Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 263: Dead Forest, Arsonists, Extermination
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Chapter Start:
The group marches through the forest, their goal clear.
As they walk, they can’t help but look around, confused and astonished. The forest appears dead. The corruption is obvious, despite their best attempts to cleanse it. While the direct sources of corruption have disappeared, the lingering effects are still there.
Because of their hunting over the last few months, there’s nothing of note left. The original inhabitants of this part of the forest are either dead or fled long ago. The corrupted Acromantulas, responsible for this devastation, are also gone, having been hunted down by the players. What remains is a cold, spooky, dead forest, that looks like it’s completely lifeless.
It doesn’t take long for the group to finally see the massive Wall of Corruption in the distance—a towering structure of corrupted webs, emanating a sickening aura.
“Whenever I look at it, I feel sick,” Alex says before adding, “It’s time to burn this ugly menace down!”
“Hehehe, with the amount of fuel we brought, we’ll burn the entire forest down!” one of the soldiers jokes, looking slightly crazed.
“If that’s what it takes, burn it down!” Alex responds, his expression deadly serious, shocking the rest, who then slowly nod back, their resolve deepening.
As they get closer to the wall, Alex raises his hand and announces, “We’re heading east, as planned. We’re not cutting through it directly; we’ll try to enter from the weakest point. We’ve already scouted the east, but at the time, we didn’t dare to enter. That changes now.”
The group quickly reaches the familiar point where Alex, Tereza, and Rishi had previously decided to head toward the Thornback Nest instead of approaching the northern entry point to the Wall of Corruption.
This time, they wait for the Wall of Corruption to reach its thinnest point before beginning their approach north, towards the structure, solely consisting of corrupted, hardened web.
As they enter, they see an entrance—a hollow tunnel-like structure formed by the corrupted webs, the walls so thick it’s almost impossible to see through them.
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Damn, this looks kinda scary. Well let’s go in.
Dearest Soulmate, this tunnel of web is not merely a wall or a tunnel. Your beloved Princess Jewel senses hidden secrets inside. There are countless opportunities for enemy ambushes. Lower spiders can’t even begin to compare to Princess Jewel, but their instincts are evolved enough to set up traps and ambushes. Princess Jewel suggests a slow and risk-free approach!
“Heh, this is nothing scary. Just a tunnel? That’s all? Let’s go inside,” Ben says, with everyone else seemingly agreeing with him.
“Wait, Ben! Jewel just warned me. This may look like a tunnel, but there are likely traps and ambushes around. I think we should stick to our plan. This is the weakest part of the wall and seems like the entrance, but I have a strong feeling we’ll regret rushing in.”
“We have time. There’s no reason to try to finish this in one go. Burn it down, slowly and carefully. We can’t afford to be ambushed. These spiders can attack from beneath the ground, hide in their webs around us, or even ambush us from above,” Rishi explains, having already anticipated this approach as one of the likely outcomes.
“Okay, boys, burn it down then!” Ben says, equally eager to use their ‘careful’ approach.
“I guess it’ll be a boring day? Just a little playacting as pest exterminators, huh?” Alicia jokes.
“I hate this!” Stefanie loudly complains as the soldiers spring into action.
As the soldiers set up a decent starting point with the fuel they’ve stockpiled over the last few months, Alex walks to the left side of the hollow Wall of Corruption, while Rishi heads to the right. The wall is so large and hollow that it resembles a tunnel.
“Fire,” both shout as they cast their flames onto the web, which has been doused with fuel. The flames created by Alex’s spell appear blue at first, but as the fuel ignites, the fire quickly turns red.
Both walls immediately ignite, burning brightly. Despite the corruption, the web can’t withstand the immense heat, and the flames begin to spread. The dark, sinister tunnel transforms into a blazing inferno, slowly burning away.
The group follows the flames, keeping a safe distance. After an hour of slow burning, the first third of the wall is now reduced to ash, along with numerous trees inside its path.
Suddenly, the group hears loud shrieking as several burning Acromantulas fall from above the tunnel, landing on the ground.
“Let’s go, boys!” Ben yells as the soldiers each take out a weapon. Ben himself wields a rifle—not a modern one, but one that looks like it belongs in the era of World War II. Alex, while not a huge gun nerd, is still impressed, knowing that even older weapons can be deadly.
The five soldiers take aim at the burning Acromantulas. Alex, meanwhile, pulls out his [Magoroth’s Legacy].
I need to conserve Aura as much as possible. I’ll only use a tiny layer of Shu and a spell here and there. The arrows with no illusions cost less than 1 Aura.
Alex, using Magoroth’s Rage Arrow lvl 4, conjures his first arrow, cloaks it in Shu, and unleashes it onto a burning, already bleeding Acromantula, the arrow flying through the air, killing it instantly.
