Chapter 868: Ghost Warrior
Of course, Angelano deactivated those magic gears and traps under the sneering and jeering of the people around him. At the start, they all had a sense of disdain for Angelano’s proficiency. Then, they became numbed by his skills after realizing that they would never match up to Angelano.
With that, the team overcame the first level of the mausoleum safely, and proceeded to the second level via stairs.
The second level of the mausoleum was unlike the first. It was extremely spacious, and no one could see the ends apart from the thick stone pillars. There weren’t any fancy art pieces, either. It was fortunate that the team had the blueprint of the mausoleum, which helped to direct them in their journey.
Yet, spaciousness did not mean that there weren’t traps. On the contrary, the danger in this level was multiplied by many times in comparison to the level before. The first level only required them to deactivate the magic traps and gears that obstructed their path, but now that they were in a spacious area, it was challenging for them to know if certain areas were safe as boundaries were not as well-defined.
Despite those challenges, the team of pathfinders were well-prepared. After they solved the traps and deactivated the gears for a particular region under Angelano’s instructions, somebody took out a bottle of silver-colored magic powder. He sprinkled a portion of it on the ground with a distinct ritual. At once, a layer of silver covered the entire region. That effect helped to inform the people behind them of the safe spot. This work continued a while, and the team managed to leave behind an obvious silver path that denoted safety to the rest of the team.
They could finally see shadows of walls when they were halfway through the level. However, when they waited for Angelano’s orders to resolve the new magic traps, they heard Angelano’s ghastly shrieks.
“RUN! THERE ARE FREAKY THINGS COMING OUR WAY!!!” What followed Angelano’s voice was the sound of charging metal from his alchemy machine.
The men turned to look at Angelano racing towards Lin Li. Then, they looked in the direction Angelano came from. There were black shadows racing out, emerging from all directions, and crowding towards them.
At this time, Angelano was already by Lin Li’s side.
“Those are Ghost Warriors,” commented Connoris gravely as he looked at the neverending stream of shadows.
It had been said that these Ghost Warriors were the most loyal royal guards of the High Elves when they were alive, and they continued to stand guard for the royals even after they passed away. Hence, it was only natural for these Ghost Warriors to appear at his mausoleum.
The mages from the four forces got into different formations immediately after they noticed the Ghost Warriors. Although this adventure team was filled with elites, no one dared to be reckless. While Brahere was not as well-known as Osric, his status and power were not what Osric could match up to. If anyone were to make a mistake, they might never be able to get out of the mausoleum alive.
The sound of magic erupted with the commencement of battle between the adventure team and the Ghost Warriors.
Each of the Ghost Warriors had tremendous combat abilities and the power to cast immense magical spells. Their ghostly bodies gave them great immunity to magical spells. Although the magical waves they emitted did not seem like they were in the Legendary-realm, their combat energy was not a bit weaker than that of true Legendary powerhouses.
The adventure team could feel immense pressure when they came into contact with the Ghost Warriors. Although the combined spells cast by the team could be potent to Legendary powerhouses, they only seemed to create an impact sufficient to shake the bodies of the Ghost Warriors slightly. Their immunity to magic seemed to be as strong as true dragons’.
What made it more problematic was that there were not just one or two such freakish Ghost Warriors. There were not 10 or 20 of them, either. The shadows in the distance continued to emerge, while some of the Ghost Warriors had already gotten to the frontline.
The adventure team was powerful to begin with. Apart from over 30 real Legendary powerhouses, the rest of the men were at least level-15. However, what they were faced with was a never-ending stream of Ghost Warriors that were comparable to Legendary powerhouses.
However, the adventure team was made up of the elites from each of the four great forces after all. They were not empty shells of geniuses, but true powerhouses who had rich experience and had braved countless battles.
At the same time, all of Hoffman’s arrangements proceeded smoothly. The team in charge of facing unexpected enemies immediately cast the spells which they prepared for such an encounter. Although they did not injure the Ghost Warriors significantly, they helped to buy precious time for the adventure team to respond to the threat. The adventure team was fully alert when they were about to engage with the Ghost Warriors themselves.
The elite teams from the four great forces of the Breezy Plains displayed strength befitting of their status. They were not shaken by the Legendary-level Ghost Warriors. They struck at the Ghost Warriors, and defended against their attacks in synchronization. They were as if machinery functioning with great precision.
The real Legendary-level powerhouses from the four forces readied their staffs and swords. Rays from magic and attack colored the interior of the mausoleum. The magical elements that rested within the mausoleum for God knew how many years started to shake vigorously under the Legendary-level magical waves as well.
Although the two adventure teams had agreed to come together, each of them had their own part to play when real danger occurred. That was part of Hoffman’s plans, and something they unanimously agreed upon. After all, the tension that existed between both groups was not something that could be dissolved easily. No one would be able to vouch that there wouldn’t be any backstabbing at critical times.
Joseph and Claus did not intervene in the battle immediately. Instead, they were observing the intense battle between their men and the Ghost Warriors in the air above them calmly. It seemed like they were even smiling at what they saw.
