Chapter 210: The Hunter
Wei Yuan reappeared in the underground of Coldbelow once more. He couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary around him; it would seem that the female Warlock no longer suspected this place. Still, he remained cautious. He dug a tunnel while simultaneously filling it in as he went, erasing all traces of it.
When Wei Yuan emerged from the ground, he was inevitably covered in dust and dirt.
The Cold Flies within Wei Yuan’s Dao Foundation did not revive even after he had returned to the Coldbelow. It would appear they were truly dead.
There were simply too many Cold Flies scattered far and wide across the Great Realm. Wei Yuan couldn’t be bothered to collect them one by one, so he let them be. As long as they remained in his Dao Foundation, the quietude energy in them would gradually seep out and become a part of it.
Wei Yuan entered the Coldbelow with a clear objective this time: to continue his exploration and see if he could capture a few Shamans. After the previous encounters, he had already noticed this pattern where a Shaman was quite formidable when operating alone, but much weaker when operating as a group.
The Realm of Coldbelow looked the same as it always had: a sky that stretched endlessly beyond the horizon, and a boundless expanse that was illuminated by a gentle light coming from an unknown source beyond the heavens. Many objects within the realm also emitted their own light and added to the illumination.
His previous exploration attempts had proven that the Shadow-Hiding and Form-Concealing Spell possessed a major flaw—it couldn't mask his aura completely. The female Warlock had nearly killed him because of it. That was why Wei Yuan decided to change his approach this time: Instead of suppressing his aura completely, he would only suppress his aura to a certain degree. This way, his travel speed wouldn’t be affected.
Before setting off, Wei Yuan checked the weather as usual. The result stated: Light breeze, no rain, no flies.
Huh? Did the spell evolve?
Wei Yuan chose to ignore these details for the moment and set off in the direction of Shu Li’s kingdom. According to Dream Eater’s unreliable map, it would take him at least a month to reach his destination at full speed. It would seem that the Realm of Coldbelow and the Homeworld did not correspond on a spatial scale.
On a hillside, four Warlocks were engaged in battle with a strange beast.
The strange beast was exceptionally massive. At full height, it was ten zhang tall and resembled a hill. It was jet black in color and covered in mottled patches. There were many areas of its body that were translucent and constantly emitting wisps of black smoke.
The four Warlocks had clearly defined roles.The largest and most imposing among them had a lower body resembling a horse and four thick legs. He was holding a massive shield nearly as tall as himself and standing at the forefront of the group[1].
Whenever the strange beast brought down its claw, the Warlock would brace his shield and take the blow head on. The strikes were earth-shattering enough to throw the shield-bearer back at least several zhang. However, the immense impact also bounced the beast’s claw into the air, preventing it from following up the attack. During this opening, a Warlock carrying a saber and a shield would step forward and engage the colossal beast, buying time for his shield-bearing comrades to return to his position.
In the distance, a female Warlock with a slender figure was wielding a magnificent longbow and loosing arrows that were imbued with dark blue flames. They burned relentlessly upon striking the colossal beast, charring its flesh until it turned translucent.
The court and last member of the group was a diminutive Warlock whose whole body was shrouded in a black robe. They were lifting their arms and pointing small, pale fingers at the colossal beast from afar repeatedly. Every time they completed a gesture, crimson light would flash from their fingertip, and the colossal beast would let out an agonized roar. The beast tried several times to shove the saber-and-shield warlock blocking its path away and charge the fourth member of the squad, but each time the shield-bearing Warlock would intercept it perfectly[2].
This was a well-coordinated squad who was also familiar with the colossal beast’s habits. They fought with composure and gradually chipped away at its health.
The colossal beast had accumulated many translucent wounds at this point, and black smoke was gushing out of them like mini fountains. Already, its movements were beginning to weaken, and its roars were losing their initial ferocity and fearlessness.
However, the Shaman squad did not let up and remained fully focused on the battle. Just then, the colossal beast suddenly stood up on its hind legs and spat out a black orb from its mouth, firing it straight at the spellcasting Warlock!
The black orb possessed terrifying destructive power, but alas, the Shaman squad had long anticipated this move. The archeress Warlock immediately loosed three arrows in rapid succession, all striking the orb. Though the orb wasn’t destroyed, each arrow sapped a portion of its energy. The small Warlock then flicked out several beads of blood in a row and enveloped the black orb in a crimson glow. Black light and red light clashed against each other for a moment, and in the end, the black orb vanished mid-flight.
The colossal beast finally began to feel fear and tried to flee, but the shield-bearing Warlock blocked its escape route and refused to give way despite the beast’s frenzied thrashing. He sustained significant injuries in the blink of an eye.
The other three Warlocks also switched to full offense, bringing the colossal beast to the brink of death in just a matter of moments.
Just then, a dark figure stealthily approached the shield-bearing Warlock and landed on its back without warning. The moment it happened, the shield-bearing Warlock suddenly stiffened and became extreme sluggish. At the same time, the dying beast lashed out with all its might, and to everyone’s surprise, actually knocked his great shield out of his hands!
The impact was such that the shield-bearing Warlock’s arms twisted out of shape, and his chest caved in. He was instantly brought to the brink of death!
