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Chapter 755: 685 Chapter Wizard’s Arcane Arts
Everyone had previously thought that this realm would strip away all color, but now they knew they were wrong—in the dim dense forest, pairs of malicious yellow eyes lit up, and even the Elves and Dwarves, who possessed dark vision, struggled to see the owners of these eyes. Only Lancelot could make out that the enemy had the stature of large canine creatures, and their black skin almost merged with the surrounding shadows.
Clearly, these monsters knew they outnumbered their opponents and held the upper hand.
Monsters in the shadows began howling in unison, a sound like rough teeth gnawing on hard, dry bones, certainly one of the worst beastly roars anyone had ever heard. Normally, such sounds would evoke the deepest fear in mortals’ hearts, freezing them in place like kittens gripped by the nape, but Lancelot kept rhythmically tapping his sword blade with his fingers, the sound, though not loud, clearly reaching his companions’ ears, dispelling that terrible mental pressure into nothingness.
"Kalalin, Alamir," Lancelot said in an easy tone, "Conserve your spells, we’re not through the day yet."
"Understood," Kalalin nodded, "But with that gift, I am a bit different now..."
"Really?" Although he couldn’t see the other’s face, Lancelot knew Alamir raised half an eyebrow, "No matter what new tricks you have, in this environment, your performance can’t be better than my Holy Fire Technique..."
"Oh ho ho, Priest." The Scholar’s voice was filled with anticipation, "Today, I shall show you, a Divine Art Caster, how a wizard who has mastered the Arcane Arts through study and practice fights!"
"Is that so... then start your show!"
The enemies in the darkness had completed their encirclement, and as the Elf Priest spoke, four or five beasts made of shadows pounced violently toward the group. Their bodies were still nearly indistinguishable from the dark environment, only the suddenly frenzied growling and the fast-approaching yellow eyes announced their arrival.
Kalalin was clearly prepared, his arms shot over his head and palms opened, from each fingertip flew a small speck of light, which rapidly expanded upon leaving his fingers, eventually becoming as large as a Dwarf’s fist. These orbs of light spun rapidly about ten feet away from the group, like torches swaying in a dance. Though their brightness was clearly suppressed, they were enough to reveal the attackers’ appearance.
These were huge black mastiffs, with shoulder heights exceeding two feet, weighing at least as much as half a grown human male, mouths filled with malicious, sharp teeth. But what really surprised everyone was that their bodies were covered with rotting wounds, some even with intestines dragging outside, or merely some flesh hanging from ghastly white bones, clearly all Undead creatures.
Kalalin’s Dancing Light Technique couldn’t actually harm anyone, but those less intelligent enemies didn’t understand that; they instinctively halted their rapid charge, diffusing the most deadly first wave of assault.
"Take my hammer!"
The Scholar’s spells didn’t cause damage, but a Dwarf’s Warhammer was a different story. Devoid of the shadows’ camouflage and having halted their charge, Bruto certainly wouldn’t miss such an opportunity. His Warhammer flew out like lightning, striking heavily upon the head of a shadow mastiff. With a thunderous explosion, the Undead beast’s entire head was obliterated, leaving only a headless corpse on the spot.
"Aha, that’s one point for me!" Bruto shouted excitedly, "Lancelot, I’m leading!"
"The lead at the start of the match means nothing," Lancelot shook his head, "and besides, I’m afraid this point of yours might not count..."
In the astonished gaze of the Dwarf, the headless hound’s corpse shakily stood up. Perhaps because it no longer had eyes, it no longer feared the swirling orbs of light and, driven by the Undead’s instinct for flesh, lunged fiercely.
The Warhammer had not returned to the Dwarf’s hand, so Bruto could only helplessly raise his Shield in defense. Lancelot stepped forward, and two crossed flashes of sword light passed, instantly splitting the headless mastiff’s body into four parts. The pieces that fell to the ground still twitched violently, but the energy that had been animating them deflated rapidly like air leaking from a balloon, and the limbs soon stopped moving.
Although Lancelot easily dealt with this enemy, the remaining Undead hounds seemed to be stimulated and lunged again fiercely. Lancelot didn’t dare to be negligent; his left hand quickly formed a Seal Gesture, and two cyan sword shadows appeared, circling his side like two swimming fish. They attacked together with him, dismembering every target he locked onto. From a distance, Lancelot appeared to have grown four extra arms, swinging three Hand Half Swords like a six-armed Serpent Demon, nearly making his companions who glanced at him drop their jaws in awe.
With the Sword Shadow Split Technique of the Qingyuan Sword Technique, after Lancelot had broken through to High Rank, it finally had a bit of the Immortal Sect’s flair.
Although any enemy that came within seven feet of Lancelot was instantly shredded to pieces, the Human Knight couldn’t cover every direction. But his back was not unprotected—Bruto and Alamir each defended a side, using their Shields to block the mastiffs’ fangs and claws, and crushed any limbs that got past their Shields into a pulp. Meanwhile, little Isha weaved between the two, slashing off a dog paw here, pulling out some intestines there. The damage didn’t look significant, but the effect was surprisingly effective.
But the number of enemies was simply too many, and they were adept at using their advantage. If they missed a strike, they would immediately retreat back into the shadows to wait for another opportunity to strike, and the group couldn’t possibly chase into those shadows, leading to a deadlock.
"Kalalin, where’s your Magic? Didn’t you say you were going to show me something eye-opening?" Alamir’s Hardhead Hammer briefly burst out with a bright golden light, smashing a dog head gnawing at the edge of his Shield into a pulp, "If you don’t have any secret techniques up your sleeve, I’m going to have to channel Divine Power!"
"Ready!" the Scholar shouted, his crimson hands forcefully slapped his chest, and he took a deep breath, "Ha!!!"
A ball of Flame burst forth from his mouth but wildly off target. The closest shadow mastiff on its flight path was still three feet away, and in the end, it collided with a black and silent tree, igniting the plant that seemed to be made of shadows.
"Is that it?" the Elf said, somewhat frustrated, "Looks like I’ll have to..."
What happened next silenced the Priest. What flew out of Kalalin’s mouth was not just a fireball but also a magical breeze. The breeze wasn’t strong—indeed, it was quite gentle and certainly couldn’t push any enemies away, but it was perfect for feeding the flames.
Furthermore, Kalalin had taken so long not just to create any ordinary breeze. The gust didn’t simply dissipate; instead, it kept circling in the shadowy canopy, quickly creating a vast sea of flames that dispersed all the surrounding shadows and left no place for the hidden creatures to hide.
"How about that?" Kalalin called out to Alamir triumphantly, "Can you see clearly now? Isn’t this spectacle fantastic?"
