Loser System and Berserker Me

“Grandson…” The sudden emergence of the black-cloaked figure raised Miazova’s wariness to the max. “That fellow is a high shaman, a tough nut to crack.”

Similar to archmages, high shamans were extremely powerful mages. Where the Tibetan Empire had three powerful archmages, the Transoxania area only had a single high shaman.

All the countries and tribes here revered the high shaman, not daring to offend him lest he vanquish them from the face of the world. It didn’t help that most nations here comprised a single city, so the saying ‘an individual rivaling a nation’ was not an exaggeration here.

“He won’t be bothered about the Chach people either, so holding the Chachs hostages won’t work…”

Miazova knew that the high shaman wouldn’t flinch even if everyone in Talas died to the specters. Even though the high shaman came to Talas to stop the Tangs, he only did that because he thought that the Tangs had offended him.

How dare you invade Transoxania without offering any tribute to me? Don’t you know who calls the shots here?

Unlike the Archmage of Holysnow, who had no idea where Shu Yichao was and could only desperately fight off the terracotta soldiers in the Iron Gate Pass, the high shaman knew where Shu Yichao was, which gave him the option to deal with the problem at its root.

If both sides fell out, the high shaman wouldn’t hesitate to behead Shu Yichao, who was ironically the weakest link of the undead army.

After the earlier exchange, Miazova was certain that Shu Yichao wasn’t a match for the high shaman. If the high shaman made up his mind to kill Shu Yichao here, there was no guarantee that he could escape from here alive.

“I’ll cast some buffs on you. Let’s slip away first,” Miazova instructed Shu Yichao as it began channeling spells. “Order your specters to hold the high shaman down. The high shaman may be powerful, but he’ll need time to kill the specters. That should buy us enough time to escape. Once we’re safe, we can slowly wear the high shaman down just like in the Iron Gate Pass…”

After having fought so many battles, Miazova now had absolute confidence in Shu Yichao’s undead army. As long as Shu Yichao didn’t meet with a mishap, it was only a matter of time before his enemies fell to this snowstorm of death.

The next moment, Miazova saw Shu Yichao making a beheading gesture at the high shaman.

…

Seeing the Tang army fall silent at the high shaman’s bellow, the Chach garrison troops were overjoyed.

Even the Tang army trembles before the high shaman’s divine powers!

“You see that?”

Despite being so scared that he nearly peed his pants earlier, the Chach general was now strutting along the city walls like a proud rooster. He was so excited that his saliva sprayed all over the place.

“The Tang bandits are scared into silence as soon as our high shaman arrives! Those arrogant things know that we aren’t to be trifled with now!”

He kicked his soldiers and shouted, “Curse them! Hurry up and hurl curses at the enemies!”

The other soldiers began hurling slews of curses at Shu Yichao’s group.

“Scram, you Tang slaves!”

“That little pretty boy over there, tuck your tail between your legs and run as far as you can. Otherwise, we’ll take good care of you day and night if you fall into our hands!”

These fellows from Chach are all words. They were still sobbing pathetically before the Tang army earlier, but they puffed out their chests and stood proudly as soon as I appeared.

But the high shaman didn’t complain about their attitudes. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if these Chach soldiers could distract the enemy necromancer… though it was not as if he was scared of the enemy.

He was one of the most powerful mages in the world, receiving tributes from the countries in the region. Kings trembled at his words. Tribes were destroyed when he harrumphed. Countries had to offer their national treasures to him at a raise of his hand.

With his esteemed stature and unparalleled power, what did a bunch of undeads count as?

Not to mention these specters weren’t anything special except for their sheer number. At most, he would just have to expend more mana to eliminate them… though that wasn’t a problem too since the leader of the undeads was here.

Faced with a high shaman like me, the Tangs must be trembling in fear. No matter how powerful the leader of the undead is, he will still be decimated by a single spell from me.

The high shaman thought that he was already being magnanimous by granting the enemy the option to retreat. To his surprise, the enemy leader began chatting with his people, showing no inclination to retreat or reply to him.

“Tang bandits, I have already made my words clear! Leave this land right now! My patience is wearing thin!” The high shaman was displeased by the disrespect shown to him.

The Chach soldiers cheered at those words, and the insults they hurled worsened.

Anyone else in Shu Yichao’s place would have chosen to retreat; it was unwise to arbitrarily offend a high shaman… but Shu Yichao had never been one to shy away from trouble. Rather, he was often the one causing trouble instead.

So, the high shaman saw Shu Yichao viciously pulling his thumb over his throat.

“…Very well. Very well.” The high shaman shook in anger.

That fool.

Transoxania is a chaotic region comprising many different races and religions, but why do you think everyone respectfully addresses me as the high shaman?

That’s the respect I have forged through leaving behind mountains of corpses!

Boom!

A searing wave of flames descended from the high heaven like a crimson dragon. The high shaman had launched his attack!

I have given you a chance, but you don’t appreciate my goodwill. There’s no reason for you to continue living on the face of this world. Die!

Bzzt!

A crackling, silver serpent gushed upward and clashed with the descending flames, their collision raising a cataclysmic storm.

The crimson dragon swiftly crushed the silver serpent, proving which was superior of the two, but there was more than just one silver serpent.

More and more Lightning Arrows gushed forth and collided with the crimson dragon.

Boom!

Terrifying explosions echoed again and again, sounding like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

“That fellow is formidable!” Shu Yichao clicked his tongue in wonderment. He had to unleash multiple Lightning Arrows before he finally neutralized the enemy’s flames. “His magic attack must be at least 1000. He must be a boss.”

It was tough for him to trade blows with the high shaman, so Shu Yichao issued an order to the specters, “Go and wear him down first.”

“Hmph!”

Even though his first attack had been neutralized, the high shaman still looked at Shu Yichao with eyes dripping with disdain. His disdain only deepened when Shu Yichao halted his attacks and instead sent his specters over.

Ignorant coward. You realized that you’re no match for me, so you’re trying to swarm me with your specters now?

Do you even understand what it means to be the high shaman?

“Cheap tricks.”

Shoosh!

The earth groaned as raging flames spurted from the ground, turning the freezing snowscape into an active volcano.

Like animals trapped in a forest fire, the specters howled in agony as batch after batch of them vanished in puffs of red smoke. The massive tsunami of specters unraveled.

“Long live the high shaman!”

The Chach soldiers cheered deafeningly at the high shaman’s show of might.

They had thought that they were doomed, but who could have thought that the tables would be turned so quickly?

“Foolish Tang bandits! We have the high shaman’s protection! There’s nothing you can do here!”

“You have once fallen in defeat here, and history will only repeat itself!”

“Just wait till we lop your heads off!”

“Hahahaha!”

In contrast to the cheering Chach soldiers, the high shaman started frowning beneath his mask.

Something is amiss. It feels like there is no end to those specters. Furthermore…

…I am massacring that necromancer’s underlings, so why does he not look upset? If anything, he is smiling. It’s almost as if those specters are not his allies but a burden!

Hold on! What’s with the rate of his mana depletion?!

The high shaman belatedly realized that his mana was being depleted faster than he had expected. There was no way a high shaman like him wouldn’t make a mistake as elementary as miscalculating his mana consumption.

So, the problem was with his enemies…

“Kikiki!”

Just then, the high shaman heard the specters’ snickering.

“…I see. Hmph!” the high shaman sneered as he reined in his flames. “You must be fond of such underhanded means, but ultimately, they are just little tricks that amount to nothing!”

With a powerful gust of wind, the high shaman suddenly charged into the Tang army’s formation. His target was none other than Shu Yichao!