Millennium Witch

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.

Chapter 35 Battle

After crossing several hills, at the top of a hillside, Yvette looked down at a barren forest.

That was a basin in the Ish Mountains, and also the location of the Corruption Forest. Perhaps due to the influence of dense aberration factors, some dead trees sprouted new buds, which were a strange dark purple color. It is unknown whether the first plant-based aberration will be born in the future.

"Teacher, look!" Rosalyn suddenly exclaimed. Following the direction she was pointing, a grayish-white mist was spreading outwards from the very depths of the decaying forest.

This was clearly not dream mist; its color was somewhat strange, a dark and dirty gray, lacking the pure white and clean translucency of dream mist. The two immediately turned to the Twinblade Demon, waiting for it to explain the current situation.

"Why are you looking at me? Do you think I know everything?" said the double-edged demon.

It seems she doesn't know... Yvette hesitated for a moment, then took out a small mask from her pouch.

This is a homemade gas mask, consisting of a filter, a low-level application unit, and an elemental capacitor. The application unit contains a small-scale air filtration program, and it has a battery life of about one hour. It is specifically designed to deal with situations such as toxic fog.

In addition, there were several explosives in the bag, which did not cause much damage and were mainly used to provide location information; they were roughly equivalent to a simple flare gun.

Furthermore, the remaining items they carried were the alloy battle blades that the master and apprentice each wore at their waists. However, Yvette had hardly ever practiced hand-to-hand combat, so she only carried them as a precaution.

After Rosalind put on her gas mask, the three of them arrived at the Corruption Forest shrouded in mist. After hesitating for a moment, they put away their magic skateboards and cautiously moved forward on foot, keeping their positions closer together.

Then, after walking a few steps, Rosalind discovered that the Twinblade Demon was gone.

"Hey... Mr. Devil? Mr. Double-Edged Devil? Where are you?" Rosalind called out, while tightly clutching her teacher's clothes with one hand to prevent herself from getting lost.

But receiving no response, her voice trembled slightly as she asked nervously, "Teacher, did it sneak away? Have we fallen into a trap?"

“No, this fog is strange; it contains a kind of… spell.” Yvette frowned, the runic ring on her right hand flashing on and off intermittently.

After several minutes, she removed her gas mask and confirmed, "This isn't poisonous fog, but it's not ordinary either. Inside is a complex array of spells, like a... super-large magic circle. Its effect should be to disorient people and isolate sound interaction to some extent."

"Teacher, can you crack this?" Rosalyn also took off her mask and took a small breath. It was indeed no different from ordinary mountain air, except that there was more moisture.

“No… its rune set is dynamic, and there are many unknown runes that I’ve never seen before.” Yvette shook her head, a terrible guess immediately forming in her mind.

For the Origin Civilization, there are no unfamiliar runes on the Origin Star. Although the number of known basic runes has exceeded 1, the Origin Civilization has at least identified all of these runes and named them. At most, they are not well understood or their nature is unclear.

Now, this spell that shrouded the corrupt forest was mixed with many new runes that even she didn't recognize...

Could it really have originated from beyond the universe? The source of the apocalypse, the truth behind the aberrations, is a terrifying invasion of cosmic pathogens?

No, it could also be the result of encryption and encapsulation, a similar experience to using Black Tower Pharma's encryption and encapsulation service in a dream...

For a moment, many guesses arose in her mind, but Yvette's expression remained unchanged, as calm as ever. After all, this was a crucial moment, and as her teacher, she had to maintain her composure even in the face of adversity in order to help Rosalyn stay calm as well.

"So what do we do next?" Rosalyn instinctively moved closer to the teacher.

“Keep moving forward. This fog won’t do any harm except for making people lose their way. Although I can’t modify or hijack this magic circle, I’ve found a clue. As long as we follow the correct route, we won’t be led astray and will reach the core area of ​​the spell directly,” Yvette said.

The two continued forward, and the surrounding fog grew thicker and thicker. The visibility dropped from more than ten meters to just a few meters. When they looked up, all they could see was a gray-white expanse, with no sunlight in sight.

You can actually fly out from above, but what you'll see is a forest shrouded in fog, and you won't be able to pinpoint the location of the mother nest—the mother nest can move, but it's a bit slow.

On the contrary, proceeding along the clues deconstructed from the spell within the fog, at the very least, is a very feasible way to find the one who released the fog.

