Chapter 718 - Bait
Seemingly having sensed the fear and terror in everyone’s hearts, Eminos smiled humbly, and said, “Lowly humans, how dare you disturb Master while he’s resting. You are all going to die today!”
When everyone heard the word “die”, everyone began shivering instinctively as if the temperature had suddenly gone below zero. A cold chill emerged from everyone’s hearts and gradually surged through them to the deepest parts of their souls.
“Continue casting, no one is allowed to stop!” Lin Li yelled when he saw Eminos’ figure vanishing abruptly.
Although Eminos’ strength was close to the Sanctuary-realm, even a Legendary-mage couldn’t resist the attack of Wind Blade, just like what Eminos said himself. In order to launch a sneak attack, Eminos would have to abandon all his magical equipment and not put up any magical defense. Otherwise, he would just be a moving target. Besides, without a magical shield, Eminos could be attacked and hurt even by low-level magic.
“Ah!” one of the members from the team yelled as one of the Archmages was shot in the chest by an Ice Spear when he stopped for a moment to reapply a magical shield for himself.
That was the terrifying thing about Eminos. As a mage, he knew the duration as well as the casting interval of various magic spells. Besides, all of the weaknesses of the mages were known and exposed to him. He had the immense mental strength of a Legendary-mage, and he could sense every change in the magical wave of the target and capture all the opportunities that he could make use of.
The death of the Archmage was not meaningless. Instead, it was a wake-up call for everyone to keep fighting on and a reminder that they could never make a mistake if they want to live. Any negligence would give the terrifying Mage Killer a chance to kill them. It was a true battle for their own survival. Everyone went all out and released their greatest potential.
Suddenly, the magic that was surging to the surroundings became a little more violent. A black ray of lightning suddenly burst out from the brilliant magical lights before turning towards the team in search for a new prey without stopping.
“Don’t relax, he might still be there!” Lin Li shouted loudly. To him, such tricks were nothing new. Everyone had seen the 36 strategies in the world that he came from.
After seeing the black ray of lightning that was the enemy’s clone vanishing, the mages indeed felt a little relieved and relaxed a little, but fortunately Lin Li managed to remind them in time. They continued to cast spell after spell. As expected, Eminos’ figure appeared outside the range covered by the offensive spells.
Staring at Lin Li who was standing in the middle and continuously giving commands to the mages, Eminos smiled derisively. Then, his body flashed, and he disappeared again in plain sight before appearing on the other side, only to be forced into retreating by the endless attacks.
“Felic, do you really think we’ll be able to defeat Eminos by keeping this up? You’re being too naive.” Rosen’s face began to grow sullen while watching the mages resist the attacks continuously. He did not wish for Lin Li to gain too much prestige amongst the mages through his commands.
Of course, Rosen had also stated a fact. If they were to keep up with the defense, they might be able to sustain it for a day, but what would happen afterwards? After all, humans were not machines, and their defense would crumble eventually.
Actually, Rosen was not alone in thinking so. Even Aldwin, Andoine, and the rest had all thought of that issue. However, they did not doubt the plan, because they trusted Lin Li.
When Lin Li was trapped in the chaos of time and space, Andoine actually made the effort to find out the whole process from him as he was much more meticulous than the rest. Due to the fact that he was Lin Li’s teacher, neither Cheyenne nor the elves hid anything from him. Hence, Andoine knew better than the rest how amazingly Lin Li performed in the Sky Castle.
The current situation seemed to be unsolvable, but Lin Li seemed rather confident about it. At the thought of everything that Cheyenne had said, Andoine decided to trust Lin Li blindly despite the doubts he had. Besides, so what if he didn’t trust Lin Li? No one could come up with a better solution anyway.
“Is that so? Do you have a better idea? Let me guess, you’re thinking of using some of them as a bait, right? Do you really think Eminos is an idiot?” Lin Li retorted coldly with a sneer while giving commands to the mages.
“If you don’t try it, how do you know it’s not possible? Can you make Eminos admit defeat and give up using your method?” Rosen retorted angrily.
Lin Li waved his staff with a serious expression and covered himself with a magical shield. He then said to Rosen, “I’m not as generous as you to use someone’s life as a bait. So what if we can only stall him for a few days? By then, your staff should be able to work.”
“You!!” Rosen was a little speechless, especially when Lin Li mentioned the staff and reminded him of yesterday’s events which were definitely not a pleasant memory.
Fortunately, the magic equipment worn by the mages was of top quality—the best in Anril. With the recovery abilities provided by the magical equipment, the mages would not suffer any depletion as long as they did not make any mistakes. After all, they were casting low-level magic, which would not consume much mana even if cast continuously.
Looking at Lin Li who was holding the Helios’ Scepter and standing in the middle of the team, Eminos gritted his teeth angrily. No matter how much he tried to jeopardize their plans, the human mages seemed to often stabilize quickly under the command of Lin Li. It was not that Lin Li was good at commanding, but rather that no matter what tactics Eminos used, Lin Li would only respond by opening his magical shield and covering the surrounding area with magic.
In the face of the endless magic attacks, Eminos did feel rather troubled. Although all of them were low-level magic, it was definitely terrible to suffer them because he could not use any defensive spells. However, if he were to give himself some defense, he would definitely be bombarded before he could even assassinate anyone.
Eminos’ figure was constantly surrounding the humans and lingering along the edge of the range of magic attacks, looking for opportunities to break through their shield. Unfortunately, the team of Archmages was also one of the top forces in Anril, and had also experienced countless battles. Hence, it was unlikely for them to slip up.
Seeing that the Mage Killer was stuck outside the magical shield, the mages began to see some hope, and the fear within them gradually vanished. It turned out that the legendary Mage Killer could be at a loss for what to do!
Lin Li naturally also saw that Eminos was loitering outside. He exclaimed, “That’s all the Mage Killer can offer. It’s now our time to fight back, and we shall all cast a joint spell. Elemental Shield!”
Hearing this command, the mages who had already gotten use to Lin’s commands immediately stopped without any objections. They raised their Crescent Staffs one by one, chanting the Legendary Elemental Shield spell.
However, Rosen, Aldwin, and Andoine were all taken aback by Lin Li’s orders. What a joke. Enduring is already difficult as it is. Why does he want to retaliate now? That’s the legendary Mage Killer. He’s killed so many of us, how can we fight back?
“Felic, are you really sure!?” Andoine asked worriedly as he began to waver at this moment.
Meanwhile, Aldwin wanted to stop him, but it was clearly too late; the mages were already at the last stage of casting, and Eminos had yet to take action. Hence, they thought that it might be a good chance for attacking.
As the mages chanted the last syllable of the spell, Lin Li’s staff emitted a dazzling ray of light that enveloped the entire team.
However, as the light faded, the mages were surprised to find that the Elemental Shield that shrouded the entire team flickered a little like candlelight in the wind, and slowly began to dissipate.
Casting failed! Everyone was filled with disbelief as they had practiced the spell countless times before. Yet, they failed.
Aldwin looked at the dumbfounded mages and took a deep breath. Although they were still the same people, they were no longer standing as one team.
At this moment, everyone immediately thought of the fact that since they had failed to cast the Elemental Shield, they were standing in front of the terrifying Mage Killer without any protection! What would happen to them!?