Chapter 22: Potion

Since they were immortal demons, the hearts, throats, chests, and stomachs of the Phantom Nannies no longer had vital points. However, their brains still contained their shattered souls. If the brain of a Phantom Nanny were destroyed by an enemy, they would face the risk of having their soul disintegrated.Thus, feeling the emptiness and weakness spreading from her chest, a venomous expression of hatred flashed across Sinbad's grotesque face, and her fierce features became even more twisted and brutal.

With her tough, taut skin, sharp poisonous claws, and her army of subordinates, Sinbad could fight on equal footing with a giant crocodile. Her deadly teeth and claws could easily tear through half-inch-thick armor, and merely touching an enemy's flesh, the poison hidden in her black nails could instantly paralyze most living beings.

But, like most other demons living in this swamp, she lacked any good long-range attacks. The Weakening Ray and Sleep Spell were very short-range attacks and could hardly penetrate basic defensive spells.

Therefore, when she faced Lucy, who could fly and attack from a distance, although Sinbad's overall attributes suppressed those of the little girl, her lack of a long-range offensive ability made her incapable of striking back.

Afraid of the enemy's trackless magic spell, Sinbad stomped on the beast beneath her, and the Giant Lizard immediately dove back into the muddy water, leaving only Sinbad's head above the surface. She glared fiercely at Lucy but showed no signs of retreating.

Lucy furiously unleashed all her attacks, but Sinbad, who had hidden most of her body underwater, managed to dodge them all. After all, Lucy's body movements were very obvious. As long as someone paid attention and moved out of the targeted area in time, it was quite easy to avoid her spatial attack.

Even after attacking the Phantom Nanny leader many times, Lucy's hands still came up with only muddy water, which only made her angrier. In her fury, she ripped out eight decayed, harmful brains from some of the weaker Phantom Nannies who were merely standing by, causing the rest to panic and immediately dive to the bottom of the muddy water.

Soon, only Lucy and Sinbad were left in that large swampy area.

After venting her fury, Lucy took a moment to reflect on her weakness. Sёarᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Indeed, her spatial spells were mysterious and powerful, but they were all single-target offensive abilities. Except for her final spatial rift ability, she had no large-area effect spells to speak of. While she was nearly invincible in one-on-one battles against Apprentice Mages of a similar level, when faced with her current situation, her abilities fell short of her desires.

If she had mastered a simple spell like Magma Fireball, she could have turned that stinking puddle into a huge pot of boiling water in seconds, cooking all the filthy demons hidden within. But because of her passion and confidence in her Spatial Spells, she refused to study or research any of these 'simple' Elementium spells.

As a result, there was nothing she could do in her current situation. She truly felt powerless about how to deal with that wicked Phantom Nanny Leader, who refused to get out of her way.

If her muscular partner were here, perhaps with the advantage of his large and strong body, he could have forcefully invaded that Phantom Nanny Leader's nest. But Lucy was a long-range Apprentice Mage with a weak physique. Once trapped in a fierce fight with a crowd of Phantom Nannies, she was not confident she could escape this place in one piece.

However, she decided she would capture or kill the strange rookie apprentice who could see through her spells today. After a brief moment of hesitation, she released her spatial protection barrier.

Then, like a shooting star, she simply hurled herself into the muddy water.

"Zosh~~"

"POW~~"

Apparently, Sinbad never expected that this small human Lolita who had lost one of her eyes would be so bold. She quickly controlled the Giant Lizard and dove deeper into the water, emitting a strange, high-frequency sound from her mouth and calling all her subordinates to help.

"Buzz~~"

The muddy water started to churn as the foul-smelling water began to flow violently. The calm swamp pond immediately started bubbling like hot water.

Numerous moving objects could be seen swimming frantically toward Lucy. These objects were actually giant lizards kept by the Phantom Nannies. They were over 5 meters long and covered in a layer of hard scales. Besides their sharp claws, they could fire a Petrification Ray at a target within 5 to 10 meters.

Additionally, one after another, Phantom Nannies could be seen swimming in the foul water, relentlessly attacking this brave intruder who dared to strike their home.

Beneath the surface of that stinking lake, where human sight was reduced to nothing, Lucy was fully encased in an indestructible protection barrier. Her remaining eye glowed with hatred as she used her unique spell to kill every approaching enemy she could sense.

There were many spells that would allow her to regenerate her eye that the scorpions had ripped out, but she simply couldn't swallow her anger at receiving such an injury in the first place. Although it was that hateful insect that did this to her, the real culprit was this strange apprentice who had led her to this accursed stinking lake.

Whether it was some innate ability of his or some sort of magical spell that allowed him to sense spatial energy, there was no way Lucy would let this leak to the public. If her enemies found out, the reputation Lucy had built for herself would be at risk.

After the eruption of a chaotic and bloody war under the muddy lake, the entire swampy area turned into a fierce battlefield. However, the one responsible for all of this, the rookie apprentice Leon, was having his petrified body dragged into the Phantom Nannies' nest.

Once the fight began, four Phantom Nannies dragged the fully petrified Leon to the bottom of the lake. They dug a hole in the filthy, stinking mud, revealing an underwater tunnel. With Leon being pulled behind them, they squeezed into the hole. The tunnel was filled with sticky, pungent mud, but this did not slow them down.

