Chapter 012: Blood Sacrifice

As she spoke, the shaman priest seemed to bite her tongue, spewing a mouthful of blood from beneath her mask. Immediately, a red flame erupted from her body.
Du Fan and Oscar’s expressions changed at the same time. Having seen much in their lives, they quickly guessed that this was the barbarian tribe’s blood sacrifice ritual!
It was said that through this mysterious magic, both the power of shaman priests and barbarian warriors could increase several times over in an instant. This technique shared similarities with the Holy Church’s Recovery Spell. While using it would severely drain the caster’s energy, it also granted them a significant boost in strength for a period of time.
In an instant, the shaman priest’s speed in forming seals increased. The petrification magic surrounding them receded like a tide.
She stretched lazily, as if extremely tired, and said with a smirk, “Little guy, I’m sure you’re familiar with this blood sacrifice ritual too, right? Well now… I’ve recovered. What do you two plan to do?”
Du Fan’s face turned ashen. He began considering whether to use the Recovery Spell himself, but at the thought of its consequences, he couldn’t help but sigh. If dying in a few days meant the same as dying now, then there was no difference.
The shaman priest stretched out her hand and pointed at Du Fan. Whatever she did, Du Fan felt a sharp pain in his head and nearly lost consciousness. But as a result, the effect of his Word Spirit was lifted, and the dozen or so archers returned to normal. Yet they still seemed confused, as if… they had forgotten everything that had just happened.
Du Fan wiped the blood from his face, gave a bitter smile, and said solemnly, “Lord Oscar, how do you think the chances are that you can escape with me now?”
Oscar also smiled bitterly. “Not very high. At most, half as much as before. But since you offended them, why not apologize? Maybe they’ll let us go if they’re pleased…”
Though they said this, both knew it was just joking.
At that moment, the shaman priest paused, frowned, and said, “Someone’s coming… We don’t have time. Let’s retreat quickly…”
Du Fan and Oscar were stunned. Soon after, they heard a thunderous noise—only the Northern Legion in Ruihe City could produce such a sound.
Both felt relieved. It seemed they had managed to save their lives.

But the shaman priest glanced at those archers and said, “Tell the others to retreat for now. Although we haven’t taken Rui City, we’ve gained something better… this lovely little guy… Meeting is fate… How about I invite you to visit our tribe?”
Du Fan forced a wry smile and said, “No need… No need… My frail body can’t withstand your barbarians’ rough treatment. I’ve heard your barbarian girls are skilled in bed… I’m afraid such a handsome guy like me would be drained dry in less than a day. So, goodbye, I won’t see you off. If you don’t leave now, when my men arrive, you won’t be able to go.”
The shaman priest snorted and said, “Do you go or not? Is this the time for you to argue?”
Then he glanced at Oscar again and said, “Roland man, I’m giving you a chance to scram. If you don’t, I’ll take your life in the next second.”
Oscar glanced at Du Fan, smiled bitterly, and said, “Esteemed shaman priest, I’d like to leave too, but I’m afraid you might attack me from behind while I’m halfway there… So I’d better stay here. By the way, if I’m not wrong, this young master Du Fan is still useful to you, right? How about this? If you don’t let us go… shall I kill him?”
As he spoke, he turned the blade in his hand and immediately placed it against Du Fan’s neck.
The sudden change in the situation was astonishing. Oscar’s sword was now on Du Fan’s neck, and everyone around was stunned.
Du Fan immediately understood what Oscar meant. Though it was their first time working together, both of them were cunning… no, actually, extremely smart. His expression changed instantly, and he said, “Esteemed Oscar, what do you mean by this?”
Oscar smiled slightly and said, “Nothing much. I’m just using young master Du Fan’s head as a talisman to save my life… Please don’t take it personally, young master Du Fan. Once I get through this, I’ll surely apologize. But for now, I have to offend you.”
“By the way…” Oscar glanced at the shaman priest again, “I want to leave now. Please don’t do anything reckless… If I’m not wrong, there must be something valuable on this young master Du Fan that you want to take. If I kill him, we’ll all go our separate ways… Hehe…”
As he spoke, Oscar dragged Du Fan and carefully retreated backward.

