Even though the room was very dark and her vision was a bit blurry, Catalin was still able to see the figure that had killed the creature that almost took her life.
The woman was short, her height must not have exceeded 1.60 m (5.20 ft). She had a slender waist; her legs were long, and she had very abundant breasts. She was equipped with light armor, a pair of curved daggers, another pair of straight daggers, some throwing knives, and a short sword.
Even though she was wrapped in a black hooded cloak and half of her face was covered by a black cloth, Catalin could still recognize her. While she had not seen her once and did not know her real name either, Catalin had heard rumors and reports about her.
This woman was known by her code name as Night Fox and was the city governor's personal assassin and spy. She was in charge of all tasks involved with intelligence gathering, assassinations, and espionage in the port city of Neima.
Although there were several rumors about Night Fox, Catalin had never had much information about the assassin's capabilities or strength. She didn't even know that Night Fox was a woman until now. What little the church deacon knew, was that Night Fox's skills in information gathering or assassination were not something to be taken lightly.
Night Fox wiped the blood from her daggers and put them away in their sheaths. Then, the woman approached Catalin, pulled out a vial from between her clothes, and poured the reddish liquid from the vial onto the wound on Catalin's abdomen.
*Tsss.*
A couple of seconds later, the potion began to take effect and a white vapor began to rise from the wound as the liquid repaired Catalin's damaged internal organs, muscles, and tissues. In a short time, the nearly 8 centimeters (three-inch) diameter hole in Catalin's abdomen shrank in size until it was completely closed. All that remained of the wound was a small scar the size of a thumb.
Once her wound closed, Catalin began to lose consciousness and eventually passed out. Although it had healed her, the healing potion only amplified her body's regenerative abilities, but did not replace the blood or energy she had lost.
Once she confirmed that Catalin's life was not in danger, Night Fox pulled a small crystal sphere from between her clothes. She whispered something, tapped the crystal with her finger three times, and a few seconds later, the sphere began to emit a white glow and produce a static sound.
[Night Fox! What's the situation?] The voice coming out of the sphere asked.
"I'm not going to lie to you, sir. The situation is very bad. The sanctuary is a complete mess. Except for Lady Catalin, everyone else is dead. I think there were about 200 people when the massacre happened. At least 50 of them were elite knights. There were also five wizards from the pinnacle of the 1st realm and one wizard from the 2nd realm."
[Sh*t! How could this happen?! What the fuck happened?]
"The one responsible for this was a Priest of disease." Night Fox replied as he took one of the worms from the creature she had butchered a few minutes ago.
[...F**k... Were you able to find out anything about them?] The sphere's voice sounded very concerned.
The disease priests were members belonging to the church of the deadly plagues, one of the great dark churches that worshipped the five calamities. In the case of the church of deadly plagues, they worshipped Meiragas, the demon goddess of plagues.
In the hierarchy of the church of the deadly plagues, the priests of disease occupied a lower-middle rank among the rest of its followers. However, they were not to be underestimated.
The average strength of a priest of disease hovered between the pinnacle of the 3rd realm and the 4th realm. The reason why they were so dangerous, however, was that they were all experts in evil arts related to the creation and manipulation of diseases or poisons. In addition, many of the priests possessed certain special characteristics that made them very difficult to kill.
"The priest was controlling a group of Naragor parasitic worms, each of them had the strength of a creature at the pinnacle of the 2nd realm. Also, the fact that all the monsters attacking the city are insects or arachnids indicates that he probably specializes in entomancy."
[And his strength? Do you have any idea if he's alone or has a group of fanatics?"].
"Considering the level and the number of monsters under his control, I'd say he's a wizard of the 5th realm. But since he is only a priest and not a high priest it is likely that he is only in the 4th realm and that he has a magic item that amplifies his powers. Plus I think he's alone."
[BOOM!] An explosion sounded from the crystal sphere. Even if she hadn't had the communication sphere, Night Fox would still have been able to hear the loud boom that spread throughout the city.
[His f**king mother! I have to go to the south side of the wall! Night Fox, have you got the location of that son of a bitch?]
Night Fox looked at the worm head she held in her hand. She closed her eyes and in that instant, a thread of energy separated from her body and began to envelop the worm. When she opened her eyes, Night Fox could see a trail of energy emanating from the creatures' corpses and stretching northwestward.
