The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 72 Is it too late to give you my head now?

Shatter understood the importance of finishing off the enemy, but the constant damage from the attacks forced him to temporarily halt his offensive.

A faint green aura enveloped the 'skull's' forehead, preventing the mace from completely piercing the skull despite the blood streaming down his face.

When people's physical constitutions are roughly the same, [False Life] is one of the few low-level spells that can directly increase the strength of flesh and blood.

"Tougher than my body!"

Taking advantage of the opponent's dizziness from being hit to the ground and not yet able to recover, Shatterstone swung the nail-headed hammer in his hand again and brought it down with a bang.

But before it could even touch it, the 'Skull' cried out in surprise, uttering incomprehensible incantations in its dazed state.

Just as the hammer was about to touch his cheek, a thick cloud of white mist suddenly enveloped his thin body, and the hammerhead plunged into the mist, thus missing its target.

The mist drifted away with the wind, flashing away almost instantly to a distance of twenty feet.

The 'skull' stood far away, howling in pain and panting heavily, unable to conceal its inner shock:

"What kind of power is that? [Divine Guidance]? No, it doesn't have that much effect, and you don't seem like a priest at all..."

He wasn't even aware of what had just happened.

The dwarf warrior's spiked mace shouldn't have shattered his shield at all—

Until that strange song began, the 'skull's' composure turned into terror.

"Oh, should I introduce myself?"

Tang Qi raised an eyebrow.
"But isn't it a waste of breath to explain so much to someone who's about to die?"

He didn't consider himself one of those villains who would pretend to be something they'd already gained, and he didn't readily reveal the power he possessed.

But to be honest, I seem to have really underestimated the role of the poet's inspiration.

Unlike other spellcasters, bards need to indirectly help their teammates through crowd control spells during low-level battles.

Characters like Nova, when conflicts break out, can only play a role in dividing the situation on the battlefield with their meager spell slots.

However, the core effect of [Poet's Inspiration] determines the essence of Tang Qi's role in supporting his teammates—

He can directly enhance his teammates' combat capabilities.

If the rising stars made up for the mercenaries' shortcomings of 'lack of flexibility' and 'limited methods'...

Tang Qi was an extension of the strengths of the broken stone: 'abundant stamina' and 'immense power'.

There is actually no superiority or inferiority between the two.

The only difference is that ordinary low-level spellcasters are almost useless when facing high-level battles.

Just like Kuru now, even if he releases ten thousand [Freezing Rays], he might not be able to hit the 'Skull' even once.

But when Tang Qi, who was of the same low level, encouraged the breaking of stones, he could unleash his power to the fullest extent.

Even if he is individually very weak, he can still influence the entire battle.

In other words, a bard's potential actually depends on his teammates.

However, due to a lack of combat experience, an unfamiliarity with the initial mastery of power, and even the psychological trauma of nearly dying at the hands of an old goblin...

Tang Qi failed to realize this, thus underestimating himself:

"I'm not a warrior, why would I use a scimitar for close combat?"

Skilled scimitar technique is merely an add-on, a last resort when all other options are exhausted.

In a battle against a high-level mage, protecting yourself and encouraging Stonebreaker to unleash its full power is far more effective than fighting a bone hand alone.

"Damn it, I'll skin that old goblin alive sooner or later..."

Tang Qi composed himself and took a deep breath.

When he saw the filthy blood on the 'skull's' forehead, spread across his gaunt face, making him look like a ravenous ghoul, he shouted:

"If I'm not mistaken, he has used three first-ring spell slots, three second-ring spell slots, and at most one fourth-ring Arcane Eye so far."

He doesn't have many resources at his disposal!
This means... that the High Ring Mage is not invincible!

"You've got it, poet!"

Shattered Stone laughed heartily. The hard blow to the head earlier had eased his tension, and a surge of confidence had welled up within him.
"You can count them, I can't recognize so many strange spells."

When facing a spellcaster, it is essential to assess their remaining resources and prepare accordingly.

The database in his mind allowed Tang Qi to be well-versed in the effects of commonly used spells.

Now, this has become an asset in this battle, greatly boosting their confidence.

In contrast, the 'skull's' face appeared much gloomy:
"I thought I only needed to be wary of this dwarf, but it turns out you're the one I should be most careful about..."

He changed his primary target, and a thin wisp of white mist suddenly condensed in his hand. A pale and ethereal bone hand, carrying a bone-chilling cold, pointed directly at Tang Qi's location.

"Begging for mercy now seems a bit too deliberate."

