Elden Ring, building a legion of ashes

Chapter 38 Miranda Flower Sea

They went through several more rounds of maneuvering.

Xia Tong's gaze sharpened, and he finally established his battle strategy.

He was responsible for facing the pressure head-on and drawing the fire.

The Grik soldiers, armed with bows and crossbows, roamed the flanks, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Unfortunately, the "crystallization scattering" technique I just learned is useless right now.

Given Xia Tong's current mental state, his pitiful concentration is not enough to support three shots. Forcing him to use them would only cause him to faint on the spot due to mental exhaustion.

He gripped the thorny "Guard of the Sinner" tightly with his left hand.

This shield seemed to possess some peculiar quality; simply holding it brought Xia Tong a moment of clarity to her mind, and her concentration increased dramatically.

In his eyes, the once swift Golden Tree Guardian's movements became clear and discernible, with each move appearing traceable.

After dodging several powerful slashes by sidestepping, Xia Tong consciously began to spread her legs and increase the distance between herself and the attackers.

This created an excellent firing window for the Grik soldiers.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

He truly is a seasoned veteran.

The Grik soldiers seized the opportunity and fired three arrows in quick succession, the arrows precisely avoiding the heavy gold plate armor.

The crossbow bolts pierced the guardian's knee joints, back gaps, and even hit his throat squarely.

However, the results were minimal.

Or rather, for such inhuman monsters, the damage from physical piercing is almost negligible.

If an ordinary person were to suffer such an injury, they would already be bleeding profusely, but the guardian of the golden tree showed no reaction and continued to wield his weapon.

It seems that the inside of this monster's body has become completely woody.

Since it's wood, that makes things easier.

Xia Tong decisively threw down the King's Army Greatsword in his hand, pulled out a torch from the outside of his backpack, and lit it with a "whoosh".

After switching to a lighter torch, Xia Tong immediately felt much lighter.

He held a shield to his chest with his left hand and raised a torch high with his right, nimbly dodging the guardian's stiff thrust.

Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent's old strength had not dissipated and new strength had not yet been generated, Xia Tong poured the remaining spiritual power into the Sinner's Shield.

At that moment, he was like a cannonball, hurtling forward!

"Bang!"

A dull thud resounded as the massive Golden Tree Guardian was thrown off balance by the impact and crashed to the ground.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xia Tong immediately lunged forward, pressing her entire body firmly against its trunk.

He pressed the blazing torch in his hand down hard on the wooden face.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The tiny wooden tentacles on the guardian's body ignited instantly upon contact with the flames, crackling and popping loudly.

The fire grew larger and larger, spreading instantly along the texture to the entire body.

The Grek soldiers followed closely behind, discarding their crossbows and drawing their swords. They gripped their longswords with both hands and plunged them heavily into the guardian's arm holding the spear, pinning him firmly to the ground.

The guardian of the golden tree opened its charred mouth and let out a hoarse roar like the friction of withered wood.

But struggling in the face of raging fire is futile; the flames only grow stronger.

A moment later, only a curled-up, charred body remained on the ground.

A wisp of Rune energy wafted out and merged into Xia Tong's body, adding up to sixty-three points.

It's not much, but it's better than nothing.

Having overcome this obstacle, Xia Tong and his group regrouped and continued their ascent to higher ground.

Because it was a continuous uphill section, the group's pace was not fast.

To prevent the roadside bushes from suddenly sprang into ambush, Xia Tong did not recall the Grik soldiers.

He jogged along, vigilantly protecting the rear.

The mountain roads on the peninsula were rugged and difficult to traverse, but after more than an hour of trekking, they finally reached the middle of the mountain range.

A wide, gentle slope appeared before us, and the road conditions immediately became much easier.

We are getting closer and closer to the pilgrimage church at the top of the hill.

But just then, a cloyingly sweet smell suddenly drifted in from the originally refreshing mountain breeze.

Xia Tong subconsciously turned around to look.

In the distance, on the rolling hills, a vast expanse of eerie, giant flowers bloomed—the Miranda poison flower.

In the center of that sea of ​​flowers, a crystal dewdrop, emitting a faint glow, floats quietly.

Even from this distance, Xia Tong could still clearly see its alluring light.

Those are crystallized dewdrops from a tumor of faith.

Xia Tong glanced at it briefly before immediately looking away, without a trace of greed rising in her heart.

The reason is simple: around that dewdrop, several giant Miranda poisonous flowers, each as large as a small mountain, were clustered together.

