The muddy, foul-smelling ground posed no real danger, and the adventure team progressed smoothly. Soon, they arrived at the spot where the shadow magic mentor had detected something valuable.
A massive blue crystal stood before them, three to four metres tall, sparkling and translucent.
The crystal radiated a gentle blue, starkly different from the surrounding decay and dark grey tones, exuding nobility and an indescribable purity. Everyone could sense the powerful magical aura emanating from it. Only seasoned magic mentors and swordsmen, however, could detect a faint hint of danger within it.
The team from Stan Town included knowledgeable members like Cass, the old swordsman by his side, Bilis, and Thorn, yet none could identify what this was. They only knew it was extraordinary, brimming with magic. Standing near it felt like their inner strength was surging endlessly.
This was undoubtedly a tremendous treasure.
But before their fervent gazes could cool, a sharp, eerie cry rang out. “Jiji, jiji!” A lopsided figure swiftly descended in front of the crystal, blocking their path. The terrifying Valkyrie flailed her arms, shouting, “Jiji, kaka, jiji!”
Her patchwork face lacked expression, her mismatched eyes unable to convey her urgent mood. Her appearance immediately put the team on guard, and they assumed combat stances. To them, her gestures to urge them to leave seemed like provocation and a threat.
“What, what is this thing?”
“Heavens, such an evil creature exists in this world!”
“Let’s attack her together!”
Exclamations erupted from the team.
Everyone prepared for battle.
“Jiji, jiji!” The Valkyrie’s cries grew more urgent, her uneven arms and fingers waving, making her appear even more menacing.
“She’s about to attack!”
“Everyone, be careful!”
The team shouted.
Cass gripped his greatsword tightly. Thorn, the Bullhead Magic Guild leader, readied himself with a grimoire in one hand and a black longsword in the other. Bilis, leader of the Goddess’s Kiss Magic Guild, dismissed his summoned crab monster, preparing to call forth other grotesque creatures.
“Wait, stop!” A panting voice suddenly called out. Looking over, they saw Green, the space magic mentor accidentally dragged into this place, running toward them. He spread his arms, standing between the Valkyrie and the team. “Don’t attack, she, huff, has no hostility, huff…”
“Green?” Bilis, recognising the man who claimed to be friends with Ye Chui and Debbie, said coldly, “You’re still alive? Where are those two annoying brats?”
“I don’t know,” Green shook his head. He had asked the Valkyrie to search for Ye Chui and Debbie over the past few days, but found nothing. Given their uncanny abilities, they were likely fine. Catching his breath, he continued, “This place is dangerous. You should leave quickly.”
“Dangerous?” Thorn’s gruff voice rang out. “Green, what’s that monster behind you? You seem to know it.”
“She’s a good person!” Green said, glancing at the Valkyrie. The sudden visual shock, combined with his exertion from running, made his stomach churn, and he let out a retch. He quickly turned back. “Please, trust me.”
“Your words aren’t very convincing,” many thought simultaneously.
“Jiji, jiji!” the Valkyrie called again.
Having spent time with her, Green could vaguely interpret her cries. He explained, “She says this place seals an evil entity. Any living being approaching could awaken it, so please leave!”
A swordsman scoffed, “You’re talking nonsense!”
“Jiji, kaka!” the Valkyrie cried.
Green translated, “She’s telling the truth. This place is beyond your abilities. If you want to survive, leave now!”
“Jiji, jiji!”
“She’s guarded this place for five thousand years, encountering many adventurers. At least seven times, groups far stronger than you came here, and all died!”
“Jiji, kaka!”
“If you don’t leave, she’ll stop being polite.”
The team was dumbfounded. How could Green glean so much from her two cries?
Even Green was bewildered, amazed at how he’d interpreted such detailed meaning from her calls. It was almost magical, a form of mental connection, though the Valkyrie wasn’t skilled at it. Only after growing familiar with Green could she manage simple telepathic exchanges.
As the Valkyrie tried to say more, her body suddenly trembled. In the next moment, she shoved Green aside. The ground where she stood abruptly bulged, then collapsed, revealing a massive mouth lined with sharp teeth. The mouth swallowed the Valkyrie whole.
