Chapter 263: Urge to Fight
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A group of people attending the funeral were crossing the road from a side road. A man around thirty years old walked in front. He wore a white gown with a viscount badge on it. He looked sad. A group of people dressed like farmers followed him. Four of the farmers carried a coffin. Crying came out of the coffin.
Slanbrea slowly got off the wagon. He frowned as he watched the group of people. The viscount saw Slanbrea as well. The privilege he enjoyed as viscount had taught him what Slanbrea’s priest gown meant. That viscount was shocked. The farmers behind him stopped as well. They whispered in groups.
"Excuse me, who is in the coffin?" Slanbrea raised his voice and asked.
"Master, it is my son," the viscount answered with respect.
"Then what are you going to do to him?" Slanbrea asked.
"Master, my son had serious disease. The doctor in the town told us there is no cure for him. He could only live for a few more days. I do not want to see him being tortured by the pain so I want to…" the viscount said, his voice tailing off.
"Don’t be silly!" Slanbrea looked cold. "Open the coffin. Let me take a look."
"Yes." The viscount looked surprised and excited. He turned around and yelled at the farmers. "Why are you standing there? Hurry up! Put the coffin down and open it. Hurry up!"
"Slanbrea is spreading the glory of the God of Light again," Bruzuryano said, smiling. "Let’s get off."
Anfey and his group had different looks on their faces. In fact, in order to have their own religions better known and convert more people, every religion claimed to be able to help with the pain from disease. The followers of the Goddess of Nature were no different. To be more specific, Bruzuryano, even though he was a religious person, did not constantly talk about his Goddess.
The coffin was pried open quickly. The crying stopped for a second and became even louder. It sounded like he was crying to protest the fact he had been dropped. Slanbrea slowly walked up. There was a baby laying in the coffin, wrapped in black linen. He only had a small face exposed. The baby looked pale. He was so thin that his cheeks sucked in and his face was full of wrinkles.
"How old is he?" Slanbrea asked.
"A little over a year old," the viscount said.
"You are so cold," Slanbrea snorted.
"Master, I do not have other options. I only have one son." Looking deeply sad, the viscount timidly answered Slanbrea.
Slanbrea bent down and careful picked the baby up in his arms. His smile looked so loving. Hundreds of sweet words were no better than actually helping by actions. Slanbrea understood it as well. There were principles in his religion that travelling priests needed to offer help whenever they saw things like this.
Anfey jumped off the wagon after Bruzuryano. He looked around first and laid his eyes on Slanbrea. Suddenly, a slight yellowness caught Anfey’s eye. After getting connected with the Heart of Nature, his vision had become very sharp. Anfey could sense things that others could hardly see. He could clearly see things far away from him. Right now he clearly saw the calluses on the baby’s heel, a thick layer of calluses.
Anfey immediately realized something was wrong. He jumped forward and yelled in anger, "Be careful!" Before he finished his warning, Air elements gathered quickly on his palm. He shot out the spear made of Air elements.
Slanbrea, as a priest of Light, was not that great in a physical fight. His reaction time was very, very short. As he heard Anfey’s warning, he tossed the baby in his arms into the air immediately without any hesitation. However, at the same time, the baby grinned like an adult. A cold silver light came through the black linen and thrust at Slanbrea’s heart.
Blood splashed. Slanbrea was hurt. He stepped back while that weird baby floated in the air. The baby tried to chase after Slanbrea. The soaring spear made of Air elements flew at the baby, which bought Slanbrea some time. It was enough time for Slanbrea to cover himself under a Light Shield. Thick vines even appeared in front of him. Some vines wobbled towards the baby while the rest tangled together to create a green protection wall. This was the magic released by Bruzuryano.
"How could this happen? You are not my son. You are…" That viscount suddenly jumped up.
The baby wriggled out of the vines. He passed the viscount with a cold silver light. The head of the viscount had been tossed in the air.
The farmers in the funeral procession were startled. They did not know what was going on. That baby did not care about killing them. He floated in the air and suddenly shot high in the sky. He successfully escaped the chase of vines and ran away. As he ran, a strong gust shot at him. The baby waved the knife in his hand to block the arrow flying at him. The arrow’s speed was as fast as a flash of light. The Wind Blade on the arrow hit the baby. A light blue light flashed. A layer of blurry light countered the Wind Blade.
