“The sky? How can we see the sky from deep inside this forest?” Samimi asked, her voice filled with doubt.
She looked up, but all she could see were thick, sun-blocking leaves. Where was the sky? It was difficult for even sunlight to pierce through the canopy, let alone moonlight.
Wait, she was wrong. High above, a round moon really was hanging in the air, emitting a charming glimmer that illuminated the darkness.
‘Niubao, look out.’ Samimi had an ominous premonition. She quickly activated her magic three-piece set along with a Light Shield Technique, protecting both herself and Niubao.
Specks of light flickered from that mysterious moon. Immediately following that, a dense barrage of magic rays descended from the sky, striking the two of them directly.
Fortunately, Samimi had prepared her buffs and the Light Shield Technique. She also had her Bramble Realm and several sets of defensive skills layered over one another.
Theoretically, magic shields could not be deployed simultaneously. This meant that if Samimi used her mana to construct a defensive barrier, she wouldn’t have the spare capacity to cast a separate mana shield for herself.
However, Samimi could use the Bramble Crown to cast a mana shield over Niubao. This was the brilliance of the person who had designed this specific magical formula.
*Clang—Clang—* Crimson light flashed!
Samimi was now proficient in using the Holy Rose Phantom Blade: Double Control.
Theoretically, by using the Bramble Crown to summon an additional magic sword near her designated target, she could control two magic flying swords to follow Niubao, providing protection, support, and help with kill-stealing.
Of course, the most important thing was that it looked cool.
When she first started, Samimi didn’t like using the Holy Rose Phantom Blade; she mostly used it as an enchantment ritual.
But as her understanding of magic deepened and her mana values grew stronger, the magic flying swords became increasingly formidable.
Previously, she had used a magic flying sword to pierce through the Frankenstein Archbishop’s defenses in a single strike, securing victory with one blade.
This ritual was no longer the useless, flimsy flying blade it had been at the beginning.
Because the Holy Rose Phantom Blade, much like the Magic Shield, was an evolving ritual that improved alongside a Magic User’s power, it was a fundamental technique that could always be refined.
As for how Samimi had realized this…
It was all thanks to her countless memories of the Second Company Commander and Sword Maiden, Lady Ophika. She was Samimi’s respected senior.
Senior Ophika was a master at using magic flying swords. She had developed a special flying sword ritual involving multiple links to an external mana core, which everyone revered as the Blade Hero.
One had to understand that there weren’t many people in this world who could make a Miworm like Samimi show respect. Those she would call “Senior” were even fewer, but the Sword Maiden, Ophika, was one of them.
She looked cool, had a kind heart, spoke eloquently, was dedicated to her work, and had excellent acting skills. Most importantly, just like a Miworm, she didn’t fear heaven or earth and would snap at anyone she met.
Even from afar, she gave the Miworm brand-new inspiration for her flying swords.
‘Oh, my beloved Second Company Commander, you are truly the Miworm’s great benefactor.’
Samimi fantasized about the day when her Holy Rose Phantom Blade would grow as majestic and imposing as the city-crushing blades of the Sword Maiden, Ophika.
Originally, Samimi’s path of cultivation had hit a bottleneck. She had forced herself to grind through it and managed to find two distinct paths.
The first path was to follow Miss Mei Yun’s professional route: Battlefield Aura.
The second path was to refine her magic flying swords and completely transition into a long-range Magic User.
The first path had a higher priority as it was a brand-new road starting from zero, offering a more significant boost.
The magic flying sword was her original ritual. Improving it would be a gradual process; she couldn’t rush the results. Like the Magic Shield, haste would only lead to failure.
She was getting sidetracked…
‘Wait, we’re currently fighting an unknown monster! Can’t we have a little bit of tension?’
Actually, she really didn’t.
When those rays of light struck the Bramble Realm, Samimi already had a basic understanding of the enemy’s magical level.
She had once withstood eighteen-layered fire beams from the highest-ranked Fire Mage in the world, the Orange King.
Compared to the Orange King’s attacks, these light rays were like mosquito bites. They couldn’t even scratch her skin.
Magic was straightforward: if you were strong, you were strong; if you were weak, you were weak. There were no shortcuts or tricks to learn unless one was an unorthodox Magic User.
The moon in the sky gradually revealed its true form—a circular crystal monster.
There was a sapphire in its center, which was where the barrage of light rays originated. It appeared to be a special type of elite monster, similar to the Crystal Lurker.
This height was not somewhere Niubao could reach. It looked like she would have to step in herself.
“Niubao, go deal with the Magic Wolf leaders, but don’t let the others see you,” Samimi said.
“Understood.” Niubao turned and charged into the fray, her twin blades dancing in a wild slaughter as she swept through the wolf pack, heading straight for the kings.
This left Samimi to deal with the Moon Crystal Entity in the sky. This kind of monster used magic to suspend itself among the branches, making it a very dangerous creature for average adventurers.
Teams without a Magic User or a sharpshooter would find them extremely difficult to handle.
In the South, a Magic User was an even rarer profession than a Pastoralist. The reason was simple: the Magic User profession was monopolized by the Continental Mages Academy.
