Chapter 39: Battle Situation

"Shadow Magic?"

"Sharp eyes, Young Lady of the Half-Wolf." A man's laughter came from the shadows.

A mage in a black robe gradually appeared, his wide brim hiding half his face, revealing a scruffy chin.

"I hope to share a drink with you after the mission, beautiful Young Lady."

Boom!

The sound of smashing against a wall echoed from the other corner.

"Amy hates Shadow Magic!"

A two-meter-tall green-skinned female orc emerged from the shadows, holding a crudely made cleaver in her hand.

"Let Amy fight!" She swung the cleaver, her voice thick and simple.

Unlike the overly burly male orcs, the female orc Amy's body was more proportioned, with toned, athletic muscles distributed across every inch of her frame.

Even more rare was that her face perfectly matched human aesthetics.

"Two Tier Six high-segment experts."

Cassidy stood shocked in place.

Adding Tier Six herself, Bishop Yuguozhu, and the ghoul mage of the sect, this operation had a total of five Tier Six combat experts, plus about a hundred brothers from the Ruin Brotherhood.

Such a configuration was enough to attack a small nation without a Tier Seven!

"Just a Shi Ying Town."

Was it necessary?!

Bishop Yuguozhu spread his hands.

"This is all we have, Young Lady Cassidy."

"The legendary mage of Storm City will surely—"

"Our goal! Is to lure the legendary mage of Storm City!"

Cassidy's pupils contracted.

"This—"

"Young Lady Cassidy, church personnel in Shi Ying Town have sent intelligence: the witch of Storm City will launch an attack today. Please have your Brotherhood take responsibility for repelling them. At that time, Shadow Mage Kelvin and Amy will assist you. If possible, please attempt to capture this Young Lady witch."

Bishop Yuguozhu narrowed his eyes slightly: "Please note, do not crush and kill them all with overwhelming force. We will gradually display our strength, making them feel threatened in every aspect, until the arrival of the legendary mage."

"The legendary mage far exceeds your imagination. In the Yige Sect, even a Tier Seven legendary spell can slay a giant dragon."

The Half-Wolf Young Lady's face looked very grim.

Had she not signed a contract with the Guild Master, she would have already begun planning her escape.

"No matter. My sect is prepared."

Yuguozhu displayed two Mei Mo Fa rings in his hand.

"Tier Seven magic rings?! Has the Heavenly Court Flower Nation already opened the channel?"

Halfway through speaking, Cassidy suddenly realized.

Not only the Yige Sect, but the forces of the Heavenly Court Flower Nation were also involved!

"I have said enough, Young Lady. Please prepare for the coming battle."

Yuguozhu waved his hand.

He ushered the Half-Wolf, the Shadow Mage, and the orc Amy out of the room.

The narrow room immediately fell silent.

He painfully closed his eyes.

In his mind, he could not help but think of Priest Owen.

He was a devout and promising believer who, on the very night he entered the Yige Sect, voluntarily surrendered his wife and daughter's divine peaches.

Even in the end.

He had to leave in the identity of an abandoned disciple of the sect.

"Forest Ranger Rod."

From his perspective, Rod, who was only Tier Four at the time, could not possibly have killed Tier Six Priest Owen.

This must have been Isabella's doing, but Rod must have played a key role in it; otherwise, Priest Owen's spiritual mark would not be on him.

As for the probability of failure for an assassination squad composed of three Tier Four warriors and one Tier Five mage...

Before they departed, cautious Bishop Yuguozhu bestowed upon them a Tier Six power Mei Mo Fa ring.

Rod arrived at the designated location.

This was a narrow mountain path near Two-Finger Mountain.

In the distance lay the dense Giant Locust Trees.

Thinking of the 【Super Strength】 bonus these trees provided, he felt a bit more reassured.

Back then, he clearly had no offensive spiritual spells, yet he could kill a Tier Six with ordinary attacks.

Today is different from the past.

Rod looked forward to the power of 【Giant Slash】 and 【Aethelorn's Flash】 under 【Super Strength】.

"I was wrong, Master~"

Tally's time of being sealed had ended; she had been released during this interval.

She transformed into a masked Night Elf assassin. For the possible battle, Bai Tu shrank again and again, leaving only a very slight bulge.

At this moment, she was tugging on Rod's cloak, twisting and turning.

"Forgive me~ I won't do it again~"

Rod was not defending this route alone.

There were still a dozen or so guardsmen nearby.

They kept their distance, and the looks they gave the two carried both envy and fear.

Along the entire mountain path, they had stacked stones and timber into a crude barricade.

"One meal a day, I told you already."

Rod said flatly.

"Ah~ don't be like that~"

"Depends on how you behave from here on."

Boom—

Far off to the north.

A tremendous roar laced with violent tremors.

The crowd broke into an uproar, then quickly calmed themselves.

"Has it started?"

"Master, are you worried?"

Tally stopped her pestering and leaned against the side.

"You bet. Two elves in a row have already told me after divining that things aren't going to be easy lately."

"Divination, in the end, is just an understanding of how the stars move. Whether it can actually achieve the effect of prophecy is anyone's guess."

She grabbed Rod's palm and laid her own hand inside it to compare their sizes.

Noticing her palm was a touch too big, she activated her shape-shifting spell to adjust it a little.

"You even know about that."

"Hmph. If we're talking prophecy, you'd be better off going to the half-deer folk — they're the race with the highest prophecy success rate on the continent. If only their mating season weren't so short."

"They're a sentient race and they still have something like a mating season?"

Every time Tally talked, she dragged the topic back around to this sort of thing.

"Of course! You think just anyone can be like humans, sowing seed nonstop all day, every season?"

". You succubi are just as bad."

"No way. We feed on essence — that's appetite. Besides, as the price for our super-long mating season, humans are pretty much the weakest of that lot on the continent. Of course, Master, you're the exception."

Rod couldn't help a laugh.

Succubi always had all sorts of weird trivia to share.

Boom—

Boom—

As spell bombardments kept sounding from afar.

The group's nerves gradually drew taut.

Though Rod very much doubted whether anyone would actually come down this route.

Sure enough.

Half an hour passed, and aside from scaring off a few passing rabbits, they hadn't run into a thing.

"Perhaps Lord Dimia has already won." one of the guardsmen said.

"Just some Ruins Brotherhood riffraff — I could catch a few of those any day of the year."

"If I'd known, I'd have applied for the front line. Better than watching other people being lovey-dovey here."

"."

The group fell silent.

Over there, Tally rested her head on Rod's shoulder, chatting away with a flower-like smile while toying with Rod's hand.

A bunch of single dogs watched on, green with envy.

Suddenly.

Streaks of purple and yellow fireworks shot up into the sky one after another.

"Purple, yellow — those look like the signals for requesting aid and defending."

Rod looked up at the sky, expressionless.

It was pretty much exactly what he'd expected.

But the guardsmen's faces changed, and after a brief moment of panic.

They immediately began organizing personnel to fall back and defend Shi Ying Town.

"Lord Rod, please come back with us to defend Shi Ying Town. The bandits can't break through the protective ward. Once things settle, we'll contact the legendary mage in Gale City—"

"No."

Rod waved a hand. "I need to go up ahead and see how things stand."

(End of chapter)