Chapter 1539: Domain Encroachment, The Concept of Time Stop

But this did not stump Xia Duo; he only needed to timely dismantle the very few Spell Elements involving drastic environmental changes to avoid falling into a passive position, while the vast majority of random spells could be ignored by the Magic Resistance inherent to his bloodline.

As long as his movements were small enough, he did not need to worry about alerting any potential enemies ahead; this was like how a large mass of clear water is hard to hide while moving through muddy water, but if it were only a single drop, it would be much simpler.

Just like that, Xia Duo hid within a patch of chaos, moving quietly toward the front. As the distance narrowed bit by bit, the slightly calm battle scene ahead appeared before him little by little—

His previous guess was correct; this place was indeed related to Iolum, or rather, one side of the battle was Iolum!

And the other side was a light-formed Elf, radiating intense spiritual light throughout, yet whose features remained clearly visible.

Xia Duo had seen such a scene more than once; this was the Saint Form that Elven High Mages would only reveal when fighting for their lives.

In this state, the Elf's Perception of the Magic Net was extremely sensitive, to the point where they could be said to have merged with the Magic Net, becoming Magic itself.

Any change in the Magic Net, whether macroscopic or microscopic, seemed to them like "watching a tree in the forest," or in Xia Duo's words, "viewing patterns on one's palm."

It was almost impossible to ambush an Elven Mage in this state.

At the same time, due to the unique nature of Elven Magic, an Elven Mage's Perception of the Magic Net was basically equivalent to their ability to Control the Magic Net itself.

An Elven High Mage in the Saint Form could easily dismantle an opponent's spells, making it almost impossible for them to be defeated quickly in this state.

Using an Army as an analogy, an Elven Mage in the Saint Form was like someone who had turned on a full-map hack, while the combat power of every soldier under their command was simultaneously maxed out.

To defeat them, one had to crush them with an absolutely overwhelming numerical advantage in one fell swoop.

Yet in a normal Magic Net environment, before their opponent could accumulate an overwhelming advantage, the Elven Mage could simply evacuate first.

However, this was not a normal Magic Net environment!

Not only was the state of the Magic Net violently abnormal, but the Plane itself had issues; because the Ether Plane and the Main Plane had overlapped, Teleportation Spells based on an Etheric Link were basically unusable.

And Teleportation Spells using the Astral Plane as a medium were also far more difficult to cast than before, due to the natural repulsion between the Astral Plane and the Ether Plane.

More importantly, without having experienced such an environment, it was quite difficult to temporarily piece together a set of Teleportation Spells suitable for the current environment.

Even for an Elven Mage, who had an advantage over humans in this regard!

Xia Duo knew that the Elven Mage before him was truly fighting for their life, not just putting on a show to scare people; correspondingly, facing a desperate Elven Mage, Iolum's pressure could be imagined.

At this very moment, Iolum and the Elven Mage each occupied one end of the battlefield. Iolum had reshaped a relatively calm Magic Net environment based on a Micro Magic Net expanded by Arcane Fire, while the Elven Mage, relying on their super-strong Perception of the Magic Net in the Saint Form, had automatically obtained a Domain of Order that moved according to their will.

The focus of the battle between the two sides now was not the victory or defeat at the level of specific spells, but the encroachment and oppression of the other's Domain.

The fragments of the structural rules that Xia Duo had occasionally glimpsed from the macroscopic Magic Net perspective when he arrived were the result of the battle between Iolum and the Elf.

Or more accurately, every time this Elven Mage accumulated a certain advantage, they would attempt to construct a Mythallar to crush Iolum in one stroke.

But Iolum clearly would not let the opponent set up a Mythallar at their leisure and fall into a complete disadvantage, so Iolum's timing in striking was also well-grasped, hitting the vital point precisely when the opponent was on the verge of success.

The encroachment and oppression of a Spell Domain did not require maintaining specific Spell Elements; it was similar to a skirmish of soldiers on a large-scale battlefield, as long as one ensured the opponent could not form a local advantage in combat power.

And a Mythallar was equivalent to gathering a large wave of troops, which not only consumed the commander's mental energy but also caused a weakness in forces elsewhere on the battlefield.

That was why Iolum was able to break up such organized attacks time and time again.

But "prolonged defense leads to defeat"; Xia Duo did not know if Iolum still had any trump cards, but judging from what he saw currently, Iolum had already fallen into a disadvantage, and without other variables, defeat was only a matter of time.

The Elf could not easily disengage from the battle here, and likewise, Iolum would certainly be no exception; defeat was basically equivalent to death.

Seeing the battle scene ahead, Xia Duo felt anxious, but he knew that worrying would not solve the problem, and more importantly—

How to enter the battlefield without affecting Iolum, while also being able to exert pressure on the Elf.

The two sides were currently locked in a stalemate; rashly intervening might cause Iolum to be defeated and killed the next moment, and having watched until now, Xia Duo did not believe he could necessarily defeat the Elf before him.

Such a clash had already exceeded the general meaning of a Spell Duel, placing extremely high demands on the breadth of Knowledge and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

For the former, Xia Duo had a certain degree of confidence, but for the latter, as a mere ordinary human not yet a hundred years old, how could he compare to an Elf who had been immersed in this path for hundreds of years!

Especially since this Elf dared to sneak into the Arcane Union Headquarters alone; they were likely not some incompetent, and should have full confidence in themselves.

This could be seen from the fact that they were able to gain the upper hand in the battle with Iolum.

"What on earth should I do?"

In an instant, Xia Duo reviewed his current advantages and shortcomings in his mind.

His current advantages were mainly two: one was that he had not yet been discovered, and the other was that he had (presumably) Spellcasting ability not inferior to the Elf.

There were also two shortcomings: one was also that he had not yet been discovered, making it impossible to coordinate with Iolum, and there was even a possibility of interfering with them.

The other shortcoming was that Xia Duo had too few encounters with Elven Mages, especially the number of times he had fought for his life against a High Mage was almost zero!

He knew what he should do, but in the heat of battle, he could not guarantee he would be able to execute it.

At this moment, Xia Duo suddenly thought of 【Time Stop】, which he had only heard of before crossing over, but had never heard of since crossing over.

This, of course, could not be pausing time within a certain area, but rather accelerating one's own movements, whether in thinking or Spellcasting.

This should be a Transmutation spell, but unfortunately, Xia Duo had not delved much into the field of Transmutation, so it was naturally impossible for him to pull off 【Time Stop】 standing here.

……

Two advantages, two shortcomings; what on earth should he do?

Thoughts raced through Xia Duo's mind like lightning, and he soon found a plan that was almost the only one possible to implement!