บท 59: Reforged Chapter 59: The Cult of the Five Fireballs
At this moment, the brilliance of the sun seemed to fade, as the naga struck down by Duke collapsed in the shallow water less than a meter and a half deep. Their corpses created a violent psychic shockwave, dispersing the morale of the murlocs dominated by the Gray-Scale Naga.
"Gaga olah oh... (That human is the true Ocean God; the Gray-Scale Naga are just fake Ocean Messengers. We Sharp-Tooth Murlocs should rebel!)"
The murlocs' rebellion intensified the already chaotic situation. When the Gray-Scale Naga priestess realized she could no longer command any murlocs and thousands of them attacked the Gray-Scale Naga with their crude weapons, even she, not the brightest, knew the tide had turned.
"Retreat!" She wanted to flee with her kin, back to Stranglethorn Vale.
But would Duke let them?
Duke himself didn't realize that in his black pupils, a cold, mocking light flickered. He muttered to himself, "Incompetent fools! Slow to react! You don't even qualify to be my henchmen!"
As if playing a tower defense game, Duke only needed to focus on eliminating the most significant threats. As for the minor enemies, the system sprite would help him aim and shoot.
Many naga rushed from the small iceberg at the entrance of the bay, but not one reached Duke.
Suddenly, Duke was targeted by a Frostbolt, an attack from three female Gray-Scale Naga.
A faint, mocking smile appeared at the corner of Duke's mouth. If he could still be hurt by a level 1 Frostbolt without the support of an Arcane specialization, that would be utterly ridiculous.
He gathered some magical power, raised his left hand, and created an ice wall right on the path of the incoming Frostbolts calculated by the system.
The Frostbolts hit the ice wall, losing their power entirely. Even the cold air became part of the ice wall.
"My turn," Duke said, suddenly gathering most of his magical power.
Each Arcane Missile consumed a relatively low amount of magic, but Fire spells were different. Fire spells were notorious mana hogs.
Duke could sustain 80 Arcane Missiles simultaneously but only five Pyroblasts.
From his hair to his shoulders, Duke seemed to be 'ignited' as a blazing red flame shot up over a meter above his head. The fire magic power from the Fire Elemental Plane gathered in front of the mage's hand in the void.
Seeing the five enormous fireballs hovering in mid-air, the Gray-Scale Naga priestesses turned pale with terror. They screamed and raised their magical shields, and even the most loyal male naga used their massive bodies to block the path between Duke and the Naga priestesses, attempting to defend their leader with their lives.
What difference did it make? Under the system sprite's command, the purple-blue Arcane Missiles fell from the sky, with all their attacks concentrated in one area. In the blink of an eye, the line of fire between Duke and the Gray-Scale Naga priestess leader was cleared.
"No!" The Naga leader screamed, twisting her serpentine body in the shallow water, trying to dodge the Pyroblast.
Duke laughed loudly as the massive fireballs smashed down. "Hehe! Behold my 'Cult of the Five Fireballs'!"
The Naga priestess moved quickly. From the moment she started moving to the arrival of the fireballs, she had already covered four meters.
But the Arcane-Fire Circuit not only provided Duke with abundant Arcane and Fire magic power but also granted him sharper magical control.
The fast-approaching fireballs somehow unscientifically curved in mid-air, tracing a clear arc in the void. This display left Vara, who was still in the midst of battle, dumbfounded, nearly forgetting the fight around her.
The Gray-Scale Naga priestess struggled to swim a few more steps before being struck in the face by a Pyroblast. Her magical shield saved her life, allowing her to avoid being killed instantly.
...
However, this only prolonged her life for a brief moment. After being hit by the first Pyroblast, she was marked for certain doom, no matter how she struggled or resisted, she was relentlessly struck by the second, third, fourth, and fifth Pyroblast spells.
The second blast charred her entire body.
The third blast blew off several of her arms.
The fourth blast split her in half at the waist.
The fifth blast... was essentially desecrating her corpse.
Under the watchful eyes of thousands of murlocs and hundreds of naga, the proud leader and high priestess of the Gray-Scale Naga was killed by Duke's fire magic in the shallow waters.
The intense heat evaporated all the water around the Gray-Scale Naga priestess, creating a temporary void. It took a full second for the seawater to refill the empty space.
At this moment, Duke's fierce and domineering shout echoed throughout the bay.
"Who else—Who else dares to challenge me! Step forward!"
Even though Duke spoke in Common, the murlocs understood his meaning, and he was demanding the next challenger.
Was there another challenger?
The Gray-Scale Naga's first male warrior had been sliced into fish fillets by Duke.
Their high priestess had become roasted fish.
For a moment, the entire battlefield fell silent once more.
Duke arrogantly scanned the crowd with his menacing gaze, finding no one who dared to meet his eyes.
Duke suddenly felt like a max-level mage returning to a starter village to help low-level players grind monsters.
"Very well—by the authority of the Hundred-Handed Death God, I command you to submit to me, or die!"
Thousands of murlocs knelt down, making a cacophony of submissive noises. Even after the system translated the fish-like language, Duke couldn't be bothered to pay attention.
The two remaining female Gray-Scale Naga priestesses pressed their six arms together and bowed, signaling their submission, along with all the surviving male naga.
Although Duke had intended to subdue them from the beginning, more than a hundred Gray-Scale male naga had already been turned into paste by Arcane Missiles before the leader's death.
Looking at the 280+ Gray-Scale Naga, Duke suddenly wished he had killed their leader earlier.
At this point, Vara Wrathscale Avis, covered in blood and bearing no fewer than ten wounds, swam over to him.
She bowed deeply as well: "Congratulations, Master."
Duke glanced at her injuries: "How are you feeling?"
"Minor injuries," Vara replied nonchalantly.
"Good. From now on, you will command these Gray-Scale Naga and murlocs. Within a month, I want you to move everything belonging to the Gray-Scale Naga here."
The intelligent Vara furrowed her brow: "Master, is something urgent happening?"
Did the Dark Portal count as urgent? Of course, it did!
Duke couldn't tell Vara outright: "Indeed, something major might happen in two or three years, or maybe even in a few months. I can't be sure. However, it is indeed a world-shaking event. Prepare for a large-scale naval battle."
Vara knew that, as an outsider, she couldn't gain Duke's complete trust. Moreover, Duke's god-like performance earlier had deeply shaken her. At this point, she had no other thoughts.
Even though she didn't know who her enemies were, Vara bowed deeply once more: "I shall follow your will."
...
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