Chapter 312 Armor Shattered

[Stinking Cloud].

Although this special conjuration spell sat as high as the 3rd Circle, it was rarely cast as a lethal, damage-dealing ability.

Its basic effect manipulated magic particles and used mental strength to drive a toxic fog, blocking vision while causing severe physiological discomfort and infecting enemies with disease.

Hailing from Purgatory, devil nobles possessed exceptionally long lifespans and outstanding racial talents. As long as they set their minds to learning, their vast accumulation of knowledge would always let them achieve their ideal results, far surpassing any short-lived species.

Saloyan's ambition was obvious. He had willingly projected his consciousness into the Material Plane to possess a bottom-tier adventurer who had not even obtained a Class Level and possessed merely an ordinary soul. He had even shown the utmost patience in gently guiding his host, all to trick the young man into carrying him to his planned destination, searching for a tiny trace of something that might interest his demonic superiors.

He simply wanted to advance too badly.

Under such circumstances, how could he possibly neglect the personal strength required to climb the hierarchy?

His superb magical attainments and countless years of accumulated knowledge had long freed him from the rigid, ordinary spells found in spellbooks. He could alter them on the fly, adapting them to the specific battlefield and infusing them with the unique fel energy inherent to his devilish nature.

The [Stinking Cloud] he unleashed now had undergone earth-shaking changes compared to the original spell.

Not only was its color thicker and far more viscous, reeking of sulfur, but the violent fel energy of the hells imbued the fog with the corrosive properties of acid rain. It could easily melt skin and inflict lethal damage on any living creature trapped within.

Even its area of effect had expanded. Under Saloyan's exquisite control, the fog split into two distinct clouds—one large, one small—drifting toward the Blackwood Squad and Xia Nan respectively.

He had essentially elevated a 3rd Circle [Stinking Cloud] to mimic the effects of a 5th Circle [Cloudkill].

This was actually just a backup plan.

In Saloyan's ideal scenario, everyone on the battlefield would have been routed and paralyzed by his [Fear] spell. From there, he would only need a brief moment to channel an upcasted [Fireball] and finish them all off.

But as it stood, not only had Xia Nan outright resisted the fear effect, the female Swordsman leading the Blackwood Squad had also passed the check. If Saloyan hurled a [Fireball] now, it might inflict massive immediate damage, but any survivors would likely rush forward and interrupt the contract signing ceremony.

Therefore, the moment he realized [Fear] had failed to fully take hold, Saloyan abruptly changed his strategy. He deployed the modified [Stinking Cloud] to control the battlefield, aiming to stall the two fighters who had resisted the fear while melting the terrified stragglers who had become living targets.

The first to bear the brunt of the attack was naturally Xia Nan, who was the closest and had been the first to shrug off the [Fear] spell.

A thick stench of sulfur flooded his nostrils, and simply drawing a breath sent a searing, scalding pain down his throat.

Facing the viscous toxic fog surging toward him, Xia Nan did not hesitate. [Gravity Control] silently flared to life.

It was as if an invisible shield had bloomed around his body. The moment the yellow-green corrosive fog encroached within an arm's reach of Xia Nan, it was smoothly deflected, washing over his head and past his flanks.

From a distance, he looked like a transparent, unyielding boulder splitting a rushing river.

But it was still only Level 1. [Gravity Control] might possess an absurdly high ceiling and near-limitless applications, but its current raw output was lacking.

While it deflected the vast majority of the toxic gas, a small, highly concentrated cluster of corrosive yellow-green fog remained stubbornly suspended in the air just in front of him. It writhed and twisted relentlessly, constantly trying to breach the invisible barrier and devour its target.

[Proficiency +1]

[[Gravity Control] Level 1: (15/100)]

Translucent characters scrolled past his vision.

His absolute mastery over his own body, equipment, and combat techniques allowed Xia Nan to make the optimal decision the instant he realized [Gravity Control] had failed to fully dispel the toxic fog.

With a faint hum, the invisible barrier was quietly dropped.

Like a shark scenting blood, the small cluster of yellow-green fog was immediately driven forward by the devil's lingering mental energy, pouncing straight toward Xia Nan's chest.

But a second later...

Before it could singe even a fraction of an inch of his skin, a cold, pitch-black surface scattering a faint, gloomy luster met it head-on.

"Sizzle."

As if it had slammed into its natural predator, the concentrated acidic fog—potent enough to melt steel—could only leave a futile hiss in the air. It shattered upon impact, scattering onto the ground and sizzling into the soil.

[Darkscale Coiled Guard] Effect 3:

— Immunity to Corrosive/Acid Damage (Non-Legendary rank sources).

