Chapter 101 : Chapter 101

Chapter 101. Ambush

Ailante crouched inside a house, listening to the guards talking outside.

“Where did those outsiders run off to? They vanished in the blink of an eye.”

“No idea. Did you search that house…”

“I already went inside and checked once. Didn’t find anything. They probably ran somewhere else.”

“Damn it! Those outsiders keep running every day… Let’s go. We’ll search somewhere else.”

Only after the footsteps outside gradually faded away did he finally let out a breath of relief. He turned to look at the Spirit Realm Excursionists beside him.

One of the people by the window leaned out to take a quick look. After returning, he nodded, and only then did the others crawl out from their hiding place.

Almost everyone was carrying wounds. Their clothes were torn in many places, and even their weapons had been battered by the guards’ brute force, leaving numerous chips and dents.

Ailante looked at his short spear with heartache. He had spent a great deal of effort forging it into an enchanted weapon, yet now its shaft was covered with dents from heavy blows.

He had completely failed to anticipate the guards’ high attributes in this trial.

Almost every guard posed a considerable obstacle to them, and in a short time they simply could not defeat a guard with such strong defenses.

They had found each other early on and grouped together, trying to deal with the guards as a team.

Yet even when they banded together, they could only barely hold their ground.

Not only did the guards keep arriving in an endless stream, but even the ordinary residents on the roadside began attacking them.

Those residents also possessed astonishing strength and defense, making the situation miserable for them.

There were quite a few of them, and some were injured and unable to move properly. They could not simply run away together.

So they could only hide here and buy themselves a brief moment to catch their breath.

Ailante looked out at the quiet street through the window and called everyone together.

“Do you know why those guards are so powerful? Why they can defeat people like you who have developed your strength in the Spirit Realm for many years using nothing but brute force?”

The others all shook their heads. Their faces were filled with unwillingness. They had struggled in the Spirit Realm for who knew how long, relying on luck and effort to gain their current strength, yet they were being suppressed by minor enemies in this trial. No one could accept that.

“This is not your mistake. It is simply that this trial is rather special…”

Ailante paused briefly before continuing.

“If I am not mistaken, the strange liquid those guards drank is most likely a dragonification potion.”

“Dragonification potion!”

A cry of shock rose from the crowd.

Ailante smiled.

“That’s right. A dragonification potion. It is a potion that allows humans to obtain draconic traits. Its effect is so great that even an ordinary person who drinks it can gain the strength to rival a warrior apprentice who has undergone years of training.”

“In the Material Realm, dragons are rare and extremely difficult to hunt. Because of that, the price of a dragonification potion is astronomically high. Apprentices almost never have the chance to obtain such a potion.”

“But this trial is different. I can guarantee that inside Monsa City, there must be a large quantity of materials capable of producing such a massive number of these potions.”

“And this is precisely the key for us to gain additional power in this trial.”

His words stirred everyone’s emotions and rekindled their hope.

Being chased and beaten by those guards had already been unbearable for them, but the real problem was that their mission was to save this city.

After witnessing the guards’ strength, most of them had fallen into despair. Even the ordinary soldiers possessed such terrifying power. If they encountered the catastrophe threatening Monsa, how could they possibly resist it?

The possibility of strengthening themselves with dragonification potions gave them hope of passing the trial.

Seeing the expressions on everyone’s faces, Ailante nodded with satisfaction and continued.

“Let’s hide until nightfall. If we go out now, we’ll definitely run into those guards and waste our stamina.”

Ailante planned to move only at night. By then, the guards would have been patrolling all day and would naturally be exhausted, leaving their defenses far weaker.

He clenched his fist and took a deep breath. Being chased by the guards right at the beginning had shaken his confidence somewhat.

But now that things had calmed down slightly, he felt that he had made the correct judgment. Perhaps he could still achieve his original goal.

“To obtain the bloodline of a dragon.”

That had always been his original objective—and also the reason his father had become so powerful.

Having draconic traits and possessing a dragon’s bloodline were two entirely different things. The former might only allow someone to defeat apprentices, but the latter could grant benefits at every professional rank.

---

Meanwhile, inside the Divine Revelation Hall, Priest Thors stared fixedly at the two strangely dressed figures before him.

“Who exactly are you?”

An hour earlier, Thors had dismissed all the guards stationed there. Then, five minutes ago, these two people had arrived at the Divine Revelation Hall and injured all the servants.

And during his fight with them, the more he fought, the more alarmed he became.

The one carrying the greatsword was manageable. He felt that if he truly fought her seriously, he could defeat her within a minute.

But the one holding the purple short sword was different. The moment they exchanged blows, he sensed something was wrong. Why was her strength so much greater than his?

He touched the wound on his arm, his expression growing darker.

Welinte frowned. This was taking far too long. If this continued, reinforcements would arrive soon.

The thickness of the opponent’s skin far exceeded her expectations. Even when her combat technique 【Hundred Rending Slash】 struck his body, it only left behind a large scar. The man seemed completely unaffected by the injuries, and his movements had not slowed at all.

“Damn it! Don’t let me find out which Priest sent you.”

Thors suddenly roared.

He had finally realized why they had attacked him the moment he dismissed the guards.

It had to be that scoundrel Luca working together with some Priest loyal to the High Priest.

After learning that he was about to dismiss the guards, they had decided to launch a sudden attack—hence only two people had come to assault him.

Thinking about Luca and those Priests who refused to obey orders filled him with anger. Were they truly so unwilling to let High Priest Angmar become the ruler of Monsa? Why could the High Priest hold that position, but Angmar could not?

At that moment, he could not help thinking about High Priest Angmar. Over the past week, he had repeatedly sought instructions from him, but every time he had been turned away with the same response: the time had not yet come.

“Brittle Armor!”

Suddenly, a beam of white light struck his body, and he immediately felt that something about his body had changed in an ominous way…

Then a Fireball shot toward him. These spells were difficult for him to evade easily, so he had no choice but to endure them with his hardened body.

But this time, when the Fireball exploded, the pain reminded him of his childhood—of the burning agony he had felt when curiosity once led him to thrust his hands into a pile of blazing firewood.