Chapter 132 – Berserker Bahanger

Formal-Level Conjuration Spell—Realm Compression: Creates a 500-cubic-meter energy cage to envelop the enemy, then rapidly compresses it until the enemy’s body is completely crushed.

Note: Continuous mana output from the caster is required during compression.

Just as the rockworm’s head submerged into the ground, a gray-black energy box enveloped its neck and one-third of its body. Before the rockworm could react to the abnormality in its body, the energy box began flickering with purple light points and rapidly shrank. Although every cell of the rockworm was saturated with energy, slowing the compression speed of “Realm Compression,” the macroscopic effect was still clearly visible to the naked eye. Flesh and tissue demarcated by the gray-black energy tore off in large chunks, while the flesh trapped within the “gray-black energy box” shattered rapidly without exception.

“Roar!!”

Sensing the threat of death upon itself, the rockworm abandoned its attempt to burrow deeper into the cliff. It immediately concentrated all its power into its body to resist the spell’s high pressure, while the pale yellow energy atop its head quickly coalesced into dozens of miniature energy rockworms that swiftly charged toward the “gray-black box.”

It must be said that this glacier rockworm, as a Formal-Level creature, relied not only on its massive body but also on its exceptional energy utilization methods.

The body trapped by the gray-black energy box was significantly reinforced by the convergence of pale yellow energy, temporarily halting the effects of “Realm Compression.”

Seeing this situation, Punk frowned slightly and increased his mana output. However, the severely injured rockworm desperately squeezed the last remnants of energy from every cell to prevent its flesh from shattering, leading to a temporary stalemate.

If Punk were facing the rockworm alone, this battle might have turned into a war of attrition. Given the glacier rockworm’s adaptation to the cold erosion infused with Legendary power, the outcome would have been uncertain, especially since Punk could not endure prolonged exposure to such unnaturally frigid conditions.

However, this stalemate was destined not to last long.

Just as the rockworm concentrated its final energy into its body, Kangkai, Bahanger, and Punk’s Golem Number One simultaneously charged toward the immobilized rockworm.

As the saying goes, “beat a drowning dog.” With the rockworm fully occupied resisting the “Realm Compression” attack and devoid of any supernatural energy defenses, Bahanger and the others would not miss such an opportunity.

First, Golem Number One’s “Iron Shackles” further hindered the rockworm’s movement. Then, Bahanger delivered a heavy hammer blow, shattering its remaining right eye into pieces. Finally, Kangkai once again employed his proud Formal-Level Combat Skill—Saw Wheel.

The outcome was inevitable. Under the concentrated assault of three Formal-Level powerhouses, the rockworm met its end. Kangkai’s Shortsword severed its head in less than three seconds, while Punk’s “Realm Compression” unsurprisingly compressed one-third of the rockworm’s body into a car-sized mass of bloody pulp.Tisha Xia’er’s little pet—the tundra rockworm—has been conquered!

Three individuals and a golem stood cautiously on the steep cliff face as the rockworm’s short, three-segmented body slowly detached from the rock wall and plummeted into the depths of the fissure.

Although the giant creature’s carapace and blood were highly valuable spellcasting materials, the trio had to press onward to confront Tisha Xia’er and couldn’t possibly carry such bulky components. Only Punk and Bahanger possessed Space Rings among them, and even those couldn’t hold so much loot. So, despite some heartache, they had no choice but to let the rockworm’s corpse fall into the Abyss.

“Oh no, no, no, no! Look what you’ve done! What have you all done? You actually killed my adorable pet! I’ll skin you alive, grind your bones to dust, pull out your veins one by one, and tear your souls to shreds—ahhhhhhhhh!”

Witnessing the rockworm’s corpse tumble into the chasm weren’t just Punk’s group of three, but also the monster’s owner—Tisha Xia’er.

Seeing her servant meet such a miserable end, Tisha Xia’er immediately flew into a frenzy. This time, she didn’t make a fool of herself by charging over with just a Projection, but the chatterbox began darting back and forth mid-air, hysterically screaming while issuing all sorts of childish threats and intimidations.

Moreover, perhaps because this area fell within her Projection’s range, even if a Projection was shattered, Tisha Xia’er would instantly create a new one to continue her monotonous cursing.

While these threats only added to the absurdity for Punk, and Kangkai could easily ignore them, the hot-tempered dwarf Bahanger alone was provoked into roaring with rage. Kangkai had to physically drag him back to prevent the bristling dwarf from pointlessly attacking the meaningless Projections. Bahanger clearly struggled to control his emotions—hardly good news, at least not now.

Although Bahanger had concealed his identity to keep an ace up his sleeve, under Tisha Xia’er’s provocation, anyone with eyes could see the guy was a berserker.

Realizing this fact, both Kangkai and Punk shared the sentiment of “divine opponents, porcine teammates.”

“If you’re a berserker, you should’ve said so earlier! All this time we thought you were just a bit hot-tempered.”

That was the unspoken thought in both Punk and Kangkai’s minds.

After all, berserkers are a troublesome class. They usually seem no different from those with “fiery tempers,” but once enraged, they can temporarily greatly enhance their strength through “frenzy.”

However, this frenzy ability, much like a sorcerer’s bloodline, causes the user to temporarily lose rationality and even turn against allies if they haven’t undergone “Cage Escape.”

There’s no denying frenzy is a powerful trump card, but for a berserker’s teammates, it’s nothing short of catastrophically unreliable.

Remember, a berserker without “Cage Escape” is as unstable as a time bomb—capable of harming enemies just as easily as themselves.”Bahanger, I must remind you that we spent a full five minutes dealing with that giant insect. If we don’t enter Tisha Xia’er’s base within ten minutes, I suppose we might as well all turn back. If you want to get frozen into an ice block in this valley, just keep fooling around!”

At this point, what more was there to say? Kangkai could only solemnly yet helplessly stop Bahanger from chasing after Tisha Xia’er’s Projection. He then earnestly presented facts and reasoning while carefully avoiding provoking Bahanger, who was already on the verge of fury.

Worried about the residents of Doleiz City, he simply couldn’t tolerate Bahanger wasting time like this. As a follower of Obe, he believed it was his duty to offer appropriate advice to his companion.

“Oh, alright. I suppose I lost my temper again. I just can’t control myself when I get angry, but that fellow is truly infuriating.”

Bahanger still retained some sense of reason. Annoyed, he heavily knocked his head twice with his hammer. With two dull clanging sounds, his rationality seemed to return somewhat.

He completely failed to realize how problematic his concealment of the Berserker Rage trump card was for Punk and Kangkai. Facing a helpless-looking Kangkai, Bahanger actually declared with conviction:

“Alright, I think we can continue our journey now. Don’t worry, old Bahanger can control himself.”

With reluctant trust, Kangkai nodded at Bahanger. He continued following Punk’s lead but made sure to periodically check on Bahanger’s mental state.

Naturally, every word of Kangkai and Bahanger’s conversation reached Punk’s ears. Although Punk hadn’t said much throughout, he had actually started mentally cursing Bahanger’s entire family.

“Damn berserker! What difference is there between you combined with Tisha Xia’er’s venomous tongue and a bomb? You’re probably Tisha Xia’er’s most loyal ‘little pet’!”

As for Bahanger’s claim that he could control himself, Punk didn’t believe a single word. Every berserker who’d ever lost control had said they could manage themselves, but numerous painful facts proved nothing was less reliable than such blind confidence.

Now Punk had no choice but to quicken his pace even further.

Tisha Xia’er’s venting insults had accidentally achieved unexpectedly good results – he certainly didn’t want to fight a berserk dwarf halfway through their journey.

(End of Chapter)