Teleportation

"Soothing Rain Spell." Jialan murmured.

Fluorescent droplets fell onto Katerina's arm, and the wound corroded by Dark Element healed at a visible rate. This was Jialan's most proficient healing spell. Though it was not as immediately effective as light magic, it was gentler and longer-lasting.

"Thank you." Katerina flexed her recovered arm, her gaze still sharp. "He went toward the swamp."

Jialan nodded and spread out his spiritual senses again. But this time, he could not sense anything. The necromancer seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind not even the slightest trace.

"He used some sort of secret technique," Jialan said with a frown. "He completely erased his aura and tracks."

Just as everyone was at a loss, Qiuqiu suddenly leaped down from Shadow's shoulder. Its tiny nose kept twitching, and the little creature looked unusually serious. It ran in one direction, occasionally stopping to look back at the others.

"Follow it," Shadow said without hesitation.

Qiuqiu led them along the edge of the swamp, moving faster and faster until it finally stopped before an ordinary-looking thicket. Its fur stood on end as it let out a warning cry.

A powerful surge of Dark Energy erupted from the thicket, revealing the necromancer. His black robe was badly torn, and strange runes covered the exposed skin beneath it. Clearly, he had not expected to be discovered by a squirrel.

"What a surprise," he said in a hoarse, grating voice. "I never thought even a squirrel could find my trail."

Jialan felt a powerful spiritual force lock onto him. It felt like a frog being watched by a venomous snake. The necromancer's gaze was full of greed, as though he were looking at a priceless treasure.

"What pure spiritual power," the necromancer said, licking his lips. "As long as I devour you, I'll be able to break through to the realm of a High Mage."

Before he finished speaking, a terrifying spiritual assault had already struck. Jialan felt an intense pain explode in his head, and his consciousness began to blur. Then he felt a warm spiritual force connect with his own. It was Qiuqiu!

The little squirrel's eyes turned a brilliant gold, and its spiritual power fused perfectly with Jialan's. The two forces intertwined, forming an impregnable barrier.

"This... Mental Fusion?" The necromancer staggered back a step in disbelief, his face turning even paler. Jialan keenly sensed that although his opponent's spiritual power was strong, he was already running out of strength.

"He's bluffing!" Jialan shouted. "He's already at his limit!" As he spoke, he began chanting an obscure, difficult spell. He did not dare pause for even a moment. This was their best chance to kill him.

A flash of madness crossed the necromancer's eyes. If he devoured Jialan, not only would his own injuries heal immediately, he might even advance to become a High Mage. His withered fingers clenched sharply, and Dark Element condensed in his palm into a pitch-black bolt of lightning. The air seemed to freeze, and even time became thick and sluggish. Jialan could feel every movement becoming extraordinarily difficult, as if he were struggling underwater.

"Watch out!" Katerina warned, but it was already too late.

The black lightning shot toward Jialan at astonishing speed, swallowing even the light along its path. His spiritual power screamed warnings, but his body could not keep up with the speed of his thoughts. At that critical moment, his consciousness suddenly entered a strange state—everything around him slowed down. He could even clearly see every strand of Dark Element flickering within the black lightning.

Jialan's hands remained in their casting gesture, ice-blue light dancing at his fingertips. Driven by instinct, his body made an incredible movement. Just as the black lightning was about to strike him, his figure suddenly blurred. The next moment, he was already three meters away.

"What?!" The necromancer's pupils contracted sharply. Shock appeared on his pale face for the first time. "Teleportation? That's impossible!"

Not only him—even Argyle and the others revealed expressions of disbelief. Teleportation was a technique only Archmages could master, requiring extremely precise spiritual control and elemental affinity. Yet Jialan was only a low-level mage!

Jialan himself was stunned by the accident. At the brink of life and death, he had instinctively used Teleportation. He had analyzed this spell before, but only out of curiosity. After all, his current realm was still far too distant from that of an Archmage, and he had never even attempted it. Yet in that moment of danger, for some unknown reason, the spell came to mind—and he actually succeeded.

The necromancer quickly recovered from his shock, and an even madder fire ignited in his eyes. "A genius! The perfect vessel! As long as I devour your spiritual power..."

His words came to an abrupt halt as an ice-blue ray pierced through his chest. Jialan's casting had never been interrupted. He completed the spell even as he moved. The Ice Ray struck the necromancer's heart with perfect accuracy, and Dark Element began to disperse from within his body.

"You..." The necromancer looked down at the wound in his chest, his face filled with unwillingness and disbelief. "To die by your hand... is not... a loss..." As he spoke, he fell heavily to the ground. His body began to collapse, turning into wisps of smoke that vanished into the air.

Jialan felt as though his body had been hollowed out. That emptiness was harder to endure than any pain. His vision began to blur, a buzzing filling his ears, and even standing steadily became extraordinarily difficult.

"Jialan!" Argyle's voice seemed to come from far away. The Light Knight caught the swaying mage, and the cold touch of his armor made Jialan slightly more lucid.

"I'm fine..." Jialan forced out, his voice so hoarse it barely sounded like his own. "I just overdrawn my magic power..." That Teleportation had consumed four-fifths of his magic power at once. After using Ice Ray, his Mana Pool had completely dried up. He could no longer cast even the simplest spell.

Jialan took a crystal bottle from his Spatial Bag. It contained a pale blue liquid. "This is a Moonlight Potion. It can restore some magic power in an emergency, but a full recovery will take at least a day." After drinking it, Jialan felt slightly better, but the emptiness still lingered.

He leaned against a tree trunk and watched the others clean up the battlefield. The necromancer's corpse had completely dissipated, leaving behind only a few scattered items.