Seeing Renners' current condition, Lyle quickly took out a bottle of Regeneration Potion and poured it onto her cheek.
Sss—the wriggling rotten flesh came into contact with the potion, making a hissing sound that caused Renners to groan in pain once more.
The spreading rot on her face was temporarily halted by the potion's effect!
"Thank you."
Renners' face was pale, devoid of any color. She gripped her spear tightly, forcing herself to stand up.
She didn't want anyone to see her in such a weak and powerless state.
"This is no time for pleasantries." Lyle waved his hand and looked toward this area that appeared unremarkable on the surface.
Renners exhaled and spoke up to warn him, "We might have found the right place."
"Manticores aren't particularly strong monsters. I've killed them before, and nothing like this has ever happened."
Before this, Renners had always believed the curse on her was caused by that strange monster, but now it was clear that wasn't the case.
This man before her had guessed correctly!
That strange cursed power originated from here.
"Your condition isn't great. The Regeneration Potion can only suppress the spread of the curse on your face at most."
Lyle glanced at Renners' weakened state. The curse spreading on her face was merely a surface symptom; the cursed power within her body was likely already somewhat out of control.
He didn't suffer the same fate as Renners because his player abilities allowed him to skip the stage of needing to master the power,
granting him immediate control over it.
He glanced at the corpses of the two Manticores he had killed.
Besides the usual experience gain, the cursed power within his body had actually increased slightly. Though faint,
the increase in power was clearly perceptible.
There was only one explanation for this: these Manticores also contained the curse within their bodies!
"It's just a bit of pain."
Renners lifted her fair neck, a faint smile forced onto her pale face. "This matter started because of me.
How could I let you, an alchemist, stay here all alone?"
Suddenly!
Lyle and Renners both looked up at a spot about thirty meters ahead to their left.
There was a patch of low, uneven shrubs. It was very sparse, allowing everything to be seen at a glance;
no living creatures were present.
However!
Both Lyle's and Renners' gazes fell simultaneously upon a waist-high piece of withered wood within the shrubs that looked like it had been dead for years.
Lyle wasn't sure if that piece of wood had been there before, but he could now sense that within it,
there was also the power of the curse.
"There's something wrong with that withered wood!"
Renners spoke first, quickly pulling a dagger from the magic belt at her waist and hurling it forcefully at the wood.
Swish!
The powerful throw caused the dagger to whistle through the air.
Just as the dagger was about to pierce the wood...
Huala!
The surface of the wood shuddered as it leaped from its spot, dodging the flying dagger.
Then, the wood's form began to twist and change. A creature with grayish-brown, bark-like skin covered in black markings of various sizes appeared. Gray-brown fur obscured its entire face as it came into their view.
It was a humanoid monster; the large nose peeking through the fur confirmed this, but the fine black scales covering the nose were unsettling to behold.
The creature exuded an aura of decay and eeriness from head to toe.
This humanoid monster wasn't large; in fact, it was quite small, standing only about 60cm tall—not even reaching a normal human's waist.
"It's him!"
The moment Renners saw the humanoid monster, a look of rage appeared on her pale face, followed by a trace of uncertainty.
"It's slightly different, but it's definitely very similar!"
Hearing this, Lyle looked intently at the humanoid monster, searching his memory. There was absolutely no information about it in either the anime or the light novels.
"Die..."
"Die... all... die..."
The humanoid monster's body swayed slightly as it muttered in a unique, indescribable tone, "Begone—"
"It can speak?" Lyle's gaze froze.
The humanoid monster suddenly let out a piercing shriek: "Hahu!"
Buzz—A surge of magical power emanated from the humanoid monster.
"[Charm Human]!"
An invisible mental wave surged toward them instantly.
"[Undead Mind]!"
Lyle chanted the spell while waving his arms to command the two Flame Archangels to charge at the humanoid monster.
Meanwhile, Renners froze instantly, her eyes glazed with vacancy, clearly affected by the [Charm Human] spell.
"[Boil Blood]!"
A faint red light radiated from the humanoid monster.
At the same time.
Lyle immediately felt the blood throughout his body accelerating. He felt a surge of excitement, as if he had inexhaustible strength.
This wasn't a mind-type spell but a buffing spell that controlled blood flow; naturally, [Undead Mind] couldn't resist it.
However!
Lyle didn't believe for a second that this humanoid monster would grant buffs to its enemies. He immediately retreated and rushed toward the controlled Renners.
