Spellcasting Gods

But one thing they were very clear about was that once the archer drew his bow and shot an arrow, the enemy would have virtually no chance of escaping.

Interestingly, the archer showed no joy at having wounded the enemy. Instead, he squinted at the distance and shook his head with a wry smile after a full minute: "No, I didn't hit it, or at least I didn't hurt it. That scream was a disguise, an attempt to lure us away from the tree hole. It seems these monsters are far more cunning and treacherous than we thought. I even suspect they are smarter than us."

"What? It missed!"

The soldier stood up in surprise, stepped out of the tree hole, and wrinkled his nose, sniffing the air.

As a member of a barbarian tribe who came from the deep mountains, his sense of smell was not as severely degraded as that of his cousins, and he could smell blood from a considerable distance.

What could be changed was that this time he didn't actually smell any blood around him.

To confirm his mistake, he suddenly strode towards the spot where the arrow had been fired, his movements so fast and urgent that his teammates had no time to react.

By the time the archer came to his senses and shouted for a stop, the warrior had already been completely swallowed by darkness.

About two or three minutes later, the barbarian warrior held up the arrow he had just shot and said in an incredulous tone, "Guess what I found? The tip of the arrowhead has a chipped edge from impact. Your arrow hit the target one hundred percent of the time, it just hit a shield or armor."

"Damn it! Stop right there! Stay where you are and don't come any closer!" The archer's attention was clearly not on the arrows; his tone was full of tension and vigilance.

Although the warrior had only disappeared for a few minutes and there had been no sound of fighting, he still felt that something terrible had happened.

"What do you mean? You suspect I'm a monster in disguise?" The barbarian warrior's eyes widened, revealing an angry expression.

But the archer showed no mercy, answering bluntly, "That's right! I suspect you're the monster in disguise! Remember the rule we made a few hours ago? No matter what happens, no one is allowed to act alone. But you actually ran out by yourself and completely disappeared from my sight. Now, I can't confirm if you're still you. Sorry, my friend, you must stay outside the tree hollow tonight."

"Damn it! Just because of two or three minutes? Are you crazy?! What kind of monster can silently kill a warrior as powerful as me in two or three minutes? Even a giant dragon would have to put in a lot of effort to get rid of me." The warrior roared angrily.

“I have no doubt about your fighting ability! But the problem is that you broke the rules, and I have to keep the danger out of the team. Listen to me, sit down immediately and throw away your weapon.” The archer said as he drew another arrow.

If the warrior dared to take another step forward, he would send an arrow piercing the opponent's knee.

As an experienced adventurer, he wouldn't act on emotion and risk his life for some so-called friendship.

True groups of adventurers are either united by a common goal or driven by the pursuit of wealth, fame, and status.

The latter, in particular, constitutes the vast majority of adventurers.

They have only one reason for going on adventures!

Make money, make more money, so that I can enjoy a luxurious life in my later years.

It goes without saying that for these kinds of people, maintaining good friendships is simply a means to acquire wealth faster and better, and they won't make sacrifices for their companions.

"No!!!! I want to go in! Don't stop me! Otherwise I'll get rough!" the barbarian warrior roared like a madman.

"I refuse! I will absolutely not allow you to approach the tree hole until I have confirmed your identity," the archer replied firmly.

Just as the two were locked in a tense standoff, the people who were having sweet dreams inside the tree hollow were finally awakened.

The woman rubbed her dry eyes and asked in a uncertain tone, "What happened? Are you all going to kill each other?"

"Of course not! It's this guy! He actually violated the established rules and left my sight for several minutes without permission. I can't confirm right now whether he's one of our own or a monster in disguise."

"What?! He was out of your sight for a few minutes?" The woman was instantly wide awake, her mouth agape in surprise.

She simply couldn't imagine why anyone would be so foolish as to insist on going all the way through something they knew was wrong.

"There's nothing we can do! He just rushed out, and by the time I came to my senses, it was too late. What do you think we should do now? How can we confirm that he's the person we know, or is it a monster disguised as him?" The archer scratched his head in frustration, almost pulling out a strand of hair.

"Damn it! That's why I hate those brainless warriors! Their actions are always full of surprises." The woman cursed through gritted teeth as she opened her bag and rummaged through it.

After a long while, she took out a bottle of potion that emitted a purple glow, tossed it to the warrior in the distance, and shouted, "Drink it! Now! Immediately! If you don't drink it in one minute, I will consider you a monster..."

