448 Entering the Spirit Dimension, An Immediate Battle Upon Entry (2/2)

Mei took out the new sniper crossbow Mark made for her and aimed at the animals. As for the little girls, they stayed beside their Mama to support and guard her and the others.

”Amihan! Teremillio! Pefile! Guide everyone else which one to fight! Avoid fighting those with high magical concentration upfront and deal with them from far away!”

Mark commanded, which they immediately followed.

The infected animals and insects were fine to fight. However, those with a high magical concentration in their bodies could be considered as walking bombs. No one knew what they could do in order to attack. The best way to face them was to be cautious.

With Mark's order in effect, the incoming enemies were properly dealt with.

”Master! Gifre is having a hard time!”

Aephelia called out in a hurry.

Everyone then saw Gifre struggling.

Not because the infected that looked like a blob of flesh was physically strong. The reason was after Gifre tried to grab the infected, its hands sunk into its body as if it was trying to devour him. The body of the infected was solid by looks but it seemed to be actually semi-liquid.

Mei and Karlene shot the blob to no avail. Even their poisoned ammunition was not working.

Hearing Aephelia's call, Mark immediately charged to help. Black flames covered the blade of Ignis as Mark slashed the blob open.

There was no resistance at all and it felt like Mark tried to cut water. Furthermore, the black flames on the blade that could not be put out easily were actually extinguished. Fortunately, it seemed that the slash also had an effect as the part Mark slashed remained deformed.

”Make Gifre retreat!”

Mark shouted which Aephelia immediately complied with.

Gifre pulled its arm out of the blob's body. Because of the strong and thick scales of Gifre, he was basically unharmed. However, if one was to look closely, the surface of his scales looked scratched and melted a bit.

There was no doubt that the body of this thing was not just normally corrosive but magically.

As Gifre retreated, the blob's target changed to the closest person. And that was Mark. It rolled towards Mark, although a bit slower since he was on the higher part of the slope.

In response to its charge, Mark tried to find its head. However, he could not find it as the infected was rolled into a massive blob of liquid flesh. Without a choice, Mark created a ball of miasma on his hand and threw it at the enemy.

The ball of miasma exploded and covered the whole body of the infected.

Being covered by black smoke, the infected blob started to shrink. Sure enough, the magical energy that composed most of its body started to get drained.

Finally, among the miasma, Mark managed to pinpoint where was its head. With a flash of the black flame covered blade of Ignis, the infected enemy lost its life. As he dispersed the miasma, everyone was finally able to see its true body.

”It's a Berberoka isn't it?”

Mark voiced in which Pefile affirmed.

The beheaded creature, although mutated, had the same appearance and body structure to the illustrations Mark saw before. Normally, a Berberoka's body looked either a tall and fat mudman or had an entire body made of water. And this one mutated to have flesh which was unnerving. Its stench was bad too.

With the fall of the Berberoka, the last of the infected in the near vicinity was dealt with.

It was bad for the heart of almost everyone. The moment they arrived, they landed with a nauseous feeling. Before they could even recover properly, a number of disgusting infected were already charging towards them.

Now that there was no danger anymore, everyone could finally take a breather and look at the environment. Sure enough, Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia did not feel well while looking at the surroundings.

Not only the three, but the others also felt unsettled.

After all, the appearance of the place was no different from the landscape of the base. It was just the whole place was dead with only the Spirit Tree remaining alive.

If the base fell, would it also become like this? That was what entered their minds. And sure enough, it was not an impossible thing to happen.

”But if everything here is like this, how is Chiyo able to survive?”

Karlene asked while patting the large tree.

To her question, Mark said the answer that came to his head. He also asked himself about that question before and the answer he came up was that Chiyo's needs were being filled on the Mortal World where the Spitirt Tree was planted.

”So, where are we going next?”

Mark turned to Pefile, Teremillio, and Felenia and asked while he tried to see if the could take the ability of the Berberoka into a crystal.

The three looked at each other and nodded.

”Let's try the mountains in the north first,” Pefile said. ”The nearest kingdom of Sylphs should be there.

Hearing about the kingdom of sylphs, the eyes of both Amihan and Malaya lit up. After all, it would be the first time they might be able to see the kingdom of sylphs.

Hopefully, it should be able to stand, right?

And thus, traversing the barren and arid mountains, the headed towards the north.