The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 74: The Otherworldly Eye Monster

Vol 2 Chapter 74: The Otherworldly Eye Monster

Traveling at the foot of the tall, majestic mountains, the seemingly reachable destination felt exceptionally long when actually traversed on foot.

Sylutia held the reins, her body moving in sync with the warhorse, rising and falling with its gait. This not only reduced jolting and friction but also made things easier for the horse.

For the first three days on the road, they encountered no dangers, doing nothing but traveling.

On the evening of the fourth day, several strange black vultures attacked them.

In the gloomy, overcast clouds, several tiny black dots spotted the moving convoy on the ground. They dove down from high altitude, their broad wings temporarily tucked in, slicing through the atmosphere like meteors.

Within the convoy, Sylutia was the first to sense the attack from the sky above.

"Stop, watch the sky." She took the bow case hanging from her saddle, drew the long-unused Black Ebony Compound Bow, and aimed at the heavens.

A black arrow pierced the dim sky, striking one of the black vultures, sending up a spray of fine blood and feathers. Although injured, this ferocious black vulture did not die.

Seeing this, the remaining vultures adjusted their trajectory, diving down at an even faster speed.By this time, the other apprentices traveling with her also noticed the enemies in the sky. Some raised their shields in defense, while others took out bows to shoot. Unfortunately, most arrows missed, utterly unable to hit the high-speed black vultures.

They were merely Knight Squires, not professional rangers, and had limited skill in ranged attacks like archery.

A few seconds later, these black vultures dove down. A fierce gust of wind whipped away the thick cloth covering the wagon. Their sharp claws directly tore open the wrappings, spilling the grain stored inside all over the ground.

Seeing this, many apprentices felt a surge of anxiety and anger. This was grain they had painstakingly saved. Such waste was truly unbearable.

But these black vultures were extremely fast, their ash-white claws sharp. Even when clashing with the spears and swords in the apprentices' hands, they merely produced faint sparks without being damaged.

[**Bone-Claw Black Vulture**] (Second Tier · Dead Embers): Black vultures with sharp claws and beaks. Even if damaged in battle, they can spontaneously recover. Can fly at altitudes above 8,000 meters, capable of crossing mountains. They prefer the corpses of other creatures and will also attack weaker opponents. A troublesome monster in the wild.

Faced with these high-speed, troublesome vultures, the convoy immediately found itself in a difficult battle, and this was merely the outskirts of the Darkmist Mountains.

"What a nuisance..."

Sylutia looked up into the distance. The black vultures dove down intermittently, attacking before immediately gaining altitude again, leaving the apprentices below helpless.

Stopping her warhorse, Sylutia kept thinking. Then, as if she had thought of something, she took a seed from a pouch on the side of her armored skirt.

As an emerald-green phosphorescent light appeared, this seed rapidly grew, forming the shape of a wooden arrow. However, this was not the end.

She nocked this special arrow on the bowstring and aimed at the sky.

Then, light flowed within Sylutia's eyes, and special runic Brands appeared on this arrow as well.

Layer upon layer, as faint golden threads of Brand Patterns were traced within the arrow, the aura it contained grew stronger and stronger.

With the empowerment of the Brand Patterns, this arrow gradually twisted. The entire arrow resembled a spiraling, distorted spear, its shape peculiar.

"Spiral Spear!"

The girl silently chanted in her heart. A golden flash of lightning sparked across the arrow, which then shot forth, transforming into a pale golden streak of light that vanished into the heavens.

Almost instantly, one of the black vultures in the sky was pierced through its body. Electric light exploded, turning it into shattered chunks of flesh that rained down.

Seeing their companion die so miserably, the remaining black vultures became even fiercer. But then, Sylutia's successive shots shattered and killed three more vultures. The remaining Bone-Claw Black Vultures began to feel fear. They circled fearfully in the sky, no longer diving down.

Soon after, they flew deeper into the cloud layer, avoiding this convoy that had seemed like prey.

After this attack ended, the convoy members gathered the spilled grain, repacked it, and set off again along the mountain road.

It would likely take another three days for them to reach the frontline garrison in the mountain canyon.

...

Surface World, Night Forest.

Several carriages raced forward. The bronze lanterns hanging at the front of the carriages swung incessantly, emitting clear clinking sounds in the dark night.

Accompanying the carriages were over a dozen cavalrymen and four knights in full armor.

The horses' hooves beat urgently. Dark shadows swayed in the woods behind them, and strange footsteps occasionally came from the shrubbery, making the members inside and outside the carriages anxious.

"Hurry, hurry!" a knight accompanying them urged, riding forward, shouting continuously.

At that moment, a blurred black shadow suddenly rushed out from the woods beside the road, pouncing at the shouting knight. A concealed sharp blade flashed, piercing the knight's nape, bringing forth a gush of blood.

*Thud.* As if a heavy object had fallen, the knight fell from his horse, rolling onto the dark road to the side. A chill ran through the hearts of those accompanying them, but no one dared to stop now.

"Quick, the Gloomwood is just ahead. Anty's pursuers won't dare enter." Inside a carriage, a young man dressed in silk formal wear leaned out, shouting urgently.

