Legendary Battle (Part One)

The night grew deeper.

Twelve consecutive hours of long-distance travel had left many people utterly exhausted. Even the warriors, whose physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people, wore visible fatigue on their faces. A caravan guard's job was not simply to follow the caravan; scouting, fighting, and standing watch along the way were all mentally taxing. Under normal circumstances, they traveled for less than six hours a day. But the Mysterious Woman had not given the order to stop, so everyone could only continue onward, even as quite a few people began to complain.

Soren was exceptionally quiet in the darkness.

His figure was slightly hazy, as though the night itself had wrapped around him.

The road ahead was getting worse and worse.

They had traveled far from Amber City, and these roads had not seen travelers in a long time. Only when they came within roughly fifty kilometers of the next city would the roads gradually improve, as traces of human activity became more common there. The Mysterious Woman looked very cautious. Rather than returning to the large carriage, she stood atop it and watched the road ahead, occasionally turning back to glance in Amber City's direction.

Suddenly.

Her delicate brows furrowed as she focused on the distance. She snorted coldly. "They actually dared use divination magic on me!"

A flash of cold light appeared.

A dark golden card emerged at the Mysterious Woman's fingertips. Its back bore a nine-pointed star array, while the front vaguely showed the outline of a crown.

Soren's eyesight was not good enough to see it clearly.

In an instant.

Even the stars in the sky seemed to dim. The Mysterious Woman's expression carried the fury of someone who had been provoked. Strange syllables spilled from her lips, and the air around them seemed to freeze solid. The caravan guards gathered around her of their own accord, ignoring even the nearby merchants and goods. It seemed that, in their eyes, the Mysterious Woman's safety mattered most. A wizard was at their most vulnerable while casting a spell; no one could be allowed to approach her at such a time.

"Su... au... so..."

Spell incantations consisted of strange monosyllables and polysyllables, unlike the language normal people used to communicate. Without specialized training, it was difficult even to produce such sounds. (Spellcasting Language, Spellcasting Gestures. Basic Specialization.)

A brilliant light appeared.

The Mysterious Woman wore a cold smile as she slowly withdrew the card. With a slight weariness, she waved her hand. "It's safe now."

"There will be a lake ahead. We'll make camp there."

Amber City.

In a mysterious underground chamber, the red-robed priest standing atop the altar suddenly shuddered. Then he spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale as gold paper as he muttered, "The divination failed!"

"Someone interfered with my divination spell." Spell Resistance, Divination Resistance

"The other party may be a wizard close to legendary rank! The Divine Child's aura has already been concealed by him!"

"Awaken the Dread Knights at once!"

"The Divine Child will awaken amid the aura of despair and fear. At that time, our lord's will can descend upon him."

"Begin the sacrificial ritual now."

Fallen prayers echoed through the dark underground chamber. The black-robed followers slit the throats of the sacrifices with daggers, and blood flowed along the sinister array, seeping bit by bit into the surrounding marble coffins. Waves of necromantic energy began to spread, and an aura of destruction from the Abyss shrouded the area. One marble coffin after another turned to powder amid the rampaging energy storm. Accompanied by the heavy clang of armor, eight Dread Knights clad from head to toe in jet-black heavy armor rose to their feet.

Their pupils were blood-red, as though flames burned within them. From the very instant they awoke, merciless slaughter had already descended upon the underground chamber.

The Dread Knights drew their heavy executioner swords and began slaughtering the evil god's followers within the chamber.

Blood and severed limbs flew everywhere!

The red-robed priest had apparently not expected this to happen. His entire body went rigid before he collapsed limply onto the altar.

A piercing neigh rang out.

Blood gathered amid words that blasphemed the gods. The Dread Knights dropped to one knee and plunged their black executioner swords into the magic array. Then, amid blazing flames, Nightmares charged forth one after another from the depths of the blood-red void!

Without a word.

The Dread Knights mounted their steeds. Phantoms of vengeful souls could be seen upon their mottled black cloaks, while scorching flames burned beneath the Nightmares' hooves. Raising their executioner swords, they charged straight into the underground chamber walls, which were more than two meters thick.

Rumble!

The sound of silent collapse and cracking echoed.

The Nightmares ran upon the air, leaving trails of flame behind them as they smashed through the underground chamber walls and charged all the way up to the surface.

