Chapter 99

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Chapter 99: Pure White Winged Wings

After Lin Lin’s battle score appeared, both of them were quiet for a moment.

Six points, a little stronger than the ant that just passed by.

The sound of dripping water echoed in the cave as a rabbit with purple poisonous spikes on its head jumped past Lin Lin. Before the rabbit got too close, Caligo reached out to protect Lin Lin and used a bow and arrow made of wind to drive the wild rabbit away.

Caligo suddenly felt a sense of responsibility!

Lin Lin lowered her head in shame.

Ten minutes ago, Caligo was very grateful for Lin Lin’s arrival; now, the red-haired boy had become even more tense and alert.

In the Demon King Castle, there were not many office workers, yet it was these two who appeared in this place filled with monsters after the teleportation circle was burned.

Caligo’s bracelet appeared on Lin Lin’s arm; she held the magic wand and retested her combat level.

The bracelet gave a very firm answer: [6].

"The combat level is based on your own condition and not related to the weapon," Caligo reminded Lin Lin.

Lin Lin looked sadly into the distance.

According to Caligo, the old teleportation circle is not far from here, and it would only take three or four hours to reach.

The animals here are generally several times larger than normal, and Lin Lin even finds it hard to tell whether they have simply grown larger or are truly magical creatures.

"The only thing we can be sure of is that the demon realm is not suitable for its residents to live in, so the Demon King gave up this territory and separated the new demon realm from it." Although Caligo was young, he could piece together a fairly complete story from various books and tales.

"In a way," Caligo stroked his chin, "this can also be seen as one of the signs of the decline of the Dark Camp after the God of Darkness disappeared, right?"

Like Lin Lin, Caligo did not worship the gods, so he could talk about this topic quite easily.

"If I were part of the demon race, I would rather build a statue for the Demon King," Lin Lin complained, "after all, that guy actually did some useful things."

While Lin Lin was speaking, Caligo lowered his head, put on his gloves, and picked up a sticky, pink-purple monster egg from the ground.

The eggshell was rather soft, leaving slight dents when Caligo held it. He placed the monster egg in the storage box he had prepared and put it into his backpack.

After doing all this, Caligo took off his gloves, grabbed Lin Lin’s arm, and walked beside her.

"What is that?" Lin Lin asked.

"It’s a sandworm’s egg," Caligo replied. "The egg I found was actively discarded because it was unhealthy, which means there’s a grumpy mother nearby who is in her laying period."

Lin Lin swallowed hard; to be honest, she would rather face a tiger or a lion than a sandworm as big as a tiger.

The tiger could only attack her physically, but the sandworm could attack her both physically and mentally.

Lin Lin bet that, at the moment she saw the giant sandworm, her legs would go weak and she would sit down.

"Then let’s not collect their eggs," Lin Lin pleaded, "let’s go back quickly."

Caligo was thinking the same thing; he just couldn’t stop his hands from studying.

The two of them took an hour to walk from the messy little path to the main road in the center.

Under their feet was rolling lava, and they walked on a narrow path that only allowed one person to pass, where they could still see evolved tropical fish swimming in the lava.

Lin Lin couldn’t help but cheer for the tropical fish: you are the true tropical fish!

The fatigue from walking for a long time and the humid air left them breathless, and Lin Lin wiped the sweat from her forehead.

She began to miss Demon King Castle for the moments that made her exercise; at least back then, whenever she wanted a sip of water, she could have it anytime.

Noticing Lin Lin’s tiredness, Caligo asked her, "Do you need to take a break?"

This was the line Lin Lin had been waiting for; she just hadn’t had the courage to bring it up herself, "Since you are tired too, let’s take a five-minute break."

Finding a small, safer spot, Lin Lin leaned against the wall and sat on a fairly flat stone.

Caligo sat on the edge next to Lin Lin, holding his magic wand tightly; he was a wind mage and sometimes used wind spells without needing to chant.

A light blue barrier appeared beside Caligo, surrounding both of them.

The boy placed his backpack on the ground and sat down, bending one leg while stretching the other, starting to check what was inside the backpack.

His original plan was to stay here for only half an hour; Caligo hadn’t brought any water or food, mostly carrying potions to keep his mind clear.

After hesitating for a moment, Caligo looked up and took out the potions and sandworm eggs, "Which one do you want to drink?"

Lin Lin was originally staring up at the sky, but when she looked down and saw what Caligo was holding, she questioned, "Are you trying to make me die a little sooner?"

"Your body is resistant to poison," Caligo shook the sandworm egg, "The liquid inside the unhatched eggs is harmless. As long as you can get past your mental barrier, it’s actually very nutritious."

"I can’t get past my mental barrier," Lin Lin said firmly.

"Alright," Caligo showed a look of disappointment; he had hoped to take better care of Lin Lin.

Lin Lin noticed that when Caligo was in a situation he couldn’t control, his helplessness became very clear. For example, now that Lin Lin had refused his drink, Caligo began to organize his pack.

He didn’t drink the sandworm egg either; instead, he carefully put it back like a treasure.

