Chapter 153: Vanguard

Teammates who are completely untrustworthy are more terrifying than enemies, especially when in an environment where teammates can be "controlled to betray" at any moment.

Li En instinctively reached for his sword hilt; since the opponent hadn't noticed him yet, he would give her a righteous backstab.

"Don't rush to strike, Li En little brother; she will make a good bait."

A sudden cheerful voice rose from his heart; it was Purple Rose's whisper, always carrying a light laugh.

"You... she can't see me?" Li En had already noticed something was wrong; if it were merely a momentary teleportation, the woman before him might not have noticed.

But now so much time has passed, and they are still this close; as a warrior, she has no reason to be this dull.

"... That's right, you are an invisible person now. But you are not allowed to do bad things to this woman. I know men have always dreamed of obtaining such a capability; if you can't hold back, once we return, you can do bad things to me!"

What is this and what is that? Facing the magical girl who remains cheerful even on the battlefield, Li En had nothing to say.

The fact is right before his eyes; this "invisible person" state he is in now was caused by Purple Rose.

"... That kiss." He suddenly realized; Purple Rose's behavior all along was not meaningless.

"Too much! That was clearly my first kiss... at most it can be considered taking advantage, using official business for private ends. Are you not happy?" This cute girl was too direct; Li En could hardly bear it.

But her power was now in effect; Li En had truly become invisible, and the Black Dragon and its knight naturally became the breakthrough vanguard.

They went on a rampage of killing all along the way, while Li En, sitting midway on the dragon, was not discovered by them at all.

You must know, even if Lucil Xia Luofen did not turn around or sense anything at all, Li En was, after all, sitting on the dragon.

The dragon race is actually quite sensitive, especially young dragons; most illusions and mental abilities shatter easily after physical perception or contact; this state is clearly too abnormal.

"Two suggestions: one is 'Li En's existence is wrapped by the existence of the dragon knight Lucil; he is part of her.' So, as long as she is there, others will naturally regard you as part of her; this is the main reason I didn't let you kill her now. The second is the suggestion that 'Li En is not here'."

Dual mental suggestions have already made Li En invisible and erased his presence; one makes the presence of the invisible Li En wrapped by Lucil. These two mental suggestions cross and take effect together; either both are broken or both remain; ordinary people simply cannot expose them.

In the art of playing with mental abilities, the Snake Priestess who has always hidden herself is probably far stronger than the Mind Flayers and the Psion Miss Shaliman combined.

Daring to use mental abilities on the territory of the Overmind, who is hailed as the strongest mental ability user, her skill in manipulating mental abilities needs no further evaluation.

Li En sheathed his weapon and silently watched the Dark Elf noble lady ahead; she was fighting, going berserk, and glowing; perhaps she already felt that at this moment, she had reached the peak of her life and her destiny.

To be honest, fighting all the way down this road, this woman is indeed quite strong.

She probably possesses the standards of both a Great Warrior and a Great Priest; no wonder she has the most top-tier ambition.

But now, having become a "pawn" that has crossed the river, she is destined not to have a good result.

"Uh, did you cast a suggestion on her?" Is the bravery and stubbornness of this general a bit off?

She didn't stop at all, ignoring all obstacles, even going down three layers.

"No, no need... she is truly stupid, much stupider than that silly little snake." Purple Rose's tone was a bit strange; she actually intended to cast a mental suggestion before, but found it completely unnecessary, as the opponent voluntarily acted as cannon fodder.

The pathfinding vanguard was quite useful; several slave warriors and Mind Flayers who tried to block the way didn't even last a single exchange.

The strength of the Black Long Qishi was quite high; a Great Warrior and a Black Dragon enhanced with high-level Priest divine spells went on a rampage, easily piercing the direction the enemy had temporarily deployed.

"Do you have a plan?"

Li En, sitting on the dragon's back, was also adjusting his own state, and even had time to take out sword oil to maintain his several swords.

He even had time to observe the interior decoration of the Mind Flayer base; to be honest, although the style was bizarre, the materials used were quite good, combining a sci-fi metallic texture with a biological texture, somewhat like the art style of a Cthulhu universe spaceship.

Along the way, he also saw those tentacles extending from the ground and floating brains, which seemed to be the internal equipment of the entire base spaceship; Li En even felt he was inside a living creature.

"No plan needed." Purple Rose's response was quite simple, while within the field of view of another version of herself, the battles of the three "Deer" were becoming increasingly cruel.

Deer are originally creatures good at internal strife; in most cases, the opponents of their antlers are their own kind.

Until one side submits and retreats, this "internal strife" will not stop... and now neither side has any room to retreat.

"True, just cut; we are already here; plans don't change as fast as reality."

Since they have already infiltrated the enemy's core area, just deliver a heavy blow to the vital area.

To avoid breaking the mental suggestions set by Purple Rose with his attack, Li En continued to adjust his state, waiting for Lucil's limit; but unlike expectations, this pathfinding cannon fodder was too useful.

