The Creators: From Night City

Page 349

“It’s not a magical artifact,” Isendra said in a low voice to her two newly acquainted companions.

"Natural race," Zul explained in a dry voice, having seen through the female mage's intentions.

As a flesh and blood expert, his opinion is obviously very authoritative.

Chapter 715 Nephalem's Speculation

"Where did this [Anti-Entropy] organization come from? I've never seen a force with a similar style of operation in the Sanctuary." The female mage wasn't as honest as she seemed; she remained skeptical about the emergence of [Anti-Entropy].

As a priest of Rasmar, Zul was quite knowledgeable and added, "In the history I know, there has never been a similar force. Their weapons, clothing, and culture are indeed out of place with their surroundings."

"But the deaths and injuries of the demons cannot be faked; they were indeed on the opposite side of the demons." The barbarian's perspective on the problem was very pragmatic.

The arrival of the kitchen helper cat interrupted the three's conversation. Before the dishes were even served, the cat skillfully brought out three wooden wine glasses the size of its head, filled with high-quality wheat juice, a specialty of [Anti-Entropy]. Another cat simply carried a wooden bucket of wheat juice and placed it directly next to the three's dining table.

The reason is simple: these combatants are all big eaters. Even the Rogues can down several large glasses of 'wheat juice' with each meal. Given their constitution, this amount of alcohol won't make them drunk at all.

Fortunately, the hunters are the same way, and the Palicoes are already used to it.

After the cat carrying the wine had gone far away, Isendra pointed to the sky and said meaningfully, "I suspect they come from outside the Sanctuary."

Zur frowned thoughtfully after hearing this.

Besides the High Heavens, the Burning Lands, and Sanctuary, this world contains many smaller worlds. Angels and demons created Sanctuary, and others can naturally create other sanctuaries as well.

"You mean, [Anti-Entropy] might be a lost clan?"

Zul glanced at the 'Apostle' beside him, whose height and build were clearly different from ordinary people, and unconsciously lowered his body to continue discussing the possibility of this issue with the female mage.

"Is it possible that their leader, Sabur, is a...?"

The female mage touched the ruby ​​on her forehead ornament, a gem that, among mages, represented the Eye of Insight. She lowered her voice as well, asking, "Nephalem?"

The two men's questions were answered by a full and long burp from their newly acquainted barbarian companion.

The burly man lifted the wine barrel, which weighed at least forty or fifty pounds, with one hand, filled it up for himself, and then looked at the two men who were looking at him and said with an awkward smile, "This wine is very good, you should try it too."

Zul and Isendra could only look at each other in silence.

Fortunately, the meal quickly eased their awkward silence.

Each person received a large plate of grilled meat with a secret sauce, accompanied by perfectly grilled vegetable skewers. The aroma almost made the three of them dizzy, so the problem was temporarily put aside.

Meanwhile, the 'Nephalem' the trio mentioned was hiking in the wilderness.

Of course, he was accompanied by a Rogue guide.

Kyoko.

“These caves are winding and complex, and many ferocious beasts live inside.” Kyoko gently brushed aside the fallen leaves in front of a dark cave entrance with her boot, revealing a corpse that was already mostly decomposed.

This is a human skeleton, dressed as a peasant woman, her clothes ill-fitting, her skull missing.

"Now it seems that, under the influence of dark magic, these beasts have probably all turned into bloodthirsty monsters."

The Rogues dislike caves and tunnels because they restrict their archery skills, but the tunnels leading into the depths of the Dark Forest are intricate and complex, and finding the right passage requires guidance from someone familiar with the area.

"Lord Sabur, have you lost something in the Dark Forest?"

Jiang Bing, leaning on his cane, stood at the cave entrance peering inside. Upon hearing this, he turned and asked, "Why would you say that?"

"Because almost everyone who visits the Tree of Enifus is looking for something lost in the Dark Forest. Of course, back then, this place hadn't been corrupted by dark magic and was still called the Great Forest."

"I see," Jiang Bing said, having no intention of answering the question.

The two stepped into the cave together, and the visibility around them immediately dimmed.

Fortunately, one of them had eagle eyes and the other had night vision, so they encountered no obstacles while moving forward.

"How much do you know about this Tree of Enifus?" A swarm of bloodthirsty bats took flight from the damp cave wall. Just as they were about to pounce on the two, Kyoko pierced three of them with an arrow, pinning them to the cave wall. Most of them were then burned to death by the blazing golden flames, and the rest immediately scattered and fled.

"Not many. I've only seen it once, when I was looking for a sister who had been lost in the forest. She was a novice and was undergoing wilderness survival training, but she didn't return by the designated time."