"Got it. He's not too far away. 25(15.53 miles)... maybe 27 kilometers(16.77 miles) to the northwest. If I hurry, I think I can get there in 20 minutes. Even if he's using a magic item to amplify his power, the priest should be vulnerable."
[Very well. You take care of killing the priest. The rest of us and I will take care of defending the city. But hurry up! I don't think we can hold out much longer!"]
"As you command."
A few seconds later, a group of knights entered the sanctuary. They were the knights who noticed that Catalin's spell had stopped taking effect, so they had hurried to get to the sanctuary as quickly as possible.
When they entered, the knights found the corpses and severed remains of the believers. Catalin seemed to be the only survivor of the massacre and miraculously, she was uninjured.
****
[City wall, South Zone. 10 minutes later.]
*Woosh*
The Scorpion's black tentacles moved so fast they cut through the air.
*Bam*
"Aaargh!"
Before the tentacles could hit him, Edwin raised his great battle-ax to block the creature's attack. But the force of the blow was so powerful, that when the tentacle hit him, it caused Edwin to be pushed several meters in the air until he finally crashed into a wooden cart. In addition, his left arm was twisted at an angle it shouldn't be.
Edwin was at a distinct disadvantage.
At first, Edwin managed to land a couple of blows to the scorpion's armor and had even been able to sever two of the creature's eight tentacles. But he too suffered heavy losses.
During the ten minutes of the confrontation, Edwin had been wounded several times and both his battle-ax and armor had been severely damaged.
In addition, at the beginning of the fight, Edwin had the help of multiple high-ranked mercenaries to attack the creature. However, they all died within the first few minutes of the confrontation.
Some had been pierced by the scorpion's poisonous sting. Others had been unable to escape the scorpion's energy attacks and their bodies had been completely disintegrated. Still, others had their heads exploded after receiving a single blow from the tentacles or had been torn apart by the creature's pincers.
The moment his arm was healed, Edwin rose from the ground with his ax in hand. He was ready for another round.
*Weng Weng*
For its part, the scorpion began to gather energy to create another projectile. If Edwin was hit by it, even if he had taken a physical reinforcement potion, he would not survive.
*Bang, Tremble!*
Just before the scorpion finished preparing its projectile, there was a loud bang that shook the earth. In that instant, a great diamond wall four meters (13.12ft) high was formed between Edwin and the scorpion.
*BOOM Crash!*
The diamond wall received the impact of the energy projectile, but it could not resist, and after cracking it ended up collapsing. But by stopping the projectile, the wall had achieved its goal. But that wasn't all.
*Rumble Rumble Rumble!*
A second after the wall was destroyed, three lightning bolts more than a meter (3.28 ft) wide fell from the sky and struck the giant scorpion's armor. The beast had not been unharmed, its entire body was giving off smoke and it had been badly stunned.
"Huff... Why did it take you guys so long to get here? "In that instant, a smile formed on Edwin's face. He already knew who those magical attacks were from.
"Graaaaah!"
As if in answer to Edwin's question, a mighty shout rang through the battlefield. The next second, a female warrior, four-armed and over three meters (10ft) tall appeared from the right side of the scorpion. The warrior was equipped with full heavy armor and carried two huge war hammers.
*Bam Bam*
Hadrif swung her war hammers and struck the scorpion's body with all her might. The force of the blows caused the Sanacran scorpion to stagger and its armor to crack.
"Kraaagh!"
The scorpion shrieked in pain; the tentacles on its head turned into six black shadows and struck Hadrif.
She reacted quickly; she raised her two war hammers, managing to block the scorpion's attack. But the force of the blows was so great, that she was pushed back several meters.
*Boom boom!*
A blast of lightning struck the scorpion, causing it to go into a temporarily stunned state.
"You look like sh*t Edwin. Where are the other two?"
Edwin immediately looked up to the sky; floating a couple of meters above his head was a man with brown skin, black hair, and golden eyes. The man was equipped with gleaming metal armor that produced tiny sparks and lightning bolts.
This man was Orson Silverdward, a wizard of the pinnacle of the 3rd realm and the governor of the city.
"...Manur was hit by an energy projectile and exploded...and Hans..."Edwin got the words stuck in his throat.
"What happened to Hans?" Hadrif asked. Edwin noticed the concern in the woman's voice.
Finally, Edwin cleared his throat and replied. "That son of a bitch ate him. I'm sorry, Hadrif."
"...I see...at least... he died like a warrior."Although Hadrif had a helmet on, both Edwin and Orson noticed the pain in her voice.
