Under Half's divine power, the group traveled unimpeded. However, as they journeyed, the Catgirl Ranger suddenly spoke up. "Strange," she said, "there are no signs of a large-scale migration along this route."
Normally, tracking a migrating tribe would involve following the various clues and traces left on the ground to deduce their path and location. But the Catgirl Ranger realized that wasn't what they were doing.
The reason was simple: in Cipher's Perception, the so-called Source of Corruption wasn't stationary. On the contrary, it was constantly moving.
"The shortest distance between two points is a straight line," Cipher explained. "We're just following that straight line."
As she spoke, she glanced at the Catgirl Ranger. It was the same one she had seen a few times before—the one who had accepted the Pixie's Contract but whose appearance hadn't changed.
As if reading Cipher's mind, the Pixie chimed in at the perfect moment. "Well, this child was already adorable to begin with! I only make those who aren't so cute a little cuter~"
So, if an already cute girl makes a Contract with this Pixie, does that mean there are truly no downsides? Cipher glanced at the Pixie before turning back to lead the way.
Half a day passed in a blur. In Cipher's Perception, the Source of Corruption grew steadily closer. Soon, everyone could clearly see a red mist suffusing the air. The moment they entered its range, they all felt a wave of discomfort, but the debuff was quickly dispelled by the Divine Artifact in Aria's hands.
Douglas frowned. "This mist... something's wrong with it..."
"Tell us something we don't know," Cipher retorted.
Daphne added, "I can sense that this mist is saturated with twisted life energy. Just staying here for too long could cause irreversible mutations."
As if to prove Daphne's words, Cipher watched as a rabbit hopped from outside the mist into its range. After a few steps, the rabbit suddenly froze. It tilted its head, and the next second, with a sickening crack-crack-crack of breaking bones, its body began to rapidly expand.
A pair of fleshy wings sprouted from its back, four extra eyes appeared on its head, and its limbs grew thick and powerful. It opened its mouth, revealing a maw filled with sharp fangs.
Immediately after, the rabbit lunged directly at Phainon, who was closest to it... only to be swatted away by Phainon with a single slap. It splattered against a nearby tree with a wet thwack, clearly dead beyond any doubt.
Aria said, "So, this is how all the Mutated Animals are created?"
Half spoke up as well. "My Authority is somewhat restricted here. The range of my snowfall has been greatly reduced, meow."
BOOM!!!
As the group discussed the situation, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the distance. Everyone clearly felt the ground beneath their feet tremble.
Though she didn't know what had happened, Cipher didn't hesitate. "Let's go. We need to check it out."
The group quickened their pace, moving through the dense forest. Suddenly, the surrounding trees seemed to vanish into thin air, revealing a massive basin several kilometers in diameter before Cipher. No, to be more precise, this area had likely been an ordinary forest before. A powerful attack must have obliterated all the trees, carving this basin directly into the earth.
Cipher could even see wisps of white smoke rising from the basin's edges. In the center, a group of people had formed a tight circle around a single individual.
Honestly, everyone—those forming the circle, the one surrounded, and even the members of Daphne's tribe—dressed similarly: dark skin and green clothing. This meant that both groups before Cipher were likely Druids.
A thought struck her: hadn't the Moon Circle's encampment been attacked by others? If so, the people forming the circle were most likely the "attackers"—Druids from other Circles elsewhere in the Great Forest.
As Cipher pondered, she suddenly saw the surrounded man's expression harden. He clenched his left fist, which held a writhing mass of pink flesh.
"Aaaargh!"
The next moment, the man screamed in agony. The flesh mass seemed to melt into his left hand, rapidly expanding and spreading. It quickly assimilated his entire left arm, then his shoulder, face, and finally his whole body.
Each Druid in the circle summoned a longbow shimmering with blue light. They aimed at the monstrous flesh and fired relentlessly, but their attacks vanished without a trace, like stones cast into the sea. In just three or four seconds, the mass had swelled to over ten meters high.
Feidric frowned. "So this is... the Source of Corruption?"
Cipher nodded. "Looks like we're a step too late."
However, the flesh mass didn't expand indefinitely. It stopped growing after reaching about twenty meters and began to slowly awaken. As if molded from clay, the rough shape of a dragon quickly took form before everyone's eyes.
"ROOOAR!!!"
With a furious roar, a colossal red dragon nearly thirty meters long opened its eyes. It stared down at all the other Druids in the basin, then opened its maw, and scarlet flames erupted from its mouth.
"Let's go help!" Aria shouted as she leaped down into the basin. The others followed close behind.
Notably, Phainon deliberately hung back at the rear of the group. He watched the distant dragon, contemplating whether to intervene.
Truth be told, the dragon looked intimidating, but if he were to fight it, he wouldn't even need to transform into his Divine Phainon form. With just his current strength and his sword, he could easily take it down alone.
In that case, he decided not to act. While they were technically performing a world-saving feat, this was also Aria's adventure. Since she could handle this final Boss herself, it was better to let her do it.
Hadn't she worked so hard to become stronger precisely for this moment? If Phainon simply stepped in and one-shotted the Boss, wouldn't all of Aria's efforts along the way seem utterly pointless?