Slime Immortal.

Chapter 13 Picking up a Shaman

Deep in the mountains, jagged peaks pierce the lead-gray sky like the spines of giant beasts, deep rifts appear like hideous wounds on the earth, and the primeval forests weave an eternally dim dome with their huge ancient trees.

However, what most deterred living creatures was the swamp area that spread like festering green pus in the heart of the forest.

In this cursed land, monsters are rampant, and it is filled with abnormal weather, magical disorder and other phenomena. The damp and cold air is filled with humus and poisonous fog and unknown sweet smell that lingers all year round.

In the eyes of the demi-humans struggling to survive in the surrounding area, this dangerous and corrupt forest is a veritable "land of death."

Even the Lizardmen tribe, who have lived with the harsh environment for generations, only dare to move around on the edge of the swamp.

These cold-blooded descendants believe in an ancient ancestral spirit called "The Entangler" and Putu, the swamp spirit who controls the swamp. They believe that the swamp is the place where the ancestral spirit sleeps, and the swamp spirit is the guardian of the swamp. Excessive intrusion will bring about a catastrophe.

In early spring, when the thin sunlight barely penetrates the forest canopy, they will hold a grand "Ice-breaking Ceremony" presided over by the tribe's "Scale Claw Priest", praying to the ancestors for permission and protection for hunting.

Afterwards, the elite hunting team would carefully go deep into the outskirts of the swamp forest to hunt the giant poisonous frogs and hard-shelled water lizards that were catalyzed by magic.

Or gather rare poison-resistant mosses and bioluminescent swamp fungi—these are the medicines, food, and precious commodities that the tribe relies on for survival and trade with outsiders.

Also coveting the resources of the swamps are the gnoll tribes that roam the corrupted swamps and riverbanks. These predators, driven by demonic beliefs, are far more greedy and reckless than the lizardmen.

For them, the beginning of spring is the season when the "fangs of hunger" arrive. The severe winter has exhausted the reserves, and the tribe's werewolf war chief will drive hungry warriors and tamed hyenas to sweep the edge of the forest like a plague.

They do not respect their ancestors, but only fear strength. Their targets are usually large beasts that are forced out of the deep swamps by poisonous miasma, or lone Lizardman warriors who dare to go too far.

The two major subhuman tribes lived together on the south bank of the river, but they hated each other due to competition, prey, fighting... and various conflicts. They regarded each other as food that could be used to store for the winter.

however……

Several winters ago, a faith called Corruption changed the relationship between the two major tribes.

The corrupt faith invaded and suppressed heresy in a brutal manner, and under the influence of unknown forces, it gradually took the dominant position.

The Gnoll Tribe was completely defeated, and only a few Lizardmen who called themselves "Shedders" remained in the Lizardmen Tribe and were still resisting stubbornly.

But under the siege and search of the two major tribes, the "Scale Shedder" also met its final doom today.

In the swamp forest filled with poisonous fog, a short and slender lizardman broke through the silence and rushed into the depths.

Sergash stumbled and fled numbly, his amber pupils glancing back from time to time, and his thin tail twitching anxiously.

Her scaly claws were covered with bloody scars, and her right shoulder was pierced by a wooden spear, revealing the bloody tissue and muscles inside.

With every step she took, she could feel the wound tearing at her nerves, causing severe pain and hysterical gasps, as if sinking her consciousness into the swamp and making her eyes increasingly blurred.

She didn't know where to escape to, nor how to escape from danger, she was just driven by the instinct to survive.

Only by shaking off the corrupt believers chasing her and believing in the ancestral spirits and the spirits of the swamp can she find a glimmer of hope in the swamp.

"Hissa! (Shedding Scales) Galra! (Prey)"

Noisy and chaotic shouts came from behind Sergash. A hunting team consisting of two gnolls, a lizardman, and hyenas came chasing from the poisonous fog, waving primitive sticks and spears in their hands, and their tone was full of resentment towards heresy.

Sergash coughed violently, spurting blood. She heard only a slight buzzing in her head, like a warning from her brain. Then she felt that the twisted oak tree in front of her was very tall, and she was tripped by the roots and fell to the ground.

"Hisa! (Shedding Scales)"

The three demi-humans had red eyes and shouted angrily, and soon caught up to Sergash.

"Shaman, it works!"

"Follow Morgul!" Sergash struggled to his feet, sneering, "Filthy, corrupt believer!"

"May the ancestral spirits and the swamp curse you, never to set foot in the fertile swamp."

"I, Segash, would rather return to the embrace of the swamp!"

Seeing her firm attitude, a gray-haired gnoll came over, swung a stick, hit her in the lower abdomen, and knocked her several meters away.

"cough……"

Sergash fell to the ground, blood gushing out of her wounds. Her bloodstained eyes became increasingly blurred and red. She could only see the frightened moss monster on the ground, and felt that death was closer to her than ever before.

At this moment, she recalled her father, the man who led her to believe in Putu and watched her become a shaman step by step.

Then she felt an inexplicable pain in her heart, and her memories were stained with blood and ashes. On that night, she saw with her own eyes that her aging father was pierced through the chest by the priest's sharp claws in order to resist the corrupt faith, and blood splattered violently.

Just like she is now.

Ugh……

I sighed deeply in my heart.

Unfortunately, she failed to overthrow the corrupt priests and avenge her father. Like the beasts, her body sank into the bottomless quagmire.

But that’s fine too.

It is her greatest honor to return to the arms of Putu, the spirit of the swamp, rather than fall into the hands of filthy and corrupt believers.

She lay powerlessly on the ground, her eyes level with the ground. She seemed to see many green bubbles emerging from the swamp, like Putu's messengers - the slimes welcoming her return...

"Hisa! (Shedding Scales)"

The noisy and annoying sound still echoed in Sergash's ears. She heard the footsteps of death approaching step by step. Next, if she smashed the stick down, her head would be completely blown apart.

However, she no longer fears death, but only calmness and regret.

She gradually closed her eyes, willing to sink into the darkness, but gradually, she suddenly felt that her body, which had become even colder due to excessive blood loss, seemed to be surrounded by warmth.

It was like soft slime gel wrapped around her.

Was it Putu who came to pick her up?

But the faint doubt in Sergash's heart did not last long, she heard a scream piercing through the darkness and echoing in her ears.

The buzzing sound was so loud that at first she thought it was caused by blood loss in her brain, but gradually she felt something was wrong.

and many more……

This is the sound of a stinging bee vibrating its wings!
After realizing this, Sergash suddenly opened his eyes and looked up with difficulty, only to see poisonous thorns on the trees falling like rain, driving away the invading demihumans.

These black iron-level monsters usually appear in groups, and the poisonous stings they spray are deadly and terrifying. Even lizardmen with scales dare not provoke them easily.

How come there happened to be a stinger beehive here, and it attacked the hunting team?

Could it be that the ancestral spirits and Putu heard her prayers?

In an instant, hope of survival ignited in her heart. She endured the severe pain, moved her body, and slowly hid in the swamp.

(End of this chapter)