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nOnce Baheir had spoken, combined with Mees’s words, Solyes lost interest in wasting more words and strode away briskly.

nSoon, the group had left.

nHoward and the others couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

nHowever, just as Howard was about to exit the invisibility state, he was stopped by Wales.

n“Wait, be careful in case they double back.”

nWales’s expression was grave, while Athena commented with a smile, “So, these are the students you brought? Indeed full of youthful vigor!”

nHearing this, the corner of Howard’s mouth twitched.

nTo put it nicely, it was youthful vigor; to put it unkindly, it was sheer na?veté!

nWhile Howard certainly didn’t accept this quietly, moments later, Baheir, Solyes, and Mees suddenly reappeared from the sky.

nMystic Dragon Mees violently smashed his wand into the yellow soil, and in an instant, an invisible wave spread out.

nThanks to Wales’s Invisibility, which hid Howard and the others even in the void, they were not affected by the skill and thus escaped this attack.

nA normal invisibility spell only makes the user unseen; they can still be attacked.

nSo after releasing his skill, Mees nodded and said, “Solyes, are you convinced now?”

nBaheir spoke in a deep voice, “Even if they could hide from my innate skill, it’s nearly impossible to be immune to an attack skill. It’s highly probable that there’s no one here.”

nHearing this, Solyes fell silent. Deep down, he still felt uneasy.

nHowever, just as Baheir and Mees had said, it seemed there was no invisibility skill in this world that could grant immunity to attacks.

nAs for the Spirit Veil Skill? It could only immunize against a certain number of attacks.

nJust now, Mees’s skill had caused hundreds of attacks in an instant. If they had been hit, they would have revealed themselves.

nHesitating for a moment, Solyes sighed, “Sorry, perhaps I’m overthinking this. Let’s go. Let’s chase Shelley at a steady pace, ensuring that they are completely worn out and powerless to counterattack before we make our move.”

n“Rest assured, we aren’t foolish enough to underestimate a powerhouse above LV90. No matter what, we will wait until the other powerhouses arrive and then attack Shelley together.”

n“You all are just too cowardly.”

nMees paid no heed to Solyes and Baheir’s words and went straight away.

nSeeing this, Solyes and Baheir followed suit.

nThey weren’t worried about Mees either.

nYou look down on Shelley, so you go ahead and fight. If you die, we’ll collect your corpse.

nThis way, we can also deplete Shelley’s strength.

nWhy not do it?

nThis time, Howard saw them leave but did not act rashly.

nIt was only after another three to five minutes, ensuring that no one else was coming back, that Wales finally dispelled the skill.

nSwoosh–

nThe figures of Howard and the others suddenly appeared on the ground.

nLooking at the distance, Howard’s brows immediately furrowed.

n“These guys are really good actors,” Howard said in a deep voice. “From their initial conversation, Baheir and Mees seemed so impatient that I thought they really left. I didn’t expect it to be a fishing expedition!”

n“Kid, you’ve got a lot more to experience,” Athena glanced at Howard and smiled. “Your mentor is the infamous Ravenous Wolf. Although his strength is not top-notch, he has managed to survive in this treacherous world. If you can learn something from him, even in a desperate situation in the future, you’ll have a way to break through.”

n“Lord Ravenous Wolf, what should be our next move?” Athena spoke, her eyes then shifting towards Wales.

nWales hesitated for a moment before saying, “Let’s follow Solyes. He seems quite familiar with you; we need to find a way to get rid of him first before we can continue with our plan.”

n“Otherwise, he might very well spoil it.”

nAthena shook her head, “No, Lord Ravenous Wolf, he doesn’t really understand me.”

n“…”

n“Then let’s slowly follow them from behind, and once they realize that we have left, we can proceed in the opposite direction based on their actions. This way, we can shake them off completely for a long time.”

nWales was not a fool. He could clearly understand the implications in Athena’s words and promptly proposed a second plan.

n“Alright, let’s proceed with your plan then.”

nA smile appeared on Athena’s face, but Howard couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

nWell, if you are really going to listen to Wales, why did you reject the first plan? .𝒎

nClearly, Athena had her own calculations in mind.

nWales didn’t bother to argue with her.

nAfter all, they were in a relatively safe situation now.

nFollowing closely behind Solyes and his companions, it became apparent they weren’t going to look back, but simply pursued the caravan relentlessly.

