Chapter 74: Lock On and Bombard

Time ticked by, second after second.

Gunie stood still, vigilant, not moving.

He appeared to be doing nothing.

In reality, at this very moment, Gunie was silently reciting the incantation for "Puppet Secret Threads," secretly deploying these puppet threads.

The puppet threads arranged on the periphery had not been triggered, indicating that the assassin should still be within twenty meters of him.

At the same time, a dense network of puppet threads within a five- or six-meter radius around Gunie prevented the shadow assassin from launching another surprise attack.

That assassin must have figured out some of his methods and dared not rush in recklessly; most likely, he was plotting something in the shadows.

If so, then Gunie needed to spread these puppet threads around to roughly locate the enemy.

Earlier, Gunie had downed a bottle of mid-grade Essence Source Potion to replenish the source power consumed by the spell.

Source power could be replenished, but the strain on the soul could not be relieved.

Having already released dozens of high-grade Puppet Secret Thread spells, Gunie felt the pressure on his soul growing heavier.

Even the speed of his soul's thoughts had slowed slightly.

High-grade spells were indeed powerful.

But they also came at a high cost to endure.

Just as Gunie released the eighth Puppet Secret Thread, silently groping toward a corner,

suddenly, through the thread, he touched an invisible object.

The thread quickly penetrated and coiled into the object's body, sensing only coldness.

It was a puppet substitute.

Using source power and special materials to construct puppet substitutes to offset damage was a common tactic among shadow users.

"Setting up puppet substitutes around me, then launching a strong assault?"

Gunie narrowed his eyes.

"So there is indeed a plan around me."

After discovering the puppet substitute, Gunie remained silent and made no move.

Instead, he continued releasing puppet threads.

After releasing another fifteen or sixteen puppet threads,

Gunie detected six or seven puppets in stealth state.

As for whether there were more elsewhere, Gunie didn't know, but he dared not continue releasing this high-grade spell.

At this moment, deep in Gunie's soul, a wave of pain pulsed with each heartbeat.

The intense release of high-grade spells in a short time had begun to inflict some damage on his soul.

"Huff..."

Gunie exhaled softly, then narrowed his eyes again.

"Almost there."

With that thought, Gunie lightly waved his staff.

Over twenty spell threads deployed in the shadows each writhed, twisted, and climbed like pythons.

Since the enemy wouldn't come out, Gunie would force him out by unleashing the puppet threads.

Even if the puppet threads wrapped around the enemy, Gunie could then control him.

The puppet threads danced like mad snakes, sweeping through every corner of the space around Gunie.

"Bang!"

A puppet thread was suddenly severed.

Immediately after, a flash of cold light struck straight at Gunie's head.

The assassin, knowing he could no longer hide, boldly attacked Gunie.

With the assassin's attack, Gunie, through the surrounding puppet threads, clearly grasped the assassin's position.

"Finally out."

Gunie directly released the Soul-Fixing Divine Ring spell he had already prepared.

At the same time, he used the puppet threads to steer the second-tier elf coachman toward where the cold light had flashed.

While doing all this, Gunie also retreated as fast as he could.

Gunie's reaction and speed were remarkably quick.

Even so, the opponent's swift dagger, like a nimble leopard, deftly bypassed the second-tier coachman.

The dagger tore through the snow curtain, piercing toward Gunie's head with extreme sharpness.

In the blink of an eye, the sharp dagger covered the seven or eight meters.

"Such speed."

Gunie was startled.

Under normal conditions, Gunie would have already thrown out two Arc Bolt spells.

But now, the painful pressure on his soul had slowed his reactions considerably.

Just as the fourth-tier assassin's dagger was about to pierce his head, an Arc Bolt spell was barely released.

"Arc Bolt!"

Zzzzz...

Purple electric light spread before Gunie, interweaving into a web.

Clang!

The sharp dagger still pierced through the purple electric curtain, striking onward.

Hum!

A dark red magic shield barrier appeared, but the dagger's piercing power proved superior.

"Crack..."

The shield, under the concentrated force of the dagger, was directly pierced.

Fortunately, after piercing the magic shield, the dagger's attack power seemed exhausted.

Looking at the shattered magic shield that had nonetheless blocked the attack, Gunie secretly counted his blessings.

Without the magic shield necklace to block this strike, he would have surely died.

At this stage, his head as a blood curse master was one of the vital points.

Zzzzz...

The assassin, choosing to press the attack without dodging, was simultaneously enveloped by the violent purple thunder tiger as he struck Gunie's shield.

In the purple electric arcs, Gunie saw a handsome, calm face.

But that face, under the shock of the fourth-level common spell Arc Bolt, showed some pain and distortion.

Even a fourth-tier shadow assassin couldn't easily withstand this fourth-level common spell.

"Bang..."

The shadow assassin's body, scorched by the electric arcs, shattered and vanished into smoke.

At the same time, Gunie sensed through the puppet threads that a puppet substitute had activated.

Before Gunie could use the puppet threads to entangle that guy,

Bang! Bang!

Those two threads had already been severed.

"Indeed! This guy can sense my puppet threads."

"But..." A hint of a smile curled at the corner of Gunie's mouth.

"How can you avoid the Soul-Fixing Divine Ring spell etched into the soul?"

With the positioning of the Soul-Fixing Divine Ring spell, Gunie could now clearly sense the shadow assassin's location.

Now that he had locked onto the target, the rest was easy.

Gunie raised his hand and downed a bottle of high-grade rare Tranquil Soul Potion.

This Tranquil Soul Potion had a strong nourishing and repairing effect on the soul. Though he didn't know how it would work on his injured soul, he had to tough it out.

After downing the potion,

Fire Arrow spell.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh...

This time, Gunie first aimed at those puppet substitutes.

Moments later, all the puppets were consumed by flames.

Then,

Arc Bolt!

Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap...

Dense Arc Bolt spells, as if free of cost, flew wildly toward the positioned shadow assassin.

Each Arc Bolt covered an area of five or six meters.

Though not as lethal as the Fire Arrow spell, its large area prevented the shadow assassin from dodging nimbly.

Seeing the overwhelming purple lightning interweaving toward him,

"I've been found."

Walter, still slightly numb, had no time to figure out how he had been detected.

He had experienced the power of these purple lightning bolts.

If he hadn't known some powerful supernatural techniques, he might not have escaped when the electric arcs numbed him earlier.

Knowing the power of these arcs, Walter could retreat.

If he wanted to leave, this first-tier spellcaster couldn't stop him.

But one of his goals today was to kill Gunie on the spot if he refused to cooperate and join them, not allowing him to return alive.

Letting such a young expert-level alchemist go back was something they couldn't tolerate.

Despite being at a slight disadvantage now, Walter's killing intent toward Gunie remained undiminished.

"Die!" With a leap, Walter shot toward Gunie like a blur.

Since he was discovered, he would attack head-on.

After all, the opponent was just a first-tier spellcaster, while he was a fourth-tier existence.

His odds of winning were clearly much greater than the opponent's.