Wizard: I devour the stars with swarms of insects.

Wayne felt the ring on his left knuckle suddenly turn icy cold, and a slight stinging sensation came from his fingertip, as if he had been bitten by a snake's fangs.

A wisp of cool spiritual energy flowed down the finger and into the depths of the ring.

At the same time, as the dense shadows spread across the ground, Wayne sensed a subtle and inexplicable aura brewing within them.

Those patches of shadow, varying in depth, seemed to come alive.

Peeling away from the ground, walls, and even the reflection of the slime flowing from the monster's body, it coalesced into seven or eight winding black streams.

These fluids gained a three-dimensional form the instant they left the two-dimensional plane, transforming into a snake-shaped spirit as thick as an arm and entirely black.

The moment the shadow snake appeared, the cold glint of the bone blade was less than half a foot away from Wayne.

at the same time.

Wayne felt that his mind had established a connection with the Shadow Serpents within these shadows, and that they could be controlled as easily as his own limbs.

Like... an extension of one's own arm!

Therefore, Wayne immediately issued the mental command "Defense".

Om-!

The shadowy serpent spirit in the shadows arched its back and suddenly lunged at the sharp bone blades attacking from all sides.

The open fangs revealed a dense array of fine teeth on the inside, composed of deeper shadows.

when--!

One of the shadow snakes, after colliding with the sharp bone blade, made a dull, tearing sound, like leather being ripped, and was broken by the bone blade.

However, the characteristic of a shadow lies in the transformation between "illusion" and "reality".

After being severed by the bone blade, the Shadow Serpent's body twisted and coiled at the point of impact, forming a rapidly tightening black lasso that gripped the bone blade tightly.

At the same time, other shadow snakes emerged from the shadows at incredible angles, attempting to bind or block them from all directions.

They restrained all the bone blade limbs that were attacking Wayne in various ways, blocking them all in front of Wayne.

However, at the same time...

Wayne also felt the mental energy being rapidly depleted at the ring on his left hand.

Clearly, the mental energy consumption of such a demonized piece of equipment increases continuously as the Shadow Serpent defends.

"We can't afford to waste too much time..."

So, immediately.

Wayne's mind raced, and taking advantage of the moment when the leech monster's bone blades and limbs were blocked, he suddenly unleashed [Thorn Tongue].

The crimson barbs swept towards the ground beside it, where the cross-shaped longsword had just been dropped in self-defense.

While rolling it up, "bring" it back.

The cross-shaped blade descends from top to bottom, using its own weight to trace a "slashing" arc in the air.

Finally, it struck the leech monster heavily in the chest.

Whoosh—!

Pus burst forth, slashing out a deep gash, and the leech monster before them suddenly let out a terrible roar.

The bone blades that were strangling Wayne began to writhe wildly.

However, they were completely unable to break free from the shadowy serpent spirits surrounding them, which had no physical form but possessed a strange resilience.

At that moment, just as the leech monster in front of them was struggling violently.

Wayne noticed a dark, reddish sac faintly visible beneath the bony limbs that obscured its chest.

Enveloped in translucent chitin and a network of wriggling, dark blood vessels, it was constantly and gently throbbing.

Meanwhile, some transparent, thread-like creatures could be vaguely seen floating inside.

Noticing these transparent "threads," Wayne's expression shifted. These were... those nematodes?!

Although it has not yet been stained by the extract of the crisp heart vine.

However, when it swims and floats inside that dark sac that resembles a heart, it can be identified by the trails of mucus.

Those are the threadworms in the irrigation ditches.

So, immediately.

Wayne's eyes locked onto the dark sac in front of him, which was protected behind the leech monster's bone-bladed limbs.

The thorny tongue, with a cross-shaped longsword at its tip, suddenly slashed again at the back of the twisted leech monster before it.

After being attacked, the leech monster's body trembled violently, emitting screams and angry roars.

At the same time, two bone blade segments split off, seemingly trying to block behind them.

