Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 83 Maurice

Kate stood in a relatively open area, a thin, pale gray membrane swirling slightly on her skin.

Just then, an extremely faint yet chilling energy fluctuation, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, was instantly detected by Kate's Seed of Origin!

[WARNING! Shadow energy detected! Location: Approximately 500 meters to the left and front.]

Kate felt a chill run down her spine and quickly concealed her presence, silently making her way towards the source of the disturbance.

The symbiotic membrane perfectly concealed his own scent, making him seem like a fragment of a skeleton blending into the environment.

About thirty meters away from the edge of a pitch-black boulder, about thirty meters from the undead knight, the air rippled outwards like the surface of water after a pebble has been thrown in, creating several extremely subtle, almost imperceptible ripples.

Three blurry, dark gray figures appeared silently, seemingly "seeping" directly from the shadows.

The leader was none other than Shadowsong Morris, the leader of Shadowhold!

His ghostly green soulfire, hidden beneath his shadowy cloak, instantly locked onto the undead knight and the undead knight order behind him, especially the altar behind them, and a glint of undisguised greed flashed across his face.

The two men behind him, equally chilling and blurry in appearance, were clearly elite assassins from Shadow Keep.

The three worked together seamlessly, forming a standard assassination formation almost the instant they landed, like three poisoned arrows ready to be fired.

"The core of the Bone Altar—and the Soulfire Core of the Undead Knight—are both top-quality materials!"

Morris's hoarse voice, like the scraping of a cold wind, transmitted to his subordinates through some kind of mental connection: "Same old routine, 'Shadow Bind' for crowd control, 'Soul Strike' for armor penetration, I'll take the core! Be quick, finish it off before it fully awakens, then retreat swiftly, avoiding any entanglement with those low-level undead knights."

"Yes!" The two subordinates responded silently, each gathering dark energy in their hands.

Kate's heart skipped a beat, and she thought to herself, "What a pity!"

His original plan was to observe the undead knight's behavior patterns, find the altar's weakness, and then seize the opportunity to strike.

Now that the Morris trio has gotten there first, given the Shadow Keep's style and the strength they've demonstrated, this undead knight will likely have a hard time withstanding a sneak attack from three level four peak assassins skilled in assassination and breaking through energy defenses.

If they succeed, then the materials on the altar and the Soulfire Core of the Undead Knight himself—these rare materials—will be out of my reach.

"We'll just have to wait and see—maybe they'll both be severely injured, and I'll still have a chance to pick up the pieces."

Kate suppressed her regret, concealed her aura to the extreme, and activated the Seed of Origin at full power, like the most sophisticated instrument, to record the impending battle and analyze the strength of Morris and the others, as well as the undead knights' response.

Morris and his two companions instantly activated, like three black lightning bolts blending into the environment!

The two assassins were a fraction faster, leaving faint afterimages on the platform. The dark energy they gathered in their hands transformed into several fine, hair-like "shadow threads" that almost completely blended into the ambient light!

These shadowy threads, like living, venomous snakes, silently coiled around the skeletal body of the undead knight leader, targeting his energy nodes and limb joints!

It's Shadow Keep's signature control skill—Shadow Bind!

At the same time, Morris himself appeared like a ghost directly in front of the undead knight, and in his hand appeared a simple-looking dagger with a viscous dark liquid flowing from its blade.

The dagger exuded an extremely cold and filthy aura, as if it could devour light and souls—it was the Void Severing Dagger that had severed the connection between the Corrupted Ancient Tree Lord and the altar.

"Soul-Devouring Thorn!"

Morris let out a low shout, and the short dagger, accompanied by a soul-tearing shriek, transformed into a deep black stream of light, piercing straight towards the burning blue soul fire above the undead knight's neck!

This attack was ruthless and vicious, striking directly at the vital point!

Their offensive was fierce, and their teamwork was impeccable!

The art of assassination in Shadow Keep was displayed to its fullest extent!

Kate even saw that the undead knight's energy body seemed to be stunned by this sudden deadly threat, and its movements faltered slightly!

However, just as the Shadow Silk was about to entangle the Undead Knight, and Morris's Soul-Eating Spike was less than three feet from the Soulfire Core—

"roar-!!!"

A soul roar, seemingly from the deepest abyss, filled with endless resentment and majesty, suddenly erupted from the headless chest of the undead knight!

This roar was not a sound wave, but an impact that directly affected the soul!

Buzz!

The terrifying soul impact was like an invisible tsunami, instantly sweeping across the entire platform!

