Reborn as a Transcendent

Chapter 421: Princess' Back And Forth Jumps

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As they surveyed their surroundings, a blanket of darkness enveloped them. This forest was much darker than they had anticipated. Suddenly, a loud rumble echoed through the air, and they realized that the entrance to the maze had sealed shut the moment they stepped inside.

Yunuen expressed her initial assumption, "I thought this was another Trap Maze," while Little Fairy added, "It feels a little gloomy." Alicia's instincts kicked in as she sensed an unsettling aura, causing her to warn the group to be cautious. "Everyone, be careful," she said with a change in expression. Yaeger took charge, offering to scout ahead. "Stay here for a while, I'll check it out," she declared before stepping forward.

Beneath their feet lay a series of stone tiles, neatly arranged to form a pathway. However, just two meters away from the tiles, the ground gave way to black soil. Yaeger approached the boundary between the two surfaces, her expression serious. Despite the string of unforeseen events, a realization dawned on her, but she couldn't yet discern what it meant due to a lack of evidence. For the time being, she decided to set it aside and focus on the task at hand.

"I don't sense any immediate danger here. This route seems passable under normal circumstances," Yaeger stated, though still unconvinced. "However, I wonder if it will actually be this easy." Without further hesitation, she leapt onto the black soil with effortless grace. "I'm jumping in," she declared, before swiftly adding, "I'm jumping out."

Yaeger effortlessly jumped back onto the stone tiles without encountering any danger during her first attempt. She proceeded to make a second attempt, leaping back onto the black soil before announcing, "I'm jumping out." Once again, nothing happened. She made a third attempt, then a fourth, and a fifth, each time jumping in and out without any incident. Yunuen and the rest of the group watched in confusion as Yaeger repeated this odd ritual. "What on earth is she doing?" they wondered.

Suddenly, as Yaeger's feet lifted off the black soil, a blinding white light illuminated the area. The group quickly recognized the source of the light: a bone blade. The appearance of the blade seemed ominous as it materialized out of thin air, right in front of them.

"As expected, something is wrong." Yaeger remarked with a sharp glint in her eyes. Moments ago, she had used herself as bait to draw out a potential threat, expecting her adversary to exhibit patience and wait for the perfect moment to strike. However, it appeared that the entity was far too impatient, and couldn't resist the temptation to reveal itself.

Yaeger focused intently, thinking, ‘Just a little further and I can catch it.' However, Yunuen interrupted her train of thought, exclaiming, "Princess, it seems to be moving!" Yaeger turned her attention towards the bone blade and noticed that it was trembling. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and dirt rolled over as a skeleton soldier crawled out from beneath. It locked its gaze onto Yaeger, and its eye sockets burned bright with red flames.

"Level twenty-five? Even a minion has such a high level," Yaeger remarked nonchalantly as she unsheathed [Sunscorch]. With a swift swing, flames converged to form a massive blade that sliced through the skeleton soldier, effortlessly cleaving it in half. The battle ended quickly and without much challenge.

"Let's move on," Yaeger declared, [Sunscorch] still in her grip. The recent threat had been completely inconsequential to her, and if it weren't for her cautious nature, she wouldn't have even bothered to test it out. Meanwhile, somewhere deep within the Black Forest, a small and petite figure with a blue aura pouted her lips in disappointment, clearly unhappy about something.

With an outburst of frustration, the small figure suddenly began spewing random words like "@#$… &*%… %%!" And just as quickly, Yaeger and her companions felt the ground beneath them shake violently. Within moments, black dirt collapsed in front of them, and a horde of skeletons emerged, each with a different color – white, red, green, and more. It was clear that this was no ordinary undead army.

As they beheld the colorful spectacle of skeletons before them, Yaeger and her companions couldn't help but twitch the corners of their lips in disbelief. But their surprise didn't end there, as catapults and wagons made entirely of bone materialized alongside the undead army. And as if that wasn't enough, the surrounding trees suddenly came to life, their massive roots ripping out of the ground as they approached the skeleton army with unsteady steps. It was only then that the group noticed the massive faces etched into the black tree trunks – these were Ents, monstrous creatures made of plant matter.

"An army of skeletons and Ents? This is interesting," remarked Yaeger, as the final battle began the moment they arrived. Despite feeling confused, everyone was also excited at the prospect of a large-scale battle.

Yunuen and Little Fairy were eager to fight, while Alicia had already drawn her sword and was brimming with fighting spirit. Yaeger, on the other hand, switched her sword into a crossbow – in such a massive battle, her weapon of choice was the [Berserk Thunder], a powerful crossbow.

The enemy wasted no time and launched their attack while Yaeger and her companions prepared themselves. Several skeleton soldiers pushed the catapult forward, and suddenly a black skeleton jumped in, its bones scattering and reforming into a bone ball, which was used as ammunition. Everyone was puzzled by the strange sight, as the bone ball would likely not be effective in causing much damage, especially compared to actual bombs.

The catapult launched with a bang, and the black bone ball flew over towards them. Yaeger, though unsure of the skeletons' intentions, remained vigilant, preparing for any unexpected events. As the bone ball approached, she drew her crossbow, ready to attack. However, the bone ball suddenly exploded without warning, unleashing a pitch-black pulse of energy that spread in all directions with a loud boom.

"Oh no! Yunuen, deploy a barrier quickly!" Yaeger exclaimed in alarm as she saw the black energy spreading. She had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. Yunuen reacted promptly and immediately erected an energy barrier. The pitch-black pulse swept over them swiftly.

"We're fine?" Little Fairy asked, perplexed after the pulse dissipated, feeling no harm from it.

"There's something amiss." Yaeger opened her game interface and noticed an abnormal effect labeled as [Silence] on her basic description. The effect was set to last for fifteen minutes.

"Our skills have been sealed. These skeletons are quite cunning," Yaeger warned as the skeleton army and Ent army approached them.

Despite their lack of shouting, the armies' presence was intimidating and overwhelming, and the silence was truly deafening.

"Princess, what do we do now?" Little Fairy asked urgently.

They heavily relied on their skills to deal damage, but with them being sealed, fighting the monsters with their bare hands seemed impossible. Even though Yaeger's fists were deadly, it wouldn't be enough against the sheer number of monsters they faced.

"Yunuen, it's up to you," Yaeger said, turning to her.

"Yes! [Advanced Spirit Cleanse]!" Yunuen exclaimed, feeling like a proper Priest for once.

She planted her staff on the ground, and a golden magic circle appeared.

Holy purifying energy surged from the circle, cleansing everyone and dispelling their abnormal statuses in a matter of seconds.

Yaeger's expression turned grim as she spoke, "That was dangerous. We could have been ruined by these monsters if the abnormal effect was something like [Petrification], [Insanity], or [Darkness]."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "Don't let a single bone go. We have to eliminate them all!" As she spoke, she loaded a purple energy bolt onto her crossbow.

This was the first time since her rebirth that she had been caught off guard like this, and it had made her angry.