The Great Demon System
Chapter 72: A Toxic Environmen

'I have already checked this path earlier in the day before I arrived and there were no traps!! I know she is the one that made them when she was out "scouting". I am sure that there will be more traps ahead. I doubt it's the only one, I can guarantee you she had at least a few fail safes. I am not sure if she is lying about the goblin part though… it's hard to tell.' Moby thought.

After Haley and the rest of the group regained their composure, they continued to walk behind Natalia as she led them to the first battlefield.

On their way, they ran into 2 other traps, One was another hole trap while the other was a rope trap that would bind onto someone's foot and catapult them in the air, making them fall to death.

Natalia even pointed out many fake traps in order to gain the trust of the group and even received praise for doing it.

Moby used his devil's hand to make all the traps miss Haley. He made her either stumble or trip in a way that looked natural, saving her from each trap as a result.

Each time Natalia noticed that her plan didn't work, she became even angrier, her scowl growing bigger and uglier each time.

Her plans were proving to be absolutely ineffective for reasons she could not understand.

It was like there was a ghost, spirit, or guardian angel watching over Haley.

After a few minutes of walking, the group finally reached the first battlefield that Moby was talking about. It was a small clearing in the forest. There was blood on the ground, withered plants, dissolved rocks, and broken trees, exactly like Moby described. The area definitely had a clear sign of a scuffle.

The bodies of 5 wolves were randomly scattered around the vicinity, their bodies completely dissolved and unrecognizable. Their description matched the one Moby told them exactly. They could tell that they were wolves, but had no idea of their species.

Since the bodies were so damaged and poisonous, they were unable to cash them in for any points.

Even if Haley wanted to heal them, she couldn't. Their bodies were beyond saving.

Natalia explained that the bodies must be in at least decent or usable condition for them to be worth any points. Also, any extremely poisonous beast would be a hazard for the soldiers at school to deal with. So, those types of monsters will be worth half points if they were teleported to the school for points.

From the clearing in the forest, they noticed another path coming into the clearing.

It was a path littered with broken trees and withered plants which Moby described to them as the path he took for escape when the Lycan started chasing him.

When the group was walking on the path, they were amazed by the magnitude of destruction they were witnessing. It made them even more interested in how the beast that caused all this destruction and mayhem looked like.

Moby told them if they followed the trail of devastation, it would eventually lead them to the cave where he found his ability.

On the way were even more traps that were laid out. This included 2 more hole traps with sharp rocks at the bottom and one rope trap which Moby once again made miss their intended target.

At this point, Natalia was close to snapping, with every failed trap she started to lose her mind more and more. However, she somehow managed to keep her emotions under control and calm herself down.

After a few minutes of walking, the trail of devastation led them to where the cave once stood. Now in its place was a pile of dissolved rubble. Nothing was recognizable at all. Once again, exactly like Moby described.

From the cave was another path of broken trees that led them into a massive area of a withered and dissolved environment. Many craters littered the ground and large scratch marks were on many of the trees. In the middle of the battlefield was the gigantic figure of the dead Lycan. Around it was dissolved black grass that made the Lycan's body slightly sink into the ground. Even in death, the Lycan's body was extremely toxic.

With this much proof, the group had to 100% believe Moby's story. They knew that it would be impossible to fake all of this unless he was immune to the Lycan's toxins and was able to pick up its body to fake the withered plants and scratches. Which was absurd. No one could possibly be completely immune to such a strong toxin.

Or so they thought.

That was exactly what Moby did.

The Lycan did not follow him all the way to the cave. So, he faked the rest of the way by picking up the Lycan's body and manually destroying and withering everything in the area with it. This included both the cave and the new battlefield he recently created as well. He spent the entire night doing it, trying his best to make it look as natural and convincing as possible.

As the group got closer to the huge monster in the center of the battlefield, they noticed that it was indeed a giant werewolf looking beast.

"l recognize this beast from the bestiary! This is a Toxicus Lycan! They are extremely rare and have not been seen on this planet since 30 years ago! They secrete a very powerful poison from their mouth and body that can wither and dissolve virtually anything! Their power levels range from 10,000 to 12,500. I assume that Moby got lucky and faced one closed to 10,000 as if it were any higher I wouldn't see any way he could have won." Natalia explained.

'Huh? 10,000 to 12,500? The one I faced was 13,400! Is her information outdated or something?' Moby questioned.

"Sadly, since this is an extremely toxic beast, it will be a hazard for the workers at school. The body is in well enough condition but, due to its toxic body, our points will be halved." Natalia explained with immense disappointment.

"I have an idea! Haley, your ability is healing! So, maybe if you try to heal the body, the toxins might also be dispelled!" Moby excitedly asked her with stars in his eyes.

Natalia inwardly cringed and felt a piercing pain in her heart when she saw Moby talking to Haley like that.

