Mercenary Wars

Chapter 205 Black Dragon Followers
After some searching, the black dragon followers gradually approached the entrance to the altar and then noticed the heavy stone door on the hillside.

They all looked at the phoenix pattern carved on the stone gate with excitement.

"right here!"

Several Black Dragon followers ran toward the stone gate.

One of them was so impatient that he made a pushing motion before he even reached the stone gate, completely unaware that it was faintly emitting a golden-red glow.

"Watch out!" a shout came from behind him.

Unfortunately, it was too late; his hands were already on the stone door.

"Whoosh!" A flash of red light appeared on the stone door, and a ball of golden-red flame suddenly rose up, instantly spreading to his hand.

"Ah—" he cried out and stepped back, trying to extinguish the flames.

But these golden-red flames were clearly extraordinary, and no matter how he tried to extinguish them, they remained unchanged.

Not only that, the flames spread rapidly, and in less than half a second, he was completely engulfed in flames, turning into a human torch, screaming repeatedly, "Ah—help me!"

A follower of the black dragon opened his mouth and spat out a stream of water.

However, to the golden-red flames, the water and wood seemed to make no difference. The flames were not extinguished; instead, they ignited the water, causing sparks to fly.

Seeing the splashing golden-red flames, several black dragon followers showed expressions of fear and quickly scattered to avoid them.

With their companions retreating, the black dragon followers, engulfed in flames, naturally had no chance of survival.

"Nidhogg, King of the Black Dragons, save your followers..." After a few desperate pleas, he was completely engulfed by flames and turned to ashes in no time.

The body turned to ash, and the flames went out.

A moment of silence fell. The phoenix pattern carved on the stone gate seemed to be casting a cold glance at the intruders.

Several Black Dragon followers cautiously stepped forward, glanced down at the remaining ashes of their companions, exchanged a look, and saw lingering fear on each other's faces.

"What can we do?" someone asked. "We can't possibly withstand such flames!"

Another person said, "I should have realized that this altar must have defensive magic. Phoenix will not allow anyone to interrupt the resurrection ritual of his chosen one!"

The leader interrupted, "Don't worry, I was prepared."

As he spoke, he reached into his storage ring and took out a gray lantern.

The lantern has a simple design, like the work of a small town craftsman, with only the mysterious runes engraved on it indicating its extraordinary nature.

"Breaking the law with a lantern!" someone exclaimed in surprise.

The leader smiled: "That's right, it's the Magic-Breaking Lantern. With it, we can temporarily eliminate the defensive magic here."

"The more crucial element should be the lamp oil, right? Are you sure your lamp oil can affect the magic here?" someone asked.

“Of course, I have a bottle of lamp oil from the blessed treasure,” the leader said. “I’ve been waiting for the day it would come in handy, and clearly, that day is today.”

As he spoke, he took out a small bottle of lamp oil, carefully added it to the magic-breaking lantern, and then began chanting incantations.

After a while, when the incantation ended, the magic-breaking lantern immediately rose into a ball of gray flame.

The gray flame was inconspicuous, flickering from time to time, and even looked weak and powerless, but as the light shone on it, a subtle ripple immediately spread out.

"Ah, my magic shield is gone," a mage said, frowning. He had already moved away from the Dispelling Lantern beforehand, but his magic shield was still dispelled.

Leader: "That's normal. For ordinary magic shields, they will still be dispelled even if you are several meters away."

"But the magic on the door seems to still be there." The mage pointed to the faint red light emanating from the stone door.

"Don't rush," the leader said.

He carried a lantern as he approached the stone gate.

When he was almost touching the stone gate, the red glow on the stone gate immediately disappeared under the gray light of the Breaking Law Lantern, as if it had been suppressed by an invisible force.

He carefully reached out and touched the stone door.

As expected, the terrifying golden-red flames did not ignite again. Now, what stood before the black dragon's followers was merely an ordinary stone gate.

This made the Black Dragon followers' eyes light up. They looked at each other and saw excitement and anticipation in each other's eyes.

However, the leader quickly frowned again.

However, he discovered that the stone door itself was not ordinary. It was not only very heavy, but also had no handle or keyhole. It was tightly closed and could not be pushed open no matter how hard he tried, as if it could not be opened at all.

After a brief attempt, he immediately turned around and waved: "Big guy, use your strongest axe and your strongest strength to split this stone door open."

