by Zhuang Bifan
Not only were they too weak to deal any damage to the monster in the sky, even if they were able to, so what? Without the support of Mages and Archers, the Warriors ahead would definitely be attacked from every direction, and once their men were down, the entire team would collapse. By then, they would have fallen to the Skeletal Warriors everywhere around, much less the Humerus Wyrm…
"Cut the nonsense, if you want to make it back alive, do as I say!" The Humerus Wyrm had already spread its wings, and the Skeletal Warriors pouring in from every direction were making Sienna suffocate. He did not have the time to hesitate now, much less explain what he was thinking to his men. The only thing he could do was to shout at them in this rough manner.
After Sienna shouted at them, the Mages decided to listen to his command instead of bothering too much about it as they retreated one by one, increasing the distance between them and the Skeletal Warriors. Then, the highs and lows of chanting could be heard from the crowd as the Archers abandoned their previous targets to aim at the terrifying monster in the sky.
Once the two most powerful teams left the fight, the rest felt the burden on their shoulders increase suddenly as the flow of Skeletal Warriors pouring in from all directions never seemed to cease. Every time they chopped one into pieces, more would appear in its place; it felt like being trapped in quicksand as the more they struggled, the deeper they seemed to sink…
The space they freed up had to be replaced by Sienna as he wielded his blunt machete for all he was worth, exerting all he was capable of as a level-14 Warrior. Large beads of sweat continued to fall from his forehead, and he looked drenched like he had just got out of water. After chopping apart a Skeletal Warrior, Sienna panted heavily as he looked up into the sky again…
The black-cloaked young mage was still hovering silently in the air. He had put away his magic staff some time ago, and in its place was a delicate crossbow. In the slot of the crossbow was a razor-sharp bolt, gleaming blindingly…
"Bloody hell, what's this guy up to…?" Seeing as the Humerus Wyrm had spread its wings and was blowing up huge winds in the air, Sienna felt his heart lodge itself in his throat. He had two paths to pick from now: one was to let his men continue attacking the Humerus Wyrm to help buy Felic some time, while the other one was to leave him be and focus on the Skeletal Warriors pressing in on them…
This was a gargantuan decision for Sienna to make, but he did not have a choice—his men were too weak, and even if they were to attack the Humerus Wyrm, it would be hard for them to stall it for long. Even a gust of dragon breath would probably be enough to decimate them.
But what could he do? The young mage called Felic was already the strongest amongst them all, so if he were to be killed by the Humerus Wyrm, then death would surely be the only thing awaiting the rest of them.
Sienna quickly made a decision despite the immense pressure as he landed his machete heavily and sliced an incoming Skeletal Warrior into two with a crack. At the same time, he turned his head back and, without a second thought, loudly commanded, "Attack!"
Following Sienna's command, a dozen sharp arrows wheezed into the sky, and strings of chanting could be heard. The vivid magical lights lit up from the middle of the crowd, and the Humerus Wyrm's body was covered in a vibrant array of fireworks in a second.
Then, an angry growl could be heard from the sky. Hardy as the Humerus Wyrm might be, it did not escape unscathed from the sudden attack. A few fireballs exploded consecutively on its wings, bringing away a few bones with them. Meanwhile, the sharp arrows lodged in the cracks of its bones brought it great pain. Of course, what the Humerus Wyrm could not tolerate was the provocation brought by these attacks. It had inherited the strength and wisdom of a true dragon along with the pride of one, so how could it allow other creatures to provoke it? These miniature humans who looked like a group of ants… how dared they attack and cause it harm?
The Adventurers heard a growl coming from the sky. The huge shadow made a sudden turn as it gave up the easy target in front of it and swooped down where the Skeletal Warriors had gathered without hesitation…
"Oh no…" The Adventurers all shared the same thought.
