Chapter 381 A Helpless Battle and Its End

Chapter 380: For the Freedom of the Glory Knight

The blue-robed mage had just helped Shaoke up when a black arrow flew diagonally past him and the mage. The arrow exploded violently behind Shaoke.

In the explosion, a vague black figure flickered for a moment before disappearing into the air again. Shaoke knew that someone from the Mage Guild had sent an Infiltrator to assassinate him.

Although he knew an Infiltrator had targeted him, the mage showed no concern. Instead, under the protection of the blue-robed mage, he began a temporary recovery. He knew there were also Infiltrators and Archers among their own side who would deal with those attackers.

The battle on the field reached a deadlock. Spell after spell and Aura attacks generated massive magical fluctuations. Both sides' camps had suffered heavy casualties from this indiscriminate assault. But none of this mattered to high-order practitioners like Shaoke; their only goal was to hunt down the Mage Guild's high-order practitioners. Although the Wanderers had more numbers, the Mage Guild's forces were not much fewer. More importantly, the Mage Guild's mages often wielded special spells that caused Shaoke's side great trouble.

As time passed, more and more practitioners gathered. Now, hundreds of beings were fighting above the camp. Most eighth-order practitioners had already died, though some had fled. Large-scale ninth-order battles were beyond the endurance of low-order beings.

After helping the blue-robed mage block another magical attack, the two retreated some distance to a remote area. The battle had lasted two or three days, and neither side had sent reinforcements. By now, dozens of ninth-order beings had been permanently killed.

"We should go back and rest," the blue-robed mage gasped. "I can't hold on any longer. Two mages have locked onto us." With a pale face, she frowned and spoke quickly. Her consumption in this battle was enormous. With her restraints, she had suppressed the ability of some hostile practitioners to Blink, which greatly helped their team. But as a result, she had suffered fierce attacks. Luckily, Shaoke and seven or eight other ninth-order beings protected her, so she wasn't harmed. However, prolonged continuous Spellcasting had exhausted the newly promoted blue-robed mage. Yet three of her protectors had died.

"Kill that mage, and we'll rest well," said a mage who suddenly Blinked in front of Shaoke. He was a Space Mage. As soon as his Blink ended, he released a pre-prepared magical attack at Shaoke. At that moment, Shaoke, having fully unleashed his mental strength, detected an Infiltrator charging at high speed toward the blue-robed mage. With several ancient magical syllables, a large blue vortex appeared around the mages, and a black figure burst out of it, quickly vanishing. The attack aimed at them was also nullified by the blue vortex, producing a huge explosion.

The blue-robed mage trusted Shaoke's Defensive Spell. She focused on attacking the Space Mage. After chanting a difficult incantation, a Spell Structure shadow flew from her spellbook, and a blue light shot from her dimmed crown, merging into the shadow. A blue cage appeared in the air. Under the female mage's control, the cage, wrapped in magic script, quickly flew toward the Space Mage who had locked onto her.

After Shaoke blocked his attack, the Space Mage Blinked again, changing his position. Two warriors appeared where he had been—protectors of the blue-robed mage, one of them a female warrior carrying a horn. They were Wanderers from the Blue Feather Empire.

When the Space Mage finished Blinking, he saw the blue-robed mage's attack. He quickly tore an interference scroll and crushed a magic item to release its stored spell at Shaoke. Then he intended to Blink away again, but the female warrior blew her horn, sending a pale golden light that struck him, breaking through one of his two defensive spells and momentarily halting his casting.

Then the blue-robed female mage's cage enveloped him. Meanwhile, Shaoke's task was to block the Space Mage's attack. He failed to fully intercept the spatial attack and had to rely on the embedded spell "Spell Disintegration" to disperse the green spatial blade.

The moment he was trapped in the cage, the Space Mage showed no panic. From his floating spellbook, a gray spell structure appeared. Disregarding consumption and overdrawing, he activated it, forming a rotating gray vortex. This vortex tore the surrounding space and also tore apart the blue-robed mage's blue cage. Another warrior's aura disappeared into the vortex as well.

Just as the Space Mage was about to escape, Shaoke released a powerful spell again—"Death Mark." The black light instantly enveloped the mage before he could react, and a silver arrow appeared in his chest, piercing his last defense and tearing his body apart.

With the combined efforts of Shaoke and an Archer, they finally killed this Space Mage. But the Archer, having focused entirely on the kill, couldn't dodge another mage's attack. A fiery dragon wrapped around him, quickly burning him. The female warrior blew her horn again, sending golden light onto the flames, saving the severely injured Archer and placing him under protection.

The battle dragged on like this. Another day passed, and the ninth-order beings on both sides ceased fighting. This cessation was inevitable—over a hundred ninth-order beings had already been completely killed. Among them, three Wanderers from the Blue Feather Empire had fallen. Shaoke, after being ambushed by a warrior, was seriously injured and could no longer fight for long. Other practitioners faced similar situations, so the battle stopped due to mutual exhaustion.

"Everyone, how about we go back and rest a while?" asked the Hebrew Glory Knight, who had been severely wounded by two Infiltrators. He sat weakly on his Mount, his clothes torn under thick aura. A pale blue dagger was firmly embedded in his back. He dared not pull it out, as it was made with special techniques, and removing it rashly would damage his aura origin.

"I think we should continue fighting here," said an Elder Mage from the Mage Guild, shaking his head. He was a ninth-order Law Mage. His powerful Law magic made Shaoke realize for the first time the strength of this profession—far beyond what Shaoke's own Command Technique could achieve. This mage had also inflicted the greatest damage on the Glory Knight. Of course, the Infiltrator who stabbed the knight had done so with his help.

"Until one side is completely dead?" The Glory Knight gave a wry smile. Hundreds of golden orbs of light floated in the sky, some slowly fading. The light clusters of the eighth-order practitioners who had died long ago had already vanished from the sky.

The Law Mage said nothing, only sighed. "We wanted to invite everyone to join the Mage Guild, to build a true empire of mages together. Why don't you get it?" He continued, "There's no need to serve those imperial kings. We can restore the pride of ancient and even primal spellcasters."

"I'm sorry," the Glory Knight saluted. "I am a knight, not a spellcaster." He gave the old mage a strange look and added, "Restore the ancient state? We only want freedom. By 'ancient state,' do you mean accepting your rule? I hate being ruled." He patted his mount. Though the mount was injured, its strong physique kept the magical beast hovering proudly in the air, waiting for its master's command.

The old mage shook his head slowly. "Aren't you being ruled now? If not, I don't think you would have come to this battlefield." He chuckled softly, but neither the knight nor Shaoke found it amusing. The Glory Knight replied seriously:

"We are fighting for the right to freedom. This land belongs to wanderers. No empire or organization can enter here—otherwise, it will end like this, with one side forever lying on this barren earth. A barren land, and you still want to control it. Why not give us wanderers a free domain?" The knight raised his longsword and shouted. The slaughter began again. In the midst of mutual exhaustion and without any reinforcements, they once again threw themselves at each other madly.