Above the mage

Chapter 285 Calming the Storm

At this moment, after being armed with runic constructs, Sunafa, judging by appearance alone, does not look like a traditional mage, but more like a ranger.

The Breath of the Wild consists of five parts: breastplate, bracers, leg armor, boots, and headwear.

The chest armor is the largest piece in the entire runic construct, covering the torso. It is entirely silver, with a tight-fitting design that gives it a metallic sheen and perfectly conforms to Sunefa's body curves.

The surface of the breastplate is smooth and textured, as if it were made of the purest silver.

The silver wristband wraps around the forearm and extends all the way to the palm. Its design is particularly ingenious, consisting of multiple layers of thin, metal-like sheets, with each layer combined in a way that resembles inlay.

At the very center, where Sunefa's wrist and palm meet, there is an extremely complex rune array that glows softly.

From a distance, it looks like a sapphire is set on top, making it appear exceptionally noble.

Tight leg armor encased Sunefa's long legs, the smooth lines blending perfectly with her figure, showcasing both power and graceful beauty.

The surface of the leg armor also shines with the cold luster unique to metal, echoing the breastplate of the torso and forming a unified style.

In terms of design, the leg armor adopts a lightweight construction concept.

Through precise openwork carving techniques, the weight is greatly reduced while ensuring protection, allowing Sunefa to move more freely.

The knee pads are also extra thick and designed with a sharp, pointed shape.

It not only enhances the protective capabilities but also adds a sense of power and strength to the overall look.

What is particularly striking is that each leg armor plate has a ring of fine silver runes inlaid along its edge.

Her combat boots were white, with the boot shafts tightly wrapping around Sunefa's calves, and the shafts were also inlaid with fine runes.

At the ankle, the boots cleverly form an exquisite silver ankle brace, engraved with rune arrays identical to the "sapphire" on the wrist guards.

The front of the boots is slightly upturned, as sharp as an eagle's claw.

The headdress is particularly intricate in design, with interlocking metal plates forming a three-dimensional, sharp shape. Unlike a helmet, which is a wrapping structure, it resembles a skull, only sharper and more ornate.

Each component is directly connected to another, with intricate rune patterns at the joints. Together, the five components create the powerful construct effect of [Breath of the Wild].

The instant [Breath of the Wild] took effect, Sunefa clearly felt a powerful force surging continuously from the ground beneath her feet.

This is the runic array on the [Breath of the Wild] drawing power from the earth for Sunefair's use.

The most powerful aspect of rune constructs lies in their ability to miniaturize a powerful, large magic circle into a portable, personal magic circle.

"Breath of the Wild," Sunefa murmured to herself, a smile playing on her lips, clearly very satisfied with the powerful abilities of the runic construct.

Why would a first-ring mage possess something so powerful?

This is something that ordinary people simply cannot understand.

But Sunefa didn't consider these things: anyone who could be called the hope of recovery could do whatever amazing things they did, it was all justified.

She simply understood even more why God was the person prophesied by the Mother of Oretia.

The next moment, the coldness in Sunafa's deep blue eyes intensified.

How to break the game?

The answer is already there.

call!

Sunefa took a deep breath, raised her right hand (which was not holding the bow) slightly, and made a gesture similar to "firing a gun" diagonally upwards, with the tip of her index finger pointing into the air.

The next instant, a point of blue light suddenly bloomed at her fingertip and quickly extended, forming a floating halo centered on her fingertip.

Immediately, Sunefa flicked the blue circle, letting it fall onto the bowstring of [Blizzard].

A streak of blue light flashed by.

It was yet another Ice-based spell.

Even though Ryan had never seen a runic construct before, he could still see something amiss from the changes in Sunefair.

But Sunefa didn't give him much time to think.

She drew her bow again.

A far brighter, more dazzling blue light shone on the bowstring than before.

Tiny ice crystals, like stars, constantly emitted arcs of light.

As Sunefa pulled the bowstring tighter, ice crystals swirled and coalesced in the air.

At the same time, the "sapphire" rune circle on Sunefa's bracers also glowed and merged into True Ice Arrow.

This is the rune effect that comes with [Breath of the Wild]: Level 4 spell damage increase.

A moment later.

A terrifying energy, as vast as a tsunami, has been fully condensed.

"This arrow?!"

Ryan felt an unprecedented threat and sensed something was amiss.

call out!

The arrow of pure ice shot out, its tail trailing a dazzling blue flame, resembling a shooting star against the backdrop of the deep, inky night.

Looking at the deep blue arrow descending from the sky, a look of seriousness flashed in Ryan's eyes, and he unconsciously gritted his teeth.

He could easily see that Sunefa's attack this time was extraordinary and could not be blocked by the [Flame Shield] spell cast by the Ring Ascension.

As Ryan pondered this in his heart, the enormous zombie beast beneath him suddenly let out a deafening roar, as if it were burning with some unknown power.

The dense black mist erupting from its body was far more turbulent than before, almost swallowing up the surrounding air.

