Chapter 241: Withering

“But…”

The soul could recognize the magical beast at a glance, and Miss Vilyric, who had traveled far and wide and loved to hug books every day, naturally wasn’t completely clueless.

She turned her gaze to the two sharp, poisonous fangs that had corroded the tree trunk and fallen to the ground, along with the tiny serpent’s corpse casually squished by the Giant Dragon, and commented.

“Under normal circumstances, the Shadow Emperor Snake isn’t considered docile, but it rarely attacks prey much larger than itself. While this type of snake can expand its mouth to several times its size to swallow, it has limits. Generally, they only prey on flying birds resting on trees or small animals like hares and mice…”

“Unless provoked, exposed to strong environmental stimuli, or… influenced by some powers.”

“What does Miss Xī mean?”

The White Fox Girl lightly snapped her fingers.

The corpse of the small snake swayed and floated up. Perhaps from others’ perspectives, nothing was visible, but from Miss Vilyric’s view with her SP, she could spot a thread of crimson blood, entwined with hints of fury and malice, rising and slowly dissipating with the snake’s death and soul’s departure.

Without a doubt, this was the culprit behind the heightened aggression.

“Heh… It seems there are indeed some malevolent forces lurking in this forest, so let’s all stay alert.”

Though not as clear as Vilyric, the Soul nodded gravely and lightly placed a hand on the hilt of one of the seven swords at his waist.

The other members of the Grim Reaper’s Scythe adopted vigilant stances, even Miss Tilysha, usually not regarded as combat personnel, nervously reached into her pocket, clenching something invisible in her palm.

Then, led by the White Fox Girl, the group pressed deeper into the forest.

The more they moved, the larger and taller the surrounding trees grew. Although they never reached the sky-scraping stature of the Life Goddess’s Divine Tree, many were now towering at least several dozen meters high, their dense canopies almost completely covering the light from the sky, casting shadows that made the surroundings even darker.

This forest clearly had quite some history.

Several members of the group thought in unison.

“Ah?”

At a certain moment, without needing the White Fox Girl to prompt, Miss Tilysha suddenly halted, revealing a slightly dazed expression reminiscent of when she had fallen into a swamp, as if hearing some invisible, urgent warning.

Vilyric and the Little Dragon Daughter also stopped, but didn’t pay attention to the Blue-haired Girl next to them, instead directing their gazes towards a patch of bushes.

“Miss Xī, what’s wrong…”

“Shh, it’s this.”

Raising a finger for silence to the Soul, the two most perceptive and powerful girls exchanged glances, and the Little Dragon Daughter stepped forward, reaching to push aside the foliage.

“Swish~”

“Boom!”

The sound that followed the slight rustle of the grass wasn’t a violent blast or explosion, but rather like a flock of startled birds suddenly taking to the sky, the flapping wings and air vibrating loudly.

Countless shadows surged upwards from the thicket!

“!”

The four members of Grim Reaper’s Scythe instantly tensed, taking fighting stances. Eudora, who had been holding Miss Vilyric’s hand, instinctively shrank back behind her.

However, one particular Blue-haired Girl, who seemed to just regain her senses, stood there dumbfounded, completely lost about what was happening.

“It seems this isn’t bait or a trap, just a coincidence…”

Muttering incomprehensible words, the White Fox Girl shook her head, walking forward with the Little Loli, followed closely by the others.

The Blonde Girl, already through the thicket and at the other side, was frowning slightly, gazing at the scene before her while waiting.

“This…”

“My goodness…”

Witnessing the same scene, everyone displayed expressions of shock or anger.

Amidst the swaying shadows of trees lay over a dozen corpses, some sprawled, some leaning, others nailed to the trees in various poses.

From their attire, they appeared to belong to an organization similar to a Village Guard or militia, with scattered swords, bows, and firearms—common weapons of this world—mostly damaged beyond recognition from fierce battles.

The most crucial point was that all these beings were humans or hybrids, common residents of the Holy Empire… a terrifying sight.

Fearful yet bizarre.

Their skin, faces had sunken in, and their skeletal bodies looked emaciated like malnourished goblins, some even lifeless with wide-open eyes reflecting terror or rage, and locking gazes sparked even more shock.

“Blood… drained away?”

The experienced Soul made that judgment immediately.

Cautiously approaching the only corpse clad in full ceremonial armor, pinned to a tree by what looked like a small dagger to the heart, he remained vigilant against potential attacks from undead magic or malevolent sorcery. He pulled out the elegantly crafted dagger and laid the similarly emaciated body flat.

After roughly inspecting the attire on the corpse, and scanning over the broken spear beside it, the Gray-clothed Swordsman turned to the White Fox Girl, who was observing another corpse.

“Miss Xī, this person… is a Temple Knight of the Holy Empire. By the weapons and armor structure he used, he’s most likely a Holy Knight from the Sanos Province.”

“Mm.”

Nodding to indicate comprehension, Vilyric said nothing more; she merely picked up a nearby twig and poked at the neck of a young ranger who looked like she belonged to a branch of treants, her pointed ears badly withered.

On that side, there was a massive gaping hole as if pierced by a chisel, extending through to the other side, leaving almost a clean shot through.

Clearly, this wasn’t an attack from swords or guns but rather…

The earlier appearance of the Shadow Emperor Snake sprang to the girl’s mind; she looked up at the numerous black bats hiding in the treetops, hanging upside down, their blood-red eyes fixed on the people below.

“Could it be… the teeth of some gigantic creature?”

Strangely, if such a creature existed, it should be easy to find.

But Vilyric had just used SP to scan around her, a radius of about twenty to thirty kilometers. While she had spotted a few groups resembling these people—likely teams sent from nearby villages or towns looking for something who were startled—there were no actual targets suspected of causing this scene.

Had they already left? Or perhaps… was it an exceptional being that could conceal its existence under the name of divine thought power?

Indeed, such powerful beings exist.

At least in Xi Fu Lin’s descriptions, in the age of myths when the gods hadn’t yet sealed everything, there were several species that could evade divine detection through their extraordinary talents, the most famous being the World-devouring Serpent, Ymirgard.

The <Serpent> was the immortal devourer of worlds, but each time it revived, it also needed time to grow, so it typically avoided the gaze of the gods, quietly consuming and growing stronger. Relying solely on large-scale divine scans, it was difficult to spot.

Xi Fu Lin didn’t know if those exceptional creatures still existed or had become extinct like the gods, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility that they were merely hiding in some corner of this world.

So, with her SP scan having failed, Vilyric could not entirely dismiss the possibility that there were beings hidden in this ancient forest that posed a threat to them.

“But… draining blood.”

Aside from that prior assumption, there was a place in this forest where creatures capable of causing similar wounds existed, things the White Fox Girl had already clearly “seen.”

Indeed, it was something filled with ominous and eerie vibes.

But the other party should have no way to move over here to launch an attack.

The girl helplessly shook her head, withdrawing her gaze from the bats that seemed to be staring her down.

…They looked just like harmless ordinary bats, after all.

   

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