A bizarre curse
The chaos deep within the Black Forest erupted like boiling oil in cold water. The mutated demon wolves' scarlet eyes gleamed with bloodlust in the dim forest, and their strength, speed, and frenzied attacks, completely disregarding their own casualties, utterly shattered the students' hastily assembled defenses.
"Hold on! Shield Warrior, hold on!"
"Priest! Heal him quickly! John is injured!"
"My magic is useless against it! Their magic resistance is too high!"
"Ah—! Help!"
Screams, cries, the explosions of magic, and the clang of weapons mingled together, composing a symphony of despair. The tactical coordination practiced countless times in the academy seemed utterly pale and powerless in the face of real death.
Finn Leaver's squad was also caught in the chaos. The relatively composed shield warrior roared, barely managing to block a wolf's pounce with his heavy tower shield, but the force of the impact sent him staggering backward. The archer girl's arrows flew shakily, most missing their targets, and even those that did hit failed to inflict fatal wounds. The two mage apprentices' magical missiles struck the wolves like tickles, only provoking a more ferocious counterattack.
"Use this! Use the talisman Miss Ling gave me!" Finn frantically pulled a handful of talismans from his bag, not even knowing which one was which, and threw them out haphazardly while pouring magic into them.
A "Gentle Breeze Talisman" was activated, generating a gust of air that successfully blew a demonic wolf that was lunging at the archer girl off balance, saving her life. However, another "Small Fireball Talisman," due to unstable magic power, exploded in mid-air with a "poof," turning into a small cloud of black smoke that nearly singed Finn's own eyebrows.
"Finn! Get your act together!" the shield warrior roared angrily.
"I'm trying my best!" Finn was almost in tears. This kind of close-quarters melee was not a place for a half-baked support like him!
At this critical moment, Finn found the wax pill that Ling Yao had labeled "antidote." He couldn't care less about anything else; remembering his classmates on the ground, corroded by the strange black substance, he gritted his teeth, crushed the wax pill, and stuffed the bright green pill inside into the mouth of a teammate who was clutching his leg and screaming in agony—his calf had been ripped open by the wolf's claws with a deep, bone-revealing gash, and that tar-like black substance was rapidly spreading around the wound!
The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, and a cool sensation spread throughout. An astonishing scene unfolded—the previously rampant black substance, as if encountering its nemesis, suddenly slowed its spread, even beginning to recede at a visible rate! Although the wound remained gruesome, its terrifying corrosiveness seemed to have been contained!
"It...it works!" The teammate stopped screaming and looked at the changes in his leg, both surprised and delighted.
Seeing this, Finn perked up and immediately took out the "healing" pill again, stuffing it into the mouth of another mage apprentice who had been knocked away by the demon wolf and was spitting blood.
However, just when the situation seemed to be turning around, another unexpected change occurred!
Deep within the forest, the chilling, obscure, and extremely unsettling dark energy surged several times over! It was as if some terrifying, dormant being had been completely awakened!
All the mutated wolves simultaneously roared to the sky, their eyes turning bloodshot, and more complex, ominous dark red patterns began to appear on their bodies! Their attacks became even more frenzied, completely disregarding damage, trading injury for injury, fighting to the death!
Even more terrifying, the wounds of the students who were scratched and bitten by the demonic wolves began to develop strange, writhing dark red runes that resembled living creatures, in addition to being corroded by the dark substance! With the appearance of the runes, the life force of the injured seemed to be drained away at an accelerated rate, their faces quickly turned ashen, and they no longer had the strength to scream, only able to groan in pain.
"It's a curse! It's a high-level dark curse!" A more knowledgeable priest student cried out in terror. He desperately cast "Basic Dispel" and "Healing Light" on a wounded soldier. The holy light fell on the wound, but it only dimmed the dark red rune slightly before it quickly returned to its original state. It even reflected back a cold energy, causing the priest who cast the spell to groan and turn pale!
"No! It can't be dispelled! This curse is too powerful! And... and it reflects some of the holy energy!" the priest cried out in despair.
This news was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, instantly shattering the students' last shred of morale. Even the priest's healing was ineffective; how could they possibly fight?
Panic spread like wildfire. The formation completely collapsed, and the students began to scatter and flee, having utterly lost the will to resist.
"Retreat! Retreat now! Send a distress signal!" the professor leading the group roared hoarsely, waving his staff and unleashing powerful area-of-effect magic, temporarily forcing back a few dire wolves, but he was quickly surrounded by even more frenzied dire wolves.
Distress flares were fired one after another into the sky, exploding in dazzling red light. But in the vast forest and chaotic battlefield, how many rescue teams could arrive in time?
