Chapter 46 – Three-Person Team

Lolorock Inn was a small establishment located near Konola City’s southern wall. As a commercial venue, its position in the remote Southern District seemed rather unwise—unless its true purpose was to serve as a secret evacuation route. South of Konola lay sparse woodlands locally known as “Old Nike.” Beyond these woods lay the Dillon Kingdom, Kamos Kingdom’s neighbor and longtime rival. In the Faerûn Plane, political asylum existed as a concept. If the princess could secure protection from the Dillon Kingdom, she would at least be safe from immediate mortal danger.

Coincidentally, Punk also wished to leave the strife-torn Kamos Kingdom, aligning his objective with Mainaixi’s in reaching the Dillon Kingdom. Of course, the most pressing matter remained escaping the soon-to-be-destroyed Konola City!

The worg’s speed proved commendable. Within half an hour, Punk arrived near Lolorock Inn. Nearly a quarter of the inn had been scorched by fire, its once pink-painted signboard now reduced to a half-charred wooden slab. Though the exterior appeared precariously damaged, Punk observed that the flames had been contained in time. The main structure remained barely intact, with supporting beams narrowly avoiding complete carbonization.

The worg halted behind a crumbling stone wall, its paw pads ensuring its massive frame moved almost soundlessly.

Quietly casting Arcane Eye, a fully transparent eyeball drifted past the wall, fixing its gaze upon three young professionals down the spark-filled street. These mere Apprentice Rank practitioners seemed to be conducting a perfunctory patrol. Clearly, they never expected danger in this desolate area devoid of living souls—they even roughhoused playfully atop jagged rocks.

“Lower-ranked professionals in the Faerûn Plane are generally young, many being outright children. Having power without matching prudence is an unavoidable reality.”

Puck watched these fools, oblivious to their impending doom, with utter disdain.

“Eliminate them cleanly. All professionals under Lunka carry signal flares. Don’t let them send alerts.” Mainaixi’s voice reached Punk’s ears through a simple Message spell.

Heeding Mainaixi’s warning, Punk set aside his amusement. While dispatching these Apprentice Rank “youngsters” posed little difficulty, adding “completely silent” to the requirements complicated matters. After all, Punk was a mage, not a Stalker.

After careful consideration, Punk decided to target the higher-level young priest first. In any team, when spellcasters come under attack, nearby martial professionals tend to cluster for assistance—especially these hot-blooded adolescents who hadn’t yet learned to abandon companions. Never mind that swift escape remained the optimal choice against overwhelming danger!

Punk resolved to exploit this trait, luring them together before wiping them out with an area-of-effect spell.Once the plan was set, it was executed immediately. Within the shadows of his hood, vast amounts of brilliant blue magical light slowly swirled around Punk’s pupils. Two tangible blue eyes brimmed with coldness and indifference.

“Daze”—an upgraded version of the lesser Daze spell. This was a spell Punk had practiced diligently, requiring only a few key incantations to guide it, with no need for any casting materials. In an instant, Punk completed the construction of the spell model. The enchantment-type Daze spell, belonging to the school of conjuration, was released and instantly crossed the fifty-meter distance to strike the young cleric’s mind.

Just a moment ago, the young cleric had been laughing and chatting with the female archer beside him. In the next second, he suddenly stood frozen in place, with thin streams of blood slowly trickling from his nose and mouth—this guy hadn’t cast any defensive spells on himself! The Daze spell had struck him directly, with no buffer to soften the blow.

Never assume that support spells lack lethality. As a seventh-level mage, Punk’s Daze spell struck this cleric, who was at most fourth-level, with full force. His mental network was instantly shattered! Judging by his condition, his brain nerves had also suffered damage. Even if he didn’t end up paralyzed, he would likely become an idiot.

“Nuo’an! What’s wrong with you?”

The warrior walking behind the young cleric rushed over to check on Nuo’an, who was slowly collapsing to the ground, unable to control his body.

“Don’t go over there!” The female archer beside him seemed to realize something and warned the warrior while abruptly halting her own rush toward Nuo’an.

“Too late!”

The young warrior, desperately shaking Nuo’an, completely failed to notice a white shadow charging through the air. As a result, the warrior, with no time to resist, was caught squarely by Punk’s “descending from the sky” dire wolf. With a low growl and a fierce shake of its head, the dire wolf tore off most of the young warrior’s abdomen along with one of his thighs as if shredding paper. A torrent of blood and fragmented flesh splattered across the scorching ground.

At the sight of this, glistening tears immediately welled up in the female archer’s eyes. Her companion, who had been laughing and talking just moments ago, had met such a tragic end right before her eyes. She simply couldn’t accept such a cruel reality.

But Punk had no interest in whether a dying person could accept reality or not.

An area-of-effect conjuration spell was mercilessly cast—”Arcane Fireball.” Flames tinged with a faint purple light struck the young warrior, who was writhing and wailing on the ground. A ring of fire, carrying immense kinetic energy, expanded outward from the center.

The area-of-effect spell “Arcane Fireball” not only possessed high-temperature burning capabilities but also carried a great deal of chaotic kinetic energy, making it exceptionally destructive against physical defenses like armor.

Under the swirling expansion of the Arcane Fire, the terrified young warrior and the unconscious young cleric were instantly torn apart and burned into charred fragments. The entire brick-paved road, subjected to the same “treatment,” was left scarred and battered by the chaotic kinetic energy.

However, the female archer managed to escape unscathed. The red Necklace around her neck activated a divine Shield. Three crimson Shields materialized in the air and began spinning rapidly around her, intercepting almost all of the Arcane Fire energy outside the Shields.Punk narrowed his eyes slightly, recognizing this divine spell—it was the “Crimson Shield” produced by the Campas Church of the God of Warriors.

The young archer girl leaped backward like a bristling cat, landing on a protruding rock. With grief and indignation, she snarled at Punk, “Do you even know what you’ve done? Noan is a priest of Campas!” After saying this, she tightly pursed her red lips and yanked the signal flare hanging from her waist. Clearly, she wasn’t foolish enough to charge into a fight alone; she was trying to call for reinforcements from the distant patrol team!

But she was already too late to use it.

Under the girl’s astonished gaze, a faint, twisting yellow beam of light struck the crimson shield. In less than two seconds after contact, the divine shield, which had radiated an aura of indestructibility, dissolved into scattered crimson streams of light and vanished into the air.

“Apprentice-Level Conjuration Spell—Energy Dispersion.”

This was the spell Punk had used. By generating a repulsive effect, it dispersed energy from objects, making it highly effective against energy defenses like this “rootless water” activated by magical items.

“Campas has trillions of followers across the multiverse—do you think he’d care about the life or death of one insignificant apprentice priest?”

The next moment, the girl was tightly bound by resilient vines shooting up from the ground, then knocked unconscious by a Daze spell. Punk’s sarcastic remark was the last thing she heard before losing consciousness.

(End of Chapter)