Chương 86: Eliminating Threats

Adolin floated high above the Count's mansion. The fighting below had stopped, and everyone was looking at him. Some of the knights who recognized him looked relieved, while the enemy soldiers instinctively took a step back. It was the first time they had shown any fear, and with the fighting paused, it gave Adolin the perfect opportunity to gather as much information as he could. He drifted with the wind while his mind swept through every Watchful Eye he had placed earlier.

Eduard was somehow still holding on, but he wouldn't be able to last much longer. That gave Adolin a little time if he decided to save him. The Count and the two archmages were still locked in a stalemate. The knights who had been with the Count were on their way to reinforce the mansion, as were the weaker knights who had been fighting alongside Eduard. The Count was undoubtedly at the archmage tier. Of that, Adolin was certain.

That also raised the question of how an archmage had been infected by the curse, and how it affected someone of his strength. He wasn't sure exactly where the Count ranked, but the man could easily be higher than his opponents simply because he was holding off two archmages at once. Then again, he might just have better spells or experience. Both of them looked like they would fight their enemies to the end, as neither of them tried to create an opening to retreat. It wasn't as if they had anywhere to retreat to.

If they did, they would only be leading the archmages straight to their men. Six archmage-level threats were still alive, while the Count was the only archmage on their side. That made Adolin's only real choice painfully clear. He needed to free the Count and help him kill the two enemies he was facing before the others made their move. There was another option that kept circling in his mind. Probably the only one that would allow him to survive. Run. He took a deep breath and glanced toward the storage building.

The civilians were still safe, and for the moment, no one was heading toward them. He pushed the thought aside and looked down. The enemies took another step back, their bodies trembling. He released his Killing Intent. Almost immediately, they collapsed to the ground, unable to move. The stronger ones struggled against it, and a few even tried to crawl away. He raised his staff and was about to cast Gravity with everything he had... then stopped. They were already out of the fight. And...

He shook the thought from his mind and cast Earth Coffin on the ones who were still awake. The ground rose and swallowed them. Their entire bodies were encased in earth, leaving only their heads exposed. He followed with Environment Enhance, strengthening the coffins enough so that they wouldn't be able to escape. Everyone who had attacked the mansion was either unconscious or trapped beneath the earth, unable to move. His job there was done. What happened to them afterward wasn't his problem.

Whatever their fate, they had earned it. He turned and flew toward the Count. He found the choice he had made a little odd. He usually wasn't this merciful when he was in the state he found himself in now. There was no reason to cloud his judgment with thoughts like that, so he pushed them aside. A few seconds later, he was already above the Count and the two enemy archmages. He had already cast an invisibility spell and drawn all of his mana inward.

He wasn't sure it would be enough to conceal his presence for long, but he only needed a little time to analyze the battle and strike at the right moment. Hopefully, his entrance would be enough to kill one of them. The Count used some kind of movement spell. It was similar to Blink, but not as sophisticated. Blink used teleportation magic as its foundation, combined with space and several other concepts that made it far more mana-efficient. The Count's spell simply bent space, making it slower.

Slow wasn't really the right word, but his movements were much easier to predict. Everything around the Count froze, and the temperature dropped considerably. His mana flowed in a radius of five meters around him, and Adolin suspected he could manipulate anything within that space. It was some kind of Domain spell. The warrior charged toward him, a long spear held in his hands. The moment he stepped inside the domain, countless ice spikes erupted from the ground, racing toward him.

The archmage cast a translucent barrier with a faint black tint around the warrior. The spikes slammed into it and shattered on impact. More and more spikes erupted as the warrior pushed deeper into the Count's domain. The barrier continued destroying them, but it was gradually weakening under the relentless assault. Meanwhile, the enemy mage cast a pool of black sludge beneath the Count's feet. Adolin wasn't sure what it did, but the moment it appeared, it froze solid.

The Count shattered it instantly, sending the frozen fragments skittering away. The spells and skills they were using weren't at the archmage tier, with the exception of the Count's Domain. The reason they were so much more effective was the purity of the mana behind them. Adolin's mana was already pure, but it hadn't reached that level yet. He simply hadn't been in this world long enough. The first thing he would do after dealing with Eduard's mess was meditate.

For a while now, he had wanted to try the techniques that accelerated mana growth. Those same techniques would also speed up the purification process considerably. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Otherwise, it would take at least a year—perhaps longer—for his body to purify it naturally. He assumed that process was aided by the blessing, though he wasn't entirely sure how it worked.

It was something he had noticed not long after waking up in this world, but ever since then, events had moved too quickly. He had simply been following wherever the path led him. There had never been time to stop and think about it. He turned his attention back to the warrior. The barrier protecting him was only moments from breaking, and he wore a necklace identical to the one Adolin had taken from the archmage.

The artifact had less than half of its mana remaining, which meant it had already absorbed multiple attacks. He turned and glanced toward the mage. He didn't have any barriers around him except for the artifact, which had only taken one, maybe two hits. Adolin would need to strike it at least four or five more times before he could kill him. The good thing about the whole fight was that he wasn't facing any corrupted. He was fighting humans.

Even in this world, they had little defense outside of barriers and shields. The blessing made them faster, stronger, and even more durable, but they were still far from what the corrupted general had been able to endure back in the dungeon. That didn't mean much at the higher levels, because the stronger someone became, the less raw durability mattered. If he'd been at the archmage tier back then, a single Sever would have been enough to kill the creature. He wouldn't have needed anything more than that.

