novelraw Chapter 121: The True Killing Move
Chapter 121: The True Killing Move
A premonition of death washed over Loren, and without hesitation he activated the High Tower’s Void-walking. Even if his void-walking ability was exposed, it would not be the end of the world;
after all, Gwen had never revealed the Void-walking ability, and at worst he would just be more careful the next time he let Gwen act.
The next moment, as the Wind Messenger’s long blade sliced through a corpse’s body, the ground suddenly split open and several corpses leapt out.
That was not even the most crucial part. Water had already been poured beneath the ground, and this group of corpses had even dug a tunnel down there!
Some corpses were tasked with breaking the surface, while the rest stayed in the water, holding the sharp spines of the Shadow-Spine Lionfish in their hands. In the moment the Wind Messenger was stunned, the spines pierced through. They used this method to create conditions in the water, the spines of the Shadow-Spine Lionfish successfully completing an acceleration.
It was not just that one Wind Messenger;
several spines were thrust toward Loren and the other mages. Loren tossed an Abyssal Gaze Eye onto the ground. Once the Abyssal Gaze Eye separated from Loren’s body, his Void-walking ended, and he could clearly see the situation outside.
The Wind Messenger and another Fourth-tier mage were instantly killed, and many of the lower-tier mages also died, but just as the spines were about to strike Loren, his shadow intercepted them.
"?"
Crisis averted, Loren immediately dropped Void-walking and his senses returned;
he could now see the surrounding situation.
Everyone was busy with their own survival;
no one noticed the anomaly around Loren. Loren instantly understood what had happened: a shadow had blocked the attack for him. This was obviously the effect of Naclis’s Arcane Ability. He didn’t know when she had hidden her shadow inside Loren’s own shadow.
"This child..."Loren understood Naclis’s intention. She was afraid he would be in danger and was willing to sacrifice her Arcane Ability to protect him.
The situation changed in an instant. The Kingdom of Anselm’s combat effectiveness plummeted. Not only that, but the other corpses suddenly went berserk. The previously confident lower-tier mages were thrown into a brutal struggle and were quickly overwhelmed by the tide of corpses.
At this moment, the only useful combatants left were Loren and two Wind Messengers. The spines that had been thrown out were tossed back into the water;
the corpses below used frontal attacks to disguise their true killing move, otherwise their underground activity would have certainly been detected by the Wind Messengers.
"Tch, troublesome."
Loren sliced through several corpses before him with one stroke, retrieved the Abyssal Gaze Eye, and quickly fell back.
"The ground underneath is hollow! Collapse the surface, prevent any more sneak attacks!"
Once he was safe, Loren reminded the only two Wind Messengers left, and at the same time pulled out his Magic Wand. Green light sprayed continuously from its tip;
the corpses struck by it immediately started growing plants on their bodies and within seconds became immobile desiccated corpses.
One Wind Messenger hovered above Loren;
as he muttered a spell, a wind wall suddenly rose in front of Loren, and any corpse that touched the wall was blown away.
Then the Wind Messenger took Loren into the air with him to ensure his safety. The other Wind Messenger launched an attack: he hurled a gust of wind into the hole in the ground. The next moment, a violent gale burst from below and the ground was heaved open, exposing all the tunnels they had dug.
These were not mass-produced Scarecrows, nor Plague Envoys dependent on Deathrattle;
Wind Messengers were genuinely high-tier combatants. If it hadn’t been a sneak attack, these corpses could never have threatened the Wind Messengers.
Although their earlier losses were severe, the fight had now completely entered the Wind Messengers’ rhythm. The two Wind Messengers flew in the sky, repeatedly hammering the area with area-of-effect magic.
The corpses had long since lost reinforcement;
it was only a matter of time before they were all wiped out.
Yet Loren did not feel relaxed at all. The necromancer hiding behind the scenes still had not made a move.
"Keep consuming them with ranged attacks, don’t get close."
Loren continued to warn;
this could not be resolved so simply. He planned to play a yo-yo tactic.
The Witches were hiding far away, essentially taking refuge with the refugees in other cities, so Loren did not need to worry about collateral damage to them.
After suppressing the corpses, the Wind Messengers lowered Loren, and he took the opportunity to keep retreating.
The number of corpses continued to dwindle. From the start of the fight, the Wind Messengers had sworn that "this place cannot be resurrected." Limbs and severed bodies lay everywhere, so there was no concern they would rise again.
After giving them one final reminder, Loren continued to fall back, putting distance between himself and this dangerous place.
Soon only a handful of corpses remained, and the Wind Messengers gradually relaxed, though they still remembered Loren’s advice and did not approach the corpses, even though it was clear they had lost combat effectiveness.
They had stalled for so long that reinforcements would arrive any moment now;
victory seemed within reach.
It was at this moment that Loren’s intuition sent another warning.
"Watch out!"
Loren had barely time to shout when the piled corpses suddenly exploded at once. The spines scattered on the corpses were blown free by the blast, but their flight paths were uncontrollable;
the killing move was obviously not here.
The explosions were not powerful;
Loren, who had already kept his distance, did not even need to activate Void-walking. He simply lay on the ground and evaded the blast.
"Corpse Explosion."
This was a basic necromantic spell, limited in power. While so many corpses might kill a high-tier mage, they were less effective against the Wind Messengers, who were divine envoys.
Because Wind Messengers are very light in weight, before the explosive damage could affect them, the blast’s shockwave had already blown them away.
The exploded area left behind a great deal of blood mist, making it impossible to see clearly inside—normal after a Corpse Explosion.
The corpse blasts did not delay the Wind Messengers for long;
they soon returned to the battlefield.
Wind magic has great control over such blood mists, and the Wind Messengers knew this well.
To see the battlefield clearly, they decided to blow the blood mist away.
Both Wind Messengers cast their magic together, but when the wind contacted the blood mist, an anomaly occurred. The blood mist was not dispelled by the wind;
instead it billowed toward the Wind Messengers, riding the wind.
The blood mist spread at terrifying speed and engulfed the Wind Messengers before they could react. Loren watched as both Wind Messengers plummeted from the sky, their bodies covered in many corrosion marks.
"They’re the same kind of substitute as mine..."
Although Loren had never seen the necromancer, a sense of kinship arose. Both of them used setup and information asymmetry to let the weak overcome the strong.
The earlier corpses and the Corpse Explosion had simply been a diversion;
this was the real killing move.
If all those who knew the truth were silenced, the reinforcements arriving later would also suffer heavy casualties.
So next, that necromancer would make a move against Loren.