He then added, "You'd better hurry, I don't have much lamp oil left."

“No problem!” A burly black dragon follower, wielding a giant axe, declared, “In the name of Nidhogg, my black dragon power will surely shatter this Phoenix Gate!”

As he spoke, black dragon scales and barbs appeared on his arms, which then transformed into dragon claws, displaying a strength and power far beyond that of ordinary people. He then took a few steps forward, gripped the giant axe in his claws, roared, and slashed fiercely at the stone gate!

With a deafening roar, a crack appeared in the stone door. The burly man didn't pause, swinging his giant axe with astonishing speed, the heavy, sharp blade repeatedly striking the stone door. "Boom boom boom boom!"

The loud noise naturally reached inside the door.

Gao Jiano was still repeatedly chanting Cassandra's holy name when he heard the sound and was startled, so he quickly turned his head to look.

Stone Gate is clearly under attack.

But... who is attacking the stone gate?
An adventurer who happened to come here? Gaucano thought it was unlikely.

After all, in a place like the Kiso Mountains, if you randomly pick a hillside, it's highly likely that no one will visit it for several years. Even in the relatively remote areas close to human activity, the population density is close to zero most of the time.

He couldn't believe it was such a coincidence that an adventurer would arrive so soon after he entered. The most likely explanation was that the attack on the stone gate was premeditated.

After a moment's thought, Gaucano quickly came up with a possibility—a follower of Niederhogan.

He had heard Cassandra mention more than once the mortal enmity between Phoenix and Nidhogg, two powerful gods who had fought for countless years, and whose followers had inherited this relationship, always fighting to the death whenever they met.

Moreover, the two sides frequently hunted each other in order to curry favor with their respective gods.

Interrupting the resurrection ceremony of a Phoenix favored one would certainly be a golden opportunity for Nidhogg's followers to gain merit, and Nidhogg himself might even send a revelation or oracle to guide them to the altar.

Gaucano felt his guess was likely correct. Even if it wasn't, he couldn't just stand by and watch the stone gate be destroyed.

So while he was thinking, he rushed toward the stone gate and took out several items from his storage ring.

Ice powder, water, and a water-based staff.

He mixed the ice powder with water, then poured the water onto the stone gate while casting a spell.

Freeze!
With the help of the water-based staff, the freezing spell was completed quickly, and a layer of ice immediately condensed on the stone gate.

The ice mixed with ice-building powder was quite solid, but Gaucano's water supply was ultimately limited, so the amount of ice produced was naturally not much.

"Boom—boom—" Loud noises continued one after another, the sound was strong and rapid, and the cracks on the stone door gradually increased.

Gao Jiano quickly changed his mind and immediately moved the ice coffin over and placed it across the door.

Then pour water on it and recite the incantation for freezing.

The ice coffin was a full two and a half meters long and very heavy. When it condensed on the door, it immediately formed a large block of ice, which was extremely effective at blocking the door.

Gaucano continued chanting spells to reinforce the ice block. Then he chanted incantations to shape clay, using the clay to block the door as well, almost completely sealing off the passage.

After doing all that, he turned to look at the giant golden-red egg on the altar.

The giant egg lay silently in the flames.

Beneath it, most of the mysterious wood of the altar had already burned away. It seemed that the resurrection ritual would be completed soon.

Hopefully, the door will be blocked until the ceremony is complete.

Gaucano did not want to fight under these circumstances, especially since judging from the sound of the door being breached, the enemy's level should be similar to his own, or at least not too low.

After a while.

"Boom—" The sound of breaking down the door turned into the sound of breaking ground.

This means the attackers have broken through the stone gate and ice block, leaving only mud to block their way.

The mud obviously won't hold out for long.

Looking at the few remaining pieces of wood on the altar, Gaucano couldn't help but sigh.

He immediately grasped the Blood-Summoning Sword and began to pray in his heart: "Sunderland, Prince of the Wind, grant me the strength to stop the enemy..."

Temporary Enchantment: Thunderfury

[Effect: The next sword strike will unleash Thunder Fury, dealing massive area damage and significantly reducing the speed of those hit.]

Thunderous Fury.

Immediately following, another line of information appeared.

[Sunderland's Oracle: Kill Earth-type creatures of level 6 or higher]

The appearance of the oracle did not surprise Gaucano.

