Caught in an Ambush

Ariel stared blankly at the phylactery. *Seriously? A lich is leaving his phylactery with me for safekeeping?* "Master Ultraman, this is your phylactery!" To a lich, a phylactery was even more vital than their soul, far beyond a simple vessel for resurrection. Bound to the soul by powerful ties, in the hands of an experienced necromancer it could be used to take complete control of the lich. Ariel possessed no such arts, but the artifact remained priceless beyond measure. How could this lich part with it so casually? *Does he really trust me that much?* In that moment, shock consumed Ariel's thoughts. "No, no, Master Ultraman, you'd better take it back." Ariel felt as though she were holding a burning coal. If she accidentally dropped and shattered it, wouldn't this lich drop dead on the spot? "Your Highness, please keep it. Just now, you were willing to risk everything to protect me, and I must repay that trust. As for my earlier suggestion, it's actually a simple question of probability. "Right now, this spot can be considered a safe zone. With you holding my phylactery, I can venture out to take the risk. Even if my guess is wrong, I can reform from the phylactery. But if I stay here and let you take the risk, what if I guessed wrong? Do you have a phylactery to bring you back?" The logic was airtight. Ariel had no rebuttal and could only let Anbaixiu venture ahead alone. Anbaixiu turned and swam deeper into the labyrinth. To save money, he swapped his undersea mecha for his cheapest skeletal body; that way, even if he were attacked and destroyed, the financial loss would be negligible. With Shield cast upon himself, Anbaixiu swam rapidly ahead. Weaving through the convoluted underwater channels, he soon arrived at the spot where the undead scouts had been ambushed. Focusing his attention entirely, Anbaixiu waited for an attack to emerge from the darkness. Whether it was tentacles, a maw lined with razor-sharp teeth, or something even more grotesque, the moment any sea beast struck, Anbaixiu would withdraw without hesitation. All he needed was proof that Ariel was the one they feared. Yet to Anbaixiu's surprise, after waiting for a good while, nothing stirred. Even as he ventured deeper, the shadowy figures lurking in the dark merely retreated, treating Anbaixiu as though he carried some virulent plague. *Interesting. Could they be afraid of undead? No, the small fry from earlier were devoured crunch by crunch, one after another. If it isn't the undead they fear, what on earth is it?* Anbaixiu was thoroughly baffled. Right now, he was nothing more than a pile of bones. Once he suppressed his dark magic, he was as ordinary as could be. What could possibly frighten these colossal sea beasts? Just as Anbaixiu began pondering the question, a sudden realization struck him. *Damn it! If the sea beasts are afraid of me, then Ariel is in danger!* Nothing could be allowed to happen to that princess! Anbaixiu spun around and swam back toward Ariel. Yet the moment he turned, he realized he could no longer find the way back. *Did the terrain shift? Can these seafloor rocks move?* Anbaixiu distinctly remembered a winding path veering off to the right behind him. How had it become a straight corridor? *No, the terrain didn't change—something is distorting my senses!* Just as Anbaixiu sensed something amiss, the glow on his bracelet went dark once more, signaling that Talos's divine consciousness had descended and was watching him. *Talos is casting His gaze down now?* Yet the Lord of Storms did not speak to him, which meant the deity knew a good show was about to unfold and was simply watching as an audience member. "Distorted senses, distorted memory..." Anbaixiu called out into the endless dark, "Blibdoolpoolp, for a goddess to stoop to scheming against a mortal like this, you really have no shame." Sure enough, a response drifted from the darkness—a shrill, grating screech that seemed to slice through the seawater and pierce straight into Anbaixiu's soul. "Reckless fool, blaspheming the goddess of us kuo-toa! Today you shall die wailing!" Dozens of red lights flared to life as a barrage of spells hurtled toward Anbaixiu. So it was a kuo-toa ambush. But how could they have known he would appear here? Anbaixiu tossed out the Dice of Fate, transmuting the wild spells into various beneficial buffs, while seriously contemplating this crucial puzzle. The Kuo-toa Goddess could never have tracked him without making a sound. He was, after all, a legendary figure, and his three classes—lich, divination wizard, and ranger—all granted keen awareness. It was impossible for kuo-toa to tail him without his knowledge. The only explanation was that Talos was stirring up trouble. The Lord of Storms had likely found a one-sided situation boring, so He had shared Anbaixiu's location with Blibdoolpoolp in hopes of watching some thrilling drama unfold. Feeling the buffing magic wash over him, Anbaixiu raised his right hand and said toward Talos, "Mighty Lord of Storms, is this considered a trial from You?" Lightning danced across his palm, and Talos's voice echoed, "Lich, you're a bit too clever for your own good. That's right, I told Blibdoolpoolp so she could ambush you here. But rest assured, every trial comes with