Chapter 602: Decisive Battle

The endless gale was tedious and irritable; Luo Qi was as annoyed by this bad weather as a baboon that had its banana snatched away, not only vexed but irritable. The increasingly severe oxygen deprivation might have played a part, as well as that calm face of Du Zhengyi, wearing his standard expression of being lost in thought behind his back.

As everyone knew, in non-critical moments, Du Zhengyi was more like an ill-tempered, impatient baboon. But whenever the situation was serious, he would appear all the more calm, having no time to be in a bad mood due to his high level of concentration. Luo Qi had his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, the buttons undone; he stood on a large rock with his arms crossed inside his pockets, wrapping himself tight against the strong wind, staring fixedly at Du Zhengyi, looking just like a griffin with its wings tucked in.

Du Zhengyi hesitated for a moment, and Luo Qi's originally narrowed eyes suddenly widened, nearly causing him to jump off the rock. Having spent so much time together, each knew exactly what the other was thinking. One had been put in check and was forced to modify his plan, trying his best to add some fail-safe measures. The other was merely thinking a crude "Holy crap, you actually dare," but under the gaze of everyone, the two of them looked a bit like a silent film.

This complex exchange, in fact, took place in the blink of an eye. Before Luo Qi could jump off the rock, Zhou Ruisi suddenly grabbed his arm and said something. Luo Qi didn't hear what he said in the strong wind, but from the shape of his mouth, he could vaguely identify it as—"Boss, I can't take it anymore."

"Huh?" Luo Qi looked at him in confusion.

"I'm about to pass out," Zhou Ruisi said. "I'm going to die; my arms are numb, and I'm extremely dizzy."

Only then did Luo Qi realize his complexion had turned iron-blue, an abnormality anyone could spot at a glance.

"What's wrong with you?" Luo Qi asked.

"I... oxygen deprivation..." Zhou Ruisi said desperately.

"You've been standing here the whole time, you didn't even go charge," Luo Qi said in surprise, yet looking at his complexion, he knew he wasn't lying.

Yan Hao shook his head and said to them, "He is the first one; his body is too weak. But there will soon be a second; the Battle Mages will soon be unable to hold on."

Luo Qi bit his lip, beginning to hesitate between fighting or retreating, how to fight if they fought, and whether there was any chance of retreat at all. Just then, Wen Lin waved her hand to catch his attention; she had been keeping watch on the monsters in the valley. Luo Qi glanced at her and knew that more bad news had arrived.

"The oxygen is dropping too fast; I might be the second one," she said, looking at Zhou Ruisi with sympathy, then pointed to the valley below. "There are three more monsters down there. I believe this must be the final battle. They haven't attacked up here for so long; they must be gathering."

Luo Qi looked gloomily at the place less than a thousand meters below, where half-insect, half-beast monsters were moving about restlessly. "The Psychic Mages down there must be adjusting their deployment. This time they don't want to fight at close range alongside the monsters; they are currently performing mental fine-tuning, issuing combat orders, just like a pre-battle mobilization."

He couldn't help but admit that Wen Lin's observation was correct; they realized that guerrilla warfare wasn't advantageous and were determined to assemble their forces for a frontal battle.

Wen Lin looked at Du Zhengyi with anticipation, hoping that Du Zhengyi could heroically defeat the enemy in one move. "The Qionglin has no idea what we are facing; now is the time to use ultimate magic."

Du Zhengyi did not answer immediately, remaining silent in the face of a formidable enemy. A look of surprise and disappointment, or perhaps surprised disappointment, appeared on Wen Lin's face. Luo Qi's temper flared up again; did she think Du Zhengyi was deliberately stalling and refusing to put in the effort? Since when was it her turn to express disappointment in Du Zhengyi?

"I can try..." Du Zhengyi said, pondering as he looked down at the valley.

Huh? Luo Qi looked at him in surprise. My god, Du Zhengyi, are you still trying to show off your abilities to a woman? Really? So childish and so primitive? You actually want to succumb to instinct and display your "ability" in front of the opposite sex? Damn it, do you want to perform jumping through a hoop of fire in front of the ladies too?

Before Luo Qi's acerbic train of thought could finish, the half-dead Zhou Ruisi was shaking his arm again, pleading for help, "Bo... Boss... I... I can't take it anymore..."

Luo Qi really wanted to plug his mouth.

"Fine, I'll try. It's just a few bugs; there's no need for Du Zhengyi to make a move." Luo Qi jumped off the rock and walked manically toward the edge of the dirt cliff, wanting to get away from people to gain some mental clarity. He had originally positioned himself as the fail-safe; he believed he could definitely find a breakthrough point—the monsters' breakthrough point, the Psychic Mages' breakthrough point. As long as it was a biological mind, there would be a breakthrough point. Once he found it, he could resolve their entire front line. A force landed on the back of his collar, and someone hauled him back. Aside from Du Zhengyi, no one else would dare to lay a hand on him, the newly appointed Mind Archmage.

"Everyone be quiet," Du Zhengyi said. "Everyone calm down. I need to kill all the monsters and Psychic Mages simultaneously; before the attack, I need to set up a complete Shield for everyone."

"What?"

"... Kill the Mages too? That's too cruel."

"Is there such a large-scale lethal Magic?"

Luo Qi, Zhou Ruisi, and Yan Hao shouted at Du Zhengyi simultaneously. Du Zhengyi was stunned for a moment; he had been wandering the world for so many years and had never led such a chattering pre-battle tour group, so he felt slightly uncomfortable.

Luo Qi held back and asked again, "What kind of Shield is that powerful?"

Du Zhengyi's gaze fell on the Shield covering Liu Ziyi and Guan Xinyue. Liu Ziyi's Shield had been working steadily from beginning to end, and even Guan Xinyue had not been disturbed by the oxygen deprivation. Luo Qi couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of this Shield; what kind of Progenitor Mage would design such meticulous Magic protective gear?

But... "But this kind of high-level Magic should have very strong limitations; the Magic Energy required to extend it to everyone must be significant," Luo Qi estimated, saying cautiously.

No one refuted him. He glanced at the nearly unconscious Zhou Ruisi, and this walking database nodded regretfully as well.

If this Magic could be easily driven, Liu Ziyi would likely have already brought everyone under her wings for protection. But to Luo Qi's surprise, Liu Ziyi turned to Du Zhengyi upon hearing this, assessed him, and said lightly, "If Senior Brother can provide charging with Magic, I think I can hold it for a few minutes."

What does this mean? Luo Qi looked back and forth between Liu Ziyi and Du Zhengyi in surprise, discovering that the two senior and junior siblings had exchanged a look of profound mystery.

It seems there really are drawbacks to waking up late, Luo Qi thought silently; there must be some excitement he missed out on.

(End of chapter)