Book 11: Chapter 7: Escape

“I’m finally out!” Qin Lun pushed open the secret door and climbed up from below.

The disguised entrance to the underground chamber was behind a hay shed, its location very hidden. Upright bundles of dried hay tightly surrounded it.

Qin Lun’s expression was calm as he brushed bits of hay off his shoulders. He circled around the haystack and headed for the warehouse door.

“What took you so long? Hurry!” As soon as he stepped out, he saw Hill and Rand running toward him. At this distance, Hill’s Telepathy could precisely locate him.

“What’s going on?” Qin Lun asked curiously. Hill and Rand looked like human mercenaries right now, covered in dust and grime, seeming a bit flustered.

Although this carriage house was a secret base for Umberlee’s Church, his journey from underground had gone smoothly except for some minor trouble from that mid-level merman guard with the bronze ram’s head mask. He couldn’t help feeling a little relaxed.

“We’ll talk once we get away. It’ll be trouble if that guy gets out,” Rand replied, grabbing Qin Lun’s arm and sprinting toward the carriage house’s backyard.

“Qin Lun, recall your beast. Its presence is too noticeable.” Hill pointed at a shadow that wasn’t very obvious not far behind Qin Lun and emphasized his words.

“You can see Venus?” Qin Lun’s brow lifted, but he still gestured toward the big cat. The Shadow Gale Panther dissolved into a streak of black light that merged into the Apostle Soul Mark on the palm of his right hand.

“Illithids are creatures of the Underdark to begin with. We’re highly sensitive to shadow creatures. Plus, my base Perception is already over a hundred. How could I not see through the stealth of a tier-7 magic beast?” Hill sounded weary. His Agility wasn’t high, and after boosting himself with an auxiliary divine spell, he was sweating heavily as he followed the other two.

Qin Lun kept running, his eyes and ears scanning constantly. He realized this carriage house was indeed huge, mostly stone buildings. Although fires were burning in several places now, the fire was spreading very slowly. The chaos wouldn’t last long.

As they ran along, Qin Lun saw that most people in the carriage house were ordinary folk. The guards weren’t very strong and were mostly busy fighting the fires.

Most of the guards were human mercenaries, which inadvertently provided cover for Hill and Rand as disguises. Even Qin Lun, this masked guy in black robes, they barely gave him a glance, acting like they saw such people all the time.

This situation saved the trio a lot of trouble along the way. In no time, they climbed over the carriage house’s outer wall and blended into the crowd outside. Qin Lun finally got a chance to ask his companions what had happened.

“The guards here barely qualify as professionals. How did you two end up looking so rough? Did you run into their high-ranking fighters?” Qin Lun asked with a light laugh.

“Not high-ranked… Legendary Profession!” Hill snapped irritably, rolling his eyes. “Our luck is terrible. We picked some random shady place, and it actually had a Legendary Profession lying in wait!”

“In the beginning, it was smooth enough. I started fires in front while Hill hunted for the carriage house’s treasure stash in the back,” Rand said with a bitter smile. “But no matter how hard we searched, we didn’t find much wealth. Also, the defenses here were much weaker than we expected, so I got a bit careless. I was hoping they’d panic and try to save their treasury, showing us the way. But instead…”

“But instead you ran headfirst into something really tough, right?” Qin伦 couldn’t hold back a laugh. He now understood why the sacrificial chamber underground was empty except for two guards originally. The higher-ups of Umberlee’s Church must have been lured away by these two guys.

“If it was a Legendary Profession, they wouldn’t be easy to shake off, right? Did you unleash your big moves?” Qin Lun looked back towards the carriage house, but didn’t immediately sense any particularly powerful magic surges.

“I used Earth Cage!” Hill stroked his goatee and smiled faintly.

Mentally, he was the oldest among the five Serial Killers. Usually, the Shattered Starry Sky gave him an appearance around his forties, unlike Qin伦 who always looked like a young guy in his twenties.

“A tier-7 earth magic can trap a Legendary Profession?” Qin Lun raised an eyebrow, finding it utterly unbelievable. “You’re sure he wasn’t going easy on you?”

“Heheh, just because you use Magic Scrolls a lot yourself doesn’t mean a Hunter Profession can dabble in magic,” Hill chuckled and shook his head. “If just tossing scrolls around could make someone a Mage, why would so many Apostles choose to Class Change into magic professions?”

“Oh? Is the effect of a Magic Scroll really that different from the same spell cast by a Mage?” Qin Lun became very intrigued by Hill’s words, asking questions even as they fled.

“Think of it like this,” Rand cut in. “A non-spellcaster using a scroll is like throwing a grenade. Powerful, but impossible to control after release. The magic’s power release is inefficient in angle, direction, and duration. How effective it is basically depends on luck.”

“But when a magic profession uses a Magic Scroll, they’re like demolition experts.” Rand continued, “Not only can they boost its power, they control it precisely, making it explode exactly where and when they want. They can play with it however they like. One plus one becomes far greater than two.”

