Chapter 147: Forbidden Magic?

Inside the forest.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Yun Xuan shouted loudly, slapping his palm against the ground.

"Hmm? Big brother?" Long Qian appeared on the ground, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she looked at Yun Xuan, with a three-minute countdown floating above her head.

"Qianqian, big brother needs your power..." Yun Xuan explained briefly.

"I understand, big brother. Watch me." Long Qian dashed out of the forest, flying up into the sky above the orc army.

"Who is that? Is that the strongest entity in the Destruction Mercenary Corps?" Gelvin's eyes lit up.

High in the sky, Long Qian took a deep breath and exhaled a torrent of flames from her mouth.

"Dragon's Flame Descends!" Long Qian muttered in Mandarin, sending the blazing fire cascading toward the ground.

*Boom!* The flames exploded upon impact, forming a massive fiery ring that tightly encircled half of the orc army. This was a dragon's flame that was extremely difficult to extinguish, a fire-type attack second only to heavenly fire.

"A-A forbidden spell tier?!" Dalwu's eyes widened in disbelief as he gazed at the vast coverage area of the descending dragon flames.

"What? A forbidden spell? This is forbidden magic?"

"To actually witness a forbidden spell!"

"She... did she just cast a forbidden spell instantly?!"

The magicians on the city wall wore expressions of utter disbelief. Instant-cast forbidden magic? Could this... could this be the legendary tier-nine Sanctuary Archmage?

Long Qian's Dragon's Flame Descends trapped half of the orc forces, including the necromancers. The scorching dragon fire meant certain death for any necromancer who touched it.

Long Qian glanced at the ground and flew off in a certain direction. Her primary target was a tier-seven orc commander.

***

Black Bear Ao was a tier-seven orc of the bear clan. As a mutated bear, he had possessed an adorable appearance in his childhood, which had led to him being mocked and bullied by his fellow bears. As he grew older, Black Bear Ao's power awakened, and through a brush with life and death, he broke through to tier seven, becoming an orc commander.

From that day on, no one ever dared to mock Black Bear Ao again. Even the stunning beauty of the fox clan who had once looked down upon him became his fiancée.

"When I go back, I'll marry the little fox, have children, and I, Black Bear Ao, will become the strongest person in the bear clan... *Hiccup*..." Black Bear Ao burped, reeking of alcohol.

Covered entirely in black and white fur, Black Bear Ao was unaware that in another world, he would have been a massive celebrity. His father was a brave warrior of the bear clan, while his mother was from the cat clan—which meant he was a giant panda!

Just imagining a giant panda holding a wine jar and drinking made the half-orc outside the door bite his lips to hold back his laughter, his face turning completely red.

***

"Are you the tier-seven orc commander?" A young girl suddenly appeared, and her overwhelming aura made Black Bear Ao tremble. This was the bloodline power of the dragon race.

"G-Great... Milady..." Black Bear Ao could feel that Long Qian's bloodline was far superior to his own. It was a natural suppression; even if he were a tier higher, he would still be subjugated by Long Qian.

"Come with me." Long Qian formed her fingers into a claw, grabbed Black Bear Ao, and vanished.

High in the sky, Black Bear Ao looked down at the ground and swallowed hard. With Long Qian flying effortlessly through the air, this was a level of power he could never hope to resist.

Long Qian brought Black Bear Ao down into the forest. The moment they touched the ground, Black Bear Ao dropped to his knees.

"Please spare my life, Milady! I have elderly parents over a hundred years old at home, and a betrothed wife with an unborn child waiting for me. I beg you to spare my life!" Black Bear Ao's kneeling posture was standard and practiced.

"Enough, stay kneeling and don't move." Long Qian waved her hand, and a single drop of blood fell onto the ground. Black Bear Ao's pupils contracted. This feeling... could this be a true dragon?

As Long Qian's blood hit the earth, Black Bear Ao's body shuddered, and a magical formation materialized beneath them. This was the unique blood pact of the Blood Dragons.

Blood Dragons were no less powerful than Five-Clawed Golden Dragons; in fact, they were even stronger.