A monster that could speak and use magic... Was it really a monster, or some kind of special demi-human?
Almost at the same moment this thought flashed through Lyle's mind...
"[Rapid Bleeding]!" The humanoid monster cast another spell.
Lyle's face flushed instantly, but because he was prepared, only a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.
"Pfft!"
Renners, still charmed, had no will to resist. Under the spell's influence, she sprayed a mouthful of blood directly from her mouth.
Especially her rotting cheek, which was already an open wound; it immediately bled profusely, staining Renners entirely in crimson.
However, the damage caused her to snap out of it.
Renners woke from the charmed state. The moment she regained her senses, her body buckled uncontrollably, and she began coughing up large amounts of blood.
Swish!
Lyle had already reached Renners' side. He grabbed her arm and retreated again, while pulling out another Regeneration Potion and pouring it into her mouth.
"Cough, thank you."
Renners coughed, her mouth full of blood and blue potion. She thanked him weakly, a look of despondency crossing her face.
She realized that since arriving here, she had thought she could protect Lyle—who, as a Magic Chanter, shouldn't be good at close combat. Yet so far, she hadn't helped at all and had instead become a burden.
After pulling Renners to a safe distance, Lyle immediately looked toward the humanoid monster.
The Flame Archangels had already reached the creature and were attacking with their flame swords, but the humanoid monster managed to dodge the combined assault with incredible agility.
These were not the movements of a typical spellcaster.
Are you sure the one you dealt with before was this kind of humanoid monster?
Tang Zheng really wanted to ask the weakened Renners. Taking advantage of this brief opening, Tang Zheng brought up his attribute panel to check the information.
'Discovered 2nd-tier magic [Boil Blood]. Requires Mind-type Caster Level (8-14). Current conditions not met—.'
'Discovered 2nd-tier magic [Rapid Bleeding]. Requires Mind-type Caster Level (8-14). Current conditions not met—.'
'[Genius] class effect activated. Conversion successful. Learning requirements met. Spend 1 skill point to learn?'
A Mind-type Magic Chanter?
Lyle looked at the information on the panel and then glanced with surprise at the humanoid monster, which was moving with extreme agility to evade the two Flame Archangels. As far as he knew...
Currently, the only one known to possess a Mind-type caster class was Fluder of the Bahaus Empire. He hadn't expected this humanoid monster to have such a class as well.
This thing wasn't a monster at all!
It was some kind of unknown demi-human, though its state was clearly abnormal.
Buzz—The information on the panel changed again.
'Discovered class skill [Wild Shape]. Requires class [Forest Priest]. Current conditions met.'
'Learning requirements met. Spend 1 skill point to learn?'
Roar!
A beastly roar erupted from the small humanoid monster's mouth.
In an instant!
The humanoid monster's body expanded at an incredible speed. Within just a few breaths, the sixty-centimeter-tall creature transformed into a massive lizard nearly ten meters long, covered in hard emerald-green scales and possessing eight legs!
Boom! Boom!
The massive emerald lizard lifted its scale-covered legs and slammed them down on the two Flame Archangels before they could react.
With just a single blow!
Both Flame Archangels dissipated into motes of light in the air.
"Run!"
"It's a Basilisk!"
Renners let out a shout, forcing her weakened body to move as she raised her spear to shield Lyle.
This was a monster with a difficulty level exceeding 83, requiring an Adamantite-rank adventurer party to defeat.
"Sss-hu!!"
After dispatching the Flame Archangels, the Basilisk's eight legs moved rapidly, charging forward with speed that defied its massive size.
It was too fast!
A hint of despair appeared in Renners' eyes.
Facing the stench that wafted from the creature now right before her, Renners instinctively wanted to close her eyes.
At that exact moment...
A brilliant white light appeared from above, manifesting as a massive angel nearly three meters tall. A silver pole-hammer appeared in the angel's right hand, which it then swung down with a violent smash!
[Holy Strike].
Rumble!
The Basilisk's head was slammed heavily into the ground with a thunderous roar, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Renners stared blankly at the scene. Feeling the warm light, she looked at Lyle, who had already stepped in front of her.
She instinctively asked, "Who... who are you, really?"
"Haven't I already told you?"
"A Copper-rank adventurer, Tang of Free Will."
Lyle's gentle and calm voice drifted back to her.