Green Monster Epic

Soon, Allen and the others joined up with Albian, who was squatting in a pool of water, scooping up several skeletons still covered with some decaying flesh from the murky water.

"Judging from the degree of decay of these skeletons, they were killed no more than 2-3 days ago."

There were still many skeletons in the pool that had not been salvaged, but after a rough estimate, the number of this team lurking in the swamp was probably no less than ten, which was inconsistent with the target information Allen and the others were tracking.

"Judging from the traces they left behind, they are heading towards the depths of the swamp."

Albian was experienced in tracking. Although there were not many traces left by the other party, Albian still found some clues and judged the direction in which the other party was heading.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's chase!"

Allen patted the dirt on his hands, got up and left.

Having chased them all the way here, even if the other party was not the real target of their group, the gnawing marks on these skeletons were so obvious, and the air was filled with a faint smell of sulfur, all of which indicated that there was at least a team of demons here.

"Let's go!"

Kaiya, Alba, and the others followed one after another.

The further into the swamp they went, the denser the vegetation became. The number of arbors increased significantly, while the number of shrubs was much smaller than the periphery due to the lighting environment, which made Allen and the others' vision much wider.

From time to time, crocodiles and pythons wanted to attack Allen and the others, but Alba swept them away with a spear, and these animals scurried away in a daze, knowing that this group of people was not to be trifled with.

"Shhh!!!"

Suddenly, Albian, who was lurking at the forefront, showed himself, raised a finger to his lips, and made a silent gesture. Allen and the others quickly slowed down and hid among the surrounding tall tree trunks, trying to hide their figures, and waited for Albian's reconnaissance in front.

Soon, Albian returned with a hint of excitement on his face.

"About 300 meters ahead, a team of demons is stationed, numbering about 21, including a six-armed snake demon, and the rest are all middle-level demons such as Vrock and Horned Devil."

"There are also a lot of supplies in the camp, covered under several tarpaulins, and there are several demons guarding them. I can't get close, I don't know what the specific supplies are."

"…"

After Albian sneaked into the opponent's camp for reconnaissance, all the information about this demon team hiding in the swamp was basically collected. This is the benefit of having a shadow talent.

"What to do?"

This was a problem. The opponent's strength was not bad. If they fought head-on, Allen and the others might not be timid, but it would be a little difficult to wipe out the opponent completely.

But if they didn't wipe out the opponent completely, it would be a bit of a pity, after all, this trip to the depths of the swamp had wasted a lot of everyone's time.

"I'll take the lead, let's all kill them together!!"

Alba patted his fat chest at this time and confidently put forward his plan.

"…"

Kaiya silently turned her head away, unwilling to look at Alba.

Allen and Albian were also speechless, directly touching their foreheads and saying nothing.

"I think we can use the swamp environment to lure the opponent to an open area first, and then I will cast Mud Swamp, and you cooperate to use the Mud Swamp scrolls to delay the opponent's movements."

"Albian is responsible for chasing and killing those who escape, Kaiya is responsible for entangling the Vrocks that can fly for a short time…"

Richard frowned and thought for a moment, then summoned an invisible imp to observe the surrounding environment in mid-air, and then put forward his suggestion.

"Allen, Alba, and I are responsible for the demons controlled by Mud Swamp."

"What do you say?"

"Can you 3 hold on?"

Although Albian's personality was not likable, he would still take into account the problems of his teammates when he was really preparing for battle.

"I can help you assassinate a few opponents at the beginning of the battle."

"No, since there are supplies in the opponent's camp, then even if we lure the opponent to pursue, presumably several demons will stick to the camp. Your task is to quickly harvest the demons in the camp after the main force of the demon team has left, no problem?"

Richard wrote and calculated on the ground, and soon had a rough plan. Although it was still a bit rough, it was already more careful than Allen and the others thought.

"Okay!"

Albian nodded, and unconsciously took out his dagger and began to play with it.

"Okay, it's settled then."

Allen, Kaiya, and Alba nodded one after another, expressing their approval of the plan.

"In our left front, there is an open swamp area, let's set the battle point there."

"Let's go!"

Richard, as the person with the most wisdom and knowledge accumulation in the team, has now become the brain of the team, but Allen and Kaiya didn't feel abrupt at all, and naturally entered their roles.

