Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 146 Rescue in Fury

At this moment, in the west tower where Richard's father, the old baron, was trapped, numerous hyena-like monsters the size of calves had filled the narrow staircase of the tower to the brim.

If Richard were there, he would immediately recognize these small monsters as buck-toothed hyenas. They look somewhat like hyenas among ordinary wild animals, but their two distinctive upper incisors are extremely prominent, just like their lower canines. They are about ten centimeters long and incredibly sharp.

Therefore, buck-toothed hyenas look uglier overall. At the same time, they have sharper claws and stronger limbs than ordinary hyenas, and they are also faster and more agile.

What's even more troublesome is that they are also well-organized, just like a hyena queen directing a pack of hyenas.

These small monsters, known as buck-toothed hyenas, usually hunt in groups of dozens, with a buck-toothed hyena queen directing the hunt.

Fortunately, the tower has a narrow, winding staircase that prevents the many buck-toothed hyenas from pounceing on it all at once.

Because the narrow, circular staircase around the wall only allows two adults to walk side by side, three people must stagger their positions. For buck-toothed hyenas with shoulder widths similar to or even wider than adults, at most only two or three can launch an attack at the same time.

If there are three, that's assuming one of them leaps high and attacks from above the other two. If there are more, they'll be blocked by the buck-toothed hyenas in front and won't be able to attack the castle guards diagonally opposite the round staircase.

The second advantage was the terrain: the buck-toothed hyenas attacked from the lower stairs to the higher ones, while Baron Clavel and his guards defended from the upper stairs, perfectly taking advantage of the terrain to attack from above.

The final reason was that the old baron was a seasoned veteran with the strength of a mid-level knight. Once he occupied the narrow circular staircase, he was virtually invincible.

The old baron, sword and shield in hand, stood firmly in the middle of the stairs. With the support of the guards positioned slightly behind him on both sides, he managed to prevent any of the buck-toothed hyenas from getting through. This greatly boosted the morale of the guards inside the tower.

But in the tower to the east, a completely different scene unfolds.

Knight Rollins, the sheriff of Silverpine Town, was only a junior knight and had been promoted less than two years ago. After struggling to fend off the attacks of the buck-toothed hyena, he was caught off guard and knocked down on the stairs by a ferocious buck-toothed hyena.

Although he was barely saved by the efforts of many guards, he was also severely injured and his fighting ability was greatly reduced. Fortunately, the knight's armor he was wearing had excellent coverage, and although the buck-toothed hyena tried to bite him many times, it could not bite through the sturdy plate armor in a short time.

However, the hyena queen in each pack of buck-toothed hyenas is quite intelligent, which is the most troublesome part. Seeing this, the other side immediately seized the opportunity and organized a group of fierce buck-toothed hyenas to coerce the remaining guards in the eastern tower.

A pack of buck-toothed hyenas often doesn't need to directly attack its prey. It only needs to relentlessly press forward. When the psychological pressure on the trapped prey is pushed to an extreme, the prey will either lose its composure, be forced to launch a suicidal attack on the pack, or be driven into a corner, as is the case now.

With the core knight-level combat force, the Rollins Knight, severely injured in the eastern tower, the tower guards, lacking their mainstay, have been retreating and losing manpower. They have now retreated to the top floor of the tower, with the roof just above them.

But going out onto the roof of the tower is suicide; the swarms of blood vultures and human-faced demon birds in the sky are just looking for a target.

Just now, a tower guard, in a panic, opened the iron cover on the top floor and poked his head out. He was instantly pierced and grabbed by the blood vulture's claws. The other guards hurriedly closed the cover.

We are now in a desperate situation, attacked from both sides!

Just as Knight Rollins and his remaining dozen or so guards were about to despair, a commotion seemed to erupt among the pack of hyenas in front of them, and their attack seemed to suddenly slow down.

Although they still don't know the reason, at least it relieved them.

After all, even living for one more second is a good thing!

The disturbances weren't limited to the east tower; the buck-toothed hyena packs in all four towers also experienced some degree of unrest.

The instigator was none other than Richard from outside!

-

With the Abomination clearing the way, the buck-toothed hyena pack couldn't stop Richard's advance at all. The enormous Abomination cleaved the ground with every axe swing, spraying blood everywhere. The buck-toothed hyena carcasses, cut in two, were immediately snatched away by the remaining members of their kind.

Occasionally, a few buck-toothed hyenas would slip through the net and try to attack Richard from behind, but Richard would shoot them one by one, pinning them to the spot, and soon after, they would be torn apart and devoured by their own kind.

This allowed Richard to easily rush into the castle. As soon as he passed through the broken gate of the outer castle, Richard immediately saw the huge mutant crab demon that was destroying the gate of the inner castle!

