Feiyin River 2

Feiyin River 2

Just as the elf, Terrence, and the others stared at one another in astonishment, the mage finished preparing his large-scale spell.

The swiftly flowing river reversed course, gathering toward the riverbed and rising higher and higher until it became a towering wall of water over ten meters tall. The thunderous roar of the water drowned out everything. Amid that immense noise, the water wall transformed into a dark-blue giant hand.

Spraying droplets everywhere, the giant hand crashed down. Terrence and the others, trapped beneath its enormous palm, had no way to evade. Terrence's expression was so grim it seemed water could drip from it. A dazzling white light shone from the tip of his staff. He had never expected that the Arcane caster who had come alone to intercept them was a Grand Arcanist capable of using large-scale magic. With power like this, that unknown Arcanist had to be at least ninth rank.

The white light at the tip of his staff was thick and powerful, forcefully piercing through the hand formed of river water. Yet it only tore apart one section, and the water quickly filled the gap again. Terrence chose to disperse the palm again and again to weaken the spell's power, but he was not fast enough. Before he could completely break the spell apart, the enormous hand slammed down over their heads.

The Paladin in enchanted armor decisively raised his shield. A faint glow—so pale it was nearly colorless—spread from the shield engraved with the image of the Light Goddess. It was an ability unique to warrior-type classes.

Boom— The tremendous shock of the collision made the ground tremble. The scattered spray—no, it could no longer be called spray—great sheets of broken river water crashed over the nearby earth, dead trees, withered grass, and every person present, soaking them all.

The elf was drenched to the bone, but she had no time to care about that.

The high-ranking Paladin who had taken the mage's attack head-on coughed up blood. His expression was terrible, and he was clearly badly injured. Terrence's healing spell came in time. Under the glowing mass of surging sacred power, the Paladin quickly recovered and returned to battle. Odovish, however, did not immediately make another move.

Elufiel looked at the mage. "You're as pale as a ghost, Mr. Lone Wolf." As she spoke, she did not forget to add a Power Word: Shield to him.

"What if I had never intended to catch up, or couldn't find the way?" The elf spoke rapidly as she irritably cast restorative buff spells on both herself and the mage. "Oh, yes. I suppose you need this more."

The elf began chanting a beautiful holy hymn. Odovish felt his depleted Arcane energy replenish completely within mere seconds. He gave the elf a surprised look, then quickly regained his composure, his eyes carrying a delight only he understood.

"Of course, I had a few special little tricks." Odovish touched the ring on his thumb, set with a blood-red gemstone. "But now, they're no longer needed."

Vincent, the high-ranking Paladin, charged toward them. Odovish used Blink to leave his original position, and several fireballs abruptly appeared before Vincent. Naturally, the mage knew full well that they posed no threat to a high-ranking Paladin. Their only purpose was to obstruct his vision. The Paladin's longsword split apart the fireballs, but the scattering sparks forced him to slow down. That instant of delay was enough.

Elufiel cast Angelic Feather, stepping on the golden feather as she nimbly moved out of the Paladin's attack path.

Odovish formed a complicated hand sign with both hands. As he chanted, a spell resembling Arcane Missiles appeared behind Vincent. In the elf's view, whatever the spell truly was, it looked very much like Arcane Missiles. Several purple conical projectiles, trailing brilliant tails of light, flew toward the Paladin, who had no time to defend himself.

Terrence hurriedly swung his staff toward the Paladin, clearly intending to erect a shield for him. However, he seemed to have forgotten Elufiel was there.

A Silence from the elf directly cut off all of Terrence's follow-up actions. Immediately afterward, the Paladin was struck by Arcane Missiles and collapsed helplessly to the ground. The armor that had faintly glowed lost its luster. His chest still rose and fell slightly, thanks to the finely crafted protective enchantments. Unfortunately, they would never be able to function again.

Elufiel had never hesitated when dealing with enemies. It was a lesson disaster and war had taught her. Terrence had been deemed an enemy, so the elf's attacks were precise and ruthless.

During the duration of Silence, the elf completed a channeled Penance. Three arcs of glowing Holy Light energy circled toward Terrence, and the holy damage made the archbishop spit blood from the corner of his mouth.

Before the other Paladins could rush forward to protect the bishop, the elf cast two Angelic Feathers in succession, nimbly maneuvering around their attacks. Holy Nova and Arcane Explosion detonated at the same time. Golden and purple spheres of light intertwined. Though they had never worked together before, they displayed astonishing coordination. Elufiel watched the mage suddenly Blink into existence before her and tilted her head. "Hey, you almost ran into me, okay?"

"We don't have much time." Odovish looked at Terrence.

"What?" Elufiel did not understand. "There's only one person left. I can deal with him alone." As she spoke, she cast Shadow Word: Pain at Terrence, whose Silence had ended.

Just as she was about to follow up with a Holy Fire to end the battle, Odovish stopped her. The mage activated a prearranged spell, and vast frost gathered around Terrence until it completely encased the archbishop.

"I need an explanation." Elufiel folded her arms. "You put an Ice Block on an enemy?" What Odovish had used on Terrence could not really be the Ice Block familiar to her, the spell mages used to avoid damage, could it?

"It's only an Ice Bind. It'll melt soon enough." The mage no longer paid attention to Terrence, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture. He moved to the "corpse" by the river, crouched down, and examined it carefully. "The Holy See has special methods of communication. If I'm not mistaken, the other members of the Holy See have already learned that Terrence was attacked. The nearest diocese will soon organize a rescue or a purge."