Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

“Leave, quick, leave this place!” yelled Pan Jin.

The number of people collapsing to the ground was still increasing. Everyone felt like they were going to be the next victim. Black blood stuck in their throat, turning into black charcoal and scattering in ashes. No one would want to end up like that!

The Magicians of the Golden Battle Hunters started fleeing, rushing toward the manor.

More people continued to fall as they were fleeing. There were more than twenty casualties already…

When they finally reached the barrier to run away from the random massacre of the invisible demon, they saw their leader Ge Ming stopping the people from leaving the ranches.

“Leader, we are under attack by something unknown. It seems it could spread through the air at a terrifying rate without any sign,” Pan Jin’s voice sounded like he was about to burst into tears.

He had been a Hunter for over ten years, fighting against lots of terrifying demon creatures and monsters, and had gotten used to seeing his comrades dying. However, he almost had a mental breakdown as he witnessed the unexplainable deaths of the people around him, dying as if they had all been poisoned. His only thought was to get his teammates away from the place!

Ge Ming stepped aside slightly to let Pan Jin see what was happening outside the barrier…

Black blood. The whole place was covered in black blood. The rather viscous liquid was flowing across the grassland outside the ranches, and had accumulated into a small pool following the slope.

One black corpse after another laid on the ground. When a random breeze swept past, their skin scattered in the air like flying ashes!

“Those who left the boundary of the ranches are all dead, not even a single survivor!” said Ge Ming to the people fleeing for their lives in a deep voice.

The Golden Battle Hunters had brought almost a thousand people. The group that conducted the operation at the manor only consisted of a small part. The remainder of the group was on standby outside the barrier, preventing the people of the Black Vatican from escaping after they were alerted. The ranches were quite spacious, so they needed quite a number of people to guard every direction.

When the people under Pan Jin’s lead started vomiting black blood, the people outside were showed the same terrifying symptoms too! Some immediately backed off in fear, but those who stepped outside the boundary died in less than fifty steps…

As a result, the number of corpses that turned into black ashes outside the barrier was the highest. The black blood could already form a stream.

The leader Ge Ming almost lost his mind when that happened. The Golden Battle Hunters had more than a thousand people, yet almost four hundred had died already from some unknown cause. Almost half of their group was wiped out! Most terrifyingly, they had no idea what had killed them, and were clueless who the next victim was going to be. The ranches had suddenly turned into Hell with black corpses scattered across the place. On top of that, those who tried to run away would immediately fall victim to it…

“You can’t leave, you must not go out there!” ordered Ge Ming sternly.

“I don’t believe it, I can’t wait and die here. Their deaths were too horrible. It must be a contagious disease spreading through air!” A female Hunter had totally lost her calm. She ran out of the barrier despite others’ efforts trying to stop her.

Pan Jin wanted to stop her, but Ge Ming immediately grabbed onto him.

Pan Jin lowered his head and realized that he almost stepped outside the fence of the ranch. Meanwhile, the female Hunter had already run ten meters past…

“Ahhh!”

Fresh blood poured out from the woman’s mouth. She finally halted in her tracks and tried to run back to the barrier!

Pan Jin watched her running in his direction while vomiting black blood. She desperately tried to scream as if she was asking for help, or begging the deadly unknown existence to spare her life.

However, as she reached the barrier, she collapsed to the ground, yet continued to crawl forward. Her hands, now covered in blood, grabbed onto the fence, trying to force her way in, as if she would be able to survive if she made it in.

Her body began to dry up. She finally moved past the tiny gap. Half her body was inside the barrier, but she had stopped moving.

Obviously, the deadly existence would not feel sorry for her just because she had realized her mistake in time. Half her body was stuck outside the fence as her skin gradually turned into black ashes…

Tears ran down Pan Jin’s cheeks as he watched it happen. There was sorrow, pain, and terror!

No one could explain what was going on. It felt like everyone from the Golden Battle Hunters was being targeted by a demon visiting the mundane world. They were forced to obey the rules of the demon’s game. No one was allowed to leave the circle it had drawn, yet everyone still had the chance to become its next target!

They could only hide in the cage and wait hopelessly until they were picked by the demon to be the next victim!

—-

The sudden turn of events scared the guests of the manor to death. The whole place turned utterly chaotic, as the Hunters were not the only one falling victim to the strange curse, but the same thing was happening among the fifteen hundred visitors and the workers, although the rate of it happening was significantly lower than the Golden Battle Hunters. That being said, it was still extremely frightening!

The members of the Golden Battle Hunters realized that the same thing was happening to the guests at the manor, too. They were startled when they saw the guests running to the outside.

“Quick, stop them, set up the barrier! Don’t let them cross the fences!” yelled Ge Ming. He immediately contacted the Hunters standing close to the fences around the ranches.

“Do we really have the time to care about them now?” said Pan Jin.

“What are you talking about? We are the ones that started this! If innocent lives are involved, the Golden Battle Hunters will be taking all the blame. We don’t know how all of this is happening, but we can’t simply watch them die, even if you are going to be the next victim!” snapped Ge Ming furiously.

Most people in the Hunter Group had gone through situations of life and death before. As the rate of death slowly decreased, the Hunters calmed down and stopped the terrified guests from leaving the ranches, and led them back to the manor.

Luckily, they had yet to withdraw the barrier and were able to use it to save many lives. Otherwise, the field outside the ranches would be covered in corpses!

“Leader, I think the poison has stopped!”

“A Magician managed to sneak out of the barrier just then, but he died not long after!”

“The poison must have stopped spreading, but leaving the ranches is still suicide. Ask everyone to calm down!” Ge Ming ordered his people amid the chaos.

The minds of many people had already gone blank from fear. They were simply following their instincts to stay alive, but in certain situations, it would cost them their lives. Pan Jin had to admit that he was quite impressed by how Ge Ming was able to remain calm in the current situation.

That being said, none of them was able to comprehend the situation.

It was supposed to be a carefully-planned operation to take down the Black Vatican, yet somehow, they had all ended up in a demon’s nest!