Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 175 A Timely Rescue
Alessandro was dull-witted, idle, and pampered, having never experienced any real affairs. The lord's intention was merely to use him as a mascot to maintain order in the city of Ries; the new official would arrive in a few days.

“Even though he’s a complete idiot,” Gerald said, “he still has to be saved.”

As members of the Temple of Light in the North, their actions today will be investigated afterward. Therefore, they cannot remain indifferent, or they will break ties with the local lord.

Conversely, successfully rescuing Alessandro could effectively ease tensions between the two sides.

Iser sighed, "It's already like this, let's just go for it!"

The Watcher pushed open the attic window, her graceful figure leaping out to block the sled that was about to leave. She planted her sword in the snow, assuming a confrontational stance. Her long golden hair fluttered in the wind, and the girl's dashing figure immediately attracted the enemy's attention.

Gerus and the other priests of light cast Ignore and Obscure spells on themselves, then quickly approached from both sides. By the time the mercenaries reacted, they found themselves surrounded from the outside.

Su Ming lay on the ground, quietly observing everything. He felt a little better then, realizing that there were still capable people among them.

A fight was about to break out. Suddenly, the door burst open, and the novice mercenary dragged a hostage out of the room. He held a dagger to the hostage's neck, his voice trembling, "Stop it, all of you! Let us leave!"

Acosta glanced back, his expression instantly changing. He cursed, "You big idiot!"

The woman being held hostage by this novice was a mature woman with an exceptionally striking presence. Her clothes were covered in dirt, yet their quality was still evident.

Iser initially thought the person being held hostage would be the fat man Alessandro, but when he looked up, he was astonished as Acosta—it was the second princess of the Cold Mountain Kingdom, Daphne Griffith!
Isher was immediately bewildered. They had come solely to investigate the abduction of young girls, yet they had suddenly encountered this situation.

But things were even more chaotic for Acosta and the mercenaries. What was already a suicidal scheme, something they absolutely couldn't let anyone know, had now been deliberately exposed. He didn't know if the princess would be rescued, but they were all definitely going to be torn to pieces!
"Fuck your mother!" A mid-level mercenary slammed the idiot newbie to the ground with a slap, and the blade cut a shallow wound on Princess Daphne's neck, from which blood began to seep out.

But the veteran mercenary reacted quickly; given the current situation, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go all the way. He drew his knife, swiftly pressed it against Daphne's neck, and seized the princess again.

Now that things have come to this, they have no way out!
Acosta was equally furious. He turned to Isher, who was blocking his way, and said, "Let us go! Otherwise—" He raised his hand slightly, preparing to have the mercenary holding Daphne hostage stab her and force the girl in front of him to give in.

All the mercenaries watched the standoff between the two with bated breath. Su Ming quietly looked up and met Iser's gaze.

The next moment, Su Ming sprang up, pulled a shotgun from the basket, and switched the magazine to the right-side slug.

Otherworldly armor is common. All the mercenaries here, including the security team members, wear different styles of leather armor, with two of them also wearing an extra layer of chainmail.

After suffering a setback against armor last time, Violet helped Su Ming modify shotgun bullets, creating these mithril slugs with armor-piercing capabilities.

Before Su Ming had fully stood up, he fired at the mercenary who was holding the princess hostage. Smoke billowed up, and the bullet struck Alessandro in the back with a bang.

Alessandro?
Su Ming was dumbfounded. Just as he fired his gun, the temporary sheriff, who was obviously also pretending to be unconscious, suddenly jumped up and rushed towards the door with an agility that did not match his obese body, and ran right into the muzzle of Su Ming's gun.

Alessandro's robes were torn at the back, revealing the exquisitely enchanted armor hidden beneath. The mithril slug had caused considerable damage, but had not penetrated.

"Damn rich people, they really know how to save their lives!" Su Ming cursed inwardly.

The UTS-15 shotgun made a crisp, melodious sound, quite different from the firearms of this other world. The mercenary standing outside the door didn't realize he was being shot. He held Princess Daphne's neck with one hand, turned around, and drew his secondary weapon with the other hand to meet Alessandro's attack as he rushed out from inside.

Alessandro was hit by a bullet but only staggered; instead, his forward momentum increased! Holding his greatsword, he continued charging toward the only exit, ignoring everything else.

