Baelin hesitated, and was seemingly indecisive.
Regardless of how they were communicating secretly, the process of the competition had been advancing bit by bit.
”Now, may we invite our champion and the other 30 Magi on stage, for our 9 most distinguished and high-ranked judges to give out the prizes…”
Along with the host’s voice and cheers, a stage decorated with gold and silver, bedazzled with numerous rays started rising slowly from the middle of the site.
Other than Baelin, Longbottom, and a few other Magi who held other intentions, the 30 Magi who had obtained a high enough score walked up to the stage emotionally.
To them, this was the pathway to fame, the glorious road to success.
”Let’s go. They are actually having us present prizes to them! What a bother, couldn’t they just have passed down the prizes?” A rank 2 Magus from the west complained to Leylin.
”This is actually the important stage where budding Magi obtain credit due to their ambitions. Even though it’s only a ceremony, it still has to be done!”
Leylin smiled and got up, and went to the golden stage together with the other rank 2 Magi.
”I, Victory, rank 2 Magus and guild leader of Glorious Sword, solemnly announce that this Magus from the west is the champion of this season’s young genius talent competition!”
The rank 2 Magus standing in the middle announced, at the same time placing on Longbottom a golden crown encrusted with gems.
”Carl!” “Carl!” “Carl!”
Many Magi were cheering, and bouts of cheers got overpowered by other bouts of cheers.
”Other than obtaining the reward previously, Carl, you have the opportunity to choose a guild to enter! What is your choice?”
Victory had high hopes for Carl, and hence in his voice held a tinge of excitement and pressure, as well as feelings of enticement.
”My choice is obviously…”
Longbottom deliberately hesitated a while and then said, “It’s obviously the Dark Elves, you idiots!”
”What?” The jaws of numerous Magi dropped open. They all thought they’d heard wrong.
”Not good, we have been cheated by him!” On the other side, Baelin’s face immediately changed, the armour on his body once again surfaced. He had wanted to rush over, but unfortunately, it was already too late.
”Mud membrane!”
A layer of clay-coloured invisible film surfaced from Longbottom’s body, with 9 rays of lights shooting out of his body, directly shooting at the 9 rank 2 Magi judges on the stage who had no time to dodge the attack.
*Kacha! Kacha!*
A deep blue ice layer immediately spread out on their body, and caused all 9 Magi to freeze into ice sculptures.
In the ice sculptures, the numerous rank 2 Magi had life-like expressions of anger or fear.
This sudden change had shocked all the Magi present at the site.
”Longbottom! What are you doing! Release Master Leylin now!”
Baelin suppressed the rage within, having seen the ice sculpture of the already frozen Leylin. He had originally wanted to undo his pretense here and give Master Leylin a big surprise!
Furthermore, from the bottom of Baelin’s heart, he respected Leylin and had treated him like a teacher. Having seen Longbottom’s actions, he instantly felt anger.
”Carl! What are you doing!” The face of the host on the stage instantly became more solemn, a ray of a peak rank 1 energy wave imploded from his body.
*Boom! Boom!*
2 rays of spells attacked the surface of an ice sculpture, yet it was entirely useless, and could not leave any traces on the crystal clear surface of the ice sculpture.
”There’s no use, the matriarchs of the dark elves used one thousand years to extract this essence of the cold abyss. Even rank 2 Magi cannot be able to overcome it…” Longbottom’s voice was unhurried.
”As for Leylin? I’ve wanted to kill him for so long! And now, he is finally in my hands. Do you reckon I would easily let this opportunity go by? Haha…”
Presently, Longbottom had removed all restrictions, and laughed hysterically.
*Boom!* A light ray flashed across, Longbottom removed the skin alteration spell on his body, and recovered his original appearance. At the same time, a strong and enormous energy was released from his body like the surging waves of the ocean.
”And this noisy crow, I’ve borne with you long enough!”
Longbottom lifted his hands and a dark silver spiritual strength exploded. The body of the host, not having time to react, exploded into a rain of flesh.
The Magi standing on the stage immediately retreated, with one of them shouting out, ”Solidified spiritual force! Rank 2 Magus!”
”This is the leader of the revolutionary army, Longbottom! I saw his face in a picture once!”
”It’s already too late. Attack!” Longbottom shouted.
*Swish! Swish!* Numerous shadows appeared all around the competition site, all tearing apart magic scrolls.
Dark clouds instantly enshrouded the area, and large numbers of tiny spiders were shot out of the dark clouds. The spiders spat out threads continuously, binding up the entire area in a short duration.
From a distance, the competition site that was enshrouded by a white silk wall looked like a giant cocoon.
