The night seemed a bit too long, as Felix had never awaited dawn with such anticipation…

The middle-aged nun, though conventional, was not so rigid as to persist in her error knowingly. The group decided to settle down at their current location and resolved to delve deeper into the Burial Ground of Bones after daybreak, in search of the elusive 'The Left Hand of God', whose existence was uncertain…

As night fell, the first to awaken Felix was a piercing scream from a young female knight!

Throughout their journey, the group had encountered loathsome undead creatures, but without exception, all were reduced to ashes under the swords of these formidable female knights. What could be so terrifying as to elicit such a hysterical scream from these exceptionally brave knights?

Felix felt extremely uneasy.

Quickly donning his cloak, he stepped out of the carriage, only to witness a spectacle both magnificent and revolting. The horrifying sight made his scalp tingle, not to mention how the female knights, being female creatures, must have felt!

A sea of maggots, glistening green, the size of thumbs! Stretching as far as the eye could see, covering all the visible land!

Layer upon layer, they slowly encroached upon the carriage like termites in search of food. A dark green slime oozed from the mouths of these semi-undead maggots, dyeing the ground a nauseating, sticky dark green. The pungent stench mixed with the corrosive smoke rising from the ground soon overwhelmed Felix, causing him to vomit out his last night's dinner!

"They are carrion eaters!"

As a bloodied Gamma mage, Felix had extensive knowledge of various dark creatures, and the carrion eaters before him were among the common corrosive beings he was well-acquainted with.

Carrion eaters are symbiotic creatures of the Land of Corruption, occasionally found on mindless, low-level undead. They primarily feed on rotting flesh, or anything that their slime can liquefy. Extremely resilient, they virtually have no natural predators, as no creature would choose to feed on such half-undead beings – probably too repulsive even for them…

"Carrion eaters, creatures of the dark, semi-undead, symbiotic beings of the Land of Corruption, spew slime with extremely strong corrosive properties, strong enough to dissolve steel!"

After overcoming the revolting smell, Felix leaped onto the carriage and shouted to the female knights hesitating outside the convoy, unsure whether to attack the carrion eaters or not: "Retreat! Retreat! The corrosive ability of the carrion eaters is very strong! Your armor can't withstand it!"

Though numerous, the carrion eaters could not possibly be as terrifyingly abundant as they appeared. Observing the dense swarm on the ground, Felix estimated there were at least a million! A million carrion eaters! Without attacking, their sheer revolting nature alone was enough to overwhelm a multitude of people!

"Retreat! Retreat! The carrion eaters are afraid of fire, add torches, throw blankets into the fire! They fear high temperatures!" Felix was the first to grab a snow-white goose feather blanket from inside the carriage and throw it into the bonfire. The sudden burst of flames startled the approaching carrion eaters. They made a 'rustling' sound and rapidly retreated, forming a disgusting dark mass.

Though individually weak, the carrion eaters in groups possess very strong corrosive properties. Any form of close combat could be lethal! Even pure steel armor couldn't last more than ten minutes under their dark green slime! A million carrion eaters were enough to overwhelm their entire group!

The continuous 'rustling' sound from afar indicated more carrion eaters were being attracted by their group, gradually converging on their location.

The rising flames instilled an instinctual fear in the carrion eaters, causing them to slowly back away and accumulate into a disgusting green wave. The arriving carrion eaters added layer upon layer until they formed a 'green wall' over a meter high. The 'rustling' sound persisted, with fallen carrion eaters crawling towards the group, easily crushed underfoot by the female knights.

The situation temporarily reached a stalemate. Even with the flames still raging, once the number of carrion eaters accumulated to a certain level, they would inevitably overcome their instinctual fear and swarm over.

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The boots of the female knights crushing the carrion eaters began to emit wisps of blue smoke. In just a short time, their boots were corroded, and at this rate, they would soon have to flee barefoot.

Felix turned his gaze towards the middle-aged nun, hoping she could come up with a constructive solution.

Carrion eaters are incredibly weak individually, easily crushed even by a child, but once they accumulate in large numbers, their terrifying potency is unleashed. Even dragon scales couldn't last long under their slime!

Felix soon became disappointed. He saw a hint of panic on the face of the middle-aged nun. After the initial alarm, she cast eight Holy Light Purification spells in quick succession. However, not only did these spells fail to drive away the carrion eaters, but the opposing energies also agitated their aggressiveness. The 'green wall' slowly advanced, inching closer to the group.