“Go—Go—Whirlwind Blade!”
Two magic flying swords hovered beside Samimi and began to rotate at high speeds.
This was another newly stolen technique—something she had learned from the mana chains of the Blade of Deep Moss. By making her flying swords spin, their power increased manifold.
In her most stylish move yet, she summoned a second magic flying sword onto one of her Ten Treasures through the Bramble Crown, then summoned it back to her side, allowing her to use double magic flying swords.
It sounded simple, but there wasn’t another Magic User in the world who could mimic her technique.
However, if one thought about it carefully, the Sword Maiden Ophika could use dozens of magic swords from the start and could even fuse them into various forms.
The flying sword ritual originally had no limit on numbers, yet here with Samimi, the quantity was restricted.
This was a cheat skill obtained through the system. Why would a cheat have restrictions?
That was a thought-provoking and somewhat chilling realization.
*Boom! Boom!*
However, during this long and tedious process of analysis, the double Holy Rose Phantom Blades had already charged through the countless light rays. They soared into the sky and shattered that fake moon.
The thing had tried to activate a crystal magic shield for defense at the last moment, but Samimi’s phantom blades carried an erosion effect, making them top-tier at breaking shields.
It was also possible that the monster’s defense was simply too pathetic. She had pierced through it without even feeling any resistance.
With that, the Moon Crystal Entity fell from the branches, shattering into pieces on the ground.
The Bramble Realm transformed into a mobile Bramble Wrap. Switching her rituals in an instant, Samimi walked step by step toward the fragmented Moon Crystal Entity.
Her two phantom blades flew back and forth around her, automatically slaughtering any monsters that tried to ambush her—a form of auto-defense.
She had originally come to the South to help Niubao find a transformation, but Samimi felt that she was the one becoming stronger. Her magical path was maturing, and she felt less and less like a normal human.
*Crank!*
Finally, Samimi raised her runic staff and shattered the sapphire core of the Moon Crystal Entity with a single blow.
The strength of this thing was nowhere near that of the last Crystal Lurker. It was just a high-altitude fixed turret. It could bully ordinary adventurers, but it had no effect on her, the Pig Demon Nun. She took it down easily.
Then, Samimi searched the corpse. From the sapphire remains, she obtained another Demon Dagger.
‘Huh? Why do crystal monsters also drop demon daggers? Who exactly is responsible for designing the loot drops? This has to be a joke.’
Although her tone was one of confusion, as a transmigrator and a gaming expert, she could roughly understand that this was a series weapon quest.
Most likely, she would only obtain a great treasure after collecting all the Demon Daggers.
This was because these little daggers were high-quality trash—the kind of thing no one would use.
Theoretically, these quest weapons would shatter upon impact, but the Demon Daggers had exquisite appearances and extremely high durability. They just didn’t deal any damage; they couldn’t even pierce a piece of cloth.
This indicated they were indestructible Task Items.
“Not bad. Even if I’m just picking up trash and collecting junk here in the Southern Tree Sea, it’s a hundred times better than dealing with those dog-sh*t authority struggles at the Holy See.”
Even though the equipment she salvaged was all junk, Samimi’s face still carried a faint smile. She played with the Demon Dagger for a moment, feeling quite satisfied.
Scavenging and collecting junk—this was likely the true meaning of travel and adventure.
She felt as if she had rediscovered the joy of playing games as a child, acting as a Hero who would run into people’s houses to steal a few pots of greens.
Though the role she was playing now was no longer the Hero, but the Hero’s arch-enemy.
—
“Captain! Look, there’s something wrong with the wolf pack’s movements!”
“Report! The wolf pack is retreating to defend!”
“Report! Strange lights are coming from deep within the forest!”
“What’s going on? What happened?”
On the perimeter wall of Camp No. 13, the adventurer guard unit was discussing the situation fervently. They had noticed the anomalies, but they couldn’t see exactly what was happening.
This was because Niubao was slaughtering the wolf pack behind a Heavens-reaching Great Tree.
As usual, it was an infinite combo of twin-blade slashes, a whirlwind of destruction.
However, those small fries weren’t her targets. She charged straight for the two Magic Wolf leaders.
These monsters were the mini-bosses of the early story, capable of threatening the royal territories of small towns, but they could no longer keep up with the current power levels.
‘You poor things. The one standing before you is the great villainess, Lady Niubao.’
A massive wolf maw snapped from left to right, but a flash of sword light passed through. Two wolf heads flew into the sky, and in an instant, two headless carcasses collapsed.
Once the wolf kings were defeated, the pack would scatter on its own.
The two culprits would eventually leave together, leaving behind only the corpses on the battlefield as evidence of their presence.
The next day, the adventurers of Camp No. 13 finally mustered the courage to come out and clean up the battlefield.
They saw mountains of magic wolf corpses piled behind the great tree. The two wolf kings had also been decapitated, and even an unknown crystal monster had been slain.
Everyone was bewildered. They examined the wounds on the monsters but could only write a vague report to submit to the Adventurers’ Guild.
When something like this happened once, no one would pay too much attention.
But if it happened twice? Or three times? Or a fourth? Then it would become a serious matter.