Chapter Ninety-Six: The Strange Ice Mist (1)

"High Priest!"

After dealing with everything, Nasa’s face showed not the slightest trace of exertion. He turned to glance at Skanaoli, who instantly understood his intention, nodded, and reached out, humming a series of strange sound waves. Immediately, Veil felt an odd movement beneath his feet. Before he could react, a swarm of peculiar wriggling creatures surged from underground. These worms, marked with red and white spots, instantly pounced upon the five foul corpses, greedily feasting on their flesh and blood.

"Their sense of smell is extremely keen, especially toward fresh blood. These bloodsucking worms will help us avoid unnecessary trouble," Skanaoli explained to Veil, and Veil could clearly see a hint of gravity on his face.

"Did something happen?" The nearly perfect performance of Nasa and the others, coupled with Skanaoli’s summoned bloodsucking worms, should have been enough to conceal their tracks. Yet Skanaoli’s expression revealed concern, and Veil immediately sensed something was amiss, prompting him to ask.

"Foul ones..." Skanaoli frowned and replied, "If this were some time ago, it would be impossible to encounter foul ones in this area. You’d have to venture deeper into the Mist Zone."

Skanaoli’s words tightened the anxiety in Veil’s chest. So, as the ten-year term approaches, those necromantic creatures from the Demon Realm have already begun to gather. In a few months, tens of thousands will surge forth, and all the races within the Wild Forest will suffer assault from these undead fiends.

Within moments, the five massive foul corpses had been reduced to heaps of bone by the bloodsucking worms. These undead creatures differed greatly from magical beasts: magical beasts’ blood was generally red and their bones white, but the foul ones’ blood was a sinister green and their bones a shadowy black.

"Let’s go." Skanaoli waited until the bloodsucking worms retreated underground, then spoke to Veil, nodding at Nasa and signaling for the group to move forward.

They pressed on. Compared to earlier, everyone was now far more cautious; Nasa even drew two short spears, handing one to Skanaoli and the other to Veil.

It seems the situation is more dangerous than I imagined!

Veil glanced at the short spear in his hand, sighing inwardly. Just then, Skanaoli abruptly turned, his eyes locking onto Veil.

Clearly, the old fellow had again peered into his thoughts.

"Boy, remember this: unless it’s absolutely necessary, you’re not allowed to use magic! Don’t think I’m playing games—those undead creatures are highly sensitive to volatile powers. If you use magic, hordes of them will swarm to you in an instant!"

"How do you know that?" Veil had always been skeptical of Skanaoli’s words, but the next answer left him utterly convinced.

"How do I know? Hmph. Let me tell you, last time I entered the Mist Zone, besides beastkin, there was an elf with me..."

Skanaoli gave a sly smile, and Veil promptly fell silent.

Prosis!

He never expected that woman had entered the Mist Zone as well—but upon reflection, it made sense. The elves too had suffered invasions from the demonic undead; her accompanying Skanaoli into the Mist Zone was not beyond possibility.

This old man is far from ordinary, if even Prosis was willing to follow him!

Veil thought instinctively, but then caught that crafty, triumphant grin on Skanaoli’s face. He immediately regretted his thoughts, biting his lip and cursing the old man in his heart.

"If it comes to using magic, it means we’re preparing to flee this place. Do you understand?" Skanaoli and Veil might spar in jest, but when it came to serious matters, there was no ambiguity. Veil nodded, understanding Skanaoli referred to his light magic; if they were overwhelmed by undead, he could use it for a final dispersal and escape from the Mist Zone.

After another half day’s journey, Nasa, leading at the front, suddenly halted. This time, he didn’t signal Feikor and Daken to join him in dispatching the undead ahead, but instead looked back at Skanaoli, waving his hand.

Clearly, the number of undead ahead had reached a critical level, otherwise Nasa’s skills would never require such caution.

A detour!

Skanaoli considered for a moment before deciding to change course. Their original path had been meticulously calculated to enter the Mist Zone swiftly while minimizing encounters with undead, but now, with this detour, they were straying from the planned route.

Nasa obeyed Skanaoli’s command without hesitation, leading the group down an alternate path. They hadn’t walked far before encountering piles of magical beast bones.

Countless beast skeletons lay scattered, their broken bones bearing unmistakable signs of gnawing. Veil shuddered at the sight, noting that a significant portion of these remains belonged to mid-tier magical beasts. Venturing deeper, they even found skeletons of high-tier magical beasts.

A vague unease rose in everyone’s heart. For Nasa and the other beastkin, whose lives were spent hunting magical beasts, familiarity with these creatures was second nature. The sheer number of high-tier bones spoke to the terrifying power of the undead.

"We need to hurry." Skanaoli finally spoke, repeating the command in both beast tongue and human language, then gripped his short spear tightly.

It was hard to believe, but the normally sly expression on Skanaoli’s face now showed a touch of genuine authority. Veil didn’t bother to dwell on it, mimicking the beastkin by gripping his own spear.

For someone of Nasa’s stature, a nearly two-meter spear was indeed short, but in Veil’s hands it became a long spear, and even more so for Skanaoli, whose height barely reached Veil’s knee.

Nasa unsheathed his pitch-black greatsword, Feikor hefted his heavy axe, and the whole group was ready. Just then, a strange roar echoed from ahead. The thunderous cry was soon joined by others, until the air was filled with deafening howls, as if countless beasts were calling out in unison!