Volume 3: Divine Messenger 090, Desert Poison Smoke

  A round moon shone down on the quiet desert, and as far as the eye could see, there were only rolling sand dunes, endless emptiness, not a single human figure, nor even a blade of grass. Ah Mon stood with his hands behind his back, furrowed his brow and asked: "Have you noticed any movement?"

  Mei Danzuo furrowed his brow, concentrated and listened carefully for a while before responding: "The sound of sand, with a slight humming noise, like something hard rubbing against the sand, but I couldn't quite make out where it was coming from. What else did you hear?"

  Amon waved his hand and suddenly took out a staff, on which seven divine stones were inlaid in a spiral shape. It was the one he got from Obama-Lington. He handed it to Maidanzo: "Take it, this staff is yours now. Use the detection technique again to explore the situation."

  "Good heavens!" exclaimed Mendez, both startled and delighted. "Isn't this the very staff that Linus had? Oh, great Amun, you are indeed generous!"

  "Hey, don't be too happy yet, hold your staff and get ready for battle. Haven't you figured out the situation yet?"

  With this staff in hand, the power of Medanzzo's detection technique is doubled. He immediately exclaimed: "This is bad! These sounds are coming from under the sand dunes, countless scorpions are approaching, we're surrounded on all sides!"

  As they spoke, Ah Mon suddenly slammed the iron branch staff in his hand heavily into the sand, inserting it deeply, and a shockwave of energy rippled out, penetrating deep into the ground. Then he shouted: "Mei Dansuo, your turn!"

  All that can be seen is the sudden appearance of countless black dots on the shallow white sand dunes, surging in from all directions. From the sky, the place where Amun and Medan stood became a white circular island in the midst of a black tide. This was the result of Amun's staff thrusting into the ground, forcing all the scorpions to retreat from underground.

  These scorpions are nearly a foot long, with a pair of pincers and a long tail with a poisonous stinger, looking very frightening. If it were only one or two scorpions, they could be trampled to death by lifting their feet, and even if they were accidentally stung by the poisonous stinger, it would not be fatal. However, tens of thousands of poisonous scorpions, no matter who sees them, will be terrified.

  And Mai Dangzo was fearless, shouting loudly as he wielded the newly acquired staff, a whirlwind rose and swept away in a spiral storm, spinning around and scanning outwards. The sand grains blown up by the wind were like tiny needles, with countless indistinguishable wind blades mixed among them. The incoming poisonous scorpions' hard shells were shattered by the sand grains, their bodies and claws cut off by the wind blades, leaving behind a field of corpses. Some scorpions were severed in half, their incomplete bodies still struggling and twisting restlessly.

  This hand's aggressive large-scale air elemental spell was indeed very powerful, but the desert scorpion did not retreat due to its companion's death. The scorpion group behind continued to surge forward, trampling over the corpses on the ground. Amun didn't take action, only saying: "These scorpions are too big, their shells are too hard, using air elemental spells is too wasteful."

  Mai Danzuo immediately raised his staff, and a bright fire thread appeared in the whirlwind. The fire thread instantly turned into flying dragons dancing among the sand dunes, and the scorpion's corpse was ignited first. Then, the scorpions that rushed up from behind also twisted and rolled in the sea of flames, being burned to charcoal and ash. A faint smoke rose on all sides, mixed with a pungent and unbearable smell.

  Amun said, "Scorpions have toxic liquid inside their bodies. With so much toxic liquid around us evaporating, the smoke will be highly poisonous."

  Without Ah Mon's reminder, Meidanzuo was blowing away the smoke with a whirlwind while casting the Sea of Flames. These scorpions seemed to be fire-resistant, and many of them were still crawling towards him with flames on their bodies, only to be sliced apart by gusts of wind not far away. At this moment, Meidanzuo was simultaneously casting two mid-tier divine spells with a large range.

  "This can't go on, after a while he shouted: "Oh God Amun, have we entered the wasp's nest? It's not necessary to waste our energy like this, why should we be surrounded by a group of wasps? Let's leave, the scorpion can't catch up with us."

  Amun drew out his staff and suddenly took down the tent, nodding: "Then let's go, you come to break through."