"Prince, be careful." An old man inside the carriage hurriedly pulled him back inside. Immediately, several sharp crossbow bolts pierced the carriage compartment, striking the spot where the young man had just spoken.

This was a group fleeing from White Cliff City. The carriages carried the bloodline of the Regas royal family, Prince Jabers and Princess Mursa. Their pursuers were the allied forces of Anty and Eagle Scorpion, who naturally did not want the two to survive.

In the few seconds it took for the shouts and conversation inside the carriage, several more accompanying cavalrymen were attacked by black shadows darting out from the roadside, falling on the road, disappearing without a trace. By now, the protective force outside the carriages grew increasingly thin, revealing large gaps.

As if sensing the timing was ripe, a sharp eagle cry dove down from the sky. The massive wingspan directly collided with the lead carriage, overturning it.

The high-speed carriage dragged along the ground, leaving bloody marks on the horses pulling it. Then the carriage crashed into a tree trunk, shattering with a loud crash.

Seeing this, the following two carriages also had to stop urgently. The few remaining personnel surrounded and protected the area, preventing the pursuers from attacking.

"Prince!" Two knights rummaged through the carriage wreckage, finding the young man covered in blood, and helped him up. From another carriage emerged a young woman dressed in a deep green dress, looking about 17 years old. This was the Second Princess of the royal family, Mursa.

"Brother~" The girl's voice was filled with anxiety and unease, but no one had time to comfort her now.

Once the group stopped, the pursuers quickly arrived. The first were over a dozen slender hounds. They looked cunning and sinister, and upon arrival, did not attack directly but continuously circled the group, barking. The sound made the people within the encirclement anxious and uneasy.

After that, crossbow bolts shot out from the darkness one after another. Escorting guards kept falling. Even when they raised their shields, they were shot from unexpected angles, falling with arrows in them.

Seeing the escorts dwindle to only a scattered few, Prince Jabers and Princess Mursa in the center felt fear but were utterly helpless.

"Prince, stand behind me." The last knight guarding them shouted urgently, then raised his shield.

A silver-gray light curtain expanded, forming a circling ring of light that protected the two. The arrows shot at the light curtain broke one after another, unable to penetrate.

Seeing this, several black shadows leaped out from the darkness. They moved silently, their sharp blades continuously harvesting the remaining members. At this point, the last three knights had to fully support the gray-white light curtain force field to protect the Prince and Princess, then drew their swords to fight these shadowy assassins.

But everyone present knew it was merely a matter of time before these knights were defeated.

Just as everyone was in utter despair, several dark purple beams of light shot out from the depths of the gloomy forest, piercing through the attacking shadows, boring holes through their bodies and killing them.

"Who is it!?" the pursuing shadows cried out in shock and anger.

At a time when Anty and Eagle Scorpion were on the verge of conquering Regas, what other faction would dare get involved? Even the Witches of the Gloomwood could only wait within the forest at this time, unable to come out directly to rescue.

Unfortunately, the other party did not respond. Again, several dark purple beams of light shot out from deep within the forest, piercing through the pursuing members.

Seeing this, an urgent whistle sounded.

Soon, an eagle cry echoed from the sky again. The giant eagle dove down once more. The fierce gust of wind blew away the forest leaves and shrubs. This time, both sides finally saw the scene deep within the forest.

Three large eyeball monsters were floating forward through the woods. They resembled enlarged eyeballs, with light occasionally flowing within their pupils, from which dark purple beams of light shot out, piercing distant enemies.

Race: Eye Tyrant (Unknown Creature)

Status: Healthy (Bloodthirsty)

Talents:

Magic Eye Creature [Superior Grade]: They are monsters among pupils. Any use of pupil-based abilities is enhanced.

Fate Card: [**Gloom-Gaze Evil Eye**] (Third Tier · Alien Star)

'An unknown creature from another world, possessing strange pupil abilities that can drive people mad.'

- Effect: [**Magic Pupil Lv.6**], your pupils possess strange magic, capable of twisting the surrounding Aspects, transforming them into your own power source.

- Effect: [**Gloom Suppression Lv.4**], under your suppression, the visual acuity of other creatures' pupils in the surrounding area is greatly weakened, as if plunged into a region of perpetual gloom, making it difficult to see anything clearly.

Core Card: [**Arriving Otherworldly Visitor**] [Alien Star]

'You are not a creature of this world, rejected and loathed by it. However, a portion of the local intelligent beings particularly worship you. Through sacrifice and contract, you are allowed to temporarily remain in this world.'

- Influence: [**Fiend Contract**], as long as the person who formed the fiend pact survives, you are exempt from the world's expulsion and rejection, and can breathe and recover in this world like other living beings.

Ability Cards:

[**Evil Eye Ray Lv.7**] (Alien Star): Releases a ray with extremely strong penetrating power from the pupil. Even knights of the same tier find it difficult to withstand.

[**Astral Tough Hide Lv.6**] (Alien Star): Thick, resilient outer skin allows you to traverse strange spatial-temporal rifts, descend into this world, and also possesses relatively strong defensive power.

[**Maddening Gaze Lv.6**] (Distortion): Creatures that meet your gaze will unconsciously suffer mental confusion and collapse.