Chapter 88: Chapter 87: Forceful Attack (II)
“From now on, I will be acting together with you.”
Looking at the mercenaries before him, Fang Zheng spoke up, having just learned from others that this group was known as “Light of the Rainbow,” a very famous mercenary group from the Northlands with a quite good reputation. Of course, hiring these people didn’t come cheap.
However, for the Sanctuary, problems that could be solved with money weren’t considered problems at all.
If the Six-Armed Snake Demon could be dealt with using money, Fang Zheng had no doubt that the Sanctuary would simply throw money at that guy until he was dead.
Just now, Fang Zheng had hastily glanced over the mercenary group and noticed that their professional composition was quite reasonable. The middle-aged man standing before him was their leader, and behind him followed three warriors dressed alike. Then there were two gargantuan figures who looked more suited for playing basketball; they were the unique Barbarians of the Northlands, and their profession… was of course Barbarian.
Besides them, the team also included a skinny thief, two archers — one of whom was an Elf archer — and a mage.
Admittedly, even from a player’s perspective, Fang Zheng thought this team was pretty formidable, with a tank, damage dealers, and crowd control. The only thing missing was a healer… Speaking of which, where was Fina?
“I’m here, Mr. Fang Zheng.”
At that moment, Miss Cleric also came over, holding her staff, and Fang Zheng realized that this Cleric seemed to have a rather weak presence. At least after Shi Dong and the others arrived, she seemed to have disappeared. In fact, even Fang Zheng had temporarily forgotten about her, but now… cough cough, thankfully he remembered again.
After quickly checking the number of people, Fang Zheng gave the order, and the mercenaries simply nodded, silently following behind him as they walked in the direction of the ruins.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Watching the silent mercenaries follow behind him, Fang Zheng felt somewhat frustrated. He had expected, following the common tropes in the novels he read, that someone would now question whether he had the ability to lead them. Then he could unleash a dramatic face-slapping scene. Although Fang Zheng thought this might be a bit of a waste of time, he was mentally prepared for it.
But… these darn mercenaries didn’t play out the scenario as he had anticipated. The leader didn’t even voice any objections, just nodded and seemed to agree!
Reality really wasn’t as dramatic as a script, or perhaps he just didn’t have the luck of a main character?
Thinking this, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but feel slightly sentimental. On second thought, the rich second-generation running amok in the streets was something that only happened in novels, right? After all, he had never seen such a thing in real life… basically anyone who acted like that ended up in a bad way.
Forget it, if there’s no face-slapping, then so be it. Time is pressing, and traveling quickly is what matters now.
The night grew deeper.
Under the cover of darkness, the entire ruin fell into deathly silence. The pitch-black night, where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, almost engulfed everything, and more importantly, under these circumstances, Fang Zheng and his group couldn’t use torches for light. After all, besides them, there were only Cultists who could blatantly have bonfire parties, but if they did the same, it would be akin to the police sounding their sirens when going out to catch criminals.
The Cultists were naturally very cunning. Even though from the center of the ruins Fang Zheng could clearly see the fires they had set, Nymph’s radar scans also told him that in the vicinity, within those ruins, numerous eyes were hidden.
One had to admit, these Cultists were very patient. You see, winter nights were extremely cold, and places like the Dark Marsh were even colder to a deadly degree. Fang Zheng’s group escaped this fate thanks to warmth protection spells cast by Fina, but the Cultists obviously didn’t have such luxuries. Being a Cultist was not simply due to following a wrong path of belief; upon abandoning order, they could no longer wield magic and skills like ordinary professionals of this world. They could only gain power in other ways, such as signing contracts with Devils from Hell, selling their souls, or, like a Destruction Mage, using Hellfire for their purposes.
That’s why, even though the Destruction Mage looked down on Charles the Bald Guy, he still needed to rely on the other’s power, because after becoming Cultists, no matter how powerful they used to be, it had all left them. They could not use Order Spells or Order Skills…
In other words, on this cold winter night, when Fang Zheng and his companions comfortably enjoyed the power of the “Protection from Cold” Divine Arts while traveling, those Cultists were huddled in the ruins, shivering while keeping guard…
In some respects, they were indeed fervent and loyal.
Unfortunately, in the face of advanced technology, their zeal and loyalty were of no use. Nymph could easily scan the life signs of these people, she could even clearly mark the field of vision of every cultist!
Consequently, Fang Zheng’s journey immediately went from a “Ten-Person Ruins Edition” to “Allied Suicide Squad,” and with Nymph’s guidance, he effortlessly led the other mercenaries past the search of the peripheral cultists, beginning to gradually approach the center of the ruins.
At this moment, the patience of the Destruction Mage finally ran out.
Something wasn’t right.
He stared into the dark wilderness outside, clenching his hands. The Destruction Mage had received word from his servant that the foolish mage had been delayed by a wolf attack. But the Destruction Mage didn’t quite believe this excuse, and as time went on, he felt more and more that something was amiss. Although that fool was stupid, he wouldn’t give up such an opportunity—could there be a problem?
With this thought, the Destruction Mage became somewhat restless. He had once been a mage, even a Prophet Mage. If it had been in the past, he could have cast his spells to quietly glimpse some changes from the prophecies and the future. But now, he had lost this ability—no, rather, he had abandoned this ability.
As a Prophet Mage, the future he saw was so burdensome that it left him breathless. He realized in despair that the future was an inevitable fate, impossible to change or escape. A momentary choice could never alter the ultimate outcome. It was for this reason that he left the ranks of Order to join Doomsday.
If he couldn’t change it or escape it, then let everything be utterly destroyed.
His past nostalgia made only a small circuit in the Destruction Mage’s mind, stirring no ripples. Those days had never been good to him; he was once naive and childish enough to believe that if he could foresee the future, he could control his own destiny. But afterwards, he despaired to learn that sometimes, being an ignorant fool could be happier.
“Begin the ritual immediately.”
With this thought, the Destruction Mage decisively made his decision. He turned his head and glanced behind him. On the altar, the previously shattered statue of the Six-Armed Snake Demon had been put back together and placed there. At that moment, it glowed with a faint and evil cyan light. Perhaps it was an illusion, but under that glow, the originally broken statue seemed to be healing gradually.
In front of this statue, a ring was floating. It was the ring Charles had given to the Destruction Mage. But at this moment, the ring seemed to be emitting a faint green light…
The Destruction Mage stretched out his hand, pointing to a few cultists standing not far from him. The cultists walked to the front of the Destruction Mage without hesitation, their expressions serious and cold, as if devoid of any will of their own.
“There’s been a slight issue; we must start the ritual immediately.”
The Destruction Mage briefly explained with a single sentence, and then issued an order.
“Prepare the sacrifice.”
Upon hearing the Destruction Mage’s order, the cultists nodded without hesitation. Then, the one leading them strode forward, approaching the altar to pick up a dagger
And just at that moment, suddenly, the Destruction Mage turned his head to look up into the sky.
There, he saw a holy white brilliance cutting through the dark night sky like a meteor, plunging straight in the direction where he and the others were.