Chapter 93: The Red‑Robe Mage

"Pfft!"

As Lo​ja's sword pierced the heart of Black Duke Duke, the powerful vampire finally fell.

At the moment Black Duke Duke died, in an underground fortress a thousand li away, Sazhas Tan opened his eyes.

"A deviation from the plan. Hmm, the frontier should have no force strong enough to resist Duke's power right now," the gaunt man muttered, puzzled over who had slain his loyal pet.

He rose, surrounded by hundreds of precious magical artifacts; he selected a black, translucent crystal sphere, placed it before him, and a dark incantation echoed in the silent room.

"LotheProphy"

Smoke swirled in the center of the dark crystal sphere, grasped by distinct gaunt fingers; a scene a thousand li away unfolded before the Legendary Lich.

He saw Black Duke Duke's defeat, the Red‑Robe Mage in a desperate plight, a shattered Golem, and a dragon?

In the crystal sphere's reflection a silver giant dragon appeared, but oddly, the moment it materialized it snapped its head toward Sazhas Tan, as if it had spotted a peeper.

A flash of golden light streaked by, and the crystal sphere burst with a "Bang," but the loss of the legendary artifact—【Dark Image】 worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins—did not shake Sazhas Tan at all; the ageless Legendary Lich possessed countless priceless magical artifacts gathered from everywhere.

"Divine Power."

The Lich's expression flickered, a hint of awe flashing in his eyes; as a Spellcaster who had entered the Legendary Level, he had long witnessed the kaleidoscopic secrets behind the cosmos—Omega's Divine Power—and he would not deny it.

The cunning Lich instantly grasped the intruder beyond the game: a dragon blessed by the gods.

An ordinary person might now be panicked, even wondering whether the gods were watching, but Sazhas Tan was no ordinary man.

He calmly extended a finger, and unseen telekinesis swept the crystal shards from the floor; then he quietly sat back in his chair, gazing at the massive black Throne before him.

He had long grown accustomed; in his countless years, the Lich regarded life as a grand game, requiring foresight and strategic planning.

In past years, in the conspiracies he meticulously plotted, divine interference was common. Yet he saw it as amusement; battling the gods gave him great delight, and if he could thwart the deities perched in the heavens from fulfilling his wishes, he would be even happier.

"It's time to begin," the Lich sighed; even though the situation was not as he wished, he had to start.

A black magical orb materialized in his palm, then turned into a streak of light that vanished somewhere; the black Throne before him seemed to sense it, exhaling dense black mist, while scarlet runes lit up the ground.

A barely audible sound emanated from the Throne, as if beckoning the Lich's mana.

"Talros Naimando"

The Lich startled, then a massive black mana beam erupted from his hand, pouring into the Throne.

He curled his lip and said word for word, "No, you should call me—Sazhas Tan." — Naimi Xisi, after dealing with Black Duke Duke, suddenly sensed a powerful Divination spell probing him.

As a Juan Ce Long nearing the adult dragon stage, Naimi Xisi possessed flawless mastery of Divination spells, which was one reason he could sense the prophecy.

Strangely, when he tried to cast 【Evasion Detection】 to interrupt the prophecy, that peculiar prophetic power vanished.

Naimi Xisi's heart sank; he knew that at this moment the only one capable of observing the battlefield was the Red‑Robe Mage.

Regardless of what the opponent intended after learning the battlefield state, he had to accelerate his progress.

At this point the Red‑Robe Mage had also noticed the teleportation spell failing; he instantly recognized it as the Four-ring Spell 【Dimensional Anchor】, which, like True Knowledge to Illusion mages, is the most despised spell among Conjuration casters. Its existence strips all creatures within range of teleportation, and even the Seven-ring Spell 【High-level Teleportation】 cannot escape its doom.

Lo​ja, having just dealt with the Black Duke, hadn't caught his breath before charging toward the distant Red‑Robe Mage; the surrounding Sesc soldiers tried to block him with their bodies, but against a Level 12 【Warrior Shapeshifter】, they were far too weak.

The Red‑Robe Mage seized the gap while Lo​ja was blocked, hurriedly began casting; having lost the Black Duke, he needed to create a powerful guard to protect himself.

Just as he was about to cast, a massive spherical Lightning Bolt materialized beside him—a three‑meter‑tall white energy sphere continuously spewing Lightning Bolts; the scorching heat, even through the High-level Protective Elemental Damage shield, made the Red‑Robe Mage begin to sweat.

"Damn it." The Red‑Robe Mage hurriedly began chanting, hoping to complete the spell before the shield broke.

Seven-ring Conjuration Spell—【Summon Overseer】! A mechanical gear gate suddenly appeared in the void, and a mechanized humanoid stepped out, clad in ornate golden banded armor and flowing red robes, brandishing a gleaming sword.

"Who summons. Summon Overseer." The mechanical creature's voice was flat, like a clockwork mechanism, mildly questioning who had called it.

The Red‑Robe Mage replied instantly; as the Summoner, he knew this Mechanical Angel from the Mechanical Realm was extremely talkative—despite its current aloof demeanor, if left without a task it would immediately switch to chatter mode, talking nonstop without acting.

