Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 487: Problems

The dozens of purple creatures resembled the devourer worms they had encountered on the coastal island, yet there were some differences.

The three of them, Duke included, were startled by this scene and quickly went into hiding to observe carefully.

"Vivian, it seems that what we encountered at sea was not a mere coincidence. This kind of creature has already infiltrated deep into the continent."

Duke’s heart was filled with doubt. These never-before-seen creatures were not only formidable but also appeared to be widely distributed, which was certainly not a good sign.

Vivian pointed at the movements of the creatures and said, "Look, they seem to be... collecting something?"

The creatures had a clear division of labor. A smaller variant, resembling giant ants, was obsessively gnawing on the surrounding trees with its sharp mandibles and forelimbs, even scraping off a layer of earth and grass and stuffing it into a pouch-like structure behind it.

Another type was surrounded by several carcasses of long-dead magical beasts, secreting a mucus from its mouthparts to cover the bones, which dissolved visibly and were absorbed.

A sluggish, bloated type inserted its spiked proboscis into the ground, its body pulsating rhythmically, as if drawing something from the earth.

They were not aimlessly wandering or hunting, but efficiently collecting everything usable, wood, organic matter, and even the energy of the land, in a predatory manner.

"They are devouring resources, but for what purpose?" Duke roughly understood the behavior of these creatures but could not discern their ultimate goal.

"Sss—crack!"

Suddenly, an unnerving sound of dense crawling and hard objects rubbing against each other erupted from behind them and from the shadows on both sides without any warning.

Duke’s expression hardened, and he turned around instantly.

He saw that the path they came from was blocked, and behind the dense bushes and twisted trees, dozens of pairs of cold purple compound eyes lit up.

A host of dark purple, ferocious creatures swarmed out like wraiths, moving swiftly and silently, completing the encirclement before they even realized.

The appearance of these creatures was similar to those seen before; some were dripping acid from their mandibles, others had sharp bone blades evolved on their forelimbs. They were small in size but numerous.

Their cold compound eyes were locked onto the three humans and the eagle, filled with a pure desire to plunder and kill.

Duke initially wanted to investigate further, but he didn’t expect these creatures to be so sensitive, discovering them so quickly.

He no longer held back, and with a wave of his hand, yellow sand surged forth, forming several giant sand pythons that roared into the swarm of creatures, crushing the foremost ones instantly.

Meanwhile, a wall of flowing sand rose, blocking the acid attack from the side, protecting Vivian and Rein.

Rein widened his eyes at this scene; it was his first time witnessing a wizard’s magical method, the summoning of sand and the transformation of sand into serpents, a power completely beyond his comprehension.

However, having been a knight with actual combat experience over the years, he quickly suppressed his shock, letting out a low roar as fighting spirit erupted within him. His longsword, with a sharp sound of breaking the sky, met a bone blade creature attempting to flank from the side of the sand pythons.

His swordsmanship was solid and fierce, precisely deflecting the creature’s bone blade, and with a swift stab, he pierced the weak spot between its compound eyes, causing green fluid to splatter.

Meanwhile, Vivian was also assisting on the side with her magic, effortlessly taking down a section of the creatures.

While Rein struggled quite a bit to take down one, Duke and Vivian had already cleaned up a section.

The Storm Dragon Eagle, sensing Duke’s command, also flew over from a distance to assist, flapping its wings to unleash a swath of thunder that instantly turned a section of the purple creatures into charred remains.

The skirmish ended quickly, leaving hundreds of creatures as nothing more than shattered shells and sticky fluid on the ground.

Despite the battle ending, the atmosphere grew more solemn.

"These creatures are trickier than we imagined. They not only plunder resources but are highly organized, extraordinarily perceptive, and extremely aggressive," Duke said deeply as he walked over to the corpse of a creature, examining it closely.

He recalled the details of the battle; although these creatures were individually weak, their movements were highly coordinated, evidently under the command of someone or something.

As for who was directing them, Duke speculated it was probably not a human, as these creatures did not resemble any wizard’s summoned creatures or slave organisms.

These creatures were most likely commanded by a more advanced creature, indicating a certain societal structure among them.

This was the reason Duke and Vivian looked so serious; they had read and learned extensively, knowing about most magical creature species native to the Wizard Plane.

And knowing that creatures with a social structure like these should not be unknown to them.

This indicated that these creatures likely did not originate from the Wizard Plane and might have come from another plane.

Duke and Vivian had both grown up on the Florence Continent, having never seen such creatures before.

These creatures seemed weak to them, but for ordinary people, it was a different story.

Rein, as a knight, was already among the stronger fighters of ordinary folks.

But if he were alone here today, Rein would certainly not have made it out and would have been left behind.

Because the strength of each individual creature was at least equivalent to a Knight Attendant, and some were comparable to Level 1 Life, a power level that a knight could not handle.

The Florence Continent was originally a barren land, with the strongest magical creatures being Over Tier Magical Beasts, never having seen Level 1 Magical Beasts.

Both human cultivation and the growth of magical creatures required resources, and the Florence Continent lacked sufficient extraordinary resources to support the birth of a Level 1 Life.

These creatures clearly were not born on the Florence Continent, as it would be illogical for so many to appear in such a short time, let alone several that are Level 1 Lives.

Connecting this to their experiences at sea, where the creatures were nearly identical, it became clear.

Maple Hill County, so far from that sea region, had the same strange creatures appear.

With a little thought, Duke and Vivian realized the seriousness of the situation; the problem could be extremely troublesome.

This matter was beyond what they could analyze and decide on; it had to be reported quickly to the wizard organizations above them.

The Wizard Plane had always been vigilant against species from other planes. Were it not for this vigilance, green-skinned orcs would not be barred from entering the Wizard Plane to prevent the natural spread of their spores from polluting it.