Above the mage

Chapter 759 First Defeat

Stone walls stand tall, and clouds surge.

Viola hid in the shadows of the thick earthen wall, concealing herself behind the battle lines, and calmly activated her own spell model.

She did not unleash any powerful offensive spells; only a faint, almost transparent silver-white light lingered around her fingertips.

That was the magical aura unique to enchanting spells, which did not produce any elemental fluctuations.

On the other side of the battlefield, the three members of the Golden Flower Dynasty launched an offensive simultaneously.

Their tactical approach coincided with that of the Holy Empire: first, solidify their formation, and then seek an opportunity to break through.

Cedric immediately raised his hand to activate the protective energy shield spell.

A clear and homogeneous magical barrier suddenly expanded outwards from him, forming a hemispherical stable barrier that firmly protected Feng Lin and himself within the barrier.

It can effectively block various elemental impacts, explosions, and physical spell attacks.

As a turret mage, Cedric specializes in elemental summoning and evocation spells. The stability of his spell barriers, mana sustain, and protective layers far surpass those of pure crowd control mages like Feng Lin.

By having him take full responsibility for defense, Feng Lin's entire spellcasting time can be freed up, allowing her to focus on defense without having to worry about anything else.

In that brief moment, Feng Lin had already completed the spell.

A pale blue prophetic aura spread out, sweeping across every area of ​​the battlefield, intent on locking onto Herbert, who was lurking in the shadows and completely concealing his presence.

At the same moment, Evan had already leaped into the clouds high in the sky.

His body surged with lightning and crackled with electricity as he cast a shapeshifting spell.

A piercing, sharp cry shattered the clouds.

He was enveloped in violent lightning elements, and had transformed into a thunderbird with a wingspan of more than ten feet, shooting out tiny arcs of electricity as his wings trembled.

With overwhelming speed, Evan swooped straight toward the flag tower guarded by the two Holy Empire members.

On the battlefield, crowd control mages have a higher priority than artillery damage mages, which in turn are superior to melee assault mages.

Compared to turret mages who specialize in damage, control mages' abilities such as spell interference, status weakening, vision blocking, and formation restriction can often fundamentally change the course of a battle.

Therefore, the strategic threat posed by crowd control mages may even surpass that of pure damage-dealing mages.

Furthermore, the defensive weaknesses of most crowd control mages are more pronounced compared to those of artillery mages.

Therefore, choosing it as the optimal first target to eliminate in team battles is definitely the right choice.

Evan's tactical choices followed this principle, targeting Viola directly.

Just as the lightning of the Thunderbird pierced the sky, Viola, behind the earthen wall, suddenly raised her hand and shot out the silvery-white light that had been gathering at her fingertips.

This beam of light moved at a speed far exceeding that of conventional energy-generating spells, and it was silent and undisturbed.

It carried no explosive force and was aimed directly at Feng Lin, who was maintaining the detection spell.

Viola's tactical objective was extremely clear:

The interference disrupted Feng Lin's detection rhythm, allowing Herbert to remain hidden in the shadows and putting immense pressure on them.

Cedric's energy shield stood firmly in front of them.

But this powerful barrier, capable of withstanding elemental explosions and physical impacts, is now completely useless.

The silvery-white light penetrated the texture of the barrier without causing any magical collision or tremor in the barrier.

Because this is an enchanting spell called "Mind Disturbance".

Barriers are designed to resist external energy impacts and physical damage, providing protection at the physical and magical levels.

Enchantment spells target the soul and consciousness of living beings, which transcends the defensive scope of conventional energy shields and naturally ignores all physical and elemental protective barriers.

At this moment, Feng Lin was completely immersed in the operation of the detection spell, her mental energy highly concentrated.

But she remained completely unfazed by the [Mind Disturbance] cast by Viola.

Because from the very first moment the battle began, she did not hesitate to activate the soul protection spell engraved on her staff.

At this moment, a layer of pure and profound spiritual light had already settled in her mind, like a solid barrier for her soul.

With Liu Ying providing backup for both the gauntlet battle and the five-person team battle, Feng Lin tacitly believes that she has a shoo-in for these two games.

In this situation, if they can win this capture-the-flag battle, the Golden Flower team will be able to firmly control the initiative in the finals.

Therefore, she had no reason to hold back and immediately used all her trump cards at the start, sparing no effort in using the precious engraving spells on her staff.

The moment the silvery-white mental disturbance light invaded Feng Lin's mind, it was immediately completely enveloped, purified, and dissolved by the outer snow-white mental barrier, without even causing a ripple.

It had no effect whatsoever on her mental state or the rhythm of her spellcasting.

Viola's interference failed.

Almost at the same time, Cedric had already gripped the Elemental Staff in his hand.

The blue crystal on the staff suddenly shone brightly, bringing with it a chilling blue wind.

The airflow in the surrounding airspace instantly converged and swirled wildly.

The visible vortex condenses and takes shape at an extremely fast speed.

It eventually transformed into a humanoid elemental creature nearly two meters tall and landed steadily.

