After the Volcan Wolves offered their respects and gratitude, the mother wolves went up to their cubs and groomed them by licking off the residual blood and dirt.
Awroo! Awr, awr, awroo!
Shortly after, the leader of Volcan Wolves communicated with its pack before one of the adult Volcan Wolves that was previously poisoned approached Vaan’s group.
Awr!
The wolf barked once and spun around before moving over to the water stream. There, it sat down with its tail wagging, seemingly waiting for them to follow them.
“It seems like we just got a guide,” Vaan commented with a slight smile.
“A guide, huh? I suppose it can help us avoid monsters and beasts with its keen sense of smell. Though, I’m not sure how useful that will be since we’ll be following the water stream anyway,” Astoria voiced her opinion.
“Of course, if we want to investigate the source of the water stream contamination, then I think the Volcan Wolf will be very useful.”
“Since it’s on the way, and the Volcan Wolf is offering its help, there’s no reason to turn it down,” Hester said before she added, “Well, that’s what I think.”
“Let’s just move on,” Vaan urged before stating, “If the contamination source doesn’t require us to take too big of a detour, it’s worth investigating. Otherwise, we will continue what we set out to do; find Eniwse.”
“That said, if the water contamination was related to the two witches that turned the Misty Leaf Town upside down, it might very well be worth looking into. After all, we still don’t know for what reason they have come to the Thousand Fog Mountains.”
The two witches could be going for the dragons, or they could be going for Eniwse in her Wyvern-type Abomination form.
Thinking about it, Vaan rather not take any chances; he had to stop the two witches.
After all, they had a space-attribute High Witch among them. If they successfully capture Eniwse, there’s no telling where they would take her.
Nevertheless, after Vaan’s group proceeded to the water stream, the Volcan Wolf stood up excitedly with its tail wagging.
Shortly after, it turned around and went a few dozen yards up the water stream before it turned back and barked at them, urging them to follow it.
“I know it’s grateful to us, but doesn’t it seem a little too enthusiastic? If I didn’t know it was a Volcan Wolf, I would have mistaken it for a pet dog,” Hester mentioned.
“Let it be,” Vaan calmly said before commenting, “Who knows what it was experiencing while under the poisoned state?”
“More importantly, we don’t know what contaminated the water stream. However, we do know that it produces rabid and cannibalistic behavior in its victims,” Vaan mentioned.
“Perhaps the work of a Fallen Witch,” Astoria assumed before adding, “There are those among them who research poison and medicine for various reasons such as cure, kill, and self-enhancements.”
“Then those two witches are really Fallen Witches,” Hester guessed.
“We don’t know that definitely. But given the circumstances, the chances are very likely,” Vaan stated with a deep look.
As long as it wasn’t 100% certainty, even 1% uncertainty could become 100% incorrect.
A skilled gambler could turn a 1% probability into a 100% probability in a game of chance, whether it was done with skills or underhanded means.
Thus, while Vaan was inclined to believe the two witches were Fallen Witches, he wouldn’t believe it until he saw undeniable proof.
The worse thing a strategist could do was make blind assumptions.
Blind assumptions lead to mistakes, and mistakes can be very punishing.
As Vaan’s group traveled along the water stream with the Volcan Wolf taking the lead, the ladies had their noses covered due to the foul stench of sulfuric water.
Meanwhile, Vaan studied the water stream to determine the source of contamination.
“Even the Volcan Wolves known for their steel stomachs were affected by the contaminated water stream. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like for all the other beasts that rely on the stream’s water,” Astoria mentioned along the way.
“Can you determine what contaminated the water by studying the stream, Lord Vahn?” Aeliana asked shortly after.
“No.” Vaan shook his head and said, “It’s too diluted. We have to be closer to the contamination source to get an accurate judgment.”
“That said, there does seem to be a very faint scent of blood in the water stream,” Vaan mentioned his discovery.
“A faint scent of blood?” Astoria furrowed her brows and wondered, “What kind of blood can be so toxic that it causes rabid and cannibalistic behaviors in other beasts?”
“No, perhaps whatever the blood belonged to, it was already affected by the poison?” Astoria suddenly thought shortly after.
“We’ll find our answer soon enough,” Vaan said.
Considering the contaminated water stream could affect the Volcan Wolves, the source shouldn’t be too far away.
As the group followed the Volcan Wolf, it suddenly stopped and barked at them, directing their attention to the water stream.
“There’s a beast carcass in the water stream,” Astoria informed the group.
Nevertheless, everyone could see the beast’s carcass with their own eyes due to the shallow water. Most of the carcass was exposed above the water surface.
It was a four-legged creature of the feline family, had black fur, was over nine feet long, and weighed more than two hundred pounds.
“It’s a Shadow Leopard,” Vaan determined the dead beast at a glance.
“An adult Shadow Leopard like this one would usually have the strength of a Mid-level Rank 3 being at least. But judging by the number of scars, it must be quite veteran and old, even among Shadow Leopards. Its muscles are also well built.”
