With the help of Da Shu, it wouldn't be difficult for Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long to finally defeat the Devil's Pitcher. And when I said defeat, I meant burn it to a slow, agonizing death.
Not many people knew how painful it was to be burned to death. Your skin slowly melted off, your raw, exposed nerves get incinerated down to the bone, and acrid smoke fills your lungs, scalding them from the inside out and suffocating you. I supposed the same thing would happen to a plant type spirit beast, though technically, they shouldn't have nerves and pain receptors in the same way that humans and animals did.
Nonetheless, the Devil's Pitcher seemed like it was suffering. It continued to lash out, keeping Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long at bay, and its enormous mana allowed it to withstand the elemental attacks that bombarded it. Flexing the verdant energies, it would extinguish the flames. Meanwhile, its flexible and pliant body allowed it to withstand the physical attacks from my Elder Tree Revenant. Even though Da Shu possessed immense strength – or basically a high attack stat – the impact of his strikes and slashes were absorbed by the pliant bulbous body.
If we were to defeat it, it would be through elemental techniques. That said, our strategy was clearly working. Da Shu would continue to pin it down while Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long slowly incinerated it to a fiery demise. It was agonizing and grisly work, but we didn't have a choice. I didn't like prolonging my enemy's pain and suffering, and to be fair, the Devil's Pitcher was only trying to survive. It wasn't threatening us, yet we were driving it out of its home and burning it to death just so a team of researchers could study some ancient ruin.
I felt bad.
Conjuring Azure Frost, I fitted it to my bow even as I continued hovering in the air, thanks to the Sylphs. Taking a deep breath, I aimed and fired, the arrow slamming into the core and causing the plant spirit beast to freeze over. Ice was just as effective against wood type spirit beasts as fire was, if I wasn't mistaken. Even though water techniques would simply be absorbed by the wood type spirit beasts and used to nourish them, ice was on the other extreme end of temperatures and caused plants to hibernate.
No, never mind. I saw that my ice attack had little impact, despite the initial damage. I was applying pocket monster game logic to reality, which often didn't translate well. Besides, there were plants like conifer trees that continued to propagate even in the harsh cold.
That meant I still had to rely on Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long to finish the Devil's Pitcher off. They complied when I sent them new coordinates, and either flew or bounded there before unleashing their fire attacks from different directions, burning away newly emerged vines and tendrils that unfolded from the green mass.
The Devil's Pitcher tried to attack them, but its attention was split between two targets who flanked it from opposite sides. Not only that, it was being held down by Da Shu, who continued to slam it with his branches and claws, causing more sap to spill out. It was only a matter of time before it fell, but before I could think of a new strategy, I saw two bright bursts of white light.
I recognized those lights…the light of evolution?!
Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long were evolving! Whether it was because they had accumulated enough combat experience to level up or because they had benefited tremendously from the rich mana that saturated the forest they were fighting in – as well as the dense spiritual energies from Yggdrasil where they fought on just a few days ago – I wasn't sure. But I knew they were evolving.
-Xiao Huo has evolved from a six-tailed Fire Fox to a nine-tailed Fire Fox! –
-Xiao Huo Long has evolved from a Charred Drake to a Charred Dragon! –
"Holy heavens…I didn't expect that!" I almost gaped at their new forms. Xiao Huo was a lot larger than before, about five meters tall and twice as long. Her nine tails billowed out behind her, golden and majestic, even as a halo of fire surrounded her. She was at least peak Earth ranked, and I could feel the intense heat even from a distance, despite hovering high up in the air. the surroundings immediately combusted, turning into a raging inferno just from her sheer presence.
Like Xiao Huo, Xiao Huo Long had also evolved into an Earth ranked spirit beast, though he was still shiny and glowing because…you know, special snowflake. Or every summoner should at least have one shiny Poke…ahem, spirit beast. In any event, he was also much larger than before, bigger than even a fighter jet plane and much more heavily armored. His wingspan spread over twenty meters, and his black and crimson scales gleamed in the sunlight, resembling precious rubies. His massive jaws opened wide and he unleashed a titanic torrent of fire that engulfed the Devil's Pitcher and incinerated it instantly.
Xiao Huo didn't even get a chance to show off, but she watched impassively from her position as the ashes flaked around. I could see plenty of saurian spirit beasts fleeing away from her, unable to endure the heat she was emanating.
"Congratulations, you two!"
Even though I wasn't used to the intense heat, I dropped down to pat Xiao Huo. Xiao Huo Long landed beside me at my request, and I reached out to stroke his head. Both of them stayed still, enjoying my touch. I also nodded at Da Shu, who had retreated at Xiao Huo Long's signal and safely avoided the latter's flames before the Devil's Pitcher was destroyed.
"You too, Da Shu. Good job."
The Elder Tree Revenant dipped his head – or what was supposed to be his head – before he retreated back into my dungeon. I patted the other two, but they also reared up. Though they seemed proud and delighted at their recent evolutions, I understood that they wanted to return to my dungeon to consolidate their newly elevated cultivation realms and stabilize their new forms.
"Okay, granted. You guys take care. I'll check on you later!"
Obviously, I was excited. Two of my oldest spirit beasts had just evolved into Earth rank, which increased the overall strength of my dungeon and summoner's repertoire. Unless I ran into a Heaven ranked opponent, it would be difficult for anyone to defeat me now. I had to be careful not to overuse Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long, though. I needed to help my other spirit beasts keep up and catch up to them, so that I would have a more balanced army.
