After going through a fierce battle, the castle’s meeting chamber was destroyed beyond recognition. Those treants had destroyed all the doors and windows; the venom secreted from their bodies had made the originally luxurious and delicate carpets emit pungent smells. Gawain’s final attack had shattered the entire ground at the southeast corner of the meeting chamber. There was a large hole that had been opened on the wall that extended to the ceiling. No matter how one looked, the room had to be repaired.
In comparison to the Leslie Clan’s losses in this calamity, Gawain felt stifled and tormented as that evil cult follower had actually escaped.
The Oblivion Association was a heretic sect that was formed by a corrupted druid faction. Their sorcery was truly hard to defend against.
Pittman immediately prepared a ritual spell to track the presence of that evil cult follower. According to Pittman, there were plenty of restrictions in order to execute an escape spell in such an emergency, especially when druids weren’t adept at escaping. Their displacement spells would require the plants’ energy; hence, it was possible that the evil cult follower was still nearby. There was a high chance that he might still be within the castle after his displacement.
When the old druid had just retrieved the leaves and balms that could be used for spellcasting, there was a loud sound that echoed from the darkness of the night.
It was the sound of the crystal grenade’s explosion. The position… seemed to be where Sir Byron was!
Gawain’s face instantly changed as he was suddenly aware of what had happened. “Quickly! To the external hallway!”
By the time they rushed to Byron’s location, the evil cult follower had already vanished.
They could only see vines that were torn to pieces due to the explosion and traces of blood and flesh on the ground. Standing at the side of the wall was the middle-aged knight who had a helpless expression.
Gawain looked at Byron and said, “You better tell me that the evil cult follower has been blasted into smithereens by the crystal grenade, and what remains of him is on the ground…”
Byron spread his hands and said helplessly, “If you wish to hear that, then I shall say it accordingly.”
Gawain: “…”
“On the ground is indeed a portion of that person. But I didn’t think that a magic professional would actually have such a firm body,” Byron explained what had happened earlier. “…Subsequently, the grenade exploded, but that person’s reaction was truly too fast. Putting aside the fact that he could instantly push the grenade away, he had plenty of life-saving items on him. Ultimately, only an arm had been severed by the explosion, while he escaped into the forest behind the castle and vanished. I wanted to track him, but once he entered the forest, his presence had vanished.”
“He is a druid after all.” Gawain frowned. The situation at Byron’s side was truly filled with twists and turns. Firstly, the evil cult follower had unexpectedly encountered the weakened Byron; subsequently, the ignorant cult follower had caught the handheld version of the Flame Burst spell with his bare hands. Immediately after, he suffered the Flame Burst at point-blank range but still managed to escape… One could only say that the evil cult follower had a tenacious life and was destined to survive this night.
Gawain knew clearly he had already severely injured the evil cult follower. During the situation earlier, even if an escape spell was used, the evil cult follower couldn’t have completely evaded ‘Unbreakable Storm’. He really hadn’t expected that grade-five Oblivion Association follower to be proficient in both magic and martial arts; he was even a pay-to-win warrior. He actually reserved life-saving items for such situations… This was the way rich people played.
“It is impossible to catch up.” Pittman looked at the forest behind the castle with regretful eyes. The forest grew along the western slopes of the Tanzan Mine and was connected with a remote forest. “If a druid enters a forest, it is hopeless to find them even with our current team.”
“We have allowed a danger to escape,” Sir Philip commented with a stern tone.
“No, according to the Oblivion Association’s habit, once their operation fails in a region and they have exposed themselves, they wouldn’t act again within a short period of time unless the objective is important enough for them to sacrifice the association members.” Pittman shook his head and said, “An evil-cult druid that isn’t specialized in combat couldn’t survive and develop until today by being reckless.”
“No matter what, at least we have eliminated the danger here.” Gawain sighed and suppressed the unhappiness in his heart. He then quickly instructed, “Pittman, go to the central courtyard, and think of a method to undo the magic on those victims. Save as many as you can. Byron and Philip, the two of you will go and help too.”
Human life had higher value than anything else. The trio didn’t hesitate after receiving the orders and immediately nodded before leaving.
“The two of us will return to the hall.” Gawain looked at Amber and stated, “The pitiful Viscount Andrew is still left in the cold.”
While speaking, Gawain turned his head and prepared to leave the roof.
Right before he was going to take a step forward, there was a glimmer in the darkness that attracted his attention.
Gawain immediately stopped and examined the place where the glimmer came from. Soon enough, he found something in a pile of wilting vines and leaves. It was a small charred and severed finger, and there was an exquisite ring on the finger.
It was obviously something left behind by the black-robed evil cult follower.
“Hey, do you also have the habit of looting corpses? I thought an upright person like you—” Amber leaned over curiously, and in the midst of her speech, she was attracted by the item in Gawain’s hand. “Eh? A ring? And it isn’t broken?!”