The terror that was the Humerus Wyrm had long been engraved in their minds, and now that they were facing this horrifying creature, they did not even have it in themselves to try and retaliate. At that moment, everyone was scared out of their wits as they only stared wide-eyed at the looming figure in the sky swooping down towards them. The Mages had forgotten their chanting, and the Archers had forgotten about pulling their bows; even the Warriors surrounded by Skeletal Warriors had forgotten about the machetes about to fall down on their heads…
It only took a moment of shock for cries to be heard from the crowd—some of the Warriors had been shocked out of their minds, and had fallen to the ground under the Skeletal Warriors' machetes.
The deaths of their companions intensified the spreading fear amongst them as the team that had already been unusually separated was now on the brink of collapse. Almost all of them wanted to run for their lives, and the Adventurers shoved and jostled each other, making the entire scene chaotic suddenly.
Fortunately, Jason and the Priest had managed to break free from the Skeletal Warriors surrounding them by then, and met up with Sienna and the rest. They had only managed to come back from the brink of collapse with the help of Jason's rune's adamantine sword…
However, the looming figure above their heads continued to grow, and they could all start to smell the dragon breath.
"What… what do we do?" Sienna, who was panting heavily, sounded like a broken wind machine. He really felt completely hopeless as he watched the Humerus Wyrm fly closer towards them. Perhaps death would drown them all in the next second; he had already done what he could, but the young mage called Felic was still hovering silently in the air as though none of this had anything to do with him…
Damn it, he shouldn't have trusted this kid.
Sienna cursed in his mind before he looked towards Jason for help.
"Let me…" Nobody thought that it would be the Priest Rotiah, who had not spoken much, coming forth now. She slowly walked out from behind Jason as her delicate face was filled with determination and confidence.
"But…" Jason opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but stopped suddenly before finally nodding his head. "Alright…"
As Rotiah slowly walked out, her snowy white robes were being blown around by the wind, making a whipping noise. The melodious chanting of prayers flowed like water as she was covered in a sacred aura under the blinding Holy Light. Almost everyone held their breaths as they immersed themselves in the earth-shattering beauty. At that moment, everyone had forgotten about the Humerus Wyrm in the sky as well as their impending doom…
Then, a growl could be heard from the sky. The Humerus Wyrm opened its mouth and black flames spewed out of it. At the same time, the Priest finished her chant, and in a flash all they could see was a blinding explosion of Holy Light which seemed to galvanize the world in a layer of gold…
"BOOM!"
A deafening sound later, the world suddenly quieted down.
"What… what's going on?" Sienna was the first to return to his senses. He touched his face unconsciously and looked around blankly. At that moment, Sienna thought he was in a dream as he could not believe that he was still alive after the dragon breath attack…
But everything around him seemed much to real—all 20-odd of his men, and not one less, were staring at him in confusion. The crowds of Skeletal Warriors, however, seemed to have disappeared into thin air, making the world much too empty. Besides the mage and the Humerus Wyrm in the air, all that was left were the confused faces of the Adventurers…
Oh, no, no, no… there was also the pale-faced Priest, who had fallen into a heap on the floor. Her pale face was void of any color, and Sienna could not detect any more Divine Power from her… not even a trace of life, actually. If not for her weak breathing, he would
have thought she was dead.
Sienna then looked at the grieving Jason, and suddenly understood everything. The Priest had used a theurgy that required a large sacrifice—only such theurgy would save them from the dragon breath and allow them to survive, but the Priest would have to pay a large price.
"Thank you." Sienna's voice was soft, but even a deaf person would be able to tell that it came from the bottom of his heart.
Lin Li continued to hover silently in the sky, and his posture had not changed at all. It was as if nothing in the world had anything to do with him besides the Cross Sniper crossbow in his hands. Time was of utmost importance to him right now as he was releasing mana with all his might. Only when he released all the mana would he have a chance to use the Holy Light from the Meteorite Debris…
Chapter 331 - Stupid Plan
This was Lin Li's most powerful weapon yet, one of the seven crossbows of the Stars of Fury. Legend had it that it could destroy stars using "Holy Light" with one gentle blow…
It was precisely because of this "Holy Light" that Lin Li dared to enter Syer Town where Undead creatures roamed freely and go against the Legendary-level Lich and Humerus Wyrm. Nobody knew the extent of power of the "Holy Light" better than Legendary-level—even the most powerful Undead creatures would be reduced to ashes with one blow from this tiny crossbow.
