Chapter 211 - 152: The Girl in the Corpse Bone Tree (2)

The girl’s weak calls were coming from the trunk of this Corpse Bone Tree.

No information was displayed.

No monsters suddenly appeared in the vicinity either.

But the atmosphere was strangely eerie.

"Something’s not right." Skyrim frowned. "A call for help that can travel that far? It’s probably a trap."

"You think I don’t know that?" Guagua rolled her eyes. She might be a noob, but she wasn’t an idiot. She didn’t need a rookie to point it out.

"Besides, that’s just how games are. Even when you know it’s a trap, you still have to step on it to test it out."

Guagua shrugged.

Skyrim fell silent at her words.

’She has a point.’

It was like knowing a Treasure Chest might jump up and bite you, but you still had to open it or attack it to trigger... the mechanic.

"Still, maybe we can find a safer way to do this."

Guagua started to think.

"I’ve got it!"

"This Magic is perfect for this. No wonder everyone recommends it."

Guagua’s face lit up with excitement. The next moment, she transformed into the Iron-faced Warlock, raised a hand clad in an Execution Glove, and channeled Warfire to activate her Magic.

Before long, Spiritual Power flew from her hand and coalesced, forming a slightly blurry duplicate whose Power was constantly draining away.

"What’s that?" Skyrim asked, a little confused.

"See for yourself." Guagua shared the information directly to the party channel.

[Magic·Thief Illusion Body]

[Type: Embers]

[Effect: Consumes Spiritual Power to construct an Illusion Body under your control. It has no Attack capabilities but shares your body’s other characteristics.]

[Explanation: Although most Mages are kind-hearted and noble, there are always some who prefer to walk the unbeaten path. They are passionate about the treasures buried in ancient tombs but are vexed by the dangers concealed within. Thus, they have applied their talents in some... peculiar ways.]

The Thief Illusion Body!

This Magic had no Attack Ability, no way to force aggro or draw hate, and couldn’t even carry anything. Its main function was scouting.

But in the Mage discussion threads on the Spirit Candle Forum, many Mage players highly recommended it, asserting that this Magic would definitely be very useful.

And sure enough, Guagua was now putting it to use.

"Go!"

Guagua commanded her Thief Illusion Body, which swaggered forward.

The Thief Illusion Body brazenly circled the giant Corpse Bone Tree again and again.

Then, when it reached a flat patch of ground not covered by roots, the earth exploded with a BOOM! Several hissing Parasite sacs crawled out and attacked the Thief Illusion Body.

POP!

The Thief Illusion Body dissipated the moment it was attacked.

"Just as I thought, it was a trap!"

As expected, the area around the giant Corpse Bone Tree was anything but safe.

"Hiss?"

The Parasite sacs, having come up empty, hissed a couple of times and looked around, but Guagua and Skyrim were too far away to be seen.

After a fruitless search, the Parasite sacs had no choice but to return empty-handed, burrowing back into the Corpse Bone Tree roots under the ground.

Next, Guagua tried several more times.

Skyrim watched silently from the side. ’This Mage’s Magic is pretty interesting.’

「A moment later.」

Guagua had finally scouted out all the dangerous spots around the Corpse Bone Tree.

Numerous Parasite sacs were hidden among the Corpse Bone Tree’s roots, covering the ground and forming a soft, sticky Insect Nest.

Without the Thief Illusion Body to test the area, they would have stepped right in and experienced being swarmed by Parasites firsthand...

"Help... help... me..."

The plea for help from within the giant Corpse Bone Tree still echoed in their ears.

"What’s our next move?" Skyrim asked, looking at Guagua.

"What else? We go up there and see if we can crack this tree open."

Guagua rolled her eyes.

The Thief Illusion Body had served its purpose. From now on, they would have to rely on their own Power.

Then, Guagua cautiously used Mithros Starlight to attack the giant Corpse Bone Tree.

The bark broke, and black blood flowed out, but the Corpse Bone Tree showed no particular reaction.

It seemed the giant Corpse Bone Tree might not be a monster after all.

Guagua had planned to press the attack and smash it open, but the giant Corpse Bone Tree quickly began to repair itself. Her attack speed could never outpace its regeneration.

Furthermore, as if disturbed by the attacks on the giant Corpse Bone Tree, the Parasite sacs began to pop out one by one, moving toward her to find the source of the attack.

