Chapter 16, the End and the Beginning (Medium)
The bipedal wyvern flew at full speed, mountains and rivers seemingly slowly passing below like a backdrop. However, Asa knew that the seeming slowness was just an illusion of being too far away, and that even the fastest horse could not keep up with half the speed of the giant reptile. And it's a completely straight line, just one more day to get to Oufu.
The Wyvern slid through a light cloud, smashing the silky cloud to pieces. The water vapor contained in the cloud scraped at a high speed on his face and even hurt a little, and if it weren't for the strange blindfold on his face, Asa probably wouldn't even be able to open his eyes.
The eye patch is a piece of leather with two pieces of glass inlaid on it, and when worn on the head, you can see through the glass without being blown by the wind. This thing was obviously made by the craftsmen of Orfo for the guests who flew in this strange flying beast, and the average lizardman driver would not need this kind of thing, the lizardman has a transparent cuticle on his eyes, and he does not need such a strange prop.
But that's just the lizardmen's patent. Asa was sure that Gru had absolutely no such organs, but he was more at ease than a lizardman. The cold wind in the sky was like a knife, and if it was a slightly more delicate ordinary person, even a layer of skin would be peeled off, but Gru was so calm and relaxed as if he was working at a desk. He holds a charcoal pen and a piece of leather on his lap, drawing on it as he observes the terrain below. The pair of Xiu's long and graceful hands held the charcoal and swiped quickly, and the mountainous area below was clearly outlined.
Asa remembers the first time he went to the west, and it took him a whole day to traverse this mountainous terrain. Now sitting on the bipedal wyvern, it has only been more than ten minutes and has flown by. Asa suddenly thought that if he took this thing to travel around the mainland, it probably wouldn't take more than a month. But that would be meaningless, the road is meant to be walked, not to fly.
"I can't imagine that there are flies in such a place. Gru suddenly smiled coldly. His eyebrows and eyes didn't move, but the lines around his mouth changed, and he changed an expression as cold and hard as a rock.
"Flies?" Asa, stunned, looked left and right. Under the influence of the breath of the bipedal wyvern, there was not even a single bird around.
"I'm probably looking for you. Gru took the map in his arms and looked coldly downward.
Asa followed his line of sight and finally saw five small black dots approaching him. Just looking at the shape and size, I knew that it would never be a fly, and the outstretched wings seemed a bit like a bat. But absolutely no bat could have flown to such heights. Asa woke up suddenly, almost jumping up from the back of the wyvern: "It's a necromancer." ”
Five small black dots were rapidly approaching here, and the shape was getting clearer and clearer. A mouse-like face, a monkey-like but a hundred-fold body, and a pair of huge wings behind it. It's the kind of gargoyles you've seen outside the Whispering Forest. And you can see that there are three figures sitting on them.
"What should I do?" Asa sweated a little on his forehead. "Rushing down to the ground?"
It was impossible for these three necromancers to just ride through the sky on a gargoyle. In front of their high-level magicians, especially necromancers, the bipedal wyvern, the most powerful aerial overlord in the continent, is no different from a chicken. And if it is deliberately aimed at him, then you will never be afraid of him running away. No matter how strong the bipedal wyvern is, after all, it is a living thing, and its endurance is by no means comparable to that of a monster driven by magic like a gargoyle.
"What are you going to do down there? Gru replied coldly.
"Where are you going?" replied Asa with a sigh of relief. Because of the excessive force, the bipedal wyvern snorted, and its wings flapped even harder.
Gru frowned. He went up and took the reins from Asa's hand. But instead of continuing to urge the Wyvern to fly forward, he twisted the reins, and the Wyvern flew reflexively towards the gargoyles.
"What are you doing?" Asa was taken aback, dumbfounded.
"Go and see what the hell they're trying to do. Gru replied lightly.
"I think we'd better go down to the field and find a place to hide. Although Asa is also very confident in Gru's combat effectiveness, after all, this is at an altitude of thousands of meters, and it is not a land that can be galloped at will.
