Sequence adventurers roaming between two worlds

Chapter 71 The Thief of the Magic Potion (4 words)

The fine, pale blue needles were almost invisible to the naked eye in the dimly lit cave.

Leo had just made a slashing motion, and due to the momentum of his body, theoretically, he had no chance of dodging.

The sudden and dramatic change caused Captain Gomez and Cypherda, who were witnessing this scene, to shrink in shock.

"Be careful!"

They shouted, trying to alert Leo.

However, the time it took them to see it, react, and shout out was much longer than the time it took for the real goblin lord to spit out the ghostly blue needles and hit Leo.

It could even be said that before they could react, the pale blue needle was less than three centimeters away from Leo's brow.

With life hanging by a thread, the world before Leo's eyes slowed down.

He saw graffiti patterns formed by lines that filled his field of vision, with only one blank space.

Subconsciously, Leo turned his head toward the blank area.

"Pfft!"

The air was penetrated, producing a sharp, low hum.

The pale blue needle grazed Leo's cheek at a distance of less than half a centimeter. Even at that distance, Leo could clearly feel the chilling coldness emanating from the needle.

The pale blue needle pierced through the crystalline structure and eventually disappeared into the rock wall behind it, leaving a hole that continued to corrode and spread.

"The master-level [Slide Step] has unleashed its true dodge rate!"

Leo felt relieved, but his expression remained unchanged.

The crisis is far from over.

In the instant he dodged the pale blue needles, Leo's sharp longsword slashed out once more.

The target is the head of the goblin vassal lord.

Since this little thing is hiding inside the fake goblin quasi-lord's body, it means that its close combat ability may not be strong. At this time, a counterattack might give it a chance to turn the tide of battle.

If you turn around and run away, you will surely die.

The longsword pierced the air; this strike, in terms of power, speed, and skill, reached the pinnacle of mortal achievement.

Even a Black Iron-level monster cannot be ignored and must be treated with utmost seriousness.

only----

The monster in question is now a Bronze-level Goblin Lord who has completed its advancement.

The challenge levels of monsters are similar to the level classifications for adventurers.

Only monsters with a challenge level of 6 or higher are qualified to be called bronze-level monsters.

Bronze-level monsters are far superior to Iron-level monsters.

Leo's lightning-fast sword strike was something even the goblin leader would find difficult to withstand, but the little guy in front of him, though seemingly small in size, was a genuine bronze-level monster.

Before Leo's sharp longsword could even get close to his opponent, it was blocked by a ghostly blue tentacle that appeared out of nowhere.

The translucent tentacles appeared much more delicate than the previous tentacles, but in reality, they were extremely hard.

Leo felt as if he were being chopped at a tentacle rather than at a metal ingot that had been refined a hundred times.

"The power of the etheric element—"

Leo felt heavy-hearted.

The hallmark of a Bronze-rank adventurer is the power of the etheric element, and Bronze-rank monsters also possess similar abilities.

There is still a possibility of fighting between those of different levels, since level increases only provide basic attributes and some passive physical enhancements.

However, once you reach the Bronze level, the power called "Ether Element" will make it impossible to fight against opponents of higher levels!

The goblin lord tilted his head back, revealing his sharp teeth, a sinister grin on his face.

It didn't seem to be in a hurry to kill Leo, but instead raised its hand and reached for Leo's heart.

The movements were slow and deliberate, like a cat toying with a mouse before it eats it.

Leo loosened his grip on the sharp longsword and tried to retreat, but as he did so, he discovered that his legs had been unknowingly bound tightly by several translucent, eerie blue tentacles, rendering him unable to move.

Damn!

Leo gritted his teeth.

As the eerie blue tentacles drew ever closer, his mind raced.

At this moment, he still has a chance to escape: he can use the [Mirror Returns to Heaven and Earth] to return to the Western Regions.

No matter how strong a bronze-level monster is, it cannot possess the ability to hunt down monsters across realms.

But in doing so, his biggest secret will be completely exposed to Captain Goku and his crew.

It wasn't that Leo didn't trust them, but rather that it was best not to test human nature with such things from the very beginning.

But right now, his life is more important, and he can no longer worry about exposing the Primordial Mirror.

Thirty centimeters, twenty centimeters —

Just as Leo made up his mind and prepared to use [Mirror Return to Heaven and Earth], he suddenly caught a glimpse of wisps of moonlight out of the corner of his eye.

