Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

Chapter 140 Abyss Lord Projection

"Where is the Venerable Jiboduan? How come he didn't find it?!"

Rex's roar startled several nearby nobles, causing them to drop their wine glasses.

As soon as he finished speaking, a golden exclamation mark appeared above Rex's head.

[Quest Triggered: Resolve the Abyss Crisis]

[Mission Description: An abyssal portal has appeared in the southern district of the royal capital, and demons are pouring in. Please close the portal and save the royal capital!]

[Quest Reward: Fourth-Order Spell - Spirit Bomb!]

Alfred's face turned ashen, and he turned and walked toward the door: "I'm going to find him."

"No need to look anymore." An old voice came from outside the door.

A flash of white light appeared, and Giboduan strode in.

He was wearing a dark blue casual outfit today, and his hair was messy, as if he had just gotten out of bed.

He held an oak staff in his hand, the sapphire at the top of the staff was glowing, the light flickering and very unstable.

"I am here."

Rex rushed over, shouting, "Grand Mage Gibotuan, what's going on?! Where did that light outside the city come from?! Are the demons about to reach the palace?!"

"Your Majesty, please don't be hasty," Giboduan said in a low voice. "That pillar of light is in the southern district."

Rex paused for a moment, then turned and ran to the window. He leaned over the windowsill and peered out, his expression growing increasingly grim.

The beam of light did indeed shoot into the sky from the ground in the southern district, and the dark red light stained the surrounding houses blood red.

"Damn it—" Rex muttered, "The South District is a civilian area, how can civilians resist demons—"

"I've been kept in the dark."

Giboduan walked to the window, tapped his staff on the windowsill, and a pale blue light curtain unfolded, covering the entire capital city.

On the light screen, there was a dark red spot in the southern part of the city, which was slowly expanding.

"Someone has set up an anti-detection barrier in the southern district," Gibotuan said angrily. "The method is very sophisticated; it's probably a Paradigm-level spellcaster. I only just discovered it myself."

"Do you know who the Grand Master is?"

"I don't know, maybe they're cult members."

Alfred gasped. "A Paradigm-level spellcaster? When did such a high-level cultist infiltrate the capital?"

Rex slammed his fist on the windowsill, sending stone chips flying. "What's the point of saying all this now! Archmage, why did you turn that thing off?!"

"Your Majesty, leave that spellcaster to me."

Giboduan pulled a scroll from his robes. The parchment gleamed with a faint silver sheen and was covered with densely packed runes drawn in extremely fine strokes. "This is the [Spatial Lockdown Scroll]. I will keep that cultist occupied, and send someone with this scroll to the vicinity of the portal to tear it open and forcibly close it."

Rex turned to Alfred: "You go."

Alfred nodded.

But one hand was faster than him.

"I'll go." Lance walked over from the window and took the scroll.

All eyes were on him.

Rex frowned, but didn't say anything.

Gibotuan looked at Lance, paused for a second, and then nodded: "Be careful. The portal will collapse after the scroll is torn open. There's a small chance it will create a spatial suction force during the collapse, but if you're unlucky, you might get sucked in."

"Understood," Lance said.

Rex looked at him, then suddenly reached out and patted him on the shoulder with such force that Lance stumbled: "You're back alive. You haven't been officially appointed yet, so I don't want to hold a memorial service for you."

Lance: "—You have quite the auspicious mouth."

Rex laughed heartily, then turned, drew his sword, and walked towards the door: "Order! All city guards to assemble in the south district! Graham, you take the Imperial Guard to block the streets and evacuate the civilians! Alfred, you come with me to charge!"

"yes!"

The banquet hall instantly became bustling with activity.

Lance walked to the window and looked at the dark red beam of light again; it was now a size larger than before.

"I must first go to Rild City," Giboduan said. "Princess Alicia is a Hero-rank, and her raging aura has a restraining effect on the power of the abyss. I will use teleportation to bring her back."

"How long does it take to go round trip?" Lance asked.

"My teleportation technique takes two minutes to travel back and forth."

"it is good."

Lance turned and walked out.

The palace corridors were in complete chaos. Guards were running around, maids were screaming and running to the basement, and several ministers were slumped in a corner, pale-faced, muttering, "It's all over, it's all over."

Lance walked against the flow of people out of the palace gates.

The city's defense troops were assembling in the square outside the palace.

