Compared to Apulu Pie, Chillbliss's focus was much more normal.
When Xia Ya shouted "Run" earlier, he glanced back and saw the group being engulfed by winged heads and headless bodies, a scene straight out of an R-18G horror.
He swore he'd never want to face such monsters in his life; it was just too hardcore!
"What are those?" he asked.
"You've been inside that small wooden hut selling paper to the right of the Village Chief's hall, right?"
Chillbliss nodded.
"Auntie Susan, who has poor eyesight, often talks about her son Finley who died young and complains that Jim from the militia didn't save him. Bring a bottle of Bloodmalt Ale to Jim, get him drunk, and he'll tell you what happened back then. The militia's early exploration team in the Corrupted Forest was almost wiped out, only Uncle Jim survived. Those who rushed over just now were the militia from back then, level 7 monsters known as 'The Infected.'"
"Level 7 is that powerful?"
"They look strong, and their stats are high, but they have a fatal weakness. As long as you have Bloodmalt Ale, they are neutral creatures that won't attack people. They won't gang up on you, and even if you hit them, they might not fight back."
Chillbliss was stunned, "Is Bloodmalt Ale really that powerful..."
Xia Ya chuckled, "In this primitive place, there's no disinfectant, no penicillin, and besides the Priest's healing magic, there's no quick way to stop bleeding. Bloodmalt Ale is a specialty of the Barbarians, taken internally it quickly promotes blood production, and applied externally it disinfects and kills bacteria. It's practically the militia's golden wound medicine with a kick. The more seasoned the militia, the more they are drunkards; that taste has already seeped into their blood..."
"Then why didn't they attack us just now?" Apulu Pie asked.
"A scholar and a stray dog were hit by a car, what's the difference between the two?"
"Hey hey hey! I've heard this joke! There are skid marks in front of the stray dog's body!"
Xia Ya snapped his fingers.
"Exactly, compared to you guys, The Infected hate the glowing plants more. That's the scariest thing in the Corrupted Forest, and it's what killed the militia's advance team back then.
"Even though they died and were corrupted by monsters, turning into creatures, they still retain their past attachments and hatred."
Chillbliss listened, entranced, and couldn't help but murmur, "Boss, how do you know all this..."
"Ask Sanya, that Barbarian landlady will tell you everything you need to know—as long as you can pay the price and know how to please her." Xia Ya smiled, pushing it all onto Sanya.
After all, no one could verify anything from her.
...
Half an hour later, the four arrived at the clearing where Milorakles had died.
The witch's mangled flesh was still scattered on the ground, and her Bloodthirsty Ravens circled in the air.
If the witch's soul hadn't yet completely dissipated, these beasts would have already swooped down to feast.
The ravens are level 6 social monsters, and they can fly, requiring a team of archers to deal with them.
But now...
Xia Ya gave Sennia a look, and she nodded.
She glanced at the ravens in the air, swung her door-sized broad sword like a girl fanning a fire, and with a powerful swing, instantly whipped up a gust of wind.
With 25 points of strength fully unleashed, the air was compressed into a visible ripple.
The airwave crashed into the circling ravens, and their screams instantly merged into one, with black feathers mixed with blood rain falling down.
Meanwhile, Chillbliss and Apulu Pie's monster kill counts increased visibly, reaching completion in the blink of an eye.
"Alright, this quest is finally done."
Xia Ya settled the rewards for the two, and at the moment of completion, golden light gathered from all directions, and the crushed Quest Dispatch Order—the exclamation mark regenerated, but this time it turned from a yellow exclamation mark into a yellow question mark.
Xia Ya crushed the question mark, and a warm flow of experience coursed through his body.
[You have completed the team quest 'Monster Sweep.']
[You gained 1200+810 experience]
[You gained 4 silver coins + 2.7 silver coins]
[Starter Village reputation increased]
[You obtained the equipment "Sigil of Unity"]
"Sigil of Unity (Badge)": All attributes +1
The money and quest rewards were based on personal values plus 10% from the other 9 people, but the equipment surprised Xia Ya.
This wasn't a thing during the beta test; it seemed to be an extra compensation for players.