This elemental body is composed of pure, transparent vortexes of wind, with its limbs blurred and indistinct.

It was surrounded by fine, sharp wind blades, had no fixed facial features, and its head was a swirling, hazy vortex.

The moment it takes shape, the air elemental is already in battle stance.

Its surrounding airflow surged rapidly, and tiny wind blades intertwined densely, transforming into a fan-shaped wind saw that swept forward.

At the same time, his body used the buoyancy of the airflow to glide at high speed, rushing rapidly towards the Imperial Flag Platform.

And this was the beginning of Cedric's offensive.

His specialty, Elemental Resonance, grants him a tactical ceiling far exceeding that of a conventional mage: all elemental creatures summoned by him can become the relay points for his spells.

He doesn't need to stand in a position to output damage; he can directly cast spells of the corresponding element through the bodies of elemental creatures, achieving spellcasting from a distance and attacking from blind spots.

This also means that the more elemental creatures that survive on the field, the more casting points he has, the wider the coverage area, and the more tricky the output angle.

As the battle continues and summoned creatures accumulate, his combat power will continue to rise, becoming stronger with each battle, making him a typical late-game team fight mage.

As long as his teammates can help him stabilize the formation and provide cover, allowing him to safely unleash his elemental summoning wave, he can gradually build up his combat advantage and completely dominate the battle.

This is also the core reason why Fritz arranged for him to start.

Although Capture the Flag is not a five-player team battle, it can be considered a three-player team battle in a sense after abandoning the idea of ​​capturing the flag, which is a perfect fit for Cedric's spell system.

On the Empire's side, seeing that Viola's mental interference had failed to affect Feng Lin, Reginald, who was now free to act, immediately stepped in to fill the gap.

He raised his hand and pressed down, the earth-yellow magic power spreading out with heavy potential energy.

An invisible and intangible gravitational field instantly enveloped Cedric and Feng Lin.

Similarly, the gravitational field is not an elemental attack or physical impact, so it can perfectly bypass the energy shield's defense and land directly on Cedric and Feng Lin.

The next instant, a body that suddenly swelled up pressed down heavily on them.

Cedric and Feng Lin both sank simultaneously, their blood vessels bulging due to the sudden increase in gravity, and the rate of magic flow within their bodies decreased significantly.

Knowing the fatal danger of continuous interference with spellcasting, Cedric made a decisive move and immediately interrupted the subsequent elemental summoning plan.

He abandoned his farming and raised his hand to prepare to unleash a spell to strike Reginald, intending to interrupt the opponent's gravity field and forcibly break free from the restraint.

But Reginald had anticipated this and didn't give him any chance to retaliate.

Earth magic surged once more, the earth's pulse traveling along the floating rock platform, instantly triggering the Earth Spike spell.

Hard, sharp rock spikes burst forth from beneath the ground with a deafening roar, carrying a fierce armor-piercing force as they precisely struck the core area where the two stood.

The moment the dense, sharp rock spikes collided with the protective spell cast by Cedric, they were immediately blocked by the dense and tough texture of the barrier.

Unable to break through the defenses, it naturally failed to inflict any real damage on the two.

Seeing his attack fail, Reginald showed no surprise, but rather a calm smile that indicated he had everything under control.

The real killing move is never the visible, powerful attack of ground spikes.

Rumble!

The spot where Cedric and Feng Lin were standing suddenly trembled.

A shockwave originating from deep within the earth rushed up their feet and legs and into their bodies.

An extreme sense of imbalance instantly swept over my entire body.

The two completely lost their balance, and their bodies swayed and staggered uncontrollably.

An intense sense of imbalance instantly swept over them, causing their bodies to shake violently and their center of gravity to slip.

The spell model being constructed shattered instantly due to the body's sway, forcibly interrupting the casting rhythm.

This is precisely Reginald's area of ​​expertise.

[Combat Feat - Earthquake Tremor]: When your earth elemental spell hits, there is a chance to trigger a local earthquake, causing enemies within the area to lose their balance.

Targets affected by gravity have an increased probability of being hit by an earthquake.

Boo!

Just as the Golden Flower Duo was momentarily stunned, a sharp and piercing cry came from high above the clouds.

The thunderbird that Evan had transformed into had already broken through the cloud barrier, carrying with it a chaotic arc of lightning, and finally made a surprise attack on the front of the Imperial positions.

The Thunderbird spread its wings, each feather shooting out blinding flashes of electricity.

Without probing or circling, it used the momentum of its dive to pounce on Reginald and Viola, its claws crackling with powerful lightning energy.

Seeing this, Reginald had no choice but to abandon his continued suppression of the two on the ground and take the initiative to step forward to protect Viola behind him.

His body was covered in a thick layer of rock armor, and his earthy yellow magic surged.

This is one of his specialties: Rock Armor.

It allows one to attach earth elemental energy to their body surface, forming a rock armor that enhances defense without affecting their speed.

Rocks have an insulating and restraining effect on lightning.

