Chapter 479: Chapter 246: Torrential Downpour
"More than a year ago, when I received the mission to come to Pan Yun Province to monitor you, His Grace the Duke happened to mention it to me."
"Oh, he was feeding the dog at the time, ’Old Grey,’ you know it, that old dog whose tail fur is almost all gone and can barely walk."
"His Grace the Duke told me, you’re just like it, no matter how many bone scraps are fed to you, your heart won’t warm up, you’ll just grow an increasingly large appetite and courage."
"Like you, who seems to have some capability but is actually unfit for important use, just a master-biting wild dog, only fits to pick bones outside the castle for the Molton family for a lifetime."
Lawson broke down defensively.
Years of confusion finally found an answer, and the loyalty once offered to the family seemed so ridiculous at this moment.
As if hitting a sore spot buried deep in his heart, that face harboring gloom and anger became extremely hideous.
"You, deserve to die!" An icy, hoarse voice filled with murderous intent seemed squeezed out from the throat.
The shadow standing in place disappeared in an instant.
In its stead was the noise of something sharp ripping through the air.
And at the same time, a peculiar smile suddenly appeared on Terry William’s face, signifying a successful plan.
In the dark, taking advantage of the battle between the two, the flowing silver-white already seeped into the ground from the opponent’s blind spot behind his own figure, suddenly took effect.
The accompanying Battle Skill from the time of being a [Silver Plated Knight] lv5, "Silver Lock Prison" activated in an instant.
Sticky silver-white liquid burst forth from the depths of the soil like a fountain, turning into fine yet tough chains that intertwined with each other.
Like a bird cage rising from the ground, it anticipated enclosing that swiftly moving figure within.
With rich combat experience, Lawson knew he had fallen into a trap the moment an inexplicable tremor came from underfoot, and promptly calmed down from rage.
The Fine Sword in his hand quivered lightly twice, and a crimson glow emerged from the sword’s edge.
Facing the silver-white prison before him, he slashed obliquely with the sword, cutting apart those incredibly tough liquid chains from the middle.
He certainly knew that this Battle Skill couldn’t trap the opponent for long.
Terry William had already, at the first moment the "Bird Cage" took effect, released his left hand from the sword hilt, reaching towards his waist.
With a gentle flick across the waist pouch, a small, palm-length scroll was already grasped in his hand.
He didn’t need to inflict much harm on the opponent.
As long as Lawson could be bound and imprisoned on the spot, even if just for less than a second, it would be enough for Terry William to play his trump card.
As the youngest Knight Captain of the Molton family, Terry William had been invested with a large amount of resources due to his outstanding talent from a young age.
Sets of Good Equipment, loyal and reliable subordinates, resources required for the [Silver Plated Knight]’s growth...
Almost the most among his peers.
Right now, even being sent to a mission with heavy surveillance significance, with almost no threat if not taking the initiative, and even the duke himself not very optimistic about Lawson’s team successfully stealing the Dragon Nest Treasure...
Along with a badge engraved with the Molton family crest, which could freely mobilize guards from Melted Scale Town, and dozens of family Elite Knights accompanying him, Duke Morlton also granted him permission before departure to retrieve a precious, single-use Magic Scroll from the family treasury, usable even by non-Casting professionals:
——Necromancy·Fourth Ring Ascension Version·Scroll Optimization Type II·[Curse]
This spell, forcibly upgraded from its original Low level Magic of the Third Ring to a Fourth Ring casting and specially improved as a scroll Tool.
Not only did it significantly lower the requirements for the scroll user, but it also demanded higher Perception Attributes from the target to resist, while enhancing the spell’s effect and duration.
The detailed effect of [Curse] itself is said to have four options to choose from, very complex in appearance.
But summarized, there are actually two types.
Weaken and Control.
And the resistance needed to be immune to these effects is also lowered in order.
Terry William could certainly choose the latter, should the spell take effect, Lawson would be directly controlled in place, unable to move, requiring only a step forward and a swing of the Longsword to easily sever the opponent’s head.
But the probability of control immunity is much higher than the former.
This means if he chooses the Control type effect of the [Curse], with Lawson’s physical resistance, there’s a high chance of immunity.
This is something Terry William, having utilized his trump card, cannot accept.
Therefore, he chose the former effect — "Weaken."
To make Lawson’s physical condition decline comprehensively for the following tens of minutes.
The impact, of course, doesn’t match "Control," but correspondingly, the resistance required to repel the curse is much higher than the former.
Unless the Goddess of Fortune smiles upon him, it’s absolutely beyond the Attribute qualities of this Level professional Lawson to resist.
"Sizzle."
The small scroll was unfolded single-handedly, and with a mental tug.
In the silver-white prison, Lawson had just lifted the Fine Sword in his hand but hadn’t had time to slash down yet.
A vague and grayish light shot out silently from the scroll and, under Terry William’s fully focused mental guidance, passed through the gaps of the silver-white liquid bars, landing on Lawson.
A drastic change in his expression!
Bound by the "Bird Cage" rising from the ground, there wasn’t enough time to dodge.
And his own Perception Attribute could barely detect this upgraded spell itself only when it was nearly upon him.
Naturally, immunity and resistance were impossible.
When Lawson’s Fine Sword, with the inertia of his body’s movement, shattered the prison, and he moved back rapidly to a safe zone.
A layer of gray-white, discordant fog had already covered his robust body.
An inexplicable weakness rose in his heart, making him nauseous, like the exhaustion after overexertion.
Forget wielding the sword; even the basic strength to move his legs to walk had decreased by at least thirty percent.
For ordinary adventurers or those who have just upgraded, perhaps Lawson could still maintain a crushing stance at this moment.
But for Terry William, whose Professional Level had already reached lv5, this thirty percent comprehensive weakening already made it impossible for him to continue fighting.
The scales of victory had tilted infinitely in the direction of the young knight in an instant.
His temples whitening, the fine wrinkles at the corner of his eyes blended into the shadows on his face.
Lawson gripped the sword handle with his five fingers, tightening and loosening, loosening and tightening.
In his cloudy and sinister eyes, the figure before him, flashing with silver-white brilliance, was reflected.
At this moment, he had no mind to review whether it was his own getting provoked by the opponent that led to the oversight, or the knight’s actions being too stealthy for him to notice.
The plan carefully devised over two years of sleepless nights, his hands stained with teammates’ blood, the missing Dragon Nest Treasure, the knight’s comments from Duke Morlton about himself...
All these factors piled up, combined with the feeling of weakness conveyed from all over his body under the curse’s influence, that became the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
"Hey."
A grotesque smile, so twisted even his features deformed, appeared on the man’s face.
In front of Terry William, Lawson snickered, taking out a small piece of red, brightly gleaming Crystal Stone from his bosom.
He squeezed hard with his five fingers.
Crushed it.
Creak—
No power whatsoever, nor did it possess any capability to affect the human body.
Just a pure and bright light shot up from the wasteland suddenly.
It was fleeting, quickly disappearing into the sky above.
Suddenly recalling the report his subordinates made to him just days ago, Terry William’s whole body froze abruptly.
His expression was beyond words to describe.
"You..."
In the distance, amidst the rolling, low dark clouds,
The indistinct shadow of a massive, menacing form loomed within the gray-black cloud, occasionally illuminated by the instantaneous flicker of firelight on its immense scaly armor.
As the red light vanished into the sky.
Suddenly, the downpour came pouring down.