"Prepare ships and men for me. I'm setting out immediately!"
Now that the location had been confirmed, the rescue operation naturally followed.
Robinhan and Ronald both listened respectfully to the orders, and before long, everything Leilin needed was prepared.
...
One day later, in the rainforest,
"What the— what the hell is this?" A powerful dragon might erupted outward, and blazing red flames burned several of the black creatures before her to ash.
These black creatures were wreathed in dense dark-red mist, their forms grotesque and irregular, as if randomly sculpted from mud.
Rustle... rustle...
After the flames subsided, wisps of dark-red gas reconverged, reassembling into the shapes of the creatures.
"Damn it! Are these things immortal?!"
"Only high-intensity magical attacks, or a burst of battle qi from a high-ranking professionist, can truly hurt them!"
Isabel was already half-dragonized, and her powerful dragon breath swept through, forcing the mist creatures to dodge—finally clearing a path.
"Who would have thought there were such strange things in this jungle!"
Isabel looked up at the moon on the horizon. The moon, which should have been pale and clean, was now stained with a layer of purple-red, looking utterly sinister.
Everything had actually been going fairly well. After retreating into the rainforest, the natives' siege and pursuit had weakened somewhat, and Isabel had even begun considering retreat routes.
But she hadn't expected that at night, the area would undergo such a dramatic transformation.
"It's as if the entire forest has become a realm of ghosts!"
Isabel's eyes were filled with vigilance. The danger here far exceeded her expectations.
"Hee hee... come play with me!"
Beneath the purple-red moonlight, the entire forest seemed to undergo some kind of change. Dark-red mist blanketed everything, and a massive banyan tree suddenly twisted to life. Countless vines transformed into innumerable soft arms, reaching directly for Isabel. On the trunk of the banyan tree, a baby's face even materialized.
"[Dragon Might]doesn't work either?! What the hell are these things?!"
The scarlet [Red Dragon Longsword]erupted with scorching flame-imbued battle qi, and the conical flames from the [Dragon's Breath]sprayed continuously. The giant hands forming the encirclement burned and fell away one by one, finally clearing an escape route for Isabel.
"Hee hee... that doesn't hurt at all!"
The massive banyan tree uprooted itself from the earth, and its numerous roots also transformed into countless tentacles. Dark-red mist coiled around them, and the vine-arms that had been severed and burned simply regrew.
"At this rate, I won't be able to hold on much longer..."
Seeing her subordinates suffering heavy casualties on the other side, a bitter smile crept onto Isabel's face.
...
Outside the rainforest, numerous natives gathered together with solemn expressions. At the center stood a massive altar.
Twisted and sinister dark-red symbols were scrawled around the altar, now smeared with a layer of blood. Drops of blood rolled down along the cracks in the stone, creating a truly terrifying sight.
The natives were dressed in garish feathered and animal-skin garments, mumbling incantations as they kowtowed ceaselessly toward the altar.
On the altar stood a native girl with a saintly expression on her face, though her eyes had already lost all light. A massive bloody wound gaped on her wrist.
Clearly, an extremely evil ritual was taking place here. And its object was not any known god, demon, or devil.
"I never expected the enemy to enter this forest directly. That's really helped us out. Also, will this affect the acquisition of the offering?"
Ajijikero, an envoy from the native empire, glanced at the native chieftain beside him—who looked like a monkey dressed up in human clothing—and suddenly spoke.
"Please rest assured, Lord Envoy! Our ancestors have performed countless rituals over the generations—the process will absolutely not go wrong..."
The native chieftain, who normally lorded it over his own tribe, dared not show the slightest negligence before the imperial envoy. Beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead from time to time.
"In order for this ritual to succeed, I specially invited the tribe's high priest. And with these powerful heretics serving as sacrificial offerings, the ritual's effectiveness will surely surpass the last few times. The quantity of the offering may even increase several-fold!"
The native chieftain's eyes were full of fawning smiles. "When that happens, I can authorize gifting you some of the excess offering!"
"That would be most appreciated!"
Seeming to recall the wondrous effects the offering could produce, a smile also appeared on Ajijikero's face.
