You're kidding me? This is a high-level mage!?

This legendary Mage, said to appear once in a century, possesses reaction speeds and coping mechanisms that defy the limits of ordinary comprehension.

In their minds, even Warlocks who cast magic through bloodline instincts didn't react this quickly. While the Priest was still struggling to concentrate and chant an exorcism spell, Downs's chain lightning had already struck.

His incantation was even simpler: "In the name of Ampere—"

Ampere?

Who?

A new god they didn't know?

Before they could react, the dancing electrical light had already shattered their perceptions.

No friendly fire! No misses!

Purple-blue lightning, thicker than a person's thigh, pierced through the charging vengeful spirits like skewers on a barbecue, linking them together with ease.

The distorted, incomplete faces of the vengeful spirits, twisted by madness and emitting pained moans, now seemed to have been electrocuted into existence by Downs...

(A certain unscrupulous spectator mused: Does my disciple have the talent to be a Professor Yang?)

"Waaahhhhh..."

The terrifying pale white in the vengeful spirits' eyes was forcibly dyed purple. Their monstrous, ethereal bodies completely disintegrated under the powerful lightning, transforming from semi-transparent phantoms into dissipating nothingness.

Being able to electrocute over a hundred vengeful spirits in one go was already incredible. What was even more outrageous was that the leaping electrical light remained under Downs's control from beginning to end.

Several times, it nearly touched the bodies or armor of his companions. Yet, even when his companions instinctively moved, the electrical light made inexplicable refractions at the last moment, bouncing away again.

In their field of vision, almost all the vengeful spirits were cleared.

Just then, the Ranger suddenly cried out, "Careful!"

Before her companions could react, she loosed an arrow.

Hit, but useless!

The [Swarm Shot], imbued with the natural power of the forest, was completely absorbed by the large animated wooden cabinet. The spiraling arrow exploded a drawer, but passed through the cabinet from the other side, failing to halt its downward momentum.

At this critical moment, the Warrior, the strongest person present, had yet to recover from the vengeful spirits' [Frenzy] psychic attack.

In a flash, a sharp lightning whip lashed out at the mid-air.

"Bang!"

This medium-sized animated creature, at least high-tier in strength, was torn to shreds by Downs's mid-range attack. Splinters of wood imbued with spiritual energy scattered like a shower of petals.

"Hiss—" While their companions felt guilty for not being able to assist Downs in time, they all gasped in unison.

This kind of response, this all-around combat style, was this truly the 'newly-emerged' novice Mage he claimed to be?

Downs's companions were secretly shocked. A certain eavesdropping knock-off Mage also relaxed their tense hearts.

For a moment, Lein almost wanted to control Laifu to cast a fireball at that thing. Immediately after, Lein realized he was being too nervous, and that he was acting like a worried old father.

Here, having weathered the initial large-scale assault, things proceeded much more smoothly.

Not every vengeful spirit charged forward at the first moment. While the main force was in motion, a few vengeful spirits were still doing something unknown, either entangled with their mortal enemies, or another vengeful spirit who was theoretically their companion, or continuing to futilely scratch at stone slabs and doors.

Seeing that there were few monsters left, the Priest Pat voluntarily took on the task of dispelling the spirits: "Your Excellency, conserve your magic. You will surely need your spells later."

"Yes! Leave it to us," the other three said in unison.

If they had initially harbored doubts about this high-tier Mage of mysterious origin, after witnessing Downs's brilliant and swift combat performance, all their doubts vanished.

Putting everything else aside, just this ability to handle both close and long-range combat proved that Downs's skill level was absolutely top-tier among high-tier mages.

Hmph! Warlock?

What Warlock?

Never heard of them! Let's not keep in touch, we're afraid the esteemed Mage might misunderstand.

Moreover, this was a Mage's domain, and they would need to rely on the mage later. Keeping their mage in peak condition was indirectly increasing their survival rate.

The monsters began to be picked off one by one.

Fifteen minutes later, the central courtyard fell completely silent.

After a brief rest, the group consulted the map provided by Kingdom and proceeded towards the Mage's workshop, theoretically located on the highest floor.

Just as the four thought Downs's performance had peaked, who knew that Downs was merely warming up!

Having endured long periods of hard training, Downs was already bursting with pent-up energy. When he saw the densely packed, heavily armored warriors marching towards them with heavy footsteps, his eyes flashed with brilliance, his excitement utterly unconcealed.

After all, he had studied [Science] for so long, and apart from that time in Ramanque City, he had absolutely no practical combat experience.

Finally catching an opportunity to act openly, Downs was naturally filled with fighting spirit.

The Priest Pat kindly reminded him, "Your Excellency Quijote, be careful. Those are Dreadguards. They are not undead, and their quality is very high."

Theoretically, any mage with the [Construct Creation] specialization could modify any set of heavy armor into a [Dreadguard].

In actual combat, even the most inferior Dreadguard was enough to give a formal adventurer team a hard time, let alone this group of terrifying iron behemoths, each clearly a size larger than normal and standing at least two meters tall.

In all the monster manuals of the Adventurer's Guild, it was always safe to increase the threat level of any monster that was a size larger than standard by one notch.

The Warrior Huan gripped his shield with both hands, but no matter how he imagined it, he could only block three at most at any one time.

Shadow Dagger felt his head buzzing. The cost of any single Dreadguard in his sight was no less than 5,000 gold coins. In the world of mages, "expensive" was often synonymous with "good"! These magical constructs before him were definitely the opponents he least wanted to face. "Sir, a temporary retreat is not a disgrace. We can make full preparations and return."

Downs's lips curled: "I am that full! PREPARATION!"

As his voice fell, all four felt a sense of shock:

Rumor had it that this Downs had abandoned his knightly title to pursue magic single-mindedly. He had succeeded in his studies, but his mind seemed to remain impaired!

No, it seemed now that his mind wasn't just impaired, he was simply courting death!

Didn't he even consider his own strength?

The enemy had arrived!

The skull emblem on the Dreadguard's shield seemed to sneer. The studs on their shoulder and elbow joints were stained with a bloody, reddish-brown hue. The two points of light unique to constructs flickered with a cold glint in the center of their terrifying bull-horned helmets. Dozens of Dreadguard formed a torrent of death, charging straight at the five-person team.

"In the name of Tesla, I bestow upon you destruction!"

Downs roared, his magic surging. Purple-blue electric snakes, crackling and popping, flickered into existence from the void. They coiled around Downs like living creatures.

The next moment, with a push of his palms, hundreds of lightning snakes transformed into all-devouring dragons, roaring as they surged towards the Dreadguard.

A continuous tide of electricity filled the spacious corridor.

What iron flood?

Ridiculous!

In the face of a more ferocious waterfall of lightning, what difference were these Dreadguard from targets on a shooting range?

"Rumble!"

Each Dreadguard, weighing at least three hundred pounds, was like a scarecrow blown away by a hurricane, easily tossed aside, whipped by lightning, and torn apart by immense force.

After the lightning tempest, the scene was a mess. The once imposing Dreadguard cluster was now like a pile of broken dolls, scattered haphazardly throughout the corridor. Some parts were embedded in the walls, impossible to remove.

"This..." the rogue John swallowed.

"Are ancient mages this strong?" Christine asked the elder priest Pat in a low voice.

The old Pat wiped his sweat, forcing himself to believe what he was seeing, and estimated, "No, I heard from older bishops that mages in the past were definitely not this strong."

The warrior Huan laughed: "Who was talking about retreating just now?"

John shrunk his head in shame.

Damn it! The fool who didn't know his own strength was me!?