Above the mage

Chapter 278 Third-Order Mandela Demon Eye

"Don't you really want to ask me why I'm sending troops to the Icefield Temple?" Gao De nodded, indicating that he knew, then looked around the room, which could be described as prestigious, and suddenly asked Sunefa.

Sunefa smiled slightly, "I'd like to, but there's no need."

"Whatever the reason, I will unconditionally support your decision. Since that's the case, why bother knowing the reason? Knowing the reason might only cause more trouble."

Beyond self-discipline and loyalty to ideals, Sunefa also possesses a serene wisdom.

"Actually, the reason is quite simple," Sunefa said without asking, but that didn't mean he wouldn't tell. "Since Zhenbing wants to achieve a glorious revival and unify the North, he must first have a sense of ownership and treat all the tribes in the North as his own people."

"Among the three guardians of the snowfield, one of them is practicing forbidden necromancy and is using the people of the North as resources to drive beast tides to destroy the northern tribes. The Snowflakes are a bloody example."

"At times like these, the Zhenbing tribe must stand up, both to protect its future people and to uphold the greater good."

"When someone threatened many tribes in the North, the Zhenbing tribe stepped in and resolved the threat, which is a preemptive strike."

"This at least lets the many tribes, large and small, in the North know that the Zhenbing Tribe is protecting the interests of the people of the North and is their leader."

"Of course, that's the official statement." Gao De smiled slightly as he said this.

"The more real reason is that the Snowfield Guardians who practice forbidden necromancy have tried to kill me many times. Now that I have the power of the Zhenbing Tribe, I must avenge this grudge and I don't want to wait a moment longer."

"Of course, I know this is called abusing public power for private gain. For my own selfish reasons, I've wasted a huge amount of the Zhenbing tribe's financial and human resources. Do you still think I'm the person predicted?"

"You are wrong. This is not an abuse of power, because the king's command is inviolable. Those who defy the king are defying the Zhenbing tribe," Sunafa said with a slight bow, his voice serious and solemn. "They will pay for their transgression with their blood."

Watching Sunefa leave, God sat down at the stone table in his new room and fell into deep thought.

"Master, what is a king?" Flora flew to God's ear, tugged at his hair, and interrupted his thoughts.

"The ruler of a tribe has the highest decision-making and executive power, but also shoulders the heavy responsibility of leadership to ensure the stability and development of the tribe."

"I don't understand~"

"That means from now on, no one in Phoenix will dare to bully Lady Flora anymore."

"Yay!"

"Was Lady Flora scared just now?"

"What are you afraid of?"

"I will cut off Donald's head directly."

"Oh, I'm not scared."

"Lady Flora is so brave for her age."

"Because he was a bad person, he was killed by the mage, which is why Lady Flora isn't afraid."

"This time it's the bad guys, but sometimes I don't only kill bad guys."

"A mage is a mage, so no matter what a mage does, Lady Flora will not be afraid."

Gao De turned to look at Flora.

Flora's eyes were unusually clear.

Flora, with her heart of nature, never uses flowery words; she always speaks the truth.

"Lady Flora is truly wise beyond compare," God praised earnestly.

"Do you even need to tell me that!" Lady Flora raised her head high.

Although she didn't know why the monk suddenly praised her, she was sure he was right.

"That bird seems to really like Lady Flora," she couldn't help but boast.

"That bird?" Gaud thought for a moment before realizing that Flora was referring to the magical falcon on Sunefa's shoulder. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it keeps watching Lady Flora."

"When you like someone, you can't help but want to keep looking at them," Gaode translated.

"That's right," Flora nodded.

"But that's normal, who doesn't like Lady Flora?"

"No, that old man just doesn't like me," Flora corrected earnestly.

"Wrong. He only wants to take you away because he likes you. Everyone treats things they like in different ways. Some people treat them well, while others show possessiveness."

"What should we do?" Flora was very distressed.

If everyone likes you, then there will definitely be others who want to take you away in the future.

"Therefore, Lady Flora should hurry up and continue learning magic, so that even if I am not around, Lady Flora can protect herself."

"Tonight I'll teach Lady Flora some attack spells."

"Okay, it's settled then."

"!!"

Flora stared blankly at Gao De, wondering how it was settled when she hadn't said anything.