Roderick roared at the top of his lungs, "Shieldbearers in front! Pikemen in the back! Archers on the wall! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

The soldiers ran around in a flurry of activity, some not even properly dressed in their armor.

Rex stood in the center of the square, his longsword planted in the ground, explaining something to several generals.

In the direction of the southern district, the dark red light had already dyed half of the sky red.

Lance sighed. [Third-Circle Spell—Flight!]

The body slowly rose into the air.

When he reached a height of thirty meters, he could see the view of the southern district clearly.

A street was cleaved in two by a dark red beam of light, and a huge gash appeared in the ground, like an open mouth.

Lance flew over quickly.

After flying over two streets, he began to see the first group of civilians fleeing the disaster.

A middle-aged woman carrying a baby in swaddling clothes stumbled along from the south, her face covered in tears and dust.

Her husband—or rather, her husband—followed behind, carrying a large bundle on his back, unaware that one of his shoes had fallen off.

Lance flew over them and glanced down.

The woman's eyes were vacant, her lips trembling, and she kept repeating the same sentence: "Demon—there is a demon—"

The further south they flew, the more people there were to flee.

The streets were crowded with people, some carrying bundles, some pushing carts, and some not even wearing shoes.

The child is crying, the woman is screaming, and the man is cursing.

An old man fell in the middle of the road, and people behind him stepped over him. Lance swooped down, grabbed the old man by the collar, and pulled him to the side of the road.

"Run north! To the palace!" Lance shouted, released his grip, and took off again.

The old man stared at him blankly, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

Reims continued south.

After flying over two more streets, he saw the demon for the first time.

It was a Flomon, squatting on the roof of a house, gnawing on something.

Dark green skin, a vulture-like head, and bat-like membranous wings half-open.

It was chewing, and dark red liquid dripped from the corner of its mouth, flowing down the roof tiles.

But why is it so small? And why is its level so low?

It seems the crack size is insufficient, so only this substandard product can be used.

[A secondary Spirit Bomb with upgraded ring casting!]

A blue energy ball streaked across the night sky, striking Fromon precisely in the head.

With a "poof," the ugly head exploded, splattering dark green blood everywhere.

Fromon's corpse rolled off the roof and crashed to the ground, its wings twitching twice before it went still.

[Defeat 1 Level 8 Flomos, gain 400 experience points!]

Lance continued flying forward.

The further south you go, the denser the demons become.

The streets of the southern district have become a battlefield.

The Fromon circled in the air like a flock of giant vultures. The Berserker rampaged across the ground, killing anyone and smashing anything in sight.

The Temptress stood at the crossroads, her golden vertical pupils scanning her surroundings, a chilling smile playing on her lips.

Lance took a deep breath and began to unleash his full power.

[Fourth Ring Spell - Bursting Fire Dragon Bullet!]

[Defeat 1 Level 8 Flomos, gain 400 experience points!]

[Defeat 1 Level 8 Flomos, gain 400 experience points!]

[Defeat 1 Level 9 Berserker Demons, gain 450 experience points!]

The panel prompts flashed wildly in my mind, and my experience points surged.

A Flomos pounced from the side. Lance dodged to the side, slammed a [Magic Blast] into its face with his left hand, and finished it off with a Lesser Spirit Bomb with his right. The two shots exploded in mid-air.

A berserker jumped down from the roof, trying to smash him.

Lance used a [Anywhere Door] to teleport ten meters away, causing the Berserker Demon to miss and smash half of the roof of a house.

Lance retaliated with two [Magic Blasts], hitting the Berserker Demon's knees and making it howl in pain.

After flying over two more streets, Lance saw a huge figure.

It was a bewitching demon, a whole size larger than the one we had encountered before, with purplish-red skin, two curved horns on its forehead, and golden vertical pupils like two lamps.

It was standing at a crossroads, surrounded by seven or eight corpses, some civilians and some city garrison soldiers.

Lance's information bar popped up—Level 10 Temptress.

The Temptress sensed his presence, raised its head, and locked its golden vertical pupils onto Lance. A grin spread across its lips, revealing a "smile."

Then Lance felt a mental force pierce his brain like a needle.

He grunted and activated his defensive spell, flicking the needle away.

Lance did not give it a second chance.

[Exploding Fire Dragon Bullet!]

Although the seductive demon did not die immediately, it did not last long under continuous damage.

