Kesha felt giddy, her head was spinning, but she soon fell into a strong embrace.
“Ley...Leylin!” She was taken aback and called out his name.
“Sister, it looks like you’re in a difficult situation!“ Leylin rubbed his nose and gently laid Kesha down. He then tossed a potion at her.
“This is a purifying potion, it can eliminate the curse energy from your body! Use it as soon as possible!”
“Thank you!” Kesha’s face glowed with a lovely smile. Having just escaped from death, she was especially touched.
“Wait up! That... Can you also give me one...?” The huge Green-skinned Barbarian Magus rolled over like a ball, and he was eager to please.
“Huh?” Leylin looked at Kesha.
“Give it to him! After all, we fought alongside each other!” Kesha nodded her head.
At this moment, countless black shadows exploded forth with a bang. Trenchcoat stood in the center, completely unharmed. He made eye contact with Leylin and started roaring.
“This kind of feeling, it isn’t a common hybrid curse. It’s a gene curse!” Leylin’s face grew absolutely serious.
The so-called gene curse was a high-grade curse. It had the ability to materialise itself which was extremely difficult to cure.
Leylin himself had mastered a few curses. However, even he was not too sure about these gene curses.
“I’ll take care of him. You two, use the potions and leave as quickly as possible!” he said in a deep voice.
As with any curse, there were limitations on the scope of the effect. As for Trenchcoat’s gene curse, it most likely prevented him from leaving the confines of Quicksand Castle. In fact, he might not even make it through the illusory corridor in the outer layer.
Kesha and the Green-skinned Barbarian nodded their heads in agreement and opened the test tubes.
“Right, for such a high-grade curse to make an appearance is fortunate. I have long wanted to study them!” Leylin’s eyes lit up like a spark of fire. He threw out a large number of potions.
*Boom* A flash of jade-green flames ignited and blazed fiercely.
“dkjsklgmnsklm......”
Trenchcoat seemed to have some apprehensions with regards to these flames and muttered some senseless words.
“A.I. Chip! “Leylin ordered, “Compare with every language in the database!“ However, the A.I.Chip had not recorded Trenchcoat’s words and so was unable to find an answer.
“Let’s go!” Kesha and the Green-skinned Barbarian yelled. Both had the black cursed energies from their body expelled successfully by the purifying potions.
As he watched Leylin and his two companions leaving, Trenchcoat standing opposite bellowed loudly and charged at them.
*Crackle!* A copious amount of jade green flames were blazing on his body ferociously. Big patches of black clothing were flaking off onto the ground, revealing the badly scarred skin beneath.
A long hideous wound extended all the way down from his right shoulder blade. It looked like a huge black centipede, a sinister and horrifying sight.
What made Leylin frown was the fact that the profound and brutal power of the curse seemed more pronounced and vigorous on Trenchcoat’s body.
“Run, now!” Leylin waved the Meteor Sword in his hand, bringing forth horrifying poisons and the sharp radiant sword shadows, causing the surrounding structures to collapse one by one.
“Use this!” The Green-skinned Barbarian held out a glittering crystal ball that was radiating beautiful, brilliant rays.
“This is an escape crystal ball. It consists of at least 5 escape charms, enough to get us out of here!” The Green-skinned Barbarian Magus met Leylin’s eyes and explained it to him, seemingly trying to win his favour.
“Good job!” The blue light in his eyes sparkled and the A.I. Chip affirmed the authenticity of the crystal ball and its favourable functions.
He immediately stimulated the crystal ball and the three of them vanished in a blinding flash.
A black shadow whizzed past and Trenchcoat’s pair of scissors slashed across empty space as it produced senseless, incoherent roars.
Inside the illusory corridor, the surrounding walls were filled with images of many plants and flowers. Many of the plants were in a continuous loop of life -- from germination, to growth, then blossoming and finally withering.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!* Loud thuds of heavy objects falling were heard. Leylin and the rest were in the middle of the corridor.
“Alright! I can no longer feel the power of the curse at this location. You are all safe!” He shut his eyes and exclaimed.
Hearing his words, Kesha and the Green-skinned Barbarian broke into smiles of relief and joy.
“So, it is now time to discuss how we should ‘handle’ this!” Leylin pointed his finger at the Green-skinned Barbarian, revealing a sinister and calculative grin.
“Oh! No! You can’t do this to me. I saved your companion’s life! And we even fought alongside in battle!” The Green-skinned Barbarian raised both his arms, pleading innocently.
It didn’t adopt any form of resistance as its spiritual force had been drained a few days ago when it was in pursuit. It even needed Leylin to stimulate the escape crystal ball as it wasn’t able to do it on its own.
“But the fact is, you came here to capture us, no?” Leylin saw through his clumsy trickery. Thus, he held up the cross blade and aimed for the Green-skinned Barbarian’s brains.
“Seeing how things have turned out, you have paid the price accordingly. I will spare your life this time!” At that moment, Leylin revealed his true intentions.
Having heard what he said, Kesha, who was initially displeased, suddenly snapped out of her emotional state.
“But.... I do not possess any other good stuff!” The Green-skinned Barbarian Magus pleaded pitifully, but secretly slipped an odd bracelet out of his right hand.
Leylin refused to believe that. Being a Crystal Phase Magus, how could it not have a few aces up its sleeve?
Looking at the current situation, although both parties were seriously injured, they could have mustered up their remaining strength for another fight. Yet, Leylin only wanted compensation and did not want to test the opposite party’s threshold which would have inevitably caused them both to suffer.
“Hand over the compensation! Or do you want to start a fight here?” Leylin’s tone was harsh and intense.
“Sister Kesha! When the compensation is presented, I’ll share 50 percent with you!” Once these words were spoken, Kesha immediately inched closer to Leylin’s side, showing her support.
For this exploration, Kesha had ended up losing her life savings and there was no way she could ever step foot into Quicksand Castle again. She had also lost three capable assistants, who were all feared dead, so now she thirsted for compensation for her losses.
Seeing how Kesha reacted, the Green-skinned Barbarian let out a bitter smile, “All of you human Magi are shrewd and greedy, worse than the devil!”
It resigned itself to its fate, crouched down, and handed a black pouch to Leylin.
“Go ahead and take a look! My treasures are all in there!”
Leylin reached out to received the pouch that seemed to be made from animal fur. Upon further probing, many useful items of brilliant lights and vibrant colours could be seen.