The scene before him shocked Richard. "Isn't this the mutant crab demon from the Gray Fern Wilds? How did it get to the surface? Could it be..."

Richard had initially thought that the large pack of buck-toothed hyenas he had just encountered was being orchestrated by a particularly powerful buck-toothed hyena queen, but it was impossible for the buck-toothed hyena queen to command such a large monster as the mutant crab demon.

Richard had a vague idea in his mind. Although he was thinking, his hands moved without slowing down at all.

In an instant, the [Mimetic Bracers] transformed into a hard metal round shield, attaching itself to Richard's left arm. His right hand drew the gleaming [Frost Guardian], providing him with double protection from a dark elemental shield and bone armor.

Facing a familiar opponent, Richard planned to end the battle quickly!

The massive, burly abomination immediately caught the attention of the equally tall mutant crab demon.

At Richard's command, Abomination roared and abandoned the minions, charging straight at the mutant crab demon.

The mutant crab demon seemed to possess a unique pride characteristic of monsters. Facing the large, imposing creature charging towards it, it let out a hiss and swung its giant pincers to meet it head-on!

"Boom!" The Abomination's two thick arms, as thick as a normal man's waist, gripped the joints below the giant pincers tightly, instantly preventing the mutant crab demon's pincers from exerting their terrifying shearing force, and causing them to be raised high!

Although Richard's current Abomination is not as imposing as the mutant Crab Demon, the difference is not that great. It is not at a disadvantage in terms of weight. Both are heavyweight contenders and can be compared!

Richard leaped off his wildebeest in an instant and began to use the rare level zero sorcery he had recently learned, [Shadow Dance].

As Richard leaped into the shadowy area behind the Abomination, his speed increased dramatically. He then swung his sword directly at the mutant crab demon, which was wrestling with the Abomination, aiming for its brain from below!

Just as the mutant crab demon saw a flash of frosty white light and was about to dodge, it realized that it was wrestling with the fat man opposite it and was completely unable to move.

This left the mutant crab demon with no choice but to take Richard's sword strike head-on!

The mutant crab demon's thick defensive shell was like a piece of paper to the sharp [Frost Guardian], and it was pierced straight through by Richard's ultimate level of swordsmanship!

Before he could even scream, the mutant crab demon was killed instantly by this sword!

With the death of the mutant crab demon, the buck-toothed hyena pack besieging the tower seemed to have a commotion. The buck-toothed hyena queen, upon witnessing Richard and an abomination kill the mutant crab demon, hesitated and mobilized many buck-toothed hyenas for defense.

Immediately, the attacks of the buck-toothed hyena packs in the four towers began to slow down. At this time, the guards in the towers also realized that something must have happened in the castle that was unfavorable to the monsters, otherwise the originally ferocious buck-toothed hyena packs would not be in this state.

This scene immediately caught the old baron's eye. He seized the opportunity and launched a counterattack, forcing the buck-toothed hyena pack besieging the western tower out of the tower.

As the old baron, with the support of his guards, swung his knight's longsword and stepped out of the tower to investigate, he immediately spotted the black-robed man wielding the longsword.

The man in black robes possessed profound swordsmanship skills, and the buck-toothed hyena beside him was no match for him!

Hmm! This swordsmanship looks familiar, it seems to be the Cornell swordsmanship of my family.

No, this is Cornell's swordsmanship!

The old baron had also practiced Cornell's swordsmanship diligently for decades and was quite certain that the black-robed man before him was indeed using Cornell's swordsmanship.

Just as the old baron was racking his brains trying to figure out who among the people he knew could possess such profound Cornell swordsmanship, he saw the black-robed man's profile, and instantly, he could hardly believe his eyes!

Yes, that familiar figure looks so much like the deceased second son, Richard.

He rubbed his eyes again, and when the old baron could clearly see the face under the hood, tears streamed down his face as he cried out, "Richard!!!"

Immediately, Richard, who was still killing monsters, looked up at the entrance of the western tower and saw that tall, familiar figure!

"Father!" Richard exclaimed in surprise.

But as the mutant crab demon's corpse crashed to the ground, the commotion on Richard's side finally attracted the attention of many flying monsters in the sky, especially the few human-faced demon birds, which stared intently at Richard and emitted extremely sharp and strange cries.

Instantly, as if boiling water had been poured into a frying pan, hundreds of blood vultures began to squawk loudly in the sky and circled rapidly above Richard.

The circling of hundreds of blood vultures caused a huge change in airflow, making Richard's black robe flutter loudly. Under the command of the human-faced demon bird, the huge flock of blood vultures began to gradually change formation, adjusting into an arrow-shaped wedge formation, seemingly preparing to swoop down from above and launch an extremely fierce attack.

