The Adventurer's Mission Log

Chapter 23 Fishing in Troubled Waters

Tenor's body suddenly swelled up, revealing his lizardman form, and he raised his shield to block the attack.

The collision of forces created layers upon layers of echoes.

"Go!" Tenor shouted, shoving aside the large horned beasts that approached him. He realized that he was much stronger than these creatures, even though he was not of high rank.

This is an innate advantage!

The massive creature clad in brass caught up, its dark battle cry like an invitation from death: "Skull Offering, Skull Seat!"

The mutated body's burning fighting spirit drives Tenor to fight, rather than to hide from powerful enemies.

The greatsword screeched so loudly it sent shivers down the spines of the air as it slammed heavily against the shield. Tenor couldn't help but take a step back, realizing that his current strength was slightly inferior.

He rarely encounters setbacks in areas he is proud of, but today he is about to suffer greatly.

Even more unfortunately, this monster was not only stronger, but also far more skilled, wielding its cleaver flawlessly.

Tenor could barely defend himself in his high-frequency bursts of attacks, and had no chance to retaliate.

He had only been fighting for two breaths when he found himself in a precarious situation, where he could be killed at any moment if he was not careful, because he could not maintain a high-frequency state for long.

Fortunately, he was strong enough, and his innate fighting instincts made up for his lack of experience.

Otherwise, in the second round, he would have had his head taken by the cleaver that knocked through his shield, instead of narrowly managing to hold off the attack with his burning sword.

The monster roared and forced Tenor back step by step in the struggle.

His savage fury nearly overwhelmed his reason; his lizardman side was screaming and restless, ready to fight to the death, even at the cost of his life.

For the grand plan! The time for sacrifice has come! — Every cell is clamoring to be crushed in the clutches of the dark gods.

I haven't lived enough yet! —Tenoor stubbornly suppressed his wildness.

Simon summoned heavy purple energy shackles, but the monster was completely unaffected by the magic.

"This warhorse is immune to magic!" In despair, he drew his sword, not wanting to abandon his companion who was fighting alone.

The sword's edge moved like a serpent, forcing back the large horned beast that was trying to encircle Tenor from one side.

Simon secretly vowed that if he had to die in this godforsaken place, then let him die first; he had already lived long enough.

A gust of wind carrying an old scent swept by, and Heinrich's voice drifted from somewhere, "It's obvious that you know about this beastly immunity to magic clad in demonic brass."

The sword light in the darkness brought with it a sharp aura, and only with high-frequency dynamic vision could Tenor make out the slightest detail.

He was a male nobleman dressed in a dark green suit, and his appearance was similar to the vampire portraits hanging in the hall: tall, thin, and with red eyes.

It tore through the gentle human exterior, revealing a decaying face and ferocious fangs. Its speed was like a blur, and it sent the warhorse flying in a single exchange.

Heinrich stood slowly in front of Tenor, his eyes scrutinizing her from head to toe with a hint of hunger. "Southlander? You have terrible taste. This cloak is only fit for humans." He spoke in a strange and ancient language, his tone mocking.

Tenor couldn't understand what it was saying, but he saw flames from hell burning below.

Crimson flames, accompanied by the Shadowfire Sorcerer's incantation, rose and spread, instantly engulfing the entire castle.

Flames surged upwards, and Tenor forced back the beastmen who were attacking Simon with a single blow. He strode forward and shielded Simon behind his shield, unsure whether the Shield of Tranquility could withstand high-level magic.

"Do something quickly!" He didn't know who he was talking to, maybe Simon, maybe the vampire?

"I can't..." Simon replied calmly. Casting the spell required taking enough magical winds from the warlock, and he didn't have time.

He began to call upon the name of the god More, preparing to enter More's Garden.

"Alright! Human, I made a promise to you." Heinrich muttered, then angrily complained about the sorcerer's rudeness while continuing to deal with the livestock around him.

Tenor didn't see how he drew his sword. He only saw him appear as if by illusion, closer to the horned beast. At that moment, the sea of ​​fire that was coming towards them barely moved, and the rubble that was blown away by the airflow barely moved either.

The seven great unicorns were trying to rush up the stairs and attack again, but half of their bodies and heads slid off during the charge. Only then did they realize they had been stabbed, and in the next instant they were engulfed by hellfire.

Heinrich uttered strange syllables; if it were a mage, the chaotic disturbance caused by this spell could be clearly sensed within a radius of ten miles.

The space seemed to have been layered, and Tenor vaguely glimpsed a mirage that seemed to belong to another dimension—a huge, complex, indescribable crystal labyrinth that folded over the castle in an instant.

The hellfire raging in the castle fell into the ever-changing crystal tunnel, and in the blink of an eye, all the fire that filled the castle disappeared.

