Mercenary Wars

Chapter 216 Yellow Sand
As it slammed the Desert Bishop into the wall, Little Black opened its massive jaws and bit into the magic shield.

As it exerted its power, its fangs repeatedly slashed and chiseled like short knives, causing the magic shield to flicker and gradually dim.

The Desert Bishop, however, remained calm and instead took out a small, translucent yellow bottle from his pocket.

Open the bottle.

"Wow—"

The yellow sand surged out of the bottle's mouth, instantly transforming into a vast expanse of flowing sand that spread in all directions, enveloping the Desert Bishop and turning him into a sand dune.

The sudden sandstorm caught Xiao Hei off guard, and he immediately had a mouthful of sand.

It couldn't help but vomit and backed away at the same time.

Just then, a chirping of insects suddenly rang out from beneath the yellow sand.

"hiss!"

"Hiss!" Then more insect chirps rang out along the direction of the shifting sands.

"Roar!" Little Black suddenly roared, jerking back its hind legs and swinging its huge paws to slam into a patch of yellow sand.

"Boom!" Yellow sand flew up, and then a sand scorpion appeared.

The sand scorpion had already been turned into a meat patty by Xiao Hei's slap, but there was no doubt that many more sand scorpions were lurking in the yellow sand, their hissing sounds rising and falling.

Gaucano was soon attacked by sand scorpions.

Fortunately, thanks to the protection of the Earth Skin, the venom of the sand scorpion had almost no effect on him.

As a massive level six earth-type magical beast, Xiao Hei was also limited in the damage inflicted by the Sand Scorpion.

Realizing this, Little Black launched another attack on the Desert Bishop, slamming its giant claws against the sand dunes.

"Boom!" The sand pile collapsed with a deafening roar.

But the figure of the Desert Bishop had vanished, and the sand dunes were now empty.

Apart from Gao Jiano and Xiao Hei, the huge room was now filled with nothing but endless yellow sand.

Gaucano frowned as he watched the yellow sand surging up like ocean waves.

Just then, the yellow sand at the edge of the room suddenly surged, and then more than a dozen sand pillars rose up.

"Whoosh—" As the yellow sand flowed, the shape of the sand pillars changed rapidly, eventually turning into more than a dozen identical human figures.

The dozen or so figures were all dressed in long robes, holding staffs, and radiating blue light; they were none other than the Desert Bishops.

"It seems you came prepared!" a dozen or so desert bishops said in unison, their voices filled with anger and resentment. Their hoarse voices overlapped and echoed repeatedly in the room.

At the same time, they simultaneously began casting spells, chanting incantations.

Little Black roared and charged toward the nearest desert bishop.

Gaogano also started his blood-burning sprint, heading straight for a desert bishop.

A devastating blow!

"Boom!" The Blood-Summoning Sword slashed down fiercely, and the magical shield on the Desert Bishop's body shattered instantly.

Then his figure turned into sand.

fake.

Gaucano charged toward a desert bishop once more.

However, the surrounding yellow sand clearly hindered his speed. Even in his Blood Burning Sprint state, his speed was still somewhat slow.

The Desert Bishop had already completed his spellcasting after he had defeated the two clones.

More than a dozen fireballs hurtled towards them.

"Boom!" Gao Jiano was instantly engulfed by flames.

Fireball spell of the fourth ring!

Fortunately, only one of the dozen or so fireballs was real; otherwise, it would have been enough to turn Gaucano into charred remains.

Even so, being hit by a fourth-circle fireball is still quite painful.

Gao Jiano quickly activated Blood Regeneration, while looking up at the figure of the Desert Bishop who had cast True Fireball.

"Not bad," the Desert Bishop sneered. "I hope you're so lucky next time!"

Before he finished speaking, the yellow sand surged again, engulfing the figures of the dozen or so desert bishops.

Before long, a dozen or so desert bishops reappeared.

They remained as before, but there was no doubt that the true Desert Bishop had changed his position.

A dozen or so desert bishops began chanting incantations again.

As the incantation rang out, Gao Jiano's expression changed.

Mind shock!

He hadn't encountered this spell many times, but the impression it left on him was extremely deep.

Mind Shock is undoubtedly a troublesome spell, especially when used by a high-level user. It is not only difficult to defend against, but also extremely powerful, causing at least a moment of disorientation, which can be fatal in battle.

Fortunately, the spell's incantation is rather long.

Moreover, Gaucano, who had experienced the blood sacrifice incident, was also prepared for mental attacks.

After determining that the Desert Bishop was about to cast a Mind Shock spell, Gao Jiano did not hesitate and immediately took out a spell scroll from his storage ring.