"Richard, watch out!" The old baron's heart skipped a beat when he saw this. He knew these blood vultures were incredibly fierce, but he couldn't get away to help his Richard.

Just as I was hesitating, a piercing, strange scream rang in my ears.

"not good!"

The sharp-eyed Richard immediately drew an eagle-tailed arrow and shot it a few meters above the old baron.

Instantly, a human-faced demon bird was struck squarely in the abdomen by an arrow with a vulture's tail, and fell from the old baron's sight with a scream.

"Father, hide quickly, don't worry about me!" Richard shouted.

Seeing that the old baron began to follow his instructions and retreat while fighting, Richard felt much more at ease.

Richard's initial thought was to temporarily avoid the Blood Vultures' sharp edge, dodge their swooping attack from their arrowhead formation, and then look for an opportunity to kill them one by one.

But just as Richard was about to move, his mind changed. This kind of killing speed was too slow. Besides, he was not alone now. He needed to build momentum. He might as well go head-to-head and boost everyone's morale!

Having figured this out, Richard immediately stopped moving. He quickly began chanting the incantation for Shadow Grip while pulling out dozens of Fire Dance Stars and Silver Moon Dust from his pocket and bundling them into a "cluster bomb".

When hundreds of blood vultures in the sky had finished adjusting their formation and were about to launch a fierce and continuous swooping attack led by an exceptionally large blood vulture leader.

Richard roared, "Die!" Instantly, he manipulated the dark elemental hand to slam the bundle of "cluster bombs" into the air above the Blood Vulture-headed Bird that was preparing to launch a swarm attack.

"boom!!!"

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted in mid-air!

A fireball tens of meters in diameter appeared out of thin air, and the visible heat shockwave instantly traveled hundreds of meters away. Any flying monsters hit by the shockwave fell to the ground like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

The numerous guards in the four towers were also greatly shaken by the loud noise!

Staring blankly at this scene, they were filled with utter horror. They knew that it was these flying monsters that had forced them to retreat from the inner fortress walls to the towers for defense, and that dozens of their brothers had died at the hands of the cunning human-faced demon birds.

Unexpectedly, the Baron's second son, Richard, managed to wipe out almost all of these ferocious flying monsters in one fell swoop.

Many of the guards were soldiers trained by the Clavel family from a young age. They had known Richard for a long time, and when they saw that the originally slender and weak young master Richard had actually become a mysterious and unpredictable wizard who could easily defeat the monster army in front of him, they were all amazed.

The old baron, who had been on tenterhooks, was now filled with immense relief.

He never expected that his second son, who had been rumored to be dead, would not only come back to life but also possess such astonishing strength. When the Clavel family was facing a desperate situation, he was like a god descending to earth, directly turning the tide of the battle.

In his view, his second son Richard's strength seemed to far surpass that of Duan, the second-level wizard apprentice of the Ignis School who had come to guard the family.

This made him a little incredulous, after all, he still remembered Richard's wizarding aptitude. However, the old baron shook his head and stopped thinking about it, because it was not important. What was important was that his second son, Richard, had returned alive!

Even before the violent explosion in mid-air, Richard had already taken cover behind Abomination, but his ears were so deafened that he couldn't hear anything for a short time!

After all, the combined power of more than twenty tubes of Fire Dance Star and Silver Moon Dust in a "cluster bomb" is absolutely comparable to, and even slightly surpasses, the attack power of a first-level wizard.

The human-faced demon birds that were originally in command in mid-air, although they were far enough away from the explosion point to avoid direct damage, were still almost knocked off their feet by the shockwave and the deafening roar, and were about to fall from mid-air.

Not to mention the hundreds of blood vultures, especially the dozen or so at the center of the explosion, which have long since vanished without a trace.

Within a hundred meters of the center point, almost every blood vulture turned into a roasted turkey. In an instant, it was as if a rain of turkeys was falling from the sky above Clavel Castle, thumping onto the castle grounds.

The distinctive aroma of roasted turkey gradually filled the entire Clavel Castle!

The buck-toothed hyenas, smelling the aroma, became excited and immediately scattered to begin devouring the roasted vulture. Even the buck-toothed hyena queen couldn't suppress their urges.

This gave the guards in the four towers a chance to catch their breath, an unexpected effect Richard hadn't anticipated.

Richard instantly retracted the Frost Guardian, which was covered in frost flowers, and quickly took out the Griffin Wings, simultaneously nocking an arrow and aiming.

This time, he drew arrows that were all eagle-tailed arrows, aimed at the human-faced demon bird that was still dizzy in mid-air, and immediately, a burst of "whoosh whoosh whoosh!" was fired.

