Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 481 Mutated Forest

The headquarters of the cult.

Credo stood in his own office area, distracted by the pile of reports on his desk.

He had always been conscientious and always dealt with the official business of the Order as soon as possible, but now, looking at the reports that were gradually piling up, his mind was distracted and he had no mood to work.

He was still thinking about the mission he had received, to bring back Nero.

"...Nero, do you really have the power of a demon?" Credo was lost in thought for a long time before he sighed, "I didn't perform the ascension ceremony, so why is this happening?"

The so-called ascension ceremony of the cult is a ritual to transplant the demonic gene into the body in order to gain superhuman power. It is a secret of the cult.

If one wants to complete the ascension to heaven, one must possess a strong physique and extraordinary mental strength. If a person with insufficient ability performs the ritual, the demon factor will take over and completely lose himself. Even if he gains power, he will only be a degraded lower-level demon.

Credo had personally witnessed several examples of such failure. He had seen his compatriots become unable to understand human language due to the failure of the ritual, and were destroying and killing based solely on instinct.

Generally, these people are isolated in facilities as failures and eventually disposed of without anyone noticing. However, occasionally, failures escape from facilities and attack citizens on the streets.

Credo's parents were killed by those who escaped and failed in the ascension ceremony.

What happened that day is etched in Credo’s memory to this day.

At that time, his sister, Jillie, who knew nothing about the truth, knelt beside her parents' bodies, thinking that it was the devil's doing. Her sad tears pierced Credo's heart. Credo also remembered Nero, who was trembling beside her, and his unwilling look.

——Nero grew up in an orphanage. The reason why Credo and his siblings knew him was because their parents, who were devout believers, often went to the orphanage to help.

Credo's parents liked Nero very much, probably because he had the same silver hair as the legendary Sparta, which was a rare hair color in Fortuna. The couple would also bring their children with them, so over time, Credo and Gillie became more and more familiar with Nero.

Until that tragedy happened, the lives of all three of them were completely changed.

Credo was young and promising. In order to respond to his parents' expectations and the faith of the Order, he worked hard to climb to the position of Grand Knight of the Order at a young age and became a trusted cadre of Pope Sancottos.

He was also aware of the ascension ceremony, and his original idea was that he was willing to bear this sin in order to realize Pope Sancottos' ideal world.

But even so, young Credo could not get over the death of his innocent parents.

Behind this ideal world, countless people will be hurt. This fact made Credo confused at the time, wondering whether the path he had chosen was correct.

But Credo was unlucky. The one who "enlightened" him at this time was not his teachers, parents, relatives or friends, but Pope Sancottos, who was well versed in human nature.

At that time, Sankodos told Credo: "You have to be patient."

“…If paradise comes, no one will be harmed. To this end, innocent people may have to be sacrificed in the future, but this is also to save more people from this chaotic world.

"This is what is called a noble sacrifice."

Under the Pope's instigation, Credo "abandoned" his confusion.

Although there will be some sacrifices, if Sankodos's ideal world is realized, then the living will not have to live in fear like they do now. In this way, the souls of those who were sacrificed should also be redeemed and finally be with the gods.

This is Credo's belief and the source of his strength.

But on the other hand, although he believed in Sankodos' words, Credo still had his bottom line - Jillie.

Credo did not tell Kyrie the truth, nor did he allow anyone to reveal it to her. He also would not let Nero know in advance.

Jillie inherited her parents' piety and kept a pure heart in her belief in God. She was kind to everyone, and even many people in the Knights called her a goddess.

Faced with such a sister, Credo was unable to tell the bloody truth about the cult.

Of course he understood that even if Jillie knew the truth, she would probably not blame him, but Credo still hoped that Jillie would welcome the arrival of paradise with a spotless attitude without being implicated by her own sins.

Credo has long been prepared to bear the sin, but Jillie... If Jillie cannot be happy, then who is more qualified?
To Credo, Jillie is the most important relative in the world. At the same time, in his heart, she also symbolizes the millions of innocent people of Fortuna.

"...No matter what, Jillie must not be harmed. In order to protect her, His Holiness the Pope's ideal world must come."

Thinking of this, Credo made up his mind.

Although he had long regarded Nero as his own brother, in Credo's heart, his importance could only rank third. As for the first and second, of course, they were Jillie and the Cult.

So when the Pope ordered him to bring Nero back, although he felt heavy in his heart, he still obeyed the order... and the fact that Nero possessed demonic power also needed to be investigated thoroughly.

"Let's find out where Nero is first."

Now that he had made up his mind, Credo regained his fighting spirit and began to make arrangements.

"—Come here!"