Chapter 1109 Maxims

"what is this?"

The barbarian warrior picked up the potion that had fallen to the ground, pulled out the stopper, and carefully sniffed it. His eyes were so cautious, completely unlike his earlier obvious loss of control.

"Don't ask so many questions! You have thirty breaths left!" the woman gave without hesitation, issuing her final ultimatum.

Her attitude was so resolute, one of her hands shimmering with a halo of magical energy, as if she were about to begin chanting a deadly spell.

It is important to know that once a spell begins to be chanted, it cannot be stopped halfway. Otherwise, not only will the caster suffer severe magical backlash, but it will also trigger a series of unpredictable consequences.

Time passed second by second...

Just as the thirty-second countdown was about to end!

The barbarian warrior abruptly dropped the potion in his hand and launched a charge with lightning speed, attempting to eliminate the woman who posed the greatest threat to him first.

Before they could even take a few steps, the archers, who were on high alert, drew their bows and fired a gleaming arrow.

Whoosh!

puff!

"what!!!!!"

With a scream, he was struck directly in the left eye by an arrow. The intense pain caused him to fall to the ground on the spot, and his skin cracked open at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing the black body hidden inside.

no doubt!

This is a skinning monster!

Although wearing human skin provides a powerful defense comparable to armor, this defense cannot cover the eyes.

"Damn it! I knew it!" the woman cursed under her breath as she quickly completed the spell she was about to cast.

next second...

A glob of acidic liquid with a pungent odor shot out and slammed into the skinning monster's face.

Although the damage from the magical acid was far from fatal, it forced the Skinner to abandon its plan to charge head-on. Like a nimble monkey, it leaped onto the tree trunk and disappeared into the darkness in a few moments.

Seeing the human skin discarded on the ground, the archer's expression immediately turned serious. Without turning his head, he asked, "What do we do now?"

"Don't do anything! Just stay here! Didn't you notice? That monster's skin was incredibly tough; ordinary weapons could hardly hurt it. As for that idiot who rushed out, his body is probably already lying somewhere in the woods. I've repeatedly emphasized that this adventure is extraordinary, and we must be extremely vigilant. But there are always some simple-minded morons who think that their swords can defeat any enemy."

After saying that, a hint of disdain flashed in the woman's eyes. She turned around and went back to the campfire in the tree hollow, leaned against the tree trunk, closed her eyes, and continued to sleep.

For her, the more dangerous the environment, the more important it is to get enough rest. Otherwise, she will not be able to concentrate and release spells at the critical moment, which could lead to the defeat of a battle that could have been won.

The price of failure often means death, or something even more terrible than death.

But just because she can fall asleep doesn't mean the rest of the team can.

The sleepiness of the remaining members, including the archer, had long since vanished, replaced by a sense of dullness and oppression.

They simply couldn't believe that the skilled barbarian warriors, who had charged into the darkness, were killed by a terrifying monster within minutes, and even had their skin peeled off.

Thus, filled with intense fear of the unknown and death, the group managed to stay awake all night.

When the sun rose again the next morning, bringing light and warmth to the world, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, picked up their weapons and equipment, and left the cave, searching the surrounding bushes with great vigilance.

About twenty minutes later, a blood-soaked, skinless corpse was suddenly seen hanging on the trunk of a tree.

A sharp arrow was still stuck in the corpse's eye.

It goes without saying that this was the work of the injured, skinned monster last night.

It was using this method to provoke the members of the adventure team, hoping that they would lose their minds and chase after it like madmen.

In this way, it can use its familiarity with the terrain to defeat them one by one, and then, by impersonating them, it can toy with this adventure team until they suffer a mental breakdown, just like it did with other adventure teams.

Unfortunately, this team is clearly different from the previous teams, and the players don't seem to have a close relationship.

The archer, skilled in observation and tracking, carefully examined the corpse and quickly explained, "The cause of death was a severe head injury! The monster was clearly very strong, strong enough to pounce on a powerful barbarian warrior in an instant and then swiftly knock him unconscious. But what concerns me more is the method of skinning."

"Peeling technique?" The woman raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“That’s right! Look at all this exposed muscle tissue! When the monster skinned itself, it barely damaged any subcutaneous tissue, and the blood loss was minimal. This means it’s not the first time it’s done this. I even suspect that its purpose in skinning itself was to put on a human skin and disguise itself as a dead person,” the archer explained calmly.

