Wizard: Starting with Dealing with Magical Plants

Chapter 258 The Monster Tide in Blackrock Town

A flash of light, and the familiar atmosphere of the small town rushed towards me. The smell of ashes, the scorching breeze, the simple yet sturdy black stone houses—compared to the grandeur of the Holy Tower and the cruelty of the scorching hell, this place possessed a serene sense of reality.

He carried his luggage, held the incubator, and had Baha perched on his shoulder as he walked toward his black stone hut on the edge of town.

However, before he even reached his doorstep, Luo Lin sensed that something was wrong.

Something's off about the town.

It's too quiet.

At this time of day, the townspeople would have finished their work and be chatting in the streets, while the children would be running around.

But now, the streets are deserted, every household has its doors and windows tightly shut, and behind some windows, you can even see anxious eyes peering out.

In the air, besides the familiar smell of ashes, there was also a faint, unsettling fishy odor and—the residual energy unique to monsters?

Luo Lin felt a chill run down his spine and quickened his pace.

After turning the last street corner, his small house came into view.

The cabin was intact, but two people were standing at the door: Hank, the town's old hunter, and Tommy, the blacksmith's apprentice.

Both men held crude weapons and looked around nervously.

Upon seeing Rowling, Hank's eyes lit up, but he became even more anxious and quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"Wizard Rowling! You're finally back!" Hank said in a low, urgent voice.

"Something terrible has happened! For some unknown reason, a lot of monsters have suddenly appeared in Howling Canyon to the north!"

"That monstrous thing, neither wolf nor lizard, bites anything that's alive!"

"Several people who were collecting ores and herbs nearby have been injured, and a section of the fence surrounding the town has been damaged!"

"The mayor has organized people to guard the area, but there are quite a few monsters, and they seem to be getting increasingly frenzied. There might be a big wave tonight!"

Monster tide?

Blackrock Town is located within the territory of Shadow Raven Tower and has always been relatively safe, with only a few low-level monsters. How could a monster tide suddenly break out?

Luo Lin frowned.

Could it be that the death of the demons in the Scorching Hell caused an energy disturbance that affected the surrounding area and disturbed the lairs of some sleeping or hidden monsters?

Where's Ellie?

Rowling immediately asked about the person he cared about most.

"Miss Ellie is alright, she's inside, helping to take care of the wounded," little Tommy quickly said. "Wizard Rowling, it's so good to see you back!"

"Those monsters are too ferocious; the town's guards probably won't be able to hold them off—"

"Take me there and have a look." Without wasting words, Rowling handed the luggage and incubator to Tommy. "Help me carry them inside, and be careful."

"Baha, go and do some aerial reconnaissance."

Baha let out a soft cry, flapped its wings, and flew towards the north of the town.

Rowling followed Hank, walking quickly toward the fence line on the north side of the town.

The northern fence was built on a relatively high slope on the edge of the town, reinforced with thick charred wood and metal strips, and could usually keep out sporadic low-level monsters.

At this moment, more than twenty townspeople stood behind the fence, including hunters, blacksmith apprentices, and strong miners.

He was holding a hunting bow, a pitchfork, a pickaxe, and even a few rusty swords.

The mayor was an old man with gray hair but a straight back, leaning on a heavy metal cane, staring solemnly outside the fence.

About fifty meters below the fence, on a slope, lies a barren wasteland of jagged rocks, and further on, a rugged path leads toward Howling Canyon.

At this moment, on that wasteland, one could vaguely see dozens of pairs of eyes gleaming with dark red or ghastly green light in the dim light, accompanied by low, threatening growls and the sound of claws scraping against rocks.

There were more monsters than Hank had described, and they seemed to be closing in.

"Mayor." Luo Lin walked up to the old mayor.

When the old mayor saw Rowling, a hint of joy appeared on his tense face, but it was quickly replaced by worry: "Wizard Rowling, you've come back just in time."

"This is bad. These beasts are more frenzied than any monsters we've seen in previous years, and they seem a little different."

Luo Lin stared intently into the distance.