It was like a point of light flowing down from the night sky. When it was first discovered, it was still far away, but in an instant, it arrived in front of Leo, blocking him between him and the blue tentacles.

Countless dreamlike moon fragments coalesced into a slender, tall human figure.

Her long, gray-white hair, with its shimmering, iridescent ends, gave her a dashing and heroic air.

It was none other than the Moonlit Swordswoman, Sylvia!

Leo stared wide-eyed in utter astonishment at the girl who had suddenly appeared before him.

He was initially shocked, but after realizing what was happening, he felt a sudden sense of relief.

Sylvia is the strongest professional in White River Town and the only Bronze-rank adventurer. Now that she's here, the newly born goblin lord won't be able to cause any trouble.

Leo's tense face gradually relaxed, but at that moment, through the gap in Sylvia's hair, she saw the real goblin lord standing at the severed head of the goblin quasi-lord, with a cunning, anthropomorphic "plan succeeded" expression on his face.

wrong!

Something is wrong!

That's it! Why did the goblin lord, who had feigned weakness in the early stages, deliberately slow down his actions when he was confident he could kill him?

It's waiting for its real target!

Its target was never the Iron-level adventurers, including me, but the only Bronze-level adventurer in White River Town, Azure Moon Sword Maiden!

Leo was shocked and was about to say something.

At this moment, Sylvia seemed to sense something as well, and her body was surrounded by moonlight flowing like frost, and her light began to bloom.

But it was too late.

"Bang!"

The goblin lord still wore that eerie smile, but its body exploded at that moment!

Amidst the flying blood and flesh, a single, extremely deep, dark light shot out in an instant.

In an instant, it pierced Sylvia's heart!

The Azure Moon Sword Maiden's movements suddenly stopped, her body stiffening in place.

Leo roared, feeling the power of the azure tentacles binding him fading. He struggled and broke free, his sharp longsword aimed with all its might at the goblin lord's remaining small head.

"Snap!"

This time, without the protection of the ethereal element, the goblin lord's head was severed in two. Yet, even in death, that chilling smile remained on its face, its lips parting and clenching: "When you peer into the [Darkness], the [Darkness] is also watching you—"

A neutral, overlapping sound rang out softly, and then, along with the goblin lord's body, which was gradually burning to ashes, dissipated into the air.

"Miss Sylvia!"

Leo rushed to the side of the Silver Sword Maiden, at a loss for what to do.

In his eyes, Sylvia's eyes were closed, and the skin exposed outside her clothes began to slowly develop eerie black patterns, like a strange flower gradually blooming in the darkness.

And her breath gradually weakened during this process.

"What on earth is this thing?!"

Leo gritted his teeth.

At this moment, Captain Gomez and Cykta also arrived.

The two men looked extremely grim.

Captain Gomez stepped forward and examined the mask closely, noticing the furrowed brows beneath it growing deeper and deeper.

"This fluctuation—" he frowned in thought, "I seem to have sensed it in the president before!"

"Let's go back immediately!"

"Sword Maiden's aura is growing weaker and weaker!"

Without a word, Leo carried the unconscious Sylvia on his back and rushed out.

I'll go first.

Although the enemy's objective was Sylvia from the very beginning.

But in Leo's eyes, if it weren't for saving him, Sylvia, who rushed over in a hurry, might not have fallen for the attack so easily.

The Azure Silver Sword Maiden ended up like this because she was trying to save him!

He absolutely cannot stand idly by.

Watching Leo's rapidly disappearing figure, Captain Goblin took a deep breath: "Let's go, we need to go back right away."

He took a deep look at the place.

Even the most obtuse person could realize at this moment that the goblin lord in this black rock mine was, from the very beginning, a "bait".

It was all just to lure the Azure Silver Sword Maiden to her destination.

Baihe Town.

More than an hour had passed when Leo carried Sylvia to the location.

At this moment, he was covered in blood—the blood of the monsters that had tried to attack him along the way.

Monsters appear far more frequently at night than during the day.

His appearance startled the town's guards, who raised their spears in a state of high alert, only releasing them upon recognizing Leo.

Disarm.

"Mr. Leo, you—"

Not long ago, Leo had defeated the ferocious wolves that were blocking the flow of supplies into and out of Baihe Town, and gradually gained some fame in the town.