The barbarian warrior and the dozen or so archers didn’t know what to do for a moment. The thundering sounds around them grew louder, clearly indicating that the Northern Legion was approaching. At this moment, both sides were extremely tense.

But unexpectedly, the shaman priest sneered and said, “He’s dead. His soul is still here… Since you want to be with him so much, then go die with that cute little guy…” With a wave of his hand, a blood-red magical blade shot toward Oscar. This time, there was no need even to chant spells or form seals—its power was truly terrifying.

Oscar never expected the shaman priest to actually attack. He immediately realized that if he didn’t fight with all his might, he would end up split in two along with Du Fan. He released Du Fan, channeled his combat energy, and without time to prepare further, charged forward with a sword!

Boom—

With a loud explosion, Oscar, unprepared, barely managed to block the attack, but his right hand began to tremble uncontrollably. Once the dust in the air cleared, he saw that Du Fan had already been lifted by the shaman priest by the collar at some point. The shaman priest glared at Oscar and sneered, “Next time, you won’t be so lucky…” With another wave of his hand, he pulled Du Fan and soared into the air, disappearing into the distance. The barbarians around them also vanished quickly into the darkness, leaving only Oscar behind. Even those barbarians who were half-dead were taken away. If not for the chaos around him, who would believe that such fierce battles had just taken place?

Oscar coughed, looked up in the direction where Du Fan and the others had disappeared, and smiled bitterly. “This has caused trouble… Young Master Du Fan has been captured like this. It’s no wonder the people from the Northern Legion are going crazy. Not only are Gabriel and Evan in trouble, but I, a mere minstrel with no power or money, also get nothing out of this… Ah…” Suddenly, he sheathed his black sword and picked up a broken sword left behind by a barbarian, his face filled with bitterness. “A sacrifice… A sacrifice… To avoid trouble in the future, this is the only option today… A severely injured and unconscious minstrel shouldn’t be suspected of abducting the third young master of the Green family, right? Damn it, Du Fan… Even his disappearance has gotten me into so much trouble…”

As he spoke, Oscar quietly made several cuts on his own body. Finally, gritting his teeth, he cut a wound in the main artery on his leg and used his combat energy to make the wounds look like scars. Then, with a “ouch,” he fell to the ground and said softly, “I’m fainting… I’m really fainting!!”
The surroundings were completely silent; the thundering noise had disappeared. Moments later, the sound of orderly footsteps arose, and the once-dark lord’s mansion was lit up by flames. Cavalry from the Northern Legion were running around, gathering all the wounded and dead in the mansion’s hall. Carol had appeared in the hall at some point, disheveled, holding a sword. His face turned pale and dark alternately, his eyes bloodshot, and the broken sword in his hand was almost torn apart by his grip.
Vice brings disaster! Vice brings disaster! Vice brings disaster!
That was the only thought in Carol’s mind at that moment. He listened carefully to the cavalry’s reports, his heart filled with worry and self-reproach. As a member of the Northern Legion, he naturally understood the relationship between the Northern Legion and the forces of the North. Yet he never imagined that someone in this lord’s mansion would dare to attack the third young master of the Green family… He realized he had underestimated them too much…
With that thought, Carol grabbed Simon’s clothes, who was also by his side, and said sternly, “Simon, listen well. If I find out it was you guys who attacked my family’s third young master, I’ll burn down this Rui Gen City to the ground tomorrow!!!”
Simon couldn’t say a word; he could only shake his head frantically, sweat pouring down his forehead.
God! The third young master of the Green family was missing—dead or alive. The lord must be involved, and what about him? He probably wouldn’t survive either!
Thinking of the terror of the Northern Legion, Simon’s legs turned weak, and he almost fainted on the spot. For the first time, he found Carol’s murderous gaze truly terrifying!
This Rui Gen City was probably going to fall into chaos… chaos…
Simon sighed inwardly and finally lost consciousness.