If left out in the rain, it might have at least gathered a few water spots, but against the blistering corrosion of the [Stinking Cloud], the surface of the Snake-Scale Arm Shield remained pristine and unmarred.

Through a seamless, precise combination of a Feat, a combat technique, and his equipment, Xia Nan had successfully neutralized two 3rd Circle spells—utilizing both active and passive defenses—in a mere matter of seconds.

He hadn't suffered so much as a scratch.

In stark contrast, the Blackwood Squad's situation nearby was far more desperate.

The [Fear] spell had shattered their formation instantly. One member was fleeing, two were paralyzed in place, and the last was barely pushing through the terror, visibly impaired.

When the toxic fog of the [Stinking Cloud] swept over them, the resulting devastation was like crushing dry weeds and rotting wood.

Margaret fared the best. As their captain, she possessed the most unyielding willpower in the team. Having stubbornly powered through the [Fear] spell's mental assault, she glared at the encroaching yellow-green toxic fog without a shred of retreat in her eyes.

She even stepped forward to physically shield her teammates, confronting the caustic cloud head-on.

She spread her stance, planting her boots firmly against the cavern floor.

Though her slender, powerful legs simply stood rooted in place, her entire body felt as if it had slammed heavily into the earth!

The fabric of her clothes strained against her thighs, waist, and arms, pushed taut by the sudden swelling of her tensed muscles.

Teeth tightly clenched, a fierce determination burned across her striking, heroic features.

Her longsword danced. The silver-white arcs of her blade flashed faster and faster until they wove into a near-solid wall of light in front of her.

Sharp, freezing glints of steel blanketed her front, and the gale generated by her rapid swings churned and scattered the surging toxic fog.

Margaret was giving absolutely everything she had for the sake of the comrades behind her.

Unfortunately, the [Swordsman] Class under the broader Warrior umbrella fundamentally sacrificed defense in exchange for sheer attack power and explosive burst speed.

She could use this unorthodox method to buy a few precious seconds for her paralyzed teammates, but fully dispelling the magical fog with physical strikes was impossible.

"Sizzle—"

The tips of her dark-gold braid, whipping wildly behind her with every swing, were scorched by the caustic gas, turning a brittle black and emitting a foul stench.

The gale of her sword wind churned and shattered the yellow-green fog. Portions of it dissolved away into the ambient air, while the rest sizzled harmlessly into the cavern's dirt and stone floor.

But the remaining two-thirds of the cloud simply warped around her blade, swiftly reforming directly behind Margaret to engulf her defenseless party.

First was the dwarf [Shield Warrior], Thordin. The pure combat instincts and ingrained muscle memory forged over years as an adventurer kept his grip iron-tight; even consumed by overwhelming terror, he refused to drop his iron shield and Faceted Hammer.

Yet, paralyzed by panic, there was little he could actively do to resist the corrosive fog.

The noxious cloud swallowed him in an instant.

His thick body hair scorched instantly. Wisps of white smoke hissed up from his coarse skin, and his body temperature spiked rapidly as if he were being roasted alive over an open pyre.

But right at that moment—perhaps because the agonizing sizzle of his meticulously braided and maintained beard melting away was simply too traumatic—the paralyzed dwarf's body jolted violently.

Clang—Acting on pure survival instinct, a silver-white metallic luster erupted across his skin, instantly sealing out the acidic fog just as it threatened to bore into his flesh.

Next was the Rogue, Goldensand, who stood a few paces back.

The sharp-tongued, cynical, and gaunt man possessed neither Margaret's unyielding willpower nor Thordin's rugged, durable physique.

However, he had clearly endured grueling psychological conditioning during his past life as an assassin.

Because of this, even though he had failed to pass the [Fear] check, he wasn't nearly as helpless as the others.

He stood frozen in place, his eyes violently conflicted. His arm shook from the sheer force with which he gripped his dagger as he waged a desperate, internal war against the magical terror gripping his mind.

Under these circumstances, the searing pain of the corrosive fog rolling over his skin actually provided the very shock he needed to break the spell's hold.

Jolted awake by the blistering agony, Goldensand seized control of his limbs the very instant his mind cleared. He immediately activated a combat technique, cloaking his body in shadows. His physical presence faded until he was little more than a silhouette cast against the floor, perfectly insulating himself from the caustic haze.

But just as he managed to evade the deadly spell, before he could even exhale a sigh of relief...

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the cavern beside him, plunging Goldensand's heart into a glacial abyss.

He whipped his head around.

The Spellcaster Joshua—who had discarded his staff and bolted in blind panic under the effects of [Fear]—was currently writhing on the dirt floor, screaming in pure agony.

Filthy cavern soil mixed with blood and pus as the youth's spellcaster robes rapidly dissolved under the corrosive fog, exposing his melting flesh to the toxic air.

