Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 721
It would be a waste if such a beauty was eaten by the young Medusa!
"By the way, Apas, do you remember what the people that kidnapped you looked like?" Mo Fan asked.
Apas shook her head. She said with a soft voice, "I only remember their outfits."
"It feels like the Silver Snake Warriors have spread out," Sofia said.
"Should we wait a little longer?" Galba said.
"We can't afford to wait any longer. These snake demons are not complete idiots. They are going to realize that we've lured them away with the demon mice. We have to go now, and head to the place where we stumbled into the snake mountain. It's a lot safer to return to Cairo City along that path," Old Chad said.
"Got it, let's set out at once."
The others rose to their feet, no longer cowering in the corner. They fled in the direction of the long defensive ravine in front of Cairo City.
The direction they were planning to take had a lower density of demon creatures. Their chance of making it back to the city alive solely depended on whether the snake demons were going to find them or not!
Chapter 1540 - Escorting Troop
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The plan was a success. After the high-level Silver Snake Warriors were lured away by the demon mice, the rest of the low-level creatures had no chance of stopping the group of Advanced Mages from running away.
They made it out of the Sunset Valley soon afterwards. They were only forty kilometers away from reaching safety in Cairo City!
The outskirts of Cairo were crawling with scorpion demons. Their senses were extremely sharp, and since most of the areas were covered in sand, the high-level creatures were able to detect anyone walking on the sand. They had to travel on the Camel Beasts.
They had kept Camel Beasts on standby before they went to the Sunset Valley. Chad was very experienced. He had gathered the Camel Beasts in a pit under a sand dune and scattered some white salt across the area. The scorpion demons were not interested in the Camel Beasts, so when the group arrived, the Camel Beasts were still in the same spot.
It was tricky to settle a bunch of beasts down in the wild for a few days.
"Quick, we have to hurry; we'll be safe once we reach the line of defense at the ravine!" Benz blurted out nervously.
Everyone mounted the Camel Beasts. These creatures were not as quick as the people had imagined. However, they could not afford to use their magic to speed up, as it would only bring them more trouble!
------
After traveling ten kilometers, the group noticed irregular sand pits ahead. The ground had little arcs that seemed like waves rolling forward, but the irregular sandpits were like strange holes across the surface.
The sandpits were huge, the size of a lake, some them looking like pitch-black holes. They were mostly the works of the scorpion demons. These demon creatures were fond of destroying the layers of sand and soil. When a heavy creature walked past them, they would fall into the pits and suffer serious damage from them. Inside the pits were countless holes, from which thousands of little scorpions would appear and feast on the creature while it was struggling in pain. A creature that was five times bigger than the scorpion demons would only have a pile of bones left in under half a minute!
The sandpits that had already collapsed were not much of a threat, but the hidden pits concealed by a layer of thin sand were nothing but deadly traps!
"It's fine for us to walk on the sand, but they are going to collapse if the Camel Beasts walk over the pits. You must all listen to me from here on. Falling into the pits won't necessarily cost you your life, but it will slow us down! The scorpion demons are going to pursue us relentlessly too!" Chad told everyone. It was his third time explaining the same thing to them.
The hidden pits were quite terrifying, many Hunter squads had died to them. Chad was an old mercenary. He was able to tell where the hidden pits were, so his Camel Beast was leading the way, and the others followed the trail he blazed.
"Chad, we should be close to the ravine after crossing these pits, right?" Vani asked.
"Yes!" Chad nodded.
"Snake! Snake!" Sofia pointed to the side with a frightened look.
The scream gave the others a great fright. They immediately looked into the direction that Sofia was pointing to, but they only saw a long curled branch on the ground. It did resemble a black snake, yet even if she did see it wrong, an Advanced Mage like her had no reason to be scared of it.
"Sofia, what are you doing? It's just a branch," Ferrero said.
"I...I don't know, I was scared all of a sudden!" Sofia let out a relieved sigh.