“Besides, the Earth Cage being able to trap that Legendary Powerhouse also has a lot to do with his specific combat Profession,” Hill added with a smile.

After Qin Lun asked for more details, he learned the Legendary Profession that Hill and Rand provoked was rather special.

Although wearing a priest’s hat, his face covered by a silk black cloth and his body clad in black robes made identifying him impossible, he was clearly connected to the merman warriors Qin Lun encountered below. He was also a marine intelligent creature, likely a high-ranking priest of Umberlee’s Church.

He practiced both magic and martial arts. His Strength and Constitution were strong, but his Agility and Dexterity lacked. His martial skills couldn’t compare to Martial Artists or warriors, relying entirely on physical prowess in close combat. His spells were all water-based, probably divine skills granted by the Sea Goddess.

After Hill used Earth Cage, the priest initially tried to break it with a Water Dragon Wave. Unexpectedly, the two spells interacted in an unanticipated way, resulting in him trapping himself.

It was important to know that before using the Illithid Brain, Hill had possessed a water elemental bloodline. Although later superseded by the Illithid Bloodline, his water element affinity remained. The cannibal priest’s ability also interfered with the Water Dragon Wave’s magic structure.

Thus, the Earth Cage and Water Dragon Wave fused into a new hybrid spell. The cage, already with strong defensive properties, mixed with water elements made the surrounding Earthen Walls virtually like reinforced concrete, several meters thick, stubbornly trapping that priest of Umberlee inside.

Of course, powerful as this hybrid magic was, it could only trap him for ten seconds. But that small opening was enough. By the time it ended, Hill and Rand had already linked up with Qin Lun and escaped the carriage house.

The Umberlee’s Church’s city base couldn’t handle public exposure. That powerhouse couldn’t chase them out directly.

…

Inside the carriage house, the fire was gradually being brought under control. Setting aside the mercenary guards on the ground, a group of masked figures in black robes had gathered at the door of the chamber Qin Lun had casually picked things from.

“What are our losses?” asked the towering leader among the black-robed figures. His large, scaly green hand gripped a coral staff.

An Umberlee priest tore the black cloth from his face, revealing a shark’s head. His mouth filled with sharp teeth gleamed coldly in the torchlight – a High Rank shark therianthrope. Hill and Rand had miscalculated. This Umberlee priest hadn’t truly stepped into the Legendary Domain; he was only a High Rank powerhouse.

However, the Sea Goddess had granted him a water domain, misleading Hill and Rand. Additionally, marine races were significantly weakened on land, making it easier for Hill and Rand to escape.

“Priest Rod, the enemy who infiltrated the underground shrine didn’t take much of the Goddess’s sacrifices. The loss is negligible compared to the treasury’s main stock,” a black-robed priest beside the shark man said respectfully. “But one of the shrine knights guarding the place is dead, alongside a few ordinary guards.”

“Sweep the waterways thoroughly. See if there are still enemies hiding,” Priest Rod’s eyes flickered intensely. “And… immediately move the Goddess’s sacrifices out of Baldur’s Gate.”

“Priest Rod, are you… abandoning this newly built underground shrine?” One black-robed priest asked, confused. “You poured your heart into it! Finding another suitable underground base within Baldur’s Gate won’t be easy next time! For a couple of petty thieves… is it worth it?”

“Those weren’t petty thieves,” the shark man said thoughtfully. “The ability to infiltrate the heart of the underground shrine without my detection, plus having two capable accomplices waiting outside… that’s not something just anyone can pull off. Also… one of them emanated a strange aura to me. A member of another church, perhaps.”

“Priest Rod, are you saying those people came deliberately to cause trouble? To expose the existence of our Goddess’s shrine to Baldur’s Gate?” another black-robed figure said with hatred. “The mortals of Baldur’s Gate are an ungrateful bunch! Unwilling to truly worship the Goddess, yet still trembling before her might. I wish the Goddess would send a great wave to wash them all away!”

“Regardless, the Goddess’s sacrifice day approaches. This batch of offerings cannot be compromised. So what if we must temporarily abandon this shrine? Their safety comes first,” Priest Rod hesitated momentarily before waving his subordinate to move the valuables.

“Priest, what about those intruders? The ones who broke into the shrine?” a black-robed man asked, remembering something.

“Hmph! The church’s glory must not be defiled. Whoever offends the Sea Goddess shall pay a grievous price,” Rod deliberated, then spoke gravely. “Local Baldur’s Gate folk, even knowing the shrine’s location, wouldn’t dare offend us directly. Those three trespassers must be outsiders. Post a bounty with the assassin guilds and mercenary companies hunting those three interlopers.”

“Priest Rod… we don’t have detailed information on those three,” several black-robed priests exchanged uneasy glances.

“Fools!” Rod bellowed angrily. “Tell those greedy dogs this then! There’s among them one proficient in fire magic, likely a spell-warrior. Another is a dark magic wielder! And the last one… probably a Summoner or a Hunter!”

The tall shark man sniffed the air inside the chamber. An ugly, vicious grin spread across his fish-like face. “He carries a shadow magic beast.”