It was only when the mysterious girl's form obscured the bright light from above that the dying apprentice noticed her.
She had a slim figure and a pretty face. However, the bright lighting behind her obscured her exact looks. The girl's gentle smile had a natural charm to it. The apprentice extended her trembling hands and spoke her last call for help.
"Sa… save me. I… do not want… to die."
A single sentence, and yet she stuttered so much. It was apparent that her life force was running out.
She was on the verge of death!
The mysterious girl extended a white, sacred hand and covered the apprentice's eyes. She whispered into her ears, "Don't worry, I'm here!"
The body of the dying apprentice trembled. Her weak and powerless eyes immediately opened wide. Hatred, resentment, anger, and confusion reflected in her pupils.
However, with the last drop of her life force draining away, all the light in her eyes faded away.
The mysterious girl gently removed the dagger from the apprentice's chest and slowly got up, walking towards her next target!
Chapter 365 The Girl Hidden By Fate
The battle raged on.
Meanwhile, the mysterious girl continued to drift through the chaotic battlefield like an invisible god of death.
She wasn't actually invisible. Nor did she have any defensive spells cast on herself. A misfired throwing spear would have killed her in an instant if it had struck her frail body. Even the apprentices frantically running around would have severely wounded her if they crashed into the girl.
However…
It was almost like everything was within her design, and that a spell of Mass Hypnotic Suggestion had been cast upon all the witches here. No one seemed to have noticed the strange irregularity that was this girl. It was like she was only the background; like she was just thin air that was not worth seeing.
And everywhere she went, there was a severely wounded apprentice hanging by a thread of their life.
A delicate body, plain robes, and an unenchanted dagger. Yet she still managed to steal away the lives of five apprentice witches. The other surviving witches and apprentices only thought of them as natural deaths from blood loss.
They were utterly unaware of the terrifying presence of a death god amongst them. She was an existence that silently paid a visit to all who were at the brink of death.
The steel statue army had the ability to crush the group of witches. However, they appeared to be a clumsy bunch of metal tin cans under the directed control of the mysterious girl. The statues either chose to throw spears across the stretch of swamp, or they formed groups and slowly walked around the swamp.
Their strategy might have seemed foolish, but it was, in fact, a fantastic maneuver. All the witches and apprentices that were hit by the spears or knocked away by the flanking statues were always wounded but never killed. This arrangement made it very convenient for the mysterious girl to go about on her harvest.
The mighty army of statues was like a noose around the necks of the witches. It slowly tightened and strangled the witches, but it wouldn't kill them directly. After all, the steel statues were only obeying the mysterious girl's orders due to the authority of the Tower. They weren't contracted beings under her command. Thus, deaths at the hands of the statues were not considered kills of the mysterious girl.
The Tower absorbed the powers of Fate within the bodies of those who had died to the statues and gathered the energy at its core. The mysterious girl was not going to get even a sliver of fate from their deaths.
This was why she intentionally created such an odd situation, continuously bleeding out the witches and creating opportunities for her to slaughter them personally!
Sadly, the witches were much more powerful than the apprentices, and a great deal more powerful than she was. Consequently, not a single one of the eleven witches were critically wounded. Of course, this meant that the mysterious girl hadn't been able to reap the life of even one witch. She also didn't dare get too close to any one of the witches.
After all, if any of them had raised their power of Fate above ten points, they would be able to sense her existence. She was too frail and weak. There was no way she could endure even one magical attack.
Even if there was a dying witch on the battlefield, the mysterious girl wasn't sure she could survive a spell cast by the witch before her death.
Thus, the girl could only choose to wander around the perimeter of the group of witches and subtly harvest the fruits of war!
The mysterious girl once again walked to the side of an exhausted apprentice cowering on the ground. However, this time, the girl stopped and turned to look somewhere in the distance.
A new enemy had arrived!
The strange girl turned and quickly left the arena without any hesitation. The exhausted and utterly inattentive apprentice that had just brushed past death suddenly turned and looked behind her in confusion.
Just then, she had felt a sinister aura around her, but that aura had suddenly vanished as quickly as it came. If it weren't because of the immediate difference between the presence and absence of the uncomfortable feeling, she wouldn't even have been able to sense the aura! Especially with the battle still raging around her!
Dammit! Could somebody have snuck beside her side earlier?
The apprentice witch felt a chill run down her spine when the thought popped up in her head. The terror and fear of realization were enough to petrify her completely.
…………
Inside a vast and magnificent hall.
Over fifty witches and apprentices were lying around or running around the center of the empty hall. There were no enemies or monsters around them, but they continued to attack and defend with all they had. It was as if they were fighting with an invisible creature.
Occasionally, there were even some apprentices who would fall to the ground.
There were no wounds on their bodies, but they continued to cry out in pain. Their mental flux and life force also continuously dropped.
That wasn't the only thing odd about the whole situation!
