Chapter 50: Labyrinth Unfolds

Upon hearing what Mei Li said, Su Ya was startled:

"You said we're being targeted?!"

"Where are they? Who's targeting us?"

Mei Li turned her head, carefully examining the thing on the ground that had turned from sand to muddy water; in her rose-red eyes, strange formula patterns flashed rapidly, relying on these peculiar eyes that could see the flow of magic, she continually elucidated the phenomenon before her,

After a moment, she raised her head to look at Su Ya,

"We should have discussed earlier what the army might encounter on the march."

Su Ya immediately replied: "You said the army only encounters armies, so we're likely to run into Ptolemy's army lingering here."

"And semi-hero-level professionals, upon encountering a formed army, would only detour."

"Exactly!" Mei Li nodded and then said,

"But there is another possibility——"

"If we run into a fully equipped tactical squad with cavalry or swordsmen, spearmen or assassins, archers, and mages,"

"Such a complete formation, a squad composed of masters, has the capability to annihilate armies of up to five hundred."

Lu Kan raised an eyebrow and asked: "You mean 'Headhunter'?"

Su Ya blinked: "Headhunter?"

This was another term he didn't understand.

Dagonite beside him immediately explained:

"Headhunters are a group of free individuals outside the army who specialize in hunting professionals hidden within the army,

they obtain information about small units and hidden professionals by contacting army superiors, form a complete tactical squad, have mages set up barriers in advance for ambush, and then carry out the killings."

"Because Lu Keang's mages pursue the 'First Cause,' attempting to reach their sought-after root by establishing an ultimate logic model covering reality through a wonder-level grand magic, and the basic material needed for this wonder is the 'battle patterns' on our bodies."

"Within the Macedonian Empire, over ten years ago demand arose for collecting professionals' bodies alive or dead, forming a complete trade chain, and giving birth to those who make a living as 'Headhunters'."

Having said that, Dagonite gave a dry cough, looked at the few people, his lips trembling as he asked:

"Miss Mei Li, Lord Lu Kan, and Your Majesty, since this terrifying enemy has appeared ahead, I think we should detour?"

"After all, our top priority right now is to reach Sor City!"

Lu Kan said nothing, merely looking at Mei Li.

And Mei Li shook her head,

"Saying this now seems a bit late,"

"We have already entered the barrier; breaking it by brute force would require at least a semi-hero-level combatant to unleash their treasure and strike the barrier's weak point with full force."

Dagonite's face turned somewhat pale.

Su Ya, however, felt nothing to be nervous about, after all he didn't even grasp his own situation, nor did he understand the vague terms Dagonite kept mentioning.

"At worst, it's just one battle!"

He could only look at Mei Li helplessly and ask: "What do we do? Mei Li, quickly use your big brain to think of something!"

Mei Li instinctively sensed a hint of sarcasm in Su Ya's words, immediately gave him a glare, but recalling that Su Ya had said "idea king" was praise for her, she snorted, lifted her little head, and smiled smugly:

"To me as a mage, the structure of this barrier is transparent at a glance."

"I need a little time to trace its 'origin' via the ley lines, deconstruct its magical foundation to invert the concept, and destroy the magic's logic."

"During this time, you must keep the cavalry alive as much as possible, since we'll later rely on them to evade the detection eye."

Su Ya nodded, suddenly realizing:

"So this is a defensive battle!"

"Although I don't know why, as the king who should be protected, I now have to step forward to shield my own soldiers,"

"but Su Ya has no objection whatsoever, after all these people are friendly units with extremely important roles!"

To the side, Lu Kan slightly lifted his gaze toward the north of the Bone Forest, his eyes narrowing as if sensing something,

his face sank a little, and he reluctantly interjected:

"I don't think so."

Su Ya blinked and asked: "What?"

Lu Kan didn't answer Su Ya, but turned his head sharply and bellowed at Dagonite beside him:

"Dagonite, immediately organize everyone——"

"Prepare to charge!"