Mo Fan glanced at Sofia and said, "Maybe the effects of the Potion are running out?"
"The Curse of the Snake Eyes?" Zhao Manyan was startled.
"Wouldn't the Curse attract every snake in the wild to us!?" Zoey blurted out.
"That doesn't sound good!"
"Quick, get the young Medusa out, we need her Tear now!" Mo Fan said.
Zoey nodded, and Summoned the Man-Eating Flower.
The Man-Eating Flower burst out of the ground and slowly opened its enormous petals. The young Medusa was sleeping inside it, having only minor injuries.
They moved the young Medusa out from the plant. They all gasped when they saw the connection between her long tail and her feminine upper body. It was most of them's first time observing a Medusa at such a close distance.
"How are we going to get her tears?" Zoey asked with a confused smile.
"I don't know, either!" Chad looked at the others with a wry smile.
Everyone was lost all of a sudden. They wondered if they should wake the young Medusa up, but the creature was surely going to be lots of trouble as soon as she woke up. However, how were they supposed to get her tears if they did not wake her up?
No one knew how to get the young Medusa's tears, nor had they heard about a demon creature that shed tears.
"We are wasting our time here!" Mu Bai snorted.
The effects of the Curse had worsened, and they had not reached safety yet!
The group was trying to figure out how to get their hands on a Tear of Medusa while heading toward the ravine. They did not wake the young Medusa up, since they were unsure if the young Medusa was able to alert the snake demons without them knowing.
---
"I...I think I saw someone ahead," Vani said. He was leading the way at the front.
"We haven't reached the safe zone yet. Why would there be anyone out in the wild?" Mo Fan asked with a confused look.
"They are in military outfits," Vani said.
"They might be part of an escorting troop. The military will send out patrols out of the safe zone to eliminate the threats in the vicinity of the city, especially along the supply routes," Chad blurted out in joy.
They were still quite a distance away from the safe zone. Cairo was currently taking a defensive stance, thus the army was holding their positions along the line of defense. The escorting troop was the only people that would come out of the city in a time like this.
Chad did not expect them to be so lucky to stumble into a troop that was out of the city to escort some supplies. They could return to the city safely by following the escorting troop.
"That's great then, let's go to them now!" Vani let out a relieved sigh.
Anyone would be overjoyed to stumble into humans instead of demon creatures in the wild. The effects of the Curse had not returned yet, nor were the snake demons currently on their trail. They should be able to reach Cairo safely!
---
The escort troop had quite a few people, numbering around two hundred Battlemages. The soldiers that were chosen to come out to the wild were mostly elites. Otherwise, if they only had numbers, it might end up attracting more demon creatures to them instead!
The two hundred Battlemages were heading toward them too. The two groups of people met eventually.
The troop was led by a man in a sandy white military outfit. His face was covered by a mask. Not only was the mask handy for blocking the sand, it could also protect the wearer from poisonous gas when soaked in some kind of chemical beforehand.
The Battlemages in white outfits also saw Vani and the others. They were being extremely cautious, and were immediately on alert.
"We are friendly, we are Hunters!" Vani quickly told the soldiers.
"Where did you come from?" someone among the Battlemages asked in Egyptian.
Old Chad quickly replied, "We are from New Suez, can you let us tag along?"
The soldier whispered to a Battlemage with disheveled hair and a thick beard beside him. After a while, the soldier lifted his gaze and said, "That's fine, but since we are escorting valuable resources, we aren't sure if you are bandits trying to rob us. Therefore, if you want to come with us, we'll have to Seal off your minds as a safety precaution."
"Well… we aren't weak either, we might be able to lend a hand if anything happens. I don't think it's necessary to seal off our minds?" Vani said uneasily.
"You don't have to worry if anything happens. My men will destroy anything that tries to stop us. We are soldiers on a mission. We must guarantee the safety of our goods. If you aren't willing to comply, feel free to go on your own," the soldier said.
