Chapter 143: Magnetic Field

Light from flames and the reflections from the swords illuminated the entire forest. Sounds of slashes, twangs from the strings of crossbows, and the cries of slaughter surrounded them all.

A small-sized degenerated vodyanoy jumped out from the bushes, pouncing towards the young witcher while screaming in a strange tongue.

His figure was slightly bent with his longsword horizontally positioned by his face. He maintained the ox stance firmly and didn't even flinch. When he could feel the winds from his opponent's attack, he suddenly took a large step forward, and the blade followed suit. Powerful force instantly nailed the attacker midair.

Roy disposed of the body on his sword and immediately took out his crossbow. With a wave of his hand, a mutated cat's head was instantly blasted into pieces as it jumped down from the tree.

Very quickly, the five-minute encounter had ended.

The soldiers forced themselves to march forward as they left behind the mangled corpses. Their armor and weapons were covered in blood. Despite their fatigue, they forced themselves to focus.

There had already been dozens of degenerated vodyanoi as well as mutated creatures appearing. They ambushed them through all kinds of methods… They would suddenly jump out without warning from the bushes, or they would camouflage themselves as parts of the vines on the trees, and when they were walking past them they would jump down from the trees to kill them…

However, the soldiers were already in a tight formation. Even as they moved, they were able to work perfectly with one another and support each other with their swords and shields as well as crossbows. They were able to easily kill all the monsters that would approach them.

Only two soldiers who were unfortunate had suffered some light wounds.

Roy had also received about a hundred points of experience during this time, but he was feeling quite grim.

Ever since entering the forest, he would randomly choose to observe the knights. He noticed that all of them had a negative status effect.

Weakness: You have stepped into the heart of Black Tern Island. Because of radiation from a mysterious magnetic field, your physical attributes have all been reduced. Stamina consumption increases by 100%.

Warning! You will only be temporarily weakened when interacting with the magnetic field in the short term. If you stay in the magnetic field for a long time, irreversible changes will happen to your body.

"Irreversible changes?" Roy looked at the explanation. Both Letho and him, two witchers, had been affected by the same negative effects. Both their HP and all their attributes were red in color, and they had been reduced by about ten to twenty percent.

Normal people were affected even more. They had only entered the forest for less than half an hour, and yet three-tenths of the knights already had pale faces and eyes without spirit. Even the hands that they were holding their weapons with were shaking. Their body was slightly bent as if they couldn't even carry the weight of the chainmail they were wearing.

How many of us other than Letho and I can still remain standing by the time we reach the altar?

"Adda!" Roy roared out in a low voice. "Look at everyone's condition! We can still make it back if we leave right now!"

Princess Adda was, in the end, a woman. Physical endurance was not her strong point. Even though she was covered in sweat and her face was red, her eyes looked right in front of her.

"Haven't you noticed yet? We're already here…"

Roy was stunned. He looked at the end of the forest trail. Suddenly, a strange prismatic light appeared over there. Its color kept on changing. Tempting purple. Warm yellow. Pure white. Abyssal black.

The strange light that looked like a scintillating rainbow caught everyone's attention.

"Everyone, just a little bit more! The altar is just ahead!" Adda cried out. Instantly, all the knights regained their spirit and marched towards that light.

However, Roy could only shake his head somewhat confusingly. He caught a strong, fragrant scent.

***

One minute later, they all entered the deepest depths of the forest. A smooth slab of marble was placed on the ground.

They finally managed to see the source of that prismatic color they coveted so much.

"This is?"

Roy could scarcely believe it as he rubbed his eyes. He saw the shape of a woman from that light even as he stood among the knights.

And then, a beauty really did walk out of the light.

She was wearing a thin satin dress, and her face was so familiar to him. That beautiful face of hers, and those lips of blazing red.

"Coral?"

Below that graceful neck was a chest with curves that would make his heart beat even faster, and then the curve was like a mountain giving way to a valley as it sloped down to her flat stomach, and then to her similarly well-rounded buttocks.

PR/N: I am so over these descriptions of boobs and ass.

And further down was a pair of long, beautiful legs under that black dress of hers. Her jade-like feet stepped on the white marble slab, showing off her toes painted in rose-red. And she was like a graceful cat as she stood on the tips of her toes, giving him a flirtatious invitation.

"How is it… She… Impossible?" Roy frowned as suspicion began to fill his mind.

And then, a heavy, rose scent came from the woman, and it blew away all his wariness. In that instant, he seemed to have amnesia, and he didn't remember anything else other than this woman.

"Roy, do you still remember that promise you made?"

"I remember, but I probably can't go…"

"You little bastard, I knew you'd break your promise, so I came to look for you myself! Now, come with me quietly, and see the surprise I prepared for you!"

The sorceress looked lovingly at him and extended her hand to the young witcher.

"Surprise?" Roy's expression became suspicious… The sorceress wouldn't have made such an expression to him. But it seemed like a heavy fog had descended upon his mind, and his mind became extremely slow.

"Wait… I have something important. I have to finish it first. Hiss… I can't remember."

"Something important? What could be more important than me?" Coral lifted the hem of her skirt and twirled.

The young witcher was hesitating as he held her warm hand with clouded eyes.

The sorceress gave him a bewitching smile, turned her back to him, and pulled him in the light in the middle…

***

"No! This is all fake!"

Roy wasn't even halfway through when a red flag was raised in his mind. At the same time, a sharp pain appeared.

He immediately flung away the sorceress's hand and quickly retreated.

He focused his mind and looked at his character sheet…

Other than the red-colored Weakness that was affecting him, there was another one named "Disillusion" affecting him.

`Disillusion: You have entered the heart of the mysterious magnetic field. Other than your flesh, your mind has also been warped. You have fallen into a dream of your own making, unable to wake up.`

***

However, his high Will had allowed him to free himself from the status.

He bit his tongue and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, the sorceress had already disappeared, and all the wonders he had seen were like a dream…

There was no floor made of marble or shining rainbow lights here. Instead, this was a living hell!

Unlike the ground of the forest that was filled with decaying matter, he was walking on grounds made of the flesh and blood of animals. He could even identify the bones that were protruding from the flesh and blood… The animals from the islands, the vodyanoi, the humans…

And at the center of this land of corpses, a round altar was standing tall from the ground. A thick vine that looked like a heart's vein was connecting the altar to the flesh on the ground, and it pumped continuously as if it were alive to transport nutrients to it.

There was a degenerated vodyanoy standing next to the altar with a bone staff in her hand.

He didn't know how old the degenerated vodyanoy was. She was so old that she was bending her back. Her skin was all wrinkled with gray colored spots and disgusting black growth all over it.

Her limbs were very slim, and her joints were slightly warped. Even her scales were mostly gone.

She had a big stomach like a ten-month pregnant woman. Her bloated lips kept on mumbling as wicked incantations echoed within this place.

As she chanted, the knights were like puppets and zombies, walking towards the altar with blank faces.

He turned around and saw that Letho had also suddenly trembled, and his amber-colored eyes had returned to their former clarity.