Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 142 Raid
"Empire. Mind Flayer. Reviving Shell Ship"

Sallyman frowned. Since the day before yesterday, she had been experiencing intermittent auditory hallucinations.

It seems as if something is shouting in your ear, but upon closer inspection, you can't sense its source.

It seems to be located deeper underground.

"This is the mainframe's psionic call, calling upon the entire race; this voice has likely transcended dimensions."

Mind flayers were once part of an imperial civilization, and they once possessed a remarkably powerful interdimensional civilization.

Furthermore, there is an entire supernatural system and technological system based on psychic abilities, the most obvious evidence being the shell-shaped ships capable of interdimensional travel (psychic-driven! human-driven!).

They cannot be called eras because they are too harmful to other intelligent beings.

The more prosperous their race becomes, the fiercer their battles with other races become. Moreover, their parasitic population growth pattern creates irreconcilable social contradictions. A mind flayer needs to consume a living brain every month, and the larger their race becomes, the more intense their conflicts with other races become.

Its empire never truly stabilized before it was overthrown by the "slaves" who were doomed anyway.

As a result, their ethnic groups are scattered throughout the multiverse, making them a notorious "nest of harmful cockroaches."

Seeing it makes me feel disgusted, stepping on it makes me even more disgusted, and if I ignore it, well, it's very possible that it will disgust you and your race to death.

"Will they come?" Rean was a little curious. If he really heard the call from another world, why would he come if the treatment and benefits weren't clearly explained?

"Yes, I will definitely come," Kuku said confidently, but his face was full of disgust.

“For those mind flayers, once their own kind calls, at the very least, it's a feast, and many of their poor relatives who aren't doing so well will come over.” Purple Rose was still smiling, but there was a hint of disdain in her smile.

Most intelligent beings would find mind flayers, these endless dimensional trash, very annoying.

Their main business now is actually the interdimensional slave trade, and their main clients are demons, monsters, and evil gods from lower dimensions.

Where these snail-shell ships pass by, a large number of missing persons cases often follow.

But at this moment, Purple Rose's expression towards Sallyman became increasingly subtle.

"To be able to hear the interdimensional broadcast from the mind flayer's mastermind, it seems she and the mind flayers are really compatible."

Purple Rose herself also possesses psychic abilities, but this is one of the snake's inherent traits. Without psychic abilities, how can one penetrate people's hearts? A mature snake witch can crush ordinary psychic sorcerers.

But even she couldn't hear the "mind flayer radio waves," yet Suliman, who wasn't fully awakened, did.

"67123," Sallyman casually recited some numbers, seemingly having even heard the coordinates of the other party's encrypted broadcast.

"Little Sallyman, how about becoming a magical girl? You'll be stronger than me," Purple Rose asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"No." Sallyman said with a look of disgust.

“Hiss hiss hiss (At such an old age, she still dresses like a twelve-year-old girl, and keeps throwing ribbons around, it’s so embarrassing.)” Sallyman said the reason.

The two Sulimans, unusually, reached an agreement.

But judging from Purple Rose's clenched fist, this will not be without a price.

"Smack!" The iron fist of love arrived as expected.

"Why did my aunt hit me!" said Suliman, feeling wronged.

However, it is indeed a good thing that the temporary squad now has Suliman.

Just like having a long-range radar for long-range air combat, searching for psychics is essential. Every psychic is like a mental radar; as long as you're activated, you could be detected.

"Over here, one, two, uh, only one, but it seems quite strong."

With the combined power of an enchanter and a psionicist, and the enhanced mental abilities of Suliman, she can even detect mind flayers in advance.

These slight advantages in reconnaissance range could mean a decisive battle between life and death.

"Mind Shield." Suliman was the first to unleash her psychic powers, granting Rean a shield that reduced damage and reflected psychic abilities.

This relatively low-level psychic ability is the first choice in civil wars among psychic abilities.

Layered armor is always a good choice.

"Protection from Evil!" Rean also cast a protective spell on himself.

This divine spell can provide a certain degree of protection when fighting evil creatures, but more importantly, it makes paladins immune to mind control abilities in the short term (and also immune to possession by ghost-like and parasitic creatures).

In a sense, there's a reason why paladins are considered natural enemies of evil creatures, as their divine spells are primarily designed to target specific types of evil.

Protection from Evil is only a first-level divine spell, but it is basically in the top three of the Paladin's spell list. It is useful, affordable, and has low cost.

"Stride forward."

Finally, after failing countless times, Rean finally managed to complete the acceleration spell, but in the end, he couldn't use it because his spell level was too low and the acceleration time was too short.

Suliman used her psionic powers to conceal him, letting him lie silently on the rock wall and wait. She probably really thought Rean was a lizardman, as lizardmen love this kind of ambush terrain.

The dragon claw allowed Rean to remain steady, holding his breath and waiting for his target.

Finally, the mind flayer squad passed by.

He waited patiently, and even when some of the spell's effects wore off, he didn't rush to make a move.

The team consisted of more than twenty people, but their real target was only one person.

And it often happens at the very end.

Finally, it reached below Rean.

"Die, evil!" A paladin will not wage war without warning, but he can announce his arrival with the Demon-Slaying Slash!
When the mind flayer was suddenly stung by the light, it looked up and discovered the paladin who had suddenly "descended from the sky."

It was stunned.

But with the instinctive movement of its tentacles, this not-so-low-level mind flayer monk instantly completed a rapid spellcasting.

"Mind Blast!" A vortex of mind instantly formed, and several slaves nearby were even accidentally injured and coughed up blood.

The mind flayer was confident it could at least slow down the low-level knight for a few seconds, allowing its slaves to swarm him. "How could this be?" But the leaping knight didn't stop.

