Chapter 16: Garden

Following the same route as the previous week, Leon set out on his inspection journey.Leon quickly realized that things were quite different today.

As soon as he set foot on the stone-paved path, Leon immediately sensed that something was amiss. Today, the demons were unusually excited and behaving in strange ways.

The first stop on his inspection was the Ghost Tree Grove.

Even before reaching the grove, Leon was horrified by what he saw in front of him.

Hundreds of Carrion Crows were perched on those skinny, gnarled Ghost Trees, and each one of them had their round, red eyes fixed on Leon. Strangely, none of them made a sound, which was completely different from their usual behavior.

Honestly, being stared at by a few hundred Carrion Crows at once would send chills down the spine of even the bravest Apprentice Mage. But what puzzled Leon even more was how quiet they were. If they were behaving normally, the loud cawing of the Carrion Crows could be heard a mile away.

But today…

Judging by their silence, it seemed as if they were all waiting for a grand feast.

Based on the knowledge Leon had in mind, these Carrion Crows would only be so quiet and patient when they were waiting for their meal. It was said that these birds could follow a dying traveler for days without sleeping or resting, just waiting for the moment the traveler finally fell.

Under the 'Welcome Parade' of a few hundred Carrion Crows, Leon slowly started walking along the stone path. As he proceeded, he knew he was completely surrounded by creatures with ill intentions.

"Chip, perform a scan of the surrounding area. I need to know what's going on here!" Leon couldn't bear the oppressive atmosphere any longer and whispered a command.

"Beep."

"Initiating real-time scan task…

"Establishing dynamic monitoring for the surrounding area…"

"Beep!"

"Beep…"

"Beep…"

"Source of disturbance is an unknown scent!"

"Direction: Southeast… Distance: 500 meters…"

Unknown scent?

After noting the Chip's report, Leon took a deep breath and tried to catch a whiff of this 'unknown scent.' After a moment, he was able to pick up a faint smell of blood mixed with the rotten stench of the mist. No wonder all these demons seemed so excited today! Sёarch* The NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

If he could smell the blood, then of course these creatures, whose senses were dozens or even hundreds of times more sensitive, could smell it too!

However, today was not the monthly 'Quiet Day' when the tower would deliberately lower the swamp defenses to lure outsiders to 'feed' the 'wildlife'! Could someone have actually snuck into this place?

With questions filling his mind, Leon poured an entire bottle of potion into his mouth, pulled up his hood, and began sprinting southeast.

An Alan Grass Potion was a special magical concoction prepared from Alan Grass. It was capable of sealing all the pores of the human body, suppressing the drinker's body odors. But it only lasted for 30 minutes.

...

In the Whispering Garden.

The garden, which was usually deathly silent and completely devoid of life, had turned into a terrifying battlefield.

As he approached the site, he could hear the horrific cries of the Demon Babies and the screams of the wandering souls. He also heard loud human voices, shouting in anger and fear. Apparently, this was the source of the pungent smell of blood that had caught his attention.

Using the trees and grass as cover, Leon slowly approached the battlefield. Soon, he found a spot with a good vantage point, allowing him to observe what was happening.

There were two groups fighting in the area.

The attackers were, of course, the hideous Demon Babies and the other wandering souls that resided there. Then, there were 17 mercenaries battling to fend off the horrific creatures in front of them.

They appeared to be a skilled and experienced group of mercenaries. They looked strong and vigorous, lacking neither physical strength nor bravery. Moreover, their equipment was excellent. They had large, thick shields made of solid wood, arm and shoulder guards, and each of them carried a bow. This made them capable of hunting many common demons in this swamp.

But unfortunately for them, the demons surrounding them were some of the most fearsome creatures in the swamp: Demon Babies.

Demon Babies had no legs and crawled on the ground using a pair of sharp claws, dragging a long organ, which resembled an umbilical cord, behind them. They were hideous, with twisted bodies, but they looked remarkably similar to human babies.

However, their faces were not made of smooth, young flesh, but rather wrinkled dead skin, and their facial features were pinched, giving them extremely grotesque faces.

Amid the knee-high bushes, these little demons were crawling back and forth, uttering curses and cries that echoed throughout the area. Whenever a baby's wail was heard, it immediately caused the human mercenaries to scream in fear.

Although these Demon Babies had small bodies, each one possessed strength of at least 5, equivalent to that of an average adult human. Not only that, but they also had a pair of deadly claws. Whenever they lunged forward and struck the large wooden shields, they left deep scratch marks behind.

However, their most lethal weapon was their Curse.

When Leon arrived, these Demon Babies were trying to break through the defensive shields with their bodies.

One after another, the Demon Babies darted through the bushes, launching themselves into the air and attempting to land behind the mercenaries' defensive shields, but each time, the prepared mercenaries knocked them down with their arm guards. There was even a Demon Baby that failed to escape in time and found itself pinned to the ground with an arrow.

Though pinned to the ground, the Demon Baby was still ferocious, wildly clawing at the earth. It then lifted its body and let out an irritating baby wail toward the nearest human mercenary.

