Chapter 144: Missile Storm
While speaking, Anse arrived at a side corridor but did not continue forward. Instead, he watched from afar as Graham kicked open the warehouse door and entered inside.
Then he heard a harsh clash of metal, followed by clicking mechanical sounds.
“Boom—”
With a loud explosion, Graham smashed through the wooden door, his whole body flying out horizontally and crashing into the wall, causing the wooden building to tremble.
The next second, a black shadow rushed out of the room, levitating above the ground. A pair of yellow eyes looked toward Anse, its skin pale purple, still wearing human clothes.
Mind Flayer!
Anse felt his scalp tingle as it stared at him. Just as he was about to cast a spell, he saw the Mind Flayer’s tentacle twitch, and a conical wave arrived in an instant.
He felt a thunderclap explode in his mind, followed by a booming sound. His brain stung sharply, and his thoughts and perception paused for a moment.
【Gray Mind Flayer casts Mind Blast on you, forcing a DC 15 moderate Intelligence saving throw）……saving throw successful!】
The Protector’s Bracelet’s life was reduced by 17 points, while Dragon Scale and Elemental Radiance had no effect at all. This was the formidable nature of psionic spells.
‘Fuck!’
Anse cursed inwardly, his temples throbbing. Looking up, he saw the Mind Flayer’s tentacle wrap around Graham’s head, pulling him in front of itself.
“Arrogant!”
Without thinking, he raised his hand and quick cast a maximized fourth circle Scorching Ray.
“Bang bang bang bang bang!”
Dragon Speech rang out powerfully. Five fire rays flashed through the air, distorting it wherever they passed, leaving trails of red light.
A transparent shield appeared on the Mind Flayer, but it was instantly shattered. The five fire rays exploded on it almost simultaneously, blasting five charred blood pits, with flesh and tissue splattering and clothes burning amid billowing black smoke.
【……Mind Flayer hit, takes 51 fire damage, current life 25/76】
‘Not at full strength!’ Anse felt a wave of relief.
A fully grown Mind Flayer is extremely terrifying, capable of casting eighth circle Dominate Monster「 and seventh circle Plane Shift」, able to control strongly or escape, making it extremely hard to deal with.
The severely injured Mind Flayer collapsed to the ground, forced to release Graham, then rolled to the window and jumped out into the courtyard.
Anse turned to pursue, but glancing back, he saw Quentin lying on the ground with blood streaming from his facial features, his longsword dropped nearby.
The Giant Tail nearby was unaffected due to his large size; he hadn’t come close and thus avoided the disaster.
From the other side of the corridor, two staff members charged with swords. Under True Sight, their heads were wrapped in layers of dark purple psionic threads, an alarming sight.
“You go after it. Giant Tail and I will handle this.” Kalenno rushed in holding dual swords. As a Psionic Warrior, he truly wasn’t afraid of Mind Flayers.
Anse turned and gave chase. Just as he entered the courtyard, he saw the Mind Flayer fleeing and floating, flipping over the wall into the street behind.
The crowd of onlookers was completely terrified, having never seen such a monster. They scattered in panic, but one unlucky one was grabbed by a tentacle and had his skull opened for brain extraction on the spot.
Anse cast Fly on himself and soared into the air, just in time to witness this scene.
That empty skull and the clean, efficient technique made one’s skin crawl.
‘No close combat.’ He warned himself inwardly.
Flight was much faster than the Mind Flayer’s levitation. In just a few seconds, he locked onto the Mind Flayer in the crowd.
In the air, mana surged around him as he maintained maximum distance for spellcasting.
“
「Metamagic」+「Super Magic: Quick Cast」+「Fourth Circle: Magic Missile」!
The Elemental Orb trembled, and six magic missiles shot from his fingertips, tracing smooth arcs straight at the Mind Flayer.
Then, the second wave, third wave, fourth wave!
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh—”
Missiles filled the sky, dense and numerous. The piercing whistling made bystanders’ scalps tingle as they fled in panic, fearing stray hits.
The Mind Flayer was also fleeing, but the missiles had precise guidance, changing trajectories to pursue relentlessly, leaving no time or space to dodge.