"This isn’t working. We have to figure out a way to get rid of all these Parasite sacs first," Skyrim said, shaking his head.

If they just mindlessly attacked the giant Corpse Bone Tree, they would likely be swarmed by the Parasite sacs, which would be extremely risky.

Guagua realized this as well.

But that was a relatively easy problem to solve.

Soon, the two began to coordinate, one near and one far. Guagua was responsible for kiting the mobs, while Skyrim took care of the Parasite sacs and the Parasites inside.

Although there were a lot of the bugs, one of them was a Prison Player and the other had solid skills, so after a while, they had cleared them all out.

The respawn time for these Parasite sacs also seemed to be very long, giving them plenty of time for what came next.

"I’ll go," Skyrim said, letting out a breath as he looked at the giant Corpse Bone Tree.

"It’s all you." Since he had volunteered, Guagua naturally agreed... She really didn’t want to go through the experience of a Parasite shoving itself in her face and mouth a second time.

Skyrim quickly arrived at the base of the giant Corpse Bone Tree.

His arrival prompted no reaction from the Corpse Bone Tree.

The calls for help from within the tree grew clearer. He could confirm they were coming from the thickest part of the trunk.

Skyrim drew an enhanced Candlefire Scimitar.

He had bought it; it was a Weapon discarded by other players, but it was perfect for him.

WHOOSH!

Warfire instantly engulfed the entire blade.

The next moment, Skyrim found his spot and plunged the blade in.

Black blood immediately trickled down from the Corpse Bone Tree, and the bone fragments within scraped against the blade with a faint sound.

The giant Corpse Bone Tree still didn’t react.

Seeing this, Skyrim gripped the hilt with both hands, the Warfire blazing even more intensely, and viciously slashed downward.

Accompanied by the sickening sound of tearing flesh, more black blood flowed out, like the "Tree Sap" stored in the Corpse Bone Tree’s core.

After tearing open a large gash, Skyrim immediately sheathed his Candlefire Scimitar and plunged his hands, wreathed in Warfire, into the opening.

The giant Corpse Bone Tree had a powerful healing ability. If he tried to use only his Weapon to make an opening, the bottom would probably heal before he finished cutting the top.

So, Skyrim chose to tear it open with his bare hands.

SPLUUURT... SLOSH...

More black blood gushed out, mixed with large amounts of bone fragments and shredded flesh. The nauseating stench was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

With his senses being identical to reality, Skyrim was hit with a multi-sensory critical strike to his touch, sight, and smell. His face turned a little pale.

But he gritted his teeth, held his breath, and continued to tear the opening wider and wider.

Until the black blood had completely drained away.

A black-haired girl, curled into a ball with her knees to her chest, appeared in Skyrim’s line of sight. Her simple clothes were soaked through with black blood.

She seemed to be unconscious, but her lips were still moving, unconsciously murmuring for help.

"There... there’s really a person in there!"

Guagua had cautiously made her way to Skyrim’s side. She was stunned when she saw the girl inside the giant Corpse Bone Tree.

[Human Girl in the Corpse Bone Tree]

That was the only piece of information they could see, and it was almost useless.

"Let’s get her out of there first."

Without another word, Guagua stepped forward, ready to reach in and pull the girl out of the Corpse Bone Tree.

"I’ll do it," Skyrim said.

He then reached out his hands.

Seeing this, Guagua nodded to herself. ’This kid is actually pretty reliable.’

As he touched the girl, Skyrim remained extremely vigilant.

’No matter how you look at it, there’s no way a girl inside a Corpse Bone Tree is harmless.’

She could very well turn into a terrifying monster in the next second.

However, his worries seemed to be unfounded.

The two of them quickly pulled her out of the giant Corpse Bone Tree.

However, several umbilical cord-like branches attached to the girl’s spine caught their attention.

"This... it should be fine to cut these off, right?" Guagua hesitated, unsure of what to do.

But what happened next saved her from having to decide.

With a CRUMBLE, perhaps because all the black blood in its core had drained out, the giant Corpse Bone Tree seemed to lose its Life Force. It collapsed with a thunderous crash and dissolved into a pile of scorched flesh.

The umbilical cord-like objects withered and fell off along with it.