Mercenary Wars

Chapter 206 Fireball
On Gao Jiano's hand, the Pain Suppression Ring gleamed brightly. Then, while enduring the pain and cursing, he charged straight at the cursed one with burning blood.

The cursed person was completely unprepared for the curse's counterattack. He stumbled and nearly fell, and was now leaning against the wall, panting heavily as he struggled to reach for his storage ring.

But with the speed of his Blood Burning Sprint, he didn't have much time to react.

He had just pulled out a spell scroll, but before he could even open it, Gao Jiano was already close, and the Blood Summoning Sword slashed down on him!

A devastating blow!

"boom!"

Kill a Level 6 Human, Experience +300

Undoubtedly, for these black dragon followers, the primary task was to disrupt Cassandra's resurrection ritual.

They traveled a long way, risking great danger, just to curry favor with Nidhogg.

If the resurrection ritual is completed, all their efforts will be in vain.

At this moment, the wood on the altar had burned down to almost nothing, and the sacred flames were showing signs of dying out; the ceremony was about to be completed.

Therefore, more than one of the Black Dragon followers rushed to the altar immediately after getting up and took out various items from their storage rings, some of which were spell scrolls, and others were buckets of black water, presumably to extinguish the flames on the altar.

Fortunately, their speed was greatly reduced under the influence of Thunder Fury.

Gao Jiano took out a black steel piercing arrow, coated with a blood-red arrowhead and a swift breeze, and threw it.

"call out--"

With a whooshing sound, the arrow traced a winding trajectory and shot towards several black dragon followers.

Each arrow carries no more than three gusts of swift wind, and they are only thrown, so their speed is not particularly fast.

But the Black Dragon followers were not fast either.

Slowed down by Thunderfury, even these slow arrows posed a significant threat to them, forcing them to either dodge or parry.

Even so, two of the Black Dragon's followers were not quick enough to react and were hit by arrows.

One of them was shot in the back, triggering the blood arrow and killing him instantly.

Kill a Level 5 Human, Experience +250

Another black dragon follower, his body covered in scales, ignored the threat of arrows and continued charging toward the altar.

Gaucano naturally paid close attention to him, charging forward with burning blood while guiding his arrows towards the sparse areas of scales.

"Clang!" The arrow struck the Black Dragon follower's buttocks, barely breaking through his defenses.

Although he barely broke through the defenses, the triggering of the blood arrow still tore open a bloody wound on the buttocks of the Black Dragon Cultist, causing him to scream in agony.

Just then, Gaucano arrived with his sword.

A devastating blow!

"Clang!" The Black Dragon follower hurriedly swung his sword to parry, thus avoiding being killed outright.

However, due to the hasty response, he couldn't withstand the force of the heavy blow, and coupled with his recent injury, he was immediately knocked down.

Gao Jiano pressed forward, slashing fiercely with his sword.

Kill a Level 6 Human, Experience +300

Slay another enemy.

But when Gao Jiano turned around and looked back, his expression changed drastically.

However, a follower of the Black Dragon was holding a short spear, aiming at the altar, adjusting his position while assuming a throwing stance, ready to fire.

The tip of the short spear still faintly emitted a cold light, as if it were imbued with some kind of magic.

As their eyes met, the Black Dragon follower did not hesitate and did not adjust his position. Instead, he gritted his teeth and threw the short spear in his hand with all his might!
"Whoosh—" With a whoosh, the short spear shot out, heading straight for the altar!
The short spear was incredibly fast, arriving almost instantly, followed by a deafening roar: "Boom!"

But the phoenix statue blocked the short spear. Only then did Gaucano understand why the statue's wings were spread out like a shield; perhaps it was not a coincidence, but rather a deliberate design by the builders.

The Black Dragon follower clearly underestimated the sturdiness of the Phoenix statue. Even with the astonishing momentum and lightning speed of his hurled spear, it still failed to pierce the statue, the end getting stuck in the wings.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but show a look of annoyance. Fortunately, he immediately took out another short spear of the same kind, then quickly adjusted his position, found a corner where he could directly aim at the golden-red giant egg, and charged up his strength to throw it again.

Gao Jiano reacted immediately, sprinting at full speed.

He was actually gambling. Because the short spear was very fast, in the split second, he didn't have much time to think and rushed towards a certain position almost instinctively.

