Chapter 124 Chapter 124-The Mysterious Spring
Everyone entered a state of high alert, even Athena, who closed her eyes slightly as her soul swept out around her.
However, as everyone's attention was focused on their surroundings, none noticed that in the sky, a monstrous creature with wings, its body resembling a serpent, was floating silently.
Its sinister gaze was firmly fixed on the group below.
After nearly a minute on high alert without spotting any monsters, the group gradually began to lower their guard.
"Phew, it must've been just some small insects, or maybe a regular monster passing by."
"Shall we continue on our way?"
Someone voiced the question aloud.
Wales' eyes darted around, making sure there was no immediate danger.
However, the lingering sense of crisis weighed heavily on his mind, making his expression particularly grave.
After a moment's hesitation, not wanting to leave just like that but also not wishing to remain in a standoff, Wales nodded, "Maintain formation, and start to slowly leave this place!"
"In my opinion, this place has probably been taken over by a ferocious beast, its lair. Although it's not here at the moment, there's no guarantee when it might return. We must leave as quickly as possible."
Wales' words tightened everyone's nerves.
However, since they hadn't sensed the presence of any monsters, they weren't overly fearful.
They relaxed their guard slightly, maintaining their formation, but their skills had already dissipated.
However, just at this moment, a sudden whooshing sound pierced through the air.
As everyone looked around in surprise, a black tail appeared out of nowhere, winding itself around the body of one of the magi.
"Ah!"
All heard was a scream. They hurriedly turned towards the direction of the noise, only to see a huge tail coiled around a magus, swiftly pulling them into the air.
"What the fuck?!"
"Damn it! Is there really a monster?"
In the midst of cries of panic, everyone instinctively looked up, only to see a serpent-like monster, with a pair of massive wings, hovering in the air.
Athena's face changed slightly as she swiftly leaped up, flames erupting in her hands.
A blade materialized out of thin air, and with a swift motion, the flames mixed with a sharp blade aura, slashing towards the monster's tail.
Swoosh--
Almost the instant the fiery blade aura touched the monster's tail, it was torn apart as if it were mere cloth.
The bound magus, too, fell from the sky.
Not only that, flames started to rise from the severed part of the tail, spreading rapidly up the monster's body.
The pain from the burning flames made the monster let out a painful roar.
Its massive body plummeted down, crashing into the forest below.
Boom!
In the next moment, the forest was set ablaze, flames roaring high.
Seizing this opportunity, Howard and his companions quickly left the forest.
Meanwhile, Howard also used a skill on the mysterious monster, causing its attributes to appear on a panel before him.
[Desert Winged Venomous Serpent] (BOSS)
[Level: 70]
[Tier: Legendary]
[Description: A venomous serpent from the wasteland that, after absorbing water from a special spring, unexpectedly evolved wings, enhancing and amplifying its physique. However, this also restricts it; if it does not draw from the spring within a specific period, it becomes extremely weak.]
[HP: 3060000/3060000]
[Attack Power: 152983 - 211889]
[Defense Value: 160000]
[Characteristic: Poisonous (Every attack inflicts the target with a poisoned state, and there is a certain chance that targets with a level lower than itself will instantly die.)]
[Skills: Lethal Venom, Death Coil, Nightmare Impact, Devour]
"!!!"
Seeing the description, Howard's pupils immediately constricted.
The spring water actually has the ability to advance and mutate monsters?
Under normal circumstances, even if a monster advances, at most its strength would increase; it wouldn't undergo mutation.
This venomous serpent has actually grown wings, which is truly astonishing!
Howard couldn't help but worry, would they also undergo mutation after drinking that spring water?
"Roar!"
Just at this moment, the Desert Winged Venomous Serpent, with half of its body still burning, stubbornly flew into the air, roaring furiously while glaring menacingly at Howard and his group.
However, before it could launch an attack, Athena was already standing on thin air in front of it, her fiery red blade swiftly passing over its head.
A mere Legendary-tier BOSS facing a powerhouse ranked among the world's strongest -- it goes without saying, it was utterly obliterated.
