Chapter 27 - The Battle
The green flame rising up from the magical crystals raged on, and at the same time, the surrounding magical wave had reached its peak.
With a short and rapid recitation of the spell, a red flame lit up on Old Merlin’s hands. With a stamp of the staff in his hand, everyone present seemed to feel space distorting in the surroundings. Stalks of red lotus with long flaming tails in tow emerged as if from hell and bombarded the Emerald Tower amidst their howl.
Just as the stalks of red lotus were about to erupt, Gerian held up the staff in his hand, which was followed by a likewise short and rapid recitation of the spell. Almost immediately, a water-blue barrier was erected outside the gates of Emerald Tower. The stalks of red lotus fell into the water curtain like stones falling into water as ripples appeared on the barrier’s surface.
“Damn you, Old Merlin!” An angry roar came out of the tower, accompanied by Gerian’s furious interrogation. “What does you mother do? You son of a b*tch, are you trying to tear down the Emerald Tower?”
Old Merlin paid no heed to his fury; his lips continued their rapid recitation of the spells. The green flame burned fiercely from the magical crystal at the tip of his staff, and another layer of fire rain came falling down, hitting the blue water curtain with a sizzle.
“You’ve got guts!” Gerian let out a furious bellow, and the blue water curtain was instantly stretched to its limit. He made a strange gesture with his fat hands, and magical elements came pouring out from the ground all at once.
And the source of magical elements was right beneath the steps where Cromwell lay.
Old Merlin’s expression changed, and he aimed his staff right onto Cromwell’s shoulders. Before the latter could understand what was happening, the magical crystal at the top of the staff exhibited a peculiar distortion as if it had changed into a pair of giant hands in just an instant, clutching Cromwell in it.
Cromwell felt weight leaving his body, and then he was pulled to the back of where Old Merlin stood.
Almost concurrently, two razor-sharp rock spines broke the earth and thrust themselves out of the ground.
Cromwell looked back and felt nothing but a tingling scalp.
If he were to let those two rock spines stab through his body, even if there were ten Cromwells there, they’d be done for all together…
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gerian took a big stride and lunged out of the tower. With the support of the Levitation Spell, his plump body was floating in the air as soon as he came out. There was no hesitation at all; large verses of spells came streaming out from his mouth, his fat hands constantly making abstruse and incomprehensible gestures.
Old Merlin pushed Cromwell aside and met Gerian without fear.
The magical elements outside the Emerald Tower swarmed madly. Each time the grandiose magic collided, it’d spark off resplendent rays of brilliance. As Old Merlin levitated into the air, both exchanged almost ten strikes. Each attack was no less an extremely powerful top-level magic.
Lin Li stood at the bottom of the tower a distance away. He’d realized his previous battling styles were in no sense perfect after watching the battle of the two archmages.
Instantaneous outbursts of numerous low-level magic could indeed take an unexpected effect. But in the face of absolute power, a low-level magic would be rendered a joke. Not to mention how he’d go about blocking Old Merlin’s fire rain, if he were to throw wind blades at the blue water curtain Gerian had drawn up, it would probably take years for him to break it.
This was a typical battle of the mages, so their battling styles were no doubt the most traditional.
There was no control at all, and no counter-control as well.
What they were battling with was absolute power. The one that had stronger magical power and a more abundant level of mana would eventually emerge as the winner.
Of course, it was not to say that instantaneous outbursts of magic were inferior. But, sometimes, instantaneous outbursts were not everything.
The two archmages possessed the ability to unleash low-level magic instantaneously, and were even adept at that as compared to Lin Li. But they had never showed any instantaneous outburst of magic since the start of the battle, for they knew clearly that the instant magic outbursts they could unleash would never pose a threat to the other.
As for long recitation of spells, it would be only be a death-seeking move in a battle of this level.
Even if it was only a second slower, it’d be enough to send people to eternal doom.
Both had chosen the middle course almost undesignedly. Short and rapid recitation of spells together with swift gestures had created a magnificent and ever-changing battle.
After figuring out the crux of the matter, Lin Li was even more absorbed in the battle, not batting his eyelids once. Every gesture and recitation were etched in his mind. With every fierce collision, Lin Li gradually figured out answers to questions he had before, and at the same time, questions he had never thought of before arose in his mind.
If there was anyone who benefited the most from the battle, it would undoubtedly be Lin Li.
The teachings and influence of a legendary mage had laid the most solid foundation for him. His extraordinary talent had also given him higher comprehension than ordinary people. A battle like this would be a grand and exciting one in the eyes of others, but never as enlightening as it was to Lin Li.
When the battle reached its climax, Lin Li even forgot his own existence. He had totally immersed himself in the magical collision. His heart and soul all fluctuated with the battle, and his nerves trembled with the magical elements.
It was an almost abstruse state, and Lin Li, being immersed in that state, was as if in another world by himself. In this world, he was approaching the nature of magic with unbelievable speed.
Boom! Both sides collided again. The aftershock brought on by the collision of two enormous lumps of mana radiated off and pushed Lin Li a few steps back. Sparks of scorching meteors fell from the sky, leaving behind glamorous trails.
The earth-shaking strike had finally brought the magnificent battle to a close.
Among the blazing light, two silhouettes descended slowly, a sign of mana exhaustion.
“Damn!” Lin Li had never imagined a classic and perfect battle like this would end up with both parties exhausting their mana.
Countless powerful spells had at last exhausted all mana of both parties.
They had exhausted their mana almost at the same time. The slow descent was merely a buffer with the Levitation Spell.