Chapter 144: Zahariel’s Helplessness
As the giant beast closed in from just a few miles away, its massive size created the illusion that it was right behind the fugitives, with them seemingly at its mercy—ready to be devoured the moment it stretched its neck and opened its mouth. In reality, the situation was indeed close to that.
During their escape, Wayne, the priest of the Justice Hand squad, shouted, “It seems we can’t outrun this serpent monster. Now, the only hope is to use the life-saving talisman bestowed by the archbishop!” The others looked grim, knowing this mission was a complete failure. Surviving was already a stroke of luck, so none spoke out against it.
Thus, the five stopped their futile pursuit. The four others surrounded the priest tightly, while Wayne took out a silk scroll from his bosom. Unfolding it, he saw complex runes glowing with golden light. Wayne silently recited a prayer, and soon the runes on the scroll floated up, transforming into a golden beam several feet thick that enveloped the five of them. Before the giant serpent’s maw could reach them, their figures turned into golden light and vanished instantly from that place.
As for the fate of the guide they had hired, it was no longer on their minds. After all, he was just from that faithless land of Celt—his death was not worth pitying. In the eyes of these fanatics, only those who worshipped the Three Glorious Gods had precious lives; other humans were nothing but insignificant insects.
Meanwhile, Zahariel, the sludge-covered serpent dragon, angrily swung its massive head. With one breath, it swallowed the poor guide, then turned its gaze toward the Blood Sword Mercenaries.
The method used by the five members of Justice Hand to escape was similar to Donald’s teleportation, but it was divine magic rather than spellcraft. Its principle involved using divine power to disperse the caster’s body into a state of void energy, then enveloping that transformed body and soul in divine runes to traverse vast distances at near-light speed.
In contrast, the mage’s space teleportation spell relied on spatial calculations and principles, using spellpower to break through spatial nodes and transport one from one place to another. Both had their advantages and disadvantages, but their effects were similar—both were highly effective means of saving one’s life.
It is said that some powerful beings can also transform between divine spells and magic spells, using the power of magic to cast divine spells and divine power to unleash magic. In fact, most divine spells, like magic spells, are merely abilities derived from the laws. In ancient times, such abilities were collectively referred to as the power of the laws. Of course, most people in the world today only possess a rudimentary understanding of these branches of the laws, let alone truly comprehend the power of the laws.
The sealing talisman that Wayne used to protect them with this life-saving divine spell was not very advanced, equivalent to a level 7 divine spell at most, allowing them to travel up to three hundred miles. Yet, this distance was sufficient for them to escape the Snake Dragon’s pursuit.
As for the unfinished mission and the use of another life-saving talisman, what fate awaited these five individuals remained unknown.
As the Five of Justice vanished in a flash of light, the monster behind them turned its attention elsewhere. On the other side, Gao Man cursed loudly, “Damn you, Five of Justice! I hate you guys the most—those who pretend to be honorable on the surface but are full of filth behind closed doors. What’s so special about the side of justice? They abandon their own companions and still engage in the most despicable acts!”
“What are you talking about?”
Silver Swordmaster Caroline, usually so composed, also lost her usual strong-willed demeanor. While fleeing in panic, she heard Gao Man’s curses and shouted in response.
Although Gao Man had gained the power and physique of a silver demon, without the support of sword energy, his running speed was at most comparable to that of those bronze mercenaries. As a result, he fell behind the group after running only a short distance. If it weren’t for Caroline’s concern for their relationship over time and her occasional help, this parasite would have long been left behind.
These mercenaries, who dealt with magical beasts all year round, naturally understood the principle: one doesn’t need to run faster than the magical beasts, only faster than the others.
“Caroline, ignore them! I’ll take you away from here. Come quickly!” Gao Man stopped in his tracks, his body filled with magic. A strange blue rune mark appeared above his forehead and then spread out, forming a glowing cocoon that enveloped him and Caroline.
Inside the blue cocoon, Gao Man glanced back resentfully toward the ruins and cried out, “My ancient archmage treasures!”
As soon as he spoke, the blue cocoon broke through the spatial barrier of the material world and disappeared without a trace.
Gao Man’s last resort for survival was the spatial mark left by his ancestor, a golden-tier dark magic giant, for his descendants—a mark that could break through the spatial barriers of the main material world and transport them to the outer realm where the dark magic giant resided. However, this teleportation had its limits: it could only be used once, and one had to reach the bronze tier to activate it. Due to Gao Man’s insufficient strength, he could only take one additional person. If he were to officially advance to the silver tier, he might be able to take all the Blood Sword mercenaries with him. Of course, it wasn’t out of kindness or a genuine desire to save this female bandit leader—it was because the place he was going to was extremely dangerous, no less so than the Two-Legged Dragon Swamp. Thus, having a silver-tier strong person along would undoubtedly increase their chances of survival.
Justice Hand and Gao Man abandoned their companions and fled in their own ways. The remaining members of the Blood Sword Mercenary Group were utterly desperate, their faces filled with fear.