Layer after layer, she and her dragon performed quite dominantly, and the mirror in her hand was still emitting a strange radiance.

It constantly reflected away various mental powers and spells, making them, as powerful melee units, quite smooth in battle.

It is worth mentioning that Mind Flayers are not creatures good at melee combat, and slave warriors, after being mentally controlled, often have a significant drop in reaction speed; in battles involving high-level melee units, this easily becomes a fatal weakness.

"A fine divine weapon; it should be a holy artifact bestowed by the Mirror Maiden... don't think about stealing it, or the stingy god will cause you trouble."

Having her plans seen through by Purple Rose again, Li En could only helplessly shrug his shoulders.

To be honest, as someone who is increasingly determined to stack defenses, he was quite envious of this mirror capable of defending against supernatural attacks.

"Normally it wouldn't be this strong... it must be some deity borrowing this channel to pour in divine power and interfere."

The two chatted back and forth, which also reduced some of Li En's psychological pressure while he was "hiding."

The deeper they went down, the greater the invisible pressure became; powerful mental forces were already vaguely visible to the naked eye.

Li En could always feel countless gazes sweeping over him, but in the end, they all stared死死 at the Lucil Xia Luofen before him!

Purple Rose's ability was still effective; all observations were guided toward the mad vanguard ahead.

Perhaps she was approaching her ambition's target, forcing out greater potential, or perhaps the deity bestowed more power upon her due to her achievements.

That mirror was clearly becoming stronger and stronger, even capturing surrounding mental abilities as its own weapons, while the shadow power around her condensed into long-handled weapons, either spears or halberds, with a terrifying momentum.

This, perhaps, is the "hero" shaped by destiny; she should have already completed a round of breakthrough on the spot.

Another elite slave warrior blocked the way; even using Great Warrior-level combat skills, he was still cut into two by this Dark Elf noble lady with two slashes... At this moment, Li En even doubted whether, with the help of a deity, she could directly punch through this underground base.

But the next moment, when the dimensional door opened, a figure blocked her and the dragon; even Li En sucked in a cold breath, wondering if he was having an illusion.

"... What kind of monster is this?"

The floating creature blocking the way had its feet off the ground; its psionic power was clearly overflowing.

But even more outrageous was its appearance; having six tentacles, two more than a normal Mind Flayer, was already the mark of a powerful mutated Mind Flayer.

And those tentacles were all deformedly powerful; originally the tentacles only reached the waist, but now they seemed like swollen tentacles that could drag on the ground; the whole person looked a bit like a giant octopus from the upper road that had grown legs.

Its body was over three meters tall, already touching the ceiling of the passage; the most headache-inducing thing was that the lower half of this monster was very familiar to Li En.

"A human-beast hybrid deer... it gave birth?!" That massive lower half was nothing but a small beast standing upright! But this pure white flesh, vaguely revealing divinity, was clearly not an ordinary small beast; it looked more like the giant deer currently fighting.

Yet its body had at least doubled in size; the upper half was purely a Mind Flayer, a clear patchwork creature that vaguely resembled a standing elephant, radiating an eerie sense of divinity.

Within its white pupils, faint blue lightning flickered—such potent psychic power was clearly not that of a newborn.

"This isn't a newborn. A powerful, mature Mind Flayer individual severed its own lower body and fused it with the half-formed bloodline of the Prince of Beasts. Not bad, for a typical trick." Zi Qiangwei remained calm; in her travels, she had seen too many absurd feats.

Such a level of human modification was, among the continent's ambitious and madmen, merely third-rate creativity and second-rate practicality. Why expend two combatants to forge one high-tier combatant when those same resources could directly strengthen two high-tier combatants?

A Mind Flayer that relies primarily on psychic abilities—even with a formidable body—how much real combat power could it truly gain?

To Li En, the monstrous creature was, in her eyes, merely a successful stage of experimentation, an intermediate product through which the Master Brain acquired the power of Beasts.

"Hum!"

But the next instant, potent psychic shockwaves, visible to the naked eye, rippled through the corridor, and the unlucky Long Qishi was shaken straight off his mount.

"Aooooo!" The black dragon also lifted its head and roared—this psychic ability bound it and enraged it utterly.

A breath of acidic mist, glowing orange-yellow with spiritual light, became a conical flame-spitter within the corridor; sensing mortal peril, the young black dragon unleashed its full strength.

"Snap!" But when the dragon's breath faded, the six-tentacled Mind Flayer merely held up its right arm, transformed into claws, to block it—the rhombus-shaped shield at its fingertips had not yet been fully consumed by the dragonfire.

"At least sixth-rank standard. This little one probably won't make it through." Zi Qiangwei's tone brimmed with gleeful malice; as the Snake Priestess, she had no reason not to enjoy such a comedy of enemies destroying each other.

But now was not the time to waste.

"Li En, the path ahead is yours alone. Don't place too much trust in the suggestions on your body—no trick is foolproof. Be ready to be exposed at any moment."

Li En drew his longsword and walked forward alone.

(End of Chapter)