Chapter 59: A Battle of Two (Part 3)

"The elves can't possibly control fire magic this well… This must be that human kid you mentioned earlier; it seems he's still alive," the necromancer said to his companion. He waved his hand, and the blood mist, disrupted by the explosion, immediately began to coalesce again, restoring the magic circle to its original form.

"Really alive?" The old necromancer squinted his dim, aged eyes down toward the ground, but from this height, people looked like tiny dots. "He should have received a lightning explosion just now…" He sat down on the neck of a gargoyle, which let out a cry and flapped its wings, flying downward out of the circle. "I'll go down and protect you; you continue to control this and burn the Whispering Forest while also taking care of that pesky kid."

The necromancer controlling the magic circle looked down at the tiny black shadows below and pondered for a moment, sighing as if he had made a decision. He muttered to himself, "Alright, let's kill him."

As soon as the light curtain restored, the focus immediately fell back to the original spot. The many elves in the circle barely had time to let out a half-scream before they turned black in the dazzling light.

Asa dragged Ruya out, having just regained his footing when he saw the blinding light approaching them. He pushed Ruya away forcefully and jumped in the opposite direction.

The intense heat from the focal point of the light passed near him, and even at a distance, it was enough to set Asa's hair ablaze.

But after rolling around on the ground, he managed to stand up only to see the oscillating light circle seemingly moving toward him again.

Asa was both shocked and fearful. The reason he hadn't been burned before wasn't because he was fast; it was because the necromancer hadn't controlled it well. Dodging under such an attack was nearly pointless.

The dazzling focal point of light flickered and moved like a living sun dancing on the scorched earth. Accurately tracking the focus on a target wasn't easy; the necromancer was struggling to maintain control.

This magic circle, condensed from the blood and flesh essence of thousands, was far beyond what Theodorus had unleashed in the wild highlands. Although the sunlight here wasn't as intense as it had been on the highlands, the circle formed by the gargoyles was as large as the Whispering Forest, and the gathered light was at least ten times more potent. Just looking at the illuminated areas for a moment was enough to hurt one's eyes; if this continued, even those who survived wouldn't be able to see.

Repeating the same trick as before is merely addressing the symptoms, not the root of the problem. Asa looked up and saw the circle of gargoyles still spinning. This circle was likely maintaining the magic array in the air, and attacking from here was crucial.

A massive fireball, too large to be called a "sphere," roared upward from the ground toward the gargoyle in the air. Such a low-level magic, with its magic power no longer resonating, had become highly concentrated, and its immense size already indicated the violent energy contained within.

One of the gargoyles broke away from the circle's formation and flew directly toward the fireball. The old necromancer sitting atop it waved his hand casually, causing the fireball to veer off course and skim past the gargoyle, growing smaller as it ascended into the sky.

The little sun leaped near Asa's body again. He let out a scream, feeling as if his skin had been sliced by a burning knife. The acrid smell of burning flesh intensified in the air; it was the scent of his own skin. But he didn't move; the opponent's attack was still imprecise, and moving might make him more likely to get hit.

"Stay away from here!" Asa shouted at Ruya, who was futilely searching through the charred bodies of elves for survivors, her silver hair and face covered in soot and ash, mingled with tears that made her once-beautiful face a mess.

But upon hearing Asa's shout, instead of retreating, she took a few steps closer and began to chant in Elvish. A green light gently passed over Asa, and the pain from his wounds began to ease.

Asa took a deep breath of the scorching air, almost hot enough to steam his lungs, and gripped his right wrist with his left hand. With a "boom," the recoil from his spell knocked him back to the ground, sending dust flying around him.

This was still a low-level fireball spell, but it didn't resemble a fireball at all. Only a dark red shadow swiftly extended from the ground to below the gargoyle where the necromancer was sitting. He didn't aim for the gargoyles forming the circle; he needed to deal with this defensive opponent first.

"Good," the necromancer's voice was still as desolate as before. This time, he didn't dismiss it casually; instead, he opened his hands and pressed toward the fiery shadow that had transformed into a flame, and the rapidly ascending fire seemed to plunge into a thick mud pit made of glue, immediately slowing down and reverting into a fireball. Although the fireball continued to rise, it appeared to be sinking deeper into this invisible pit, slowing down more and more, until it nearly stopped three meters away from the gargoyle. The necromancer raised his hands, and the fireball let out an unwilling roar before veering off and disappearing into the sky.

The light circle shook on the ground as it moved away, this time farther from Asa, indicating that controlling it was no simple task. But instead of feeling relieved, Asa felt a chill down his back. He had indeed given it his all, but the necromancer had easily countered his attack.

He was using all his strength with every attempt, yet the necromancer didn't directly confront his magic. Manipulating a small wind pressure was nothing compared to the vast magical power of a top-tier necromancer; it was merely a drop in the bucket, and even the act of breathing could replenish his magic. Relying on the magic boost from the Sun Well while exhausting the opponent's magic was a foolish thought. Moreover, he didn't have the time to spare.

Run, he suddenly thought. Facing attacks from hundreds of meters in the air and a defensively superior opponent far beyond his magical level—how was he supposed to fight?

No, he couldn't escape. He couldn't run away. As long as the necromancer changed the direction of the light circle, the focus on the ground could shift instantaneously. If he revealed his escape route, he would be even more likely to get hit.

Asa forced himself to concentrate, launching three fireballs toward three different gargoyles.