Heinrich cast another spell, and the crumbling castle began to recover as if time had reversed.

What rank is it? Master? Legend?

Tenor hoped that it would soon duel with that high-ranking half-human mage so that the two of them could escape.

Meanwhile, the warhorse, full of fighting spirit, got up from the ground, picked up its weapon, its right shoulder had been completely cut off by the vampire, but it still had its left arm.

"Skull offering, skull seat!" the unicorn roared desperately, charging once more at its invincible enemy.

Almost at the same frame, the shadow enveloped in flames flew in rapidly, constantly throwing fireballs at this location.

Heinrich's restoration of the castle was interrupted, but he skillfully stopped the spell and, in anger, fully revealed his true form.

Its hair turned snow-white, its eyes emitted a scarlet glow, and its skin became pale and almost transparent. Its face, which had once belonged to a human, was now just a thin, translucent membrane covering death.

It blew out a crimson wind, and bursts of flame instantly "died" upon contact, vanishing in an instant.

But the sorcerer suddenly vanished, his form materializing in the closer darkness, and he passed through the blood wind.

The vampire's eyes suddenly shot out a deep green magical beam, striking the Shadowfire monster that burst through the window. The flames around the shadow were almost extinguished for a moment, but stubbornly reignited.

As Heinrich forced back the warhorse with a single sword strike and pounced forward, the Shadowfire Monster unleashed a long whip formed from black fire. Flames blazed all around him, instantly engulfing the room. Even the vampire had to temporarily retreat.

They were all chanting spells, vying for the magical wind. Heinrich had an overwhelming advantage, but the tenacious beastman rose again and launched a third desperate charge. No one noticed or cared about the two rushing down the stairs.

Tenor reverted to human form and ran with Simon for half an hour until the castle was no longer visible before they relaxed.

Late at night, they repelled several waves of attacks from inferior horned beasts, escaped their pursuit, and made do with the night by hiding in a tree.

And so they fled through the forest for four days, eating dry rations or hunting wild animals when they were hungry.

They arrived at the village of Pitiona before noon on the morning of the fifth day.

The morning mist had dissipated, and the sunlight in the forest was cut into fragmented golden spots by the towering needles and oaks, which were then tinged with a blood-red hue as they shone into the village.

The village's wooden fences had collapsed in many places, and most of the thatched-roof farmhouses had their doors wide open with deep axe and knife marks on the doors, showing no signs of any living people.

"We're too late," Tenor sighed regretfully, recalling the information the werewolves had revealed when they challenged them to battle—the Shadow Hand had dispatched several high-ranking members and had found Basel first.

Simon didn't say a word and strode into the village.

The streets were littered with shards of pottery, overturned grain carts, and trampled wheat straw. A headless corpse leaned against a well, and many more headless corpses were scattered around the houses.

The small square in the center of the village, which was originally used for markets and gatherings, is now topped with a tall pedestal.

"This is not the way the Shadow Hand kills." Simon said with certainty, perhaps out of stubbornness, after examining the bodies and giving them a simple eulogy, he turned to Tenor and said:

"They were attacked by the Iron Blood Brotherhood... but Michael must not be dead."

"No body?" A glimmer of hope flickered in Tenor's heart, however faint.

However... the mission didn't indicate failure, so the objective should still be there.

"Yes!" Simon said with absolute certainty, "He couldn't be dead. I didn't see his death in my dreams last night!"

"Are you a fortune teller?" Basel's life or death was not of much concern to Tenor, but the clues to the potion formula were of great importance to him, and he still hoped to find a solution.

"Moore is also the god of dreams and prophecy," Simon replied indirectly, acknowledging that he did indeed possess a certain degree of prophetic ability.

Having confirmed that their target was alive, Tenor and Simon each used their unique abilities: one relied on his hunting instincts to search for clues, while the other used magic and experience to detect traces near the village. In the end, the two met on the road leading to the North Mountain Mine.

The two exchanged a glance, understood each other without saying a word, and quickly headed north.

From afar, you can see the majestic mountain range to the north, which marks the boundary of the Orodlin Highlands.

Because the elves raided the border from time to time, the mine had long been abandoned, and Tenor and Simon had to worry about collapsing with every step they took after entering the tunnel.

As we passed a fork in the road, the aura of a dying beast rushed towards us, and a pair of green, monstrous eyes shone from the darkness, bringing a sense of oppression that could make ordinary people tremble with fear.

Tenor was secretly alarmed; this was definitely not a monster of mid or low rank.

Then the momentum of that trapped beast suddenly dissipated, and a hoarse, hesitant, and suppressedly frantic male voice came from the tunnel, the echo spreading along the cave.

"elder brother?"