Since Scarlet wasn’t there, the KD Squadron didn’t care to exchange pleasantries with the Wanderlust Team. After being on the road for two days, both teams were actually getting along quite well.
All kinds of beautiful flowers were blooming, and the air smelled sweet. A large area of greenery surrounded them, coupled with gentle breezes and warm sunlight. If not for the fact that they were riding on battle steeds and that the people around them constantly talked about battle stuff, Sharmie and the others felt bewitched by this beautiful fairy-tale world resembling paradise. It didn’t feel like they were in a battle, but rather, it felt more like a vacation.
Not to mention women, who tended toward the emotional, even Wang Zhong and the others who were more practical were influenced by the environment. The air was teeming with energy fluctuations, and the elemental laws were abnormally strong there. It would be very pleasing to the eye if one could cultivate here. After all, this was a world that was more advanced than Earth’s civilization by a level and a half. Just their foundation alone was way stronger than that of humans. It was no wonder that the Holy City waged a Holy Battle no matter what it took.
The comfortable and refreshing environment made the overall atmosphere between the two teams become better. However, this harmony and good mood only lasted for a short two days, gradually vanishing when they entered the swamp zone on the third day.
The Black Boulder Annular Swamp.
Ever since they entered this zone, they could sense an uncomfortable and gloomy aura. The sunlight in the sky disappeared. Unlike the sunny sky earlier on, they appeared to have entered a zone filled with mist, where the air was bone-chilling. The swamp they were treading on was the most uncomfortable as traps were everywhere under the silt. The entire swamp zone was a moss swamp, one of the most lethal types of swamp. The surface of the swamp was covered in moss. One would never know where a trap was unless one stepped on it directly.
This caused the Torreya battle steeds that were very useful in the past two days to become a burden. It was impossible to get through this swamp zone while riding on the battle steeds. These battle steeds were only trained to be used in plains and mountainous areas. They had no experience traveling across swamps, and they were completely oblivious to the traps under their hooves. One had to stop and get one’s battle steed out of a trap with every 10 steps. One had to move fast too since the silt in this swamp was highly corrosive. Torreya battle steeds were low-level Dimensional lifeforms. If their hooves were soaked inside the silt for a few seconds, they would be crippled even if they were pulled out afterwards.
They entered the swamp zone in the morning. It was evening now, and they had already lost seven battle steeds because of that. The KD Squadron had lost five while on the Wanderlust Team’s side, Small Eyes and Feng’s battle steeds had fallen prey to the traps. Their front hooves were corroded and became completely rotten. Having bonded with these battle steeds the past two days, it was torturous looking at their beloved battle steeds fall to the ground and whine painfully. Small Eyes ended their misery herself with tearful eyes. Everyone could only walk with their horses beside them and take note not to let the Torreya battle steeds fall prey to the traps. This caused the team’s speed to be decreased further. The swamp zone appeared to be just a short three to four hundred miles across, but the journey seemed to be never-ending.
Whinny~ Whinny~
Two Heroic Soul soldiers forcefully pulled out that battle steed from the silt. However, it was evident that it was too late. When the battle steed was yanked out, not only its legs but also a small part of its chest were a bloody mess. Its flesh had been totally corroded by the poisonous silt, and bones could be seen. One could even distinctly see its organs.
The Torreya battle steeds were well trained and wouldn’t make a single sound normally. Despite that, when the battle steed was pulled out, it started whimpering in pain on the ground. If the corrosion was only to a small extent, an emergency first aid kit could save the battle steed. However, in this case, the battle steed was as good as dead. Sharmie, Small Eyes, and Feng couldn’t bear to watch and turned around; a KD Squadron member sighed. In a swift movement, he cut off the battle steed’s head.
“F*ck! What kind of damned place is this!”
They couldn’t possibly carry on like this. Vice-captain Osha seemed to want to say something, but a buzzing sound suddenly rang from the shadows on the left side to the team.
Right after, four or five huge green compound eyes could be seen dashing out from the shadows, coupled with intense wing-flapping sounds.
Poison Kiss Thorn Bug!
Everyone’s face fell instantly. This thing had earned a notorious reputation among the exploration teams recently. According to many eyewitnesses, if you hadn’t seen an insect monster the size of a horse yet, this was your chance.
This thing ate everything! Anything that was raw or cooked, alive or dead, once it was pierced by their long, needle-like mouthpart, even Heroic Soul soldiers would be sucked dry instantly. That needle-like mouthpart was extremely sharp. According to eyewitness reports from the Holy City Army, the mouthpart could even penetrate a Hippogriff rider’s black iron armor. The scarier thing was that there were barbs on the mouthpart. Once it pierced through a body, the barbs would expand and forcefully pull all the organs out along with it. They were also extraordinarily fast and agile.
Whinny~ Whinny~
Those seven or eight terrifying insects headed at them with immense power. Two dashed towards the battle steed which had just died, while the others targeted the two KD Squadron warriors that were at the back of the team dealing with the corpse of the battle steed.
They moved like the wind. When the buzzing sound rang, no one had any time to react before those creatures zoomed in front of those two warriors.
After all, they were elites belonging to a 4th rank exploration team, so they had good teamwork and chemistry. The subconscious teamwork of the two people was effective as the Poison Kiss Thorn Bugs’ attack formation was broken immediately by their counterattacks. At the same time, the other people had reacted, and endless attacks rained on the creatures around the two people at once, seeking to kill those bastard creatures that dared to sneak up on them.
However, those Poison Kiss Thorn Bugs flapped their wings and flew high upwards at the speed of wind. In the blink of an eye, they were out of the attack range of everyone on the ground, and the buzzing sound quickly went away.
Not to mention this muddy swamp, even if everyone was walking on flat ground, they couldn’t catch up with flying creatures that were so fast.
“Everyone in the exploration team area has been talking about how savage these creatures are, but they run away after a few scares!”
The existence of a bunch of horse-sized insects that knew battle tactics cast a huge shadow over this already gloomy swamp.
After traveling for a day, they had only reached the outer area of the swamp. Once they traveled further inside, who knew how many of such creatures there were going to be! This swamp seemed more and more odd to everyone, and more disgusting too.
Many KD Squadron members cheered. Their captain’s decision was extremely wise. Many people had already been complaining about today’s choice of route. This was just a mining mission; why make things so complicated and play tricks like attacking from the back? It was as if they were attacking a city! That guy from the Wanderlust Team must really want to be in the limelight.
“Really? Since you know that the enemy thinks this swamp to be a natural barrier, why do you think you can cross this swamp for sure?” Kevin Dalton said coldly. “You think you know this swamp better than the Mizobudapi people?”
“You make it sound so easy. This is the Mizobudapi people’s territory. The edge of the swamp is flatland. What if our people get discovered by the enemy? Are you planning to leave our brothers and the battle steeds in the lurch and send a big gift to our enemy?”
“That’s right. Also, is there really a need to be so cautious? Do you think the KD Squadron is like the Wanderlust Team?”