It turned out that his choice was correct.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared in the path of the spear and reached out to grab it.

"Boom!" A loud crash of metal hitting rock was heard as the short spear slammed into Gaucano's chest.

This short spear is made of black steel, and the spearhead is clearly enchanted in an extraordinary way. Combined with its ferocious force, even the skin of the earth would find it difficult to withstand.

Gao Jiano felt a chill in his chest as the short spear pierced right through his body!

The first sensation of being pierced through the body was not pain; Gao Jiano only felt coldness and horror.

Without hesitation, he immediately drew his short spear and used Blood Regeneration on the Blood Summoning Sword.

Fortunately, the spear did not pierce his heart. As the Blood Regeneration took effect, the wound healed rapidly, but unprecedented pain followed, causing him to groan involuntarily.

"Blood Regeneration!" The black dragon follower who threw the short spear recognized Blood Regeneration and exclaimed in surprise, "You are a descendant of Fodoran?"

Gaucano ignored him.

The intense pain left his mind blank, and he didn't immediately recall that Fodoran was the surname of a blood elf royal family, nor did he grasp any of the unspoken secrets.

The Black Dragon followers were astonished by Gaucano's blood-devouring regeneration, but their actions did not stop there. Instead, they took out their short spears once more.

But to Gaucano's surprise, he neither attacked the altar nor Gaucano, but instead targeted his own companion.

"Whoosh—" The short spear whistled through the air.

His companion was caught off guard and was immediately killed.

Another wounded follower of the Black Dragon, upon seeing this, turned and fled, cursing all the while: "In the name of Mosa, in the name of Nidhogg, in the name of the gods, I curse you! Andrew Novak, I curse you!"

With a cold smile, Andrew threw his short spear again, mercilessly killing his last companion.

Gao Jiano was taken aback upon seeing this.

"I will surely become the favored one of the Black Dragon King, and this credit should naturally belong to me alone! You foolish and cowardly trash are only fit to be my spellcasting materials!" Andrew said, as his entire body turned pitch black.

As his skin turned black, the corpses on the ground seemed to sense it and also turned black. Andrew walked towards one of the corpses, touched it, and the corpse immediately turned into black energy like smoke, merging entirely into his body.

After absorbing the corpse, Andrew's appearance immediately changed. The patterns of scales vaguely appeared on his dark skin, his fingertips became sharp, and there were two slight bumps on his forehead, making him look somewhat like a dragon descendant.

He then walked toward another corpse.

Gao Jiano also realized what was going on.

Although he didn't know exactly what Andrew's methods were, there was no doubt that he had to stop Andrew from continuing to absorb the corpses.

Therefore, he rushed over without hesitation.

Andrew didn't confront him head-on, but instead headed straight for the nearby corpses. The slowing effect of Thunder Fury had worn off, and his speed was in no way inferior to Blood Rush.

In no time, Andrew absorbed the corpses of all the Black Dragon followers.

After absorbing all the corpses, Andrew's appearance changed completely.

At this time, he was over two meters tall, with muscles bulging all over his body, tall and strong.

Not only that, his body was completely covered in black scales, he had two sharp horns on his head, and a tail that swung behind him from time to time, making him look like a black dragon descendant.

Moreover, he is a pure-blooded descendant of the Black Dragon.

"This feeling is wonderful!" Andrew clenched his fist, which resembled a dragon's claw, and muttered to himself, "If that idiot hadn't been burned to ashes when he walked in, I could be experiencing a purer form of black dragon bloodline right now!"

As he spoke, he suddenly turned around and, like a black dragon swinging its tail, kicked Gaucano.

"Boom!" Gao Jiano's chest injury had just healed when he was kicked hard again.

The immense force immediately caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood and fly away.

"Boom!" He crashed into the wall with another loud bang, and his whole body sank into the rocks.

If it weren't for the Earth Skin, that kick alone would have been enough to shatter Gaucano into pieces.

Even with the skin of the earth, Gaucano was still dazed and confused, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, and the wounds left on his chest by the dragon's sharp claws were still burning with pain.

This shows how powerful Andrew was at that time.

Gao Jiano even suspected that after absorbing several corpses, Andrew's current strength had reached the equivalent of level ten or even higher!

Only someone with such strength could inflict such severe injury on themselves with a single blow.

