Realm Walker

As a Saint-tier Hex Master, the sorcerer possessed formidable resistance to curses. In merely two breaths, the dark miasma shrouding his head dissipated, letting sanity return.

Bang!

Guan Ya was the first to strike. She raised her rifle, took aim in the span of a heartbeat, and squeezed the trigger. The long barrel spat a plume of gunsmoke.

The sorcerer, barely recovered, snapped backward as though clubbed over the head as a sharp crack rang out. That single shot punched through the sorcerer's defences. The hardened chitin protecting his forehead split open, and thick green ichor sprayed outward.

Guan Ya immediately produced a half vial of diluted Essence of Life and clenched it in her palm, ready to inject at a moment's notice in case the sorcerer retaliated with a wound-inducing curse.

Fortunately, she was surrounded by teammates she could trust. The instant the gunshot was heard, Queen tore the silver rings from her earlobes and hurled it at the sorcerer with all her strength.

The silver hoops spun through the air and slammed into its target. The moment it touched his towering, hulking frame, it transformed into a ring of water, phasing through flesh then cinching tight. It worked beautifully, locking down his movements and interrupting whatever curse he had been preparing.

Seizing the opening their teammate (and enemy) had created, both Zhang Yuanqing and Li Xianzong rushed the sorcerer from opposite sides. Li Xianzong gripped the Nail of Curses in one hand and his butterfly knife in the other while Zhang Yuanqing wielded the Demon-subduing Awl in one fist and the Bloodthirsty Blade in the other. Both carried Enchanting Demon weapons with innate armor piercing capabilities that could punch through the sorcerer's chitinous defenses.

Still bound by the two rings of water, the sorcerer dropped to his knees and began to chant. Whether by coincidence or not, the act of kneeling carried him beneath the pincer attack. The points of both weapons went over his head, stabbing into empty air.

This was Prayer: the core skill of a Level 4 Hex Master.

Prayer was a form of hex art. Normally, a Hex Master of this level would gather materials beforehand, conduct a prayer ritual, then invoke unique incantations to beseech a great and unseen power for protection and fortune.

In combat, though, there was no time to prepare and perform the necessary ritual. The incantation alone was sufficient to invoke Prayer, though without the ritual, the effect was greatly diminished.

Even so, Prayer cast by a Saint-tier Hex Master through incantation alone was more than enough to handle Transcendent-tier opponents. It was way beyond what Li Xianzong's item-based Blessing could achieve.

The sorcerer flexed his arms and burst out of the water rings using brute force alone. He launched himself up out of his kneeling position, driving a knee upward at the fighter ahead of him.

Zhang Yuanqing, wearing the Eye of the Observer, read the attack before it came, and realized that he would not be in time to dodge. He frantically pulled back the Bloodthirsty Blade mid-thrust and summoned the Red Dancing Shoes. If he couldn't dodge it himself, he would leave it to an item that could.

Twin ribbons of dark crimson light coiled themselves around his feet as his running shoes transformed into gleaming, oversized dancing shoes.

As he relinquished control to the dancing shoes, his right leg kicked upward of its own accord. His torso tilted backward, and the savage knee that was hurtling toward him impacted squarely against the sole of his foot.

The collision sent a jolt of numbness through his sole, and the force of the blow launched him into the air in a short arc, carrying him backward a fair distance.

The sorcerer didn't pursue him. Instead, he spun midair and whipped his leg behind him in a roundhouse kick.

Li Xianzong threw up his forearm to block. The blow landed with a sharp crack, and the impact sent him staggering.

"Every last one of you will die!" the sorcerer intoned in a low and imperious rumble. He raised his staff high, the black gemstone at its crown pulsing with a sullen glow.

Every person present felt it again—that invisible fist clenching around their heart, the sensation of cardiac arrest lurking one beat away.