a reward. Work hard to survive, little skeleton." Talos's voice faded, but the light on Anbaixiu's bracelet remained dark, indicating that the god was still watching him. Watching the kuo-toa close in from all directions, Anbaixiu shook his head helplessly. As the kuo-toa warriors surged toward him, Anbaixiu twisted his body, and his skeletal frame transformed into a silver-white suit of armor. This was the Deep One mecha, designed specifically for deep-sea combat. Magebreaker blades sprang from both of Anbaixiu's hands as he charged straight into the swarm of kuo-toa. It wasn't that he didn't want to cast spells, but using the Golden Throne cost too much, and he was reluctant to expend it lightly. Without the gold-spending enhancement, his spells underwater would be severely compromised. Coupled with the bizarre ripples continuously disrupting his senses, fighting in the manner of a ranger was far more suitable. The Deep One possessed speed superior to the kuo-toa, the mithral mecha offered formidable defense, and the magebreaker blades allowed Anbaixiu to slice through the kuo-toa with ease. Speed, defense, and offense—all three surpassed his opponents. Anbaixiu tore through them like a whirlwind cutting grass. Everywhere he passed turned into a slaughterhouse, the kuo-toa warriors cut down before they could leave a single scratch on his armor. Yet just as Anbaixiu was smoothly reaping the kuo-toa lives, the mecha suddenly shuddered. Without realizing it, his arm slammed hard into the solid seabed rock. *Wait, why is there a wall here?* Anbaixiu had clearly aimed his strike at a kuo-toa's head, only for it to abruptly turn into a stone wall. His perception had been interfered with again, directly compromising his combat judgment this time. In that brief window of vulnerability, several kuo-toa warriors lunged onto Anbaixiu, recklessly grabbing the mecha's limbs. They even frantically shoved their hands into the mecha's thrusters, attempting to shut down his mobility entirely. For a moment, Anbaixiu could barely move. More and more kuo-toa swarmed forward, intent on burying him under sheer numbers. Once mobility was lost, no matter how tough the armor was, it would eventually be pried open piece by piece. Just then, a spatial rift opened beside Anbaixiu, and a colossal shark burst out from within. A single snap of its gaping, bloody maw crushed two kuo-toa, freeing Anbaixiu's right arm. Anbaixiu slashed through the remaining kuo-toa clinging to his body, then mounted the shark's back. A ranger never fought alone; their strongest form was always in coordination with their beast companion. With Naomi transformed into a giant shark, Anbaixiu's combat prowess soared, and he resumed tearing through the enemy ranks. Although it appeared on the surface that Anbaixiu held the upper hand—giving off the aura of a single warrior surrounding an entire army—he knew full well he was in deep trouble. A kuo-toa had to be lurking in the shadows, repeatedly disrupting his senses. He had been lucky the first two times, but if it happened a few more times, these kuo-toa might genuinely finish him off. Therefore, he had to either locate the hidden kuo-toa or leave this sea zone as quickly as possible. As he pondered his options, Anbaixiu suddenly felt Naomi's shark form accelerate wildly, hurtling straight toward a rock formation. Naomi's resistance to mental interference was inferior to his own, and she had succumbed almost instantly. Fortunately, Anbaixiu immediately used telepathy to command her to halt. Even though Naomi felt as though fishmen were frantically tearing at her tail, she bore the pain and stopped. The moment she halted, the phantom pain vanished without a trace. Naomi responded nervously, "Master! I think I was hit by an illusion!" "Yes, a very powerful illusionist is hiding in the dark. Unfortunately, I didn't bring many undead troops with me this time." The undead Anbaixiu had created recently had mostly been shipped off for business. He had very few forces left at his side, and deploying the rest would make little difference. "In a moment, I'll cast Storm of Vengeance, and we'll use the chaos to get out of here!" A free ninth-circle spell once per day would be wasted if left unused. So that illusionist wanted to hide? Storm of Vengeance was large enough to blanket the entire battlefield; it would come down to the creature's luck. Yet just as Anbaixiu raised his right hand to invoke the ninth-circle spell bestowed by Talos, a crack of thunder suddenly detonated in the ocean depths. Furious magical energy surged as if alive, leaping repeatedly among the kuo-toa. *Chain Lightning? Leaping over a dozen times underwater?!* Anbaixiu was dumbfounded. While the spell could cover a broader area underwater, the seawater typically scattered the lightning's path. Normally, Chain Lightning could only arc between three targets; managing a single precise leap underwater was already remarkable. Yet right now, Anbaixiu watched as a full seventeen kuo-toa were struck by the lightning, instantly cooked through. From the darkness emerged Ariel, enveloped in crackling lightning. At this moment, she looked like a divine being descended to the mortal realm, her fiery red hair turned silver-white, her eyes cloaked entirely in thunder.