Above the mage

Chapter 413 First Stage Form

This wind dragon is at least a fifth-tier monster, and at least an "elite monster" within the fifth tier.

Although rank cannot be directly discerned, most of the mages present quickly made their judgments.

Because this wind dragon can single-handedly confront the Auckland Magic Crystal Cannon head-on.

Compared to the wind dragon's combat power and appearance, what truly concerned all the mages was that, through its translucent, glassy body, they could clearly see a cyan crystal core at the head.

This cyan crystal core is no longer composed of wind elements, but has solidified into a physical substance.

"It wants to become a real material being." On the Thorn Crown, the mage Theodore stared at the terrifying eyes in the wind network and said, word by word.

Upon hearing this, Count Roland's expression changed.

Looking again at Fenglong's indifferent, seemingly emotionless pupils, this time one could almost see a hint of greed hidden within them.

That was greed for the mage plane.

All the doubts and oddities were explained the moment the wind dragon appeared.

Gaode had been trying to figure out a problem for a long time:

Why are these wind elemental creatures fighting so "hard"?

Even if the wind network is fully formed and the passage between the mage plane and their respective secondary plane is opened, it will not bring them any benefit.

Wind elemental beings, as energy beings, only need wind elemental energy to survive.

Although the mage plane also contains extremely rich wind element energy, the wind element energy in their own plane is more than enough, so why bother?

Their own plane of existence is even more suitable for them to live in.

As a material plane, the Mage Plane contains too much complex energy, which means that for wind elemental beings, there are too many useless impurities.

Now, everything has a reasonable explanation.

It turns out that the most powerful wind elemental being in this secondary plane has grown to the stage of transforming into a material being.

However, it is definitely impossible to truly transform into a material life form in a pure elemental secondary plane.

It must enter a real material plane like the Mage Plane.

It's even highly likely that the appearance of the wind network was driven by this wind dragon.

Over a long period of time, after countless attempts, the wind dragon, with its virtually unlimited lifespan, finally found a weak point at the junction of its own plane and the mage plane.

This is lucky.

With its immense power, it successfully breached this weak point.

Unfortunately, this weak point is located too close to the city of Auckland.

If it were 800 kilometers instead of 180 kilometers, perhaps Auckland would still be completely unaware until the wind network stabilizes completely.

Moreover, if the distance is 800 kilometers, this wind network is not necessarily something that needs to be destroyed for the mages of Auckland.

Because the wind at this distance does not pose a significant threat to the city of Auckland.

But unfortunately not if.

For the Wind Dragon to cross this Dragon Gate and possess real flesh and blood, it must preserve its Wind Veins and then enter the Mage Plane after the Wind Veins have stabilized.

The wizards of Auckland must destroy this wind network if they want to save the city.

Both sides have reasons why they cannot back down or make concessions.

Then it all comes down to who has the harder fist.

Rumble!

The golden beam of light from the magic crystal cannon and the cyan vortex protruding from the wind dragon collided violently, one above the other, and remained locked in a stalemate.

The burst of energy tore the entire sky into a yin-yang color.

General against general, pawn against pawn.

If we say that the Magic Crystal Cannon and the Wind Dragon are from two different dimensions...

The wind elemental creatures that constantly surge out of the wind network are the "pawns" of the wind dragon.

The mages on the ship are soldiers from the mage plane.

Currently, the mage plane is facing an unfavorable trend, both at the general and pawn levels.

It's not that the Auckland Magic Crystal Cannon, as a war-grade alchemical weapon of Auckland City, is weaker than the Wind Dragon, but rather that activating the Magic Crystal Cannon requires continuously consuming the magic power within the Orik Crystal.

However, on the Wind Dragon's side, while it was spewing out cyan vortexes, the cyan crystal core at the head of its head was constantly absorbing the abundant wind element energy in the plane.

It's not exactly a perpetual motion machine, but given the availability of "energy," the Auckland Magic Crystal Cannon would definitely be the first to be drained.

On the other hand, the mages' combat power was also stronger than the wind elemental creatures, which were at most level three.

But the problem is the same.

Whether fighting or defending, both require mana and the magic of Auric Crystals.

