This time, things had gone awry. If a Grade 1 high priest were to die here, the Holy See was bound to investigate. Canghong felt that either way, they were all dead. He made an featureless facial expression, straightened the soft whip he held in his hand, and pointed it directly at the holy master as though it were a gun.
The light coming from the holy master’s body intensified and it seemed practically as though his clothes were burning. A part of Canghong’s soft whip suddenly transformed into a black snake head and took a ferocious bite at the holy master’s chest.
After the snake head entered the holy light surrounding the holy master’s body, it shrank in size. Its bite did not hurt the holy master, and he only jerked once and continued chanting his prayers.
The metal eagle plumes shot by Lucas were deflected by the holy light, while Sarah’s attacks with her flexible sword did not even pierce his clothes. Worst of all was Cook, who had twisted his wrist after trying unsuccessfully to use his steel claws to strike the holy master’s stomach.
"Sika, you and Pino go..." Saleen said. He did not want Pino to stay at his side, but if Sika still did not act, it was possible that they would be too late. Once the holy master finished his prayers, everyone would die. As to whether there was another ambush waiting for them, Saleen could not care less. Without saying anything, Pino raised his long sword and charged towards the holy master.
Sika followed after Pino. Once she saw that Pino’s long sword was about to pierce through the holy master’s throat, she sped up and raised her large cudgel to strike the holy master. Boom!
Both Sika and Pino had hit their target simultaneously. The long sword fell to the side, while Sika’s cudgel bounced upwards, causing Sika to roll backwards. The light from the holy master’s body faded, and fell forward lifelessly. His face hit the ground with force, as he gave out a frightening cry.
As an archer with recent war experience and the one with balanced power within the squad, Lucas reacted quickly. He picked up the three-edged dagger from the floor and stabbed the holy master in the back of his head. The light surrounding the holy master completely extinguished. Everyone breathed a heavy sigh of relief and stopped their attacks in fatigue.
The three-edged dagger had penetrated through the holy master’s skull and struck the floor, forming a large palm-sized wound. Even if the oracle arrived, it would be impossible to treat such an injury. The holy master was still writhing on the floor, refusing to die. At this time, Sika stopped rolling and looked in amazement at the holy master who had been pinned to the ground.
"Good job, Sika!" Pino turned back to praise her.
"It wasn’t me!" Sika said doubtfully, thinking that it was impossible for her cudgel to have broken the holy master’s defense. It was only possible that she had slowed him down.
"Be careful!" Canghong yelled, his soft whip letting out a whistling sound as he struck.
Lucas should have used his short bow to attack but it would not have prevented the following from happening. A shadow wormed its way into Cook’s abdomen, causing Cook to bounce up violently to a height of almost three meters before he was forcefully dropped to the ground. There was a gaping hole in his abdomen, fresh blood dripping from the wound.
"What was that?" Everyone was at a loss. Cook was writhing about on the ground. While his abdomen no longer hurt, it had begun to grow numb. He felt that his life was fading away as the organism in his abdomen released poison profusely, absorbing his fluids at the same time. Soon, the wound in Cook’s abdomen had widened to a chasm nearly one foot wide in diameter.
Saleen clutched a Grade 3 magic nucleus in his hand, frantically trying to speed up the recovery of his magic chords. However, because only one minute had passed since the battle, the magic chords he had recovered were not sufficient enough to support a Grade 1 spell. Saleen regretted not having anticipated the dangers they would face. He should have bought a few magic scrolls as a precaution.
"Cook ..." Sarah knelt down, wanting to help. A black creature leapt at Sarah, coming from Cook’s abdomen. Sarah rolled away and Pino’s sword struck this black creature. It made a squealing sound and flew towards the stone wall. At this moment, everyone realized that it was a black spider covered in black bristles, with six revolving eyes.
A similar spider appeared from behind the body of the dead holy master. Both spiders huddled together and did not attempt to escape.
"Witcher spiders!" Saleen exclaimed loudly. Canghong and the others were furious that it appeared Cook would not be able to survive. The holy master had also been killed by the witcher spider. Sika’s attack on him had only paused his divine spell, allowing the witcher spider to find a gap to enter the holy master’s body.
While absorbing the magic nuclei in his hands, Saleen tried his best to control the three large air bubbles and protect himself. In ten minutes, he would recover his fighting power. Canghong and the others seemed to have forgotten the danger and headed towards the two witcher spiders.
Saleen sighed and whispered, "Sika, go help them. I am fine here."
He knew that while it should not have been a problem for four people to deal with two spiders, the spiders were hard to kill because they were agile. And, if their attack was prolonged, accidents could occur.
The witcher spider was a Grade 4 creature and did not have a magic nucleus. However, it possessed lethal poison and was fast. It also had fangs that could gnaw at magic or holy shields. It was good at hiding and did not know how to spin webs. Instead, it preferred to roam within caves and hunt for magic beasts. It would enter the bodies of magic beasts and release venom, absorbing the mass of juices from the melted internal organs. Most of the time, the witcher spider acted alone.
