“I’ve already prepared the gift; let’s see if you can accept it.”
The astrologer stood on top of the rock giant’s head and looked into the distance.
He launched the attack before they even met because he wanted to test that mysterious platinum-tier elite’s strength. For platinum-tier elites like them, any small action could mean many things. For example, the earth-elemental spell he cast was one of the very ordinary platinum-tier spells he had mastered.
He wanted to see if the other party could block it and what method he would use to do that.
When experts fought, a single mistake would usually result in death. Therefore, he wanted to test it out in advance, and the more information he had, the more secure it would be.
That was his idea. However, other people might think that he wanted to destroy Blackmoon Castle.
“Too terrifying. That is the strength of the kingdom’s oldest mage, Lord Astrologer. If I were his way, I might not even have a complete corpse when I die, right?” A soldier from the North Wind mercenary group lowered his head as he looked at the armor on his body. “That is the Lord Astrologer’s strength!” he said respectfully.
Even if the armor on his body were not ordinary, it would still be difficult for him to resist the might of a meteorite.
“The astrologer is one of the most powerful mages in the entire kingdom. It is only natural for him to have such strength. It seems that there is no need for us to make a move,” a mage from the Mage Guild said. His tone was full of admiration.
In the distance, they could see that the giant meteorite had hammered the manors around Blackmoon Castle. The houses were peeled layer by layer as the air pressure lifted them. They were turned into ashes before they could even burn; it left ugly scars on the ground.
No one came out from those destroyed manors; they were probably dead.
Further away, in the direction of Blackmoon Castle.
Dozens of armored knights rode on ferocious magical beasts and rose into the air. They spread their combat aura wings and pulled the weapons on their waists. The continuous combat aura formed a colorful barrier.
Unfortunately, the combat aura barrier was as fragile as a mirror under the meteorites in the sky. It was torn apart in an instant; it had a crisp cracking sound.
Even though it did not do much, it slowed the meteorites’ momentum.
More than a dozen meteorites covered the Blackmoon Castle. They were all hundreds of meters in size, and they fell slowly in mid-air.
The second person to make a move was a few mages who hovered in the sky; they chanted in unison.
Water balls the size of human heads floated in the sky; there were thunderbolts wrapped around them. Then, those water balls went up in reverse and smashed into the meteorites in the sky; it extinguished the burning flames gradually. Then, the meteorites disintegrated as debris of different sizes scattered down toward the earth.
Finally, the platinum dragon king hovered above the castle; it spread its wings and roared at the sky and activated the newly acquired platinum-tier light-elemental spell, the Ninth-level Blazing Heavenly Dragon Breath.
A dazzling light shot out from the platinum dragon king’s mouth before it condensed into a beam of light that stretched over a hundred meters and swept across everything.
The first time.
Half of a meteorite had been melted by the light.
The second time.
The second meteorite had a massive hole in the middle.
The third time, the fourth time, and up until the ninth time.
Golden Flash roared nine times. Nine massive light pillars spread out and cleared all the meteorites above its head; nothing was left. The white clouds in the sky thinned before it revealed the blue sky once again. Other than the grounds near the Blackmoon Castle, there were still large holes left by the meteorites, as well as endless flames. It was as if nothing had happened.
“I did not expect Blackmoon Castle to be so strong. It can even block platinum-tier magic.” The North Wind mercenary group’s leader, Ron, covered his eyes with his combat aura to allow his vision to become sharper. He looked at what was happening in the Blackmoon Castle from afar; he sucked in a cold breath.
A dragon guarded the Blackmoon Castle. He had heard about that from the astrologer when they reached there. That was not what shocked him. He was surprised to see silver-tier warriors who had flown from the castle; they had wings that looked like combat aura wings on their backs.
Other than that, there were also a few mages who had cast powerful spells—they were also at least silver-tier mages.
There were dozens of silver-tier mages and warriors; the lineup was too luxurious. Ron could count the number of silver-tier warriors in his mercenary group on two hands.