  Maidanzuo pointed the staff forward, and a whirlwind converged into a straight line, blowing out a wide ditch in the sand. The scorpion group was rolled to both sides. The flame disappeared and immediately turned into a piece of ice. The nearby poisonous scorpions were stiff on the ground, and the slightly distant scorpions seemed to be affected by the coldness, becoming slow. Maidanzuo took advantage of the situation to walk forward in big strides, with Amun carrying the skin bag behind him.

  In the dry desert, using water elemental magic is quite laborious and unproductive, but combining it with Wind Slash Technique to deploy Ice Seal Technique, that chilliness is a good way to deal with these scorpions. Maybe it can't freeze them to death, but as long as it stops their movement, we can break through the scorpion swarm.

  Two people walked slowly and steadily through the scorpion swarm, with Meidanzuo's staff leading the way. As the sky grew lighter, the scorpions around them became fewer and farther between, and the endless white sand dunes stretched out in all directions. Meidanzuo finally let out a sigh of relief, turning to Ahmon and asking: "How did so many poisonous scorpions appear? Have you ever encountered this before?"

  Amun shook his head: "There are poisonous scorpions in the desert, and people have been bitten to death by mistake. I've heard about it since I was a child, but I've never heard of so many scorpions. Maybe the environment has changed after the flood."

  Mei Danzuo frowned and said, "These scorpions are obviously too big and look very poisonous, they're not ordinary sand scorpions!" As he spoke, he suddenly stomped his foot and killed a scorpion that had suddenly crawled out of the sand, cursing, "How can there be more, endless!"

  Amun suddenly thought of something and said with a frown: "I heard before coming that there are monsters lurking in this area, it seems that these scorpions are also one of the monsters. I saw a mythological scroll called 'The Land of Marduk' in the Temple of Isis, which records that Duku Town was once the battlefield of the war of the gods, and a long time ago, the gods created nine monsters to help fight, namely the nine-headed snake, the swamp giant snake, the scorpion-tailed dragon, the sea monster, the giant lion, the three-headed vicious dog, the human-faced poisonous scorpion, the enchanting mermaid, and the wild barbaric cow."

  Medanzo: "The nine-headed serpent? Isn't that just the young river god Humbaba? They say he was Enlil's gatekeeper, and was recently slaughtered by Gilgamesh and Enkidu."

  Amon nodded and said, "The nine-headed serpent is likely to be Humbaba. It was probably subdued by Enlil in that great war and became the gatekeeper of the divine realm. Although Humbaba died, it still has many offspring. I once encountered them in the Underworld River. If Humbaba had descendants, other monsters might have too. Among the nine monsters, there is a human-faced scorpion. The scorpion we met may be its descendant."

  "Then we must be careful, or we might encounter some poisonous insects or ferocious beasts."

  Ammon nodded again: "Yes, if we encounter something unnecessary, try to avoid it as much as possible. We're not here to eliminate monsters, just the two of us can't do that anyway. We're just here to investigate the situation and get to Duk Town as soon as possible."

  As they continued on, the two of them slowed down their pace. This desert was home to poisonous scorpions that would suddenly pop out from under the sand, sometimes in groups and other times alone, just five or six of them. Almost every day, they had to go through several big and small battles, and Meidansuo nearly got stung by a scorpion. Amun simply followed behind without lifting a hand, leaving everything to Meidansuo to handle. After another seven or eight days like this, the desert began to show sparse patches of shallow grass.

  "Amun asked: 'Medanzo, can you still hold on?'"

  Mai Dangzuo took a few deep breaths and said, "Since I started practicing divine techniques, the total number of divine techniques I've used is still less than these past few days. The opponent is just a scorpion after all, but it's hard to withstand the continuous attacks. Who knows when they'll pop out again? If it weren't for Lord Amun being by my side, giving me confidence, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to hold on this long."

  On the same day that Armon and Medanzzo decided to turn north from the trade road, three people were conferring in the temple of Enlil in the distant city-state of Sumeria: an old man and his two young disciples.