Li Chunfeng, back pressed against a wall, heard a heavy thud. His stomach sank. He turned toward the sound and saw Lotus Eater crumpled on the ground, his eyes unfocused and glazing over. The man was too frail. He couldn't endure it, and had collapsed on the spot, unconscious.

However, the one in critical danger was not Lotus Eater. It was Li Xianzong, who was closest to the sorcerer.

After unleashing the mass curse, the sorcerer flash-stepped to Li Xianzong's side and swung his staff, aiming to cave in his skull.

Bang!

The thunderous sound of a gunshot rang through the air, and the sorcerer reflexively snapped backward to dodge the bullet.

Except there was no bullet. The gunshot was a phantom sound, conjured by the man with the crew cut. He had braced himself against a wall with one hand, with the other cupped to his lips, and had perfectly mimicked the crack of Guan Ya's rifle.

Li Xianzong crouched low, veins bulging across his face as it contorted into a mask of savage fury. This Enchanting Demon who had once hunted down a Saint found terrible reserves of power in the face of imminent death. He exploded upward in a blur of afterimages, and slammed into the sorcerer's torso.

The butterfly knife sank into the sorcerer's abdomen, punching clean through the hardened chitin. He hadn't used the Nail of Curses because the consumable lacked any armor piercing effect.

The sorcerer snarled in rage. The gemstone atop his staff flickered, its sullen glow shifting slightly as he switched curses. Li Xianzong grunted as his own abdomen split open, his flesh tearing apart. Blood erupted from the wound.

The sorcerer raised his staff once more, preparing another mass curse.

The crack of yet another gunshot exploded through the chaos. This time, it was no illusion. Guan Ya had pulled the trigger. The sorcerer dissolved into a chain of afterimages, evading the lethal trajectory. Then the antennae on his forehead twitched, picking up movement from behind. He whirled, twisting about his waist and rotating his shoulders to bring his staff crashing down.

Clang!

Sparks flew as the Bloodthirsty Blade caught the staff mid-swing.

We can't give him another chance to cast his curse, Zhang Yuanqing thought grimly. We have to chain our attacks together or we're all finished.

His ambush had failed, but from the corner of his eye, he spotted Fire Virtue charging in, searing flame erupting from his hands then condensing into a blazing scarlet greatsword that radiated ferocious heat.

The sorcerer's antennae twitched, sensing the incoming threat.

Without hesitation, Zhang Yuanqing clamped both hands together before his chest. A deafening boom erupted as a shockwave of fire blasted outward from him in every direction. The sorcerer's antennae thrashed wildly, their senses scrambled.

In that precise window, Fire Virtue closed the gap. He planted one foot down with a thunderous stomp and swept the flame sword in a horizontal arc. The searing blade carved its way directly into the wound the butterfly knife had left in the sorcerer's abdomen, widening it into a hideous, charred gash.

The sorcerer howled in fury and raised his staff.

Two rings of water descended from above, one binding his upper body, the other locking his legs together, cutting off his spell once again.

Two loud bangs rang out as Guan Ya and Li Chunfeng fired simultaneously, and bullets hammered into the sorcerer one after another.

Queen broke into a dead sprint, shouting to Zhang Yuanqing as she ran, "Give me the blade!"

Without a second thought, he flung the Bloodthirsty Blade toward her. Queen snatched it from the air, leapt high, and drove the long knife down toward the sorcerer's skull with everything she had.

The sorcerer jerked his head aside. The Bloodthirsty Blade plunged into his shoulder instead, and foul, reeking ichor burst from the wound, drenching Queen from head to toe.

With Queen now locked in close quarters with the enemy, Guan Ya and Li Chunfeng held their fire. The grievously wounded sorcerer let out a deep, rumbling roar, tore free of the water rings restraining him, and unleashed a curse.

Queen's shoulder exploded. But what sprayed outward was not blood and flesh. It was clear, shimmering water. She had used her Water Ghost ability to deftly sidestep the retaliatory curse.