"Sniff~~"

"Waaaaaa~~"

The cry was sharp and deafening, but while it was merely an unpleasant noise to others, when the scream reached the mercenary closest to it, he was instantly struck by the terrifying 'Curse.'

The muscular mercenary suddenly dropped his shield and pressed both hands tightly against his ears, screaming: "Help me!… I can't see anything!…"

Moments after he shouted, tears of blood poured from his tightly shut eyes, terrifying the other mercenaries.

Before anyone could react, two more Demon Babies emerged from the bushes, vicious grins on their hideous faces. They opened their mouths and shrieked at the mercenary who had already been afflicted with 'Blindness.'

Blindness + Madness + Confusion!

Even an official Apprentice Mage would struggle to defend against a Demon Baby's curse, let alone these mercenaries, who were merely ordinary humans. Before his fellow mercenaries could knock him out, the afflicted mercenary frantically pushed everything around him and dashed out of the defensive formation.

"No!… Bazar, come back!…"

A middle-aged man, who appeared to be the leader of the group, immediately shouted from within the formation. But it was too late.

If someone had looked down from above, they would have seen movement within the bushes surrounding this team of mercenaries, with numerous fast-moving lines of grass racing toward the confused, fleeing mercenary.

"Bazar!" A bold-looking man threw away his own shield, grabbed an axe, and started running to rescue his friend. However, he was forcefully pulled back by his leader.

"Don't go, Tark! It's too late now…" The leader gripped the bold man's arm as he looked helplessly at the departing man.

As if to prove his words, Bazar, who had gone mad, was overwhelmed by a swarm of Demon Babies.

"Arrrrgg~~"

"Help!"

"Stop, please..."

"No! Stop eating my intestines..."

His pain-filled and piercing screams lasted only a few more seconds before falling silent. Then, all that could be heard was the sound of those Demon Babies tearing at his flesh and gnawing on his bones.

Even though it was half-concealed by the knee-high bushes, no mercenary could witness the scene of those Demon Babies feasting on their friend. Just looking at the constantly shifting dry grass and hearing the terrifying, chilling sounds was enough for them to imagine the extremely horrific scene that must be happening within those bushes.

Consequently, their long-held determination and morale began to falter.

"Whoosh~~"

Suddenly, a fireball the size of a human head shot out from the center of the mercenaries, leaving a long trail of dark smoke. It landed squarely in the center of the area where the Demon Babies were joyfully feasting.

"BOOM!"

The next second, with a deafening explosion, the terrifying fire Elementium expanded and turned everything within a ten-meter radius into a raging sea of flames.

With just a single strike, over twenty Demon Babies were killed. Fourteen of them, caught in the center of the explosion, were turned to ash in an instant. Those at the edges of the explosion were all injured by the furious flames. For a moment, the shrill cries of the Demon Babies reverberated across the skies!

A Fire Spell?!

Leon, watching from the shadows, was startled for a moment. He quickly looked around, soon spotting three suspicious figures at the center of the mercenaries. They were all dressed relatively similarly to him.

Their black cloaks and hoods completely covered their bodies, leaving not an inch of skin exposed, but judging by their body sizes, Leon guessed they were two men and a girl.

Three Apprentice Mages who had left their homes to gain experience?

Since he couldn't see them directly, there was no way for Leon to discern the specific attributes of these individuals. Therefore, he didn't dare to act recklessly. He quietly took out his Magic Talisman and reported the events happening here to the Mage Tower.

During this time, the Demon Babies, who had suffered heavy losses, summoned all the wandering souls to aid them.

Since these wandering souls could live among other demons, they clearly weren't low-tier creatures like zombies or skeletons, but rather conscious bodies formed by strong resentment and malevolent intentions.

Although they had human shapes, they lacked physical bodies, and their innate ability to freely shift between the ethereal and physical allowed them to bypass most physical attacks and defenses.

Their forms looked like blurred shadows. Comparatively, their heads were much clearer and had facial features similar to those of humans. They had a pair of arms with sharp claws, but where their legs should have been was just a vague shadow. From a distance, it looked as though their legs had merged into the air.

When this group of wandering souls emerged from the forest, the entire area was immediately filled with eerie ghostly wails, capable of making one's soul shudder.

"Come with me!"

"Surrender your soul to me!"

"The shadows do not forget..."

"Darkness is eternal..."

"I shall return for you..."

"Feel the chill of eternity..."

"Your time is near..."

The temperature also dropped significantly.

Attacked by this seemingly endless wave of terrifying wandering souls, the mercenaries' defensive formation collapsed instantly.

The wandering souls, which had shifted into their ethereal forms, fearlessly jumped into the group of men, completely ignoring the mercenaries' weapons and shields. With their icy ghostly claws, these souls were busy leaving deadly scratch marks on their targets' bodies. Some even squeezed into the mercenaries' bodies, taking control and launching attacks on the other mercenaries.

"Zap!"

"Pow~~"

"Strike!"

Now that a breach had been created by the wandering souls, the wicked Demon Babies once again joined the battle, using their horrible curses to break the will of the mercenaries. After that, they dragged the cursed bodies into the bushes and began feasting on them.

The scene grew even more chaotic and bloodier.

....

1954 Words