Anser stood at the rear of the battlefield, occasionally tossing out a cantrip to help Zahir stabilize the defensive line, though his attention remained fixed on Rand the entire time.
Listening to the combat logs that kept popping up, he was grinning from ear to ear.
Rand hopped along the defensive line, deliberately heading for areas where the monsters were densest. He would unleash one or two casts of Dragon's Breath before immediately changing position. The intermittent flashes of breath attacks greatly reduced the pressure on the human side and sent morale soaring.
One minute passed quickly. He had released at least six breath attacks—roughly one every ten or so seconds—an impressively high level of efficiency.
Later on, the monsters would scatter the moment they saw him coming, which sharply reduced the immediate results. Even so, nearly a hundred monsters were still caught in the wake of the Dragon's Breath.
Anser's experience notifications never stopped, appearing intermittently. Most of them were only worth a few points—everything dying was low-tier fodder—but sheer quantity made up for it.
As soon as things wrapped up on Rand's side, Zahir caught his hand signal and ran out of the battlefield to Anser's side.
"Any more?" Zahir asked, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Yes!" Anser laughed loudly and reached a hand toward him.
"Lightning!" Zahir said, vividly recalling the lightning effect Anser had caused earlier.
"Alright."
A moment later, Zahir likewise made a great leap into the northern cluster of monsters. After a brief buildup, he opened his mouth and exhaled—explosive arcs of electricity spread outward, electrocuting who knew how many Kuo-toa. Even nearby participants had their hair stand on end, leaving them looking downright absurd.
To avoid friendly fire, Zahir had no choice but to push even deeper in. He even leapt toward the edge of the floodwaters to wreak havoc, acting utterly brazen. Monsters below Challenge Rating 4 simply could not stop him.
The other participants were more than happy with this development and took the opportunity to strike ruthlessly amid the chaos. The battle became several times easier than before.
Seeing this, Anser grabbed Bratt and tugged him along. "Let's go—we're pulling back."
Although the Kuo-toa were both stupid and deranged, they were still an intelligent race. He had already noticed quite a few Kuo-toa professionals riding giant crabs drawing closer to their position. If they did not leave now, things would really go wrong.
"Huh?" Bratt was not satisfied at all, still itching for more action. "How about giving me one too?"
"No. We're leaving."
Anser withdrew at a brisk pace, quickly reaching the earthen slope where Finn was positioned.
Bratt wore a disappointed expression, yet he stayed by Anser's side the entire time.
"Too dangerous," Anser explained.
Dragon's Breath could be cast very quickly, nearly on par with an instant spell, but the caster still needed a guidance process. Without casting experience, that process would be slow and made the caster easy to target. If one's strength was insufficient, it was genuinely dangerous.
Moreover, Dragon's Breath combined with Jump required a total of 4 points of Magic Power. He only had 11 points of Magic Power left now. If Magic Power dropped too low or was completely exhausted, the caster would enter a state of total fatigue. He had to reserve some Magic Power for emergencies.
Anser observed the battlefield and saw that more and more humans were converging, with people continuously joining the fight. The human side had already brought the situation under control, and casualties had dropped sharply.
"'My contribution's big enough. Slacking off a bit won't hurt.'"
He still remembered the earlier incident when he had drawn too much attention and been targeted by two javelins. Bratt had nearly died. If you wanted to live longer, it was better to lie low just a little.
Now he only hoped that the monsters caught in Dragon's Breath would hurry up and die, preferably without letting a single one escape—though he knew that was highly unrealistic.
On the battlefield, after Zahir finished casting his final Dragon's Breath, he felt an overwhelming sense of exhilaration, as if his spellcasting ability had returned.
Standing on the bank of the River Chionthar, he turned his head to look for Anser, only to see an old priest not far away pointing urgently at the water beside them.
"Watch out below the surface!"
With a thunderous boom, a massive shelled creature leapt out of the River Chionthar. Amid the spray of water, enormous pincers snapped toward his body.
Caught completely off guard, Zahir retreated while activating his Shield of Faith. A faintly glowing energy field enveloped him.
Clang—
The huge pincers clamped down on it and were firmly blocked.
Zahir was just about to seize the chance to retreat when a bizarre staff suddenly extended from the monster's back and struck the shield. Lightning erupted, the shield shattered, and he was blasted several meters away, crashing into the mud and water. His limbs went stiff, and he was unable to get back up for quite some time.
