"Mass Stone Skin!"
With the experience of the first incident, High Priest Saliman, upon hearing the second thunderous roar, did not hesitate to raise his staff.
Thousands upon thousands of beams of gray light shot out, dispersing precisely to envelop each orc, imbuing their skin with a texture akin to stone.
Whooooosh—
As the gale descended from the heavens, the [Mass Stone Skin] spell bolstered the defenses of the multitude, yet the power of the enchantment was diluted among so many, offering only a limited enhancement to each individual.
Under the near-apocalyptic fury of the gale, hundreds of orcs were still swept into the air!
Saliman's face darkened, and he pointed skyward, casting a spell: "Wrath of the Air!"
A vast ripple of disturbance appeared in the air currents as he attempted to forcibly disperse the gale.
Unfortunately, the High Priest had clearly underestimated the might of the "calamity"!
Buzz!!
The ripples of [Wrath of the Air] were instantly shredded, and Saliman, as the caster, was knocked back a few steps, steadying himself only with the timely support of Kaien.
A moment later, the gale vanished once more, disappearing as if it had never been.
Looking around, the scene was one of wails and curses.
[Mass Stone Skin], [Unyielding Fortress], and hundreds of [Earthbinding Totems] had offered some resistance to the gale's onslaught, but the hasty response had its flaws.
A rough estimate revealed that nearly two thousand of the Thunder Kingdom's forces, under the assault of these two "malevolent winds," had been directly decimated!
The injured numbered over five thousand...
Saliman sat on a boulder, listening to the reports from his subordinates, his expression growing increasingly grim.
The power of the gale was undoubtedly that of a genuine ninth-tier spell!
Yet, among the four kingdoms, only four individuals could independently cast a ninth-tier spell.
The Pope of the Silver Moon Church could not possibly be here, and the Necromancer, that old cunning fox, was not proficient in wind magic.
With Saliman himself excluded, the only remaining possibility was Belmou of the Storm Kingdom...
But Saliman had received accurate intelligence from his spies; Belmou should not have been present at this location tonight!
Moreover, even if it were Belmou, he could not completely conceal the magical fluctuations of a ninth-tier spell, let alone twice!
"What is going on..."
The High Priest was at a loss, while Wang Hui, in the outside world, rubbed his nose with a hint of resignation.
Could it be that he had sneezed due to an allergic reaction to the sight of the dense, hairy orc army?
Wang Hui had once owned a dog and had no such symptoms at the time, so why had he not been able to hold back just now?
Looking at the disarrayed forces of the Thunder Kingdom, he wore an expression of mixed amusement and sorrow.
"It was an unforeseen situation; I didn't expect two sneezes to cause such heavy losses to you all..."
Feeling another tickle in his nose, Wang Hui quickly closed the glass dome and moved to the side.
Since an allergic reaction was ruled out, perhaps the sneezing was due to a cold?
Wang Hui thought that with his current physical condition, he should not easily catch a cold, but as a precaution, he brewed a cup of 666 Cold Remedy Granules to prevent any illness.
Upon returning to the vicinity of the Gulf World, the inside, with its time flow restored, was already the next day.
Looking towards the site of the incident, faint traces of blood and the aftermath of the gale could still be seen on the ground!
To the uninitiated, it might seem as though a great battle had erupted there...
The Thunder Kingdom's forces, having barely set out on their campaign, were forced to retreat in disarray to the two towns they had previously occupied for rest and recuperation.
Only a few squads remained to wander the outskirts, seemingly intent on investigating the truth behind the night's surprise attack.
"Sigh, the High Priest has vanished again; I'll have to go in and look for him personally..."
Wang Hui sighed.
He had noticed the stooped figure of the old man, who could counter his sneeze with a spell, indicating that he was likely the Thunder High Priest!
Unfortunately, he had not seen his subsequent whereabouts...
"Let's just go in myself; at worst, I can experience the exotic charm of the orc community."
Wang Hui thought for a moment, then turned to retrieve a mask from a storage cabinet, a leftover souvenir from his days of cosplaying, themed after the Hollow Mask from "Bleach."
The style complemented the Assassin's Creed hooded light armor he was wearing.
Apart from a few individuals like Nalan Jie and Justin, few knew that this attire was associated with a "god."
Wang Hui was heading to a realm where the influence of the divine kingdom had yet to reach and decided to venture forth under a new identity.
Whoosh!
Bearing the Gulf World's rule repulsion, Wang Hui descended at the northeastern edge of the Reverse Wind Port city.
He had intended to find a secluded spot to unfurl his wings and fly to the border between the two kingdoms, but he suddenly heard someone shouting in his direction: "Hey! Sir over there!"
Wang Hui turned to see a fourteen or fifteen-year-old brown-haired youth running towards him, panting: "Excuse me..."
Halfway through his sentence, he noticed Wang Hui's mask with its somewhat fierce pattern and involuntarily shrank back, then gathered his courage to continue:
"...Are you also a mercenary responding to the call to resist the orcs at the front? Our squad is short one person; would you like to join us?"
Mercenaries...
Wang Hui's gaze shifted slightly, and indeed, he saw many groups of people renting carriages from the outlying station, heading northeast in a steady stream.
The Storm Kingdom, after having a force annihilated by the three clans, had resorted to hiring mercenaries to the front lines in the face of the Thunder Kingdom's invasion?
Seeing Wang Hui's silence, the brown-haired youth, Gabriel, bit his lip and pulled out a small pouch of coins, exclaiming eagerly:
"Sir, we really need this commission, but only squads of five or more can take it. We are four...
If you could join us, these coins would be your invitation fee, and you would also receive a share of the reward after completing the commission! What do you say?"
Wang Hui glanced down and noticed that the pouch was small and contained only silver and copper coins, not a single gold one.
It seemed that this mercenary squad was in dire straits...
"Agreed."
Wang Hui reached out to take the pouch and calmly nodded, accepting the invitation.
The silver and copper coins were of little value to him; he merely did not wish to appear too out of place.
Besides, with the outer layer of the glass dome closed and the micro-world in accelerated time flow, Wang Hui had ample leisure to "incognito"...
"Thank you so much!"
Gabriel was overjoyed and eagerly led Wang Hui to a carriage parked by the roadside.
Inside were two men and a woman, none of them particularly old.
Upon seeing someone willing to join, the three, who had been anxious, immediately broke into smiles and introduced themselves.
The first to speak was a plump youth clad in plate armor: "Hello, I'm Protos!"
Next was a short man in leather armor: "I'm Simon, welcome to our group!"
The girl in the green robe shyly nodded: "I... I'm Jenny..."
Lastly, Gabriel extended his hand to Wang Hui: "Gabriel, may I ask your name?"
Wang Hui shook his hand indifferently: "Gord."