Volume One: The Infernal Lord’s Realm Chapter 67: The Achievements of the Magical Trap

About twenty minutes after Chen Gu’s vine-drawn carriage had departed, soldiers from the Black Mercury Knights arrived at the same spot. Leading them was the Black Mercury Knight who had earlier been struck by the Fire Spirit Crow. His thick, black armor was still oozing silvery fluid, but he paid it no mind as he rode forward atop his warhorse.

This knight felt humiliated—struck and gravely wounded by nothing more than a crow. If he failed to redeem himself, his standing within the Black Mercury Knights would be irreparably damaged. So he had volunteered to lead the pursuit, eager to find Chen Gu as swiftly as possible. Now, seeing the Fire Spirit Crow circling in the sky, he was certain Chen Gu was close at hand.

He drew his long blade and shouted loudly, “The enemy is near! The path I’ve tracked is correct—”

Before he could finish, several thick vines erupted from the earth and wrapped around him. In that instant, a massive man-eating flower lunged from underground, jaws gaping to bite the knight. Dragged from his horse, fury overtook him—once again, he was being targeted. Did they truly think him so easily bullied?

Without hesitation, he slashed at the vines, severing them, then twisted his blade to parry the snapping jaws of the carnivorous plant. A grim smile came to his face—was this all? Where was the fireball attack from earlier? Such feeble attempts could not threaten him.

His strikes became more savage. With a single blow, he cleaved the man-eating flower in two, then sliced apart the remaining vines still clinging to him. When he was free, he brandished his blade and roared, “Come on, if you dare! Come at me!” He swung his blade wildly as he shouted, but his eyes never left the sky, wary of the Fire Spirit Crows overhead. He no longer feared the vines, but the fireball spells from earlier had dealt him real harm.

His wounds had yet to heal. Should the Fire Spirit Crow unleash another barrage of fireballs, he would undoubtedly be finished. He was, in truth, trying to bait another powerful attack. But he had no inkling that the crow circling above was merely an ordinary raven. Chen Gu had already departed after unleashing his spells. With the speed of the vine-drawn carriage, they had now reached the outskirts of Helm Valley.

Following Chen Gu’s instructions, the carriage kept its distance, allowing him to view Helm Valley from afar to determine whether it had indeed become a city of the undead. At that moment, Chen Gu’s brow furrowed. “The Poison Bee Grass is ineffective?”

When he had set the Poison Bee Grass spell, he’d linked himself to it. Though now far from its location, Chen Gu could still sense whether the spell had been triggered. He could not tell if it had slain any enemies, but he would have received a notification if it had. Yet the Poison Bee Grass had vanished, and no enemy deaths were reported. This meant the spell had had no effect on the Death Knights.

“What kind of second-level spell is this? Even a bird was more useful.” Though he said this, Chen Gu never underestimated any spell. Every second-level spell had its purpose—he had simply used it wrongly this time.

His thoughts soon returned to Helm Valley, not far ahead. He wished to see what was happening there. But as he stood to peer out from the carriage, another of his spells was triggered—this time, the Black Hole.

Unlike the Poison Bee Grass, Chen Gu had set the Black Hole spell not on the main road, but within the forest, and arranged it to trigger only upon contact. Otherwise, it would dissipate in a day or two without effect. But now, it had been activated.

The Black Hole should have transported away some of the enemy, though where they would end up, Chen Gu could not say. He glanced back but quickly dismissed his concern—he had already been interrupted twice, and this time he was determined to observe the state of Helm Valley.

Meanwhile, the Black Mercury Knights who had just arrived were gravely inspecting the scene on the ground. Just as Chen Gu had surmised, the Black Hole spell set in the woods had been triggered.

Yet Chen Gu’s guess was off in one regard—the Black Hole’s range was far greater than anticipated, with disastrous results for the Black Mercury Knights. One of their number had unwittingly triggered the spell while advancing with two companions. The knight and his horse vanished entirely, transported away, but his two companions fared much worse—each was only half-transported. One lost the left side of his body, the other his lower half and his mount.

Now, bereft of half their bodies, the remnants could move no more. Beneath their black armor, bone was revealed—stripped of flesh, shot through with silvery channels through which mercury flowed. This, it seemed, was the source of the Black Mercury Knights’ power. But the spell had severed those channels; even if they wished to reunite their bodies, it was now impossible.

Staring at the two corpses, one of the Black Mercury Knights sneered, “Well done. Truly remarkable. Just a few decades without battle, and the Black Mercury Knights have sunk to this? We pursue a foe, can’t even catch a glimpse, and lose two dead with another missing—have you all no shame? If you don’t care for your reputation, I still do. From this moment, everyone must remain alert—no more mistakes.”

After venting his anger, he turned and demanded, “Where’s the first man who noticed something was wrong?”

“He’s just ahead,” someone replied. “He said he cleared the magic on the road—it was summoning magic, he—”

“No need for you to explain. Let him speak for himself,” the knight snapped. “What did I tell you all before? If you encounter an attack, report it at once. And what happened? He was gravely wounded and said nothing, just sped up his squad’s advance. Is he the hero here, or am I? Do my orders mean nothing?”

As he shouted, the previously injured Black Mercury Knight approached cautiously. “Sir,” he said.

“Well, tell me—what did you discover?”

“A raven, sir. The man is a summoner—he can control ravens for battle.”