CHAPTER 688: CHAPTER 683: UNEXPECTED GAINS

Ronald held absolute dictatorial power over the team.

Following his suggestion, the realist Layton and the emotional Helle naturally had no objections, while Costate simply complied unconditionally.

Thus, the four of them quickly made their way in the direction Costate had investigated.

The season here was winter.

Yet, inside the Yizi Forest, trees still teemed with lush branches and leaves, with gigantic trees becoming more prevalent as they ventured deeper.

After passing through Helle’s home, it felt like entering another world.

As they progressed, Ronald saw many things—fallen leaves, insects, soil... remnants of Magic Power were almost everywhere, showing that the tree spirits that Costate spoke of truly loved their work.

Furthermore, Ronald noticed even more bizarre creatures moving around the forest.

Some creatures that looked like wild beasts—or perhaps really were wild beasts—ran through the forest. If they stopped and saw Ronald and his companions, they would emit strange cries. Most likely, this would result in them being immediately pounced upon and devoured by nearby animals or plants, or Ronald could easily deal with them from a distance.

They continued onwards for half an hour.

Accompanied by the maid’s soft reminder, "We’re getting close," Ronald saw the den of the culprit through the dense forest in the distance.

The creature had an extremely aggressive appearance.

Its body was covered in a layer of chitin-like gray scales. Its head exhibited fish-like traits, but its body was more reminiscent of a lizard, and its huge gaping mouth below its eyes looked exceedingly dangerous just from a glance.

What was particularly unique was the creature’s back.

A long strip of skin that shimmered with red light rhythmically pulsed—an obvious sign of a dangerous offensive organ.

"..."

Observing these peculiar creatures, Ronald was very aware of the threat they posed to ordinary beings.

To make things even more concerning, the forces of the original Magic Power had not been entirely depleted from them—the creatures might even have the potential for rapid evolution!

"Costate, get ready to act."

After confirming that these creatures lacked Wisdom and were merely wild beasts, Ronald immediately commanded the maid by his side:

"Don’t let Layton and Helle join the fight; let’s handle it as much as possible ourselves."

Costate nodded slightly:

"Sir, I understand."

"..."

Their brief discussion ended.

The battle in the forest was about to erupt.

These dangerous creatures exhibited group-living traits, and the den Ronald and his companions found housed forty to fifty of them.

Yet even so.

The disparity in strength was too apparent.

The organisms could emit a strong corrosive liquid from the organ on their back as their strongest form of attack.

But even this strongest attack could not penetrate Ronald’s defensive Spell, nor could it catch up with Costate’s lightning-fast combat speed.

Ronald didn’t even need to worry about them suddenly fleeing!

Given that these forty or fifty creatures had built a decent nest, which would take them no little time to destroy themselves, controlling the battlefield was as simple as blocking the entrances and exits.

Still, this weakness was relative.

From Ronald’s firsthand experience, while he and Costate could easily dispatch one with a single move, if it were Layton behind him, dealing with two simultaneously would turn into a lethal situation, and a normal person without casting abilities would find it nearly impossible to handle even one.

Unless they were proficient with firearms or similar weapons!

But even so, dealing with such creatures was no trivial matter; danger lurked continuously.

"..."

As he dealt with the creatures before him.

Ronald sighed softly amidst his thoughts.

What he was most worried about now were actually the microscopic organisms.

If the naked eye could behold such a scene, what then lay hidden in the unseen realms?

"Sir," at that moment, noticing Ronald’s reaction, Costate turned around, "Please focus on the entrance of the lair, I’ll handle it swiftly."

As she spoke, a surge of Magic Power enveloped Costate’s body.

The air around the maid began to distort, eventually creating a chaotic whirlpool.

At that moment,

Ronald could only see Costate with his naked eyes; other methods like Spell detection and Magic Power sensing failed to perceive her existence.

While maintaining this unique stance, Costate charged into the monster’s lair.

"..."

Ronald listened intently.

Inside, it was as silent as the profound night, not a single sound escaped.

For centuries, a system that had Gestalt at its core gradually amassed Spells, with Costate "veiling" the supervision of various perilous mystical phenomena.

Established under such conditions, it was difficult to ascertain how many Spells Costate had mastered and how formidable her current strength was.

Just as Ronald surmised,

Costate cleared the monsters within the den at an incredibly rapid pace.

In less than a few minutes, everything within the monster’s lair was impeccably cleared by Costate.

Under the watchful eyes of her peers,

the maid singlehandedly dragged a three-meter-long monstrous corpse towards her companions.

Then she came to Ronald’s face.

The thud—

Back to Ronald.

Costate released her grip, and the end of the corpse heavily thudded onto the ground with a dull sound.

Nevertheless, the maid paid no mind to this.

She simply took a slight step back and then politely said to Ronald,

"Sir, this is the leader of this tribe, possessing high-level trials of primal Magic Power within its body."

"At this level, I can trace it based on the residual Magic Power."

"..."

"Well done,"

Ronald nodded and commended Costate for her excellent workmanship.

Just as he was about to continue speaking, from the wall of the monster’s lair—constructed from tough vegetation.

A green shadow suddenly broke free and darted deeper into the Yizi Forest!

Ronald, with his excellent vision, saw it clearly.

It was a creature with a body made of green plants and somewhat humanoid features.

And after its appearance,

a very distinct primal Magic Power manifested itself on this creature.

— Tree Spirit!

— This was undoubtedly the Tree Spirit Costate had referred to!

Ronald had not expected that, after clearing the lair’s monsters, this creature would appear before them in such a manner.

"Starting from the relationship between the Earth and the sky, we shall construct our understanding."

Faced with this situation, Ronald promptly recited the incantation.

Although the Tree Spirit moved swiftly in the forest, under the irresistible force of "Star Traction."

It was instantly pulled from the ground.

Then, like a swift arrow, it flew right before Ronald and others.