191 Extermination (1/2)

Li simply trudged his way forwards, taking up a brisk pace with his hands behind his back, like he was an old man going out on a casual stroll. Launcelot and his party members kept up behind him, but they were still high-strung, highly uncomfortable with going at a pace faster than a slow walk because of how deeply the fear of Darkbeast infested territory had been ingrained into them.

”As I said before,” said Li as he opened his eyes wide and cast [Focused Moonbeam] through them, shooting out twin beams of pale, ghostly white that flashed forwards and crashed into the torso of a sizable Darkbeast several meters ahead, utterly torching it into an uniform pile of ash before it was even recognizable what amalgamation of beast parts it was.

”Have faith in a god's strength.”

Li felt so much more comfortable using his druidic spells that he no longer felt any mental discomfort expending mana. To be sure, he knew that he was expending magical energy, but there were no physical or mental links to its loss. It also let him do nifty things like being able to now shoot the [Moonbeam] spell through his eyes instead of his hands.

It made this sort of extermination of insignificant beings that much more impersonal and easier. All he had to do was look, and a Darkbeast died. It was fast, clean, efficient, and Li did not have to get his hands dirty.

Extermination did not get much smoother than that.

”By all the gods and however many hells there are,” remarked Faye as she saw Li tilting his head to torch a flying Darkbeast that fluttered in the treetops. Its burning body dropped like a smoking rock, sinking into the marshy forest floor with a squelching impact.

”Launce, you worried for Riviera's safety when it has thisto protect it?”

” 'This' sounds like objectification. I would prefer you not to use the term,” said Li as he beheld a pack of dog-like Darkbeasts sprinting towards him, their agile and sleek frames topped by heads that opened apart into long, grasping tendrils tipped with spines.

Li looked from side to side, directing the [Focused Moonbeam] in a fanning motion to torch the entire pack of twenty or so in one swift instant.

As the Darkbeast corpses crumbled into flames that quickly dissipated into ash, the forest itself remained unharmed. Another good thing about the [Moonbeam]. It did not harm what Li did not want it to.

The only real downside of the spell was that it was only C-ranked, but even a C-ranked spell boosted by Li's monstrous stats was more than enough to annihilate most beings in this world.

”I feel utterly useless,” remarked Faye as she crossed her arms around her fire wrapped, levitating form. ”He even does the burning things part better than me. I'd always thought myself the best at that.”

Celeste nodded, though she was still a little tense as she tugged at her thick robes, inherently more fearful than the others.

Launcelot looked at Li in utter and complete awe, his blue eyes wide and his shield, for once, lying slack in his grip. ”Truly, I knew him to be a man of great strength, capable of wondrous feats of strength, and, in recent times, a seer to an faith once forgotten, but never would I have expected this.

Not even the greatest of priests can channel the Light to the extent that he brings forth divine radiance. To me, he seems far more than Seer, more akin to an incarnation of divinity upon this world. Were he to claim himself an avatar of divinity straight from the heavenly halls of Valhul, I would not doubt his words for a moment.”

Well, in a way, Li thought, Launcelot was right.

”Then, Launcelot, witnessing this, can you find hope within your heart?” said Li. ”Remember when you gave the speech to the bronze ranked adventurers in the Winterwoods? When you proclaimed that you would lay your life down for them not so that they could flee, but instead so that they could fight to their fullest?

That is what I am offering you. Riviera, I consider part of my garden, thus, I will not let it fall. Take solace in that knowledge to live a life without regrets.”

”I feel ashamed that all I can grant you is words of thanks,” said Launcelot, his eyes downcast.

”You are a good man, Launcelot, and thanks that comes from a good heart is treasure enough,” said Li.

=============

As they neared the heart of the Chattering Forest, the ground became even more unstable. Li's footsteps sank him knee deep into black, squelching mud that oozed with a liquid that looked unpleasantly like oil.

The trees were still thick in this area, but they had grown to adapt to their environment. Their roots elevated them above the mushy soil level, making them look like tall, overgrown mangrove trees. In turn, the roots were thorned, and by virtue of the forest being so cluttered, they grew and twisted around each other in much the same way the tree branches did, creating spiked barriers that prevented further entry.