The outcome was no surprise—the four single-segment beetles got easily wasted by the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards...
[Defeated Dark Mist Node Boss: Four-Section Beetle, Spiritual Essence +3000, Fantasy Equipment +1]
[Spiritual Essence accumulated to 7000, Spirituality +1, current Spirituality 8]
[Gained Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +1]
"Worthy of being the toughest boss to kill in the Withered Lands—it coughed up a full 3000 Spiritual Essence!"
Carlos stuck to his original game plan and finished distributing points, bringing his Strength to 13 points (base 3 + allocated 8 + Sun Emperor's Court Swordsmanship Level 4 bonus 2).
Skeleton Revival slots bumped up by +1 again.
"The newly acquired Fantasy Equipment will stay on the bench for now."
He needed to get back to Ember City to see if there were chances to copy some gear that boosted Skeleton Revival bonuses.
"Go mop up all the remaining monsters!"
Turning back to re-enter the nest, Carlos rallied all his Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards and began clearing level by level from the six exits.
After losing the boss Four-Section Beetle's leadership, the remaining monsters were in total chaos.
They didn't need fancy tactics—they would automatically jump out and get chopped in half by the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards...
Under the powerful synergy boost, the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards' clearing speed was off the charts.
In just half an hour, they had wiped out all remaining monsters in this node.
[Spirituality: 8 (Spiritual Essence: 938/8000)]
"Without realizing it, I've hit 8 Spirituality."
He could bump his Spirituality by at most 1 more point before having to move to other Dark Mist regions.
The Withered Lands only allowed Psionics with Spirituality 9 and below to enter. Once he reached 9 points, Carlos would need to think about switching regions.
"First, let me evolve the final Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guard."
Sitting on the Iron Palanquin, Carlos rested with his eyes closed, thinking about future plans and arrangements, making the most of every second.
...
Ten days later, on the boulder now stained with insect blood,
A full twelve Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards stood at attention before Carlos.
They gripped greatswords in both hands, their eye sockets blazing with fierce pale soul fire, ice-cold, while terrifying killing intent swirled around their bones, reaching toward the sky.
Around the base of the boulder, severed limbs and remains of various monster beetles were scattered everywhere like confetti, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Black insect blood had stained the earth, forming a huge pool of blood—what a nightmarish scene this was.
"Too few. The monsters in the Withered Lands provide jack squat for Spiritual Essence!"
Since his Spirituality jumped to 8 points, Carlos's Spiritual Essence gains from low-level monsters had tanked again.
Over this past week, the Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards had butchered wave after wave of surrounding monster groups until no more monsters showed up.
They'd only scored about 900 Spiritual Essence total, still way short of the 8000 needed for the next bump.
"Time to deal with that traitor camp."
Carlos stroked his chin and muttered.
Killing human traitors also provided massive amounts of Spiritual Essence.
If he remembered right, one human traitor provided at least ten times more Spiritual Essence than a monster of the same spirituality level.
"And that setup should count as a micro-camp, right? Completely trashing it would also reward serious Spiritual Essence!"
Carlos's eyes lit up—this perfectly fit his 'scouting' mindset.
Any normal human wouldn't ignore traitors.
Between normal Psionics and traitors, there was no path except bloody carnage.
Looking at the twelve Purple Thornblade Skeleton Guards with their intimidating presence beside him, Carlos felt rock-solid confident.
"Move out—to the human traitor camp!"
...
At the same time, inside the human traitor camp,
The jacked Wolf, skinny Stuart, and black-robed Chapman were once again huddled around the bonfire.
The excitement on their faces was plain as day.
"After successfully waking up the Dark Mist node this time, my Spirituality actually jumped by a full point!"
Wolf spoke first, pretty stoked about the Dark Mist's reward.
He'd been stuck at Spirituality 8 forever. Who would have thought a simple awakening could boost his Spirituality by 1 point!
"Same here—my Spirituality hit 9 points!"
Stuart beside him had his body covered in a layer of wolf fur, showing off his power to his buddies.
Finally, Chapman nodded.
"Praise the great Dark Mist's blessing!"
He'd also scored a Spirituality increase, but not 1 point—it was 2 points, shooting him straight to 9 Spirituality.
After briefly sharing their news, Wolf's excitement temporarily died down, replaced by seriousness as he asked with gravity:
"Still haven't tracked down those Dark Mist monsters using greatswords?"
Stuart shook his head.
"The Withered Lands are massive. With just the few hundred people under us, it's like finding a needle in a haystack."
Chapman kept his head down in silence. While he believed in the Dark Mist's awesome power,
He didn't think more powerful Dark Mist monsters than those carrying node power would show up in the Withered Lands.
This didn't fit the Dark Mist's playbook.
"We have to find the source of this mess.
That terrifying force capable of trashing Dark Mist nodes cannot be ignored!"
Wolf had a gut feeling something was wrong.
Beneath the calm Withered Lands, this hidden terrible force could easily steamroll their entire camp!
For a moment, the other two nodded.
No matter what that terrible force was, they had to find a way to get to the bottom of it.
Suddenly, a huge black shadow slowly approached, covering the three of them.
This was an extremely bloated female traitor, a full 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide.
Even the very buff Wolf looked like a kid next to her.
She wore thick battle armor, her vibe obviously way stronger than Wolf and the other three.
"Miss Howell, you're back. Please, have a seat."
The skinny Stuart wore a kiss-ass smile, pulling Wolf up to give up his seat.
The fat traitor seemed pretty pleased with Stuart's address, and her originally brutal fat face rarely showed a smile.
Though it was too fierce, making the three present feel chills.
"Sit down."
Her voice was extremely loud, rough and powerful.
"Yes."
Stuart and Wolf sat back down around the bonfire, this time beside Chapman—the spot where lower-status people sat.
After sitting, Howell narrowed her eyes so you couldn't read her expression.
"I heard the Dark Mist node at Castle of Agony got cleared by some mystery force?"
Her voice was like a wild boar's roar, making the three men's eardrums ring.
Wolf and Stuart quickly replied:
"Yes, Miss Howell."
"We think it's most likely Dark Mist monsters duking it out!"
Chapman, reacting a beat slower, added:
"Just a theory. We haven't figured out what force hit the Dark Mist node yet."
Howell stayed quiet, clearly not speaking, but Wolf and the other three obviously felt crushing pressure around them.