You have dealt 78 damage to Acromantula.
You have killed Acromantula.
Damn that feels good! The arrows are so powerful and fast! Gotta keep it up!
Everyone in the group uses their ranged weapons to attack. People like the soldiers, Alex, and even Stefanie—who lacks a proper skill—are the most helpful, overwhelming the panicked and burning Acromantulas with deadly ranged attacks. Alex alone kills two weakened Acromantulas within seconds, his repaired, gold-quality bow, along with his conjured aura-enhanced arrows dealing devastating damage.
From time to time, the web pulses with corruption, and a few nearby Acromantulas manage to extinguish the flames. As soon as that happens, Alex and Rishi, along with a soldier in charge of the fuel, immediately approach the side and use the fuel along with their Fire lvl 4 spell to set it ablaze once more, giving the corrupted Acromantulas no chance to avoid their fate.
It takes the group two hours to reach a large dome of corrupted web, barely visible in the very distance.
“There’s the heart of the corruption! We’re nearly there, guys. Don’t lower your guard—slow and steady!” Alex shouts.
“This is easier than I thought. These stupid beasts are so dumb that they get caught by the flames and run toward us to die. If they grouped up and came at us together, we might have a problem. But this? Stupid beasts!” Ben laughs loudly.
Alicia giggles, clearly agreeing with him, while Tereza, flying above the group, also laughs.
Suddenly, Tereza raises her voice, screaming, “Incoming enemies! At least 20 Acromantulas!!”
“You jinxed it, you damn soldier oaf!” Stefanie yells at Ben.
“Formation! Set up the walls!” Alex screams loudly.
The group immediately runs backward, the soldiers emptying and dropping numerous canisters filled with fuel along the way.
“Get ready! As soon as they reach the fuel, we’ll fight!” Alex shouts.
“Jewel! Will they avoid the fuel, or will they ignore it? How smart are these corrupted Acromantulas?”
Dearest Soulmate, they will most likely ignore it. They are not capable of analytical thought. They are driven by instincts alone. The corruption has enhanced their bodies to the limits, but has significantly decayed their mental abilities. Princess Jewel is sure!
“Let me ignite it! Don’t do anything! Wait until they all enter our trap!” Alex screams loudly as the first Acromantula enters the fuel-covered area.
The group, despite their trust in Alex, begins to get nervous. A few of the women and younger players are even shaking. Around twenty horse-sized Acromantulas quickly rush toward them.
Alex, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek, waits until the very last moment—until every Acromantula is inside the fuel-covered arena—before firing a Magoroth’s Rage Arrow lvl 4 with 5 Rage Illusion stacks, combining it with Shu and Fire Arrow lvl 4 to create a storm of deadly, azure-colored fire arrows.
As the arrows rain down, they not only hit countless Acromantulas but also ignite the fuel, creating a massive sea of flames!
Ben, laughing, screams, “Okay, boys, fire!!!” as he and his group begin their assault once more.
Despite Alex’s arrows, the fuel, and the bullets, a few lucky Acromantulas still make it to the group.
“Incendio!” Tereza screams as she hovers above the spiders, flames flying out of her wand and burning one Acromantula to death.
The youths and women desperately use various weapons and weird abilities—like throwing knives, spears, some magical spells Alex can’t identify, and other desperate means—to kill the weakened Acromantulas.
Alex himself switches to his new [Enchanted Runeblade], casting Fire Sword lvl 4. His new sword glows with azure flames, radiating a never-before-seen strength thanks to the blade’s ability to amplify spells.
Nimbus Cloak effect activates - Increasing Evasion by 5% and Movement Speed by 40%
Alex strikes another wounded Acromantula, killing it with one strike.
You have dealt 65 + 54 = 119 damage to Acromantula
You have killed Acromantula
A wild struggle ensues and the players desperately fight back against the Acromantulas.
Slowly, the final Acromantula falls, and the flames begin to die down.
Everyone sighs in relief, their plan having worked almost flawlessly.
Tereza skillfully casts Episkey lvl 4 on the various lightly wounded members of the group, restoring their HP.
One of the youths was bitten and is screaming in pain, and Ben also looks injured, his leg hurt.
“Reparifors” Tereza yells, removing any poison from her comrades. She then casts Ferula on both of them, a bunch of bandages being conjured and magically wrapping themselves around their wounds, allowing both to move again, without too much pain.
“Thanks for that. Looks like we’re done, huh?” Ben says with a smile, acting as if nothing happened. But as soon as he finishes his sentence, the group notices another Acromantula arriving.
What is that?!
Dearest Soulmate, please be careful!
Before the group stands a giant Acromantula, twice as large as the previous ones, accompanied by four more large Acromantulas.
Alex shakes his head, remembering his duty. “Defensive position!”
