Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 175 Chanting in the Shadows
The three men, wielding flame-wreathed dual weapons, pounced on the troll minions who were still sprawled on the ground, unable to even get up. Each blow was a powerful and vital strike, and every slash was a fatal blow aimed straight at their necks.

The trolls, who had suffered horrific misfortunes such as decapitation and skull crushing, had their last hope of powerful regeneration extinguished by the scorching flames in a crimson despair.

The remaining trolls, who were not affected, were about to rush over to teach these opportunistic executioners a lesson when they were held back by the pawns' tenacious resistance.

This was obviously orchestrated by some unscrupulous mage in the shadows. All the pieces moved forward, and the original convex arc formation quickly switched to a concave crescent formation under a silent command, transforming from resistance to encirclement.

Their intention was crystal clear: to divide and separate the trolls, preventing them from supporting and helping each other, thus creating the ideal environment for Münster and his men to slaughter them.

In just over ten seconds, five more trolls fell at the feet of the berserker trio with huge, carbonized wounds, while the continuous ranged fire from behind brought three or four trolls to the brink of death before finishing them off.

The battle group, which originally consisted of more than twenty trolls, has now lost nearly half of its members.

Zul'jin, as the leader, was absolutely furious, but he was being brutally beaten by that damned stone golem riding on his back and couldn't even break free. His furious but futile clawing could only scrape off some stone fragments, and he was powerless to change his current predicament.

The entire troll warband's formation resembled a pie cut in half. The back row was firmly blocked by the warrior pieces, while the vanguard, which had suffered heavy blows, was surrounded and almost wiped out.

On this fiercely fought battlefield, where blood and flesh flew everywhere, a certain mage seemed to be invisible, completely without any presence. No, not seemingly, Zhang Yuan had actually cast an invisibility spell on himself and quietly disappeared.

When the trolls' offensive came like a tidal wave and the pieces tried their best to resist, he remained calm and composed; when a small hammer struck decisively, breaking through the enemy's vitals, he did not press his advantage.

No matter how the situation changed, Zhang remained unmoved, quietly adjusting the deployment of his pieces, observing the battle as if he were an outsider.

The situation on the battlefield was not out of control; on the contrary, it was tilting in his favor. So he was not in a hurry to intervene and instead observed and considered a problem.

Upon hearing the news of the enemy attack and seeing that the trolls had actually come to their doorstep, Zhang Yuan was puzzled by their motives and methods, even as he arranged for defense and counterattack.

If the two sides were to encounter each other on their journey, it would be perfectly understandable for them to fight, since there is no reason to argue between civilization and barbarism. But what is the situation right now?
Canaan and his party had been traveling for almost a day from the crime scene, and were already outside the troll's territory. They hadn't done anything conspicuous along the way, so why were these trolls so persistent?

Even if we take a step back and assume that, for some reason, our group somehow holds a lofty position in the chaotic mind of the trolls, like the flesh of Tang Sanzang, making them desperate to keep the Canaan Squad.

So how did the trolls, who had never met or made contact with the team, know about their existence and even pinpoint their location so accurately?
The only possible point of intersection, or indirect contact, between the two is the wreckage of that caravan, where there must be something crucial that attracted them.

Thinking of the small box sealed by the magic lock, Zhang Yuan became even more cautious and wary. The savage and ferocious trolls couldn't possibly care about these material possessions; there must be some factor driving them from behind the scenes.

He was waiting, waiting for the balance of power on the battlefield to completely tip in his favor, waiting for the possible mastermind behind the scenes to finally intervene and turn the tide.

"... sharoon... saken Crypt... Potentis, Paro"

A somber, oppressive chant echoed faintly across the fierce battlefield. Had Zhang Yuan not been constantly on guard, he might have missed it, letting it be drowned out by the sounds of battle. Through this intermittent chant, Zhang Yuan noticed that its incantation and the third-circle spell's dispelling magic had many similarities, as well as some variations in words and incantations.

Tsk~ The mage was somewhat surprised by the opponent's keen insight, having found the weaknesses of the pieces so quickly.

Indeed, the reason why the warrior pieces were able to withstand the troll's offensive so tenaciously was due to those powerful synergy effects. Apart from that, those level 1 pieces themselves were only roughly equivalent to relatively strong low-level warriors.

As the white halo of dispelling the magic flickers, all the synergy effects of the chess pieces are dispelled. Due to the constant existence of the chess pieces themselves, this dispelling effect is not permanent and can only last for about 12 to 24 seconds.

But this was enough to change the situation on the field. Once the heavy armor protection and the extra durability effect similar to fake life on those level 1 pieces were stripped away, they were just a bunch of ordinary summons. How could they withstand the trolls' almost frenzied and ferocious attacks?

In just the first round of combat, the pieces were left with deep wounds from the trolls' sharp claws. If it weren't for the sturdy construction of their constructs, this round would have been enough to cripple several pieces.

Meanwhile, one of the spellcasters hidden behind the troll warband began another round of spellcasting.

However, he didn't have a chance to speak again. A magic circle that looked like it was formed from flowing blood suddenly started operating, and in an instant, it turned into a blood-red light that swept across the entire rear of the troll warband.

This is the signature move of the two-cost minion Blood Demon – Blood Sacrifice: Blood Demon spends approximately three seconds performing a holy blood baptism on an area. Upon completion of the sacrifice, it deals damage to enemies within the area that ignores immunity effects and silences them for five seconds.

As soon as he caught the opponent's chanting, Zhang Yuan tried to locate the opponent's position based on the sound source, but in the chaotic battlefield, he could only make a rough guess.

This is enough!

The three-second casting delay resulted in a wide range of effects. Blood Sacrifice unsurprisingly enveloped most of the trolls along with the hidden caster, and suddenly erupted just as the opponent was preparing for the second spell.

How effective is it? You can tell from the sudden stop of the spellcasting.

Zhang himself did not remain a bystander any longer.

"Cupio, Virtus, Lice"

As the invisible waves of the powerful sleep spell rippled outwards, the trolls, whose blood flow had just been affected by the blood sacrifice spell and who were spitting blood, suddenly felt that they were too tired and it was too difficult, and that they should take a break.

The three-ring enchantment spell was quite effective. The trolls, who had launched a fierce attack on the chess pieces' crumbling defenses, had more than half of them fall in a short time. Among the few scattered green-skinned creatures, a short, black-robed figure stood out conspicuously.

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(End of this chapter)