Fire Mage

It was hard to imagine seeing such a sight this deep underground. Looking up, the rock strata that should have been overhead had been replaced by a dim yellow sky. Before them lay a huge, cold, lifeless city. They had emerged from a towering spire, with a broad stone bridge connecting it directly to the heart of the city.

The buildings throughout the city all shared the same architectural style, piled from dark black stone. Rather than houses, they looked more like spire-shaped tombstones, exuding an intense aura of deathly stillness.

This was the kingdom of Twilight and Eternity: Amber City.

Li Wen had never seen it in person, but she had studied it somewhat through the Strategy Group's internal records.

Amber City was an enormous city that did not belong to this era. It was broadly divided into three parts: the Outer City beyond the spires, the Inner City within them, and finally, at the heart of Amber City—the Amber Temple.

That was the Twilight Witch's only dwelling in the mortal world. It could be said that all of Amber City had been built by believers around the Amber Temple.

The Outer City was absolutely not a place to enter. It was filled mostly with exiled Elders and rebels. Having failed to pursue Perfect Amber, they had fallen into madness and were banished forever, forbidden from returning to Amber City. Since all who could arrive in Amber City were Elders, those exiled beings were likely still alive even now.

The Inner City was home to priests, nobles, and witches. Their sole mission was to serve the incarnation of the Twilight Witch residing within the temple. The Inner City was certainly less dangerous than the Outer City, because after the Twilight Pillar collapsed, all Twilight Believers had committed suicide in martyrdom and followed the Twilight Witch away.

But that did not mean the Inner City was safe. According to the Strategy Group's records, Elders still guarded the relics of those believers at certain key locations. Most importantly, the Amber Temple was home to the Daughters of Amber, eternal creations of the Twilight Lineage. In game-level terms, they were at least level fifty or above.

Fortunately, the Elders would not concern themselves with intruders in Amber City, while the Daughters of Amber remained in Long Slumber, waiting for the witch to awaken them once more.

Besides that, the Arcane Academy's Fire Mage might have arrived in Amber City ahead of them. He was probably their greatest threat at the moment.

Just as Li Wen was thinking this, an unknown mist enveloped them. She frowned slightly, then her heart stirred. Just as she was about to warn the others, she forcibly stopped herself. Without drawing attention, she retreated into the tower and patiently waited for her magic power to slowly recover.

"What a thick fog."

The players had just been immersed in the grandeur of the underground city when this white mist appeared from nowhere to disturb them. Naturally, they were not in a good mood.

"Everyone, be careful. There's something wrong with this fog."

Take shouted. Going by game design logic, a sudden change after entering a new map either meant monsters had appeared or a plot event had triggered. Either way, it was nothing good.

Yet before anyone could become fully alert, the male player at the front suddenly felt a wave of warmth rise from within his body. Then he watched his health plummet below zero percent in an instant.

To the other players, it looked as though he had been swallowed by flames in the blink of an eye, his entire body instantly turning into a human torch.

"Enemy!"

Take was the first to react. The others froze briefly before moving away from their teammate, who had already become a burning figure.

They had already prepared themselves for battle while outside. Though they had been caught off guard now, they were not incapable of fighting.

"Eleven o'clock! Footsteps!"

The female hunter player shouted. Before that, she had already drawn an arrow, nocked it, and fired toward that direction.

She used a recurve bow. In terms of raw power, it definitely could not compare to a high-poundage longbow, but a close-range hit would still be fatal.

Yet the arrow had been flying for some time, and she still had not heard any indication that it had struck anything.

With the white mist around them, her usefulness as the only ranged class had been greatly weakened. If she had known, she would have brought a hunting knife with her.

Take was exceptionally calm at this moment. They were currently standing on a broad stone bridge with almost no cover whatsoever. The one who had died early was a level-two Guard, and the only person carrying a shield. The remaining group consisted of two level-two warriors and one level-one hunter. No matter how she looked at it, they were not people who could take more than a couple of hits. Combined with this annoying white mist, the best choice was to retreat into the tower first, use the building's advantage to hold the entrance, and fight while maneuvering!

But before she could give the order, the white mist suddenly dispersed. Standing before them was a young man in a tattered mage robe, covered in blood. He had striking short red hair and dazzling golden pupils. More notably, his ears were long and pointed, not much different from those of players from the elven race.

"I thought those old fools from the Arcane Academy had sent people after me so quickly. I didn't expect a few mercenaries with a death wish instead. You're with those mercenaries transporting contraband, then? Damn it! How dare you waste my precious magic power!"

Take did not care what he was saying. The guy actually looked down on them so much. He was just a mage, yet he dared to rush right into their faces. Did he not know how death was spelled?

She made a hand signal, telling them to stall the enemy as much as possible and create an opportunity for the archer.

Take had a real-life friend who had changed into the mage class, so her understanding of mages far surpassed that of most ordinary players at present. Low-level mages were fragile. Their life essence was no stronger than that of ordinary people, and the scarcity of magic power was their greatest limitation. Every spell required corresponding materials, incantations, and gestures.

It could be said that if a mage dared to cast in front of an enemy, that was his greatest opening!

The hunter player slowly backed away while drawing her bow again. But she did not immediately loose the arrow, waiting instead for an opportunity.

The two warrior players had already charged forward. One wielded a two-handed longsword, while the other carried a flail.

The longsword-wielding player let out a low roar, and his speed immediately surged. He had already used Charge, the warrior class's universal skill, increasing his speed by an additional 20%.

The Fire Mage did not even spare him a proper glance. With a casual wave of his hand, the corpse of the player who had become a human torch instantly exploded. The flames created by the explosion seemed to be under someone's control, transforming into fire serpents that swallowed the charging player.

The hunter player's heart tightened. Seizing the opportunity, she fired an arrow. It passed through the flames and swiftly reached the Fire Mage, but just before it struck him, a transparent pale-red film appeared around the mage. As the arrow passed through the film, it instantly turned to ash.

A Magic Shield?

The hunter quickly understood. So it was not that she had missed before—the arrow had been directly blocked by this Magic Shield.

What now? Their only effective means of damage had been restricted. How were they supposed to fight this boss?