Chapter 104: An Unexpected Boss Battle
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Despite everything he had done, the guards were actually very wary of Chris; it seemed they had been tricked before, causing them to become more reclusive and suspicious of strangers.
Chris was a bit curious about it but wasn't interested in asking what the reason was behind their inability to trust him even when he had already healed someone in front of them.
However, as always, the Elder of Village was much wiser, stepping forth to stop these guards from ruining the opportunity of their lifetime.
"Silence, young'un," said the elder. "No evildoer would go this far to convince us, Myconid; we are merely small mushroom people; anybody could crush us if they wanted... She is probably being honest and good-hearted; I can feel it within her Psychic aura."
"P-Psychic Aura?" Chris wondered.
"We Myconid are blessed with Lesser Psychic Abilities, we can communicate through our minds, lift small objects, and also sense the Psychic Aura of someone, their Emotional Spectrum," said the Elder. "Now, come with me; we don't have much time. Prove you're truly a priestess."
The elder quickly led Chris towards a small room full of infected Myconid; the miasma infection had gotten so bad on them they were covered with the mold, some looking almost completely dried, like mummies.
"Leave it to me!"
Chris was excited, as he immediately began to unleash his Arcana and Heavenly Ki from his body, generating several waves of Exorcising light.
"{Purifying Light Veil}!"
This was a new technique the Heavenly Emperor had told him he could use; by turning the purifying light and exorcizing spells into a single form resembling a veil, Chris could rapidly heal many infected at the same time without wasting too much energy that would end up being lost.
The Myconid instantly woke up, the mold infecting their bodies disappearing instantly, even those that were dried like mummies but barely alive due to their biology as mushrooms somehow returned back to normal after they were fed a lot of water, like sponges.
"Y-You truly saved everyone…!"
The Elder was utterly shocked, as Chris crossed his arms and nodded very smugly, noticing the system notifications.
[You have healed a person from a deadly disease!]
[You gained +1.000 Score Points!]
[You have healed a person from a deadly disease!]
[You gained +1.000 Score Points!]
[You have healed a person from a deadly disease!]
[You gained +1.000 Score Points!]
[You have healed a person from a deadly disease!]
[You gained +1.000 Score Points!]
[You have healed a person from a deadly disease!]
[You gained +1.000 Score Points!]
"Nice."
As Chris felt accomplished, he quickly decided to tell the Elder his next objective.
"Thank you so much for this; w-we are out of words! You truly are a priestess in the flesh! We have so little to offer, but if you need anything, we'll try our best to help." The Elder said.
"Ah, you don't really need to repay me in any sort of way," said Chris. "If anything, can you lead me where there's more mold and miasma infections? I'll purify everything before leaving."
"W-What? You can do it? And you don't want rewards? B-But why? I have never met someone this good-hearted before!" the Elder said.
"Ah, please, Elder, I am just someone that always looks for the benefit of the people," said Chris proudly. "I serve my… god, of course. And that's simply the trial he has given me."
"I-I see…" the Elder nodded. "Very well, in that case, come with me; I shall guide you where the miasmic mold has spread the most."
The Elder led Chris across the village and outside; there, the largest area of mushroom forests was revealed mushrooms that were being cultivated and raised by the Myconid.
"This is the West Area of the Mushroom Forest, all these trees are edible, and we feed on them regularly, but more and more have begun to be infected by the mold," he said. "There's several hundred of them; I don't know if you could do this so quickly, priestess. Are you not tired, perhaps for another day-"
"I don't have time to waste!" Chris screamed.
He harnessed the Arcana of his body and the Heavenly Ki once more, firing it as several waves of light, consecutively cleaning the entire forest of mushrooms in mere seconds.
"{Purifying Light Veil}!"
FLASH!
"{Purifying Light Veil}!"
FLAASH!
"{Purifying Light Veil}!"
FLAAASH!
"{Purifying Light Veil}!"
FLAAASH!
"{Purifying Light Veil}!"
FLAAASH!
"Oooohhhh?!"
The Elder almost blew up his own mushroom cap as he saw the process!
In just a few minutes, the forest was back to normal, and the giant mushrooms looked so pristine and colorful!
"I-It's done already?!" he asked. "I-I cannot believe this! Our problems, which we believed would be our demise, vanished so easily!"
"Yep, that's just how awesome I am at handling this stuff," Chris nodded. "Hahah, this trial's so easy!"
Compared to the hellish trial that Paul went through, Chris was having it extremely easily!
It seemed that the struggles of each trial and how they developed were based on each person, their own lives, and how much effort they put into their growth.
Paul, as someone who kept fighting and fighting, improving while doing everything he could to do so, had to struggle to gain the Legacy of the powerful Blood Demons.
But Chris? Someone that mostly played carefreely, with a free spirit and a nice heart… most of the time?
The trial became much more different!
Some would say it was unfair, and yes it was; the game was unfair from the beginning with Traits and Flaws already.
"Hmm, I fear something bad could happen at the end, my disciple. It has indeed been too easy; be careful," said the Heavenly Emperor. "I believe there's something brewing in that volcano… perhaps the origin of this darkness that has been infecting the forest and affecting its people."
"If it's like the Nessie from before, it'll be easy to just blow it away into ashes with another Heavenly Repulsion or whatever it was called," said Chris, shrugging.
"Thank you so much for your help, priestess! You don't know how much we owe you!"
"We are eternally on your debt!"
"We thank you from the depths of our hearts!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
The Myconid all began to prostrate in front of Chris, thanking him for all his efforts to help and heal them. Chris maintained his calm composure, nodding as he crossed his arms.
"Alright, I'm done here! You don't even need to do anything for me other than… Um, build a shrine for the Heavenly Emperor I guess," said Chris. "Alright bye! See ya!"
