Looking at the elven elder before her, whom she had met once before, Castorice let out a barely audible sigh.
She could clearly catch that the elf named Erishelde had knuckles white from gripping her staff so tightly, and her entire body was trembling slightly uncontrollably.
"Are you the only one coming to stop me?" Castorice's deep purple eyes calmly watched Erishelde not far away, her voice devoid of the slightest ripple.
At this moment, Erishelde seemed to finally break free from the fear that was choking her breath. She took several deep breaths, her chest heaving violently, trying to inject oxygen into her freezing body.
After briefly recovering, she stubbornly raised her head, her gaze fixed dead onto Castorice.
Immediately after, almost as a desperate gamble, she raised the staff in her hand high. The emerald gemstone at the tip suddenly erupted with a blinding light, as if she was pouring all her mana and will into it!
"Kamba, torga shelune!" (Rock, attack her!)
Accompanied by her hoarse chant, the fragments of the previously shattered rocks seemed awakened by an invisible force and began to vibrate violently.
In the next second, countless sharp stones and gravel, like an enraged swarm of bees, carried the sound of tearing air and shot toward Castorice, who stood on the broken rock, from all directions!
Facing this rain-like dense barrage, Castorice merely turned her wrist slightly, and the giant scythe in her hand casually swung twice in response.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom—!"
Two purple arcs of light flashed through the air. Wherever the light passed, those incoming rocks instantly disintegrated and annihilated upon touching the purple light, turning into even finer dust, failing to cause even the slightest impact.
Rumble—!
Closely following, a muffled explosion shook the ground. The residual might of those two purple arcs slashed straight down, leaving a bottomless, charred, cross-shaped trench in the ground not far in front of Erishelde.
What was even more heart-palpitating was that on the edge of that trench exuding an Aura of Death, enchantingly beautiful purple-white small flowers rapidly sprouted and bloomed again, defying common sense, displaying a bizarre scenery.
"Gulp~"
Erishelde uncontrollably took a small step back, her throat bobbing as she swallowed hard.
Cold sweat instantly soaked her back. The end of those two crossed marks was less than half a meter away from the tip of her toes.
If... if those blade marks had advanced just a little bit further, she would have probably been neatly sliced into four pieces by now, keeping company with those crushed stones.
She couldn't remember when she last felt death so clearly, but today, in such a short time, she had actually experienced it twice in a row.
"You clearly know you can't stop me," Castorice's voice came again, still calm, yet carrying a penetrating power that saw through everything. "You even prepared yourself to be killed by me before you launched your attack, didn't you?"
She tilted her head slightly, looking at Erishelde trembling slightly from lingering fear in the distance.
"Then why did you still choose to risk certain death and insist on stopping me?"
"Nonsense!"
Erishelde took a deep breath, as if trying to press all her fear into her lungs. The hand gripping the staff had white knuckles from gripping too hard.
She stared dead at the purple figure in the distance that brought endless oppression, squeezing her voice out through gritted teeth:
"The evil god's seal is of utmost importance! Once you break it, the terrifying Aura of Death will sweep through the entire Shadow-fold Valley! The home our Moon-marked Clan has guarded for generations, the lives of countless clansmen, will all fall into a state of eternal damnation!"
Saying this, she actually took a step forward, carrying an almost tragic resolve, and fiercely crushed a purple-white small flower growing on the edge of the fissure.
"As an elder of the Moon-marked Clan, I shoulder the responsibility of guarding the clan! No matter what, I will absolutely never allow you to touch that seal and release the evil god at the bottom of the lake!"
Before her words faded, she swung her magic staff vigorously again. Although the light of the emerald gemstone was slightly dim, it still shone stubbornly.
"Kamba, sinda shelune!" (Rock, pierce her!)
More rocks broke through the ground in response. This time, they condensed into thicker and sharper rock spikes, beginning to violently thrust toward Castorice from various tricky angles again!
Seeing this situation, Castorice's brows furrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly.
"Have you severely misjudged my strength, or my intentions?" As she spoke, the giant scythe in her hand turned into a blur of purple shadow once more, precisely and efficiently severing and shattering the incoming rock spikes one by one, so smoothly that her movements couldn't be seen at all. "Or... have you fundamentally misunderstood my goal?"
