That jumper was really smart to an annoying degree. “Let’s just hope the attack would last longer,” this was essential to my plan’s success. As the Libra would take almost two minutes to get activated, I prayed the monster would keep showering us with its deadly rocks for much longer.
If I knew that, I’d have used the Libra before calling everyone back. But I didn’t know that, sigh!
For two minutes, I was feeling so nervous. My body was soaked in sweat while watching the incoming waves of burning rocks and the great clash between them and the shield protecting the castle.
During these minutes, all the forces outside the castle were wiped out. That wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was the scene of desolation left by these rocks.
As if the apocalypse wasn’t enough in itself, these rocks came to crush what remained of the past human civilization, and even created deep holes in the ground with thick tongues of burning fire.
It could be simply described as hell on earth.
As for the castle, all the illusionists and the forces they summoned were now gathered tightly under the cover of that ring gate in the sky.
And my chariot was just simply standing idle at the outer borders of that gate.
Regarding my target, that illusionist powerhouse was standing still without any signs of exhaustion at all.
The rod in his hand kept shining brightly without interruption. Even when the monster focused all its attack over the shield, the shield didn’t even crack.
If things kept going like this, then the monster’s attack would fail. And if such a deadly attack failed, then that monster’s chances to break it later grew smaller.
The only chance here was for my curse to work. If it didn’t, then I could imagine how deadly the upcoming battle with that illusionist would be.
[Ninety-nine in progress]
[One hundred percent]
[The weighing process is done]
[The soul you targetted is hostile to you]
[The illusionist race Thorn is cursed by Anubis god Libra]
[His stats are permanently halved]
[His life span is halved]
[His forces following him are under temporary effect of the curse for one hour]
[The stats of his followers’ stats are halved for one hour]
[The contract bound forces are halved in all stats permanently]
[His cultivation base is halved permanently]
[His gear stats are halved permanently]
[To raise one stat point, he is needed to use two stat points instead of one]
[His contract bound forces need double stat amount to raise their stats than usual]
[The curse is permanent]
[The curse needs one million coins to be undone]
[You can’t use the Anubis god Libra for an hour]
I looked at the long rows of effects and couldn’t help but laugh. In front of my eyes, that shining rod suddenly got dimmed, and that sturdy shield that didn’t budge till now started to show long and deep cracks.
The curse came in time, and now all I needed to do was to grab a seat, light my cigarette, and watch this amusing show from far away.
So I led my chariot away without any moment of hesitation. If I delayed for a few seconds, then I’d get entangled in the deadly fight that erupted with the destruction of the protective shield.
*Roar!*
The monster roared in triumph the moment the shield cracked open like a soft egg shell. I already took my chariot half a mile away and could only stand there and watch this show.
Even if the monster focused its attack over the shield of the castle, many burning rocks still rained down over the area around. It wasn’t enough to threaten my chariot’s shield, yet it consumed many stats points like running water.
In just a few minutes, the chariot consumed close to two hundred thousand stat points! That was a terrifying consumption rate! And that was in such a case where that monster wasn’t focusing its attack over my chariot.
Imagine if I was in place of that illusionist dude? Damn! I would be crying blood over my lost stats before my shield would become useless!
At the same time, a bloody battle erupted inside that castle. I saw the gate flashing many times, sending lots of troops to try and control the rage of that berserk.
I even saw many waves of monsters gushing out from inside, trying to lure the monster away.
But guys, that monster was using a deadly AOE attack that made it not bother with any fly running away. The randomly falling burning rocks away from the castle was enough to kill any forces running out from the castle without leaving a single survivor.
In my eyes those inside the perimeter of the illusionist gate would be killed in short minutes. My only concern was focused over two other issues.
First that one hour cooldown of my Libra treasure. Of course it wasn’t a big deal but I planned to kill that monster in less than that.
Killing all the other races and clearing their castles and gates became a piece of cake now. But would it take an hour from such a behemoth? Of course not!
Should I babysit it or what then?
The other issue wasn’t related directly to me, but the jumper. As the one who gave him that nasty curse was from the illusionist race, I was quite sure it was that strong youth I met earlier.
So would it be lifted by his death? Or would he run away and survive this, leaving behind my dear jumper cursed?
So I kept watching from afar, paying special attention to that illusionist prodigy. He was strong and rich, enough to contend head to head with that gigantic behemoth.
Yet each clash caused him to retreat until he eventually was thrown away from the entire castle zone. His body flew for hundreds of metres before clashing heavily on a falling burning rock.