Once I saw them off, I returned to the base of the tower where the researchers were waiting. They stared at me in awe, unable to believe what they had just seen. For an Earth ranked spirit beast to be slain so easily…and for me to suddenly have not one, but three Earth ranked spirit beasts? They weren't aware that I had more Earth ranked spirit beasts in store in my dungeon, an Abyssal Hydra and a Titan Golem. Not to mention Long Wang.
"It should be safe inside the ruins now."
The mustached mercenary showed up shortly after that, bringing his team down the spiraling stairway of the tower to report. He nodded at the researchers before beckoning them in.
"You guys can come in. We've checked the interior and cleared it of any threats. There shouldn't be any…unpleasant surprises waiting for us."
He then glanced at me before nodding in grudging respect.
"I didn't think you were that powerful, kid. You continue to amaze me."
"Not at all."
Our duty was far from done, though. We still had to escort the research team as they made their way up the stairs, carrying measurement devices and instruments. They continued to capture photos of the symbols and walls as they climbed the tower, looking around in fascination.
"Well, we can be sure that this is definitely not elf tech," the lead scientist remarked with a broad grin. "And it most likely doesn't resemble any human language that we know of."
"We can't be sure," another researcher countered. "There are many ancient civilizations who construct structures similar to this, based off the same material."
"I'm not ruling it out, but…if this is true, this might be a new, undiscovered civilization that modern society unearthed for the first time."
"No, this isn't human," Long Wang said. Everyone jumped at his voice, and the paramilitary soldiers immediately swung around and trained the barrels of their rifles and shotguns on him.
"Who the hell are you?!" The mustached mercenary demanded, his finger on the trigger of his carbine. "Identify yourself!"
"Hang on!" I raised both my hands and gestured for the mercenaries to stand down. "He's not an enemy! He is my butler!"
"Butler!?" the mustached mercenary repeated incredulously. "Where the hell did he come from?!"
"He, uh, summoned himself here."
"I know him!" One of the other soldiers blurted, lowering his rifle. "He's that giant dragon! The one fighting on Yggdrasil!"
"Giant dragon?" The mustached mercenary spluttered. "What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Didn't you see the news, boss? I knew he looked familiar! He's one of the summoned spirit beasts of that kid! He was there in the final battle for Yggdrasil!"
"Yeah," Long Wang affirmed, looking amused. Even if the paramilitary soldiers had fired at him, he could easily stop the bullets in the air and repel them. There was nothing they could do to hurt him.
"A dragon butler," the leader of the paramilitary squads muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as he lowered his rifle. He raised an eyebrow at me. "You're full of surprises, kid."
"Well, to be fair, every hero has a butler. You know, like Alfred Pennyworth? Edwin Jarvis? Look, I might not be as rich as…certain superheroes, but a butler is a must for every aspiring hero, right?"
While the soldiers gaped at me, the lead scientist cleared his throat, unable to hold in his excitement any longer.
"Sir, you recognize the symbols? You know the civilization that constructed this tower? Can you tell us more about it?"
"Um, I can't say I understand the language, but I do know that's the hieroglyphs used by the Forest Tribe from the other dimension. You know, the one that exists on the other side of what you call the great rift, where many of the spirit beasts originate from. If I'm not mistaken, they are an ancient tribe of Dryads. That's what you humans would call them, anyway."
He glanced at me. "I apologize for my audacity, my lord, but when I sensed the symbols over our telepathic link, I thought I should tell you about them."
"No, not at all. Thanks for informing me. Can you cooperate with the researchers and share with them what you know?"
"Certainly. We'll wait for them to set up their equipment and everything first."
"Thank you!" The lead scientist's eyes were brimming in delight and enthusiasm. "Thank you so much!"
"No problem."
I joined the paramilitary squads in forming a perimeter and taking on sentry duty while Sylvie and Silvia constructed a barrier, setting up a spirit array to carve out a space of safety from the surrounding wilderness. With the Devil's Pitcher gone, it wouldn't be a surprise if predatory saurian spirit beasts such as the Giga Rex or even the Velocity Raptors started pouncing on us.
While the fairy sisters went about their work, Jun Hai joined me, his gaze scanning the trees for any sign of threats.
"That was incredible, big bro."
"Nah, it was nothing. Anyway, you mentioned that you're here to investigate possible links with marine life?"
"Yeah. There's an irrigation ditch leading from the tower to a nearby river. Once the research team is set up here, I'll go check it out. There might be something in the river."
"Really? Interesting."
"Yeah. We might discover new species of saurian spirit beasts, as well as clues leading to the fate of the Dryads who constructed this tower. This ruin looks super old and abandoned for centuries. Don't you want to know what happened to the people who built it?"
"I guess." Honestly, I was curious. I glanced up at the tower, pushing my glasses up my nose as I studied it. "I was actually going to ask Long Wang about it, but he tells me that though he recognizes their hieroglyphs, he doesn't know what happened to the Dryad tribe. I wonder if maybe a few of them survived somewhere."
At that moment, the system flickered to life, and a window appeared before me.
-New quest issued. The Dryads' Demise: Investigate the area near the ruins of their tower and discover what caused the extinction of their tribe. Completion of this mission will grant the appropriate rewards. –
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, and then I slowly nodded in slow contemplation. "Sounds good. Jun Hai, I'll join you in your investigation. There might be more to the river than we first realize."