Chapter 50: Assault (Part Two)
Ji Ma hid by the entrance of the cave, under a recessed rock.
From inside the cave came the sounds of metal clashing, battle cries, and the cawing of crows, all mixed together. These sounds penetrated the “Concealing Tranquility Barrier,” which only shielded the things within it; she was not yet strong enough to envelop the entire cave.
Thus, this cacophony drifted above the entire hillside, as if three funeral bands had arrived simultaneously, banging gongs and beating drums in the stronghold.
Perhaps there was still a chance to salvage the situation; maybe George would have the same luck as when he had intruded into her palace last time. One cow, one sword—a battle resolved in a minute…
“Boom!”
A figure crashed through the heavy wooden door.
Ji Ma focused her gaze and realized it was George. A Minotaur wielding a pair of battle axes broke through the hole in the door, charging out with the axes aimed at George, who was just getting up.
Ji Ma instinctively raised her hand, pulling the axe-wielding Minotaur into the dream realm.
The Minotaur envisioned itself chopping off the arms of that detestable human and ripping off his bucket helm, then, with a hoof, stomping the man’s head into a pulp while he wore a look of terror.
However, to everyone else, he was standing blissfully in place, squinting contentedly while occasionally stomping his hooves like a shy maiden.
George got up, gripping his sword with both hands, its blade glowing with blinding white light. With a Holy Slash, he struck at the Minotaur. After beheading the Minotaur, the head turned to face Ji Ma.
Ji Ma hurriedly went invisible again, preparing to find a place to jump away with the dream palace included.
Her tail vanished into the air.
“Ji Ma!” George called out.
Ji Ma did not respond. George stepped forward and grabbed Ji Ma’s horn in the air.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Quick, let’s go eliminate the beastman shaman.” Saying this, George pulled Ji Ma towards the wooden door.
The stronghold was completely awakened; there were loud crashes and “light and shadow effects” everywhere. Even the soundest sleepers among the beastmen were stirred awake. Ji Ma saw flames flickering below, gathering and ready to surge into the cave.
“George, military adventure is not to be taken lightly; military strategy demands steadiness,” Ji Ma said. “What we need now is a strategic retreat—ah, I mean a strategic repositioning.”
Just as George was about to respond and had just crossed the wooden door, a flaming Minotaur charged in while shouting in beast language, “Moo moo moo, I’m on fire!” as it rammed into George.
George quickly let go of Ji Ma’s horn and stepped forward to confront the enemy.
Too late! You deadbeat, I’ve remembered you on my blacklist.
Fuming, Ji Ma turned off her personal system as a flying axe was hurled at her, but was deflected by some unseen force, grazing her cheek and embedding itself deep into the wall behind her.
The Minotaur that had thrown the flying axe snorted hot air from its nostrils, glaring at Ji Ma. Behind it, Eve Frostleaf was dancing around, skillfully dodging assaults from the Minotaurs.
Clearly, this Minotaur had encountered setbacks in chasing Eve Frostleaf and decided to target the seemingly weaker, yet easier to chase Ji Ma.
The Minotaur raised its hoof, and Ji Ma quickly tilted her head back, smiled at the Minotaur, and used her charm. The Minotaur’s eyes softened with a touch of tenderness as it stopped swinging its axe, reminding Ji Ma of the water buffalo back home, which she particularly enjoyed poking in the soft flesh below their tails with a stick; every time, they would lift their tails in comfort.
Ji Ma pointed to her own horn and said in the beastman language, “Actually, I’m also a Minotaur; we are all kindred, right?”
With that, she took the Minotaur’s battle axe and handed it back, saying, “From now on, we’ll be friends.”
The Minotaur calmed down, accepting the axe Ji Ma offered.
Ji Ma smiled and pointed at George, who was fighting with the “on-fire Minotaur,” saying, “He’s a big bad guy, always killing Minotaurs and especially loves to eat beef.”
The Minotaur turned its head, glaring at George, nostrils flaring as it snorted heated air, roaring as it charged toward him.
“At least I have some meat to redirect its hatred,” Ji Ma breathed a sigh of relief, abandoning George, who was being beaten by four or five Minotaurs. She spread her wings, clasped her hands together, using her mimicry ability to simulate green dragon flight, saying, “I can fly.”
With a magical beat of her wings, Ji Ma defied aerodynamics and flew gracefully, assessing the battlefield for an optimal escape route.
At least she wouldn’t be caught back by George.
There were only eight Minotaurs left in the vicinity, three guarding the beastman shaman while the remaining five were violently beating George. These creatures, born with unparalleled strength and skilled at weaponry, could trample an infantry formation with a single devastating charge.
In this cave, the beastmen constituted at least sixty percent of the whole stronghold’s strength.
Even George truly had a hard time taking on five at once, especially in the short term.
Eve Frostleaf was striving to kill the beastman shaman. Riding the wind, her body was as light as a feather; she leaped high at the tips of her toes as if using lightness skills, darting this way and that against the cave walls, trying to unleash fire and frost to kill the beastman shaman.
But the effect was not great; had she been using a bow, the beastman shaman would have surely been filled with arrows by now.
Instead, she only managed to cover the Minotaurs with frost, filling the entire cave with ice and water, creating a mist throughout the cave. It looked as if the three guarding Minotaurs were suffering significant damage.
Draped in a black crow-feather cloak and wearing a towering ram skull, the beastman shaman raised a hand that shimmered with amber light. The light spread outward, growing a tough layer of hide across the skin of all the Minotaurs present. Their already explosive strength increased dramatically.