"Did they find the person later?" Jiang Bing poked at the bat carcass, which was about the size of a house cat, with his cane, observing the two sharp fangs on its head, which were as sharp and piercing as a vampire's.

"We found her, but she was attacked by a tree-climbing monster and is long dead. She was eaten and only bones remain." Kyoko stated the tragic ending in a calm tone.

"Feel sorry"

“You don’t need to apologize. These things always happen. After all, this world has never been safe.” Kyoko saw things very clearly.

"Following the prophecy from a thousand years ago, we have never given up on rigorous training and striving to become stronger, so that we can drive the demons back to hell when they attack. For this, any sacrifice is acceptable."

Kyoko led Jiang Bing through a narrow passage to an underground cave.

"Let's get back to the Tree of Enifus. What does it look like?"

“Your Excellency Sabur, it is very special, so special that you will recognize it at first glance.”

"It's very tall?"

"No, it looks like it's alive."

Kyoko replied.

'A living tree, no wonder it could call for help from Heiml,' Jiang Bing thought to himself.

The interior of the dark cave was not flat. After turning a bend of about ninety degrees, all the light from the outside was blocked, and the surroundings became completely dark.

"Are there bears around here?"

Jiang Bing snorted, the distinctive fishy smell of large animals constantly assaulting his nostrils.

"They are huge beasts; ordinary bears can't beat them."

"However, they are very docile and will not attack people unless provoked." Jingzi was chosen as Jiang Bing's guide not only because she volunteered, but also because she is a wilderness expert in this area and naturally knows the surrounding ecology very well.

But reality soon slapped her in the face.

The giant beast resembled an overweight gorilla, with two fists the size of water tanks, but its facial features and head were remarkably small.

Big breasts but no brains, and not much wisdom.

It is a vegetarian, so its mouth and teeth are not fierce.

However, the group of enormous beasts the two are now encountering does not seem to fit that description.

They are clearly not herbivores; they eat not only other wild animals but also humans.

They eat living people.

Chapter 716 Plants vs. Zombies

Several mangled corpses were torn to pieces, clearly the work of these wild beasts.

So when they attacked Jiang Bing, he casually tore them to pieces.

“They were hunters from the neighborhood. They must have been trying to hide in the cave to escape the demons.” Kyoko turned over the half-mutilated corpse and identified the deceased from the wooden bow on the remaining arm.

"They must have known the habits of these beasts, but they didn't expect that under the invasion of dark magic, these huge beasts would all be twisted and become extremely bloodthirsty."

As it turns out, Kyoko's words were true.

On their journey thereafter, the two encountered four waves of enormous beasts afflicted with conjunctivitis, two swarms of scorpions the size of washbasins, a grotesque worm (resembling a centipede but several meters long), and a large swarm of seemingly omnipresent Fallen Ones.

Many of these Fallen Ones were wounded, and some were even missing limbs. They seemed to be at the bottom of the cave's ecological niche, and their flesh and blood probably fed many of the wildly mutated cave creatures.

The Dark Forest is located in a large basin in the southern part of the Candulas Mountains. It is surrounded by towering mountains and can be described as a blessed land that is impervious to wind and rain, and protected from water and fire.

Naturally, the ecology here is very lush, with abundant vegetation and a rich variety of species, comparable to the Amazon rainforest.

Of course, all of this happened before the Dark Wanderer wreaked havoc on this place.

"Strange, the trees here haven't died?" Kyoko discovered the blind spot as soon as she emerged from the cave.

On the frigid plains or rocky wilderness, lands thoroughly soaked in dark magic, the trees have long been affected by the dark magic, all withered and dead, their dry branches deformed like countless black blades, trying to harm anyone who gets close to them.

While some of the trees in the Dark Forest have died, a considerable number of them are only slightly withered and have not lost all their leaves, showing no signs of life.

"It is the Tree of Enifus that is protecting this forest." Jiang Bing sensed the vast network of plant roots underground, where dark magic was battling against the forces of nature.

"Ah~ah~"

A few crow caws suddenly came from above the two of them, and a crow suddenly landed on a branch in front of them.

Looking at the crows as black as charcoal, Jiang Bing smiled knowingly: "Let's go, it's time to see this sacred tree. They've sent people specifically to welcome us."

However, after following the crow for only a few steps, the two discovered a huge clearing in the dense forest.

This land was barren, the dark magic so thick it seemed to overflow from the soil.

In the center of the open space stood a bloody altar, where countless human skulls were piled up into a small mountain, and a large amount of blood slowly trickled down the skull mountain through a special dripping device.

