Your secret game is absolutely poisonous!

The five faded ones were not ready.

The ferocious attack of the Rotten Tree Spirits has already begun.

This twisted and deformed monster, though clearly a huge piece of tree, possesses a body as flexible and supple as a snake.

It has a terrifying, gaping maw, multiple thick arms, and its massive body, covered in tumors and secreting venom, is itself a highly lethal weapon.

Ramming and crashing wildly!

Rolling and crushing!

It swung its claws and bit!

The Rotting Tree Spirit's attacks are chaotic and dangerous. If a combo fails to kill the Faded One, its body immediately bursts into golden flames, greatly increasing its attack power and threat.

The golden flames of holy power contrasted sharply and clashed strongly with its deformed, dark appearance.

The five faded individuals dared not approach for a moment.

He retreated repeatedly, looking quite disheveled.

Meng Bai couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn it, what on earth is this?"

Roger: "This is a golden tree root that was corrupted by the Death Root and eventually became deformed. It not only possesses the power of death flowing from the Death Prince's body, but also a portion of the power of the golden tree."

Death Warlock Goreth: "There might be more than one. We must finish this quickly!"

"kill!"

Ryannil roared and launched the first counterattack.

Others also took action.

The battle officially begins.

The sight of five Faded Ones besieging the deformed tree monster amazed the onlookers. This monster was probably a type of tree spirit, but it was far more twisted and evil than the tree spirits that appeared in the Ten Kingdoms or Arad.

The grumpy little chicken said, "I never expected such a powerful monster to be entrenched in this place. No wonder Grik didn't station troops here. Anyone who gets close to this place is probably doomed."

White deer: "This is clearly an evil monster, yet it can use holy power. It's so twisted and bizarre."

"That's interesting. This monster might have some special characteristics. If we form a contract with its spirit, we might be able to learn spells with opposing and completely different attributes, such as holy light and undead."

"As expected, the border area contains a large number of extremely valuable monster spirits!"

"Go, Mengbai!"

"..."

The fading ones experience brief confusion.

An effective counterattack is underway.

Meng Bai was fortunate to have four companions with considerable strength.

Roger the Magic Swordsman's attack methods need no further explanation.

The fearless Ryannil is primarily skilled in combat and swordsmanship, but also possesses several magical abilities.

As for Knight Caint, he was once a Rhodes Knight of the royal city. Although he did not possess magical abilities, he was proficient in lightning strikes, which had very high damage output and a fierce and aggressive style of attack.

Of course, the strongest one is still the Death Warlock, Goreth.

This person wields the family's head flail and is skilled in summoning undead skeletons and vengeful spirits.

Undead skeletons are physical entities that can be used for melee combat and control, while vengeful spirits are ferocious skulls made of pale flames that explode on their targets like homing bombs. Although they are not fast, their damage is quite astonishing.

They are all formidable teammates!
Meng Bai wasn't idle either.

Summon three wolves to restrain them.

Create distance and use Fire-Throwing Prayer to attack.

This long-range attack is not only safer, but the rotten tree spirit, no matter how distorted and twisted, is still a tree. Since it is a tree, it is mostly weak to fire. Using fire-throwing prayers to deal with it is much more effective than directly cutting it down.

Logically speaking, the five-to-one fading color should give the fading color a significant advantage.

The Rotten Tree Spirit is not only extremely ferocious and violent, but also possesses a formidable regenerative ability, making it very difficult to kill.

Roger's Kalia Greatsword and Caint's lightning-enhanced slashes, though causing huge wounds on the Rotten Tree Spirit, quickly healed and disappeared on their own.

The essence of the rotten tree spirit is a tree.

Trees do not have fatal organs, so there is no such thing as fatal injury.

The only thing the Faded One can do is wear it down. No matter how strong the Rotting Tree Spirit's vitality is, it has its limits. Only by wearing it down to the point where it can no longer heal itself can it be completely defeated. Everyone can only pray that a second one will not appear during this process.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario did not occur.

Mengbai launched more than ten fire-throwing prayers in succession.

Clusters of red flames continuously landed on the rotting tree spirit.

The rotting tree spirit was initially able to use golden flames to suppress the fire, but as the battle continued, the suppression effect rapidly weakened, and it could no longer extinguish the flames on its body. Red flames began to spread across its decaying body.