[Item: Spell Scroll - Mind Protection]

[Level: Fourth Ring]

……

Mental health protection in the Fourth Ring Road.

Needless to say, the price is exorbitant.

Fortunately, they were bought at the Raven Town black market. The curse of ill-gotten gains reduced the price considerably, so Gaucano bought a lot.

He rolled up the spell, and a faint golden light immediately enveloped him.

If he were to put on the blindfold at this point, Gaucano would be confident that he could completely resist the spiritual shock of the Desert Bishop.

However, the side effects of the blindfold were considerable, and after some consideration, he decided to take the risk.

He believed that with the support of the Fourth Ring Mental Protection, even in the worst-case scenario, he would not be powerless to fight back.

At worst, I can just take a bottle of tonic.

After putting on mental protection, Gao Jiano drank another bottle of anger potion.

He then took out three black steel piercing arrows, each with four clusters of swift breeze, holy oil, and blood arrowheads, and nocked them to his powerful bow.

After his previous attempt, he estimated that this should be enough to break through the Desert Bishop's magical shield.

Pull the bowstring to its limit and aim at the three desert bishops.

Aim and fire!

"call out--"

With a whooshing sound, three black steel piercing arrows shot out.

"Boom boom boom!" The figures of the three desert bishops collapsed one after another.

At the same time, Xiao Hei also successfully destroyed one of the desert bishop's clones.

The efficiency is acceptable.

Gao Jiano continued his efforts.

Three more black steel piercing arrows, swift breeze, holy oil, blood arrowhead, aimed and fired.

The three desert bishop clones then disintegrated.

Having defeated six clones of the Desert Bishop in succession, yet still unable to find the real Desert Bishop, Gaogano frowned deeply.

That's a bit unlucky!
The Mind Shock spell was almost complete.

Gao Jiano immediately gritted his teeth and decided to take a mental shock before firing.

Let's see if the desert bishop's sand is faster, or if our own wind is faster!

This time, Gao Jiano only took out one Black Steel Piercing Arrow, Swift Breeze Fully Loaded.

Aim and fire!

While gathering his strength, Gao Jiano waited anxiously in his heart.

Half a second later, the Desert Bishop completed his spell.

Mysterious runes composed of dark yellow light appeared before each desert bishop.

Gaucano was also poised to unleash his arrow after enduring a mental shock and finding the true Desert Bishop.

But at that moment, a hint of hesitation appeared on the faces of the desert bishops.

Clearly, the Desert Bishop had also realized Gaucano's intentions.

As long as he uses this mental shock on Gaucano, Gaucano will be able to immediately confirm his true location.

Could a mental shock kill Gaucano?

Without mental protection, the Desert Bishop would probably still have some confidence.

But looking at the faint golden glow on Gaucano, the Desert Bishop felt that this was most likely impossible.

If they fail to kill or severely injure Gaucano in one fell swoop, they will likely be the ones in trouble next.

After a brief hesitation, the Desert Bishop adjusted his tactics.

He aimed his mind shock at Little Black.

Almost at the same time, after swatting away another Desert Bishop clone, Xiao Hei turned around and rushed towards another Desert Bishop clone.

When Gao Jiano saw the Desert Bishop directing his spell at Xiao Hei, he was startled.

After all, the mental attributes of monsters are usually significantly lower than those of humans, making them more vulnerable to mental attacks.

Little Black would most likely not be able to withstand the Desert Bishop's attack.

In the blink of an eye, Gaucano had no time to think it through.

Since Xiao Hei and the Desert Bishop changed direction almost simultaneously, Gao Jiano subconsciously assumed that Xiao Hei had chosen the right target, causing the Desert Bishop to also change his target.

Therefore, his first reaction was to aim his bow and arrow at the desert bishop that Little Black was charging towards.

He then realized something was wrong.

Because long before Xiao Hei faced the Desert Bishop, the Desert Bishop had already aimed his mental shock at Xiao Hei. This clearly shows that the Desert Bishop's change of target was unrelated to Xiao Hei's choice.

Besides, the hesitation on the Desert Bishop's face had not yet faded.

This seems to indicate that Xiao Hei did not choose the right target; it was still rushing towards the Desert Bishop's clone, and it's even possible that the Desert Bishop on this side was a fake.

After all, if Xiao Hei really chose the true form of the Desert Bishop, the Desert Bishop would definitely attack him without hesitation.

With that in mind, Gao Jiano changed his target again, aiming at a desert bishop behind Xiao Hei.

There are two desert bishops here.

His intuition told him that the real person was one of them.

As for whether he was actually aiming at the real person, that's up to fate.

shoot!
"call out--"

With a whooshing sound, the black steel piercing arrow shot out!