"I see! That monster can kill a person, then put on human skin and disguise itself as the victim. It might even be able to perfectly mimic voices, movements, and habits." The woman's face showed a thoughtful expression.

The archer nodded seriously: "Your deduction is very close to the truth! Now, we must think of a way to eliminate these monsters once and for all. I don't want to sleep with one eye open every night, and I certainly don't want to wake up to find that my teammates have been replaced by monsters."

"So what do you think we should do?" The woman's eyes flashed with a dangerous light.

“It’s simple! Since those monsters see us as prey, why don’t we set a trap and let them know that in this wasteland, the hunter and the prey are not always the same? Sometimes, the prey can become the hunter, and the hunter can be killed by the prey.” The archer narrowed his eyes and revealed a cruel smile.

Although he appeared to remain absolutely calm on the surface, his pupils revealed flames of anger and hatred.

"Now that you have a plan, go for it. Don't forget the squad's motto. We won't seek revenge for anyone, but we also won't let any enemy who killed our comrades get away with it easily. Death isn't scary; what's scary is becoming numb."

After saying these meaningful words, the woman winked at her remaining companions, and they began searching the surrounding woods in pairs until all potential dangers were completely eliminated, before proceeding in an orderly manner...

Chapter 1110 Dark Believer

"What do you think of this adventure team? Especially that woman."

Standing at the deepest part of the underground ruins, Zhang Cheng observed the other party's every move through remote monitoring magic, while asking the ghost standing behind him, or rather, the special life created by the rules and energy of death.

“She has great potential, Master,” the ghost replied in a voice that seemed to come from the deepest part of the Twisted Nether.

After all, he was created to maintain the normal operation of the entire vast labyrinth and to select suitable people to enter the bottom layer and pull out the holy sword stuck in the stone.

Zhang Cheng chuckled and sighed, "Yes, she has great potential. Especially her composure, even ruthlessness, in the face of unexpected situations is truly astonishing. You have to understand, ordinary people are easily swayed by emotions and impulses, and most of the time they simply cannot remain calm and make impulsive decisions that are detrimental to themselves. That's why those who can control their emotions are often more likely to succeed. However, what intrigues me is that this team seems to have its own set of behavioral norms and principles."

“Based on the information I’ve gathered these past few days, this is a rather notorious group. They call themselves Dark Followers, meaning madmen who would do anything for power and money. The most impressive thing about them is undoubtedly that a few years ago they took in an avenger and spread a plague in a port city, which directly led to the death of the entire city and turned it into a gathering place for the dead.” Ghost stated everything he knew directly.

As the manager, he can control not only all the mechanisms, traps, and puzzles within the facility, but also the monsters placed there.

Therefore, he copied and stored every memory stolen by the skinning monsters, just in case.

"Dark believers? It sounds like they worship some evil god." Zhang Cheng stroked his chin, a look of interest on his face.

After all, there are far too many stories praising the deeds of heroes of light, so many that he has grown tired of them. Perhaps it is time to cultivate a hero of darkness, to bring about a small change to the world in a different way.

The ghost clearly lacked complex emotions, responding in a cold voice: "No, master, there are no gods in this world. At least so far, I have not discovered the existence of any gods. All the statues enshrined in temples are nothing more than mortals' imaginations of powers they cannot comprehend."

"Heh, a god isn't necessarily a powerful being with supernatural abilities; they could also be a collection of countless desires and obsessions. In many myths and legends, mortals are created by gods, but the truth is, many gods are created by their fanatical followers. Faith is a complex thing; some interpret it as a transaction between mortals and gods, while others see it as energy, a power. But I think gods are simply mortals' fantasies about their most perfect self. They can be powerful or weak; they can be mad or rational; they can be benevolent or ruthless. Especially creating a dark god is far easier than creating a righteous one. After all, crossing darkness to reach light is an incredibly arduous path, but abandoning light and falling into darkness is very easy..."

As Zhang Cheng said this, there was a hint of excitement in his voice.

The more he observed, the more he discovered that his chosen target possessed an indescribable, unique charm, as if emanating a dark fragrance from the depths of the soul.

This woman is neither a completely selfish and evil person, nor a rebellious teenager. She finds anything that contradicts mainstream values ​​and morals very cool and is willing to try it herself.

On the contrary, she understood what kindness, love, and positive emotions were, but she resolutely chose to abandon the former and embark on a dark path.

"So what kind of test do you want to give her?"

The ghost clearly wouldn't go against the intentions of its creator, and began planning to give this participant in the trial a little special treatment once he entered the ruins.