The monsters varied in size; some resembled wolves magnified several times over, their fur gone to reveal dark red muscles; others looked like lizards covered in bone spurs and pustules; and still others were even more distorted and indescribable.

The energy fluctuations emanating from them are chaotic and aggressive, which is indeed different from the low-level fire or earth-type monsters commonly found in the Scorching Hell. It seems that they have mutated after being stimulated or polluted by some external force.

"Is there anything unusual over at Howling Canyon?" Rowling asked.

"Starting three days ago, we've been hearing strange tremors coming from the direction of the canyon, and—a sound like something shattering," an old hunter chimed in. "Then these ghostly things started appearing, and there are more and more of them."

Three days ago?

That was roughly the time when the Throat of the Dead was purified.

Has the energy disturbance reached this area?

Or did the spatial trauma or regulated radiation generated by the purification process trigger a chain reaction?

Just then, Baha flew back from the sky, landed on Rolin's shoulder, and let out a few urgent low cries. Its six eyes transmitted blurry fragments of images:

Deep within the canyon, new cracks appeared in the rock walls, from which dark, unstable energy flows surged forth. The monsters gathered and rushed out from near those cracks.

It was indeed related to the purification in the Scorching Hell.

Although not a direct threat, such indirect secondary disasters can be devastating for an ordinary town like Blackrock.

"Wizard Rowling, look—" the old mayor pleaded.

Although there are a few herbalists or rudimentary rune artists in the town, the real wizards are the backbone when faced with a monster horde of this scale.

Rowling quickly assessed the situation.

Although there are many monsters, their individual strength is generally not strong; their advantage lies only in their numbers and frenzy.

My condition has recovered to about 70-80%. Although the Moon Silver Flower has not regained its spirituality, its basic silver light has a natural purifying and restraining effect on chaotic energy.

With the help of the townspeople, holding the line shouldn't be a big problem, but to completely solve the source, we might need to explore deep into the canyon.

"Has the fence been reinforced?" Rowling asked.

"It's been reinforced, but it might not withstand too much impact," the old mayor replied.

"Have everyone prepare torches and oil."

"Monsters fear light and fire, especially those with chaotic attributes like this," Roland instructed, while taking out several low-level energy crystals and a roll of animal hide inscribed with basic reinforcement runes from his dimensional bag.

"Putting these runes on key nodes of the fence, with crystals embedded in the center of the runes, will temporarily enhance the defense."

The old town mayor immediately ordered someone to take care of it.

Rowling then looked at the tense townspeople and raised his voice: "Don't panic! Hold the fence, use bows and arrows and long weapons to attack from a distance, don't let them get close! Get the torches ready, and wait for my instructions!"

His voice was steady and powerful, carrying a calmness born from having experienced life-or-death battles, which calmed the panicked crowd somewhat.

Soon, the monster horde seemed to lose patience. Led by a particularly strong, mutated wolf-like monster with a single horn on its head and its body covered in keratinous scales, it charged fiercely towards the fence!

Dozens of monsters of various shapes roared and charged up the slope, their stench filling the air!

"Fire the arrows!" the old town mayor ordered.

A dozen or so crude arrows were fired sparsely, with mediocre accuracy, but they did slow down the monsters' charge to some extent. Several of them were hit in the eyes or joints, screaming and rolling to the ground.

"Torch!" Roland shouted.

The townspeople, who were already prepared, immediately lit torches soaked in oil and hurled them at the horde of monsters!

The burning torch fell into the monster horde, instantly igniting several of the dry-fured monsters. The flames and thick smoke caused a commotion among the monsters.

But this can only temporarily stop it.

The lead unicorn wolf was exceptionally fierce. Braving arrows and flames, it suddenly accelerated and slammed into the fence that had just been covered with runes!

Bang!

With a muffled thud, the fence shook violently, the animal hide runes attached to it glowed faintly, and the embedded crystals quickly dimmed.

It was blocked, but the rune energy was consumed extremely quickly.

The wolf was forced back two steps by the recoil, shook its head, and its eyes gleamed even more fiercely. It opened its large mouth full of fangs, about to spew out a dark red breath with a foul and corrosive power!

Just then, Rowling made a move.