Chapter 241: The Wraith-Bird

Long Chapter

—

This was the first time Marcus had summoned the Sea Demon Soul, and seeing its overwhelming dominance with his own eyes left him momentarily stunned. He had expected it to be strong, but not like this. The thing was absurdly powerful, so much so that he had to fight back the smug grin threatening to spread across his face.

The relic had given him something completely broken.

“Start the attack!” Marcus shouted.

The Sea Demon Soul’s durability was incredible, but even it could not ignore a hundred gnomes hacking away forever. Its health bar was slowly ticking down under the concentrated assault. Unlike players, it had no way to gulp down potions in an emergency. It relied solely on its natural regeneration, and that regeneration was not quite enough to offset the constant damage.

Marcus glanced back at his squad.

The guys were just standing there, watching the spectacle as if they had front row seats in a theater. After he had gone through the trouble of gathering every monster in the area, they were happily taking a break.

Marcus sighed inwardly.

’So much for respecting the grind.’

“Kill!”

The moment he gave the order, the squad erupted into a roar and charged forward.

With the Sea Demon Soul’s passive taunt firmly locking the gnomes’ attention in place, the squad had absolutely no reason to hold back. They plunged straight into the packed mass of monsters, swinging weapons and unleashing their most powerful abilities without a hint of caution.

Thunderstorm and Fate’s Trial were especially delighted.

This was exactly the sort of battlefield they lived for. Their area-of-effect spells detonated in rapid succession, bursts of magic erupting among the clustered gnomes. Damage numbers cascaded through the air like a crimson storm, filling the five meter radius around the Sea Demon Soul with flashing red figures.

Seeing that everything was completely under control, Marcus actually stepped back from the fight.

He had already decided to keep a low profile when possible. If the group could handle things on their own, there was no need for him to steal the spotlight. Even though a single use of his Hundred Phantom Strike could wipe the entire field in seconds, he resisted the temptation and kept his hands off the battle.

In less than ten seconds, the entire swarm of more than one hundred Level 25 gnomes had been slaughtered.

The monsters collapsed in waves, leaving behind a huge burst of shared experience for the team.

When the last body hit the ground, silence returned almost abruptly.

Only moments ago the jagged landscape had been teeming with monsters, but now the entire area looked strangely empty. Under the clear blue sky there were only scattered rocks, scraggly weeds, and small twisted trees.

Not a single creature remained.

If Marcus had not witnessed it personally, he would have found it difficult to believe that such a large pack of monsters could vanish so quickly.

“Whoa! I leveled up!”

“Haha, me too!”

“Stone, you’re insane. That was incredible!”

Excited cheers rang across the clearing as the squad hurried to collect the drops. Once everything had been gathered, they continued their final push toward the center of the jagged flats.

It was already close to ten o’clock.

As they moved deeper into the area, the sound of rushing water gradually grew louder. Soon the terrain shifted again, and the group stepped onto a broad circular stretch of land nearly half a mile wide.

Grey grass covered the ground, mixed with clusters of waist high shrubs that swayed slightly in the breeze.

At the exact center of the clearing stood a massive grey stele, easily taller than a grown man.

Clear spring water bubbled from the top of the stone monument, spilling down its sides in a steady stream. Yet the moment the water left the surface of the stele, it was swallowed by thick plumes of necrotic energy radiating from the stone.

The crystal clear spray instantly turned a sickly grey before dripping into the soil below.

That corrupted water fed the strange, colorless vegetation scattered throughout the clearing.

“Stone, that’s a Ghost-Bamboo tree,” Fate said, pointing toward one of the shrubs nearby.

Marcus followed his gaze.

The plant was about three meters wide but barely reached his waist in height. Its leaves resembled dull grey bamboo leaves, giving it an oddly skeletal appearance.

Marcus blinked.

He had imagined some towering, ancient tree when he heard the name. Instead, the thing looked more like an overgrown bush.

Leaning closer, he noticed several strange fruits hidden among the leaves. Two or three of them hung from the branches, each about the size of a clenched fist. Their color was an unpleasant grey, almost the same shade as the surrounding foliage.

These were the Ghost-Bamboo fruits the Wraith-Bird came here to eat.

