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TWL Chapter 186: A Dance with Death
🕑 Added 2024-07-25 22:17:49 +0000 UTCLetho landed, rolling to break his fall, and looked in Lann's direction with lingering fear.
When he turned around, he saw the guard waving the iron spade as he ran towards him again.
But this time, Kiyan fired a crossbow, and the dimeritium arrow pierced the guardian's neck, causing him to suddenly stop.
But Lann noticed that the light around the opponent was still undiminished. Obviously, the attack method of this dark blue light is not driven by chaotic energy, nor is it magic in their traditional understanding.
All the monsters in the mansion were summoned from other dimensions by Olgierd through Goetia, so the dimeritium cannot stop them.
As Lann thought this, the guardian in front of him violently shook twice and fell to the ground. It seems that although its body structure is different from that of monsters, it is by no means immortal and can be injured.
The witchers, seeing their chance, readied their silver daggers, as their swords were still stuck in the guardian's body. But seeing the blue light emerge again from the cracks in the ground, they retreated.
Kiyan aimed his crossbow, while the other witchers took out alchemy bombs.
Two [Grapeshot], one [Dancing Star], and one [Dragon's Dream]. An explosive mixture courtesy of the Eternal Fire.
The explosion engulfed the guard in flames and shrapnel.
If it were any other monster, it would be dead under this explosion. But the witchers didn't dare relax. Because their medallions began to vibrate again.
At some point the white fog had turned black.
Lann looked down and saw dark mist rising from the ground.
When the flames and smoke cleared, the guard appeared in tattered clothing, covered in burns and cuts, and even in some wounds, muscles and bones could be seen. His appearance was horrible.
Kiyan frowned. "Lann, was I this ugly when you just rescued me?"
Lann, looking at Kiyan who made an out of place comment, replied: "I'm glad you can joke about your past now, but our problems haven't been resolved yet."
The black fog began to gather, forming silhouettes that looked like ghostly figures, thin and staggering.
They looked at the guardian, who pulled the arrow from his neck and tossed it aside, staggering towards the black mist silhouettes.
"Indeed, he is injured, and his movements have slowed, but these black mist silhouettes... are they summons?"
The witchers watched the swaying shadows, shocked that the enemy had summoned them.
"It's not like that!" Lann shouted. "This is another dark magic. This monster can recover by killing those shadows. We must kill them before he does!"
"If he needs to resort to this to heal, it means he is seriously injured, he is about to die!"
The witchers were shocked to hear this and immediately scattered to eliminate the shadows. Lann and Letho confronted the guardian again to delay him.
The shadows, staggering and unresisting, were quickly dispatched by the skilled witchers. The guardian, gravely wounded, was soon caught in a desperate struggle.
As the other witchers joined in, they surrounded the guardian, and finally, with a roar, he fell to his knees.
All of his wounds emitted a green glow, and a thick black cloud emerged from his body. This black cloud seemed to represent his life, and when it completely dissipated, he became motionless.
Breathing heavily, everyone approached the guardian, making sure that he had truly lost the ability to fight.
"No eyes, no nostrils, no vital points, but a body of flesh and blood... How can something like that exist?" Kiyan frowned. In the previous battle he had contributed little, as this monster was the natural enemy of an assassin seeking a killing blow like him.
Not only him, this fight had also been difficult for the poison-savvy witchers of the Viper School. Only Lann seemed to handle it well, using his Yrden Sign auto-attack with great skill.
Kolgrim pondered the details of the battle and commented: "Strong, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, with perfectly integrated magical abilities... Could this be the strength Alzur was looking for when creating the witchers?"
Letho smacked Kolgrim on the back of the head. "Stop thinking nonsense. Check if anyone is hurt and get some rest." Then he turned to Lann: "Are there many monsters of this type in the estate?"
Lann thought for a while and replied: "There are other monsters without vital points, and also a spirit that can move between squares. But this one must be the strongest of all."
