While Mufasa and the others were still wandering around the hunting grounds, the Players led by Marni had successfully arrived at the Seira Marshes.
The Seira Marshes occupied a large piece of land to the south of the Valla Empire. Like the Trinia Forests to the north, it was uninhabited and filled with beasts and magical creatures, a dangerous place unfit for human habitation. Whenever the emperor of the Valla Empire wanted to annoy a certain noble, the most common method would be to bestow a small portion of those two territories to that noble, and then grandly urge them to immediately develop their fiefdom there …
Naturally, such a method would not work on nobles like Duke Horan who already owned large tracts of land as their own.
Just like its name, the Seira Swamp was a large wetland that would not freeze or accumulate snow even in the winter. There were many swamps scattered all over the place. An inexperienced person would not be able to tell if it was a dry and solid patch of moss or a bottomless swamp with floating turf.
Aside from magical creatures and various ferocious beasts, it was also said that there were unusual witches in the Seira Marshes. Either way, it was a very dangerous place that was not recommended.
In comparison, the Trinia Forests, which was also a dangerous place, was much better. At the very least, they didn't have to worry about missing a step and drowning in the swamps.
It was not a friendly place even for the Players.
While resurrection spells could revive the Players, it was the same as having no corpse to revive them if they were completely submerged in the swamps. The Players would have to be locked in a small black hut for three days before being revived at the lifestone.
Be that as it may, the Players were at least far more adventurous than most people.
After all, most people wouldn't even be able to find a corner of the swamps even if hundreds or thousands of people died. But the Players were different — they didn't have to die hundreds or thousands of times to find their way around.
After all, none of them were serious about walking.
"The one on the right, use Mountain Breaker on the ground and don't miss a single inch. Don't worry, the Seafood Ambassadors will pull you out. The one on the left, use three slashes and the last slash. Run once you open the map and be careful not to sink. I'll open Divine Earthbreaker Sword, and all of you look closely at where the swamps are!" Marni ordered orderly.
The benefits of the minimap were on full display in that very moment.
"Damn it! Say that again! Who is the Seafood Saint? "the Seafood Saint players protested angrily.
Even as the Players destroyed the swamp's environment and terrain in a frenzy, they steadily, or rather rapidly advanced into the swamp.
Their efficiency was so high that it made all the exploration teams that had come to the Seira Marsh sigh in admiration.
What left the Players puzzled was that the swamps they had destroyed along the way were large enough. Reasonably speaking, magical beasts such as the Wildfang Crocodiles should have escaped, but all they saw were swamp fishmen, swamp fishmen, and more swamp fishmen.
Almost every Player who participated in the operation had the same question: could the swamp fishmen be the only ones left in the swamp?
However, they soon realized that they had guessed wrong.
Because apart from the swamp fishmen, there were also human-faced fish monsters.
Marni, who was once knowledgeable as a merchant had assumed that these ugly and unheard of monsters were not native to the swamps since their bodies did not look like they could live in wetlands, and some of the human-faced fish monsters even had characteristics of marine fishes …
But as the number of human-faced fish monsters increased, even Marni was starting to feel uncertain.
"Could the swamp's species have really mutated on a large scale?"
"Mister Wilf, I've noticed something that's not good."
Just as Marni began to doubt his life, the ranger who had been the scout returned from the front.
It should be mentioned that there had been twelve of them, but only one was left now. It was clear how frightening the swamp was.
"What did you find?" Marni couldn't help asking curiously.
The ranger didn't answer directly, and instead had Marni lead several Players to follow him to a spot not too far ahead.
It was a rather obvious and rather large swamp pond.
To Marni's surprise, there were almost a thousand swamp fishmen surrounding the pond, and their numbers were still increasing. At the center of the pond was a swamp fishman priest who was dancing.
Although there was no telling how the priest ensured that he wouldn't sink, Marni and the others were more surprised by what happened next.
As the swamp fishman priest danced bizarrely, a two-meter-tall ball of water that resembled an egg floated out of the swamp. It appeared to have no impurities at all, and was immeasurably transparent.
As if summoned, the many swamp fishmen who had been watching all ran into the swamp and swam to that spot, diving headfirst into the ball of water.
Even though the ball of water appeared immeasurably transparent, the liquid inside was like acid, and the bodies of the swamp fishmen would melt into a cheese-like form in seconds after they entered the ball of water.
However, as the number of swamp fishmen corpses increased, the cheese-like corpses began to react further, turning into a cotton-like state that fused together, rapidly growing organs and skin.
When the last of the scales grew and all of the organs were complete, in just a few short minutes, the several dozen murloc corpses automatically grew into a human-faced fish monster. With a terrifying, ear-piercing sound, it broke out of the water ball and broke out of its egg!
After devouring the prey the swamp fishmen brought back, the human-faced fish quickly grew again. Not only did its body become larger, its scales were also turning black and immeasurably sturdy.
Marni was immeasurably shocked when he saw it all.
The swamp fishmen that made him question his life were actually the same creature as that unusual human-faced fish monster? If he had to describe it, it was similar to the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly in a cocoon.
Moreover, the thing that shocked him the most was something he had thought of before.
So, there were no other creatures apart from the swamp fishmen in this swamp, or at least in this area?
Moreover, the fishman priest's dance must have been some sort of sacrificial ritual, but it didn't look like a sacrificial dance offered to the Ocean God. Instead, it was so bizarre that it was hard to forget. As for the ball of water that turned the swamp fishmen into human-faced fish monsters, it must have been the effect of the sacrificial dance that was similar to a divine spell.
Such a sinister and bewitching divine spell was definitely not the power of a positive deity. The fishmen were most likely worshiping some evil god!
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Chapter 171:
Walking without a slide kick or triple slash?
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