Chapter 118: Two Liars

“The Guardian of the Forest? Those fellows popped out from nowhere and said that they would protect your family’s forest. If you chase them away, not only will you lose your forest, you will also lose your villa and your old horse. What kind of protector is this? They are obviously bandits —— A certain unfortunate fellow who lost his family’s forest and villa.”

As a nature conservation extremists, the reputation of the Druids has always been bad. As the ex-member of the Guardian of the Forest (An extremist Druid organisation which propagates for the protection of nature), although she has been trying to conceal and escape from her past, I could still deduce a lot of things from her.

From her intentional heavy make up, she is probably a wanted criminal on the Surface. Not to mention, she does seem to behave a little guiltily. Also, judging by her skills, the bounty on her is probably quite high. However, I could only thank her for her rich battle experience which forged her intuitive reaction speed.

“Krose!!”

Under the buff of the Blood Mage, the rascal has already charged to the edge of the battle between the SemiGods. My subconscious shouting of Krose’s name became the only straw of hope left for her survival.

Fortunately, Krose didn’t let me down. Just by calling her name, she knew what to do.

“Lightning Prison!!”

As an extension of one of the four great basic elements Wind Magic, Lightning Magic has been known for its high offensive capabilities. Along with Fire Magic, they have been dubbed as the two great cannon towers. However, different from Fire Magic’s destructive abilities and great AOE, Lightning Magic is able to strike with high speed at high frequencies and is well-known for its sudden attacks.

Different from Elemental Mages who directly control the Power of Elements, Druids have two different ways to controlling lightning. One of it is to directly control it just like the other Elemental Mages while the other one is to communicate with nature and use it as a medium to adjust the weather to summon lightning. Although the usage of the latter may be inconvenient, not to mention the numerous weaknesses such as requiring pre-calculation and such, the lightning cast tend to be much stronger with greater range. Furthermore, the unpredictability and suddenness of the attacks make it difficult for people to guard against it. Thus, this method became the primary choice for Storm Druids.

As a Great Druid who specialises in summoning Lightning, the current stormy weather causes her powers to soar. The temporary Saint-rank Krose gives up on her incantations and uses her will to guide the fall of the lightning. The moment she calls out the name of the Divine Art, seventeen consecutive lightning come striking down violently, forming a lightning barrier. Its target isn’t the enemy but the Knight who is blindly charging…

【6-circle Storm Druid Divine Art, Summon Lightning Barrier: Seal and hinder the movements of an enemy. In its primary form, six lightning rods are summoned. The amount will increase accordingly to the spellcaster’s strength. The moment the barrier is touched, the lightning rods would explode. —— “In a lightning storm, what you want isn’t an umbrella but a lightning rod. Why? You would be struck if you carry a lightning rod instead? Fine, let me just say it directly. That ‘lightning rod’ refers to the foolish soldiers who carry their spears to charge on a rainy day. Remember to hire spearmen with high wages and purchase insurance for them. Everyone has a part to play in caring for the spearmen. Please support the law which dictates compulsory insurance for spearmen.”】

“Tzzzzzzzzzzz!”

Under the augmentation from being a temporary Saint, the original six rods of lightning increase to seventeen rods. Of which, fifteen of them served as barrier to seal Reyne’s movements. The remaining two, which are the weakest two as well, strike on her head, warning the rascal through the running currents that she is on the edge of crossing into dangerous boundaries.

However, even though Aurora Knights are the rare few who possess top-class Magic Pets who are able to communicate telepathically with their Knights, Reyne is one of the rare few who doesn’t influence her pet positively. Rather, she caused her mount to correctly determine and execute the movements of a super rookie Knight.

“Tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

After noticing the Lightning Barrier, the Frigid Nightmare Seva stops hurriedly. However, Reyne, who has yet to react, chooses to charge on. Under the clash of the two wills, even though the furious charge had successfully come to a stop, the duo take a step further and crash into the lightning barrier, causing the lightning rods to explode. Lightning currents run through Reyne and Seva’s body and gauging from the decibel of their screams of agony, they seem to be at least medium rare.

However, the events that happen a second later prove that our efforts were not futile.

Not too far away, a ball of green-ink venom suddenly falls to the ground, corroding it. Without any sound, a 5 meter radius hollow is created on the spot.

There are no blind angles to the Nine-headed Dragon who possesses eighteen eyes. Even when his physical body is bound tightly, it is impossible to him to not notice our arrival and Reyne’s charge. Thus, he casually sends a Dragon Breath through the Dragon head which spits venom to deal with us.

If Reyne didn’t stop due to the Lightning Barrier, under the precise calculation of the Nine-headed Dragon, she would collide straight into the ball of venom. Then, she would be corroded to the point that not a trace of her would remain.

If it wasn’t for Krose’s timely reaction, it would be about time for me to consider what I should carve on the rascal’s grave.