Makes sense, commanding a bunch of players who don't get along is much harder than commanding obedient NPCs, mentally and physically exhausting, and you might even have to deal with someone like Moonlight Ripple.
"Is it over here?" Apulu Pie, though she leveled up, was a bit disappointed.
This wasn't what she imagined; she thought there would be more excitement.
Chillbliss was also a bit let down, having done nothing but tag along and still getting so much.
His eyes were full, but his spirit wasn't satisfied.
"There's more content later, but if you follow, you'll really just be cannon fodder."
Xia Ya said seriously, "And the way you die is quite terrifying."
"I don't care!" Apulu Pie patted her chest, "As long as there's fun, I'll go! You'll carry me, right, big guy?"
"I can't back out now..." Chillbliss smiled helplessly, "Can't let myself be underestimated."
"Alright then, follow me."
Xia Ya stepped forward, picking up over twenty Bloodthirsty Raven feathers, and lit them with a flint.
The feathers burned, emitting a harsh scream, and blue smoke rose slowly, seemingly mixed with human-like grimacing faces, as if the tormented souls were squeezing together.
The smoke gathered in the air into the face of a thin woman, and upon closer inspection, it resembled Milorakles, the witch in her younger days.
Strictly speaking, this was actually Milorakles's true second phase.
As the ultimate boss before leaving the village, the normal way to open this boss fight was like this:
First, form a group on the forest outskirts to exterminate the Corrupted Boars controlled by the witch. The witch uses the Bloodthirsty Ravens to snatch the corpses, which leads to Sanya's involvement.
Bloodmalt Ale requires a lot of blood, and monster blood is an excellent material. The Barbarians will commission the retrieval of flesh and blood in exchange for Bloodmalt Ale. Once successful, a large amount of Bloodmalt Ale is made, Jim gets drunk, then kneels in front of Auntie Susan's door crying, triggering the [Old Soldier's Lament] quest. After learning the whole story, you properly bring reinforcements to fight the boss.
Well-prepared, Milorakles wouldn't die so miserably like this time. She would have the glowing ferns release toxic gas—the same way the militia's advance team was nearly wiped out years ago.
At this point, Jim would appear, saying he found a way to deal with the miasma, then charge into the forest alone.
This old soldier would set himself on fire, using his flesh to sustain the flames, preventing them from being extinguished by the miasma, acting as a human torch charging into the arms of his former comrades, using the scent of Bloodmalt Ale to burn them all.
The battle with Milorakles would only begin after the forest turned into a sea of fire, as the witch's soul had long merged with the forest. Only after burning the forest could you deal with the second phase's soul form, which is the real boss fight.
The witch in soul form is immune to physical attacks; only Enke West's divine magic is effective. But the witch would control Maden to hold Enke, the scumbag, hostage, using him to threaten Sennia, causing her to fight with Sanya. At this point, the strongest forces in the Starter Village are brawling, others are pecked blind by ravens, burned to death in the fire.
A series of melodramatic events would follow, Enke West's affair exposed, Sennia heartbroken, in anger injuring Sanya, Maden taking advantage to push both into the fire pit, and so on...
This is the BAD ENDING without player intervention. Every NPC's story unfolds as a tragedy, their fates intertwined like tangled threads.
Xia Ya went through several playthroughs to find a way to untangle the threads.
Now he completely disrupted the sequence, having already brought Sanya to smash the witch, so old soldier Jim didn't have to die, the scumbag was taken away by the Barbarian princess, Sennia overcame her inner demons, Maden's control was purified, Sanya continued running the tavern, everything was moving towards a happy ending.
Moreover, Milorakles died too suddenly, not having time to spread her soul throughout the Corrupted Forest, leaving only a part hidden in the ravens.
Now the ravens were burned, the witch's soul had nowhere to hide and floated out...
But what followed wasn't a phase 2 battle.
Because for Milorakles, this was also a form of release.
This younger version of the witch had a pair of long, pointed ears.
"Thank you, Xia Ya," she said.
The soul's voice dropped everyone's jaws to the floor.
Vol.1 - Chapter 12 – Milorakles
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