"Alba, you go and be the bait."

Richard turned his head and said to Alba, who was tall and strong. His big body was the most attractive, and it was perfect for being bait. As Richard spoke, his staff danced in the air, and as a Lightness spell enveloped Alba, Alba's figure suddenly became a little lighter.

"Okay!"

After Alba's excited figure left, Richard was not idle either. He took out several kinds of materials from his arms, and then under the action of a Mage Hand, they lightly fell into the center of a shallow water beach that they had chosen at this time.

Allen and Kaiya didn't know what Richard was doing. They each held two Mud Swamp scrolls, hid behind the trunks of the water fir trees on the edge of the shallow beach, and quietly waited for the arrival of the demons.

Before Alba himself returned, the surface of the water around the shallow beach gradually rippled, and a dozen crocodiles and water pythons slowly swam along the surrounding waterways to the shallow beach, and then stopped leaving, as if they were being lured by something.

It was not until this time that Richard finally stopped his movements. He had already cast several spells on himself, and even his body gradually became blurred under the cover of the Cloud Mist spell, and together with Allen and Kaiya, he escaped into the faint mist.

Anyway, water elements gathered in this swamp, and white mist lingered from time to time, which was not abrupt at all.

"Plop! Plop! Plop…"

The sound of footsteps stepping on the water became louder and louder, and Alba's 2-meter-tall fat figure gradually became clear. Behind him, a dozen demon figures were frantically chasing Alba, already treating Alba as their prey.

On Alba's face, there was an exaggerated look of panic, holding his spear, and rushed towards the shallow beach with one foot deep and one foot shallow. When he arrived at the shallow beach, the six-armed snake demon closest to him had already chased to within ten meters, and a little closer, he would be able to attack Alba.

The snake demon's snake body was too convenient in the swamp, and its movements were much faster than Alba's, so it was expected by Alba himself that the opponent would close in. The only thing that Alba didn't expect was that when he entered the vicinity of the center of the shallow beach, several hideous mouths suddenly emerged from under the water, but they were sawtooth crocodiles that Richard had lured over with materials.

"Snap! Snap!"

"Ah!!"

Alba didn't have time to drive away the crocodiles under his feet, so he could only endure the crocodile's tearing and biting, dragging two sawtooth crocodiles that were biting his lower body, and continued his action of crossing the shallow beach in such a mess.

"SOK…LOL…"

When Alba was about to cross the shallow beach, the snake demon who had chased up from behind slashed a cut in his back with a scimitar, revealing the light yellow fat under his skin, the other demon pursuers had just arrived at the center of the shallow beach. At this time, Richard's Mud Swamp was finally completed at the right time, and a magical halo fell straight into the center of the shallow beach as his staff waved.

At the same time, Allen and Kaya acted almost simultaneously, tearing up the scrolls in their hands and throwing them into the pool with a flick of their arms. Then, Kaya drew her longbow from behind, nocking three arrows at once, unleashing a volley of multiple shots at the first Vrock gliding in mid-air; while Allen stepped hard on the trunk of a dawn redwood, transforming into a phantom and pouncing on the Hezrou that still wouldn't leave Alba alone.

“Puff, puff, puff~~”

The demons in the center of the pool felt the mud beneath their feet soften again, their legs sinking more than a foot. The Mud Pit spell, cast by four scrolls and a level 15 mage, covered an area exceeding the width of the shallow water.

“Splatter! Splatter!”

More effective than a Slow spell, the Mud Pit spell, enhanced by the swampy environment, caused the Cornugons and Erinyes trapped within to roar. No matter how much strength they possessed, facing the almost weightless mud that engulfed half of their massive bodies, every step forward was incredibly difficult.

In the mud, over a dozen crocodiles, feeling like fish in water, showed no politeness to the prey that suddenly appeared. They opened their bloodthirsty mouths and tore at the demons trapped in the mud with their sharp teeth, performing death rolls in the mire. Stimulated by Richard's drugs, the saw-toothed crocodiles, water pythons, and other ordinary beasts that had been attracted, showed a hint of madness in their eyes, suppressing their animal instincts and desperately harassing and attacking the demons in the pool.

