CHAPTER 739: 581 ABNORMAL MONSTER

"————"

In a series of weak whimpers, the severed body of the Humanoid Tree Monster fell to the ground.

"Wuwuwu..."

The girl formed from branches let out a sob, involuntarily softening one’s heart.

This was also a common tactic used by the Humanoid Tree Monster, imitating the cries of living creatures to invoke sympathy from its enemies and earn their mercy at the moment of defeat.

Unfortunately, the brainless creature failed to understand that if its opponent still softened because of such tactics after its true identity had been revealed, that person was either sick or damn sick.

Naturally, Reiger was a sound-minded individual.

So, he chose to cremate the Humanoid Tree Monster.

"Maximum Enhance·Crimson Nova."

When the most powerful single-target fire Magic was mercilessly activated by Reiger, a red Array appeared beneath the remains of the Humanoid Tree Monster, and like being ignited, it started to glow with flames.

"Boom!"

The next second, flames surged up from the Array, transforming into a pillar of fire, engulfing the Humanoid Tree Monster.

The Humanoid Tree Monster struggled, twisting around; its branches and roots flailed wildly, hitting so hard that the ground trembled and walls cracked, making a tremendous noise.

"It’s still not dead?"

Reiger increasingly felt that there was something off about this Humanoid Tree Monster.

If even the most powerful single-target fire Magic "Crimson Nova" couldn’t finish it off in one hit, could this really be a fire-weak wood creature?

"Triple Enhancement·Crimson Nova."

Reiger simply issued a triple-Crimson Nova, causing pillars of fire to continuously burst from the fiery red Array, repeatedly scorching the Humanoid Tree Monster.

The already extremely hot air immediately became even more suffocating, making Liz feel so dry and restless she wanted to strip naked.

Under the relentless assault of ninth-tier Magic, the Humanoid Tree Monster finally couldn’t hold on any longer. Its struggles weakened, the commotion it caused grew less intense, eventually losing all breath and motion, turning to ash in the flames.

Even the branches and roots on the ground had been burnt to ash, leaving not even a fragment behind.

At the end, only a bright red object remained within the flames until the very last moment, falling to the ground only when the flames extinguished.

In the now-chaotic labyrinth corridor, the sounds of battle gradually quieted down.

"Phew..."

Only then did Reiger exhale lightly.

"What’s that...?"

Liz also let go of her worries and was about to speak to Reiger but noticed the red object that had persisted in the flames and now lay on the ground.

Immediately, Liz hurried over and picked it up.

"What is this?"

Reiger walked over, looked at the bright red object, and asked.

"This should be the core of the Humanoid Tree Monster," Liz explained. "The main trunk of the Humanoid Tree Monster usually grows such a core, which is a primary ingredient in several potent Magic potions and is also used in forging some Magic weapons, making it quite valuable."

This was not something Marilyn had told Liz, but rather knowledge Liz had acquired from books.

As a princess sequestered in the palace and not free to appear in public, Liz spent most of her time, aside from practicing swordsmanship, reading books.

Thus, despite appearing so fragile, her knowledge was extensive; she perfectly embodied theoretical knowledge, though practical knowledge was absent.

"Quite valuable?" Reiger showed some interest at this point and asked, "How valuable?"

"Well..." Liz hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I remember reading in a book that twelve years ago, in the southern Walker Kingdom, an auction was held with the core of a Humanoid Tree Monster as the final auction item."

The so-called Walker Kingdom, a southern ancient country, stood alongside the Leiblu Kingdom and Ginathas Kingdom as one of the great nations.

Being the country with the longest history among the four major nations and the only one with a thousand-year history since its foundation, many refer to it as the Southern Ancient Country.

The number of strategic Magicians in this country is also the highest among all the nations of the Akasha Continent, with a total of three.

Thanks to this, Lainibarn Academy, as one of the continent’s top academic institutions along with Spiler Academy, has become the most popular Magic academy on the continent. Every year, countless young Magicians are sent there, including many aristocrats from the Ginathas Kingdom who choose to send their heirs all the way to Lainibarn Academy to study.

Lainibarn Academy, for its part, welcomes all who come. As long as the enrolling students pass the entrance examination, the academy accepts them regardless of their country of origin, embodying the ideal of unbiased education.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Walker Kingdom is recognized as the most peaceful of all the nations on the Akasha Continent.

Because it had not been involved in war for hundreds of years.

The Kingdom of Ginas and the Leiblu Kingdom, due to their territories bordering each other, were in a state of continual warfare.

