Chapter 73: The Unexpected

Dikens was very cautious. When facing an unknown enemy, his first thought was self-preservation, followed by a slow probe of the enemy. He needed to know the enemy’s true situation before deciding whether to engage in a decisive battle.

This conservative combat philosophy was steady, but it might also miss opportune moments.

The enemy facing Dikens needed to stall him. They were wearing gray-gold cloth robes with pointed hoods and pinned with dull, mottled badges. They were hidden in the shadows.

One of the gray-robed figures extended a withered hand and said in a hoarse voice: “I have investigated. Dikens is cautious and rarely attacks proactively. We will create false appearances. As long as we hold out until the ritual starts, we will have completed the mission the leader assigned.”

“Hehehe. You seem very confident.”

A disturbance rippled through the shadows. A graceful figure emerged, chuckling softly in the darkness. Her tone was somewhat contemptuous, yet it inexplicably made the listeners feel a stir of desire.

“Witch, what are you doing here?” the hoarse voice said with disgust, tinged with apprehension.

“Me?” The graceful figure slowly stepped out, moving with a seductive poise. She said softly, “Naturally, I am here by command to help you all.”

“Get out! We don’t need your ‘help.’ Don’t try any tricks! I am watching you all the time!” the hoarse voice said coldly, ignoring the innate charm and the sound of men swallowing behind him.

“That is too hurtful. You used to call me sweetie. Now you are telling me to get out…”

The graceful figure’s voice drifted in and out, gradually fading into the darkness.

“You men, focus! You were charmed by the Witch. Are you not loyal to the Supreme Lord?” the hoarse voice chastised them.

On the other side, Dikens was still probing. Occasional miserable screams could be heard—a soldier had carelessly fallen into a strange trap.

“This enemy is very unusual. They don’t seem like an enemy nation. They are more like that humiliating history from a hundred years ago…”

Dikens’s eyes showed remembrance and resentment. He unconsciously stroked the ring on his middle finger, which bore the Rona family crest.

The darkness was slowly being illuminated. The gray-robed man with the hoarse voice grew restless.

“It should have activated by now. Did that damned Witch violate the pact again and destroy our ritual? This ritual took the heart’s blood of 13 villages and avoided layer after layer of scrutiny. It was so close to completion!”

He paced anxiously. He waved and summoned one of his subordinates, whispering a few words into his ear. From beneath his wide black robe, he handed the subordinate an unidentified object. The subordinate immediately took a few followers and used shadow-walking to travel toward Ace and Daina’s location.

Meanwhile, Ace was destroying the Mana nodes. With the destruction of the ritual, he also recorded many new pieces of supernatural knowledge: evil, profane, and powerful! This knowledge awaited his research and analysis. One day in the future, it would become his own power.

A graceful figure, moving with a charming disturbance, appeared in the empty village.

“Oh? The ritual is about to be ruined by the little rat who came in. This cannot happen.”

She chuckled softly. Her fingers danced, creating an evil, seductive rhythm. Like a lover whispering in an ear, the blood crows circling overhead suddenly had their blood-red eyes flash. They collectively rushed into the center of the village.

The dry black blood in the center of the village suddenly came alive. Like a massive beast, it swallowed all the blood crows, then slowly reverted to dry black blood.

The wind rustled. The graceful figure danced, gradually fading into the darkness.

“Little rat, I hope you enjoy this surprise.”

At the same time, Daina opened her eyes. Her mental power and Inherent Mana were fully recovered, and her eyes sparkled. She found Ace was missing. She released her mental perception. No one was within dozens of meters of her.

She searched for a while, then walked toward the center of the village.

On the other side, Ace detected a sudden, bizarre rhythm in the village—an unsettling turbulence.

The desiccated corpses in the village suddenly stood up one by one and quickly rushed toward Ace, surrounding him in an instant.

Ace calmly waited for the corpses to approach. He chose his range carefully, took out a button, and activated Reverse Transformation!

The button immediately transformed into “Emberlight,” the first Magic Weapon Ace ever crafted. Wielding “Emberlight,” Ace activated the Spell Model: Flame Jet.

Roaring flames jetted from Emberlight. Ace quickly spun, incinerating all the desiccated corpses into ashes.

Just then, the dry black blood became viscous and nourished. It pulsed restlessly, and tiny, sharp-horned Monsters crawled out of the black blood, radiating evil and chaotic power.

“Comprehend Unknown!”

As the cowlick on his head glowed, the image of the Ice Demons Ace had seen in the Dream Theater flashed before his eyes. These Monsters were also a type of Demon, and their numbers were rapidly increasing!

The entire village was restless and turbulent. It seemed something particularly horrifyingly evil was about to descend!

Run! Ace reacted immediately. He did not engage the small Demons. He captured a few small Demons, transformed them into buttons, then activated Perception Retrieval and the Spell Model Flash Teleportation.

Just then, he detected Daina.

Daina was fighting five or six small Demons. She raised her right hand. A Spell Model appeared. A small circular Mana Crystal shield formed, clinging closely to her right arm.

She used the Mana Crystal shield to block the small Demons’ attacks while fiercely hacking at them with the Mana Crystal short sword in her left hand.

However, the small Demons were too agile. She could resist one or two, but five or six were too much to handle. The small Demons, experts at picking on the weak, quickly swarmed Daina.

“Ah!”

Daina’s left arm was pierced by the sharp tail of one of the small Demons. Under the corrosive influence of the Abyssal aura, white bone was visible.

She endured the pain. A Spell Model appeared on her right hand, which held the round shield. A Mana Crystal short axe successfully shaped. She used the axe to cleave the small Demon in two.

Next, the Thrust and Leap spells activated. Daina quickly thrust forward, leaping several times, breaking free from the encirclement. Just then, Ace “happened” to arrive.

He grabbed Daina’s hand and spoke in a strange pronunciation: “Swiftness!”

The two abruptly accelerated. Daina flipped Ace onto her shoulder and rapidly leaped away from the increasingly bizarre village.

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