Wind elemental creatures, however, keep emerging in an endless stream, seemingly supported by a plane that provides them with a safety net, appearing to be inexhaustible in number.

The only good news is that both the formation of wind elemental creatures and the breath of the wind dragon are consuming wind elemental energy in the secondary plane.

Therefore, it is visible to the naked eye that the shaping speed of the wind network begins to stagnate, and the spatial cracks stop expanding.

If this stalemate continues, the wind network will naturally collapse on its own.

The question is, can it hold on?

Whoosh!

All the warships were shaking violently due to the aftershocks of the collision between the cyan vortex and the golden beam of light.

The light shield covering the warship's surface was constantly rippling due to the successive impacts of the wind elemental creatures.

Boom!

Another wave of wind elemental creatures crashed into the light shield, and ripple-like energy waves spread along the ship's meridians, causing the ship to shake.

On the ship, the mages gritted their teeth as they cast various spells.

Conjuration and Evocation spells are undoubtedly the mainstream.

Fireballs and ice spikes erupted from his palms, relentlessly bombarding the wind elemental creatures in the air.

No one was stingy with their magical power, and they shared it all without reservation.

These wind elemental creatures seem inexhaustible, but the formation of each one requires the consumption of wind elemental energy from the secondary plane.

Once they are killed in the Mage Plane, the wind elemental energy that makes up their bodies will not return to the Wind Elemental Secondary Plane, but will be completely and domineeringly digested by the Mage Plane.

If this continues, the wind element energy in the secondary wind element plane will gradually decrease, and the wind network will slowly dissipate.

The only downside is that this isn't a game, so there's no mission progress bar.

No one knows how many more wind elemental creatures need to be killed before the critical threshold that would cause the wind network to collapse is reached.

The defeated wind elemental creatures transformed into wind elemental energy, most of which dissipated like mist and returned to the mage plane.

However, a small portion of it was absorbed by the Wild Spirits.

"Cyan 96.7% 97.5%"

In Gaode's Mandora's eyes, the proportion of blue on Wild Soul's body has begun to approach 100%.

Actually, such precise values ​​are not necessary, because it is visible to the naked eye that the transparent soul part of the Wild Soul is being eaten away and stained by the blue color, and is gradually becoming invisible.

In the next instant, strange patterns of light flashed across the surface of the Wild Soul's body.

Gao De's Mandora's Eye scanned Wild Soul several times, but could no longer see even 0.1% of the transparent part.

This means that Wild Spirit has absorbed enough wind elemental energy and is about to enter the first stage form, officially completing the transformation from Wild Spirit to Storm Spirit.

A powerful surge of magical energy emanated from the Wild Soul's body.

A faint blue light rose from the surface of its soul, spreading upwards from its feet.

Wherever the light passed, the originally illusory soul gradually solidified, as if it had been infused with the power of life, transforming into a physical entity with a glassy luster.

At first glance, it actually bears a striking resemblance to the terrifying wind dragon coiled behind the wind.

However, the difference is that the Wind Dragon was stuck in a semi-illusory, semi-physical state, while the Wild Spirit materialized without any hindrance.

The blue light flowed upwards.

After it flashed past the head of the Wild Spirit, the Wild Spirit—or rather, the Storm Spirit—opened its eyes.

The pupils were no longer empty; instead, they became two tangible storms, seemingly containing some inexplicable emotions.

This is the first stage form of Storm Soul.

However, with the battle raging intensely, Gao De didn't have time to explore the abilities of Storm Soul.

But the next moment, Storm Spirit showed Gaudí what was unusual about him in his first-stage form.

It opened its mouth into the void, as if inhaling, and made a "hissing" sound.

An unusual suction force spread out from the Storm Soul.

Not only the warship where Gaode was located, but also the wind elemental creatures on the three or four surrounding warships that had been defeated, their scattered wind elemental energy surged wildly towards it as if boiling.

The moment these wind elemental energies were injected into the Storm Soul's body, they transformed into streaks of cyan, which traveled across its surface, making its outline even clearer.

This absorption efficiency is not just doubled, it's more like ten times better!

To see the whole leopard from a single spot.

With such a significant improvement in "eating" speed, other aspects certainly can't be any weaker!

