fynovel Chapter 181 Ambush and Necromancer Manipulation
Chapter 181 Ambush and Necromancer Manipulation
Chapter 181 Ambush and Necromancer Manipulation (2-in-1)
Ella and Ashland fled in panic along the street.
"What exactly is your enemy?"
Ashlan asked, panting.
"Now is not the time to talk about this."
Ella's reply was brief and urgent: "Don't speak, run!"
As they turned a corner, they abruptly stopped.
Ahead, several mercenaries with vacant stares blocked the way and were slowly approaching.
Not far away, on the rooftop.
Kane carried the weakened Risa in a princess carry, looking down at the predicament below.
Risa asked, "Aren't you going to save them?"
Kane observed in silence.
Ella and he had a brief, fleeting affair, but the noblewoman's intentions were unpredictable.
As for Ashran—his cunning is probably even deeper than his cunning.
This time, their whereabouts were exposed and they were surrounded, and among the many clues, there is another possibility:
It was Ashlan who deliberately leaked the intelligence for some purpose.
However, if these mercenaries actually killed the two women, it could clear them of some of the suspicion.
Just as he was weighing his options, Ashran below seemed to be reprimanding the mercenaries.
Immediately afterwards, a mercenary raised his hand, and a crossbow bolt "whooshed" off the bowstring and shot straight at them!
Ella and Ashland were deathly pale, and they closed their eyes, awaiting their fate.
However, the expected sense of penetration did not materialize.
The crossbow bolt hovered eerily in front of them, as if held by an invisible hand.
The mercenaries moved again in the next second.
Kane had already leaped from the roof like a hawk, still holding Risa firmly in his arms.
"Burning Hand!"
Scorching flames appeared out of nowhere, instantly engulfing the mercenary group, their agonizing screams echoing through the street.
Having narrowly escaped death, Ella and Ashland were so weak in the legs that they could barely stand.
Kane handed Risa over to them for support, saying, "The route we came by is safe for now. Go that way."
"Did you see a sheriff or guards?"
Ashland asked urgently.
"no."
Ella pondered, "—I'm afraid they've been transferred. To be able to do this in a position in the South District—the other party must have considerable power. Is it the Noble Council?"
No, if they intervened directly, it would be regular soldiers coming to kill us.
Kane nodded: "Let's leave that aside for now. I'll go to the mage academy for help. You guys continue searching for the safe house as planned."
After discussing their plans to meet again, Kane and the other two parted ways.
He sped off in the direction where Arundel and Asler had been.
However, all that remained was a scene of devastation:
Bloodstains, chaotic traces of spells, spikes protruding from the ground, arrows deeply embedded in the earth, broken weapons, scattered potion bottles —
Clearly, a fierce battle had taken place, and two mages had been captured.
"Mages lack melee protection; if a warrior could hold them back even slightly, the outcome of the battle would be very different."
Kane calmly analyzed the subtle traces on the ground.
He then turned and leaped onto the roof, silently jumping and tracking between the continuous roof ridges.
at the same time.
A "Ranger" disguised as a wax demon led a group of mercenaries with blank expressions and clearly under control, pushing a flatbed cart silently along the quiet street.
Inside the car, Arundel and Asler were covered in wounds, tightly bound, pale-faced, their staffs missing, and their hands bound.
Another wax demon walked at the front of the group, with a malicious, anthropomorphic smile on its face.
Kane lay in the shadow of the rooftop high above, calmly surveying the team.
-
There were a total of eight mercenaries, armed with various weapons, of mixed races. The group was divided into two sections, front and back, protecting the prisoners in the middle.
"We can't launch a direct assault. If we can't secure control of the entire field instantly, they'll kill Arundel and his men immediately."
Blind spots must be created to block the line of sight.
"But even if a blind spot is created, if the attention of two Wax Demons cannot be drawn at the same time, they still have enough time to attack the captives who have lost their resistance."
