Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 137 Triss is injured (Please add to your favorites, subscribe, and donate)

Having decided to take a slight risk, Wayne and Triss rested briefly before temporarily leaving their mounts with Allen.

This place isn't far from where Triss marked it, and having two horses would actually be a bit of a distraction.

Soon, seeing that the villagers' injuries had been temporarily treated and they were no longer in mortal danger, the two headed towards the center of the forest.

Although Triss had graduated from the academy nearly ten years ago, as sorceresses, they spent most of their time in the city and rarely had the opportunity to enter such a desolate wilderness, nor did they often deal with such difficult choices.

She couldn't help but ask as soon as the two left the area where the villagers were:

"Wayne, what should we do if the Leshen threatens us with the children?"

Wayne paused for a moment, then swung his sword and cut down a venomous snake that was trying to pounce from a tree branch, saying:

"We can only say we'll try our best to save the child, but this deer-headed demon must be eliminated, otherwise it will only cause more tragedies."

Upon hearing this, Triss remained silent for a few seconds, seemingly deep in thought, before looking up and saying:

"Alright, we can only try our best to rescue the children, but Wayne, please buy me some time. I will cast the spell with the goal of rescuing the children first."

Wayne nodded and didn't say anything more.

The two walked through the dense forest for about ten minutes, until they were less than a few hundred meters away from where Triss had marked Link. Suddenly, the trees in front of them disappeared, revealing a jagged area of ​​rocks.

From a distance, a huge totem stands in the center of a pile of rubble.

Before the two could get a good look at the totem, Wayne heard something approaching.

"Enemies are approaching; it should be wolves and trolls."

"Let's retreat a bit; the terrain here isn't suitable for us to fight."

Sure enough, the Witcher's keen hearing allowed Wayne to anticipate the enemy's moves. Once the two retreated to an open area suitable for combat, a dozen wolves and two trolls appeared before them.

Without any hesitation, Wayne pulled three honeycomb bombs from his pouch and threw them toward the monster, followed by Dragon's Dream.

The monsters that had just emerged from the rocky area were met with a fierce attack before they could even launch their offensive. Dragon's Dream, in conjunction with the honeycomb bombs, ignited the area in front of Wayne into a sea of ​​fire.

Although the flames did not last long, they still caused significant fire damage to the wolves, rendering almost half of the pack unable to fight.

Only two trolls, their bodies covered in stone, fearlessly charged out of the flames. Looking into their bloodshot eyes, Wayne knew that any communication would be pointless.

He drew his Startick Blade from his waist and charged forward to fight them, using evasion to keep them at bay from getting close to Triss.

The combined fighting power of the Witcher and the Sorceress was astonishing. Wayne had only stepped forward to hinder the trolls' actions for less than two minutes when Triss had already used a fire magic with exceptionally strong penetrating power, similar to a fire spear spell, which directly burned two bloody holes in the chests of the two trolls.

The remaining wolves were quickly hacked to pieces by Wayne's sharp electric blade.

From the moment the attack was launched to the complete annihilation of the enemy, it took less than five minutes, which was clearly beyond the expectations of the stag-headed demon. Wayne could even faintly hear a muffled roar coming from the direction of the totem.

Wayne wiped the blood off his electric blade, checked the alchemical bombs in his pouch, and then re-enchanted himself with the Quen Shield before speaking to Triss:

"It seems we've pushed this deer-headed spirit to the limit."

"Quickly, we need to speed things up too. We can't give this monster time to react."

Triss nodded upon hearing this, and also took out a bottle of purple potion from her pouch, wrinkling her little face as she gulped it down.

Although Wayne was a little curious about the functions of the potions used by the warlocks, he planned to ask after the battle.

Soon, led by the witcher and with the sorceress bringing up the rear, the two traversed the rocky area for another ten minutes, taking down two waves of monsters that tried to ambush them, and quickly approached the location of the giant totem.

As soon as Wayne stepped into the area of ​​the giant totem, he immediately felt his body weaken. An invisible force seemed to be pulling at his soul, making his senses somewhat blurred.

Triss was clearly more proficient in magic than Wayne, and the sorceress said this as soon as she sensed it:

"It's dark magic, Wayne. It's probably a dark magic area created by a totem. We'd better destroy that totem quickly, or our condition will only get worse."

Wayne nodded and looked toward the giant totem, but the scene there made him feel uneasy.

At the base of the totem, which was made of a giant tree, various animal bones, dried corpses, and strange objects, five children with their eyes closed, seemingly in a coma, were tightly bound to the totem by green vines.

