Overgrown with weeds, above the pale purple swamp.
Renners tightly gripped the groove of the Flame Archangel's armor with her left hand, her right hand holding a black spear on her back, her expression tense as she observed her surroundings.
Renners knew how dangerous this swamp was better than anyone in the entire Lockbuls territory, let alone the deep parts of the swamp.
This lunatic!
Renners turned her head to glance at Lyle, who was sitting on the Flame Archangel's arm, his white priest's robe rustling in the wind, his profile calm. She couldn't help but curse him silently in her heart.
If he hadn't come here to treat the curse on her face, Renners believed she would never have taken such a risk.
"Wah, wah, wah!"
"Wah, wah! Wah!"
Piercing, frog-like croaks came from the gray-feathered carrion birds circling around Lyle and Renners.
They seemed ready to dive down at any moment, but none dared to approach, deterred by the terrifying, flame-glowing sword in the Flame Archangel's hand.
"Damn it, these bald-feathered creatures."
Renners bit her snow-white teeth lightly, her expression somewhat grim as she scanned the surrounding carrion birds.
These unpleasant-sounding carrion birds weren't much trouble, but their collective calls could easily attract magical beasts from deeper within the swamp.
Due to the distance, she couldn't attack these annoying bald-feathered birds at all.
Click!
Lyle opened the pocket watch hanging on his chest, checked the time, and then closed it again: "Prepare to land at that spot." Renners looked down, seeing a reddish-brown patch of ground. She also realized that the time for the Flame Archangel summoned by Lyle was likely almost up.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a flap of their wings, the two Flame Archangels rapidly glided down from the sky. Just as they were about to reach the ground, they quickly flapped their wings to slow down, descending gently from above.
Renners was the first to flip over, jumping off the Flame Archangel's back. As her feet touched the solid ground, her heart settled.
Thump—Lyle also landed on both feet, his gaze cautiously observing his surroundings.
The scrolls he created allowed the angels to exist for about 50 minutes. The time certainly hadn't run out yet, but there was no need to wait until the last second.
Hiding some information was one thing.
The most important thing was that he already had over 30 Flame Archangel scrolls. He hadn't been idle this past month; besides reserving some magic power, he had made one scroll on average every day.
The swamp environment was somewhat monotonous. A glance revealed numerous puddles of varying sizes, along with some dead trees and bushes.
He waved his sleeve.
The two Flame Archangels dissipated into points of light.
The next moment, accompanied by two converging beams of light, two more Flame Archangels appeared in the field.
"Should we go deeper?"
Renners asked, vigilantly observing her surroundings.
"Are you sure there aren't any of the magical beasts you encountered before in this swamp?" Lyle asked curiously.
"I'm very sure!"
Renners nodded, "Although I may not recognize all the magical beasts in the swamp, the appearance of that type of magical beast could never have originated from this kind of swampy area."
Upon hearing this.
Lyle grew even more curious.
A magical beast imbued with cursed power shouldn't be too weak, logically. But given Renners's current 'Orichalcum-grade' level, the previous Renners couldn't have defeated a magical beast above level 20.
"Something's coming!"
Renners's voice sharpened, and she immediately warned, raising her black spear horizontally across her chest.
Just then.
Shallow bulges began to appear on the soft ground, rapidly approaching their direction.
Seeing Renners prepare to act, Lyle's thoughts stirred, and he immediately commanded the two Flame Archangels to charge forward.
"For this kind of thing, just let the summoned creatures attack."
"It's best to conserve your stamina until we know what other troubles might arise."
Lyle advised.
Renners's attacking motion paused, then she turned and moved closer.
She clearly agreed with what he said.
"Hiss!!"
As one Flame Archangel plunged its flame sword into an approaching ground bulge, a piercing hiss suddenly erupted from underground.
The next moment.
A greenish-brown, centipede-like, eight-legged long worm with tough skin was pulled out, writhing on the flame sword.
Green liquid continuously sprayed from the wound where the flame sword had pierced, emitting a nauseating odor.
After only a few struggles, this worm-like magical beast was burned to death by the flames on the flame sword.
"It's a carrion worm."
Renners saw the carrion worm, as thick and long as an arm, and warned Lyle,
"Be careful, there should be purple longworms nearby."
'Experience gained: 12'
'Experience gained: 13'
The two Flame Angels attacked continuously, and a large number of these long worms were slain.
Lyle looked at the constantly refreshing experience values, a smile flashing in his eyes. This swamp area seemed quite good.
Through this period of research.
He found that the experience gained from magical beasts killed by the Flame Archangels he summoned did indeed have a slight reduction compared to the experience he gained from killing magical beasts himself.
But compared to the time he would waste clearing low-level magical beasts alone, this slight reduction was nothing.
Boom!
The ground beneath Lyle and Renners exploded, and a purple longworm, over two meters long with a barrel-shaped, dark purple rough skin, burst out from underground.
It opened its mouth, as large as its body, attempting to swallow Lyle, who was closest.
Renners reacted quickly, immediately raising her spear and pressing it against the purple longworm's chin, pushing upwards with force. Its mouth was pierced, and its wide-open maw was forcibly closed.
Bang!
"Get out!" Renners growled, swinging her spear and smashing the impaled purple longworm heavily onto the ground.
A Flame Archangel flew over, its flame sword slashing down, instantly severing the purple longworm's head.
'Experience gained: 101'
'Experience bar: 4302 / 10000'
However.
Perhaps it was because the two Flame Archangels were too conspicuous in this environment.
Or perhaps the commotion caused by the battle and the constantly squawking carrion birds above attracted the attention of powerful magical beasts within the swamp.
Whoosh!!
A heavy whooshing sound suddenly erupted behind one of the Flame Archangels.
A huge, thick tail whipped out from the mud, striking the Flame Archangel's back with a loud thud.
Bang! The armor on this Flame Archangel's body showed large areas of indentation, and the immense force sent it flying dozens of meters.
The thick, long tail retracted back into the mud.
Immediately after, the mud in that area continuously wriggled, stirring up bursts of bubbles.
!!
Two thick, heavy feet were the first to emerge from the mud.
A monstrous creature resembling a crocodile, with a massive lower jaw and sharp teeth, a row of prominent bone spikes along its back, and skin covered in thick mud and moss, crawled out of the mire.
The moment its entire body was revealed, the air became eerily still.
This was a colossal magical beast, fully six meters long and about one meter high.
"Marsh Jaw!"
"A terrifying magical beast rated as difficulty 60 by the Adventurer's Guild."
Renners's face completely darkened. She quickly retreated to Lyle's side and spoke rapidly.