The eight claws of the witcher spider were usually sharp and could penetrate the skins of magic beasts before entering their bodies. This creature was the favorite pet of mages. However, given that Canghong and the others were intent on killing them, Saleen did not advise them otherwise. Oh, what a waste of two magic pets!
Canghong’s soft whip had caught one of witcher spiders. Its front claw moved and cut through the whip, and then it retreated. Sika rushed over, taking two to three steps. Her cudgel landed on the witcher spider’s body. The spider squealed upon being smashed but it did not die and instead spat out black venom. Sika dodged the venom, and the flattened spider shook it claws and unbelievably stood up.
Saleen felt that he had recovered some of his magic chords and attempted to prepare magic. After his chanting was completed, a white light appeared from the ground and successfully trapped the other witcher spider.
Saleen’s spell had caused the witcher spider to instantaneously be coated by a layer of white frost. Lucas’s eagle plume shot out quickly enough to pin the witcher spider to the floor. Saleen knew he did not have any potent spells he could use. At first, he had intended to use two Grade 2 spells. However, in order to speed up the deployment when killing the spear swordsman, he had needed to exhaust his magic chords. After he had exhausted his magic chords, he had to rely on the magic nuclei to recover. As such, it was impossible to use Grade 2 magic. He could only use Grade 1 magic, which was his Water Magic with pathetically low capabilities.
Without the support of the swordsmen, he would not have been able to kill the pair of witcher spiders. Likewise, without Saleen’s magic, the swordsmen would not have succeeded in killing the fast-moving Grade 4 creatures.
Saleen began to understand why mages were so well regarded. Even a Grade 1 mage could change the outcome of battle. He stopped Canghong and the others from destroying the spider carcasses. He said, "I need a complete witcher spider’s carcass to create a puppet. You can also sell the other carcass for money."
Canghong and the others calmed down, and realized that what Saleen had said made sense. Cook was already dead and even if they destroyed the bodies of the witcher spiders, it would not bring him back. All of them wordlessly went back to the inside of the cave to retrieve their baggage, and Saleen held onto the carcass of the spider that had been flattened. Currently, he could not even produce a scroll, much less a puppet which required even more profound knowledge in magic. However, the witcher spider, as an element, was hard to come by as they roamed alone and were hard to spot in dark caves. Even without a magic nucleus, the claws of a witcher spider could be used to break spells or defend against a holy master. It was one of the best elements to use in the creation of a puppet.
Placing the black witcher spider in his leather sack, Saleen’s magic chords had recovered by twenty percent. He was able to deploy four Grade 1 spells. At this moment, his water shields disappeared, the three large air bubbles not existing anymore. Saleen silently made a calculation; now that the water shield had mutated, it would not last any longer than three minutes. He reckoned that the spell could only support one battle and was not sufficient for a long, drawn-out defense.
The remaining four members of the Falcon Regiment began to dig a hole to bury Cook. Saleen started to collect the loot. The people killed by Sika had their armors completely broken, leaving no value for them to be collected. The opponent’s archers did not have any magic arrows, and only had a few gold coins.
After the bodies were gathered together, Saleen finally found a letter on the holy master, as well as his badge. The back of the badge had inscriptions in Tanggulasi. Upon reading it, Saleen was speechless. The badge indicated that the holy master was a Grade 1 high priest from the Cathedral of El Salvador and his name was Kosian.
To make matters worse, the writer of the letter had used an authoritative tone to ask that the Grade 1 high priest be allowed to enter the Chaotic Swamp to carry out a mission for the Holy See. There was only a code name, and no description on what the mission was.
Kosian himself had not known what the code name referred to. He was a forerunner, making use of the Vulture Regiment to enter the Chaotic Swamp to await further orders. The author of the letter had a strange sign off – Fycro. At the end of the letter, there was a seal. While Saleen did not know much about the Holy See, he recognized the seal. It represented that Kosian, the unlucky holy master, had received orders from the Holy See. Saleen passed the letter around and the mood in the cave turned even more somber.
In the Myers Mainland, the Holy See held control over the Tanggulasi Empire. Having managed it for more than two hundred years, they had become a formidable entity. In addition, the sacred knights which patrolled the glorious plains and the inquisitors which were disassociated from the Privy Council were known to strike fear in the hearts of many people.
And these were just the conventional forces. People feared the seven oracles under the Pope most of all. It was said that the seven oracles had received the grace of god and each possessed power that was out of this world. Each oracle possessed the power of a Grade 9 mage. Saleen and the team had killed the forerunner of the seven oracles. Thinking this, Canghong just about wanted to commit suicide.
If it had been an unimportant high priest who had disappeared, the Holy See would not come all this way to investigate. However, this high priest was on a mission and his sudden disappearance would definitely imply a mishap. While the Falcon Regiment had not left any visible traces at the professional union apart from hiring two low-level mercenaries, there would definitely be someone who had seen Canghong and the others appear at Didypus. If the Holy See were to investigate, Canghong and the team would not be able to hide this fact.