This means that the power and resistance of the decaying tree spirit are weakening!
Everyone was overjoyed when they discovered this.

But just as the dawn of victory appeared...

The rotting tree spirit suddenly slammed violently into the ground, causing explosions in the surrounding area. Large amounts of golden flames burst from the earth, forming surging pillars of fire that engulfed almost all targets within a radius of tens of meters.

The wild wolves summoned by Mengbai and the skeleton monsters of Goris were almost instantly torn apart and vaporized when they were enveloped by the golden flame explosion.

Meng Bai quickly said, "Oh no! Retreat!"

Knight Kaint was struck by bursts of flames from too close, the violent force of which was enough to severely injure him. Before he could escape the area of ​​the erupting fire, he was pinned down by a claw from the Rotting Tree Spirit.

"For the Golden Tree!"

Kaint raised his greatsword, crackling with golden lightning, and a bolt of golden lightning descended from the sky, striking the Rotting Tree Spirit instantly. However, this did not stop the Rotting Tree Spirit's attack.

A ball of golden flame spewed from its mouth.

The surging golden flames engulfed the knight, causing him to be burned all over. Within seconds, he was charred in the golden flames and torn to shreds by the rotting tree spirit.

We have completely lost a partner!
Although the other four were terrified, they did not stop their attack. Instead, they took advantage of the end of the fire eruption and launched an even more ferocious and hysterical attack.

One of the five faded ones was killed.

The Faded Ones' faction advantage has been weakened.

Meng Bai noticed that the Rotting Tree Spirit's aura was even weaker after the eruption than before.

She shouted, "Now is our only chance to defeat it!"

The Rotting Tree Spirit has an extremely strong regenerative ability. If it is not eliminated as soon as possible, the four of them will be in grave danger once it recovers. Moreover, no one knows whether a second or third Rotting Tree Spirit will appear!

The longer this battle drags on, the worse it will be!
"Do it quickly!"

Meng Bai's magic power was exhausted, and all her blue bottles were used up, so she could no longer activate the Fire-Throwing Prayer. The Summoning Bell was also still cooling down. She took out her short blade and charged forward, leaping up and stabbing it fiercely into the rotten tree spirit's body, cutting a large gash.

"Kalia's Greatsword!"

Roger's magic greatsword slashed down simultaneously.

Goreth and Ryannir unleashed their strongest moves.

Under the relentless onslaught of the four Faded Ones, the already weakened Rotting Tree Spirit was powerless to resist. It roared and collapsed to the ground, its body rapidly withering and shrinking into a piece of decaying dead wood.

"Won!"

Meng Bai breathed a sigh of relief.

It's a bit of a shame to lose such a powerful Faded One companion.

However, being able to defeat such a terrifying monster is still a satisfactory result!
According to Roger and Goreth, the Rotten Tree Spirit is a monster born from the corruption of the Golden Tree, and there is definitely more than one such monster, so they must act quickly and evacuate as soon as possible.

Don't stay here for long!

The four of them passed through the corrupted tree spirit area and arrived at the deepest part of the hall.

A shocking scene unfolded before my eyes: everywhere was covered with hideous black thorns, like diseased blood vessels filling every place.

The ground is what can be most frightening or give you goosebumps.

All they saw was a huge, strange outline resembling a human face appearing on the ground.

Wrinkled, grotesque, and deformed, yet several meters long and wide, it appears before your eyes like an abstract sculpture, its surface texture solid and completely integrated with the ground.

All the black roots around it grew out of this face.

Although this face doesn't look like an organic object, it still has the characteristic of continuing to grow, and a sinister and eerie aura constantly seeps out from the surface of the skin, giving people a very uncomfortable feeling.

Meng Bai: "This is... the remains of the dead prince?"

After receiving affirmative answers from several other faded individuals.

Both the naive newbies and the onlookers were completely bewildered.

"what's the situation?"

"Is this really a face?"

"Goldwin is a human, right? Judging from the back view shown in the opening scene, he is not only a human but also a handsome blond guy!"

"This face is not only strange and ugly, but it's also at least several meters long. Even a giant tens of meters tall couldn't possibly have such a big, grotesque face!"