The knight completely ignored the outbreak of the mental storm, and the radiant sword was already in front of the mind flayer!
"Damn it!" The mind flayer was completely terrified, its body turning into a kaleidoscope of colors as all sorts of magical items were activated.

It's obvious it's very wealthy; it's given itself a petrified skin and several types of shields, but...
"Break through evil." Wherever the sword light touched, a shield exploded one after another, shattered directly.

One knife, another knife.

The knight's close-range slashes were fast and precise, forcing the mind flayer to retreat repeatedly.

"Save me! Save me!"

The cries for help echoed in this area, but were somehow neutralized and stopped (Purple Rose: Well done, continue to block its telepathic communication.).

The mind flayer habitually retreated, resulting in only a few minions foolishly coming to its rescue.

The result of long-term mental control over slaves is that they become extremely sluggish in their actions when there are no direct commands from their controllers, especially when they are subjected to mental shocks.

“Yes, that’s right. Whether you’re a mind mage or an enchanter, your main responsibility on the battlefield is still to provide support. We don’t need to be the main attackers.” Not far away, Purple Rose was teaching Sallyman how to control the battlefield.

In actual combat, enchanters generally play a support role in this way.

Hypnosis, commands, and charm, though seemingly simple, are all high-risk spells that erode the mind of the opponent and are meant to challenge their will and soul.

Slaughtering the weak is extremely easy, but fighting the strong requires additional resistance from their multiple layers of defense.

Those who become strong are generally mentally resilient; forcibly controlling them is exhausting and ineffective.

The battlefield roles of an Enchanter (or Bewitcher) include controlling the battlefield and buffing (boosting allies and weakening opponents).

“Look at those mind flayers, they fight in the same way. They use mind blasts for control, but mainly send their slaves to fight. Sallyman, you also need to train some meat shields on a regular basis.” She also taught her “little mind flayers” how to improve.

This is indeed true; skilled enchanters always bring along a few cannon fodder slaves.

If Rean, who was wielding his sword at the time, had heard this, he would probably have thought it was a veiled reference.

"Die, you scum!" But at this moment, Rean just felt incredibly satisfied with the hacking.

Although these shields were effective, Rean had not yet mastered how to break them.
"It's just a matter of making a few more cuts."

But this is only a "shield-breaking" level of attrition, which is just a matter of a few more hits!
"A filthy, disgusting hairy monster!"

The smooth-skinned "Octopus Brother" had completely descended into hysteria, realizing that he was in dire straits.

Is this widespread plea for help some kind of death trap?!
Its tentacles waved incessantly, faintly reflecting the glow of psychic energy and spells. Since remote psychic abilities were ineffective, let's cast spells directly upon contact!
This mind flayer monk has actually practiced tentacle techniques; at least a dozen professionals have died from his tentacles. Once he's entangled with an opponent, he can infuse their body with psionic energy and then extend his tentacles into their brain.
The light, however, came straight towards us.

"Zizzizi!"

But the next moment, the roar of the soul turned into gibberish, and the floating octopus head was filled with confusion.

The last scene that came into view was still that of the young knight wielding the holy sword.

Can a novice defeat a master? No way. In real combat, there are no miracles, only strength and weakness.

The wildly dancing holy sword, carrying terrifying radiant power, pierced directly through the evil's defenses.

Those tentacles blocking the way, and the spells and mental powers within them? Hmm, I don't feel anything, perhaps they've been injected into the holy sword.

"Bang."

Rean's holy sword was already sheathed, and blood gushed from the headless corpse.

He didn't even bother to look; the slave warriors, who were already within arm's reach, suddenly froze, collapsing with blood streaming from their seven orifices.

Cruel mind flayers never grant their slaves freedom or the possibility of betrayal.

When a master dies, his dying emotional fluctuations will take all the slaves around him with him.

As for those who are farther away, they can simply not come back to desecrate the corpse; why would they make things difficult for the savior?

The initial battle lasted less than a minute, leaving behind a field of corpses, and Rean wore a pleased smile. Then he began to search the bodies with even greater pleasure.

These magical items aren't cheap; I don't even dare to look at the prices when I pass by shops on ordinary days.

They also made a fortune by killing the head of that slave market, but some of it was broken, and some was too dangerous to use due to the special circumstances.

Now this is a legitimate spoil of war; even if I don't need it myself, I'll make a fortune selling it.

Rean wasn't stingy either. Although he was the only one who made a move, the others came together, but ambushing him was the most suitable option.

The weapons and equipment used by the slave warriors were also quite good, and some were even enchanted, making them better than Rean's own spare weapons.

Take what you want; put what you don't want in your storage bag and wait to get your share of the money.

"Let's go, next one." Instantly, the morale of the makeshift hunting team was high.

Those mind flayers, who were considered extremely dangerous, have become a walking treasure trove in the eyes of Rean's squad.

Putting aside everything else, they are quite wealthy through interdimensional trade.

Rean looked at Suliman and tossed her a ring that was supposed to enhance mental abilities.

He could tell that the main reason they were able to take down this troublesome monster so easily was thanks to Suliman.

Without a psychic ability that subtly overwhelms the opponent, it would be impossible for Rean to hide in front of him. In many cases, the spellcaster would be half-dead by the time the melee fighter got close.

Without her, it would have been impossible to defend against most psychological attacks.

"Huh? Where's the ring?" Poor Sallyman looked completely bewildered; she was certain she had received it.

"Hiss (Does it look good?)" The way the snake hair looked with the ring on it was rather comical.

"Yes, it looks good." Rean was telling the truth, looking at Sallyman's face.

(End of this chapter)