Above the mage

Chapter 739 A Four-in-a-Row (Part 2)

Captain Blackstone stared intently at Gao De, no longer harboring any contempt for him.

That fireball spell almost knocked him down.

If it weren't for the blessing of the Water Realm, and if he hadn't reacted in time, he would have already become a laughing stock.

The discussion in the room continued to be heated.

Captain Blackstone knew very well that the reason why those third-ring mages were helpless against Gaode's fireball was entirely because their strength and speed could not keep up with Gaode's pace.

The dilemma faced by the Third Ring Mage against the High Priest is unsolvable: the High Priest's Fireball spell, besides its terrifying power and spell penetration effect, is even more frightening for its extreme casting speed.

A third-ring mage of the same level simply cannot condense the corresponding third-ring protective spell in such a short time.

If they insist on casting the third-circle protective spell, the result will only be that Gaode's fireball will hit their face while their protective spell is still in the casting stage.

If you have to settle for second best, you can choose to cast a low-level defensive spell of the second ring.

The casting speed can barely keep up, but even with the help of the ascending ring casting technique, how could the defensive strength of low-level protective spells possibly withstand the [Fireball] spell, which is known as the benchmark of third-ring evocation spells?

Not to mention, Gaode's fireball spell also has a spell penetration effect.

Low-level protective spells are as fragile as paper in its presence.

But he was not one of those weak, third-ring mages.

He is a fourth-circle water elemental mage, which is his greatest advantage and the source of his confidence in turning the tide.

A third-ring mage casting a second-ring protective spell while ascending to ring level is ultimately no match for the overwhelming barrage of orthodox third-ring spells.

However, a fourth-circle mage casting a second-circle protective spell upon ascending to the fourth circle is sufficient to withstand the impact of a third-circle spell.

Just like now, he was forced to condense a water shield and a water bubble one after another, with two layers of defense stacked on top of each other, barely managing to block Gao De's terrifying fireball spell.

Although they were in a sorry state, they actually managed to hold on.

More importantly, in this watery realm under his control, the water elemental magic was at its peak.

His speed in casting the third ring of water spells was almost equal to that of Goddard's fireball casting speed.

"Hmph, it's just a slightly strange fireball spell. Do you really think I'm helpless?" Captain Blackrock sneered in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of the arrogance of a fourth-ring mage.

Without further hesitation, the water in the swamp surged wildly around him.

He fully unleashed the power of the Water Realm, a pale blue light enveloping his entire body, merging with the surrounding mist and water.

[Water Barrier].

A highly representative three-ring water elemental spell.

He pushed his hands forward with a sudden force, and the water elements in the Water Margin instantly gathered, condensing into a water barrier in front of him that was half a foot thick and over ten feet high, with a completely clear surface.

The surface of the barrier is covered with fine water ripples, like a carefully forged natural water armor.

Each ripple of water contained immense water elemental magic, making it several times stronger than the previously formed water shield.

"Come on, let me see what other tricks you have up your sleeve." Captain Blackstone's eyes were icy.

The water in the swamp flows upstream continuously, surging into the water barrier along its patterns, constantly replenishing the barrier's energy.

The once clear barrier became even more crystalline, and the water ripples on its surface flowed even faster, as if it would never be breached.

At that moment, Gao De's second fully-formed fireball came hurtling towards them.

A wave of intense heat rushed towards us.

The surrounding mist evaporated and dissipated again, and the water in the swamp bubbled and hissed.

Even in the Canglang Swamp, this fire elemental energy was not significantly suppressed.

The fireball arrived in front of the water barrier in an instant.

Without any buffer, the fireball and the water barrier collided with a deafening roar.

The shockwave whipped up a cloud of water mist, causing the swamp water to churn violently and splash several feet high.

The blazing flames instantly enveloped the entire water barrier, and the spell penetration effect activated immediately.

The crimson flames clung to the surface of the barrier like a malignant tumor, relentlessly eroding the energy of the water barrier.

The once clear water barrier gradually became murky, and fine cracks appeared on its surface.

Like glass scorched by a raging fire, it could shatter at any moment.

At the same time, the water in the swamp and the water element flowed upstream, surging into the barrier to replenish it and repair the fine cracks little by little.

Even after the fireball's flames completely dissipated, turning into countless sparks that merged into the water mist, the water barrier still stood firmly in front of Captain Blackstone.

The water ripples on the surface had faded a bit, and there were still some traces of flames burning on the top.

Gao De's gaze sharpened slightly as he looked at the [Water Barrier] that Captain Blackstone had conjured.