A low-level Spellcaster who lacked deep adventuring experience, steadfast willpower, and the flawless protection of a veteran vanguard was a massive liability.

Perhaps in ordinary skirmishes against low-tier monsters, they could still flaunt their destructive superiority as magic wielders.

But the moment they were thrust into a brutal, desperate clash against a vastly superior foe, their frailty turned them into the party's weakest link—a fatal vulnerability waiting to be exploited.

"You go help the captain!"

A stout, metallic figure charged past Goldensand like a runaway iron boulder, leaving only a guttural shout in the Rogue's ear. Gripping a Healing Potion tight in his massive fist, Thordin threw himself bodily toward the screaming Joshua.

He hadn't hesitated for a split second. The seamless chemistry bred from years of teamwork and the ingrained professionalism of a veteran adventurer were put on full display.

Goldensand spun on his heel, completely dismissing Joshua and the dwarf from his mind as he gripped his dagger and sprinted forward to reinforce Margaret.

From the moment the invisible ripples of the [Fear] spell first washed over the cavern, barely ten seconds had passed.

The devil... Abi... the contract...

The pieces fell into place. The horrific scene playing out before Xia Nan's eyes perfectly aligned with the scattered intel the Blackwood Squad had revealed, weaving together into a clear, terrifying picture.

Xia Nan roughly understood the cause and effect of the situation unfolding before him.

His mind raced, but his body was already moving, surging purely on instinct toward the dark magic circle ahead. Tactically speaking, fleeing was the absolute worst move.

The sheer speed and explosive power granted by his [Fang Hunt] might allow him to outpace the Blackwood Squad and leave them behind, but it wouldn't be enough to clear the cavern before Abi finalized the demonic contract.

Xia Nan had no idea what the terms of the vile pact were, nor did he know exactly what would transpire once it was fully sealed.

But assuming the absolute worst-case scenario, if the contract was allowed to finish, he wouldn't just fail to escape—he would be trapped alone against the descending avatar of a devil whose power utterly eclipsed his own.

He could not entrust his hopes of survival to such ethereal possibilities!

Xia Nan was accustomed to holding his fate securely in his own hands.

He was going to interrupt the ritual and completely stop the devil's plans.

That way, given the strength the devil had displayed thus far, he would retain the option to either fight head-on or retreat.

His strategy finalized, his charging body had already closed the gap to the array in the span of a single breath.

Awooo—A long, haunting howl echoed through the cavern as a warped, pitch-black phantom of a wolf violently erupted around Xia Nan.

[Fang Hunt] + [Spinning Slash]!

The longsword in his grip was already fully charged. The moment he crossed the required distance, he would unleash a vicious, sweeping strike capable of cleanly decapitating ninety percent of the beasts prowling the forest's outer rim.

His pitch-black eyes reflected the dark red flames of the magic circle on the ground.

His target wasn't just Abi. To be safe, if Xia Nan's blade struck true, it would cleave the possessed rookie in two along with the human-flesh "contract" in the center of the array.

Unfortunately, Saloyan reacted even faster.

Possessing an unfathomable depth of experience—more than ten times that of everyone present combined—coupled with the lack of pressure from using a disposable consciousness projection that insulated his true body from death, the devil Baron processed the chaotic battlefield with chilling, meticulous clarity.

The very instant his acidic fog had been deflected by Xia Nan's invisible barrier, the devil had already begun silently chanting an incantation, preparing his next spell.

"Bzzzt—"

A harsh, ear-piercing crackle of electricity tore through the empty space directly beside Abi. Contrasting sharply with the blood-red light of the array, a blinding, bright blue surge of lightning rapidly gathered form amidst the converging magic particles.

— 3rd Circle · Evocation · [Lightning Bolt]. Even though Xia Nan's reaction was incredibly fast, instantly halting his [Fang Hunt] the second he felt the dangerous aura of the lightning, his footing hadn't even stabilized before his body acted on instinct, pushing off to dive at a ninety-degree angle to the side.

But the unleashed lightning was ultimately faster than mortal flesh.

BOOM!!!

The dim cavern was instantly flooded with blinding daylight.

The hyper-condensed pinpoint of electricity exploded outward in a flash, transforming into a massive, five-foot-wide pillar of lightning that violently bored straight through the entire cavern.

It vanished as quickly as it appeared.

His timely reaction narrowly saved him from taking the devastating spell head-on, but the sheer concussive shockwave bleeding off the lightning bolt still violently launched his body into the air, sending him crashing heavily into the dirt.

His longsword remained locked in his grip, but the half of his Plate-Chain Composite Armor grazed by the lightning bolt had melted into glowing, molten slag. Flickering with dying embers, the ruined armor sloughed off his upper torso.