The creature emerged, a terrifying giant worm, reddish-brown like an earthworm but massive. One end was dominated by a toothy maw. It slithered from the ground, its appearance instinctively repulsive.
Seeing the monster devour the Valkyrie, panic swept through the team. Some, however, remained calm, instinctively looking at Bilis, the summoner from the Goddess’s Kiss Magic Guild.
They recognised this as Bilis’s summoned creature.
“Heh heh heh,” Bilis, his eyeshadowed gaze fixed on the monster he’d secretly summoned to ambush the Valkyrie, smirked triumphantly. No one survived being swallowed by his swamp beast.
But then, surprise crossed Bilis’s face.
Bang!
The worm-like body of the swamp beast writhed, swelled, and burst apart. The terrifying Valkyrie reappeared, wielding a sword of condensed light, glaring at the group. “Jiji, kaka!”
“She’s furious, and you’ll pay for your actions,” Green, who had been pushed aside and tumbled awkwardly, shouted urgently.
“Everyone, attack!”
“Strike her down!”
After a brief moment of shock, someone in the team yelled, and the magic mentors and swordsmen launched a collective assault on the Valkyrie.
“Mayor Cass?” Several swordsmen from Cass’s town guard looked to him for guidance.
“Don’t attack,” Cass said, shaking his head. Unlike the others, he remained calm, his eyes warily glancing at the giant blue crystal. However, the old swordsman, his deputy, ignored his advice, drawing a short sword and joining the fray against the Valkyrie. Cass frowned in displeasure.
Over twenty adventurers relentlessly attacked the Valkyrie. Besides Bilis, Thorn, the magic swordsman, joined the fight. Though the Valkyrie, a guardian of the divine realm from five thousand years ago, was now diminished, her strength far surpassed these adventurers from a remote town.
Her light sword was formidable, her movements slightly stiff but still forcing the others back. Magic mentors and swordsmen retreated, crying out in pain from injuries.
Green shouted to stop the fight, but his voice was drowned out by the battle’s clamour, filling him with urgency. Then, he felt a chill on his neck.
A black shadow clung to his neck, like a devil’s claw.
A figure emerged beside him. As a well-known betting house operator in Stan Town, Green was familiar with the town’s magic mentors. He recognised Edel, the shadow magic mentor from the Goddess’s Kiss.
“Heh heh heh,” Edel let out a cold laugh, tightening his grip. Threads of dark shadow pierced Green’s body like needles.
“Ah!” Green cried out in pain.
The Valkyrie, mid-battle, froze, her mismatched eyes turning toward Green. “Jiji?” She seemed confused why these intruders would attack Green, presumably an ally.
In that moment of distraction, Thorn seized the opportunity. The magic swordsman leapt, swinging his black greatsword in a mid-air spin, unleashing a razor-sharp sword aura.
[Great Slash]
“Ji!” The Valkyrie let out a startled cry as the black sword sliced through her, from shoulder to waist, nearly cleaving her in two. Having held the upper hand, she now collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Her wound was ghastly, yet no blood flowed. Her life force lingered, but she could no longer move, her attempts to rise reduced to feeble trembling.
“What have you done!?” Green shouted in fury. Edel, sneering, released the shadow restraining Green, allowing him to rush to the Valkyrie’s side. Kneeling beside her, Green glared at the others in anger.
Thorn, having landed his blow, smirked and raised his black longsword, preparing a fatal strike.
Bilis summoned a tentacled monster, approaching with a cold laugh.
“Don’t give her a chance to recover!” Thorn roared, charging like a maddened bull.
But at that moment, a golden light appeared on the horizon.
It was fast.
When Thorn sensed the sharp aura and looked up, the golden light was already upon him. He roared, halting his charge and leaping back awkwardly. “Rip!” The golden light sliced the ground before him, leaving a terrifying scar. Others preparing to attack the Valkyrie stopped, wary.
Before them stood a golden-armoured female swordsman wielding a golden longsword, radiating an aura of untouchable nobility.
The pay-to-win swordswoman, Gilga, had arrived.
“Cross this line, and you’ll die by my sword,” she said coldly.
At the same time, boosted by the [Wind Travel] spell, Ye Chui, carrying Debbie, arrived swiftly beside Green and the Valkyrie.
