Chapter 991: Prey
Every level of the Well of the Sun was a vast and boundless palace, and every building was so magnificent that humans seemed just like ants when they were in there. Most importantly, the materials that the palaces were made of were not affected much during the disaster of the collapse of the Tree of Eternity. Thus, they had to be very st.u.r.dy and durable.
Lin Li landed in the palace, and while he was flying close to the ground, he downed a healing potion that he had already prepared. Fortunately, the arrow that had struck him had already turned into mana and dissipated. The medicinal effects of the potion kicked in quickly and healed his wounds.
The Immortal King’s incarnation did not follow Lin Li into the palaces, and instead continuously changed positions above the palace complex under the shroud of the Domain World. On the other hand, he was keeping his eyes fixed on Lin Li, and thus the latter would not be able to escape his gaze even if he hid in a certain palace. It was as if the obstruction of those buildings didn’t exist.
Moreover, while the Immortal King’s incarnation was chasing Lin Li, the Stars of Fury in his hands were also continuously emitting thunderous roars. Under the effect of the Hunter’s unique archery, each arrow was like a missile that was continuously chasing after Lin Li as it continued to fall. Although the palaces that gave Lin Li some cover managed to survive in the disaster, they were not so lucky this time, and turned into debris under the bombardment of the arrows.
At this moment, the members of the expedition who were fighting the armies of the alternate world finally noticed that the battle in the sky had somehow disappeared. They then heard the sounds of violent explosions, which were getting farther and farther away from them. In the face of such a situation, no one would be unaware of what happened. The faces of most people in the expedition turned extremely sullen.
“He escaped, he actually escaped just like that! I could already tell long ago that he was just using us as cannon fodder!” Prince Kanber of the Rotterdam Kingdom was initially already extremely displeased with Lin Li. However, he only behaved properly because of Donald’s persuasion and his fear towards Lin Li who was a Sanctuary powerhouse. Now that they were facing the oppression of the enemy and suffering continuous casualties, Kanber flew into an uncontrollable rage, especially since Lin Li was no longer around.
“No, there must be a reason why Master Felic did that.” Donald got a great shock because of Kanber’s words, and he hurriedly looked over at the Tower of Dusk’s team. At the same time, he also wanted to give Kanber a reminder. After all, even if Lin Li was not there, the Tower of Dusk’s team was definitely much stronger than the people of the Rotterdam Kingdom.
Of course, deep down, Donald actually had the same thoughts as Kanber. Although the Tower of Dusk’s team was also there, even peak-level Legendary powerhouses were just like ants in the eyes of Sanctuary powerhouses. Hence, in Donald’s opinion, it really wasn’t surprising at all that Lin Li had abandoned the Tower of Dusk’s team in such a situation.
However, he could not voice his thoughts out loud despite feeling that way. After all, the Tower of Dusk was now quite a powerful force in the expedition. Even if the people of the Tower of Dusk would not fall out with them after hearing those words, their morale would definitely be greatly affected. At the end of the day, no one would feel good about being abandoned.
Although he had gotten a hint from Donald, Kanber was clearly already pent up with anger throughout the journey. Now that he finally had a chance to criticize Lin Li, how could he let it go so easily? Hence, he nonchalantly said, “Hmph, what reason could there be? He just didn’t expect the enemy to ignore us and make him his absolute-priority target.”
“Shut up, Master Felic is deliberately trying to lure the enemy away. Otherwise, none of us would be able to resist the aftershock of the collisions between two Sanctuary powerhouses!” To everyone’s surprise, Archbishop Martin was the one speaking up for Lin Li and berating Kanber instead of the people of the Tower of Dusk.
Archbishop Martin was old and wise, so of course he couldn’t see everything in an optimistic manner. However, the issue was the fact that Kanber said that Lin Li had escaped would affect more than just the morale of the members of the Tower of Dusk’s team. In the current situation, a powerhouse like Lin Li was everyone’s pillar of support, and whether they could survive or not depended on him. Kanber’s statement would affect the morale of everyone in the expedition.
Hence, after hearing such idiotic words from Kanber, Archbishop Martin wished that he could knock all his teeth off. Of course, if an archbishop fought with a Knight, it would be obvious whose teeth would be knocked out.
However, deep down, Archbishop Martin wished that Lin Li could escape. He did not forget that Lin Li still had another magic item that could quickly improve the Holy Light devotees’ strength significantly, and was extremely valuable to the Brilliance Shrine.
Archbishop Martin certainly did not want to die, either, but he was well aware of the current situation. Not only did the enemy have a powerful army, they even had a more powerful Sanctuary powerhouse. Regardless of which perspective he looked from, the expedition did not have a single advantage. Hence, he felt that the successful escape of a Sanctuary powerhouse who was of crucial importance to the development of the Brilliance Shrine was considered a good outcome.
However, their conversation had actually had some effect on the rest of the members of the expedition. Some might believe Kanber, while some might believe Archbishop Martin, but no matter what, that still caused some flaws in the defense of the expedition.
At this moment, the expedition was already withstanding more pressure than it could endure when facing the elite army from the alternate world. The flaws that might usually seem inconspicuous were the last straw that broke the camel’s back in this situation.
“Idiot! Stupid!” Archbishop Martin and Donald cursed almost unanimously. At this juncture, no one could be bothered about Prince Kanber’s status anymore. The two of them definitely had adequate reason to be angry because Kanber’s statement was the reason for the sudden increase in casualties of the expedition and the cause of them slipping into a dangerous situation.
Seeing that a few Alchemy Colossuses had been destroyed in the blink of an eye, Kanber seemed to have also realized that he made a mistake. He secretly cursed Lin Li in his heart for escaping the battlefield, as well as Archbishop Martin and Donald who had scolded and insulted him. However, on the surface, he did not dare to say anything much.
