Chapter 3377: Time Loop

————Currently rushing~~

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Since many completed spells possess the effect of settling the outcome in one blow, clever Mages often try their best to prevent their opponents from completing any completed spell during a duel.

Of course, correspondingly, they themselves must try their best to complete a spell capable of settling the outcome in one blow while under the opponent's interference, disruption, and counter-measures.

This is an Element-level Spell Duel.

It is similar to playing Go; a single Spell Element is like a single chess piece and is not enough to surround and kill the opponent. At the same time, even a Master cannot completely accurately control the position to surround and kill the opponent, which is why one needs to lay out a strategy and respond to moves as they come.

Every position for surrounding and killing is equivalent to completing a full spell, and such a complete spell can sometimes decide the victory in one strike, but many times it will also involve repeated fighting just like in Go.

Therefore, when Xia Duo brought out Go in the Golden Dragon District of the Holy City in the Kingdom of Radiance, it immediately became popular and was highly welcomed by the Golden Dragon Mages. There was no other reason; it was simply because Go is too similar to a Spell Duel.

Although it is simpler in terms of details, the intent and line of thought are connected. For a Golden Dragon, spells are not without cost, but if they are just moving pieces to play Go, even playing for a month is not a problem.

What Xia Duo provided for the Snow Melting Competition in the Main Plane was Chess, just with the addition of piece-to-piece combat. He only promoted Go within the Progress Society, also because the effect of Go on improving the mindset for Spell Duels is very obvious.

As for the bonus to Cai Wei, the Arcane Energy Form is obviously still on par with the Saint Form of Elven Magic. Of course, on the other hand, the application development regarding the Arcane Energy Form is certainly quite scarce, and one would imagine that many counter-measures will emerge as the times require.

As soon as Dafuni made a move, Xia Duo felt deep pressure. The opponent was able to counter key elements every time, and even made arrangements for follow-up moves before Xia Duo had finished.

But Dafuni's silence did not affect Xia Duo's continued approach. This time, he focused on observing the mysterious starlight dissipating from Dafuni's eyes; he guessed that this might be the opponent's shortcut for casting a Time-Involving Spell.

Regardless of which situation it was, Xia Duo pretended not to have discovered anything unusual. The avatar itself did not have such rich emotional expression, and this was even more so given that he was distracted in multiple places.

Did she suddenly become calm? Must such a change wait for me to come?

"Why is it like this?"

His best choice was not to care about those underage Elves of the Moonshadow Family and just leave himself. At that time, Xia Duo was beyond reach and had no way to stop them.

However, right now, without more developed applications, Xia Duo still used the Saint Form native to the avatar without hesitation.

Until Xia Duo walked to the threshold of the stone chamber, Dafuni had not made a response, nor had she cast any spells; she just stared straight at Xia Duo, her gaze very calm.

Dafuni retreated into the innermost stone chamber of the stronghold, while Xia Duo retreated behind Kandela and the other Elves. While controlling Kandela and the others to leave, he walked toward the stone chamber where Dafuni was, shouting to the opponent as he walked:

Thus, both sides touched and retreated.

But not moving is not a good choice either. What kind of "police officer" sees a terrorist right in front of them but doesn't take action?

But once Dafuni got serious, that Guidance Artifact would naturally be useless, and even if Xia Duo "played on behalf" later, it would still not change such a situation.

But now, casting spells personally is the same. He is not a specialized War Mage who doesn't know how to do things without War Spells; before obtaining War Spells, he was equally proficient in Spell Duels.

But this time it was Dafuni's turn to be silent. The two sides had already had one contact in Taiweimansa, and it was that contact that made both sides understand the other's attitude regarding the Time-Involving Ritual—

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in a passage of the stronghold, and a behemoth squeezed out from an extremely tiny, swirling Elemental Channel that appeared and vanished in an instant.

"Hmm?"

Logically speaking, if the opponent had the strength they have now just a moment ago, they should have taken down Kandela and the others very quickly. After all, just now it was only "playing on behalf," which not only had latency but also the high-efficiency characteristics of the spellcasting tool itself.

However, this time he did not continue to summon the Annihilation Light. Just now it was only to interrupt the opponent's duel with Kandela and the other Alliance Mages; if he only summoned the Annihilation Light now, I am afraid it would be difficult to take the opponent down.

"Surrender, this time I won't let you run away again!"

Good things must naturally be kept for one's own people first.

Calm? A thought stirred in Xia Duo's heart, realizing that the situation was not right. Clearly, in the perspective of Kandela shared through the Mind Link earlier, Dafuni's emotions were very rich.

Such pressure was far from what could be compared to when he was controlling Kandela and the other Elves to duel the opponent just now; it was as if his own dueling strategy and even his spellcasting details had been mastered by the opponent in advance.

And his arrival with such a big commotion naturally could not be hidden from Dafuni, who had a high level of attention on the battlefield, but knowing is one thing, and being able to deal with it is another.

Or was Dafuni pretending all along, just to wait for him to come?

But now, Xia Duo had already arrived.

Could it be that Kalano being captured from the very beginning was a trap specifically aimed at him? But if it was only aimed at his avatar, what would be the use?

This process happened too fast; in just an instant, Xia Duo completed the transformation from the Arcane Energy Form to the primitive Saint Form avatar.

Therefore, whether it was the speaking Xia Duo or the silent Dafuni, both understood that the two sides could not reconcile, let alone surrender. There was only one ending for both sides, and that is: you die or I die!

Xia Duo made his move, and Dafuni naturally would not watch him complete the Forbidden Restriction spell. Even a beginner who has just come into contact with Magic knows that the counter-difficulty of a completed spell is higher than that of a Spell Element.

It could also be the medium or the price for the opponent to use a Time-Involving Spell.

According to custom, Xia Duo's first move was a Forbidden Restriction spell. Not using control is equivalent to sending the opponent away. If it weren't for the fact that the Floating City cannot leave for the time being, he should have directly summoned the 【Wide-Area Prohibition】.

But the avatar is different. Dafuni could not stop the connection between Xia Duo's avatar and his main body, or rather, Dafuni might not have even thought that what Xia Duo sent was an avatar.

No room for concession.

Thus, Dafuni also made her move.

Right now, his development of the Arcane Energy Form is still quite insufficient. Currently, the only applications are Arcane Leap and using it to repair physical damage, refusing to restore missing body parts by converting to the Arcane Energy Form and then converting back to a flesh-and-blood body.

And right now, from the moment Dafuni chose to pursue Kandela, although she seemed to have the upper hand within the stronghold, in terms of the broader war, she had undoubtedly already fallen into a disadvantage.

Right now it is a time of war; at worst, he would just discard this avatar and have the main body create another one. Although creating a Saint Form is still relatively troublesome, Xia Duo still has that bit of decisiveness.

Upon arriving at the scene, Xia Duo summoned the Annihilation Light without hesitation, or rather, it was actively triggered by the main body coordinating with the avatar's positioning. Previously, Kandela used a Guidance Artifact for the precision strike of the Annihilation Light; when Dafuni was not getting serious, he could naturally use it as he pleased.