"The remains of Godwin that Grek took with him when he fled the royal city of Rodel were actually a face? What kind of behavior is this? It's too bizarre. And why would he throw the face into the deepest part of Stoneville?"

"..."

The adventurers were all filled with curiosity.

I'm more curious about the process of the physical transformation of the dead prince Godwin.

I am also confused and suspicious about the appearance of this face here.

However, around the same time, the White Crane Hermit discovered some clues in the city of Stoneville.

In a secret room, he found amulets and notes left by a group called the Godskin Nobles. According to the available information, the Godskin Nobles are a very ancient group that can hunt gods. They like to collect face skins and sew them onto their bodies.

"Could it be that Grek taking Godwin's face is related to the Godskin Noble?"

"What kind of people are these 'God Skin Aristocrats'? Why are they collecting other people's faces? Are they doing some kind of weird performance art?"

"This world is too absurd!"

"But I like it!"

"..."

Four Faded Ones explore the Hall of Dead Prince's Face.

Mengbai found a consumable item called "Dead Prince Pustule" in the corner.

【The Dead Prince's Pustules】(Secret Realm Item), a foul-smelling, festering human-faced pustule. Increases resistance to death... Description: It is said that this is the face of the Dead Prince—formerly known as Godwin, one of the first dead among the demigods, later buried deep beneath the royal city, at the roots of the golden tree.

When they learned what this foul-smelling, black thing was...
Meng Bai almost threw up.

However, based on the information from the secret realm items, we did obtain some useful information: the place where Golden Godwin was buried should be under the royal city, and the only way to find him in the future is to go to the royal city.

Faced with the huge, deformed face before him, Meng Bai couldn't help but ask, "How did Godwin's body turn into this? What happened to him?"

Roger is studying Godwin's face.

"I see. Although Godwin was assassinated on the night of the Black Knife Plot, he did not actually die completely. Godwin's soul no longer exists, but his body is still alive and undergoing changes."

According to his introduction.

Mengbai finally understood why Godwin had become like this.

In short: Godwin's death was wrong, and the manner of his death was also incomplete.

The Golden Law of the Borderlands has long since abolished death; no living being can die, let alone a demigod. Now, it is unknown what power the Black Blade Assassin used to kill Godwin.

And this is the answer that the sorcerer Goris wants to know.

The Death Sorcerer, Goreth, is a magician who believes in and worships death. After death was completely forbidden by the laws of the Borderlands, people like him became heretics in the Borderlands, so they dreamed that death could return to all things.

Then again.

The reason why Prince Godwin became like this is because of this.

The main reason is that the assassin only killed his soul, not his physical body; in other words, Godwin's death was not entirely complete. The physical bodies of beings from the borderlands cannot exist independently.

The soul is eternal and immortal, while the body needs to rely on the soul.

No soul in the border region can be destroyed by known means and spells. Although the physical body, as a material existence, can be temporarily destroyed, it can be reshaped as long as the soul remains. Therefore, in a sense, it cannot be completely destroyed.

The current situation is rather unique.

Godwin's soul was killed.

This is the first truly deceased person under the Golden Law, but strangely, his physical body is still alive.

This demigod, devoid of a soul, possessed an immense life force that caused his physical body to resemble an out-of-control tumor, morphing and twisting into a state where it could no longer grow. Furthermore, it merged with the power of the god-slaying black blade, ultimately forming a curse that spread throughout the borderlands.

"As expected of the child with the noblest bloodline of Marika!"

The sorcerer Goris stroked the face before him, his expression filled with envy and rapture. At the same time, he muttered to himself, "The death emanating from him is the strongest and most concentrated I have ever seen!"

While talking.

It's unclear what magic Goris used.

Wisps of pale flame seeped from the mask and eventually poured into the skull in Goris's hand.

Goreth explained, "This mysterious power that can kill demigods, though diluted countless times, is still comparable to the death fire of the dead bird. This power can be used by me to enhance the power of the death magic."

"You guys are so boring!"

Ryanneel crossed his arms over his chest.

He is different from Roger, who has lofty ambitions to break the curse, or Goreth, who seeks death.

Although this guy has some connection to death, his main reason for participating in this operation was simply curiosity and a desire to challenge himself.

“It seems Stoneville is not very interesting,” said the fearless Ryannil. “I’m leaving. I heard the Red Lions are holding a grand ceremony, and I plan to leave Nimgford for Galid to participate in this ritual against General Rataen!”