But at the same time, contempt flashed through his mind: "These damned brutes—people who spend their whole lives dealing with mud. If the offering didn't only appear here, and if their tribe's particular talents weren't needed to extract it properly, the empire would have conquered this place long ago!"
"It's beginning!" The native chieftain, of course, could not know the envoy's inner thoughts. He let out a low cry.
"Hmm?" Ajijikero also turned his gaze toward the altar.
At this moment, as the pirates in the forest continued to be annihilated, a hazy dark-red mist gathered thicker and thicker atop the forest canopy, even beginning to breach its boundaries and spread toward the altar. Seeing this, the native chieftain's eyes lit up with joy, and the ritual chanting grew louder.
The dark-red mist kept expanding, like a colossal beast opening its gaping maw.
The mist converged into the shape of a giant eight-legged spider.
"Enough! Quickly, leave this place!" Upon seeing the mist spider take form, the elderly high priest was the first to flee, his movements astonishingly agile. The other priests did the same.
"Ah...!" "Help...!"
The slower-moving native guards were engulfed by the mist's range. Before they could even finish a complete cry for help, they collapsed dead, their bodies instantly withered, as if drained of all life force.
The mist spider, having devoured their lives, turned even more vivid in color. It arrived at the altar, and its terrifying, vicious, and grotesque mouthparts began to make contact with the girl.
Crunch! Crunch!
Under the mist spider's manipulation, the native girl's corpse performed various bizarre twisting motions, like a marionette controlled by strings.
"Done! The great Balulugulu has consumed enough lives. There will be no more danger!" The high priest, seeing this, actually stopped, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the altar.
The purple-red moon had now reached the peak of its brilliance, resembling a miniature sun. The mist spider seemed to have fulfilled its purpose, burrowing into the girl through her seven orifices.
Gurgle! Gurgle! The girl's flat, smooth abdomen now swelled grotesquely, with numerous fleshy lumps rolling beneath the skin, as if a colony of small mice had taken up residence underneath.
"Success!" The native high priest cried out in jubilation, leading the other priests to the altar.
Turning the girl over, they could see that not only was her belly as swollen as that of a woman in the tenth month of pregnancy, but a dark-red spider tattoo had also appeared on her once-pale back—vivid and lifelike.
"The gift of Balulugulu!"
With a solemn expression, the high priest took an obsidian short blade from an apprentice's hands, mumbling incantations. First, he sliced open his own forehead and thumb, daubing several symbols on his face with blood. Then he placed the black blade against the girl's protruding belly, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as blood sprayed!
"So this is your tribe's ritual? It truly is as extraordinary as the rumors suggest!"
Watching this bloody scene, Ajijikero was still able to chat and laugh with the native chieftain beside him.
"Heh heh... this is the optimal method my ancestors discovered through thousands of trials!" A hint of pride showed on the native chieftain's face.
"Here! Lord Envoy, please accept my gift!"
At the chieftain's signal, a priest stepped forward bearing a golden platter. On it lay several blood-red crystals the size of eggs, their surfaces stained with blood and pus.
"Crystals of Balulugulu!" Ajijikero's eyes were locked on the contents of the platter, his face carrying a look of fascination.
These crystals were a specialty of the native tribes on this island. When an ordinary strong native swallowed one raw, as long as they survived, they would gain extraordinary power. And its value didn't stop there!
The upper echelons of the native empire had also discovered that when these crystals were burned, they produced a special gas that induced incomparable euphoria. As such, they were the most prized luxury goods among the elite, commanding exorbitant prices.
"This diplomatic mission has been worthwhile just for obtaining these!"
Ajijikero's eyes were filled with barely contained eagerness. With a subtle nod, a warrior beside him moved to take the golden platter.
But just at that moment, an abrupt voice cut in.
"Indeed a fine product. How about letting me take a look?"
An invisible force seemed to pull through the void, and the blood-red crystals on the golden platter rose straight into the air, landing in the hands of a young nobleman.
"What?! Who goes there?! Seize him!"
The theft of an important item sent Ajijikero into a hysterical roar, and immediately, numerous native warriors rushed forward.