Morris was the first to be hit!

His determined thrust suddenly faltered, the dark energy on the dagger fluctuating violently, like a candle flickering in the wind. He groaned, and the eerie green soul flame swayed, clearly indicating that his soul had been violently shaken!

The two subordinates were even worse!

They were closer together, and the "Shadow Binding" technique, which they were fully controlling, was instantly shattered by the raging roar of the soul!

The two were struck as if by an invisible hammer, staggering backward, blood spilling from their mouths, and their condensed energy nearly dissipating!

The undead knight's sluggish movements resumed instantly, even faster!

Its crimson soul fire locked onto Maurice, and the two-handed greatsword in its hand, made of pure death energy, burst forth with a monstrous black light, accompanied by a shriek that tore through space. With a powerful sweep, it slashed fiercely at Maurice, who was stiffened by the soul impact!

Morris is indeed a top assassin. In the moment of crisis, he forcibly suppressed the soul shock and unleashed a crazy burst of shadow energy!

His body twisted and bent backwards in a bizarre way, as if it had no bones, and narrowly slid past the blade of the giant sword that exuded a chilling aura of death!

But the sharp sword energy still tore a corner of his cloak, leaving a chilling, corrosive feeling.

But the undead knight's attack was not over! It seemed to possess extremely high combat intelligence. While sweeping away Morris, it slammed its free left hand into the ground!

"Undead Trample - Wither!"

boom!

A dark gray, ring-shaped wave of death energy suddenly spread out from its center!

Wherever it passed, the ground was instantly covered with a layer of gray-white death frost, exuding an aura of withering away all things!

The two assassins who had just regained their footing were hit by this area-of-effect attack again!

The protective shadow energy dissipated violently as if it had encountered its nemesis. The two screamed and were violently thrown away by the shockwave, crashing heavily into the crystal rock wall in the distance. The shadow disguise on their bodies was completely shattered, revealing two pale faces with blood flowing from their mouths and noses. Their auras instantly weakened by more than half!

Just one glance!

The assassination attempt meticulously planned by Shadow Keep crumbled instantly under the undead knight's terrifying soul roar and exquisite combat counterattack!

Morris dodged in a sorry state, while two of his elite men were seriously injured and on the verge of death!

Kate was shocked! This undead knight was even stronger than he had expected!

Especially its terrifying soul roar and area-of-effect withering trampling, it is simply the nemesis of the Shadow Assassin!

Morris and his two companions clearly underestimated their opponents' strength.

The fighting has not stopped.

The undead knight seemed to be completely enraged. It roared and abandoned its two temporarily harmless subordinates, letting its minions deal with them, while its soulfire locked onto Morris, the strongest intruder.

Morris's confidence, fueled by his ghostly green soulfire, froze instantly, turning into chilling horror.

The leader of the undead knights—General Mordred, the skeleton—suddenly turned his head, burning with ghostly blue soulfire, towards the shadow where the three of them were hiding!

It didn't roar or howl; it simply raised its arm, covered in dark bone armor, and silently pointed the runic greatsword in its hand, cracked and wreathed in death energy, in their direction!

A cold, heavy will, seemingly capable of freezing the soul, locked onto the three of them!

"Oh no! He's awake! Let's go!" Maurice's voice was hoarse and urgent for the first time!

Without hesitation, his shadow magic surged wildly within him, attempting to tear through space and perform a shadow jump!

The other two apprentices from Shadowhold reacted just as quickly, their figures blurring instantly as they blended into the environment, preparing to disappear into the shadows!

However, just as they were about to merge into the shadows!

"Ugh—!!!"

A deep, resonant sound, as if from the depths of hell, resounded directly at the level of the soul!

It wasn't a sound, but a charge command issued by the leader of the undead knights through a mental link!

Rumble—!!!

The entire Valley of Bones seemed to be trembling!

Led by Mordred, the remaining twenty skeleton knights instantly adjusted their formation!

They were no longer patrolling loosely, but instantly formed a sharp, chisel-like wedge-shaped assault formation!

The eerie green soul fire in the skeletal warhorse's eye sockets suddenly burst into flame! Its thick bone hooves slammed heavily onto the ground covered in bone dust, producing a dull, thunderous roar!

A visible torrent of purplish-black energy, composed of condensed death energy, resentment shockwaves, and pure physical kinetic energy, instantly formed in front of the Knights, like the River Styx bursting its banks!

This torrent, carrying a terrifying will to tear everything apart and crush souls, did not shoot directly, but rather slammed into the area where Morris and his two companions were located like an invisible giant hammer!