The black mist surged and even soared into the sky, quickly condensing into a gigantic black hand that blotted out the sun, tightly gripping the incoming arrow of pure ice in its palm.

The earth-shattering thunderclaps echoed continuously in the night sky, and the black hand shattered into black mist and dissipated, but it also gradually eroded the power of the Zhenbing Arrow.

"You're ultimately just a fourth-ring mage, and besides, you're just a human!"

A sinister glint flashed in the eyes of the Judge of Rui'an.

The zombie behemoth beneath him was a fifth-circle undead creature he created using the fifth-circle necromancy spell, Dance of the Skeletons.

Although zombies themselves are not particularly powerful undead creatures, with a level of five as a base, they are more than capable of withstanding the attacks of Sunafa, a fourth-ring necromancer, for a short period of time due to the level suppression.

Under the mental control of the Inquisitor Ryan, the zombie behemoth let out another low roar, its massive body charging toward Sunefa like a wild horse.

He himself mobilized the magic power within his body and began to activate another extremely complex and massive magic model in his own magical star sea.

Seeing this, Sunafa pushed off with her toes, lightly touching the ground, and her figure flashed to the side like lightning, her speed was simply breathtaking.

She didn't actually cast any spells.

Such amazing movement speed is actually because the runes on the ankles of Sunefa's boots are glowing – rune effect: level four agility.

Level 4 Agility is equivalent to the movement speed bonus provided by a fourth-level spell.

Sunefa understood that her greatest advantage lay in the fact that Blizzard had a casting range that was four to five times greater than that of ordinary spells.

Therefore, keeping a distance is advantageous for her.

At this moment, watching Ryan drive the zombie behemoth closer to her, she already understood his intention: their current position must be beyond the casting range of the spell he wanted to cast.

Although we don't know what spell the opponent is planning to cast, it's definitely the right thing to do to prevent them from succeeding.

While rapidly retreating, Sunefa's hands continued to move.

Another arrow of pure ice condensed and shot out, freezing the air as if it were frozen, spreading a chilling aura and creating a terrifying atmosphere.

Ryan, however, showed no sign of panic.

Black smoke billowed from the massive body of the zombie behemoth once again, transforming into a black hand that blocked the arrow of pure ice.

A muffled explosion rang out, and a massive surge of magical energy erupted and spread from the point of contact between the two.

The two disintegrated and dissolved each other.

In the end, the power of the True Ice Arrow exploded to its limit, completely piercing through the giant hand formed from black smoke. However, the remaining force of the black hand slapped the arrow's tail, changing its direction and causing it to shoot diagonally upwards into the sky.

At the same time, another magical light appeared in the hand of the Holy Inquisitor Ryan, which he unhesitatingly slammed into the zombie behemoth beneath him.

After the magical light entered its body, the zombie behemoth's speed visibly increased significantly, and it roared as it chased after Sunafa.

The third-circle transformation spell: [Acceleration].

All obstacles on the road were easily smashed aside by the zombie behemoth.

Sunefair did not use any spells to restrict the zombie behemoth's movements.

She noticed that the giant zombie beast's four feet were already enveloped in a powerful magical aura, and even the thin ice that had formed when the True Ice Arrow hit it earlier had not affected its movements.

That must be because Ryan had previously cast the fourth-circle spell "Freedom of Movement" on the zombie behemoth, which allowed it to move regardless of any difficult terrain restrictions and rendered any spells or magical effects that slowed, paralyzed, or bound the target ineffective.

To be honest, undead creatures are actually quite effective against her.

Another powerful aspect of the True Ice Arrow is that it unleashes and spreads extreme cold upon impact.

However, undead creatures do not feel pain, so the effects of extreme cold on them are weakened to the extreme.

With the [Acceleration] spell activated, the zombie behemoth has surpassed Sunefa in speed and is steadily closing the distance between them.

Fortunately, the zombie behemoth was too large to turn or change direction easily, so Sunefa was able to use her agility to barely pull it along.

Sunefa was right.

Ryan had the zombie behemoth carry him as it charged closer to Sunefa because he needed to close the distance between them so he could unleash the [Drain Energy] spell to attack.

Fifth Ring Necromantic Spell: [Drain Energy]!

Archbishop Rune, also a fourth-ringed Rune, died without any struggle from the [Energy Drain] spell.

This is the power of the Five Rings spell.

Even as a fifth-circle spell, the casting range of [Drain Energy] is far less than that of Sunefa's [Blizzard] Arrow of True Ice.

So the current situation is that Sunefa can shoot at him, but he can't make an effective counterattack and can only keep passively defending.

This was something Ryan couldn't tolerate. Even in his view, if things just dragged on like this, he would win—Sunafa's mana reserves were definitely no match for his, a fifth-ring mage, and she would eventually run out of mana.

But this kind of frustrating victory was not what Ryan wanted.

In addition, he couldn't really drag out the battle for too long.

