The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 148 We're a Team (10,000 words, please subscribe and vote!)

The moment Tang Qi was hit by the [Human Immobilization Spell], he felt that his life might be coming to an end.

Dying at the hands of the witch's gathering was somewhat frustrating, because he still yearned for a more legendary and exciting life.

But he didn't regret it much, after all, it was a choice he made a long time ago.

He had even considered his own fate—

To become a soul within the [Mind Shield Ring], forever imprisoned, with no freedom whatsoever.

Until one day, new adventurers defeated the witch, obtained the treasure, and discovered the ring and the souls stored within it.

He might ask himself why it remained in the ring.

Then I might explain to him what it feels like to be 'frozen'—

'Freezing' is not 'dizziness'.

Therefore, when you are under the 'freezing spell', you can actually clearly perceive everything that is happening in the outside world, and even the sound of the wind close to your ear becomes exceptionally clear.

This inevitably makes you feel worried—

He worried that without his leader, his teammates might fall apart.

They worried that their adventure might be coming to an end.

Worried that others might covet his hooks, and that his pants might be taken off by those old, ugly hags...

This is a perfectly normal reaction, right?

After all, if I were to use a spell to freeze someone, it would be hard not to have some strange, wicked thoughts—

That's a living person who can clearly sense your presence.

I suggest that every friend who is alone abroad and has been immobilized by some evil spellcaster with ulterior motives should let go of their resistance and try to enjoy this moment.

You might fall in love with this feeling and enjoy it for more than just a minute.

Because there's really nothing you can do, being hurt is inevitable.

Unless you're not alone like me.

I'm so glad I have friends.

The instant that the witch Trish's [Human Immobilization Spell] definitively subdued Tang Qi, she simultaneously swung her sharp claws, tearing towards his back—

With a clang, sparks suddenly flew out.

Those sharp claws, as sharp as withered wood, were actually blocked by the broken sword in Hope's hand!
There is only one focus point for a spell.

The release of her innate [Invisibility] spell also means that the immobilization spell that previously paralyzed Hope will become ineffective.

This allowed her to reach Tang Qi's side and hastily deflect the fatal blow.

But this is not enough.

Her power was completely insufficient to contend with the witch.

Even though she was hunched over, the two-meter-tall witch, Tracy, immediately raised her other arm and ripped her waist and abdomen apart with her sharp claws!
Hope avoided vital areas as much as possible, turning her body to the side and letting the blood splatter onto the witch's arm.

The witch raised her large foot and kicked Tifflin's wound, sending him flying several meters away in an instant.

Perhaps realizing that Tang Qi, who was immobilized, was powerless to resist, she changed her target and decided to deal with Hope, this annoying bug, first.

So she lunged forward, intending to stab her fingernails into Hope's throat—

At the same time, as the two 'ghost witches' not far away were struggling to escape the little dragon's entanglement, one of the ghost witches' phantoms shattered like glass, revealing Kuru's thin figure.

"Rua!"

He pointed his wand at Tang Qi, and a thick cloud of smoke suddenly appeared at the tip.

A thick, cool fog enveloped the area directly between Tang Qi and Hope, instantly covering a radius of seven meters and obscuring their presence.

The oncoming clouds and mist disrupted the old hag Trish's vision, so she could only catch a glimpse of a dark figure as she flew.

But the moment her claws pierced the mist, the emptiness that followed as the mist enveloped her fingertips made her realize that the insect had taken the opportunity to leave.

Left with no other choice, she ran out of the thick fog and focused her gaze on the dog-headed man who had been toying with them.

"Rua?"

Kuru blinked, brandishing his wand as he prepared to flee, simultaneously sending a message to Iu in Dragon Language.
"Vedrii (Continue to obstruct)!"

The witch Trish couldn't understand the dragon language mixed in with the clattering and roaring sounds, but she could recall the 'two Kana' that Kru had created using the [Silent Illusion], and a surge of shameful anger welled up in her heart:

"No one has ever dared to deceive us with illusions!"

