Mage King vs. Bone King

Inside the blocked area, a bright spot appears in the water, then expands violently.

The injected magical energy formed a solid barrier, forcefully pushing the water outwards, revealing a spherical vacuum area.

The next moment, Abidal arrived from across the astral plane.

He looks very old.

His pale hair floated slowly inside the shield, and his skin clung to his bones. Wrinkles stretched even to the tips of his long ears, yet he did not appear weak, as if he had been tempered and refined over many years.

Abdullah squinted and raised his hand to attack the second giant salamander.

This time, the giant salamander lay prone on the bottom of the water. The moment it detected the anomaly, its four mechanical legs immediately sprang out, propelling the salamander upwards at an angle.

As soon as it left, the transparent force field slammed into the ground beneath it like a heavy hammer. Black volcanic rock shattered into pieces, held down by the high pressure of the deep water, tumbling and spreading along the ground.

The belly of the Axolotl II was hit by the aftershocks of the explosion, and the attitude control system immediately corrected itself, turning the aircraft toward the enemy.

Target hazard level assessed: highest level!

The salamander sent an alarm to the rear, and all the torpedo launch bays were deployed. The rocket engine emitted a piercing whistle, and cavitation was expelled.

Boiling water, six tracks intersecting and correcting, accelerated towards Abidaqi.

The passage was very narrow, and Abidal did not choose to dodge.

He flicked his hand and unleashed several water blades, while simultaneously his Magic Power surged, causing runes on his robes to light up in succession, and a dozen semi-transparent, sheet-like shields to unfold on his outer side.

They were thin and sharp, spinning rapidly around Abidal.

"Shield Technique!"

Boom boom boom!

The three torpedoes were shattered by the intercepting water blades.

The remaining three torpedoes were stopped by Abidal's free-floating shield. The white cavities created by the explosions expanded rapidly in the deep water, only to be flattened by the water, resembling a few prematurely withered flowers.

The near-annihilating power released at the point of impact, after being reduced in distance, finally struck Abidal's main shield.

Even so, the impact jolted Abidal, pushing him backward and causing his back to slam into the rocks at the edge of the collapsed area.

Abdachi pointed his staff, and six shockwaves shot out toward the second giant salamander.

The giant salamander tried to dodge, but to no avail.

The mechanical joints were severed, the wheel assembly tumbled in the water with sparks flying, and the fuselage was torn open once again, exposing the wiring and hydraulic lines.

His mangled body lay sprawled among the rocks.

The core equipment struggled to transmit its final combat data before going completely out of service.

****

Inside the underground palace, Su Ming sensed something was wrong before the giant salamander encountered its enemy.

That was a mysterious fluctuation, as if the space within that dimension was being torn apart!

"Go!" Su Ming quickly issued the evacuation order. "A formidable enemy!"

Everyone quickly moved toward the breach. Yise was the first to arrive, grabbed the steel cable hanging from the pillar, and fastened the lock to his body.

The sounds of explosions from the battle between the salamanders carried over, and a layer of dust fell from the top of the underground palace.

Zijin was somewhat puzzled.

How did the enemy get here?

"Short-range teleportation!" Su Ming quickly explained, "Abidaqi!"

Zijin was taken aback.

"Transportation in deep water?"

"Abidal can actually do that!"

Short-distance teleportation is a possibility in calculations, but teleportation in deep water is an extremely difficult task.

The slightest mistake could cause it to hit the water and split apart; improper control could even result in being crushed.

"Abidal's ability to teleport underwater is a bad thing, but it's also an opportunity to kill him!" Su Ming said.

Yise swung the steel cable over, and Simina fastened it as well. Then she reached out and hooked the lock onto Su Ming.

Su Ming then shoved the manual detonator into the little bone dragon's hand.

"Go, honey!"

Zijin clicked her tongue, but she did indeed intend to take down Abidaqi at this moment.

Su Ming unleashed his Magic Power, drawing the surrounding skeletons together. The bones scattered throughout the underground palace rose into the air, disassembling and rotating under the pull of the grayish-white Magic Power, before being pieced together onto the little bone dragon.

A moment later, a massive skeleton resembling Zijin Bone Dragon appeared in the center of the underground palace.

Yise pressed the winch button.

The steel cable taut, Su Ming's body was suddenly pulled by the force, flying towards the breach along with Yise and Simina.

"Bye-bye, Auntie!" Yise waved.

The bone dragon raised its enlarged bone claws, shooed the three away with disdain, and then pressed the detonation button.

****

When Abidal arrived at the entrance to the underground palace, he saw three people wearing thick masks and carrying strange equipment, being pulled by a steel cable, filing out of the shattered rock wall of the underground palace.

They quickly left through the murky, deep water, while a massive bone dragon stood ready to block their path, clearly covering their retreat.

