Chapter 721 - Fine Line Between Life and Death
A piece of heavy metal popped up beneath his wrist and revealed the two muzzles[1] inside, which were already glistening.
Lin Li stepped on the back of the Crimson Dragon, preventing it from moving. When he saw the muzzles glowing on the wrist of the Alchemy Colossus, he quickly transmitted his mental strength to the Crimson Dragon, controlling and manipulating it to change its direction several times in the air.
“Damn, it’s actually a Magical Crystal Cannon. Which pervert created this guy and added a magical Crystal Cannon to his body? Is this still a damned Alchemy Colossus!? This is practically a battle armor that’s common in science fiction!” Lin Li cursed while moving the Crimson Dragon in another direction to approach the Alchemy Colossus.
Lin Li was very clear about the power of the Magical Crystal Cannon; the attack by the pure compressed mana would cause even a Legendary powerhouse to be heavily injured. Although the diameter of the two magical Crystal Cannons of the Alchemy Colossus seemed to be smaller than that of the ordinary ones, Lin Li could sense that the mana accumulated in the muzzles was no less than in the ones on the exterior wall that they’d encountered previously.
After two dull sounds of the cannon, two compressed rays of light shot towards Lin Li and the Crimson Dragon. Fortunately, Lin Li managed to make the Crimson Dragon lay its body on its side, so the two rays of light shot towards the pitch dark sky after brushing past the Crimson Dragon’s body.
Lin Li turned his head and glanced at the wing of the Crimson Dragon, only to see that there was a black scar charred across it, so deep that Lin Li could even see the bone. Fortunately, although the Crimson Dragon had a physical body, it was still an Undead creature in essence. Otherwise, the scar would cause a huge impact on its combat power.
Back then in the Dragon Mountains, Lin Li once made a prop that was engraved with a Disintegrating Array in order to get rid of the Alchemy Colossuses. He then managed to use the power of that Disintegrating Array to get rid of the four Alchemy Colossuses. However, there was no way Lin Li could use such an amazing trick now, because he was facing a Titan-level Alchemy Colossus that the Disintegrating Array would have no effect on. Hence, he could not be bothered to waste time on it. After a few clashes, he felt that it would be more practical to try to find the weakness of the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus.
“Don’t hide. When you’re in front of the great Angelano, any of your struggles will only make your death more painful!” the Alchemy Colossus yelled again, after which countless rays of dazzling white light darted out of its chest and flew towards the sky like fireballs the size of a house.
“Boom…” The white fireballs chased Lin Li and burst open continuously.
“Blazing fireball? Why is it so big? Does its size contribute to its power!?” Lin Li yelled, continuously casting Elemental Shield with the Helios’ Scepter, causing the massive fireballs to be torn apart.
Fortunately, the Crimson Dragon already had some level of sentience and IQ after being integrated with the heart of an Undead. Hence, it was not just mindlessly obeying orders like stupid Undead creatures. Instead, it could instinctively avoid the bombardment of spells by the Alchemy Colossus. Otherwise, it would have been burned to ashes by the blazing fireballs if it had relied solely on Lin Li’s command.
The light of the magical Crystal Cannon and the various powerful magic spells directly formed a barrage in the sky that would capture even a mosquito. However, Lin Li was after all a level-23 Legendary-mage, and the compression of casting time allowed him to increase his speed. Elemental Shields were continuously cast and wrapped around his feet tightly. While evading, he resisted some less powerful magic bombardment, and was getting closer and closer to the Alchemy Colossus.
“Ignorant human, Lord Angelano is just bored and teasing you for fun. Lord Angelano is now sick of you, so go to hell!” the Alchemy Colossus yelled in anger, and immediately raised the long pillar-like spear in his hand before swinging it at Lin Li.
Lin Li quickly drove the Crimson Dragon towards the side to escape the blow, and finally managed to dodge it. However, a strong attraction seemed to have suddenly pulled him towards the spear together with the Crimson Dragon. The Elemental Shields made crackling sounds, and Lin Li only managed to get rid of that force after 10 layers of his shields were broken.
Lin Li’s back was already drenched in cold sweat. He had to face the endless magical attack of the Alchemy Colossus from afar, and when he was close, he had to face the attack of the giant spear. Indeed, it was a Titan-level Alchemy Colossus and the power thereof seemed to be able to tear through space. Lin Li had no doubt that if the blow were to really strike him, no amount of Elemental Shields would be useful, and he and the Crimson Dragon would be torn apart immediately.
The Crimson Dragon’s body was relatively massive, but it seemed just like a bird compared to the Alchemy Colossus. Getting close to the Alchemy Colossus was the only way he could retaliate. Lin Li continued to release Elemental Shields while riding the Crimson Dragon towards the Alchemy Colossus.
“Hehe, do you want to witness the unmatched close combat abilities of Lord Angelano? I shall fulfill your wish!” The Alchemy Colossus had no consciousness[2], and blabbered on and on, but its power did live up to the descriptions from the Dark Age, and his giant spear seemed to have spun like a windmill and revolved around his body.
Lin Li was about to get the Crimson Dragon to press its body against the Alchemy Colossus, but at this moment, he got yanked up, and the rotating giant spear swept past the body of the Crimson Dragon. Although they had again dodged a deadly attack, they were flung far, far away.
