Chapter 266: I've Been Vegetarian Lately. A Conspiracy Targeting the Hills?
Humans... are an indescribably delicious delicacy.
Saliva splattered from the Water Elemental Ogre's mouth, drooling down its foul, open maw. In his memory, he had only tasted it once.
It was so long ago that he had already forgotten the taste.
Thump—thump!
Its thick, powerful legs sprinted wildly across the mossy ground.
The Water Elemental Ogre was eager to devour this arrogant human, yet a hint of caution lingered in its fierce eyes.
He wasn't truly brainless. As long as he relied on his "Water Misting" ability, even that powerful Valiant King couldn't do anything to him, let alone a much weaker human.
Besides, this human before him didn't look like any of the famed individuals from the rumors about the Holy Kingdom.
"This is the Abelion Hills, not a place for you humans to set foot in! Turn into meat for me!" the Water Elemental Ogre roared.
"You're a higher-tier species of ogre, yet you don't seem very bright. Expecting a creature like you to have a brain is indeed asking for too much."
Tang Zheng stood on a thick tree trunk, his gaze calm. He raised a finger and pointed forward:
"Magic Arrow!"
[XP: 421356/510000]
Ten translucent, shimmering arrows shot out in a neat volley toward the charging Water Elemental Ogre.
With his [Magic Surpasser] passive ability, casting a first-tier spell now only cost one point of magic power, but he was currently using his experience points to cast instead.
Since he planned to conduct experiments after his [Ninja] job disappeared, he had to spend his experience points anyway. Rather than letting them go to waste, it was better to use them to solve these minor troubles.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The streaks of light from the arrows reached the Water Elemental Ogre in the blink of an eye. The creature made no move to dodge, instead allowing the magic arrows to strike its body.
With a series of soft 'splat' sounds.
Gagaran's white pupils widened slightly. He clearly saw that wherever the magic arrows touched the Water Elemental Ogre, they dissolved into puffs of water mist.
The arrows passed right through the creature's body.
The Water Elemental Ogre had used the same method to dodge his attack earlier.
"Oh?"
The White Mist Witch leaned forward, surprise showing in her bright yellow eyes. The ability this Water Elemental Ogre displayed was somewhat similar to her own.
"Hmphahaha, useless human!"
The Water Elemental Ogre let out a wild laugh. Its massive figure had already charged to the base of the tree. It raised the nailed hammer in its hand and swung it at the spot where Tang Zheng and the White Mist Witch were:
"Die!"
He glanced at his status panel, but no information was displayed.
The "Water Misting" technique the Water Elemental Ogre had just used was neither magic nor a skill, but an innate racial ability.
A pity.
It was quite an impressive ability, granting immunity to projectiles and the means to evade some pure physical attacks.
Tang Zheng's face under his red hood was expressionless. "You're lucky, you idiot. I've been vegetarian lately, abstaining from killing."
"Sand Domain: All!"
[XP: 171356/510000]
Hummm—
In an instant.
A giant magic circle, roughly ten meters in diameter and shimmering with magical light, materialized out of thin air on the moss-covered ground.
It enveloped not only the Water Elemental Ogre but also Gagaran, who was standing nearby with a wary expression.
An earth-brown light flickered across the magic circle.
Gagaran and the Water Elemental Ogre simultaneously felt a terrifying surge of energy.
"Idiot!"
Gagaran's expression changed drastically. He cursed under his breath and unhesitatingly dashed toward the edge of the magic circle.
Rumble!
The earth-brown light on the magic circle flashed intensely, and a massive amount of yellow sand erupted from it, instantly forming a ferocious yellow torrent.
With no way to resist, the Water Elemental Ogre was bound and enveloped by the quicksand, leaving only its head exposed, forcibly locked in place.
"Firm Strike!"
Gagaran roared, and a brutish, domineering power erupted from his spiked club as he swung it with his thick, strong arms.
Boom—
The mass of quicksand attempting to bind Gagaran was shattered by the blow, scattering in all directions as fine grains of sand.
However, such a ferocious strike had no lasting effect on the quicksand that continued to surge in from all sides.
"As long as I can get out of this magic circle—"
Gagaran stomped hard, shaking off the quicksand that was rapidly rising past his ankles. "Flowing Water Acceleration!"