[Defeat 1 Level 10 Temptress x1, gain 500 experience points!]

A spatial fluctuation suddenly came from behind Lance.

A silver-white portal, three meters high, unfolded in the center of the street.

Two people emerged from the portal: one was Giboduan, and the other was a woman with long, fiery red hair, wearing light silver armor, and wielding a two-handed greatsword.

Alicia Eriland.

After landing, she glanced around, a cold glint flashing in her amber eyes.

A Flomos flew right over her head. Without even looking, she casually swung her greatsword, and crimson flames burned on the blade, cleaving the Flomos in two at the waist.

Giboduan, panting, slammed his staff on the ground: "This old man—this old man brought her back. Ordinary teleportation spells can't carry large creatures; that red dragon had to fly here herself."

Lance nodded, flew down from the roof, and landed in front of Alicia.

The two exchanged a glance.

Alicia's amber eyes shone brightly in the dark red light.

Giboduan stepped forward and glanced south. The dark red pillar of light was ahead, but it was still at least half a mile away.

Demons roamed the streets: Frodo flew in the sky, Berserkers ran on the ground, and Temptresses stood guard at the crossroads.

"Your Highness," Giboduan said gravely, "I need to preserve as much magic as possible; I entrust the demons on the road to you."

""

"no problem!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she shot out like a cannonball.

With the greatsword in front, crimson flames burned on the blade, and wherever it passed, demons fell like wheat being harvested.

Lance quickly took off and followed behind her.

Alicia's speed is indeed ridiculously fast.

Even without the [acceleration spell], relying solely on her warrior's physical attributes, she covered more than ten meters with each step, creating small craters in the ground beneath her feet.

The Fromon swooped down from the sky, cleaving the monster in two with a single sword strike. The Berserker blocked the way, its head severed with a single blow.

The Temptress tried to use a mental attack, but she didn't even look at it. She rushed over and slashed horizontally with her greatsword, cutting the Temptress in half at the waist.

Lance followed the thugs.

[Defeat 3 Level 8 Flomos, gain 1200 experience points!]

[Defeat 2 Level 9 Berserker Demons, gain 900 experience points!]

[Defeat 1 Level 10 Temptress x1, gain 500 experience points!]

The experience points were jumping wildly on Lance's panel.

The three advanced, leaving the streets behind them littered with the corpses of demons.

A berserker suddenly charged out from the side, heading straight for Lance. Lance dodged with a somersault in mid-air, and Alicia's greatsword arrived just in time, decapitating the berserker in one strike.

"Watch out!" Alicia shouted without turning her head.

"Got it!" Lance replied.

After advancing two more blocks, the beam of light was now right in front of us.

A dark red light stained the surrounding houses blood-red, and the smell of sulfur in the air was so strong it made people want to vomit. The cracks in the ground grew wider and wider, and more and more demons poured out of them.

Lance glanced down at the crack. It was deep, and at the bottom, a dark red vortex could be faintly seen swirling. In the center of the vortex, something was writhing.

That must be the portal.

When they were less than two hundred meters away from the pillar of light, a dark red energy beam shot out from the crack and headed straight for Lance.

Just as Lance was about to teleport away, Alicia jumped up from the ground, her greatsword blocking his way. Crimson flames and dark red energy beams collided, exploding into a blinding light.

Alicia was thrown backward by the shockwave, somersaulted in the air, and landed steadily.

A gash appeared on the web of her left hand, and blood dripped down the hilt of the sword.

"Damn it," she cursed, "there's a big guy down there."

Lance looked down.

At the bottom of the crack, the dark red vortex was spinning violently, and in the center of the vortex, a huge figure was crawling out.

The creature had six arms, its body was covered in dark red scales, its head resembled a combination of a wolf and a lizard, and its mouth was full of fangs.

Blood-red eyes peered upwards from the bottom of the crack, locking onto Lance.

[Target: Abyss Lord Projection]

[Level: 16]

"This is a Heroic-class hero!"

Alicia could sense it too. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and smiled, "Hero-rank? Interesting. It's been a long time since I've encountered a worthy opponent."

She gripped her greatsword tightly, a fighting spirit igniting in her amber eyes.

There was also a man in black robes nearby. [Target: Marduk Blackblood]

Race: Human

[Occupation: Evil Sorcerer]

[Level: 12]

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