Chapter 634: Taking Action
Immediately, chaotic energy fluctuations penetrated the water, stirring the once tranquil undercurrents at the bottom of the lake.
Just about thirty meters above the lake water, chaos reigned in the scene.
Two groups, one chasing and one escaping, had fought their way from the mountains all the way to the sky above the lake, now diving directly into the water.
The pursuers seemed to be a team of three, dressed in matching light gray sleek outfits, agile in movement and coordinating skillfully. Sharp metallic or wind element energy surrounded them, attacking ruthlessly, constantly firing energy arrows or compressed wind blades from various angles to block the escapees’ paths.
The ones being chased were two people, a man and a woman, both dressed in rather luxurious attire, but now badly damaged, their breaths feeble, clearly at the end of their strength.
They maintained a fragile joint water-blue shield, fighting and retreating in the lake water, trying to use the underwater environment to hinder the pursuit, while hiding towards deeper and more complex terrain at the bottom of the lake.
The female wizard seemed adept at some water magical spells, manipulating the lake water to form vortices and undercurrents, causing trouble for the pursuers, but with limited effect.
"Hand over the Tide Crystal! Spare your lives!" the leader among the pursuers shouted harshly, their voice distorted somewhat through the lake water, but filled with killing intent.
"Dream on! We discovered this ourselves!" the pursued warlock gritted his teeth in response, swinging out an ice spike with effort, only for it to be shattered easily by the opponents.
The battle raged fiercely in the water, bubbles roiling, energy turbulence shooting everywhere, muddying the lake bottom, even scaring some fish and shrimp originally residing in rock crevices and water plants into a frenzy.
The area they fought in happened to be just slantingly above the nook where Duke was hiding, and was slowly sinking, drawing closer to the rock wall at the lake bottom amidst the chasing and dodging.
Duke frowned slightly, choosing this spot for quiet healing and keeping a low profile, not to watch a show or get caught up in it.
The conflict between these two groups had already disturbed his peace and could very well draw other troubles here.
And these two groups themselves, as contestants able to delve into the relic’s area and survive till now, surely carried not a few accumulations.
An instant decision formed in Duke’s mind; in this contest, it was all about resource acquisition. The opponent was in a weakened state from battle, the perfect opportunity to strike.
Thus, able to both eliminate threats and gain rewards.
Duke stood up silently, his heart thought lightly moving, and the egg-like sandy stone chamber melted away like wax from inside, the sand grains retracting to form metal quicksand swirling around him.
He himself slipped out of the nook quietly, like a fish blending into the darkness, attaching to the shadow above the nook entrance on a large lake stone.
Above, the pursuing trio had already forced the man and woman to a relatively open sandy area near the rock wall at the bottom of the lake, less than fifty meters from where Duke was hiding.
Their shield had shattered, leaving multiple wounds on them, blood spreading in the water, defeat only a moment away.
The leader of the pursuers revealed a sinister smile, a highly compressed, potent golden ball of light gathering in his hand, poised to deliver the final blow.
The other two pursuers also blocked from the flanks to prevent any last-ditch struggles or escape techniques by the targets.
Just as victory was about to be decided, countless dark golden metallic sand grains erupted without warning from the mud and weed shadows stirred by their fight at the bottom of the lake.
These sand grains moved at an incredible speed, like venomous snakes lurking long, instantly splitting into three forces to twine around the ankles, wrists, and necks of the three pursuers respectively.
"What is this?!"
The three pursuers were shocked and frightened, completely unprepared for a third party lurking at the lake bottom, attacking in such a bizarre and unpredictable manner.
They instinctively activated their protective energy to shake off the sand grains, but those grains were exceptionally tough and had strong energy absorption properties, instantly breaking through their hastily erected defense, wrapping tightly around and causing them to pause, disrupting the flow of energy within them for a moment.
Especially the leader, whose golden light ball in his hand almost lost control and backfired because of the disrupted magic power.
It was exactly this momentary pause that caused a huge fire dragon tornado to appear instantly at the bottom of the lake, carrying the traits of a tearing storm and sweeping them up.
This sudden fire dragon tornado was beyond everyone’s expectation, especially underwater, where it’s usually the most troublesome place to cast fire magic.
But the opponent could still quickly cast such large-scale magic, which was quite shocking.
Not only that, but there was a huge number of magical spells flying out like money, swiftly engulfing all three.
A few minutes later, the light and muddy waves slowly subsided, leaving chaos at the lake bottom.
The bodies of the three pursuers slowly sank, finally resting on the mud and sand at the lake bottom.
The pair who were originally being pursued, the man and woman, had long been rendered dumbstruck by this sudden turn and Duke’s ruthless, decisive, overwhelming power, curling up in a corner of the rock wall, not even daring to think of escaping, merely casting extreme fear-filled gazes at the gray-robed figure descending slowly amidst the murky water stream.
Duke didn’t spare a glance at the pair, that seemingly casually lowering left hand at his side, his index and middle fingers subtly pinched together, quietly lifting upwards.
Two condensed, almost tangible, but nearly silent Light Arrows, like snakes lurking in the dark water, shot out from the shadows beneath his fingertips.
Their paths in the water were almost straight, moving so fast that they left only two faint golden lines on the retina, piercing precisely into the forehead of the male and female wizard.
The duo didn’t even have time to plead or negotiate, already at the end of their strength, entirely powerless to resist the strike.
"Puff."
An extremely faint sound, like a bubble bursting.
The warlock opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, the female wizard’s eyes still retained remnants of a pleading look.
But their gazes instantly froze, scattering, the weak magical power halo protecting them quietly extinguished, their bodies like puppets with cut strings, sliding slowly along the rock wall, ultimately sprawling in the mud and sand at the lake bottom, no different from the bodies of the three pursuers before.
Duke knew these two posed the least threat, so he hadn’t focused his efforts on them earlier.
He concentrated all his firepower on dealing with the pursuers first, then turned to eliminate these two once done.
The five corpses quickly disappeared, after all, they were merely a bunch of simulated data, not real bodies.
Also, it spared him the task of searching the bodies, as resources from the dispatched opponents would automatically tally to one’s own.
Duke didn’t yet know how much resources these individuals carried, only learning after completing the tally.