"Let's listen to them; they are soldiers, they are clearly more experienced than Chad. It's a lot safer to stick with them," Sofia spoke up.
"I think it's better to go on our own," Mo Fan said with a worried look.
The troop was very strong; Mo Fan could tell just by sensing the auras each of the soldiers was emitting. However, if their minds were sealed off, they were no different than normal people. Mo Fan only had a sense of security when he had access to his magic.
"Do you think you are stronger than the army?" Ferrero said with a disdainful look.
"We are almost there anyways."
"Let's follow the army, the effects of the Curse will be back soon. If we don't make it back to the city and find a way to get the Tear of Medusa in time..." Heidi said.
"Alright," Mo Fan fell into deep thought. He noticed that he was the only person that was against the idea.
---
The group Sealed off their minds. A soldier inspected them and proceeded to cast Giant Shadow Spike on them to make sure their minds were Sealed completely.
"Captain Saks, we are good to go," the soldier said with a gesture.
---
"Big brother, what's going on?" Apas rubbed her eyes and asked.
It had been days since Apas was able to get some sleep. She had quickly fallen asleep on Mo Fan's back after eating some food. Mo Fan placed her on the Camel Beast. She must have woken up after the group stopped moving.
"We stumbled into a troop of Egyptian soldiers. We can follow them back to the city," Mo Fan told her.
"Oh… does that mean we are safe now?" Apas smiled. She raised her head to look at the soldiers that had brought her hope, but her smile froze immediately. Her eyes were gradually filled with terror!
Mo Fan saw Apas shivering in fear, and tensed.
"Big brother, the people that kidnapped us… they were wearing the same outfit as them!" Apas whispered in a trembling voice.
Chapter 1541 - The Wild Howls of the Wolves
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Mo Fan immediately used the Dark Material to get rid of the Giant Shadow Spike on himself as soon as he noticed the fear in Apas' eyes.
Mo Fan had been through a great deal; he knew a person's identity, status, and uniform did not indicate if a person was good or evil. As such, he did not feel safe even when they stumbled into the troop of soldiers.
The only thing that could provide him with a sense of security was his own strength. Therefore, he didn't Seal off his mind. When the soldier applied the Giant Shadow Spike on everyone in the group, Mo Fan secretly unleashed a Rebelling Shadow to take the hit instead.
The careless soldier did not check him thoroughly, hence Mo Fan was able to trick him.
Mo Fan immediately realized it was not a coincidence the troop showed up here after hearing what Apas said.
"These people are not friendlies, run!" Mo Fan believed in his own judgment. He believed in Apas' fear.
Mo Fan's voice was echoing still when ice chains sprang into the sky. They were like white snakes pouncing at delicious prey. The scorching sand was soon frozen by the strong presence of Ice Magic...
The eyes of Vani and the students of the European University Institute widened as they stared at the Ice Magic in disbelief. They tried to defend themselves subconsciously, but they had to overcome the Seal on their minds first!
"Blink!" Mo Fan immediately cast an Advanced Space Spell when the situation became unfavorable to them.
He was some distance away from the others, so the area of his spell was unable to reach Zhao Manyan and Mu Bai.
"Blink!" Heidi yelled from further ahead too. She was quicker at casting the spell than Mo Fan. She completed the spell as Mo Fan was done with the Channeling!
Heidi was closer to Mu Bai, who also had not completely Sealed off his mind. He decisively ran toward Heidi when he saw her constructing the silver Star Constellation!
"Old Zhao, hurry up!" Mo Fan yelled.
"Crap, my magic has been Sealed!" Zhao Manyan yelled.
With a bright silver flicker, Mo Fan, Mu Bai, Heidi, and Apas turned into silver dust and vanished into thin air.
Mo Fan had Blinked two hundred meters into the distance. However, he still did not escape the range of the Ice Magic. He wondered how many Ice Mages were among the troop...
Mo Fan carried Apas in his arm and swiftly turned into a shadow. It glided right above the sand and moved further away into the distance.
Heidi and Mu Bai quickly followed Mo Fan. To Mo Fan's surprise, there was someone else behind them: it was Vani, the mentor from the European University Institute. The soldier's Giant Shadow Spike was unable to Seal off his mind. He immediately cast Earth Wave and ran away when he felt something was not right!
The ice chains formed a huge net surrounding the rest of the group. The powerful Ice Magic quickly spread through them and froze them completely in just a few seconds.
"That idiot!" Mo Fan looked at Zhao Manyan and cursed.
Did the man seriously let them Seal off his mind just because he was instructed to do so? Great, they could easily escape, but now they had to turn around to save him instead!
"Captain, we are from the European University Institute, aren't you worried that you will be brought to trial at the International Court of Justice!?" Vani was enraged. He stood on high ground while his aura of the Super Level applied great pressure on the soldiers!
"Take him down alive!" The captain in sandy white uniform did not seem to care who Vani was as he proceeded to give orders to his men.
Over two hundred Battlemages immediately made their move, pushing forward hard. The Earth Mages and Shadow Mages were the quickest. They were flanking Mo Fan, Vani, and the others from both sides in no time, while those with the Wind Wings and Wing Magical Equipment approached them from the sky, forcing them to withdraw towards the dangerous sandpits.
"What's going on here? Why are the soldiers after us?" Mu Bai asked in confusion.
"No wonder the snake demons aren't after us anymore. These soldiers were waiting to intercept us as we made our way back to the city," Mo Fan said coldly.
There were always sc.u.m, regardless of where you were. It was not Mo Fan's first encounter with corrupted soldiers. They were clearly attacking them to get the young Medusa back!
Apas mentioned there were a bunch of Mages feeding the young Medusa. They subconsciously thought some evil crooks were responsible for it, yet it turned out to be someone in the Egyptian army instead!
"What should we do now?" Heidi was a little lost. She had never encountered anything like this.
Heidi was able to track three things at once. Even if a third of her mind was Sealed up, she still had two-thirds left. It was not necessarily her being cautious, it was just how unique her Innate Talent was.
"What else do you think? They are so naive to think that they can take us out with their numbers, humph!" Mo Fan said.
"Bring it on, let's beat these assh**** up!" Vani was enraged too. He might not have an advantage fighting the snake demons, but he could easily teach these soldiers how terrifying his Super Earth Element was!
He was already acc.u.mulating his Earth Magic. Countless Star Patterns were building different Star Constellations, which then connected with one another to build a brilliant, mysterious Star Palace!
Vani had not reached the Super Level very long ago. He still needed some time to Channel his Super Spell. Mu Bai sensibly stayed close to him to protect him.
"I'll deal with those on the left, you handle the ones on the right," Heidi said when she noticed the Earth Mages and Shadow Mages approaching rapidly from both sides.
Mo Fan shook his head and said, "Just make sure Apas is safe."
It did not matter why these Battlemages were colluding with the young Medusa. Most importantly, they had made Mo Fan mad...
Mo Fan was scarier than a troop of soldiers when he was angry!
"Summoning Gate: Beast Tide!"
He initially thought he would be using this spell against the demon creatures, yet this troop of soldiers under an unknown person's command would be having a taste of it first!
Just in time, his troop of savage beasts had long waited for the chance to kill at will!
A lunar-white dimensional gate emerged in front of Mo Fan, like a giant reflective mirror connected to another violent world!
A formidable aura burst out from the gate, followed by the overwhelming presence of powerful beasts. Forty-three Enormous White Wolves rushed out from the gate, each the size of a house. The ground rocked as they charged forth.
Behind the Enormous White Wolves were seventy more White-Marked Wolves. They were not as scarily huge as the enormous wolves, yet they were a lot quicker. They split into two tides, surrounding the huge wave in the middle while charging at their enemy simultaneously!
