Chapter 16
Following the same route as the week before, Greem set out on his inspection trip.
Greem quickly noticed that things were quite different today.
When he set his foot on the stone paved path, Greem immediately felt things were wrong. Today, the demons were strangely excited and were behaving in unusual ways.
The first stop of his inspection was the grove of Ghost Trees.
Before he even reached the grove, Greem was freaked out by what he saw in front of him.
Hundreds of Scavenger Crows were standing on top of those skinny and wrinkled Ghost Trees, and every single one of them had their beady red eyes focused on Greem. Oddly enough, none of them were making any noise, which was totally different from how they normally behaved.
Honestly, being stared at by a few hundred Scavenger Crows at the same time would make even the bravest Apprentice Adept’s spine crawl. But what made Greem feel even more baffled was how quiet they were. If they were behaving normally, the noisy caws of the Scavenger Crows could be heard from a mile away.
But today…
“Don’t go, Tark! It is too late now…” The leader grabbed the bold looking man’s arm while gazing helplessly after the departing man.
As if proving his words, Bazar, who was running amok, got pushed down by a swarm of Demon Babies. His pain filled and shrill screaming only lasted for a few more seconds before coming to a complete stop. Then all that could be heard was the noise of those Demon Babies tearing into his flesh and munching on his bones.
Although it was half covered by the knee-deep bushes, no mercenary could stand to witness the scene of those Demon Babies feasting on their friend. Just by looking at the constant moving dried grass and listening to the terrifying and eerie noises, it was still enough for them to envision the extremely dreadful scene that must be happening in those bushes. Therefore, their long-standing determination and morale began to fall.
Suddenly, a human head sized fireball shot out from the center of the mercenaries, creating a long trail of dark smoke. It fell right into the center of the area where those Demon Babies were happily feasting.
In next second, together with a deafening explosion, the terrifying Fire Elementium expanded and turning everything in an area of ten meters into a raging sea of flames.
With just this one single strike, more than twenty Demon Babies were killed. Fourteen of them, who were at the center of the explosion, had been turned into ashes in an instant. Those who at the edges of the explosion were all injured by the raging flames. For a moment, the shrill cries of Demon Babies reverberated through the skies!
A Fire Spell?!
Greem, who was watching from the dark, was startled for a moment. He quickly looked around, soon finding three suspicious targets, who were standing in the center of the mercenaries. There were all dressed relatively similarly to himself.
Their black cloaks and hoods completely covered their bodies so that not even an inch of their skin was exposed, but, judging from the size of their bodies, he supposed that they were two men and a girl.
Three Apprentice Adepts who had left their nest for experience?
As he couldn’t directly see them, there was no way for Greem to obtain the specific attributes of these people. Hence, he didn’t dare act recklessly. He quietly took out his Magical Talisman and reported what was happening here to the Adept Tower.
During this period of time, the Demon Babies, who had suffered great losses, actually called upon all the wandering souls to aid them.
As these wandering souls were capable of living among other demons, of course they were not low-ranked creatures, like those zombies or skeletons, but, rather, were actually a conscious body that was formed from strong resentment and evil intentions. Although they had human forms, they didn’t have physical bodies, and their innate ability to freely shift between the ethereal and the physical allowed them to ignore most physical attacks and defenses.
Their bodies looked like blurry shadows. Comparatively, their heads were much clearer, and they had facial features similar to that of a human. They had a pair of arms with sharp claws, yet where their legs should be was just a vague shadow. If looking from afar, it was like their legs had merged into the air.
When this group of wandering souls dashed out from the woods, the entire place was immediately filled with the eerie cries of ghosts, which could make one’s soul shiver. The temperature also significantly dropped.
When attacked by this, seemingly endless, group of frightening wandering souls, the mercenaries defensive formation immediately collapsed.
The wandering souls, who had shifted their bodies into their ethereal forms jumped into the group of men without fear, as they could totally ignore the weapons and shield held by those mercenaries. With their icy cold ghost claws, these wandering souls were busy leaving deadly scratch marks on their target’s bodies. There were even some wandering souls squeezed themselves into the bodies of the mercenaries, taking control over their bodies and launching attacks against the other mercenaries.
Now that a breach had been created by the wander souls, the evil Demon Babies, again, joined the battle, using their horrifying curses to destroy the wills of these mercenaries. After that, they dragged the cursed bodies into bushes and started feasting on them.
The scene had become even more chaotic and bloody.