Chapter 435: Explosion

Meidusha's black hair behind her head instantly elongated and straightened, and countless snake mouths opened at once; it was not hair but a weapon composed of those poisonous snakes.

A dense violet energy sphere quickly manifested on her body and she launched it at the white mage among the phantoms.

In her view, among the two mages before her, killing the white mage was the most important.

It's not just the fighting style, but the white mage's expressionless slaughter of the phantoms; it wasn't combat, but seemed like cleaning up trash, merely raising his wrist to sweep it away.

The red mage, however, attacks the phantoms with all his might; this is the usual situation when phantoms meet a mage, but that very normalcy proves how terrifying the white mage is.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more uneasy she felt, until the pressure reached its limit.

"Guleimlin, Feilikesi, attack together!" Meidusha roared.

The two seemed unaware of the seriousness, merely watching from the side, as if as long as they had subordinates doing the work, they could rest easy.

"OKOK!"

Feilikesi formed a long sword, sudden flames ignited on Feilikesi's body and gathered onto the blade, slashing at the white mage; the flames in midair coalesced into several firebirds that followed behind the violet energy sphere.

Guleimlin summoned twin blades, tucked his legs, and instantly leapt into the air, moving like the lightness skill in wuxia novels, repeatedly stepping on the phantoms' heads, wielding his twin swords with emerald blade light, aiming to slash the white mage's neck.

Guleimlin possessed no ranged attacks; the only commendable traits were Guleimlin's extreme speed and the sharpness of the twin swords.

"White mage!" Cao Zhenqingren, having just repelled an entangled enemy, saw Jiang Xia surrounded by three phantoms.

Cao Zhenqingren also noticed that, although there were many phantoms here, most were far weaker than those he had previously fought, relying only on numbers.

Yet these three officer‑rank phantoms were clearly different; both their speed and strength far exceeded ordinary phantoms.

Therefore Cao Zhenqingren worried that the white mage would be at a disadvantage here, since it was a numerically superior encirclement combined with a surprise attack.

Cao Zhenqingren might not have time to cast defensive magic, as spells also require casting speed, but the next second Cao Zhenqingren felt his worry was unnecessary.

「Explosion（explosion）」

A continuously rotating yellow magic circle materialized before the white mage; as it appeared, the air began to tremble, and the massive force rapidly condensed within the circle, like smoke before an explosion.

Heavy energy waves hammered those around, and the phantoms that had formed a surrounding circle were instantly blasted away by the invisible pulse.

Even the ground seemed to shake; the bluish‑gray tiles of the park floor cracked in patches, and the bolts securing the two chairs began to loosen piece by piece.

The pulse had solidified, striking Guleimlin, who was descending with his twin swords, as if hit by an invisible sound wave, causing him to fall instantly from mid‑air.

Feilikesi's and Meidusha's special attacks also collapsed instantly under the energy ripple; attacks of that magnitude could not even approach the white mage.

But in fact, it was only the prelude to the attack, like black smoke rising from a volcano about to erupt, far weaker than the scorching lava that would follow. At the moment the magic circle aimed at them, Meidusha and the three felt their hair stand on end.

They should no longer harbor any fear; as beings born from despair, they were meant to lead humanity into hopelessness, yet at this moment they recalled once more the helplessness stored in their former host's memory! "Want to wipe them out in one breath? Then I'll do it too." Cao Zhenqingren, looking at the magic circle before Jiang Xia that kept gathering power, drew out a ring shaped like an elemental dragon and a dragon timer.

"Flame! Dragon! BouBouBouBouBou!"

A flaming dragon‑shaped beast turned into a magic circle that enveloped Cao Zhenqingren's body; simultaneously the dragon head on his chest armor came to life, wind‑element wings sprouted from his back, a water‑element serpent‑like tail grew, and his hands sprouted earth‑element dragon claws.

Using his current strongest form to settle the duel, full‑dragon Cao Zhenqingren hovered in mid‑air, the dragon head on his chest opened, scorching flames formed a fiery red vortex that swept the terrified phantoms, burning them into explosive debris.

In an instant, a portion of the massive phantoms vanished as the blaze roared; the full‑dragon form merged his magic into a single whole—impressive, but still far from eradicating all phantoms with a single strike.

Jiang Xia's brown‑golden gem mask suddenly glowed, like the golden wave of a newborn sun; when that sun fully unfurled its brilliance, the golden light coalesced into a whole and surged toward the terrified legion of phantoms.

The white mage simply opened his right hand and pressed casually; all vibrations and clamor vanished instantly, and the magical barrier became a silent realm, with golden waves enveloping all the phantoms.

They quietly waited for the light's wash, as everything inside the barrier turned into a golden sea.

Those three officer‑rank phantoms could only watch helplessly as their bodies turned to dust, unable to resist.

The dazzling sun scattered the shadows in the darkness and also swept the earth clean.

After the waves vanished, a pale violet glow gradually spread, the phantoms' magic being pale violet; now only pure magic remained within the barrier, and everything ahead had disappeared.

No matter the type of phantom or how hard its shell, after this all‑destroying light they were left like a sun‑baked riverbed—shattered, empty.

The air retained only ash finer than fine sand; only the constantly reflected light in mid‑air could attest to their former existence.

The golden magic circle dissolved with a "ding" as the enemies vanished.

Jiang Xia looked up at the violet magic circle in the sky, raised his hand, and casually swiped upward; the magical barrier covering the area shattered into pieces the next moment. The mage who set the barrier was quite skilled, yet the gap between his magic and Jiang Xia's was still evident.

After the barrier collapsed, a violet light streaked swiftly from a distant forest into the night sky; he was the mage who erected the barrier, now apparently fleeing back to his lair.

"Let's go; I have no intention of letting the enemy escape," Jiang Xia said, turning to the fleeing violet light; with his eyesight he could clearly see DarkWizard's figure, and his target was the towering magical spire that rose into the clouds.

The escape was so obvious; it might be a trap, or it might not, but even if it is a trap you can't ignore it, because the mastermind is there, and to resolve this you must go.

Trap or not, he will crush all the enemies ahead.

"Hmm." Cao Zhenqingren spread the twin wings on his back, and flew with Jiang Xia into the heights, charging after the violet light. (End of chapter)