“Damn Material Plane vermin!!”

The Marilith combined her six arms, and while using her six scimitars to block Allen's fierce attack, she looked back and noticed the predicament of her subordinates. Her eyes flashed fiercely, and she hissed a threat, but Allen ignored her completely.

Alba raised his leg and smashed a saw-toothed crocodile, over two meters long, that was still biting his thigh. Then, he used his spear to pick off the crocodile hanging from his butt, finally feeling much more comfortable.

“Alba, you go deal with the other demons, I'll take care of this Marilith.”

Allen, facing an evenly matched opponent, showed a hint of excitement and waved to Alba, calling out.

“You… hey!!”

Alba glared at Allen, then cursed and went around Allen and the Marilith, heading towards the shallow water.

“I'm the bait, and you're stealing my opponent, taking all the credit!!”

As he spoke, Alba thrust his spear upwards. The over two-meter-long mithril spear intersected with a Vrock swooping by at low altitude, instantly tearing a large hole in its broad, fleshy wing, causing it to wobble and fall onto the water. Seeing that he had injured a Vrock, Alba ignored the demons still struggling in the mud not far away, and with a flourish of his spear, he chased after the Vrock that had lost its ability to fly, stabbing it to death in the puddles.

Beside a dawn redwood tree in the distance, a ball of lightning crackled. Under Richard's mental control, it shot towards the pile of demons mired in the mud, slowly advancing towards the shore.

“Crackle!! Sizzle!!!!!”

None of the demons in the conductive, murky water could escape. They all began to roll their eyes, and some were even paralyzed by the powerful current, slowly collapsing into the mud. Even Alba, who was some distance from the Chain Lightning, felt a numbness throughout his body, as if he was about to lose control of his body and involuntarily urinate and defecate. The feeling was extremely unpleasant.

Kaya, standing just over ten meters away from Richard, held her longbow bent like a crescent moon, firing arrows faster than the last, dealing with the two Vrocks gliding in the air. And among the mud, a Vrock pierced through the eye socket by an arrow was slowly sinking into the pool.

The Marilith was very strong, but her strength was still a little short compared to Allen.

Especially since she hadn't awakened the powerful Divine Blasphemy ability. When facing Allen, from the moment her first attack was suppressed and pushed back by Allen, the entire battle situation fell into Allen's rhythm.

With one powerful blow after another, each of Allen's sword strikes carried the effect of a critical hit. Over the years, Allen had integrated the Improved Critical feat into his blood, no longer needing too much preparation.

When Alba, with the help of Richard's magic, had just killed 5-6 mid-level demons, Allen used a heavy, rage-fueled chop, sending three of the Marilith's scimitars flying while simultaneously crippling two of her arms.

As the Marilith endured the pain and attempted to retreat while casting a Blade Barrier imbued with evil aura, Allen used another Triple Wave, his unwavering body directly crashing into the Blade Barrier formed by the Marilith's three scimitars. Allen plunged into the Marilith's embrace, and the two slid several meters in the mud before slowly stopping.

When Allen dragged Bonesplitter out of her embrace, the Marilith's body, having lost its support, collapsed into the mud with a thud.

“Alba, I'll come help you!!”

Allen stomped heavily on the Marilith's corpse, accelerating its descent into the mud. Under the force of the reaction, Allen leaped high and faced a Vrock dodging Kaya's multiple shots in a sorry state. As the two passed each other, a cloud of blood mist burst in the air.

Allen's movements didn't stop. Under the influence of gravity, although he lost some of his sharpness and power, when Allen's body landed in the mud, he landed squarely on the head of an Erinyes. Bonesplitter plunged down, piercing directly through the Erinyes' serpentine head.

The Erinyes didn't even have time to self-destruct before losing its breath, becoming one of the corpses in the icy mud.

At this time, Kaya's exasperated voice came from a distance: "Allen, you bastard, you stole my target!!"

With Allen's addition, the speed of exterminating the demons was even faster. Richard's role in this was considerable.

Richard didn't use many high-power spells; instead, he used more spells with negative effects, which brought more help to the battle than if he had used single-target high-power spells: Chain Lightning, Ice Cone, Frost Ray…

The fact that demons didn't like cold temperatures had long been figured out by these mages. At the same time, frost spells had negative effects similar to electrical spells, which could slowly reduce the vitality of creatures within the spell's range, equivalent to a continuous version of the Slow spell. Although the effect took time to manifest, many of the demons struggling in the mud were affected.

