Chapter 124: Shaman

Guldan Sui Gu's death stirred up a huge uproar in the command core of the orc coalition.

Those warlord guards who were originally fearless, upon seeing their warlord, who was as powerful as a god, split in two by Roko's sword, had the ferocity and madness on their faces instantly replaced by endless fear.

"The warlord is dead!"

"Master Guldan is dead!"

"How is this possible? How can this be?"

"Master Guldan is invincible; how could Master Guldan be killed by these lowly humans?"

I don't know who let out a shrill scream, and this news instantly spread across the entire battlefield.

The orcs here were originally divided into three tribes.

Now that Guldan, who was the warlord, was dead, the other orcs, whether to preserve themselves or to ensure their own power, would naturally retreat.

The remaining orc guards completely collapsed; they threw away the weapons in their hands and fled toward the outskirts of the camp like madmen.

Roko did not order a pursuit of these routed soldiers; he was panting heavily.

That 【Great Sun Blazing Slash · Flame Slash】 at the Great Accomplishment realm just now had almost drained all the Battle Qi in his body.

He could feel that the Flame Griffin Emblem on his chest was slightly hot.

Strands of pure energy were slowly seeping out from the emblem, replenishing his consumed Battle Qi while also nourishing his meridians, which had been somewhat damaged by the forced exertion of power.

"Master, are you alright?"

Fula and Hart quickly came to Roko's side and asked with concern.

Fula's cat ears twitched uneasily, and her different-colored eyes stared fixedly at Roko's pale face, filled with worry.

Hart scanned the surroundings vigilantly, preventing any fish that slipped through the net from ambushing them.

"I'm fine, just a bit exhausted."

Roko waved his hand, his gaze turning toward the direction Tain had warned about.

"Tain, what's over there?"

He tried to communicate with the small beast using his Spiritual Power.

Tain remained restless, letting out low whimpers, its small claws constantly patting the saddlebag, as if urging Roko.

A faint, nauseating smell of blood, mixed with some kind of decaying aura, drifted out from that inconspicuous small tent, becoming increasingly thick.

"Something's fishy!"

Roko's eyes narrowed.

"Hart, take some men to guard the surroundings and mop up the remaining enemies; don't let any orcs get near here."

"Fula, come with me!"

After saying this, Roko dismounted, holding his longsword, and walked cautiously toward the small tent.

Fula also dismounted immediately, following closely behind, the rapier in her hand flashing with cold light.

The small beast Tain jumped out of the saddlebag and landed on Fula's shoulder, the dark red scale patterns all over its body slightly raised, and a threatening low growl coming from its throat.

As they approached the small tent, that evil and cold aura became even clearer.

The tent flap was tightly closed, but faint, low, and eerie chanting could be heard from inside.

Roko and Fula looked at each other, both seeing a hint of solemnity in the other's eyes.

Roko didn't hesitate at all and kicked the tent flap open.

The scene inside the tent made even Roko and Fula, who were accustomed to bloodshed, frown.

The tent was not large, the light was dim, and on the ground in the center, a complex and evil magic array was drawn with blood of unknown origin.

At the nodes of the magic array, several ferocious orc heads were placed, their eyes wide open, filled with fear and unwillingness before death.

And in the center of the magic array, an elderly orc shaman with a hunched figure, skin as dry as old tree bark, and a face painted with eerie oil paint, was sitting cross-legged, chanting and performing some kind of evil sacrifice.

He was none other than the highly respected old shaman of the orc coalition, Kazujia.

Kazujia seemed completely unaware of Roko and Fula's intrusion, still immersed in his ritual.

In his withered hands, he held a heart that was still beating slightly; the color of the heart was an abnormal dark purple, emitting a nauseating stench.

As his chanting accelerated, the blood-colored magic array on the ground began to emit an eerie red light, and strands of thick negative energy surged out from the magic array, circling and condensing inside the tent.

"Stop him!"

Roko gave a low shout and raised his sword to step forward.

However, just at this moment, the old shaman Kazujia suddenly opened his eyes.

Those were a pair of turbid eyes filled with malice, flashing with inhuman light.

"Lowly humans, you have disturbed the great ritual!"