A blue light flashed across his powerful body. He forcefully broke through layer after layer of sand barriers, leaping into the air in an attempt to completely escape the magic circle's encirclement.
Suddenly.
A stream of quicksand, like a slithering snake, coiled around Gagaran's ankle, causing him to pause mid-action. Then, his entire body stiffened.
Thud!
Gagaran fell from the sky and plunged into the quicksand. He was quickly enveloped, and just like the ogre, only his head remained exposed.
"Damn it!"
"Cloud Mist—Cloud Mist!"
Gagaran and the Water Elemental Ogre struggled ceaselessly, but they couldn't break free from the quicksand's restraints. They couldn't even properly activate their martial arts or magic.
"Sand Domain" was inherently a binding-type movement impairment spell. It also possessed effects like Silence. Unless one possessed "Complete Resistance to Movement Impairment," escape was impossible.
Clearly, neither Gagaran nor the ogre possessed this ability.
"It's over."
Tang Zheng clapped his hands together, his disguised voice letting out a hoarse, cold laugh. "That was 250,000. Even killing the two of you wouldn't be worth that price."
Gagaran's face was grim. He struggled violently, causing the quicksand to make grinding noises, but he remained unable to break free.
"You came for me, didn't you!"
Gagaran lifted his head to look at Tang Zheng on the tree trunk. "I don't recall knowing a magic caster as powerful as you."
That mysterious demi-human shrouded in white mist had been secretly following him. It wasn't hard to guess that this human spellcaster's appearance was related to it.
Gagaran racked his brain. After all, he held a certain position in the Empire and was famous throughout various nations for his strength. Magic that could restrain him...
This level of power... was it fifth-tier magic?
A powerhouse in the Heroic Realm!
He had never heard of a powerful magic caster dressed like Tang Zheng.
"Why can't I use my power?! What did you do, human!" the Water Elemental Ogre shrieked, its face contorted in panic.
"So noisy."
"Fire."
Snap!
Tang Zheng snapped his fingers. The quicksand enveloping the Water Elemental Ogre and Gagaran instantly became searing hot, radiating intense heat.
"Aaargh!"
"Hngh-aaah!"
Gagaran and the Water Elemental Ogre simultaneously let out agonized screams. Their bodies, encased in the quicksand, were being corroded and constantly burned by the scorching heat.
"Sand Domain" was Evileye's original magic. In addition to the spell's inherent abilities, one could also infuse the sand with Negative Energy.
Tang Zheng hadn't mastered Negative Energy, but he could use the [Magic Swordsman]'s passive ability, "Mana Infusion," to inject energy of the fire attribute into the sand.
Demi-human races like ogres and trolls were all extremely afraid of fire- and acid-attribute damage. This type of damage could also suppress their regeneration ability.
"Don't kill me, argh... Don't kill me!" the Water Elemental Ogre howled in pain while constantly begging for mercy.
Snap!
The sound of a finger snap echoed again.
The fire-attribute energy surging through the quicksand dissipated. The heatwave created by the high temperature dispelled the dampness in the air.
Large patches of moss on the ground were scorched and cooked by the intense heat.
The Water Elemental Ogre's eyes rolled back in its head, and its body twitched uncontrollably. Its originally pale-blue skin had turned crimson, and its exposed head was covered in severe burns.
With the recovery ability of a higher-tier species of ogre, such injuries were not fatal; it could even fully recover after some time.
Whoosh!
Tang Zheng stepped off the tree trunk, his figure drifting down from the air and landing precisely on the Water Elemental Ogre's head.
"Takki is willing to submit," the Water Elemental Ogre said in a terrified voice, its body still convulsing in pain.
"A wise choice."
Tang Zheng let out a hoarse laugh. Crouching on the creature's head, he casually scooped up a handful of the sand that had been turned crimson by the fire element's influence:
"And what about you, 'Warrior King' Gagaran?"
He opened his palm.
The searing red sand trickled through the gaps between Tang Zheng's fingers.
Gagaran clenched his jaw, his pupils constricting in pain. Even his powerful physique was being burned by the high temperature of the sand, yet the man held it in his hand completely unaffected.
"This man... Just who is he!"
Gagaran's fierce white eyes stared intently at the figure wrapped in the red magic robe:
"What... what do you... want?"
The burning pain spreading throughout his body made Gagaran's speech intermittent. He relied on his powerful willpower to keep from begging for mercy like the Water Elemental Ogre.