Kane used his spider-walking technique to move swiftly across the rooftop, his mind racing.
As the group passed the river near their earlier ambush site, he saw another cart slowly approaching to join them.
Lying in the car was the body of Oliver, whom he had killed, slightly swollen from being submerged in water, and he was still wearing his tattered heavy armor.
A glint flashed in Kane's eyes upon seeing the corpse.
The key to breaking the deadlock has emerged.
He looked at his spell list, where there was a skill he had never used since acquiring it: [Secondary Animated Dead Entity Iv1].
This was a mage I learned after defeating the necromancer Flynn, but I never used it because I couldn't find suitable "materials".
"A sufficiently strong meat shield—just right."
The mercenary group arrived at the riverbank at the street corner.
Suddenly, a low shout rang out: "Cloud Mist Technique!"
The spell stirred up abundant water vapor on the river surface, and a thick white fog instantly erupted, enveloping the entire riverbank area.
The two wax demons immediately became alert, their vision completely obscured.
Their first reaction was to look at the prisoners in the center of the group, but all they saw was a white expanse.
Just then, a muffled sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh and blood came from the mist, along with a short, painful groan.
A wax demon suddenly turned around, and as it writhed, it casually drew the sword from a demented mercenary beside it and hurled it fiercely toward the location of Arendelle in its memory!
"clang!"
A loud metallic clang rang out.
"Foolish, only rescuing companions who are no longer of value."
The two wax demons' faces grew even more malevolent as they simultaneously shoved aside the mercenaries blocking their path and charged toward the center of the group.
The closer you get, the clearer the scenery becomes in the fog.
An unusually tall figure was slowly rising from the cart.
—Something is not right.
The two wax demons quickly divided their tasks: one wielded the newly seized scimitar and thrust forward, while the other drew its bow and nocked an arrow.
The tall figure neither dodged nor avoided the attack, but instead raised the giant sword in its hand.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow, though fired later, arrived first and pierced deeply into the shoulder of that body.
The wax demon wielding the knife grinned as it swung down, but suddenly stopped.
A large, cold hand gripped its wrist tightly, preventing it from advancing an inch.
At such close range, it finally saw the other's face clearly:
It was Oliver who should have been dead!
This mercenary, who possessed a thin lineage of mountain giants, had a pale face and empty eyes.
One hand gripped its wrist like an iron clamp, while the other swung its greatsword, slashing down at its waist with a terrifying whoosh!
The Wax Demon hastily parried, but was thrown back by the immense force.
"A necromancer is operating nearby!"
Enraged, it immediately tried to retreat, unwilling to entangle with the corpse driven by necromancy.
Although this corpse is not truly immortal, its brute strength is no less than that of a second-tier melee demon. Coupled with the activation of necromancy, even destroying its limbs would not be a quick solution.
However, the greatsword came hurtling in again, entangled it tightly in the battle.
"Damn it!"
On the other side, the wax demon holding the bow saw its companion fighting the giant corpse in the fog, before being swallowed up by the swirling mist.
At the same time, the sound of sharp blades slicing through flesh and blood spurting out could be heard from the thick fog, clearly indicating that the hidden enemy was taking the opportunity to eliminate the deranged mercenaries.
These bewitched mercenaries are unafraid of casualties, but because they have lost their ability to think, they can only stand still and become sitting ducks when their vision is obstructed and they have no clear instructions.
The Wax Demon's face was gloomy, and he suddenly pushed a dazed mercenary next to him to the side!
"Pfft!"
A flash of light, and the mercenary's neck was severed.
He collapsed, clutching his bleeding throat, and only in the final moments of his life did a flicker of human fear flash in his cloudy eyes.
Melting Wax Demon pulled out another curved knife from the mercenary's waist.
With a clang, he precisely deflected two daggers that shot out from the mist.
Then, it looked at the dark figure that lunged out of the mist and sneered, "Finally lost your patience? You're about to die, you boring human!"