Kazujia let out a hoarse and shrill roar, and he suddenly held the heart in his hand high.

"Feel the anger of the Spirit of Filthy Blood!"

Before the words had faded, the heart in his hand suddenly burst, turning into a mass of thick, dark purple blood mist.

The blood mist quickly merged into the magic array on the ground, the light of the entire magic array surged in an instant, and a powerful and evil energy fluctuation swept through the entire tent.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by an inhuman roar, a monster formed entirely of filthy blood and twisted souls slowly crawled out from the magic array.

This monster was the so-called "Filthy Blood Evil Spirit."

It had no fixed form, looking like a giant, constantly wriggling mass of mud, emitting a strong corrosive aura.

On the surface of its body, painful and twisted human and orc faces appeared from time to time, letting out bursts of hair-raising wails.

"What the hell is this thing!"

Roko's heart tightened; he could feel that the aura emanating from this Filthy Blood Evil Spirit was no weaker than that of a mid-to-late Bronze stage knight.

As soon as the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit appeared, it let out a shrill scream and turned into a dark purple afterimage, pouncing toward Roko and Fula.

Its speed was extremely fast, and its movement trajectory was erratic.

Roko and Fula immediately swung their swords to block.

However, when their longswords hacked onto the body of the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit, it was like hacking into cotton; although it could bring up a splash of filthy blood, it didn't seem to cause much damage to its main body.

Instead, the splashing filthy blood landed on their 【Obsidian Gold】 armor, emitting bursts of "sizzling" corrosive sounds, and black smoke actually rose from the surface of the armor.

Roko and Fula both felt that the circulation of Battle Qi in their bodies seemed to be somewhat hindered, becoming no longer as smooth.

"This thing is strange! Its attacks have corrosive and curse effects!"

Roko said in a deep voice, his eyes becoming even more solemn.

On the side, the old shaman Kazujia let out bursts of triumphant, weird laughter.

"Stupid humans! The Filthy Blood Evil Spirit cannot be killed! It will slowly devour your flesh and souls, making you a part of it!"

"Although the warlord is dead, as long as I complete this ritual, I can bring greater power to the tribe! Your arrival is just right to become a sacrifice for my great ritual!"

Kazujia clearly already knew about Guldan Sui Gu's death, but he didn't seem to care.

Instead, he drove the power of the magic array even more crazily, trying to summon more Filthy Blood Evil Spirits or strengthen the one in front of him.

Under the control of the old shaman, the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit's offensive became increasingly fierce.

It constantly changed its form, sometimes turning into giant tentacles, sometimes into sharp claws and teeth, launching attacks on Roko and Fula from all directions.

Although Roko and Fula were temporarily able to block it by relying on their superb sword skills and the powerful defense of the 【Obsidian Gold】 armor, the situation was not optimistic.

Their Battle Qi was being consumed quickly, and the corrosion of their armor was also constantly intensifying.

If this dragged on for a long time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Just as Roko was thinking of a countermeasure, the small beast Tain, who had been lying on Fula's shoulder, suddenly let out an angry roar.

Its body suddenly leaped from Fula's shoulder, its small figure drawing a dark red arc in the air, directly pouncing toward that ferocious and terrifying Filthy Blood Evil Spirit.

"Tain!"

Fula exclaimed, wanting to stop it, but it was already too late.

However, the scene that followed made both Roko and Fula widen their eyes.

They saw that the moment the small beast Tain pounced toward the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit, it opened its small mouth and suddenly sprayed out a mass of dark red flames.

These flames were not scorching; instead, they carried a hint of a cold aura, but when they came into contact with the body of the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit, an incredible scene occurred.

"Sizzle!"

The body of the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit, composed of filthy blood and twisted souls, after coming into contact with the dark red flames sprayed by Tain,

actually let out shrill screams as if it had encountered its nemesis, a large amount of black smoke rising from the surface of its body, and the originally condensed form also began to dissipate.

Those dark red flames seemed capable of directly burning souls and purifying evil!

"This, this is..."

The triumphant smile on the old shaman Kazujia's face instantly froze, replaced by endless shock and fear.

"Impossible! What kind of flame is this! Why can it restrain my Filthy Blood Evil Spirit!"