There was no wonder why the Mage Guild president, Audrey, would invite him to join them. They were not only there to protect the mages as they chanted their spells. He looked at Audrey, who was looking at the distance not far away from him.
Audrey’s expression seemed serious. Her eyes reflected the fire that covered the ground. She pursed her lips tightly; one knew what she was thinking.
Audrey could see from the astrologer’s magic that the area outside the Blackmoon Castle, called the Blackmoon Town, was about 80 percent damaged. However, the Blackmoon Castle remained intact. If there were people in those destroyed manors, that attack would have significantly damaged Blackmoon Castle’s vitality.
“He gave up on the other manors and only protected the castle. That man is too cold-blooded.”
Of course, the astrologer could see the same thing too. His eyes flashed, and he raised his right hand again; he was prepared to cast the next spell.
He did not like what he had seen.
He knew that his opponent would not be able to block his attack easily.
Furthermore, they would use a new spell that changed the world’s composition. He dared not go closer until they used that spell so that he could determine the threat level.
Just as the astrologer was about to start chanting, a resounding chorus echoed from afar.
“When you look at the abyss, the abyss looks right back at you. Ruler of the abyss, please listen to my call, show your power, and bring darkness and eternal sleep to the world! Platinum-tier dark-elemental magic—the Deep Sea Dragon’s Breath!”
As soon as the voice fell, the land where the astrologer and his companions stood began to shake. A crack that spanned a hundred meters appeared in the sky above their heads, and endless black seawater rolled toward them as a huge yellow pupil flickered briefly inside, followed by a giant dragon head with fish gills. It opened its mouth, which was covered in green liquid, and roared angrily toward the outside of the crack.
That demonic dragon was the one that Watson had summoned last time. It was even more furious as it had failed to escape from the crack the last time; its attack was also stronger.
A stream of seawater that stretched for hundreds of meters shot out from within the crack. The water was filled with green liquid, with bubbles that rose from it. Each bubble reflected the surface of the sea, like a compressed reflection of the ocean.
More than a hundred people looked up at the sky; except for the astrologer, their expressions changed abruptly.
“Quickly, everyone, activate your combat aura defense immediately!” Ron shouted. Soft snowflakes formed around his body. Pure white combat aura spread out in all directions with him in the center to create a combat aura shield that was a few meters in circumference.
His subordinates around him followed suit; they also activated their combat aura armor. The combat aura shield was connected, and it stretched for hundreds of meters. Audrey led dozens of mages from the Mage Guild in a chant—another layer of a magical barrier was added to the combat aura barrier within a hundred-meter radius.
The two layers of barriers looked indestructible, but the barriers immediately turned from colorful to green when the green seawater touched them. The invisible combat aura turned into a tangible, viscous liquid that dripped from above them.
“Argh, my hand!”
The transformed liquid dribbled onto a North Wind mercenary group member, and it corroded his armor and into his flesh and bones.
He only had time to let out a blood-curdling scream before his body turned into a green, foul-smelling liquid that splattered all over the ground. A few splashes landed on other people’s faces, and some landed on other people’s bodies.
Anyone who had contact with that liquid saw their skin turned green, and their body then exploded into a ball of foul-smelling liquid.
The explosion triggered a chain reaction. Within a short period, a few mercenaries and mages were hit.
“Lord Astrologer, save us!”
Someone cried out loud for help.
The astrologer tried to cast a spell to suppress the dragon that attempted to rush out of the crack. When he heard the cry, he knew that someone had died. He turned around with an ugly expression on his face and waved the staff in his hand—the rock giant beneath him took a big step forward and blocked the green venom that the dragon spat at him. He allowed the rock giant to disintegrate gradually to cover the others behind him.
That was a battle between two platinum-tier elites. Everyone else was only disposable pawns in the face of such powerful attacks; they could not even resist.
It was the same logic when gods fought against mortals; it seemed like they had the advantage in the battle. After all, they only suffered a few casualties while Blackmoon Castle had already lost more than a dozen manors.
