Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 168 The Light of Vinia

"Ping, click!"

With nothing in his hands, the vampire could only use his fangs as weapons to gnaw at the red-skinned giant's neck. However, he didn't manage to bite the red-necked man, but instead ended up kissing the axe in the man's hand.

It was definitely a deep kiss. The vampire, who had regained his senses, was absolutely certain that the gap in his mouth was so deep that a draft swept through his entire oral cavity.

What broke his heart even more was his teeth; almost all of his upper teeth, including his two fangs, were gone, leaving only a row of broken pieces.

Knowing that things were hopeless, An Erle ordered the controlled wanderer to block her way, while she took the opportunity to retreat and transform into a bat to escape.

"Incertus, Pulcher, Imperio"

Two beams of pearly white light shot out from behind the chess piece, and the giant bat Anle, which had just completed its transformation, was directly enveloped by these two beams of light.

It was like a nightmare from that day playing out again. The piercing, burning pain surged through his body once more. The vampire could only let out a squeak and didn't dare to turn his head. He only wanted to escape to his subordinates. With the cannon fodder delaying him, he still had a good chance of escaping alive.

The director of that scene was naturally a certain mage. To say that An Erle was unlucky was an understatement. Normally, Zhang Yuan would have already fallen asleep, and even if he was woken up, he wouldn't have been able to get to the scene so quickly. By then, An Erle would have already made his escape.

Unfortunately, when Master Zhang was meditating alone after dinner, his connection with the magic network reached the limit. Having already made preparations, he naturally connected with the fourth layer of the magic network and constructed several fourth-circle arcane spells that he had been preparing for a long time.

Just as he was still immersed in the joy of his breakthrough and struggling with the happy dilemma of which spells to choose to memorize, he received an upgrade from his chess pieces and the action of others.

The person, still wearing his robes, activated his invisibility ring and stepped lightly out of the tent, where he saw the unfortunate old man, Sir Anle, covering his "bloody mouth".

An Erle, who revealed her vampire form, was immediately recognized by Zhang Yuan, who then unleashed a magical attack, namely the "Light of Vinia" from earlier.

As its name suggests, this third-circle spell draws upon the benevolent power of Vinia, the second level of Paradise Mountain. The beam of light, which also contains abundant positive energy, is much more peaceful and gentle than other similar spells, and can even be used to heal ordinary life.

But this kindness would never befall the undead. The pain An Erle suffered from being struck was no better than when he was hit by the God Hammer. A large bat, covered in wounds, staggered and struggled to fly into the distance. Its perseverance and tenacity were truly moving.

But the mage wasn't one to complain without reason. Two breaths later, a beam of white light shot out from his hand and hit the target squarely!
Since the group entered the Land of the Dead, a certain mage has prepared a bunch of targeted spells for the undead creatures here, such as the Light of Vinia and the Sun Ray just now.

Now our Sir Anlele is finally finished. No matter what nicknames or titles he had, whether they were supposedly watertight, ultra-thin, or elastic and form-fitting, they have all vanished. Now, all that lies on the ground is a silent corpse.

Zhang Yuan stepped forward, drew his longsword, and beheaded the man in one strike. He then reached into his storage bag, took out a vial of holy water, and poured it directly into the mouth of the man who looked no different from the Joker of Gotham City.

A wisp of smoke, accompanied by a shrill scream, drifted away, and a self-proclaimed vampire knight, regrettably unable to spread his name, vanished into thin air.

He poured the remaining holy water into the severed neck cavity of the corpse, and moments later, the headless mutilated body turned into black smoke and dissipated, leaving only a tattered scroll on the ground. He casually picked up the vampire's two remaining fangs and then picked up the tattered scroll.

The material of the torn page is not paper; it feels very delicate to the touch, like extremely thin sheepskin. Although it has some stains, it is in good condition, except for the tear marks on the edges, so it is probably a torn page from a book.

The page was covered with characters and symbols that Zhang Yuan did not recognize, and it had an eerie, pale green color. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to shimmer with light, which was particularly glaring against the grayish-brown leather scroll.

Zhang Yuan watched it repeatedly but gained nothing, and even felt dizzy. These symbols were not a language at all, but a manifestation encrypted with magic.

Even using forensic techniques, they could only obtain a very superficial piece of information—a page that appeared to be from a spellbook written by a necromancer master.

It seems we've obtained something extraordinary this time. Even identification techniques are powerless against it, which means it not only has encryption but also comes with anti-prophecy protective magic.

After pocketing the tattered pages, Zhang Yuan turned back to the camp and immediately spotted the old lecher being held firmly to the ground by three chess pieces like a pig being caught during Chinese New Year, desperately begging for mercy.

The mage was well aware of the vampire's ability to bewitch vision, so he had his pawns discard their weapons and engage Lawrence in hand-to-hand combat with their bare hands.

Poor Lawrence, a wanderer, posed no threat with just a small dagger. In less than two rounds, he was swarmed by three strong warrior pieces, a double attack that left him covered in burly men.

With the demise of the vampires, the allure naturally faded as well. Lawrence, his sanity restored, was still wondering what had happened when he discovered his precarious situation: three muscular, burly men were riding on his neck, back, and... buttocks.

Leaving aside the old pervert who was sometimes struggling and sometimes begging for mercy, the Canaan team members who were alarmed also came out to see what was going on. As soon as they came out of the tent, they saw the wanderer enjoying a massage from a strong man, as well as the captain who had rushed back from not far away.

While everyone was still speculating about why the captain's pawns would fight with their own team members, Zhang Yuan, who had arrived at the camp, explained the situation of the vampire attack to everyone and, incidentally, got the pawns to release Lawrence.

"That's the situation. Lawrence was just controlled by the attacking vampire, but that guy is dead now. Lawrence, you go back and rest. Who will take over the night watch?"

“I’ll do it,” Münster volunteered.

"Wait, that's not the point." Nancy jumped out, looking the cheap captain up and down: "You said you advanced? Fourth-circle spells? Does that mean you've become a mid-level mage?"

"Yes, it just so happens to have broken through."

The man's tone was somewhat lighthearted, but that was all. This promotion was simply a natural progression, something that should have been expected. With his horizons broadened considerably, he didn't have much time to be complacent about it.

After saying that, he went back to his tent, leaving Nancy and Kegan to slowly process the news.

(End of this chapter)