Long Qian's ancestors had once been the patriarchs of the dragon race, possessing heaven-defying strength. Unfortunately, they had been ambushed and surrounded by humans while the rest of the dragon race stood by and watched in indifference.

If the blood dragon ancestor had used a blood pact on all members of the dragon race back then, he could have completely subjugated them. It was a pity that he had believed the dragon race deserved freedom, only for that freedom to go too far.

"Aaaaaah!" Black Bear Ao screamed in agonizing pain, his bear eyes turning bloodshot.

Unlike a blood dragon fruit, the pain of a blood pact was doubled. Furthermore, the controlled beast would unconditionally obey the commands of the caster—it was a specialized method designed specifically for subduing magical beasts.

It took a full minute before Black Bear Ao collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, his eyes glazed and vacant as if he had been utterly violated.

"From this day forward, obey the commands of the very first person you see." Long Qian's voice echoed.

Black Bear Ao opened his eyes and looked at Yun Xuan standing before him.

"Master..." Black Bear Ao muttered in a low voice.

"Big brother, I'm heading back first. If I stay any longer, it will drain your energy." Long Qian waved her hand and disappeared.

Yun Xuan's face turned pale as the internal energy within his body plummeted to less than a tenth of its capacity.

Black Bear Ao quietly awaited Yun Xuan's orders, while the wounds on his body vanished without a trace.

***

Half an hour later, the people of Magus City watched as the ring of dragon flames on the outskirts finally extinguished. Half of the orc army had been trapped inside, burned completely to gray ash.

The orc army retreated ten kilometers back. One of the three great orc commanders, Black Bear Ao, had vanished without a trace, leaving the bear clan tribe completely leaderless and effectively forcing them to withdraw from the battlefield entirely.

"Lady Megumin, you all are truly formidable." General Gelvin looked respectfully at the six individuals walking back from outside the city gates, along with the robed figure accompanying them.

"A battle of this scale is far too weak. That lord over there was practically on the verge of anger. If I hadn't held her back, she would have wiped out everyone watching from the city walls using forbidden magic as well." Megumin spoke utter nonsense with a deadpan expression, acting entirely on the script Yun Xuan had given her.

"Many thanks, Lady Megumin. The crystal coins have already been prepared, though the two high-level fire magic scrolls will take some time. Master Dalwu is currently crafting them." General Gelvin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Mm, and don't forget the previous three million crystal coins." Megumin reminded him flatly.

"..." General Gelvin was speechless.

As they walked through the city, every single magician looked at Megumin with fanatical adoration. Following this battle, the Destruction Mercenary Corps had made a resounding name for themselves, instantly soaring to become one of the premier super mercenary corps in the Ogi Kingdom.

As the representative figure of the Destruction Mercenary Corps, Megumin was naturally regarded by everyone as the leader of the corps.

With twenty-three million crystal coins now in hand, they were converted into 230,000 exchange points. Since crafting the two high-level fire magic scrolls would take time, Yun Xuan and his group were in no particular hurry.

The orcs could not simply walk away; otherwise, they would starve during the bitter winter, and countless half-orcs might perish.

The orcs survived in tribal units, and the game they could hunt was extremely scarce. The resource-rich Ogi Kingdom had always been a fat piece of meat in their eyes.

***

In the Orc Kingdom, within the territory of the largest tribe—the fox clan.

"Chieftain, this is terrible..." A half-orc rushed frantically into the fox chieftain's chambers, only to find the fox chieftain and the third princess of the fox clan, who was about to be married off, completely naked.

The chieftain stood behind the third fox princess as she lay sprawled across a desk. Indeed, she was Black Bear Ao's fiancée.

"Dammit!" The fox chieftain let out a cold snort, flashed instantly in front of the half-orc, snapped his neck with a twist of his hand, and tossed the corpse out of the room.

"Father, calm your anger. It must be a front-line battle report. You should go and take a look," the third fox princess cooed in a sugary, seductive voice.

"Rather than calming my anger, I'd much rather vent some heat." The fox chieftain closed the door and walked back toward her with a smile.