At this rate, Princess Daphne is definitely in trouble! Su Ming's blood pressure instantly spiked. His side had Iser and Gerus, a godsend of a favorable fishing pond, yet this guy had managed to cause such a mess. And to make matters worse, this fatso's broad frame completely blocked Su Ming's firing range.

Without hesitation, he quickly loaded the gun and fired a shot that struck Alessandro squarely in the head.

The acting sheriff's helmet glowed with magical light, stopping the bullet, but the massive shock made the fat sheriff's eyes glaze over, and he immediately stopped moving. Su Ming showed no mercy, firing another shot to finish off Alessandro's helmet, sending the fat idiot to the ground.

The ironclad rule of the battlefield: take out your incompetent teammates first!

****
The mercenary's attention was completely focused on Alessandro; after all, given the man's weight, a full-force greatsword strike was no joke. So much so that when the fat man collapsed at his feet, he didn't really understand what had happened.

This did not prevent him from quickly pulling Daphne aside and moving to the side, hiding himself behind the wall.

Silent Vision!

Su Ming activated his X-ray vision and fired a shot through the wall through the cracks in the bricks. The mercenary who was holding Daphne hostage didn't have the same level of protective gear as Alessandro, and was easily pierced through the head by a mithril-enhanced bullet, collapsing to the ground.

Su Ming lunged forward, pulling the princess several meters away. He then hoisted her onto his back and ran outside. All the mercenaries present immediately attacked him, but Su Ming ignored them and just kept running.

Two swords slashed from the side, a golden afterimage passing by him, but Iser's greatsword met them, blocking the enemy for him!

Someone launched a surprise attack from above, but just as they were about to get close, they were kicked in the face by two unexpected hooves. The unicorn flapped its wings and cut into the battlefield from the air!
Mercenaries approached from the other side. A lithe figure landed beside Su Ming. The priestess, Jelus, raised her scepter, and a white halo enveloped the three of them—divine protection!

Outside the protective circle, four priests, led by Zefrin, joined the attack. Rapid beams of light covered the entire area, interspersed with the golden, leaping figures of the Watchers. Utilizing her teammates' cooperation, she easily closed in on the mercenaries, proving utterly invincible.

Su Ming handed the still-shaken Daphne to Gerus and prepared to return to the battle, only to find that the people of the temple had the situation under control and half of the mercenaries had already fallen to the ground.

He observed carefully but found no trace of a puppeteer.

Acosta, the leader, took the hits thanks to his superior protective gear and retreated to the back of the crowd. Su Ming raised his hand to shoot, but noticed the broken oil drums at his feet. Much of the black oil had flowed into the cellar ventilation openings, seeping into the basement.

If the bullet ignites the fire, the girls imprisoned in the cellar will be implicated.

Acosta's face was filled with resentment. "If that's the case, then none of us should live!" He raised his hand and ignited the oil with a small fireball.

Flames erupted, spreading along the oil to the merchant's feet. The expensive fur on Akos's body ignited, and he was instantly engulfed in flames. Yellow fire snakes snaked into the ground amidst thick black smoke, followed by the girls' gasps of alarm.

Su Ming immediately looked at Gerus beside him, only to find that she was also looking at him. Their eyes met, clearly indicating that neither of them had any means to extinguish the fire.

A priest quickly cast a water-based freezing rain spell, but it was to no avail; more and more things inside the house began to catch fire.

A white unicorn descended from the sky, flapping its wings.

"Vacuum Ring!" A large amount of air was forcibly displaced, and the flames, deprived of their oxygen source, were abruptly extinguished. Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief, and the remaining priests immediately used divine magic to cool the area. The thick smoke quickly dissipated, leaving only scattered flames.

Su Ming stepped forward. The merchant Acosta was burned beyond recognition, his limbs twitching in agony. He looked at Su Ming and the priests, a chilling smile suddenly spreading across his face.

"What are you up to now?" Su Ming pressed the gun against Acosta's head.

The unicorn also came over, eager to stomp on him with its hooves.

"Ha, ha!" Acosta grinned, revealing his yellow teeth, and just stared at them with a silly grin.

A priest entered the cellar intending to rescue the girls, but was shocked by what he saw inside. "Alchemical explosives!" he hurriedly warned.

Damn it! Su Ming hurriedly pulled Qi Luo back, but it was too late. The house in front of them was completely lifted up, and the shockwave spread out, carrying countless fragments of broken bricks and tiles that shot in all directions.