……

At the same time, on the other side of the cult headquarters, in the citizens' refuge hall.

Jillie was moving back and forth among the crowd, patiently comforting those emotionally unstable believers and helping them calm down.

Since they arrived at the headquarters after passing through the forest early this morning, they have been placed here. The knights of the Order had originally planned to take Jillie to see Credo, but she naturally declined politely, saying that she wanted to help the believers here.

Not only are there the dozens of people who arrived with them, but there are also many more refugees who arrived before and after. The situation is already very chaotic. This decision is completely in line with Jillie's personality and habits, so naturally no one doubts it.

At this moment, she had just calmed down two children who had been crying non-stop, and returned them to their respective parents, receiving unanimous thanks from them.

Jillie nodded with her usual reserved smile on her face.

The "guarding" knights in the hall came and went, seemingly on patrol, but Jillie noticed that a few of them would look at her from time to time, with indifference in their eyes.

"Heh..." From an angle where no one could see, Jillie's lips curled up slightly into a smile that had nothing to do with piety.

……

Mitis Forest.

This vast forest connecting the city of Fortuna, Fortuna Castle, and the headquarters of the Protestant Order was originally dominated by evergreen coniferous forests, with various other plants, which were very lush. If you stand on the edge of the cliff and look at it, the dark green forest is a quiet black, which is very imposing.

But now, what came into Dante's eyes was a strange forest full of subtropical plants. Looking down from the cliff, he could see all kinds of dazzling colors, which was very strange.

Even though Dante was not from Fortuna, he immediately reacted to this unreasonable scene and realized that it must be the influence of some powerful demon.

Originally, this was something that could arouse Dante's interest, but at this moment, his attention was completely attracted by the tumbling figure of the giant beast in the sky.

Dante tilted his head back and raised a hand to block the sunlight, his eyes brightening up. "Wow! This is what that guy reminded me of before, right? This is really... so interesting."

Watching the two figures falling debris from the sky gradually going away, Dante thought for a moment and quickly made a decision:

"It's still early before the gathering time, so I'll just watch the excitement... just for a while!"

Having said that, Dante jumped off the cliff without hesitation!

……

Fortuna Castle, the lord's bedroom.

Li You was talking to Nero, revealing to him some key information he knew, nine true and one false.

Nero was leaning on the edge of the bed, already wearing his coat, gulping down the "energy drink" that Li You handed to him, listening quietly.

"...So, the first time you came to Fortuna was to investigate the sect?" Nero asked this after hearing Li You's words, a little distracted.

Li You nodded: "That's right, the identity of a tourist is also for convenience. Dante seems to have been commissioned by someone, but he intends to destroy the cult directly."

Nero turned his head slightly: "Then you will help me because..."

Li You guessed what he wanted to say and said with a smile: "Do you think I am taking advantage of you?"

Hearing his question, Nero was stunned. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, "I am not that valuable. If you want to investigate the cult, hanging out with me all day would have side effects."

Li You smiled: "Then you know the answer."

"...Humph, that's right." Nero turned his head away and said nothing for a while.

He had been disliked by others for many years and had almost no trustworthy friends, so after knowing that Li You was not deceiving him, although he did not say it, his mood immediately improved.

"My companions rarely show up because they have their own missions." Li You further explained, "I had almost confirmed the conspiracy of the cult, but Dante showed up at the Demon Sword Festival and shot the Pope dead... No one expected this, so I could only act according to circumstances."

Nero nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "So...what are you going to do next?"

Li You patted his shoulder and said, "I have come all the way here with you, so of course I will see you to the end."

"Hey, you!" Nero was visibly more energetic. "In that case, let's set off as soon as possible! Jillie is still at the headquarters. Even if Credo is protecting her, I'm still worried."

Li You had no objection to this, and it was almost time to set off, so he asked, "How is your physical and magical power recovering?"

Nero jumped up upon hearing this and shook his hands: "I'm fine now! We can leave at any time!" After a simple confirmation, Li You also nodded: "Okay, let's go!"

After they packed up, they planned to move on. However, on the way to the Fliess Falls behind the castle, Nero saw the battle field that was devastated by the fight between Li You and Dante, and he couldn't help but be shocked:
"You two fought so fiercely?"

Li You didn't look back: "It was very intense, but..."

"But what?" Nero asked.

"However, even when Dante was fighting me, he didn't use his full strength." Li You shook his head.

“Really?” Nero raised an eyebrow, but he wasn’t surprised. “That guy was almost the same when I fought him. I always felt like he was playing tricks on me… It’s really annoying! When I can beat him in the future, I will definitely go and settle the score with him!”

