Chapter 144 Skeleton Soldiers and Magic Circles

"Scorching fire, dancing flames, merging into a blazing inferno! O distorted flame, perform the dance that burns everything to ashes—Dance of Flames!" Yun Xuan shouted loudly, and a stream of fire appeared upon his intermediate magic staff.

"Bang!" Shirayuki flashed, and the Dance of Flames enveloped the Tier 3 Wild Boar King, continuously scorching its body.

"Is this the power of intermediate magic?" Yun Xuan watched the wailing wild boar, his understanding of magic shifting slightly.

The full-release of intermediate magic was somewhat stronger than B-rank ninjutsu, yet it still fell short of A-rank ninjutsu.

If so, how did advanced magic compare to S-rank ninjutsu in terms of strength?

"Roast wild boar for dinner today," Yun Xuan smiled, as Shirayuki began to process the beast's carcass.

Yun Xuan retrieved the martial arts techniques he had obtained from the Four Demonic Gates of the Xuanhuan world. Techniques were roughly equal in value to cultivation methods, and sometimes even surpassed them in worth.

The Profound-rank techniques included Mountain-Crushing Fist, Trace-Hiding Steps, and Liu Mei's Moonlight Sword Technique.

Cultivation methods formed the foundation of every martial artist. Trying to chew too much at once leads to indigestion, so practically no one mastered more than ten methods in their lifetime, but martial arts techniques were different.

Techniques offered numerous practical applications, and a single Profound-rank technique held immense value—enough for a low-tier martial artist to turn the tables and slay a high-tier one.

"No matter which technique it is, it requires a month or two of cultivation time. I might as well start with the Trace-Hiding Steps," Yun Xuan thought, selecting the simplest movement technique.

The Trace-Hiding Steps was an agility method that could be gradually mastered simply through weighted training and physical exertion.

"Yun Xuan, where are we actually going? I'm already itching to cast Explosion magic," Megumin said, holding her staff as she had recently been studying swordsmanship with Shirayuki.

On the second day after leaving Gwen City, Yun Xuan had summoned them, and they had now been hunting in the Dark Night Forest for three days.

Megumin had been quite dedicated to swordsmanship at first, but as time dragged on, she grew bored.

"To collect exchange points, and by the way, to check whether the rumors about the lich are true," Yun Xuan pointed toward the depths of the Dark Night Forest.

He had yet to use two Silver-grade summoning cards. Along the way, Shirayuki had slain dozens of Tier 3 magical beasts, but not a single Tier 4 beast had appeared; they were still merely on the outskirts of the Dark Night Forest.

"I see! Once the lich shows up, I'll hit it with a heavy blow using my Explosion magic," Megumin struck a cool pose.

"Alright, little loli, you'd better go practice your swordsmanship first," Yun Xuan rolled his eyes.

"Little loli..." Megumin once again lapsed into a vacant, dazed state.

……

After finishing lunch, the group of five set out.

Yun Xuan, Shirayuki, Megumin, Goku, and Uzumaki Kushina.

Goku was the girl with a tail, wielding the mid-grade weapon Contending Heavens Staff. Her Tier 4 strength made her the strongest person in the team apart from Shirayuki.

Uzumaki Kushina's level was equivalent to a Jounin, but possessing sealing techniques, her combat power was no less than Tier 4.

Shirayuki's strength was uniquely suited against magical beasts; if she faced humans, she could only manage to disrupt them.

Megumin, serving as their ultimate DPS, won even Dragon Qian's praise. If Megumin could fully mature, she genuinely had the potential to defeat a Martial Saint in a single strike, provided she landed a direct hit.

Yun Xuan's strength was conversely the weakest in the group. Without his powered armor, he might not even measure up to the magical wolf Erha.

"Leveling up this way is still too slow," Yun Xuan muttered, gazing not far off at a herd of blue water buffaloes by the lakeside.

Tier 2 water buffaloes lived in herds, destroying villages and farmland, leaving no human survivors in their wake.

"Megumin, I'll leave this to you," Yun Xuan pointed at the buffalo herd.

"Leave it to me!" Megumin flew into the sky, pointing her staff at the herd.

"...Explosion!" Megumin chanted, and finally pointed her staff, causing the very heavens and earth to shift drastically.

Layers of Explosion magic sigils locked onto the buffaloes.

"Boom!" With a deafening roar, a fifty-meter radius around the herd was blown to absolute nothingness, leaving behind only a few crystal cores.

Just as Yun Xuan prepared to walk over and collect the cores, a massive dark magic array suddenly materialized where the buffaloes had been.

"Clack, clack, clack, clack!" Hundreds of skeleton soldiers emerged from the array, charging murderously toward Yun Xuan and his group.

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!" Uzumaki Kushina stepped in front of Yun Xuan without hesitation, executing an A-rank Water Release ninjutsu.

A massive torrent of water surged past, sweeping away the skeleton soldiers and leaving behind nothing but scattered bones across the ground.

High in the air, Megumin replenished her mana using spirit stones, quietly observing the situation. Even when wearing powered armor, mages remained fragile.

……

Deep within the forest, a little girl draped in a black robe spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

"They actually shattered my skeleton soldiers? What kind of people are they?" the little girl murmured in astonishment. Unless members of the Church had been dispatched—yet the Church had no presence in the Ogi Kingdom.

In fact, the Ogi Kingdom didn't even have churches or holy clerics; the only possible way to defeat the skeleton soldiers was through pure water.

"Malt, go keep them company and play a while," the little girl waved her hand, and a black-robed warrior materialized before her.

"Understood," the black-robed warrior bowed respectfully, his figure flickering and vanishing into thin air.

"Let the elites of you humans slaughter one another," the little girl chuckled with a mischievous glint in her eye, then skipped away gleefully.

……

"Skeleton soldiers. It seems even if there's no lich, there's definitely a necromancer," Megumin landed on the ground, frowning as she looked at the piles of bones.

"The legend of the lich is probably true. The explosion just now triggered the magic array and brought out the skeletons; I suspect that lich has noticed us too," Yun Xuan glanced at the vanished magic array, a lingering sense of unease settling in his chest.

"Could something even stronger come looking for us?" Megumin's eyes lit up. Her mana replenishment was almost complete, meaning she would soon be able to cast a second Explosion magic.

"Don't get excited, we might actually die. I'd better summon reinforcements first." Yun Xuan took out two Silver-grade summoning cards and tossed them onto the ground.

"Summon!" Yun Xuan whispered.

……

Half an hour later.

Malt, the black-robed warrior, arrived at the epicenter of the Explosion magic and gazed at the tents pitched by the lakeside.

Malt cleaved a tent open with a single sword slash. At that exact moment, two figures burst forth from beneath the ground, wielding longswords and hacking toward Malt's legs.

"Puff!" Malt managed to dodge slightly, but his legs were still grazed, leaving blood streaming freely.

"Hey, hey, hey! We're just here on a sightseeing tour. We finally made it to another world, and this is how you treat us? You even ruined the tent I worked so hard to set up! Pay up for damages right now—fork over three hundred million to start with," a lazy man holding a longsword said with deadpan seriousness.

"Are you an idiot?" asked a girl wearing a white uniform, speaking coldly.

"Don't interrupt, brat, this is adult business. For little kids, just shut your mouths and watch quietly," the man retorted as he turned his head back.

"Who are you calling a little kid?" the girl snorted coldly, pointing her sword straight at the man.

"Please, just save me a little face, will you? A man has to act tough no matter the situation." The man shrugged his shoulders.

*(PS: Guess who this is—two characters from a long-running anime. Keyword: natural perm hair.)*