It seems that if the totem is destroyed, the children will most likely be crushed to death by the collapsing totem or burned by the burning totem.

Not far from the children, a young man with disheveled hair and a sharp knife in his hand was staring at the two people who came out of the rocky area with bloodshot eyes, muttering something, but no one could hear him clearly because of the distance.

Wayne cautiously surveyed the area around the totem, but saw no other monsters, nor the enormous stag-headed demon. He then whispered a warning to the sorceress:

"Be careful, Triss. The stag spirit is probably hiding, planning to ambush us."

Triss nodded, holding the glowing red orb in her hand, and began to warily observe her surroundings, on guard against a possible sneak attack.

After waiting for more than ten seconds and seeing that there was nothing unusual around them, the two knew they couldn't delay any longer. They could only cautiously approach the totem to see if they could rescue the child first and then destroy the totem.

Under the influence of dark magic, Wayne felt his stamina rapidly disappearing. Although he was one of the most physically gifted among witchers, this amount of stamina was nothing to him.

However, Triss, who was standing beside her, was only slightly stronger than the average woman in terms of physical strength, and obviously could not withstand any more damage.

As they approached the totem, the disheveled young man wielding a sharp knife suddenly blocked their path and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Don't come any closer, you witchers and sorceresses. You shouldn't be here, and you shouldn't be involved in this."

Wayne quietly reached into his belt and took a short-handled throwing axe, asking without any expression:

"Are you Link?"

"You've already avenged your parents, why do you still want to hurt these children?"

Link's expression was manic as he threw his head back and laughed loudly. Just as he was about to say something, Wayne threw the axe in his hand with all his might, and it hit Link right on the forehead with a thud.

Bones shattered, blood gushed out, and the young man's eyes were filled with disbelief. He couldn't understand why the demon hunter opposite him had attacked him without letting him finish speaking; it was simply unsportsmanlike.

However, he was only flesh and blood. No matter what he was thinking, he lost his life in less than a few seconds after an axe chopped into his skull.

Wayne glanced at Triss, who was also somewhat stunned, and didn't offer any explanation. Regardless of whether Link was actually a human marked by the stag spirit, given his crimes, killing him was the best option at the moment.

As for what he actually wants to say, that doesn't matter. Even if he suddenly realizes his mistake and wants to repent, so what? Does that mean we have to forgive him?

The black magic was still ongoing, and they needed to hurry. Wayne said to Triss, "We must hurry."

"Be careful, I'm going to rescue the children."

Then, with a wary mind, they rushed to the base of the giant totem and began to use their sharp blades to cut the vines binding the children.

Just as he was cutting down most of the vines, Triss, who was on guard not far away, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

Suddenly, a huge monster sprang out from the ground just a few meters away from her. Before the two could even see its shape clearly, a whip made of vines lashed out at Triss, sending her flying.

Without a second thought, Wayne abandoned the children around him and rushed to Triss's side. He formed a hand seal and created a double-handed Quen shield against the vines that continued to lash out, blocking the subsequent attacks.

boom! boom! boom!

The vines were quite powerful, shaking Wayne's Quen shield to the brink of collapse. Fortunately, his mana was astonishing, more than enough to maintain such a shield.

At that moment, he also saw the figure of the monster that emerged from the ground.

Standing nearly four meters tall, with long arms and legs and a slender figure, its limbs and body were made of tissue resembling dead tree bark. On its head was a huge beast skull, with two enormous antlers at either end. It was indeed a giant deer-headed spirit.

It seemed quite cautious, not daring to approach Wayne, but instead constantly manipulating the vines around its body, lashing at the shield in Wayne's hand like whips.

Moreover, it was quite cunning, hiding in the soil so close to the totem, and concealing itself so naturally that neither of them noticed it.

Wayne maintained his Quen shields, constantly shifting positions to block all of the Leshen's attacks. Although he didn't have time to look back, he couldn't help but ask with concern:

"Are you alright, Triss?"

After more than ten seconds, the sorceress's pained voice finally reached his ears.

"Don't worry, Wayne, I have a minor chest injury, but I can manage."

Wayne breathed a sigh of relief, his thoughts racing, and immediately said:

"Hold on, Triss. Go and rescue the children, then take them away. I'll hold off the stag-headed demon."

"Don't argue. You're injured now, and staying here will only distract me."

After a few more seconds, Triss finally spoke:

"Okay, Wayne, you'd better watch out too."

"I will come to you once I have sent the child out of the deer-headed spirit's control."

(End of this chapter)