In the entire expedition, only the Tower of Dusk’s team did not have any casualties during the crisis. Although the mages of the Tower of Dusk were also affected, they were in the center of the expedition, and even if they were injured, only the members of the team of the Rotterdam Kingdom who were in the periphery would be affected. Besides, there were many Legendary powerhouses who were competent enough to handle the unexpected situation in the Tower of Dusk’s team.
At this moment, a ma.s.sive Alchemy Array appeared in the center of the ground of the expedition, followed by a figure that was far taller than the Alchemy Colossuses of the Rotterdam Kingdom appearing in the center of the Alchemy Array. Angelano, who had been hiding among the mages and protected by them, finally couldn’t hold back any longer when faced with the crisis of the expedition.
Clearly, the timid Angelano no longer felt safe under the protection of the mages. Hence, he summoned his t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus—he would only feel at ease when hiding in his Alchemy Colossus.
After entering the Alchemy Colossus, Angelano stopped being cowardly, and instead swung the Alchemy Colossus’s spear in a circle above his head. After he smashed the Dragon Knights, he yelled, “Lowly bugs, shiver under the might of Lord Angelano!”
Under Angelano’s control, the Alchemy Colossus bypa.s.sed the expedition’s defenses, and crushed more than 10 heavily armored infantrymen with its steel feet. The giant pillar-like steel spear swung through the air with infinite might, and even if it only grazed the Dragon Knights a little, many of them ended up with broken bones and tendons.
Angelano’s Alchemy Colossus was a true t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus. Compared to it, the Alchemy Colossuses of the Rotterdam Kingdom’s team were just like children’s toys. The t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus was a true dragon-slaying artifact that truly allowed goblins to create a short but outstanding civilization in the history of Anril.
“Alchemy Colossus? Is this the legendary t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus!? How is that possible!?” The metallurgists of the Rotterdam Kingdom’s team stared wide-eyed at the majestic Alchemy Colossus.
In the Rotterdam Kingdom, which claimed to have alchemical civilization as its foundation, people only heard of the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus in legends, and there were even many master metallurgists who a.s.serted that there would be no t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus in this world, because even if it was made so large, it would involve a lot of unattainable technology that they could not even think of. It was even more so for the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus that, according to legends, could exert Legendary-level combat power and even contend with Sanctuary powerhouses.
However, the people of the Rotterdam Kingdom never thought that the dwarf in funny armor from the Tower of Dusk’s team would actually summon a t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus. If it weren’t for the fact that they were fighting a strong enemy at this moment, the metallurgists of the Rotterdam Kingdom would immediately stop whatever they were doing and swarm over to study the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus.
“We must get it, we have to get it!” muttered Prince Kanber who had been scolded by Archbishop Martin and Donald. When he saw the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus, he forgot the unhappiness in his heart, and began breathing rapidly while muttering to himself.
Since Donald was right next to Kanber, he naturally heard the latter mumbling. However, he did not reprimand Kanber this time, because he was actually thinking the same thing. He could totally imagine the great advancement in alchemical civilization that could be achieved if they could obtain the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus and the various technologies contained within it.
However, it was definitely not easy to get that t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus. Regardless of whether they could overcome the hurdle in front of them, even if they were able to return safely in the end, they would undoubtedly be courting death if they tried to s.n.a.t.c.h an Alchemy Colossus from a Sanctuary powerhouse. The combat power of the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus itself was not something that ordinary forces could contend with.
Not only did the appearance of the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus affect the members of the Rotterdam Kingdom’s team, the incredible combat power that could contend with a Sanctuary powerhouse also played a significant role in helping with the expedition’s current situation. The expedition’s members who nearly collapsed finally became equally matched with the army of the alternate world again with the help of the t.i.tan-level Alchemy Colossus.
However, everyone knew that the state of equilibrium was actually unstable, and if Lin Li could not deal with the Sanctuary-level enemy, the expedition would still face an inevitable death.
At this moment, Lin Li was also clear about the situation faced by the expedition through the soul contact. However, being chased by the Immortal King’s incarnation, he was now in a difficult position to protect himself, and there was no other solution he could think of other than taking the gamble like what he had thought.
However, Lin Li also managed to convey his message to the Tower of Dusk’s team through the soul contact. He told the servants who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm to look after and protect the other members of the Tower of Dusk. As for those from the teams of the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom, he decided to leave them to their own devices as that was the fate of cannon fodder.
The Immortal King’s incarnation was following closely behind Lin Li, and the Stars of Fury in his hand were continuously roaring and casting arrows from the Endless World’s game system. However, Lin Li managed to find a way to escape precisely because he was performing those archery techniques which Lin Li was familiar with.
With the knowledge of those archery techniques of the Hunter, Lin Li, who was engrossed in scurrying away, suddenly changed directions as if there were eyes on his back. He then shot into the palace at the side. The position that he was in was where more than 10 arrows landed at the speed of lightning. A violent, groundbreaking explosion followed immediately afterwards.
It was the Rapid Explosion Arrows that was a fusion of the Rapid Arrow and Explosive Arrow archery techniques, which Lin Li had obtained after performing a series of quests in the Endless World. After obtaining it, it became the skill that Lin Li used the most often to kill monsters. After attracting a large group of monsters, he would launch a few rounds of Rapid Explosion Arrows and watch in joy as his EXP bar filled rapidly.
Unfortunately, when it was his turn to be the prey, Lin Li could not feel happy at all. At most 15 Rapid Explosion Arrows could be launched in a row, and the explosive power of each of them was equivalent to Legendary-level magic spells. Even though Lin Li was now a Sanctuary powerhouse, he would still suffer dire consequences after being struck by one.