Letho looked at the interior of the estate expressionlessly. "I've been a witcher for a long time and I've never seen such monsters. I've seen enough today. It's a pity that the remains of these monsters can't be used as alchemical materials."
The monsters summoned by Goetia were possessions, like the black cloud that came out of the guardian. Because of this, good materials were rarely obtained from their bodies. For witchers, a ghoul or a drowner was more useful.
Lann, however, looked at the guardian's spade on the ground: "That's not necessarily true."
Everyone followed Lann's gaze, looking curious. Letho thoughtfully commented: "The material of this spade is of high quality, but as a weapon for us..."
Lann shook his head. "As far as I know, it's a magic weapon, just like my sword Aerondight. This spade can heal the user after attacking an enemy."
This magical ability made the witchers' eyes shine.
"But why didn't it work during the battle just now?"
"It is probably because the trigger mechanism of this enchantment is still limited." Lann thought for a while and said: "Maybe it is necessary to cause real flesh and blood damage to the enemy, and we just relied on the signs to hold it and didn't give the enemy a chance. We have to experiment carefully to figure out how to use this weapon."
The witchers had never heard of a magical weapon that could heal the user. Kiyan was very interested, as this ability would be ideal for his combat style.
However, due to the shape and weight of the spade, only Letho seemed capable of handling it.
"But that can wait," Lann said, looking toward the bushes and the nearby easel, where the black cat and dog were. "We have other enemies to deal with first."
The two animals had been watching the battle the whole time and had not moved.
Although they were just a cat and a dog, the witchers could see an indifference in their eyes, as if they were looking at beings inferior to them.
Kolgrim raised his chin. "They were just looking at us."
Kiyan took a deep breath, his eyes shining. "I think they came from the same place as the guardian who just died."
The witchers looked at Kiyan, then at the guardian on the ground, and when they looked back at the cat and dog, they found that they had disappeared.
"Death and life are defined differently in different places. The controversy in the field of philosophy is particularly intense."
A cold female voice sounded from behind, and everyone turned around and saw that the black cat and black dog appeared behind them at some point.
The black cat opened its mouth, emitting a woman's voice: "The guardian is not dead, perhaps he prefers this state to what you consider alive."
This strange sight caused everyone to turn their swords and point them at the black cat and dog.
Lann noticed that they didn't seem to have any hostile intentions and asked: "You seem to know him well, and this house as well. Why don't you introduce yourself?"
This time it was the dog who spoke, in a deep male voice: "We are friends of this estate, summoned by the owner of the estate to accompany the lady."
Kiyan raised an eyebrow, looking at the cat and dog, visibly interested.
The Viper School witchers remained silent, keeping their vigilance as Lann continued the conversation.
"We brought the owner of the estate with us to see the lady. If you can, could you guide us? This estate is very big."
The black cat looked at Lann, tilting his head in curiosity. "You say you brought Olgierd von Everec, but I don't see or sense him here."
The black dog sniffed. "But you do smell like him."
Lann shrugged. "The owner is shy and feels very guilty. He will only appear when he sees the lady."
The cat and dog looked at each other, then at Lann, and suddenly scattered into a black cloud, appearing about fifty meters ahead, motioning for them to follow.
"Do you trust them?" Letho whispered to Lann.
Lann nodded. "They have their own goals, they could be our allies."
Letho frowned. "I wanted to ask you, did Olgierd give you this information?"
Lann thought for a while. "This is the power of the Elder Blood."
Letho took a deep breath and said frankly: "I don't like this feeling. I don't seem to need to think when I'm with you. I can get any information I want. But the most important thing for a witcher is to collect intelligence and prepare before the battle. In other words, the more times I fight with you, the weaker I may become."
Letho's worry made Lann stunned. Is it wrong to make the battle easier?
The harsh living conditions after losing the school base made the witchers of the Viper School feel particularly insecure. That is why they have a strong desire to control the situation, and their desire to maintain their own abilities is also morbid.
Comments
Axell
Thanks for the chapter