Kuru tried to slow her down with the [Freezing Ray], but she easily dodged the ice crystals that shot out, which ultimately just flew past her ear.

Due to the scarcity of spell slots, the hag could only pounce, brandishing her sharp claws and scratching at the kobold's skin.

But in an instant, she felt as if she were gripping a steel plate, and all she could hear was a shrill sound like their laughter.

"How can it be!?"

If it were a regular kobold, it would be common for its scales to be torn apart, or even its entire body to disintegrate.

"How could its scales be so hard!?"

Kuru understood that this was entirely due to the 'ancestral eggshell' he had swallowed, which awakened his sorcerer bloodline—while turning his scales purple, the bloodline also increased their hardness.

Although it failed to crush the torso, the immense force still sent it flying, allowing it to escape even further.

Seeing Kuru running around wildly, while the old hag Kana was still outwitting the little dragon, the old hag Trish couldn't help but shout:

"Damn Anna, aren't you going to come out and help us?!"

The third witch refused to show herself, but her answer proved that she was still observing everything from the sidelines:
"We're almost out of spell slots, are you trying to kill me by letting me out here?!"

"One's been dealt with, and the other's been immobilized. At least go help Kana get rid of that annoying beast, right?!"

"I won't put myself in danger!"

Perhaps because she had suffered at the hands of adventurers before, and her injuries had not yet fully healed, Anna found it difficult to reach the same opinions as the other witches.

"If Kana can't even handle a little beast, then I really should reconsider who I'll be working with next!"

"Daughter of the beach, one day I'll gouge your eyes out and use them for my dinner!"

The witch Kana was furious.

She was genuinely annoyed by the bites from Iu all over her body.

As witches, they often keep some capable assistants.

For example, using magic to pull out a few evil little dwarves wearing 'red hats' from the blood that irrigates the land, or simply ordering the mad frog people in the center of the underground city to be their slaves...

Neither the "Red Hat" nor the "Crazy Frogman" were as troublesome or annoying as the winged lizard crawling on them!
Whose 'fake dragon' could have such strength?!

Not only could it wrestle with her, but this beast seemed to be ingrained in her body. Whenever she tried to push it away, she would be blocked by a repulsive force, preventing her from exerting her full strength.

After finally managing to stop her from biting her own flesh, she immediately tried to tear her clothes apart with her teeth—

Is it possible for me to expose my perfect, curvaceous body to others?!

But Io didn't care about her hunched figure or her shriveled chest that revealed her ribs. She hovered around the old woman like an unkillable fly, and then ripped off her shirt.

Seeing this, the helpless witch Trish could only chant a filthy incantation, and a stream of pale green pus shot from her fingertips:
"【Pathogenic Rays】!"

"Ouch——"

The foul-smelling rays struck Iwu's flapping wings precisely, corroding its thin, translucent dragon wings. Only the gravity supporting it prevented it from falling completely to the ground.

"You should have done this a long time ago!"

Even after being freed, Kana remained dissatisfied and couldn't help but start criticizing.
"Help me deal with this beast quickly, we're about to clean up the battlefield!"

"Of course I can't believe someone would be stupid enough to let a beast bother them for so long!"

"Why don't you try wrestling with it? Oh, right, I need to take this beast away and study it carefully to see what kind of mutation it has undergone to become so strong..."

Anna's voice then lingered in the cave:

"Before you two start arguing, can you please take care of the remaining enemies first?! I feel very insecure!"

"What's the rush? They're just three bugs, what trouble can they cause?"

Now all that remains is a kobold who can only use first-circle spells, a beast, and a Tyflin who regrets wasting his spell slot.

They did not believe that the team without Tang Qi and Chen Xi posed any threat to them.

"We've already sealed the cave shut. Now, it's just a matter of slowly torturing them..."

