Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1084 - 199: Corpse

Chapter 1084: Chapter 199: Corpse

The girls could be sure that the demigods had not conducted any tactical discussions beforehand, nor had they practiced any coordination. Yet, within no more than three seconds, a smooth collaboration was already complete. Such precise mastery of time, down to fractions of a second, and of position, to the centimeter, is something that most people could hardly achieve even after numerous rehearsals and discussions. But for these demigods, who had an unspoken understanding among them, it only took a few exchanges of glances—sometimes not even that—to make it as effortless as breathing.

Flare lightly landed on the treetop, casually flicking away a brightly colored red-and-green spider that was stealthily crawling towards her. The spider was as big as a fist, with a pattern on its back resembling a fierce human face. However, fierce as it appeared, and well as it had hidden, it was still casually flicked away by Flare, disappearing into the depths of the dense forest like a shooting star. After this involuntary flight, the spider, if not dead, would likely stay away from this area for a long time.

Her Majesty’s face gradually lost its wildness, revealing again her gentle and kind smile. With a seductive movement, she tied up her emerald long hair and softly said, "Thank you all for your help. It’s been a while, but it seems nobody has forgotten our old understanding."

In the tender, deep voice of Her Majesty, the giant bat continued to fly forward, only now its path was distorted and utterly out of control. After struggling to fly for a few more seconds, the bat’s wing-flapping slowed, and it descended lower and lower until a large amount of blood started pouring from its neck, spattering the ground.

Suddenly, the bat’s enormous, rat-like head detached from its neck without warning, falling to the ground and bouncing a few times before rolling forward and tumbling into a bush. Meanwhile, its headless body, taller than a man, continued to slide forward due to inertia, eventually crashing heavily into a tree, and slipping down the tree trunk slowly as blood continued to spurt from the massive wound, smearing a ghastly red trace from top to bottom.

"Hahaha, our past adventures were so thrilling, how could we possibly forget them?" Conaida discarded his ugly armor, holding his bushy beard as he laughed heartily. "Sometimes, even when sleeping and dreaming, I recall those memories. I think they will be unforgettable for a lifetime."

"Hiss-hiss, this bat was really tough to deal with." Alcmene, busy retrieving his thrown spears, said as he continued his work. The hunt priest was fully armed this time, though, limited by size constraints, he could only bring fifteen spears. Where possible, he always tried to recover them, for they would soon find themselves in trouble without this weapon. Having collected the last spear and fashioned a noose around the still-twitching corpse’s leg, he dragged it back, sticking out his tongue and saying, "Hiss-hiss, now let’s take a good look at this creature, unseen by any of us before. Hiss-hiss, I’m quite curious about it."

"Is it really okay for us to stay here?" Catherine asked worriedly. "It has spilled so much blood, the smell of blood here is so strong, it must spread far. Even if it was the dominant creature of this region, its lingering influence might deter other magical beasts for a while, but what if there are more bats around? What if other bats smell it and come over?"

"Don’t worry. I told you before, if we display enough strength, these cunning creatures instead become wary and dare not approach casually," Pannis slowly emerged from the shadowy jungle, holding the enormous head of the bat. As he walked, blood dripped from the bat’s severed neck, forming a sporadic trail of blood on the ground. Raising his hand, he tossed the head beside its body and wiped his hands, saying, "The so-called display of strength we’ve shown is already sufficient. Knowing that we can be a threat to their lives, they would not dare approach us carelessly. Plus, now having finally encountered one, I’ve memorized their scent. Even if they can control their voices to evade my ears, they can’t hide their scent from my nose. So, for now, we are safe, as long as we leave their territory soon."

"Are you sure this is the Deceiver?" Unsurprisingly, Vivian was already crouching next to the giant bat’s corpse, sketching this strange creature in a notebook. For the young mage, since the fight was over, nothing was more important than this. Deceivers, such mysterious creatures, are known by few and seen by even fewer. If she could leave the forest alive and later compile all the bizarre creatures encountered along the way, it would undoubtedly cause a sensation in the Holy City and perhaps the entire academic world, spreading her name throughout the Yarran World. Although her perspective on such matters had changed since she recovered from her illness, having the chance to fulfill a dream always brought happiness. Vivian looked up at Master Antuin nearby and then at the others around her, tilting her head thoughtfully and deciding, "When the time comes, I’ll include everyone’s name."

