Chapter 858 – Decaying Forest

Witch Aiko was a bit puzzled why her jokes were not landing, but she soon forgot about it.

This forest... how she should say this. It was alive, but at the same time it was not.

The poison- toxin, was so deeply rooted that either everything was suffering or everything was thriving.

The trees were somewhere in the middle.

Most of those trees were similar to what Aiko found in the marshes or similar biomes. The trees had its roots out of the ground, spamming the vast grounds below them. The trunk was thick, but very hollow-sounding.

When it came to the bark, it felt like someone etched it with acid until it was a molten sludge-like consistency.

The branches and crowns were like snakes with distorted leaves that felt closer to hair.

Everything about this place was inherently toxic, and what was not toxic was slowly or quickly dying.

"This place is quite dead..." Witch Aiko observed closely, no longer joking around.

"You should stick closer to me." The Nightmare Owl was concerned that she would get hurt, but she didn't really listen to him.

[[Primordial Intoxicating Sacred Lotus Physique] is being strengthened.]

[[Captivating Witch of Illusive Dreams] is being strengthened.]

[[Intoxicating Toxin's Affection] is being strengthened.]

3 different things were being strengthened all thanks to one thing. Toxins. These potent fuckers would melt anyone who would enter this forest, and they would only be safe when they were near the Nightmare Owl, the closer, the better.

However, as Aiko had a special constitution and ridiculous inclinations, she was currently benefiting from this situation.

She could feel the Species, Bloodline and Elemental Affinity quickly catching up to her counterparts.

While balance was unlikely, since she had two Yin against one Yang. The destruction should complete the loop and thus make her more stable in return.

If Witch Aiko could be outside for longer, that was a bonus that any Aiko liked.

Looking around again. There were no animals. No sounds from birds, crickets or other bugs.

This place should be silent, but it was far from that.

The trees were singing crude self-loathing songs, while the bog was melting everything while breathing even more toxins into the air around them.

It was a very severe predicament that would kill anyone.

"Hmmm..."

But Witch Aiko and Nightmare Owls.

"I don't think this place should look like this." Witch Aiko tilted her head.

"You are correct. Once my- Once the Ancestral Beast was contracted, she kind of gave up on maintaining this place." The Nightmare Owl sighed. "Now it's just toxic wasteland that slowly spreads, eventually consuming this whole continent."

"But..." Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes, but she didn't say anything.

As the name implied Nightmare Owls were supposed to be specialised in dreams and nightmares, illusions and fake reality. Yet they now had rules over toxins.

Sure, Witch Aiko also had that Nightmare Bloodline, which then turned into her current one, but there was a limit on how much they could deviate.

"Does the Ancestral Beast believe that she can fend them off with this toxin?" Witch Aiko threw her guess, but she didn't expect much.

"You are correct. It's just a dream, but it's keeping my- the Ancestral Beast well." The Nightmare Owl nodded his head.

"That's a cute dream." Witch Aiko nodded. That guy probably also dreamed about those beauties that she had burned. 'I wonder how he is doing.'

-----

"I'm telling you. The portrait can be retrieved at a later date as I'm currently too busy to unlock the mountain!" A certain guy was shouting into a Communication Talisman. This would be the 9th time this happened.

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"I'm telling you. They are after me, if you don't believe me, you can check my injuries." He was ambushed by 'that' race, making his injuries severe and hard to recover from.

Moreover, that Mortal World was now locked, so unless that damned Fox tried to undo his last Contract on that Mortal World, he wouldn't be able to enter it and do anything.

Smashing the table next to him, he couldn't believe what happened to him.

Not only was his personal 'Realm' raided, but she also stole most of the fuel and even burned down his mountain!

'She doesn't know who she is dealing with.' He snorted disdainfully. He was prepared for the next time they met. A Relic that would keep 'that' race in check for 5 whole seconds!

'It cost me a lot, but 5 seconds is all I need.' He chuckled sinisterly. He suffered losses like never before.

"Young Master, it seems even the 'Herb Garden' was robbed." An elderly individual spoke slowly to him.

*Pffft*

That guy coughed up a lot of blood. He could play down the portraits and what happened to them, but a lot of those Herbs are already 'extinct' meaning that if he loses them, he might actually lose his life!

'Let's hope the Sage doesn't notice just yet. If I can apprehend her Soul, maybe they will excuse me.' He nodded his head slowly, waiting for his opportunity while postponing all the Saintesses that were after him...

