Chapter 443
443: Boundary of Weakness
The Tarrag Canyon of the Brut Merchant Alliance is a restricted area. Any ordinary man could only dream of entering such a place. Just like in the Dark Forest in the Lancelot Empire, only the most willed of adventurers would ever dare venture into its depths.
Owing to the abnormal behaviors of the magical beasts in Tarrag Canyon some time ago, many eager traveller has been driven away. With the addition of warnings of lightning from sacred magus Reynold Dila of Brut Merchant Alliance, everyone kept a distance from Tarrag Canyon.
The followers of the Dark Mantle under Cecilia ventured into the Tarrag Canyon with Cecilia and Han Shuo leading them. They discovered not a trace of a single soul having ever set foot there. The Canyon was eerily tranquil.
The hills of the Tarrag Canyon were far more uneven compared to the likes of the Dark Forest of the Lancelot Empire, with a swamp at its every crevice.
“In the recent days, countless forces have dispatched their people to catch a glimpse of activity within the Tarrag Canyon. But the magical beasts that resided there seemed to have gone mad, and with that, increasingly violent, causing countless deaths and driving many more away from the Canyon,” Cecilia groaned in annoyance, her voice almost shaky as she dragged along.
Behind her were twelve Dark Mantle members directly under her control. She usually brought these twelve members of Dark Mantle with her wherever she went. Amongst them were magi, swordsmen, knights, bandits and archers. Together, they formed a complete team.
These twelve worthy subordinates were carefully handpicked by Cecilia herself. Over the course of years working together they have forged a certain harmony that only the most in-sync of teams could emulate, and, through even the most of dire times, emerged the victor. Furthermore, with the addition of the formidable Han Shuo there was no denying the power possessed by this team.
“Dame, why is it that there has been no trace of human intervention our whole way here?” Ticaru the bandit asked solemnly with caution as he examined the area.
Throughout the journey, Ticaru was focused only on scouring the place, not unlike a monkey as he scouted in every direction, providing the party with timely information. Despite having travelled deep into the canyon for half the day, they hadn’t met a single team of adventurers, nor anyone at all entering the Tarrag Canyon for that matter. The situation was baffling.
As the spells came down, havoc wreaked over the flock of beasts. Many lower ranking creatures immediately lost all fighting capability when hit by the wave of magic. Only some first, second and third rank magical beasts could withstand this wave of magical attack, owing to their resilient bodies, and continue to storm ahead.
Two archers released torrents of arrows with admirable composure. After streaking through the vast sky, one after another, the arrows landed clean into the beasts with a swoosh, killing each one of them. Not a single miss.
Under the double-barreled attack of the magi and archers, a third of the magical beasts had collapsed for good before they could even get close. Some of the more powerful magical creatures that were closest to the area could release magic and poisonous fluid. Creatures like the Frost Eagles and Medusa began spewing frost and venom.
Cecilia ceaselessly performed all sorts of auxiliary spells on her fellow comrades, while the three mages deployed boundaries to block incoming attacks. The traps that were set up in advance were also deployed, and the magical beasts fell into a pool of blood one after another.
It must be said that Cecilia and the Dark Mantle members beside her had great rapport and coordination with each other. In the previous ten days, due to the team’s cooperation, a great majority of the magical beasts were killed using spells or arrows before they could come anywhere near them. And if any of those creatures did manage to get close to them, they would have been met by five unwavering swordsmen defending the front, ready to deflect any approaching enemy at any given time. It looked as though this battle really wasn’t much of a problem for Cecilia and her team.
At that moment, Han Shuo gazed at the magical beasts, still charging fiercely, unafraid of death. Han Shuo seemed to have had an epiphany of sorts, and urgently chanted an incantation. The chilling element of death that hovered through the air suddenly converged, and formed a ring around the flock of magical beasts.
All of a sudden, the high-ranking magical creatures which were charging forward became strangely sluggish. It was as though they were collectively hit by some powerful anesthetic, slowing them down to half the speed.
“I did it!” Han Shuo gasped in pride and amazement. He was shocked to see the magical creatures within the Boundary of Weakness become so lethargic.
All of a sudden, Han Shuo felt an enormously mighty presence sneak towards them. He squinted, spying on it.