Chapter 354: Engage (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
Angele accompanied Stigma from behind as they ran along the plains at their fastest pace.
The cold gusts coming from the Abyss Canyon continued to brush across their face.
"What do you have in mind?"
While running, Stigma constantly surveyed the surroundings, as if he was searching for someplace.
"Well, we need to find a better place. You have seen how those servants of the shadow lord fight. Do not let them draw too close to you. Those people have a screw loose. They will sacrifice themselves just to kill their enemy."
"Seriously?" Angele squinted his eyes. "Wizards often try to desperately survive in battles, though. If those wizards really have no regards with their own lives, this will be a tough fight."
"That is how they almost killed me and my master. If not for the huge stock of high-quality healing potions, we would already be dead now." Stigma sighed. "Well then, this place should be good enough."
Suddenly, he stopped his movements and only remained standing at this particular place.
A giant blue hexagram appeared on a particular surface of the canyon’s edge as soon as Stigma stopped. The hexagram disappeared in but a split second, that Angele almost thought it was an illusion he had seen.
Stigma inspected the surroundings before taking out a handful of white dust, then he sprinkled it onto the ground. The white dust soon turned into smoke before it could touch the soil and disappear into the air gradually.
"What’s this?" Angele walked to Stigma and questioned him, "Do you know if they will come?"
"No. I am only being extra careful. This is a small trap I had set after I left the ruin. Come along." Stigma smiled and walked behind a boulder by the cliff.
The rock was about one meter tall. Stigma stopped behind it and disappeared without leaving any trace.
Angele started. He scanned the area using his biochip, but no mentality wave had been detected.
He did the same thing Stigma had just done.
*CHI*
There was apparently a transparent bubble behind it. It felt like walking into a thin layer of plastic.
For a second, Angele’s vision blurred before Stigma reappeared before him.
"Now we only need to wait for them to reach us." Stigma pointed at the trap.
Angele examined his surroundings. The rock and the soil were covered in dark red magic circles. Majority of the runes were figures of triangles that contained strings of such complexity within.
"You have put a great deal of effort into this."
"Of course. Last time, I almost got killed so I decided to be more careful." The smile slowly disappeared from Stigma’s face.
Angele nodded but did not speak. Right now, he was only thinking of seeing the extent of the strength of those servants.
The two wizards remained standing behind the boulder and patiently awaited.
About two minutes later, rays of eye-blinding golden light appeared from the sky.
Two flashes of lightning struck and landed on the empty ground in front of the particular boulder and soon formed into two human beings.
The man who had a crescent moon figure on his forehead started examining the particular location. His gaze soon fell on where the invisible hexagram was drawn.
"Illusion circle? Seriously? Do they truly think that I will be tricked by this?" Cena shook his head.
The man who had a triangle figure on his forehead looked at the ground and chuckled.
Cena waved his right hand. A golden glow enveloped the soil.
Angele looked daggers upon seeing such a scene take place. He took a step forward, about to attack, but Stigma suddenly grabbed his hand and dragged him back to where he was.
"Don’t worry. Let us wait." Stigma slightly shook his head.
With this, Angele calmed down and looked at the golden glow.
*WOO*
It sounded as though something was vibrating.
*CHI*
This golden glow savagely struck Cena’s body upon being reflected by the invisible hexagram.
*BAM*
Cena stumbled for three steps and expelled some blood out of his mouth.
"Now!"
Cena suddenly heard a shout coming from behind the boulder.
At that instant, two lava balls flew towards him before he could react.
*PA PA PA PA*
Countless blue pulses of lightning appeared on the ground and shackled their feet.
*BOOM*
The lava balls exploded in the sky and rained down to the ground as lava droplets.
The area soon became a sea of flames. The ground was bedaubed in boiling lava. Angele could barely see what was happening.
His eyes had been blinded by the sparks of lightning for a moment. The only thing which remained in his sight was the rain of lava. The area’s temperature was constantly rising, and the pulses of lightning still continued to crackle in the air. He could feel the intense heat sweeping across his face.
Angele inhaled deeply and conjured a wide-bladed, silver sword in each of his hand. Both of the swords’ point was blistering red, akin to iron completely heated in a furnace.
He swung the swords several times, leaving two dark red strings in the air.
"One for you, one for me." Stigma unsheathed a black mace out of thin air. Its handle was covered in complex runes and it looked old but luxurious.
"Sure, let us separate." Angele lightly nodded and ran to the other side of the plains. He was traveling at such absurd speed that his body looked like a blurry shadow.
Stigma only stood there as he watched Angele depart before he turned around and looked at the ground filled with boiling lava.