Kane's gaze was calm, but his attacks became increasingly fierce.
While parrying, the Wax Demon muttered maliciously, "You brought in a necromancer to manipulate the corpse? Too bad, a pseudo-second-tier corpse won't last long."
It can only entangle at best, but how long can the spell to manipulate corpses last?
Kane ignored its words and instead increased the pace of his attack.
Seeing that its provocations were ineffective, the Wax Demon's blade suddenly became treacherous and ruthless.
Kane dodged to the side, but the next second, a blazing hand instantly formed between the two of them and pounced!
The flames touched the damp mist, evaporating into hissing white vapor.
The Wax Demon scoffed, "You think you can trap me with a spell that moves at this speed?!"
Before the words were even finished, its pupils suddenly contracted.
In the instant the blades clashed, Kane completely abandoned defense and evasion.
"puff!"
The scimitar pierced deep into his chest and abdomen, but Kane remained silent, using his momentum and astonishing strength to lock the Molten Wax Demon firmly in place with his arms.
"Are you insane?! You want to die together with me?!"
The Wax Demon was filled with shock and rage, struggling violently, but it was unable to break free from the desperate grip.
It saw Kane, who was right in front of it, revealing his white teeth stained with blood.
"No," Kane's voice was icy, "you're the one who will die."
The next moment, the burning hand completely devoured the tightly embracing human and demon.
As an abyssal demon, the Wax Demon still has limited resistance to fire due to the properties of its wax.
Weakening under the influence of the damp mist, the flames could not burn for long, yet they were already emitting a mournful howl.
The wax on the surface of the body began to melt and drip, and the mimicry of facial features quickly blurred and collapsed, turning into an shapeless lump of wax.
Kane, whose body was engulfed in flames, seized the opportunity to break free and used his water manipulation skills to control the mist to extinguish the fire.
His horrific wounds and burns on his abdomen were growing granulation tissue, which was visibly wriggling and healing.
He pulled out the curved knife from his chest and slashed fiercely at the lump of wax that was beginning to twist and deform!
The waxy limbs, which had become brittle and hard under high temperatures, were cut into several pieces.
Soon, the wax stopped moving and completely turned into a liquid.
This means the death of the wax sprite.
Just then, Kane felt a chill run down his spine and rolled forward without thinking.
"Snap!"
Where he had stood, an arrow was stuck in the ground.
Another wax golem appeared there, carrying Oliver's empty-eyed head in its hand, its headless, heavily armored body lying a few steps away.
Kane was not surprised by this.
When he used the secondary resurrected corpse technique, he only issued the simple commands of "attack and entangle".
Without the continuous and precise control of a spellcaster, a corpse, no matter how strong its physique, is merely an unconscious puppet, and it's only a matter of time before it's found and killed.
The wax goblin looked at Kane's rapidly healing wound, then at his companion who had turned into a pool of wax on the ground, and the mercenaries lying dead haphazardly around him.
For the first time, a clear look of fear finally appeared on its mimicry face.
He threw his head aside, turned around without hesitation, and rushed into the still-lingering thick fog.
"The immortality trait must not be exposed —"
Kane ignored his still-healing wound, gripped his scimitar, and subtly extended his senses with his water manipulation technique, locking onto the ripples of the hastily fleeing water.
Immediately, he silently and swiftly pursued the direction in which the Wax Demon had fled.
"Damn it—how could this happen—"
The fleeing Wax Demon could barely maintain its mimicry of facial features due to fear and severe injury.
Previously, many of their kind had died in those two earth-shattering explosions, leading them to suspect that high-ranking mages from the mage academy had intervened, and they became extremely cautious in their actions.
After staking them out for several days, they finally obtained intelligence confirming that it was just a few ordinary mages and a wanderer before deciding to make their move.
According to intelligence, this should have been an easy encirclement and annihilation.
