Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
He’s dead already?!
Everyone there was stunned, especially the hunters which had been chasing the Elf for some time.
As one of the Sons of Fear, even he had no divinity powers, the Elven Ranger was still a Grade 4 profession. Rangers with a Profession Level of 15 or above were not so easily killed. To the hunters, Soran was at most a Grade 3 Rogue with a Profession Level of no more than 10. But Soran’s explosive power just now was totally unexpected, especially the ability to suddenly appear in the shadow of the other party. This was something only a high-grade Rogue could do!
However, that was why profession advancements were powerful. One could choose to give up some abilities to perfect one particular ability.
Soran’s overall strength was certainly not better than a high-grade Rogue, but after he advanced into the Shadow Dancer, his damage output became high and he was likely to kill a high-grade enemy that was 5 Profession Levels higher than him.
Assassins relied on poison while the Lurker relied on escaping into the shadow. The Shadow Dancer, however, relied mostly on Shadow Jump!
Soran, previously, was most proficient in the Lurker. The one second Shadow Retreat allowed him to avoid many lethal spells. Soran previously became a Lurker largely because he met many enemies with powerful spells. As long as it was not a cross-plane attack, the Lurker was able to escape into the Shadow Plane to dodge the attack.
Of all the advance professions of the Rogue, only the Shadow Dancer had the lowest requirements to learn and master the ability [Shadow Jump].
Even if a Lurker wanted to learn Shadow Jump, they would need more than 200 in Sneak. However, the Lurker could master the legendary abilities [Shadow Realm] at an earlier stage.
At the third second.
Soran had pulled out his curved sword and kicked down the body of the Elven Ranger. Gloria had just recovered from her wounds and was still very pale. The expression of the hunters changed from astonishment to anger. Because the Elven Ranger had died under Soran’s sword, their ritual to the God of Hunting was a failure. The Gnoll stared at him fiercely, then laid his eyes on Vivian beside him. Since a Son of God had died, the Gnoll could only find another to replace him.
Yet another second had passed.
Vivian’s small body was strangely suspended in the air, she was expressionless, and her lovely little face was pale.
Suddenly she frowned tightly and looked as if she was hurting.
Since the Elven Ranger had died, the divine powers he possessed were absorbed by Soran, which gave him three divine points ahead of time. But the power of Fear that the Dread Lord gave to his Sons was something Soran could not absorb. The power of the deities had great requirements, which were beyond the grasp of ordinary people. If one did not have the Shard of Divinity or a corresponding profession, then he or she would not get the powers. Mainly because it would reject the body and may even poison the unworthy vessel!
Soran was not a Son of Fear, so he was not able to absorb the power of Fear that the Dread Lord left in his offspring. However, the powers would not dissipate in vain. Right as the Elven Ranger died, the power of Fear began to shift, and the target of the transfer was Vivian, who had just awakened.
The little girl had a very painful expression.
She held her head in her small hands and shivered slightly. As an eight-year-old girl, who was not even at a grade 2 profession, she could not instantly integrate the powers of two Sons of Fear. Moreover, judging by what the Elven Ranger had done, he must have had a lot of power. Powers which could trigger a lethal judgment, and also frighten so many grade 2 enemies to death. He must have been one of the most powerful among many Sons of Fear!
Given a little more time, he could have even grown up to compete for the ultimate throne of the Demon Lord in the future.
Suddenly, a great explosion of divine powers occurred.
Vivian’s whole body was shining, and the body of the Elven Ranger soon lost its vitality. It was an indescribable sight; even though his body had not begun to decay, it seemed as though he had died for a long time. The little girl’s expression became more and more painful, suddenly she screamed, and her figure fell from the sky.
Gloria opened her arms to catch Vivian, but because she was very weak after the injuries, her whole body fell to the ground as she caught Vivian.
Witches were certainly physically weaker than the melee professions.
Since her back-up protection spell was also activated, she must have at least sustained severe injuries!
Soran immediately dashed to their sides. He grasped his curved sword tightly protecting the two behind him.
“Bring her away!”
His expression was somewhat decisive, and his face was extremely gloomy. He said in a slightly hoarse voice, “Use Teleportation and go now! I’ll cover you as you cast it! ”
Shadow Jump was not something to be used randomly. If one wasn’t at the legendary realm, the use of this ability would be like a barbarian’s outburst, which would lead to great energy consumption when shuttling in the Shadow Plane. After using the ability, the person would instantly enter a state of fatigue. Basically, all supernatural abilities were like this. It was similar to how barbarians became weak after going berserk!
