Encounter

Two days passed peacefully in the mountains with no attacks on William or the mercenaries, but he didn't let his guard down or tell the mercenaries about the potential problems, that might scare off the men who were paid to do the job, he had to make sure they turned out to be his helpers.

Early in the morning on this particular day, William parked his mount next to an uncle that was reaching for the sky like a sharp claw. He took out a small shovel and skillfully uprooted a 'Seven-Leaf Dragon's Tongue Grass' of excellent quality and put it into his backpack, which was considered as an extra harvest from this trip.

Seeing him finish the medicine collection, the four mercenaries on guard at the side also relaxed slightly, Matilde walked to his side and was about to speak when she saw him unclasp the scepter at his waist and hold it in his hand.

<p _msttexthash="31993793" _msthash="1014">Like a musician gently plucking the strings of a lyre, William's powerful fingers rattled the scepter's grip, and the heavy, thick head of the hammer arced through mid-air, striking the side of Matilde's head and rattling a dagger that was close at hand.

<p _msttexthash="2895425" _msthash="1013">Without anyone saying another word, the fight broke out immediately.

<p _msttexthash="15636400" _msthash="1012">Even the shocked Matilde reacted quickly, golems large and small spewing out from beneath her wide cloak, building a line of defense in tandem with her all-important De kana.

<p _msttexthash="5744492" _msthash="1011">The other three were similarly attacked, but all of them were either skillfully or woefully defused.

<p _msttexthash="12270609" _msthash="1010">After a brief moment of confusion, they formed a simple battle formation and faced off against the group of assassins of unknown origin from a distance.

<p _msttexthash="25513059" _msthash="1009">William wasn't going to give his opponents a chance to catch their breath, and while he wasn't sure which group of cultists he'd offended these killers came from, it was safe to assume that they weren't very good at attacking.

<p _msttexthash="28237131" _msthash="1008">Instead of hiding in the center of the group, he carried a scepter like a hammer in one hand and a heavy holy book in the other. The thin sound of metal rubbing together came faintly from underneath the robes he wore, clearly clad in hauberk.

<p _msttexthash="26744705" _msthash="1007">Seeing him raise his war hammer, he bellowed angrily, "My heavenly lord, Polynesius, you have sown heavenly fire on the earth to scorch all things, even me. The agony of this burning body delights me, for I am close to you in the fire!"

<p _msttexthash="5834790" _msthash="1006">An invisible pressure descended on the battlefield as William's 'Prayer of Asceticism' was activated.

<p _msttexthash="16268577" _msthash="1005">William pointed the weapon in his hand at the enemy closest to Bartlett at the front of the squad, and the invisible spiritual power transformed into a long whip that lashed him.

<p _msttexthash="29525925" _msthash="1004">The terrible pain immediately caused him to scream out in agony, and Bartley seized this brief opportunity to raise his large shield and burst forward, using the battering ram on his shield to hit him heavily, causing him to lose his balance.

<p _msttexthash="7634107" _msthash="1003">After that, he did not stop moving, and immediately swung the short sword in his other hand, slicing at the enemy's neck.

<p _msttexthash="20012538" _msthash="1002">However, this quick and accurate sword did not completely cut off the enemy's throat, but instead rubbed a burst of sparks under the collision of tremendous force, leaving a not-so-shallow wound.

<p _msttexthash="27652573" _msthash="1001">"How can it be stone?" Bartley roared out in anger, reminding his teammates to beware of the enemy's shenanigans, while he himself relied on the sturdy armor on his body to avoid the enemy's fatal kidney strike, and hastily retreated.

<p _msttexthash="14307462" _msthash="1000">The first try ended there, the rescue of this enemy teammate was blocked by Bartley's teammates, but Bartley didn't manage to kill the bizarre stone creature either.

<p _msttexthash="7812155" _msthash="999">William was prepared for this and threw the 'Melted Rock' potion at Julian, telling him to use it against these monsters.

<p _msttexthash="42615534" _msthash="998">Julian would believe it, quickly identified the type of potion, and then used a combination of spell techniques, first turning the drug into mist through 'Fogging', and then releasing the spell 'Active Mist' to drive these mists to act on their own and wrap around those weird stone statues.

<p _msttexthash="10884224" _msthash="997">This move almost immediately killed one of the stone statues that was caught off guard, and he was reduced to a puddle of mud in a chilling scream.

<p _msttexthash="4338516" _msthash="996">But unfortunately the move hardly worked once the other statues had their defenses up.

<p _msttexthash="27384383" _msthash="995">William was not surprised by this, although the cultists who had entered the petrification stage were a bit stiff in the head, their intelligence level was not really affected too much, and it was hard for a ploy to work on them twice.

<p _msttexthash="56251351" _msthash="994">However, Julian was able to become a qualified mercenary, and obviously didn't lack the ability to improvise, he injected the 'Melt Rock' potion into a glass rod about a foot long, and used it to apply a temporary 'Melt Rock' effect to his teammates' weapons, to enabling it to deal normal levels of damage to these hard and stubborn 'rocks'.

<p _msttexthash="12663209" _msthash="993">William, for his part, made a stealthy gesture to Mitchell behind him, and then, to his astonishment, made another psychic attack on another stone statue.

<p _msttexthash="27030848" _msthash="992">Mitchell's coordination was also spot on, as the group of gargoyles suddenly had a large puddle of slippery grease on the ground beneath their feet, which didn't make them fall on their asses, but did limit their attacks and dodges.

<p _msttexthash="24911016" _msthash="991">William, on the other hand, followed up by paying twice as much MP to unleash a 'Knockout', a spell that generated an invisible stance that, while not very powerful, happened to break the balance of one of the stone statues.

<p _msttexthash="10086076" _msthash="990">Julian also seized this opportunity and pointed at the fallen stone statue with a glass rod, splashing the past potion to melt most of it.

<p _msttexthash="34138559" _msthash="989">Killing two enemies in a row, the battle was gradually moving in William's and their favor, but they didn't let their guard down, well-trained enemies often came from large organizations, and the style of these giants' business was to leave no stone unturned.

<p _msttexthash="39877994" _msthash="988">At this moment, Matilde who had been guarding the surrounding area sensed something, not waiting for her to give a specific order, the De kana that shared her mind had already made an attack, only to see a bright ray emitted from its eyes, slicing through a large area as its head bobbed.

<p _msttexthash="6946290" _msthash="987">The other group of enemies hiding in the shadows and wanting to launch a sneak attack was also exposed as a result.

<p _msttexthash="8834631" _msthash="986">However, this could not be considered good news, as with these new enemies, their numbers were once again back to a disadvantage.

<p _msttexthash="11758591" _msthash="985">To be cautious, the team's defense circle gradually contracted and slowly moved to the side, trying their best to avoid being attacked from the back.

<p _msttexthash="38205882" _msthash="984">The atmosphere at this moment was simply tense to the extreme, and the only one who still remained calm was probably William, because he had already sensed something when he used the ''Prayer of Asceticism'' earlier, and an inexplicable and mysterious image loomed in his mind.

<p _msttexthash="15880813" _msthash="983">He knew that this was the 'Throne' prompting him about the event he was about to trigger, a unique mechanic in the game that helped players explore this vast world in many ways.

<p _msttexthash="16980119" _msthash="982">He scanned the cultists that were currently present, knowing that such numbers were not enough to trigger a reaction, and after some thought, he decided to test his opponent again.

<p _msttexthash="24676106" _msthash="981">"Lamb of false faith, fools blinded by the evil gods, you are already in great trouble, the Lord and true God of heaven is about to send a great plague to your top, and even more so to your evil master's top, to burn it to ashes."