At least, the guards at the gate recognized his face and treated him with great respect.

"It's urgent!"

Without time to explain further to the guards, Leo left with just that one sentence and rushed into the town.

Second floor of the Adventurers' Guild in Baihe Town.

Lucas, the branch president, who had just finished his work and was about to lie down for a rest, was awakened by a series of loud knocks on the door.

He took a deep breath, but did not get angry.

He knew that if someone was still contacting him so "rudely" at this hour, it couldn't be a trivial matter.

After a while.

Inside the office, Lucas looked at Sylvia, who was lying unconscious on the recliner, his hands trembling slightly, his face extremely pale.

Leo quickly recounted what had happened inside the Blackrock Mine, then stared intently at Lucas: "Chairman, Captain Goblin said he sensed a similar fluctuation emanating from you?"

"Do you know what happened to Miss Sylvia?"

Upon hearing this, Lucas let out a deep, long breath, his tone complex: "—I know."

"This is the Devourer of Darkness."

Dark Devourer?

Leo looked at Lucas, waiting for his explanation.

Lucas said in a low voice, "Where should I begin? In the heart of the Silvermoon Forest lies an underground labyrinth, where a terrifying being known as the 'Darkness' is suppressed."

"It may seem to be sealed in a labyrinth, but in reality, the darkness is alive."

"Every certain period of time, when the seal weakens, the darkness will seize the opportunity to move, influencing the demons and causing them to undergo dark mutations."

"Among them, individuals who undergo profound and dark mutations will become, in a sense, the tentacles of darkness in the world."

"The Devouring Darkness originates from this."

"It will manipulate these deeply mutated individuals to attack any entities around Silvermoon Forest that might threaten its ability to break the seal."

"I was also one of the victims."

As Lucas spoke, he took off his shirt.

Suddenly, a chest with hideous black lines crawling out from the heart came into Leo's view, causing his eyes to narrow slightly.

Lucas raised his hand and touched his heart.

"Because of it, I have been declining from the peak of Bronze all the way down. Now, I can barely maintain Bronze Level 6."

Hearing this, Leo was overjoyed: "Guild Master, you didn't fall into a coma like Miss Sylvia, which means you have a way to suppress the Dark Devourer?"

The master nodded: "There is indeed a way, but it's only suppression, and it requires a great price to pay."

"The Devourer of Darkness is conscious; in a way, you can see it as a series of clones of Darkness."

"There are two solutions: one external, and the other internal."

Leo listened very attentively.

Lucas raised two fingers: "The other method is to apply pressure to the Dark Devourer using various rare materials, causing it to weaken."

"But this method, which is the one I'm using now, comes at a high cost. It not only leads to a continuous and rapid decline in strength, but also requires a large amount of money to maintain every year."

"Right now, I need at least 1000 gold coins a year to get by. The stronger I am, the greater the cost becomes. If it were Sylvia, I'm afraid even 10000 gold coins wouldn't be enough."

Leo remained silent.

Ten thousand gold? A thousand gold pieces?

Even if he were to initiate trade between the two worlds, the figure would still be astronomical.

"What about the other one?" he asked.

"Another method exists in theory, but no one has achieved it so far," Lucas said bitterly.

"Since the Devourer of Darkness is an avatar of [Darkness], the best way is naturally to annihilate it completely by obliterating its avatar's consciousness."

"The problem is that this thing is extremely strange. Even if you enter it through special methods, you still need to defeat it at the same level."

"It doesn't sound difficult?" Leo wondered.

Although White River Town is just a remote corner of the Kingdom of Auster, and the adventurers stationed there are relatively weak, there are definitely strong individuals in the entire kingdom.

Such as those legendary heroes.

How could it not be resolved under these circumstances?

Lucas shook his head: "The guild once called upon heroes to try and defeat the Dark Devourer, but they still failed."

"The returning hero once said: 'The Dark One is invincible among those of the same level.'"

"This has become a dead end."

Leo frowned.

Invincible among those of the same level?

He doesn't believe it!

"Can I try?"

Leo wanted to give it a try.

Even if he can't do it now, once he takes the legendary profession and consumes the Thief's Potion to become a Sequence 9, he refuses to believe he can't defeat a [Darkness] of the same rank!

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