Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 219: Chapter 213: Arrival at the Demon Forest Ruins, a Clever Technique to Clear the Way

Jon’s words were succinct. With a slight twitch of his fingertip, a faint yet concentrated white mote of light silently shot out. As if alive, it gracefully carved a winding but clear path between the gnarled ancient trees and low-hanging vines.

"Follow its lead."

The party cautiously changed direction, following the mote of light to circumvent the area that pulsed with a dangerous presence.

Once they were certain they had left the giant python’s territory, Jon turned slightly to look at Dolores and offered her a sincere compliment.

"Your Perception is sharp. That Titan Tree Python’s camouflage was brilliant. Even I almost overlooked it."

At his words, the Ranger Maiden’s lips curled into an unabashedly smug grin.

"Of course! I grew up in the woods. No Demon, no matter what it is, can escape my eyes and ears. You can count on me, Boss!"

"Oh? In that case, I’ll be looking forward to your performance from now on..."

After this brief interlude, the party proceeded with heightened vigilance, pushing deeper into the silent, eerie jungle.

The light, fragmented by overlapping layers of giant leaves, cast a dappled mosaic of shadows on the ground.

The deeper they went, the more twisted and bizarre the surrounding flora became. The air was thick with an overwhelming aura of Life, yet it was mingled with a faint, cloying sweetness, like the smell of rotting roots.

Finally, after pushing through a particularly dense thicket, its branches gnarled like a demon’s claws, the vista before them changed dramatically.

A vast complex of ruins, encased in countless layers of thick vines, appeared before them like a colossal, deep-green cocoon.

The vines were as thick as serpents, their surfaces coated in slick moss and strange, dark patterns. They dug deep into the ancient stone crevices, as if intent on completely devouring and digesting the entire structure.

Even more unnerving, the outskirts of the ruins were crowded with innumerable "trees" and "flowers."

The branches of these "trees" resembled painfully contorted human bodies, gnarled and tangled, with leaves of an unnatural, inky green or dark purple. The "flowers" were abnormally large, their petals blindingly vibrant, their pistils like strange eyes or maws. In the dim light, they silently and slowly unfurled their leaves and petals.

Jon stopped. His gaze swept over the distorted plants, which looked as though they could spring to life at any moment. He lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Listen carefully. From this point on, you will follow my commands for every single step."

"Moon, Sati, take out the throwing casks I gave you earlier. One each."

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Warrior siblings unfastened the small wooden casks, which were securely tied to the outside of their backpacks with thick cloth and leather straps.

Inside was the very weapon Jon had prepared for plant-type Demons—Frost Dust.

Seeing the two were ready, Jon immediately turned to the Ranger Maiden behind him.

"Dolores, switch to the Diffusion Arrows I gave you. Wait for my command."

"Got it!"

Dolores deftly unslung the Short Bow from her back. Her amber eyes flashed with excitement, and her voice was a mix of tension and thrill.

"What about you, Boss? Do you need us to cover you while you cast your Magic?"

Jon shot her an exasperated look.

"I need to make sure the surrounding monsters don’t wake up early while you’re all busy."

Then, without hesitation, he issued his command.

"Moon, Sati, on my word—target the air ahead of us. Make continuous throws to cover the path to the ruins’ entrance! Dolores, watch for the right moment and shoot them out of the sky!"

"Yes!"

Moon and Sati took a deep breath, their muscles tensing.

"Throw!"

Jon commanded.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The Warrior siblings threw almost in unison. Two dark shapes traced low arcs through the air, hurtling toward the dense patch of twisted plants near the entrance to the ruins.

Just as the two wooden casks reached their apex and began to fall, Dolores made her move!

With a light twist of her fingers on the bowstring, the bow limb hummed softly, and the first arrow was loosed!

Without even glancing at the result of her first shot, she drew, nocked, pulled, and loosed a second arrow with incredible speed, sending it right behind the first!

POP! POP!

Two faint pops echoed almost simultaneously.

As if they had eyes of their own, the two arrows struck the tumbling casks in mid-air with perfect accuracy.

