Chapter 425: The Dungeon’s New Guests
"Third Tier Divine Skill, Raptor Form!"
A flash of gray light enveloped Hwaily.
She first transformed into a pigeon, then rapidly expanded into a gigantic pigeon more than two meters long. Despite its size, it still looked adorably foolish, flapping both wings frantically. Even so, it carried a hint of the ferocity expected from a savage magical beast.
Ashina, however, remained completely unfazed.
Her cavalry lance swept back and forth with flawless precision, forcing Hwaily to retreat again and again.
"Surrender. Your companion is already down. There’s no reason to keep fighting."
Ashina honestly wasn’t sure how hard she should strike. She had the nagging feeling that one careless blow might kill the girl outright, which would be a waste of such an excellent worker.
"My lord is merciful. He never kills prisoners."
"I’ll never surrender!"
Hwaily shouted fiercely.
Ignoring the risk of being knocked from the sky by Ashina, she spread her wings wide, exposing countless openings as she poured every ounce of strength into one final attack.
"Third Tier Divine Skill, Featherblade Storm!"
Countless razor sharp feathers swept across the battlefield with violent winds, descending like a storm. It was everything Hwaily had left.
"I’ll leave this to you, Drakewolf."
"Tyrant Iceflame."
Additional Divine Skill, exclusive to Living Artifacts: Tyrant Iceflame.
Artifact Exclusive: At the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Tiers, Living Artifacts naturally awaken their own Divine Skills. These do not count toward the Divine Chosen’s own skill allocation.
Description: Unleashes frigid tyrannical flames that inflict massive freezing and burning effects across a wide area. Exceptionally powerful, requires a long cooldown, and consumes none of the Divine Chosen’s divine power.
With a thunderous roar, Drakewolf exhaled an ocean of icy flames.
The blazing frost engulfed every Featherblade, reducing them all to ash.
Before Hwaily could even react in shock, Ashina leaped high into the air.
Instead of stabbing with her lance, she swung the shaft like a staff, smashing it into the giant pigeon’s head and knocking her straight out of the sky.
"Too easy."
Ashina landed gracefully and casually dusted off her hands.
"Nicely done. Just as expected."
Phield gave her a thumbs up.
"Hehe."
Ashina scratched the back of her head shyly.
Unlike Rosalia, whenever Ashina faced an opponent she could defeat, there was almost no chance of them escaping.
"What a shame. I wanted to witness Ashina’s newfound strength firsthand. Looks like Night Owl is even weaker than the Imperial Guards."
He had hoped to evaluate the new combat system through a real battle, but Ashina had defeated both opponents with almost ridiculous ease.
With a hint of disappointment, Phield opened Ashina’s status panel instead.
Name: Ashina (White Wolf Demi-human)
Rank: Third Tier Winter Divine Chosen
Class: Blizzard Saint Wolf Cavalry
Artifacts:
Drakewolf (Heavy Assault Type, Living Artifact)
Frost Nirvana (Cavalry Lance with Heavy Lance and Siege Ram attachments)
First Divine Skill: Aegis Spear of Frostpierce
Second Divine Skill: Armor Piercing Frost (Passive/Active)
Passive: Automatically creates a blizzard around the user, reducing the movement speed and armor of all enemies within its range.
Active: Activates the skill, ignoring 15% of Divine Power Armor while granting all attacks armor piercing properties.
Third Divine Skill: Avalanche Charge
Description: Enters an unstoppable state and charges along a designated path, dealing devastating damage.
Additional Divine Skill: Tyrant Iceflame (Released by Drakewolf)
Talent: White Saintess
Every White Wolf Demi-human serving in Ashina’s army grants additional bonuses to all attributes. The bonus scales with troop numbers and individual quality. White Wolf Demi-human soldiers also receive the Saintess’s blessing, improving their physical abilities.
Army Bonus: Wolfpack Predator Formation
All cavalry units within a large army gain increased movement speed and attack power.
Divine Guard: Blizzard Guardian Wolf Cavalry
Provides 500 Mana Knight slots. When fighting in formation, cavalry gain a 100% relative speed impact bonus while significantly increasing attack power, mounted archery capability, movement speed, and vitality.
Requirements: White Wolf Demi-humans and Giant Wolves.
Territory Bonus:
The growth cycle of Giant Wolves is shortened. White Wolf Demi-humans born within the territory receive slight improvements to both appearance and physical potential.
"Holy crap. This is incredible. Every single bonus is useful."
Phield couldn’t stop smiling.
"Next time we march out, the entire army is going fully mobile. We’re going to raid like crazy."
Ashina truly was the only person in the territory capable of carrying an entire front by herself. Not only was her personal combat power overwhelming, she also provided tremendous bonuses to both the territory and the army.
Calamities might possess terrifying individual strength and limitless growth potential, but they were lacking in almost every other aspect.
Different races and divine lineages also required completely different approaches. Each Divine Chosen had to be nurtured according to their own strengths. Otherwise, it was all too easy to waste their potential.
After taking away Elin’s artifact, Ashina carried the unconscious pair back to Phield.
"This is already the second time these ridiculous Night Owl assassins have tried to kill me."
"The first time I spared them because I respected their passion. I never expected gratitude, but at the very least they shouldn’t have kept coming after me."
"This time, I’m going to interrogate them thoroughly. I also need to find out more about this Hero King."
"My lord, shall I send them to Kai for interrogation? I can handle it myself if you’d prefer."
Phield was about to agree, but after looking at the two girls, each beautiful in her own way, he thoughtfully stroked his chin before changing his mind.
"No need. Kai already works hard enough training soldiers."
"I’ll interrogate them personally this time. We absolutely cannot allow these vicious assassins to continue running rampant."
His words were completely righteous and dignified.
"You’ve worked hard too, my lord. Oh, this is what I found on them."
Ashina produced a patched-up, heavily mended wallet.
"I gave them a quick search. I didn’t find any maps of Nightfall Domain or any confidential documents."
Seriously... what were these two idiots even doing here?
"As for the money, let them keep it."
Phield shook his head.
"They earned it through honest work."
He might enjoy plundering, but he also respected people who worked hard, at least when they were working in his own territory.
They might be adorable, but being cute didn’t change one important fact.
They were assassins.
Who knows how many people they’ve murdered after gaining others’ sympathy with those innocent faces?
The two girls were thrown into the dungeon.
The soldiers stepped forward to shackle them.
"Ugh... my head hurts..."
Elin suddenly regained consciousness.
The instant she realized she was inside a prison cell, her pupils contracted sharply.
She exploded into action.
Using the strength of a Divine Chosen, she snatched the longsword from a soldier’s waist and viciously thrust it toward him.
Clang!
Ashina and Phield reacted almost simultaneously.
With a single swipe of her claw, Ashina shattered the longsword into three pieces.
At the same time, Phield yanked the soldier backward, pulling him safely out of danger.