“What is this...?”
Seeing this action, the Spirit Butterfly girl quickly ran over to Violet, bending down to closely examine the marks Violet was pointing to. She soon let out a low exclamation.
“Ah! This looks like the scale powder of our Spirit Butterfly Tribe!”
The priestess nodded.
“That’s right. And this scale powder hasn’t been covered by the thin snow yet, indicating that it was left here recently, probably within the last few hours.”
Typically, Spirit Butterfly scale powder is a medium they use to activate their powerful innate abilities. Violet had read about it in some books, but her real encounter with it was in Demon Suppression City when Tiyelu used some unknown method to pull them into the 【Sanctuary】.
Whether it was the first time with Edwina or the subsequent two times entering the 【Sanctuary】, there were always obvious silver powder traces left behind, which was the scale powder used by Tiyelu.
The scale powder found here, although of a different color, was essentially similar. This meant that a Spirit Butterfly had fought nearby, or at least used a powerful innate ability.
It seemed they were very close now, but they hadn’t seen any invaders or Spirit Butterfly corpses along the way. The avatar Violet had left at the foot of Spirit Butterfly Peak hadn’t detected any signs of invaders being sent out either, which contradicted the principles of the formation as described by Little Blue and Lulu...
“Lady Violet! Come quickly!”
Little Blue, who had been observing the surroundings a bit farther away, suddenly shouted a warning. The priestess immediately turned to look in her direction and instantly understood the slime girl’s target without needing further prompting.
After all, it was simply too conspicuous.
“Tsk, just as we mentioned the lack of corpses, one shows up...”
With the mist just dispelled by 【Light Protection】, a snake was revealed lying diagonally on the mountain path.
Violet had seen similar snakes in the territory of the Mountain Wolf Tribe. Although the size and some details were different, it was undoubtedly of the same species.
The three girls approached the snake, and Violet squatted down, using her priest’s staff to examine the body, only the snake’s head hanging over the main path, seemingly lifeless. She nodded thoughtfully.
“Hmm... it appears to be completely dead.”
“Lady Violet, how did this thing die? I don’t see any wounds on it,” Little Blue asked.
Having already used her information detection ability immediately, the priestess answered without hesitation, “Mental attack. Though it looks intact on the outside, its brain is actually destroyed. Lulu, is this one of your Spirit Butterfly Tribe’s techniques?”
“Uh, even if you ask me... I’m still a child. Many of the Spirit Butterfly’s powerful abilities are things I’ve only heard of by name, and my inherited memories aren’t unlocked to that extent yet. With just this, I can’t make a judgment...”
“Is that so... alright.”
Without saying more, Violet frowned and studied the snake corpse a few more times.
After the incident with the Mountain Wolf Tribe, she had specifically looked up information on snake-type magical beasts and successfully found relevant records in an ancient book given by Edith.
The 【Devouring Snake】, a terrifying magical beast with a lineage tracing back to an extremely powerful being from the mythological era.
The true identity of this “extremely powerful being” was also clearly described in the book.
That’s right, the legendary beast of apocalypse—Jörmungandr, the 【World-Eater Serpent】 from myth, who once devoured the sun, moon, and stars, plunging the world into darkness.
Of course, the 【Devouring Snake】 is vastly inferior to the 【World-Eater Serpent】 and cannot be compared in any meaningful way. Despite inheriting a trace of Jörmungandr’s bloodline, it is very limited.
They are not ancestors and descendants. Instead, it is said that during an ancient and fierce battle between Jörmungandr and the gods, some of the serpent’s blood was spilled.
After being diluted, it was accidentally consumed by another species of snake-like magical beast, causing a mutation that resulted in the 【Devouring Snake】.
Even so, the 【Devouring Snake】 inherited some of the mythical being’s innate abilities—namely, the ability to grow stronger through devouring.
Due to the limited bloodline, the 【Devouring Snake】 cannot possess an infinite internal world like the true 【World-Eater Serpent】, capable of swallowing stars and gods. However, it still boasts at least fourth-tier strength, with the few long-lived ones reaching the fifth tier, and there are even records of sixth-tier individuals.
This showcases how terrifying even a trace of that bloodline’s power is.
【Devouring Snake】 have long lifespans, reproduce with difficulty, and are very rare. It is said they only appear sporadically in the Ten Thousand Demons Mountains, a haven for magical creatures. Yet, Violet has encountered them twice in a short period?
The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.
Impossible. This is no coincidence.
This 【Devouring Snake】 is very likely related to the one that Snow Wing devoured in the Mountain Wolf Tribe’s territory—they might even be from the same group.
This means that the identity of those attacking Spirit Butterfly Peak is now evident.
Their actions, like recruiting power and lying in wait, make sense now, especially in light of the message Violet received from the young dragon just moments ago...
Without showing any reaction, Violet extended her Soul Web like fine threads, spreading it out over several hundred square meters around her.
The girl frowned.
“Nothing... did it escape, or did it perish along with this body?”
“Lady Violet, what is missing?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
The priestess dusted off the untouched white robe and stood up. She shook her head in response to Little Blue’s concerned gaze, then used her slender staff to casually push the dead snake’s head aside, clearing their path up the mountain.
“Let’s go. We’re very close now. From here on, stay alert and focused.”
For some reason, Violet emphasized these words again before leading the way.
“?”
Little Blue and Lulu exchanged puzzled glances. Although they didn’t fully understand what she was thinking...
“Since it’s Lady Violet’s instruction, let’s remember it.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
As they continued upwards, as Violet had predicted, they started encountering many magical beasts and monster corpses lying on the mountain path and nearby areas.
These belonged to various species, but like the 【Devouring Snake】, they all possessed rare bloodlines and special abilities, or were at least of magical commander level.
Like the first discovery, these corpses were well-preserved with almost no visible wounds. This indicated that they were all killed by some powerful mental attack.
Incidentally, at their current location, nothing outside the 【Light Protection】 barrier was visible due to the dense fog covering Spirit Butterfly Peak. These corpses were hidden by the thick mist, and if not for the barrier expanding to nearby areas, they would have been overlooked, even if close by.
Perhaps this explains why their bodies lay uncollected.
However, there were still no corpses resembling those of the Spirit Butterfly Tribe like Lulu. It seemed the battle had been favorable for them so far.
Until... something crashed violently into the 【Light Protection】 barrier, producing a loud “bang.”