Chapter 106: The Perilous Swamp – The Dreadmaw of the Mire

Words : 1204 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Thick with weeds and shadowed by a hazy lavender sky, the swamp stretched endlessly in all directions. Leinas clung tightly to a groove in the armor of the Flame Archangel with her left hand. Her right hand gripped a black spear slung over her back, her expression tense as her eyes swept the landscape below. She knew better than anyone in the entire Rockbruise territory just how dangerous this swamp was—especially this far into its cursed heart. This madman... Leinas shot a glance at the calm-faced Lyle, who sat leisurely on the arm of the Flame Archangel. His white cleric robes flapped in the wind as if he were on some sort of holy vacation. Her lips curled into a silent curse. If he weren't here to help lift the curse on her face, she would never—never—have let him drag her this deep into hell's bog. "WAAAHH! WAAH WAAAH!" "WAAAH! Waaah!" Harsh, frog-like screeches echoed overhead. Foul-looking carrion birds, mottled with gray feathers and sickly auras, circled menacingly around them. They sounded like frogs that had swallowed broken trumpets. They seemed ready to dive at any moment—yet none dared approach. Not with the burning, terrifying sword wielded by the Flame Archangel glowing menacingly in its grip. "Ugh, these featherless freaks again..." Leinas muttered, gritting her snow-white teeth and casting a scowl at the noisy flock. While the birds themselves weren't particularly dangerous, their grotesque chorus could easily draw the attention of much worse things lurking deeper in the swamp. Unfortunately, they were too far up for her to strike—and she wasn't keen on wasting effort on glorified alarm clocks anyway. Click. Lyle flipped open the silver pocket watch dangling from his chest, glanced at the time, then shut it again. "We'll land over there." Leinas followed his gaze. A patch of brownish, seemingly solid ground lay below. She immediately understood—summon duration was running out. With a sharp beat of wings, the two Flame Archangels began their descent. They slowed just before touching down, hovering briefly before lowering themselves gently to the muddy terrain. Leinas was the first to leap off, landing squarely on firm ground. Relief flickered across her face—at least they weren't ankle-deep in goo yet. Thud. Lyle touched down beside her, his gaze alert, scanning the surroundings like a hawk with a diploma in paranoia. The scrolls he used to summon these archangels allowed them to persist for about fifty minutes. Technically, there was still time left. But honestly? No reason to drag it out. He'd been busy this past month—churning out more of those archangel summoning scrolls like a divine sweatshop. Over thirty now, and counting. He only paused each day long enough to nap and not die of mana exhaustion. The swamp was bleak and repetitive—ponds of all sizes scattered across the landscape, interspersed with rotting trees and thickets of thorny brush. With a flick of his wrist, the archangels dissolved into particles of light. The next instant, two fresh ones materialized from new scrolls, wings blazing, swords ready. "You really plan to keep going deeper?" Leinas asked, eyes flicking warily across the terrain. Lyle raised an eyebrow. "You're sure that the monster you encountered last time isn't from this swamp?" "Absolutely." Leinas nodded, firm and certain. "I've lived in and studied this swamp longer than I'd like to admit. That creature I fought before... it doesn't belong here. No way something like that is naturally born in a place like this." Interesting. Lyle's curiosity deepened. If the monster had a curse-infused nature, it shouldn't be weak—and judging by Leinas's current strength (barely at Bronze-tier), there was no chance she'd survived an encounter with anything over Level 20. Yet she had. Something didn't add up. "Something's coming!" Leinas suddenly warned, raising her spear and snapping to combat posture. Sure enough, the soft earth ahead began to bulge—shallow mounds swelling and crawling toward them like something slithering just beneath the surface. Before she could charge, Lyle calmly raised a hand and sent his two archangels forward. "No need to waste energy," he said casually. "Let the summons handle it for now. We don't know what else might be lurking." Leinas paused, then backed off slightly. "...Fine. You're not wrong." SSSKKKKRRRREEEEEE! As one of the archangels plunged its flaming sword into a moving mound, a shrill screech burst from beneath the soil. A moment later, the wriggling attacker was hoisted out—its green-brown, centipede-like body with eight twitching legs writhing on the blade. It hissed and flailed as green ichor sprayed from its wound, releasing a stench like week-old sewage in a dying compost heap. The fire took care of it quickly. "Scavenger Worms," Leinas said with a grimace. "They're not too dangerous, but where there are Scavengers, there are usually Purple Crawlers nearby." 『EXP gained: 12』『...』『EXP gained: 13』 The Flame Archangels continued to dispatch the worms with ruthless efficiency. Lyle smiled slightly as the EXP notifications popped up. So far, so good. He had confirmed that summoned creatures still gave him partial experience for kills. Sure, it was a bit less than if he did it himself, but it saved time and energy. For weak mobs like these, it was a no-brainer. BOOM! Suddenly, the ground beneath them exploded. A massive creature—over two meters long, with thick, dark purple hide and a segmented body like a muscular eel—burst forth from the muck. Its huge, gaping maw opened wide, large enough to swallow Lyle whole. Leinas moved instantly. With a sharp cry, she rammed her spear upward, jabbing into the creature's lower jaw and forcing its disgusting mouth closed with a crunch. "Back to the mud, freak!" she snarled, then swung hard and smashed it into the ground. An archangel darted in, fire sword blazing, and beheaded the beast in a single stroke. 『EXP gained: 101』『EXP Bar: 4302 / 10000』 But their trouble wasn't over. Maybe it was the flaming archangels lighting up the swamp like a divine disco, or maybe it was the noise—or the non-stop screeching from those damn corpse birds overhead—but something big had taken notice. WHOOOSH!! A heavy, whiplike sound shattered the air behind one of the archangels. A massive tail shot out from the swamp, slamming into the angel's back with earth-shaking force. BOOOOM! Its armor buckled inward, and the impact sent the archangel flying over thirty meters, crashing into the mud like a flaming meteor. The tail retreated. Then the swamp started... bubbling. Beneath the murky waters, something stirred. THUMP. THUMP. Two enormous, clawed feet emerged first, followed by a hulking body. A massive beast dragged itself from the muck—like a monstrous crocodile but with exaggerated features: bone-like spines down its back, jagged teeth jutting from a huge jaw, and skin caked with layers of sludge and moss. The thing was six meters long, a meter tall at the shoulder, and radiated brute force. Leinas paled. "The Dreadmaw of the Mire," she said in a whisper. "Ranked a Level 60 threat by the Adventurer's Guild." She quickly retreated to Lyle's side. "Okay. This is officially bad."

Chapter 106: The Perilous Swamp – The Dreadmaw of the Mire

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