How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 60 Carrion Crawler

"This is my friend, Shar the Lamplighter."

"This is my teammate, Sienna of the Night's Watch."

Kane gave a brief introduction, after which the two women sized each other up, their eyes scrutinizing each other.

Sienna looked at Shar, a sense of unease rising within her.

The lantern-bearer was a handsome, blond-haired knight who clearly cared a great deal about Kane.

Shar also gazed at Sienna, whose unusual emerald green eyes and long emerald green hair possessed a unique charm...

A female knight-errant and a female bard stood silently gazing at each other, a few steps apart.

The atmosphere froze instantly.

At this moment, Reed, as the captain of the Night's Watch Thirteen, stepped forward.

He reached out his hand to the tall female warrior in the Lantern Bearers' squad:

"Captain Serena, hello, I'm Reed from the 13th Night Watch. Sorry we're late."

The tall female warrior Serena shook her head and reached out to shake his hand:

"It's not too late. Thank you for coming to our rescue. Otherwise, even if we could handle so many rats, there would have been casualties."

Shar, who was taking her medication, lowered her head in embarrassment.

Sienna glanced at her, while Kane stepped forward and asked:

"Captain Serena, what have you found? Why did you arrive here before us?"

Serena glanced at this supposedly fallen "hero," suppressed her curiosity, and truthfully stated:

"My professional trait, 'Primal Perception,' gives me a vague feeling that there is something unusual ahead, something that is definitely not a creature native to Nord."

"I only chased after it because it started moving."

"I never expected to be attacked by a swarm of mutated rats at the crossroads."

Kane understood.

"Primal Perception" is a unique professional trait of the Ranger, which allows them to sense anomalies within a mile, but can only pinpoint the general direction and cannot obtain specific information.

It is perfectly reasonable for the other party to choose to pursue the target first, fearing that the target might escape.

"So, can we continue tracking them now?" Kane asked.

Serena shook her head, her gaze falling on the blackish-green water corrupted by the pollution spell, and the dead rat carcasses on the ground:

"I'm sorry, its scent has been masked by the polluted environment, and I've lost my sense of it."

Reed took over the conversation.

"Then let's move on."

After the two teams met up, they headed deeper into the fork in the road.

Since the Lantern Bearers squad already had wounded members, Reed volunteered to lead the team ahead, and Serena did not refuse.

Only Sienna, holding her bow and rapier, had mixed feelings.

She and Shar, who was walking behind, would occasionally exchange glances before looking away from each other.

Kane ignored the undercurrents between the two.

As he walked, he pondered the swarm of rats he had just encountered.

The rats were unusually large and had an exceptionally violent temperament, clearly indicating that they had been contaminated in some way.

The most likely cause of such a mutation in the rat population is that they consumed contaminated substances.

For example... the corpse of some kind of monster.

Just then, a clear gnawing sound came from the darkness ahead.

Gavin and Reed exchanged a glance and made a hand gesture.

Having understood the meaning of the hand gestures, both teams simultaneously became alert, quickly formed formations, and moved forward step by step.

In the dim torchlight, a mangled corpse came into view.

Its body was gnawed apart, its body was covered with bite marks, and its face was ferocious.

Surprisingly, he had snake-like scales on his neck and an unnatural pale complexion.

Starting from the waist, it is covered with thick, dark green scales, resembling a snake's body.

"Half-demonized".

Kane and Shar realized this almost simultaneously.

Having dealt with the demonic cult before, they immediately understood the implications.

The others also frowned and watched.

Reed stepped forward for a closer look, clearly making a connection to the heavily armored guard Marcus from before.

But this corpse was clearly more demonized.

"Those mutated rats probably became like that because they ate its flesh and blood."

The male ranger who had been silent in the Lantern Bearers squad stepped forward.

He carefully examined the body and said in a deep voice:

"And judging from the wounds, he committed suicide."

Just as he was about to analyze further, Kane suddenly narrowed his pupils and grabbed him by the back of his collar, pulling him back!

boom!

Just as Kane pulled him away, a thick, whip-like tentacle descended from the sky!

Just as the two dodged, another tentacle slammed down.

Two tentacles grabbed the half-demonized corpse from the ground and quickly stuffed it into a huge mouth.

Everyone looked up and gasped.

Above their heads—

"Giant carrion crawlers... How could such monsters appear in the Fourth District!"

Serena looked surprised.

Kane looked at the monster clinging above him, his brow furrowed.