However, Gaucano believed that Andrew's current state was not permanent and would likely subside soon. After all, gaining several levels by absorbing a few corpses was simply unrealistic.

Looking at Gaucano, who was embedded in the rock and looked lifeless, Andrew sneered.

He ignored Gaucano and turned to look at the altar—which was almost completely burned out.

For him, Gaucano was completely irrelevant; interrupting the resurrection ritual and destroying the giant egg were the most urgent tasks.

If he can do this, he will gain the favor of the Black Dragon King and has a high probability of becoming a benefactor!
Thinking of this, and glancing at the nearly burnt-out wood, Andrew's dragon-blooded vertical pupils revealed a fiery glint as he prepared to attack the altar again.

At this time, Gaucano also took action again.

He knew that now, he had no choice but to resort to his last resort—the Fireball.

He had already made his decision the moment Andrew kicked him away. He then pulled out a Fireball and a Blacksteel Piercing Arrow, imbued with a swift breeze, and hurled them at Andrew with all his might.

Andrew didn't take it seriously at first.

After all, in his current state, the scales covering his body were tantamount to wearing a set of heavy black steel armor, maximizing his defense. No, a more accurate description would be that he had transformed into black steel; ordinary attacks would not only fail to cause him any significant damage, but would be unlikely to even break through his defenses.

But when he caught a glimpse of the ball's bright red color out of the corner of his eye, he immediately changed color and hurriedly dodged to the side as if avoiding a snake.

Gaucano was prepared.

As Andrew dodged, a swift breeze immediately guided him to change direction.

The Fireball and the Blacksteel Piercing Arrow both changed direction, the Fireball heading straight for Andrew, and the arrow heading straight for the Fireball.

About a tenth of a second later, the sharp tip of the Black Steel Piercing Arrow struck the Fireball Orb squarely. The smooth, gem-like surface of the orb instantly cracked open, and at the same time, a burst of sun-like heat erupted from the crack!

"Boom!" With a deafening roar that shook the earth, dazzling flames burst forth from the Explosive Orb, forming a blazing ball of light that expanded rapidly at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

Andrew tried his best to dodge, but no matter how fast he was, he couldn't keep up with the expanding light. He screamed as he was engulfed by the light.

Even dozens of meters away, Gaugano felt a shock and intense heat, which made him raise his hand to block it, while squinting at the altar.

The fireball spell was incredibly powerful, but fortunately, the phoenix statue was sturdy enough that its large wings blocked almost all of the impact. The altar itself was also quite solid, and being a fire-based magic—at least it appeared to be—so the resurrection ritual was unaffected.

Moreover, the resurrection ritual was nearing its end, and almost all the wood had disappeared in the golden-red flames, as if it had been taken away by the gods as offerings.

As the flames gradually subsided, the golden-red egg became as transparent as a cicada's wing, revealing the vaguely visible, imposing figure of a red-haired woman lying inside with her eyes closed. Without a doubt, she was the newly born Cassandra!

Two seconds later.

Having recovered from his severe injuries, Gaogano stood before the altar, shield in hand, watching Andrew's location warily.

As the smoke from the Fireball dissipated, Andrew's figure came into view.

Having taken a level 8 Fireball at close range, his condition was clearly poor. He was covered in wounds, and even his tail had been blown off in half, slowly dripping blood.

He glared at Gaugano ahead and roared, "You're dead!"

Before he finished speaking, a ball of black flame began to brew in his mouth.

"Boom—" Black flames surged forth.

Gaucano held his shield atop the platform.

However, under the scorching heat of the black flames, the shield melted away in no time.

The black flames burned directly onto his body.

Even the earth's skin cannot withstand such scorching heat.

Just a few seconds later, Gao Jiano felt he could not take it anymore and instinctively wanted to retreat.

"Crack!" Just then, a crisp sound suddenly came from the altar.

However, a crack appeared on the giant egg!
"Crack—" Cracks spread rapidly, covering the golden-red giant egg in the blink of an eye, densely packed!
Andrew's pupils contracted.

At the same time, the giant egg shattered!
Accompanied by surging golden-red flames, a fiery red figure, like a phoenix descending to earth, shot out from it!

A giant, snow-white foot shattered the flames and kicked Andrew hard!
"Boom!" Andrew screamed in agony, and was immediately kicked into the rock wall by a giant white foot that stepped on his face!
(End of this chapter)