Space was forcibly "frozen"!

Morris felt as if his shadow had struck an invisible wall of sighs made of pure impact!

"puff--!"

The apprentice next to him who was the first to jump was just halfway through his blurry figure when he was slammed into by the violent torrent of charging energy!

Like a rag doll thrown about by a speeding train!

His shadow disguise shattered instantly, and he fell from mid-air like a kite with a broken string!

The moment his leg and half of his body came into contact with the torrent of energy, they dissolved and vaporized silently, as if they had been thrown into a block of ice with strong acid! He didn't even have time to scream!

The protection mechanism of the All-Encompassing Recorder activated instantly, and a soft silver light enveloped his mangled body, ejecting him from the Trial Tower! Only half a charred leg and a patch of ground sizzling from the corrosion of death energy remained on the spot!

Another apprentice was a step slower, but he was also swept by the edge of the torrent. The shadow shield on his body shattered like paper. He groaned and was sent flying backward as if he had been hit in the chest by a heavy hammer. He spat out blood and crashed heavily onto the pile of bones in the distance. He was weak and struggled to get up.

Morris himself was on the verge of being swept away by the tide of destruction!

His eyes blazed with a fierce light; the shadow of death had never been so close!

"Void-Severing Dagger! Open for me!"

He roared, and the eerie dagger in his right hand, formed from shadows, shone with an intense, ghostly light!

He stopped trying to jump and instead poured all his magic into the dagger!

Buzz!

The tip of the dagger erupted with an extreme darkness!

Morris slashed fiercely at the surging torrent of energy rushing towards him!

Sizzle—!

A deep, black rift, seemingly connected to nothingness, appeared out of thin air and precisely struck the most violent front of the charging torrent!

There was no earth-shattering explosion!

That torrent of charging energy, powerful enough to tear apart space and shatter souls, encountered an invisible black hole, and a portion of its energy at the front end was instantly swallowed and annihilated by that black rift!

The pressure on Morris suddenly eased!

But the cost is enormous!

"puff!"

Morris suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood tinged with eerie green light! Forcibly activating the Void Severing Dagger to cut off such a violent energy flow had caused him to suffer a severe backlash! His mental strength instantly weakened!

He seized this critical moment, his body springing backward like a spring compressed to its limit! It was no longer an elegant, shadowy leap, but a chaotic, high-speed escape fueled by burning magic!

Whoosh—!

His figure transformed into a dim gray shadow, skimming the ground as he frantically rushed towards the valley entrance!

It was incredibly fast, covering nearly a kilometer in an instant!

Although the front of the Undead Knights' charge was weakened, their massive body still resembled an out-of-control train, crashing violently into the area where Morris had originally been hiding!

Boom! ...

The earth cracked! Bones shattered! A violent shockwave of death energy, mixed with physical shock, swept outwards!

The Shadow Keep apprentice, who was swept away by the torrent and fell to the ground severely injured, didn't even utter a sound before being completely swallowed up and annihilated by the subsequent energy.

The protective glow of the Vientiane recorder didn't even have time to fully illuminate!

Morris appeared staggering a kilometer away, his face ashen and his breathing erratic.

Without hesitation, he pulled out a potion emitting an ominous blackish-purple mist from his dimensional bag, tilted his head back, and swallowed the potion. Instantly, a violent and chaotic magical energy surged from his body, forcibly boosting his previously weak aura, even carrying a hint of unstable madness.

He dared not linger, and once again transformed into an even faster gray shadow, rushing out of the valley without looking back, completely abandoning his goal here.

The Undead Knights completed this terrifying charge.

General Mordred reined in his skeletal warhorse, which was also wreathed in soulfire, and slowly turned it around.

The immense energy drain from the charge, along with the burning soul fire from forcibly locking onto the shadow during the jump, plunged the entire knight order into a brief period of weakness.

The soul fire in the knights' eyes dimmed considerably, the skeletal warhorses moved more stiffly, and the deathly aura swirling around their bodies weakened.

Mordred's azure soulfire beneath his helmet swept across the area of ​​destruction caused by the charge, confirming that the two "bugs" had been crushed, but the strongest "bug" had escaped.

Instead of giving chase, it turned its gaze back to the center of the valley, to the area filled with broken spears, as if that was its eternal obsession.

Just as the knights finished their charge, their formation became slightly loose, and their morale plummeted!

"Now!"

Kate, who had been lurking at the top of the giant wing bone fossil like the most patient viper, suddenly flashed a fierce light in her eyes!