"We're not rats, hiding something. Gru said lightly.
Asa sighed and looked at the five gargoyles that were getting closer. In this case, it seems that there is only an opportunity to act.
The five gargoyles quickly approached. The silver skull masks of the three necromancers above glowed eerily in the sunlight high in the sky. They didn't get too close to the bipedal wyvern, they just stopped at a distance of twenty or thirty meters and circled in a fan. The three necromancers scattered in three directions, looking at the two on the two-legged wyvern.
"What's wrong? why don't you run away?" asked one of the necromancers on the left. Although the voice was unpleasant because the props in his mouth had changed, the taste of surprise could still be heard.
"Because we don't want to run. Gru asked faintly.
"And are you here to surrender to us?" a necromancer on the right nodded, pouting. "Looks like you're good at judgment. ”
"What are you doing here?" asked Asa.
"Naturally, I'm here to kill. Kill you, since you're with him. Then kill him along with him by the way. So run away. The necromancer in the middle spoke. It was supposed to be an old man, with his curly white hair and wrinkled dark skin on the edge of his mouth, despite the mask on his face, and his voice seemed a little grumpy. "It doesn't matter if you surrender on your own because you know the times, or if you want to negotiate any terms with us. None of us accept it. You have only one dead end. ”
Gru smiled. This otherwise beautiful smile was mixed with the sparkle in his eyes. Asa felt like he saw a grinning leopard.
"I'm so sorry. Teacher Nimbas was not in a good mood. Because he lost his bet. A necromancer chuckled and pointed at Asa. "He thought you should have stayed away from the royal capital. But our acting guildmaster bets you'll go to the Duke's Palace. He said that you will definitely go to see the beautiful Duchess before you leave, and that we just have to wait for the rabbit. Sure enough, he expected it. ”
"I didn't expect your guildmaster to know me so well. Asa smiled unnaturally.
"Is it Nimbas, the sage of Tytaria?" Gru looked at the necromancer in the middle. "I didn't think you would be a member of the Necromantic Guild. ”
"Since they were called by our names in front of us, it seems that they really didn't plan to keep us alive. Asa sighed. The Sage Nimbas was to Tytalia what the Bishop of Ronis was to the Empire of Einfast, and even the king consulted the venerable Sage in many places. I don't know how the people of Tytalia will react when they know that the person they revere is actually a necromancer. "But since you've long made up your mind that we want to die, why do you still wear that mask, don't you let us see, let us be ghosts?"
"I'm sorry, but that's a guild rule. ”
"Do not be afraid. Although we will kill you, you still have a choice in how to die. The laughing necromancer chuckled again. He said softly and cordially to Asa in a child's tone. "If you tell us the whereabouts of the leaves of the World Tree, we won't have to bother to find them. Then we can make your death easier. ”
"Then if I don't tell you the whereabouts of the leaves of the World Tree, won't I at least keep a life?" replied Asa.
"If you don't tell us, we'll naturally look for it. As long as this thing is still on the mainland, it will not be possible to escape our grasp. The necromancer sighed and persuaded Asa in a serious, well-intentioned tone. "I advise you to tell us. Each of our members is a busy person, with countless important affairs to deal with, and a lot of noble and elegant entertainment and artistic life in their free time. You told us that you saved us that precious time, and we will repay you. Without pain, you may not even feel the concept of 'death', and you will return to the eternal and peaceful realm of death. ”
Nimbas shook his head and said, "No, you better run away." We came here with three people, just in anticipation that you would definitely resist or run away. I haven't experienced the thrill of a hunter in years. He paused, and said in a tone that was half charity and half encouragement, "Maybe you are lucky, and maybe you can really escape." If you lose your fighting spirit like this, it will be very boring. ”
The tone and posture of the three necromancers were like those of the Dominators, and they looked relaxed. But they did not let up. They know very well that they are not lambs to be slaughtered. But it is precisely because of this that they are also interested enough.
Asa was talking as he observed the breathing, the eyes, and the mental condition of the three necromancers. As long as there is the slightest flaw, he will immediately take advantage of the opportunity, and he will immediately go all out.