Wayne seized the moment when there was a "gap" in his defense around his chest.

With a loud bang.

The knight's longsword fell to the ground, splashing water into the puddle as the thorny tongue retracted from Wayne's arm.

A flash of black light, and a sharp dagger appeared in his hand.

It was the Hunter's Dagger that had been picked up from the belongings of that von Herwin.

Use thorns to pierce the tongue and curl it at the end.

Wayne channeled all his mental energy into the [Kiss of the Mad Serpent] ring on his left hand, activating the Shadow Serpent spirit to firmly bind and entangle the remaining bone blade limbs.

At the other end, the thorny tongue retracts and compresses, concentrating all muscle power into a single point by contracting the long tongue to its extreme.

Then... after accumulating power, it suddenly bursts forth, launching itself out in a straight line at maximum speed.

[Thorns Pierce Tongue, Skill 1: Blade Whip!]

In an instant, taking advantage of the gap where the sharp bone blade was exposed, the black dagger swiftly passed over the sharp bone blade and pierced into the dark sac in the monster's chest.

Then suddenly slash to the left.

next second.

Pfft—!

The foul-smelling pus instantly gushed out as the dark sac burst, spilling large amounts of pus from within.

The leech monster before them, after its dark sac ruptured, seemed struck by lightning and let out a terrible scream.

Then, with a loud crash, it fell into the puddle and stopped moving.

"..."

Now that he had dealt with the leech monster in front of him, Wayne frowned slightly, stood still, and retracted his thorny tongue.

At the same time, he put the Hunter's Dagger back into his sleeve.

Next, the sound of splashing footsteps in the water could be heard from behind; it was Holman, who had already run up to them.

"Junior Brother Wayne, are you...are you alright?"

Holman asked nervously.

When he saw the monster unleash its numerous bone blades and limbs, surrounding Wayne, he thought he was in for a terrible ordeal.

My heart was in my throat; I was incredibly worried.

"It's nothing..." Wayne shook his head, looking thoughtfully at the corpse of the leech monster in front of him.

"Phew... finally killed that monster. This guy must be the source of the drought plague outbreak, right? Damn it, he's caused so much suffering for Gray Eagle Keep!"

Now, looking at the leech monster that was no longer moving in the water on the ground, Holman bent down and, suppressing his nausea, observed the monster with some curiosity.

"But how did this monster end up in the underground drinking water channel? How did it get in? It's so strange..."

"Senior Holman, may I ask you a question?" After examining the corpse in the water, Wayne thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "Has your family... offended anyone recently?"

"What?" Holman looked up, somewhat surprised, upon hearing this. "Junior Brother Wayne... why would you say that?"

"Because if I'm not mistaken, this monster's original name should be 'Nardie' leech, a giant leech found in jungle swamps that feeds on humus."

Wayne said in a deep voice, his gaze fixed on the corpse on the ground, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

After observing for a while, I discovered that the monster's true form seems to be the same one I found in the library of the Wizarding Academy in the Black Forest City.

It looks very similar to a creature I once read about in a book called the Nadeer leech.

However, it seems to have undergone some modifications, mutating into the monster it is now.

"Furthermore, this kind of transformation process is by no means something that ordinary people can do; only wizards have the ability to transform it."

After Wayne finished speaking, he looked up.

"Senior Brother Holman, do you remember? Just now when you cast the 'Hand of Fatigue' spell on it, a faint layer of misty black energy particles emanated from its body, negating the effect of 'Hand of Fatigue'."

"If I'm not mistaken, those misty black energy particles should be some kind of necromantic energy, and this kind of energy particles must be the work of a wizard; ordinary people simply couldn't do it."

"So, I wonder if this incident wasn't a coincidence, but rather a meticulously planned 'revenge' operation, with other wizards involved behind the scenes?"

"And also..."

Wayne paused, then offered a reminder.

"Senior Brother Holman, you'd better not get too close to the corpse right now, because it's still uncertain whether this thing is completely dead or not."