According to Amberley's account, the outpost they were going to was located in a forest about five kilometers away from the empire's border. Its main purpose was to observe and maintain the forest environment, monitor the abnormal movements of the empire's people, take care of travelers lost in the forest, and deal with them.
Poachers with malicious intentions, etc.
There are about twenty sentries on duty here all year round. For the Elna people, the rich forest is their greatest treasure, which is enough to provide a large amount of wild vegetables and fruits as a source of food. Of course, similar to other tribesmen, they
They also specially cultivate some particularly delicious crops or foods. The wild honey used by Amberly to make cakes and the fresh red dates used for pickling candied fruits are both famous specialties of the kingdom.
Such outposts are scattered all over the edge of the forest, with a total of nearly a thousand. Each outpost usually reports to Golden Spike City, the capital of the Kingdom of Elders, on the general situation of the place over the past year at the end of summer.
Requirements for manpower and resources, and incidents that have been resolved or are in the process of being resolved.
If a major problem that cannot be solved occurs, the outpost will send a messenger to report the news to the nearest large town as soon as possible. If it still cannot be solved there, the incident will be sent to the royal court, and Her Majesty the Queen will decide on the specific handling policy.
"So no one has noticed this place for so long, so something might have happened to that place?" Lily asked as she ran beside the white bear, carrying an obsidian giant sword.
"Who knows?" White Bear said in a low and soft voice, "If that's the case, I will avenge this forest and them. But I believe that she will be fine with the gold coin!"
Lin caught up with the little bear in her arms and turned to look at her, "Sister Amberly, how do you speak human words like a bear?"
"It seems... I just... I don't know! When I'm a bear, I do exercises on my tongue and mouth, and suddenly one day I can do it!" the white bear replied proudly, and then quickened his pace, "Here we are.
Ahead is...oh, my God——!"
Lily ran two steps. When the outpost passed through the woods and the darkness and appeared in front of her, even Lily, who had seen various scenes as a hunter and mercenary, couldn't help but take a breath.
The vines that originally surrounded the village and served as natural walls have long since died and turned black, like long oozing black snakes, lying prone on the smoothed brown soil. Outside the village, the reclaimed land is covered with dark brown vines.
The sticky fungus was like a big pile of rotten flesh lying on the ground, squirming from time to time, which made her feel a little nauseous. Dozens of ellipsoid-shaped objects emitting dark red fireflies floated above the group of fungi, seeming to be coming from there.
absorbing the nutrients that provide them with survival.
"Will-o'-the-wisps." Yuffie looked at the floating fireflies and said calmly, "Semi-spiritual creatures that feed on negative emotions have very low aggression. Just ignore them." She lowered her gaze.
Some, "And the mortar slime mold. The spores of that thing are poisonous, so it's better to stay away."
Lily followed the white bear and carefully detoured for a while. As soon as she stepped over the black vines, she felt that the air around her suddenly became stagnant. The cold wind that had been blowing from time to time completely stopped, but it made her feel even colder.
This is not a good sign, the female mercenary said to herself. She tried her best to wave the sharp blade in her hand to prevent her muscles from becoming stiff due to the chill.
She continued to move forward, and several wooden houses - or rather things that weren't even the remains of wooden houses - gradually broke through the darkness and came into her sight.
The wooden boards that once made up the house have been turned into charred gray-black flakes, crisscrossed in their original positions. The furniture and furnishings in the house are almost the same, as if the life force in the wood has been sucked out by something.
The remaining items that could be identified include a few rough porcelain bowls - two of which are still intact; two long metal swords, already stained with rust; and a total of three skeletons lying outside the house. One of them opened to the house.
The first one was lying on his stomach, as if he was running outside. The remaining two bodies were lying on their backs, trying to hold something in their hands, but there was nothing inside.
Lily carefully touched one of them, and when she heard the sound of salad, the entire skeleton instantly turned into fine white flakes. They scattered and fell to the ground, and the outline of the human shape could still be vaguely seen.
"This..." She retracted her hand with some guilt, "Isn't it our fault?"
The blond girl walked forward, leaned down and looked at it, then picked up a thin and brittle bone fragment, gently twisted it into powder with her fingers, put it to the tip of her nose and sniffed it.
"All his biological parts have been removed." Lin straightened her body and answered the question somewhat inappropriately, "What on earth could have caused such a result... Yuffie?"
"I don't know either." The pink girl came closer, "At least among the magical creatures, aberrations and some outside creatures mentioned by the academy, there are none that can achieve this level -"
"Be careful, everyone!" Not far away, Amberley in the form of a white bear let out a low roar, "Something is coming!"
Lily quickly raised her head. A huge, grotesque creature floating in the air—or perhaps not a creature at all—slowly entered the area illuminated by soft light.
It is translucent overall, shaped like a cylinder five meters high and four meters in diameter. The uneven gray surface undulates slowly, as if it is breathing. There are hundreds of blood-red eyes and a large bloody mouth.
Embedded in every surface of this monster, the huge mouth is constantly opening and closing, revealing a shark-like mouth full of sharp teeth. In the gap between the eyes and the huge mouth, there are countless gray tentacles about two meters long, like floating...
The jellyfish in the air were dancing and thrashing around randomly.
It slowly rotated clockwise, looking at Lily and everyone else with countless cold eyes. Lily could feel that those eyes were like looking at food, greedy, bloodthirsty, and without any mercy.
"What is this!?" She asked Yuffie almost yelling, "Is it what made this place look like this!?"
"I don't know either - I don't recognize it." The girl replied hastily, "Wait, Lily, be careful when attacking -"
Those words were a bit late. The female mercenary jumped up dragging the giant sword, her whole body drew a perfect arc in the air, and swung the sword towards the terrifying monster.
The intended blow did not go as planned. The giant sword passed through the monster's body, as if it cut open a ball of viscous liquid. She raised her head and found that the monster did not seem to be seriously injured - instead, it seemed to be angered.
The dozens of tentacles coiled around its body suddenly became straight, and they went straight through the giant sword she had lying in front of her, hitting her chest.