He realized that without the blessing of the Water Realm, even though Captain Blackrock was a fourth-circle mage, his speed in casting third-circle spells was actually slower than his fireball.

Furthermore, it was the blessing of the Water Realm that enhanced the power of water elemental spells, along with the continuous supply of water elements, that allowed this water barrier to barely withstand the bombardment of his Burning Heart Fireball spell.

In other words, any other fourth-ring mage would likely be in a similar predicament against his fireball spell.

The purpose of the test has been achieved.

The initial fervor and curiosity in Gaode's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a sense of calm.

He calmed down a bit and no longer had any thoughts of testing the waters.

We've had enough fun, and the testing is complete.

Now, it's time to end this stalemate, completely defeat Captain Blackrock, and secure this victory for the Plantagenet Dynasty.

On the other side, seeing that the Water Barrier had blocked Gaode's fireball spell intact, Captain Blackrock was completely relieved, and the solemnity on his face disappeared.

Stable.

He had completely cracked the opponent's signature move.

And now it's his turn.

Captain Blackstone stopped passively defending and waved his staff, drawing up the water in the swamp beneath his feet.

These water streams quickly condensed and shaped in front of him, transforming into dozens of completely transparent water arrows.

Each water arrow contains a rich water elemental magic, its tip gleaming with a cold, sharp light, and its arrowhead compressed to an extremely sharp point by the water element.

"Go!" he hissed.

Dozens of water arrows shot out instantly, like a torrential downpour, with a whooshing sound as they flew towards Gaode.

The dense network completely blocked all of Gaode's escape routes.

In his view, Gaode could only passively defend against this overwhelming rain of water arrows.

Once Gaode is forced into a defensive stance, he can control the pace, gradually depleting Gaode's mana and ultimately winning easily.

However, Gao De remained unusually calm in the face of this potentially deadly rain of arrows.

He neither activated any defensive spells nor made any attempt to dodge. He simply stood motionless in place, his eyes slightly narrowed, his expression focused, as if he were casting some kind of spell.

However, the strange sight of no magical light condensing in his hand gave Captain Blackstone a bad feeling. He frowned slightly and subconsciously tightened his grip on his staff.

It was too unusual, but he couldn't figure out what trick Gaode was up to.

Just as Captain Blackstone was still hesitating, a series of whooshing sounds swept in.

The water arrows were less than ten feet away from Gao De, and they were about to turn him into a sieve.

At this critical moment, a faint layer of silvery-white mist suddenly appeared around Gao De.

The mist, as hazy as gauze, instantly enveloped his figure.

【Stealth Steps】

Gaode's figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

Only the wisp of silvery mist remained, still lingering around the spot where he had stood, slowly dissipating.

"Huh? Where is everyone?"

The water arrows missed their mark, landing in the swamp where Gaode had been standing, splashing water and black mud everywhere.

Captain Blackstone was immediately taken aback, his eyes widening instinctively as he looked around.

His eyes quickly searched the field, trying to find Gao De's figure.

This aimless search inevitably caused him to have a brief blind spot, completely unaware that a figure was quietly appearing within the silvery-white mist.

A high-ranking player who returns to their original position using the extra effect of [Stealth Step].

As soon as he steadied himself, a thought struck him, and a deep red flame instantly emanated from his palm.

The next instant, another fireball was launched at Captain Blackrock.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of the fireball tearing through the air that Captain Blackstone snapped back to reality, his gaze snapping back to its original position, his pupils constricting to needle-like sizes.

The fireball was already very close.

"Old wine in new bottles, fireballs won't work on me!" Captain Blackrock shouted in a low voice, his tone tinged with panic.

But there was only a trace.

Even though he failed to detect Gao De's presence in time, and even though the fireball came unexpectedly, there was still a water barrier in front of him, reinforced by the Water Margin.

This is his greatest asset.

No matter how violent the fireball was, it could not escape the fate of being blocked by the water barrier.

However, Captain Blackstone inexplicably felt that the water elemental power around him seemed to have weakened a bit in that instant, and he even felt a faint chill.

Something's strange... he muttered to himself, but his attention was completely drawn to the oncoming fireball, and he had no mind to investigate this anomaly.

The authorities are fascinated.

In stark contrast to Captain Blackstone's continued composure, the audience erupted in uncontrollable gasps of amazement.

"Water flow...!!!" All the spectators were shocked.

Everyone could clearly see that the turbid waters of the Water Realm, which were originally flowing and full of water elements, beneath Captain Blackstone's feet and within a few feet of him, underwent a strange change in that instant.

The water flow slowed down suddenly, and the murky water became clear and solidified at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Tiny ice patterns spread rapidly, covering the area like a spider web.