Baelin’s face dimmed, and the aura on his body exploded forth. He treated Longbottom as a rival. “So your target was not only the 9 judges but also all the Magi in this competition site!”
He was secretly shocked. Around 20% of the elite Magi of Twilight Zone were present at the scene, and if they were to all die here, it would be a terrifying blow to the humans.
”Kill!” At this point in time, the black-clothed men hiding amongst the crowd immediately took action, and many more spiders drilled their way through the cocoons, surrounding and attacking the human magicians.
Large amounts of silk wove together into a formation, weakening the human Magi while channeling the strength to their opponents. Immediately, lights flashed and explosions occurred everywhere.
The obstruction made it impossible for the human Magi to escape. Some Magi, eyes turned red, fired off spells in all directions, adding further to the chaos.
Channelling Of Lifeforce
“These aren’t just the people of the revolutionary army!” Baelin stared at the many black-robed Magi and his expression darkened.
“Haha… Of course!” At this moment, Longbottom had no more qualms. “The matriarchs of the dark elves have already infiltrated this area. Not long after, blood will flow, and the dark elves will rule the subterranean world!”
Longbottom’s face was slightly flushed.
“You lunatic!” Baelin roared, and charged at Longbottom.
“Life Absorption!”
Longbottom shouted, and a large phantom image of a spider appeared behind him.
Compared to the last few times, the image had become even larger and even held a terrifying aura. From the eyes of the spider, a very human light could be seen, as if it now held an intelligence of its own and had now become alive.
“Aru!” Baelin whistled for a while, and a gold phantom darted out from within a small crack amongst the spectators and dropped to the ground. Its figure suddenly increased in size, and in the blink of an eye, it was two stories tall.
This was a giant, golden Underground Winter Spider. The stripes on its body gave it a very elegant feeling, and the phantom image on Longbottom’s back kept snarling, as if its honour was being challenged.
“Underground Winter Spider Emperor! So you are really the sinner responsible for the theft of the sacred creature!”
The cold glint in Longbottom’s eyes expanded, and several greyish-green streams of air rose from his body.
“Ah!” “Ah!”
Two short yelps were heard.
These belonged to the two official Magi who were unfortunately struck by the stray streams of air. The moment they had contact wi
th the greyish-green air, their bodies wilted and they turned into dried corpses that had died in an incomparably pitiful manner.
“You dare rob life force that does not belong to you. You’ll be devoured by it sooner or later!”
Baelin’s expression was dark as he rode the Underground Winter Spider Emperor, looking like a gallant knight.
“How would you understand how brilliant Life Absorption is?” Longbottom merely gave a cold answer to Baelin. Meanwhile, the giant spider phantom image pounced forward, the strange streams of air like black holes that greedily sucked in the life force within Baelin.
Baelin’s expression became grim as he patted the Underground Winter Spider Emperor he was on and collided with Longbottom.
The energy particles formed from the clash between two rank 2 Magi created havoc as they sent a few people unlucky enough to be hit by stray particles flying. They were seriously injured.
Within the greyish-green vortex, a knight on a giant golden spider was emanating red light. He looked like an ancient dragon-slaying prince as he charged towards the heart of the vortex.
The battle kept changing location and caused a few stages to be completely destroyed.
At this moment, the nine judges were trapped. The rank 2 Magi were already the most powerful in this entire competition area.
The result of Baelin and Longbottom’s match could even decide the life or death of all the Magi here!
Hence, even while battling with the revolution army and dark elves, many Magi tried to spare some energy and watch the battle.
What attracted their interest the most were the nine ice sculptures on the platform!
These Magi knew very well that a small part of their chances of survival depended on Baelin, while most of it depended on whether these rank 2 Magi could break out of their restrictions.
Even Longbottom would be reduced to dust under the combined attacks of nine rank 2 Magi.
“Cough! Wake up, my lords!”
At this moment, light flashed in a corner and a grey-haired Magus appeared.
He mumbled spell incantations, a huge blazing fireball striking the nine sculptures and turning the podium made of gold and silver into a sea of fire.
This Magus despaired as he saw the flames soon dying out under a layer of white frost. Dense icy mist lingered and froze the whole podium into ice and snow.
Meanwhile, not even a corner of the nine ice sculptures had melted.
“What a waste of energy. This is the icy air from the abyss and is a rank 2 spell which can be sustained for a long time.” Longbottom watched on and began to laugh coldly.
Without waiting for his orders, a few dark elf special guards in black-robes charged forward and began to battle with the Magus in grey robes. Not long after, a sharp dagger pierced into his chest.