Although Nero said it easily, Li You was still thinking about it.

When fighting with Dante not long ago, Li You had indeed tried his best except for not using the Blood Undying Slash. But Dante... Li You felt that he still retained a lot of strength and was not going all out as he said. As for the excessive consumption after the battle, it was just nonsense.

This guy is the best at pretending.

But then again, Li You himself didn't think he could bring out all of Dante's strength, so there was no need to think too much about it.

After all, Dante is one of the ceilings of the Devil May Cry world. There is no need to aim too high. Just face the gap and improve steadily.

So Li You turned to Nero again: "Just like I said before, that sword - Yan Mo Dao, it can unlock the demonic power in your body, but from the previous situation, I'm afraid you can't fully control its power, so leave it with me for now."

"I'll give it to you when you're ready."

In fact, theoretically speaking, as long as Nero gets used to it, mastering the Yama Sword should not be a problem. However, firstly, for safety reasons, and secondly... Li You actually wants to try the Yama Sword himself.

That's Yama Blade! Who wouldn't want to play with it? Li You got into the game when he played Devil May Cry IV, and he still remembers this thing so vividly that when he mentioned the Devil May Cry series a long time later, his first reaction was Yama Blade.

So this was a rare little selfishness of his. But of course, if there was an emergency, he would not hide it from Nero, and he had no intention of taking the Yama Blade away from this world.

Hearing his words, Nero nodded solemnly: "I will prove that I can control it."

There is no need to say more at this point. They crossed the atrium, reached the waterfall, activated the mechanism, locked the valve above the waterfall, and stopped the waterfall.

Then, the two of them entered the cave behind the waterfall through the extended mechanical bridge, and finally arrived at the Mitis Forest along the way.

When Nero stood on the edge of the cliff in almost the same position as Dante before, he saw the scene that was very different from the past, and his face showed surprise: "What's going on? Why did the forest become like this?"

For a moment, Nero almost suspected that he had taken the wrong path.

Where have you come from? Is this still Fortuna?

But now, after all, he had the experience of fighting against the devil Baal, so he immediately thought that this must be the work of the devil again, changing the environment of the forest.

Nero couldn't help but worry: "I don't know if Ji Liye and the others have arrived at the headquarters safely..."

Li Youze raised his head and looked at the fresh cracks left on the cliff, then said calmly: "If you say that, I have contacted V, and she said they arrived safely this morning."

Nero heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this: "That's good."

"So stop talking about Ji Liye every three sentences." Li You complained, "Hurry up and leave."

"Okay, okay." Nero wiped his nose, "I'll lead the way!"

Nero seemed to have gotten used to Li You's teasing. He didn't react much this time and walked in front carrying the Scarlet Queen.

The two were still in the mountainous area of ​​Mount Lamina, so they had to walk along the rugged downhill road towards the forest, but part of the strange tropical rainforest had already spread here.

When we entered the forest, the situation was even worse, full of demons. Not only scarecrows, but also a large number of lizard-type assault demon soldiers wandering in the forest.

But these are not the most critical things. What surprised Nero the most was that there were foreign objects shaped like giant insect eggs scattered in every corner of the forest, and there seemed to be large shadows sleeping inside.

However, most of the cocoons are very quiet, and there is no reaction even if they are cut with a sword. Only large amounts of sap-like liquid will splash out from inside, and in a small number of them, strangely shaped larvae can be seen.

"These things are..." Nero was very sure that there were no such strange things in the forest before, so were they done by demons?

Li Youze said: "Be careful, these are eggs, some of them will definitely hatch."

Nero nodded: "I guess so too, I will pay attention... huh?"

As he was speaking, Nero suddenly felt a slight pain in his right hand. A huge cocoon behind a tree in front of him burst open with a puff, and a strangely shaped demon came out!
The demon was almost entirely made of twisted vines, and it moved only on two long legs that seemed to have blades. Overall, it looked like a demon transformed from a large piece of moss.

After it broke out of the cocoon, it shook slightly and then leaped towards Li You and Nero!
"Hey-!"

Faced with this demon he had never seen before, Nero was not at all panicked. He reached out with the demon's hand and grabbed it in his hand.

As soon as the demon was in his hand, Nero's eyes moved slightly, then he grabbed its two legs with both hands and tore it hard, tearing it directly into two halves!
The broken body of the strange demon was scattered all over the ground, and soon turned into mud like a decaying plant.

Nero shook his hands and said, "This guy...his magic power is very weak, and he doesn't seem to have any special abilities. Even if they come in groups, they won't be difficult to deal with."

