Chapter 108: Gathering Ingredients Inside a Hellish Landscape

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As I left the underground area after leaving some more food and water for everyone there, I sealed the entrance using an arrangement of Runes made through the [Great Sorceress] skill. It was a simple reinforced Sealing Magic Circle, filled with powerful Holy Light Runes.

So no Blood Thrall can get closer, and if somebody who works for that vampire woman comes down, they'll have a really hard time getting through. It can also alert me if it is being attacked.

[Through the effects of the [Great Sorceress (S): Lv4] Skill, you've created a powerful Sealing Magic Circle within the entrance of the Underground City.]

[Your Magic Power, Ki, and Celestial Energy empower the Sealing Magic Circle, making it several times as strong.]

"And done; that should be enough for now."

["You're sure a cautious girl…"]

I looked at the recipe paper and its contents. It explained very roughly how to make it, and it was also using some language I wouldn't have understood normally if I didn't have Eyes of Truth.

It also had a list of necessary materials and a small summary of where to find them; luckily, they were all scattered around the village.

The Red Blood Roses can be found to the west, and the Black Mist Mushrooms grow over dead wood, closer to the Red Blood Roses. Screaming Roots are near the Miasmic River to the northwest, and lastly, the Flare Wasps, a species of Insectoid Demonic Beast, which I need their entire bodies crushed like juice to make the antidote. They're located to the north, in huge swarms that devour anything they come across.

"Looks easy enough; let's get to it."

Without wasting much time, I rushed outside of the village by jumping off the walls and ran across the Withered Tree Forest, named "Death Tree Forest" in the paper.

According to the recipe, this place used to be much more filled with nature, although the colors weren't that different. Green plants usually don't grow in the Demon Realm.

["So what should we look for first?"]

"Red Blood Roses to the west grow near decaying corpses; their coagulated blood makes them grow easily. Unprocessed, they're highly poisonous, so no beast eats them; it shouldn't be so hard to find them."

As I talked with the annoying talking sword, I made my way through the forest. Withered forests and silence filled the atmosphere until it didn't. I felt the presence of creatures lurking in the dark, their sharp red eyes glaring at me as they followed my footsteps.

"Gryarrrr…"

"Shaaah…"

"Gryooohh…"

As if to make their presence even more obvious, their groans and shrieks in the distance gave them away very quickly. The Blood Thralls must be really hungry if they reveal their positions like this so easily. They're usually stealthy creatures.

I stopped walking as I glanced at my back. Their almost skeletal bodies slowly emerged from the shadows, their sharp eyes glaring at me as if I were a tasty pack of blood ready to drink.

[You've been spotted by a pack of bloodthirsty [Blood Thralls (B+ Rank)] x15!]

[Their blood thirst is reaching its limits. Their Attack has increased by +25% due to their intense rabid hunger!]

They started overflowing with red auras; they were readying themselves to leap on me like rabid dogs. That aura's new, though; these guys might be a bit stronger than the seven guys I hunted before.

["Are you sure you can take fifteen B+ Rank monsters on your own?! Aren't you getting a bit too cocky?"]

"Maybe if there were other types of Monsters, but it's Blood Thralls, Vampire, Undead, and Demon Type." I smiled. "They're six times weaker than the Holy Light, did you know?"

My daggers started overflowing with auras of holy light. The Blood Thralls seemed slightly surprised but were not willing to retreat.

"Grooaarrr!"

Two leaped directly towards me, their black claws overflowing with their bloody red auras, generating several cutting waves every time they slashed the air.

However, I jumped directly towards them as they were in midair, tanking their hits with my golden armor and swinging both magical daggers at once, swiftly cutting their necks at the same time, their heads rolling into the ground.

SLASH! SLASH!

"Grrrhhh…!"

"Gryyarrgh!"

The other Blood Thralls slightly stepped back, but their hunger won over their sense of danger, swiftly attacking me all at once. Four came from behind, and another five came from the front. They were really into the quantity over quality mentality.

[The Effect of the [Aura of Protection (C Rank Privilege)] has been activated!]

[An Aura of Protection is already set within your body, reducing all damage taken by 30% based on your Charm Stat.]

[You've coated your weapons and magic with the power of the {Aura of Protection}, your Attacks and Defensive Skills and Spells, have been enhanced by +15%!]

[Additionally, while using Aura of Protection on offensive Skills and Spells, there's an added +15% to either provoke [Shock] [Charm] or [Confusion] on a foe for a couple of seconds.]

"{Twin Slashing Sunlight Blade}!"

SLAAASH!

While enchanting my weapons with the power of the Aura of Protection, I swung my two daggers as I spun in the middle of the ground. The slashes of light, frost, and flames reached all nine Blood Thralls at once, pushing them away and damaging them severely.

"{Sunlit Arc}!"

Leaping over a group of three that fell over the floor, I mercilessly sliced their heads through the power of my Sunlit Arc Technique, which generated an arc of light with each swing of my weapons.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Their heads rolled into the ground one after another, and their necks were very weak and frail, even more against the might of an element they couldn't easily take.

"GRYAAARRRGH!"

The rest rushed towards me furiously; some tried to bite my arm, another grabbed my legs, and a third tried to scratch my eyes and make me lose my vision.

"{Sunshine}"

My Skill resonated with my Physique, as a wave of pure Holy Light mixed with Yang Ki erupted from my body, burning the bodies of the Blood Thralls, and weakening them by blinding their eyes.