After all, "Thunder Fury" is a fairly powerful buff, and he's already gotten it for free once. If he gets it for free a second time, the Wind Prince would be too generous.

The appearance of the oracle was expected, but its contents made him frown.

Kill a level 6 or higher earth-type creature?
The first earth-based creatures that Gaucano thought of were earth element creatures.

Am I supposed to go and kill earth elemental creatures?
Putting aside the fact that level 6 and above earth elemental creatures are easy to find and kill, even if there were a heavily injured and dying high-level earth elemental creature right in front of him, Gao Jiano would not dare to kill it at all.

After all, he is the one named after the earth element.

If he were to indiscriminately kill an earth elementalist, he might incur divine punishment.

Moreover, the earth elementalist would certainly be friendly to him, so he wouldn't want to kill him.

Upon realizing this dilemma, Gaucano immediately gained a direct and profound understanding of the conflict between wind and earth, which explains why very few people can attain the sacred names of both.

However, he then realized that earth-type creatures were not limited to elemental creatures; earth-type magical beasts should also be included.

I might even be considered an earth-type creature...

Killing an earth-type magical beast wouldn't incur divine punishment, so it seems my only viable option is to hunt down a level seven earth-type magical beast.

Gaucano pondered for a moment, made some arrangements, and then, holding the Blood-Summoning Sword, hid in a corner far from Cassandra, waiting for the enemy to arrive.

After a few seconds.

"Boom!" A giant axe cleaved through the mud blocking the road.

Then, with a roar, the axe-wielding man dressed in black rushed to the corner and headed straight for Gaucano!

Several other men in black followed closely behind, accompanied by a mocking comment: "Clumsy concealment!"

They had clearly known Gaucano's location long ago.

This is not surprising, after all, Gaucano didn't have any particularly impressive hiding methods.

Therefore, Gao Gano did not hesitate. Upon seeing the enemy, he immediately activated Earth Skin and Blood Rush, and charged forward with the Blood Summoning Sword in hand.

"Clang!" The Blood-Summoning Sword clashed with the giant axe, producing a resounding clang.

The axe-wielder sneered, his black dragon claw-like arm unleashing tremendous power that made Gaucano's hands ache slightly.

But then came the thunderous explosion.

"Boom!" Accompanied by a dazzling light, several arcs of electricity shot out from the Blood Summoning Sword, sweeping across the front.

Under the influence of Thunder's Fury, the speed of the men in black all decreased sharply, their movements and reactions became much slower, and their expressions naturally changed as well.

At the same time, in an inconspicuous corner, three black steel piercing arrows floated up out of thin air.

"Whoosh—whoosh—" Two arrows flew with fierce force, one after the other, towards the axe-wielder and another man in black in the passage.

The axe-wielder quickly parried.

The other men in black also launched their attacks.

But at that moment, a third arrow shot out.

This arrow wasn't as powerful as the other two, but its target was still very close, arriving in an instant and hitting a cloth bag in the passageway.

"Boom!" A loud noise was heard.

The bag originally contained several inferior wind magic orbs, and as the arrow entered, a fierce storm immediately swept out.

Caught off guard, the men in black were also slowed down by the thunderous rage and were immediately thrown into the air, staggering about in the confined space.

The two previous black steel piercing arrows also hit their target at this moment.

"Ah!" A man in black in the passage was a beat too slow and was immediately shot in the abdomen.

The axe-wielder, however, was not so lucky.

He first parried the arrows, then was swept up by the storm, and was overwhelmed.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gao Jiano stepped forward again with his sword and beheaded him with one stroke!
Kill a Level 6 Human, Experience +300

Almost simultaneously, a man in black who had just gotten up in the passage pointed at Gao Jiano, and then several lines of information flashed by.

[Status Acquired: Curse of Pain (Level 6)]

Countermeasure: Curse of Agony (Level 6)

【Successful countermeasure】

As the curse countered, the man in black, who had just completed the spell, immediately let out a scream and a painful groan: "Ughhhhh—"

The pain caused by the curse of pain is rooted in the soul and far surpasses the pain of the body.

Under the influence of this painful sensation, Gao Jiano couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

Fortunately, he was wearing a pain suppression ring, which greatly reduced the effects of the pain curse, making it bearable for him.

(End of this chapter)