Finn's squad was also in dire straits. The shield-bearer's tower shield was riddled with cracks and claw marks, and he was panting heavily. The archer girl had run out of arrows and cowered in fear. The two mage apprentices were exhausted of magic and their faces were deathly pale. The only good news was that the mage apprentice who had taken the "healing" pill seemed to have stabilized his internal injuries, but his teammate with the cursed leg was deteriorating. Although the pill had slowed the spread of the dark red runes, they were still slowly eroding his life.
"What should we do... Finn... Do you still have that green medicine...?" The injured teammate weakly grabbed Finn's arm, his eyes filled with a desperate longing for life.
Finn stared at the empty bag in his hand, only the last "Swiftness Talisman" and "Concealment Talisman" remaining, and felt a chill run through him. The medicine Miss Ling had given him was all used up!
"Hold on! The rescue is on its way!" Finn could only offer weak words of comfort, his mind racing as he considered a way to escape. A direct confrontation would be certain death; they had to resort to their last resort!
He glanced at the ever-growing number of demonic wolves and the figures that loomed in the darkness, emanating an even more powerful aura. Gritting his teeth, he made his decision.
"Listen!" Finn shouted to his remaining teammates, "I'll draw their attention! You guys take the wounded and run east! There was a flare going up over there, the Professor might be there!"
"Are you crazy? How are you going to attract attention?" the shield warrior roared.
"Don't worry about me! I have a way!" Finn pulled out the "Swiftness Charm" and slapped it hard on his leg. The rune flashed, and he immediately felt much lighter!
Then, he did something that left everyone speechless—he grabbed the two-handed sword, stained with black blood and fallen from the ground when its master was unconscious, took a deep breath, and then turned and ran towards the area with the most demonic wolves…and took off running! As he ran, he brandished the sword and let out a completely intimidating howl: “Come on! You stupid dogs! Chase me! I’ll make sure you’re well-fed!”
This clumsy provocation, combined with the speed boost from the "Swiftness Spell," actually attracted the attention of some of the demon wolves! Several demon wolves growled and turned to chase after Finn!
"Run!" Finn shouted hoarsely as he turned around, then ran deeper into the forest without looking back, followed by a string of mutated demon wolves with scarlet eyes.
The remaining teammates watched Finn's retreating figure as he lured away the pursuers, their eyes reddening. They knew Finn was using himself as bait to buy them a chance to survive!
"Go!" The shield warrior gritted his teeth, carried his injured teammate on his back, and led the rest of the group, staggering eastward to break through the encirclement.
Meanwhile, Finn, having maximized the effect of the "Swiftness Charm," was engaged in a breathtaking race against time in the Black Forest. He dared not look back, knowing only that he was running for his life, oblivious to the branches tearing his clothes and the thorns scratching his skin.
The howling of wolves and the heavy running sounds behind him grew closer and closer, and the stench of blood almost reached the back of his neck!
"It's all over! It's all over! I'm going to become dog food!" Finn cried out in despair, instinctively reaching for the last "Concealing Breath Talisman".
Just as he was about to activate the talisman and leave the rest to fate, a series of even more shrill and chaotic screams and fighting sounds suddenly came from an open space not far ahead, mixed with some kind of... chilling hissing sound that seemed to be a mixture of countless tiny sounds.
Finn looked closely and saw that the scene on that open space was several times more terrifying than what they had just encountered!
A dozen students and two professors were being besieged by countless twisted, translucent, shadow-like monsters! These monsters had no fixed form, and their attacks penetrated physical defenses directly. Each touch left a rapidly spreading, eerie, icy-blue mark on the victim, and the flesh and blood in the area covered by the mark would quickly wither and die!
It's a ghost-type monster! And it's mutated! Physical attacks are almost ineffective, and magical effects are greatly reduced!
Even worse, Finn saw an icy blue curse mark appear on the arm of an injured professor. Another professor next to him cast several "Powerful Dispel" and "Holy Nova" spells in succession. Holy light washed over the mark like a tide, but the mark only rippled slightly. The dimming speed was so slow that it was despairing. It also rebounded with a cold, mind-corroding power, causing the professor who cast the spell to bleed from the corner of his mouth!
Even a professor-level dispelling agent had little effect?!
Finn's heart sank to the bottom.
There are wolves in front, tigers behind, and a group of indestructible and unyielding ghosts in the middle!
There's no escaping now!
Meanwhile, deep within the Black Forest, beside the eerie magic circle radiating intense dark energy, the chanting of several hooded figures grew even more fervent and fanatical. The twisted shadow at the center of the circle gradually coalesced into a blurry, terrifying silhouette, exuding endless resentment and curses…
A bizarre curse is spreading rapidly across this land, and traditional healing methods seem utterly powerless in its presence.
A massive crisis has already arrived.
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