Chapter 875: The War God’s Shadow
However, it wasn’t time to settle these problems now. Even though the Dida Family was unhappy, they didn’t dare to express any displeasure. After all, they still hoped that the Abyssal Demon Dragon that Joseph had summoned would turn the tides for them.
When almost everyone put their hopes on the Abyssal Demon Dragon, Lin Li couldn’t help but sigh. Joseph had evidently lost his composure. This Abyssal Demon Dragon was particularly powerful. Even if Lin Li were to fight against it, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance given his current abilities. However, they were facing the Whispering God now. In this incubation room that was already not very spacious, wasn’t this gigantic Abyssal Demon Dragon a live target for the Whispering God’s countless tentacles?
Precisely because of this, Lin Li didn’t summon his Humerus Crimson Dragon.
Facing the Whispering God, the Abyssal Demon Dragon didn’t back down. It let out a deafening roar before dashing towards the Whispering God in the pool. Countless tentacles shot out from the pool, swarming towards the Abyssal Demon Dragon. Nobody knew exactly how many tentacles the Whispering God had. The walls and roof of the incubation room had been completely covered by its tentacles, and there were still so many hidden underwater.
Seeing the approaching tentacles, the Abyssal Demon Dragon let out a black dragon breath. Without slowing down, it continued flying towards the Whispering God’s body. Nobody in this world, including the Abyssal Demon Dragon, knew about the origins of the Whispering God. Thus, the Abyssal Demon Dragon thought that its black dragon breath was enough to turn those disgusting tentacles into ashes.
However, although the tentacles shrank when they came in contact with the black dragon breath, they reverted to their original state almost instantaneously. They zoomed past the black dragon breath as if it didn’t exist, and shot towards the incoming Abyssal Demon Dragon. It was too late for the charging Abyssal Demon Dragon to avoid the tentacles now. It could only wave its sharp claws at the tangling tentacles.
The fate of the Abyssal Demon Dragon was already determined when it was summoned. In a disadvantageous location, fighting a disadvantageous battle against a monster that wasn’t meant to exist in this world, the Abyssal Demon Dragon was trapped in a massive cocoon of tentacles in just a matter of seconds.
What could be observed was the oozing dragon blood from that cocoon and the dying howls of the Abyssal Demon Dragon. When the tentacles released a gigantic skeleton onto the ground, everyone’s heart sank to the lowest point.
Joseph almost wanted to vomit blood upon witnessing this sight. He had originally wanted to use this trump card to deal with the Tower of Dusk. However, it was turned into a skeleton in such a short time, without even helping with the situation. He had summoned this Abyssal Demon Dragon at the expense of never being able to improve his power. Who would have thought that this was the outcome?
Joseph yelled, “What are you holding back for? If you still don’t act now, this will be our tomb!” He believed that the others were all holding back their trump cards. Since he had suffered such great loss, there was no way the others could go scot-free.
Although Joseph said this because he felt it was unfair for him to be the only one sacrificing, what he had said made sense. After all, the use of the trump cards was to help turn the tides. If they were to die without using their trump cards, it would be too absurd.
Just then, a sudden change in their situation dispelled the last bit of hesitation in their minds. Under the whispers of the Whispering God, those mages who had exhausted their magic suddenly walked out of the protective circle expressionlessly, totally oblivious to their companions’ calls. Before the Mithril Alliance and Caesar Family could react, a few mages had already walked out, and their bodies were pierced by the tentacles.
The same thing was happening to the Tower of Dusk’s mages as well, but Connoris and those in charge of protection didn’t attempt to call them, but rather directly dragged them back to the protective circle. However, this method couldn’t last. As time went by, the Whispering God would control more and more people. By then, just Connoris and his companions wouldn’t be able to protect all these people.
This was another ability of the Whispering God—controlling the opponent’s mind with its whispers such that all surrounding creatures had to obey its orders. Only those mages who had lost their magic and become ordinary people were controlled by the Whispering God now. With time, even the Warriors couldn’t escape the fate of losing their consciousness to this monster. That would be a truly devastating situation.
Claus from the Caesar Family hesitated no longer. Not mentioning whether his trump card could turn the tides or not, it would be good enough if it could help them even a little. He took out a silver box adorned with intricate mageweaths and arrays. As he injected mana into it, the mageweaths lit up.
Suddenly, a black hole appeared at the center of an array at the top of the silver box. A ball of black smoke oozed out of the hole, sending out buzzing sounds that gave everyone goosebumps.
Even Lin Li was quite surprised that Claus had released a swarm of bugs from his silver box. Although these bugs weren’t eye-catching, Lin Li quickly recognized them as form-mimicking magical bugs that lived on level-31 of the Endless Abyss. The most distinct trait of these bugs was their ability to congregate into the form of any magical beast and obtain the beast’s abilities. To put it simply, when these bugs congregated to form a wyrm, they could spit dragon breath just like a real wyrm, cast dragon language magic, and even release the Menace of the Dragon that was unique to wyrms.
What was truly terrifying was that the magical beasts formed by these bugs were almost indestructible since they could reform back once they were dispersed. The only way to destroy them was to kill every individual bug. However, these individual bugs also possessed the immense vitality and vigor typical of insects. Moreover, their bodies had very high magic immunity comparable to the magical metals.
“So the Canary Family’s bug hive is with you. No wonder back at the…” Joseph didn’t continue his sentence. He knew that this wasn’t time for him to talk about the past now. He could settle everything after they survived this.
