'It's very deserted as expected…'

Having arrived at the settlement which at least looked quite similar to the one in the last base, and looked around for a few minutes, I didn't encounter any living beings to speak of to this point…

Of course, this was simply attributed to the fact that the 'Demonic Sovereign Sacrifice' has totally erased any proof that demons lived or even existed in the whole base, excluding the half dead Overseer and the former demon who has just recently changed his race back.

'It really is there…'

Arriving at the center of the settlement according to the sprout human's leads, I really did find a flashy looking corruption core that didn't seem to be connected with anything. The setup was completely different to the point that I would have mistaken it for a tourist monument if I wasn't already familiar with such cores…

'I guess that crosses away the possibility of me obtaining corrupted elemental crystals…'

The absence of the connected elemental crystal vien was disappointing, but it wasn't completely unbearable, this was a surprise raid that was imposed on me anyway and the actual time I spent planning for it wasn't much, so what I obtained so far, counting both EP & some valuable info that the sprout human provided, it wasn't such a bad deal.

'I still have the ones from the last base anyway…'

As I have put away the crystals that I sculpted out from the last base since I had already reached my maximum natural elemental capacity and entered the third stage which needed some familiarizing first, I wasn't in a great hunger for more, in fact, I was only going to start exploring the raised capacity that I received after my evolution soon…

'Well, let's get this done with…'

With the core being put in such an exposed and unguarded place, it only made things much easier for me, so I didn't plan to complain…

Taking out 'Lightning Cloud', I nonchalantly changed its phase to the hammer phase's only form, the great hammer form, to crush the core more easily.

'It should be quite a bit better this time…'

Being expectant of the EP obtained this time when compared to the last base which had most of its reserves depleted in order to stop the 'Cheering', I didn't use any fancy moves as I simply raised the great hammer before dropping it on the core…

[ You have absorbed the essence of a 'Corruption Core', purification in progress… ]

[ You have received 222,333,444 EP! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have reached Level 108! ]

As the hammer hit the core, it shattered into countless shards as the boundless essence flowed out of it into my body...

Receiving the great amount of EP provided by the core combined with the amount that was previously accumulated from the rest of the massacre not only allowed me to level up twice, but it also almost filled up the EP bar for the next level, meaning that I was so close to even obtaining a third level!

However, this was the already expected part, what I was waiting for was…

'Nothing…? I guess it's all given at the end as an overall then…'

Seeing that the system didn't announce any other notifs, I understood that it was likely for the quest rewards to be given only after I left the base just like last time…

The only other thing that I received was the same strange colored wisp that went inside the brown crystal, allowing it to take the color as its own, which meant that this crystal was finally an activated key.

'It's time to leave then…'

Changing 'Lightning Cloud' back to its sword phase, and putting it away, I took the chance to change my whole suit of armor into something more mysterious as I also planned on changing…

"Hey Long, I need your help setting up an 'Illusion'."

[Understood.]

Seeing that Long who just emerged from inside the ring was being polite as he has been for a while, I immediately described the new face I was changing to…

This was obviously part of my plan to avoid having to explain what happened to the trio, as I was simply going to lump all what happened to an explainable situation and have Lan disappear from the scene for a few days to make it easier for them to let it go…

'It shouldn't be hard since they should only have a hazy experience of what happened…'

Due to the effect of the 'Ancient Bewitching Marks', their memory should have been disordered quite a bit, which would only provide more help to my hidden ploy…

[This way?]

"Perfect! Thanks Long!"

[No problem, I will go back inside the ring, don't hesitate to call for me when you need my help.]

'hoho… His personality seems to be taking a turn for the better recently…'

As I mused about the favorable persona change of Long that seemed to have lasted a while, I headed back to the location that the trio were sleeping by the side of the pinned sprout human in a completely new look…

`~~`~~`~~`

"You are ba-"

"Wait! Who are you?!" The sprout human said in surprise and shock as soon as I arrived close to him…

"It's me, I just put on something different… Don't ask too much… Also, go wash and wear this," I replied as I handed him a bucket of water and a simple outfit.

The sprout human had been mostly naked to this point, with most of his body being covered in the slimy purple waste, which didn't make him qualified to appear in the outer world, so it was obvious that he needed a complete change up...

"Eh… You can even do this? Are we…" Noticing the similar speaking pattern, the sprout human caught up fast as he wanted to follow up with a question…

"Yes, we are leaving," I confirmed his suspicion as I readied the trio for leaving…

...

[ Congratulations! You have managed to destroy one of the demon bases of the Nature Domain! ]