"There’s no need to include names for a few of us, just for the five of you," Master Antuin knew exactly what Vivian was thinking. Having noticed this prodigiously talented but fated young mage from childhood, the old mage always treated her somewhat like a student and so, the typically strict and serious old mage often showed a gentle smile in front of her.

"Theoretically, yes, we can be sure now," Pannis returned to his usual lazy demeanor, as if he wasn’t the one who had just performed that clever mid-air coordination with Her Majesty. He walked over and kicked the corpse on the ground: "You all saw its attack just now, and so far, we’ve only discovered one kind of creature that uses sound as a weapon. So, although we haven’t seen one before, unless necessary evidence proves otherwise, we can tentatively conclude it’s a Deceiver. Even if it’s not, at least we can be sure that it, or they, are the dominant force here. No need to worry about bumping into other bosses. Mm, you’re finally back, Sister Doris."

"Ha, sorry, brother, and everyone else," Doris apologized with a smile as mist gathered around Pannis and her tall figure appeared before everyone. "The deceiver’s attack doesn’t really hurt me, but it does make me feel quite uncomfortable. I didn’t get a chance to explain it clearly before, sorry about that."

"It’s okay, we could all guess," Flare waved nonchalantly, her focus already shifted to studying the bodies on the ground. After observing them for a while, she muttered to herself, "It looks like, apart from this tumor, it’s just a cave bat that’s been enlarged dozens or even hundreds of times. Oh, right, you have to exclude the difference in the eyes, as cave bats are blind."

"Actually, on the Butte Plateau, there’s a slightly larger kind of bat that has very good eyesight," Pannis shook his head. "So not all bats are blind. This creature seems to have combined the strengths of two types of bats, and it has undergone some interesting changes. It’s truly admirable how Lord Yarra creates such wonders."

"You dummies have probably never heard of evolution theory," Dillie said with a human-like pout, though he didn’t explain further. He circled the deceiver’s body a few times, sniffed it, and shook his head. "The body is quite normal, devoid of toxic substances, not much different from usual bats."

"Too bad we can’t take the body with us," Vivian snapped her notebook shut to show she had finished taking notes and said regretfully, "There’s no time for a detailed autopsy now, but we should probably cut off this tumor. If we have time en route, we can dissect it and perhaps make some strange discoveries."

"I suggest you don’t touch that thing," Dillie said, watching the tumor on the deceiver’s chest with a strange look, shaking his head. "I smell an ominous scent; this tumor is probably not...

"Everyone, come quick!" Pannis’s expression suddenly changed, and he grabbed the two wooden shields from Catherine’s hands and planted them on the ground. Among those present, only the steady Catherine hadn’t rushed to discard her unsightly armor and shield. Once the shields were upright, Pannis called out urgently, "Quick, get behind them and cover yourselves!"

Everyone, including Catherine, hesitated for a moment, but trusting Pannis, they all ran behind the shields as instructed. Along the way, Alcmene even used her tail to retrieve two shields that had been discarded beside. Pannis inserted the newly acquired shields into the ground and everyone gathered behind the wall formed by the shields, and only then did the girls feel the faint mana fluctuations coming from where the deceiver’s body lay, seeming ready to explode at any moment.

"Pop," like the sound of an inflating balloon bursting, was loud as the tumor on the deceiver’s chest violently exploded, flinging strange mucus, membranes, and shredded flesh all around, and releasing a ring-like shockwave. The shockwave was invisible, indecipherable to the naked eye, but its position and path could be inferred from the swaying of the grass and shrubs on the ground.

The shockwave moved quickly and was very strong, lasting much longer than the blasts ejected by the deceiver. In an instant, the front end had already crossed both sides of the wall of shields and continued for several seconds before the tail end finally passed. Had they not hid behind the sound-absorbing Dancing Tree Shield, this single explosion might have inflicted serious damage on the team.

"Well, no need to regret not being able to perform an autopsy now," Pannis shrugged. "The tumor’s gone, anyway."