Of course, the large team could have been left with a few men if not for Angelano’s help. Then, these statues would have been a real threat for them.
The 16 statues were swallowed by the magic storm instantly, and they left behind a bunch of debris. This had to be the most relaxing battle the mages had from the time they entered the mausoleum.
Yet, Lin Li who had not been participating in any battle up till now suddenly felt a chill up his spine. A shadow emerged from the darkness and waved a dagger at his throat as he deployed an Elemental Shield.
Lin Li had found 20 alchemy shadow assassin puppets in Immortal King’s laboratory, and he discovered how to control them, yet he still could not understand why Osric had not brought the shadow assassins away when he emptied the laboratory. Now, Lin Li’s query was resolved. It was obvious that the shadow assassins here had greater power.
There was not only one shadow assassin. Just when the others were feeling relieved after they had defeated all the statues, shadows sprung out from different corners of the palace and struck at them. The ability of these shadow assassins was comparable to that of the first two shadow assassins Lin Li had met at Immortal King’s laboratory. They were definitely in the Legendary-level.
Lin Li had used the Soul-devouring Domain’s Light and Darkness Sword to deal with the two shadow assassins then. But now, he did not intend to do the same. He knew that the ability of his current team was far better than before. He had the confidence that the team had the ability to overcome more than 20 shadow assassins.
Although the team of mages had suffered significantly, it was a fact that the remaining mages had improved tremendously. Their sense of camaraderie was an impregnable fortress that turned the sneak attack into a confrontation. As shadow assassins were not created to confront their enemies directly, they would be at a disadvantage when they clashed with the team of mages.
Streaks of black lightning swirled around the team of mages to scan for their weaknesses, yet the team of mages let out a magic storm every time an assassin slowed down. Although the body of each assassin was made of shadow iron, it did not have the ability to withstand the extremity of the magic attack. It was torn into pieces instantly.
As the shadows around the team of mages were reduced rapidly, a thunderbolt struck the mages like a storm. Suddenly, gusts of crazy wind appeared in the palace and brought wind elementals out of nowhere. Their upper bodies resembled humans, but their lower bodies were like tornadoes that shot lightning in all directions. It was like what Lin Li saw in the Seven-Realm Spiral.
Although the ability of the wind elementals was at maximum of level-17 or level-18, which was not comparable to the shadow assassins, their numbers grew over 300, and they surrounded the team of mages as well as Lin Li and the others. Streaks of thunderbolts landed on the mages’ defensive mechanism like massive wind blades.
However, although the number of wind elementals was greater than the number of mages, it was obvious that they had no teamwork. The wind elementals only knew to smash powerful spells into the mages repeatedly. After a while, the mages regained the initiative. Some of them took charge of defense, while the others gathered all their firepower to create a highly effective spell to counter each of the wind elementals.
The battle came and ended really quickly. Although 300 wind elementals was a huge number, the team of mages did not allow the battle to continue for long. Everybody sighed in relief as the last wind elemental dissipated. Macklin touched the staff in his hands, and said, “Seems like this is nothing much. Although it was a little nerve-wracking at first, it seems like the ability of these enemies was not even comparable to what we met outside.”
Indeed, the 16 statues, the shadow assassins, and the army of wind elementals were similar in how they appeared very suddenly. Yet, the biggest threat faced by the men was only the team of Death Knights with divine power. Lin Li could not help but feel weirded out by the unexpected weakness demonstrated by the core of the palace’s defenses.
At the same time, Lin Li heard Connoris’ scoff in his mind. “This is the mausoleum of the Highlord Osric. How could you use human logic to make sense of this place? Wait for it, there should be greater things lying ahead,” he spoke in disgruntlement.
Connoris’ sarcastic warning surprised Lin Li. Although Connoris did not have much knowledge of the palace, the understanding he had of Osric had to be beyond imagination. After all, he had been with Osric when the latter constructed the Eternal Furnace. If he said that, did that mean there would really be more things that had yet to appear?
Lin Li did not manage to convey his thoughts to the others. Before he could warn them, a terrifying gust of magical wave erupted within the palace.
Blazing flames came to life in the empty palace. The tongues of the flames licked the ceiling of the palace, and the rising flames emanated a pungent evil aura. A huge figure emerged from the flames slowly. The men could see that it had a huge pair of horns on a head that resembled a wyrm’s and a body that looked like it had been soaked in fresh blood. There were also crimson scales covering its the body and huge pair of wings on its back.
An inconspicuous yet insidious face and pair of wings appeared from the blazing flames. The huge body that was covered in scales emitted a suffocating and tyrannical aura. It was as though it had the power to destroy and engulf everything in the space instantaneously.
“Darn it! That’s a Fire Demon! How would a Fire Demon from the 66th level of Abyss be in such a place?” Lin Li and the rest could not help but cuss at the sight of the demon.
It was general knowledge that the deeper into the Abyss, the more dangerous the demons would be. Even the almighty Dragon of Destruction chose to be at the 25th level of the Abyss. The 66th level was definitely the forbidden ground in the Endless Abyss. Almost all of the demons that lived in that level were those had close relations to the ancient deities in the Age of Mythology; the Fire Demon was the direct descendant of the ancient deities, and had the purest blood of a deity.
The demon’s identity as an ancient deity’s descendant did not matter to the men. What mattered to them was the terrifying power he openly exhibited. Even though Lin Li was at the peak of level-23, and Andoine and Rosen were esteemed Legendary-mages at the same level, they could not help but feel nervous.
Sanctuary-realm!
The men could sense that the Fire Demon had the aura of the Sanctuary-realm. Even though it was not entirely in the realm yet, the fact that it was dangerously close to the realm was what mattered the most at the moment. The terrifying nature of the Sanctuary-realm had been exhibited by Arbitrator Megard. He had the ability to eliminate the Undead Lords with a single spell effortlessly. This was extremely close to the power of divine. Even though the Fire Demon before them was not a real Sanctuary powerhouse, it was definitely an invincible opponent for Legendary-mages.
The Fire Demon ignited the entire space instantaneously with its appearance. It was as though the men were in a huge furnace. The environment in the palace—the walls, floor, ceiling, and the numerous defensive mageweaths—emitted a blinding glow, withstanding the impact of the demon’s Volcano Domain.
The defensive mageweaths within the palace were fully functional despite the pressure from the Volcano Domain. This meant that it had the ability to turn people who were not strong enough into ashes. Lin Li and the others did not dare to have any delay. They cast their Elemental Shields immediately to protect themselves from the tyrannical Volcano Domain.
It was fortunate that the other mages had been following behind Lin Li from a great distance, and were outside the Volcano Domain. If not, they would have turned into ashes. Numbers did not matter anymore. Even if the team of mages were to cast an Elemental Shield together, their lack of nomological power would put them at a great disadvantage.
Lin Li and the other Legendary-mages did not dare to waste any time they had under the protection of the Elemental Shield. They called onto their Magical Domains immediately to resist the demon’s Volcano Domain. Domains gave them absolute control of their energy. They allowed their creators to be as almighty as the divine. After all, domains could only be withstood by domains.