“According to Fate’s quest log,” Blaze said, “the bird appears at exactly ten in the morning during this specific week. It comes here to feed. Our only chance is when it lands. We have to kill it and grab the Black-Wraith Feather before it escapes again.”

Blaze continued explaining the strategy based on their previous attempts.

“The last four times we tried, the moment its health dropped below twenty percent it took off and flew away. We couldn’t keep up with it. Stone, if it tries to run today, you and your mount will have to chase it down.”

Marcus switched mounts, summoning his Violet Thunderwing Steed with a confident smile.

“Don’t worry,” he said calmly. “Unless that thing is Level 40, it’s not getting away.”

“Good.” Blaze nodded without hesitation.

He knew Marcus well enough by now to trust his words. If Marcus said he could do it, then it was already settled.

With a few minutes still remaining before the bird’s arrival, Marcus decided to inspect the strange shrub more carefully. He activated Insight and examined the plant.

—

Ghost-Bamboo Tree:

A newly evolved fruit-bearing plant cultivated by the Withered Wood Ghost King. It can only grow in regions saturated with necrotic energy. The tree produces seven fruits every hundred years before withering and dying. Extremely rare.

Ghost-Bamboo Fruit:

Fruit produced by the Ghost-Bamboo tree. Contains a large amount of necrotic energy. Useless to humans, but considered a delicacy by the Ghost Race. Consuming the fruit grants significant growth benefits to ghost-type creatures.

—

Marcus paused.

The Ghost Race?

He had not realized that Dominion already contained ghost-type monsters. That was new information.

Unfortunately, the fruit’s energy was necrotic rather than demonic. Otherwise he could have used it to nurture the Dark Violet Sky Dragon egg he carried.

If the plant required necrotic energy to grow, then the source of that energy had to be nearby.

Which meant the answer was probably the spring itself, or more specifically, the massive stele standing in the center.

Marcus turned and cast Insight on the monument.

—

Stele of Wraith-Anguish: ???

—

Marcus frowned.

A row of question marks appeared where the rest of the information should have been. His Intermediate Insight skill could not read it.

Could this thing actually be a treasure?

He stepped closer and studied the stone more carefully. The monument was a dull dark grey, its entire surface covered with countless carved skulls twisted into expressions of agony. Necrotic energy swirled around it constantly while water bubbled from its top.

Aside from that eerie decoration, however, the stele looked completely ordinary.

Still, objects that blocked an Intermediate Insight scan were rarely ordinary. Marcus placed both hands against the stone and pushed.

The stele did not move even slightly. It felt as though it were part of the planet itself.

“Stone, what are you doing?” the others asked as they wandered over.

“Did you find treasure?” Drunkard asked immediately, his eyes lighting up as he rolled up his sleeves.

“My Insight skill identified it as the Stele of Wraith-Anguish,” Marcus explained while continuing to push against it. “But it won’t show me the rest of the stats. That usually means it’s something valuable.”

“No way,” Strong said, stepping forward to help. “We’ve come here four times and never noticed anything like that. You show up once and immediately find a hidden object? Stone, you’re officially my idol.”

He braced himself beside Marcus and began pushing as well.

Despite their efforts, the stone refused to budge even a fraction.

“Stone… now what?” Strong asked, slightly out of breath.

Even when the rest of the squad joined in and all ten of them pushed together, the stele remained firmly rooted.

“Dig it out,” Drunkard suggested suddenly.

He crouched down, pulled out a dagger, and began stabbing into the dirt around the base of the monument.

But the moment he cleared away a handful of soil, something strange happened; fresh earth instantly appeared, filling the hole again.

No matter how quickly they dug, the ground continued to regenerate itself. The stele remained perfectly embedded as though nothing had been disturbed.

The group exchanged stunned looks.

This was clearly a high tier object, but for now they simply did not have the right conditions to move it.

“Alright,” Blaze said at last, glancing at the time. “It’s almost ten. Focus on the Wraith-Bird first. We can worry about the monument after the quest.”

The squad quickly returned to their assigned positions.

