Bound by the World, Helpless in the World

All around was quiet, and no one answered.

Li Shuyi was a little surprised, but she managed her expression well and did not show any astonishment.

Seeing that Kevin didn't respond, Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment and came up with the answer, then smiled and said:

"Master Kevin, I'm not kidding you this time, I'm really sure you're nearby!"

Back in the Frozen Ancient Tomb, Bai Xiaowen used a trick to lure out the Archmage Kevin, who was hiding in the shadows, and then used him to complete his Class Change quest.

Bai Xiaowen's words still went unanswered.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head and sighed, "Archmage Kevin, I've just fought a fierce battle and lost a crucial summoned Corpse Monster. I'm at my weakest point. If you don't act now, you'll truly have no chance later."

At this point, Bai Xiaowen paused, a smile appearing on his face, and said to Li Shuyi, "Since Master Kevin wants to continue hiding, let him hide. Let's go to the main node room ahead and recover our strength."

Li Shuyi nodded, and the two walked forward.

Before they had taken more than a few steps, a figure emerged from the shadows.

Kevin, dressed in a black robe, had a cold and stern expression.

"How did you find me?" Kevin asked as soon as he opened his mouth.

"I don't see the need for me to tell you," Bai Xiaowen shrugged. "Unless you're willing to offer something good in exchange, like spell feat books or invisibility potions, I might consider answering your questions for a fee."

Kevin felt a pang of heartache at the mere mention of spell feat books.

"No need. I'm not interested in how you found out. I only know a little bit now..."

Kevin stared at Bai Xiaowen, his face cold, and said, "You're bluffing."

"Huh?"

Ignoring Bai Xiaowen's astonishment, Kevin said clearly, word by word, "You just went through a great battle and lost half of your summoned creatures, including that crucial Stitched Corpse Monster! A summoner's skills are mostly contained in their summoned creatures. The death of your main combat summoned creatures means that your strength has been greatly weakened."

"Huh?"

Kevin snorted, "A cunning guy like you, deliberately putting on a confident act to lure me out, is suspicious in itself. If you were truly confident in dealing with me, you would have pretended not to know I was there, hoping to catch me off guard and deliver Deadly Strike at the crucial moment."

"Emmmm..."

Bai Xiaowen was speechless. Kevin the Archmage was indeed a clever man, but wasn't this internal monologue a bit excessive?

When Kevin saw Bai Xiaowen sigh and resigned himself to his fate, his confidence grew even stronger.

He concluded with certainty, "Stop with the pretense. I will absolutely not repeat the mistakes of two years ago. The Soul Stone is mine to begin with, and I remember the contract we made perfectly well! Now, it's time to fulfill the contract, Dio Skellboom."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "I remember the contract very clearly, but after the agreement was made, I gave you the Soul Stone directly, right? I had already fulfilled the contract. Later, you voluntarily returned the Soul Stone to me... Although I appreciate your generous gift, it's impossible for me to give it back to you."

Kevin was furious at the mere mention of this. Not wanting to waste any more words and allow Bai Xiaowen to regain more of his strength, he said in a deep voice:

"You're courting death!"

With a wave of his wand, Kevin unleashed a barrage of tiny Ice Spike, shooting out like a machine gun. Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and the summoned creatures were all within the range of the frost spikes.

After successfully slowing down, Kevin repeated his tactic, beginning to condense Frost Lance.

What a pity.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head with some regret and sighed slightly. If he could, he wouldn't want to provoke Kevin, such a formidable enemy, here. The existing S+ Elite Tier missions and SS-Tier Scavenger Elite Tier missions were the most important things, and Bai Xiaowen didn't want to create unnecessary trouble.

However, often, people are caught in a web of circumstances beyond their control.

With her left hand open, Bai Xiaowen immediately launched a Lucky Roll from the Whispering Grimoire.

This time the dice were really lucky, rolling a high number of 446, and I randomly got a three-star spell - Deep Freeze.

Ice flowers bloomed, Kevin felt a bone-chilling cold, interrupting his casting of the Frost Lance. Even more embarrassingly, Kevin's mouth involuntarily opened, and he repeated, "What a pity..."

Deep Freeze, in addition to causing frost damage, also has an effect similar to stun, not only blocking the opponent's movement but also freezing their mind.

Bai Xiaowen felt incredibly lucky to have drawn such a spell. He put away the Whispering Grimoire, gripped his gun with both hands, and Rapid Fire a barrage of fire, while his summoned creatures swarmed forward.

Li Shuyi lunged forward, Triple Stab her twin swords in quick succession. Although she had just fought the Death Knight Kael and was nearly exhausted, this was a crucial moment to test her willpower. She had no choice but to grit her teeth and do her best to deal damage.

As Advanced Boss, Kevin possessed great resilience and quickly broke free from the control of Deep Freeze. Facing the onslaught of melee enemies, he hurriedly waved his wand, casting an Frost Armor on himself.

This is thanks to the interruption of Frost Lance, because Frost Lance and Frost Armor are skills granted by "Frost Inscription" and cannot be cast simultaneously, requiring a certain global cooldown! The previous failure of Frost Lance meant that Kevin's Frost Inscription had not yet entered its global cooldown.

From Bai Xiaowen's perspective, it was equally impossible to let Kevin unleash a powerful single-target spell—he had already witnessed the power of the Frost Lance. Even Advanced Boss had their Life Value reduced by three or four hundred with a single blow; it was too terrifying, and neither Bai Xiaowen himself nor Li Shuyi could withstand it.

If he hadn't managed to get Deep Freeze, Bai Xiaowen would definitely have had to follow up with a Intimidation.

As the chilling energy of the Frost Armor spell surged, Bai Xiaowen immediately sent a telepathic message to Li Shuyi, telling her to stop. At the same time, he manipulated the remaining summoned creatures to slash at the enemy, depleting the energy of the Frost Armor's chilling energy.

One by one, the summoned creatures were temporarily frozen, and correspondingly, the frost energy of Kevin's Frost Armor weakened.

"Mirror image!"

Kevin swiftly cast an Arcane Inscription spell, a previously undetected ability— Mirror Image.

Four identical Kevin appeared on the field at the same time, each of them surrounded by the icy chill of the Frost Armor!

The mirror image itself has no offensive power, but Kevin used this move to help himself avoid being interrupted while casting spells.

The next second, the four Kevin waved their hands simultaneously, and dense flame energy condensed in the air! The chilling yin energy that lingered in the tomb was dispelled by this heavy and surging flame energy, making it feel as if one had entered the height of summer.

"That familiar starting stance..."

Bai Xiaowen's eyes narrowed slightly. Kevin was about to use the Dragon Breath, the spell that had shattered the nun's team two years ago!