There were absolutely no magical facilities or runic tools in this massive space. The only things here were the complex runic circuits and the profound magical symbols spread all over the walls, ceiling, and the floor.
Strange blue light filled the entire room, showering the witches in a sea of blue radiance. Everyone was fighting with all their might in the illusion. In reality, not a single one of them was casting a spell. In fact, not one of them was moving. They just stood still on the spot.
As for the army of steel statues?
After a thousand years of aging, only about three dozen golem guards remained functional. The steel statues might have been animated lifeforms and didn't possess the limitations of life that humans had. However, thousands of years of corrosion was more than enough to immobilize them.
Their steel bodies might not decay, but the runic circuits and energy centers in their bodies couldn't possibly remain undamaged after so many years! The animating souls within their control centers had already vanished and dispersed without proper treatment and maintenance over the past thousand years.
The construct golems might have been claimed to be undying, but they did indeed still have a lifespan of their own!
The mysterious girl quickly left the illusion and turned to leave the hall.
The moment she appeared at the stone door and entered the corridor, she heard a massive rumbling coming from the distance.
Judging by the commotion, it seemed like a strong group of individuals were rushing to this place, disassembling everything in their way as they hurried over!
I can't let those powerful competitors interrupt my harvesting. Mm, let's find them some enemies to deal with!
The mysterious girl mused and drew out a card from the stack of exquisite tarot cards floating beside her.
The other tarot cards suddenly dimmed and faded away as this card a
ctivated.
The tarot card that the girl had chosen slowly flipped over before the girl's eyes. Its picture was revealed.
It was a Minor Arcana. The picture drawn on the card was that of a hideous dark skeleton construct. Two small runes glowed in the corner of the card. The mysterious girl recognized these two magical runes that contained profound arcane knowledge. The runes meant 'Shadesteel.'
The mysterious girl chanted the name of the card under her breath. The card then lit up when she touched with her fingers. This special tarot card disappeared without a trace.
The next second, four strange black silhouettes emerged from the shadows beneath the mysterious girl.
Shadesteel animated statues. These were a type of powerful construct creatures with power rivaling that of an elite adept. They were made of a metal that could only be found and forged in shadow planes, and were sturdy and stealthy guards.
Shadesteel statues were easily mistaken for undead creatures. They had the appearance of skeletons and moved about silently like ghosts and spirits. Unlike other constructs, shadesteel statues were extremely good at concealing themselves. They could freely blend into the shadows.
A Shadesteel statue was approximately two meters in height. Despite their appearance of hovering in the air, they were seven hundred kilograms in weight.
Judging from their looks, the metal used to create the Shadesteel statues seemed to absorb almost all light. They appeared to be completely and utterly black. Mist filled the insides of their skeletal ribs, while sharp metal claws hung at the ends of their arms. A sinister skull-like head was fixed right above their bodies. These constructs didn't seem to possess necks. They moved slowly but silently, circling above the ground without making a sound.
"Go! Stop them and kill them all!" The mysterious girl spoke for the first time.
Her voice was chilly, exquisite, and even ethereal. However, there was an odd trace of depth and maturity to it. There was a sense of time that didn't fit her young age.
The four Shadesteel statues calmly blended into their surroundings after receiving their orders. They vanished without a trace.
…………
Alice frowned at the same time the girl had summoned one of the rare few trump cards left in the tower. She stopped moving.
Snowlotus, who had been traveling with her but keeping a certain distance, also stopped. She asked coldly, "Why are you stopping? I can sense that place. It isn't far away!"
Sofia, who had been leading the way, smashed apart the stone wall in front of them and turned back in disdain, "Why else? She must be afraid! Of the five of us, she's the one with the weakest body. Who else would be afraid if it wasn't her.”
Two other witches followed behind the three favored candidates. They appeared to be Amanda and Doris, the two witches that had clashed with Alice earlier.
The five of them had formed a temporary team and seemed like they wouldn't stop before they managed to split the mastermind into pieces. However, their faces betrayed their wandering thoughts. All of them had sinister plans of their own.
The muscular and unrefined Sofia was about to insult Alice further. However, just then, some of the more sensitive witches put on an expression of surprise and fear. Someone yelled, "Watch out…"
Four strange shadows emerged from the darkness around Sofia as she tensed her muscles in preparation.
Eight dark claws stabbed towards her body from every direction.
Chapter 366 Enemy Assault
Today was most likely Alice's lucky day.
If those four shadesteel statues had picked her as the first target, she would have been a cold and unmoving corpse right now.
No. Alice's soul and body would likely have been transformed into an undead creature from the intense negative energy shockwaves from the statues' attacks. For her, this was an outcome even more horrifying than death!
Luckily, they had chosen to attack Sofia first!
Perhaps it was because she was too far ahead, or maybe it was because her large size was too eye-catching. No matter the reason, when the four shadesteel statues emerged from the shadows, all eight of their sharp claws slashed towards Sofia.