Since Soran was not a Legendary-Grade Rogue, his body was still unable to adapt to the reverse-phase brought by the plane jumping. This was normal, after all, this was a supernatural spell-like ability rather than a Wizard’s Teleportation spell.
In normal circumstances, great power came at a great price. That was unless Soran mastered the legendary ability [Shadow Realm].
“You?!…”
Gloria’s had a complicated expression. She looked at the enemies in front of her. Although the Malarites suffered heavy casualties, there were still at least a dozen hunters who were close to grade 4. All of them were enemies with a Profession Level of 10 or more. A few of them seem to be even more dangerous with a Profession Level of 15. Soran wasn’t powerful enough, not to mention that he had just used an explosive ability. Even if he was in his prime, he could not have dealt with so many enemies.
“Go now!”
Soran’s face was grim, and he yelled at her. “Retreat to the valley at the back. You take Vivian with you! I have a way to stop them.”
A glow of magic suddenly appeared.
Soran activated the legendary grade Elemental Stone’s last. Soon after, the rock and soil on the ground rolled together and the ground in front of him directly connected the Elemental Plane. Soran had summoned a grade 4 Earth Elemental. Since it was not an Advanced Earth Elemental that got summoned, Soran controlled it directly through his Will and kept it in front of them.
A grade 4 Earth Elemental.
With nearly 300 HP, Soran would need to slash at it 50 ought times to kill it.
“You!…”
Gloria’s expression was complex, and her eyes were struggling, but she finally bit her teeth and began to cast her spell at high speeds. Gloria wasn’t the kind of woman who couldn’t make up her mind. Since it was not easy for a woman to grow up to be a high-grade caster, she naturally knew the price of Soran staying behind. If she wasted the precious time, then all three of them would die here.
A high-grade Witch would always leave an escape; so she had already left a Teleportation marker in a safe place before their departure.
Soran had no time to talk nonsense. He grabbed his curved sword and rushed forward. He left Gloria with a determined figure.
The Earth Elemental could block the average enemy but would not be able to block the high-grade professions!
He needed to buy 30 seconds of time.
Long-distance Teleportation spells took at least 30 seconds to cast, during which the caster could not be attacked, otherwise, she may not be able to cast the spell.
The enemy reacted quickly.
First came the black-furred Gnoll, who roared with a swelling of its muscles and blood vessels that wiggled like earthworms. This was the wild fury of beasts, which had no profession requirements.
Soran had to move the battle as far away from Gloria, otherwise, the casting could be interrupted. Soran controlled the Earth Elemental to act as a wall blocking of Gloria. He then suddenly a jumped and went directly for the Gnoll hunter in front of him.
Tang!
Ear piercing sounds of weapon crashing went off. Soran stepped back, as blood came out from his mouth.
5 seconds had now passed.
The high-grade hunters had covered more than a 100 meters and were closing in on them.
Tang! Ting!
Soran’s arm was scratched by sharp claws, and a piece of his flesh tore off. The protective power of stone skin was still active, but it could not absorb the attacks of the enemy which was a hunter with a Profession Level of 15 or more. The Earth Elemental stopped the enemies in front of it, waving its rock arms to push them away. But there were also hunters which went passed the Earth Elemental. These high-grade professions didn’t need a lot of effort to bypass the heavy and slow Earth Elemental.
Wing!
Soran swiftly threw his curved sword out and it pierced an enemy in the back.
As he rolled to evade attacks, two daggers appeared in his palms.
Ting! Tang!
Fifteen seconds later, the tall and powerful mixed-blood Orc Fighter rushed up and just with one swing of its ax, cut a deep pit in the arm of the Earth Elemental. A grade 4 creature could not win against a grade 4 profession since there was too much difference in fighting skills between the two. Soran had five deep cuts on his back and pulled away from the enemy. He pointed his finger back at the enemy and two Arcane Missiles shot out.
The mixed-blood Orc blocked the attack with his weapon, but suddenly it screamed, as an energy ray hit his eye socket!
Ring of Energy!
Soran had kept the precious equipment until now.
25 seconds had passed.
A mixed-blood Orc came down from the hills and hurled the weapon in his hands.
Loud thuds were heard.