Abidaji had reviewed the relevant intelligence and recognized it almost instantly.

"Owl!"

This one is definitely the most difficult Saint Rank to deal with in the Teya plane!

"Good evening, Grandmaster!" Zijin said calmly.

"The Bone King is really generous!" Abaddon exclaimed in surprise, "To actually send you here."

This is definitely a surprise.

Zijin smiled slightly.

"Let's take a look at the tomb you dug for yourself."

"You don't mind, do you?"

She glanced at her hand; the detonator was communicating with the electronic detonator on the explosive via underwater acoustics, and the handshake was 90% complete.

A sense of doubt arose in Abidal's mind.

The skull dragon in front of me is the real deal—it's that glib-tongued Belladonna!

He was surrounded by necromantic energy, but he couldn't sense the depth of the chestnut owl bone dragon's form.

It was like an ordinary skeleton, all form and no substance!

But Abidal knew that was impossible.

Even an ordinary bone dragon couldn't be this weak. From this, we can infer that the Chestnut Owl must have mastered some kind of law of returning to simplicity, thus concealing its aura and fluctuations.

This means her strength has improved again!

"In that case, I'll give it my all," Abidal thought to himself.

He raised his staff, and a grayish-white dot of light lit up at its tip.

All the surrounding Magic Power energy began to collapse towards it, like countless tiny dust particles being swept in.

Abidaci finally opened his half-closed eyes a crack.

Deep within his pupils, it seemed as if a silver clock face was slowly turning.

****

Communication progress: 100%.

Zijin's smile widened, and she released the detonator from her bone claws.

This is a reverse logic control device; the underwater acoustic signal is interrupted only after the explosive is activated, which is then considered as detonation.

This design is intended to prevent the detonation process from being interrupted by various spells or combat.

Instantly, over a hundred explosion points in the underground palace lit up in a pre-calculated sequence, quickly merging into one, like someone lighting a giant underwater firecracker in the darkness, accompanied by a violently spreading shockwave.

They actually died together!

Abidal was terrified, and his magic began to unleash rapidly.

The surroundings suddenly slowed down, then came to a standstill!

Ninth Ring Spell - "Time Stop!"

The white bubble, half-exploded, remained frozen in place, its edges still bearing the marks of tearing. Pebbles hung suspended in the water, their tips pointing in different directions. The upturned magic circle inlays stopped in curved arcs, like solidified metallic waves.

Even the brilliance of Magic Power froze in that fleeting moment.

At this moment, the entire underground palace seemed to have been cut out from the river of time.

****

In the outer region, the movements of Su Ming and his group were also frozen, and the winch and water flow were also frozen.

A layer of nearly transparent light rippled out from Su Ming's body.

His body was immobile, still frozen in time, but his consciousness broke free from the solidified world.

This allowed Su Ming to sense what had happened.

On the other side, Abidaci also recovered from the upheaval.

His gaze swept across the ground, and he quickly determined the true purpose of the explosion.

The explosives were placed scattered throughout the magic array, and the quantity was limited.

The owl was targeting the Cloud Fang Formation and the Bell Ringing Formation; it didn't intend to collapse the underground palace, nor did it even intend to destroy the "Torchfire Formation."

At the same time, it's just delaying the pursuit.

Abidaci was relieved.

The time stop granted the caster a six-second window of opportunity, but the frozen deep water became an immovable mass. Abidal was unable to move within it, only able to raise his arms within the confined space of the shield.

A magic orb solidified in his hand, then another, and another.

Six seconds, three spells!

****

The "time stop" effect has ended.

Everything that had been forcibly suppressed instantly regained its momentum.

The explosion continued to expand within the underground palace, sending debris flying and water roaring.

Su Ming and the other two also returned to motion, being dragged away by the steel cable.

Before Abidal, three pre-set spells suddenly appeared, as if they had always been there.

The first spell, "Forbidden Wall!"

The water in front of Abidal suddenly turned to ice, and the ice crystals grew wildly along the area outlined by the spell, condensing into an arc-shaped barrier that blocked the impact of the explosion.

The other two spells flew towards the bone dragon.

"Imprisonment Field!"

Meteor Explosion!

An invisible force field gripped the bone dragon, squeezing out hexagonal transparent patterns from the surrounding water, and the Zijin was firmly locked in place.

The incoming "meteor burst" magic ball was only the size of a fist, leaving a blazing white trail as it passed through the deep water, vaporizing the water wherever it went.

Boom!

The ball of light struck the bone dragon in the chest.

First, a silent white light engulfed everything, then the impact exploded dully in the water. The bone dragon's chest cavity caved in, and then hundreds of bones, carrying the remaining firelight, shot out in all directions.

Abidal was shocked.