At the same time, the Desert Bishop also launched an attack on Little Black, sending a Mind Shock rune straight at the black bear.

Xiao Hei collapsed to the ground instantly.

But then, fear appeared on the face of the Desert Bishop.

Without a doubt, Gaucano chose the right target; the Black Steel Piercing Arrow was flying toward the true form of the Desert Bishop!

The Desert Bishop attempted to respond.

But the ten black steel piercing arrows, aided by the swift breeze, were so fast that he had no chance to move and they arrived in an instant.

"what!"

The Desert Bishop let out a scream as the Black Steel Piercing Arrow pierced through the magic shield and struck him squarely in the chest.

The burning effect of the sacred oil is then triggered.

"Hiss—" Thick smoke rose up.

At the same time, Gaucano rushed forward, holding the Blood-Summoning Sword in his right hand and a bottle of Holy Oil in his left.

Under the scorching heat of the holy oil, the desert bishop was in a panic and didn't even have time to replenish his magical shield. Instead, he cast an instant-cast spell.

The touch of withering.

Struck by the spell, Gaucano felt a sudden weakness in his body and almost fell over.

He immediately used Blood Regeneration.

At the same time, seeing that the Desert Bishop had no magical shield, he simply threw out the Holy Oil.

"Crack!" The oil bottle shattered, and the holy oil was instantly spilled all over the desert bishop.

"Aaaaah—" the Desert Bishop screamed in agony.

At this moment, Gaucano gripped his sword with both hands, rushed forward, and slashed down fiercely on the head.

A devastating blow!

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the skull of the Desert Bishop was instantly split open.

However, as an eighth-level undead, the Desert Bishop's bones were obviously more solid. When Gao Gano swung his full strength, it only left a shallow crack.

Gaucano quickly followed up with several more heavy blows.

"Boom boom boom!"

Under the relentless onslaught of the Blood-Summoning Sword, the Desert Bishop's skull was finally cleaved open.

A line of information immediately appeared.

Kill level 8 mindless undead, experience +200

Upon seeing this message, Gao Jiano was taken aback.

Unthinking dead?

impossible.

The Desert Bishop doesn't look like a mindless undead at all.

Just as Gao Jiano was filled with doubts, he suddenly noticed a sand scorpion emerging from the yellow sand not far away and crawling straight towards the door.

As it approached the area of ​​effect of the Fabion's Insignia Ring, the sand scorpion paused noticeably before continuing, but at a slower pace.

Logically speaking, sand scorpions are not considered evil creatures and should not be affected by exorcisms.

Now that it is influenced by the Fabien emblem ring, the answer is obvious.

To entrust one's soul to another.

Without a doubt, the Desert Bishop had possessed the sand scorpion with his own soul, intending to deceive people and escape in this way.

It can be confirmed that this is a blessing ability. After all, in the realm of magic, soul possession is an extremely profound and almost impossible-to-learn forbidden knowledge, which even an eighth-level mage would not be able to master.

The fact that the Desert Bishop not only used it, but did so so quickly and subtly, clearly suggests that it could only be the power of blessing.

In fact, he almost fooled Gaucano.

Surrounded by yellow sand and scorpions roaming everywhere, it wouldn't be surprising if one crawled towards the door. It was entirely possible that it used the sand and its kind as cover to leave the church and wander a little further away. Even considering only the area around the water cellar ruins, it would be almost impossible for anyone to find this tiny sand scorpion again.

Unfortunately, "cognition" allowed Gaucanor to immediately detect the anomaly, and he then made a judgment based on the reaction of the sand scorpion near the Fabien's Ring of Signature.

Seeing the sand scorpion hastily crawling towards the door, Gao Gano's lips curled slightly, and he got up and chased after it.

"Hiss—" The sand scorpion seemed to sense something and let out a terrified chirp. At the same time, it sped up, burrowing into the nearby yellow sand as it continued to crawl towards the door.

How fast can a sand scorpion go?

In the blink of an eye, Gaucano had caught up and reached out to grab it.

"Hiss—hiss—" The sand scorpion was then pulled out of the sand, struggling and hissing in vain.

At the same time, it frequently swung its pincers and tail spikes to attack Gaugano.

However, since Gaucano was still in the state of being in the Earth Skin, his palms were as hard as a rock and almost immune to toxins, so he was naturally not harmed.

Seeing that its attacks were ineffective, the sand scorpion even tried to disguise itself, constantly emitting insect chirps, seemingly trying to mislead Gaugano into thinking that it was a real, ordinary sand scorpion.

It wasn't until Gaucano sarcastically remarked, "Your Excellency, I never imagined you were such an excellent sand scorpion performer," that things changed.

(End of this chapter)