nAfter several rounds of harassment, Solyes and his group orchestrated another full-scale attack.

nAt this juncture, Athena and the magi inside the convoy were merely projections, completely devoid of any capacity to intervene.

nAs for the Linking Magic cast by the dozen or so magi, its potency was at best comparable to an S-level skill.

nThough it appeared formidable, it actually inflicted minimal damage on their assailants.

nConsequently, the mercenaries and warriors couldn’t withstand the onslaught and were quickly embroiled in a fierce battle.

n“Hmm?! Something’s not right. We’ve been fighting this intensely; why hasn’t Shelley made a move yet?”

nSolyes and his crew were not dull-witted and detected the anomaly almost immediately.

nIn an instant, Mystic Dragon Mees swung his wand with great force, chanting incantations under his breath.

nWith a roar, a black dragon, stretching over a dozen yards in length, tore through the fabric of space, descending from the heavens amidst a resounding dragon’s cry.

nThe black dragon, with a flick of its tail that resembled a steel whip, tore through the air, lashing out directly at the warriors clad in iron armor.

nBang!

nA series of crisp sounds echoed as the warriors were utterly incapable of fending off the dragon’s attack.

nTheir armor shattered upon impact, and their bodies were sent flying, spurting blood while still mid-air.

nImmediately after, the black dragon opened its massive jaws, exhaling a stream of dark, black dragon breath, launching a deadly assault towards the multitude of magi and the figure of Athena.

nThe “Athena” in the convoy now was merely an illusory projection, the illusion dissipated into thin air the moment it was touched by the dragon’s breath.

n“What the **! It’s a projection!”

n“Shelley and her group have already fled!”

nSolyes and his team were not familiar with the name Athena, thus they had always referred to her as Shelley.

nRealizing she was no longer there, they instantly understood everything and wasted no time, swiftly advancing forward.

nWith a top-tier powerhouse making a move, even hundreds of LV60 and LV70 awakened beings stood no chance, falling to the ground in less than a dozen breaths’ time, coughing up blood, writhing and convulsing.

nHad Solyes and his team not wanted to extract information about Athena from these people, they wouldn’t have let any of them live.

nHowever, their mercy proved futile.

nWhen Athena originally went to find Wales, she had concealed her actions from everyone.

nEven those she decided to take with her were unaware of what was happening until they entered the state of invisibility.

nTherefore, no matter how Solyes and his team interrogated them, even resorting to torture, the mercenaries and warriors could not provide any useful information.

nThey thoroughly searched all the carriages, turning them inside out.

nEverything was a disguise!

nThe true treasures being escorted had long been taken away by Athena.

n“Damn it, I can’t believe I’ve been played by a woman!”

n“They must have taken another route, entering the Mordun Wasteland. After all, this wasteland is vast, filled with numerous special wormholes. Once they enter, they would be randomly teleported. Just a few teleports and they could put a vast distance between us and them.”

n“We can’t afford to delay any longer; we must hurry and chase after them.”

nSolyes, Baheir, and Mees exchanged glances, realizing that at this juncture, the niceties of collaboration were irrelevant.

nEach had their own powerful backers; separation might even be advantageous.

nThus, in silent agreement, the three chose different directions, leading their respective followers deeper into the Mordun Wasteland.

nOf course, before departing, in a fury, the trio made sure to annihilate every last one of the several hundred mercenaries and warriors.

nWitnessing this bloodbath, the surviving magi and archers all breathed sighs of relief, their faces etched with profound sorrow.

nThey had been spared, but for how long?

nCould they really continue on and live?

nThey could hardly believe that in such a short span of time, so many had perished.

nIn reality, if Athena had not left and had chosen to continue fighting alongside the team, those mercenaries would certainly have survived.

nHowever, that would also mean that Athena and her group’s movements would constantly be under surveillance.

nIt could be said that Athena traded the lives of hundreds to shake off the watchful eyes of Solyes and the others.

nHoward found it cruel but also recognized a harsh lesson: the greater good always outweighed the lives of one or two individuals.

nHad Athena stayed for the sake of these people, resulting in the treasure not being safely delivered to Crimson Dragon City, the loss to Crimson Dragon City might have been far more severe than the death of a few hundred people!

n𝘪𝑎.𝘤𝑜𝑚

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