After seeing this, the many Magi who had plans to rescue him all fell silent, putting away all thoughts of rescuing the judges.
Most of them wanted to break away from their opponents and successfully leave this place.
At this moment, the battles in the area became more brutal and intense.
Outside the competition area, everything had yet to die down.
*Teng! Teng! Teng! Teng!*
At the horizon far away, a black line suddenly appeared. It gradually closed in and the two ends began to shrink, and it felt like the line would surround the whole competition area.
When the black shadows came closer, it could be seen that they were actually the elite Underground Winter Spider knights. There were a great number of dark elven Magi, which included multiple matriarchs and even Anya.
“Seal off that area and don’t let any human get away” Anya commanded, and then pointed at the cocoon in the middle, a gentle voice transmitted to every knight’s ears.
“Fight for Her Majesty!” “Fight for Her Majesty!”
The many dark elven Underground Winter Spider knights cheered and then began their attacks.
“Prepare for Joint Earth Pitfalls Spell! Begin!”
At this moment, brownish-yellow lights flashed and countless depressions appeared in front of the Underground Winter Spider knights. They were like long trenches, with earthen spikes piercing upwards and stopping the knights in their tracks.
There were a few knights who had moved too quickly and fallen into the trench, their chests, arms, thighs, and even faces pierced through like skewered meat. Those who had yet to die kept howling in pain.
Three figures appeared in mid-air, causing Anya to furrow her brow slightly.
“The protectors of the east, west, and south have all arrived. What about that old Guardian of the Realm?”
“I’m right here. I wouldn’t need you to worry about me!”
Green light flashed, and the the old protector appeared before Anya. Though he seemed weak and did not have much of an aura, Anya looked as if a great enemy had appeared in front of her.
“I didn’t expect you, Anya, to use the dark elves’ crown as a means to enter Twilight Zone without letting even the dark elven knights know about it…” He smiled slightly while greeting her.
The crown of the dark elves was a sign of the authority of the Dark Elven Empire. It was also a very powerful magic artifact.
It had a very simple function, which was to conceal the energy aura of a large group of people and their mounts. The key point was that it could turn around the battle. However, every time it’s used, it can only be used again after a fifty-year wait, which is why this inherited magic artifact of the magic elves could not be used flippantly.
Now, the dark elven crown could finally exhibit all its strength and shield numerous dark elven armies into the central region, almost wiping out all the Magi at the competition area.
“Except for the protector of the northern region who has died, all of the lord protectors are here. What’s this? Do you want to stop me?” A little green vortex appeared above Anya’s hands, glimmering with a mysterious light. It attracted the attention of everyone to look at the vortex, which had the intention of sucking human spirits in.
“Protecting Twilight Zone and the human race was our vow when we took on the role as protectors. This is an honour worthy of exchanging our lives for!”
The Guardian’s face was filled with layers of wrinkles and he looked about to die of old age. However, his eyes still shone with light.
Anya sensed that, although the life force of the Guardian was like a flame that was sputtering out, it still emanated light and warmth that even caused her to be worried.
The allied Magus army appeared behind these few protectors confronted the dark elves.
“The plan was actually leaked out. Who was it?”
Anya’s brows furrowed and then straightened out, “Whatever it is, we’ve finally restrained your nine rank 2 Magi. There are still many elite Magi and acolytes within the competition area. In other words, we have a sure victory in this war!”
“Attack!” Without waiting for the opposing Magi to finish their preparations, Anya immediately ordered for the dark elven matriarchs to attack.
With a flash of her body, she somehow disappeared from the air and, when she reappeared, she was in front of the Guardian of the Realm.
A fair palm brought with it a terrifying devouring strength and was pressed towards the old man’s chest.
“Floating Light!” The light in the old protector’s eyes became brighter and he exclaimed.
Numerous tiny rays of light surged out continuously and formed a protective shield in front of him.
The moment Anya’s hand made contact with the shield, a low sound was produced, and the ground suddenly trembled, the space even beginning to quiver.
“Old geezer, how much longer can your life force sustain you?”
Anya’s expression remained unchanging as she continued her attacks.
A tremendous vortex formed behind her, and any Magus that was sucked into it, turned into a dried corpse in an instant.
“Activating combination s
pell pattern!”
The expressions of the protectors of the other three regions changed greatly, and as if they had made up their minds. They headed into the skies, shooting out great amounts of green threads that connected with the Guardian of the Realm.
Tremendous rays from light force wrapped around him, and the next time he reemerged, he had already become a handsome and sunny middle-aged man.
Warlock of the Magus World 1-596 Page 273
