abnabooks Chapter 174 What do you mean by kneeling and begging for mercy? That was a strategy! A strategy!
Chapter 174 What do you mean by kneeling and begging for mercy? That was a strategy! A strategy!
Chapter 174 What do you mean by kneeling and begging for mercy? That was a strategy! A strategy!
This is the temporary command post where Master Calvin was located a month into the fierce fighting.
The air was thick with an overwhelming, pungent stench of blood, burnt flesh, and the acrid smell of ozone from various destructive witchcraft practices, all mixed together to create a nauseating atmosphere of war.
Amidst the ruins, exhausted soldiers were rescuing the wounded and reinforcing fortifications, each with a look of dazed relief and deep weariness on their faces.
"Sir—the enemy's main force—has moved away again before we arrived."
We only intercepted and eliminated some low-level skeletons used as sacrificial pawns and a small number of shadow creatures responsible for covering the rear.
A second-level wizard stood before a makeshift command table made of rubble, reporting to Master Calvin in a low voice, his tone filled with helplessness and frustration.
"Bang—!"
Master Calvin slammed his massive fist, encased in a dark red metal gauntlet, onto the table in front of him, fueled by pent-up rage!
The table, made of hard ironwood, let out a mournful cry of despair as it shattered into countless fragments that flew everywhere!
"Damn it! These slippery black rats! Maggots that can't stand the light of day in the gutter!"
He roared like a raging lion trapped in a cage, his mane bristling, his bloodshot eyes filled with a fiery rage that seemed to ignite the very air.
The continuous running around and being played for over a month had made this already hot-tempered level three archmage extremely frustrated and angry!
For the past month, as the most important mobile counterattack force and strategic deterrent of the Eternal Tower, he has been like the most efficient firefighter, constantly moving, roaming and fighting on the entire front line in response to requests for help.
However, the enemies of the Silent Forest seemed to have supernatural vision, perfectly predicting his every move!
No matter how well he concealed his whereabouts or how suddenly he changed his route, the enemy's main force always received the news before he arrived at the battlefield!
Then, without hesitation, they abandoned the victory they were about to achieve, leaving only a small number of cannon fodder to cover the rear, while the main force quickly dispersed into smaller units and withdrew without a trace, leaving behind only a ravaged ruin and civilians in need of comfort and rescue.
If things continue like this, his powerful mobile force, composed of elite wizards and elite guards, will not only fail to play a decisive role in turning the tide of the battle, but will also be perfectly restrained and toyed with by the enemy, running around in circles, with morale and resources being constantly depleted.
He even began to think that it would be better to act alone and use his terrifying strength as a level three archmage to carry out long-range precision strikes and targeted eliminations. That would probably be much more efficient than being treated like a monkey like this!
Just as Calvin suppressed his anger and prepared to order another change in strategy.
When he even began to consider extreme troop splitting regardless of headquarters orders and risks, his extraordinary intuition, honed through countless life-and-death battles and belonging to a level three archmage, suddenly issued an extremely sharp alarm to him!
Energy flow around the camp —
The elemental fluctuations, which were originally chaotic and violent due to the great battle, were mixed with an extremely subtle, yet absolutely abnormal, sense of stagnation and distortion!
It was as if an invisible veil had enveloped the space, or as if clear water had been dripped with viscous ink!
"Your Excellency Calvin, it seems you've had a very difficult month."
A sweet, melodious voice, drawn out in a drawn-out tone, seemed to completely disregard the physical distance and the simple yet still present protective barrier of the camp, resounding clearly and directly in the deepest part of Calvin's mind!
It brings a strong, dizzying, and extremely nauseating mental tremor!
"roar--!
"
Calvin's mental power, like long-accumulated volcanic lava, instantly broke through the mental interference and malicious probing sensation brought by the eerie voice!