The Berserk Witch's response was immediate.
She had instantly picked up on the irregularity around her, even without the others' warnings.
The shadesteel statues were able to appear everywhere without any prior indication thanks to this ability of theirs. Their bodies could freely travel between this plane and the shadow plane. As long as there were shadows, their dense bodies would become weightless, and they would be able to swim like a fish within the shadow substance freely.
No noise, no obstructions, and no significant energy fluctuations. The only indication of their approach was the sudden increase in density of shadow particles around their victim. It was hard to even pick up on the slight increase in shadow particles if one wasn't explicitly sensing for it.
However, Sofia was a candidate with thirteen points of the power of Fate. Her Spiritual senses didn't rely so much on her Spirit itself but the warnings from Fate.
Thus, Sofia instantly went berserk the moment danger fell upon her.
Sofia's body was already muscular and healthy before her transformation. She looked more like a warrior than an adept. Right now, her body swelled up in size, and her muscles became even thicker and more robust. Veins popped up across her arms and her body. She looked just like a mighty god standing above mortals in her current state.
Her thick wooden staff also appeared to be a Soul Equipment. The staff also started increasing in size when she did. Sofia waved the weapon as if it weighed nothing and instantly blew away two of the shadesteel statues that had come too close.
However, she was injured at the same time. Blood started to flow from her left shoulder, left ribs, her hip, and her right leg.
The berserk Sofia ignored all the wounds on her body. The staff in her hands fell like a thunderstorm, beating down on every shadesteel statue that tried to escape. She didn't even allow the shadesteel statue near her the time to meld into the shadows. Sofia violently smashed its head apart and crushed its body to pieces.
The shadesteel statues were a particular kind of statue specializing in assassination. They weren't known for their toughness, but for their phantom-like ability to vanish and reappear without a sound. This weakness was why a single hit from the ferocious Sofia destroyed the shadesteel statue.
It was only now that Snowlotus' Frost Shield and Amanda's Energy Barrier landed on Sofia's body. Unfortunately, Sofia's body had powerful magic resistance upon turning into her berserk witch form.
Her magic-resistant body helped her endure the harmful energy shockwave from the shadesteel statues' attacks, as well as the shadow damage from their claws. However, her resistance also reduced the effects of her teammates' healing and enhancement abilities.
Sofia had always traveled and fought alone after she had advanced to a berserk witch. She rarely ever formed groups with others. The main reason for that was her inability to benefit from the buffs and enhancements from her teammates!
That said, there was always an upside to everything. Sofia's berserk form might have caused her to lose the ability to benefit from enhancement spells, but she had unexpectedly also gained powerful regenerative abilities.
The three remaining shadesteel statues had just vanished, and already the gashes on Sofia's body was healing at a visible rate. The wounds on her body, which would have been considered grievous and critical on any other witch, would heal within three to five minutes at the speed they were closing up.
"Goddamned cowards. Only know how to hide in those shadows. This bad bitch will beat you to scraps if any of you come out again." Sofia stomped on the broken body of the shadesteel statue and cursed out loud. Her wild and ferocious attitude was on full display.
Everyone present knew that she was the only one that could taunt these phantom assassins. The other witches had to start placing defensive spells on them
selves immediately.
"Mass Bull's Strength!" (Strength +2)
"Mass Cat's Agility!" (Agility +2)
"Mass Bear's Endurance!" (Physique +2)
"Mass Fox's Cunning!" (Intelligence +2)
"Negative Energy Protection!"
"Shadow Protection!"
"Prediction!"
"Haste!"
……
Given their normal relationships, the witches never would have cast beneficial spells on each other. However, a common enemy that wanted to kill all of them had appeared before them.
Thus, the former enemies had no choice but to turn into allies. None of them dared hide any of their abilities. All of them took out the magic scrolls they had been saving to enhance their powers.
All these spells and enhancement halos caused the witches' attributes to increase exponentially. Everyone wrapped themselves in layers of energy barriers and defensive spells. In doing so, not one of them could be killed in a single hit by the shadesteel creatures, even if they didn't have Sofia's monstrous Physique.
Alice's actions were even more extreme. She immediately summoned a tank-like spider golem and dove into its abdomen without another word. Her body was completely hidden within the golem.
The Berserk Witch grunted, then continued to walk forward with the staff on her shoulder.
An ice barrier also enveloped Snowlotus' body. She quickly kept up with Sofia.
Amanda threw out two vials of potions and summoned two humanoid storm elementals, and walked in the middle of the group with Doris beside her. Alice controlled the spider golem and moved with the Infernal Tyrant at the rear of the group.
This formation took into consideration the profession traits of Snowlotus, Amanda, and Doris. The path they chose to walk down focused more on support and elementium spells. Their chance of survival was far lower than Sofia and Alice if the shadesteel statues ever attacked them.
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