“This foolish Princess actually dreams of charging towards a giant Dragon just like the protagonists in knight novels. However, it is a pity that she only met with windmills throughout her life, that is until the day she finally saw a SemiGod Nine-headed Dragon. She could finally fulfill her wish to prove her courage. Then… Since she charged towards a SemiGod, how could she still have any then! Just like that: Reyne.Qin.Mist, died in AD1897, 14 year old. Cause of death: Heavily poisoned by knight novels!”

However, I didn’t have the leisure to discipline her right now. There are many troublesome things to deal with.

After realising that Reyne has escaped from death, a look of pity appears on the face of the Auland Empire Advisor Marsolit’s face. A ‘why didn’t she die’ face of regret hangs on his face.

“This is such a pity. If only the charge were successful, you could have dealt fatal damage to the evil Dragon.”

Fatal damage? A rookie Knight whose total strength barely reaches Gold-rank against a SemiGod Hydra? Even if she manages to land a square blow, it would probably just be disregarded. This kind of lousy excuse which obviously was thought without using one’s brain and that incredibly fake look of worry is completely insulting my intelligence as ‘the one being lied to’.

However, there is no need for me to speculate his reason for being here. He is obviously here to kill us.

The proof? This entire city is currently under the effect of Great Judgement. Previously, when he just appeared, he was still normal. However, the moment he cast ‘Bloodthirst’ on Reyne, his body is dyed in red light, the color of a criminal. This is the verdict of the Judgement Spell on his attempted murder.

Why did he go for Reyne and not Roland? After tearing away my clothes, I was almost nude when I returned to the Church in my ice armor. Afterwards, I naturally put on a male’s knight armor, not to mention the full body ice armor concealing my face. Furthermore, the person under the heavy armor is obviously a male, so he couldn’t have possibly inferred that I was the one. Besides, Marsolit’s mission is to ‘Kill away the Shadow Princess of the Mist Royalty. She is an Aurora Knight with the strength of a Gold-rank or so.”

In the earlier periods, Reyne couldn’t conceal her strength of not even being of Bronze-rank from true experts, so how could it be possible for her to become an Aurora Knight which requires one to be of at least Silver-rank? From the very start, Marsolit thought that Reyne is the ‘Shadow Princess Roland’.

At this moment, Marsolit still thinks that he isn’t exposed given his covert schemes and his esteemed position. To add on, he is a Mage cloaked in a red mantle, not to mention that he trains in the way of Blood Magic, causing his entire body to be shrouded by a mist of blood, thus causing the red light from the Judgement Spell to be barely visible. Also, the debuffs which the ‘Great Judgement’ send towards him couldn’t even break his defense magic.

“However, it is great that you are safe.” He is still trying to defend his actions.

However, I don’t intend to reveal his intentions. On the other hand, I nod my head in agreement at his words.

“Indeed, just a little bit more, Ro… Princess Reyne would be able to make a name for herself, it is really such a pity! That would have been a true legend.”

Carrying an ice helmet, I played the part of a foolish brutish Knight vividly. That ‘accidentally’ leaked news verifies Marsolit’s conjecture. He strokes his lower jaw in satisfaction, as though delighted over his intelligence and acting skills.

At the same time, I communicate through the Lich’s phylactery to pressure Rosemary on the intelligence and weakness of this Advisor.

After all, he is a SemiGod and the strongest power we have in our hand is Krose, who only has ten minutes left as a fake Saint. No matter what, facing him straight on doesn’t seem like a wise plan. Even though he is said to be severely injured, a SemiGod is still a SemiGod. He would definitely be hard to deal with. Even in his death throes, he is more than sufficient to pull us down together with him.

“…Weakness? How could someone like him have a weakness! Fine, fine, stop pulling my phylactery. I am thinking!”

“He really doesn’t have any weakness. Even when he is heavily injured, he is able to extract the fresh blood of others to recover from his wounds, forcefully maintaining his body’s condition. His ability to survive is extremely strong. If one is unable to kill him, his revenge would prove to be fatal…”

“Wait, did you say that he depends on sucking blood to maintain his ability to move? That means the blood in his body doesn’t belong to him?”

After receiving an affirmative answer, a thought comes to my mind.

“Since there isn’t any loss, let’s just give it a try.”

Thus, I remove my helmet to reveal a bright smile unique to only pure Holy Knights.

“Auland Empire Advisor Lord Magrint, we have killed a Seafolk commander on the way here and picked up a bottle. Some of them confessed that it is a God Equipment. Since you are knowledgeable, can you help us take a look at it?”

Not far away, the pale-faced Reyne is rushing back on her horse. Marsolit retracts his gaze of a predator from her upon hearing my words and smiles.

“Not Magrint, it is Marsolit. Do you muscle-brained Knights know what a God Equipment… Un? Something seems to be off about it. Let me take a look!”

