[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic":3,"chapter-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-555":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Sword God in a World of Magic",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1492740,1940,"Chapter 555 - Gathering","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-555",555,"\u003Cp>As more time passed, the Mages became more and more nervous and fearful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had over 50 High Mages on their side, and they had all prepared their Spells.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all ready to launch a devastating wave of attacks at whoever was attacking them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, they just couldn't find the opponent!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What were they supposed to attack when there was nothing to attack?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't panic,\" the Patriarch told everyone via voice transmission. \"This is not a fight to kill the opponent but to survive. In ten minutes, at most, the barrier will deactivate. After that, the Enforcer will arrive very quickly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other Mages nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Patriarch was right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They only needed to survive for a while, not kill the opponent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everyone gather at my location and be careful while you move,\" the Patriarch ordered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mages quickly made their way to the Patriarch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SHING! SHING! SHING!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, several of the Mages still died on their way to the Patriarch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Patriarch gritted his teeth. He wanted to do nothing more than just directly jump toward one of his dying people and kill the attacker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, he had learned by now that he didn't have the ability to do so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he arrived, the attacker would have already retreated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And worst of all, the attacker didn't even leave behind any trace of Mana!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could have gone upward, downward, left, right, anywhere!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bright light in the hallway only heightened the fear of the Mages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was nowhere to hide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But they were also afraid of the dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They already had a hard time finding the attacker. If everything became dark on top of that, it would only become even more difficult to find them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, the last 45 Mages gathered at the same spot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this spot were the Patriarch, eight Peak High Mages, and all the other High Mages inside the castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The High Mages quickly gathered and created a powerful Magic Circle to share all their Mana in one gigantic Mana Shield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Mana Shield would even be powerful enough to resist the Spells of a Mid Archmage for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For several seconds, the Mages only kept watch over their surroundings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Except for the couple of weaker Mages running in panic through the castle, everything else was silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attacks had stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SHING! SHING!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or, more accurately, the attacks on the High Mages had stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black afterimages returned, and every time they did, another corpse of a weaker Mage was left behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Get to the fifth floor in the middle of the castle!\" the Patriarch ordered to everyone inside the castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were still the children, parents, and service staff left in the castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people that were near the place the Patriarch had called out ran towards him, while the others despaired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the people simply ran into their rooms and tried to hide there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sadly, they couldn't hide from a Spirit Sense, and they were killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ones that had been running towards the High Mages had also been killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The High Mages could only grit their teeth helplessly as they watched their friends and family die around them without being able to help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they left the collective Mana Shield, they would also die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the most frustrating and infuriating part of their entire lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had never felt this helpless before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like children, the only thing they could do was wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a couple of seconds, only a couple of Mages near the front door of the castle remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In horror, those Mages burst through the front door and charged into the darkness outside the castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as someone touched the Darkness Mana outside the castle, all the Darkness Mana in their surroundings was pulled towards them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was like all the Darkness Mana was water and the lives were drains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRACK!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Mana Shields of the Mages broke within a second, and they were consumed by Darkness Mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every single person that had fled the castle had died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fifth floor, the Mages were silent, but deep inside, they were seething with fury and hatred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All their families and friends had died!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even their children had been killed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The castle fell into silence again as the killings stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the High Mages waited, their destructive Spells ready to be unleashed any second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They only waited for their target to appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as their target appeared, they would rain pure destruction on them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing happened for several seconds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was only silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One minute had already passed, which meant that they only needed to survive for nine more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attacker hadn't shown themselves in nearly a minute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it working?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the attacker afraid of their combined power?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crr.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All the Mages looked at the ceiling of the hallway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just now, they had felt a small cut appear on the ceiling of the hallway a floor above them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They couldn't see through the floor, but they could feel the change in the hallway above them with their Spirit Senses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the High Mages were barely fast enough to take note of what was happening above them, but the Patriarch was fast enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Patriarch was an Early Archmage, and his mind was many times faster than the minds of his people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the others were only just turning their attention to the tiny cut, he had already fully analyzed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cut was small, but it was very thick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was almost like a huge blade had left it behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On top of that, there were signs of burning along the cut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the burning felt very unnatural to the Patriarch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt way too dangerous to be normal fire!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of this happened in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the High Mages were looking at the cut for the first time, the ceiling above them exploded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The High Mages only saw a wall of black flames charge at them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Patriarch saw the black flames, he knew what had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attacker had launched an attack from the sixth floor, right above them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His attack had scratched the ceiling on the sixth floor and then launched at the floor of the sixth floor, which was essentially the ceiling of the fifth floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attack then broke through the ceiling of the fifth floor, launching directly at the collective Mana Shield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SHING!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Patriarch used Mana Step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attack felt way too powerful!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the Patriarch suddenly gone, the collective Mana Shield lost its biggest backer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, Dusk hit the Mana Shield.\u003C\u002Fp>",1103,"2026-06-06T04:07:19.278Z",1,"novelbin.me","6e9298cc5b0704ebb4c37b85a454464b34047269c3ae36389b7fe4c5f5a7ad86","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-556","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-554",1033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-cover.jpg"]