Gloria’s energy shield was still there, but still some cracks. The energy shield couldn’t stop too many attacks from these grade 3 enemies and could be broken within three strikes if they attacked in close range.
30 seconds had passed.
Gloria had completed the Teleportation spell. Low-grade portals could only bring someone close by. If she wanted to leave safely, she had to teleport more than 100 miles away, otherwise, she would be found by the enemy before she regained her combat effectiveness. The hunter’s tracking ability was stronger than the Ranger’s, and short distance teleportation wouldn’t give her enough time to reconstruct her spells.
A portal opened.
Gloria gritted her teeth and took Vivian in. The enemy nearby had rushed into the fifty-meter range. A second before entering, she looked back at Soran and saw a bloody but firm figure with five claw cuts on his back. She did not know why, but her heart suddenly felt very sad. She felt something wet at the corner of her eyes appeared. It eventually turned into a drop of something unfamiliar, a teardrop.
As a noble northern Witch, it was her first time having such a strong sense of powerlessness in her heart!
Unless they were at the Legendary Realm, no one could defeat so many enemies.
Not even a Witch!
As Gloria stepped into the portal with Vivian in her arms, the hunters around her burst into angry growls. The Gnoll’s pupils were bloodshot and it too howled like mad and launched itself forward.
Soran’s expression was distorted. He was tired, in pain, and in bad shape.
Faced with the enemies who surrounded him in all directions, he smiled grimly and murmured nervously, “So many storms and waves had come and passed. I even fought three times in the Abyss! I don’t think I’m going to die in the hands of garbage! ”
“Lady Luck! I pray for your care!”
“I’ll repay you after! I’ll even stand on your side to fight your enemies!”
He took a deep breath.
Then, with all his strength, he leaped out and forced himself out of the enemy’s encirclement. He ran towards the other side of the cliff, which was hundreds of meters high. After the last burst of energy to run from the enemy, his figure suddenly disappeared from the enemy’s vision.
Two levels in Shadow Dancer, the last use of [Evade Sight]!
Soran had begun to Sneak.
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The cold bitter winds whistled as it blew by!
A faint light suddenly appeared on a Wizard Tower that stood by the lake.
The winds whirled the snowflakes around, but they disappeared strangely when they reached around the Wizard Tower. The snowflakes seemed to come in contact with an invisible barrier. They fell lightly to the ground. On the twelfth floor of the Wizard Tower, a light appeared on a portal door made of a large number of gemstones. Soon after, Gloria appeared with Vivian in her arms.
Wizards would usually set the location of long-distance Teleportation in the safest place, usually Wizard Towers that they controlled.
A heavy Steel Golem stepped into the door and lowered its head toward Gloria, “Honorable Master, Is there anything you need?”
Its voice was a cacophony of metal rubbing against each other. Using Spirit Shards, these lifeless creatures had some level of intelligence.
A higher-grade Golem-like this one could follow simple orders.
Gloria gave it a blank look.
If Gloria used everything she had then even hundreds of hunters would not be able to take her down. However, all of her powerful tools were stored in her Wizard Tower. There were twelve Steel Golems of level 15 and thirty-six Clay and Stone Golems of level 10 or so. She even had some magic devices with lethal powers that could not be to shortened to carry around.
Aside from to the usual Staff and Scrolls, high-grade Wizards would carry some more protective equipment.
Without an army of Golem protecting them, even high-grade Wizards could not have enough time to cast spells. Energy protective shields were basically useless when faced with a large crowd of enemies.
Gloria gently laid Vivian beside the bed. She lifted her hand and stroked the little girl’s pale face which had an uneasy expression.
It appears Vivian was not able to hold so much divine power!
The powers of a Son of God were usually gradually awakened and trained. Vivian who had just advanced into a profession had absorbed such a huge amount of divine power. The results would be very difficult to predict. The power of Elven Ranger had obviously transferred his powers to her. Combining the powers of the two Son of God had at least as much power as a legendary profession.
An eight-year-old girl may not be able to merge with the power. No matter how strong her blood was, it would still take time to fuse. The blood of the Dragons was the same in many aspects, but young Dragons were very fragile creatures.
Vivian was like a young Dragon who had been injected with the power of an adult Dragon or even an ancient Dragon!
If she couldn’t control its power, she would either turn mad or be killed by it.
Gloria’s fingertips glowed with magic. She confirmed that Vivian was only temporarily unconscious, and there was nothing life-threatening before heading for the top of the Wizard Tower.