Of course, provided Lin Li was capable of maneuvering it…
The debris of the seven stars held the purest of Elemental Powers: earth, water, fire, wind, light, dark, and chaos. Once these seven Elemental Powers exploded all at once, they were powerful enough to destroy the world, so how could one man maneuver such terrifying powers easily?
Even Lin Li would have to resort to such a stupid plan if he had not had the Stars of Fury on hand… The only advantage he had was that he might be able to control it.
This was a really stupid plan indeed, channeling mana continuously to strike the debris so that the Elemental Powers within would be released once the mana acc.u.mulated to a critical point. Even the lowest of Mage Apprentices knew of this method, and it could be used with virtually any magical equipment. Theoretically speaking, the power of any magical equipment could be released as long as there was sufficient mana.
Of course, this was only feasible theoretically…
How many people in Anril had such Herculean mana? Even ordinary magical equipment would deplete a Magic Shooter's mana, much less the debris of the stars. It would probably require an astronomical amount of mana to power even the tiniest portion thereof, and most mages would never dare dream of doing it before reaching the Legendary-realm.
This was akin to forcefully replacing the strength of the Stars of Fury with a mortal's, and even someone with nearly unlimited mana like Lin Li was not confident in succeeding. The only thing he could do now was to try his best to channel all the mana he could into the debris of the stars and leave the rest to luck…
This was a last gamble of sorts which Lin Li detested the most as he was the type to favor plans with a dozen alternative routes where he could slowly narrow down his choices. Unfortunately, the Lich did not give him the chance to choose—Lin Li could only surrender and die a certain death by the dragon breath, or he could risk it all and either side would perish…
As more mana was channeled into the debris of the stars, it started emitting a strong Holy Scent. It was unusually strong, but not suffocating at all; instead, it gave the Adventurers a sensation like that of a gentle breeze c.a.r.e.s.sing their face. At the same time, the debris of the stars grew brighter and brighter, looking like a shining star in the night sky at first and finally lighting up the entire sky like a rising sun…
As the Holy Light grew brighter and brighter, more and more sweat dripped down from Lin Li's forehead; his panting became heavier, making him sound like a tired bull. Perhaps only Lin Li knew how much mana he had channeled into debris of the stars in the past two minutes…
It was truly an astronomical figure: in terms of magic, it would translate into over a hundred Pyroblasts. To top it all off, he did not use any techniques while doing it, only maintaining it at a mind-numbing speed. It was basically suicidal; if not for Lin Li's gargantuan source of mana as well as his Herculean mental strength to replenish the loss, he would have been a corpse a long time ago…
But even then, Lin Li was finding it hard to continue…
The continued process was as horrifying as if somebody decided to slice open their arteries to allow the blood to gush out like a flood—the huge loss of mana made Lin Li weak, and the symptoms began to show on him. His consciousness became blurry, and he could not see in front of him clearly. The world seemed to have turned into black and white as a ringing sound persisted in his ears, while colored spots seemed to be dancing in front of his eyes…
Lin Li had lost his ability to generate basic thoughts now as his mind was a blank page save for a trace of consciousness. Keep pushing, keep pushing, fill up this never-ending black hole called the debris of the stars before my mana runs out…
As Lin Li felt the Holy Scent coming from the debris of the stars become stronger, Lin Li knew he was not far away from success. Perhaps all it would take was a last spur of mana before the Divine Power within it would be released.
