Millennium Witch.

Chapter 34 - Not the Actions of a Wise Man

Standing atop the floating magical vehicle, Yvette gazed into the distance. The center of the Ish Mountains was covered by withered vegetation, exuding an aura of death in the afterglow of the setting sun. This must be the "Corrupted Forest" that gave birth to the lord.

Because soldiers were being deployed to two locations simultaneously, there were few signs of life in the decaying forest to the naked eye. The wind whistled through the skeletal branches, turning the entire forest into a huge, ominous tomb.

After a moment of silence, Yvette looked at the Twinblade Demon: "Around the Mother Nest... how many Stage 3 Aberrations are there?"

“The weakest are on the front lines. Besides the Hive Master who is still evolving, there should be four more... I can give you all the information about them,” the Twinblade Demon said. “If you want to take action, I can help hold one back while you attack the Mother Hive.”

"You're really that kind?" Rosalyn asked skeptically.

“I told you, the moment a lord appears, we're doomed…” The dual-bladed demon smirked, “At my stage, I’ll have a magic core within me… I think your teacher would be quite fond of that…”

"A mutant also has a magic core?" Yvette looked at it, quite intrigued.

The essence of the magic core is a solid energy body, which is very easy for nature mages to absorb. It can be said to melt in the mouth. If you can get it, you can use it directly as a mana potion to replenish emergency mana.

Of course, while elemental batteries and energy storage panels may sound similar, they are actually vastly different. These devices store energy using matter as a medium and are specifically designed for magical machinery. For mages to extract energy from them is like squeezing a sponge as hard as a rock; it takes forever to get even a tiny bit out, making them completely useless in a crisis.

“Of course…” The dual-bladed demon subtly distanced itself, saying, “I only need the corpses of those stupid dogs; the magic cores are yours…”

Yvette pondered for a moment.

According to the information from the Twinblade Demon, there are a total of six Stage 3 Aberrations in the Ish Mountains faction: one is the Hive Master, one is on the front lines fighting Luya City, and the remaining four are Hive Guardians... If its information is accurate and its actions are flawless, the actual situation will be that the Twinblade Demon and Rosalind will each deal with one, and she will take care of the remaining two Hive Guardians.

However, the hive master within the mother hive is also a significant threat, and it cannot be ruled out that there are additional guards hidden in the forest, unknown to the Twinblade Demon...

“Could we attack in batches? For example, take out a portion of them first,” Rosalyn suggested.

“Foolish! That would just send the insects back to guard the mother hive!” the Twinblade Demon retorted, his tone becoming smoother. “And the other two mother hives, along with their leaders, are just a bunch of idiots! You should know that expecting them to be effective is unrealistic. While they are currently weakened, with only four high-level forces, it is most important to seize the time to prevent the birth of a lord!”

"Teacher, what do you think?" Rosalyn, still fuming from being scolded, turned to look at her teacher. She still didn't quite trust this guy who had tried to stab her the moment they met, especially since his smile was so creepy, making him look like an evil villain.

“Prepare for five days.” Yvette lowered her eyes.

"I hope we have a pleasant working relationship, beautiful... powerful... mage lady." The double-edged demon curled the corners of its mouth and said this in a slightly flattering tone, then immediately flapped its wings and disappeared in an instant.

"Can we really trust this guy, teacher?" Rosalind asked anxiously after the Twin-Blade Demon left.

“No.” Yvette was silent for a moment before sighing. “But we can’t gamble, because we can’t leave this island. There’s no other option. Even if it’s a trap, we have to take a look before we can feel at ease.”

“Oh, right…” Rosalyn said dejectedly.

……

Over the next five days, Yvette expedited the optimization of the "regeneration pump".

At this moment, as a life-saving spell, it not only significantly enhances the body's regeneration speed, but also, the instant the wound is contaminated, condenses a phantom energy heart near the wound, absorbing all the infected blood into it. The phantom heart forcibly strips away and imprisons the mutated factors in the blood, then slowly pumps the pure blood back into the body. Finally, the filthy factors are compressed into a viscous black liquid, which is expelled from the body through vomiting or guided by magic.

This must be completed within 20 seconds; beyond that time, the distortion factor spreads rapidly, and the regeneration pump cannot save it.

