Chapter 353 Ninth Rank’s Ambush and Tenth Tier’s Power

After a long while, the Blue-robed Mage stood up and signaled she was done. Only then did Shaoke breathe a sigh of relief, as in such a place, having more people to fight alongside made things a lot safer.

The Blue-robed Mage frowned as she scanned the area, then pulled out her scepter to check the locations of nearby companions. This time, a large number of allies had gathered around her and Shaoke, and according to what the scepter showed, these people were flying fast toward them.

Just as Shaoke and the Blue-robed Mage were puzzling over the situation, sudden, intense fluctuations of Aura came from afar, along with massive Spell fluctuations in the distance. Clearly, a fight had already broken out there.

"Let's go over there. I think those people are here to gang up on that Tenth Tier Warrior," Shaoke thought a moment and quickly told the Blue-robed Mage his idea. He figured his companions had no reason to gather in this direction unless they intended to hunt down that Tenth Tier Professional together.

Shaoke's suggestion didn't take the Blue-robed Mage long to consider. After a brief hesitation, she readily agreed to his request, and the two quickly flew toward the battle. Along the way, spatial rifts kept opening; powerful mages cast Defensive Spells and stepped out of them, then after a brief nod of acknowledgment, they flew toward the ongoing fight.

The site of the battle was above a small city. A Ritualist glowing with white light floated in the air, surrounded by three or four Eighth Tier Warriors. Nearby, a warrior bathed in golden light wielded a long spear, constantly blocking spells cast by the Blue Feather Empire mages.

Seven or eight mages from some unknown kingdom furiously attacked the golden warrior. The constant Blinking almost made Shaoke, watching from afar, doubt his own eyes—he never thought mages could Blink that many times in a row. They cast spells rapidly, each single-target attack seeming to require no preparation as it was hurled at the golden warrior.

The golden warrior paid little heed to the mages' attacks; before any spell reached him, a golden radiance shot from his body, completely disrupting the Spell Structure. He also moved rapidly, moving so fast that Shaoke almost believed the warrior had also learned the Blink spell.

"They're Ninth-rank Mages. We have a chance this time," the Blue-robed Mage said, producing her spellbook and letting it float before her, then signaled Shaoke to join the attack. By now, dozens of professionals were floating in the air, all besieging the Ritualist and the few Eighth Tier Warriors around him.

With the Ritualist's help, the professionals' attacks posed little threat to those Eighth Tier Warriors. However, the Blue-robed Mage's intervention made things worse for them.

"Get out of here. I'll kill these bastards," the golden warrior said, rapidly appearing before a mage. His golden spear thrust heavily toward the mage. The Ninth-rank Professional, seemingly unable to Blink in time, had a sheet of paper inscribed with a spell fly out from the spellbook floating before his chest. This paper firmly wrapped around the golden spear, forming an earthy yellow light shield that enveloped the spear.

The warrior's spear slammed heavily into the mage, completely shattering his defensive spell. However, thanks to the mage's self-protection, he narrowly escaped being killed by this Tenth Tier Warrior. The mage then blinked away to appear beside another Ninth-rank Mage.

Shaoke did not join the battle immediately; after observing the situation briefly, he decided to join the hunt for the Tenth Tier Warrior. He noticed that two Archer professionals, though continuously firing arrows at the Ritualist, had their attention fixed on the Tenth Tier Warrior.

Quickly explaining the situation to the Blue-robed Mage, Shaoke slowly flew to the periphery of the battlefield around the Tenth Tier Warrior and then summoned his already-blackened spellbook.

The gray-black spellbook swiftly returned to its original size. Shaoke then used Ancient Magic Language to chant the complete incantation. Just before the incantation ended, he tapped the spellbook with his staff, and a Black Halo flew out from the book, enveloping him. This halo was a special type of defensive spell Shaoke had learned from books found in the underground cities.

After making this preparation, Shaoke did not attack the Tenth Tier Warrior. Instead, he continuously cast low-level spells at the Ritualist and the surrounding Eighth Tier Warriors. Though these spells could not harm them, their rapid fire served to disrupt their escape attempts to some extent.

