Chapter 937: Peculiar Undead Creatures
Although Archbishop Martin vaguely sensed that something was wrong, he couldn’t say anything at this time. He could not possibly let the Holy Light Knights take the risk alone. Hence, he waved his staff, and led the group of priests to follow behind the Holy Light Knights, heading in the direction the magic storm had come from.
The Tower of Dusk was an exception. Not only did Lin Li not make his subordinates take the risk and follow the teams of the two forces, but he waved his hand and got the team to come to a complete stop. Although the fog hindered their vision, Lin Li could still judge based on his understanding of the map that there should be an avenue square in front, with one of the 36 Magic Towers in the middle.
Soon, the sounds of fierce battle could be heard from the dense fog in front. The sounds of all sorts of magical explosions seemed to have become one, and magic spells could be seen being shot out of the fog randomly from time to time. At the same time, the emanating fog actually gradually became thinner. In just a few breaths, the Magic Tower and the avenue square were displayed clearly. However, the barrier formed by the thick fog could still be seen around the avenue square.
In the middle of the square, the teams from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom that were surrounding the Magic Tower were engaged in a very fierce battle with the enemy. Archbishop Martin from the Brilliance Shrine was holding a strangely shaped key which Archbishop Martin used to unlock the Magic Tower. However, at this moment, the key was continuously radiating an invisible power, creating a strange force field that stopped the thick fog from reaching the square.
The ones who were fighting against the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom were a bunch of Ghost Mages with illusory figures that were similar to corporeal Vengeful Spirits. They did not have fixed figures or clear faces. The Ghost Mages whose bodies seemed to be made of pure mana were not wearing any magic robes or holding any staffs. However, they could cast powerful magic spells with a wave of their hands.
Strictly speaking, the Ghost Mages were not Undead creatures, but mana imprinted with a Spiritual Brand left behind after the death of High Elves. As the years passed, the Spiritual Brand in the mana was supposed to gradually wear off and eventually disappear. However, they were brought to the chaos of time and space in the world that was far away from Anril by the Sky Castle. Hence, they were preserved.
The awakening of Highlord Osric also caused the Spiritual Brands of the mana to be activated, thus giving them a new life and turning them into Ghost Mages that were composed of mana. Although they were called Ghost Mages, they were purely made up of mana. They were special life forms, just like elementals.
The Ghost Mages could cast elemental magic spells while being unafraid of the purifying power of the Holy Light Magic. The power of each Ghost Mage could compare to the strength of a Legendary-mage. Although they couldn’t create their own Magical Domain yet, they could instantly cast all magic spells below their level. Besides, the power of nearly 200 Ghost Mages casting magic spells together was shocking.
The people of the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom were clearly in the midst of a bitter battle at this point. Fortunately, Archbishop Martin had the key to the Magic Tower, and could temporarily push the fog out of the square. Facing a bunch of remotely attacking mages, they were in a situation that was even more dangerous.
Now that there was no more fog, the two parties finally faced a proper battle. Besides, the Legendary powerhouses of the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom had also joined the battle. After all, the two forces of the expedition team also had plenty of Legendary powerhouses, as well as those who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm like Archbishop Martin and Donald. When they truly unleashed their full power, the situation on the battlefield immediately changed.
The Ghost Mages that could instantly cast magic spells and were below level-20 were indeed quite a headache. However, once there were a few actual Legendary-mages who displayed their Magical Domains, the Ghost Mages would immediately lose their advantage. The Ghost Mages’ so-called equaling the Legendary-mages was only relative to those below the Legendary-realm. Without their own Magical Domains, they were definitely still very different from Legendary-mages.
Faced with such a situation, it was reasonable to say that the Tower of Dusk’s team should have caught up as well. Even if they did not join in the battle, they at least could not stray too far from the team. However, Lin Li simply shook his head to turn down Master Basel and Alan’s inquiry. Hence, his team remained still.
Due to the group of Ghost Mages at the back, Lin Li discovered a very strange figure which seemed to be a skeletal Undead creature. However, it looked rather small. In reality, if Lin Li hadn’t felt that special mana fluctuation from such a distance, they probably would not have been able to discover that fist-sized monster.
Of course, even if the monster was discovered, they were simply too far away. Even with Lin Li’s eyesight, it would still be impossible to see clearly what that thing was.
On the battlefield, the joint force of the people from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom seemed to have gotten the upper hand, and it seemed that completely destroying the Ghost Mages would only be a matter of time for them.
However, at this moment, the creature that had been staying behind the Ghost Mages suddenly darted out, and flew towards a spot that was in the air above the heads of the Ghost Mages.
With the appearance of that thing, the fierce attack that had pushed the Ghost Mages into a desperate situation was instantly disintegrated by an unparalleled power. At this moment, the people from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom finally discovered that such a strange thing had actually appeared on the battlefield.
After seeing the appearance of that creature, almost no one found it exceptional, as it was just a skeleton. However, no one knew what living being it belonged to. That skeleton was only the size of a human fist, and its every bone was so slender that it seemed as if it would break at the slightest touch. The overall shape resembled that of a rat’s skeleton. However, there was a tiny pair of wings on its back. Could it be the skeleton of some kind of bat!?
However, a terrifying wave of mana fluctuation suddenly erupted from the tiny skeleton. Even the Legendary powerhouses like Archbishop Martin and Donald couldn’t help but find it hard to face the mana fluctuation.
Immediately afterwards, countless powerful Legendary-level elemental magic spells were cast from the tiny skeleton before the people could even react. They formed a massive magic torrent which was more than 1,000 times stronger than the magic storm cast by the Ghost Mages. It made them feel like they were facing doomsday.