He quickly set off into the skies, escaping the tight caverns and getting his fat butt slightly trapped once more.
"Ouch… Ugh, I hope I don't go back there ever again," said Chris. "Alright, where should I go now?"
Ding!
[The Trial Quest: [Underground Mushroom Forest Expedition] has been Completed!]
[You have earned the Myconid People's Devotion and Gratitude for your great deeds!]
[Because of how fast you did everything before leaving, you've earned some bonus Score Points.]
[You earned +40.000 Score Points.]
"Nice, good enough."
As Chris nodded, suddenly…
RUMBLE!
"Eh?!"
He was flying, so he didn't feel the tremor as strongly, but he did see that the entire forest was trembling and, to the distance, the origin of these tremors.
A huge volcano, constantly letting out black ashes while seemingly about to erupt! However, it seemed strange the magma inside was… darker.
"What the hell is going on over there? Is this the volcano that the other Elder talked about?"
"It should be."
The Heavenly Emperor nodded, sensing a powerful darkness there.
"It seems there's a very large concentration of Miasmic Mold there, perhaps the largest I've ever felt. Be careful. That must be the last area you should check, based on the Trial Quests you triggered beforehand."
"Hmm, alright..." Chris said. "What did the Moth Fairy Elder say about this?"
Chris quickly recalled the elder's words, which resonated inside of his head.
"If you go all the way to the volcano, the Salamander, Fire Spirit People, require someone to help them deal with the volcano constantly roaring and crumbling down!"
"Salamander people need help.. Apparently they're Fire Spirits, so I guess it makes sense they live in the Volcano or near it," Chris nodded. "Alright, let's go!"
FLUOSH!
Chris used his Arcana to enhance his Flight Speed, descending at lightning speed, resembling a falling star from the skies.
He moved around the volcano looking for the entrance to some sort of cave or something like that, but he couldn't find anything quite like that yet.
"There's an entrance, but it's through this magma river."
The Heavenly Emperor pointed at it; there was indeed a cave; Chris had to simply... fly above the magma and not fall into it, melting and dying horribly.
"Okaay… No way out of it, I guess."
Chris quickly flew above the magma, but the heat was so big he was sweating bullets, and his feet were all red already!
"Dammit, I need to use the barrier… like this?"
FLUOSH!
He suddenly used the barrier he had used to defend against the Undead Nessie, now wrapping around him into some sort of skin-tight transparent body suit; somehow it worked, despite how odd it looked.
"Phew… Much better."
Chris made his way to the deepest parts of the cavern, finally finding an open area within the volcano's caverns and reaching some land he could step on.
"Finally… Where am I now?"
He looked around, the lava faintly illuminating his surroundings, and then he saw many houses carved on the stone of the mountain.
They were painted beautifully with red and yellow painting, resembling suns, mountains, snakes, and lizards.
There were also…
A lot of silhouettes around, approaching him with red eyes.
"Woah! I didn't see you coming; are you the Salamander people? I've come to heal you, so stand still and-"
"Graaarrggh!"
"Chris, move!"
The Heavenly Emperor quickly realized these things weren't the normal Salamanders, as Chris barely evaded a strong bite from one of them.
At surface, they resembled red-scaled salamander people, but their bodies were covered in black mold everywhere, their eyes glowing red, and they looked strange, constantly drooling and crying blood.
"W-What the hell?!"
Chris quickly noticed that wasn't the only one; the other silhouettes, dozens of them, were all the same. They weren't being themselves anymore.
"It seems this is the more advanced stage of that Miasmic Mold; they've been completely overtaken by it and become monsters!"
The Heavenly Emperor quickly stayed in front of Chris, although he couldn't do anything for him.
"Chris, shoot them with your spells and purify them quickly! Don't let them attack one another once one is purified, or the same cycle will be repeated.
"I-I got it!"
Chris nodded as he was being attacked from every angle; he flew high in the air to evade them, but they began jumping, firing black fireballs at him.
He had to both evade and prepare his attacks, all while firing them precisely!
"Dammit, I'm failing too many times!"
However, the Salamanders easily avoided his attacks, moving very quickly and rapidly around the area and even hiding in the lava river sometimes.
RUMBLE!
"Eh?"
As if things couldn't get any worse, the volcano continued trembling as something started descending from its summit.
SPLAASH!
A wave of hot magma surged, splashing over the entire village. Chris used his light magic to fly high by releasing a photon explosion.
Grasping upon the ceiling itself, he glanced in disbelief at the thing that emerged from above the volcano, perhaps…
Perhaps the culprit behind all these tremors, and what was happening to these people!
"GRRRHHHH…!"
It was a massive red and black-scaled draconic monster, a beast with two heads at that, over thirty meters of height, a massive, bulky body composed of two enormous arms and a long tail, sharp claws, and several golden and black horns.
Its chest was infused with a strange black and red crystal, constantly dropping miasma everywhere, infecting even the lava itself…
The Salamander people glanced at the creature, as the monster's aura immediately began to control them, suddenly transforming them.
"GROOOAARRR!"
As the monster screamed at Chris furiously, the Salamander people transformed, becoming gigantic, bulky draconic monstrosities.
"Ah sh*t, are you kidding me?!"
Chris couldn't believe that this carefree adventure turned out like this at the end!
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Can't wait to see what's next? You can join my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/pancakeswitch
And gain access to all these Advanced Chapters:
89 Advanced Chapters of
The Protagonist's Sister Is Actually The Strongest
56 Advanced Chapters of
The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns
17 Advanced Chapters of
Fantasy Story Online: The Crippled Vampire Prince Walks The Heavenly Demon Path