Seeing no effect, the nun had to cease casting. With such an enormous number, even if she exhausted her magic, she couldn't eradicate them all!

Most importantly, in the Burial Ground of Bones, the sparse holy light energy couldn't sustain her for long. At most, she could summon new holy light energy for a few minutes.

Felix glanced at the panicked women and reluctantly realized that at this moment, he could only rely on himself. Seeing such nauseating creatures had essentially scrambled the women's thoughts, expecting them to come up with a solution was less likely than believing pigs could fly!

Suppressing his tingling scalp, Felix rapidly cycled through his thoughts, searching his memory for everything about carrion eaters.

"Carrion eaters, oviparous, breeding method similar to ants..."

That's it! Felix suddenly smacked his forehead, recalling a detail he had overlooked. The breeding method of carrion eaters was somewhat similar to ants, except one is propagated by a queen ant, and the other by a mother bug!

The carrion eater mother bug is quite large, about the size of a pig boar, but to spawn such a vast number of offspring, Felix strongly suspected that the carrion eater mother bug in the Burial Ground of Bones had evolved into a real monster.

Monsters possess simple intelligence. Could it be the mother bug commanding the smaller bugs in their attack?

A group of people imbued with holy light energy in a domain filled with negative elements were like dazzling lighthouses, attracting the attention of the carrion eater mother bug, which was not surprising.

Carrion eaters lack a brain, essentially devoid of even a sliver of intelligence, surviving purely on instinct. If it were just instinct, they should have fled immediately at the sight of fire, not accumulating here, inching forward little by little.

"Lighting Spell!"

Felix summoned the holy light energy within him and launched a flare into the sky, illuminating the area as if it were daylight. Seizing the opportunity, Felix quickly leaped onto the carriage, trying to spot the mother bug amidst the vast sea of insects.

Soon, he made a discovery. The mother bug was too conspicuous, like a calf-sized mass, slowly wriggling and spraying dark green slime. The carrion eaters were densely packed on it. If not for Felix noticing the strange bulge there, the giant creature might have remained hidden.

"Kill the mother bug! Kill the mother bug!"

Felix released another flare, aiming directly at the location of the mother bug, then shouted to the middle-aged nun, pointing out the target.

Clearly, Felix was summoning the heavy hitters. He didn't believe he had the capability to plunge into the sea of insects and single-handedly confront a monster-grade mother bug. Besides, the sight of the green mass made his scalp tingle and limbs weak, let alone rushing into battle.

The middle-aged nun, though not a legend, was at least a master in the Golden Dominion. Who else but her could handle such a daunting task?

After all, she had already dedicated her soul and body to her Lord; even if her sacrifice lay in the vast sea of insects, she probably wouldn't mind, would she?

The nun seemed to understand Felix's intention. Hesitating, she eventually gritted her teeth, grabbed a blanket to wrap around herself, and charged towards the location of the mother bug.

"Guide me!" The nun, with eyes barely open and teeth gritted, started throwing Holy Light Purification spells as if they were free.

Upon encountering strong damage output, the sea of insects was churned into a mush. The overwhelming holy light energy also instilled fear in these semi-undead maggots, causing them to scatter bit by bit.

Realizing it was the target, the mother bug rapidly wriggled, emitting 'squeaking' noises and started to flee towards the back of the insect sea!

The sea of insects became tumultuous once again. Countless carrion eaters, as if suddenly fearless, surged towards the nun, even abandoning their attack on Felix's side.

Even the nun, now the main target of the insect sea, began to struggle. Her shield, built from holy light energy, flickered like a lamp in a storm, seemingly on the verge of extinguishment.

Every wave of suicidal impact by the carrion eaters dimmed the nun's holy light shield once more. The clash of opposing energies consumed each other rapidly upon contact; it was a battle of endurance.

Seeing the nun in trouble, the attendant female knights immediately rushed forward, but Felix quickly stopped them.

Joking aside, who would protect him if they left?

Felix bit his lip, pondering for a while, and finally pulled out the pure silver cross from his chest — "Angela's Guard."

"God said, let there be light!"

Clutching the pure silver cross, Felix channeled the holy light energy within him into the mottled holy stigmata. The cross gradually emitted a pure white glow, enveloping Felix completely.

"Holy Cross - Protection!"

With a heavy heart, after bestowing the "Holy Cross - Protection" on the nun, Felix immediately launched a flare towards the direction the mother bug was escaping.