"Hah!" While doing her utmost to maintain the spell's output, Erishelde responded with a mocking tone, attempting to disrupt the other party with words. "That naive Maria must have already told you all the clan's secrets, right?! But instead of leaving as we wished, you actually took action and left Maria and so many guards with their fates unknown, and then, just like now, treating us as nothing, headed straight for the most dangerous center of Crescent Lake!"
Fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead, and her breathing began to turn rapid. It was evident that continuously casting high-tier spells took a huge toll on her.
"Things have already developed to this point! And you're telling me this is just a misunderstanding?! How is that possible!!!"
With that, more rock spikes rose from the ground under her desperate urging. Like a suddenly appearing forest of stone, carrying a destructive aura, they surrounded and strangled toward Castorice from all directions!
"Sigh... It really is a misunderstanding caused by poor communication."
Hearing Erishelde's accusation filled with indignation and despair, Castorice immediately understood. This elder clearly hadn't heard the full conversation between her and Maria in the wooden house earlier, and had preconceived her as an evildoer intending to destroy the seal and release the evil god.
She helplessly swung her scythe again. Amidst the flashing purple light, the encircling forest of rock spikes was cleared of a gap once more.
"Allow me to explain, I am not trying to destroy the se..."
"Lassë, tac shelune!" (Vines, bind her!)
Castorice's explanation was interrupted by Erishelde's rapid chanting again.
From among the shattered rock spike fragments that hadn't fully fallen to the ground, over a dozen tough vines glowing with green light suddenly shot out!
As if possessing life, they instantly wrapped around Castorice's limbs and body with the speed of a lightning bolt, binding her tightly.
Immediately after, all the surrounding rock fragments seemed to be pulled by some powerful attraction, madly attaching themselves toward the vine-wrapped Castorice!
In the blink of an eye, the place where Castorice was originally standing suddenly turned into a massive, airtight "cocoon" entangled by countless vines and covered with thick rocks on the outside!
It landed heavily on the ground, emitting a muffled sound, completely swallowing the purple figure inside.
"I... I got her!!" Looking at that giant rock-vine cocoon, a highly strained smile finally squeezed onto Erishelde's face. "Combining the sturdiness of rock and the toughness of vines, and infused with more than half of my remaining mana... This should at least trap her for a min..."
However, before her self-comforting words were finished, that difficult smile completely froze, immediately transforming into deeper horror.
A butterfly, its entire body a bizarre purple-white with a deep purple halo flowing on the edges of its wings, fluttered out lightly from the crevices of that solid "cocoon."
Following that, as if marking the beginning of a chain reaction, the rock shell covering the outermost layer began to crack with "crackling" sounds, then peeled off in large chunks.
And those originally vibrant vines inside had now turned withered, yellow, and shriveled, as if all their vitality had been drawn out in an instant, turning into dead objects.
Subsequently, these dead vines began to shatter on their own, and from every cracked crevice, more purple-white butterflies poured out endlessly!
They fluttered and danced gracefully, converging into an enchantingly beautiful yet bizarre torrent. Spreading towards the sky and the surroundings, it looked like a painting symbolizing the intertwining of destruction and rebirth, full of ominous beauty.
When the entire "cocoon" completely shattered, revealing the scene inside, Castorice was still standing quietly in place, her entire body spotless, without even a single crease on the corners of her clothes.
She raised her eyes and looked at Erishelde. Those purple pupils were finally tinged with a trace of icy color.
"Since you refuse to listen and insist on stopping me with force..." Her voice remained steady but carried unquestionable resolve. "Then I'll just have to trouble you to exit the stage temporarily."
As her words fell, those purple-white butterflies originally flying aimlessly in the air seemed to receive an invisible command instantly. They all changed direction, converging into a butterfly swarm storm flashing with deep purple light, and swept toward the already dumbfounded Erishelde at astonishing speed!
"I... I infused so much mana into that compound seal... yet it... didn't even last for five breaths..."
Erishelde muttered to herself absently, all color draining from her face.
She bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled. Staring with an extremely solemn gaze at the beautiful yet deadly butterfly swarm surging across the sky, she had long lost the composure and elegance of an elven elder, leaving only the resolve to deal with this unknown attack with all her might and... a trace of unconcealable despair.
"Kambarondo!"