In the blink of an eye, a large area of ​​flowing water froze into a solid, cold block of ice.

This is precisely the "method" that Gaode just performed.

The special ability granted to him after reaching the third ring in "The Secret of Perfect Ice": water turning into ice.

This ability allowed him to understand the superficial secrets of the transformation between water and ice.

With just a flick of his wrist, he can transform a small body of water into a solid ice field, or condense humid air into deadly ice fog.

It is extremely efficient and can suppress the flow of water elements to a certain extent.

Of course, the core ability of water to turn into ice is actually to create a temporary ice element environment.

At this moment, however, Gao De cleverly used the Water Margin to suppress Captain Blackstone.

What he had to do was to turn that seemingly indestructible water barrier into a completely isolated and helpless shell. While the audience was still immersed in the shock of the water freezing into ice, the deep red fireball on the field had already crashed hard into the water barrier.

The water ripples on the surface of the water barrier quickly dimmed, and the originally fine cracks instantly expanded and spread, covering the entire barrier like a spider web.

Just like before, Captain Blackstone subconsciously used the power of the Water Realm to repair the damage to the Water Barrier.

However, it was impossible to mobilize the power of the Water Realm.

The abundant water element energy seemed to vanish in an instant.

"Where's the water?!" he asked instinctively, his tone tinged with panic and confusion.

Upon closer inspection, I was horrified to discover that, without my noticing, a massive ice floe had formed around me.

The water element, which was originally flowing, has long been completely blocked by the ice layer.

His connection with the realm of water was temporarily severed.

The water barrier, like a fortress that has lost its foundation, can no longer repair its damage as quickly as before, and can only passively endure the erosion of the fireball.

Therefore, the water barrier that had steadily blocked Gao De's fireball spell shattered at this moment, turning into countless tiny water droplets that dissipated into the air.

Although the water barrier absorbed most of the fireball's power before it collapsed.

However, the remaining flames, still carrying intense heat, blasted towards Captain Blackstone.

Captain Blackstone's expression changed drastically. In his panic, he could only subconsciously raise his hand and cast a basic first-level protective spell, Shield.

A weak shield instantly enveloped his entire body.

"Bang!" The residual force of the flames slammed into the [Shield Spell].

Without any suspense, the shield shattered instantly.

The scorching flames grazed his arms and shoulders, leaving charred marks.

A sharp burning sensation came from my skin.

Fortunately, his elemental body had fire as one of its attributes, giving it inherent fire resistance, which is why he only suffered minor injuries.

If it were a mage without fire resistance, they would probably be seriously injured or even dead by now.

Even though it was just a minor burn, he couldn't help but groan and stagger back several steps.

The ice beneath his feet was too slippery, causing Captain Blackstone to stumble and nearly fall to the ground, looking utterly disheveled.

The previous arrogance and composure had vanished without a trace.

Gaode did not give Captain Blackstone a chance to catch his breath.

His use of water to turn to ice was not only to disable Captain Blackrock's home-field advantage, but also to perfectly set up his next spell.

A surge of magical energy emanated from Gao De's hand once again.

This time, however, it did not generate flames, but rather a cool, pale blue light.

With a slight twitch of his fingertips, the condensed pale blue light shot out like a meteor, landing precisely on the ice beneath Captain Blackstone's feet.

The ice layer trembled violently, and the ice patterns on its surface swirled rapidly, gleaming with a cold, sharp light.

The next second, countless sharp ice spikes, like blades bursting from the ground, suddenly pierced out of the ice.

It was incredibly fast, stabbing at Captain Blackstone from all directions.

[Overgrown with ice thorns].

These ice spikes are pure white, with fine, sharp ice ridges on their surface, and their tips gleam with a faint, cold light.

Each ice thorn contains a rich concentration of pure ice magic, and with the added enhancement of the ice layer formed by water turning into ice, the power of the ice thorn is greatly amplified, making it several times stronger than the ordinary [Ice Thorn Grove].

What Captain Blackstone didn't expect was that just as the ice thorns were about to pierce his body, they suddenly exploded!

Boom!

Countless ice spikes shattered, turning into countless sharp ice shards that rained down on Captain Blackstone.

The ice shards were so dense that there was no room to dodge them.

It was far more terrifying than the rain of arrows he had just unleashed.

Each ice shard contains a bone-chilling cold and a powerful impact.

It landed on his skin, instantly leaving a fine, deep cut that penetrated to the very core, chilling him to the bone.

At the same time, the shockwave from the explosion violently threw him away, causing him to crash heavily onto a reef not far away.

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