Millennium Witch.

Chapter 35 - Battle
After crossing several hills, at the top of a hillside, Yvette looked down at a barren forest.

That was a basin in the Ish Mountains, and also the location of the Corruption Forest. Perhaps due to the influence of dense aberration factors, some dead trees sprouted new buds, which were a strange dark purple color. It is unknown whether the first plant-based aberration will be born in the future.

"Teacher, look!" Rosalyn suddenly exclaimed. Following the direction she was pointing, a grayish-white mist was spreading outwards from the very depths of the decaying forest.

This was clearly not dream mist; its color was somewhat strange, a dark and dirty gray, lacking the pure white and clean translucency of dream mist. The two immediately turned to the Twinblade Demon, waiting for it to explain the current situation.

"Why are you looking at me? Do you think I know everything?" said the double-edged demon.

It seems she doesn't know... Yvette hesitated for a moment, then took out a small mask from her pouch.

This is a homemade gas mask, consisting of a filter, a low-level application unit, and an elemental capacitor. The application unit contains a small-scale air filtration program, and it has a battery life of about one hour. It is specifically designed to deal with situations such as toxic fog.

In addition, there were several explosives in the bag, which did not cause much damage and were mainly used to provide location information; they were roughly equivalent to a simple flare gun.

Furthermore, the remaining items they carried were the alloy battle blades that the master and apprentice each wore at their waists. However, Yvette had hardly ever practiced hand-to-hand combat, so she only carried them as a precaution.

After Rosalind put on her gas mask, the three of them arrived at the Corruption Forest shrouded in mist. After hesitating for a moment, they put away their magic skateboards and cautiously moved forward on foot, keeping their positions closer together.

Then, after walking a few steps, Rosalind discovered that the Twinblade Demon was gone.

"Hey... Mr. Devil? Mr. Double-Edged Devil? Where are you?" Rosalind called out, while tightly clutching her teacher's clothes with one hand to prevent herself from getting lost.

But receiving no response, her voice trembled slightly as she asked nervously, "Teacher, did it sneak away? Have we fallen into a trap?"

“No, this fog is strange; it contains a kind of… spell.” Yvette frowned, the runic ring on her right hand flashing on and off intermittently.

After several minutes, she removed her gas mask and confirmed, "This isn't poisonous fog, but it's not ordinary either. Inside is a complex array of spells, like a... super-large magic circle. Its effect should be to disorient people and isolate sound interaction to some extent."

"Teacher, can you crack this?" Rosalyn also took off her mask and took a small breath. It was indeed no different from ordinary mountain air, except that there was more moisture.

“No… its rune set is dynamic, and there are many unknown runes that I’ve never seen before.” Yvette shook her head, a terrible guess immediately forming in her mind.

For the Origin Civilization, there are no unfamiliar runes on the Origin Star. Although the number of known basic runes has exceeded 1, the Origin Civilization has at least identified all of these runes and named them. At most, they are not well understood or their nature is unclear.

Now, this spell that shrouded the corrupt forest was mixed with many new runes that even she didn't recognize...

Could it really have originated from beyond the universe? The source of the apocalypse, the truth behind the aberrations, is a terrifying invasion of cosmic pathogens?

No, it could also be the result of encryption and encapsulation, a similar experience to using Black Tower Pharma's encryption and encapsulation service in a dream...

For a moment, many guesses arose in her mind, but Yvette's expression remained unchanged, as calm as ever. After all, this was a crucial moment, and as her teacher, she had to maintain her composure even in the face of adversity in order to help Rosalyn stay calm as well.

"So what do we do next?" Rosalyn instinctively moved closer to the teacher.

“Keep moving forward. This fog won’t do any harm except for making people lose their way. Although I can’t modify or hijack this magic circle, I’ve found a clue. As long as we follow the correct route, we won’t be led astray and will reach the core area of ​​the spell directly,” Yvette said.

The two continued forward, and the surrounding fog grew thicker and thicker. The visibility dropped from more than ten meters to just a few meters. When they looked up, all they could see was a gray-white expanse, with no sunlight in sight.

You can actually fly out from above, but what you'll see is a forest shrouded in fog, and you won't be able to pinpoint the location of the mother nest—the mother nest can move, but it's a bit slow.

On the contrary, proceeding along the clues deconstructed from the spell within the fog, at the very least, is a very feasible way to find the one who released the fog.

After continuing forward for a while, heavy footsteps gradually approached from ahead. Sensing the threat lurking in the fog, Yvette stopped, preparing to unleash a pillar of fire to pierce the thick fog and scout ahead, when she saw Rosalind suddenly draw her sword and slash at a fleeting shadow in the fog.

A round object covered in sticky blood rolled to the ground, a short, still slightly twitching fleshy tentacle trailing from its severed end.

"A human head... a shepherd sheep?" Upon seeing this, Yvette immediately guessed the identity of the aberration that launched the attack in the fog. Of the four Broodguards, only this thing could attack with a human head.