Some people are happy that someone is worried.

While Gao De was overjoyed that Storm Soul had entered Phase One, the atmosphere on the Thorn Crown was unusually somber.

"This can't go on," Mage Theodore murmured, staring at the wind patterns in the sky.

The standoff continues.

No one can be sure whether the magic of the Oric Crystal will be exhausted first, or whether the wind network will dissipate first due to the rapid depletion of wind elemental energy.

If it's the latter, then that's naturally better.

But if it's the former, then what awaits them is a catastrophe.

Not only will the entire fleet present be wiped out with few survivors, but once the winds stabilize, the city of Auckland will also cease to exist.

Therefore, we cannot gamble; we must take the initiative to do something.

"Mages above the fourth ring, get ready and follow me to the Wind Network to face the Wind Dragon." After much deliberation, Mage Theodore gritted his teeth and made this difficult decision.

Just as a wind dragon cannot transform into a physical being in a pure energy plane, a physical being will also face various discomforts and even be eroded by energy once it enters a pure energy plane, thus becoming an energy being.

Therefore, this secondary plane of wind element is definitely a dead end for human mages, and they should not stay there for long.

Even at the entrance of a spatial passage, one must endure the erosion of wind elemental energy.

Not to mention that there was such a powerful wind dragon among them.

But now, they have no choice.

To win, one must take risks.

Theodore's decision quickly spread throughout the entire fleet.

In reality, most of the fourth-ring mages were concentrated on the Thorncrown. Other warships either had one or two fourth-ring mages in overall command, or none at all.

For example, the warship where Gaode was located did not have a single fourth-ring mage.

All the fourth-circle mages, whether they were willing or not, responded to the call.

Even Count Roland was already standing beside the mage Theodore, poised to strike.

—As the nominal lord and chief administrator of Auckland, his mage level is as high as the fourth ring.

In the Plantagenet dynasty, nobles had no special privileges when carrying out such dangerous missions, and were even expected to lead from the front.

Count Roland was very self-aware.

Whether for his own beliefs or for the glory and future of his family, he could not escape this charge.

"All fourth-circle mages, prepare to follow me!!" Theodore's voice echoed over the storm-swept fleet.

Upon hearing his voice, the fourth-circle mages activated their spell models.

Along with the fluctuations of magic, a soft light emanated from their bodies, accompanied by a slight rustling of wind.

With the help of magic, they became incredibly light and floated into the air.

[Flying skills].

[Flight] is a third-circle transformation spell. Like the first-circle [Language Proficiency], it is a must-learn spell for third-circle mages, and almost everyone has one.

Its spell effect is just as its name suggests, granting mages the ability to fly.

That is to say, starting with the Third Ring Master, the Master was able to soar through the sky.

Of course, that's not enough. In addition to the [flight spell], they also need to cast various protective spells on themselves beforehand.

"Kill for Auckland!" Seeing that everyone was ready, the mage Theodore shouted once again.

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his obsidian staff high and charged ahead, plunging headlong into the ocean of wind elemental creatures with lightning speed.

As he flew at great speed, a dazzling halo of flames suddenly bloomed around the mage Theodore's body.

Even as wind elementals surged in like a tide, covering it, they could not conceal the fiery red glow of the aura of fire.

How could these wind elemental creatures, which are at most third rank, possibly withstand a fifth-rank mage, no matter how numerous they are?

The layers upon layers of wind elemental creatures, as long as they were touched even slightly by the flame aura surrounding the mage Theodore, would immediately burst into flames and instantly transform into the most primal wind elemental energy.

Earl Roland followed closely behind, followed by the other fourth-circle mages, whose speed was noticeably slower than that of Theodore, or rather, by more than one level.

Each person was radiating a dazzling magical light, with different styles and colors, but what they all had in common was the powerful magical energy surging within them.

In this world's system of supernatural powers, the hierarchy of power is extremely clear.

With the fifth-ring mages as the spearhead and the fourth-ring mages forming a square formation, the wind elemental creatures were unable to obstruct them, let alone hinder them in the slightest.

Everyone knows this.

The real danger of this operation came after they reached the location of Fengluo.

(End of this chapter)