Above the mage

Chapter 735 Supporting Role?

The referee's voice rang out again: "First round, capture the flag."

"Venue: Cloud Battlefield"

"Please invite both teams' contestants to enter the arena."

Gao De glanced at the three Blackrock Kingdom players and noticed that their fourth-ring captain was not among them.

On the Plantagenets' side, the three players taking the stage are him, Arya, and Evan.

According to Fritz's arrangement, it should be a standard setup of two supports and one attacker.

"The Cloud Battlefield is a place with wind and water elements, which is a great blessing for both me and Aria."

Evan stretched his body, feeling the rich wind element in the air, a smile appeared on his lips, and he turned to Arya and said.

"Arya, you're in charge of supporting me and keeping the enemy mage occupied. I'm going to capture the flag."

After saying that, he looked at Gao De and said, "Gao De, your main responsibility is to guard our battle flag. You don't need to take the initiative to attack. Just help control the field. I will take back the opponent's flag as soon as possible."

"Okay," Gao De replied.

He didn't have any desire to show off.

In addition, he is indeed good at everything, whether he is an attacker or a support.

Now that Evan is willing to take on the responsibility of capturing the flag, he can simply play a supporting role.

Just then, a thick cloud of mist erupted from the center of the battlefield in the clouds, shooting straight into the sky like a fountain.

Upon reaching the sky, it suddenly dispersed, turning into countless tiny clouds – this was the signal that the competition had begun.

In the next instant, Evan moved suddenly, and his body was instantly surrounded by a dense blue magic power.

As a fourth-circle mage proficient in transformation magic, he could have easily transformed into an animal form and seized the flag with ease.

However, it is clear that Evan is not prepared to "use a sledgehammer to crack a nut" when facing three players from the Principality of Blackrock.

This kind of opponent isn't worth him using too many tricks.

He simply cast the [Flight] spell, hovering steadily above the cloud carpet.

Meanwhile, Arya reacted extremely quickly. Almost at the same time that Evan activated [Flight], a slender beam of wind elemental light had already condensed at her fingertips.

She immediately cast a [Swift Wind] spell on Evan.

A pale blue wind elemental light instantly enveloped Evan, making his already light figure even more agile.

The Egyptian culture, leaving only a blurry afterimage, sped straight towards the starting area of ​​the Blackrock Principality.

It moved so fast that it even left a faint trail of wind in the clouds.

Upon seeing this, the three mages from the Blackrock Kingdom changed their expressions drastically. Without daring to delay, they immediately activated their internal energy and cast spells to block the attack.

One of the mages had a blazing orange-red flame igniting in his palm, which rolled and condensed continuously.

A moment later it turned into a fireball.

Classic Fireball.

He suddenly raised his hand and hurled the fireball. The blazing fireball broke through the thick clouds, whistling sharply, and precisely targeted Evan's back.

However, facing the oncoming fireball, Evan merely shifted his body slightly to the side, like a willow catkin in the wind, causing the fireball to miss its target.

At this casting speed, if I can't react in time, I might as well just surrender. If it were God's fireball, I might be a little wary... Evan even had the mind to complain to himself.

The opponent's casting speed was "too slow," and he detected the magical fluctuations condensed in the fireball in advance, predicting its flight trajectory.

With the added boost of the [Swift Wind Technique], he adjusted his body at an extremely fast speed and easily avoided the attack.

Although the Fireball spell is quite powerful, its trajectory is relatively fixed, making it easy for him to avoid with his keen senses and extremely fast speed.

"He's too fast! Use a spell with fast casting speed, or he'll be able to react!" another mage from the Blackrock Duchy shouted urgently.

At the same time, he quickly pressed his hands down, and the wind elemental magic around him instantly became agitated.

A semi-transparent wall of wind suddenly rose up, swirling with thick clouds, like a solid barrier, firmly blocking Evan's path.

This is undoubtedly a smart spell choice.

Since projectile spells are unlikely to hit the fast-moving Evan, let's give up on direct attacks.

Instead, they created terrain obstacles to hinder his advance, buy time, and create opportunities for their teammates to cast spells.

The idea was correct, but the skills were lacking.

Before Evan could even react to the sudden rise of the wind wall, a huge pale blue wind blade shot out from the sky.

The edge of the wind blade gleamed with a sharp, cold light, carrying a rich amount of wind elemental magic, and precisely struck the gap in the airflow of the wind wall.

That's the weakest point in the wind wall.

With a soft hiss, the seemingly solid wind wall shattered instantly, turning into chaotic air currents that dissipated into the clouds.

It's Aria's [Wind Blade].

She kept a close eye on Evan's actions, and immediately stepped in to help whenever she saw any obstacles.

