The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin

Sshhh, srrkkk, sshhh, srrkkk…

A wriggling invisible barrier moved through the sand, deep underground.

With a Daylight spell above his head, Liu Ji's hair gleamed in a verdant green glow. While he didn't understand why the light source was placed directly above his head, making him resemble a haloed Bodhisattva, he found it pleasantly warm and didn't mind.

Furthermore, traveling underground felt much better than walking on the surface. Firstly, he didn't have to walk himself, and secondly, he could watch the sands flowing around him, like he was a visitor at an aquarium.

This unique experience of moving through a sea of sand wasn't something that could be experienced anytime.

Just that there weren't any fishes in this "sea," only bones. Occasionally, they'd come across a strangely shaped skull, and watching it slowly scraped by the barrier was a tad eerie.

While Liu Ji marveled at this particular scene, he suddenly felt the earth around shake violently.

Yaine, maintaining the spell, frowned and exchanged a glance with Osar. With a whirl of a staff, she picked up the pace.

The two of them realized that a battle had already begun not far from where they were.

————

Before the city gate, a black-armored commander stood alone atop a high dune, his crimson cape billowing in the wind.

Clutching a heavy sword, he looked on indifferently as his squad fought the stone sentinels below.

Dang!

A crushing punch of a stone sentinel struck the thick shield of an elite shield guard, producing a resonant, bell-like hum.

Behind the shield guard, an arrow flew in an arc and struck the stone sentinel square in the chest. In the next moment, explosive energy erupted from the arrow, pushing the stone sentinel back several meters.

And this attack left many tiny cracks on the stone sentinel's chest.

As one stone sentinel was repelled, two more attacked the shield guard from the sides, launching a punch from the left and a kick from the right.

Faced with this pincer attack, the shield guard remained unmoved. Or rather, he lacked the capability to show emotion.

He thrust his shield forward, ignoring the attack from the right. Using his shield, he deflected the punch from the left, then followed through with a hammering blow to the left sentinel's head, knocking it back several meters.

On the other side, as the right stone sentinel's feet was about to connect with his head, a black barrier suddenly appeared between the contact point.

The kick struck the barrier, sending black ripples across its surface and making it vibrate intensely, but the barrier itself remained unbroken.

In the next moment, numerous large stone spikes shot up from the ground all around, targeting the stone sentinel.

The stone sentinel shifted from offense to defense, shattering two stone spikes and deftly dodging the others while retreating 10 meters away.

Stone sentinels that were forced back had no time to regroup before the black-robed necromancer raised his bone staff. Dark waves spread rapidly across the ground, and a black goo climbed up the legs of the stone sentinels.

Realizing the danger, the stone sentinels leaped to evade, repositioning themselves while seeking the next opportunity to strike.

But then, several golden bolas suddenly flew out from an unknown direction, spinning and wrapping around the stone sentinels.

In midair with no leverage, the stone sentinels tried to use their hands like blades to cut the bolas' cords.

However, the golden ropes were unexpectedly soft and sticky like glue. Instead of being cut, the ropes adhered to the guardians' hands and then completely bound them.

Meanwhile, a scout who had been hiding in the shadows suddenly charged out, throwing his curved dagger. The weapon, attached to a long chain, arced through the air, encircling the three stone sentinels.

Then, he threw out another chained curved dagger from his other hand. The two blades crossed, tightening the chains, and as he landed, the three stone sentinels were pulled close and bound together.

The ground began to tremble then, and a giant stone hand, with fingers several meters long, burst from the earth beneath the stone sentinels, gripping them tightly.

Not far away, a mage chanted an incantation loudly, slamming his staff into the ground. The giant hand clenched with sudden force, intent on crushing the stone sentinels, and the ensuing shockwave sent sand and dust swirling in all directions.

The stone sentinels struggled to resist, but the sticky bolas hindered their movements, leaving them powerless.

"Okay, that's enough. It will be a hassle for me to fix if they really break."

At this moment, a voice rang out from the city gates.

Myza, with his crystal staff, leisurely strolled out from the city gates.

"There's already a hole in the wall from someone crashing into it today. If you people give me any more trouble, I won't sleep well tonight."

As he spoke, he walked past the giant hand. With a light wave of his hand, the massive stone hand shattered like a Prince Rupert's drop, breaking into tiny pieces of dust fragments that rained down.

The stone sentinels fell to the ground but remained tangled in the sticky bolas, struggling and rolling about.

Myza stopped in front of the intruders. He looked up at the sun, then turned to them and asked, "I don't have much time. So, who wants to go first?"

Before he even finished, the entire squad simultaneously sprang into action.

The scout vanished into the shadows while the mage began chanting an incantation. An arrow shot by the archer was already in flight as the necromancer directed the black goo toward him. Meanwhile, the shield guard advanced with his shield up, protecting his squad and giving them room to maneuver.

Unfortunately, the time he could buy was extremely limited.

Just like taking candy from a baby, Myza casually grabbed the shield guard's shield, easily pulling it away. Then, as if tossing a frisbee for a dog, he casually threw it toward the archer.

Shield and arrow collided in midair, the energy from the arrow exploding and kicking up a dust cloud.

The archer instinctively thought that the violent explosion would stop the shield and drew another arrow to fire.

However, his hand had barely reached his quiver when the rapidly spinning shield emerged through the dust, flying into his abdomen before he could react.

The massive kinetic energy made the edge of the spinning shield like a heavy battle axe, instantly disemboweling the archer and shattering his spine.

Afterward, his entire body was caught in the shield's spin, carried away into the distance, leaving behind a trail of shattered bones and mangled flesh.