“Damn it, it was so close. Is this guy really an Alchemy Colossus!?” Lin Li finally regained his balance and stared at the Alchemy Colossus, only to see that it seemed to be more flexible than humans. His hands were continuously flailing about, and the giant spear was moving like a windmill that shrouded his body.
Lin Li raised the Helios’ Scepter high in the air and chanted a spell, after which he saw a huge ball of thunder being shot at the Alchemy Colossus. However, huge was only relative to Lin Li, and for the Alchemy Colossus, the ball was just like a random stone.
The World-destroying Thunderball was considered the most powerful magic spell that Lin Li could cast now. Previously, he managed to destroy the powerful defensive Magical Crystal Cannons just because he had the World-destroying Thunderball. However, now that he was facing the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus, the powerful magic seemed to have lost its due power. It disappeared as soon as it flew close to the Alchemy Colossus.
Although Lin Li knew a lot about the Alchemy Colossuses, he seemed a little helpless now that he was facing the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus. Lin Li’s situation was obviously not optimistic, and the enemy’s strength was obviously beyond what he had estimated.
Although Andoine and Rosen were at odds against each other, it was not the time for them to battle now. Their opponent was Osric’s most powerful mage, the Lich Amatir, who was much stronger than the two of them even though they did not reach the Sanctuary-realm.
Amatir was not as talkative as Angelano. From the beginning to the end, there was no other sound that came from him apart from the chanting of the spells. He rode on Nightmare’s back and kept his body straight while pointing his Staff of Doom at Andoine and Rosen.
However, Andoine and Rosen felt extremely exhausted, and they had temporarily put aside the grudges in their hearts. However, they were unable to enjoy a tacit understanding, after all, and could only use their rich experience to cooperate with each other. However, they were still far from sharing a perfect chemistry.
In the face of the powerful magic and unpredictable curses cast by Amatir, Andoine and Rosen were barely holding on; counterattacking seemed to be far-fetched for them. The Nightmare that Amatir was riding was not an ordinary one. It was covered in golden flames, and apart from moving quickly, it even had a strong resistance against magic of all attributes. In fact, it was much stronger than Lin Li’s Crimson Dragon.
“Rosen, what else did you bring from the Supreme Council? Hurry up and use it, otherwise there will be no chance to do so in the future.” Rosen supported the Elemental Shield and suddenly flew towards the enemy while casting magic with his dazzling staff. However, after launching a complete attack, Andoine didn’t see the results at all, and turned around to head in a different direction, avoiding the incoming offensive spells. The Elemental Shield outside his body had also been broken at this moment.
On the other hand, Rosen waved his staff and cast powerful Legendary magic while Andoine was being attacked by Amatir. However, they did not dare to loiter for a single moment, and immediately switched positions after casting the spell to dodge Amatir’s offensive spells.
“Psht, what do you take the Supreme Council for? I spent a lot of time and effort to borrow that staff from the treasure vault. If it were not for your lack of efforts back then, I would not have used it so soon,” Rosen said angrily. He was filled with regret at the thought of the summoning staff. If he were to summon the two wyrms at this juncture, they wouldn’t be in such a pathetic state even if he could not destroy Angelano and Amatir.
However, when thinking of the staff, Rosen began to wonder if he could borrow the staff precisely because the arbitrator had long expected the current situation. Unfortunately, he got too impatient, and used his chance to summon the creatures too early. The Death Knights who used Divine Power were not able to cope with the power of these people. However, there was no point in regretting it now. Since the opportunity to summon was used in advance, he could only use his own abilities to find a way to defeat the enemy.
Amatir was indeed Osric’s strongest mage underling. Under the siege of the two level-23 Legendary-mages, Andoine and Rosen, he seemed to remain extremely confident. He didn’t have to evade the magic at all, and even Legendary offensive spells would only result in dazzling rays of light when they hit his Elemental Shield. His retaliation would leave Andoine and Rosen in a pathetic state as they heard the sounds of their shields cracking.
“Andoine, stall him for a few seconds, and I will prepare a ruthless attack for him!” Hence, Rosen had to think of a solution to hold Amatir back while he prepared a level-23 magic attack.
Andoine clearly heard Rosen’s promise, and had begun to cast his magic. However, before he could even chant a single syllable, he heard formidable magic smashing into him.
Andoine had no choice but to stop the spellcasting. While dodging, he yelled at Rosen, “Rosen, are you trying to harm me!?”
Damn it, I do want you to die, but not now! Rosen smiled wryly, and said, “I’m not that muddleheaded yet. If you have what it takes, try it and I’ll prepare the casting.”
Of course, Rosen had already prepared. Although he heard Andoine agreeing to his words, he didn’t start preparing to cast spells, and instead just stood still for a while. The next thing he knew, Nightmare’s horn was about to stab him.
As a level-23 Legendary-mage, mastering a few powerful top-level magic spells was normal, but no matter how powerful the magic was, casting would still take some time. As long as they had time, they would definitely be able to cast level-24 magic too. However, the problem now was that neither of them could hold Amatir back for even a second, let alone for long enough to cast level-24 magic.
After a few attempts, Andoine and Rosen acknowledged the reality. The only thing they could do now was to work together and hold Amatir back while waiting for the changes in the other two battlefields.
[1] I figure it’s one muzzle per arm, so two in total.
[2] Maybe the author meant smarts.