-----

'I'm sure he is doing fine.' Witch Aiko nodded. 'Maybe I should've messed with him a bit more.' She now kind of regretted that she left so early. It would be much better if she completely destroyed that place, but...

'Sun Aiko would suffer.' Witch Aiko clicked her tongue. In order to manifest enough destructive power to destroy that place, she would have to lift the Seals as it happened when she just obtained that species.

*squish squish*

"... Are you alright?" The Nightmare Owl just watched Aiko play with the bog like it was some kind of nice toy. She touched it, poked it, scooped it- It was a disgusting sight.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Witch Aiko tilted her head in confusion. She could feel everything advancing in her body by simply touching this thing, so she was quite keen on continuing this.

However, she did have her limits. She would never bath in this or cover herself with this. It had a disgusting texture and smell, but the benefits were too good to pass on.

"I would never touch something like that." The Nightmare Owl shuddered. It now felt like Aiko would get along with his sister.

"It's all good stuff... As long as you don't sniff it or touch it too much." Witch Aiko corrected her words. She didn't want to be seen as some kind of freak, that was the job of Moon and Sun Aiko.

She was the pervert of the group, and she would stay that way~!

"Ummm..." The Nightmare Owl didn't know what to do with her since he didn't expect her to play with it.

Anyone would be disgusted by this sight and smell and want to leave this place as soon as possible.

'No wonder she can play with Contracts, you need at least this much freakiness to make it work.' The Nightmare Owl had a severe misunderstanding about her, but it was not an issue for now.

"I will stop soon. Okay?" Witch Aiko knew that she would have to leave this place soon, so she wanted to empower herself at least a bit.

"My- The Ancestral Beast can make you a bath for this." The Nightmare Owl thought about how to tempt her to leave this place and that was the only thing he could come up with.

"Really?!" Witch Aiko's head turned almost 180 degrees when she heard those words.

"No take-backs, okay?" Witch Aiko was now next to the Nightmare Owl, waiting for him to guide her around.

"Haha..." The Nightmare Owl laughed wryly. He didn't think this would work so well, but thinking about her nature again, it was probably just her natural reaction, right?

"We will create something that will help you." The Nightmare Owl smiled. They were experts on toxins, but not all toxins were harmful.

Everything had a 'safe' dose that you could consume before everything went to shit.

Then, if you take those 'safe' doses and combine them together, you might come up with something that could rival the Medicinal Baths! And if you worked on it long enough it might even surpass them!

"I'm looking forward to it, but I hope your base is not as gloomy as this place." Witch Aiko didn't dislike this place, but she also didn't like it.

"You are in for a surprise." The Nightmare Owl chuckled. He also couldn't believe it the first time he saw it in front of him.

"I hope it won't be a nasty one." Witch Aiko narrowed her eyes at him, but still smiled bewitchingly.

"It's a surprise for a reason, why would surprise be nasty?" The Nightmare Owl was too pure in this aspect, so Witch Aiko didn't try to ruin him just yet.

"I didn't think she would actually come over." A familiar Nightmare Owl spoke from the crowns of the trees.

However, when Witch Aiko stared at her, there was something odd about that Nightmare Owl.

'Puppet? No, it's kind of hollow but still alive?' Witch Aiko was confused, but her [Pandemonium Lantern Eyes] were able to detect the Soul attached to them and that it was 'stringed' in and that 'string' led to somewhere.

"I thought you would be keeping watch?" The Nightmare Owl that was escorting Aiko spoke gently.

"I'm doing just that." The puppet nodded its head.

"Don't push yourself too much." The Nightmare Owl seemed concerned, which even more confused Aiko.

'Ah, is he perhaps talking to the person that the "Soul" is attached to?' Witch Aiko found it fascinating, but not something she wanted to do.

For some reason there was... deep apprehension against this act. Like something bad would happen if she tried to practise something similar.

Of course, that didn't mean she would be mean to them. She still found it fascinating enough to be polite about it, but if she were suggested learning this, she might actually flip out.

"We are just securing this place." The puppet shrugged.

'Huh, that feels like Moon Aiko.' Witch Aiko found this conversation boring, but everything else about this was fascinating enough that she kept still.

"Hello." Witch Aiko smiled, but her eyes didn't really 'watch' the puppet.

The puppet paused. "Welcome, guest." The voice changed significantly, making the Nightmare Owl seriously confused. 'No, why would she do this?' He couldn't understand what she was thinking. What was she planning to do about this situation if it spread?!