“Bang bang bang…”
The psionic shield blocked one wave but not the second. The impacts connected like waves, slamming the Mind Flayer onto the street.
When the sounds subsided, bystanders cautiously looked over to see a pile of humanoid rotten flesh, completely unrecognizable as the original Mind Flayer, with only a few tentacles proving its identity.
【Target Death, gain 1900 combat experience】
‘Uh, a bit overkill.’
Seeing guards approaching, Anse left the scene to them and quickly flew back to the Iron Crown headquarters.
Illyas had arrived, hovering in the courtyard, warily staring at the dark warehouse.
The two Mind Flayers had been dealt with: one flattened by Giant Tail, the other stabbed to death by Kalenno.
Giant Tail was the Lizardfolk King, an Elemental Being immune to panic and with resistance to stun, unafraid of Mind Flayers.
“Taken care of?” Illyas asked without looking up.
“Deader than dead.” Anse replied, landing on the ground and looking toward Quentin and Graham sitting on the steps.
Blood still lingered on their mouths and noses. Quentin was in good condition, holding the emotionally collapsing Graham with his arm, constantly comforting him verbally.
“What’s wrong?” Anse asked in doubt.
Illyas jerked her chin toward the warehouse. “See for yourself.”
Anse cast Detect Evil and Good again, carefully approaching the warehouse. Soon he detected a shadow figure covered in black light.
“Another one.”
He entered the room, avoiding a pile of miscellaneous items, and found a downward staircase in the corner. A pungent rotten stench assaulted him, turning his stomach.
Darkness couldn’t block his sight. Squatting down to look, he saw a secret room about ten square meters, with dozens of empty humanoid skulls piled in the corner.
On a wooden bed nearby lay a shadow figure with gray-purple skin, dressed in formal wear, its face somewhat deformed.
“Any chance of saving him?” Illyas walked over and asked softly.
She had come first to guard against possible monsters and unexpectedly found an acquaintance. Though his body had changed greatly, she recognized at a glance that this was Graham’s son Devon.
Devon had known Illyas for a long time. One was a business genius, the other a genius sorcerer; they could have been friends, but Devon loved Illyas too much, so even friendship was impossible, and they grew distant.
“He’s been parasitized, at least a day.” Anse shook his head slightly. After one hour of parasitism, a person’s consciousness vanishes.
Maybe there was still hope, but it was beyond his abilities.
Step by step, Graham walked over like a machine, his face devoid of life.
He entered the secret room, carried out the parasitized man, then walked step by step out of the wooden building and placed him in front of the door.
Anse and the others followed behind, unsure what he intended.
Facing the crowd, Graham drew his longsword and roared, “This is my son Devon. He… deserves to die!”
With that, he slashed down hard, severing his son’s head. Foul blood flowed down the steps.
Clang! He dropped the longsword and walked back to the courtyard like a walking corpse, collapsing to the ground in silent sobs.
Quentin had someone close the door, giving him private space.
“Graham was originally from a great family, plotted against by Amn people, leading to its destruction. Graham fled here with his son to Dulag, seeking revenge while striving to raise Devon…” He whispered to Anse.
The young man named Devon was outstanding in every way, but then he met Illyas.
The rest of the story was clichéd: the young man trained desperately, but to no avail. Talent can’t be changed through effort.
From love turned to hate, he began targeting Jacqueline Castle everywhere, especially in business, even resorting to unscrupulous means.
Graham, as a father, naturally knew, but discipline failed, straining their father-son relationship.
“Maybe Devon… was also bewitched.” Quentin could only speculate without knowing the details.
Devon probably believed the Mind Flayer’s words, thinking transformation into one would grant extraordinary power, ignoring the cost.
He felt Anse’s presence also stimulated it: a man moving into Jacqueline Castle completely shattered the young man’s sanity.
Anse sighed inwardly but said nothing.
That young man had long strayed for the pursuit of power. Even without the Mind Flayer’s temptation, others with ill intentions would have exploited him.
Look at those skulls in the secret room—they were no product of one or two days.
