prynovel Chapter 103 Breakthrough
Chapter 103 Breakthrough
However, when he reached the top of the stairs, the scene he saw chilled him to the bone once again.
Many team members did not act immediately. They looked obviously tired, their eyes were unfocused, and they were slow to respond to the order to assemble. Some were even slowly tidying their clothes, which did not need to be tidied.
Li Ang also suddenly felt dizzy, but when he heard the words "breakthrough", he was suddenly invigorated and forcibly dispelled some of his drowsiness.
He and Captain Negan exchanged a glance and instantly understood that this was mental pollution; they had all been unknowingly influenced by that invisible force.
Without further hesitation, Negan abruptly pulled a golden runestone engraved with intricate patterns from his inner pocket. This was the [Purification Emblem] that the enforcement team had equipped him for this mission, used to combat mental corruption.
Commander Negan squeezed his fingers hard and crushed it.
A soft golden ripple spread out from him, instantly sweeping across the entire building.
The moment the golden ripples swept over him, Li Ang felt as if the veil that had been obscuring his thoughts in his mental world had vanished without a trace, like morning mist dispersed by sunlight, and his mind returned to clarity.
The surrounding teammates seemed to wake up from a dream, their faces showing a blank expression.
The three team leaders were the first to react and immediately issued orders to gather the still somewhat bewildered team members.
"No time to explain, everyone. Take the artillery barrage as a signal and prepare to break out." Negan said succinctly, his wand already in hand.
Most of the team members were initially a little confused, but as they gradually realized the situation, they began to nervously grip their wands and wait for the shelling.
Time ticked by, but the anticipated earth-shattering bombardment never arrived.
Commander Negan's face turned ashen. He tried to establish a direct communication with the airship through the runestone, but found that the runestone, like the badge, had lost all response.
"How could this be... even the runestone communications are blocked?" Commander Negan's heart sank to the bottom; it seemed there was no hope of artillery support.
Then the only option was to break through by force. A resolute glint flashed in his eyes as he gave the order to break through.
"In a moment, use my spell as a signal to prepare for a forced breakout. Everyone, maintain formation and fight our way back to the surface."
He took a deep breath, and powerful magic began to gather, with a chilling light emanating from the tip of his wand.
The next moment, he suddenly pushed open the door and pointed his wand at the villagers who were still kneeling outside.
Level 3 spell: Blizzard!
A biting wind swept out, carrying countless ice crystals, and the surrounding temperature plummeted. White frost spread at a visible speed, instantly freezing the villagers outside the door and a large area, turning them into ice sculptures of various shapes and sizes.
"Charge!" Negan roared and charged ahead.
The team members followed closely behind, forming a tight assault formation, and sprinted towards the mine along the route they remembered from the way they came.
However, just as the team had broken through most of the way, another change occurred. Fine cracks began to appear on the ice sculptures, and with a "crack" sound, the ice blocks shattered and fell off.
A villager broke through the ice first, and its withered arm suddenly stretched out and grabbed Elisa's ankle as she ran past it. Elisa was caught off guard, screamed, and was pulled to the ground.
"Elisa!" Leon reacted extremely quickly, almost at the same time Elisa fell to the ground, his wand had already cast [Wind Blade]!
The condensed wind blades precisely sliced through the villager's arm, even severing most of his shoulder.
However, the expected scene of blood splattering did not occur; the villager's body resembled a ripped-open sack, with the skin turned inside out.
What was exposed inside the wound was not bone or internal organs, but a mass of pale, viscous, wriggling gelatinous liquid!
The liquid was cut in two by the wind blades, but countless tiny, white maggot-like tentacles quickly emerged from the broken ends, struggling to pull the two halves back together and reassemble.
At this moment, more and more villagers broke through the ice, their empty eye sockets turning in unison to the breaking-out group, their bodies emitting a gurgling sound of mucus that was physically unsettling.
"Fight and retreat simultaneously, don't linger in battle." Negan's face was grim; he could clearly feel that the duration of his [Blizzard] spell was far below its normal level.
He waved his wand, unleashing a level 2 spell, [Ice Scatter], which sent out a dozen ice spikes like shotgun shells, attempting to slow the monster's pursuit.
During the process of releasing resistance, the team members also discovered something unusual.
Not only did their mental energy deplete faster than usual, but the power of their spells also seemed to be suppressed and weakened in some way.
What's more troublesome is that neither wind blades nor water bullets can cause much damage to these skinned monsters; the pale slime inside their bodies seems to have considerable resistance to elemental energy.
Even Li Ang found the characteristics of these monsters troublesome, let alone the other team members.
To the side and rear of the group, a member of the fourth squad was firing water bullets at the pursuing villagers, trying to slow them down.
Suddenly, the chest of a villager directly in front of him burst open, and a pale tentacle shot out without warning.
The tentacles, which were originally as soft as slime, hardened instantly in mid-air, and with a piercing shriek, went straight for the team member's throat.
At the critical moment, Hiro, who was also in the fourth squad next to him, pushed him, thus preventing the attack from reaching his throat.
However, the hardened tentacles still tore through his inner armor like sharp knives, leaving a deep wound on his shoulder.
Once the tentacle struck, it immediately softened, attempting to wrap around the team member's body like a living rope and drag him toward the monster horde.
Just then, a burst of flame flew over and ignited the monster's tentacles. The tentacles instantly vaporized upon being ignited by the flames, and Martin immediately shouted upon seeing this.
"These monsters are weak to fire."
The teammate who was saved by Martin's [Fire Arrow] was now pale-faced. His teammates quickly dragged him back to the center of the formation and then gave him a recovery potion.
Meanwhile, several villagers suddenly developed numerous pustules on their bodies. The pustules grew rapidly, eventually bursting through the skin, and clumps of pus-like mucus were violently ejected.
After these slime projectiles left the monster's body, they quickly hardened in the air, instantly filling the sky with countless slime projectiles.
"Get around me!" Li Ang shouted, activating the [Gentle Breeze Barrier Lv5] with all his might. The pale blue light membrane expanded, enveloping most of the team members.
The densely fired hardened slime projectiles slowed down drastically upon contact with the wind domain, and were deflected with a clanging sound.
The team members who didn't make it into the barrier weren't so lucky. Although the inner armor helped them withstand some of the damage, they still inevitably got riddled with bullet holes.