“All of the Ghost Warriors have Legendary-level combat capability that can pose a great threat to any newbie in the Legendary-realm. Their only disadvantage would be the inability to employ real Magical Domains,” commented Claus as he watched the Ghost Warriors advance in their attacks. He could not help but daydream about having such a formidable troop of men on his team…
“We are lucky that they can’t use Magical Domains. Otherwise, we would have ended our adventure here. But, even so, I’m sure our new ally would also be very frustrated with them,” remarked Joseph smilingly.
The new ally Joseph was referring to was naturally the Tower of Dusk who had swallowed their two mines and a part of their territory. Yes, the mages from that tower were armed from head to toe with high-grade magical equipment, looking just like moving mountains of gold. However, even so, the equipment could only help to boost their respective capability rather than bring the Archmages into the Legendary-realm. Hence, such an intense battle also served to put the group’s teamwork to test.
However, the cooperation within a team was not something that could be nurtured in a day or two. It required countless exercises, countless combat experience, a great amount of effort, and cruel rounds of bloodshed to unite the whole team.
The Mithril Alliance and Caesar Family were ancient forces with over a thousand years of history. It naturally gave them a sense of superiority for having members with at least 10 years of combat experience. They were certain that the Tower of Dusk that had only been around for two to three years would be at a disadvantage in this situation.
Although Joseph’s Mithril Alliance had been fighting the Tower of Dusk for a long time, they had not been gaining any advantage from the tower at all. Now that they had lost two mines and a large area of land to the tower before entering the mausoleum, Joseph was not at all worrying about this battle. He was all glee to watch the Tower of Dusk be faced with such an unlucky experience.
“Are you thinking about demanding them to return your possessions when they ask for your help?” Claus asked and smiled knowingly. Unlike the Mithril Alliance, the Caesar Family wasn’t a direct opponent of the Tower of Dusk, yet Claus did not have a good impression of the Tower of Dusk and its young President due to Charles.
“Hmph, I don’t mind losing those. If they were to require our assistance, they’d have to pay a larger price,” replied Joseph slyly. He smirked with a cold and stern gaze. Isn’t the Ashen Warlock partial to the Tower of Dusk? I bet the Ashen Warlock wouldn’t be able to deal with the Ghost Warriors if he saw them…
Their battle with the Tower of Dusk shook the position of the Mithril Alliance in the Breezy Plains. The hatred Joseph had for the Tower of Dusk was not just a tiny bit. He would be grateful to see the Tower of Dusk suffer in this encounter, even if the casualty rate was not a tremendous one. He was looking forward to the rest of the tactics Felic would be left with if he wished to give his organization more advantages against the rest.
“Haha, I’m afraid you are going to be disappointed,” remarked Claus with a bitter smile after he glanced at the situation over at the Tower of Dusk’s side.
“What?” Joseph asked skeptically as he turned to look at the team from the Tower of Dusk. Then, he was stupefied. “W-what? How c-could they?”
He saw that the mages from the Tower of Dusk were not as frantic as he had expected. Instead, it was the opposite. Under Alan’s leadership, the mages displayed great combat ability. It was a sight that even Joseph, an experienced Legendary-mage, would feel threatened by if he were to be faced with such a formidable opponent.
Alan was the only Legendary-mage in the entire team of mages from the Tower of Dusk, but even so, the other Archmages appeared to be casting Legendary-level spells as well. It seemed like there was a special Magical Domain that formed within the formation of the team. The Magical Domain did not have any attribute, but appeared to have great power to elevate every magic spell.
The defensive tactic employed by the Ghost Warriors was incredibly freaky, but it did not put the humans at an immediate disadvantage. After all, all of the Legendary-level spells would be tapping on the nomological power. That was not something lower-level spells could compare to. Although they weren’t sufficient to eliminate the Ghost Warriors immediately, the fact that the magic strength from the humans was something that continued to accumulate over time was enough to pose an imminent threat to the Ghost Warriors.
The mages from the Tower of Dusk were using the Net Array from the Alanna Guild of Magic. It was said that the array was created by the God of Mages, Geresco, during the last stage of the Dark Age. Deeply convinced that the human species was too weak to survive in the world, he used his experience of battling the Magic Legion of the High Elves to create an array that could combine the strength of all of the weaker men to help them fight against powerhouses.
Of course, it did not matter what strategy the team used against their opponent. What was important was the team spirit that was nurtured over the time they worked together. However, apart from camaraderie, it was the special magical runes inscripted on the magic equipment worn by the mages. The runes could gather the mana from all of the mages in the array to allow even the lowest-level mage to exert power that was equivalent to what the highest-level one was capable of.
None of the mages from the Tower of Dusk was weak to begin with. There were many of them in level-19 at the Archmage-realm. While the presence of the high-grade magical equipment only helped to boost their ability instead of bringing them into the Legendary-realm, their capability was not to be compared with that of any common mage in the same level.