An ordinary wind blade could have such a great momentum and power... Gao De, who was watching from the side, already understood.

This is most likely thanks to Arya's newly refined wind elemental seed.

"Beautiful." Evan praised inwardly, without pausing for a moment, and continued speeding toward the starting area of ​​the Blackrock Duchy.

However, at this moment, the last mage from the Principality of Blackrock had also completed his spell.

A pale gray magical light lingered around his fingertips.

[Slowness Spell]!

The next second, a pale gray magical light instantly enveloped Evan.

The effect of [Slow Spell] takes effect instantly.

Evan felt as if he were enveloped in an invisible slime.

Her originally light figure became somewhat heavy, and the flow of wind elements beneath her feet slowed down noticeably.

Its speed, which was as fast as a blur, suddenly dropped by 20-30%.

The feeling was like suddenly sinking into a sticky swamp, where every inch of movement required extra effort.

Just as Evan felt the sudden drop in speed, a beam of magic energy condensed at God's fingertip.

Before long, the magical beam shot out, accurately targeting the pale gray light surrounding Evan.

The moment it touched the pale gray light, it was like ice and snow melting away, completely dispelling the magic of the [Slow] spell.

Evan felt the feeling of being bound disappear instantly, and the heaviness fade away.

[Dispel the spell].

It was Gaode who stepped in at the right time to solve this little problem for Evan.

Even without Arya and God's help, these minor troubles wouldn't have been a big deal for Evan.

With his strength as a fourth-circle mage, even if affected by the [Slow] spell, he could forcefully break free using his own magic power, it would just take a little longer.

But with someone helping him with these miscellaneous tasks, he was naturally happy to relax, not having to deal with trivial matters, and could concentrate on sprinting to capture the flag.

With all obstacles cleared, Evan's progress was no longer hindered in the slightest.

With the double blessing, he moved freely through the clouds and arrived at the starting area of ​​the Blackrock Duchy in just a few breaths.

The three Blackstone Duchy mages guarding the flag were so anxious that their eyes turned red.

The defeat was to be expected, given the difference in skill level between the two sides.

But they were absolutely unwilling to be defeated so easily, unable to put up even the slightest decent resistance.

One of them gritted his teeth and quickly swung the staff in his hand.

The staff suddenly lit up with a dazzling earthy yellow light.

This was a spell he had already inscribed in his staff, which could be cast instantly.

The next second, sharp rock spikes shot out from the cloud carpet, carrying heavy earth elemental magic, attacking Evan from all directions and blocking all his escape routes.

Faced with the overwhelming barrage of rock spikes, Evan calmly raised an eyebrow, showing no sign of panic.

With a wave of his hand, wind elements instantly gathered, condensing into a small gust of wind that steadily supported his figure as he leaped forward, passing the oncoming rock spikes with ghostly grace.

The wind control spell, originally used to disrupt enemies, was flexibly adapted to aid in one's own movement.

Do not be bound by the fixed effects of spells, but make good use of the essence of spells.

This is one of the core differences between elite mages and ordinary mages.

Evan's ability to dodge so close to the rock spikes stemmed from his complete confidence in his speed, reaction time, and control over his spells.

After a perilous brush with the enemy, Evan landed safely beside the Blackrock Duchy's battle flag.

Without pausing, he stretched out his right hand, grabbed the flagpole of the battle flag, and with a slight twist of his wrist, pulled the flag up.

"Got it." Evan chuckled.

He held the battle flag in one hand, and the wind element around him surged once again.

His figure shot back towards his own starting zone like an arrow released from a bow, even faster than when he came.

Upon seeing this, the three mages from the Blackrock Duchy became anxious and wanted to give chase immediately in an attempt to reclaim the battle flag.

But at that moment, God and Arya simultaneously unleashed their attack spells, holding back the three mages from the Blackrock Duchy and giving them no chance to catch up.

In particular, Gao De didn't hold back and directly unleashed his signature spell, [Fireball+].

Of course, he did not use the amplification from [Heart of Ember].

Even so, the enormous fireball that condensed almost instantly was still a size larger than a regular [Fireball] spell.

The fireball, wreathed in scorching heat and carrying immense fire elemental power, hurtled towards the three Blackrock Duchy mages.

The three mages' expressions changed drastically; they no longer had the strength to stop or chase Evan.

They could only hastily respond to the [Fireball+] spell, watching helplessly as Evan's figure disappeared into the clouds, getting further and further away.

Evan, carrying the Blackrock Duchy's battle flag, landed steadily in his own starting zone.

He placed the battle flag side by side with his own battle flag.

