Chapter 0078: Annihilation

Beautiful, splendidly done—the vampire clan truly deserves its reputation as the nobility of the night! Even in murder, they maintain a composure and grace, an air of artistry that is simply astonishing! Grim couldn’t help but murmur a few words of admiration before refocusing and hurling the flame spear in his hand. This time, his target was a figure surrounded by five skeletal skulls.

The sudden explosion of the fiery spear shattered two of the skulls orbiting the target, provoking the wrath of the fallen apprentice. His ebony staff swung madly at Grim, launching invisible curses that assaulted him relentlessly. Grim directed his clay hunter to block all the curse attacks, while he concentrated entirely on assaulting the necromancer apprentice.

Curses, carrion flies, voodoo skulls, bone spears, soul-draining gazes—the array of sorceries that opponent unleashed broadened Grim’s horizons. Without the chip’s elemental vision assistance, he doubted even nine lives would suffice to survive the necromancer’s arsenal.

His only threats to the enemy were his own flame spear throws and the clay hunter’s earth spear. The lack of ranged sorcery made Grim ponder developing a magical construct specifically designed for ranged attacks when he had the opportunity.

While Grim’s power alone wasn’t enough to break through the fallen necromancer’s defenses, his squad could. With the advantage secured, the unrestrained barrage of sorcery brought immense pressure upon the fallen apprentices.

Many began to retreat, some barely able to withstand the onslaught.

This pattern was the typical mode of battle between the two sides.

Both groups would first array themselves en masse, attacking each other with ranged sorcery like proper soldiers. Once one side faltered, defeat would follow, leading to small-scale pursuits and skirmishes that usually broke out between a handful of apprentice sorcerers, with battlefields sprawling across any corner of the surrounding area.

At last, with the sweeping power of two quasi-sorcerers from Kevin’s side, the fallen squad collapsed!

The fallen apprentices, their bodies battered and hope gone, turned and fled into the subterranean tunnels. Clearly, they scattered like frightened birds, each running for themselves, with no sign of covering or supporting each other.

Indeed, the six fallen apprentices escaped individually, with no pairs fleeing together. On the long, perilous route to Grim City, a treacherous companion was perhaps more fearsome than a relentless pursuer.

With a call, Kevin sent the eight squad members out in pairs, chasing after the fallen apprentices.

A quasi-sorcerer and Kevin targeted the enemy’s quasi-sorcerer, while the other acted alone, the remaining squad members divided into separate groups, pursuing their foes into the darkness.

Grim, too, gave no greeting, but grinned wickedly and drove his magic crocodile after his old adversary.

…

The dark tunnel was silent.

Allen once again activated the swift ring on his right pinky, increasing his running speed. The rugged terrain in the shadows posed no obstacle; his thin, emaciated frame seemed to possess endless stamina, propelling him quickly through cave after cave.

The pathways of the underground world were always winding and complex, broken and intricate enough that every small cavern or chamber contained countless narrow passages barely wide enough for a single person.

Familiar with the terrain, Allen managed to escape over three miles in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, traversing over a dozen passages and caves. When the glow of the swift sorcery faded from his body, Allen finally stopped, leaning against a solid rock wall, gasping for breath. His chest, so thin the ribs were visible, heaved rapidly, his breathing like an old bellows.

Though all was quiet, Allen still clutched his ebony staff tightly.

If the slightest sound or disturbance arose, he could unleash the bone spear stored in the staff’s crystal within half a second.

After a long pause, Allen managed to steady his breath. He listened intently to the path he’d come from, but heard nothing unusual.

Had luck favored him, with no enemy pursuing?

Allen sneered bitterly at himself.

Ever since becoming a necromancer apprentice, luck had never favored him. It was as though the will of the wizarding world despised him, turning him into a pitiful child of fate.

Despite sensing nothing amiss, Allen was still deeply uneasy. It was as if a monstrous beast lurked in the silent darkness around him, watching him, ready to devour him whole at any moment.

No, he must leave here at once!

Resolute, Allen was about to step away when he realized that the damp earth beneath his feet had somehow become a slowly flowing pool of acidic sludge. His feet had already sunk into it unnoticed.

