Chapter 293: Extreme Ice Ray

In the laboratory, the reactor boiled due to contamination from the corrupted armor knight's wreckage, and dark‑red steam mixed with blood shrouded the ceiling.

Alvas turned into a wisp of blood mist and teleported behind Ba Su, the Eternal Winter Sword sheathed in frost thrust toward the mage's rear heart: "Do you know the price of enslaving undead?"

Ba Su lightly tapped his staff; the Skeleton Staff's arcane rune flared, and a bone shield formed from vengeful souls blocked the blade. Frost and black mist intertwined, cracks spread across the shield's surface, yet the sword tip never pierced.

He swiftly uttered a incantation, mana rapidly coalescing.

"Petty tricks," the vampire sneered, his left hand forming a grasp in the air; the fresh blood stains on the lab floor suddenly boiled, solidifying into several blood‑thorn spears that shot toward Ba Su.

Ba Su stepped back three paces; the soul‑binding orb at his staff's tip burst with dazzling gold light—beneath the vampire a circle of interwoven holy and spellcraft runes formed a composite spell array.

Alvas drove the Eternal Winter Sword into the ground to try to freeze the array, but the rune flow outpaced the spreading frost; his bat‑wings were scorched by the gold light, leaving char marks. "…Exile spell? You despicable mage!"

"The Ying Ying Ming Jie is your true destination, Lord Vampire," Ba Su snarled, slamming his staff down.

Countless golden chains inscribed with entwining sutras sprouted from the array, binding the vampire's limbs and neck. Alvas's body gradually became ethereal, the blood mist dragged by the chains into a rift leading to a grey wasteland.

The red‑robed mage, pleased that a single Seven‑Ring spell easily dealt with the vampire, boasted to Naimi Xisi: "Did you think one vampire could finish me off?"

At that moment, the Bloodvine Corpse Witch had already dispatched all blood‑flesh golems; hearing the red‑robed mage's arrogant words, she stepped forward, intending to eliminate him.

She was no fool like the vampire; a thing like the exile spell could never touch her.

But Naimi Xisi lightly waved a hand, signaling Ceras to retreat.

Juan Ce Long's violet eyes watched the red‑robed mage with interest: "Your confidence… No, your arrogance truly amazes me. What gave you such confidence? Ignorance? Or the knowledge of Naisierui?"

He scanned the laboratory's items; many bore ancient inscriptions, all relics from the Naisierui Empire.

Though Naisierui relics are collected across the continent, the red‑robed mage seems to possess an excessive number of vessels.

Moreover, he is quite familiar with that unnamed blue‑white flame.

Spellfire?

That is how he refers to the flame.

He does not think the red‑robed mage's knowledge surpasses Juan Ce Long's memory inheritance; evidently the flame's source can only be linked to those Naisierui relics from the same place.

This mage appears to have uncovered a genuine Naisierui ruin?

That is why he has not yet slain the red‑robed mage; he seeks the knowledge in the mage's mind, but Mind Power cannot pierce the brain of a near‑Legendary Level spellcaster.

At least, with Naimi Xisi's current rank, it is still impossible.

The red‑robed mage sneered: "Arrogance? Ha, do you know that outside this Mage Tower, six hundred heavily‑armored elite knights stand guard? Even if you defeat me, do you think you can escape with the few spell slots you have left?"

Ba Su was extremely confident; his confidence stemmed from the fortress's troops and his own strength. As long as the opponent is not a Legendary mage, he does not believe that damned fool can get out.

A flash of understanding crossed Naimi Xisi's eyes; he had just tried, and teleportation spells—including psychics—had already failed.

It seems this place is now fully locked by a dimensional anchor. The opponent has him cornered?

Ba Su swung his staff, murmuring a chant. Strong anti‑magic? Then let's test the power of an instant‑death spell.

Eight‑Ring Necromancy Spell — 【Decay Death】!

Necromancy, the pinnacle of bodily control, unlike the bulky Evocation spell that manipulates millions of tons of seawater, 【Decay Death】 lets the caster freely manipulate the target's internal fluids.