Guided by the secret technique of the guided arrow, it can be said that every arrow hits its mark. Each eagle tail arrow will hit the vital point of a human-faced demon bird, taking it down with one arrow!

Seconds later, Richard swept away the remaining flying monsters above the castle.

At this moment, Richard remembered that there was something he hadn't done yet. He immediately released the Soul-Devouring Spider from his arms. The Soul-Devouring Spider, which was entirely crystal-colored, quickly began to crawl toward the mutant crab demon and began to devour the mutant crab demon's soul.

Taking advantage of this brief moment, Richard glanced at his inspiration panel, where a flood of energy point information appeared before his eyes:

[Gained 78 energy points.]

[Gained 74 energy points.]

[Gained 79 energy points.]

[Gained 8333 energy points.]

[Gained 128 energy points.]

[Gained 123 energy points.]

[Gained 566 energy points.]

[Gained 126 energy points.]

[Gained 578 energy points.]

Richard was too excited just now and forgot about the energy points. Dozens of points belong to the buck-toothed hyena, a little over a hundred points should belong to the blood vulture, a little over five hundred points belong to the human-faced demon bird, and the highest is still the mutant crab demon with over eight thousand points!

Richard initially needed to confirm when the Inspiration Panel absorbed energy points, but after spending some time in the Gray Fern Wilderness, he discovered that he could silently think about automatically absorbing energy points, and the Inspiration Panel would absorb the relevant energy on its own.

This saved him a lot of time, especially when he encountered large-scale monster killings.

At this moment, a stream of unowned spiritual energy, about the thickness of a thumb, was transmitted from the Soul-Devouring Spider into Richard's spiritual sea, accompanied by a trace of extremely pure soul energy. This immediately infused his slightly tired mind with a warm spring, instantly making him feel much more energetic.

After the Soul-Devouring Spider finished devouring everything, it began to control the giant mutant crab demon to attack the numerous buck-toothed hyenas around it, which made the buck-toothed hyena pack even more terrified!

What's going on? The original leader of the monsters has turned around and killed them!

At that moment, the back door of the inner fortress suddenly burst open!

A crab demon, slightly smaller than the mutant crab demon from before, charged in menacingly, brandishing its large pincers. But when its small eyes looked ahead, it froze in shock!

It saw its "big brother," who was a size larger than itself, slaughtering the buck-toothed hyenas around it, which made it a little confused. That wasn't what its master had told it to do.

Richard looked and exclaimed, "Wow! There's another one! Not bad, not bad! Over 8,000 energy points! He had searched the Gray Fern Wilderness for a long time and hadn't encountered many mutant crab demons. He never expected to run into two at home today!"

With the help of the Abomination and the Soul-Eating Spider, Richard used the same method to instantly ambush and kill the mutant crab demon.

Suddenly, all the monsters seemed to be leaderless, and the remaining buck-toothed hyena pack began to retreat in large numbers.

Crisis averted!

The guards inside the four towers also launched a counterattack, rushing out from within the towers to wipe out the remaining monsters.

Richard also immediately climbed the inner fortress wall and headed towards the western tower where his father was.

The joy of seeing loved ones again was palpable!

Looking at the old baron's graying hair, Richard would have almost not recognized him if it weren't for the familiar voice.

"Father! Your hair?" Richard exclaimed.

"It's good that you're back! It's good that you're back!"

Seeing his excited father, Richard instantly understood, and immediately hugged his father tightly!

At this moment, all the family guards in the four towers, the garrison of Silverpine Town, and the able-bodied men left behind in the town cheered!

Celebrate your survival!

Rejoice! It's time to avenge our family!

Cheers! The monsters have finally been driven away!

Having calmed down a bit, Richard released his father and asked, "Where are Mother and my eldest brother?"

The old baron then realized what was happening and immediately said, "Oh no! Richard, catch up with your mother and elder brother! They've gone through the secret passage on the third floor of the cellar to Rossby!"

Leaving Knight Rollins to clean up the mess, the old baron quickly led Richard into the cellar like a whirlwind.

Along the way, the old baron worried that the escorting party might have already left the castle's secret passage and entered the main road leading to Rossby City. At that time, Levi and his companions would inevitably encounter attacks from monsters.

Upon hearing this, Richard immediately increased his speed. In the dimly lit secret passage, aided by his Shadow Dance Steps, Richard shot forward like a black arrow.

Before long, Richard saw what appeared to be a bright exit ahead of the secret passage.

Clearly, the eldest brother and mother had already led the group out of the secret passage.

This made Richard a little worried.

(End of this chapter)