After continuing forward for a while, heavy footsteps gradually approached from ahead. Sensing the threat lurking in the fog, Yvette stopped, preparing to unleash a pillar of fire to pierce the thick fog and scout ahead, when she saw Rosalind suddenly draw her sword and slash at a fleeting shadow in the fog.

A round object covered in sticky blood rolled to the ground, a short, still slightly twitching fleshy tentacle trailing from its severed end.

"A human head... a shepherd sheep?" Upon seeing this, Yvette immediately guessed the identity of the aberration that launched the attack in the fog. Of the four Broodguards, only this thing could attack with a human head.

Heavy footsteps approached again, but instead of coming straight up, they lingered around. Soon after, another terrifying face emerged from the mist and was sliced ​​down by Rosalyn's knife.

Thick brain matter and black blood splattered onto the cold alloy blade. She flicked the blood off the blade and said, "Teacher, you can continue. Leave this guy to me."

Although her original plan was to target the Night Demons, that didn't prevent her from being flexible. Besides, she could stay here, but the teacher had to move on; otherwise, who would deal with this cumbersome fog?

"If you can't win, run away. There's no need to fight to the death," Yvette advised.

In this operation, entrusting some of the enemies to Rosalyn was part of the strategy. This was not only because Rosalyn had the willingness and ability to share the burden with her teacher, but also because Yvette herself needed to manage her magic power allocation. Her current total magic power was 644 points, and she needed to preserve her strength as much as possible before eliminating the Nest Lord.

As for the Twinblade Demon... who knows where it went? It might have slipped away. But Yvette didn't expect it to be of much use anyway, so it was within expectations.

"Yes, I won't be stubborn." Rosalyn nodded gently, her tone obedient and her eyes earnest.

Ignoring the shepherd sheep's harassment and no longer needing to slow down to take care of the students around her, Yvette immediately stepped onto her magic skateboard and, like a gust of wind, headed straight towards the route that had already been deciphered.

……

At the same time, in the withered forest shrouded in gray-white mist, the dual-bladed demon was moving at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see, stirring up gusts of wind.

A moment later, a huge shadow appeared in the mist in front of it, forcing it to come to a sudden stop. It made several turns in mid-air before it could barely regain control.

Then, watching the terrifying black shadow gradually approach, exuding immense oppressive power, and its enormous bat wings slowly emerging from the mist, the double-edged demon's lips began to slowly curve upwards, forming a small arc filled with contempt and mockery.

……

Five minutes later, after leaving the spot guarded by the shepherd sheep, Yvette felt that the surrounding fog had become so thick it was impossible to disperse. But the wind magic was still effective, able to blow away the fog and temporarily provide a clear view.

Just then, a red light suddenly appeared in the thick fog, alerting her.

The crimson armor instantly activated, covering her body and clothing. Moments later, a burst of elemental energy, a mixture of fire and lightning, shot out from the mist, heading straight for her face, but Yvette blocked it with a raised hand.

The next second, the restless magical elements exploded in her jade-like palm, leaving behind wisps of smoke but no trace.

Yvette shook her slightly aching hand and looked expressionlessly in the direction of the attackers. She saw a three-story-tall, cyborg covered in purplish-red flesh emerge from the mist.

Without a doubt, it should be that "Mechanical Tyrant," but we can't tell the model or which manufacturer produced it. Judging from the structure, it should be a turret type, meaning it moves forward on two legs, with two magic-powered cannons mounted on its left and right mechanical arms, capable of firing elemental bullets.

Almost instinctively, Yvette tried to hack in, but to no avail, indicating that the other party had not opened the data receiving port.

Hopefully, I can take it down within 150 magic points... Yvette thought silently, just as she was about to throw a grenade, when she suddenly saw another dark figure fly out of the thick fog beside her.

She immediately focused her gaze and saw the double-bladed demon fly out of the mist, screaming as it fell face-first to the ground.

"Hey... I, I have two here! Hurry... hurry and help me..." the Twin-Blade Demon said as he got up.

From the thick fog behind him, two enormous figures soon appeared: a giant three-headed vulture and a bizarre monster with bat wings, a fat, grayish-black body, and a mouth on its face.

“Rotten-beaked Vulture, Nightwalker Demon…” Yvette read out the names her apprentice had given the two monsters, then glanced at the disheveled Twinblade Demon on the ground.

Although he didn't say anything, the confusion in his ruby-like eyes was very obvious, as if to say, "How can you be so bad? Are you really aberrations of the same level as them?"