The Canary Family was one of the 13 families that were in the Mithril Alliance since the start. It was said that the Canary Family was exterminated during the battle between the Mithril Alliance and the Blood Moon Clan. Of course, that was what the Mithril Alliance had announced. Nobody knew what the actual situation had been like.
The form-mimicking bugs that Claus had released continuously shifted into different forms like a slab of dough being molded by an invisible hand. Within moments, the bugs congregated into a human-shaped form without a face. This alarmed those people who knew about the bugs’ background. Before these bugs could form any magical beast, it had to engulf that beast first. Now that they had formed a human shape, then obviously…
The person that these bugs formed got hold of the sword adorned with a sapphire from Claus. As if she had known that sword, she gently caressed the sword’s spine before dashing towards the Whispering God like a flash of lightning.
Upon seeing the moves of the person formed by the bugs, Thomas from the Glittergold Trade Union couldn’t help but yell, “It’s Freya Canary!”
Freya Canary was said to be a commonly acknowledged female genius in the Breezy Plains back then, and the Canary Family saw her as the hope of reviving the family. She became the first female Sword Sage in Anril at the age of 20; at 30, her ability was already at the peak of Legendary-realm. Because of Freya, the Canary Family used to hold much power in the Mithril Alliance, with its power just below the Caesar Family that had founded the Mithril Alliance.
Unfortunately, Freya unexpectedly lost to Mogadi who was only level-23 in the battle between the Mithril Alliance and the Blood Moon Clan. After that, the Canary Family was exterminated, and the badly injured Freya was nowhere to be found. This was the end of her legend. Some said that she had lost all hope and lived in seclusion, and others said that she was caught by the Blood Moon Clan. However, nobody would have thought that she would reappear before everyone in such a state.
Lin Li had to acknowledge that the Mithril Alliance and Caesar Family, which were ancient families that had existed for more than a thousand years, were indeed not so simple. However, they were dealing with an even more terrifying Whispering God now. This human formed by the bugs might not be as ill-fated as the Abyssal Demon Dragon, but its use was definitely very limited. It might even make matters worse…
The appearance of the form-mimicking bugs had only added one more Legendary-level fighter to the exploration team. Although it had the characteristic of being undying, the whispers of the Whispering God were more worrisome for the team.
If their opponent wasn’t the Whispering God, these form-mimicking bugs could even kill the Abyssal Demon Dragon that Joseph had summoned. However, what Lin Li was worried about was quickly turned into reality.
After a few exchanges with the Whispering God, the human that the bugs had formed slowed down in her attacks. Before Claus discovered any abnormalities, his trump card turned back and charged towards the exploration team.
The magical bugs that had turned against them took the exploration team by surprise. One of the Legendary-mages from the Caesar Family almost lost his life under the sword of the bugs. This sudden turning back was totally unexpected to Claus. He had thought that even if the form-mimicking magical bugs couldn’t be of much help, they could at least increase their fighting force. However, it turned out that he had helped their enemy increase its strength.
Claus immediately started injecting mana into the silver box called the hive, hoping to regain control over the bugs. However, his mana was nothing compared to the Whispering God’s controlling abilities. To make matters worse, as Claus continuously injected mana, the mageweaths on the hive couldn’t withstand such strong pressure anymore. With blinding explosions of light, the mageweaths completely lost their function.
Claus had outsmarted himself. His trump card had not only been unable to turn the tides, but instead drove the team deeper into the abyss of desperation. Joseph was rather jealous of Claus’ hive at first, but now he would have scolded him if not for the fact that they were in alliance.
Fortunately, a figure shining with golden light suddenly joined the battle, and shielded those scampering Legendary-mages from the magical bugs’ attack. Just then, the team noticed that a golden warrior statue had appeared in the hands of Thomas of the Glittergold Trade Union.
The War God’s Shadow! Seeing the golden statue in Thomas’ hands, Joseph and Claus’ breathing sped up a little. They even momentarily forgot what kind of dire situation they were in now.
Out of all the legends about the High Elves’ magical equipment from the dark age, the War God’s Shadow was certainly the first on the list. Legends had it that the War God’s Shadow was crafted by the High Elves with a captured Titan Spirit and the blood of numerous ancient wyrms and prehistoric magical beasts. As an existence that was similar to the spirit entities, it was sealed in a tiny golden statue.
Since it was called the War God’s Shadow, it naturally possessed power similar to a war god’s. It was rumored that the strongest War God’s Shadow possessed Sanctuary-level strength. Lin Li didn’t doubt the War God’s Shadow’s power at all. Back in the Haiga Mountain Range, the Titan Spirit that protected its skeleton had power no worse than a Sanctuary powerhouse.
However, this War God’s Shadow was fighting intensely with the human formed by the magical bugs. Evidently, it was rather far from Sanctuary-level.
If it was really at the Sanctuary-level, it might be able to help everyone pass this obstacle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. As for whether it was due to the decrease in power due to time or any other reasons, Lin Li didn’t have time to ask Hoffman now.
After the War God’s Shadow had appeared, it held the magical bugs back from attacking the exploration team, restoring the status quo. However, time was irreversible. The number of people who had been controlled by the Whispering God continued to increase, and those in charge of protecting the mages got even busier. Some of the less powerful Warriors even started being enticed by the Whispering God’s whispers.