Chapter 941: Chapter 470: Deformed Aberration
The change in the surrounding environment came extremely suddenly, you could even say without any warning.
Just a second ago, several people were still moving among increasingly dense building debris, but after rounding a corner, those lush canopies, the magnificent domes that were faintly visible, the broken eaves embedded in stone walls, the intricate stone tiles scattered on the ground... all of it vanished completely.
Replacing it was a piece of open land located in the deepest part of the Twin Canyon, approximately the size of two basketball courts, remarkably spacious.
The ground was a brown-grey mix of mud and gravel, and stepping on it, one could feel the subtle granular texture; the towering cliffs on both sides expanded slightly outward, allowing more sunlight to shine in, making the whole scene appear even more open and spacious.
In fact, there was no need for Xia Nan to remind everyone to stay alert.
As the group of six rounded the corner, the sudden gust of wind rushing through the canyon, and the overwhelming stench of corpses in the air already had these veteran experts prepared for battle in an instant.
The formation suddenly tightened, firmly protecting the central spellcaster, Hai Yin, within.
A pair of eyes, solemn and tense, looked ahead at the open ground that came into view.
First and foremost, most conspicuous was the vast number of Sha Hua Fishman corpses scattered across the entire venue.
Fluorescent blue blood soaked large stretches of land, and the site, littered with green scales, resembled the ground after a fish vendor closed up shop.
No one was spared.
Chunks of flesh, severed limbs, along with twisted armor and broken fish spear weapons...
It was as if some kind of storm composed of blades had swept through, the scene on the field was so gruesome and bloody that it would be enough to scare an ordinary person into fainting.
Even the battle-hardened Vengeance Blade Squad, upon witnessing this scene, had members instinctively furrow their brows, feeling discomfort.
"What happened here?"
Hai Yin tightly gripped her magic wand, eyes sweeping over her teammates, protecting them, as she looked at the carnage on the field.
The experiences at Wild Rabbit Island and the dock earlier had already made her subconsciously lock the main enemy of the task as the Sha Hua Fishman, who seemed to be plotting some sort of conspiracy.
But the bodies appearing before her now silently suggested that the actual situation differed from her expectations.
"Some of them engaged in murder among themselves."
Lorin led the group in slowing their steps as they carefully entered the site.
Eyes scanning over the bodies scattered at their feet, one could see wounds inflicted by fish spears on some of the relatively intact Fishman bodies.
"But most of them should have encountered an attack by some powerful demon."
The reason the scene was so tragic was precisely because the exaggerated wounds on the bodies far exceeded the range that the Fishman’s own claws and fangs could inflict.
Some had their chests entirely crushed, bones broken into pieces; some were bitten cleanly in half, jagged cross-sections revealing sinister tooth marks that traversed the body; some had entire heads along with parts of their upper bodies missing, exposing jagged white bones and tender white flesh.
Large splashes of blood remained on the ground, evidently with no practice of cleaning up the battlefield, allowing several broken Fishman bodies to be found following the bloodstains.
The wounds appear different, but those with some combat experience could discover that these Fishmen were injured at the same time, a giant claw slashed across their upper bodies like a lawn mower, gutting them.
"Whatever attacked the Fishmen had extremely powerful physical strength, judging from the wound marks, these Sha Hua Fishmen barely even had time to resist before they were torn apart."
Hai Yin analyzed with focused attention.
"Hmm... perhaps it possesses some sort of spiritual control ability, and that’s precisely why the Fishmen engaged in murder among themselves."
Standing at the back of the team, Xia Nan gazed at these Sha Hua Fishman corpses, inexplicably feeling a sense of déjà vu.
This scene, equally gruesome as those left after his battles, yet completely different in style, he had seen before.
It was at Cliff Island, on the road to the cave at the bottom of the cliff, left by that Shark Beast with its Fishman corpses.
And now, the number of Sha Hua Fishman corpses killed here was clearly more, and the wounds left on the bodies were even larger and more exaggerated.
What does this signify?
A demon far stronger than the Shark Beast he had encountered previously?
Without any intention to hide it, he promptly shared his speculation with his teammates.
Xia Nan’s warning immediately garnered attention, making the team members more vigilant.
As they progressed further, they also discovered more things worthy of notice.
"No wonder the Fishmen who attacked us at the dock earlier were just lackeys, all the elites died here."
Akken no longer carried his anchor-shaped giant axe on his shoulder, instead holding it tightly in front of his chest, speaking with a serious expression.
Just as they had speculated before, so many ordinary Sha Hua Fishmen, it was impossible to not have stronger individuals to command and lead.
The reason they couldn’t find any while cleaning the battlefield at the dock before was because those elite individuals among the Fishmen had perished here.
Moreover, the number was far more than they had imagined.
Among the dead on this open land, there were nearly thirty four-armed Elite Sha Hua Fishmen by conservative estimates, including two Fishman Priests!
This scale can almost be described as an "army," even if the entire Vengeance Blade Squad were assembled, it wouldn’t necessarily be assured that they could handle it smoothly.
