Chapter 142: 78. Rescue Operation
In complete darkness, a group of people unconsciously huddled together. Fisher’s expression was serious as he looked around the corridor, where a chilling wind hung in the air. He waved his hand, and the tip of his staff lit up with a layer of illuminating magic. Many attendants looked around in panic. Just as the magic lit up in Fisher’s hand, he suddenly saw a distorted shadow rapidly climbing above their heads.
The shadow moved quickly across the wall, much like a spider, and was clearly about to launch an attack on the attendants in the distance. Prince Losang had also noticed the situation. A ring he wore on his finger began to glow with a bright red light, but just before he could act, a nimble figure leaped up and slashed the ceiling with a knife.
It was Carlo, a brown-haired attendant dressed in servant’s clothes. With a cold expression, she raised two short daggers and cut down the shadow that was attacking a nearby attendant.
As the blade sliced into the shadow on the ceiling, an instantaneous wave of foul odor akin to that of decomposing flesh surged into everyone’s noses, causing them to cover their mouths in disgust. The next moment, a struggling monster fell to the ground.
Upon closer inspection, the monster appeared to be made up of human-like body parts. Amidst the spider-like form, a long-haired head lifted up, letting out a howl as it looked at the people in the corridor. However, due to the deep cut made by Carlo’s dagger, the monster struggled for a moment before collapsing to the ground and lying still.
Everyone was taken aback by the terrifying appearance of the monster. Only Fisher found its appearance very familiar. It resembled those “Human-Worms” that had previously come to test Eil. But now, the creature attacking them glowed with a layer of composite luminous magical circuit, distinctly resembling the artificial sorceress created by the Sorceress Research Society.
Father Dek, standing behind, stared blankly at the creature in the middle of the corridor and shouted to everyone, “It’s an artificial sorceress created by the Sorceress Research Society! I heard about them trying to create such things back in Cardu, hoping to turn humans into sorceresses. Who would have thought they would actually appear today! They must be trying to steal Kasio’s Silver Mirror! We should go back to protect that mirror!”
“Bullshit! Your artificial sorceress looks like that! This isn’t even human anymore! Are you blind?!”
Dek’s words had barely escaped his lips when Carlo turned back to him and started cursing, looking as if she had been insulted.
“How do you know this isn’t an artificial sorceress? I come from Cardu; do you know the Sorceress Research Society better than I do?”
Carlo gritted her teeth, nearly revealing, “Because I am one of the artificial sorceresses from the Sorceress Research Society,” but looking at the scholars and Nali people around her, she huffed and turned her gaze back to the struggling monster.
“If you want to go protect that broken mirror, then go! Staying here could lead to who knows what, and there are still others downstairs, right?”
“That’s right, my Sheepkin is still downstairs; he must be terrified!”
“My wife and child too.”
Looking at the scholars from Shivali speaking up at the same time, Dek opened his mouth and cursed, “You damned Shivali people! Back when you borrowed the mirror, you said you would do everything to protect the integrity of our relic, and now you’re running away when trouble arises! You have no integrity or faith!”
“Then why can’t we bring the mirror down with us to find them?”
“Moving the Silver Mirror requires time and ritual; moving it carelessly will cause serious consequences. You wouldn’t want to run and have that Silver Mirror’s magic pierce your brain, would you?”
“Then don’t care about that broken mirror then!”
“How can that be? The Sorceress Research Society’s target is Kasio’s Silver Mirror; we can’t let them succeed!”
Just as an angry Carlo was about to speak again, a large hand suddenly landed on her shoulder from behind, nearly making her jump. She turned around to find it was Prince Losang.
Carlo froze for a moment, subtly distancing herself from him, but did not continue to argue with Father Dek.
“Alright, now that we have encountered a problem, we should solve it. Regardless of the Sorceress Research Society’s purpose for coming this time, we must ensure that the Silver Mirror is not stolen and that no one dies.”
“There are only two places in the entire building where there are people: one is here with us and the accompanying attendants; the other is downstairs on the first floor, where there are also some attendants and our family members. The Silver Mirror absolutely must not be allowed to be stolen. It’s completely dark everywhere, and moving around carelessly may lead to trouble. It would be better for most of us to stay here and guard the Silver Mirror and the others, while those capable of fighting go downstairs to bring the family members up.”
“Once everyone is gathered and safe, we can then consider how to get out from magic. What does everyone think about this plan?”
Listening to Prince Losang’s suggestion, everyone exchanged glances under Fisher’s illuminating magic.
The crux of this plan lies in the fact that there are not many people present capable of fighting. Fisher surveyed the surroundings, realizing that most of the anti-magic scholars could be ruled out; they did not use magic themselves and were older, making them a liability in battle. In this regard, Principal Ken was the same.