[Chuul, Aberration, Challenge Rating 4]
[Kuo-toa Archpriest, Kuo-toa, Challenge Rating 6]
'An Archpriest?!' Seeing this from afar, Anser's heart skipped a beat, and he felt an instinctive urge to run.
The Kuo-toa Archpriest was Challenge Rating 6, but as a level-10 spellcaster, it was even more troublesome than a Duergar Warlord.
The Chuul was not easy to deal with either. It was a large aberration, amphibious on land and in water, immune to toxins, and capable of sensing magic.
The Chuul carried the Kuo-toa Archpriest and charged at Zahir at high speed, but both he and Rand were too far away to provide aid.
Whoosh—
At the critical moment, a javelin shrieked through the air toward the Chuul. The Chuul's reaction was too slow; it had no time to dodge and could only swing its pincers up to block.
Its shell shattered like a spiderweb. The javelin drove in more than halfway. The Chuul's body jolted, and it let out a piercing hiss.
"What incredible strength!" Bratt exclaimed in amazement.
Anser looked over from afar. On the bank of the River Chionthar, a burly figure in a red robe with golden flame patterns had already thrown a second javelin. After that, he hefted a huge axe and launched a charge.
"Looks like someone from the Flaming Fist." He recognized that outfit.
The second javelin struck again—accurate and vicious.
With that delay, Zahir had already shaken off the paralysis and gotten back to his feet. Holy light flashed over his body, and his injuries recovered by more than half. Then he charged forward together with that burly man.
The Chuul swung its enormous pincers, whipping up waves of dull, booming whooshes. Its momentum was terrifying.
The two of them focused mainly on skirmishing. The Chuul's strength was even greater than a Duergar Warlord's, but it was slow to react and low in intelligence, so for elite professionals it was not hard to handle.
What they feared more was the Kuo-toa Archpriest on the monster's back.
However, aside from occasionally firing off a bolt of lightning that was not particularly powerful, the Kuo-toa Archpriest did not have much presence.
"He doesn't have spellcasting ability anymore!" Anser suddenly realized.
The Weave was fair to everyone. Aside from a small amount of spell-like abilities, the Kuo-toa Archpriest likewise relied on spell slots.
"Let's go—we should head over too." Anser picked up his staff and ran toward the riverbank. He could not let this kind of opportunity slip; maybe he could even pick up some experience points.
By the time the three of them reached the riverbank, the Chuul had already lost one forelimb. Judging by the wound, it was probably done by that burly Flaming Fist man.
Anser focused his gaze on him. In the midst of battle, it was easier to scout attributes:
[Flaming Fist Elite, Human, Level 8 Barbarian (Berserker)]
'So strong—no wonder he can go head-on against the Chuul.'
Even without mastering powerful feats, a level-8 professional would inevitably see substantial improvements in attributes.
The two of them had clearly also realized that the Kuo-toa Archpriest was somewhat lacking. Coordinating with each other, they pressed the attack fiercely.
The Flaming Fist Elite moved into the Chuul's blind spot, lowered his head and bent his body, a red glow flaring over him. In the next instant, he charged behind the Chuul like a raging bull, moving so fast that a trail of afterimages was left behind. He raised his huge axe high, berserk fury coiling around it, and then brought it down with the momentum.
The Chuul only had time to shift its body slightly before the huge axe fell, slicing deep into its waist and abdomen along the base of the thigh. A large amount of blue-green fluid sprayed out. Its body went limp, and with a heavy thud, it collapsed to the ground.
Zahir seized the opportunity and rushed forward, thrusting his sword into the Chuul's neck, driving it in up to the hilt.
Anser was just about to raise his hand to finish it off when he sensed an eerie fluctuation of magical power coming from the Kuo-toa Archpriest.
"Watch out—"
He shouted loudly, then immediately activated the Ring of Spell Storing. Three flashing Magic Missiles howled as they lunged toward the Kuo-toa Archpriest.
In the next moment, surging blue-violet energy spread outward from the Archpriest, covering an area of more than ten meters. Massive thunder and corroding energy instantly engulfed the two of them. The pooled water vaporized, and the ground was left covered in dark purple or black corrosive scars.
The three Magic Missiles collapsed into nothing the instant they drew near, unable to land even a single hit.
'It's over.' Anser's heart turned ice-cold.
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