The baby’s body was too small and too light. Although the Wind Blade did not hurt him, his body could not help rolling backwards in the air. When he finally steadied himself, he saw Anfey pull the bow again from about a dozen yards away.
"Stop!" Anfey said calmly.
The baby’s body froze there. At this moment, whoever moved first would put himself in a disadvantaged position. If Anfey shot first, the baby might be able to dodge the arrow and run away. If the baby moved first, the arrow could cause serious damage to him. The magic shield had been ruined by the recent attack. He did not have the shield anymore.
At the same time, Suzanna, covered by combat power, approached the baby from the side to pose a greater threat. Bruzuryano coldly stood behind Anfey. He did not want to attack the baby in a group, so he only released magic once. A weird light flashed in the baby’s eyes. A hardly visible surge rushed at Anfey. Anfey did not move at all. He loaded the arrow and firmly pointed at the kid’s chest. The telepathy attack at this angle could cause no damage to Anfey.
The baby looked pained. He wobbled and fell to the ground. The counter for his telepathy from Anfey made him lose control. At the same time, Suzanna swung her sword into an arch in the air, thrusting at the baby’s shoulder. Anfey also let his fingers go. An arrow shot out fast.
The baby screamed as if his life depended on it. However, this kind of noise could not be used as a weapon to hurt his opponents. Suzannas’ sword thrusted into the baby’s left shoulder, pierced through his body with force, and came out at the right shoulder. Anfey’s arrow got the baby’s chest and created a big bloody hole on the left chest.
Anfey put the bow back into his Dimensional Ring. He turned around and yelled, "Let’s go. We’ve got to return on the same route we came here. Let’s go. Hurry!"
"Wait. Take his weapon," Slanbrea said in a low and depressing tone. He added, "Be careful!"
Anfey was shocked for a second before he took the sword from Suzanna. He thrashed the sword at the baby’s arm and cut it off. He pointed the sword at the hand and pierced it through the right hand of the baby. If Slanbrea asked him to be careful, he definitely had to be careful. He did not want Suzanna to do something so bloody like this so he did it for Suzanna.
The four druids with Bruzuryano had rushed over, trying to hold Slanbrea, but Slanbrea did not appreciate it. He pushed them away and stubbornly stood there. As a top power, he had his own pride. Even though he was hurt, but he did not want others’ help. The priest’s ripped gown slightly showed the strong muscles on his chest. It was weird that the color of the chest muscle around the wound kept changing colors. It was black sometimes and pale at other times.
Anfey walked over with sword in hand. Slanbrea quietly took the knife from the baby’s hand. He looked perplexed. "It is Annunciata. It is her revenge."
"It is a Fang of Curse!" Bruzuryano recognized the knife as well.
"It was my bad," Slanbrea said, smiling bitterly. "I only thought of necromancers but forgot about the assassins who were willing to work with them."
"Master, we do not have much time left. We should leave now," Anfey said in a low voice. If they were going to fight with necromancers, Slanbrea was definitely the main force. In the Country of Mercenaries, Anfey had seen many zombies die and turn into ashes under his magic. With Slanbrea hurt, Anfey was worried and did not want to take risks.
"No." Slanbrea shook his head. "You do not know Annunciata. We cannot go back now. We have to continue going forward."
"Forward?" Anfey turned to look at Bruzuryano.
"Slanbrea was right," Bruzuryano said calmly.
"Why? Anfey, are you scared?" Slanbrea smiled. "Don’t worry. These kinds of curses are not going to affect me."
Anfey heaved a sigh. He could tell the wound on Slanbrea’s chest was about 3 inches long. The cut was not terribly deep, but not good either. Slanbrea slowed down his blood flow with magic of Light. No matter what, his wound did not look too good.
Slanbrea was not concerned about his wound but about the curse. It was easy to guess how powerful the curse was.
In fact, there were many top powers in this world, but many of them died of mistakes they made or all kinds of reasons. The surviving top powers were the only few on the top of the pyramid. They were the best of the elites. They had experienced many difficulties and dangers that most people could not imagine. The deceit, pain and other negativity actions did not affect them, but only encouraged them to fight. At that moment, Slanbrea and Bruzuryano were displaying the pride that only real top powers could have.