That look deeply wounded the double-edged demon. It said, "What... what are you looking at? It's normal to lose a fight against two opponents... besides, they're incredibly fierce. I suggest you come with me to maneuver around them and find an opportunity to pick them off one by one. We can solve the problem through strategy..."

It muttered something as it stood up and flew into the air. If its face hadn't been covered by its shell, it probably would have blushed.

However, perhaps because the enemy's strength was beyond expectations, it was also clear that it had become somewhat hesitant in its words and did not have much confidence in Yvette's strength.

Yvette remained silent, rising into the air, and several red and blue-white rune rings lit up, radiating a power that made the dual-bladed demon tremble.

Then, amidst the interplay of flames and lightning, the first Rotting-Beaked Vulture to reach the nearest point let out a miserable cry, was blasted away, and had one of its heads charred off, lying on the ground groaning in agony.

"Holy crap... that powerful..." The dual-bladed demon stared in disbelief, but then realized what he was doing and said, "Wait, wasn't that my target...?"

Chapter 36 Two Sides Bloom

Since the "Rotten-Beaked Vulture" was the target chosen by the Twinblade Demon before the operation began, it immediately and justifiably began to negotiate, demanding that Yvette deal with the "Nightwalker Demon" and the "Mechanical Tyrant" instead of stealing its heads.

This made Yvette's eyebrows furrow involuntarily.

Her total magic power is 644 points. She keeps 100 points for emergencies, leaving her with 544. Considering that she is expected to deal with three stage-three aberrations, including the Nest Master, in this operation, she will receive about 180 points of magic power per kill.

The attack that dealt a heavy blow to the "Rotting Beak Vulture" had already used up nearly 50 points of magic. If those 50 points of magic were redistributed to the Twinblade Demon now, it would be as if the Twinblade Demon had been paid a price...

However, this is a critical moment, and the Twinblade Demon seems rather useless, so she can only put it aside for the time being. She plans to save enough magic power to deal with the Nightwalker Demon and the Mechanical Tyrant, so that she can deal with the yet-to-appear "Sow Queen" and the mysterious source that created the fog.

……

While Yvette and the Twinblade Demon were assigning targets, the Mechanical Tyrant and the Nightwalker Demon were not idle either.

The Mechanical Tyrant slightly raised its triangular, speedboat-shaped head, revealing a cannon wrapped in flesh and blood beneath it, which then fired a scorching pillar of flame. The Night Demon, with its heavy, bloated gait, charged forward, revealing a gaping maw large enough to swallow a small car whole, seemingly intent on devouring people and the mud on the ground along with it.

This was actually a great opportunity, especially since these stage-three aberrations weren't very intelligent, about the same as ordinary beasts. Yvette immediately used "Muscle Release" and "Wind Control" to adjust her position, leaping backward to avoid the Night Demon's gaping maw while using it as a human shield to take the fire pillar shot by the Mechanical Tyrant.

Then she combined the Flame Dance and Thunder Fury spells again, blasting them towards the Nightwalker Demon's head. With this pincer attack, accompanied by a terrible howl, the Nightwalker Demon immediately flapped its wings and ran away, seemingly trying to escape.

"It's good that they escaped, it saves me some magic..." Yvette thought, but her joy didn't last long. She saw the night demon, who was halfway through its escape, stop and struggle for a while before turning around and approaching again.

Now Yvette understood. It must be a mandatory command from the Mother Nest, and the price that all aberrations that rely on the Mother Nest to complete their evolution must pay.

This time, however, the returning Night Demon wasn't as foolish as before. It realized that the Mechanical Tyrant beside it wasn't a smart teammate, so it stood far away from the Mechanical Tyrant, opened its huge mouth, and spat out countless black vampire bats, which surged towards Yvette like a dark cloud.

Meanwhile, the mechanical tyrant, showing no remorse for accidentally injuring its comrades, immediately launched its next attack, continuously firing elemental bullets from the cannons in its left and right hands, while the muzzles beneath its body began to glow red, preparing for the next round of flame spray.

Now, standing in the open area, Yvette could no longer quickly entice the two to harm each other. After briefly calculating the mana consumption, she summoned a dense circle of runes beside her once more.

Frost bullets, wind blades, fire serpents, lightning—a dazzling array of magical spells erupted from the runic ring, colliding with the oncoming flames, elemental bullets, and vampire bats.

Various vibrant magical particles burst and annihilated in the field, almost turning this place into a colorful ocean of elements.

