Chapter 180 A Simple Battle

Cutting Ripples. Not long after Shao Ke had locked onto a mage, he was ready to unleash the spell. The black ripples couldn't be observed with the naked eye at night. Amidst the massive burst of aura, the two mages were unable to sense the spell's fluctuations before it tore through—easily tore through—the single layer of defensive spell on their bodies as they locked onto him, slicing both of them in two.

The mournful wails of the two mages did not stop the warriors ahead from continuing their charge. Several third-rank warriors mixed among the others, intending to attack the cavalry. Unfortunately, their plan was quickly shattered.

Shao Ke, having successfully hunted two mages, was clearly exhilarated. He first locked onto the third-rank warriors who posed some threat to the cavalry and began preparing spells to attack them. Lava Ray. Streaks of crimson light quickly blasted the heads of several third-rank warriors with weaker aura. When his spell was once again blocked by a third-rank warrior, Shao Ke swiftly shifted his target to those second-rank warriors. As for first-rank warriors, he had no mood to hunt them.

With each release of Lava Ray, another attacker fell to the ground. The distance of over a thousand meters was quickly covered under the cavalry's charge. Sabers infused with aura mercilessly slashed at the attackers. That feeling was utterly terrible when the hunters became the hunted—a sentiment shared, at the very least, by a bandit leader in the rear, whose mood was absolutely dreadful because several of his companions were complaining repeatedly, and one particularly irritable brute even wanted to pick up an axe and start killing. Of course, he was quickly restrained by the others from such irrational behavior.

"Listen to his explanation, calm down. We need to be calm now," a middle-aged man suddenly plucked a hair and quickly stopped the irritable brute. "Tell us, why are all these cavalrymen third-rank warriors? Do you want all the warriors we painstakingly gathered to die under the blades of these butchers?" The middle-aged man glared fiercely at the bandit leader, hoping for a detailed explanation.

"Initially, they didn't show signs of having a large number of third-rank warriors," the bandit leader appeared quite afraid of the middle-aged man. "If the two mages could have..."

"Are you complaining that my subordinates are incompetent?" The middle-aged man glanced at the situation on the battlefield, his mood also turning sour. He found that the warriors were completely ineffective against these cavalrymen, especially the mage standing atop the carriage releasing spells. Streaks of Green Flame drifted down onto some warriors, their pure white aura powerless against the burning of these flames. Several warriors had already been burned to death by that green flame on the ground.

The irritable brute took a throwing axe, infused it with aura, and intended to throw it to hunt that mage. "If you want us to be attacked by that mage too, I won't stop you," the middle-aged man heavily slapped the brute's head, then pointed at the mage attacking enemies on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Shao Ke had already changed his spell attack type. To conserve his energy, he began releasing the second-rank spell with the strongest penetrating power, Blazing Ray. Crimson-red beams of light repeatedly struck the warriors entangled with the cavalry, either dispersing their aura defenses or disrupting their attacks, thereby creating opportunities for his companions to kill.

With Shao Ke's assistance, the third-rank cavalrymen, hardened by years of slaughter at Bloody Fortress, repeatedly seized the opportunities he created. Sharp sabers easily cleaved through the hard skulls of enemies. Some cavalrymen wouldn't let an opponent go until they had severed their body with each attack.

Circling, neighing horses; clanging, colliding weapons; faint explosions of aura; death wails—all of this shattered the night's tranquility. The Cavalry Captain blocked an attacker's strike with his arm shield, then his aura-infused saber viciously chopped off the head of the warrior who couldn't dodge in time. Amidst the loud shouts of several cavalrymen, he excitedly continued his slaughter, this brutal and bloody slaughter.

"Damn it! We must leave here," a rather thin, bald man walked up to the middle-aged man, trying his best to suppress his fear. "They are not prey we can hunt. I think our target this time was mistaken because of a fool." He glared fiercely at the bandit leader.

"What about those warriors?" Seeing that everyone had the idea of withdrawing from this hunt, the bandit leader said somewhat unwillingly, "Let's take them with us when we leave." After speaking, seeing everyone's disdainful looks, he couldn't help but defend himself: "Would they assign so many cavalry to protect a single mage if he weren't guarding something valuable? I don't believe those soldiers are doing this just so the mage can enjoy the mud on the road."

