Chapter 74: Chapter 72 Port

In horror, the nearest twenty or so people were included in the attack range of the mass of earth and rock fragments.

Except for the members of the Fischer family who stepped back, the other seven Extraordinary Exponents stood in the front row and were attacked by the enemy first.

The terrible force instantly shredded the bodies of several ordinary people, leaving their crimson blood and torn flesh scattered on the ground, with wailing and screaming erupting among the crowd!

“Damn it!”

The old priest glared angrily, and as the most experienced, he immediately cast the spell “Circle of Water” in front of him to create a liquid shield, protecting himself from the attack,

Aaron managed to jump away in time to avoid the attack from the earth and rock fragments.

The other Extraordinary Exponents weren’t so lucky, none of them reacted to the sneak attack, all sustaining various degrees of injury, with the sheriff, a low-level Beginning exponent, suffering the most severe wounds.

Even though he was wearing armor, he was still gravely injured by the stones hitting his internal organs; he knelt on the ground in agony, trembling non-stop, completely unable to speak.

Irene walked up without hesitation, stretching out her hand and a force as gentle and comforting as the breath of spring, smoothed over the sheriff’s injuries.

She caressed the sacred object in her arms, the situation just now was not a matter of life and death for the members of the Fischer family, so the Lord of the Lost did not give any warning.

Clearly, the Fischer family could not rely on the Lord of the Lost for everything.

Byrne took another step back, then immediately stood amidst the crowd and yelled,

“The one who just attacked is definitely that low-level Transmutation Extraordinary Exponent, don’t get too close, just throw alchemical explosives in there first!”

Rushing in recklessly was dangerous, and since the opponent didn’t have any hostages, it was better to bomb the place with alchemical explosives first and consider other options afterward.

The old priest glanced at Byrne, remembering the boy he had seen many years ago, who was timid and scared, even afraid to talk to strangers.

Now, the young Fischer could decisively issue commands among the crowd, clearly having grown a lot.

Irene, having stabilized the sheriff’s condition, ignored the expectant looks of the other injured and the pleading voices for the moment, instead, she unhesitatingly retreated into the crowd.

She watched as the patrol team blasted the entire outer wall of the manor with alchemical explosives.

“Boom!”

While not many people knew, Irene’s healing power also consumed a faint amount of Spirituality, and if she used too much, she would be completely out of tricks later.

Therefore, she decided that it was necessary to heal the severely wounded Extraordinary Exponents first, while the others could be temporarily ignored.

The alchemical explosives were thrown, and after a barrage of explosions, the walls were leveled, turned to rubble, but Byrne saw no signs of the enemy.

Obviously, the enemy had escaped right after the successful sneak attack.

The old priest sneered and said, “The Isaacs are all very cunning fellows.”

“One team stays here to search, the rest come with me, I know where they are.”

The old priest, a high-level Beginning Spellcaster, could master up to three spell models, and the spells he learned were “Circle of Water,” “icicle,” and “Summoning Water Spirit,” serving for defense, offense, and enemy seeking respectively.

Through the enemy seeking effect of “Summoning Water Spirit,” the old priest sensed that two members of the family were heading towards the port.

Either escape into the vast, endless jungle or flee to sea from the port—having predicted the two most likely choices, the old priest left Summoning Water Spirits hidden along the necessary paths to those destinations in advance.

As expected by the old priest, Lady Isaac and her brother were on their way to the port.

The other Transmutation level Extraordinary Exponent stayed behind to attract attention with sneak attacks, buying time for his siblings to escape.

Indeed, it was a very clever plan!

The old priest took all the Extraordinary Exponents to the port, intending to intercept Lady Isaac and her brother while expecting the Transmutation level Knight Extraordinary Exponent to possibly arrive at the port and join his family members.

If the opponent didn’t choose to come to the port, he simply abandoned the plan to capture or kill that powerful being.

Having lived for so many years, the old priest knew deep down the vast difference between Transmutation and Beginning.

Capturing Lady Isaac and her brother was easy, but trying to kill that powerful foe would surely lead to heavy casualties.