In other words, he can drain every drop of water from this wretched creature at any time. Ba Su raised his hand, claw‑shaped, locking onto Naimi Xisi, and sneered, "Turning you into a mummy would be a nice idea."

He clenched his fist hard, but the imagined scene in his mind never appeared.

"How… how is that possible?" Ba Su's eyes widened; the vision of the opponent's blood gushing out and his body shrinking to a bamboo pole never came, and instead the opponent smiled gently at him.

Naimi Xisi smiled, "An instant‑death spell that controls bodily fluids is a good idea, it can indeed bypass my anti‑magic, but unfortunately—"

He spread his hands, regretful, "Against physically robust monsters, instant‑death spells are of little use."

His three‑dimensional flesh, boosted by attribute‑enhancement spells, had already reached a terrifying 99 points; not even 【Decay Death】—let alone the Nine‑Ring instant‑death spell 【Lawful Death】—could stand against him.

Instant‑death spells indeed ignore anti‑magic, but against targets with strong constitutions or those protected by a 【Death‑Prevention Barrier】, they are merely toys.

Shocked, Ba Su finally grasped the magnitude of the situation: anti‑magic was immense, and the opponent possessed a constitution that could hard‑resist 【Decay Death】.

The opponent was a dragon!

Judging by this, it is likely an ancient‑dragon‑class being.

He surveyed the opponent's appearance, trying to find clues of draconic lineage.

!

Silver hair, snow‑white skin, handsome features

Apart from violet pupils, everything matched the humanoid traits of a silver dragon.

An ancient silver dragon?!

Ba Su's legs trembled; that was a Legendary‑level powerhouse, and a massive dragon at that!

He wanted to flee, but the Mage Tower had already been locked by the dimensional anchor; Ba Su was now essentially a cocoon.

Naimi Xisi lifted his left index finger slightly, pointing at the opponent from afar, and whispered a chant.

Eight‑Ring Evocation Spell — 【Extreme Ice Ray】!

The incantation echoing from the dragon's throat seemed to roar from ancient glaciers; the laboratory temperature plummeted, and even the air condensed into icy crystal dust.

Amid the surging mana, a slender, thumb‑wide, pale‑blue ray burst from the rune, and where its path passed, space briefly collapsed, leaving spider‑web‑like frost fissures.

The ray struck Ba Su's heart; the mage's hastily raised staff's protective spell froze into a fragile ice shell the instant it met the ray, then shattered.

The ray pierced Ba Su's left shoulder; the extreme cold spread like a plague—

His left side instantly became cloaked in ancient, unyielding ice; skin, muscle, bone turned into a pale‑blue, glass‑like substance under the crystal erosion, and the staff slipped from his stiff fingers. His right side, still unfrozen, trembled as he forced out a chant, but his vocal cords were choked by frost, leaving only a gagged "gurgle" from his throat.

The ray, still powerful, pierced the arcane shield wall behind Ba Su, cutting through seven layers of enchanted steel plates and rune stones, finally carving a ten‑foot‑diameter gaping hole in the Mage Tower's outer wall, its destination unknown.

A biting night wind swept snowflakes through the opening; moonlight reflected off the icy crystals at the rim, scattering cold glints like diamonds, while distant guards shouted.

"What's that?! My god, how did a mountain become an ice sculpture overnight!"

The laboratory equipment swept by the ray froze en masse; the living reactor burst from the temperature shock, corroded slime sprayed mid‑air and instantly solidified into crimson hail, smashing to powder on the ground. Wu Ermu curled on the floor, trembling and exhaling heat.

"So cold."

Just the aftershock was enough to freeze Wu Ermu to the brink of numbness.

And Ba Su's ice‑frozen half-body kept the posture of raising a hand to cast a spell, the right eye's pupil shrinking to a needle point from intense pain and despair, the right hand, not yet frozen, futilely reaching toward Juan Ce Long.

(End of chapter)