Just as Tracy was about to enjoy the despair of the witch, she suddenly paused, pointing to the witch Kana's tattered clothes.

"Wait—where did your eyes go?"

The witch Kana blinked: "Isn't it right here?"

“Daughter of the Beach! I’m talking about the ‘Witch’s Eye,’ the eye you hid in your chest as a pendant!” “Rua!”

Kuru answered their questions with a shout.

The witches' attention was drawn to it, and they saw that, a dozen meters away, the short dog-headed man was holding a pendant with an eyeball inside.

"No, impossible—how could the [Witch's Eye] be in its hands!?"

The witch Kana nearly popped her eyes out of their sockets, screaming in terror.

"Damn it, you piece of trash, you can't even protect one eye properly?!"

"Eyes, so easy to steal!"

As if showing off, Kuru tossed the eyeball pendant in his hand into the air, making it float around as if it were floating in mid-air.

In reality, the eyes were being held tightly by the "Mage's Hand," but no one could tell it was just a hand.

The mage's hand becomes invisible after eating the eggshell.

"Successful!"

Anna, also hidden in the shadows, suddenly let out a wicked laugh, as if determined to snatch the floating eye from mid-air.

But Kru is a clever dog-headed man.

Since it dared to take this eye out to play with, it wouldn't give the other party a chance to snatch it away.

So it squeezed hard and easily crushed the eyeball in its 'hand'.

"what!!!"

A piercing scream suddenly erupted from the throats of the three witches, who simultaneously covered their eyes.

This also revealed the hunched body of the witch in front of Kulu, who curled up on the ground like a cooked shrimp.

The mental anguish caused by the destruction of the "Witch's Eye" assaulted her brain, gradually silencing her...

She hasn't truly recovered, otherwise she wouldn't be afraid to show her face.

"Broken eyes, witch, blind!"

Kuru felt like a hero who had turned the tide, and recalling what Tang Qi had said first, he couldn't help but sway left and right and start dancing.

"Well done."

The pain in his eyes caused Tang Qi to lose focus while casting the spell to immobilize him, making it difficult for him not to praise Kuru.

After all, the conflict came too suddenly, and even Tang Qi had not considered 'stealing the witch's eye' in his plan.

Looking back now, Kuru should know that his first-level spell wasn't very effective, so he used [Silent Illusion] to cover his entire body, approach the witch Kana, and search for the possible location of [Witch's Eye] at close range.

Meanwhile, Iu continues to thwart the witch Kana, leaving Kuru ample room to use the [Mage's Hand] to commit theft...

This series of plans was entirely devised by Kuru using the limited magic he possessed as a way to break the deadlock—

In its spare time, it even used its cloud magic to thwart another witch's attack for Donquixote and Hope.

"What a clever kobold, no wonder he can become a mage."

As Hope emerged from the smoke, she looked at the smug Kuru and couldn't help but praise him.

"Rua!"

Kuru's tail curled up even higher.

After the witch Anna died from the shock, Tang Qi then discovered that the caves surrounding him had also disappeared, leaving only two witches crawling on the ground, wailing in agony.

Before they could recover, Tang Qi quickly finished them off, first using a 'snake kiss' to take the life of the witch Trish, and then hurriedly walking towards the witch Kana.

Realizing danger was imminent, but the pain in her head prevented her from focusing on casting the invisibility spell, she could only wail and beg for mercy:
"Wait, wait! Child, let's make peace? You can spare me, or I... I can teach you how to make the Hag's Eye. You can join my gathering and gain the same power as me—"

They will only try to reason with you when they realize they are about to die.

Tang Qi looked at her wrinkled face, which was full of a fawning smile, and couldn't help but mutter:
"That's just fooling people. You don't actually think you're so beautiful that you can evoke the urge to transform a witch, do you?"

"what--"

The insults were like heavy blows to her soul, relentlessly pounding into her brain.