Therefore, the only people capable of fighting present were Fisher himself, Roger, Selina, along with Prince Losang and Carlo. The accompanying church personnel from Cardu should also be able to fight a bit, but it was uncertain what other surprises the Pink Pavilion had besides the monsters like the one Carlo killed earlier.
It was best for Prince Losang to stay here since he was very important; even if only he encountered danger, the severity of the situation would escalate to the highest level.
Fisher still did not understand how those from the Pink Pavilion had quietly set up such a super-circle magic within the protective barriers of Nali, as setting up super-circle magic required a long time and had to be near the building, and the area nearby had already been thoroughly searched by the New Party’s forces.
While Fisher was pondering, a faint scream unexpectedly echoed from below, causing the Shivali scholars to lose their restraint and struggle to go down. After all, their family members were downstairs, and once something happened, there would be no chance of survival for someone of their age.
Fisher glanced at Prince Losang and quickly made a decision, then spoke up, “This is it; Roger and I will go down to bring the family members back, while the rest of you stay here to protect the Silver Mirror and the others.”
Prince Losang smiled and then turned to Roger, who stepped forward and took out a silver-white dagger inlaid with several red gemstones, saying to them, “Then it’s settled. I have a dagger with me. If you lack weapons…”
“No need; I have one.”
Fisher pulled out the black hilt of his Fluid Sword, surprising Jasmine, who gasped when she saw it. She wanted to say something but quickly covered her mouth, though her eyes still expressed sheer astonishment. Fortunately, the atmosphere was tense, so no one noticed her.
“Uh, give it to me, Your Highness.”
“Alright, then we’ll wait for you on the fourth floor. You two hurry and come back.”
Roger nervously took the dagger from Prince Losang and followed closely behind Fisher.
Fisher handed his staff glowing with magic to him, which had several engraved spells. He gave it to Roger for use since he still had his constitution and the Fluid Sword for protection. Roger clearly had not brought any spells, and without magic, his combat ability was indeed weak.
Carlo directed the attendants standing outside to enter the room storing the Silver Mirror. Then, Prince Losang and she stood at the door, vigilantly watching the pitch-black corridor outside.
Fisher, along with the anxious Roger, made their way down the corridor towards the stairs. Soon, the light source from their staffs disappeared as they reached the stairwell.
“Hehe…”
Ghostly sounds echoed along the corridor, as if substantial shadows lay in wait in the darkness, silently observing Fisher and Roger as they hurried down the stairs.
“F-Fisher, slow down…”
Roger was already middle-aged and moving in such a tense and confined environment caused him to quickly become breathless, panting heavily.
Fisher frowned and stopped, turning back with a cold expression. Roger thought he might be angry; just as he was about to explain, he suddenly saw Fisher raise his right hand. The silver blade, like a whip, sliced upward along the stairwell’s wall, cutting the shadowy, insect-like monster in half.
Ever since they came down, many such monsters had followed them.
Roger was drenched in cold sweat as he raised his staff to look up the stairs. He saw countless silhouettes like spiders clinging to the upper walls, each one bearing human heads that were either distorted or fused together, all watching the two below with chilling smiles, nearly causing Roger to drop his staff.
Meanwhile, outside the window, figures clambered up, seemingly aiming for the other people above.
“Fisher, what should we do? It looks like those creatures are all running up.”
“There are also some below.”
Fisher turned to look and saw many moving black shadows in the banquet hall below. Those monsters clearly intended to hunt down everyone in the building, and it was definitely not just about stealing a Silver Mirror from Bishop Kasio.
After pondering for a second or two, Fisher turned back to Roger and instructed, “From now on, stay behind me. We can’t afford to waste time. We need to run to those people. The staff has a lot of spells; don’t be stingy! Cast magic whenever you hear any noise. If we’re caught, it could easily lead to death. Understood?”
Even though Roger was older, the calm Fisher at this moment always managed to impart a sense of safety. Roger nodded, lifting his staff like a torch and raising his dagger in his left hand, looking completely prepared.
“Alright! May Mother God bless us, may Mother God bless us!”
“Good, follow me.”
Fisher retracted the whip-like Fluid Sword. It was surprisingly effective and remarkably lightweight, with no blood on the mercury-like blade.
After Fisher spoke, the two quickly dashed out from the stairwell. Their figures triggered a cascade of shrill screams from the spacious first-floor hall. Roger grit his teeth, tossing spells from his staff whenever he felt magic resonate, but he refrained from casting high-level spells, fearing that if he blew up the first floor, those people would be directly killed.
In the darkness, various spells such as Bee’s Dance, Wind Blade, and Spinner lit up as they were thrown at the densely packed monsters on the walls. The sporadic shrieks and the stench of blood caused Roger’s face to turn pale, yet he still mustered his spirit to follow Fisher ahead.
Fisher’s attack frequency was much slower than Roger’s, as he was searching for the location of that group of people. After realizing something was wrong, it seemed they had found a room to hide in, and with only the sounds of monsters around, it was hard to determine their exact position.