Not far away, the Twinblade Demon and the Rotting-Beaked Vulture were still entangled together. The Twinblade Demon used its speed advantage to keep circling and teasing the Rotting-Beaked Vulture, playing with it like a cat, and was having a great time.

However, after this dazzling elemental storm appeared, both sides stopped moving at the same time. A pair of compound eyes, two vulture heads, and a charred vulture head all stared at the center of the battlefield, as if they had completely forgotten each other's existence.

After a while, seeing that the silver-haired girl's firepower was even stronger and more powerful, and that she was about to secure the victory, the Corrupted Beak Vulture turned around and ran away. The Twin-Blade Demon also immediately gave chase. The two sides rushed into the thick fog one after the other and disappeared without a trace.

……

The grayish-white color permeated the fields, like the perpetual mist in the River Styx of mythology.

Here, the scorching sun, blue sky, and white clouds are nowhere to be seen; only damp, cold air is inhaled, making one feel as if they have returned to a harsh winter with howling winds and snow.

As Rosalind gripped the hilt of the alloy battle blade, she felt her arms tremble slightly. This was the first time she had faced a truly powerful enemy since she began her magical training six years ago, especially in such a bizarre environment. This inevitably made her heart race, and she even had thoughts of retreating.

Why was she so unlucky? she thought in frustration. If it were the "Rotten-Beaked Vulture" or even the "Mechanical Tyrant," she wouldn't be so afraid.

But the "Shepherd Sheep" was truly terrifying, lurking in the mist, constantly gnawing at you with bloody human heads—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a ghost story. She had become desensitized to the ugliness of the mutants, but she still remained resistant to ghosts and spirits.

Fortunately, her swordsmanship was already exceptionally skilled, which allowed her to react quickly and slash off an opponent's head every time she was attacked.

This can't go on forever; it's too passive, and I'll get hurt sooner or later... Thinking of this, Rosalyn decided to try using Wind Chaser to disperse the surrounding mist. Unlike her teacher, she only had 81 points of magic power. To maintain the effects of the "Crimson Armor" and "Muscle Unlimited" spells, she didn't have much spare magic power left. She had to be very careful with her magic power each time, because wasting it would be a huge loss in terms of combat strength.

Instead of using it immediately, she patiently waited, looking for the moment when the shepherd sheep would reappear.

Through several observations, she discovered that the direction from which the human head flew was not necessarily where the shepherd sheep was. Sometimes it would even place the human head on Rosalind's head and then suddenly bite it off, which startled her and made her think that her hair was about to be ripped out.

The only chance would be the moment the footsteps stopped, like... right now! Rosalyn's eyes widened, her blade wreathed in azure light. She charged forward, drawing her sword and slashing out a crescent-shaped wind blade that shattered the mist ahead. But surprisingly, the path revealed in that direction was completely empty.

Rosalyn was taken aback for a moment, but then she sensed the strange noises coming from above.

She looked up abruptly and saw that somewhere above, the goat-headed monster was using its humanoid hands and feet to grab a thick, purplish-red branch above its head, hanging there and watching her! A chilling smile spread across its goat-like face, and then it suddenly released its grip, plummeting down like a meteorite to grab her!

Even more terrifying, its shriveled abdomen suddenly split open to both sides, and dozens of ferocious, screaming human faces poured out wildly, like the gates of hell opening, spewing out endless resentment and despair, threatening to completely devour her.

Oh no… Rosalyn felt her mind go blank, and all that was left to take over her body was the fighting instincts she had accumulated over the past three years.

Without using any extra magic to aid her in the battle, she relied on her muscle instincts to dodge the shepherd sheep's slap that fell from the sky, just as she had dodged countless attacks from aberrant mutants.

Then, still relying on instinct, he swung his blade, forgetting to activate "high-frequency oscillation" and "high-voltage current," and using only the most basic enhancement technique, "muscle release," he unleashed countless blades, severing countless heads.

Moreover, the Shepherd Sheep didn't seem to be good at close combat. Although it was powerful, its movements were as slow as if it were on 0.5x speed, extremely sluggish, even slower than some low-level mutant creatures that only knew how to use despicable sneak attacks—such as the Twinblade Demon. So, she easily dodged the Shepherd Sheep's heavy punch, then drew her sword and slashed back, slashing back and forth...

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, when she finally came to her senses, gripping the knife hilt and panting, the terrifying monster's body had been chopped into countless pieces of flesh, its death exceptionally gruesome. The sheep's head lay nearby, its expression shrill and its eyes filled with terror, suggesting it had suffered immense, inhuman torture before its death.