He was exhausted and out of supplies; to provoke those monsters at this time would be tantamount to courting death.

More importantly, he lacks powerful ranged fire-attribute attacks. Charging in with just an ordinary torch would be tantamount to suicide.

Besides, what use is a dewdrop to a warrior who has no faith bonuses, that only increases faith by ten points?

Fortunately, the giant Miranda flowers were not on the main road that was the only way to pass.

Xia Tong didn't dare to delay for a moment. She patted Torret's rump, signaling it to speed up and rush towards the mountaintop.

At the same time, Xia Tong rang the summoning bell, returning the Grek soldiers, who were already struggling to keep up with the horses' speed, to the ashes.

Even with such caution, the commotion caused by Xia Tong and her group still disturbed the small Miranda poisonous flowers lurking on the road ahead.

As the flower buds bloomed, a dark green spore-poisonous mist instantly filled the air.

Xia Tong had a bad feeling and subconsciously thought of tearing two strips of cloth off her body to make a makeshift mask.

But he was wearing standard armor, which couldn't be torn even slightly.

In a moment of desperation, he looked at the girl in front of him:

"There's a poisonous mist released by the Miranda poison flower ahead; we must cover our mouths and noses! Miss Elena, could we borrow some clothes?"

Upon hearing this, Elena nodded slightly and, without hesitation, forcefully tore open the fabric at the cuff, tearing off two strips of cloth.

Xia Tong took the strip of cloth and quickly wet it with the last bit of water in her bag.

He handed one piece to Elena, and kept the other for himself, tightly covering his mouth and nose.

Fortunately, as a spirit horse, this level of poisonous fog did not harm Torret.

As they got closer, Xia Tong finally saw the true nature of these obstacles.

The small Miranda flower is only about the height of an average person's leg, and the bud at the top is not very large.

But the problem is their sheer number; they seem to have conspired beforehand, densely covering this slope that leads to the pilgrimage church.

The giant Miranda flowers in the distance sent a chill down Xia Tong's spine.

They have enormous, fleshy flowers, almost as tall as two Xia Tong stacked together.

The poisonous fog surrounding the giant flower was so dense it seemed almost tangible, like a green canopy that blocked their path.

Xia Tong patted Elena on the shoulder, indicating that she should cover her mouth and nose no matter what.

The toret beneath him seemed to sense the urgency and sprinted forward with all his might.

Unfortunately, this hillside covered in poisonous flowers is far too long.

Even though they had already passed through the blockade of dozens of poisonous flowers, there was still half the journey ahead.

Just then, the entire sea of ​​poisonous flowers seemed to be enraged and completely boiled over.

Xia Tong felt a chill run down her spine; that sense of being locked on and threatened arose spontaneously.

shimmering silver magical threads began to appear in the surrounding air.

Whether giant or small, the Miranda flower begins to gleam with a dangerous light deep within its stamen.

Xia Tong suddenly looked up.

Countless beams of light seemed to have eyes, relentlessly following his trajectory.

A beam of light continuously formed behind him, growing thicker and thicker before exploding with a deafening roar.

"Bang bang bang!"

Explosions erupted behind us, sending dirt and grass clippings flying everywhere.

Torrett displayed astonishing agility, executing an incredible double jump to narrowly avoid the deadliest round of explosions.

But in the instant they were suspended in the air, the aftershocks of the explosion still reached them, and the two men and the horse stumbled and landed, almost falling into a heap.

"No! Torrett, faster!"

Xia Tong shouted anxiously, while grabbing a handful of dried Roja fruit from her backpack and stuffing it into the spirit horse's mouth without a second thought.

He keenly noticed that Elena's forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat, and her face had turned unusually pale.

Even though she covered her mouth and nose, trace amounts of toxins still seeped into her body while she was traveling through such a high concentration of toxic fog.

We must get out of here as soon as possible!

Torret chewed the dried fruit, unleashing a burst of power that propelled him forward for another distance.

Finally, the density of the surrounding Miranda flowers began to visibly thin out.

The relentless beams of light chasing them from behind were dwindling in number.

When the fresh air and the reassuring green meadow finally appeared before her, Xia Tong felt as if she had just walked through hell.

As the terrain gradually leveled out, looking at the clear sky in the distance and the tranquil alpine meadows nearby, Xia Tong knew that they were finally safe.

He quickly nudged Elena in front of him, only to find the girl leaning softly against his chest without responding.