Not to mention the Stinking Cloud spell and so on, which gave Allen and Alba a lot of help, making the battle end faster.

It was just a pity that in the end, one Vrock and one Erinyes still escaped Albi's interception, causing Allen and the others' goal of wiping them all out to ultimately fail.

Then came the time to clean up the battlefield and collect the loot. Before, everyone benefited from the help of the Mud Pit spell, but when it came to cleaning up the battlefield, they felt the disadvantages of doing so. It was only with great difficulty that Allen retrieved the Marilith's corpse, along with her six scimitars, and threw them casually on the shore. At this time, his body was covered in mud, and he could hardly see his original appearance.

The loot was collected, and the demons' heads were easily chopped off and thrown into burlap sacks. Even Kaya, a woman with a beautiful face, showed no reluctance when chopping off the demons' heads. Her movements were crisp and neat, very洒意.

“Why are these things here?”

However, when they came to the demons' camp and counted the supplies piled under a few animal skins and oilcloths, their faces changed slightly.

This batch of supplies couldn't be considered precious, but it was very rare in the wilderness because it was the most important material for building a Flesh Altar - obsidian.

“Could it be that these demons are staying here to build a Flesh Altar?”

Richard's face was a little gloomy. After all, the Flesh Altar had caused countless disasters to the human kingdoms and the wilderness. Now that he saw the materials for the Flesh Altar again, he was certainly moved.

“If they wanted to build an altar, they wouldn't have waited until now.”

However, Ke Ya held a different view, her fingers stroking back and forth across the long, rectangular obsidian stones. The obsidian was dark and lustrous, like pieces of black jade. Aside from its fragile nature, its appearance was quite pleasing to the female aesthetic.

"Don't forget that this swamp has just experienced a disaster. A lizardman tribe that originally lived here was wiped out by the demon army."

"Even if they wanted to rebuild the flesh and blood altar, they probably wouldn't do it here."

Allen and the others had already learned the general details about Corpsebone Beach from the unfortunate troll. Now, reminded by Ke Ya, Richard came back to his senses.

"That's right. Even if they wanted to build an altar here, they wouldn't have enough manpower to collect sufficient flesh and blood sacrifices."

"Who cares so much?!"

Alba was currently rubbing his butt, cleaning the debris from between the folds of his flesh, and casually glanced at the pile of obsidian on the ground without much interest.

"These are all scourges. Why don't we just smash them and be done with it? Everyone would be much happier!"

"…"

Ke Ya, Albian, and the others stared at Alba as if he were an idiot. The obsidian from the Obsidian Wilds was not produced in large quantities, but its uses were extremely wide. It was an excellent magic-conducting material for various god sculptures, magic circles, and mystlocks. Just the pile in front of them, weighing several thousand pounds, would be worth at least a thousand gold coins if transported back to Mansa City. Who would be willing to destroy it into garbage so easily?

This wasn't a finished flesh and blood altar; it was just raw material. It couldn't be wasted like that.

Thinking of this, Ke Ya could only turn her gaze to Allen and Richard. In this team, only Allen and Richard had expensive dimensional bags.

Although Ke Ya and Albian had earned some money as adventurers over the years, they had also purchased a lot of equipment, and their accumulated funds weren't actually that much. Especially Ke Ya, as a human, was already thirty years old. If she couldn't find her path to legend before she turned 40, then she would have to take the money she had saved up over the years, return to her hometown, buy a property, or prepare a dowry to marry a man.

This was the shackle of being a woman, and it was also their helplessness.

Because if she passed 45, it would become extremely difficult for Ke Ya to have children, and no man would truly want to marry her then.

As for remaining unmarried like a nun, not all women could do that. Their innate maternal instincts would eventually soften their hearts, making them want a close companion to raise their own bloodline with.

"How about you and I store these resources first, and then distribute them after we go back and sell them?"

Richard looked at Allen, seeking his opinion.

Neither of Allen's or Richard's dimensional bags could completely hold such a large volume of resources, so they would have to each carry some to distribute the load.