"Don't you think the Abelion Hills are a bit too chaotic?" Tang Zheng's tone was perfectly calm.
Gagaran's eyes shot wide open. He stared at Tang Zheng in disbelief. For a moment, it was as if the pain in his body had subsided. He could feel the man's undisguised ambition.
This was too insane!
"You can't possibly do it!" Gagaran said loudly.
Even though he had only been in the Abelion Hills for a few months.
He could already clearly sense the chaos and disorder of the entire region. Hatred, blood, war, and conflict were the main themes of the Abelion Hills.
The hatred between the various tribes, which had persisted for hundreds of years or even longer, was like the vines on a cliff, hopelessly entangled!
Even if a king were to appear in the future who could unite all the demi-human races and tribes, it would not be a human.
"No, no."
Tang Zheng shook his head. "It seems you've misunderstood. I have no intention of ruling this place... Oh, I've said a bit too much nonsense to you."
Swish!
His red magic robe swirled.
Tang Zheng stood up, raising an arm from within his wide robe. In his palm rested a peculiar black orb, from which an energy of darkness emanated.
It transformed into a black mist of Negative Energy, shrouding Tang Zheng in darkness and revealing an even more terrifying and deathly aura.
"Life? Or death?"
A cold, sinister voice sounded out.
"This is Negative Energy..." Gagaran was not ignorant.
Back at the Imperial Arena, he enjoyed challenging all types of opponents. Osuke had even found an undead for him to fight.
Negative Energy... Undead... The chaos of the Abelion Hills...
"Why come for me?"
Gagaran endured the pain while forcing himself to calm down. He wasn't skilled at thinking, but he faintly sensed some kind of conspiracy targeting the Abelion Hills.
For some reason.
A shiver went through Gagaran's heart.
He suddenly recalled a rumor about the creation of the undead. It was said that in unholy places, living beings who died unnatural deaths, especially those who died in war, had a high probability of rising as undead.
Could his goal be...
"'Warrior King' Gagaran. Appeared in the Empire's border region eight years ago. At the invitation of Osuke, the operator of the Imperial Arena, you joined the Arena to train."
"You shook the entire Empire with your immense power and were called the strongest of all generations of Warrior Kings, the Eighth Warrior King."
Gagaran could hear the faint mockery in his voice when he said the words 'Warrior King.' He wanted to clench his fists, but he couldn't move at all under the restraint of the sand.
"You left the Empire last August and entered the Abelion Hills."
Tang Zheng paused here. "The only reason I sought you out is that you lived in human society for eight years. Compared to these brain-dead idiots..."
"...communicating with you is much simpler and more convenient. This is your only value, 'Warrior King' Gagaran."
As a warrior who possessed a noble warrior spirit,
Gagaran had always seen the title "Warrior King" as an honor. If this had happened before, he would have fought to the death and never submitted.
But now.
"I choose to live." A conflicted expression appeared on Gagaran's face. He finally lowered his proud head, but a strange light flashed in his eyes.
He needed to figure out what this human was truly planning to do.
If it was really as he suspected, then given the immense strength the man had displayed, he would probably need to unite with the other powerhouses of the Abelion Hills to deal with this human.
"Very good."
Seeing Gagaran submit so easily, Tang Zheng chuckled inwardly.
He understood Gagaran's personality. Even when facing the terrifying Bone King, he only submitted after being killed and resurrected. Yet now, he was feigning submission so easily.
Tang Zheng could naturally guess his thoughts.
In Gagaran's eyes, he was likely an arrogant and ambitious villain right now.
"The key player for the script has finally appeared."
Tang Zheng jumped down from the Water Elemental Ogre's head and waved his arm.
Shhh—
The magic circle on the ground dissipated, and the quicksand enveloping the two of them vanished along with it.
Gagaran and the Water Elemental Ogre collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Some of what he had said before was true, and some was false. However, Gagaran was indeed an important character in this script.
And the sole reason for that was because Gagaran knew him—or to be more precise, he knew "Tang, the genius alchemist."
"The righteous genius alchemist, with the assistance of 'Warrior King' Gagaran, defeats the necromancer behind the evil conspiracy."
"Mm, the script is a bit cliché," Tang Zheng nodded imperceptibly.
(end of chapter)