She wanted to perform a ritual for Fortune-telling!
In the bitterly cold wind, Gloria reached the top of the Wizard Tower, where there was an ancient astrological platform.
This tower had been passed down for many generations among the Witches of the North. She was the new master now.
The Northern Witches had the gift of foretelling. Many of them were not expert foretellers, but they had an ancient tradition in Fortune telling. Gloria took the veil off her face, revealing her beauty. Her robe fluttered in the air as the strong cold winds blew. She knelt in front of the astrological table and pulled out a set of delicate cards with mysterious runes on them from her cuffs.
Fortune telling was something that needed payments.
Witches who often used Fortune Tell or Divination lived shorter lives than other Witches did not.
Even though Gloria knew that there was little hope, she still wanted to know if Soran was alive or not!
She hoped desperately in her heart that he would live.
The accuracy for Divination and Fortune Tell was not as high, as imagined. If someone wanted to get an accurate Fortune Tell, they had to pay the corresponding price.
The most common price was a person’s life!
Gloria slowly closed her eyes. Her fingers shuffled the cards at an astonishing speed, and the runes on the cards gave off a faint light. At last, when she opened her palm, the cards were all suspended in the air above the astrological table, and there was a glittering magic light on them.
Gloria still hasn’t opened her eyes, but instead, put out her palm and pulled out one of the cards out, followed by the second and the third.
The rest of the cards fell to the ground, while the three cards which she picked laid faced down on the astrological table.
Gloria opened her eyes gently. She was somewhat hesitant and struggled to because she was worried that she had predicted something bad, but finally, she slowly opened the cards.
The first card was flipped open. It was a fierce-looking demon, a Lemure from hell.
Gloria’s face suddenly turned slightly pale, because it might represent Soran’s death. His soul being sent to hell and transformed into a Lemure.
Of course, there could be other meanings.
You needed to read all the cards in order to know the final answer!
She opened the second card. It was a tree that went into the skies which almost covered the sky. It was the legendary Tree of Life and the divine tree that the Elves believed in.
Gloria’s expression was better and seemed slightly surprised.
She flipped over the third card with great anticipation. The room filled with silenced. The card showed a big demon. It was a card which rarely appeared in fortune telling rituals.
While the little demon was called a Lemure, the big demon had a handsome demon on it. It had dark skin and hair, pupils that reflected the color of hell, and a pair of small dark red horns on its head. The demon dressed in a magnificent manner; the pallet was mainly red and black, and there were numerous patterns on it. He held a ruby Scepter in his hand and stood in front of a throne looking down at everything as if he was observing the creatures in the different planes.
This was a great demon.
The legendary Supreme Master of the Nine Hells, Asmodeus!
One of the most powerful ancient demons in history that has existed for countless centuries and may still exist for countless more.
This was a card that represented many meanings, but none of them were simple. Anyone who had a big demon appear on their fortune would never have a normal life. Small demons were common cards, but there were only a few big demons in fortune telling.
The last card showed the Supreme Master of the Nine Hells, Asmodeus!
This was a very surprising event for Gloria. For a moment, even Gloria could not determine Soran’s life or death, because it was difficult to predict the fate of someone who had both a small and big demon.
This also meant that even if she used Legendary Fortune Tell, it would not have predicted Soran’s future!
Gloria stood up with a complicated expression. Suddenly, she staggered and almost fell on the astrological table. She felt surrounded by a deep sense of powerlessness and her surroundings disappeared. She seemed to be seeing an endless illusion of countless blood and fire burning. When she raised her head, she saw the illusion of a sheep’s skull with pupils that were in flames.
The illusion only lasted for seconds.
When she recovered from the magic backlash, she was at the very edge of the Wizard Tower. If she took one step further, she would have fallen over a hundred meters down.
The bitter cold winds continued to blow harshly.
Her robe was soaked, and there seemed to be icy pains all over her body. Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. When she turned to look at the astrological platform, the card that had the big demon burned and turned into ashes in the gloomy flame. The other two cards, however, were still intact. Only one disappeared in the cold wind.
“The Will of Hell?!”
Gloria suddenly trembled and murmured, “Could it be that the Asmodeus card does not mean anything else other than truly representing the legendary Supreme Master of the Nine Hells?
She felt like something had changed!
Gloria suddenly stretched out her hand and stroked her long hair. Without her noticing, there was more white in her hair!