He also didn't know how these demons had transported these resources in.

"Okay."

Allen nodded in agreement. Although making money wasn't his ultimate goal, it was always good to have more gains.

"You fools of the Material Plane, pray that your false gods protect your souls! The great master is about to descend upon your world and ignite the fires of slaughter throughout the entire world!"

A Vrock had its fleshy wings and limbs chopped off, and even its long tail was severed. Now, it was a magical stick, discarded in this camp that originally belonged to them, on the verge of death.

After collecting all the spoils and leaving nothing behind, Allen and his group refocused their attention on the only living creature in front of them. Before they could even ask questions, the demon, with a crazed look in its eyes, uttered vile words.

"Your souls will become our sustenance, and your flesh and blood will become the nutrients for summoning the demon army across dimensions."

"The great master will avenge us…"

Albian's interrogation methods failed for the first time. No matter what means Albian used, the Vrock showed no weakness and continued to hurl curses at Allen and the others in a weak voice.

"…"

Albian shrugged, indicating that he was helpless. The demon's missing limbs meant that many of his methods couldn't be used.

"Let me try."

Allen stepped forward, replacing Albian.

"Can you do it? Or should we just not waste time and kill it so we can continue pursuing the mission objective?"

Albian looked at Allen with a questioning expression.

"…"

Allen didn't reply, but simply drew the dagger from his waist and walked expressionlessly to the demon, stripping it of all external objects, and then gesturing with the dagger.

"You all may know what my greatest hobby is, but what you don't know is that this hobby has given me excellent knife skills."

"I once experimented on a plains goat. I could continuously cut 800 slices of mutton from the goat without killing it."

"However, this demon has stronger recovery and is larger than a goat, so I estimate that I can break my record."

Allen wasn't originally a talkative person, but after years of learning and experience, he had become much more talkative than before.

Moreover, he had discovered that sometimes, using words in conjunction with actions could often achieve unexpected results. For Allen, who valued practical results, it was naturally worth pondering, such as the current situation.

When Allen spoke in Common, the demon's eyes didn't waver at all. The madness in its vertical pupils didn't fade away, and it still glared fiercely at Allen and the others. Faced with the dagger Allen extended, it even kept snapping its large, tooth-filled mouth in the air.

Allen stopped speaking, but his hands began to move. He gently cut the demon's body, and the other party only felt a chill. Then, Allen lifted a piece of demon skin as thin as a cicada's wing with the blade and hung it gently on a prepared log in front of him.

Slice after slice… When the demon began to feel the pain on its body and let out a shrill scream, Allen had already hung a full 70-80 strips of flesh, each more than an inch long and about an inch wide, crystal clear, on the flat log.

The other party's screams couldn't cause any fluctuations in Allen's mood at all, and the dagger in his hand was as steady as ever. Before long, besides the bare white bones, there was no flesh and blood left on the demon's chest. Allen could even see the demon's heart, the size of a fist, slowly and steadily beating in the chest cavity through the pale ribs.

And strangely enough, no matter how shrill the demon's screams were, and no matter how much the hole in its chest expanded, it just wouldn't take that last breath.

If one carefully examined the demon's hollow chest, they would find that thick and tough blood vessels were still attached between its bare white bones. Allen had avoided these main blood vessels when cutting the flesh. It was precisely because the blood flow was smooth that the demon was able to persist under its own recovery and powerful vitality.

However, when Allen had completely cleaned the flesh and blood from the other party's chest cavity, and then lifted the demon's stubborn, painful head, staring at the heart slowly beating in Allen's palm, the madness in its eyes receded like a tide, replaced by helplessness, fear, and other emotions after its spirit had been destroyed.

"Now, can you answer our questions?"

Allen's eyes didn't waver, as calm as water, staring at the demon in front of him.

I always feel that the power of mages is not only reflected in their high-powered spells, but also in their ability to cast appropriate spells according to the situation to help their teammates win faster.

In my book, unless mages need to be the main source of firepower, for the safety of the mages themselves and their teammates, mages will independently judge and choose more appropriate spells, rather than using fireballs, lightning arrows, and other high-powered spells like in other books.

A truly wise mage should not just use their spells so crudely.