Chapter 968 – Desert Tribe
Desert Tribe
A gruesome massacre unfolded by the lake in the grassy plains.
A group of strangely dressed men on one-humped camels attacked the group of adventurers. They wore the trademark attire of the desert, white, loosely fitted robes with a scarf wrapped thickly around their heads, revealing only a pair of wolf-like eyes.
With a whistle from the leader of these camel riders, his men encircled the adventurers, where some of them had even drawn their bows.
Looking at this turn of events, the expression on those adventurers took a turn for the worse.
They were already lacking in numbers, without even mentioning the high-grade equipment being used against them.
“What are they saying?” The female wizard Allerie asked the assassin after casting a few layers of defensive spells on herself.
“They said that… We have intruded on their land, and must use our blood and lives to wash away our sins…”
The assassin leader face darkened as he hurriedly explained, “We’re in deep trouble, these are the desert tribes. The original inhabitants of the western desert, and this is the place they call home. They also possess a strange ability for casting curses.”
“Hacaree! Hacaree!”
The desert warriors immediately rushed forwards and released the arrows nocked.
A few bamboo-thin warriors leapt high in the air, brandishing sabres with gems embedded in them as they slice downwards in an beautiful arc.
“Good timing!”
The assassin leader shouted as he struck with the dagger in his hand.
An icy blade flashed past as many of the desert warriors fell of the ground, the sabre in their hands shattered into pieces like dancing butterflies.
“Head! How can you strike first and even deal such a fatal blow!”
The other adventurers looked on in disbelief at the leader.
“We don’t have a choice…” The assassin smiled wryly, “‘hacaree’ means don’t leave anyone alive…”
However, they did not have the leisure of conversing moments later. The desert tribe leader hopped off his camel and dashed towards the assassin.
*Peng!*
A thick and bulky saber whistled through the air, and the gale force brought upon them made the assassin somewhat apprehensive.
*Clink!*
“Howling moon art!” The assassin howled and clashed his dagger against the sabre. A surge of qi dispersed into the surroundings, leaving countless pits on the surface of the desert,
*Shing!* Just when the two blades were about to clash, a blade from the desert leader’s body flashed. Another small dagger appeared in his hand and he thrust it directly at the assassin’s eye.
“Secret technique — Dual Serpentines!”
“Leader!” The female wizard cried out as she pointed with her index finger which glowed and shouted, “Mage Sword!”
An illusory blade appeared in midair and deflected the fatal blow from the desert leader.
“Damn it! Get lost!”
In this situation of life and death, that assassin too unleashed all his might and roared. The muscles on his body began to bulge and very soon, he had turned into a smaller version of a giant.
The dagger in his hands now exerted a larger force, which sent the desert leader staggering backwards.
That desert leader cried in a high pitched tone and hopped away as nimble as a swallow, her eyes clear as water.
“A woman?”
This assassin felt the back of his neck tingling. His carelessness almost had his eyes gouged by a woman.
“Leader, what now?”
At this moment, the arrows fell like rain, throwing the rest of the party into disarray.
“Gather by Awar’s side, we will break from the encirclement. Allerie, concentrate and support if needed!” The assassin gave his orders.
“Hah! Berserk!”
The party member Awar was the group’s berserker and meatshield. He produced a low grunt and the muscles on his body bulged.
“Bull’s Strength! Bear’s Endurance!”
Allerie, on the other side, had also added multiple layers of buffs which glowed.
“Hah! Kill!”
After entering berserk mode, Awar seemed to change into a human tank with the shield in his hands, sending many of the desert warriors flying with blood momentarily.
“Wodarnike! Arberdoniya!”
The female desert leader gave a few commands and directed her men to rows of defense. It seemed as though as she did not want to stop until this group of adventurers were dead.
“Your opponent is me!”
The assassin inhaled deeply, before a layer of battle qi was imbued on his rustic dagger.
In the face of peril, this assassin had shown his most tenacious side. He decided to engage directly with the enemy’s leader, buying time for his teammates.
*Shing!*
The female desert warrior did not say a word. Instead, she crossed her sabres and unleashed her explosive force.
Her body seemed to leave behind an afterimage as she dashed towards the assassin. Her attacks came from all directions, her arms seemingly boneless in their flexibility.