In an instant, two massive clouds of pale blue, mist-like dust erupted!

As fine as snow and infused with Extreme Cold Magic Power, the Frost Dust scattered as if cast by an unseen hand. It formed two rapidly expanding clouds of cold that descended upon the writhing Tree Spirits and the alluring, giant Flower Demons below.

FSSSHHH—

The instant the dust made contact, a cacophony of sharp, crackling sounds of freezing erupted.

The Tree Spirits, which had been slowly unfurling their twisted branches, and the Flower Demons, which had been swaying their vibrant petals, began to shudder and convulse violently, as if splashed with scalding oil.

A fine layer of white frost instantly crystallized on their smooth leaves and brilliant petals, as if they had been dusted with a thin layer of snow.

"Groooan—"

A low, pained groan, like the grinding of wood, emanated from within the trunks of the largest Tree Spirits.

Living in a world cut off from the temperature fluctuations of the outside, when had they ever experienced such cold?

As the ambient temperature plummeted, instinct immediately drove them to attempt a "migration."

Gnarled, twisted roots tore themselves from the ground, pulling up large clumps of cold, wet earth. Their thick "legs" tried to move clumsily, attempting to flee the suddenly bone-chilling area.

The giant Flower Demons also thrashed their stalks wildly, trying to shake the dust from their petals.

A cold glint flashed in Jon’s eyes. He thrust up his hands, which had been gathering power, and brought his palms together. A spectral blue radiance of Magic Power rapidly converged between his fingers, flowing and coalescing into a complex, cold Rune.

He chanted a short, obscure Spell. His powerful Spiritual Power extended like invisible tendrils, precisely probing into the cloud of Frost Dust.

Novice Elemental School Magic: [Ice Resonance]!

VMMMM—

An invisible tide of cold, guided by Jon’s Spiritual Power, descended with a roar!

The Frost Dust had been slowly settling, its innate properties lowering the temperature. But now, the icy Magic Power within it was instantly activated and amplified!

The temperature in the dust-shrouded area plummeted at a terrifying speed!

The abundant moisture in the air instantly condensed into tiny Ice Crystals that fluttered down. The ground was quickly coated in a layer of white frost that visibly thickened and hardened.

The movements of the Tree Spirits and Flower Demons, who had just uprooted themselves to escape, slowed as if a switch had been flipped to slow motion. Then, they froze solid.

Their branches were encased in a thick shell of ice, their contorted postures frozen in place like bizarre ice sculptures. The ice even spread down their roots, freezing them solid within the frozen ground.

And just like that, a path was formed—paved with crystalline white frost and flanked by grotesque ice sculptures, leading straight to the ruins.

...

Moon and Sati stared, dumbfounded.

They never imagined that such a terrifying swarm of monsters could be dealt with so efficiently, so... elegantly.

Dolores lowered her Short Bow, her amber eyes sparkling. She looked at Jon with undisguised amazement.

"Boss, you’re incredible! I’ve never even heard of a way to deal with a swarm of Demons like that!"

"Well, now you have, haven’t you?"

Jon retracted his hands, exhaling a light puff of white mist.

He glanced at the frozen Demons, confirming they wouldn’t be reviving anytime soon and that other, more distant Demons wouldn’t approach this "road." Then, he waved his hand forward.

"Let’s go. We’re heading into the ruins. And one more thing—these things are just dormant, not dead. Don’t touch them."

The purple-haired girl apparently didn’t hear the last part of his sentence. She raised her Short Bow high and cheered.

"Woohoo! Time to explore the ruins!"

"Keep your voice down. Do you want to attract other Demons?"

"Oh... right... Time to explore the ruins~?"

"...You win."

The party then followed the frost-covered path, soon slipping through a gap in the vines and into the ruins.

What they didn’t know, however, was that in the distance, a pair of eyes was watching their every move.

’Is that... the Sun God’s Divine Favored?’

’No... that’s not right... That scent is...’

A murmur, as soft and delicate as a bird’s song, quietly dissipated among the branches and leaves.

’Could it be... the one from the prophecy?’

’I must... confirm this...’