At the same time, the Ghost Mages did not give up the chance to take revenge as they all cast level-19 magic spells that were even more powerful. Although they were only level-19 magic spells, the continuous casting of magic spells by nearly 200 Ghost Mages was still extremely terrifying.
For a while, the people of the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom were caught off guard by the peculiar skeleton that emerged from nowhere. Even though they outnumbered the enemies and had massive Alchemy Colossuses, they still felt like a helpless boat which would be smashed to pieces by a massive wave anytime in the endless magic torrent.
In fact, that was exactly the case. Although the 10 Alchemy Colossuses that were standing right in front of the team had already activated their magic defensive arrays, that was clearly still not enough. The Magic Shields that could originally withstand the Ghost Mages’ magic storm were shattered with a thud in less than a second in the magic torrent.
Then, the massive Alchemy Colossuses were devoured by the magic torrent, and burst into flames that shot to the sky amidst the roar of countless magic spells. The precious magical metals that the people from the Rotterdam used in their Alchemy Colossuses did not allow them to survive for long.
However, there were fortunately 10 Alchemy Colossuses holding up the front, giving the crowd in the back a slight chance. The Alchemy Colossuses of the Rotterdam linked arms and jointly cast a more solid defensive force field as they struggled to resist the impact of the magic torrent.
The team that was protected in the defensive force field also kept casting defensive magical spells to reduce the burden on the Alchemy Colossuses while paying attention to each other’s condition fearfully. Even a single tiny spark that suddenly burst from the body of an Alchemy Colossus could frighten them to death.
On the other side, the team of the Brilliance Shrine was similarly in a terrible situation. Using the Holy Light Battle Song, the Holy Light Knights managed to suppress the dozens of Ghost Mages. Even though they managed to jump towards their own team as fast as they could after detecting danger, 10-odd Holy Light Knights at the back were still devoured by the magic torrent. If Archbishop Martin had not instantly gone to rescue them, the Holy Light Knights would have suffered even greater losses.
The priests of Brilliance Shrine had already jointly cast the Eternal Light, after which an incomparably holy curved curtain of light appeared at the front of the group, protecting them. The moment the light curtain was formed, a huge, deafening magic torrent slammed into the light curtain with a loud bang that seemed to shatter heaven and earth.
Although the light curtain appeared distorted, the good thing was that it finally blocked the magic torrent. However, everyone could tell how hard of a time those priests had while holding on. In fact, some of them were even bleeding from their ears and nostrils.
How did that happen? Their power is definitely not comparable to the pinnacle of the Legendary-realm! No Legendary-mage can continuously cast Legendary-level magic spells so freely without restraint! The magic torrent composed of condensed Legendary magic spells is stronger than the joint forces of 100 Legendary-mages!
Facing the skeletal monster of unknown origins and the magic torrent that was made of condensed Legendary-level magic, even the Legendary powerhouses like Archbishop Martin and Donald couldn’t help but be a little fearful. Although they were also at the peak of the Legendary-level, they felt that they were like a baby facing an adult, powerless with no means to resist.
“Archbishop Martin, what should we do now!?” asked Prince Jeremiah, who had turned pale at this moment. Even though he was a Paladin who had power that was at the peak of the Legendary-level, it was his first time encountering such a situation.
“Join forces with the people of the Rotterdam and retreat. I hope that we will be able to retreat safely after regrouping with the Tower of Dusk.” Archbishop Martin kept a straight face, and did not show the fear within him at all, because he knew that once he revealed his panic, the team of the Brilliance Shrine would truly be over.
“The Tower of Dusk? Damn it, where are the people of the Tower of Dusk? Why aren’t they following us?!” At this moment, Prince Jeremiah finally discovered that the people of the Tower of Dusk were still outside the square, and did not catch up from the beginning of the battle until now.
When Archbishop Martin made a decision, Donald from the Rotterdam did so as well. It was not that they shared some telepathic connection. In fact, they just had no choice. Wait for the enemy to run out of mana? That’d be a joke. By the time the mana in the huge magic torrent ran out, the Legendary-mages would probably be squeezed dry from defending. Donald was almost certain that if that went on, the ones to be destroyed first would be them.
It couldn’t be helped. The enemy was simply barbaric and tyrannical. No technique was involved, and the oppression was just done with brute force. Actually, when the people from the Brilliance Shrine and Rotterdam were dealing with the corporeal Vengeful Spirits and Alchemy Colossuses, they similarly suppressed them. However, they were now the ones being suppressed.
Hence, anyone with a brain would realize that the only chance now was to try to join forces with the Brilliance Shrine and fight the enemy’s magic torrent together. That was not all. They also had to join forces with the Tower of Dusk. After all, there was also a group of mages on the Tower of Dusk’s side, which was considered a force.
Fortunately, in the previous battle, the teams from the Brilliance Shrine and Rotterdam were not too far from each other. While desperately resisting the impact of the magic torrent, the two teams slowly seemed to be closing in together like snails.
They were now going against an incomparably massive pressure. Any slight negligence would cause everyone to be finished. Perhaps even a few Legendary powerhouses that were at the pinnacle of the realm might not be able to escape.
As soon as the two teams met, an Alchemy Colossus on the side of the Rotterdam Kingdom became paralyzed after an explosion due to an overload. Upon sight of that, the people from the Rotterdam Kingdom instantly broke out in a cold sweat because they were incredibly frightened. If they had been slightly late, everyone in the team would’ve truly been finished.