But alas. He never found such an opportunity. Three necromancers, three directions. No matter how triumphant they were, the three gargoyles they were riding on had been keeping a distance of tens of meters from the Wyvern. At an altitude of several thousand meters, this distance is enough to prevent any sudden close attack. And they form an equilateral triangle with each other in mid-air, and the distance between the three is completely equal, no matter which one is attacked, the other two can react and rescue at the first time.
The three necromancers emitted faint magical fluctuations, constantly flowing and hovering in the triangle. Although they are proud, they do not forget their form. Each of them is a brilliant person, and they will never make the kind of low-level mistake of being negligent because they have an advantage.
But Asa did not despair, and even had some hope, because the person behind him should not let himself down. Even if he can't find a chance to make a move, he must have it.
"What's wrong. Flee quickly. Nimbas seemed a little impatient. There was a dark green wave jumping in his hand, it was the death ripple of one of the high-level necromantic magics.
This magic has little destructive power on objects, but the fluctuations that imply death and chaos are deadly to living beings. And it's a range magic that barely makes sense to dodge. Even a two-legged wyvern who is swept away by this magic will lose half a life.
"I said it. We didn't think about running away from the beginning. And I'd love to ask you a question," Gru's eyes swept over the faces of the three necromancers, and he said word by word, "Why don't you run away yourself?"
"Haha...""Hehe...", the three necromancers all laughed. Nimbas smiled especially happily, the green glow in his hand snapped.
But in the next moment, like the blink of a meteor, the light suddenly disappeared.
Along with it disappeared was Nimbas's hand. Originally, the manipulation, preparation, and resonance of this magic had been properly prepared, like a cloud of smoke pinched in the hand, as long as the hand was opened, a simple action would immediately burst out on its own. But he didn't have time to do even the simplest of movements, and his hands and the mana condensed on them scattered like a pile of scraps of paper in the wind.
The huge body of the two-legged wyvern sank downward, and the place where Gru had just stood was completely recessed, and at the same time, two muffled sounds of broken ribs came from the wyvern's body.
Nimbas's screams were no less than those of a wyvern. Their screams rang out at the same time, and they were also terrible, and they were mixed up.
Gru, who had been standing still on the Wyvern a moment ago, was now standing in front of Nimbas on the gargoyle. Where he landed was the head of a gargoyle, where there were already stone chips. As he stood on the gargoyle, Gru also held out his hand.
The same hand, his hand had the same glow as Nimbas, but it was white. He seemed to reach out casually with the white glow of his hand, and Nimbas's hand with a green glow of magic flew into a crumb of flesh.
But Gru was also stunned at the same time, and a white light containing countless tiny multicolored points of light shone on him. Countless small dots of light dissolved into his body as soon as they came into contact, and he immediately paused.
The meal lasted only a blink of an eye. But with this momentary pause, Nimbas had already jumped off the gargoyle with a scream. The other hand, which could have allowed his head to be shattered in the same way, just skimmed past his chest and brought up a puddle of blood.
The shot he was determined to win missed, and he was actually hit by the magic, and Gru turned his head to glare at the necromancer on the other gargoyle. A white glow lit up all over his body.
The necromancer was shaken. He saw the boiling and violent killing intent and fighting spirit in his dark eyes. For the first time in his life, he felt fear, fear.
Although he has been laughing since the beginning and has always thought that the victory is in his hands, he can also see that this person should be very powerful, and he also understands that he will definitely make a move, and he knows that since the other party is so confident, he must have confident capital. So he laughed triumphantly, and at the same time condensed a magic that was ready to be sent out at any time. He was waiting for this man to make a move, and he guessed that he must have jumped on top of the gargoyle. He waited to see as the man stiffened in mid-air, and then fell from a thousand meters into a pulp.