Rocks rose from the ground, forming a stone wall in front of Erishelde.
But this stone wall didn't stop these purple-white butterflies in the slightest.
Erishelde watched helplessly as that deadly butterfly swarm rushed at her face. They easily passed through the arm she hastily raised in an attempt to block them, and then penetrated her chest.
The instant the butterflies touched and passed through her body, an indescribable extreme cold instantly swept through her limbs and bones! It wasn't the low temperature of the physical body, but an icy dead silence capable of freezing the soul.
She suddenly widened her eyes, wanting to scream, wanting to shout, but found her throat seemed blocked by invisible ice. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't squeeze out the slightest sound. Only the reflection of the sky full of butterfly shadows remained in her pupils, filled with unbelievable horror.
"Is this... the feeling of... truly facing death..."
A blurry thought floated up like a bubble in water within her rapidly freezing consciousness. Subsequently, boundless darkness quickly covered all her senses like the heaviest curtain.
Her body went limp, and the last gleam in her eyes completely dissipated. Like a marionette with its strings cut, she collapsed heavily to the ground with a "thud," losing all consciousness.
"Sigh..." In the distance, Castorice watched Erishelde fall to the ground, sighed softly, and rubbed her brow, appearing somewhat helpless. "My goal is clearly just to go eliminate that Evil God's Progeny at the bottom of the lake. Why does it feel like I'm making enemies with the entire Moon-marked Clan now?"
She shook her head, turned around, and was about to continue toward the center of the lake, not wanting to entangle herself any further with these uncommunicative elves.
"Erishelde!"
Just then, a shout full of anxiety, shock, and anger came from the distant forest, breaking the brief silence by the lake once again.
Castorice paused her steps, her powerful mental power expanding instantly. She immediately sensed five energy fluctuations speeding toward her location at a very fast pace.
Seeing this situation, she turned around somewhat speechlessly, looking at the rapidly approaching figures, and murmured to herself in a low, self-deprecating voice:
"What kind of suddenly spawned World Boss am I? Why are they coming to 'subjugate' me wave after wave? The script I got... shouldn't be the kind for an evil god wanting to destroy the world, right?"
Seeing those five figures enter her line of sight without any intention of stopping to communicate, the last trace of patience in Castorice's eyes wore away.
"Forget it. Since explaining is useless, let the results speak for themselves."
She no longer tried to explain, but calmly raised the giant scythe in her hand and swung it horizontally toward the group of people casually.
A slight tearing sound was heard, and then a deep purple rift abruptly appeared in the air in front of her. Following that, countless purple-white butterflies swarmed out of it again!
They converged into a beautiful torrent, sweeping silently yet swiftly toward the direction of that group.
She couldn't be bothered to explain to them anymore anyway. She had absolute confidence in her power.
When the time comes and she kills the evil god, she naturally wouldn't need to explain either.
Thinking of this, she turned her head and hurried toward the direction of the center of the lake.
...
"Erishelde!"
One of the male elves called out anxiously upon seeing Erishelde lying on the ground.
But before he could reach her side, Patriarch Thorne's aged voice entered his mind.
"Orion, retreat quickly!"
The male elf called Orion suddenly halted his body, then subconsciously looked up toward the sky.
He saw a swarm of bizarre purple-white butterflies flying rapidly toward their side.
Seeing this scene, a trace of struggle flashed across Orion's face, but the determination to save someone ultimately gained the upper hand.
Then, he gritted his teeth fiercely. The mana within his body erupted, his speed instantly raised to the limit, and he rushed swiftly toward the location where Erishelde had fallen.
A split second before the butterfly swarm could touch him, he dangerously bent down, scooped up Erishelde's body, and immediately turned back to retreat swiftly without stopping.
Almost at the same time Orion scooped up Erishelde and began to retreat, Patriarch Thorne had already finished chanting a complex spell.
A dazzling emerald green magical radiance instantly expanded with him as the center, shrouding the newly returned Orion as well as the other two elders together.
Space let out a slight twisting hum.
The next moment, the green light suddenly vanished, and the five figures disappeared from their spot instantly, leaving only faint magical aftershocks where they stood.
And at the exact same moment they disappeared, that swarm of purple-white butterflies submerged the spot where they had just stood like a tide, fluttering gracefully, but ultimately catching nothing.