While they continued searching for suspicious rooms in the hall, a magical light suddenly illuminated a section of the wall. Upon seeing this, Roger shouted “Be careful!” Fisher turned and slashed at it with his Fluid Sword, cutting a three-ring Medium Magic spell, “Spirit Flame Ball,” in half, which then burst into brilliant colors in the darkness like fireworks.
“Oh my god! Those monsters can use magic! They are artificial sorceresses from the Sorceress Research Society!”
Fisher couldn’t be bothered to explain but yelled in Shivali, “Where are you?”
After his call, he suddenly heard a couple of knocking sounds coming from a certain direction in the darkness. Fisher quickly turned his head to look; by the light behind him, he saw a storage room for drinks suddenly open, revealing a sheephorn inside.
“Over there.”
Several glowing magic runes lit up on the wall. It seemed that the bodies of those creatures had some magic inscribed upon them. Fisher caught a glimpse of several monster bodies stained with blood, with many of them howling and inscribing different magic onto their companions’ bodies.
The magic inscribed looked like old versions, but they were of low rank, and the inscribing technique seemed very mechanical, obviously being controlled or implanted.
Dodging the magic, Fisher hurriedly pulled Roger towards that room. Behind them, many Human-Worms fell to the ground, shrieking as they charged at them. Roger raised his dagger and thrust it into one monster’s body, causing a fountain of green fluids to spray out.
“Splurt!”
He watched as the dagger, embedded with gemstones, was drenched in green liquid, feeling both nauseated and regretful as he gave up on it and focused on wielding his staff.
Fisher rushed to the door of that room. Just as he was about to push it open, a dagger extended from inside, pointing at him. Upon careful look, he found a shorn little lamb staring at him in fear. After realizing he was human, the lamb let out a sigh of relief.
“You… you finally came! Someone is hurt.”
The Sheepkin was teary-eyed, appearing quite adorable and delicate. Fisher ignored him, pushed the door open and then closed it, ordering Roger to guard the entrance before he examined the situation inside.
In addition to the wife and infant of the Shivali scholar, there were also several young people, but at that moment, they were all terrified, huddling behind the drink shelves. When they saw someone coming to rescue them, they excitedly stepped forward.
“What… what’s happening? How can there be such monsters outside?”
“My mother is bleeding; she needs to stop the bleeding.”
Unexpectedly, among this large group of people, the only ones with any fighting ability turned out to be the Sheepkin slaves raised by Shivali scholars.
Fisher glanced back at the male Sheepkin holding the dagger by the door. He looked sweet, with some monster blood splattered on his clothes, clearly terrified.
One scholar’s wife was scratched; Fisher wasn’t sure if injuries from such Human-Worms would lead to further problems, but he could only use the healing magic on his staff to treat her.
A green glow illuminated, and as Fisher treated, he explained the situation to them. Upon hearing that they were to follow Fisher back to the fourth floor, several of the scholars’ children vigorously shook their heads, refusing to leave the place at all.
“No, no, no! Those monsters must be going after Dad and Prince Losang, not us! We can just wait for rescue here.”
“Right! Let’s wait for the Nali people to rescue us; anyway, us going up wouldn’t help at all.”
“I believe Dad and the others will understand.”
Well, they were spoiled brats; at least the scholars above wanted to come down and save them, but here they didn’t care what happened.
At that moment, a loud crashing sound suddenly came from outside the room, and both Roger and the Sheepkin pressed hard against the door.
“Fisher, we have to leave quickly!”
Hearing Roger’s reminder, Fisher coldly glanced at the group of reluctant brats, silently raising his Fluid Sword and sweeping it around them.
“I don’t care what you all think. You either come with me, or I’ll kill you now to avoid dragging us down. Your fathers probably don’t want to hear your screams and act irrationally to get us all into trouble.”
Seeing the demonic Fisher, the young men finally went silent. Fortunately, their mothers stepped forward at this moment, grabbing their children and pleading with Fisher.
“We’re willing to go up! We will look after these kids and won’t be a burden to you. Please, ensure our safety!”
“Bang! Bang!”
“Fisher!”
The wooden door in front of Roger was on the verge of breaking under pressure, as a blood-soaked hand smashed a hole through it, scaring the Sheepkin into desperately stabbing at the hand reaching through.
“We’re moving now! Follow closely to the light of this staff; don’t fall behind.”
After Fisher spoke, outside there seemed to be even more intense scrambling noises, as if the entire building was about to be toppled. Countless creatures like bugs were climbing up the outer walls, and it was unclear how many monsters were still in the corridor.
Yet Fisher’s expression remained unchanged as he raised his Fluid Sword, opening the sealed door and slashing at the monsters pouring in from outside.
“Let’s go!”
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(The End of this Chapter)