His massive body suddenly stood up, and the air around him distorted and boiled violently due to the sudden and undisguised terrifying heat. The seemingly simple and heavy robe on his body, which looked like it was carved from rock, instantly lit up with countless dazzling defensive runes, flowing with a molten lava-like luster!
He stepped out of the shattered tent, his thunderous roar shaking the ground of the makeshift camp, sending rubble tumbling down: "Who?! You cowardly rat hiding in the shadows! Get out here!"
The wizards and soldiers who were busy or resting in the camp were terrified by the sudden roar and the terrifying aura unleashed by the master.
They raised their staffs or weapons in alarm, looking around nervously, trying to find the enemy.
But to their naked eyes, apart from ruins, scorched earth, and busy colleagues, they found nothing unusual.
However, in Calvin's powerful perception as a third-level archmage, the situation was quite different, even chilling.
He clearly "saw" a cold, viscous, and malevolent mental field, like an invisible giant spider web, that had already completely enveloped and permeated the entire camp without him even realizing it.
The primary purpose of this force field is not for direct attack, but rather more like a—
A bizarre veil that isolates us from insiders and outsiders, distorts our perception of reality, and paves the way for some kind of conspiracy!
"Hehehe————"
That charming yet chilling laughter, like falling into an ice cave, rang out again, seemingly coming from every shadowy corner in all directions, resounding deep in the minds of everyone in the camp, carrying a playful and cruel tone like a cat playing with a mouse.
"Why get so angry, Venerable Master Calvin? I simply—"
"Just someone who happened to pass by, saw you toiling away in vain, felt pity, and thought they'd see you off early for your pointless and hopeless efforts."
As these malicious words fell, the eyes of the lower-ranking soldiers and wizards in the camp, whose wills were not strong enough, instantly became dull and empty. Like puppets that had lost their sense of self, they stared blankly in the direction from which the voice faintly came, and the weapons in their hands involuntarily dropped.
"Who exactly are you?!"
Sensing the sudden change in his subordinates, Calvin's face turned ashen, and he spat out his question through gritted teeth, each word distinct.
A vast amount of magic surged and roared within him, ready to deliver a devastating blow to any enemy that appeared.
In his memory and in the database of the Tower of Eternity, among all the registered or recorded Level 3 wizards on the entire continent of Aikar, there was absolutely no woman who could bewitch people on such a large scale with just her voice!
In Aikar, a level three wizard could never, and would never be, an unknown figure!
"Lilith, can I handle this brute who's bursting with fire? His soul fire burns so fiercely, he's truly—a highly desirable source of material."
Before Calvin's question could be answered, another hoarse, dry voice, filled with endless malice and greed, came from another direction.
Calvin looked up sharply in the direction of the sound and saw a figure slowly emerge from behind a broken wall where the shadows were heaviest.
With a hand made entirely of stark white bones, devoid of any flesh, he slowly removed the wide hood that covered his head.
What was revealed was an unusually young, even handsome, human male face.
However, the face was lifeless, and the skin had an unnatural, deathly gray color.
What's even more chilling is that there are no eyeballs in his eye sockets, only two constantly flickering soul flames burning with a cold, eerie blue light!
Moreover, it wasn't just his arms; from the open collar, you could see that below his neck, all the way down to where his robes covered, was a completely pale, smooth skeleton!
No heart beating, no blood flowing—this is a walking skeleton, its "life" sustained by powerful necromancy!
Seeing that eerie and terrifying face, and feeling the undisguised, powerful necromantic aura emanating from the other party, which belonged to a third-level wizard.
Calvin's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints as a name and event, long buried in the highest-level security archives of the Eternal Tower, suddenly surfaced in his mind!
"It's you?! The foreign necromancer from the 'Pale Hand' incident! Hughes?! You're still alive?!"
"Hehehe—I never expected that after so many years, the bigwigs of the Eternal Tower would still recognize this old man. I am truly flattered and honored!"