"Well… sure! Why not! It's worth a shot!" Haley said, blushing with a wide smile on her face.

"Try to stay clear of the body, you might get hurt if you get too close to it," Jay warned her.

"No shit Sherlock! Of course, I know that! I've never heard anything good come out of that useless mouth of yours!" Haley replied in disgust.

"Yo, chill, I was just trying to help out…" Jay replied, looking genuinely hurt.

"Drop the act! I know that you have a thing for me! Sadly for you, I wouldn't look in the face of ugly, weak, worthless trash like you! Don't even think that you actually had a chance with me! Go die a horrible death for all I care! I would do it myself, but sadly, I don't want to touch your disgusting body! I feel like you might get some sort of sick satisfaction from it!" Haley said in a cold, revolted voice.

This made both Natalia and Moby really shocked at this reveal. None of them noticed that there was anything going on between the two. Especially Moby, he could not believe that anyone would ever find interest in a little goblin like her. He was convinced that if the goblins on this planet saw her, they would think she was their queen.

"I'm sorry… I'll just leave you alone from now on…" Jay replied, trying to hold his tears inside the dam known as his eyes.

Usually, Natalia would have intervened, telling both parties to calm down and makeup. But, this time was different than all the other times. There was no point in making up with someone who is about to die.

'You've been getting so lucky dodging all my traps! I think I'm about to go crazy if I see this bitch alive for any longer!! You actually disgust me!!! While I was scouting, I saw a pack of beasts near here! I'll just make one of them kill you in a way that looked accidental. And, if that doesn't work, I'll just tell the group to split up as I kill you with my own hands and blame it on a random reason! No one would be suspicious of me or anything! I've been so nice and caring to this group for them to possibly think it was me!' Natalia thought with a smirk.

Haley spat on the face of the clearly depressed Jay, who had no reaction at all, before confidently walking towards the Lycan's remains.

However, as soon as she was about to reach its body, she felt a large and abrupt push hit her from behind, similar to how she felt when she was saved from the traps. Only this time, it was much harder.

This made Haley tumble and fall straight onto the Lycan's dead corpse. As soon as she did, green veins started to pop up on her face. She then started to throw up a weird looking green substance. She tried her best to move or grasp for air with no avail as the toxins have already spread to her lungs. Her hair started to quickly fall out like a dog shedding. Her hands started to dissolve into a slime-like substance. She tried her best to use her healing ability to save herself but it did not even make a difference. Her whole body was dissolving.

Everyone was just staring at Haley's agony in extreme horror and shock. No one was expecting such a thing to happen.

"NOOO HALEY!!! NOT LIKE THIS!! HOW DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN!! HEY! NATALIA! CAN'T WE SAVE HER!?!" Jay screamed in desperation, trying not to give up hope.

"No… I'm sorry to say but it's not possible. Once the poison spreads through the body like that, there is nothing anyone can do without the proper antidote. She is as good as dead…" Natalia said with clear grief in her voice looking away from the dreadful scene in front of her, tears falling down from her face.

"NOOO HALEY!! WHY!! NOOOO!! HOW DID IT COME TO THIS!?" Moby screamed, small tears also running down his face.

"AHHHHHH!!!! THAT HURTS!! IT FUCKING HURTS!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!! NOT LIKE THIS!!! MOBY!! MY LOVE! I HAD NO CHANCE TO PROPERLY EXPRESS MY FEELINGS TO YOU!! BUT, THIS IS THE ONLY TIME I CAN!! PLEASE!! NEVER FORGET ME AND KEEP ME CLOSE IN YOUR HEART!! I AM REALLY THANKFUL FOR BOTH YOU AND NATALIA!! YOU GUYS WERE AMAZING FRIENDS!! JAYYY!!! I KNOWW IT WAS YOU!!! YOU DID THIS TO ME!!! YOU PUSHED ME IN USING YOUR EARTH ABILITY!! YOU FUCKING PEASANT!!! I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU THE SECOND I FOUND OUT YOU LIKED ME!!! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!! ONCE THE SCHOOL FINDS OUT AND KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED!! YOUR WHOLE FAMILY WILL BE TORTURED, THEN EXECUTED!! MARK MY WORDS!!" Haley cried out before dying and dissolving away.

"NOOOOO!!! WHY LIKE THIS!?! HALEY!! IT WASN'T ME!! I PROMISE IT WASN'T ME!! I PROMISE IT WASN'T ME!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Jay screamed as he watched Haley dissolve right in front of him, falling on his knees, a waterfall of tears falling down his face.

As soon as Moby saw Haley completely dissolve, he held in the urge to burst out in laughter. It was really hard to hold it in and not break his grieving poker face but he somehow managed to do it.

[ System Alert! ]

[ You have killed a low C rank enemy! ]

[ +35000 XP ]

[ Level Up! ]

'Exactly as planned…' Moby thought in joy, looking at all the XP he got.