The last of the four major nations—the Tistis Kingdom—suffered from internal strife and being targeted by several smaller neighboring countries. Plagued by internal and external troubles, it experienced incessant warfare, to a much greater extent than the Kingdom of Ginas and the Leiblu Kingdom.

The various smaller nations across the continent were also in perpetual war, each one dreaming of becoming the fifth major nation and desperately trying to expand their territories.

Only the Walker Kingdom, located in the southernmost part of the continent and surrounded by seas on three sides, occupied a natural geographic advantage. The only accessible route to the Walker Kingdom was occupied by three smaller countries, which had surrendered to the Walker Kingdom, becoming its vassal states, and stopped all malicious intents against their suzerain.

This meant that anyone wishing to invade the Walker Kingdom had to first get past the joint military forces of these three small countries positioned along the border line and flatten their lands.

Otherwise, they would have to opt for a naval attack, invading the Walker Kingdom through sea battles.

However, sea warfare was Walker Kingdom’s strongest suit. Not only did the nation heavily promote the development of its magic fleet, but also among the three strategic-level magicians, there was one who specialized in transformative magic and specifically in water magic. Once at sea, this strategist, known as the Overlord of the Seas, demonstrated to all enemies what a man-made tsunami was.

With such a hard bone that was neither chewable nor beatable, who would want to provoke it?

Thus, the Walker Kingdom became the most peaceful country on the continent of Akasha, even obscurely surpassing the other three major nations, and was on the verge of becoming the strongest kingdom on the continent.

At least, in the eyes of many, the Walker Kingdom was undeniably the strongest nation on the continent of Akasha—the foremost kingdom.

Liz mentioned this country and said,

"I remember, the humanoid tree monster’s heart, about the size of a palm, as the final auction item once fetched a final price of one hundred and seventeen thousand gold coins."

"And this piece..."

Liz looked towards the heart in her hands, and Reiger also looked over.

She held the heart in the palm of her hands, and it was too big to be fully covered even by two hands.

Twice the size of a palm?

Wasn’t that twice as big as the humanoid tree monster’s heart that sold for one hundred and seventeen thousand gold coins?

How much would it sell for?

By conservative estimates, could it fetch about twice the price?

"Hurry, put this away, Master!"

Realizing just how valuable the item she was holding was, Liz’s hands began to tremble, and she quickly handed it over to Reiger, appearing utterly panicked as though someone was about to steal her treasure.

"Alright."

Agreeable as always, Reiger stored the bright red heart in his dimensional magic cube’s storage space.

This settled it—selling this heart would solve his financial concerns for quite some time.

He had been planning to hunt magical creatures for their meat to earn money, but unexpectedly, this incident resolved his monetary issues, showing how unpredictable life could be.

...

Afterwards, Reiger and Liz re-equipped themselves and set off again.

As the two delved deeper into the maze, the temperature inside the maze rose significantly, causing Liz to inevitably take off her outer garment, appearing wet and swampy, which teased Reiger’s visual nerves.

Reiger, on the other hand, was handling it better.

He naturally had a resistance to high temperatures; though he felt the heat, he didn’t sweat.

Liz really couldn’t bear it at one point and thought about stripping further, but Reiger couldn’t just watch the young lady turn into a vulgar spectacle. He cast a spell to enhance her resistance to flames, finally making the little princess somewhat cooler.

Along the way, the two also encountered several groups of magical creatures.

These creatures were of the same types that could be seen outside, much like the humanoid tree monsters.

But strangely enough, like the humanoid tree monsters, they were all incredibly abnormal.

Not only were they much stronger than their same kind outside, but they invariably evolved fire-resistant traits; attacks with fire greatly reduced in effectiveness and completely unable to inflict fatal injuries on them.

These creatures, if singled out, could make a seasoned swordsman struggle in battle, and ordinary swordsmen might even be entirely overwhelmed by them.

"Are all the creatures in this relic this strong?"

Reiger began to understand why Sgranot had retreated twice after entering the relic, and why the exploration teams from the Kingdom of Ginas and the Leiblu Kingdom were completely annihilated after entering this place.

It was probably because the creatures here were not ordinarily strong; even a Sword Saint here might not have it easy.

Fortunately, Reiger was no ordinary Sword Saint and managed to dispatch one creature after another without too much trouble, even cutting off some rare materials from their bodies that could sell for a high price outside.

In this way, battling as they advanced, Reiger and Liz finally reached the end of the maze.