Most of the space in Caligo’s bag was used for the box that protected the monster egg, so there wasn’t really much to organize, but he seemed restless if he wasn’t doing something.

"We have been very safe along the way," Lin Lin spoke up, "We haven’t encountered any giant sandworms."

According to Caligo, they should have encountered sandworms near that road, but until now, they hadn’t faced anything more dangerous.

Unlike Lin Lin’s relaxed attitude, Caligo looked around and said, "That means there are more dangerous things here."

Caligo was glad he was a wind mage, which meant he could understand the subtle messages the wind brought, making him more aware of danger than other mages.

For now, Caligo could only say that this place was safe; nothing seemed unusual.

Lin Lin was playing with the bracelet that Caligo gave him.

Lin Lin was very curious and tried to rate every creature she saw, whether she had seen it before or not.

Passing ants, the much larger Flame Slime, and a mole about the size of a leopard.

[5]。

[12]。

[7]。

Amazed by the power of the Flame Slime, Lin Lin asked Caligo curiously, "The slime is level 12, so can two slimes defeat you?"

After all, Caligo is level 20.

"Oh," Caligo replied, "leveling up means your strength increases exponentially, not just by adding numbers. For example, if you are level 6 and an ant is level 5, even though the numbers seem close, you can relatively easily defeat the ant."

The boy had been seriously answering Lin Lin’s question when suddenly his expression changed slightly, and he looked behind him.

There was nothing there.

Lin Lin looked in that direction too, first in confusion, and then feeling the ground tremble.

"Bang!"

Caligo ran towards Lin Lin, a rush of floating wind beneath his feet making him move faster. He pulled Lin Lin towards another path.

Meanwhile, in the spot where they had just rested, a giant sandworm opened its massive mouth and devoured the dirt and stones. It didn’t pick and choose; it could eat stones, but living things were even better.

The giant sandworm’s huge body squeezed into the tunnel, making it feel a bit crowded as it curbed its body and slowly turned its head towards the two people.

The light on Lin Lin’s bracelet pointed at the sandworm.

[40]。

The sandworm was twenty levels taller than Caligo, creating an obvious difference in strength that made the outcome clear.

Lin Lin finally understood why Caligo had been so anxious.

A monstrous creature enhanced by madness is not the same as a regular monster. That sandworm didn’t attack them out of hunger; it simply wanted to kill its prey.

"Memory!" Lin Lin used her spell, but it didn’t work well.

The sandworm didn’t have a brain and wasn’t a creature of wisdom; it didn’t possess any awkward emotions.

"Banana!" Lin Lin tried again.

That’s wonderful! Lin Lin closed her eyes in despair; the sandworm, as tall as a two-story building, had thousands of legs and would not slip because of a banana peel.

Is this monster targeting her on purpose? It knows she is skilled in those two weak spells, doesn’t it?

Lin Lin had to recite her terribly bad light-type spells.

Years of exam-focused education made her memorize the incantations, but in a critical moment, Lin Lin struggled to tell which ones were useful.

Just like in language class, when Lin Lin could not answer the second half of a poem based on the first half, she always had to start from the beginning.

The first light-type spell is the simplest, called the Light Spell. Every mage can cast it to praise the God of Light for bringing light to the world and showing the way forward.

The second spell is the Light Bomb, used to drive away monsters that fear the light.

…

The blue arrow representing the wind element flew from Caligo’s hand and struck the sandworm’s mouth with incredible precision. The sandworm swallowed both the arrow and the earth. The arrow exploded inside the sandworm’s stomach, slowing its charge.

But it had no fundamental effect; both inside and outside, the body of this sandworm was incredibly hard.

Ordinary sandworm monsters are usually around level 32, but this huge creature is absolutely powerful among its kind.

Caligo knew that delaying was pointless and didn’t feel much emotional turmoil. He glanced back and saw Lin Lin holding her magic wand tightly in the darkness.

She seemed to want to try other spells.

"Listen," Caligo said calmly, standing in front of Lin Lin, "I’ll distract it. That creature has poor eyesight, so you can make a run for it."

After thinking for a moment, Caligo added, "The old version of the teleportation circle works the same way as the new one, but it requires more power and feels uncomfortable."

"Who cares about comfort with the teleportation circle at this moment!" Lin Lin understood what Caligo meant.

He wanted to buy time for Lin Lin, at least to save one of them.

If Lin Lin didn’t have Caligo’s testing bracelet, she could still tell herself that Caligo was faster and could escape the sandworm’s attack, allowing both of them to succeed in escaping together in the end.

However, when the difference in strength is between level twenty and level forty, the chance of success from this effort is almost non-existent in the face of absolute power.

Indeed! Although this sandworm’s body is large, it is also very fast.

Lin Lin is sure that if she turns and runs just two steps, she will be swallowed up immediately.

Caligo frowned because of Lin Lin’s lack of cooperation.

"Don’t worry," Lin Lin said words she didn’t even believe, "Felix taught me how to deal with underground creatures."

The Dark Elf once eagerly shared the weaknesses of his underground neighbors, "First, eighty percent of underground creatures are very afraid of light-type spells."