“Hng! Scorching gale blade!”
The assassin shouted coldly. With his eyes blazing, the blade in his hand formed a gale which matched the power of a sandstorm, parrying the attack of the female warrior.
“Ooh… There are actually martial art techniques in this area…”
Leylin leisurely watched on from the air, applying a layer of illusion magic around him.
“That female warrior is nearing the strength of a Legendary, but her technique is at the legendary rank! The desert tribes do have some talents… This group of adventurers are in danger…”
Leylin’s estimates were extremely accurate. In a situation where one was in an unfamiliar setting with a smaller number of people, the disadvantage could not be made up by just a sudden burst of strength.
*Thud Thud!* Yellow sand flew in the air. Facing against a berserker like Awar, those desert warriors chose not to engage head on, but to ride their camels, dragging along multiple metal chains behind them.
*Peng! Peng!*
The furious roars of the berserker carried on, yet he was still trapped like a bug in a spiderweb, and could only resist to no avail.
Some time later, the berserker’s roars grew softer, and his physique turned back into the original size, looking dispirited.
“Not good, his berserk mode has ended!”
Looking on, Allerie went forward and shove a spiritual force potion down Awar’s throat, her face filled with worry.
Even with the resolution of the assassin, he could not help but be demoralised looking at the current circumstances.
“Hmm… If there aren’t any reinforcements, then most likely this group of adventurers will perish here…”
Leylin concluded while in midair, “However, their backup has arrived…”
Leylin’s face turned solemn as he looked at a direction, pulling his distance away, as if somewhat apprehensive.
While he had used illusory magic to cover his tracks, he was still very likely to be discovered if someone of the same rank was here.
*Zoom!*
At this moment, in the direction where Leylin was looking at came a very hazy and loud noise. It sounded like the chirps of a thousand birds, and thunder from the sky.
*Boom!*
A bright starlike object appeared in broad daylight, with a dazzling afterimage as it shot over with a whizzing noise.
When the object drew closer, it was made out to be a thrown spear. The friction it produced while speeding through the air had turned it a bright red, as if it was going to melt anytime.
This scene could only be made out with Leylin’s visual prowess. As for the desert tribe, they could only see a dazzling light shooting towards them, piercing several warriors and camel at the same time, finally landing before the female leader of these desert warriors.
*Clink!*
Against such an attack, the desert leader face turned solemn. She withdrew both her hands and crossed them, into a jagged cross symbol.
*Bang!*
A loud explosion sounded as steam rose from the ground, followed by the smell of rust.
After the dust and sand had settled, the female desert warrior was no longer there, only broken bits of the sabre were scattered around where she stood.
“Uwuuu~~”
As if receiving some sort of order, the sand tribe immediately turned their backs and fled, not lingering for one bit.
They retreated quickly and in the span of a few breaths, no one from the sand tribe could be seen, only flurried tracks from the camels remained.
“It’s our lord! He’s here!”
Allerie squealed, as the assassin and other members heaved a sigh of relief.
“You guys are late!”
A giant, metallic arm reached for the spear as its owner spoke in a booming voice.
He had curly, wine-red hair, and a silvery unibrow. The expression on his face was extremely stern, commanding respect and intimidation.
“Our apologies! Lord Rogero, there were some circumstances on the road…”
The assassin’s face turned slightly pale and spoke in a soft voice.
“Also, thank you for saving us, my lord…”
Allerie’s eyes held a tinge of adornment, but Rogero did not care the least.
“You bunch of useless creatures! Such a simple matter and you already can’t deal with it…Moreover…”
Rogero’s gaze seemed dazzling to Allerie, as he looked from her face down to her belly, causing her to turn red.
“You were being followed and no one knew it, you group of fools!”
Rage began to replace the puzzled look on Rogero.
“Hn? Followed? No way, I…”
The female wizard looked blankly at the spear pointed at her, feeling flabbergasted.
Soon after, she was stunned as she looked at her hands.
The original jade white skin now was covered in thick tumors filled with pus. As those tumors erupted, it caused her to wail loudly.
*Sssii!*
White smoke rose from the body of the female wizard, and her blood-curdling screams struck fear into the heart of others. When the smoke had dissipated, the female wizard no longer stood there, but only a puddle of pus left on the sand.