“Let’s go,” despite things looking almost finished, I didn’t want to give anything a chance. The jumper next to me seemed to have the same thoughts, as he silently took out a large curved sword and one hell of a heavy shield.
He was preparing to fight that illusionist if he survived the fall.
The illusionist fell towards a place that was totally littered in fire. I took a small circle around just to make sure we stayed away from the deadly bombardment of that behemoth.
“I hope he is still alive,” I said while the jumper didn’t speak for few seconds before asking:
“Do you hate me this much?”
“It’s not like that,” I tried so hard to hide my lie by coughing, “it’s just the best way to remove curses is by killing the one who cursed you personally.”
“Sounds like wisdom that came from real experience,” his eyes were always cold when he looked at me. Dude, I was just trying to support you here, support you all the time!
“Stop,” the jumper suddenly said and I made my chariot stop abruptly. “There are still two hundred metres away from that pool of fire,” I looked at him but in his place all I found was emptiness.
“It’s better for me to search from here for him,” his voice came from down below as he jumped off the chariot without warning.
Well… If he was that impatient to kill him then what should I do?
I turned an eye over the direction of the bloody battle. From the look of it, that monster was almost done back there.
I just hoped they would keep sending more fodders to keep it busy. But if I was them, I wouldn’t do that.
Of course, locking the gate was impossible for now. The gate once opened couldn’t be closed except by using special measures.
As for their attempt to send more forces after the monster was gone, I wouldn’t let them have this chance. I just had to wait until that monster started to roam the city and would instantly go and take control over the gate.
And by this I’d complete one heroic calling mission, removing a big burden off my shoulders.
*Boom!*
However, just before the monster started to move away from that castle, the jumper started his own battle with the illusionist prodigy.
That dude was really strong! Even such a fall didn’t kill him. But he wasn’t in any shape to fight the disaster called the jumper.
The illusionist youth was already exhausted. His body was filled with so many wounds that even his body was soaked with his pale red blood.
But the jumper didn’t show him any mercy and started the fight using a strong skill that gathered bright white flames over the edge of his sword.
“I have to get myself a myriad of strong skills,” seeing that scene made me recall this big flaw in my strength.
I had many things to boost about, but the skill tree of mine was limited to nothing. Just seeing that shining sword of the jumper made my blood boil with envy.
I wanted such skills, I was in desperate need for these strong attacks.
*Boom!*
Each strike from that sword was like a bombardment of its own. Loud explosive sounds erupted while that pathetic looking illusionist tried to resist for an entire minute before he was killed.
“Oh, his inventory must be nice,” once that illusionist fell without a head on the scorching hot ground, I realised this issue. Without waiting I used the rope and jumped off the chariot.
Once I reached the jumper, I noticed him standing still and closing his eyes. I left him enjoying this moment while I went to the dead body and placed my hand over it.
[You can get ten percent of the inventory] the message I expected came and instantly claimed ten percent of that illusionist inventory.
But even such ten percent was big enough to make my dried up inventory rich again. Not to mention the blessing points that were slightly over two million points.
“What are these?” As I examined my loot until that jumper woke up, I found a strange thing in there.
“This… Isn’t it like Bringold statues?” I took out one golden statue that wasn’t any bigger than the ugly green statue of the Bringold.
[Your current level and cultivation are lacking]
[You can’t view the details of this item]
As I tried to see its details, I was met with such weird message. It reminded me when I first got that Bringold statue. But back then it asked me to replace that died Gollem in that impact.
“I need to raise my level and cultivation then…” as my past experience with the Bringold impact was rich, I held higher expectations for that golden statue.
It was in the shape of an eagle, spreading both wings as if it was about to fly. Comparing the two statues together, this one was more detailed and far more beautiful than the Bringold one.
“How are you now?” as I stored it away, I noticed the jumper had reopened his eyes again.
“It’s…” yet he seemed a bit lost, “I didn’t feel the curse be lifted.”
“What?!!” I was shocked when I heard that. Didn’t the curse come from that illusionist or what?! “Are you sure?” I couldn’t help but ask.
And he simply pointed at the hold that was still there on his chest.
Seeing that hole and the smoke coming from it made it clear. “Can you recall how you got it?” I asked. After all I must have missed something, or he did while narrating what happened.
“I told you already,” his tone started to grow restless, “I was hit by a sneaky bastard hiding in the shadows. That arrow turned into ash once it hit me and I got this damn curse!”
His body started to tremble while his eyes began to turn scarlet red again. Damn! Chill out bud, or else that curse would flare up again.
*Roar!*