Tang Qi sheathed the 'Snake Kiss' sword, and as he sang a melodious tune, he turned the lute on his back and strummed a chord.
"I won't even give you 'Wolf's' head!"

The song reached the ears of the stone fragments, and even his breathing became steady.

It was as if the physical strength had only gone around outside and was now returning to its own body.

He strode forward, feeling surprisingly light and even faster than the taller men. He rushed between them, the [Arrow Absorption Shield] gleaming, as the pale bone claws pounded against the heavy shield.

Immediately afterwards, he raised the tower shield high, covering his entire body, and simultaneously pushed off the ground with both feet:
"[Shield Charge]!"

In Tang Qi's eyes, the stone suddenly flickered into a phantom, like a wild bear cub, and pounced on the necromancer who looked embarrassed.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and 'Skull' dared not hold back any longer.

As the obscure whisper escaped his lips, a glint of eerie green light flashed in his eyes.

At that moment, his skull truly seemed to have shed its flesh, with only his bloodshot eyes staring at the rubble:

"[Spell]!"

Just as the spiritual light flickered before him, about to envelop the incoming shield, the tower shield in front of him suddenly disappeared as if it were a distorted phantom.

"I always said the taller the person, the dumber they are!"

A loud, boisterous laugh came from behind!
"impossible!?"

Without having time to think about what had happened, he quickly activated the last element: [Shield Spell].

But at that moment, Tang Qi's singing was like a death knell; the more joyful and energetic he became, the more terrified Tang Qi became.
"I thought the 'scholar' was very knowledgeable, but it turns out he's just a fool who can't even distinguish the [Silent Phantom]!"

The 'Skull' then realized that the tower shield had completely obscured the shape of the rubble and most of his vision.

So much so that they completely failed to notice that the kobold lying on the ground in the distance, feigning death, was secretly using [Silent Illusion] to create a convincing illusion—

They tricked him out of one of his three-ring 'curses'!
No matter how much he considered himself respectable, the enormous losses inevitably led him to curse:
"How the hell could someone so short be completely hidden by a shield?!"

"You wait until I smash your legs!"

"Bang, bang!"

The mace struck the invisible force field with tremendous force, yet the immense power showed no signs of diminishing.
"Again!"

"Bang, bang!"

When he heard the muffled cracking sound of four sudden chisels striking in the song, 'Skull' realized that he was probably doomed.

He wanted to use the same trick again, using the [Stealth Step] to teleport to a greater distance.

But he discovered that his second ring space had been completely squeezed dry!

Do we need to use a three-ring ring for this?

Given that the entire Third Ring Road has already been wasted?
The mage's frail body could not withstand the second blow from the dwarf warrior!

We can't let ourselves be worn down like this any longer!
Without much hesitation, 'Skull' gritted his teeth and made a decision—

He hurriedly turned around, pointing a finger at the incoming rubble, almost forcing the incantation out from between his teeth:
"【exile】!"

Just as the gravel was about to shout "Success!", he found that his vision suddenly became distorted.

An invisible vortex suddenly appeared in mid-air and swept him into it.

They vanished in an instant, without even a sound.

It's as if it never existed.

"Ha ha……"

As the diminutive figure disappeared, the 'Skull' could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

My vision is still blurry, and my head is throbbing with pain.

It's not just the physical pain, but also the mental strain from consuming a large number of rings at once.

This is also why he was reluctant to use fourth-circle spells from the very beginning.

Unrestrained mental exertion can easily lead to illness if one is not careful.

He needs to rest.

"But before that..."

The necromancer gasped for breath and looked around.

First, it noticed that the cunning kobold sensed something was wrong, let out a whimper, and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy:

“Mercy, mercy!”

Then, he glanced out of the corner of his eye in the direction where the music had abruptly stopped—

Tang Qi was also stunned, frozen in place.

That piercing gaze made his back feel as if it were filled with ice.

He subconsciously swallowed, and asked hesitantly:
"Um, um... esteemed scholar, is it still not too late to give you 'Wolf's' head now?"

　The author definitely wouldn't deliberately suppress combat power or intentionally make the characters suffer defeats; you can rest assured about that.

　　However, I hope the process will involve some growth, change, and ups and downs, and most importantly, be quite interesting.

　　This is to ensure the story and process have a good balance of pacing and avoid being as bland as plain water. I feel quite confident about the current pace, and I'll write a little more if I feel the progress is slow.

　　Finally, I urge you gentlemen to continue reading!
　　My child wants to see the scenery of the Three Rivers, sob sob sob QAQ
　　
　
(End of this chapter)