Gawain didn’t need to put in a lot of effort to take off the ring from the carbonized finger. Half the surface of the ring was blackened, but the other half was still glistening with a bright silver glimmer. In theory, this ‘accessory’ should have been broken during the explosion of the crystal grenade just as Amber mentioned, but it was still flawless!
After slightly wiping it, it was rather bright!
Gawain looked at the ring and frowned slightly as he felt this ring was vaguely familiar.
Soon enough, he recalled where he had seen something similar.
Gawain took off his glove. His hand was wearing the exact same ring!
That’s right, this was…
“Dang! A token of love?!” Amber instantly exclaimed loudly. “You actually have the same ring as that evil cult follower! What relationship do you have with him?!”
“Do you not believe I will use my sword to smash you into the ground if you keep rambling on? I will smash you so deep into the ground that you will never be able to come out!” Gawain glared at Amber before he lowered his head and put the rings together. “It seems like it is indeed the Mithril Ring…”
“Mithril Ring?” Amber vaguely recalled where Gawain’s ring came from. She recalled the trip to the royal capital a few months ago and recalled the Mithril Vault agent called My Little Pony (ahem, Melita Ponia). Amber might not have met with the agent (she was sent flying during the encounter, and since they didn’t see each other’s face, it should be considered as them not having met), but Amber had seen the ring that Gawain obtained from the agent. “Mithril Vault?!”
She immediately reacted and said, “You are saying that the evil cult follower might possibly be the same as you and is also a ‘VIP’ of the Mithril Vault?!”
“Those rings aren’t randomly distributed, and if it isn’t an important item, it is impossible for an evil cult follower to bring it along when taking revenge on society.” Gawain nodded. “It seems like… Mithril Vault’s business is very extensive.”
Amber was dumbstruck as she said, “Aren’t they afraid those evil cult followers would turn them into ‘undead’ too?!”
Gawain laughed indifferently and said, “They even dared to accept orders from the Sovereign of Elementals. What else could they be afraid of?”
Immediately after, Gawain continued to search through for any remains that the evil cult follower had left behind. Apart from the ring on the finger, there was nothing else.
The other items had all been blown into smithereens.
Subsequently, the duo returned to the hall where they battled. The feudal lord of Tanzan Town, Viscount Andrew, was still waiting in the same place.
In reality, he wasn’t able to go anywhere else either. He — who originally didn’t have any extraordinary strength and had relied on magical medicine to forcefully obtain some magic — had been corroded and tormented by the corrupted druid for so many days. Viscount Andrew’s magic resistance and constitution were basically the same as an ordinary human’s. In fact, due to the frequent overdose of drugs, he was actually weaker. Even if he was no longer under the influence of sorcery, his powerless limbs wouldn’t allow him to move anywhere.
He could only sit on his chair in a paralyzed state while watching a group of people fighting and dismantling half his hall. He then watched them leave before seeing Gawain and Amber return again.
The only thing worth rejoicing was that the aftershocks from the battle didn’t reach him, allowing the viscount to still be unscathed.
“The evil cult follower escaped.” Gawain walked in front of Viscount Andrew and spoke without concealing anything. “But he probably won’t return… at least, not for some time.”
The viscount who had escaped calamity struggled to turn his eyeballs and took a few deep breaths. He didn’t conceal his joyous yet anxious expressions, but he still spoke weakly, “Thank you for your rescue… Your Grace, right now, I feel that getting to know you was the best decision I have ever made in my life… Cough, cough… I’m famished. Could you get some food for me?”
Gawain shook his head and took out a small crystal bottle and said, “Even though I wish to give you a good sumptuous meal, it is better for you to drink this first.”
Viscount Andrew looked at the small bottle with doubts and asked, “This…?”
“This is medicine concocted by my territory’s druid. It will replenish your stamina and also repair your internal organs.” Gawain pulled the cork off the bottle and brought it to the mouth of Viscount Andrew who couldn’t even hold the bottle himself. “Your entire body’s organs are failing, and if you eat now, it will only allow you to take your last breath. You have to drink the medicine to get through this first.”
Pittman might have sold plenty of useless ‘luck ointments’ on the territory, but the medicines that he concocted were all rather practical and useful. After drinking the stamina medicine, Viscount Andrew’s complexion was obviously much better.
Gawain then questioned, “About that evil cult follower, do you have any information for me? Why would you be targeted by the Oblivion Association for no reason?”
Viscount Andrew worked hard to twitch his face as it looked like he was trying to make a bitter smile but was unable to do so. He could only sigh and said, “This is all because I dug up something I shouldn’t have.”
“You dug up something you shouldn’t have?” Gawain frowned and asked, “What does that mean?”