  Ge Lie's appearance hadn't changed much, still sporting a goatee and a face full of wrinkles, but his eyes seemed even clearer and deeper than two years ago. He charged at Raphael, "During this time, have you persisted in cultivating your divine powers without interruption?"

  Raphael replied, "Practicing divine techniques has been my hobby since I was a child, and I've gotten used to it. Two years ago, my teacher sent me to explore the terrain around Duketown, but due to an unexpected encounter, I stopped practicing for a period of time. However, after that, I never interrupted my practice again."

  "Half a year ago, I sent you to the Black Fire Swamp again to investigate the situation of the monsters there. The task was much more dangerous than two years ago, didn't you interrupt your spiritual practice?"

  Raphael replied respectfully, "Yes, under your teaching, it has become a habit. I don't need to remind myself what to do, and every day I naturally go and do it. The foundation of divine technique meditation is also a way to recover my strength, only in this way can I persist in that dangerous environment and finally complete the task entrusted by you, teacher."

  Ge Lie laughed and asked: "Young man, in such a dangerous environment, do you know why you can always turn danger into safety?"

  Raphael's expression turned contemplative: "I've had my doubts too, there were several close calls at the time, but I always managed to get through them safely, as if some divine being was protecting me."

  "Perhaps you really have the blessing of the gods, but it was actually Walter who protected you at that time. I specifically assigned him to secretly follow behind you, and you didn't even know."

  Raphael's eyes widened in surprise as he stood up and walked towards Hawlett, "So it was you who protected me all this time. You should have saved me several times already. Why didn't you tell me?"

  Hua Lai Te smiled slightly: "The teacher didn't let me say it at the time."

  Raphael knelt down and said, "Even if I didn't say it at the time, but I've already completed my task for half a year. You haven't mentioned it once in such a long time. You have secretly saved me so many times, yet I never expressed my gratitude!"

  Walter still smiled: "This is what I should do and what I am willing to do. The teacher doesn't let me say it, so I won't say it. Since the teacher said it today, then I'll say it too. I'm just completing my task and don't seek any thanks, of course, at this moment I also accept your thanks." He pulled Raphael up.

  "Your state of mind is excellent, and for the past half year I have intentionally not told Raphael, and you yourself did not put this matter at heart. Walter, have you ever thought about when you will become a great divine magician? In the Hattie Kingdom, I have guided many students, but the one with the most hope of becoming a great divine magician first is you."

  Sixth-level divine technique master, Hualeite, humbly replied: "This isn't a matter of whether I want to or not. Probably all the divine technique masters on the continent hope to take this step, but it's not an empty wish. When facing this goal, I can only decide how to act myself and don't think too much."

  Gale nodded in satisfaction: "Very well, I hope you are sincere and can really do it. This time I will send the two of you on a mission again, set out together to cross the Syrian Desert, and then go separately to the city-states of Uruk of Balen and Cape of Egu, deliver a secret letter to the two city masters Gilgamesh and Rod-Dick respectively, get their reply and come back, no matter what kind of response it is."

  The ninth-level great god took out two sealed small leather tubes and handed them to the students, instructing: "You can't open them yourselves, the contents of the letter may bring trouble, if there's trouble, you'll have to find a way to solve it yourself, and then come back to see me with the reply.

  It's still a bit of trouble to travel through the Syrian Desert, so try not to get entangled with those powerful monsters and just make sure you pass safely. Here are a few scrolls and a flying artifact, if your life is threatened, Hualeite, you can drive it away with Raphael. But this is also a trial journey, and the scrolls and flying artifacts cannot be used until the final critical moment."

  Amon and Medanzo had already walked to the edge of the desert, where low-growing, cold-resistant grass could be seen on the dunes from time to time. Calculating the distance, they would reach the inland lake in another day's walk. This type of long-grass dune was also the most suitable environment for scorpions to grow, and Medanzo involuntarily raised his vigilance. However, after walking for half a day, he didn't see any sign of scorpions, and he couldn't help but exclaim: "Today is really strange, why haven't we seen a single scorpion?"

  Ammon smiled: "Haven't you been bothered by the scorpion for several days? Do you still want to meet a group of scorpions?"