"Dread Knight Legendary (Fifth Tier)."

"Challenge Level 16, Creature Level 24, Greater Undead."

"Maximum attribute 25 points, minimum attribute 15 points, total attribute value 95-110 points."

"Special Specialization: Legendary Executioner Sword, Greater Charge, Nightmare Mount, Raise Undead, Unholy Blight, Fear Aura, Death Aura, Abyss Knight, Destruction Attack, Sundering Slash, Sword Momentum Decapitation, Sword Momentum Waist Slash, Sword Momentum Fallen Cross Slash."

"Challenge Difficulty: A+."

"Nightmare Demon (Fourth Tier)."

"Challenge Level 12, Creature Level 18, Large Extraplanar Creature."

"Maximum attribute 21 points, minimum attribute 12 points, total attribute value 90-100 points."

"Special Specialization: Flame Hooves, Greater Charge, Darkvision, Flying Run, Powerful Charge, Demon Resistance, Extraplanar Creature."

"Challenge Difficulty: A-."

The night was quiet.

After a full day of arduous travel, everyone cheered when they finally reached the campsite.

At last, they could rest.

Although it was nearly midnight, the hands still hurried to fetch water and start fires, tossing food into large pots to simmer. They had eaten dry rations all day and now wanted nothing more than a bowl of hot soup before sleeping soundly. The caravan guards still did not dare lower their guard. They began assigning night watches and setting up a simple perimeter. Water sources were gathering places for wild beasts, and under normal circumstances, they should never camp here. But since it was their mistress's arrangement, they could only obey.

There were only two people in the group who looked uneasy. One was Soren. He had not expected the Mysterious Woman to be a witch of at least Professional Level 16, with one foot already in the legendary realm. There were not many witches like her in the entire Northlands. At the very least, they would be members of the Witch Council, with status equivalent to that of a minor city lord in the Southern Duchy.

There was no reason for such a distinguished spellcaster to travel outside while escorting a caravan. Even if a normal Northlands caravan had a witch among its ranks, her Professional Level would not exceed 12. (There had once been many attacks on Northlands caravans.)

Unless she had some special mission!

If she truly bore some special task, then Soren and Vivian traveling with the caravan might not be a good thing.

They could very easily be drawn into other dangerous incidents.

The other uneasy person was the caravan's mysterious mistress. Her gaze remained fixed on the distance, in the direction of Amber City. It was as though something terrible had happened there, and a faint trace of worry showed on her face.

Time passed bit by bit.

The hands prepared food for the night, and the caravan guards began eating in shifts. Soren was also given a serving of fragrant, rich soup.

Perhaps she had truly been exhausted by the day's journey. The Little Girl ate quickly, and sleepiness showed faintly on her delicate little face.

Soren did not eat.

He first set up their tent, then scattered powder around it to drive away poisonous insects. Only then did he carry the drowsy Vivian inside.

But just as Soren was about to eat something—

He suddenly raised his head and looked toward Amber City, as though struck by a lingering sense of dread. In an instant, he drew his curved blade and sprinted toward a nearby slope.

The mysterious mistress of the caravan arrived before him.

In the distance—

The horizon was ablaze with red!

It looked as though a vast expanse of fiery clouds had suddenly appeared in the middle of the night.

At this moment—

They were already more than a hundred li from Amber City. They could not see the extent of the fiery clouds, but both of them knew that this had probably happened at Amber City.

A ninth-circle spell!

—Meteor Swarm Legendary!!! (Caster Level Requirement: 20)

This was not the first time Soren had seen this spell used, but the sight of it still filled him with shock.

It was one of the easiest legendary spells to learn—one of the ninth circle.

It required a wizard to reach Professional Level 20. Professionals had once calculated its destructive power to be equivalent to eight land-based Tomahawk missiles conducting concentrated bombardment over an area five kilometers wide. Back then, a legendary warrior had joked that anyone who could withstand this spell's attack could endure a blanket barrage of air-to-ground missiles in reality.

Among all Professionals—

Only warriors and barbarians in the legendary realm probably dared claim they could withstand a ninth-circle spell head-on.

The first warrior to advance into the legendary realm had once posted a video of himself bathing in lava, giving countless people an enormous shock!

Warriors, once considered the most miserable class, finally entered a period of explosive glory.

Unfortunately—

Too few warriors survived long enough to enter the legendary realm.