The yellowing leaves in the forest rustled as if the wind were blowing through them.

A faint, ethereal voice seemed to come from deep within the forest, echoing in their ears.

"The source of evil~"

"Rotten roots~"

"Destroy!"

Needless to say, it must be the whisper of the Tree of Enifos.

Dozens of wild animal corpses lay lying beside the altar, including huge beasts and several fat and strong wolves. Judging from their fur and claws, they were clearly not ordinary creatures, but they were no match for the demons guarding the altar and were killed on the spot.

Jiang Bing wasn't a demonologist like Deckard Kane, so he didn't know the name of the several demons floating beside the altar with sharp horns on their heads, deformed fleshy tumors all over their bodies, resembling vengeful spirits but clearly having a physical form. He only knew that these were rare spellcasting units, with dark magic surging within them.

Of course, if Deckard Kane were here, he would tell Jiang Bing that the true name of this kind of demon is the Sacrificial Monster, and that it is not a pure hellish demon, but rather a human transformed into one.

Their predecessors were mostly pitiful people controlled by demons, or simply madmen who actively summoned demons. Under the demons' bewitchment, they blindly summoned a demon called 'Dark Avatar' into their bodies, completed the transformation, and gained 'immortality'.

The sacrificial monsters are half-demon creatures mutated from humans. They are extremely ferocious in their attacks and move very fast. When they are seriously injured, the dark avatar within them will go berserk, transforming the host into a berserk human form of the dark avatar at the cost of greatly shortening the host's physical lifespan.

The best way to deal with them is to eliminate them as quickly as possible.

Jiang Bing was naturally unaware of these facts, and of course, he didn't need to know them.

He ignored the cawing of the crows and walked out carelessly, where he was discovered by the demons and fought them.

However, saying that would obviously be giving the other person too much credit.

Jiang Bing grabbed the first sacrificial monster by its deformed, obese right arm and swung it around, causing it to collide with the second sacrificial monster. The flesh and bones of both monsters exploded in mid-air into a brilliant red firework, scattering in all directions.

The immense force of the impact even caused most of the squeezed-out blood to be shaken into a blood mist, which lingered in the air for a long time.

The third sacrificial monster was stabbed into the chest by Jiang Bing's remaining deformed claws. Just as the dark avatar inside the monster was about to burst out of its rage, Jiang Bing shoved the monster's head back into its cavity, stuffing the dark avatar and its roar back into its belly.

Faced with this situation, the last sacrificial monster, halfway there, turned 90 degrees on the spot, smoothly executed a beautiful drift, and then sprinted into the depths of the forest.

"Interesting, this kind of demon actually knows fear." Jiang Bing silently made a mental note of the other party, but did not move, letting the other party escape.

Just as the priest demon, thinking it had escaped death, fled into the dense forest, a strange creature suddenly sprang up from the fertile soil. Its long body resembled a giant python that had been lying in ambush for a long time, and it tightly coiled around its prey, dragging it into the ground.

Jiang Bing could see very clearly that it was a robust, living vine.

But the sacrificial monster's deformed muscles were clearly not just for show. It gripped the ground with both hands, and with a burst of strength, it straightened the vines wrapped around its body, allowing it to stand up again.

The next moment, more vines emerged from the soil around it, tightly binding it and wrapping it up like a rice dumpling, pulling it back into the soil.

The soft soil rippled a few times like ocean waves, and then fell silent.

The Plants vs. Zombies game ended with the plants emerging victorious.

"Mr. Sabur! What is this?" Kyoko stared in astonishment at the now calm ground, unable to tell that a demon had just been devoured there, let alone that a large number of living plants were hidden underground. The thought that she had walked this far, and that there might have been such monsters lurking under her feet, made her hair stand on end.

Chapter 717 The Tree of Enifus

Jiang Bing snapped his fingers, and a golden flame swept across his body, burning away the blood mist.

"Don't be nervous," he reassured Kyoko, then turned to look at the edge of the open space. There, a jet-black crow had landed on a withered branch and was staring at the two of them with its ruby-like eyes.

"Ennivers, did you do that?" Although his words were questioning, Jiang Bing spoke with certainty.

The crow cawed a few times, as if acquiescing. It flapped its wings and hopped from branch to branch, but dared not step into the clearing in the woods.

But this reaction undoubtedly conveys the message, 'Yes, I did it.'

The demon that guarded the altar is dead, but the altar continues to function.

This mountain-like skull was continuously generating dark magic, seeping into the earth beneath it, corrupting and distorting its very nature.