Chapter 950: Chapter 948: The True Weapon
The Grey-eyed Wizard slowly raised his head, looking at Annie, not in a rush to respond, and raised an eyebrow, saying, “Ah, is it Miss Annie from the Pompo family? I must say, your words are quite blunt, leaving no face for others. I think after hearing your words, no one would actually submit, would they? Cough, cough!”
Annie crossed her arms and glanced sideways, “Actually, my words are more effective than you think. Before this, several people have already been persuaded by me.”
The Grey-eyed Wizard’s breath briefly hitched, and a second later, he opened his mouth, suddenly enlightened, “Oh, I underestimated Miss Annie’s capability, and overestimated other people’s sense of honor.”
“There are indeed such people. As long as they can survive, as long as they can live better, they don’t care who they serve. Even if their supposed master has oppressed their ancestors for decades, centuries, or even treated them like slaves from beginning to end.”
“But I am not them.” The Grey-eyed Wizard paused, staring firmly into Annie’s eyes and asked, “Miss Annie, I have a story. Do you want to hear it?”
Annie turned her head, staring directly at the Grey-eyed Wizard, her face expressionless as her eyes swept over the Grey-eyed Wizard’s body, and she uttered, word by word, “Not–in–terest–ed.”
“…” The Grey-eyed Wizard felt stifled, swallowed something, but did not give up, saying, “Since Miss Annie is not interested in listening, let me be brief then.
Once upon a time, there was a little boy living in a mountain village rich in ironstone. Life was somewhat tough but relatively happy. The little boy thought he could live like that forever, but a change occurred when he was seven. His village was almost slaughtered by the Pompo family because they refused to agree to an extremely harsh contract. Only he and a small number of people survived. After surviving, this little boy kept telling himself…”
“Hold, hold, hold!” Annie interrupted the Grey-eyed Wizard, rolling her eyes, “Hey, grey-eyed guy, you said it wouldn’t be brief — it’s so tedious and off-topic, worse than a third-rate minstrel in a tavern, certainly not a competent storyteller. Honestly, you should really study some rhetoric seriously, but oh, I forgot, your parents died when you were seven, so there was no opportunity for school.”
The Grey-eyed Wizard’s eyes slightly widened.
Annie pouted, “Alright, no need to explain, I know already, the little boy in your story is you. Because the Pompo family caused the death of your parents earlier, you consider them your enemies and want to take revenge on the Pompo family.
Therefore, you smuggled weapons into the city to help some malicious individuals against our Pompo family. Your filial piety is rare, better than me. Anyway, my parents are dead, and I wouldn’t shed a tear to avenge them.”
“But that’s just it.” Annie looked at the Grey-eyed Wizard, “If you managed to smuggle weapons into the city, you’d have some skill, but you failed, really useless. Looking at you, I suppose surrender isn’t an option, so just die, be a dead dog.”
Annie yawned and glanced at the sunset to the west, complaining, “If I knew you were this stubborn, I wouldn’t have bothered convincing you, really wasted my time. Well, enough talk, I’m off to breakfast now.”
With that, Annie turned and walked away.
“Miss Annie, please wait!” The Grey-eyed Wizard called out, watching Annie’s back.
“Oh?” Annie stopped, turned around with a mocking smile, looking at the Grey-eyed Wizard, “What, changed your mind? Don’t want to be a dead dog, want to be a lap dog?”
The Grey-eyed Wizard looked at the ground beneath his feet, shook his neck lightly, and the next moment slowly raised his head, staring directly at Annie.
At the same time, the hand that had been clutching the wound on his abdomen released, allowing dark red blood to flow, and he grabbed his clothes at his chest.
“Miss Annie, I haven’t changed my mind, and I won’t change my mind, I just want to correct a few of your mistakes,” said the Grey-eyed Wizard, his tone gradually rising.
“First! The little boy in my story is not me, nor is he any particular person. He is a symbol, representing the weak victims during the expansion of your Pompo family’s power over the centuries.”
“Second! I am not useless. True, I didn’t get the weapons into the city, didn’t give your Pompo family some trouble, but weapons aren’t only usable inside the city, they can be used outside the city too. To be precise, they can be used anywhere members of your Pompo family are found.”
“Third, and most importantly! Who said mechanical crossbows and arrows are the only weapons? In fact, people are also weapons—they are living, intelligent, know how to hide, and are even better weapons!”
The Grey-eyed Wizard tore open his shirt, revealing that the skin and flesh on his chest were all ripped apart, and underneath, his ribs spread open like a bird spreading its wings. Then a slender, ghastly white, corpse-like arm shot out, swiftly extending and clawing towards Annie.
The Grey-eyed Wizard shrieked, “Miss Annie, do you see now? I am the real weapon this time! Let me, representing the little boy in the story, send a big gift to your Pompo family!”
Annie’s expression changed drastically, watching the ghastly white arm reaching for her, and she quickly waved her hand, casting a purplish-red energy shield trying to block it.
But in the blink of an eye, with a “crash,” the shield was pierced by the arm.
Annie hurriedly waved her hand again, casting a second faint green energy shield.
This time the shield held a little longer, but only a little, with a “crash,” it was pierced again by the arm.
Now, the ghastly white arm was right in front of Annie.
Annie’s eyes widened, her face muscles tense, her mouth opened, full of tension. She gritted her teeth and uttered “Tuoke,” with a “swoosh,” a deep red shield appeared in front of her.
A large amount of mana surged from within Annie, maintaining the shield, successfully blocking the arm’s attack.
However, the defense was difficult; Annie’s slightly trembling body made it clear that this third shield could be pierced anytime.
At this moment, a figure dashed out; it was a captain from the Magic Knight Squad.
The armor he wore lit up with dazzling colored lights at the arms, shoulders, chest, abdomen, and feet, and he roared, slamming head-on into the ghastly white arm stretched from the Grey-eyed Wizard’s chest.
At the moment of collision, the Magic Knight Squad Captain’s entire body went stiff, his life force completely drained. Visible to the naked eye, his body shriveled like a dehydrated plant, and in the blink of an eye, he became a dried corpse, collapsing to the ground.
And the ghastly white arm that caused all this was also affected, with a “crack,” it broke from the middle, and the front half fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces.
“No!” The Grey-eyed Wizard screamed bitterly.
Annie saw it, bit her lip without any hesitation, quickly retreated, distancing herself from the Grey-eyed Wizard.
Then without mercy, she raised her hand, three rings on her hand simultaneously lighting up. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾·𝗇𝖾𝗍
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”
Three fist-sized fireballs instantly formed in front of Annie, and with a wave of her hand, three of them whistled, blasting towards the Grey-eyed Wizard, exploding.
After the attack, Annie didn’t pause, raising her hand again, producing three more fireballs, blasting towards the Grey-eyed Wizard, exploding.
Again, three more fireballs were formed, blasting towards the Grey-eyed Wizard, exploding.
After a total of nine fireballs, Annie finally stopped, her heaving chest rapidly rising and falling, panting as she looked towards where the Grey-eyed Wizard once stood.
She saw that the Grey-eyed Wizard’s body had turned to dust under the magic power; the nearby corpse of the sacrificed Magic Knight Squad Captain was also affected, only a small half remaining.
The scorching air spread, forcing the people around to retreat further. Annie did not move, standing in place, letting the hot air sweep over her body, tousling her ear-length short hair, her gaze icy cold.
The area was deathly silent.