The next moment, the defensive runes in the starting area of ​​the Golden Flower Dynasty instantly lit up with a dazzling golden light.

The referee's voice, amplified by a high-level amplification spell, resounded steadily and clearly throughout the Dragonspine Arena: "The Golden Flower Dynasty has successfully captured the enemy's flag. The first round of the capture-the-flag battle is won by the Golden Flower Dynasty!"

The arena erupted in thunderous cheers.

The Plantagenets' audience waved flags and shouted slogans.

Evan, who was the most outstanding performer in this capture the flag battle, simply dusted off his hands, looking as relaxed as if he had only accomplished a trivial task.

Compared to most of the viewers who supported the Plantagenet dynasty, Marcus, who was also watching from the stands, reacted rather calmly to the victory.

His gaze swept over Evan, who looked relaxed on the field, and then glanced indifferently at Gao De, who was standing to the side and hadn't exerted much effort throughout the match.

The Principality of Blackrock was never a top-tier team.

With only one fourth-ring mage in the team, and the rest all at the third-ring level, their defeat against the Golden Flower Dynasty's lineup was to be expected.

Therefore, Marcus didn't feel much about the victory.

Another reason is that he ultimately hopes that Liu Ying's "wish" can come true.

So even knowing it's impossible, there's still a tiny bit of hope that Gaode can actually climb back into the top ten of the power rankings.

Yes, from beginning to end, Marcus never thought that Gaode had any chance of regaining the top spot on the power rankings.

In his view, that was simply a fantasy.

The knockout stage is now filled with strong players, and each team is constantly unleashing their trump cards: the fourth-ring mages.

Even with his exceptional talent, Gaode ultimately struggles to overcome the gap in skill level.

His hope is that Gaode can re-enter the top ten.

Marcus even prepared his lines, outlining how to use Gaode's return to the top ten to "coax" his mistress to be happy.

After watching the first capture-the-flag battle, he felt that he probably had no chance.

Undeniably, Gaode is already among the most outstanding young mages.

But when it came to the knockout stage, a stage full of strong competitors, he was completely reduced to an insignificant supporting role, becoming Evan's foil throughout the entire process.

Such a performance makes it impossible for him to improve his combat power rating, let alone return to the top ten.

Ultimately, the ranking of combat power should be based on performance and combat strength in actual combat.

While Marcus was experiencing mixed feelings, the break time in the arena had already passed.

The referee stands on the referee's bench, holding the lottery roll.

His voice, amplified through the sound system, resounded throughout the arena, announcing that the venue type for the second round of the two-player duel had been determined: "Second round, two-player duel, venue: Rocky Secret Realm."

"Players from both sides, please prepare to enter the arena."

According to the submitted roster, Gao De and Evan will team up for this match.

Evan in the fourth ring is enough to guarantee victory in this round.

A high-ranking mage who can hold his own against a fourth-ring mage in mage training is the best choice for a main force when it is necessary to preserve core combat power.

It will not waste core combat power, and it can also guarantee the win rate in the duel.

On the Blackrock Duchy's side, their captain was the one who went into battle.

He is the only fourth-ring mage in the team and is the core fighting force of the Blackrock Duchy.

The other one is the third-circle wind mage who just used a wind wall to block Evan during the capture-the-flag battle.

Although he appeared disheveled during the capture-the-flag battle, he also demonstrated remarkable control over magic.

They were the two strongest members of the Blackrock Principality's team.

The leader of the Blackrock Duchy knew that facing a strong team like the Golden Flower Dynasty, being swept 3-0 was likely an unavoidable outcome.

Of the five games, their best chance of winning is this second doubles match.

Because two-player duels are limited in number of participants, and strong teams often have a bit of "arrogance" and are unwilling to use their core strength too early, they will send out second-tier players to fight.

With their team's focus entirely on this match, the two strongest players joining forces theoretically minimize the skill gap between them and the Golden Flower Dynasty's players.

This is their only chance to pull back a point.

that's the truth.

In terms of mage level alone, the two are roughly equal.

Even when he was in a sorry state during the capture-the-flag battle, that third-ring mage did not use the spells inscribed on his staff, saving them for this match.

On both sides of the field, Gao De and Evan were ready to compete.

Evan cracked his knuckles, turned to look at Gao De beside him, and said casually, "I'll take on their captain, you take on that third-ring mage, let's see who finishes off the opponent faster."

In fact, during the nearly twenty days of French Bulldog training, they did practice team combat and developed some tactical coordination.

However, those sophisticated tactics were all prepared to deal with equally powerful enemies.

Evan clearly had no intention of using tactical coordination against the two players from the Principality of Blackrock.

In his view, the two of them could easily win by fighting individually, given their individual strength.