The necromancer in the high air shook his head, disappointed by Asa's attempt at a three-pronged attack, even for a high-level mage. With a dance-like gesture, he waved his hands, and the three fireballs obediently turned in three separate directions.

The small suns representing death and destruction began to flicker and jump even more violently on the ground, as the necromancer manipulating the air magic circle continued to adjust his control.

"Run!" Asa shouted to Ruya. "We need to split up!" He had finally lost hope.

Ruya stood there in a daze as Asa rushed forward, scooping her up and throwing her away. Then he turned and ran in the opposite direction.

He hadn't gotten far when a blinding light engulfed him; the entire world was replaced by this unbearable brightness. In his last glimpse, he saw that the area within dozens of meters was filled with light.

The necromancer controlling the light had stopped wasting time trying to capture his figure with a focus of five or six meters in diameter. Instead, he directly expanded the focus to nearly a hundred meters, enveloping Asa within it.

Expanding the focus meant dispersing the light and heat, but it was already enough. The difference between gathering light within two or three miles and condensing it into a five or six-meter focus versus a hundred meters was negligible on a human body; it still dried out and charred anything containing moisture, only taking a few extra seconds to do so.

Asa's eyes blackened as they succumbed to the overwhelming brightness. He instinctively covered his eyes, but it was only to prevent an explosion. The piercing pain lasted just a few seconds; once the nerves on the surface were burned, he felt nothing. He seemed to be screaming, but couldn't hear it; perhaps even his throat had been scorched, and the smell of burning hair, skin, and muscle filled his nostrils.

Instinctively, Asa stumbled toward the Sun Well. He was completely oblivious to everything except for the burning sensation inside him; he felt as if his blood vessels were flowing with magma, his organs about to explode like firecrackers. All he knew was that there was water there; he needed water.

He used the last of his willpower to propel his nearly burned muscles and dove headfirst into the Sun Well.

In the high air, the necromancer controlling the air magic array saw Asa plunge into the Sun Well and immediately narrowed the focus of the light toward the well. He had noticed earlier that concentrating the light on the Sun Well was particularly easy compared to focusing on other locations. So, he decided to shrink the focus again, zeroing in directly on the Sun Well just three or four meters away. He wanted not only to roast the target into ashes but also to evaporate and destroy the Sun Well with this light.

Under the shadows, the massive funnel of light that had once illuminated the entire Whispering Forest now cast all its brightness onto the Sun Well, which shone brilliantly. Even the rocks around the well reflected dazzling light, making it seem as if the well was the true sun.

The necromancer watched the brilliant spot, which even he found dazzling from his height, nodding in satisfaction. Nothing could withstand such an attack; even if it were a river, it would be dried up, and a fortress of forged steel would only melt.

Asa could no longer discern whether the well water was hot or cold, or even if there was any water left in the well. Every sensory part of his body was damaged; he was blind. Yet he felt the light—light that seemed to penetrate his body as if he were made of crystal. This light not only penetrated him but also swirled and twisted inside the well, pouring into him. His body was filled with light, which felt as if it were about to burst forth from every pore of his already burned skin…

"Hm?" Under such illumination, the Sun Well seemed to show no special reaction. The necromancer found this strange until he suddenly heard a thunderous rumble. He looked up; the sky was still clear without a cloud, and the rumble was coming from the ground.

He lowered his gaze and saw something enormous and red rising from the well, akin to a small mountain.

"Run!" Below the magic array, the necromancer didn't even bother with the gargoyle; he flew up like an arrow, grabbing his companion's hand. The rest of his words were drowned out by the roar, and his usually indifferent face was now filled with fear.

The massive entity rising from the well seemed to ascend slowly, but this was merely an illusion created by its size. Finally, its lower end broke free from the Sun Well, taking the shape of a gigantic fireball. The entire sky trembled under the unimaginable magical power it radiated.

The two necromancers did not command the gargoyles and did not even fly away. Instead, they held each other's hands tightly, reciting a spell that even they could not hear.

The gargoyle, abandoned by the necromancers, reached the surface of the massive fireball. Its enormous, solid body now felt as fragile as paper; it silently shattered in the surging waves of magical energy, disintegrating and disappearing without a trace. The colossal fireball was not hindered in the slightest and soared upward in an instant, reaching the area beneath the magic array formed by the gargoyles.

Just as the fireball was about to make contact with the magic array, the figures of the two necromancers disappeared simultaneously. They didn't use a flight spell; instead, they resorted to the extremely dangerous forbidden spell of spatial displacement to teleport themselves away.

The sky shattered. This was how all residents of Airi described that terrifying moment afterward.

The tremendous explosion could be heard even hundreds of miles away in neighboring towns. Nearly half the houses in several villages near the Whispering Forest were overturned by the shockwave. Centered on the Whispering Forest, countless trees, the shattered limbs of those who had followed the nature god, and blackened ash filled the air, scattering along with pieces of gargoyles and flames over an area of dozens of miles, like a rain of death. A small portion of the God of Nature followers, who had either fled home or were in the process of escaping, were left temporarily deaf from the blast.

Almost everyone in Airi thought this was the arrival of the end of the world.

In the historical records of Airi, whether it was the strange forest, the heretical God of Nature, the peculiar gargoyles appearing around, or the uprising of tens of thousands of followers on that day, the bizarre celestial phenomena and the strange fire in the forest… All the unrest and changes came to a complete end with this explosion, which nearly shattered Airi.