He did expect the way that person attacked, but what he didn't expect was his own reaction. There is such a big gap between his own gaze, the speed of his reaction and the other party's movements. It wasn't until Nimbas's hand shattered and the opponent's figure stopped because of the attack that he realized what was going on, and he had the opportunity to unleash this magic that had been prepared for a long time. And because of the almost no range time of this magic, he barely saved Nimbas's life.
This is not to take advantage of the weakness to attack its unpreparedness, this is the real strength. The necromancer knew that if this person was coming at him, then his full guard was pointless. Maybe the concept of 'death' didn't even have time to come into being, and his head was shattered like Nimbas's hand.
In other words, he is actually no different from a bug in front of this person. This unprecedented fear swept through all his nerves in an instant.
A top-notch white magic paralysis technique that can make an elephant stiffen for half an hour, but only in exchange for a blink of an eye. If it is a battle between two evenly matched powerhouses, this may be a fatal opportunity. But the three of them were nothing more than magicians. Even if it is a top-level magician, the body's reaction and judgment are not much different from ordinary people, this moment is too short.
The necromancer didn't use his attack magic anymore, and his confidence was gone in an instant. Fear and a sense of urgency made him subconsciously cast a high-level talisman white magic with all his might, 'Heavenly Bless'. At the almost top-level level of white magic, he instantly possessed more than a dozen auxiliary spells such as 'Strength Technique', 'Blessing Technique', 'Lucky Technique', 'Inspiration Technique', 'Stone Skin Technique' and so on.
Gru bent over and jumped, the gargoyle's massive body shattering in an instant. His form turned into a straight line of white light in the eyes of the necromancer's blessed 'Eagle Eye', shooting like a crossbow arrow at the gargoyle where the necromancer was.
'Heavenly Blessed' has indeed blessed the life of this necromancer. 'Eagle Eye' gave him the ability to see Gru bending over, and 'Swiftness' and 'Strength' gave him enough reflexes and strength to dodge. There was no time to manipulate the gargoyle, and he, like Nimbas, jumped down in a hurry.
Behind him came the sound of a gargoyle shattering. The necromancer laboriously gestured in mid-air, chanted incantations, and used flying spells to fly away desperately. When he turned around, he saw that the man was standing on top of a gargoyle and punched him. After a loud bang, the magical creature dozens of times his size burst apart, shattered into a pile of rotten stones and fell to the ground.
The only remaining gargoyle escaped under the manipulation of the necromancer, and sped down to catch Nimbas as he fell to the ground.
Gru jumped back into the Wyvern from the gargoyle's fallen body and nodded to Asa, "Good job." ”
When Gru moved, it was Asa who reacted first. He immediately began to condense his mana, and when the two-legged wyvern screamed, he immediately used an advanced healing technique. Otherwise, the bipedal wyvern, with a rib broken at the base of its wing, will immediately plant itself towards the ground.
When Nimbas's hand shattered and the necromancer's paralysis was at work, another necromancer was about to strike, but Asa's three fireballs had already arrived in front of him. The necromancer had to smash the fireball to pieces with three bolts of lightning. It's just that this delay, the moment of paralysis, the opportunity has been lost. Seeing Gru's arrow-like figure that could not be caught with his eyes, the necromancer did not dare to make a move, and hurriedly drove the gargoyle down to catch the falling Nimbas.
The necromancer flying through the air also landed on the gargoyle, and the three terrified necromancers were now all gathered on the only gargoyle. In between these short breaths, their emotions fell from heaven to reality, and they fell in agony. Like a learned and brilliant scholar who is confronted with a ferocious beast, he finds that the things he relies on are as pale as a joke. No matter how magical, intelligent, and skillful, they are like waste under the most primitive, savage, and direct speed and power. For the first time, they felt as powerless as ordinary people.
The necromancer's lips trembled slightly under the mask. Whether it was anger, pain, and fear, it was not only the four gargoyles that were destroyed, but their faith.
