Chapter 201: Chapter201-Deathmatch, Burning the Mana Core
Bound by the black magic patterns, Leslie suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of aging.
Her vitality seemed to drain away; her spirit weakened, her blood turned sluggish, and the magic flowing within her felt as though it had lost its energy.
Every aspect of her strength had drastically diminished.
This sensation caused Leslie’s expression to darken.
Although she knew how terrifying a grandmaster-tier mage could be, especially one from the Middle Earth Pyrothrone Kingdom, like the tattoo-covered mage before her, she hadn’t expected such a vast gap between their powers.
The fact that Taylor had effortlessly dissolved her attack and restrained her so easily shook even Leslie’s usually steady heart.
But quickly, she banished these distracting thoughts.
Her body swelled rapidly, and the power of the kitsune bloodline surged through her.
Invisible spiritual flames ignited from the center of her brow, spreading across her entire body.
When the flames came into contact with the black magic patterns binding her, they sizzled and exploded.
“Kitsune aura… That ferocious beast has long since gone extinct, yet you possess its bloodline. Is this your trump card for defying me?” Taylor shook his head slightly.
Although Leslie’s aura was increasing rapidly, it was still insignificant to him.
With a flick of his finger, a small firefly-like light shot out, quickly expanding in the air and transforming into a golden magic circle suspended before him.
Within the array, scenes of temporal distortion appeared, emitting a glow that bent space.
The light shone on Leslie and began pulling her into the array.
The Divine Confinement Array!
Under this array, everything from mana to blood energy would be heavily suppressed, becoming Taylor’s to control.
Within the array’s light, the spiritual flames that had just flared from Leslie’s body flickered wildly, dimming significantly.
The kitsune’s innate technique was being suppressed!
This was the first time Leslie had encountered such a situation since tapping into the kitsune’s power.
Her heart heavy, she gripped her long spear tightly, layer after layer of ice forming along its shaft.
Bitter cold emanated from it, and then, like an arrow loosed from a bow, she thrust forward!
As the spear moved, ice and snow howled like a descending ice dragon, bringing forth a flurry of frost that slammed into the magic array.
Boom!
A deafening crash echoed as the spear’s icy power surged like crashing waves.
At first, it seemed to have little effect on the array, but then, a multitude of ice runes burst from the spear, and the array froze instantly, ice spreading across its surface before shattering explosively.
Taylor’s expression darkened. Leslie was truly reckless, daring to attack him time and time again, refusing to surrender.
Just as anger began to rise within him, Leslie’s spear reached him. The ice runes embedded in the spear shot like arrows, bombarding his protective shield.
The ice runes contained a trace of the power of Order, and even though Taylor was a grandmaster-tier mage, the surface of his shield began to frost over, the ice spreading inward.
“The Order of Ice? You have some fortune, but it’s a pity—you don’t yet grasp the true mysteries of Order,” Taylor scoffed. His magic shield trembled and shattered the ice.
At that moment, Leslie, her limbs elongated and her body covered in white fur, appeared behind Taylor like lightning. In her palm, a black glow flickered, and she slammed it into his back.
Taylor initially didn’t pay her any mind. With the power of his shield, a mere diamond-tier mage couldn’t hope to break through. He thought the backlash alone would severely injure or even cripple Leslie.
But when the black glow from Leslie’s hand appeared, Taylor suddenly felt a sense of danger!
Startled, he instinctively turned to defend, but a sharp pain stabbed through his forehead, as though a silver needle had pierced his mind, agitating his spirit.
The kitsune’s innate ability—Mental Shock!
This ability directly attacked the mind of the target.
The victim could experience anything from temporary confusion and vulnerability to complete mental collapse and death!
Although Leslie’s level was far beneath Taylor’s, the kitsune’s power significantly narrowed the gap in their mental strength.
Caught off guard, Taylor’s mind was momentarily thrown into disarray.
In that split second, the black glow in Leslie’s hand intensified, and a miniature Dark Tower emerged from her palm, shooting toward Taylor’s shield.
The moment the Dark Tower touched his shield, it pierced through it effortlessly, the tower barely shuddering under the repelling force of the shield before dispelling it entirely.
His shield shattered, Taylor snapped out of his daze, disbelief flashing in his eyes.
His shield was strong enough to withstand the full force of a master-tier mage’s assault. Even a grandmaster-tier mage would need several strikes to break it.
But the Dark Tower had pierced through it as if the shield didn’t even exist.
“What… What is this thing?”
Taylor’s mind raced with confusion. From the tower, he sensed a threat greater than any magical artifact he’d ever encountered.
Clang!
As the Dark Tower was about to pierce Taylor’s body, he let out a low growl, a solid plate of protective armor forming over his chest like an impenetrable shield.
The tower slowed down, its radiance dimming slightly. Finally, the Dark Tower stopped after penetrating just an inch into his chest, drawing blood.
Blood trickled from the wound on Taylor’s chest, his expression momentarily dazed.
This long-forgotten sensation of pain stirred something within him—something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“You dare…”
Being injured by a diamond-tier mage was a humiliation unlike any Taylor had ever experienced.
His rage boiled over, and a violent magical storm erupted from him, sweeping both Leslie and the Dark Tower away.
Boom!
Enraged, Taylor’s aura surged wildly. The mana within a radius of dozens of miles was sucked into his body like water into a black hole.
In an instant, Taylor appeared before Leslie, who was still recovering from being thrown back.
He slammed his palm down onto the crown of her head, intending to knock her unconscious so he could torture her at his leisure.
Bang!
His palm, as heavy as a mountain and as fearsome as a prison, landed on Leslie’s forehead.
Mana followed, and her skull nearly shattered, blood gushing from her forehead.
Leslie’s head throbbed as if it had been struck with a hammer, her brain rattling inside her skull.
With just a single strike, Taylor had gravely wounded her.
Taylor chuckled coldly and was about to deliver another blow when he suddenly felt an extreme surge of madness radiating from Leslie.
“This… Burning your mana core… Are you insane?”
Taylor’s pupils contracted as he sensed Leslie’s rapidly rising aura.
In an instant, she had reached the master-tier level, and the mana swirling around her was filled with uncontrollable frenzy.
She was burning her mana core!
Burning one’s mana core was a desperate, suicidal tactic.
Once ignited, the mana core couldn’t be extinguished.
When the core was depleted, the mage would either become a cripple or die on the spot.
For any mage, this was the ultimate taboo—a path no mage would willingly take unless they had no other choice.
“From now on, this battle is to the death!”
Empowered by the terrifying surge of mana, Leslie’s forehead wound rapidly healed, and her body expanded.
A storm of ice and snow radiated from her, dropping the temperature drastically as countless snowflakes descended.
Simultaneously, the Dark Tower, bolstered by Leslie’s enhanced magic, hovered above Taylor’s head, casting down beams of black light that suppressed his aura.
As the gap between them narrowed, the feeling of danger within Taylor grew ever stronger.
…
Meanwhile, in the skies above the edge of Kyrik.
Owen was in constant contact with Dark Rose, asking for updates on Leslie and the imperial capital’s situation.
“Middle Earth, Pyrothrone Kingdom’s Archbishop… a grandmaster-tier mage named Taylor!”
Upon hearing the identity and strength of the person attacking the capital, Owen’s anxiety grew.
A grandmaster-tier mage was formidable even for him, and Leslie was in even greater danger.
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