Upon hearing Calvin reveal his identity, the ghostly blue soul fire in Hughes' eyes suddenly flickered violently, revealing his extreme inner turmoil. His hoarse voice was filled with deep-seated mockery and resentment.
"Heh, a loser who was almost beaten to a pulp by our Lord Kabus of the Eternal Tower, barely escaping with only a remnant soul kneeling and begging for mercy, not only has he survived to this day, but he also dares to appear here, right in front of me!"
Calvin ruthlessly exposed the other party's most shameful wounds, attempting to provoke them, while simultaneously focusing all his efforts on sensing the location of another hidden enemy—Lilith.
"Kneeling and begging for mercy?!"
Sure enough, when he heard the other person mention the most humiliating experience of his life, Hughes seemed to be instantly ignited!
His jaw, now just bones, opened and closed wildly, making a sharp, teeth-grinding grinding sound. The soul fire in his eye sockets surged, almost bursting out, radiating a chilling resentment and killing intent capable of freezing the soul!
"That's strategy! It's a temporary endurance necessary for great immortality! You foolish creatures would never understand!"
He screamed shrilly, his voice distorted by extreme rage.
"And today, that damned Qaboos is dead, but I'm more than happy to—first remove a solid foundation stone from his proud Tower of Eternity! Like you, Calvin!"
Before he finished speaking, Hughes suddenly raised his hands, which were made entirely of white bones, and his ten fingers, like sharp bone claws, grabbed at the void!
"Buzz—!"
The earth surrounding the camp instantly groaned in pain, trembling violently and cracking!
One by one, pale, bony claws, stained with fresh mud and dark red blood, broke through the ground.
Immediately afterwards, skeletal soldiers with eerie green soul flames flickering in their eyes and wielding rusted swords or pale bone spears surged out of the cracks in dense numbers, like a legion of death crawling out of the depths of hell!
They moved swiftly, their bones were exceptionally hard, and their arrangement even bore the faint traces of a rigorous battle formation. In an instant, they formed a surging, pale tide of death, which surrounded Calvin's camp!
A nauseatingly dense aura of death rose into the sky, mixing and intertwining with Lilith's twisted mental field, dimming the light in the area and transforming it into a forbidden underworld!
These skeleton soldiers were clearly not low-level cannon fodder summoned temporarily, but rather an elite undead army that Hughes had carefully cultivated and strengthened over a long period of time!
As for me—
The voice of Lilith, the woman in black veil, which was dreamlike yet chilling, rang out again, elusive and uncertain.
Her figure flickered like a ghost in the distant shadows, becoming increasingly blurry and difficult to pinpoint.
"Master Calvin, just consider me a spectator who came here attracted by the exciting battle."
Of course, if the actors on stage don't perform well enough, or the plot isn't exciting enough—
I wouldn't mind personally going on stage to add a memorable "bonus" to your and Mr. Hughes's dance of death!
Her alluring yet deadly voice, like countless invisible threads, once again attempted to entangle, penetrate, and disrupt Calvin's iron will.
Meanwhile, the Eternal Tower soldiers and low-level wizards affected by Lilith's powerful spiritual energy had even more dull and empty eyes.
Some even began to stiffly and slowly turn their weapons, aiming them at their unsuspecting comrades! Terrifying internal chaos was about to erupt!
"You bastard!"
Calvin roared in utter fury, knowing he could not allow the situation to continue like this, much less allow internal chaos to erupt!
"Trying to outnumber us? You bunch of ugly, grotesque people who'd rather die than show their faces, and a pile of dog bones that should have been buried long ago?!"
He held nothing back, transforming all the anger, frustration, and murderous intent he had accumulated over the past month into the most violent and purest destructive energy!
"Get the hell out of my way!"
His metal-gloved fists clashed violently together, producing a deafening metallic clang!
On those rock-like gauntlets, countless runes instantly shone brightly, as if two miniature suns were being held in one's hands!
"Molten core explosion!"