Fear, horror, shame, and untold pain turned into hysterical rage. Nimbas gripped his severed hand and stared at the Wyvern in a frenzy, screaming, "Kill him, kill him." I'm going to kill him. ”
Although he looked like he was going crazy, it wasn't crazy. After all, the three of them are the top magicians in the continent, as long as they have a distance and enough preparation, the advantage is still here. After all, as long as the Great Spell can be used, the flesh and blood will never be able to compete with it.
But before they could prepare anything, the Wyvern hissed and began to swoop down on the gargoyle.
The opponents on the Wyvern also knew very well that they must not be allowed to distance themselves and prepare for great magic. The gargoyle was the only one left, and there was not much room for the necromancers.
Just as before, a figure with a white glow shot out from the Wyvern, rushing towards the gargoyle at a speed that could barely be caught by the eye.
Still only the necromancer who has blessed the 'Heavenly Blessing' can see this faint figure. Although he still couldn't accurately catch such a high-speed opponent, the distance was much farther than just now, and he was already preparing to increase his mana with all his might, and the key was that he could see the direction of the opponent's rush. But at such a fast speed, it was impossible for any mage to use a wide range of high-level magic, so he poured all the magic power that had been raised to the limit into a low-level spell with one hand, and instantly sent it out.
A strange cracking sound rang out in mid-air, filling the air. Then the figure snapped, and its speed slowed down.
The necromancer lost his strength, knelt down, and was denied. His face outside his mask was pale, and he coughed up a small mouthful of blood. He only felt as if the mana had been eaten back, as if all his internal organs had been wrenched.
Magic is low-level, but he uses all of his mana to increase his effectiveness. The 'Force Field Shield' used to block arrows and enemies is a dangerous low-level magic, and if the force field is broken, the magician's own magic will be disturbed and even injured. Although his full force field shield was enough to block a boulder thrown by a trebuchet, it was as fragile as a piece of tissue paper under the impact of this figure. If it weren't for the gentleness and purity of the white magic in his body, the magic rebound after the force field was shattered could have killed him.
But the magic he had worked so hard had worked. Although Gru was still swooping here, after breaking through the force field, he had changed from his original white light and shadow to a person who could see clearly.
And he was already in mid-air, completely out of his power. The other two necromancers landed on him with corpse-like eyes.
Nimbas screamed, dead green ripples pouring out and gathering on his last remaining hand. The dead green was so intense that it seemed as if he was holding a pool of stagnant water that had rotted for thousands of years. The stagnant water churned in his hand and turned into an arrow so strong that it seemed to have a physical substance.
Nimbas raised his hand and aimed it at the figure in mid-air. Even the most powerful fighter is just a live target if he floats in the air without any strength. The Necromantic Arrow in his hand was the essence of his decades of magical cultivation, and absolutely no one, no living being, could withstand this blow.
A violent explosion suddenly exploded into Gru's body in midair. The raging air currents and flames grew into a large mass of death flowers in the space in an instant, and even the gargoyles began to shake under the impact of the air currents. The fire generated by the huge explosion instantly submerged Gru's figure in it.
The three necromancers were stunned, for none of them had made a move.
But in the next moment, the figure burst out of the flames again, regained its original high speed, and continued to rush towards the three necromancers on the gargoyle. The furious magical energy didn't tear him apart, and the impact of the explosion made him accelerate suddenly.
The white Dou Qi light on his body had already brightened to the limit. He raised his hand, his slender fingers bent together, and clenched into a fist. Even in the midst of this explosion, the three necromancers had the feeling of hearing the roar,
On the two-legged wyvern, Asa withdrew his palm and gasped for breath. This fireball, which is faster than an arrow, contains such a great power, if it weren't for the two days of studying from the old man Sandru, it really wouldn't be useful. Although he and Gru had not agreed beforehand, he also knew that this fireball was definitely the right choice.
Nimbas had a look of horror on his face. Because of this sudden acceleration, he knew that the magic in his hand could not be faster than this punch. But he felt his neckline tighten, and his body suddenly began to hang in the air and fall backwards.
Gru's feet finally stepped onto the gargoyle's head, and the incomparably hard black rock instantly began to crack and splash in all directions. But the gargoyle is empty, and there is no one left.