But below the archmage tier, the corrupted were far more durable than humans. He fell into thought. If he attacked the warrior first, the mage would immediately switch to defense. If the mage had barrier spells of his own, which he did, killing him afterward would become much harder. On the other hand, if he killed the mage first, the warrior would lose his support, making the second fight much easier. He didn't have much time.

He had to act within the next few seconds, yet he still wasn't sure what the best course of action was. If he acted quickly enough and broke through the mage's barrier, he could kill him before turning on the warrior. He could even use mind magic to guarantee the kill. But if he was wrong and committed to that plan, he might only make the battle harder... or even lose it altogether. The last option was to use an archmage-tier spell, though that was a terrible idea.

Casting one powerful enough to kill an archmage would leave him defenseless for hours, if not days. His mana pool was simply too small. He could probably use Calamity with fewer side effects, but even then, he would be left helpless for an hour or two. The only time he would consider using it was when he was certain he could kill every remaining enemy. Otherwise, he would have to rely on high-mage-tier spells and create openings one by one.

The warrior had been hit dozens of times by the Count's spells, and the barrier protecting him was almost depleted. Adolin had to make a choice. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath. Then he stepped off the platform beneath him. He appeared behind the archmage. Before the man could even turn, Adolin's hand touched his arm. Mind Cleansing. Inside the black space, Adolin wasted no time. He shattered the strands one after another.

A moment later, he was back in the real world, catching the mage before he could collapse to the ground. He withdrew his mana, removed the artifact from the man's neck, then let the body fall. Adolin stored the artifact in his inventory and cast Sever at the archmage writhing in agony. He wasn't in much better shape himself. His head was pounding three times harder than before, and the edges of his vision had begun to blur. He cast Pain Relief and turned toward the warrior.

The man was still charging at the Count, but he had glanced over his shoulder. He looked back just as Sever struck the archmage. His movements became erratic, allowing the Count to land hit after hit. In less than two seconds, the warrior's barrier shattered. The Count didn't hesitate. A barrage of attacks descended on the warrior. Ice spears and spikes erupted from every direction, converging on him. Adolin joined the assault.

He stepped to the side to avoid one of the Count's spears that narrowly missed him, then cast Sever. The warrior had already recovered, but his body was riddled with dozens of ice spears. He dodged between them, managing to avoid Adolin's Sever. Less than a moment later, he was already upon the Count, his spear descending toward the man's head. The Count simply took a step and vanished from his domain. He appeared beside Adolin a moment later.

The ice within the domain shattered and began to melt, while the frigid air quickly warmed. The domain had collapsed. The warrior turned and used a movement skill, disappearing from where he stood. Adolin guessed movement skills weren't usable inside the Domain. Adolin cast Mana Barrier on both himself and the Count just as the warrior appeared beside him, his spear thrusting toward Adolin's head. The spear slammed into the barrier and hurled Adolin backward dozens of meters.

He hit the ground hard, but the barrier absorbed the entire impact. The warrior immediately turned on the Count, launching him backward as well. Since he was protected by Mana Barrier, he was unharmed. The warrior charged after him, so Adolin used Blink, appearing behind him. He released his Killing Intent and swung his staff, casting Mana Burst. The Killing Intent slowed the warrior's movements considerably, exactly as Adolin had expected. His Killing Intent had been an anomaly even in his old world.

Mana Burst struck the warrior from above, driving him to his knees and forcing them into the ground. Adolin followed with another Mana Burst. Then another. Finally, he cast Sever, cleanly taking the warrior's head from his shoulders. The Count stood two meters away, staring at him. Shock flashed across his face before he quickly composed himself.

"There are four more," Adolin said.

"Every single one of them is at the archmage tier." The Count simply nodded.

"I know."

"How do you plan to deal with them?" Adolin asked. He needed more information if he was going to plan his next move. The Count slowly shook his head.

"The butler was supposed to come out already," he said, cracking his neck. His whole body was riddled with wounds, and his once-pristine noble clothes were in tatters.

"That was the last card we had to play..."

"The butler?" Adolin asked.

"Yeah. He's one of the strongest warriors in the Empire," the Count said, wiping the blood from his eyes.

"Eduard's trump card. The one that was supposed to win the gamble. But it seems he was exposed as well..." Adolin stepped beside the Count, touched his shoulder, and cast a healing spell. The wounds across the man's body closed rapidly, and within moments he was fully healed. Then Adolin cast one on himself. The Count glanced toward the main gate.

"They're moving," he said. Adolin nodded slowly. Pain Relief had dulled some of the pain, but most of it remained, and there wasn't a spell he could use to erase it. He took out another potion and drank it while staring in the same direction as the Count. The three archmage-tier threats were advancing toward them. He couldn't use Mind Cleansing again, so the easy kills were over. How the next battle would unfold, he wasn't certain.

He took the necklace from his inventory and forcibly expelled the mana still stored inside before flooding it with his own. Then he slipped it around his neck.

"I... Can you hold them off for a few seconds?" the Count asked.

"I'll try," Adolin replied as he took to the air once more, deliberately exposing himself to the approaching archmages like a beacon. He hoped it would be enough to draw them away from the civilians. The Count used his movement spell and vanished, heading toward Eduard.