Quickly, Queen disengaged. Seeing the sorcerer staggering in place rather than pursue, a spark of hope flared in her chest.

"His power is fading!" she cried out.

The words were meant for her teammates, and for the team of Evil Walkers that were listening nearby.

The moment they left her lips, she let out a small cry. Her legs buckled, strength draining from every limb. Her throat itched and her lungs burned as though filled with hot coals. She succumbed to a violent fit of coughing. Zhang Yuanqing and Fire Virtue doubled over as well, hands clasped over their mouths, wracked by the same hacking coughs.

They had been poisoned. Their enemy was a Hex Master, one who specialized in toxins.

A chill ran through both Guan Ya and Li Chunfeng. Without hesitation they opened fire, buying their captain time.

At that moment, the Evil-class Walkers saw their opening. The middle-aged man in the suit slipped on a pair of brass knuckles and charged at the sorcerer, his polished leather boots clicking sharply against the ground.

The gaunt man beside him crouched down to the ground. His face elongated into a pointed snout, and fine dark whiskers sprouted from his cheeks. His leg muscles swelled until they burst through the seams of his trouser legs, and a tail as thick as a forearm extended out from the base of his spine.

In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a rat man. With his hands, which had already transformed into claws, he snatched a jet black bamboo tube from his Inventory.

The man with the crew cut let out a guttural shout, wrapped his arms around the building behind him, and ripped the entire structure free of its foundation. He hurled it at the sorcerer with devastating force.

It was an illusion, of course. But to the sorcerer's senses, mortal danger was bearing down on him.

He instinctively dodged to the side, and a sudden sting pierced his abdomen. A jade green poisoned needle had buried itself in the charred wound, melting on contact and flooding into his body. Illusion and ambush worked in perfect tandem.

For a Saint-tier Hex Master, though, this amount of toxin was little more than an itch. From the very start of the battle, the Evil team had been outclassed.

From her position, Guan Ya drew inspiration from the trick and fired a perfectly-placed round through the chaos. The sharp-tipped rifle round struck the back of the sorcerer's skull dead center and detonated on impact. The sorcerer lurched forward and stumbled directly into a brass-knuckled fist.

The man in the suit rained down a storm of iron fists on the sorcerer's face and abdomen. He was only Level 2, but Enchanting Demons were natural born fighters. He hammered the dungeon boss with a ferocious combo, but he did not budge an inch.

The young Wood Specter had been watching from the edge of the fight, observing the melee. He moved in with calm efficiency, dragging his poisoned teammates to safety. He fished out several pills from his pocket and distributed them to Zhang Yuanqing and the others.

"Chew before you swallow," he instructed them, then he pulled a stick of incense, thick as a finger, from his inventory. "Fire Virtue, light this for me."

Fire Virtue looked haggard. As he chewed the antidote pill, he pinched the stick of incense between two fingers and gave it a flick. A thin plume of smoke curled upward, releasing a cool, refreshing herbal fragrance that flooded his nostrils. A wave of clarity swept through him, and the burning in his throat and lungs began to ease.

"Give it a moment," the Wood Specter told him. "The poison will clear soon."

He let Zhang Yuanqing and Queen each take a breath of the incense, then immediately stamped it out. "This is a consumable. Every bit counts."

Zhang Yuanqing felt a swell of gratitude. Having a healer on the team really does make all the difference.

He focused his eyes on the fight that was still going on. The sorcerer's hand shot up and clamped itself around the throat of his attacker. He swung the man around like a ragdoll and slammed him into the ground.

The flagstones underneath shattered with the impact. Blood seeped from the suited man's mouth and nose.

The rat man scrambled to provide ranged support. With a staccato string of puffs, he sent poisoned needles streaking through the air in rapid succession. Some pinged off the sorcerer's chitinous hide, while others found open wounds. However, his attacks, while stinging, could not trouble a Saint-tier Hex Master.