Heavy footsteps approached again, but instead of coming straight up, they lingered around. Soon after, another terrifying face emerged from the mist and was sliced ​​down by Rosalyn's knife.

Thick brain matter and black blood splattered onto the cold alloy blade. She flicked the blood off the blade and said, "Teacher, you continue. I'll handle this one." Although her original target was the Night Demon, she could adapt to any situation. Besides, she could stay here, but her teacher had to move on; otherwise, who would deal with this cumbersome fog?

"If you can't win, run away. There's no need to fight to the death," Yvette advised.

In this operation, entrusting some of the enemies to Rosalyn was part of the strategy. This was not only because Rosalyn had the willingness and ability to share the burden with her teacher, but also because Yvette herself needed to manage her magic power allocation. Her current total magic power was 644 points, and she needed to preserve her strength as much as possible before eliminating the Nest Lord.

As for the Twinblade Demon... who knows where it went? It might have slipped away. But Yvette didn't expect it to be of much use anyway, so it was within expectations.

"Yes, I won't be stubborn." Rosalyn nodded gently, her tone obedient and her eyes earnest.

Ignoring the shepherd sheep's harassment and no longer needing to slow down to take care of the students around her, Yvette immediately stepped onto her magic skateboard and, like a gust of wind, headed straight towards the route that had already been deciphered.

……

At the same time, in the withered forest shrouded in gray-white mist, the dual-bladed demon was moving at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see, stirring up gusts of wind.

A moment later, a huge shadow appeared in the mist in front of it, forcing it to come to a sudden stop. It made several turns in mid-air before it could barely regain control.

Then, watching the terrifying black shadow gradually approach, exuding immense oppressive power, and its enormous bat wings slowly emerging from the mist, the double-edged demon's lips began to slowly curve upwards, forming a small arc filled with contempt and mockery.

……

Five minutes later, after leaving the spot guarded by the shepherd sheep, Yvette felt that the surrounding fog had become so thick it was impossible to disperse. But the wind magic was still effective, able to blow away the fog and temporarily provide a clear view.

Just then, a red light suddenly appeared in the thick fog, alerting her.

The crimson armor instantly activated, covering her body and clothing. Moments later, a burst of elemental energy, a mixture of fire and lightning, shot out from the mist, heading straight for her face, but Yvette blocked it with a raised hand.

The next second, the restless magical elements exploded in her jade-like palm, leaving behind wisps of smoke but no trace.

Yvette shook her slightly aching hand and looked expressionlessly in the direction of the attackers. She saw a three-story-tall, cyborg covered in purplish-red flesh emerge from the mist.

Without a doubt, it should be that "Mechanical Tyrant," but we can't tell the model or which manufacturer produced it. Judging from the structure, it should be a turret type, meaning it moves forward on two legs, with two magic-powered cannons mounted on its left and right mechanical arms, capable of firing elemental bullets.

Almost instinctively, Yvette tried to hack in, but to no avail, indicating that the other party had not opened the data receiving port.

Hopefully, I can take it down within 150 magic points... Yvette thought silently, just as she was about to throw a grenade, when she suddenly saw another dark figure fly out of the thick fog beside her.

She immediately focused her gaze and saw the double-bladed demon fly out of the mist, screaming as it fell face-first to the ground.

"Hey... I, I have two here! Hurry... hurry and help me..." the Twin-Blade Demon said as he got up.

From the thick fog behind him, two enormous figures soon appeared: a giant three-headed vulture and a bizarre monster with bat wings, a fat, grayish-black body, and a mouth on its face.

“Rotten-beaked Vulture, Nightwalker Demon…” Yvette read out the names her apprentice had given the two monsters, then glanced at the disheveled Twinblade Demon on the ground.

Although he didn't say anything, the confusion in his ruby-like eyes was very obvious, as if to say, "How can you be so bad? Are you really aberrations of the same level as them?"
That look deeply wounded the double-edged demon. It said, "What... what are you looking at? It's normal to lose a fight against two opponents... besides, they're incredibly fierce. I suggest you come with me to maneuver around them and find an opportunity to pick them off one by one. We can solve the problem through strategy..."

It muttered something as it stood up and flew into the air. If its face hadn't been covered by its shell, it probably would have blushed.

However, perhaps because the enemy's strength was beyond expectations, it was also clear that it had become somewhat hesitant in its words and did not have much confidence in Yvette's strength.

Yvette remained silent, rising into the air, and several red and blue-white rune rings lit up, radiating a power that made the dual-bladed demon tremble.

Then, amidst the interplay of flames and lightning, the first Rotting-Beaked Vulture to reach the nearest point let out a miserable cry, was blasted away, and had one of its heads charred off, lying on the ground groaning in agony.

"Holy crap... that powerful..." The dual-bladed demon stared in disbelief, but then realized what he was doing and said, "Wait, wasn't that my target...?"

(End of this chapter)