The middle-aged man glanced at him and said softly, "No need for us to lead them. They have already chosen to leave. I think their choice is both correct and foolish." The middle-aged man took out a silver horn and blew it hard. The mournful sound of the horn was clearly heard by everyone on the battlefield.

As the horn sound came, the ambushers fighting Shao Ke and his group struggled to break free from their opponents and scattered, fleeing outward. However, the cavalry did not let these escapees go. Leaving a dozen or so cavalrymen to protect the mage, the remaining cavalrymen divided into several small teams, quickly giving chase, hunting down the ambushers. Whistling javelins flying past, sabers slicing through the night sky—all of this brought death to those ambushers.

After the horn sounded, Shao Ke stopped hunting the fleeing enemies and quickly released his spiritual power, probing along the direction of the horn sound. Shao Ke quickly identified over a dozen warriors standing a thousand meters away. 'Rending Ray'—a single-target spell renowned among fourth-level spells for having the strongest penetrating power. A pale black beam of light formed a twisted column in Shao Ke's hand. As the incantation ended, the black beam of light shot fiercely toward a warrior he had locked onto.

The warrior he locked onto was a fourth-rank warrior. Shao Ke attacked him to test the power of a fourth-level spell. After all, since he had transcribed and learned fourth-tier spells, he hadn't yet tried them on humans!

When Shao Ke's spiritual power locked onto that fourth-rank warrior, the middle-aged man, who had just put away the silver horn and was about to leave, sensed the mage's lock-on. With this discovery, he suddenly flared his aura and loudly reminded his collaborators to retreat with him. Of course, he didn't tell his companions that he had been locked onto by the mage.

The other several warriors flared their aura without hesitation and followed the middle-aged man, fleeing into the distance. As the distance increased, Shao Ke still maintained his lock on the fourth-rank warrior. When his spell was prepared and released, the middle-aged man and his collaborators had only managed to flee less than two hundred meters. By then, Shao Ke's spell attack had already arrived.

The middle-aged man, sensing the rapidly approaching spell attack, roughly judged its power. Just as the spell was about to hit him, the middle-aged man suddenly rushed in front of the bandit leader and grabbed him while he was running, using him to block the spell's attack.

"Boom..." The bandit leader in the middle-aged man's hands suddenly exploded. Moreover, that black beam of light heavily struck his chest. The dense aura was dispersed, and the middle-aged man's chest visibly caved in. Torrents of blood mixed with bits of flesh poured from his mouth. The remaining warriors, upon seeing this, fled forward even more frantically, moving irregularly to avoid being locked onto by the mage.

However, the irritable brute stopped fleeing. Instead, he turned back, grabbed the motionless middle-aged man lying on the ground, and then continued his escape. But this well-intentioned act soon brought him a heavy price. Another Rending Ray was quickly released by Shao Ke. The black beam easily pierced through the giant axe on the brute's back, penetrated his aura-protected body, and left a transparent hole the size of a head in his back.

With the attackers' flight, the battle ended. The cavalry quickly cut off the heads of the corpses and, following Shao Ke's request, piled them together. After covering them with thick snow, a cavalryman carefully crafted them into an ice sculpture—a sculpture made of human heads. The remaining bodies were casually discarded by the roadside, as if to warn passersby.

Several injured cavalrymen, after brief bandaging, helped clean up the battlefield. Money pouches, some scattered jewelry—all these spoils belonged to them, as Shao Ke had clearly stated he didn't need these trophies. Several cavalrymen, following Shao Ke's instructions, quickly brought over the middle-aged man—the fourth-rank warrior injured by Shao Ke. Of course, the two mages initially killed by Shao Ke were also dragged over.

The cold snow quickly brought the middle-aged man around. After briefly scanning his surroundings, he fixed his gaze on Shao Ke. "Honorable Mage, please forgive my ignorance this time! After all, I am just a small figure. I imagine someone of your stature wouldn't bother with the likes of me." Under the restraint of the cavalry, he nodded vigorously, tears streaming as he expressed his thoughts.

Several injured cavalrymen were dissatisfied with the middle-aged man's behavior. One cavalryman stepped forward and viciously kicked him in the face. Fortunately, he didn't use aura, otherwise the fourth-rank middle-aged man's head would have definitely been kicked apart. Even so, some of the middle-aged man's teeth were knocked out.