This is, after all, the Zhenbing tribe's camp. The enemy has a large and powerful force. Even if they are just low-level mages who are not worth mentioning, a lot of ants can still kill an elephant.

Ryan must take advantage of the fact that the Iceborn mages of the Zhenbing tribe are still being held back by the skeleton mages he has already laid in ambush to kill Sunafa first.

"Go to hell!"

Finally, after a long and tense chase, Ryan realized that the distance between him and Sunefa had reached the casting range of [Drain Energy], and immediately cast the [Drain Energy] spell that he had prepared beforehand.

However, he was also amazed by Sunef's combat power, as he was able to fire so many True Ice Arrows through [Blizzard]. If he hadn't created a fifth-ring undead creature, he would probably have had a real headache.

Thinking this, a huge expanse of dark tentacles suddenly stretched out from behind the Holy Inquisitor Ryan.

These tentacles are a deep color, making them stand out even against the backdrop of the same color in the night.

They twisted and coiled, baring their fangs and claws, carrying an ancient and evil aura, dancing nimbly in the air like living creatures, and suddenly coiled around Sunefa.

"Don't you dare mess with me again in your next life!"

Ryan stood atop the zombie behemoth, head held high, and spoke.

Just as the dark tentacles of the [Energy Drain] spell were extending out with unstoppable force, about to wrap around and envelop Sunefa's body, Sunefa suddenly stopped and ceased moving.

Is it so terrified that it has given up struggling?

The thought flashed through Ryan's mind subconsciously, before he regained his senses a moment later.

Sunafa is not such a person with a weak will!

It was still drawing the bow.

But this time, more than one arrow of pure ice was gathering on the bowstring.

Instead, there were three in total.

The sharp-eyed Judge Ryan even noticed that a silvery-white light was shining on the fingertips of Sunefara's right hand, which connected with the light of the strange patterns on the wristband, creating a synergy.

In the darkness of night, a crescent moon seemed to shine.

Sunefa was pale, but she held the bowstring taut with unwavering resolve.

With her feet firmly planted on the ground, [Breath of the Wild] reduces the mana cost of her spells by 62%.

These reduced mana did not vanish into thin air, but were replaced by the power of the earth drawn from the runic array of [Breath of the Wild], allowing Sunefa to unleash powerful attacks even with limited mana.

However, even with the mana cost reduced by more than half, this attack was still very difficult for Sunefa.

She was pushing herself to the limit, all in order to deliver a fatal blow to Judge Ryan at this moment.

The judge from Ryan stared wide-eyed at the aloof woman drawing her bow and shooting an arrow, as if trying to memorize her face.

Three arrows of pure ice were shot out, like three streaks of cold light piercing the night sky.

It's not a simple 1+1+1.

The three True Ice Arrows formed a fan-shaped arc of light.

Within the arc of light, the three arrows spun continuously, creating a slight vortex.

Beyond the arc of light, countless shards of ice condensed and formed, creating an ice storm.

Sunefa completely ignored the dark tentacles of the [Drain Energy] spell that were closing in on her.

Because she was absolutely certain that it was her "arrow" that was faster.

Besides casting range, spell speed is also an advantage of True Ice Arrow.

At this moment, the Holy Judge Ryan was casting the [Energy Drain] spell, which meant that he had no energy left to cast other spells.

All he could rely on were the five-ring undead creatures and zombie behemoths he had created.

However, during the recent chase, Sunefa had already figured out the limits of the zombie behemoth's power.

Ryan sensed something was wrong.

The zombie behemoth, the undead creature he had gone to great lengths to obtain, was now gushing out all the black mist from its body in a near-self-destructive manner.

This black mist, which was originally the source of the zombie behemoth's power, is now pouring out uncontrollably like a flood bursting its banks.

Visibly, as the black mist dissipated, the rotting flesh on the zombie behemoth began to shrink and shrivel rapidly, as if its life essence had been drained away.

Ryan, at the cost of destroying the five-ring undead creatures, controlled the zombie behemoth to unleash its most powerful force.

We can definitely stop it; this is a fifth-ring undead creature!

Ryan thought to himself.

If we can stop this attack, the battle tonight will be over, and Sunefa will die from his [Drain Energy] spell.

However, the black mist that was originally able to contend with the Arrow of True Ice was like a fragile bubble under the impact of the fan-shaped arrow light, instantly collapsing and completely disappearing into nothingness.

The three arrows of pure ice, carrying an unstoppable force, descended with an arc of light and an ice storm.

A chilling cold swept through instantly, freezing all life.

With a scream of despair, in the blink of an eye, the once arrogant fifth-ring necromancer was completely frozen along with the zombie behemoth beneath him, turning into an ice sculpture joined together.

Within the ice sculpture, Ryan stared wide-eyed, his face filled with shock and resentment, his death unfulfilled.

The dark tentacles that had been closing in on Sunaf were suddenly disintegrated and turned into black smoke the instant Ryan turned into an ice sculpture.

(End of this chapter)