Faced with this sudden turn of events, the other three Warlocks nearly froze in shock. Fortunately, the shield-and-saber Warlock reacted swiftly and blocked the colossal beast’s following attack in time, saving their comrade from a gruesome death.
However, their shock was just beginning. The shadow that had ambushed the shield-bearing Warlock revealed its true form, and it was none other than a Cold Fly!
The archeress Warlock cried out, “Oh no! All our gear is on Stonewall—we don’t have enough components on us!”
“Let’s wait and see what happens first. Maybe it’s just a lost one. Stonewall can’t move right now!” The shield-and-saber Warlock replied, clearly unwilling to abandon the shield-bearing Warlock.
The archeress Warlock suddenly let out a shriek of panic, “I see the Cold Flies! Over there—there’re so many of them!”
The shield-and-saber Warlock looked in the direction she was pointing and saw hundreds of Cold Flies rising from behind a hill and flying toward them!
This wasn’t the first time they encountered the Day of Flies. They knew that this was merely the scouting party, and that a swarm big enough to blot out the sky would appear at any moment. The Cold Flies were extremely fast; so much so that even a speed-specialized Shaman flying at full speed might not be able to outrun them. They didn’t have enough components on them either. By the time they actually saw the swarm, it would already be too late.
Worse still, the colossal beast wasn’t dead yet. There was no way it would stand idly by while they erected a shelter.
After weighing their options, the shield-and-saber Warlock let out a pained cry and shoved the beast’s claw aside. The archeress Warlock had already taken off running by that point, and he dared not linger. He too fled into the distance.
The small Warlock was the only one in the squad who remained unflustered. They glanced back at the shield-bearing Warlock until he was bitten by the colossal beast. Only then did they let out a sigh, turn, and fly away.
However, they hadn’t flown far before a hand suddenly shot up from the ground and grabbed their leg. The small Warlock let out a shrill scream as their body suddenly exploded into a cloud of black mist. Then, they plunged headfirst into the underground!
Beneath the ground, Wei Yuan felt the foot he just caught slipping through his grip, leaving behind only a small boot. At the same time, the entire underground space was permeated by some sort of black mist. It severely limited one’s senses and prevented Wei Yuan from extending his perception more than three chi.
Wei Yuan’s Dao energy was surging forth ceaselessly. He was casting a Dao spell that transformed all the earth and rock beneath him into a thick, quicksand-like substance. Combined with an Earth Escape spell, and he could move freely through the underground like a fish in water.
Despite his freedom, this diminutive Warlock wasn’t fleeing—they were spreading the black mist and preparing to turn the tables on Wei Yuan!
Wei Yuan suddenly reached into the black mist and grabbed the Warlock—though he had no idea which body part he grabbed[3].
In the darkness, the Warlock thrashed like a large fish and sprung themselves free from Wei Yuan’s grasp, leaving him with only a black robe.
Wei Yuan stood motionless for a moment until suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back—something pointed had pierced his body!
Wei Yuan ignored the wound on his back and reached behind him, grabbing the Warlock for the third time. This time, his fingers felt something slick and supple—he still couldn’t tell which body part he’d seized, but it possessed remarkable elasticity, strength and resilience[4]. A single flick was all it took to slip free from his grasp. He did not come away with a third piece of clothing.
No wonder this fellow dared to stay behind and hunt him.
Wei Yuan patiently waited for the next round of attack to begin, but to his surprise, a stabbing pain suddenly erupted from his heel!
This angle of attack was truly unexpected. It instantly rendered all of his planned countermeasures useless. He instinctively spun on his feet and stomped down, only to receive excruciating pain in the sole of his feet—as it turned out, he had stepped right onto a hidden blade.
Meanwhile, the black mist around him was still growing denser, and his senses were engulfed in total darkness. Pain continued to shoot through his body here and there, and every single wound was focused below the knees. The diminutive Warlock was clearly well-informed about the structural weakness of a human, and they showed no greed for a quick victory. Each time, they only inflicted a small cut and drained a bit of Dao energy from his primordial spirit. Like termites gradually hollowing out a massive tree, they were going to wear him down via a slow but steady accumulation of wounds!
Moreover, Wei Yuan noticed that the cuts were gradually moving upward. Several times, Wei Yuan felt a bone-chilling cold between his legs as well—clearly, his opponent had a way to circumvent the black mist’s suppressive effects and lock onto a certain body part. He had no choice but to start moving.
As the two maneuvered in the darkness, Wei Yuan suddenly and instinctively shielded his vital spot with his hand. It was immediately coated in a sticky substance that burned with searing pain. Unlike the previous attacks, this was no physical object. The diminutive Warlock had tossed a lump of curse at him, and he instantly identified the nature of the curse: Permanent Impotence[5]!
Fury instantly consumed Wei Yuan. A small two-pronged fork appeared in his hand, and he gave a light flick with his fingers. A faint, almost inaudible ringing sound echoed in the distance, and he disappeared from his original spot. The next second, he reached out and caught the Warlock for the fourth time!
[6]
1. A centaur! ☜
2. OMG it’s a Tank/Warrior/Ranger/Wizard party! ☜
3. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ☜
4. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ☜
5. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ☜
6. You’re a natural boy! Keep at it boy! ☜
Comments