However, Lu Kan's words had not yet faded,

at that very moment,

in the distance,

two fierce figures slowly stepped out from the Bone Forest before everyone's eyes.

These two knights wore Greek-style Boeotian helmets, light bronze cuirasses, stood about 1.9 meters tall, dragged long spears up to three meters in their hands, and wore short swords at their waists.

They walked over with calm, indifferent expressions, as if viewing the hundred-strong cavalry before them as nothing; after scanning the surroundings, they fixed their gaze on Lu Kan, the only one present who looked like a strong fighter.

Feeling the formidable aura emanating from these two, Dagonite's heart tightened, immediately grasping Lu Kan's intention——

These two are masters like Lu Kan, and at least one mage capable of controlling the barrier is hidden in the dark!

On their side they are inferior in high-end combat power; their sole advantage lies in the cavalry they command, and Dagonite himself, thanks to his unique specialty Shadow Vanish, cannot be easily detected, thus concealing the fact that they still have another master.

A master knight leading a hundred-strong cavalry in a charge, even if it costs the cavalry some men, can at least disable one enemy, balancing the high-end combat disparity.

Thinking this through,

Dagonite clenched his sweaty palms into fists, still unable to stop his body from trembling; he gritted his teeth slightly and glanced at Su Ya beside him.

The next moment, he turned his palm backward and signaled the cavalry behind him with hand signs.

The plate-armored cavalry gathered behind Dagonite understood his meaning and also roughly grasped what to do at this time.

These junior professionals originally had no right to wear this plate armor, but because of the chaos on the day Yuse Wang died, they were unexpectedly taken out by the Dagonite—who were constantly on guard against Lu Kan yet had to rely on Lu Kan to escape.

Therefore, they never took off this kind of fully enclosed, bucket-shaped iron helmet that left only breathing holes and vision slits—not even when they were cooking for the king.

But this group of people who managed to seize the opportunity to escape from that chaotic situation were obviously not fools.

All they understood, and the only thing they could understand, was that

To survive on such a chaotic battlefield, the only way was to obey!

They didn't need much communication—even just a single gesture—and this group of cavalry, though lacking training, possessed extremely high obedience, immediately jerked the reins and adjusted their posture.

All they awaited was the Dagonite's command.

Then they would charge toward the place of death!

However,

At this moment——

Watching the small movements of the cavalry before them, the two master spearmen standing before the army let out a cold snort, a hint of mockery appearing on their faces.

The next moment,

They split apart in a Y shape, their targets clear: one rushed straight toward Lu Kan, while the other charged at the cavalry led by the Dagonite!

At the same time,

"——Boom—!!"

Su Ya only felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly begin to shake violently!

Countless grains of sand turned into muddy water shooting up five meters high, and the ground underfoot became alternately soft and hard.

Then,

The ground within a radius of nearly a kilometer turned into blocks each ten cubic meters in size,

collapsing, being overpressed, and being uplifted!

Under the influence of magic, the southern area of the entire Mor Bone Forest transformed into a gigantic imaginary-number labyrinth!

And in this scene akin to a natural disaster,

All Su Ya could do was look ahead at the similarly bewildered mage girl, blinking her eyes at him.

Then, his pupils constricted slightly!

He grabbed her hand, forcefully pulling Mei Li, who was on a different slab, away from her spot, dragging her into his embrace, tightly holding her as they tumbled and leapt toward another cube with a height difference of over five meters.

The next moment,

Whoosh!

A point of azure light flared up high behind Mei Li, quickly expanding from small to large, pulling out an azure band of light that slammed into the spot where Mei Li had been standing, exploding on the ground into a pit over a meter wide!

Next Monday, that is tomorrow, there will be a PK against the Three Rivers, but now the readership seems still short by 500; missing this chance to advance to the fourth round makes hope even slimmer. Godfathers, please, please support the readership!

Give it one's all; even if we don't make it in the end, we'll have no regrets.





(End of chapter)