Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 565 Death Announcement
This approach often performs drastically differently in actual combat compared to the theory, and the reason lies in the step of undoing the transformation.

It is indeed simple for a spellcaster to cancel the shrinking effect they have applied to an object; a single incantation is enough, and they don't even need to chant a spell.

However, when the target is changed to rapidly flying ammunition, that's a different story.

Even a professional ranger wouldn't be able to pinpoint the exact location of an arrow within a mere twenty meters. If a mage were to attempt this, they'd probably need to learn lightning reflexes first.

But as luck would have it, Kegan activated a spell nullification barrier.

That's great! No need to manually dispel the spell; any projectiles that enter the barrier's range automatically break free of their shrunken state and regain their original shape.

One-click restore of what belongs to.

Suddenly, the light, fluffy arrows transformed into crossbow bolts and stone cannons, giving the dwarves a pleasant surprise.

"Ouch, how did you fall down? Roll over to the side, you almost crushed me."

Bard, who was climbing behind Kagan, was also caught off guard by the blow. After grumbling a couple of times, he shoved the other man away.

Fortunately, the armor was of high quality, and the two dwarves only suffered a slight shock and were able to stand up after a short while.

"That slave trader who uses witchcraft is indeed cunning, but I'm fine. That bastard is going to say his last words to my axe."

Kegan's mouth was clearly tougher than the power armor; he grabbed his axe and was about to charge back upstairs.

"Stop kidding, do you think anyone can even climb these stairs?"

Bud grabbed his little brother and gestured for him to open his eyes and look at the staircase that the two of them had smashed into a pile of wood chips.

The four people looked at each other in bewilderment. The ladder to go upstairs was gone. What were they going to do?
"Activate the infrared sensor!"

The helmet's built-in microphone conveyed Master Zhang's instructions, and the dwarf brothers didn't react for a moment.

"What sensor?"

"Infrared what?"

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
Suddenly, Morty reached out and turned the knob on his bewildered teammate's helmet, instantly changing the view seen through the visor inside the fully enclosed helmet.

The originally colorful and ordinary world is covered by another dimension, and the thermal image formed by the temperature difference outlines the curious and adorable appearance of the companions wagging their tails.

"Look up at the ceiling."

The lord's command arrived once again, and everyone subconsciously looked up at the deck above them. It seemed as if they could see through a curtain, where dozens of red dots of constantly changing shape and orientation clustered, wriggled, and dispersed.

"Twin armor-piercing explosive rounds are loaded."

Some of the more enlightened members of the cleaver squad obeyed orders, brandishing their bomb guns and temporarily transforming themselves into armored grenadiers.

I removed the fragmentation grenade from the magazine and loaded two high-explosive rounds with yellow markings. The process wasn't very smooth, but thankfully, it didn't go off accidentally.

"You know how to do it, right? I don't need to teach you anymore."

After the communication ended, the four team members looked at each other, and simultaneously raised their guns, aiming menacingly at the area with the densest concentration of red dots on the top deck.

With firm resolve and decisive force, pull the trigger.

"These stupid canned goods have fallen flat on their faces again."

"Tin-Shell Kid, try my giant ballista!" "Bullshit! Is that your ballista? That's the Mage Master's giant ballista!"

"Lord Omar has utterly humiliated them! Lord Omar's words are invincible!!!"

On deck, the sailors cheered and sang as they saw the enemy defeated once again, and flattery poured in.

Omar looked rather smug, but his constantly shifting eyes revealed the unease in his heart.

It seems like they can manipulate the enemy at will, but they lack a decisive means to deal with them, so the damage they inflict is very limited. If they continue like this, they might win and win, but in the end they will lose everything.

The risks were considerable, but he was unwilling to leave just like that.

Having escaped his post and returned to Luskan, putting aside the potential internal punishment from the Arcane Brotherhood, the few sets of enchanted armor before him were enough to greatly tempt him.

His uncertain thoughts were captured in his strange gaze. Omar flicked his finger and threw out a magical eye, which floated shakily towards the cratered entrance of the passage to investigate.

At the same time, his hands did not stop. He took out a scroll, tore it open, and eleven golden, round, crimson-flamed meteorites rose up and circled around him.

Mayov's Micro Meteor, crafted by a genius mage from the Gray Eagle plane, is specialized in breaking all kinds of turtle shells.

After a moment's thought, Omar finally made a decision.

Even if the enemy wants to run away, they should first take a piece of loot, otherwise it won't be enough to make up for the losses of this trip.

As for the low-probability event of a complete rout where there's no escape, that's a different story.
The enemy only has four people in total, and they may have even suffered casualties. Our side has gathered nearly ten times the number of troops to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Even if we lose, we can't guarantee a victory. I don't think the enemy can break through our defenses for a while. Even if there are only thirty-odd pigs running away, the enemy can't catch them all in a short time.

Omar, feeling increasingly confident, was about to repeat his old plan and switch to another batch of miniaturized munitions as a countermeasure when the scene transmitted through the Arcane Eye startled him.

All four armored monsters remained intact, including the shorter tin can that had been the target of the previous concentrated fire, and showed no signs of damage.

The four monsters were all holding strangely shaped cylinders, and judging from the trigger mechanism at the bottom, they seemed to be some kind of special crossbow.

"Kaka~"

Strange noises came from below deck. The Luscan barbarians had no idea that it was the death sentence of a loaded mortar, but Omar's heart skipped a beat for no reason.

A vague sense of foreboding, like a spiderweb, enveloped his senses, threatening to transform into a death cloud that would tighten around his throat.

The mage jolted awake and subconsciously activated a trigger-based protective spell, while low-level defensive spells stored in the sequencer were also unleashed one after another.

Despite the Stone Skin, Mirror Image, and Mage Armor spells, Omar, still feeling uneasy, pulled out a scroll and tore it open. A barrier of energy swirled around him like fluid, keeping ranged projectiles at bay.

“PONG! x4”

Flames shot out from the front of the strange ballista's barrel, and a thunderous roar pierced the deck and echoed throughout the entire cabin, shaking everyone's eardrums and sanity.

Before the layers of magical aura could provide the caster with enough security, they were engulfed in the exploding flames.

Omar felt the floor beneath his feet instantly turn to dust, and an irresistible force, like a roaring volcano awakening, surged up, engulfing him and everything around him, sending them into a furnace of flames and steel.

The fragile mirror image burst like a soap bubble in an instant before the rampaging shockwave. Flying shrapnel and debris from the exploding deck intertwined, creating a death storm that compressed the agonizing screams and dying struggles of the unfortunate souls into an inaudible lingering sound.

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(End of this chapter)