They swam in a straight line for several meters and then upward. Soon, they broke through the water's surface, emerging in a damp tunnel beneath the swamp. Just as these demons started crawling forward, dragging Leon through the dark and wet tunnel, they heard Sinbad's deep, hoarse roar from the swamp above them.

The intense battle had caused Sinbad to start roaring furiously, summoning all the Phantom Nannies in the area to aid her. Her voice was so loud that it even made the tunnel walls vibrate violently.

Due to their hot temper and low intelligence, the two Phantom Nannies following behind Leon became restless, letting out a few short screeches before quickly turning around and diving back into the mud. Clearly, both were responding to their leader's call and heading out to fight the enemy.

As for the other two Phantom Nannies, they also let out cries of anger but managed to resist the urge to fight and continued their task of dragging Leon through the tunnel.

This muddy swamp lake was home to the Phantom Nannies. They could dive into the filthy mud and water year after year, waiting for their prey to come. But undeniably, they also needed a place to store what they considered treasures: rotten, stinking dried meat, worn-out leather armor, poorly maintained weapons full of rust, and the foul roots of plants they had harvested...

If these items were left in the fetid water of the swamp where they lived, they would quickly rot to nothing. Thus, Sinbad dug a horizontal tunnel beneath the bottom of her swamp, boring into a place away from the damp swamp and making a drier cave to store things.

And now, the petrified Leon was being escorted to this cave.

Even though his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were covered in sticky mud, and his body was as hard as a stone statue, Leon's mind was functioning as usual. He was still able to sense everything happening around him.

It seemed like those two monsters had finally begun fighting!

Through the faint vibrations and roars from above, Leon could imagine how intense and bloody the battle was. Although the army led by Sinbad far outnumbered her enemy and they were fighting in their own territory, Leon still did not think they could defeat that small and terrifying Lolita.

Having not mastered any Elementium spells and relying only on their tough bodies, when faced with Lucy's nearly invincible protective barrier, their fighting ability was a joke. As long as they could not find the hidden 'Back Door' to the Protection Barrier, even if they kept attacking until their hearts and lungs gave out, they would never break through that barrier.

Unless they could force Lucy to exhaust all her Spirit Points, they would certainly lose the battle. Therefore, while they were busy fighting each other, Leon had to do everything possible to escape.

Although Leon's body was petrified and he could not move at all, he was still able to manipulate his Spiritual Energy. Reaching out with his spiritual energy, he opened the stopper of the small bottle hidden in his mouth, releasing a pungent, strong potion that quickly went down his throat and into his stomach.

After many years of inspection trips around the perimeter of the Tower, Leon knew the ins and outs of the swamp demons' abilities. Would he really go on inspection trips unprepared for the possibility of being inflicted with a strange status effect? This 'Freedom of Movement' potion was an item he had paid a high price for, purchased from another Apprentice Mage of the Tower.

It was effective in removing Petrification and Paralysis of any kind.

Once the potion began to take effect, a tingling sensation gradually spread throughout Leon's rigid body, and his body slowly came back under his control.

After being dragged for nearly a hundred meters, they finally reached a somewhat dry cave with a decent patch of flat ground. A musty smell filled the narrow cave and nearly made Leon choke.

After tossing Leon onto a pile of jumbled objects, the two Phantom Nannies began screeching and growling at each other. It seemed they were debating whether to go help in the battle or stay here to guard their 'food.' But, just as the two were busy arguing, two crackling sounds flared up behind them. It was the sound of two fist-sized Elementium fireballs springing to life.

The two Phantom Nannies were startled for a moment. Then they noticed that the petrified human had stood up, with two small fireballs dancing in his palms.

Possessing only basic intelligence, these Phantom Nannies had no idea what was happening, but when they caught the fresh scent of flesh and blood, they immediately let out aggressive roars and leaped toward Leon.

The next instant, the two small fireballs exploded into blazing flames, burning everything in the direction of the two Phantom Nannies.

"Burning~~"

Both sides collided, with Leon soon collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath.

His shirt was torn, and four terrifyingly deep wounds could be found on his chest.

On the other side, the two Phantom Nannies continued their momentum and slammed into the dirt wall behind Leon. Gently controlled by Leon, the two flames traveled through their massive mouths, incinerating everything within their heads. As a result, both Phantom Nannies died in the blaze.

The air was thin in the cave and became even more depleted after being burned by the recent fire. Leon gasped for breath for a while.

Stars danced before Leon's eyes, and he felt very unwell. He did not feel any pain from the wounds inflicted by the Phantom Nannies, but he felt a strange tingling sensation. This made Leon's heart sink. Damn, he had been poisoned by the Phantom Nannies' attack!

He searched around himself, found a bottle of antidote, and poured it into his mouth. Only then did Leon relax.

He held his breath in deep concentration and listened to the violent vibrations coming from the tunnel. This was a sign that the battle was not over, and he still had a chance to escape, so Leon decided to rest and gathered his courage. Then he began to examine the Phantom Nannies' nest.

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2085 Words