Chapter 484: Smoke Beast

『Fuhahaha! It's the plains! I came back!』

「?」

『Sorry, don't mind it. More importantly, can you feel the presence around us?』

「…Is something's wrong?」

After passing through the Forest of Exhaustion, we had stepped about a dozen meters into the Plains of the Demon Wolf. In terms of location, it would be in the northeast area of the Plains of the Demon Wolf.

There is definitely something out there. I know that, but I couldn't find out the exact location of the presence. There was a tense feeling around me, and the flow of magic was somewhat unnatural.

『How about you, Urushi?』

「woof…」

『You can't feel it too huh』

Does it have stealth level that can even fool Urushi's noses, or is it a type of magic beast that has no scent at all?

「Stay alert, let's go」

『Yeah』

「Woof!」

We proceeded like that for a few minutes, using our exploration skills to the fullest. Well, we didn't gain much distance. Would it have been quicker to go through it at full speed rather than proceed with caution huh?

But apparently, it's not that easy.

「Master!」

「Woof!」

Fran and Urushi jumped up at once. A moment later, I finally realize.

『From below huh!』

After all, the less I'm in contact with the ground, the weaker my ability to detect what's underneath. How many times already, did I lose to Fran and Urushi huh.

「Smoke?」

『It could be poison gas. We need to get further away』

「Nn!」

What came up from the ground was a large amount of white smoke. I could tell that it had a lot of magical power.

And the smoke is coming towards us as if it had a will of its own.

『This smoke――I knew it! It's a higher species of magic beast from the Gust type』

Upon appraisal, the smoke itself was part of the magic beast. A threat level B magic beast, the Greater Venom Gust. In addition to being immune to physical attacks, it has high levels of stealth and regeneration. It also had high levels of magic absorption, life absorption, and stealth. (1)

It was a magic beast that will regenerate endlessly unless its smoke is completely extinguished or its magic stone is destroyed, Moreover, the smoke also contains a deadly poison.

It doesn't have the ability to kill us with a single blow, but it's a nasty opponent that will continue to wear us down as long as it's attached to us.

Well, we have high poison resistance. If it was a weaker person that exposed to its deadly poison while having their life and magic power absorbed would be fatal.

Moreover, from what I saw, the smoke was quite extensive. Judging from the fact that it caught up with Fran, who was already quite far away from the ground without any problem, but it probably can't cover 100 meters area. Wouldn't it cover a small town with this? It was no mistake that this being was ranked as a threat level B that could even destroy a country.

『Fran! Urushi! Find its magic stone!』

「Nn!」

「Woof!」

I try to hit the smoke with magic. I tried thunder magic, flame magic, and wind magic, but I think flame magic is the most effective because it can attack on its surface.

Also, magic and life steal skills are effective. I could see the smoke that had lost its power dissipate into thin air. However, it would soon be replenished by the smoke that kept coming up from the ground.

『How was it? Did you find out where its magic stone is?』

「I don't know」

「woof…」

It seems, magical power from its smoke had distracted them, making it impossible to examine its surrounding in detail.

『I'm pretty sure there's a magic stone under the ground though…』

「Then, why don't we blow the whole ground with magic?」

『You're right, there's no other choice huh』

「Nn!」

『Then, let's go! Haaaaaaa!』

「Muuuu!」

What we activated was an earth magic called Gravity Pressure. This is a technique that uses super gravity to crush a certain area, and we activated it in a way that covered the area where the main body of the Greater Venom Gust might be, lining it up without any gaps.

We can see large areas being crushed and compressed. It's a scene similar to Ashwrath's Gravity Blows, forcibly recreated by firing a series of magic. Well, this one is inferior in power and range.

「Did it works?」

『No good huh. The smoke's still going strong』

「Then, give it more!」

『Ou!』

We're going to compress the earth even wider and deeper. Not only that, we also bombarding it with flame and thunder magic is an added bonus.

However, the smoke still did not disappear.

『Tsk. Even after all of this huh――』

Kabooom!

「Kuh!」

『Uwoh!』

Immediately after, a tremendous impact shocked off Fran's body, which was still in the air. The moment I heard that sound, I immediately guarded Fran, so she wasn't injured, cause a direct hit would have caused serious damage.

I grabbed the mysterious object that was bouncing off my blade with telekinesis as soon as I could.

『A crystal. No, a scale huh?』

The scales were made of a transparent material like crystal. These crystal scales seemed to have the effect of reflecting magic power, making it quite difficult to detect its presence. If it hadn't been for its sounds coming at us, I wouldn't have noticed it.

While I was checking, I heard a series of wind noises. It seemed that it had launched a series of attack.

「Muh!」

But, if it wasn't a surprise attack, the covert nature of these scales would be halved. Fran was already able to deal with them. She knocked some of them away and blocked some with dimensional storage.

However, the enemy is too far away. I could tell that they were attacking us from the northwest, but I couldn't sense any sign of them or their magic. It seems that they are sniping at us from outside our search range.

「Master, Urushi. Let's go!」

『Okay!』

「Woof!」

Fran tried to get close to the mysterious sniper, but her opponent was not half-hearted. The more we move in the direction of the sniper, the greater the number of crystal scales and the more powerful they become.

In terms of power alone, each shot would be enough to instantly kill a D rank adventurer. Moreover, the smoke from the unexpectedly fast-moving Gust was still persistently chasing us.

『Fran, at this rate, we'll have to deal with both the Gust and the mysterious attacker!』

「……Muh. What should we do then?」

『We can either shake them off by teleporting to the Forest of Exhaustion. But, if we simply shake them off, there's a chance that the gust will keep coming after us』

「……Understood. Let's return back to the Forest of Exhaustion」

Fran looked frustrated, but she immediately accepted my suggestion and began to leave from the area. I think she understands that she is in a troublesome situation.

『I knew this wasn't going to be easy huh』

「…Nn」

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