Damn it, acid marsh sorcery!

Allen slapped his neck hard, and the bone necklace around it flashed with light; two skulls, both offensive and defensive, once again hovered beside him. He had deactivated his personal protection during the escape to avoid drawing attention, which allowed the hidden enemy to catch him off guard.

After the previous battle, his defensive bone magic was at its lowest point!

Under the corrosive effect of intense negative energy, the acid marsh beneath his feet sizzled, but Allen soon broke free from its grip.

With two muffled thuds, a shadow like a mountain in the darkness began to move forward, its earthy aura unmistakable.

Damn it, it’s that bastard riding the earth crocodile!

That kid was bold—only intermediate in power, yet dared to chase and attack a high-level fallen apprentice!

Allen grinned coldly, opened his mouth wide, and spewed a swarm of buzzing black flies, which quickly formed a cloud rushing toward the massive shadow. Meanwhile, he chanted raspy, unpleasant sorcery incantations, tossing fist-sized voodoo skulls glowing with sickly green light into the distance.

These voodoo skulls, crafted by himself, would explode violently upon contact with anything, inflicting massive physical damage and voodoo attacks. The horrifying voodoo poison could even dissolve stone.

Yet as he waited for the enemy’s screams, a flame spear suddenly illuminated the whole cave from another direction. Amidst swirling fire, a handsome young man smiled at him, the flaming spear gripped in his hand.

“No… don’t kill me, we can talk—”

Allen’s face was full of terror as the incoming flame spear struck the skulls and exploded violently, searing flames and heat engulfing his position.

After three seconds, Allen staggered out of the inferno, his condition pitiful. His already scant flesh was burned to charcoal, half of his magical items destroyed, the crystal atop his staff shattered, and the ghostly souls bound by necromancy fled in droves.

“Hmph, kid, you think this will kill me? This isn’t over. Next time we meet, I’ll—” Allen clawed at the earth in fury, his right pinky beginning to glow with white light.

It was the glow of escape sorcery!

This hidden sorcery in his pinky was his ultimate lifeline.

Two more seconds and he’d be free—hope sparked in Allen’s cloudy eyes. But at that moment, he felt the rock wall beside him shift.

When he looked in shock, he was horrified to see a massive eye staring coldly at him. A gigantic triangular snake head, wide jaws, uneven fangs, flickering tongue—all made of stone, cold and hard!

As realization dawned, the giant snake opened its mouth and swallowed him whole.

After a long while, the cave returned to silence.

Grim stood quietly in a corner, not mounted upon the magic crocodile. In the fight just now, he had used the crocodile hunter to draw most of the enemy’s attacks, then struck to break the defenses, but the final kill came from the newly summoned stone python.

A faint tremor in the darkness, the black crocodile hunter approached him, its clay hunter half dissolved on its back. On the other side, the stone python slithered along the wall, opening its jaws to disgorge a mangled corpse.

Ha! A high-level fallen apprentice’s head, at last!

But a necromancer’s corpse was a dreadful thing. So Grim let the clay construct repair itself first, then had it search the enemy’s remains for trophies, finally feeding the corpse to the magic crocodile before swaggering back to the battlefield.

The teammates who had gone out to hunt the enemy were gradually returning, though few had succeeded—most came back empty-handed.

There was no help for it; the underground world was simply too well-suited for escape. Collapse any passage, and pursuers were thwarted. Fallen apprentices were masters of survival: defeating them was easy, killing them was hard.

The squad’s quasi-sorcerer and Kevin had failed to capture the enemy’s quasi-sorcerer, but another had brought back a head. The rest of the senior apprentices had nothing to show, so when Grim’s magic crocodile spat out an enemy’s bones, everyone regarded him differently.

Camp duels were one thing—Grim had “luckily” won two rounds thanks to his unfamiliarity, but that didn’t mean his power was truly so great. Yet with the corpse of a high-level fallen apprentice before them, their gazes changed.

This… this meant he already had the power to reliably take the life of a senior apprentice! That was what everyone valued most.