'?'
After seeing the Magus's true appearance clearly, Li Ye tilted his head instinctively.
A huge question mark seemed to appear above his head.
Was that part of the magecraft too?
Li Ye knew that the Magus before him possessed extremely advanced life-transformation magecraft. Who knew whether this appearance was even her original one?
"Traitors who forsake the Holy Emblem shall receive Holy Punishment!"
The Magus did not answer Li Ye's question, and Li Ye immediately gave up on the idea of asking nicely.
The gray-haired Magus felt a violent gust of wind rush at her—
Squelch!
A spray of blood burst forth as the arm holding the sword flew high into the air.
"Why do you think I kept wasting words on you?" Li Ye's sinister whisper sounded beside the Magus's ear. His warm breath brushed over her earlobe, sending goosebumps across her body.
At that moment, the Magus felt piercing agony flood her brain as scarlet blood instantly dyed the yellow sand red!
"Ghk!"
The Magus had no time to think. She was about to flee from Li Ye while casting magecraft to heal her wound!
But Li Ye's next warning shattered the Magus's final resistance. "Next time, it'll be your other arm and leg. Want to try?"
The bloodstained sword tip pressed against the Magus's spine, as though it would pierce her body with the slightest exertion!
After exchanging blows, Li Ye had determined that this Magus was no match for him.
She could create Chimera on the level of Servants, but her own abilities were nowhere near that level.
"I'll only ask you three questions. If you lie even once, I'll send you to meet the other Crusaders—"
Li Ye applied a little force, and the blade sliced through her cloak before piercing her skin.
A line of blood slowly ran down the blade.
Most of the Magus's focus was on her severed arm. She had barely managed to stop the bleeding with all her strength, and she could only press her lips together, pale-faced, in response to Li Ye's questioning.
"Where did your people take my companion?"
Although Li Ye did not think this group had what it took to threaten Nitocris, he decided to find her first just to be safe.
"She... she was taken into the barrier—" Under the threat of death, the Magus stammered out her answer.
Not a fanatic? There was still room to negotiate? Li Ye was surprised that the Magus had spoken so easily.
To be honest, Li Ye had already prepared himself for her to resist unto death.
Just as Li Ye was about to continue questioning her—
"!"
Li Ye suddenly raised his head and looked up at the sky.
An incomparably violent fluctuation of magical energy came from above.
Crack—
A crisp sound of breaking rang out.
The next instant, the sky collapsed!
The sandstorm swirling through the heavens collapsed along with it, pouring down from the sky like a waterfall.
It formed an azure canopy over a thousand meters wide, centered around Li Ye and the others!
"Miss Nitocris!"
As the sky collapsed, Li Ye saw Nitocris's lovely silhouette once more.
Nitocris stood high in the sky, magical energy continuously surging around her.
Dozens of ferocious wraiths roared through the heavens.
So it was in the sky!
Li Ye instantly realized why he had not noticed it. The barrier had been moved into the sky, where the sandstorm provided natural cover!
Then Li Ye noticed several figures falling from the sky.
The mangled corpses of monsters identical to the Chimera he had encountered earlier fell in pieces, along with three humanoid Magi dressed in black!
Three accomplices. Was that all of them?!
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Ye immediately went all out!
Crimson magical energy surged skyward, taking the shape of a Red Dragon and swallowing the entire azure canopy in an instant!
It was as if a Red Dragon had truly descended!
The gray-haired Magus, standing extremely close to Li Ye, rolled her eyes back and collapsed straight to the ground!
Li Ye paid no heed to the unconscious Magus and violently kicked off the ground.
Boom!!
The earth caved in, leaving behind a crater as though it had been struck by artillery fire. Great swathes of yellow sand poured into it!
Li Ye shot into the sky like a thunderbolt, closing in on the falling enemy figures within a breath!
Seeing Li Ye make his move, Nitocris decisively withdrew her attack and descended to the ground.
The next instant—
Layer upon layer of mirrors unfolded in the sky, blocking Li Ye's path of advance!
Li Ye understood the mirrors' purpose almost immediately.
The suddenly converging sunlight focused entirely on Li Ye!
This special device, composed of nearly a hundred layers of polygonal mirrors, did not rely on magical energy to generate heat. Simply concentrating sunlight produced an immense and deadly thermal force!
Crash—
Nearly a hundred layers of mirrors shattered at once, and the so-called sunlight was utterly powerless before Li Ye!
"What?!"
Before the Magi could cry out in alarm, a sudden shadow swallowed the sky above their heads.
When their eyes met those pale-gold vertical pupils, they naturally noticed the vast magical energy overflowing from Li Ye—
Mana Burst
As magical energy surged through his entire body, Li Ye also began charging his attack!
And now, the charge was complete!
Li Ye had no intention of talking. He mercilessly brought his sword down!
The crimson torrent ravaging the heavens was Dragon's Breath, which destroyed all things and burned away the world—
Crack.
When Li Ye landed steadily back on the ground, he found that all the yellow sand within dozens of meters had crystallized, glittering brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
After confirming that the Magi were thoroughly dead, Li Ye hurried to reunite with Nitocris.
"Miss Nitocris, how did they take you away?"
To ensure that nothing similar happened again, Li Ye felt it necessary to understand the details.
When the gloomy Nitocris heard Li Ye's question, her voice rose several pitches. "Those insolent wretches launched a surprise attack while I was unprepared and deployed a small barrier similar to an Inherent Barrier..."
Li Ye understood what happened next. Inside the barrier, the three Magi and their Chimera had only exchanged a few blows with Nitocris before she forcibly shattered the barrier.
The barrier was secondary. The main issue was their ability to conceal their presence—
Li Ye snapped his fingers, realizing the key point.
The barrier used by these Magi was not particularly strong, but it had separated him from Nitocris before either of them could react. The greatest factor was their technique for concealing magical-energy fluctuations.
Without dwelling on the matter, Nitocris asked about the dozen or so missing Crusaders and the gray-haired Magus lying unconscious on the ground.
"Oh, right. This one was with them."
Li Ye briefly explained what had happened, then had Nitocris use magecraft to forcibly wake the Magus.
"Cough, cough—"
The pale-faced Magus could not stop herself from coughing up blood. Using her remaining left arm, she struggled to turn over.
Naturally, she saw Li Ye and Nitocris looking down at her.
Li Ye ignored the Magus's furious expression and casually pointed at her. "Miss Nitocris, this person seems to be a former colleague of mine. Can I handle them myself?"
Although Li Ye did not know this Magus, and he had not even worked for the Crusaders for more than a few minutes, strictly speaking, they had indeed been colleagues.