at the monster, gathering the two cubs into an embrace.

"We can't run," Efit said in a low voice.

They hadn't left earlier. There was even less reason to abandon the others now.

Sperien was still here. Efit couldn't simply leave him behind.

"That is a high-ranking demon from hell."

At some point, a book had appeared in Ace's hands.

An illustration on its yellowed pages depicted a monster identical to the purple-haired creature hovering in the sky.

Of everyone present, Ace alone remained perfectly composed. He calmly read aloud the annotation beside the illustration.

"It belongs to the Baseo demon race. These demons possess unlimited regenerative abilities. Each death provides them with energy to evolve. After being reborn more than ten times, they attain their perfect form."

Budno swallowed hard.

"Doesn't that make it invincible?"

Kumandi frowned. "Demons... shouldn't they be trapped in hell?"

During the War of the Gods ten thousand years ago, the Elven King and the celestial gods had sealed the Dark God and numerous demons in hell.

Unless that seal was broken, they should have been unable to return to the Human World.

Ace closed the book and put it away, his expression solemn.

"No race in this world is immortal. Even celestial gods can fall one day. The same applies to demons."

"Then let's fight!"

He tightened his grip on his magic staff, his gaze steely.

"Yeah! Who cares whether it's invincible? We just have to kill it!" Dixio declared, his fighting spirit blazing.

The others caught his determination. Casting aside their fear, they steeled themselves to face the demon.

While the demon spread its wings and ascended into the sky, Shu Li, Seriu, and Amanda had cautiously retreated toward the defensive barrier. As a result, the only part of the conversation they heard was Ace's explanation.

So this thing was actually a high-ranking demon from hell, possessing a body that seemed incapable of dying or being destroyed.

With their current strength, killing it would be no easy task.

Gritting his teeth, Shu Li awakened Farm, who was sleeping soundly inside the Fire God's Mark.

A streak of red light shot out from the back of his right hand. Farm's little round body appeared in midair, yawning sleepily.

"What is it now? I was having such a nice dream!"

Earlier, the others had killed a whole pile of black serpents, leaving Farm nothing to eat. Thoroughly bored, it had returned to the Fire God's Mark to continue its nap.

In its dream, it had just caught an eighth-rank magical beast on Mount Amitai and was preparing to enjoy a magnificent feast when it was rudely awakened.

"Farm, I'm giving you permission to eat as much as you want!" Shu Li declared, pointing at the purple-haired monster hovering in the air.

"You can drop your disguise now! Return to your full size and swallow that thing whole!"

If they couldn't kill it, they might as well eat it!

Farm was the Fire God's mount, a creature that had lived for tens of thousands of years. Its strength far surpassed that of a tenth-rank magical beast.

Surely it could devour a high-ranking demon from hell.

Still groggy and disoriented, Farm looked in the direction Shu Li was pointing.

"Huh? That thing?!"

Farm's beastly eyes widened. After scrutinizing the purple-haired monster, it suddenly let out a furious roar.

"ANSEDRAM! YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?!"

The next instant, the little red ball shot forward, transforming into a gigantic magical beast as it soared into the sky.

"ROOOAR!"

Farm unleashed its power and resumed its true form: a fire dragon lizard more than ten meters long.

Opening its enormous jaws, it released an earthshaking roar.