Li Xianzong, blood still streaming from his torn abdomen, hunched forward like a leopard stalking prey and closed in on the sorcerer. He drove the Nail of Curses upward, aiming for the shattered chitin on the back of the sorcerer's skull, the wound Guan Ya's explosive bullet had opened.

The sorcerer twisted the neck of the man in the suit, snapping it with a dry crack, then he dropped into a low squat, letting Li Xianzong's strike sail over his head. His other hand, still gripping the staff, lashed upward.

Crack!

The length of the staff smashed into Li Xianzong's wrist, shattering the bone. The Nail of Curses tumbled from his grasp.

Li Xianzong's expression did not even flicker. He flicked his foot up and kicked the Nail of Curses toward the rat man.

He had already braced himself against another close-range attack from the sorcerer, but it never came. A gunshot rang out, and the round struck the sorcerer square in the chest, punching through the armored plating and boring a finger-deep hole into the flesh beneath.

Li Xianzong's eyes lit up. The boss really is weakening. He can't dodge bullets anymore.

He surged forward, driving his butterfly knife into the fresh bullet wound on the sorcerer's left chest.

The blade pierced the sorcerer's heart, and the insectoid human let out a shrill, agonized scream. "You dogs of the court...! Every one of you... will die..."

He mustered the last of his strength and raised his staff. The black gemstone blazed once more with that sullen, suffocating light.

Every face in the area was drained of color. Hearts seized up as though impaled, and all the Walkers, Lawful and Evil, found themselves drowning in pain and asphyxiation that crashed over them like a tidal wave. The sorcerer had cast three curses, stacked on top of one another. Every single one of them felt their life draining away as death rushed to meet them.

Li Xianzong, Zhang Yuanqing, Queen, and Fire Virtue were the worst-affected. Zhang Yuanqing's vision dissolved into the encroaching darkness. His mind went blank, and thought itself ceased.

Li Chunfeng's face was ashen. Can't... Can't breathe... Dying...

He stumbled to the unconscious Lotus Eater's side, snatched up the Straw Doll from the ground, pinched its head between two fingers, and squeezed.

The sorcerer's body went stiff as dark miasma coiled around his head. His channeling spell was shattered.

Li Xianzong was the first to recover. Crouching low, he threw himself at the sorcerer, crashing into his opponent's midsection and wrapping his arms around his waist. He planted his feet and dropped his hips, tensing every muscle in his body and turning himself into a human anchor.

"Now! Hit the back of his skull!"

The rat man did not hesitate. He loaded the Nail of Curses into the bamboo blowgun, drew one massive breath, then emptied his lungs in a single burst.

The Nail of Curses punched through the open wound at the back of the sorcerer's skull. The sorcerer's body went still, and his spiritual form began to dissolve, flickering and fading. He stood frozen for several seconds, then toppled like a felled tree.

It was finally over.

The sight of the sorcerer's demise sent a tide of relief washing over the remaining combatants. They gasped and heaved as though they had trekked a long and winding path and had finally, finally reached its end. The weight of exhaustion crashed down on them all at once.

At the same moment, every Spirit Realm Walker on both sides heard the chime of a Spirit Realm notification.

【Ding! You have successfully killed the evil sorcerer. Claim your rewards immediately and eliminate the opposing faction.】

In an instant, members of both the Evil and Lawful factions lurched to their feet, sat up, or pushed themselves upright. Every pair of eyes locked onto the staff lying beside the corpse.

Unlike the others, Zhang Yuanqing received a second notification.

【Ding! You have completed the hidden quest: The Greedy Sorcerer (3/3)】

【The Greedy Sorcerer: In pursuit of the treasures left behind by the Yin Yang Hermit, the sorcerer conspired with Squire Zhao and Ruffian Wang to murder the Hermit's descendant. However, he obtained nothing aside from a staff imbued with powerful curses.】

【Note: You will remain in this town forever, just as I have.】

【Quest reward: Yin Yang Sorcerer's Robe (unclaimed)】