Zahariel was furious after being escaped from by these human insects three times using teleportation techniques.
Although serpent dragons had powerful innate abilities, they didn’t possess as many spatial spells like teleportation or blink as most abyssal creatures, nor did they have the ability to block spatial teleportation. Though serpent dragons, like dragons, could learn human and elf spells, Zahariel had lived alone in the Two-Legged Dragon Swamp for over three thousand years, never having seen his parents, let alone interacting with other of his kind or powerful golden sacred beasts—so how could he have had the chance to learn other spells? As for going to humans to learn, he would likely be attacked as a monster before he could even explain his intentions, only to be torn apart, skinned, and drained of blood by human warriors who arrived afterward.
Therefore, all Zahariel possessed were the spell-like abilities inherited from his race. Despite his powerful physique and magic, he was helpless against spells like teleportation. So he could only vent his anger on these remaining human insects. After devouring seven or eight of them and crushing the rest under his weight, Zahariel continued northward. All the swamp monsters he encountered along the way—whether powerful high-tier beasts like multi-headed snake lizards or low-tier ones like ordinary swamp lizards—ended up in his stomach. Compared to humans, who had little flesh, these swamp monsters were Zahariel’s favorite prey.
Only subdragons with dragon bloodline, such as the two-legged dragons, could escape the hungry serpent dragons. It wasn’t that Zahirae minded eating a few subdragons that were half his kind, but those subdragons sensed the terrifying dragon power emanating from the serpent dragons and fled to their nests in fear, never giving Zahirae a chance to confront them!
Zahirae continued feeding until he reached the outskirts of the Two-Legged Dragon Swamp. Then, he sensed a sacred and powerful aura rising from thousands of miles to the north. He stopped, exhaled in frustration at the sight of the human territories ahead, and then turned away in anger.
Though unwilling and furious, Zahirae still dared not leave the swamp to wreak havoc in the human territories. He already knew that there were beings in the human lands on both sides of the swamp who were even stronger than him. It was hard to imagine that those seemingly frail humans could possess legendary-level powers capable of easily capturing an adult like him. His flesh and dragon crystals would be excellent materials in the eyes of those human strongmen, comparable to legendary beasts. Leaving the swamp would be the same as handing them treasures on a platter!
So, Zahirae had no choice but to circle in the great swamp for a few days, turning his grief and anger into hunger. After feasting heartily, he returned to his nest to continue sleeping.
Donald and the others who had escaped disaster naturally had their own stories. Donald, who had been transported to the outskirts of the swamp using a teleportation scroll, immediately ordered the horned eagle to fly north. After about ten minutes, he took out another teleportation scroll and used it for the third time. By then, they had appeared behind Ironhoof Town, the northernmost of the Six Southern Towns, bordering the central territory of Celt.
After resting in Ironhoof Town, the five members of the Thorne family bid farewell to the others.
The expedition to the swamp ruins yielded rich rewards for everyone, especially Donald, who quietly acquired the two most valuable items from the ruins—along with a demi-legendary artifact, a legendary piece of equipment, and the core of the teleportation array. This made Horden look at them with a complex expression.
As a group that joined later, the Thorne family had reaped great benefits, yet they had the least among the three parties. Their three legendary items were not even comparable to a single demi-legendary artifact, so Horden felt somewhat uncomfortable.
As the saying goes, it’s not the lack but the uneven distribution that causes trouble—a truth that holds true in almost any world.
Donald, however, did not realize Horton and the others’ intentions. If he could digest what he had gained this time, it would be enough to accelerate the development of his own strength and territory by more than a decade. From then on, within Celt, as long as he did not commit crimes like treason, basically no one or force would be able to bring him down.
As for the two major pillars of the kingdom—the Celt and Ansel families—one was on good terms with him and shared common interests, while the other was the royal family. If the nobles in his region grew stronger, it also meant Celt’s strength would increase, so naturally, they would not come to trouble him for no reason.
As for the bounty hunter Sorg, he was originally a guide hired by the Thorne family, so he naturally would not leave with them. Moreover, Sorg still wanted that legendary axe and the conditions Donald had proposed earlier, so he planned to follow Donald north to Laran, the legendary beautiful and prosperous new kingdom.
Apart from the elves and others who, due to practical constraints, set up temporary camps in the woods outside the town to rest, Donald and his two companions, along with the five members of the Ansel family, all came to the town’s outer gates to see them off.
Before leaving, the overly cheerful Miss Emily repeatedly invited Donald and his group to visit the Thorne family whenever they went to Gadré.
Horton, knowing that the three families had already formed a preliminary relationship and would need to interact more in the future, left tokens with each other to facilitate future meetings.
As for Donald’s promise to provide them with copies of the teleportation array diagrams, the situation was complex, and it would take some time to complete them. However, Horton wasn’t worried that Donald would go back on his word, as even nobles like them understood the importance of keeping their word.