In today's battle, although the two mages were captured, the wanderer named Kane displayed terrifying strength, successively killing Oliver, his companions, and an entire squad of elite mercenaries.
That was no ordinary self-healing ability—it was a higher level of immortality!
"How could a mere human from a material plane possess such—"
Its heart was consumed by panic, and it ran headlong into the distance, far from the original neighborhood.
It rushed into a dark alley, and in the shadows, the wax on its face writhed and quickly transformed into a completely different, ordinary human appearance.
Then, it blended into the crowd on the main street and desperately fled towards the Chamber of Commerce area.
Upon seeing the merchant building with a ducal coat of arms hanging not far away, and the well-equipped guards at the entrance, its face lit up with ecstasy.
That was the glimmer of hope that led to survival from the brink of despair.
"We're almost there—once we get back to the base, I can recover my losses and then lead more men to hunt down that monster—"
No, we should capture him alive and bring him back to the sect.
A body possessing such qualities is undoubtedly the most perfect sacrifice for the "Stigmata Ritual."
Offerings? It suddenly recalled a vague rumor circulating within the sect:
In the dark forest beside Nord, there seems to have been a crucial sacrifice that not only escaped the stronghold but also turned the tables and uprooted it.
"I must report and investigate immediately upon my return—could it be—"
It was in a state of confusion, and hurried through the crowd.
Suddenly, it was bumped hard on the shoulder by a passerby.
The man who hit it was a stranger with blue eyes and short blond hair. He looked ordinary, but the wax demon felt a sense of familiarity about him.
The other party said humbly, "I'm sorry."
The Wax Demon glared fiercely at the other party.
On ordinary days, it would surely remember the appearance of any mortal who dared to offend it, and torture and kill them in the darkness for its own amusement.
But escaping was the priority at this moment, so it could only suppress its murderous intent and force a stiff smile: "Be more careful next time."
After saying that, he turned around, preparing to walk through the last stretch of people towards the safe gate of the Chamber of Commerce.
Just as it turned and took a step, an extremely soft yet incredibly clear voice rang out, almost touching the back of its neck: "Protect from evil spirits."
What?!
It was terrified, but it was too late to react.
A cold dagger, at an incredibly precise angle, pierced through the back, deeply penetrating the "heart" simulated by wax liquid, and then twisted violently!
The restraining magic against the evil otherworldly creature spread and wreaked havoc within its "body".
The humanoid form that the molten wax demon had transformed into instantly went limp.
With its last bit of strength, it turned its head and saw the "blue-eyed, blond stranger," whose face changed as if melting wax, revealing his true appearance of black hair and black eyes.
It was Kane.
The wax demon's mimicry face was filled with extreme shock and bewilderment, as if it could not understand how the other party could see through the disguise and how they could carry out the ambush so precisely in this place.
Kane supported its limp body as if helping a drunkard, leaned close to its collapsing "ears," and smiled, "Go back to the abyss, demon."
After the battle by the river, he used his water manipulation skills to track the demon.
Then predict the route and disguise yourself using disguise techniques.
Finally, in this place closest to its "safe zone," it delivered the fatal blow with this meticulously prepared special attack spell.
Kane took a deep look at the guild's gate, which was just inches away, and then let go.
He turned and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
The Wax Demon opened its mouth in vain, but could only make a "whooshing" sound as its mimicry body rapidly melted and began to twitch slightly on the ground.
"Damn it—I'm actually dying here—!"
A commotion arose beside its "body," and a woman's terrified scream rang out from the crowd: "Someone's been stabbed! Sheriff! Where's the sheriff?!"
The crowd rioted, gathering and then dispersing.
After a long while, a team of sheriffs finally arrived.
But all that remained on the ground was a piece of ordinary clothing with a tear, a dagger, and a large pool of unidentifiable, viscous wax.
And the astonished, incoherent witnesses around them.
The sheriffs examined the strange scene, exchanging bewildered glances.