Phoenix, outskirts, an unassuming grey stone house.

The owner of this house is not from the Zhenbing tribe, but an older person from another tribe.

He arrived in Phoenix a year ago and has been living there ever since.

It is said that his tribe was wiped out in a beast tide, and he himself escaped by chance thanks to the magic bestowed upon him by his Iceborn bloodline.

After losing his clan, he simply chose to retire in Phoenix.

As an Iceborn mage, he would go out hunting every now and then to exchange for various supplies needed for life. Although survival in the North was difficult, for Iceborn, survival was actually a piece of cake, unless one of them did something stupid.

This outsider had gone hunting some time ago and had only recently returned to Phoenix.

It was nearing dusk, and the sky was just beginning to darken.

This is precisely when every family lights a fire and cooks, making it the most lively and heartwarming time.

However, a series of hurried footsteps disrupted the lively atmosphere of the street.

Following the footsteps came a powerful surge of magical energy and a pervasive chill.

However, this powerful magical fluctuation came quickly and dissipated just as quickly.

Among the gray stone houses.

A middle-aged man dressed in typical Northern attire sat in a chair, with two people holding his hands.

Standing before him was an elder of the Zhenbing tribe, dressed in a long robe made of animal hide.

If Gao De were here now, he would definitely find this elder strangely familiar.

Because he was the only one who reacted after he beheaded Donald, stepping forward to rebuke Elder Claude for scolding him.

"You have betrayed my cooperation and alliance with Elder Donald!!" The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, staring intently at Elder Claude.

"Elder Donald is no longer here, so the cooperation and alliance are naturally null and void." Elder Claude remained unusually calm in the face of the middle-aged man's accusations.

"Elder Donald is gone?! What do you mean?" The middle-aged man, already bound by others, was so shocked by Elder Claude's words that he disregarded his own predicament and asked in disbelief.

"It means exactly what it says," Claude said coldly. Although he couldn't accept it emotionally, he had rationally accepted the fact.

He looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, his eyes filled with hatred, and said through gritted teeth, "If it weren't for your instigation, the Grand Elder wouldn't have fallen deeper and deeper into this mess, ending up like this today."

Donald was beheaded by Goddard, and the negative emotions in Claude's heart had already reached a peak.

But Gao De was the new king, and he couldn't say anything, so he chose to vent all his anger on the middle-aged man in front of him.

"It's clear that Donald and we hit it off immediately; there was no seduction involved," the middle-aged man couldn't help but retort.

Snapped!

Before the middle-aged man could finish speaking, Claude slapped him across the face, the force so strong that blood trickled from the man's mouth.

This slap completely stunned the middle-aged man.

Claude no longer looked at the other person directly, but coldly waved his hand, "Take him away and send him to the War Mother."

As a staunch reformer, Claude is also one of the five fourth-ring mages in the True Ice Clan and a true protégé of Donald.

He knew almost everything about Donald and his plans, including Donald's collaboration with the Snowfield Guardians.

While Donald was still alive, there was still a distinction between the conservatives and the reformers.

Now that Donald is dead, the only distinction left is between insiders and outsiders.

Claude could tell which was more important.

So after accepting the fact that Donald was dead and that the True Ice Tribe was about to march on the Icefield Temple, the first thing Claude did was to lead his men to capture the Snowfield Guardians' people planted in Phoenix who were in contact with Donald.

The only choice is the best choice.

This is unity, the unity that the Zhenbing tribe has been desperately seeking.

Outside Catherine and Loich's residence.

Almost at the same moment, hurried footsteps were heard.

However, the one leading this group is Elder Grant.

"Elder Grant, what do you mean by this?" Catherine looked at him in bewilderment.

"I apologize," Grant shrugged, "but my king is prepared to settle all conflicts with your sect."

"Until the cleanup is complete, in order to prevent you from tipping off others or affecting the tribe's operations, we can only temporarily restrict your movements," Elder Grant said in a relatively polite tone.

But what he was about to do was anything but polite.

"Restriction" is just a nicer way of saying it.

A straightforward translation would be "imprisonment," or at least "house arrest."

"You'd better not resist, otherwise Elder Lanwen might not be able to stop himself in order to avoid escalating the conflict," Elder Grant advised again.

Beside Grant stood an old man who hadn't uttered a single word from beginning to end.