The three necromancers had already flown into the air. Or should I say just a necromancer, carrying the other two.
Just when the first necromancer collapsed due to detachment, and Nimbas was about to attack, the necromancer standing at the end was not idle, and he also condensed his mana. As soon as the explosion occurred, Gru in mid-air accelerated, especially when he saw the raised fist, a subconscious fear involuntarily transformed the mana he originally intended to attack into the power to flee in an instant.
In terms of body, he is indeed an old and decrepit person who is about the same as ordinary people, he has no sharp body movements, let alone any explosive power, if it is just a physical dodge, he is enough to die a thousand times. But the magic he had cultivated all his life was almost as fast as that of his opponent who was rushing at the opposite side. He grabbed the vests of his two companions with both hands, and immediately rose into the air at the speed of a frightened vulture, and at the same time roared in his mouth, "It was you that day." ”
"So you killed Ace that day. The necromancer with two companions in the air was yelling, his eyes under the skull mask half angry and half fearful.
Gru didn't answer. He bent and jumped, the gargoyle's head shattered at his feet, and he flew straight into the air like a crossbow bolt towards the three necromancers.
But this time he fell short. Fear had crushed the nerves of the necromancer in mid-air to the extreme, and almost as soon as he bent over, the necromancer began to dodge, dragging his two companions to the side like fish in water, and Gru swept past them a few meters away.
Nimbas looked at the passing figure, and the panic in his eyes was completely gone, replaced by hideousness. The magic in his hand was already formed, and he raised his hand, holding the Necromantic Arrow, which was purely condensed by the fluctuations of magic, and waved it at Gru, shouting, "Go ....."
The word 'death' should be the next one. He should have shouted 'Die'. But Nimbas didn't roar, because his mouth was gone.
Not only his mouth, but even his entire head was shattered. Instead of splashing everywhere like an egg and a tomato crumbling and rotting, his head suddenly became a small fireworks that exploded silently. The two necromancers next to him were all evenly covered in his flesh, bone fragments, and other bits and pieces. The silver skull mask was the only thing on his head that wasn't broken, but it was completely twisted into a tattered mass.
Without a head, the necromantic arrow in his hand, which was only the last point away from being able to strike, made a fluffy sound and dissipated.
Unabated, Gru, who was still rushing upwards, withdrew his fist and gasped. For the first time, he was a little tired, as he threw his punch at a distance of twenty meters from the necromancer.
The flying necromancer flickered slightly, and immediately let out a terrified cry.
He was terrified not by seeing his companion die, but because he knew that if it weren't for Nimbas's imminent attack, it would have been his head that had been shattered.
There was no prior warning, and there were no magical fluctuations. All he could see was the man turn in mid-air after a rapid sweep, sending out a white fist into the void, and Nimbas's head exploded. It was only then that he sensed the anomaly in the air with his subtle experience of the movement of air. That's not magic, it's pure power and speed. The punch that was thrown at the void was so fast and powerful that it actually 'struck' the air out. The air mass that was struck by this punch may only be a few tenths of the strength of this punch, but it is more than enough for a human head.
Without any pause, the necromancer left Nimbas's headless body behind and dragged another companion off the road. It was twice as fast as the gargoyle when it came, and it became a small black dot in the blink of an eye.
Gru's speed slowly waned as he ascended and then began to fall. Asa caught him with a two-legged wyvern.
Standing back on the bipedal wyvern, Gru looked a little embarrassed. However, the embarrassment was the work of Asa, and the fireball that exploded on his back almost shattered his clothes, revealing a sculptural body full of strength, his hair seemed to be half scorched, and his face was a little black. But his expression was one of relief and affirmation, and he smiled at Asa: "Good blow." ”
Asa also smiled: "You play better." ”
"I'm going to have to be more careful in the future. Gru sighed, as if he wasn't quite satisfied with the situation just now. "I didn't expect these three flies to be a little more troublesome to deal with than I expected. ”
"A little?" Asa asked.
"A little. Gru nodded.