The ancient copper bottle smells deeply of history. Even though there isn’t a ripple of magic on it, the brand new material shows that the concept of time is meaningless before it and even more so, how extraordinary the bottle is for being able to transcend history.

“It is truly a treasure. It is a pity that the original God of the God Equipment has fallen, causing the God Power of this God Equipment to dry out. Right now, its only remaining use is to serve as a toy with unique effects… Let me study it for a moment. When I am done with it, I will send you all generous rewards.”

From those twinkling eyes and the eerie ill-intentioned laughter, I could tell that we are already dead people in Marsolit’s eyes. The generous rewards he spoke of probably means to allow us to die comfortably.

“Then, I shall thank Lord Mabier! Hehe, I am lacking the money to get myself a wife. My old family’s Xiao Fang has been waiting for me for many years.”

“It is not Mabier… Forget it, anything that pleases you.”

Then, the Blood Mage focuses his full attention on the ancient bottle.

The charm of a God Equipment to a Mage is indescribable through words. Even though it is already useless at this point, if he is able to dig out a secret or two of the Gods, Marsolit’s strength could still increase exponentially.

This is even more so when the God Equipment originates from an Ancient Sea God. The art which Marsolit trains in, Blood Magic, is an extension of Water Magic, thus making the God Equipment even more attractive to him.

When his efforts finally bear fruits, I smiled.

“So this is how it is. Let me try activating it… AHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

When the God Equipment is activated, the blue God Light twirls around the SemiGod Blood Mage. Then, fresh blood spurts continuously from his body and shoots into the distance like a red arrow.

Due to excessive blood loss, Marsolit, who was already severely injured, lies unconscious in the water.

Sidunwar’s Ocean Bottle, the God Equipment of the legendary Ancient Sea God. It is said that in ancient times, it could stir endless tsunamis. Sidunwar is the husband of the Water Elemental Goddess Aylos, the one who forced this desperate situation upon us. Even though this ancient God Equipment has lost a large portion of its strength due to the passing of the Ancient God, it still retains a single ability.

【Sidunwar’s Ocean Bottle: After activation, it causes the user’s blood to return back to its most basic and pure form.】 This is the result I got after identifying it through the System.

Its description may sound a little confusing but after using it twice, I have a rough idea of how it works. Actually, this God Equipment doesn’t hold much use. It is only capable of separating a mixture into individual components. For example, if you were to mix seawater and river water into a single bottle, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to separate them. However, when this God Equipment is activated, it would be separated into a bottle of river water and a bottle of seawater.

After losing the support of the God Power from a true God, it became the most useless God Equipment in history. However, this history’s most useless God Equipment has contributed greatly to us. It has destroyed a SemiGod.

Marsolit’s entire body is composed the fresh blood of others. Since Blood Magic is considered a divergence of Water Magic, then naturally blood would be considered as a type of fluid. In the end, under the effects of the God Equipment, the foreign blood in his body returns back to where they belong, returning Marsolit back into his immobile form.

Furthermore, under the rebound of the magic and his excessive loss of blood, his injuries are even more severe than the ones inflicted by the Nine-headed Dragon from before.

Sometimes, the retributions on those wrongdoers come so fast and the expression of justice can be so simple. Sending a violent punch towards the paralysed vile criminal who tried to murder us, I smile satisfactorily.

Following which, I stare blankly at the bottle which fell into the water.

In the surroundings of the bottle, the flood water scatters away. It seems that even this City of Rain which was created by a Forbidden Spell infused with God Power could be returned back to its original state under the effects of this God Equipment.

“Didn’t they say that due to the existence of the two Goddesses of Creation, the ancient era is a feminist society? It seems that the Water Elemental Goddess Aylos is a ‘husband-control freak’.”

Of course, that is a joke. However, it shows that from a certain aspect, the God Power of the Ancient Sea God Sidunwar is able to suppress the Water Elemental Goddess Aylos.

Somehow, I feel that the God Equipment left by the ex-husband of the Water Elemental Goddess is the key to releasing this country-level strategic Forbidden Spell City of Rain.

“Hmph, ignoring how that fellow has turned against us, the ‘Sidunwar’s Ocean Bottle’ which has lost its God Power can only maintain a meter water vacuum, so how could it be sufficient to deal with an entire Forbidden Spell of the Gods?”

However, it is indeed a convenient tool to use at this moment. I retrieve the bottle and keep it in my embrace. Under the effect of the God Equipment, the surroundings clear to form a clean space.

Even though I unexpectedly cleared away the unfortunate Blood Mage easily, there is still a massive problem before me. If we don’t deal with him in the remaining five minutes, under the rage of the Nine-headed Dragon Emperor, even our option of escaping is nullified.”

“Heh, since we don’t have sufficient strength, then let’s just try my tricks. Harloys, can you help me contact Dragon Slayer Bastlar?”

1TKO-ing a boss :O