*BOOM*
The lava on the ground exploded once more, turning into lava droplets, and splattered everywhere. The lava droplets struck the grassy area and ignited them. The smell of grass being burnt immediately drifted into the air.
Even at this moment, the two servants of the shadow lord remained standing at their original position.
Cena’s sleeves, on the other hand, had been burnt black. The man was caressing a sapphire ring on his right index finger with a grim expression.
*Crack*
The ring broke into pieces and dropped to the ground. The fragments of the ring turned into a black shadow that immediately dissipated.
"Good…Terry…Go kill the man who is trying to flee. I will deal with the one behind the boulder.
"Naturally," the white robe called Terry answered in a deep tone.
Terry transformed into a flash of golden lightning and disappeared.
Cena was breathing heavily. He watched as Stigma stepped out of the shadows.
"We meet again…Stigma…"
"A pleasure…I guess? Master Cena." Stigma smiled in response and raised his right hand.
*CHI*
In his right hand materialized a black scimitar that had an eye-shaped ruby embedded on its blade. Dark red light glowed around it.
*************************
Angele pressed on at his maximum speed while using the biochip to probe his location.
The tall grass growing on the yellow plains were dancing amidst the strong winds. The setting sun had failed to bring warmth to the land.
Angele ran down the edge of the Abyss Canyon without a pause. Several minutes later, he stopped by a wide cliff.
He surveyed the surroundings first before he retrieved a small golden ball from his pouch.
"Golden cirrus, the force of nature." Angele uttered an incantation and dropped the golden ball to the ground.
The ball transformed into a streak of golden light which sank into the ground.
Angele then took out a green bottle from another pouch, one filled with dark green powder.
He removed the black stopper of the bottle and with a flick of his finger, a string of red energy particles entered the bottle.
Angele shook the bottle several times and leaned it forward.
The powder inside the bottle was slowly poured out.
The dark green powder that had been mixed with red specks of light slowly descended. Just like what occurred to the golden ball, it dissipated several seconds later.
Angele nodded slightly, clearly satisfied with the result.
He had just finished preparing two of the strongest magic circles he possessed. The first was called ‘Sunset’ and the second was called ‘Venom Snake’. Both magic circles were gifted to him by Vivian.
On the contrary, the ones he had set up in the Nightmare Realm were magic matrices that had a wide effective range and worked well against those mutated creatures. These were slightly stronger than the two magic circles Angele had just finished setting up.
The Sunset and the Venom Snake magic circles were powerful, though they were incomparable to magic matrices. Furthermore, they had different types of usage and properties.
These two magic circles had balanced properties, having the capability of handling both defensive and offensive tasks. The biggest advantage it possessed—that is, using such magic circles—was that they could be set up within seconds.
The power that these two magic circles could unleash was on par with average level-2 spells. From another point of view, these two magic circles were like two level-2 spells that could be cast instantly. However, they could only be activated once, and the effective duration was short.
Angele saw a flash of golden light rushing towards him as soon as he finished setting up the magic circles. The golden light landed right before him and transformed into a man wearing a long, white robe.
Angele, squinting, focused his gaze on the man.
The white-robed man had a blond hair, a triangular silver rune drawn on his forehead, clear skin, and a pair of gold-colored eyes. He looked at Angele as if he was looking at a rat.
"Young man, you are unlucky." The man’s voice was crisp. "My name is Terry. I am sorry, but I must kill you."
"Interesting." A cold, spine-chilling smile appeared on Angele’s face. Blue light flashed in his eyes.
"Wait, you’re a…female?" Angele fell dumbstruck the instant he checked Zero’s report.
"Huh?" Terry was similarly surprised. "How did you find that out?"
Invisible waves surrounded the man as he raised his right hand.
The image of a handsome man wearing a white robe was soon replaced by a beautiful blonde of whom had a cold expression once the distorted waves disappeared.
The lady had a balanced body frame and smooth skin. What drew Angele’s attention, however, was her right ear.
The ear looked nothing like a human’s. Long and furry, it looked like the large ear of a rabbit.
Contrary to that, her left ear was that of a normal human’s.
"Well, let me introduce myself to you once more. I am Terry, fourth captain of the Shadow Lord Palace." Terry’s voice had changed as well—it was now gentle and clear.
"I am Master Stigma’s…servant." Angele smiled. He evidently did not want to disclose his true identity to Terry.
Terry was not bothered by this. She raised her hands and conjured two wavy daggers with two lightning bolts.
"All right, let us begin!" Terry once again transformed into lightning and flew towards Angele.
Flashes of golden lightning appeared in the air and merged into her body. The main lightning bolt that was formed from her body transformed into an arrow surrounded by countless golden runes.
The arrowhead was infused with pulses of golden lightning. The arrow ceaselessly whistled through the air as it approached Angele swiftly.