“Its overall strength should be around High-level Rank 3,” Vaan concluded after studying the Shadow Leopard’s features.
Of course, he could also check its tooth decay to determine its age, but there was no need for such a detailed assessment of the Shadow Leopard.
After all, Shadow Leopards were natives of the middle regions.
“What is a beast from the middle regions doing here in the lower regions?” Astoria frowned and said, “Shadow Leopards rarely leave their habitat. The beasts from the lower regions don’t have enough nutrients to interest them.”
“Moreover, purple blood is oozing from the Shadow Leopard’s neck. Someone had poisoned it, slit its neck, and dumped its carcass here on purpose. If I wasn’t certain before, then I am definitely certain now. This a Fallen Witch’s doing,” Astoria claimed.
Everyone could see the poisoned carcass of the Shadow Leopard slowly changing complexion under the influence of the purplish poison.
Its flesh darkened, and its veins ruptured—No, they were breaking down as if they were decomposing at an alarming rate.
However, it wasn’t just the veins.
After the veins broke down, the purplish poison worked on breaking down the flesh and bones to produce even more purplish poisoned blood.
The poison didn’t just cause beasts to become rabid and cannibalistic; it also caused its host’s cells to attack each other and break down to multiply the poison.
“Such a wicked poison… I am of the same that this is the work of a Fallen Witch,” Hester concurred.
Awr!
The Volcan Wolf alerted the group to more Shadow Leopard carcasses further upstream.
It wasn’t just one carcass but dozens; possibly an entire leap of Shadow Leopards had been slaughtered to poison the water stream.
“With this quantity of poisoned blood contaminating the stream, the person was set on causing chaos in the lower regions. They wanted to incite the beasts, most likely to hinder people from venturing into the Thousand Fog Mountains,” Vaan said with narrowed eyes.
Whatever the mastermind was planning, they obviously didn’t want people to follow them after the Misty Leaf Town incident, even if it meant poisoning the water stream to cause irreversible damage to the life and land.
The person clearly had no care for anything but their own agenda for visiting the Thousand Fog Mountains.
Vaan wouldn’t Eniwse to fall into the hands of such a person.
“We need to remove these carcasses from the stream and purify the poison to prevent further damage from spreading in the lower regions,” Astoria stated.
Shortly after she spoke, the group quickly got to work.
“Don’t touch the carcasses with your hands, Lady Hester,” Astoria quickly warned. “The poisoned carcasses are much more potent than the diluted poison I previously treated with Light Magic.”
“If you get poisoned, a normal Cleansing Light might not be enough to treat you,” Astoria said solemnly.
“I see,” Hester uttered with surprise before nodding. “Don’t worry. I’m not that careless.”
Hester and Vaan used Earth Magic to move the Shadow Leopard carcasses to land before Astoria used Fire Magic to incinerate them.
However, her Fire Magic was surprisingly weak and failed to reduce the Rank 3 carcasses to ashes. As such, she only managed to scorch the carcasses until they were charcoal-black.
Fire Magic wasn’t her specialty, nor did anyone in the party also specialize in Fire Magic.
Nevertheless, the intensity of her Fire Magic should have been enough to get the job done. Alas, the poison was surprisingly persistent.
Patches of blackened flesh crumbled apart before purplish poison blood oozed out of the carcasses.
Astoria’s eyes narrowed immediately.
“The poison persisted even when the carcasses have become charcoal? It’s surprisingly enduring,” Aeliana said with a frown. “Imagine the damage it would cause if it were used to contaminate the water source in a big city.”
“Definitely wouldn’t be a pretty sight to see,” Vaan commented before saying, “Allow me to get rid of it.”
Shortly after stepping forward, Vaan took out a flask of green liquid and checked the quantity before he hurled it at the pile of charcoal carcasses.
The glass flask shattered on impact, and the green liquid content poured over charcoal carcasses, mixing with the purplish poison blood that oozed out of the pile.
In that instant, the two solutions were quickly sucked towards each other like a magnetic attraction before they lit up with a bubbly and muddy grey light.
“Oh, that doesn’t look good,” Vaan commented at the scene, but his expression remained casual and indifferent.
However, Astoria’s expression abruptly changed along with the other two ladies before she quickly raised her hand.
Boom!
The pile of charcoal carcasses exploded with the same force as a Peak-level Rank 3 explosion spell, splattering black goo everywhere.
Fortunately, Astoria’s timely light barrier protected everyone from being hit by the shock of the explosion and stained by the black goo.
Although the black goo scattered everywhere, there wasn’t a single trace of poison within them. It was as if a counteracting agent had nullified the poison.
“T-Teacher Raphna?!” Astoria glanced back at Vaan with a startled look and asked, “What the heck did you chuck in the pile of carcasses?”
“Hmm, poison,” Vaan replied.