As Shaoke was attacking, the golden warrior suddenly broke free from the entanglement of several Ninth-rank Mages and appeared near the Eighth Tier professionals, including Shaoke. An Eighth Tier Mage, unable to dodge in time, was smashed into a pulp by the golden warrior's spear. The Tenth Tier Warrior then continued moving at high speed, attacking other Eighth-order beings. During this, he suddenly emitted hundreds of golden spears from his body, which seemed chaotic but Shaoke sensed that each one locked onto a besieger. He himself was targeted by seven or eight golden spears.

Blink. Shaoke’s body reflexively cast the Blink spell, though he knew this wouldn't completely avoid the spears' attack. He hoped to buy some time with this blink. After two consecutive Blinks, Shaoke ended up next to the golden warrior, who had just killed another Eighth-order Practitioner.

This time, Shaoke fully unleashed the Eighth Tier Death Gaze. Two gray-black eight-pointed star beams shot from the mage's eyes, completely enveloping the Tenth Tier Warrior who was about to kill Shaoke. At that moment, the warrior’s golden spear was only tens of meters away from Shaoke.

The Death Gaze caused the Tenth Tier Warrior to pause momentarily. Then the solidified golden Aura around him suddenly erupted, breaking Shaoke's spell attack. Due to this forced breakthrough, Shaoke's Meditation space was damaged, and he experienced his first spell backlash.

Just as the Tenth Tier Warrior broke free from Shaoke's Death Gaze, the distant Blue-robed Mage, disregarding the golden spears targeting her, attacked the Tenth Tier Warrior. Her blue spellbook flipped quickly, and a sheet of paper depicting a spell tore off. This paper almost instantly appeared on the Tenth Tier Warrior, then, under the Blue-robed Mage’s control, turned into a deep blue Giant Net that enveloped him. But the net held him for less than half a breath before being shattered by his golden Aura.

Just as the Tenth Tier Warrior broke free from the Blue-robed Female Mage’s giant net, a spatial rift appeared above him. A young mage flew out of the rift—this was Mage Meigan, who had fled earlier. Countless magic script flew from the spellbook before him, tightly wrapping around the warrior, again hindering his movement.

Meanwhile, the seven or eight golden spears struck Shaoke heavily. The gray-black halo rotated rapidly a few times before shattering, and the remaining two spears then hit Shaoke, tearing through his last two layers of ordinary Eighth Tier defensive spells. However, due to energy depletion, those two golden spears could no longer kill Shaoke; the explosion only wounded him.

Injured, Shaoke could barely float in the air, so he controlled his body to fall rapidly. However, mid-fall, the pale-faced Blue-robed Mage suddenly caught him and brought him back into the air. Landing on the ground would mean facing attacks from countless out-of-control mages, and if Shaoke was seriously injured, accidents could easily happen.

When Shaoke was brought back into the air by the Blue-robed Mage, the battle in the sky had undergone a fundamental change. Mage Meigan, who had been attacking the Tenth Tier Warrior, was now carried on a warrior's shoulder, but his spellbook still floating beside him indicated he was still alive. This relieved both Shaoke and the Blue-robed Mage. After all, this was their comrade, and they would need to cooperate for some time.

There were few Eighth-order Practitioners left floating in the sky; only about a dozen were scattered in the air. The Ritualist and the few warriors around him had completely vanished, with only some white light orbs quietly floating. At that moment, the seven or eight Ninth-rank Mages once again surrounded the Tenth Tier Warrior from the Luanyun Empire and launched a fierce attack.

Perhaps due to his release of hundreds of golden spears, or perhaps because of the entanglement by Shaoke and the others, he was now firmly trapped in the air by the Ninth-rank Mages. A red chain wrapped around him, with the other end inside a Ninth-rank Mage's spellbook. That Ninth-rank Mage closed his eyes, fully concentrating on controlling the red chain.

The Tenth Tier Warrior, restricted by the chain, kept defending against surrounding attacks. When a Ninth-rank Professional released an Eighth Tier mental attack spell, the golden warrior once again explosively unleashed his Aura. This time, the Aura eruption was in the form of a vortex, expanding the golden light to a range of over ten meters. The red chain snapped under this vortex.