However, the forest was now completely engulfed in flames, ablaze with towering infernos.
With no other option, the expanse of the Mordun Wasteland was far too open and barren.
There was nothing to stop the spread of the fire, and even a single plume of black smoke could be spotted by assassins, archers, and other classes of awakened from hundreds, if not thousands of yards away.
"We need to leave now!"
"If they choose to come back and continue searching within Mordun Wasteland, they will definitely be drawn here by the flames. We need to take a completely different route!"
As soon as Athena sheathed her weapon and descended, Wales immediately spoke up.
However, Howard interrupted him, "Wait a moment. I just checked the attributes of this BOSS. According to the description, it mutated and grew wings because it drank from this spring. We also drank from this spring earlier. We should collect some of this spring water and have it studied when we get back to the city. Just in case something happens, we can be prepared to deal with it!"
After a pause, Howard continued on his own, "Even if nothing happens to us, we can still collect some of the spring water to bring back. If it really does have special effects, perhaps it could be a good thing."
Hearing this, both Wales and Athena showed expressions of surprise.
Their strengths were too formidable, so they did not pay attention to the attributes of the BOSS and missed this description.
Wales was still fine, but Athena, who was more concerned about things that could enhance people's strengths, immediately said, "You all go ahead and follow Lord Ravenous Wolf. I'll collect the spring water and catch up with you later!"
As her words fell, Athena's figure flashed, and she once again disappeared into the blazing forest.
"Let's go!"
Wales, indifferent to the spring water and even bypassing the distribution of the spoils of war, directly led Howard and the others in the opposite direction.
As for Athena's safety?
What a joke. Athena was the strongest in the entire team.
Even if their whole team was wiped out, the only one likely to survive would be Athena herself!
Sure enough, it took only a dozen breaths of time for Athena to return, without even a trace of having been scorched by the flames on her.
"The spring water has been intercepted and stored in the Space Container. I will share half of it with you later," Athena said with her customary smile, expressing her thoughts, "I never thought that a little one under level 30 could be so meticulous and discover this issue. If it weren't for you, I definitely wouldn't have been able to get this spring water. Sharing half with you is only fair."
"Instead of sharing half of the spring water, you might as well give us more gold coins," Wales glanced at Athena, not caring about the so-called half share of spring water.
"Gold coins?"
Athena raised her eyebrows in surprise, "If I remember correctly, Lord Ravenous Wolf, you shouldn't be short on money. After all, your mission rewards are known to be the highest in the industry!"
"I used to be well-off, but who can predict the future?" Wales laughed, "Besides, I don't have many people behind me. I don't need spring water; gold coins would be more useful to us."
"That makes sense," Athena nodded, "Then, after I return to Crimson Dragon City, I'll have someone research the spring water, determine its value, and then give you half of that in gold coins."
"Us people from Crimson Dragon City always keep our promises; we will absolutely not go back on our word."
Hearing this, Wales nodded in agreement and said, "I trust the credibility of the people from Crimson Dragon City. However, whether we can safely return there depends on you all. Even though I can find the optimal route, there are still unavoidable areas we must pass through to get back to Crimson Dragon City."
"Unavoidable areas?" Howard couldn't help but express his surprise. "What if that group sets up an ambush in one of these areas? What should we do then?"
At these words, Athena fell silent.
The faces of the archers and magi in the group also became gravely serious.
Clearly, when that time came, it would be their turn to fight desperately.
Howard took a moment to assess Athena, feeling a deep sense of awe. This girl was truly ruthless.
Everything about her was calculated!
Thinking about the hundreds of mercenaries who had died because of Athena's decisions, Howard couldn't bring himself to trust her completely, maintaining a strong sense of vigilance in his heart.
"Lord Ravenous Wolf, you needn't worry about this issue. I definitely have a way to solve it," Athena said with a light laugh. "You just need to help me plan a route that avoids those people."
"As you wish!" Wales spoke softly, "I'm worried that the fire might attract that group, so the route might have to change. We might encounter some monsters along the way, and when that time comes, dealing with them will be your responsibility!"
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