Chen Yu's eyes followed Semia's figure as she sped deep into the banyan forest. He watched as blood splattered and severed limbs flew wherever the female Lizardman went.
The muscles of her body were sleek and graceful, every explosive burst of power a stunning visual impact. Yet her hunting style was precise and minimalist, like a warrior dancing on a knife's edge.
And her prey were none other than the Corrupted Lizardmen.
"Sergash, you should go back now."
"With your sister around, even a fool like you will be safe."
Chen Yu retracted his gaze, jumped out of Sergash's arms, and landed on the damp, mossy ground.
"Mmm..."
Although she had long been mentally prepared, the joy in Sergash's heart was now considerably diluted by the impending separation.
She knelt, crossed her hands over her chest, and performed a final prayer before parting.
But as always, Chen Yu couldn't understand a word.
Compared to the strange syllables of the Sub-human language, this prayer sounded more like the ramblings of a dream.
'The other Lizardmen probably can't understand it either.'
'Did her father just make this stuff up to trick her back then?'
"Lord Emissary, I'll come back when I have time."
"I'll bring lots and lots of gray gravel crystals to see you."
"And the Beetles and Moss Monsters you like to eat..."
Chen Yu stood on the high ground, imagining himself as a peerless master with his hands behind his back, leaving only a lofty... and perfectly round silhouette.
Even upon hearing about his favorite Beetles, he could feign an indifferent appearance.
"Go."
He said no more.
'This is how a master acts. Even in a sorrowful parting, they can speak with the utmost brevity.'
After saying her goodbyes, Sergash finally left the high ground.
...
Within the green jungle, several figures scrambled over rotting logs and giant boulders, moving through the terrain as if it were flat ground.
"Lady Semia, spare us!"
A Corrupted Lizardman clutched a shoulder wound, stumbling as he fled at the front. His agitated vertical pupils were filled with unease and terror.
Behind them, a green shadow, like death itself, gave swift chase. Semia's gaze was fixed dispassionately on the few fleeing Corrupted Lizardmen, her eyes devoid of any emotion, as if she were looking at corpses.
She drew a short spear from her back and aimed at a fleeing figure, her frigid gaze like ice piercing straight to the heart.
Eventually, one Lizardman couldn't bear the fear of death dogging his heels. He broke down, stopped in his tracks, and screamed madly:
"Come on, come and kill..."
A cold glint pierced the gloom. Blood blurred the lines of rain, pattering onto the mossy ground and staining it crimson.
The terrified Lizardman clutched the bone blade piercing his neck and collapsed heavily.
The remaining Corrupted Lizardmen were terrified beyond measure, as if a despairing darkness had swallowed their strength and senses. They couldn't run another step. Even breathing became a monumental effort, wringing every last drop of energy from their bodies.
They watched as Semia raised her short spear and approached step by step, radiating an aura of death.
The Corrupted Lizardmen cursed, shouting in a blustering rage.
"Stop! Just stop!"
"Don't you want to know where Sergash is?!"
At these words, a flicker of change finally appeared in Semia's icy gaze, and she stopped in her tracks for the first time.
"Where is she?"
"One wrong word, and you die."
The three Corrupted Lizardmen looked at each other.
"She's at... go die!"
They lunged forward violently, their sharp claws tearing through the air with a whistle, stirring up a foul, sharp wind.
The grayish Scale Armor loomed large in Semia's amber vertical pupils. Her expression didn't change in the slightest. She only took half a step back, drew her bone blade, and was about to strike.
"Vine Entanglement!"
At that very moment, a clear, yet powerful female voice rang out from a high point behind and to the side of Semia!
Semia's pupils contracted violently! 'That voice!'
"WHOOSH—!"
Like living things, countless tough vines shot out madly from the branches of the ancient banyan tree. They instantly coiled around the Corrupted Lizardmen, binding the very claws they had just put force into! Their charge came to an abrupt halt!
Semia mercilessly slit the throats of the Corrupted Lizardmen with her bone blade. A line of blood appeared, and three heads tumbled to the ground in unison.
But she no longer had the mind to bother with these filthy heretics. She whirled around in an instant, her gaze sweeping past the arriving Rot Moss Hunting Team to lock precisely onto a familiar figure hiding behind a collapsed, rotting log!
The deep green scales, the Shaman's bone ornaments, and those eyes, filled with concern and anxiety!
"Sergash!"
On Semia's icy face, the frozen killing intent melted away in an instant, like ice in the spring sun. In its place was an expression of incredible, immense surprise and joy!
'Little sister!'
'She's still alive! Right in front of me!'
"Sister!"
Sergash waved her hand joyfully and ran over, clutching her Magic Staff.
Even when she stood right before her, Semia still found it hard to believe.
"I heard from those traitors that you wandered into the Swamp Forest by mistake. How did you end up here...?"
"Hehe, I am Lord Putu's most devout Believer. Lord Putu couldn't bear to see me get eaten by monsters."
In the end, Sergash didn't mention the existence of Putu's emissary. It wasn't just because of the Rot Moss Warriors around them; she simply felt that the emissary didn't seem to like being disturbed.
"It's good that you're back."
"Come on, leave this place with me."
...
In the Dark Swamp, Chen Yu watched Sergash leave with the group of Lizardmen, then gradually averted his gaze.
He had no intention of making contact with the Lizardman tribe for now.
'Only this foolish Shaman would believe I was an emissary of Putu.'
'The other Lizardmen wouldn't be so quick to trust someone, especially when that someone was a monster.'
"This edge of the swamp is crawling with Corrupted Lizardmen. It's too dangerous."
For a monster, the swamp was a more suitable place.
At least there weren't so many intelligent creatures there, no scheming and backstabbing—only the pure language of power.
'Fighting is just more satisfying.'
He planned to head to the abandoned shelter Sergash had mentioned first. He would let the Bee Soldiers take cover from the rain and then return to the Oak Territory after the storm passed.
However, without Sergash to carry him, his travel speed could only be described as a turtle's pace. It took him half a day to find the shelter.
Chen Yu hid in a dry, concealed stone cave. His remaining eight Poisonous Sting Bee Soldiers perched on a nearby rock, cleaning the heavy water droplets from their wings.
His expression was thoughtful as his gaze swept across the forest and swamp through the gloom.
Actually, when the Lizardmen were fighting, the Queen Bee had told him that something was hiding nearby—it seemed to be a human survivor.
"A storm is coming. If that poor fellow doesn't leave the swamp soon, they probably won't survive the night."
"Whatever. Not my problem."
That night, cracking thunder shattered the tranquility of the Swamp Forest. The rain fell harder and harder, and the roars of wild beasts could be heard from the forest from time to time.
The sounds were utterly terrifying.
'That human was probably a goner.'
The heavy rain was still falling the next day.
Chen Yu didn't set foot outside, holing up in the shelter to study his Talisman Book. Not until the third day, when the rain finally began to subside, did he start back to his territory along the cleared Shunfeng Forest Path.
His travel speed, however, was nothing to write home about. He could only pass the time by studying how to draw talismans as he walked.