Tain succeeded in one strike and seemed somewhat excited; it opened its small mouth again, and another mass of dark red flames sprayed out, completely enveloping the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit.

Under the scorching of the dark red flames, the Filthy Blood Evil Spirit let out a final wail of unwillingness, then completely collapsed and dissipated,

turning into wisps of black smoke and disappearing into the air.

Tain landed steadily on the ground, shook its small head triumphantly, and then jumped back onto Fula's shoulder.

It rubbed its small head affectionately against Fula's cheek, as if asking for credit.

Roko and Fula both looked at this scene, somewhat dumbfounded.

They never expected that this small beast, which usually looked harmless and only knew how to act cute, would possess such powerful abilities!

Its flames were actually capable of restraining such evil magic!

"An S+ grade talent ancient bloodline exotic orc beast is indeed not simple!"

Roko thought to himself, his affection for Tain deepening a few more points.

He knew that he had really struck gold this time.

"Now, it's your turn, you old mongrel!"

Roko's gaze, like two sharp swords, shot toward the old shaman Kazujia, who was already scared out of his wits.

Seeing his Filthy Blood Evil Spirit destroyed so easily, the last shred of luck in Kazujia's heart was completely shattered.

He let out a weird cry and turned to run.

But would Roko give him the chance?

"Fula, finish him!"

Roko said coldly.

Fula nodded, her figure flashing like an arrow leaving the bow as she chased after him.

Although the old shaman Kazujia was a Bronze stage mage, his melee combat ability was almost zero; how could he be Fula's opponent?

In just a few breaths, Fula caught up with Kazujia, the rapier in her hand turning into a silver lightning bolt, precisely piercing his heart.

The old shaman Kazujia's body stiffened suddenly, he looked down in disbelief at the sword tip protruding from his chest, and then, filled with endless resentment and unwillingness, he slowly collapsed and completely lost all signs of life.

With the death of the old shaman, the evil and cold aura inside the tent also completely dissipated.

Roko breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the old shaman's corpse, and began to search carefully.

Soon, he found a small token carved from special bone material in the old shaman's arms.

On the front of the token, a lifelike black scorpion pattern was clearly carved!

Scorpion Society!

Roko's pupils shrank suddenly.

Besides this token, he also found a scroll made of special animal skin.

The content on the scroll was written in some strange symbols; although Roko couldn't understand them, at the end of the scroll, a clear Scorpion Society mark was also branded.

"It really was them pulling the strings behind the scenes!"

Roko's face became incomparably cold.

He put away the token and the scroll; these were important pieces of evidence.

Now, he could be certain that this unprecedented large-scale invasion of the Northland orcs and the southward movement of the Light Temple's "Purification Army" happening at the same time was definitely not a coincidence.

Behind it, there must be the shadow of the Scorpion Society manipulating things.

This organization hiding in the dark had huge schemes!

"Master, the orcs outside have completely scattered."

Captain Hart walked in and reported to Roko.

"Very good."

Roko nodded.

"Hart, immediately take fifty knights to pursue those fleeing orcs, expand the battle results as much as possible, completely destroy their vital strength, and make them unable to pose a threat to us in the short term."

"But remember, don't pursue too deep, and pay attention to safety."

"Yes, Master!"

Hart took the order and left.

Roko's gaze then turned toward the south.

Vanguard Valley!

Martina was still there, resisting the fierce attack of the Light Temple's "Purification Army."

He didn't know what the situation in Vanguard Valley was like now, but he knew he had to rush back immediately!

"Fula, let's go!"

"Tain, you've done a great service this time!"

Roko picked up the small beast Tain from Fula's shoulder and kissed its furry little head.

Tain narrowed its eyes comfortably and let out a satisfied purr.

Roko mounted his horse and, with Fula and the remaining Storm Knights, did not stop for a moment.

After turning the horse's head, they galloped at full speed toward the direction of Vanguard Valley.

Their figures soon disappeared into the orc camp filled with blood and smoke.

Leaving behind only a mess, and those orcs who hadn't managed to escape, waiting in despair for the judgment of the pursuing troops led by Hart.

The crisis in the Northland was temporarily lifted.

But the fate of Vanguard Valley still hung in the balance. ===== CHAPTER 125 =====