Hans had been Hadrif's right-hand man for many years and had also been a good friend. He was a bit annoying from time to time, but he was a good man.
"I'm sorry Hadrif. But this is no time for regrets. The one behind this is a Priest of disease. I've already sent someone to take care of him. If we can hold out for another 20 minutes, I'm sure we can see another sunrise."Orson replied. He too had a certain friendship with Hans, but he couldn't afford to mourn the dead, not while the attack continued.
"Kraaagh!"
In that instant, the Sanacran scorpion recovered from its dazed state and let out a shriek of rage; its entire body began to glow and its armor was tinged with crimson.
At that moment, the three stopped talking and focused on the enemy in front of them. If they could, they would kill him, if they couldn't, they should just try to hold out for 20 minutes. If in 20 minutes the priest was not defeated, the city would be doomed.
****
[23 kilometers (14.29miles) northwest of the port city of Neima. 13 minutes ago].
The house that stood in the center was the one in the best condition compared to the other houses in the abandoned village. It had two floors; its wooden walls were not badly deteriorated, and it had a good number of rooms. It had probably been the mayor's house before the village was abandoned.
The room that had once been the general dining room of the house was lit by the light of a few candles. In the center of the room was a long wooden table. In the center of the table was a strange artifact; a dodecahedron crystal floating on a small three-legged triangular obsidian platform.
Sitting at one end of the table was a middle-aged man dressed in black robes. The man had his eyes closed and a big smile on his face as if he was enjoying a pleasant foot massage.
However, a few seconds later the man's expression of happiness turned to stupefaction and then to anger.
*Bam*
Aylinor stood up from his seat abruptly and hit the end of the table so hard that the wood ended up cracking.
"GOD DAMN IT! WHAT THE F**K WAS THAT?!" cursed Aylinor.
Aylinor didn't understand what happened. So far everything has been going according to his plans. The wall array had been destroyed, he had killed a good number of wizards and city elites and, of the six main targets, two were already dead.
However, he had failed to kill the church deacon. Moreover, the person who had killed his parasitic worm was at least as strong as any of the mercenary clan leaders in the city. That was a huge miscalculation for Aylinor's plans.
The priest began to bite his thumbnail nervously.
"Who the hell was that? An expert assassin? Why didn't the Black Lions inform me about this?!"Aylinor was furious. But his anger was nothing as he thought of the shame he would suffer if he failed in his mission.
Aylinor tore off his thumbnail with his teeth. Finally, the sensation of pain overcame him, relaxed him, and helped him calm down. It also caused other reactions in the priest's body.
"No, the black lions didn't lie to me. They wouldn't dare. That must have been Night Fox... Yes, it must have been him... No, the voice wasn't a man's... so it was female. It was a small mistake on my part... But, there's no change in plans. Even if those three joined forces they are still no match for the Sanacran Scorpion."Anger left the priest's face, his smile widened and his gaze became lascivious." Hehehe... Night Fox and Catalin, just thinking what I'll do to those two... oooh, makes me feel..."
But before he could enter his fantasy world, Aylinor noticed a slight movement in the shadows of the candles out of the corner of his eye. Very slowly the priest reached inside his robes and pulled out a white wand about 15 centimeters (5.90 inches) long.
"Didn't your parents teach you... that you shouldn't spy on others... WHEN THEY ARE IN PRIVATE?! Energy Blast!!"Aylinor raised his arm and pointed the wand against the wall of the house.
*BOOM!*
In that instant, the spell stored in the wand was released and a powerful energy blast hit the wall of the house, turning it into a pile of splintered wood. The energy blast had hit a shadow, which flew away along with the debris from the wall of the house.
The shadow traveled more than 10 meters (10.93 yards) in the air until it finally crashed to the ground. Then the shadow vanished and the figure of a person appeared in its place.
'Ouch... Sh*t, this pervert is serious business.' Marcus looked up from the ground and immediately used [Analysis] on Aylinor.
================================
Name: Aylinor Danul Kalgar.
Titles: [Servant of Meiragas].
Race: Human/???????
Profession: Corrupted Wizard ( Priest of the disease )
Rank: 5
Level: 49
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HP: 1,500/1,500 MP: 4,380/18,016
Strength: ??? Stamina: ??
Defense: ??? Intelligence: ????
Vitality: ??? Wisdom: ???
Agility: ???
================================