I moved swiftly, imbuing my daggers with a bit more Mana, as explosions of fire and frost covered the bloodthirsty beasts one after another, their bodies covered in slashing attacks; half of them were shredded into pieces.

The rest were too wounded, trying to escape as they finally realized they couldn't win, but I wouldn't let them escape.

I pointed my fingers at the last ones escaping, shooting their bodies with beams combining my Sunshine Skill with the Beam of Love Privilege, which boosted the power of the beams based on my Charm Stat, the highest I had.

It was an embarrassing Privilege with that name, but it was surprisingly useful to deal damage quickly.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Gryyaarrgghh…!"

With a last shriek of agony, the last Blood Thrall perished. I sighed in relief as I deposited their bodies inside my Inventory and moved on.

Just thinking that they used to be the poor demons in that village that were taken away and turned into mad beasts made me feel slightly guilty.

I can't fight against this guilt, but it doesn't mean I'll stop doing this. They have stopped being themselves, and they have transformed for too long to reverse their forms.

Boasting my ego and thinking I'm freeing them from being monsters is not my thing, honestly, but I would like to think that perhaps, deep down, they would be grateful that they wouldn't be forced to hurt their loved ones anymore because of what they had become...

[You have slain [Blood Thralls (B+ Rank)] x15!]

[You earned 375.000 EXP.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

Level 32 already, not bad; B-Rank monsters give good amounts of EXP. The more I Rank Up and reach the max level, the higher the EXP requirements will become.

I need to take this opportunity to also level up as much as I can, so I can prepare myself to battle those monsters in the Demon Castle looming above Stronghold City.

That Demon Castle was caused by the butterfly effect I created by weakening the Archdemons, which caused the Death Apostles to take advantage of their absence and appear much sooner.

At this point, it feels like my responsibility to take down that Castle before things get even worse. I cannot falter.

["You sure look troubled... Do you really feel that guilty about having slain those guys?"]

"Well, it's part of being human." I sighed. "This guilt… At least it makes me think that there's still a person deep down."

["Don't overthink it too much, kid. You're a good person."]

"Oh wow, that was surprisingly sweet from you, Mister Metal Stick."

["Name's Gram, you stupid brat!"]

"Yeah, yeah…"

I rushed across the forest as Gram gave me company. Sepa was still asleep; I don't know when she'll wake up, and she was honestly troubling me a bit. I couldn't bring my Familiars here either, so it was just me now.

"Hey Gram, I wanted to ask you something…"

["What?"]

"About your other half, the other half my brother has... Do you want it? Do you think you could merge with it?"

["Oh, that thing... Well, I can, but I don't mind not doing it anyway. That thing has been swallowed by that disgusting wolf, and it became even more corrupted than how I was before; it even gained the powers of that dog; if your brother needs it, I don't mind him keeping it."]

"Oh, so he's worthy?"

["He's brave, strong, and smart, and he got that look on his eyes that reminds me of my old wielder, Sigurd… I think that man might one day even surpass that Hero."]

"Well, he sure is a Protagonist. He'll eventually kick everyone's asses."

["I've never heard someone call another person a "protagonist"! You're really quite something. You're a bit too obsessed with your brother, aren't you?"]

"Shut up! It's not in the way you think…" I facepalmed.

As we talked much banter, we reached my destination: a large bear-looking beast corpse lying in the forest, covered by blood-red roses.

"Bingo."

Ding!

[You've Gathered [Red Blood Roses (D Rank)] x36!]

[Oh? What luck! The gathered items have gone up one Rank!]

"C-Rank Blood Roses, that ought to make an even better antidote."

["You're not taking them all? There's a ton left! This huge beast's growing a lot above its corpse…"]

"I'll take what I need for now; if we leave them here, they'll regrow, and the villagers can come pick them up in the future. I don't want to greedily take away their things."

["Huh…"]

Without wasting any more time, I kept moving, analyzing my surroundings using my Eyes of Truth and looking for the Dark Mist Mushrooms.

Eventually, I found them; they were growing behind a huge dead tree trunk. They were huge! As big as a watermelon. I took a few and left the rest.

Ding!

[You've Gathered [Dark Mist Mushroom (D Rank)] x4!]

[Oh? What luck! The gathered items have gone up one Rank!]

"Now, the Screaming Roots, to the river…"

I kept moving to the north this time, following the sound of flowing water… Or, well, black goo. On the way, I felt the presence of creatures following me again. When I stopped almost in front of the Miasmic River, I was greeted by yet another pack of Blood Thralls.

However, these guys looked a bit different; aside from the very thin and almost skeletal guys, there were larger, muscular ones with bigger heads, and behind them was a huge guy, almost five meters tall, with even larger canines and claws.

"GRRRRAAAAHHH!" It roared with ferocity and bloodthirst.

[You have been spotted by a group of [Blood Thralls (B+ Rank)] x9, [Blood Thrall Warriors (B++ Rank)] x5, and the [Blood Thrall Pack Leader (A Rank)] x1!]

[Due to the presence of a Pack Leader of a higher Rank than the rest, their Stats have increased by +25%!]

Their leader didn't simply roar because he was angry; his roar sent out a wave of Demonic Energy that increased the power of his pack, readying them for battle.

"I guess it can't be helped…" I sighed, unsheathing Gram. "It's your time to shine now, Gram."

["Leave them to me!"]

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