Roger figured out the situation of the dead Prince Godwin.

Goreth obtained the pale flames he desired, thus enhancing his power.

Mengbai acquired some spoils of war, along with a considerable amount of runes, enough for her to learn many new skills.

The trip was a complete success.

They said there was no need to stay any longer.

Otherwise, there could be danger at any time.

But just as the group was about to leave immediately...

But something unexpected happened.

All the black tree roots in the entire hall seemed to come alive, like thousands or even tens of thousands of ferocious venomous snakes, surging towards the four faded figures from all directions.

"what happened?"

"Get out of their way!"

"You must never come into contact with these things!"

"..."

Goreth unleashed a pale flame that instantly enveloped the surrounding area, blocking the venomous black roots. Just then, a force suddenly erupted from the ground, sending massive black roots hurtling towards Roger.

Screams sounded.

His legs were pierced by black roots covered in thorns.

"Roger!" Meng Bai exclaimed in shock and quickly used Reverse Thrust to unleash a blood blade that severed part of the black root.

Even so, it was already too late. A large amount of black roots, like a malignant tumor, were frantically surging into Roger's legs and spreading throughout his body, with a powerful death aura enveloping his entire body.

Upon seeing this, Goris's expression changed. "Oh no! He's been cursed with sudden death. No one can survive this curse. We need to get out of here immediately."

Among the few who have faded.

Only Roger was infected.

It's probably because Roger repeatedly ventured into various tombs in search of the Dead Root, and frequented places where the curse of the Dead Prince Godwin lurked, that he had accumulated a lot of curses within him, which is why they suddenly erupted and he was affected at this time.

Mengbai thinks Roger is a good person.

I don't want this guy to die here like this.

Suddenly, she remembered something and took out an item from her body. This item was the dead prince's boil. Now, she had no choice but to try anything, so she immediately made Roger eat the boil.

The Death Prince's Pustules can increase the resistance to death attribute.

After Roger used the pustule treatment, the black roots in his body stopped spreading and were confined to his lower body.

"go!"

Meng Bai personally carried Roger.

The faded ones quickly evacuated the area.

Soon after, having safely left the Stoneville Underground, the group arrived near a blessed place, where they were certain to be safe.

Meng Bai asked, "Roger, how are you?"

Roger was pale, his legs covered in black roots, and he was completely numb and unable to move.

He smiled bitterly and said, "I can feel death eroding me... My legs are completely useless now. D will definitely laugh at me when he sees me like this."

D?

Meng Bai was stunned for a moment.

The Faded One, D, is a member of the Round Table Hall.

Roger was indeed a member of the Round Table Hall.

Mengbai has no way to treat Roger's injuries, but there is a knowledgeable and powerful Sir Hundred Wisdom in the Round Table Hall, who might be able to heal Roger.

Think of this.

Mengbai was with Roger.

Use the blessing to directly enter the round table hall.

Soon after, Sir Bai Zhi came to Meng Bai. He had already seen Roger.

Meng Bai asked, "How is Roger?"

Sir Hundred Wisdom sighed and said, "Although he has been spared for the time being, he is no longer able to stand up due to the corruption of the Dead Root, and as time goes by, the curse will continue to deepen until he falls into eternal slumber."

Meng Bai frowned: "Is there absolutely no hope?"

Sir Hundred Wisdom shook his head: "Unless the curse is completely eradicated at its source, it's only a matter of time."

Completely eradicate the curse?

But how can the curse be completely removed?
Perhaps the only solution is to deal with Godwin, who is buried under the roots of the golden tree.
The problem is that Godwin is supposed to be dead, and he is now an indescribable monster. How can we destroy something that is both dead and alive?
"Despite this misfortune, Roger is very grateful to you and hopes you will accept this gift."

Sir Hundred Wisdom took out a rapier adorned with exquisite decorations and handed it over.

[Roger's Rapier] (Secret Realm Equipment), Tier 3 Rare Item, Exclusive Skill "Radiant Sword Array"...

This is Roger's sword.

He gave his sword to the adventurer.

This shows that he understands his situation and that the sword is no longer useful to him.

Roger is a good person, and the first Faded One that Meng Bai can consider a friend in the Borderlands. If possible, she still hopes to help him.