But at least there was an emergency solution, and Rosalyn could now fight the mutants more boldly in close combat without being afraid of getting hurt.

Rosalind, meanwhile, had been studying the new information provided by the Twinblade Demon. According to her description, aside from the Tier 3 Aberration in Luya City, the five Aberrations in the Corrupted Forest, including the Nest Master, were the Nest Master "Wheelbug Queen," and the four Guardians: "Rotten-Beaked Vulture," "Nightwalker Demon," "Mechanical Tyrant," and "Shepherd Sheep"!
—All names were given temporarily by Rosalyn.

The "Sowbug Queen" needs little introduction; she is the master of the hive, the creator of the swarm, and the true leader behind it all. She can use some kind of sensory connection to make sowbugs her eyes and ears. Although she is in a semi-dormant state, the Sowbug Queen can still maintain control over the swarm through the hive as a medium.

The Rotting-Beaked Vulture is a giant, mutated vulture with three heads. It has the ability to spray corrosive venom, and is also very robust, with a wingspan of over 30 meters, comparable to a flying dragon. It is also a formidable fighter.

The Night Demon, a bat-like mutant, is smaller than the Rotting-beaked Vulture, but still quite large. However, it lacks eyes and other organs on its head, possessing only a gigantic mouth that can split open to the base of its ears.

The Mechanical Tyrant is clearly a cyborg variant formed after being corrupted by the Magic Mech. In terms of evolution, the Twinblade Demon believes it may only be at stage two, not even having developed a brain. However, the Magic Mech itself is a small mech from the Origin Civilization era. Even without intelligence, it is still the strongest of the four guardians, even stronger than the Nest Lord. It must, and can only, be left to Yvette to deal with.

The Shepherd Sheep appears as a gigantic humanoid figure, seven or eight meters tall, but perhaps due to its sheep-like head, it lacks the intelligence of a dual-bladed demon. Its body is covered in thick, filthy white fur, and its limbs resemble those of a human. However, in battle, its bloated abdomen suddenly splits open, revealing numerous humanoid heads connected by tentacles, screaming in agony—these heads are its primary tearing weapons.

Of course, all of the above information comes from the Twin-Blade Demon's side of the story, and may only be the tip of the iceberg of the truth. But it is still very oppressive, making it impossible to relax.

……

On the sixth day, in the ruins of a small town outside the Ish Mountains, the master and apprentice arrived at the agreed location. As soon as they parked the car, they saw the head of a double-bladed demon peeking out from the window of an abandoned building next to them. Its smooth, jet-black head carapace gleamed in the summer sun.

It asked impatiently, "...Have you decided how to allocate the targets?"

“…You scared me! You!” Rosalyn thought some kind of mutant had crawled out… although it was indeed a mutant.

Seeing the dual-bladed demon's disdainful expression, Rosalind said unhappily, "Mechanical Tyrant! Can you handle this?"

"What a tasteless name, even worse than 'Double-Edged Demon'," said Double-Edged Demon. "Of course not, who can beat this? Let your teacher fight it."

Clearly, after several days of communication, this mutant human was speaking more and more fluently.

“What about the shepherd’s sheep?” Rosalyn asked again.

"That thing is very strange and not suitable for me."

"Why don't you want to fight anyone?"

“Fighting someone whose strengths are unknown is not the act of a wise man. I choose that great vulture; it’s not very smart, which will allow me to use my intelligence to outmaneuver it,” said the Double-Edged Demon. “I suppose you wouldn’t want your partners to be held back because they can’t utilize their strengths.”

"What intellectual advantage? You're just fast!" Rosalyn had a lot to say. Of the four guardians, this third-order aberration was the most clumsy and was the one she initially wanted to choose.

"You will be amazed by my wisdom in a moment."

"I think you're just trying to slack off and not put in any effort..."

After some discussion, the Twinblade Demon chose the Rotting Beak Vulture as its target, while Rosalind chose the Nightwalker Demon.

The remaining mechanical tyrants, shepherd sheep, the sowbug queen in the mother hive, and all possible unexpected attacks will be dealt with by Yvette.

Having made this decision, the three of them took out their magical skateboards, which were suitable for individual combat, and slowly infiltrated the Corrupted Forest.

(End of this chapter)