“I dug out a shard of the Eternal Stone Slate…”
After going through a fierce battle, the castle’s meeting chamber was destroyed beyond recognition. Those treants had destroyed all the doors and windows; the venom secreted from their bodies had made the originally luxurious and delicate carpets emit pungent smells. Gawain’s final attack had shattered the entire ground at the southeast corner of the meeting chamber. There was a large hole that had been opened on the wall that extended to the ceiling. No matter how one looked, the room had to be repaired.
In comparison to the Leslie Clan’s losses in this calamity, Gawain felt stifled and tormented as that evil cult follower had actually escaped.
The Oblivion Association was a heretic sect that was formed by a corrupted druid faction. Their sorcery was truly hard to defend against.
Pittman immediately prepared a ritual spell to track the presence of that evil cult follower. According to Pittman, there were plenty of restrictions in order to execute an escape spell in such an emergency, especially when druids weren’t adept at escaping. Their displacement spells would require the plants’ energy; hence, it was possible that the evil cult follower was still nearby. There was a high chance that he might still be within the castle after his displacement.
When the old druid had just retrieved the leaves and balms that could be used for spellcasting, there was a loud sound that echoed from the darkness of the night.
It was the sound of the crystal grenade’s explosion. The position… seemed to be where Sir Byron was!
Gawain’s face instantly changed as he was suddenly aware of what had happened. “Quickly! To the external hallway!”
By the time they rushed to Byron’s location, the evil cult follower had already vanished.
They could only see vines that were torn to pieces due to the explosion and traces of blood and flesh on the ground. Standing at the side of the wall was the middle-aged knight who had a helpless expression.
Gawain looked at Byron and said, “You better tell me that the evil cult follower has been blasted into smithereens by the crystal grenade, and what remains of him is on the ground…”
Byron spread his hands and said helplessly, “If you wish to hear that, then I shall say it accordingly.”
Gawain: “…”
“On the ground is indeed a portion of that person. But I didn’t think that a magic professional would actually have such a firm body,” Byron explained what had happened earlier. “…Subsequently, the grenade exploded, but that person’s reaction was truly too fast. Putting aside the fact that he could instantly push the grenade away, he had plenty of life-saving items on him. Ultimately, only an arm had been severed by the explosion, while he escaped into the forest behind the castle and vanished. I wanted to track him, but once he entered the forest, his presence had vanished.”
“He is a druid after all.” Gawain frowned. The situation at Byron’s side was truly filled with twists and turns. Firstly, the evil cult follower had unexpectedly encountered the weakened Byron; subsequently, the ignorant cult follower had caught the handheld version of the Flame Burst spell with his bare hands. Immediately after, he suffered the Flame Burst at point-blank range but still managed to escape… One could only say that the evil cult follower had a tenacious life and was destined to survive this night.
Gawain knew clearly he had already severely injured the evil cult follower. During the situation earlier, even if an escape spell was used, the evil cult follower couldn’t have completely evaded ‘Unbreakable Storm’. He really hadn’t expected that grade-five Oblivion Association follower to be proficient in both magic and martial arts; he was even a pay-to-win warrior. He actually reserved life-saving items for such situations… This was the way rich people played.
“It is impossible to catch up.” Pittman looked at the forest behind the castle with regretful eyes. The forest grew along the western slopes of the Tanzan Mine and was connected with a remote forest. “If a druid enters a forest, it is hopeless to find them even with our current team.”
“We have allowed a danger to escape,” Sir Philip commented with a stern tone.
“No, according to the Oblivion Association’s habit, once their operation fails in a region and they have exposed themselves, they wouldn’t act again within a short period of time unless the objective is important enough for them to sacrifice the association members.” Pittman shook his head and said, “An evil-cult druid that isn’t specialized in combat couldn’t survive and develop until today by being reckless.”
“No matter what, at least we have eliminated the danger here.” Gawain sighed and suppressed the unhappiness in his heart. He then quickly instructed, “Pittman, go to the central courtyard, and think of a method to undo the magic on those victims. Save as many as you can. Byron and Philip, the two of you will go and help too.”
Human life had higher value than anything else. The trio didn’t hesitate after receiving the orders and immediately nodded before leaving.
“The two of us will return to the hall.” Gawain looked at Amber and stated, “The pitiful Viscount Andrew is still left in the cold.”
While speaking, Gawain turned his head and prepared to leave the roof.
Right before he was going to take a step forward, there was a glimmer in the darkness that attracted his attention.
Gawain immediately stopped and examined the place where the glimmer came from. Soon enough, he found something in a pile of wilting vines and leaves. It was a small charred and severed finger, and there was an exquisite ring on the finger.
It was obviously something left behind by the black-robed evil cult follower.
“Hey, do you also have the habit of looting corpses? I thought an upright person like you—” Amber leaned over curiously, and in the midst of her speech, she was attracted by the item in Gawain’s hand. “Eh? A ring? And it isn’t broken?!”