Centered on Calvin, an energy storm composed purely of extreme heat and destructive shockwaves exploded out like a supernova!
The blazing white light instantly engulfed everything, and the terrifying heat wave and shockwave spread and crushed in all directions in a perfect ring!
The first to be hit were the elite skeleton soldiers who surrounded them from all directions!
Faced with this torrent of ultra-high-temperature energy that can instantly vaporize steel and melt rocks, they didn't even have a chance to struggle. They were instantly and completely decomposed and vaporized, leaving not a trace, as if they had never existed!
Lilith's invisible yet real spiritual spiderweb was also forcibly torn apart and evaporated in the most brutal way by this pure and domineering physical energy!
From the shadows in the distance came a faint, yet clearly painful and furious, piercing screech. Lilith's blurry figure trembled violently, clearly having suffered a significant loss.
The soldiers and sorcerers who had been bewitched and whose eyes were glazed over were also shaken by the indiscriminate shockwave, and many of them fainted.
Calvin deliberately controlled the direction of the impact to avoid directly killing his own men, but the powerful shock was enough to temporarily knock them unconscious, averting the immediate crisis of internal betrayal.
The power of that single strike was nothing short of a natural disaster!
It instantly eliminated all surrounding threats!
It perfectly showcased the terrifying power of a level three fire-type archmage, enough to be called a "humanoid calamity" and a "battlefield destroyer"!
Amidst the smoke and swirling heat, Calvin's beard and hair stood on end, surrounded by a molten lava-like glow that radiated boundless light and heat, like an angry fire god emerging from mythology.
His burning, blazing light was fixed on the possible directions where Hughes and Lilith might be.
"Hughes! And that cowardly bitch hiding behind you! Today, neither of you will escape!"
The ghostly blue soul fire in Hughes's eyes flickered violently, seemingly showing some apprehension at Calvin's terrifyingly powerful sweeping force, but more so, it was fueled by a surge of excitement and cruelty.
"Excellent! Very good! That's it! The more powerful and passionate the soul and body, the more satisfying it is to peel away, and the more perfect the offering to the supreme death!"
With a flick of his skeletal hand, a ghastly white staff, carved from the complete spine of some unknown giant creature, appeared in his hand. At the top of the staff was a twisted and grotesque head that seemed to be still wailing silently!
"Death Grip!"
As he chanted hoarsely, countless translucent ghostly hands, composed only of the purest shadows and negative energy, suddenly burst forth from the shadow beneath Calvin's feet, grabbing at his ankles and calves!
The chilling, bone-chilling aura of death, capable of freezing the soul, relentlessly eroded and eroded the lava shield and protective spells on his body!
At the same time, Lilith's extremely irritating voice rang out again, weak yet still filled with an eerie power: "Oh dear, what a brutal and unromantic man~ But it doesn't matter—the more you struggle, the more fiercely you resist, the more profound and sweet the despair will be when you fall into the dream of eternal damnation~ The dream of damnation" —
A more powerful, more subtle, and more difficult-to-defend-against-the-previous mental illusion.
Like a silent tide, it surged into Calvin's mind once more, attempting to drag his will into an elaborately woven, endless cycle of nightmares, and to undermine his fighting power from within.
"Break it for me!"
Calvin snorted angrily, his voice booming like thunder!
He suddenly raised his left foot and then stomped it down like a giant elephant!
Boom! Scorching hot, liquid-flame-like lava surged forth from beneath his feet, as if it had a life of its own, transforming the area around him into a small lava lake. The sinister ghost hands hissed in agony within the intensely hot lava, instantly being burned to ashes!
At the same time, his powerful willpower, as strong as an iron rock, withstood the surging mental wave. Although a sharp pain like needles shot through his brain and his movements paused slightly, his eyes still burned with fierce fighting spirit and were extremely clear!
The great battle erupted completely at this moment!
Three Level 3 Grand Wizards engaged in a fierce battle on the scorched ruins of this land!