But she knew this was not the time to argue about beauty or ugliness.
"Or perhaps you want the giant snail's shell, right? I can tell you where to find an even better snail—"

"A better snail?"

"Flaked snail! You've heard of it, haven't you? It's a very rare species..."

“Okay, tell me, and I might spare your life.” Tang Qi looked at Hope, who was walking over.

"Really?"

"Stop talking nonsense, or you'll die right now."

"It was on the fifth floor. When I was on the fourth floor, I saw that snail crawl down with my own eyes!"

Hope nodded to Tang Qi, then smashed the broken sword into the back of the witch's neck.

But it was, after all, a rusty broken sword. Without the power of dawn, she could not pierce the witch's tough skin.

This brought her to her senses, and she cursed:
"Damn it—you treacherous scoundrel who broke his promise, didn't you say you'd spare my life?!"

"If you're blind, don't spout nonsense."

Tang Qi plunged the 'Snake Kiss' into the back of her neck, piercing her throat.

“It was Miss Tiflin beside me who didn’t want to spare your life, so this is the one who struck you.”

"Then why..." she replied angrily through her hoarse breaths.

"You called me a villain. You don't actually expect a villain to keep his promise, do you?"

Tang Qi raised an eyebrow and delivered the final, righteous blow.

He had no habit of leaving the enemy a way out, and this was also for his own life.

And when the witch Kana also died under the scimitar, the cave that covered the entire open space disappeared like smoke.

Considering that this cave was virtually indistinguishable from a real cave in terms of sight, sound, and touch, Tang Qi had to admit that the Green Witch was a true expert in illusion.
"I heard they had used mind magic before, but it seems they were unable to use it in this battle due to a lack of spell slots."

Even the illusions in this cave are all due to the influence of dragon blood...

Because their abilities are quite different from those of the Green Ghost Granny in the knowledge base, Tang Qi is unable to discern the truth.

But considering that Chenxi was still lying on the ground, convulsing from the electric current, and Xiaolong was crying out for help, he first threw the dimensional bag to Kuru, letting the smug kobold help him put the giant snail's shell inside.

She immediately fed the healing potion to the little dragon, and after seeing the corroded membrane on its wings regrow as the potion repaired it, she quickly went to Chenxi's side.

"sorry."

Chenxi apologized to Tang Qi with heartfelt words.

"I haven't been able to help at all, yet you dare to talk about taking on challenges..."

"Actually, surviving three [Lightning Beams] was already the most important part of the entire battle."

It wasn't out of a desire to comfort them, but rather because no one present, including the fledgling dragon Iu, could withstand the power of three consecutive third-ring spells.

Whether it was the depletion of the witch's spell slots by Little Mustache and Shattered Stone, or the lack of subsequent firepower caused by Dawn taking the brunt of the lightning bolt alone, it was the combined efforts of everyone that led to the three witches ending in failure.

Based on this, Tang Qi believed that Chenxi's judgment was entirely correct.

"A challenge undertaken by one person can indeed only be described as suicide."

But we are a team.

"Yes, the team."

Chenxi repeated the word, but no one knew what she was thinking.

"Shouldn't we take a good rest?"

Hope placed the broken sword in Dawn's hand, drank the healing potion from the package, and began to heal his injuries as well.

Tang Qi hesitated, wondering whether he should drag his exhausted and crippled troops back to the second level.

He didn't believe the Red Turban Gang would be uninterested in such an exhausted squad.

But as he hesitated, a bat suddenly flew in from afar, screeching mournfully at him.

Tang Qi initially thought it was some new danger, so he quickly gripped the 'Snake Kiss' tightly and prepared for battle.

But the bat hovered amicably above his head, even mimicking the voice of a familiar person with remarkable accuracy.

It's a mustache:

"Tang Qi, the guide next to you is a member of the Red Scarf Gang!"
She's with the third group of adventurers in the camp!

The sound stopped suddenly.

(End of this chapter)