Evan's lightning claws tore through the air, unleashing a series of lightning strikes that slammed into Reginald's rock armor.

A deafening roar and a burst of lightning scattered in all directions, with layers of fine stone chips peeling off.

Despite the cracks spreading across the surface of Reginald's rock armor, it steadily withstood the damage without completely shattering.

And with the infusion of earth elemental energy, the cracks were quickly repaired.

At the same time, a silver light shone from Viola's fingertips.

A [Mental Disturbance] spell landed precisely on Feng Lin once again.

Although the previous attempt to disrupt her mind had failed, Viola did not change her tactics.

She attempted to wear down Feng Lin's mental defenses through relentless mental attacks, and then directly attack Feng Lin's soul.

Feng Lin used the Mind Barrier she cast at the start of the game to completely ignore Viola's enchantment spells.

No matter how many spells the opponent cast, she remained unmoved, focusing all her energy on her detection magic.

Feng Lin meticulously scanned the battlefield again and again, determined to capture that completely hidden shadow trail.

With Evan drawing Reginald's attention, Cedric completely stabilized the game, no longer rushing to counterattack and break the deadlock, and instead focused on implementing his core playing style.

Despite the intermittent gravitational pressure and earthquake-induced stiffness, he continued to summon elements, constantly spreading elemental creatures across the battlefield.

The cloud battlefield is dominated by the element of wind.

Therefore, Cedric's summoning element is primarily air.

Meanwhile, the air elementals he had summoned were not idle either, and they joined forces with the thunderbirds in the sky to attack Reginald.

Reginald is a master of both offense and defense, skillfully maneuvering and pulling the ball around.

He maintained the gravitational field, constantly delaying Evan and Cedric's spellcasting rhythm.

While constantly adjusting his position, he firmly protected Viola behind him, not giving the opponent any opportunity to cut behind.

The battle became a prolonged stalemate, with both sides engaging in offense and defense, and restraining each other.

Neither side could consistently suppress the other.

But clearly, this is only a temporary calm.

As time went by, the previously fruitless detection finally made a breakthrough!

Herbert's stealth abilities were already extremely mysterious.

The continuous exchange of spells between the two sides disrupted the clouds, causing energy to overflow and further conceal his stealth trajectory, making his concealment virtually flawless.

But ultimately, absolute nothingness cannot be achieved.

During the long period of dormancy and slow movement, Herbert's body slightly brushed against the wind elemental circulation, leaving a trace of minor magical disturbance in the airspace.

This fluctuation was so faint that it was easily misled by the chaotic torrent of magic on the battlefield, enough to deceive the senses of any ordinary mage.

But under Feng Lin's meticulous detection and screening, this magic had nowhere to hide.

In an instant, Feng Lin's analytical acuity faltered slightly, and a flash of clarity crossed her eyes.

She didn't say anything to warn them, but simply focused her mind on the source of the disturbance.

Herbert, relying on his ability to remain silent, had already quietly approached the flag platform, waiting for the perfect moment to appear and seize the flag!

In the shadows, Herbert's figure also suddenly stiffened.

He has an extremely keen sense of the enemy's location.

When Feng Lin's senses detected his hidden body, the feeling of being precisely spied on instantly seized his mind.

He instantly realized that his hiding place had been exposed.

Continuing to remain hidden is pointless.

Herbert was decisive and ruthless, without the slightest hesitation.

He deliberately shattered his disguise, his figure becoming slightly blurred in the shadows as he activated his unique ability, Shadow Escape.

Using the shadow beneath his feet as a medium, he followed the trajectory of the light and instantly connected with the shadow beneath Feng Lin's feet.

hum!

A black, eerie light flashed and disappeared.

Herbert's figure emerged directly from Feng Lin's shadow on the ground.

He was enveloped in a chilling, necromantic aura, his five fingers gathering concentrated necromantic energy, aimed directly at Feng Lin's vital heart.

He seized upon the momentary opening during the stealth attack.

At the critical moment, Feng Lin displayed her experience and composure, subtly shifting her steps and gliding gracefully, while simultaneously preparing to cast a spell, her magical energy beginning to accumulate.

This is her specialty.

【Cat's Cunning】: Your movement is silent, and your concentration will not be interrupted when casting enchantment and illusion spells.

When you are outside the enemy's perception range, your illusion and enchantment spells are enhanced.

You are born with keen intuition, which allows you to predict the direction of an enemy's gaze and choose the best position to cast illusions.

Thanks to this expertise, even during high-speed displacement and agile changes of direction, her spellcasting remains perfectly accurate.

This gives her the opportunity to unleash high-level spells in the fast-paced battlefield.

The next second, Feng Lin raised her hand and cast Illusionary Confusion.

Relying on [Cat's Cunning]'s predictive intuition, even though her back was to Herbert, she accurately predicted where Herbert's gaze would fall, perfectly projecting the illusionary light and shadow into his field of vision.

The illusions, both real and false, instantly enveloped Herbert's immediate vicinity.

The distorted light and shadow forcibly disrupted Herbert's attack rhythm and target lock.

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