Chapter 71: Flags flags and more flags

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*Krieeek...!!!*

*Bam!!!*

*Kriek...*

As the Snow Flinx died in silence with its whole body being completely bruised and injured due to the dozens of kicks that he received from Aspen repeatedly, He then approached the corpse of the Snow Flinx and started taking out all its fur before saving it all into his inventory.

It didn't take him long before the corpse was left without even a speck of its old fur. Aspen, who was smiling brightly at the sudden gain, looked at the screen that popped up right in front of his eyes after he stored all the fur he obtained from the Flinx.

He shrugged the screen aside, and then went back to explore the mine left behind by the humans of the era before the Great War.

There weren't that many things left after he emptied everything on his way a few minutes ago. So the only things he managed to find in the end were just a lot of spiderwebs, and a bunch more of tools completely broken or rotten after the thousands of years that have gone by.

In the end, it could be said that the only thing he gained here were the healing bands from earlier, and the Flinx Fur he collected from his previous battle.

*Screeeeech!!*

"AAAAH, MOTHERFUCKER THERE ARE MORE OF YOU HERE TOO?!"

Suddenly, from the shadows emerged a very horrible and terrifying bat that lunged at Aspen right when he stepped within its range.

However...

*Boooom!!*

Before Aspen could even draw out his sword, a bone suddenly appeared from besides him and shot towards the bat at a terrifying speed. It wasn't long before the bat was impaled into the wall after being pierced by the bone.

"Are you okay? Those things can be pretty tricky sometimes, I almost lost my skull a few times I was not paying attention to them. Fortunately, after my strength improved when I became a skeleton, I was able to launch things at the speed of a bullet. Which proved to be even more lethal the moment I used my sturdy and powerful bones as projectiles" Jack suddenly appeared from behind Aspen and patted his shoulder lightly before he walked towards the bat in order to inspect it.

"I guess being a skeleton has its advantages, but don't you like... lose those bones forever after using them as projectiles?"

"My bones can regenerate to some extent with enough time, and although they take at least a month or two to recover completely, I can still pick up those that I use previously, or fight against other skeletons and take their bones for my personal use"

"Well, that's convenient. How about that we leave this place already? I have been gone for quite a long time already, and nothing good happens once I leave for too long"

"Did something happen in the past?"

"I entered into the Elf Kingdom for a month or so, and then when I came back I suddenly had to face an entire army of goblins and their commander, who by the way could crush you and me with one or two punches easily... After that I left once again to make some tourism in the Elf Kingdom for a month or so again... and when I came back, I suddenly had to face a chaos-lover cultist with magic taken right out of his ass, and then I had to defeat Cthulhu's motherfucking giant eye."

"...That's... tough body..."

"Whatever, let's get the fuck out of this cave fast because now that I recall all those events, and the coincidental fact that they always happened whenever I left for too long, I began to have a bad feeling about this as well..." (A/N: UwU)

"Sure, It's not like I have enjoyed my stay in this smelly and dark cave for the last thousand years... I'm quite in a hurry for leaving already..."

*Kieeek...!*

Suddenly from behind both of them, another Snow Flinx appeared and let out a cry before it readied itself to attack Aspen and Jack.

"Look, it's another Snow Flinx..."

"I think he came to bade us goodbye"

*Shiiin* 

Soon Aspen took out his Blood Butcher from his inventory, and lunged fiercely towards the Snow Flinx who looked at the sudden attack from Aspen in a dumbfounded manner.

It wasn't long before the poor Snow Flinx met his end at the blade of the Blood Butcher that sliced him in half.

*Kieeeeeeeeeek...!!*

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Dryad POV:

That human... Aspen, did not come back today as well. Maybe he died? Seems very unlikely due to how resistant and resilient he is compared to most creatures.

He said he went to collect materials, but how does that even take two entire weeks?

And here I was, looking forward to teaching another Nature controller the full potential of our magic and the secrets that lie within this incredible magic that only my brothers and sisters have managed to dominate fully. Unfortunately, he seemed to be really taking his time down there in the cave.

That was also not the only reason I wanted him to come back fast.

A week or so ago, I decided to go and look for the Cultist's den and finish them all before they did something worse than the first time. It wasn't really hard to identify a group of them, after all, most of them had either a bit of chaotic energy residing within them, or they had some remnants of chaotic energy attached to them after coming in contact with another human consumed by the Chaos. 

After identifying a group of them, I followed them for at least five days until they finally arrived at their destination. It was a giant castle of an ebony color built in the middle of the forest. And although it was in a horrible state, to the point that many parts of its structure had collapsed, or were covered in moss, it was still somehow standing.

However, that wasn't all about that mysterious castle. Not only there were dozens of skeletons scattered around it, but there was also a strange old man guarding the entrance with a blank look on his eyes.

The thing that surprised me about this old man was not his seemingly neutral relationship with the cultists. It was the incredibly terrifying and malicious presence residing within his body. A presence incredibly similar to the one of "That" Demon. In a way you could say that it was very similar to that of Cthulhu's eye. However, unlike the presence of that eye, this one was incomparably stronger and more vicious than the previous one. 

If that eye had an aura comparable to that of a beast that enjoys torturing its preys, acting out of pure instinct to its desires. Then this presence had an aura similar to that of a vicious and evil creature with a sapient conscience that rejoices in the suffering of everyone surrounding it.

When I tried to peer within the castle, the presence sleeping within the old man suddenly woke up and stopped me from entering. Not only that, but it also tried to devour completely my soul, to which I had no more option but to escape at that moment. Otherwise, I could be probably killed in just mere seconds if I were to stay more time there.

The cultists were doing something inside that castle, and it was not charity. 

The aura of death that the castle exuded was enormous, to the point that only places where thousands of living beings died at the same moment could be compared to it. The only other place where I was sure I had felt this enormous dreadful feeling of death was where the battle against Cthulhu developed, which was right at the center of the actual Goblin Kingdom.

Some kind of battle must have happened there at some point in history, and it must not have been a beautiful one for the ones inside that castle.

After that adventure, I went back to this place, and waited patiently until Aspen came back.

However, the more time that guy took to come back here, the more this dreadful feeling within me was growing. Whatever those Cultists were doing within that castle, it was obviously not gonna end well for us if we didn't stop them.

"Hey, want to take some tea with me? You look awfully anxious... The muscles in your back and shoulders are all incredibly tense, and your heart also seems to be beating way faster than what it should..." 

Suddenly, from behind me appeared Claire, another interesting human anomaly like Aspen. She had an incredible abnormal body that granted her super strength even while not being incredibly muscular, and her soul seemed to have some mysterious powers ingrained in it that I couldn't fully comprehend yet. Although she wasn't as strong as Aspen in strength, she had an incredible learning ability when it came to understanding the fundamentals of the bodies of any race. Making her one of the best medics that could exist in this or any time.

"Huff... Thank you, then I will gladly take your offer"

As both of us took seat on a table and started drinking some tea, suddenly both of us noticed a certain cloud in the distant sky approaching slowly.

"Hey... what is that rainbow-colored cloud in the distance, miss Evvie?"

"Hmm... isn't that...?"

Oh my... so "That" is coming here?

...

You better comeback fast Aspen or this place will be completely destroyed before you can even do something about it...

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