Night Ranger

Chapter 576: Swamp

Panda Novel

A silhouette was flickering along the complicated pathway through a dark cave.

This was the southernmost part of the Underdark. After leaving the Rosen Strongholds to head south, one would arrive at the most remote part of the Underdark.

The terrain here was even more complicated, the caves were messier and there were no large underground spaces like in the center area.

Thanks to his memories and Raven's incomplete map, Marvin was able to make his way through very quickly.

He could feel the soil gradually moistening.

Along the way, he met several Dark Elven Fighters, but he kept away from them.

Darksight, one of the biggest advantages of Night Walkers, was being put to full effect. In this pitch-black darkness, he was the true king!

Besides seeing some Elves, he also killed a few careless monsters as he continued on his way.

With Marvin's current strength as a Legend, even when considering the entire Underdark, the people able to block his path would be very few in number.

At Level 22, an awful lot of monsters couldn't even harm him.

As long as he avoided those with Divinity or who were Legends, Marvin would have no issues.

Perhaps it was because most of those living in the Underdark had gathered around the Great Vortex, but the population of the southern part of the Underdark seemed pitifully small.

Marvin also passed by a few places that originally had tribes or settlements there but were now completely empty.

Under the pressure of the Dark Specters, the lives of the Underdark's inhabitants had reached a critical point. Marvin was unable to hold back from sighing as he thought of it.

As far as the Humans on the surface were concerned, those in the Underdark were simply great scourges. Members of the same race would tend to end up a lot more powerful if they grew up in the nasty environment of the Underdark compared to if they grew up on the surface, provided they survived. This place fully followed the rule of the survival of the fittest.

But even so, in the face of the Dark Specter clan that had overturned Feinan before, the Underdark's inhabitants had still been caught unprepared.

It wouldn't be exaggerating at all to say that the Underdark had suffered an enormous blow. Marvin believed that even if they managed to repel the Dark Specters this time and kill the Final Ghost Mother, the Underdark would need a long time to recover.

This was actually similar to Feinan.

It was just that one was being ravaged by the Great Calamity while the other was suffering from the consequences of the eruption of the Eternal Frozen Spring.

In this era, no matter where you were, you would face an unprecedented disaster.

This was the true calamity.

...

As the soil was gradually becoming wetter, Marvin hastened his speed.

Moving long-distance in the Underdark was very tiring, so at Raven's suggestion, before leaving the Rosen Strongholds, he had bought a docile Rock Lizard to use as a mount.

He used some exp to quickly level his [Special Ability – Horsemanship – Rock Lizard] to the maximum, which he could access thanks to the Horsemanship skill of his Noble class.

This way, there would be no difference between him and a Dark Elven Fighter when it came to riding one.

Rock Lizards' steps were light and noiseless even though they had shockingly fast speed. They could attach themselves to stone walls or the ground while keeping the sounds of friction minimal.

More importantly, despite being domesticated, as a species native to the Underdark, Rock Lizards also had a good ability to avoid danger.

Thanks to this inconspicuous mount, Marvin had already avoided quite a few ominous forces.

He didn't come to the southern part of the Underdark to slaughter wantonly. He needed to finish his tasks as fast as possible.

As time slowly passed, the constant sound of air passing through the low caves could make someone become negligent.

But Marvin remained on guard. He pondered over a lot of things, while also continuously making sure he was going in the right direction.

In this place, a moment of carelessness could cause one to get lost.

Although he had adventured in the Underdark for a while in the game, Marvin wasn't a native of the Underdark, he had to be careful.

After about three hours of travelling through the complicated cave system, Marvin emerged into a relatively wide open area.

He could see clearly tell that the ground was sloped.

After going down a gentle slope filled with moss, a seemingly endless swamp now appeared before Marvin.

[Rotten Mushroom Swamp].

The natives of the Underdark more frequently just called the place the Death Swamp.

Many who tried to go through ended up as will-o'-wisps hovering above the swamp.

Marvin took a long and serious look across the swamp.

But he only saw a mix of duckweed and mud, with some bubbles occasionally. There were also a few skeletons of victims not far away.

Some green lights were also faintly discernible.

The depths were obstructed by a thick fog.

The Rock Lizard under him was raising its legs restlessly, apparently noticing something.

'Rotten Mushroom Swamp…'

'From the thickness of the fog, it looks like that woman did indeed settle here.'

'Haha, this is where the defensive scrolls are.'

Marvin sneered and pulled on the Rock Lizard, but he didn't head for the depths of the Swamp.

They followed the gentle slope and started going east. He would be an idiot if he just went straight into the swamp!

After all, this swamp was a very frightening maze and had been placed there as a trap!

A natural swamp wouldn't be so dangerous. People died in the Rotten Mushroom Swamp because a snake woman was living there!

She was a Witch who betrayed the Anzeds!

From the information he gained from the game, the snake Witch lost the fight over the position of Witch Queen many years ago. In her fury, she betrayed the Anzeds and even sold the location of the Anzed Witches' headquarters to their biggest enemy at the time. She then hid in the Underdark, focusing on studying Potioneering and Alchemy.

The Witch Queen stripped her of her supreme Witchcraft Authority, but she still had many fairly powerful spells.

She possessed many kinds of magic, partially because she was a Demon's descendant. Her aptitude for magic was also very strong. After several hundred years, her Potioneering, Alchemy and casting abilities had reached the peak among those in the Underdark.

But she still had no way to leave the swamp yet.

That was because after the Anzeds settled their biggest problem, the Anzed Queen had found her and put a curse on her.

The curse was that she would forever remain ugly, forever be unable to see the light of the sun, and forever cause anyone who saw her to feel loathing toward her.

The snake Witch was utterly furious, but had no way to get rid of it. Thus, she could only hide in this dark swamp, trying her best to break the Witch Queen's curse.

And after these many years, she seemed to have reached a small breakthrough.

But she still couldn't remove the curse alone and needed the help of others.

This was the brief introduction to a chain quest.

Marvin had seen the post on the forum before.

The player was showing off Sodom's Blades, which he had gotten from the Bloody Emperor's tomb, and explaining how he'd gotten them.

Marvin now took advantage of that information.

'If that post wasn't a troll, then there should be a dark river here.'

Marvin sat on the Rock Lizard, proceeding eastward, before finally finding a meandering brook.

He suddenly felt the temperature in the surroundings drop by quite a bit!

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