It was a monster shaped like a giant centipede, covered in slime, and with more than a dozen tentacles.

The tentacles twisted and turned around the mouthparts, and the two round, black compound eyes on the top of the head were devoid of emotion.

The sound of chewing, accompanied by the twitching of muscles, is chilling.

"Don't provoke it, let's retreat!"

Reed shouted immediately.

"We need more suitable weapons to solve this!"

At the same time, the male ranger loudly objected:

"It must be killed here! Otherwise, more civilians will suffer!"

A clear divergence emerged between the two teams.

As captain of the Night's Watch, Reed's priority was to minimize casualties on his side.

The Lantern Bearers, representing the absolute good and lawful alignment, are determined to prevent more civilians from suffering.

There was no time for further argument; the male ranger's arrow had already been fired!

However, his arrows were all deflected by the rough and tough outer skin, and were of no use.

But this undoubtedly enraged the monster.

The carrion crawler let out a piercing roar and quickly crawled up the wall above its head.

Dozens of small but strong limbs wriggled, leaving sticky trails on the stone wall at an eerie speed.

The tentacles continued to emerge—

boom!

Braden raised his shield to block the blow, the immense impact sending him staggering backward.

Kane felt a chill run down his spine; he keenly sensed that even more tentacles were lurking in the shadows.

Sure enough, a tentacle bypassed the shield's defense and lashed out directly at Sienna!

Sienna parried with her rapier, but she was not a warrior after all and lacked strength, so she was knocked backward.

Another tentacle followed closely behind, about to strike her unsuspecting back!

boom!

Kane instantly activated his blood acceleration and charged forward.

Using the Wind Dance technique to reduce wind resistance, the blade in his hand drew a sharp arc.

Green blood splattered with the sound of the wind, and the tentacle snapped off, writhing continuously.

The carrion crawler cried out in pain, letting out a piercing roar, and more tentacles lashed out wildly.

Seeing this, Reed shouted, "Everyone, close your eyes!"

Everyone closed their eyes as instructed, and then they heard Reed shout, "Flash!"

A blinding light suddenly burst forth from the dark sewer!

The light gradually faded, and everyone opened their eyes.

The compound eyes of the carrion crawler could not withstand the light, and it let out a painful howl, then recoiled violently.

The male ranger tried to draw his bow and shoot an arrow, but Kane grabbed his wrist.

"Cease the attack."

Kane's voice was cold.

"What are you doing!" the ranger shouted angrily. "Letting it go will only cause more people to get hurt!"

"But before that, there could be multiple casualties on both of our teams."

Kane's tone was harsh.

"Your arrows can't even penetrate its outer skin. What's the value of such a pointless sacrifice?"

The knight-errant was about to argue when Shar stepped forward and interrupted him.

"Orion, without the Night's Watch's help, we've already suffered casualties. Now is not the time to act rashly."

The ranger named Orion looked at Shar, then at his teammates, none of whom supported him.

In the end, he could only snort angrily, put away his bow and arrows, and retreat back to the group.

As the crowd argued, the flesh-eating crawler gradually disappeared into the darkness, accompanied by the sound of sludge wriggling.

Shar turned around and said apologetically to Kane:

"I'm sorry, he was just... too concerned about the safety of civilians."

Kane shook his head and didn't say anything.

Absolute justice can sometimes lead to folly, which was one of the reasons he was unwilling to join the Lamplighters in the first place.

At this moment, Sienna stepped forward with a bright smile on her face.

"Kane, thank you for helping me earlier."

Kane shook his head: "No need."

Sienna nodded, winked at Shar, and then turned and walked away.

Shar unconsciously tightened her grip on the bow, but eventually loosened her grip and silently stepped aside.

Kane was oblivious to the subtle tension between them.

Because a new mission prompt has appeared in his field of vision:

Side Quest: Eliminate the Giant Carrion Crawler

[Description: A giant, carrion-skinned crawler, spawned by pollution, is wreaking havoc in the Fourth District. Its excrement will continue to spread and cause even greater pollution...]

[Reward: Skill points awarded based on completion level]

Kane frowned, recalling the scene of several arrows hitting the monster but being deflected.

The slime from this carrion crawler is too much for ordinary ranged attacks to work.

"How should we deal with this monster...?"

He was somewhat troubled, but then he suddenly remembered the corpse that had just been swallowed, and a thought struck him.

"Perhaps... we can try that method."