Chapter Thirty-Two: The Ogre Potion

“Three worthless fools without an ounce of magic dare to follow us!” A violet light flickered in Ling Xiao’s tear-filled eyes—the power of the “Eye of Insight.” At the same time, her web of perception had imperceptibly spread to cover the area around her, enveloping the three men. The moment she channeled her magic, the binding chains would easily seize them.

From what she could sense, none of the three were mages. Though physically stronger than ordinary people, they were by no means formidable opponents.

“Specimens, it took me a lot of trouble to find you! Be good and come back with me!” The leader twirled a scalpel in his hand as he spoke.

“Get them!”

With Blackfeather’s command, Ling Xiao and her companion, already prepared, seamlessly launched their attack.

“Binding Chains!”

From either side, several violet chains shot out, crisscrossing into a great net as they lunged toward the enemies.

The sickly, gaunt leader shrieked in his sharp voice, lowered his body, and charged forward, dodging the binding chains. With a flick, he hurled the scalpel like a hidden dart, aiming straight for Blackfeather’s vital spot.

“You’re the most perfect specimen I’ve ever found—I must have you again!”

“Barrier of Shadows!”

A rectangular barrier formed before Ling Xiao in an instant. The scalpel struck it with a clink, as if hitting an iron wall, and rebounded harmlessly to the ground.

Blackfeather darted from behind the barrier, his staff tracing a swift arc as he met the sickly man head-on. With a heavy strike to the chest, he sent the man flying. Even without magic, the blow was forceful enough to make blood spurt from the man’s mouth and nose as he crashed into a nearby wall.

“Lord White Scorpion, we’ll assist you!” The two burly men behind him had evaded Ling Xiao’s first wave of binding chains and now charged from either flank. They fanned out dozens of scalpels in their hands, then hurled them like a deadly shower of daggers.

“Barrier of Shadows—Fortify!”

Ling Xiao conjured the barrier before her once more, runes flickering along its surface and doubling its strength. Since her foes weren’t mages, no blade, no matter how sharp, could pierce her barrier—of this she was certain.

Blackfeather, however, did not hide behind the shield. Utilizing the narrow alley’s walls, he leaped and dodged nimbly, weaving through the rain of blades. With a dive from the high wall, he descended on his prey.

“You lowly thugs, I’ll finish you off in no time!”

With a dull thud, the tip of his staff crashed down upon one burly man’s skull, splitting it open. The man let out a guttural scream and collapsed.

Blackfeather landed and grappled with the other brute. His Ashura-wood staff was tough and immensely heavy; every blow landed like a hammer.

Meanwhile, White Scorpion—the sickly leader—had already scrambled up from the wall. Dusting off his head, he crept behind Blackfeather. Seizing a fleeting opportunity as Blackfeather fought, he lunged, stabbing at his back.

Blackfeather sensed a chill at his back and instinctively dodged to the side. The scalpel slashed a shallow cut across his left cheek, drawing blood, but fortunately the wound was not deep.

White Scorpion twisted his wrist, reversing the blade inward for a sudden thrust at Blackfeather’s throat. Blackfeather’s heart lurched—he narrowly evaded the deadly strike. White Scorpion was more agile and ruthless than his companions, each move aimed to kill.

Blackfeather ducked and weaved, parrying with his staff, but in close quarters the staff felt cumbersome against White Scorpion’s swift attacks. The second burly man recovered and rejoined the fray, and together they pressed Blackfeather hard.

Ling Xiao, standing behind and supporting, remained calm. Her net of perception, inscribed with runic marks, tracked the movements of White Scorpion and his ally, locking onto them. Soon, another binding chain shot up from beneath their feet, catching them unprepared.

“Binding Chains!”

Just as Blackfeather was pressed to the brink and forced to retreat, several chains burst from the ground, coiling around White Scorpion and his companion’s ankles and rapidly snaking upward, binding them firmly from the waist down in an instant.

Blackfeather leaped back, putting distance between them, and lifted his staff to tip White Scorpion’s chin, demanding,

“Speak—who are you, and what do you want?”

“Ha ha ha…” Bound by the chains, White Scorpion looked utterly unafraid, his laughter more crazed than ever. He licked the blood from his scalpel, his face twisted with mania.

“Don’t recognize me, do you? Such a fine specimen—I hadn’t the heart to destroy you before. But it seems I’ll have to get rough after all…”

With that, both captives swiftly withdrew a vial from their inside pockets and injected the contents into their arms.

“Let me show you the fruits of my life’s research—the power of the Ogre Serum!”

Blackfeather sensed danger and stepped back.

“Be careful—we don’t know what they’re planning!”

What happened next stunned both Blackfeather and Ling Xiao. After the injection, the three men’s eyes blazed with crimson light, and their bodies began to transform. First, their muscles swelled and veins bulged, splitting open their clothes as their height and weight multiplied. Then, their skin darkened, taking on a metallic sheen, and wicked fangs jutted from their mouths like beasts.

Ling Xiao’s binding chains were shattered effortlessly by the two transformed monsters; she withdrew her spell and took cover behind Blackfeather.

“What kind of monsters are these?”

“Ogre Serum? It’s probably a potion that temporarily boosts strength and defense.”

“Ugh…!”

The monsters let out painful, guttural roars. Their transformation complete, the ground beneath them cracked like a spiderweb from their massive new weight.

“Seize him! My experiment cannot be allowed to fail!”

White Scorpion, now monstrous, shouted incoherently, while the other beast charged with a primal roar, hammering the ground and walls with his fists as he ran, venting his restless strength and sending rubble flying.

“Run!”

Blackfeather’s first instinct was to flee—he knew this kind of transformation all too well. Wasn’t it just like the state he entered when unlocking his first seal?

Although he couldn’t be sure how their enhanced power compared to his own, the sheer force with which they struck the ground was at least equal to a magical beast of a hundred years’ cultivation from the Twilight Forest. Unable to use dark magic, he was no match for them in a physical fight.

He grabbed Ling Xiao and dashed for the far end of the narrow alley. The two monsters gave furious chase, howling and pounding after them. Dodging and leaping to avoid the blows, the pair narrowly escaped being sent flying by the shockwaves. Each monstrous punch left a gaping crater in the ground, a testament to their terrifying strength.