Chapter 222: Alright
"Hey, what exactly are those other things?" Leon had already completed more than a dozen alchemy arrays, but Salomon was still utterly confused.
"Look behind you!"
"Huh? What's behind me..." Salomon turned around, half-doubting, and had barely glanced before he let out a startled cry: "Damn, why are there so many!"
Almost as soon as Salomon turned around, a dozen Green-faced Ghost Monkeys burst out from the bushes. These magical beasts, around Level 15, are born killers in the dense forest—their movements swift as wind, claws laced with venom. Once they get close, even a mage would clench in terror.
At that moment, the Green-faced Ghost Monkeys had just leapt from the bushes, shrieking as they lunged for Leon under the ancient tree. Their venomous claws glinted with a faint, eerie black light—even in the shadowy forest, the glow was unmistakable...
"Bardrack!"
"Understood, Mage Salomon!" Bardrack, captain of the Flash Arrow Mercenary Company, was nearly as experienced in battle as Seth.
Almost the instant the Green-faced Ghost Monkeys appeared, the Ninth Rank Sharpshooter had already drawn his bow. Three golden magical arrows were nocked between his fingers—no aiming, just a flash of dazzling light. Three monkeys in midair dropped before they could even scream, shot down by the magical arrows...
Then came a thunderous boom—the fire element sealed within the arrows erupted. Three bursts of flame exploded, and the monkeys hadn't even hit the ground before they were reduced to charred husks by the roaring blaze.
At that moment, Leon took a brief pause from his frantic work to glance back, then immediately resumed his rapid writing, ignoring the leaping Green-faced Ghost Monkeys and the strange noises echoing through the jungle.
This was exactly why Leon chose Bardrack. Among the Nine Great Factions of Seaview City, there were certainly fighters stronger than Bardrack—whether Kadgar or Lance, their combat prowess would surely surpass his.
But this time, Leon didn’t bring them along—he brought Bardrack instead, because archers are among the best at fighting in the forest. Especially someone like Bardrack, who stands at the very peak of sharpshooting, a true expert in woodland combat. With Salomon and Hugh barely lifting a finger, Bardrack alone suppressed more than a dozen Green-faced Ghost Monkeys.
Looks like I won’t need to step in after all..." Salomon’s voice carried a hint of regret.
But that regret didn’t last long for Salomon...
Because just as Bardrack shot down the tenth Green-faced Ghost Monkey, the strange noises in the woods turned into a flurry of soft footsteps. Glancing over, Leon saw flickering points of phosphorus fire among the bushes, eerie and menacing in the gloom.
Suddenly, the howling of wolves echoed all around, but their exact location was impossible to see—only vague shadows seemed to multiply across the ground.
Shadow Wolves!" Salomon’s heart skipped a beat. At a glance, there were dozens of shadows—meaning a pack of dozens of Shadow Wolves...
Thinking back to when they first entered Four Seasons Gorge, Salomon shivered at the memory of the Shadow Wolf that ambushed Merlin, with its terrifying speed and strength—a Level 15 beast.
Hubert, get up there!" At that moment, Leon, busy inscribing alchemy arrays, looked up again from his work.
Huh?
What do you mean, huh? You're a beastman warrior—if you don't go, who will?
But... but I'm a Highland Orc Warrior...
Hugh's face went pale. Highland Orcs really don’t have much experience with direct combat...
But at this point, experience didn’t matter. The Dragonblood Orc cast a pleading look at Leon, then drew two curved blades from his waist. With a howl to steel his nerves, he shut his eyes and charged recklessly at the pack of Shadow Wolves.
It didn’t matter whether he was a Highland Orc or any other kind of beastman...
In the end, the fighting instinct flowing in his blood couldn’t be denied. Hugh’s twin blades quickly stopped the wolves’ advance. Under the cold gleam of his knives, blood sprayed everywhere, and in moments, the Dragonblood Orc was dyed crimson—no one could tell if it was blood or his skin.
With Hugh covering them, Salomon and Bardrack opened fire as well—a Ninth Rank Mage and a Ninth Rank Sharpshooter, both top fighters in Seaview City. Their combined firepower was beyond imagination.