  Mei Danzuo, also with a tired expression, smiled: "I didn't mean it that way, I'd rather be able to relax easily, being nervous and apprehensive until now, in the most likely place to encounter a scorpion yet without any movement, it's better to have a quick and decisive battle to get out of here quickly."

  Amon: "The unseen enemy is the most dangerous one, this feeling is indeed torturing. But you must be mentally prepared, even if we get out of the desert and escape the scorpion, who knows what's waiting for us ahead, maybe something worse than the scorpion... Hmm? What are those marks on the sand over there?"

  There were strange marks on the sand dunes ahead, like ripples frozen on the surface of the water. Medanzo approached and bent down to observe, taking a cold breath: "I'm all too familiar with these marks in recent days, they're the footprints of scorpions crawling on the sand, but these scorpions are too big, each one is probably over three feet long! It looks like they're all rushing in one direction, I wonder what's going on? Let's take this opportunity to hurry up!"

  Ammon waved his hand: "Don't be in a hurry, let me see what those scorpions are up to, it's safer to understand first."

  He took out a lamp with a golden base, the "Lamp of Pursuit" left by Vitru, stood in front of those marks, held the lamp and gently shook his staff. The divine stone embedded in the lamp core emitted a circular light circle, and the scene inside the light circle changed constantly, as if chasing the footprints of scorpions on the sand dunes, moving forward quickly.

  After crossing countless sand dunes, the light and shadow had already become a scene tens of miles away. Ah Meng and Mei Dianzuo saw a group of enormous scorpions, each one from its pincers to its tail was over three feet long, with a shiny black exoskeleton like hard armor, and on the raised hook-like tail tip, there were occasional bursts of pale blue flames, which were terrifying mutated giant scorpions.

  The flame shot out by the hook tail is a straight line, which can attack very distant targets. It's the burning venom after spraying, not only highly toxic but also accompanied by high temperature, just a little bit of it will cause fatal damage. These scorpions do not always spray venom, but instead form a formation similar to a military array, protecting each other and attacking alternately, waiting for an opportunity to strike. The flame is only used for long-range attacks, while the most threatening weapon at close range is still the thick giant pincers and the hook needles on the long tail.

  There were several hundred scorpions, all of which were this variant of giant scorpion, and the sight was hair-raising. In the middle of the swarm were two young people surrounded, wielding staffs that were clearly those of divine magic users, with deep magical power and unconventional methods. Various large-scale defensive and offensive divine magic spells crisscrossed each other as they advanced and retreated in perfect coordination. The older of the two divine magic users took the lead in attacking, while the very young one was mainly defending, moving their feet to keep pace with the encircling swarm, yet unable to break through.

  Around and on the paths they had taken, nearly a hundred mutated giant scorpions' corpses were scattered, some charred, some cut into pieces, some frozen into ice shards, and some apparently blasted by an enormous force. The two divine spellcasters also didn't know how many spells they had switched between.

  Amun shook his staff lightly, and the light of the Pursuing Lamp expanded rapidly. He was focusing on the corpses of those mutated giant scorpions. Two days ago, he and Medanzo had also encountered poisonous scorpions, and the effects of various divine techniques were clear: if burned by the high temperature of fire element divine techniques, the scorpions would turn to ash, leaving behind only a fragile, crumbling exoskeleton.

  But look at those scorched, mutated giant scorpions, their pincers and tail stingers still intact, shining brightly among the sand and ash. The fire elemental spell's effect wasn't very good, and it also ignited toxic smoke, so the two mages tried a different approach after that, and the remaining scorpion corpses were eliminated with other spells.

  No matter whether it was spatial cutting or wind blade explosion, the scorpion's corpse should have been torn apart, but Amun found that behind those mutated giant scorpions there was a palm-sized hard shell intact and undamaged. The hardness of this shell can be imagined. These mutated giant scorpions' pincers, tail needles, and back shells are all good materials for making weapons or ritual objects, and it's even harder to come by such a large quantity. As the inheritor of the great craftsman Nietzsche, Amun thought of this in an instant.

  "Is there someone else like us, trekking through the desert on foot? They've encountered a big one, those giant scorpions are not easy to deal with, and they can even attack from a distance! Ahmon's gods, shall we help?"