"Just a little more…"
As the Holy Light lit up the sky, Lin Li's mana was on the brink of depletion as he held on with the last trace of his consciousness and proceeded to wring his mental strength almost in a suicidal manner. This was the only way he could squeeze out the last of his mana. The pain it brought was far more than an average person could withstand—it felt as though there was a nail in his brain, stirring up his insides…
If Jason and the rest could fly in the sky with the Levitation Spell, they would clearly see that the seemingly peaceful mage was suffering much torture as his face had already turned pale under his cloak. Sweat was dripping off him, and his fists were clenched so tightly that his nails had sunk into skin and drew blood that was now flowing off his palms…
Time seemed to go by even more slowly in the midst of immense torture. Lin Li felt like he was walking along a never-ending path and could neither struggle nor surrender. The only thing he could do was to grit his teeth and press on, using all his strength to channel the last of his mana into the debris of the stars…
The, the sky lit up…
The terrified Adventurers could clearly see a ray of light spreading throughout the sky. It looked like a shooting star, and at the same time resembled a rising sun. In the pitch-black darkness of the night sky, the ray of light seemed even more blinding…
There was no surging magical wave, nor any earth-shattering explosion—everything happened in silence as though someone had secretly lit up a lamp in the dark. However, this lamp was akin to the clock on doomsday for the world of the Undead. The Humerus Wyrm let out a whimper the moment the sky lit up as it wrapped itself up in its wings; its huge body trembled in the sky, looking like prey in front of a predator.
At that moment, the powerful wings of the Humerus Wyrm seemed very weak as it was unable to defend itself from the spreading light at all. The bone wings melted in a flash like snow in the sun. No… not just the wings—as the light continued becoming brighter, the entire body of the Humerus Wyrm seemed to burn like a candle as it melted quickly. Should one look from afar, they might not even recognize that this rapidly melting pile of mass was the powerful Humerus Wyrm from before. The only proof of its existence now was the pathetic whimpers coming from it…
"W-w-w… what the heck is this?" Jason pulled at his hair as the sight before him was driving him nearly mad. He was seeing things for sure: the Humerus Wyrm… was melting!
"I-I-I… I'm not seeing things, right?" Sienna was staring with wide eyes as well, and was even stuttering too. In order to ascertain that he was not dreaming, he pinched himself harshly, only for the intense pain to pull him back to the scary reality. Right… the Humerus Wyrm was indeed melting…
"My Go
d…" The two g.r.o.a.n.e.d at the same time.
The two Adventurers on the brink of collapse stood there frozen as they stared at each other for a good minute before Jason carefully said, "That fellow, h-h-he… he killed a Humerus Wyrm?"
"I guess…" Sienna gulped as his eyes remained fixed on the sky. "I guess so…"
"… "
The two of them watched as the Humerus Wyrm melted before their eyes and disappeared in a green puff of smoke, leaving only a huge Dragon Crystal which shone with a bright red light in its place.
"Bloody hell, what the heck is that?!" Sienna exclaimed suddenly just as the two of them thought the whole ordeal was over.
"What?" Jason paused before he followed Sienna's gaze and saw a crack in the sky…
It began with small cracks, but as the light became brighter, the cracks enlarged as well. Finally, it resembled an endless ditch. The sky looked like a shattered mirror now as it broke into countless pieces all of a sudden…
Then, a loud booming sound was heard.
The whole world vanished…
Jason furiously rubbed his eyes. Right, the world had disappeared indeed: the Skeletal Warriors that covered the landscape earlier as well as the ghastly white bones and corpses that littered the ground all seemed to vanish without a trace. There was no blinding light in the sky, and there was no endless ditch—there was only an empty room and a trembling skeleton…
Chapter 332 - Peculiar rate of mana recovery
Everyone stood in the room with a blank expression as they were still deep in shock due to what had just happened. It was the most mind-blowing experience of their whole lives—could a human really cause a Humerus Wyrm to melt? Was this a joke… Well, even if they did tell someone about it as a joke, they would probably be laughed at for being childish.
But this was the truth: the young mage named Felic had melted a Humerus Wyrm just like that, and it all happened right in front of their eyes—they even remembered all the details clearly. From the melting of the first bone to the Humerus Wyrm disappearing into a green puff of smoke, it was all too real to be a dream…