Kevin turned to Bai Xiaowen and warned coldly, "Behave yourself and don't get any crooked ideas! If your interference causes my spellcasting to fail, I'd rather break my oath and kill you first!"
Bai Xiaowen waved his hands repeatedly. "Master Kevin, don't worry. I'm a man with principles. We're in the same boat now, and if it sinks, neither of us benefits."
As if you have any principles!
Kevin snorted and waved his wand, obscure syllables spilling from his mouth one after another. As he moved, surging magical power swirled around him.
Bai Xiaowen hid to the side and entered spectator mode, though he was somewhat nervous as well.
Kevin and Goliya were both Question-Mark Tier in Bai Xiaowen's eyes. He could not assess either of their strengths and could only make guesses based on their identities and status, estimating that they were roughly equal. Kevin's grave expression also proved it.
According to the script Bai Xiaowen had devised, Kevin had to protect him, a burden with virtually no combat power, while Goliya had four Battle Nuns assisting her! There should have been little chance of victory in this battle. Kevin's best choice was to return the Soul Stone to Bai Xiaowen, strengthen him, and then seek a way out.
However, Kevin had the advantage of striking first from hiding. He was gambling everything on a trump card. If he could heavily wound Goliya, he might even have a chance of wiping out the entire opposing group.
It would be great if Insight Talent could show their strengths, Bai Xiaowen thought.
Not far away, Goliya advanced with four Battle Nuns. Suddenly, her expression changed as she sensed a powerful threat!
"Watch out!"
Goliya only had time to say those two words. She was, after all, a knight and lacked powerful perception. If it had been a mage of equal strength, they would have sensed the abnormal fluctuations in spell energy long ago.
Beside a tombstone, Kevin pointed his wand. Powerful spell energy whipped his black robe into a flutter, making him look imposing!
"Dragon Breath!"
Behind Kevin, the phantom of an enormous dragon head suddenly rose. The dragon's jaws opened, pouring out a vast cone of flames that engulfed Goliya and the other four!
Even Bai Xiaowen, hiding behind Kevin, felt as though his hair was being singed. That alone showed how terrifying Kevin's attack was!
The roaring flames lasted a full ten seconds before slowly dying out. The once-frozen ground had been scorched black.
Bai Xiaowen looked over and saw the corpses of three Battle Nuns lying on the charred earth.
Goliya knelt on one knee, with a two-handed greatsword planted before her. With a crack, dense fractures spread across the middle of the greatsword before it snapped apart.
It was this sword that had blocked most of the Dragon Breath's damage for Goliya.
In that hurried moment, Goliya could only protect herself and had no time to care for the others. Fortunately, one Battle Nun had hidden behind her and survived as well.
However, the surviving Battle Nun was not in much better condition. Her tightly wrapped nun's robes had been torn and scorched by the flames, revealing large swaths of skin.
"It's settled!" Bai Xiaowen finally calmed down. He could tell that Goliya still retained her strength. Against Kevin, who had just unleashed his ultimate move, she actually held a slight advantage.
Kevin panted heavily, his face incomparably grim. Even a rookie like Bai Xiaowen could tell who had the better odds, so Kevin, the powerful chief mage, naturally understood even more clearly.
The original goal had been to Ambush Goliya and kill her, or at least severely wound her. Only then could Kevin win. But now, all of it had come to nothing.
Goliya slowly rose to her feet and drew the rapier at her waist. The nearly naked Battle Nun behind her stood as well, hatred gleaming in both their eyes.
Kevin took a deep breath and slapped the Soul Stone into Bai Xiaowen's hand. "Hide yourself properly! I'll call for reinforcements. When they arrive, keep your mouth shut!" He cast Slow Fall on himself and drifted down from the top of the mausoleum.
The instant he landed, Kevin raised his wand toward the sky.
Arcane Beacon!
A brilliant blue beam shot straight into the heavens, shining down from directly above Kevin's head, dazzlingly bright.
Bai Xiaowen secretly slipped down from the top of the mausoleum, pushed open the ruined mausoleum doors, and jogged down the burial passage.
System prompt: "Mission progress: Seal undone 1/1, charge 100%." "Class Change mission: Black Soul Stone completed. Rating: Perfect." "Proceed with Class Change?"
After Bai Xiaowen selected confirm, the Soul Stone, now completely black, instantly fired out countless black motes of light that poured into his body.
"The soul energy of the Black Soul Stone is resonating with you..." "Soul Resonance requires 600 seconds of preparation time."
Bai Xiaowen cursed under his breath.
This must be the aftereffect of cutting corners to complete an S- Tier Class Change mission!
If all the Soul Fire required to charge the Soul Stone had been collected by Bai Xiaowen himself, then the Class Change would naturally have been completed in one go. Soul Resonance would never have required such a long time.
Bai Xiaowen caught the scent of danger. He suddenly performed a forward Roll, darting into a large burial chamber and sprinting up a set of mottled wooden stairs.
With a clang, two daggers slashed through empty air. Then, a slender and graceful figure silently emerged from the shadows.
"So it was you... You actually disguised yourself as a Battle Nun!"
Bai Xiaowen's pupils contracted slightly. The person who appeared was actually the guard of Elliott, the Empire's envoy whom he had killed—Lyra Redleaf, a level 3 Elite Tier Sword Dancer!
Lyra Redleaf was also in a miserable state, with burn marks all over her body and her snow-white thighs faintly visible. That was right—she was the only Battle Nun who had survived by hiding behind Goliya.
"Murderer, I will cut off your head and offer it to Lord Glandis!" Lyra Redleaf was filled with hatred for Bai Xiaowen.
Bai Xiaowen quickly realized that Lyra Redleaf's appearance here was no coincidence.
On one hand, this was the aftereffect of Bai Xiaowen cutting corners to complete the A- Tier mission "A New Mission." If he had chosen to confront them head-on, charging into the camp with the two Viking brutes and killing Lyra Redleaf along with Elliott, the Empire's envoy, there would have been no follow-up revenge.
But Bai Xiaowen had no choice. He lacked the strength for a head-on confrontation. With only 20 points of Life Value, he would have been nothing but cannon fodder on the front lines.
On the other hand, if Bai Xiaowen had not lingered in Spiked Helm City and had headed north immediately after receiving news of the Frozen Ancient Tomb to carry out the Black Soul Stone charging mission, Lyra Redleaf would not have had the ability to investigate his whereabouts, much less seek revenge. Given the Vikings' dislike of Elvenkind, Lyra Redleaf, alone in the Northern Frontier, could have been led straight into a wolf den just by asking for directions.
However, Bai Xiaowen had waited three days for the Battle Nuns and Goliya to appear, giving Lyra Redleaf ample time to join up with Goliya's group!
Before you continue