Gawain didn’t need to put in a lot of effort to take off the ring from the carbonized finger. Half the surface of the ring was blackened, but the other half was still glistening with a bright silver glimmer. In theory, this ‘accessory’ should have been broken during the explosion of the crystal grenade just as Amber mentioned, but it was still flawless!
After slightly wiping it, it was rather bright!
Gawain looked at the ring and frowned slightly as he felt this ring was vaguely familiar.
Soon enough, he recalled where he had seen something similar.
Gawain took off his glove. His hand was wearing the exact same ring!
That’s right, this was…
“Dang! A token of love?!” Amber instantly exclaimed loudly. “You actually have the same ring as that evil cult follower! What relationship do you have with him?!”
“Do you not believe I will use my sword to smash you into the ground if you keep rambling on? I will smash you so deep into the ground that you will never be able to come out!” Gawain glared at Amber before he lowered his head and put the rings together. “It seems like it is indeed the Mithril Ring…”
“Mithril Ring?” Amber vaguely recalled where Gawain’s ring came from. She recalled the trip to the royal capital a few months ago and recalled the Mithril Vault agent called My Little Pony (ahem, Melita Ponia). Amber might not have met with the agent (she was sent flying during the encounter, and since they didn’t see each other’s face, it should be considered as them not having met), but Amber had seen the ring that Gawain obtained from the agent. “Mithril Vault?!”
She immediately reacted and said, “You are saying that the evil cult follower might possibly be the same as you and is also a ‘VIP’ of the Mithril Vault?!”
“Those rings aren’t randomly distributed, and if it isn’t an important item, it is impossible for an evil cult follower to bring it along when taking revenge on society.” Gawain nodded. “It seems like… Mithril Vault’s business is very extensive.”
Amber was dumbstruck as she said, “Aren’t they afraid those evil cult followers would turn them into ‘undead’ too?!”
Gawain laughed indifferently and said, “They even dared to accept orders from the Sovereign of Elementals. What else could they be afraid of?”
Immediately after, Gawain continued to search through for any remains that the evil cult follower had left behind. Apart from the ring on the finger, there was nothing else.
The other items had all been blown into smithereens.
Subsequently, the duo returned to the hall where they battled. The feudal lord of Tanzan Town, Viscount Andrew, was still waiting in the same place.
In reality, he wasn’t able to go anywhere else either. He — who originally didn’t have any extraordinary strength and had relied on magical medicine to forcefully obtain some magic — had been corroded and tormented by the corrupted druid for so many days. Viscount Andrew’s magic resistance and constitution were basically the same as an ordinary human’s. In fact, due to the frequent overdose of drugs, he was actually weaker. Even if he was no longer under the influence of sorcery, his powerless limbs wouldn’t allow him to move anywhere.
He could only sit on his chair in a paralyzed state while watching a group of people fighting and dismantling half his hall. He then watched them leave before seeing Gawain and Amber return again.
The only thing worth rejoicing was that the aftershocks from the battle didn’t reach him, allowing the viscount to still be unscathed.
“The evil cult follower escaped.” Gawain walked in front of Viscount Andrew and spoke without concealing anything. “But he probably won’t return… at least, not for some time.”
The viscount who had escaped calamity struggled to turn his eyeballs and took a few deep breaths. He didn’t conceal his joyous yet anxious expressions, but he still spoke weakly, “Thank you for your rescue… Your Grace, right now, I feel that getting to know you was the best decision I have ever made in my life… Cough, cough… I’m famished. Could you get some food for me?”
Gawain shook his head and took out a small crystal bottle and said, “Even though I wish to give you a good sumptuous meal, it is better for you to drink this first.”
Viscount Andrew looked at the small bottle with doubts and asked, “This…?”
“This is medicine concocted by my territory’s druid. It will replenish your stamina and also repair your internal organs.” Gawain pulled the cork off the bottle and brought it to the mouth of Viscount Andrew who couldn’t even hold the bottle himself. “Your entire body’s organs are failing, and if you eat now, it will only allow you to take your last breath. You have to drink the medicine to get through this first.”
Pittman might have sold plenty of useless ‘luck ointments’ on the territory, but the medicines that he concocted were all rather practical and useful. After drinking the stamina medicine, Viscount Andrew’s complexion was obviously much better.
Gawain then questioned, “About that evil cult follower, do you have any information for me? Why would you be targeted by the Oblivion Association for no reason?”
Viscount Andrew worked hard to twitch his face as it looked like he was trying to make a bitter smile but was unable to do so. He could only sigh and said, “This is all because I dug up something I shouldn’t have.”
“You dug up something you shouldn’t have?” Gawain frowned and asked, “What does that mean?”
“I dug out a shard of the Eternal Stone Slate…”
