Versatile Mage

Chapter 2301: Life-Hanging Flies

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

(Cough cough!) “What he meant was, the enemies must have been watching us through some special method. If we can get rid of them, the enemies will be as blind as us,” Mi Bai spoke up.

“Yes, you are right. They must be watching us somehow. Thank you Forneus, for relating such a piece of important information to me through others when you weren’t looking at me all the time!” Mason blurted out excitedly.

Forneus my ass! Zhao Manyan almost lost his temper.

It was hard to predict what was going to happen before going into the swamps and the woods. However, the Browns were obviously spying on them.

The Browns knew where they were, yet they had no idea where the Browns were hiding..

They had to go inside the swamps and the woods to learn what the enemy was relying on. The earlier they figured it out, the lower the casualties on their side!

——

The groups of scouts the army sent out previously had extremely low rates of survival.

In the end, Brigadier General Blaire had to recommend Lt. Colonel Mason, who had managed to outwit their enemy twice.

As a result, Mason’s men had become the army’s vanguard once again.

As long as the fog lamps were lit up, the army would be able to keep going. The rest would follow where the fog lamps were guiding them.

It was the nature of the environment in the swampy woods. The swamps would devour anyone who dared to enter them alone.

Under the swamps lay the bones of their many victims!

——

The swamps smelled strongly of mud and algae.

Whenever the raindrops fell on the rotten plants, the foul smell would rise into the air.

The flies were circling the corpses, whether they belonged to animals, demon creatures, or humans. They were like tiny condors from the deserts, feeding on rotten flesh and preying on dying creatures.

“Those are Life-Hanging Flies. I heard some old people mentioned they are the transformed form of an ancient prophet of dark magic. They roam endlessly in these swamps. If someone is about to die, they will circle above the person. The person will die in less than half a day. No one has ever escaped from the curse!” the man with a nose stud, who was named Cory, informed everyone.

“So you’re saying we are all going to die soon?” Mo Fan looked up and stared at the Life-Hanging Flies circling their heads.

The Life-Hanging Flies had insane numbers. Their regiment had more than a thousand people, yet each of them had a few dozen Life-Hanging Flies circling their heads. It looked like a gray cloud was floating around their heads like their souls were leaving their bodies!

The Life-Hanging Flies had been hanging onto their heads since they entered the swamps.

There were a lot of locals among the Federation forces. They were extremely terrified of the Life-Hanging Flies, considering the Life-Hanging Flies a bad omen.

However, they could not drive the Life-Hanging Flies away. It did not matter if they burned the Life-Hanging Flies into ashes with their magic, since many more would soon come from all directions and gather above their heads.

“Don’t be afraid, we are blessed by the Mother of the Woods. These flies and their curse will never kill us!” Mason proclaimed when he saw his men in low spirits.

“Sir, you have the most Life-Hanging Flies over your head,” a new lieutenant pointed out to him.

“Oh, any Poison Mages here? Can you please figure out what’s going on?” Mason asked after a startled look.

—

The numbers of the Life-Hanging Flies kept increasing. Even if the Brown Rebels were blind, they could easily tell where the Federation Army was from the noise the flies were making.

“Mu Bai, is there anything strange about these flies?” Mo Fan asked quietly.

“I can’t say for sure, there are a lot of tiny organisms in this world. They have better alertness and ability to predict danger, like how some animals are able to predict an avalanche, earthquake, or storm…” Mu Bai said.

“Which means we might be in trouble if we keep going on like this?” Zhao Manyan pointed out.

“More or less, these Life-Hanging Flies are very familiar with the swamps. They know where the dangers and traps are, so they have basically placed a claim on us in case some other creatures come and steal their food,” Mu Bai explained from a scientific angle.

Killing and driving away the Life-Hanging Flies was meaningless. They were not the direct cause of death.

They were merely waiting for the living to die. As for why these people died, there had to be something deadly in the swamps.

The Life-Hanging Flies knew what the thing was, but the Federation Army who had just come into the swamps had no idea what it was. The Life-Hanging Flies were merely following their own instincts, but as rumors started to spread, they suddenly became a curse…

“Help, someone, pull me out!” Someone was shrieking like a crow that had fallen into water.

“There’s quicksand ahead, look out!”

“Damn it, I can’t pull my legs out too…”

The group of people who were leading the way were stuck in quicksand.

The quicksand was holding them tightly. Some had already sunken to their knees.

However, they were unable to pull their legs out no matter how hard they tried. They were only sinking deeper!

“Earth Mages, what are you doing? Use Earth Wave!” Mason yelled.

The Earth Mages quickly constructed Star Orbits. Brown Stars spread rapidly across the swamp.

However, the soil in the swamp was abnormal. The Earth Wave that was supposed to alter the structure of the soil was not working here!

“Pull me up, quick, I’m almost out of breath!” someone yelled, just before his head dropped below the surface of the mud.

The mud had climbed over his chin. It poured into his mouth as he finished the sentence.

The man would soon die of suffocation after his mouth was filled with mud.

“What’s going on? Is this mud some kind of bottomless abyss?” Mason blurted out in shock.

“Sir, check this out!”

Cory was a Summoner. He Summoned a creature that resembled a hippopotamus.

A Plant Mage immediately Summoned some vines. They wrapped around the chin and neck of the suffocating soldier while the other ends of the vines were tied to the Hippopotamus Beast.

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If humans were not strong enough to drag the soldiers out of the mud, a Summoned Beast might be able to do it.

Cory patted the Summoned Beast on the back.

The Hippopotamus Beast was very strong. It was leaving deep footprints as it gathered its strength.

The Hippopotamus Beast did not let the soldiers down. It soon dragged the soldier who was almost drowned out of the mud.

Unfortunately… his body did not come out with his head!

Blood was pouring out of his neck, which was still stuck under the mud. It was like a little red fountain.

The head tied to the vines fell beside Cory and his Hippopotamus Beast. The terrifying expression on it sent shivers down everyone’s spine!