Eve Frostleaf swung her dual blades, thrusting toward one Minotaur. She moved at lightning speed, first swinging one sword, unleashing a blast of icy water mixed with solid ice that struck the Minotaur, freezing it to the bone and dulling its responses.
Her blades pierced its exposed neck, releasing a burst of ice mist.
However, the swords did not penetrate deeply enough.
The Minotaur retaliated with an axe, swinging at Eve Frostleaf. She couldn’t dodge in time and could only block with her crossed swords, getting knocked back. Had Eve Frostleaf not reacted quickly to call forth a wind to cushion her fall, she would have sustained injuries.
Ji Ma flew invisibly in the air, sensing that the standoff might last a while and that a horde of beastmen was about to rush in for a pincer attack.
As a person who was pitifully inadequate on the frontlines, it would be wise to strategically withdraw sooner rather than later.
Ji Ma bent down, spreading her wings, preparing to glide through the icy mist and escape out of the wooden door.
At that moment, Eve Frostleaf raised her hand and produced a whistling sound. Ji Ma immediately realized it was a signal and quickly halted her movement. Looking down, she saw George, standing on a freshly slain Minotaur, transforming into a beam of light as he dashed past four Minotaurs beating him, reaching the one next to Eve Frostleaf, and killing it with a single sword slash.
Eve Frostleaf swung her dual swords at the remaining four Minotaurs, unleashing a torrent of icy water mixed with frost, drenching them. The mist thickened, making it difficult to see anyone five meters away, while the water on the ground froze into a layer of ice.
Eve Frostleaf threw one of her silver swords, entwined with blue lightning, into the icy water on the ground, and the electric serpent twisted, clinging to the wet bodies of the four Minotaurs. They trembled as one Minotaur fell heavily to the ground, temporarily ensnared in the icy, watery, and muddy pit.
Ji Ma suddenly understood.
Eve Frostleaf and George had reached an understanding, creating an opportunity, seizing the moment to focus on killing the beastman shaman.
“Die!”
George roared, bending down with a sword and hacking off the Minotaur’s knee. The Minotaur fell to the ground, ignoring its severed leg as it roared and swung its dual axes, trying to strike at George. Eve Frostleaf quickly followed up, stabbing her swords into its eyes.
The beastman shaman, wearing a ram skull, staggered backwards, mumbling profanities as his body grew larger and taller, preparing to transform into a more powerful monster, resisting stubbornly.
George was momentarily blocked by the last Minotaur, and Eve Frostleaf had to help him deal with it.
Time was not on their side; if they delayed even a minute longer, victory would inevitably tip toward the beastmen.
Ji Ma, who had already landed, picked up a half-burnt crow feather from the ground, one that had fallen from the beastman shaman. She began to chant a curse: “Your madness has returned.”
The beastman shaman immediately threw his head back, his eyes rolling back as his entire body involuntarily convulsed, letting out a shrill scream, and his transformation was delayed. He had to struggle to counter the evil curse while trying to maintain the transformation, or else his efforts would be in vain.
He succeeded; his eyes returned to amber, and the transformation stuttered for a moment before starting again.
But the last Minotaur fell.
Eve Frostleaf leapt over the corpse first, lunging toward the beastman shaman. Her silver sword simmered with intense flames as the beastman shaman swung his sturdy staff, blocking her sword. The sword erupted like a volcano, engulfing the beastman shaman in flames, causing the feathers on his crow-feather cloak to curl.
George followed up with a downward sword slash. The beastman shaman’s arm holding the staff fell away, but the arm suddenly dried up, and the staff came alive, sprouting several tough tentacles that tightly wrapped around the ankles of both warriors, trapping them momentarily.
The beastman shaman bent over, his form beginning to rise. A smile involuntarily spread across his face behind the ram skull.
He was on the verge of successfully transforming.
“Die!”
Ji Ma broke her invisibility, drawing her wings together and tightly gripping her spear, stabbing it toward the beastman shaman, the spear’s tip striking his neck directly.
The shaman’s neck was thicker than a bull’s, with a tough layer of hide on the surface, but the spear tip pierced through. His muscular form attempted to grasp the spear, but the spear tip siphoned blood, and Ji Ma felt a surge of power coursing through her arms. She pushed her legs, using her strength to drive the spear deeper.
The beastman shaman’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Ji Ma, who was nearly two heads shorter than him, unable to believe she possessed such strength.
Blood streamed out, and the beastman’s form shrank like a deflating balloon, his body shaking violently from the interrupted magic.
Ji Ma twisted the spear, pulling the tip out, and boasted to George, “Ha! The head is mine.”
“Good,” George said, giving her a thumbs up as he swung his sword to behead the beastman shaman.
Just then, a silver sword flew out from the mist. George quickly pulled Ji Ma behind him as the sword crashed against the cave wall, and Eve Frostleaf caught the flying silver sword.
In the mist, four tall Minotaur figures appeared, followed by a roar of anger from the beastmen.
The beastmen of the stronghold were finally coming.
“We’re blocked inside,” George bent down, shouldering his sword, “Get ready to carve a bloody path out.”
“Wait!” Ji Ma interjected urgently, “You all act like you’ve been defeated.”
There was little time for explanation. As she spoke, Ji Ma pointed at the headless corpse of the beastman shaman, saying, “Burn the body.”
Eve Frostleaf complied. Ji Ma clasped her hands together, creating a silent illusion in which a beastman shaman appeared in front of the three, looking almost identical to the burning corpse on the ground—except that it still had its head.
“You all just pretend to be beaten.”
Saying this, Ji Ma stepped into the illusion of the beastman shaman, allowing her slender figure to be perfectly concealed within it.