Roger is not in good condition and needs to rest right now.

Meng Bai returned to the round table hall.

Then they encountered a handsome young man carrying a large gun. This man was none other than the famous Faded One of the Round Table, "Dragon Lance Vic".

"Hey friend, I heard you and Roger found the remains of the dead prince."

Vic walked up to Mengbai and said, "I've heard everything you did. I've always admired people who are loyal and righteous. It's just a pity I wasn't there at the time, otherwise this would never have happened."

Meng Bai asked, "What do you want to do?"

Vic extended an invitation: "I admire you. Would you really like to consider becoming my subordinate and assisting me in becoming the King of Elden?"

Meng Bai said irritably, "Stop dreaming!"

Vic wasn't angry: "I believe you'll figure it out sooner or later... On another note, I'd like to teach you a move or two. After all, with your current strength, challenging the limb-splitting Greg is practically suicide."

What? You can actually learn skills from Vic?

Meng Bai also developed some respect for this young knight.

This person knew that his goal was also to become the King of Elden, yet he generously imparted his combat skills without any concern that he might pose a threat in the future. This shows that Vic has great self-confidence.

Mengbai immediately checked Vic's skills.

Although there are only three skills that can be learned from Vic, two are the combat skills of the Knights of Rodel, and the other is a very powerful prayer.

But they are all excellent and very useful skills.

Meng Bai has hunted down numerous monsters, including exiled soldiers, mutated giant rats, lost knights, limb-splitting nobles, and rotting tree spirits, and now he has just accumulated a sum of runes.

Not even close.

She returned to Stoneville and farmed monsters for a while.

Each death consumes Miracle City contribution points to save Rune.

Under these circumstances, in just half a day, he accumulated enough runes and finally successfully learned a very useful prayer, "Vic's Dragon Thunder," from Vic.

This skill can summon red dragon lightning to coil around the body and weapons.

This can greatly increase the weapon's attack power.

It can also significantly reduce the weight of the body and equipment.

This improves maneuverability and speed.

Although Vic agreed to teach the Faded One his combat skills and prayers, he was quite surprised when he found that the rookie Faded One had learned his unique prayers in just one time.

“My intuition was right; you are definitely not an unknown person.”

"Of course, I am destined to be king. If you regret teaching me skills now, it's already a bit too late."

Vic laughed heartily: "I, Vic, am not afraid of any challenge. The more opponents there are, the more interesting it is. Only in this way can I prove myself... However, I won't wait for you for long. We are about to set off for the royal city. I hope you can arrive in time to meet us in Rodel."

Meng Bai developed a liking for this young knight.

This person indeed possesses a strong will and an extraordinary magnanimity.

Such a life could lead to great achievements or even make one a hero in any era.

As for Vic's imminent arrival in the royal city of Rodel, Meng Bai couldn't help but feel a little worried. Could this kid have preemptively seized the Elden Ring and become the new King of Elden?
I haven't even gotten through to Nymgf yet.

Under such circumstances, they wouldn't even be qualified to have an audience with the Two Fingers, let alone go to the royal city to compete for the title of King of Elden.

However, Meng Bai thought about it again and put those worries aside, even feeling that she was being a bit of a worrier.

The border area is so realistic that it makes people feel disoriented, as if they are in a real otherworld... But in reality, this is all a secret world created by Lord Qi Ji. The characters and plot are all under Lord Qi Ji's arrangement.

How could the King of Elden possibly appear in such a short time?
How could an adventurer possibly catch up?

"I have a feeling your trip won't go very smoothly. Be careful!"

"Haha, don't worry, no matter how strong the enemy or challenge, I will never back down or fail."

Vic remained as confident as ever.

He is clearly a genius with extremely high potential for growth.

Although he didn't kill the demigod, he collected enough other fragments to reforge the Elden Ring. He will then enter the royal city with his witch to be crowned king.

Meng Bai said, "Time is running out today. I need to take down the limb-splitting Grik as soon as possible and seize the first Great Rune!"

At this moment, Wangchuan Sanren said, "Little White, our leader of the Other Shore Flower Guild, as well as the old dean and others, have all found Grek. This battle, like the Ominous Demon, only has a better chance of victory if we join forces!" (End of this chapter)