Chapter 78: The Town Portal Scroll

In the blink of an eye, a third of his HP was wiped out in an ambush!

Panicked, War Wolf finally, perhaps for the first time in his life, regarded the Scavenger Qilin as a true adversary—despite having never intended to take a Tier 1 player seriously. But reality is merciless.

If he failed to realize his own peril and did not treat the situation with utmost seriousness, the fate awaiting him would be certain death.

Such an occurrence might draw ridicule if spoken of within the game, but at this moment, War Wolf had no room for other thoughts. For an archer, being engaged at close quarters was lethal, and now he could not afford a single distraction!

Almost at the very instant the third wave of damage registered, War Wolf forced himself to endure the searing pain in his throat. Lowering his head, he used his chin to shield the wound at his neck; simultaneously, he struggled to pry free the Scavenger Qilin’s hand pressing down on his weapon and activated Swift Step, intent on escaping his pursuer.

His retreat speed increased considerably.

Yet reality refused to comply with his hopes. Even with Swift Step, his backward movement was no match for my full-speed pursuit...

The first round of Swift Step was not yet over, and as War Wolf sped away, I kept up effortlessly, sticking to him like a shadow. Once again, the Silver Beast Dagger flashed in my hand!

This time, my attack did not target War Wolf’s throat, for he had just instinctively guarded the wound with his chin—a reflex that made it impossible to land another easy blow there as before.

But I was in no hurry.

As long as I remained glued to him, War Wolf would have no chance to counterattack!

My MP could sustain five more rounds of Swift Step—twenty-five seconds in all. In that time, I could ensure I remained within striking distance, never letting him out of reach...

If he failed to find a better way to shake me off, he was as good as dead!

Of course, I had no intention of wasting too much time. Now that I held the initiative, my style was always to finish the enemy in the shortest time possible!

I would not forgo any damage bonuses...

At once, the Silver Beast Dagger, sharp enough to chill the soul, stabbed steadily toward War Wolf, whose face had turned deathly pale.

This was how to expose his wound—by aiming for the most vulnerable spot that would instinctively trigger panic and defensive reflexes: the eyes!

When an ordinary person’s eyes are threatened, their pupils dilate and their heart races; the fear is only worse when the attacker has already injured them. Almost without thinking, War Wolf leaned back, his free hand flashing up to block.

With the movement of his head and arm, the deep, bleeding gash at his throat was instantly exposed...

This was the moment I had been waiting for!

A smile flickered in my eyes. Just as the Silver Beast Dagger was about to strike War Wolf’s bracer, I abruptly withdrew it, then snapped my wrist with force! The blade darted forward even faster, stabbing directly into War Wolf’s throat!

“Ugh!!”

War Wolf let out a strangled cry, his throat seeming to be deeply pierced by a foreign object, his voice turning grotesque; pain like he had never known before screamed through every nerve in his body.

Staggering, he cried out and toppled to the ground.

Yet, just as I scored a hit and shaved off thirty-one HP from War Wolf, I saw him, as he fell, fumble a scroll-like object from his backpack!

The sight of the scroll made my heart lurch—damn!

The Silver Beast Dagger flashed out, but I was still a step too late!

A small, one-meter diameter hexagram array suddenly appeared beneath War Wolf’s feet. A mysterious magical force not only repelled my Silver Beast Dagger, but in the next instant, War Wolf's entire body and the hexagram array transformed into a dazzling burst of light and vanished before my eyes.

When the light faded, I was alone in the Blackwind Forest once more; the quiet of the woods returned as if nothing had happened.

I halted at the spot where War Wolf had disappeared, frowning. Damn it, I hadn’t expected that War Wolf would be so well-off, carrying a space-based magic scroll—a City Return Scroll.

I’d seen them in the general store: a third-tier spatial magic item crafted by high-ranking Imperial spatial mages and sold exclusively to members of the Knight’s Empire.

The City Return Scroll was a type of unique magic scroll, and the most special among them!

Ordinary magic scrolls could only be used by mages, and even then, only by those of the matching discipline...

But space-based magic scrolls were different. Thanks to the secret techniques of master mages, even non-mages could use them. As long as the user had ten MP, they could activate the City Return Scroll at any time, from anywhere, and return instantly to the last city teleportation point they visited.

Such items were typically used by players when facing high-level bosses, or when being hunted with no hope of escape—their effectiveness in fleeing was extraordinary!

However, these scrolls were also exceedingly expensive—so costly, in fact, that with virtually no restrictions on use, they sold for twice the price of other scrolls of the same tier!

Two hundred gold coins!

Such a price was beyond the reach of most, and even the wealthy would think twice. After a full day of grinding, deducting the cost of potions and equipment repairs, I was lucky to have a few copper coins left; if not for my current set of silver gear, I’d be scraping and saving just to buy equipment, never mind squandering two hundred gold on a City Return Scroll.

That’s why the sight of War Wolf producing a City Return Scroll had shocked me—a typical Tier 3 player willing to use such a precious item was either insane or not as ordinary as he seemed!

To my mind, the latter possibility was far more likely...

At that thought, a bitter, self-mocking smile curved my lips. Originally, I had entered "Era of Magic" hoping to shoulder some of Lin Xuefeng’s burdens... But now, it seemed I might have brought an even greater trouble upon myself!