Chapter 25 : Into the Jungle

Into the Jungle

In response to Serea's words, Celia chose to remain silent. She then clutched her chest—Dogsius's parasitism was something she still wasn't accustomed to.

"In any case, for the sake of this body, I won't harm you."

Having said this, and not waiting for Celia's reply, Serea turned her head toward the forest.

"Next, I'll be staying in the depths of the Corrupted Jungle for a while. If you wish to back out, now is the time—this is your last chance to do so. If you follow me, you'll have no opportunity to regret it later."

Leaving these words behind, Serea waved her hand to beckon the Skeleton Warriors. They all headed together into the dense forest.

Seeing this, Celia, who had already made up her mind, didn't hesitate in the slightest; she followed right after.

Serea only tilted her head to glance at her and said nothing more.

After all, a free helper was nothing to refuse.

Even before entering the dense woods, pairs of bloodthirsty eyes in the darkness had already fixed on them.

"Master, there are monsters watching us."

Dogsius's warning came. Upon hearing it, Serea gave a cold snort.

"I see them. They must have been attracted by the scent of blood."

Serea's gaze locked onto a part of the jungle not far away. Though visibility was poor and the creatures were well hidden, if one looked closely, they could still be seen.

Role: Goblin Scout

Level: 5

Condition: Good

Spirit: C

Strength: B

Agility: C

Endurance: E

Constitution: D

Charm: F

Luck: C

Skills: Bash, call

Description: A low-level intelligent species from the Corrupted Jungle, synonymous with greed and cowardice. They often gather in groups to attack isolated or weak targets. Their favorite prey is human females.

At a glance, Serea could not estimate the exact number of enemies, but it was certainly not a small group.

"Master, I've sensed there are eight of them. Their mental power isn't strong, they're just some low-level scouts."

"Oh? I didn't expect you to have that ability. Not bad at all."

"You flatter me, master."

With Dogsius having used mental sensing to confirm the enemy's number, the rest became much easier to handle.

Meeting the goblins' greedy gaze, Serea wore an expression of disgust.

"Their favorite prey is human females... That's the one thing I'd rather not hear."

She issued a command, and Little Black had already vanished without a trace.

Celia, too, had discovered the presence of the Goblin Scouts. When she saw Little Black silently circling around to one side, she prepared to move forward and deal with the threat for Serea.

But Serea stopped her.

"Don't startle them. Leave it to Little Black."

Hearing this, Celia retracted the hand she had placed on her sword. Together with Serea, she stood still, watching as Little Black swiftly circled around from the side.

In the grass, several goblins were wiping drool from their mouths. Upon seeing two human girls in the forest, they regarded them as ideal prey.

But unlike his companions' leering expressions, a slightly larger goblin maintained his calm.

Although he desired those two human females as well, when he saw those warriors clad in silver armor, he realized these targets were not easily provoked.

Moreover, their camp wasn't short of fertile females right now; what they wanted more than human females was meat—enough to feed the young of their tribe.

If they couldn't find meat, they would be forced to eat their female broodmothers, which was not an optimal trade-off.

Therefore, after weighing his options, the larger goblin elder decided on retreat: there was blood nearby, and they could scavenge corpses—there was no need to take risks for the sake of two females.

After carefully considering the pros and cons with what little intelligence he had, the large goblin elder was about to issue the retreat command.

But just at that moment, a black shadow descended from above.

"Waya-ya?"

Staring blankly at the giant black figure that had plummeted from the sky, the elder goblin wondered what it was.

"Death!"

A bone blade pierced forth, driving clean through the lead goblin's body.

Harboring his final doubts, the goblin elder was slain by Little Black's single blow. With their leader dead, a primal urge for survival welled up within the other goblins.

"Umya-ya!"

Being naturally cowardly, at the sight of their leader's death, the other goblins scattered instantly, bursting from their grassy hiding spot and fleeing blindly in all directions.

Swish, swish, swish!

A triple shot!

The Skeleton Archers quickly locked onto their targets and loosed three arrows in quick succession.

The arrows struck true, and three goblin scouts fell. The Skeleton Warrior unit followed up, shields raised, charging to cut down the fleeing goblins.

Under the merciless assault of the Skeleton Warriors, all the goblin scouts were slain. This massacre signaled the start of a bloody storm within the Corrupted Jungle.

Watching her undead minions coordinate perfectly, Serea nodded in approval.

Once the Skeleton Warriors had hauled over the corpses, Serea began extracting materials.

The eight goblins provided the following resources for Serea:

Blood Crystals: 5

Soul Crystals: 8

Fear Crystals: 6

Normally one human corpse yielded about a blood crystal, but from goblins it was barely more than half a crystal. Fortunately, the other materials were plentiful.

"So these are goblins... I've finally seen some of the monsters in the Corrupted Jungle. I guess there'll be even more in the future."

After storing the materials, Serea gazed at the jungle, whose end she could not see. The Corrupted Jungle was said to be the largest forestland on the eastern continent.

Now, Serea was about to step into this vast forest of monsters that stretched over a million square kilometers, not knowing what dangers awaited her ahead.

"What a colossal place. Even the outskirts are already this perilous."

Muttering this, Serea glanced at the goblins' corpses.

If it were an ordinary human passing through here, they would probably have become food for these monsters.

"But danger and opportunity always come hand in hand. With monsters around, I need not worry about my supply of materials—and I can also avoid the investigations from the human kingdoms."

Serea thought to herself.

After ordering the Skeleton Warriors to dispose of the goblin corpses, Serea and her party continued advancing deeper into the Corrupted Jungle.

"This is the first step of my rise. If I'm scared off by this, what hope is there for the future?"

With this thought, Serea looked toward the forest, her eyes burning with determination.

"Go as deep as we can! Little Black, you scout ahead. Dogsius, monitor our surroundings. Everyone else, stay on guard. Our goal—the heart of the Corrupted Jungle!"

"Yes, my master."

"At your command, Your Majesty!"

Everyone was brimming with fighting spirit, while Celia walked behind, silently watching Serea's back as she pressed forward.

Perhaps it was the wrong choice, but so long as she could protect Serea, nothing else really mattered.

Thus, the group pressed on toward the depths of the Corrupted Jungle.

(To be continued...)