Over the years, the Tibia Mariner had eliminated countless skilled warriors who passed through, deploying all sorts of varied tactics, yet they were all dealt with one by one.
What's the point of being flashy? Dead is dead. Summonwater Village had become the burial ground for innumerable corpses.
However, the strength Frieren displayed today left no openings, unwavering, demonstrating absolute power combined with terrifying combat skill.
Its boat could be parried?
This was news to it.
Not only that, the Uchigatana's parry had carved a gash into the boat's keel, sending wood splinters flying. It was finally about to break apart. And she did it single-handedly! What level of strength was required for that? Unimaginable.
The next moment, the silver-haired girl raised her staff again, bathing the area in holy light arrows.
Caught off guard, the Mariner capsized, fortunate that the hull provided some cover, reducing the damage taken.
Even so, it was severely wounded and struggled to recover.
Experienced, it immediately thought of using the ruins for cover to slowly grind down the opponent. But the next moment, Frieren unleashed Homing Crystal Soulmass. Having freed up her attention, she even found time to support D and Auluo in the distance, easily helping them clear out dozens of skeletons.
She didn't neglect her primary target either. Whenever the Mariner attempted to create distance, magic assailed it from tricky angles that were difficult to avoid.
If it shortened the distance, it faced attacks from the Uchigatana. Although physical strikes weren't as effective against it, it absolutely refused to gamble on that possibility.
What to do?
Caught in a dilemma, it made a mistake. Suddenly, the boat got stuck leaving a patch of ruins, running aground. In its current damaged state, moving was impossible.
No, wait. The silver-haired girl's attack trajectory had been guiding it here from the start.
As expected, Frieren then gripped her staff with both hands. Infusing it with power, the blade of magical light expanded dramatically, able to reach the enemy without her needing much maneuvering. With that, she brought down the finishing blow.
Magic tore through the boat's hull and the necromancer within.
It tried to struggle but was met with an annihilation strike, utterly powerless. Bathed in holy energy, it vanished. The beam of light connected heaven and earth, clearly visible even kilometers away.
After executing this move, Frieren spun around, her attack tracing a wide arc that even penetrated the ruins, scouring the surroundings. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of skeletons dissolved into ash.
Acquired [Skeleton Militiaman Ashes]. Can summon 2 skeleton soldiers.
Acquired [Deathroot] item.
When the dust settled.
The moment she heard the prompts, she knew it was done. Without the Tibia Mariner's command and summoning ability, this settlement would return to nature; it would be difficult for Those Who Live in Death to concentrate here again. Additionally, she obtained a Deathroot. Was it used for trading?
Elsewhere, the Black Knife Assassin Auluo relaxed her stance and shrugged. She had expected this; threats of this level posed no danger to her lady.
Feeling the residual magic power, D had lingering fear. When the blade of light swept past him earlier, his scalp tingled; if she had wished it, he surely would have been decapitated.
Looks like I need to report back to the Roundtable Hold and share this information.
The silver-haired girl strolled casually out from the depths of Summonwater Village. The earlier explosions had kicked up a downpour, leaving her soaked, but it didn't diminish her joy at acquiring new treasures.
"Mr. D, do you know how to use Deathroot?"
"You can exchange it with Gurranq, the Beast Clergyman, for some valuable items, all quite good. There's a waygate not far from here that leads directly there. I'll point it out to you."
"Thank you."
"It is I who should be thanking you. Otherwise, I might not have made it back alive."
The two exchanged smiles. Though a chance encounter, they both seemed like decent people – a rare and precious quality in the Lands Between.
"Lady Frieren, I shall head back first. We can catch up again someday when you visit the Roundtable Hold."
With that, he gave a suave wave and departed. As Tarnished, meetings and partings were common. They might encounter each other again while adventuring in the same area. Besides, D had a premonition: this land, once ruled by the Storm Lord and having resisted the Golden Conquest for years, was inherently rebellious and unyielding. Perhaps a storm was about to brew once more.
The silver-haired girl waved back and bid him farewell.
"Let's search around some more."
Adventuring experience told Frieren there might be treasures nearby, so the silver-haired girl began a gleeful carpet search.
Even Auluo, who had witnessed this once before in the catacombs, was deeply astonished. Most people avoided ruins and vestiges like the plague, assuming them to be filled with danger and simply staying away.
Who searched ruins with such jubilation like her own superior? Oh well, it's normal for the strong to have eccentricities. Perhaps that's precisely why the Funeral Spellblade is so powerful.
After searching for a while, Frieren indeed discovered a basement chest.
Her intuition was sharp as ever. Seeing it, she carefully inspected the area around the chest, then switched to her player view to confirm there were no warnings about Mimics before cautiously opening it.
Acquired [Green Turtle Talisman] equipment.
[A talisman fashioned after a green turtle. Raises stamina recovery speed.]
[The turtle is known as a nutritious ingredient, symbolizing boundless energy.]
[Those who call turtles wise beasts are said to view eating them as a barbaric practice.]
Stamina recovery?
That was incredibly useful. For many warrior classes, the blue bar might be optional, but the green bar was indispensable. Currently, Frieren's Astrologer 'character' was quite weak; continuous spellcasting or dodging also required stamina. Obtaining a powerful talisman was definitely good news.
An unexpected windfall! As expected, simply collecting more items naturally leads to becoming stronger. Coupled with the large influx of Runes, she could level up again. Back on the surface, she called out:
"Melina, help me put some points into Endurance."
"As you wish. This time, we should focus on Endurance and Mind."
Given Frieren's current demonstrated strength, she wasn't likely to be short on health often. Besides, more health just meant tanking an extra hit or two; avoiding hits altogether was the stronger approach.
Therefore, following Melina's advice, she allocated all the Runes accumulated recently into her blue bar (Mind) and green bar (Endurance). Now, her Astrologer 'build' would finally be more agile than before. Sooner or later, she'd be able to hold her own relying solely on this 'alt'.
Witnessing all this, the Black Knife Assassin still couldn't see the mysterious Finger Maiden. If not for a faint sense of her presence, she might have dismissed it as another one of her superior's quirks.
She certainly grew stronger again.
Next, the group set off towards the waygate, as Frieren was eager to exchange her item.
"My lady, you and your Maiden can go ahead. I will remain here on guard. After you return, we can rest tonight at the Third Church of Marika over there."
"Mm."
Touching the stone monument with a swirling vortex at its center, her figure vanished. Melina, naturally in her spectral form merged within Frieren, also arrived in a land dominated by a reddish hue – the Caelid region, at the Bestial Sanctum amidst the Scarlet Rot.
The moment she arrived, Frieren spun around sharply. She was on a set of stairs; below stood a guardian with its back turned.
The health bar displayed the name [Black Blade Kindred]. Who, then, is the Black Blade?
Well, as long as it doesn't attack first. Since she was here to see the clergyman, she should show the master some respect. With that thought, the silver-haired girl took a step forward and pushed open the door.
____
Support Wancheng Funeral Parlor with Reviews and Power Stones.
🎁 Reward: 1 extra chapter for every 5 reviews / 100 Power Stones. ✨
✨ Early access: 40 chapters on Patreon! Support here: patreon.com/Walnutchan