At this moment, the old man raised his head and glanced at Caitlin indifferently.

He was Elder Lanwen, whom Grant had mentioned, another fourth-circle Iceborn mage in the Zhenbing tribe.

Catherine gritted her teeth in anger, while also asking in confusion, "My King?"

The leader of the Zhenbing tribe has always been the War Mother. When did they gain another king?

How come she's never heard of it before?

"Speaking of which, I must thank the Holy Maiden; it was you who brought my king to Phoenix," Grant said sincerely.

Catherine paused for a moment.

Then, she gaped open, "Gaode?!"

Loich, standing beside Catherine, was still completely bewildered. "What? My King? What does this have to do with God?"

Gao De hadn't been in the room long when Sunafa had already sent someone to deliver the second-tier ice marrow and spell recipes he needed.

Looking at the seventy-one drops of ice marrow condensed from pure ice elemental power in the ice crystal bottle, he couldn't help but let out a long breath.

Just a few days ago, his Mandela Magic Eye had only been upgraded to the second tier.

According to Gao De's prediction, it would be at least several years before the Mandela Magic Eye could advance to the third tier again.

Who could have imagined that things in this world would be so unpredictable?

After a brief moment of reflection, Gaode immediately opened the ice crystal bottle.

He intends to absorb and refine all seventy-one drops of second-tier ice marrow today.

A drop of second-tier ice marrow entered his eye, and a familiar, powerful ice elemental force instantly spread through Gao De's left eye, then merged into the depths of his pupil.

As the power of ice element merged, the golden light that had already appeared in his Mandela Demon Eye became increasingly intense and began to grow stronger.

Just two minutes later, the ice elemental power contained in this drop of second-tier ice marrow was completely absorbed.

Without hesitation, Gao De dripped another drop of second-tier ice marrow into his eye.

Time passed slowly.

More than an hour later.

Gao De opened his Mandela Eye once again.

Suddenly, his clear eyes shone with a dazzling golden light, like stars shining in the night sky.

After absorbing enough ice elemental power, that point of golden light had expanded to its limit and began to undergo a fundamental change.

The golden light suddenly began to extend, from a single point into a golden line, like a golden lightning bolt piercing the night sky.

The moment the golden thread formed, the golden runes that were originally composed of three golden threads also appeared.

The new golden thread, like a wandering child hearing its mother's call, merged directly into the golden rune at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

The runes began to spin violently, as if a miniature galaxy was forming in God's eyes, emitting a dazzling light.

Finally, in a burst of dazzling light, a brand new, more complex golden rune formed in his eyes.

Mandora's Eye: Tier 2 (36/72).

Gao De took a deep breath.

This is not over yet.

He continued to drip second-order ice marrow into his eyes.

As Gaode made this move, a new golden light appeared in his eyes, like a newly born star.

Another hour or so later.

A fifth golden line had already formed in his eyes.

Amidst the radiant golden light, runes representing the ability of "Insight" emerged, beginning to absorb the newly appearing golden threads.

The five golden lines, like five golden lightning bolts, intertwined to form a more complex and powerful rune.

The rune lines became more refined, and the structure became more complex.

Gao De felt this powerful force gathering in his eyes, which made his vision clearer and sharper.

However, this time, the light did not dim after the new runes were formed.

Because, at the same time as the fifth golden line was formed, Gao De's Mandela Magic Eye also naturally advanced.

Each advancement in the Mandela Eyes is accompanied by a fundamental improvement, granting the user a new ability.

Another point of blue light, like a comet, suddenly streaked across Gao De's eyes.

The blue light quickly spread into a line, like a blue lightning bolt piercing the night sky and going straight into the depths of Gaode's pupils.

The appearance of this blue line connects to an unknown source of power.

It merges with the golden rune representing "Insight," making the rune's light no longer a single gold color, and also making that rune more powerful.

Finally, the light faded, and a brand new rune, interwoven with gold and blue, was formed.

[Dispel delusion].

This is the new ability gained by the third-order Mandela Eye.

"妄" means illusion.

The so-called "breaking through illusion" means having real vision and seeing through illusions, including but not limited to illusion magic.

In terms of practicality and versatility, it is not as good as [Insight], but it has its own unique features.

(End of this chapter)