Li You nodded slightly: "Yes. This kind of demon is called 'Chimera Seed'. It only has one or two ways of attack. It is very easy to deal with. It is completely incomparable with the elite warriors created by the Demon Emperor, such as the Assault Demon Soldier and Frost."

Nero looked at him and said, "So you know him?"

"I have seen demons of a similar species in the past." Li You said lightly, and added, "Although this kind of demon has very weak combat power, it has a very troublesome characteristic."

"What characteristics?"

"Look." Li You raised his hand and pointed.

At the corner where the distant cliff met the forest, a wandering scarecrow demon was staggering and jumping towards the two people.

At the same time, under the tree at the corner, a newly hatched chimera seed crawled up from the ground, shook its body, and immediately set its sights on the scarecrow.

The chimney seed suddenly jumped up and landed on the scarecrow's head. The large number of vine tentacles on its body instantly penetrated deeply into the scarecrow's body!
Then, the main trunk of the chimilla seed suddenly blossomed, and a strange big flower appeared. The scarecrow's body twitched violently, and then it rushed towards Nero as if it had gone berserk!

That’s not all, the chimera seeds that had taken root in its body waved its remaining tentacles, and its original legs turned into sharp blades, dancing wildly in the air!

The scarecrow's body is flexible, and the tentacle-like buds will automatically defend against external enemies, twisting erratically and greatly, which is very dangerous. Moreover, the attack power of the tentacles is much stronger than it looks, and it is also a somewhat troublesome enemy in the game.

"Actually...!" Nero was also a little surprised, "Is this a parasite?"

Li You next to him flipped his hand and switched the wrist guard to Glazed Fire. A purple-red flame spurted out from the front, instantly igniting the parasitic scarecrow!

The parasitic scarecrow let out a shrill hissing sound, and no one knew which side made the sound, but the vines on its limbs were dancing wildly in the flames, and it even tried to get closer to Li You and the others.

But at this time, Nero had already approached. He kept a safe distance. The Scarlet Queen swung her hand vigorously and slapped the parasitic Scarecrow away!

He wanted to fire two more shots, but the Scarecrow and Chimera Seed had already fallen and died, so there was obviously no need.

"The best way to deal with this kind of demon is to kill it in advance so that it can't parasitize other creatures." Li You said, "Even if it parasitizes, it's okay. Just kill the seeds first. In fact, you can use a gun to deal with it, but fire burns faster."

Nero nodded, "I understand. Let's move on."

The two walked deeper into the forest, dealing with a considerable number of scarecrows, assault demon soldiers and chimera seeds.

Especially the Chimera seeds. It would be fine if they were parasitic scarecrows, but it would be really difficult to deal with if they were allowed to crawl onto the already more difficult Assault Demon Soldiers.

Fortunately, let alone Li You, there are ways to swing fire. Even Nero, after releasing the demon's phantom once, his use of demon power has been improved invisibly.

So now, he doesn't even need to release Belial completely, he can use its power to spit out fireballs from the devil's hand - this is a brand new ability he developed himself.

Li You was naturally very pleased about this, and their progress also increased a lot.

However, the large number of demons is only one aspect. On the other hand, the environment of this forest is always changing, making it extremely easy to get lost. The shapes of the trees in the forest are constantly twisting, and even people with a good sense of direction find it difficult to recognize the direction.

In some places, even strange blood-red plants grew, blocking the roads that were originally passable.

When Nero led Li You to a dilapidated old church in the middle of the forest, they found that the blood-colored vines had completely blocked their original route forward.

"Damn it...what the hell is this!" Nero swung the Scarlet Queen and chopped it a few times, but the vines hardly moved at all.

"I don't believe it!" Nero got angry and showed Belial.

——However, it turns out that this bloody plant is really hard to handle and has a very high fire resistance. Even if Li You and Nero work together to release the flame, it takes a long time to burn a hole. But it will heal itself very quickly, making the efforts of the two go to waste.

However, after Li You asked Nero to confirm the status of these plants, he also had an idea. He asked Nero to step aside and then took out his Blood Undying Slash.

When the magic knife surrounded by black and red miasma appeared in Li You's hand, Nero couldn't help but tremble all over and said in surprise: "This knife..."

Li Youze only said: "I'll explain it to you when I have a chance." Then he swung the Blood Immortal Slash and pierced the blood-colored vines that had not yet fully healed!
Naturally, this time the blood-colored vines could no longer heal themselves quickly. Li You used the flame and the Blood Immortal Slash to quickly clear a path.

"This vine is indeed some kind of life form."

After cutting off the vines, Li You put away the Blood Immortal Slash and said to the shocked Nero, "Let's go. We're going to reach the canyon ahead."

(End of this chapter)