🤼‍♀️Chapter Five: The Deadly Battle in the Sea of Flowers (3)

In the entire town of Time, the priests of the Time Church were naturally the best at enchanting weapons. However, when it came to cursing weapons with debilitating debuffs, the lizardfolk desecrators were unmatched.

Among the lizardfolk, there were numerous scholars skilled in medicine, herbalism, and chemistry, known as voodoo shamans. These voodoo shamans devoted their days to studying the most silent ways to bring about death. To the lizardfolk, it didn’t matter if they crushed an enemy’s skull with a giant hammer or pricked them lightly with a poisoned rapier—as long as the enemy died, the method was effective.

According to intelligence from the Mercenary Guild, the lizardfolk desecrators had painstakingly developed three vicious debuffs as secret weapons. These three debuffs were known as Green Poison, Hemorrhage, and Black Virus.

Green Poison was the first potent debuff concocted by the voodoo shamans. The great sword saint, Gulaba, had nearly died from a lance laced with Green Poison. Even Gulaba's bull-like physique was tormented by the poison for three long years, and he had yet to completely purge the toxins from his body. This persistent affliction meant that the self-proclaimed dashing sword saint often had to expel gas to rid his body of the poison. To prevent these toxic gases from harming others, Gulaba wore a perpetually glowing methane lamp around his neck to incinerate the expelled fumes. This speaks volumes about the potency of Green Poison.

Despite its potency, weapons carrying the Green Poison debuff were conspicuous due to the noticeable green liquid droplets on the blade. The more droplets, the more potent the poison. Since green is the most visually striking color, anyone brandishing a weapon with Green Poison would immediately be avoided, giving the target no chance.

Especially after the Time Church developed sigils to suppress the onset of Green Poison in the body, the Rose Knights' combat manual explicitly stated: Upon detecting green droplets on an enemy's weapon, activate high-level anti-Green Poison sigils immediately. This would allow the injured to endure a few more rounds, either defeating the opponent or holding out until reinforcements arrived.

To counter their arch-enemy, Captain Gula of the Rose Knights, the lizardfolk shamans developed a more subtle debuff: Hemorrhage. Weapons imbued with the Hemorrhage debuff lacked the conspicuous green liquid, instead bearing what appeared to be blood droplets. This was a potent blood toxin that disrupted the body's clotting mechanism. On the battlefield, blood-stained weapons were commonplace, so few would notice that an enemy's blood-stained weapon was actually cursed.

Once cut by a weapon with the Hemorrhage debuff, the initial dose of voodoo curse was minimal, causing less immediate pain than Green Poison. However, the body's clotting mechanism would soon be severely impaired. Any significant wound would result in unstoppable bleeding. The Hemorrhage debuff was particularly insidious for women, causing them to hemorrhage continuously during their menstrual cycle. To guard against this, it was rumored that Gula always carried high-level anti-Hemorrhage formations, never letting them out of his sight.

Though vile, the Hemorrhage debuff was less effective against the cyborgs from Laba's lab. Most cyborgs had replaced their hearts with crystal engines, making it difficult for blood loss to immediately incapacitate them. As long as they could safely retreat to Laba's lab, these cyborgs could survive using artificial blood and the lab's advanced medical facilities.

Compared to the lizardfolk desecrators, Laba’s lab was equally formidable in technology, discovering that lizardfolk were vulnerable to ice weapons.

To counter this threat, the lizardfolk voodoo shamans arduously unearthed an ancient virus from ancient battlefield ruins, creating the Black Virus debuff. Weapons cursed with this voodoo carried black liquid droplets, which contained numerous ancient viruses. These viruses would hyper-stimulate the immune system, causing severe allergic and rejection reactions.

Laba's cyborgs, who had numerous artificial organs and suppressed bodily rejection reactions, would find their systems overwhelmed by the Black Virus debuff, leading to their eventual collapse.

These three voodoo curses—vile and ruthless—were the pride of the lizardfolk desecrators. In the might-makes-right town of Time, the more insidious the weapon, the more sought-after it was. Weapons with voodoo curse droplets were expensive and highly coveted in the black market. Even the knights of the Time Church, sworn enemies of the lizardfolk, often carried weapons with voodoo curse debuffs. After all, only the living have the luxury of pondering morality and fairness; corpses don’t even deserve a name.

At this moment, in this rare and beautiful sea of flowers, the lizardfolk desecrators began their operations, each setting traps and mechanisms throughout the field.

A cyborg lay hidden on the outer edge of the sea of flowers, buried in the sand. Powered by his crystal engine, he could remain hidden for extended periods without needing to breathe.

Not far from him, a lizardfolk desecrator was setting traps. Disguised as a female elf, the lizardfolk’s green scales peeked out from beneath a delicate headband.

Good traps and mechanisms often didn’t need to be complex. The lizardfolk, skilled in mathematics and psychology, had unique techniques for setting traps. This elf impostor simply inserted steel needles tipped with black liquid into the flower stems of the lily of the valley.

The cyborg carefully observed the placement of the poisoned needles and noted the locations of other traps set by the lizardfolk. He mentally mapped these locations and couldn’t help but admire the lizardfolk desecrators’ ingenuity. These traps covered almost every angle of the sea of flowers, leaving only the path from Laba's lab untrapped. As Laba's people ventured deeper into the field, the chances of being pricked by the needles increased. By the time they reached the center of the traps, the lizardfolk could ambush them from behind. Instinctively, the cyborgs would dodge, only to be met by more needles laced with the Black Virus.

The elf impostor continued setting traps, moving closer to the cyborg’s hidden spot. The stench of decay grew stronger. She was now less than three feet away from his concealed position. He couldn’t wait any longer; she was about to step on his hiding place.

Silently, the cyborg extended his hands from the sand, reaching slowly for the back of the elf impostor’s neck...