Although this spell is very powerful, a real Zijin Bone Dragon cannot be destroyed so easily!

Some bone fragments were swept by the surging water to Abidaqi's side.

It lacks the dense magic patterns that Saint Rank bone dragon should have, the texture hasn't been refined multiple times, and even the vertebrae pieced together are obviously mismatched in size.

Abidal immediately realized he had been tricked; what was in front of him was indeed just an empty shell!

"Dry!"

He cursed, pointed his staff forward, shattering the remaining ice blocking his path, and, braving the aftershocks of the explosion echoing through the underground palace, chased after the breach.

****

When Abidaqi emerged from the cave, he discovered that Su Ming and his group had already entered the outer passage under the towing of the unmanned underwater vehicle and were rapidly advancing uphill.

Because they were all wearing masks and carrying diving equipment, it was impossible to identify who they were.

Judging from their body types, there should be two women.

Abidal believes that one of them is the true form of Zijin!

The man with the bone sword is most likely Rishiri.

Abidaqi's mind stirred slightly.

If this battle continues, even if half of the high-end combat power of the Bone Mad Machine is lost, one of them is the Child of Calamity!

After careful calculation, we actually made a profit!

Abidaci quickly caught up.

With the help of the unmanned underwater vehicle, Su Ming and his group were able to travel through the water at a speed that was even faster than Abidaqi's.

But this is not a good thing.

We are currently underwater. Normally, after ascending a certain distance, we must stop briefly to allow excess inert gases dissolved in our blood to be expelled.

But there was no time.

The three of them soared upwards, directly crossing a depth of 200 meters, then 180 meters, and then 160 meters.

Simina cast a concealment shield on the three of them.

Abidal also entered the passage. He discarded the ballast, and under the influence of buoyancy, he rose rapidly forward. His wide robes unfurled, resembling a deep blue arrow.

"Su Ming, my shield can only provide pressure for fifty meters," Simina said urgently. "If we continue to ascend, something terrible will happen!"

"Stop!" Su Ming said.

He took out another detonator and pressed it.

Before entering the cave, Su Ming and his group left a bomb 200 meters deep in the water in the outer passage, in case of pursuers.

A roaring sound came from below the three people, as if the waterway had been bitten hard. The supporting structure collapsed one section after another, and the rubble squeezed, tumbled, and piled up, quickly filling the passage.

The silt was stirred up, turning into a thick gray cloud.

Abidaqi's figure, rushing forward, was completely obscured by the rocks and muddy water.

Only with sonar coverage can the outlines of the rocks be clearly seen.

"Perform the decompression procedure," Su Ming said.

"But"

Simina was about to say something, but Su Ming interrupted her.

"Quiet, let me have some peace and quiet!"

Not only that, Su Ming also cut off communication with the rear.

He untied the tow hook connecting the unmanned underwater vehicle, sank a few meters, and then hovered quietly.

The echoes of the explosion faded, and the water calmed down in the deep water.

All I could hear was my own breathing and the CCR's operating sound.

Inhale, and your circulatory system vibrates gently; exhale, and you feel a subtle change in water pressure at the edge of the mask.

The numbers on the wrist screen jumped up and down in rows.

Under the lights, mud, sand, and debris drifted past.

****

Su Ming closed his eyes.

Spatial perception is gradually being developed.

Sure enough, a solid magical fluctuation came, and Abidal used the same trick again, launching a short-distance teleportation once more.

After a few seconds of preparation time, a small, shimmering ball appeared after crossing the collapsed area.

It first dented slightly, then opened to both sides with the support of powerful magic, and a circular cavity expanded out in the turbid water.

In order to defend against attacks from Su Ming's side, an extremely strong shield was even formed in advance!

Abidal took a deep breath and stepped into the spatial rift.

Su Ming's eyes lit up.

"Gotcha!"

He stretched out his hand, and transparent spatial ripples spread out from his palm, without sound or light, forcibly embedding themselves into the newly opened teleportation channel.

As soon as Abidal entered, he found the passageway twisted into a pretzel shape.

The exit, which was originally anchored, suddenly shifted, and the space was twisted 360 degrees!

He was immediately blocked and couldn't get out!

This kind of power space???

Abidaci's eyes, which had been squinting, widened in disbelief.

"Bone King!!!"

"Your short-distance teleportation will indeed be interfered with by spatial forces."

But in the entire Taiya region, only Su Ming has the ability to do this.

Abidal never expected that the sabotage mission of infiltrating behind enemy lines would be carried out by Bone King himself!

"Are you fucking stupid?!"

He cursed loudly, his anger barely contained.

The enemy's highest-ranking officer and commander acted like a common soldier, doing things that could have been assigned to subordinates.

Come and confront this ninth-ringed mage head-on!

Has this world gone mad?!