"It is I who summoned you. According to the ancient pact, you must defeat the enemy before me!"

The mechanical creature paused, seeming a bit disappointed, but the employer had given the mission, so it complied.

When the Overseer saw the Juan Ce Long, it was momentarily stunned; it was not very familiar with such a creature from the Mechanical Realm, and it was curious why the dragon appeared in the Prime Material Plane.

"Greetings, Juan Ce Long." The Overseer waved its massive sword in greeting.

Naimi Xisi was puzzled; the Overseer's data existed in his memory inheritance, albeit sparsely. He only knew it was a monster comparable to a Level 12 professional, but lacked details on its habits.

Seeing the Juan Ce Long ignore it, the Overseer seemed forlorn from the lack of response, lowering its black helmet.

"Purge Protocol. Initiate target Juan Ce Long. Human target threat ranking confirmed. Target Juan Ce Long confirmed."

Red light flared in the Overseer's eyes, mechanical sounds emanated continuously from its body, then it became a afterimage and surged toward Naimi Xisi without warning.

"Tsk."

Impatient, Naimi Xisi used telekinesis to lift a massive boulder and hurl it, but the Overseer effortlessly cleaved the stone with its great sword, clearing its view; however, it discovered the Juan Ce Long target had vanished from the spot.

Four-ring Divine Spell—【Exile】! The incantation rang behind the Overseer, a blue ray shot toward its back, and the mechanical creature rolled left, evading the 【Exile】 attack.

【Exile】 is an extremely powerful spell; in the spell list, only Seven-ring Conjuration mages can access it, but for Clerics, divine power lets them wield the ability to banish other‑plane beings at the Four-ring level.

For these summoned beings, 【Exile】 is comparable to an instant‑death spell; once hit, there is a chance they are banished back to their original plane.

Unfortunately, the Overseer faced a dragon with overflowing Spell Slots; for Naimi Xisi, who possessed nearly sixty Four-ring Spell Slots, using 【Exile】 cost him nothing.

One after another, Exile rays assaulted the Overseer; each time it tried to stop the dragon's incantations, the opponent turned into blue light, instantly teleporting hundreds of meters away. After being hit three times by 【Exile】, the Overseer finally could not resist the Mechanical Realm's summons and vanished as a white light.

On the other side, facing the sudden Lo​ja, the Red‑Robe Mage was also troubled; as a Plastic Energy Spellcraft user, he could only continuously cast 【Force Wall】 to shield himself, but the Warrior Shapeshifter granted Lo​ja great mobility, forcing the Mage's Five-ring Spell Slots almost entirely into 【Force Wall】 just to barely avoid being torn apart.

He kept unleashing various levels of 【Monster Summoning】 to stall Lo​ja's speed, but those creatures were no match for Lo​ja; when he saw the powerful angel summoned with his remaining Seven-ring Spell Slots easily dispatched by the dragon, the Red‑Robe Mage grew despondent.

In fact, this is the strength of high‑level Melee Combatants on the battlefield: their formidable defense and stamina let them ignore ordinary soldiers' entanglements, allowing them to approach vulnerable casters like assassins; unless protected by spells, casters are easily driven to a corner by these swift warriors.

Defeated by Naimi Xisi, the Sesc army faced even more terrifying magical bombardments—【Ice Spike】, 【Arctic Wind】, and 【Spherical Lightning】 were endlessly flung from the dragon's slender claws.

The howling cold currents froze many soldiers into statues; the ensuing icy gale blew the statues away, shattering them on the ground, while the scorching spherical lightning was even more dreadful, continuously emitting high‑temperature Lightning Bolts among the crowd; each of the dozen or so spherical lightning bolts, when fired, killed dozens of soldiers.

Distant Undead also fell into the same plight; without the Golem's protection, Caneski and Sgena were left unguarded, Skeletons and Zombies— even the kingdom's soldiers—could only match them evenly, unable to stop these battlefield behemoths. Fragile bones and rotting flesh were crushed the instant they touched the massive form of the Azure‑footed Dragon Serpent; even if they escaped that, the black dragon's terrifying acid spray would corrode them completely.

The Sesc soldiers fell into panic; unlike the Undead, they lacked fear, and the sight of countless troops being massacred by magic drove the survivors to near‑collapse, desperate to flee.

The dragon floating in the sky, like an unbounded source of arcane power, unleashed various mighty spells at terrifying frequency; a casually cast Fireball, powered by Mana and Divine Spell, could expand to a sixty‑meter radius, and it efficiently cleared the Sesc army.

Lo​ja just vaulted into the sky, evading a Fireball barrage, and gloomily shouted at the sky‑borne dragon, "Watch it! Don't hit me!"

As for the Red‑Robe Mage, his heart was ashen, staring dumbfounded at the sky‑borne Juan Ce Long casting spells; the dragon's overwhelming mana shocked him. Seeing his meager two Six-ring Spell Slots and a few lower‑ring slots, the Red‑Robe Mage bowed his head and surrendered.

Don't—don't kill me! I surrender!

Talros·Naimando is Sazastan's true name from his mortal period (End of chapter)