38 Into the Ruins Part 1 (1/2)

”Let’s go.” Saleen pulled up Canghong and motioned for Sika to carry Sarah. Without much explanation, they quickly left the mound. His instincts warned him that he was in danger. If they rested here any longer, he was afraid that they wouldn’t be able to leave.

From afar came the growls of magic beasts, some fearful, some excited, and others full of anger. Saleen realized for the first time that a magic beast’s growl could contain such emotions.

However, it was too late for regrets and he could only activate the enormous energy from the mage robe, which granted him tremendous speed with which to run away.

He wasn’t afraid of the magic beasts. Sika had the ability to tame them. He was afraid of the people from the sacred Holy See. If they realized that he carried the magic nucleus of the dragon, even if there were no animosity between him and them, would that guarantee that they would not take action? This was the Chaotic Swamp; any killings would go unnoticed.

Saleen remembered clearly that back then, a single gold coin had almost cost him his life. The magic nucleus of a dragon was definitely something that had a much higher value and was worth stealing. Green dragon, green dragon!

Damn it. The professional union’s news had been purely lies. The green dragon had already been killed. This batch had caught the attention of the Red Line bandits after the dragon had been slaughtered by the Qin swordmasters. It was highly likely that this mission had been posted by the Qin swordmasters to confuse mercenaries who were nearby.

Green dragons were low class dragons; however, the value of their magic nuclei could not be compared to those of normal magic beasts. A great number of mercenaries would forgo their work ethics and kill for this magic nucleus.

”Keke…”

A strange noise appeared. What accompanied this almost cough-like noise was the shaking of the ground.

”Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The sounds of steady footsteps led Saleen to turn around. What greeted him was the sight of a hill-like beast charging towards them. This beast was even larger than a giant dragon, and was at least thirty meters across. It had yellowish-brown skin with a single eye in the center of its forehead. It had a face similar to that of a human’s, only its skin was filled with scars, its nose was caved in, saliva drooled from his mouth, and a disgusting aura wafted from it even from afar.

Saleen lacked the common knowledge of a mercenary but had seen a lot of magic maps. This thing was too easy to recognize: a Grade 7 magic beast, hill cyclops.

Legend had it that hill cyclops were the descendants of giants. During the reign of the First Dynasty, humans had still possessed brutal strength. They captured many strange living things, and giants had been one of them.

Hill cyclops did not have the intelligence of giants, nor did they have their magic skills. However, because of their tough physical bodies, even the dragon clan would not go through the trouble of offending them. This creature had no wits. When it encountered any opponent, no matter how strong they were, it would pounce and fight with it. For the dragon clan, the hill cyclops were similar to gummy candies, because once they latched on there was no escaping. For Saleen and the others, this gummy candy would be their killer.

Sika panicked. She had no means of communicating with the hill cyclops, because this creature could not recognize anyone. Even during its mating phase, it could bite its lover to death. This explained why there were so few hill cyclops around.

Canghong was even more flustered, never having faced a Grade 7 magic beast before. Even a grand mage would not offend it, much less a small mercenary like him. Canghong realized sadly that being with this junior magician, he would forever encounter worsening things ahead of him.

The Vulture Regiment, sacred Holy See, Red Line bandits, and now a hill cyclops. What was even more vexing was that he had hired Saleen for a price much higher than what the union offered. This was a typical case of getting what one deserved.

The hill cyclops was not fast but its legs were over ten meters long. No matter how slowly it took a step, it was much faster than Saleen and the others. This location was a flat plain. There was no way Saleen and the others could hide.

”Canghong, how far away are the ruins!” Saleen shouted at the top of his lungs. At this point in time, he was no longer afraid of alerting the magic beasts.

”I have no idea. I can’t link up with the map!” Canghong started to pant. He was only trained so much in the sword aura and he was injured. The healing abilities of restorative water were nowhere near as fast as holy water. Perhaps if he had been given a week to recover, he could outrun the beast behind.

”Right side!” Saleen voice cracked from all the shouting. At this moment, Sika gained a burst of speed and grabbed Saleen by his waist. They ran past Canghong and dove headfirst into the pond that Saleen had pointed at. Canghong couldn’t have cared less about being angry. When fighting for one’s life, what counted was a person’s abilities. You couldn’t blame anyone for running faster than you.

The four of them landed in the water and the hill cyclops gave an angry growl and chased them forward, circling around the pond. It tested the water with its gigantic feet and realized it was very deep. Even along the edge, it couldn’t reach the bottom with its feet.

The hill cyclops couldn’t swim but wasn’t ready to give up its prey like this. It dug out a giant rock from the ground and threw it at the pond. Canghong’s head which was above the surface was nearly crushed by the giant rock. He immediately ducked his head back down in fear.

Saleen could breathe naturally underwater. This was the moment where the advantages of his magic chords shone. Deep waters were the best protective environment for Saleen. It was a good place for Sika, too, for she was good with water and it was nearly impossible to tell that she hardly showered. Only Sarah had not recovered from her injuries. Despite being more advanced with her sword aura than Canghong, she could hardly hold her breath any longer.