“`

Perhaps letting that guy leave Nasir isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Moreover, after eluding the chase, he wouldn’t dare continue to linger in Nasir and secretly seek revenge, because the middle and high ranks of the Tempest Church were already on their way.

The group hurried to the port of Nasir Town under the guidance of the old priest.

To preserve her spirituality, Irene didn’t heal the ordinary people along the way but distributed blood potions purchased by her family to keep them going.

After that, she gave a slight treatment to a few Extraordinary Exponents, winning their favor for the Fischer family at a very low cost.

Byrne remained highly vigilant throughout the journey, ready to use his Extraordinary trait “Speed Sketching” at any sign of movement.

A few years ago, he had considered one thing: why not draw a picture of the target in advance? However, he soon realized the problems that would arise from doing so.

Drawings from “Speed Sketching” had an effective range and duration; a completely finished drawing would become an ordinary one after a few hours.

But Byrne soon discovered something important: his spirituality was only consumed when the final stroke was drawn, making the picture complete and granting it an Extraordinary effect.

In fact, as long as he didn’t draw the final stroke, he wouldn’t use up any spirituality.

So now it took him only a fraction of a second to complete a Speed Sketch.

It wasn’t because Byrne’s hand speed was supernatural; instead, he’d thought of a new method of “Pre-made Drawing.”

This was by using the effect of “Profound Memory” to nearly complete drawings of everyone and everything he had seen in advance, leaving just the last stroke out.

When he saw the enemy, he would instantly draw the last stroke to complete the drawing, turning a common “Pre-made Drawing” into one with an Extraordinary effect.

In the sketchbook he carried with him tonight were “Pre-made Drawings” of all the Extraordinary Exponents in Nasir, except those from the Fischer family, all prepared in advance.

As long as one is willing to keep summarizing and developing, the application of Extraordinary power can be extended and perfected. The concept gradually formed in Byrne’s mind, and he felt he should deepen his understanding on this path.

In the silent port, dense sea air carrying the taste of salt blew toward them, and the dark waters of the sea flowed softly and calmly under the night sky.

The procession, like a dragon of fire, arrived at the port with torches, and indeed, at a great distance, they saw a boat gradually setting off. As they drew close, the figures of Lady Isaac and her brother were unmistakably revealed beneath the firelight.

Lady Isaac was no longer in a dress, but she wore rusty armor emblazoned with alchemical runes and held two dazzling longswords, her demeanor somber and serious.

The old priest silently gazed at the visage of his old friend on the boat, and then he heard Byrne shout without hesitation,

“Attack! They’re on the boat, don’t let those evil cultists escape!”

The many patrol guards took up their flintlocks and began firing continuously at the target, the not-so-large boat still within the effective hundred-meter range of the firearms, instantly coming under a sustained barrage.

Byrne, kneeling on one knee, took out paper and pencil and sketched the hull with incredible speed and skill.

No matter what, he did not want to let slip the evil cultists who harboured intentions against his wife and children!

By the time Byrne completed his drawing, the boat had already sunk at sea, and the two figures on board had leapt into the sea ahead of time.

He pondered for a moment, then shouted again, “They can’t drown; they’ll definitely try to come ashore, everyone stay alert!”

There wasn’t a Nasir citizen who couldn’t swim, and there were even many diving experts among them. Naturally, two Extraordinary Exponents couldn’t possibly drown just off the coast—unless they were misfortunate enough to have been shot just now.

If they didn’t drown, the two Extraordinary Exponents would attempt to climb ashore, which would inevitably lead to a fierce battle!

The port of Nasir wasn’t large, and with so many people holding torches, they could clearly see if someone was trying to come ashore.

Everyone waited in complete concentration, the air heavy with tension, as time passed gradually and every second felt like an age.

In the silence, the atmosphere grew more oppressive, with fear, hope, and uncertainty colliding, lingering in everyone’s hearts.

However, in the silent port, there was no sound; as minutes passed, not even a single person surfaced in the waters before them.

Had they disappeared?

Byrne fell into thought. Had they turned into members of the sea tribe and swam away, or had they used some other method to leave the water?

No, if they could swim away, they wouldn’t have needed to come to the dock to prepare a boat in the first place!

“`