Chapter 561: Sevenfold Mana Combustion

Every fireball sent at least five orcs soaring into the sky. By the time they descended, most had already transformed into... cooling corpses.

In a mere instant, Duke plowed through the entirety of the orc vanguard. There was a loss of at least a thousand orcs.

But the more severe blow was to their morale.

The rampant momentum of the orcs, in this moment, seemed like pitiable souls on the gallows — their limbs still twitching and struggling, yet their throats felt constricted.

The continuous orcish battle cries of "Lok'tar Ogar!" came to an abrupt halt.

In their place, endless screams of agony echoed.

The third wave was a barrage of arcane missiles.

Different from commonly known arcane missiles, no one expected a single small missile to have the devastating effect of a direct hit from a human cannonball. Many orcs screamed, their bodies immediately turning into a rain of blood, splattered and shattered all over the ground.

This sight not only shocked the orcs but also left the Windrunner sisters and King Magni Bronzebeard, standing beside Duke, in utter disbelief.

Duke didn't respond. He silently observed the system prompt:

"You've activated the top-tier Arcane Mastery: After activation, your spell damage increases by 100%, but mana consumption also increases by 50%. Duration: 30 seconds..."

Yes, the power was doubled, but the consumption also increased by half.

Under such terrifying consumption, Duke's Morningstar-level mana circuit couldn't possibly sustain it.

With countless eyes watching, Duke kept drawing from mana crystals, which kept clinking against the armor of the steam tank. These priceless, mana-filled crystals, simply poured out from his satchel, were drained empty of their magic by Duke's touch.

"Clank, clank!"

The crystals, devoid of their magical glow, seemed as cheap as spent bullet casings from a machine gun.

While most mages rely on mana, Duke was practically spending gold!

And the rate at which he was burning through his resources was akin to setting a warehouse filled with banknotes on fire.

However, the next moment, Duke's flow of magic suddenly halted.

"Damn it!" More than one Alliance commander shouted in alarm.

— The dreaded negative magic effect, one that every mage fears, had finally targeted Duke.

The swirling purple-blue arcane glow around Duke was forcefully expelled. Duke's hair, his very body, even his mage robes, all began to burn. Not the harmless burn of fire elementals, but actual burning.

"Duke?!" The three Windrunner sisters, who had been standing guard atop the tank, shouted in unison.

"I'm fine." Without a scream, Duke grunted in pain and promptly activated his Frost Ward.

The surging frost elemental from within drove away the magic from Baron Geddon. A second later, Duke deactivated it, resuming his magic assault on the Horde.

Yet, merely three seconds later, Duke was afflicted again.

"No..."

"Clank!" In one breath, Duke activated his Ice Barrier, stabilizing his frost mana circuit, allowing him to briefly reactivate his shield.

Once-stalled magical attacks were re-launched. Duke single-handedly carved a path for Uther's charge, creating a ray of hope amidst desperation.

"Duke! Enough! You've done your best!" Alleria Windrunner, well-versed in magic, knew that even with Ice Block, a mage could only use it twice in a short time.

"Duke—" Vereesa Windrunner seemed on the verge of tears.

Sylvanas Windrunner looked at Duke with mixed feelings. She wanted to say something but chose silence. The longer she spent with Duke, the clearer she understood why her sisters were so infatuated with this seemingly ordinary human mage...

"No! It's not enough! The Horde's formation hasn't broken! I still have a way without risking my life!"

Soon, everyone realized what Duke's so-called method was.

Duke was alternating the use of his mana circuits, not just ordinary use, but almost destructively.

The essence of the negative magic effect was to ignite the mana within the circuits. The more mana ignited, the more damage. Conversely, without mana, there's no damage.

Duke was risking his life. He concentrated all his mana within a particular circuit for a short time and used the corresponding magic. When afflicted by the mana burn, he quickly exhausted all the mana from that circuit. Once the effect ended, even though that mana circuit was slightly damaged due to self-ignition, he could immediately use another mana circuit to continue the assault.

From Arcane to Fire, then Frost, and finally Shadow...

All in all, Duke was afflicted by mana burn seven times, and he weathered them all.

Everyone who witnessed this scene couldn't help but have tears in their eyes.

Being hit by seven mana burns without a high-ranking priest nearby! Everyone knew that a mage's mana was far more potent than their life force. It was as if Duke had stepped into the gates of hell seven times and then forcefully pulled himself back.

Was this without consequences?

No!

On the contrary, it was a price no mage in all of Azeroth would be willing to pay!

For a long time to come, even if Duke used a single apprentice-level spell, he might suffer a catastrophic mana implosion and die on the spot.

"Duke! Enough! It's enough! Let us handle the rest!" On his left was Vereesa, and on his right was Alleria, the two sisters desperately held onto Duke.

"Alright." Duke's body convulsed in agony, but the smile on his face was one of contentment.

The Alliance's main formation's retreat halted, and the retreating soldiers began shouting "For the Alliance!" and heedlessly charged towards the orcs.

On the battlefield, a divine golden blade, radiating a holy aura, swiftly cut through the scorched earth, diagonally entering the green sea of orcs.

After Duke's ten rounds of magic had finally carved a bloody path, Uther and his Twelve Paladins perfectly reached the orc vanguard and clashed head-on.

Riding a war steed, shimmering in golden light, Uther dove into the battlefield. Swinging his long warhammer, much like one playing polo, he drew a dazzling arc from below.

"Thud!" With a single blow, he shattered the giant axe blocking his path and its wielder's skull — that of the orc.