In the blink of an eye, a third of the Shadow Wolves fell, the scene like mowing grass—leaving only a field of wolf corpses behind.
But this time, Salomon didn’t dare to express any regret...
Because Salomon could already sense that beyond these dozens of Shadow Wolves, even more magical beasts were gathering—a beast tide no less overwhelming than before. Right now, they were only fighting a handful of Green-faced Ghost Monkeys and dozens of Shadow Wolves, but soon, a flood of magical beasts would engulf them all.
Merlin, hurry up!" At this moment, Leon—busy inscribing alchemy arrays—became everyone’s only hope. Salomon, slicing through Shadow Wolves, couldn’t help but shout from afar.
Give me ten minutes!" Leon was just as anxious, but this was the fastest he could go. The alchemy array on the ancient tree was truly at the True Spirit level—even Leon could only use his sharpest focus, brute-forcing his way through the solution.
The workload for this kind of brute-force solution was immense. In Leon’s mind, the entire True Spirit-level alchemy array was broken into countless modules. Disregarding the low-level, useless ones, there were still over a hundred critical modules Leon had to crack...
In other words, Leon now had to crack over a hundred key modules in just ten minutes.
Such a workload—most master craftsmen wouldn’t even dare to imagine it.
Time ticked by. Leon inscribed more and more alchemy arrays, until the massive trunk was covered with a dense network of low-level arrays.
By now, Leon had cracked most of the key modules, drawing closer to the array’s core. At the same time, he could clearly sense the life energy around him growing thicker, almost tangible.
Leon knew he had triggered the alchemy array’s defense mechanism. While the array itself wouldn’t retaliate, this surge of life energy would summon an even larger beast tide.
But at this point, there was no time to worry about anything else...
Leon’s quill flew across the massive trunk. More than half a bottle of Snowmelt Ink was already gone, and countless low-level alchemy arrays were splitting and cracking the main array.
Damn it, Merlin, hurry up—we can’t hold out much longer!" Salomon called for help again. By now, the three of them were facing the sixth wave of beasts, and the monsters charging through the woods were far more numerous and powerful than the Shadow Wolves.
The Dragonblood Orc was covered in wounds—some from claws, some from teeth, others from spells. Blood soaked his whole body, though it was impossible to tell if it was his or the beasts’. He gripped one curved blade tightly; the other had been lost, replaced by the Viperbolt Crossbow Leon had given him, as he desperately fought off dozens of Thunder Elephants.
Salomon’s spells never stopped; long incantations poured from his lips, magic surging like a breached dam. Through the flying runes and dazzling light, blood stains could be seen on the Ninth Rank Mage’s robe.
But in this situation, Salomon couldn’t care about these minor wounds—he was simply too busy. He’d just blasted a Fire Lizard away with an Explosion Spell when a Frost Python, over ten meters long, lunged at him. Salomon quickly cast an Ice Wall to block its gaping maw, but at the same time, a Shadow Wolf leapt from the bushes, its claws tearing into his arm.
Behind him, Bardrack was even busier than the other two. A swarm of flying beasts—Ravenhawks, Bull Eagles, Venom Dragonflies, Wyverns, and the ever-present Green-faced Ghost Monkeys—kept him on edge. Bardrack wished he had eight hands; his Spirit-level longbow was drawn again and again, firing magical arrows with various enchantments, each shot a testament to his skill as a Ninth Rank Sharpshooter.
Yet...
In the face of the raging beast tide, it was all futile. The magical beasts kept coming, stronger and stronger. Salomon could sense a powerful magical wave approaching from afar—a truly formidable Level 30 beast.
Fall back! Get closer to Merlin!" The beast tide was unstoppable now. Salomon, Hubert, and Bardrack fought their way back toward the massive ancient tree...
In the end, the three of them lined up behind Leon—this would be their final line of defense. Even the Dragonblood Orc’s eyes showed new resolve; everyone knew that if the beast tide broke through, it was all over.
Alright!
At that critical moment, Leon drew the final magic circuit on the massive trunk.