Caligo waved his magic wand and cast Light Spell as the sandworm approached them.

This spell, usually used for lighting up a place, burst with strong light when cast by the wind mage.

The bright light stung the sandworm like a needle, causing it to pause near the two, its large jaws still wide open, with toxic slime slowly oozing out, waiting for the light spell from the wind mage, who was not skilled in light magic, to weaken.

Seeing that the Light Spell was effective, Caligo began to have hope for Lin Lin, "So, what are you planning to do next?"

"Ah! Don’t interrupt my thoughts!" Lin Lin cried in frustration, "I forgot which spell I had memorized!"

It was as frustrating as trying to memorize English vocabulary, finally turning a few pages only to go back to the first word that started with A: abandon.

Caligo fell silent.

The Light Spell weakened, and the sandworm’s open mouth was almost against Caligo’s face, with sticky venom dripping to the ground, creating a small pit.

"How many spells have you memorized?" Caligo had to speak up, "Do you need my help? I may not be able to use light-type spells, but I am very good at memorizing."

Lin Lin remained silent.

Caligo pressed the magic wand against the sandworm’s head; the difference in strength was too much, and he was pushed back.

Caligo began to think about the possibility of casting the Light Spell inside the sandworm’s belly.

Most of his body had been changed, and he used very little oxygen; perhaps he could last for half a minute.

Just as he hesitated about trying this idea, a hand on his shoulder pushed him away from the head of the sandworm.

The boy was thin and easily pushed aside.

Lin Lin held her magic wand with both hands and struck at the head of the sandworm.

Caligo reached out to Lin Lin, "…that’s not how to use the magic wand."

Before Caligo could stop her, he heard Lin Lin’s firm voice, "Soul tremor!"

Compared to its strong body, the sandworm’s soul was incredibly weak.

A milky-white magic circle appeared from Lin Lin’s magic wand, and white shards pierced the sandworm’s brain.

It’s no use, Caligo thought. The difference in levels is too great.

Even if they find a spell against their opponent, and even if Lin Lin is indeed a light-type mage, the weakness of a level 40 monster is not something a level 6 mage can break.

It was clear that they would die.

But at the last moment of life, Caligo still needed to correct Lin Lin a little.

"You forgot to praise the God of Light."

Lin Lin widened her eyes and quickly filled in her answer on the test, "Praise the God of Light!"

In an instant, the milky white magic circle expanded to ten times its original size, shining brightly, brighter than Caligo’s recent full-strength Light Spell.

Although it was a mental attack spell, it was more dazzling than a light spell, and Caligo wasn’t sure if all light-type mages were like this.

The white magic circle covered the head of the sand worm like a large net, making it struggle in pain.

Lin Lin took two steps back to avoid getting caught up in it.

"Ah… this is so gross," the sandworm’s slime splattered on part of the magic wand’s tip. Lin Lin tried to wipe the slime off with the sand on the ground.

The sandworm would not die, but it was enough time for them to escape.

Lin Lin reached out her hand to Caligo, who was still standing near the sandworm, where his backpack had just been left behind. He needed to pick it up.

Caligo saw Lin Lin’s gesture and ran towards her.

Suddenly, Caligo blinked quickly.

One second. Two seconds.

A similar but more powerful rumbling sound appeared, just like when the sandworm had appeared.

The dirt wall shattered from the impact, stirring up a cloud of dust and sand.

The ground trembled silently.

Lin Lin smelled a strong, fishy odor in the swirling dust, as if something had been torn open, followed by a slimy, oozing sound.

"Gurgle."

The surroundings were not exactly quiet, but at that moment, Lin Lin could only hear the wet sound of footsteps stepping on liquid.

The smoke slowly cleared away.

Lin Lin saw a sandworm that was completely torn apart, like a broken garbage bag, and a blonde man with pure white wings.

He wore pure white clothing, like the un-tailored garments of ancient Greece, with white fabric draped and wrapped around his strong body. Even without intentionally outlining his body shape, Lin Lin could see from his exposed arms and the lines below his neck that he had well-developed muscles beneath his sturdy frame.

The man easily killed the level forty sandworm, then he looked at Caligo, who was affected by the rocks.

The red-haired boy sat on the ground, using his mechanical arm to reduce the impact of the stones hitting him, protecting his head and heart as much as possible.

At that moment, the fabric on his arm tore, revealing broken wires and twisted rebar inside.

Black smoke seeped from the wound. Caligo was a person who made a deal with the devil and also received the devil’s blessing.

The black smoke tried to fix Caligo’s broken wire, keeping his arm working properly.

Caligo’s mismatched eyes stared intently at the golden-haired man.

Pure white wings. Pure golden hair and eyes. Calm and still gaze.

Caligo had a terrible guess.

This guess felt like a thorn stuck in his heart.

The pure white wings slowly folded in as the man turned his body.

The golden eyes emotionlessly scanned the black smoke around the red-haired boy.

The man walked towards Caligo.

Then his steps were blocked.

A human female stood in front of the young boy.

"What are you going to do?"