Su Ming and the unicorn were thrown into the air, seemingly flying a great distance before crashing to the ground. He was surrounded by screams, and it took him a while to recover and regain his vision.

He stood up and found himself fifty meters away from the explosion site. The unicorn got up beside him, shaking off the dust.

Su Ming reached into his collar and pulled out the Refraction Necklace; sure enough, the crystal on it was shattered. In the rush just now, there wasn't time to cast any spells; he could only activate the Refraction Necklace's shield.

Fortunately, Gerus was right behind them; the priestess hadn't dispelled her protective barrier. She unleashed her full power, shielding them from the subsequent blast.

Gerus put away her divine protection. At such close range, she had suffered quite a bit, but both she and Princess Daphne were unharmed.

Gerus turned to look at Su Ming and the unicorn, and they nodded to each other.

The other priests, who were not as close as Su Ming and Qi Luo, suffered injuries of varying degrees but were not seriously hurt. Iser, on the other hand, simply plunged his greatsword into the air, taking the brunt of the explosion unscathed, and also protecting his companions beside him.

But the priest who first gave the warning, the girl in the cellar, and the sheriff and his team members in the room all perished.

This result is regrettable; the viciousness of desperate criminals should not be underestimated in any world.

Su Ming bowed in the direction of the sacrifice, then patted Qi Luo and climbed onto the unicorn's back.

We're leaving right away.

"Why?" Qi Luo asked, puzzled. She ran to a corner of the courtyard wall, picked up her clothes, then flapped her wings and took off.

"I tried to cast the Netherworld Shield during the explosion," Su Ming explained. "Although I didn't have time, I'm not sure if it generated any magical fluctuations."

The unicorn stomped on the wall it had just cleared to accelerate, [They probably didn't notice.]

"It's hard to say," Su Ming said.

Pretending not to notice, then suddenly attacking when they get close—Iser is absolutely capable of doing that, given his shrewdness. Su Ming is already afraid of this kind of high-level game, so leaving is the best option.

"I was originally planning to have Gerald do a follow-up check-up on my shoulder blade," the unicorn said regretfully.

A streak of light flashed by, and Qiluo, with lightning speed, caught it.

"Amazing!" Su Ming clapped his hands.

With his necromancer abilities, he recognized it as a soul that had flown out from Alessandro's body in the house that had just exploded.

"I learned it by catching horseflies when I was little," Qiluo replied. "Strange, that fat man's soul floated away so fast? It's the first time I've ever seen that!"

After a normal death, the soul escapes and floats up slowly, then drifts around nearby.

"It's probably some kind of trap set up by these nobles," Su Ming guessed. "They want to retrieve souls, and have the deceased speak with them and leave last words?"

Speaking of which, he also asked Miao Xin to find Si Ran's soul on Earth, so that he might have a chance to chat with his old friend.

The necromancer is indeed a profession that blurs the lines between life and death, Su Ming thought to himself.

Qiluo put the ball of light back into the air, only to find that it no longer moved.

"It seems you interrupted the recycling process," Su Ming said.

Although Alessandro nearly killed Princess Daphne, given the circumstances, his escape was understandable. The unicorn took out a small bottle and put it in, saying, "I'll perform a ritual for him later, so he won't say I interfered with his return to heaven."

****
On the ground, Iser watched the figure disappear into the distance. The alchemist had been so passionately devoted to her the last time they met, but this time he left without even a word. Something felt very wrong.

The fact that she was recognized by the unicorn was especially remarkable. The adventurer community is a mixed bag, with many crossing moral boundaries. Those who can maintain their integrity within the Silver Faction are few and far between, and those who uphold pure white, lawful goodness are unheard of.

But she had no time to think further. The surviving priests were healing each other, and Iser clasped her hands together, silently reciting a prayer for her deceased companion.

Thankfully, Princess Daphne was unharmed. As a renowned geologist, her life or death was directly related to the future of the region, and her kidnapping was no small matter. Iser approached Princess Daphne; the ropes on her wrists had been untied, and the gag had been removed.

The princess was still shaken and very weak. Gerus was using divine magic to soothe her.

"Lady Daffylin, why are you here?" Iser asked.

Daphne was almost limp in Gerus's arms. When she heard the question, she struggled to lift her head. "I was assigned to accompany Queen Catherine to Bubing City."

Iser's expression changed drastically. She immediately grabbed Daffylin's hand. "Lady Catherine is here too? You were... attacked!?"

(End of this chapter)