Marcus lingered near the Ghost-Bamboo tree for a moment longer. After studying the three remaining fruits, he calmly reached out and plucked two of them, leaving only one behind for the incoming bird.

A fruit that took a hundred years to grow was far too valuable to leave sitting there.

Before stepping away, Marcus turned once more toward the stele and used Insight again. This time, the skill revealed something new.

—

Stele of Wraith-Anguish: ???

A hidden treasure containing an enormous amount of necrotic energy. Only individuals with overwhelming Strength or a powerful necrotic affinity can move this object.

—

Marcus nodded to himself.

’Good to know.’

The stone was not truly immovable. He simply was not strong enough yet. He would return for it later.

“Stone, it’s here!”

Strong suddenly pointed toward the northern sky.

A long, mournful wail drifted down from above, echoing across the clearing like the cry of something deeply tormented.

Marcus looked up and saw a massive black shape descending toward them.

As the creature drew closer, the sound intensified. The shrill, grieving screech scraped against his nerves in a way that made his skin crawl. It was easily the most unpleasant sound he had heard in the entire game.

The creature circled once above Stele Spring before slowly descending.

It was the Wraith-Bird.

Up close, the monster was horrifying.

Its face looked like the shriveled, sunken face of a human corpse. Deep wrinkles covered its skinless features, giving it a grotesque and unsettling expression.

Its wings resembled rusted iron struts rather than feathers, riddled with holes of varying sizes. Marcus could not understand how something with wings that damaged could still fly.

Yet the most striking feature was its tail.

Trailing behind the bird was a single feather nearly two meters long.

The Black-Wraith Feather shimmered with faint grey energy as it swayed through the air like a strip of silk. Compared to the rest of the creature’s hideous appearance, the feather was strangely elegant.

The rest of the bird’s body consisted only of blackened bone. No flesh. No skin. Not a single additional feather.

It looked like a miniature skeletal dragon in the shape of a bird.

As the creature prepared to land, DragonBlade moved first.

He, Cleaver, and Blaze charged forward together, positioning themselves between the bird and the Ghost-Bamboo tree. Their goal was to intercept the monster and lock it down before it could reach the fruit.

Under normal circumstances, DragonBlade would be the cornerstone of the entire fight. His job was to absorb the Wraith-Bird’s attacks while the rest of the team chipped away at its health.

If he failed to hold the line, their formation would collapse instantly.

But today Marcus was present.

The moment the Wraith-Bird landed, Marcus unleashed his support buffs once again, sending the squad’s stats soaring.

At the same time he issued a command.

Pebble, the Violet Thunderwing Steed, and the Sea Demon Soul surged forward together.

High above them, Goldie spotted the incoming bird and let out a piercing cry of challenge. The Shadow-Stained Gryphon King dove toward the battlefield without hesitation, eager to prove that a Grade 9 demonic beast was far superior to some ghostly scavenger.

Marcus joined the charge as well, casting Insight on the enemy one final time.

–

Wraith-Bird: Level 30 Mid-Tier Golden Boss

Health: 10,000

A creature native to the Valley of the Undead. It is formed from the bones of women who died harboring deep grudges combined with the remains of carrion birds. The Wraith-Bird feeds on human flesh. The more it consumes, the deeper the wrinkles on its face become and the more sorrowful its cry grows. High level Wraith-Birds can use their mournful calls to kill or control their prey.

This particular individual was originally Level 70 but suffered severe injuries during a territorial conflict in the Valley of the Undead. As a result, its level dropped to 30.

Skills

Lesser Elemental Magic:

Allows the Wraith-Bird to cast basic offensive spells.

Wraith’s Lament:

Active skill. Reduces the Attack, Defense, and Speed of all enemies within thirty meters by thirty percent while dealing ten damage per second.

Necrotic Miasma:

Active skill. Enemies within twenty meters have a thirty percent chance to suffer Stun, Blindness, or Confusion.

Wraith’s Phantasm:

Passive skill. A final life preserving ability. Within one second of being killed, the Wraith-Bird’s lingering grudge manifests as a swirling aura with a fifty percent chance to resurrect it. Upon revival, the bird can immediately teleport up to one hundred meters away. This ability can trigger twice per day.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep