C20 The Former City Lord

"Quack! Quack!"

The Gu Bird cawed joyfully, its sharp claws clutching a severed arm, ready to take flight. Mocci, with a swift turn of his axe, sent a bird's head plummeting from the sky. Before it could even touch the ground, a large foot kicked it into the magic array, where it dissolved into a mist of blood.

Following this, a bloody, dismembered arm and a headless Gu Bird, still frantically beating its wings, were tossed into the array.

"Buzz."

The magic array flickered before finally stabilizing.

Calci, witnessing Mocci throw the limb into the array, had an inkling of what was to come. Yet, he was a step too late to prevent Mocci's success.

As the magic array solidified after the blood sacrifice, Calci seethed with rage.

How was the human who promised to help him going to get out? Could he even make it out?

"Mocci, I swear I'll kill you!" Calci bellowed, unleashing his most powerful attack, the Fatal Charge. Anything struck by Calci would have its lifeblood completely drained.

Unfortunately for Calci, Mocci had already deciphered all his tactics upon betrayal and had even discovered a counter. So, as Calci charged, Mocci slammed his axe into the ground with a 'bang,' harnessing the earth's might at full force.

"Bang."

The two behemoths collided, shaking the entire oasis. Sand and stones whirled into the air, obscuring the sun.

When Jiang Hao destroyed the focal point of the array, revealing the courtyard's true form, he was met with this chaotic scene. He arched an eyebrow and with a flick of his black magic staff, a gust surged forth.

In a moment, the swirling dust cleared, exposing two dazed, one-horned monsters.

"..."

"What in the world are you doing?" Jiang Hao inquired, his gaze briefly lingering on the fractured horn.

Calci, still groggy, thought he heard the human's voice. Shaking his head, he looked toward the sound and saw the human, fully intact, standing nearby with a black magic staff in hand, wearing an expression of utter bewilderment.

The human's soul had emerged?

But wasn't the magic array supposed to absorb souls? How then could he have come out?

"The array's core has been destroyed, so naturally, I can come out," Jiang Hao explained.

Calci was bewildered, not realizing he had just blurted out his inner thoughts. He pointed at Jiang Hao, exclaiming in astonishment, "You can actually talk!"

Once again, Jiang Hao was at a loss for words, but he began to sense that the former City Lord had likely misunderstood something.

He was about to clarify, but noticed Mocci, who was standing opposite Calci, had regained his senses. After a quick look at the remnants of the magic circle, Mocci's bloodshot eyes bore into him with fury.

"Let's go."

Jiang Hao swiftly wrapped vines around Calci, pulling him close, ready to make their escape.

Having rescued the former City Lord and shattered the magic circle, the gains were significant.

"Roar!"

Mocci let out a thunderous roar, hurling his axe at the man and the beast.

Jiang Hao dodged with all his might, but the axe's blade still grazed him, severing the vines.

Calci, now without support, screamed as he plummeted.

Jiang Hao had ascended ten meters to evade Mocci's onslaught.

Falling from such a height, Calci's health bar would be nearly depleted, if not fatal.

With no other choice, Jiang Hao descended swiftly to catch the former City Lord, saving him from certain doom.

[Wrapes: Why bother with that monster? Just run! Blue Star folks sure lack common sense!]

[Suqi: Are your heads stuffed with pickles? Didn't you see the Blue Star people accepted the mission? What's the point if the City Lord is dead?]

[Gluaphane: I think it's fine not to save him. Life's more important, right? And it's just a hidden mission. Who knows if the rewards are even worth it?]

[Blue Star: When Jiang Hao steps in, expect nothing but quality. Even for a hidden mission, the rewards will be substantial. Sounds like someone's green with envy because we from Blue Star discovered this secret first!]

[Gluaphane: Why is it so hard to just enjoy the action? Everyone just be quiet!]

With that, the Gluaphane community launched a verbal assault in the chat.

Insults flew across the screen: stinky eggs, rotten vegetables, biting dogs...

Jiang Hao caught Calci, and the two landed safely on the ground.

"You're all going to die today!" Mocci's eyes blazed with a blood-red fury. The magic circle at his feet shimmered, and waves of Goblins surged forth.

In an instant, they had completely cut off the retreat for the man and the beast.

It was too late to run now.

Jiang Hao directed Calci to rest to the side, choosing to face the battle alone. With Calci's penchant for headlong charges, he'd be minced meat before he could even break through the encirclement.

Calci, for his part, was still bewildered.

Hadn't this human just perished in the magic circle?

How did he suddenly reappear?!

Before he could make sense of it, Jiang Hao had plunged into the swarm of Goblins, leaving not a single hair behind.

This was bad!

With this many Goblins, a single monster with an axe could easily chop the human to bits.

He couldn't let him come to harm!

Calci bellowed and charged in: "Human, hang in there! I'm coming to rescue you!"

Surrounded, Jiang Hao didn't catch Calci's cry.

His hand clutched the black magic scepter, which summoned a vast expanse of dark clouds. Acid rain poured from the low-hanging clouds, each drop put to use.

The Goblins around him became disoriented, swinging their axes wildly at each other. As one group fell, another surged forward, an endless onslaught.

Soon, the gear from the fallen Goblins piled into a small mound around Jiang Hao.

He gave it a cursory glance and stowed it all in his backpack.

The backpack provided by the Jiang family head was truly top-notch. Jiang Hao didn't bother to inspect the items as they were automatically sorted into categories: medicines, weapons, crystals, equipment...

And they could be stacked – up to 999 of the same item.

Jiang Hao was in high spirits as he unleashed attack spells with his scepter while replenishing his mana.

As his hands nearly cramped from gathering the spoils, a series of thuds sounded from behind.

He turned to see Calci, axe in hand and bloodied, breaking into the fray.

"Human, it's great that you're okay! I was afraid you'd been chopped to pieces!" Calci exclaimed with excitement.

Jiang Hao replied with a hint of sarcasm, "Thanks for the concern, really!"

While internally rolling his eyes, Jiang Hao knocked a Goblin that was lunging at Calci clear across the field. But Jiang Hao was stretched thin; he could defend one side but not the other. In just a moment, a Goblin's axe struck Calci's right arm, nearly causing him to drop his own weapon.

What a mess!

Jiang Hao collected the new batch of rewards and, with a flick of his wrist, sent a spinning dart flying to prevent the big guy from being diced before he could even approach.