Above the mage

Chapter 763 "A Classic Misleading Idea"

While Cedric and Feng Lin were secretly relieved, they were also somewhat surprised and uncertain.

Ellie, however, didn't give the two of them time to think about the strangeness of the situation.

She launched a relentless offensive, relying on her unstoppable speed at close range and high-frequency attacks with zero wind-up, calmly and composedly fighting two opponents at once, suppressing them throughout the entire battle.

The relentless, blood-red claw strikes progressed in layers, seamlessly connecting to deliver high-frequency combos.

Cedric cast a protective spell instantly, and Feng Lin also alternately cast protective spells to defend herself, or used illusions to try to interfere with Ellie's attack.

However, these defenses proved ineffective against Ellie's offensive.

Each claw strike tears through a barrier, and each close-range charge inflicts new injuries.

Although the injury was not minor, like the first Blood Claw, it never reached the level of a decisive blow to end the battle.

Cedric and Feng Lin, who initially thought their defeat was over, gradually relaxed their tense minds during the ongoing struggle.

Although he had many injuries, they were completely under control.

Superficial skin injuries will not affect the flow of magical power, nor will they hinder spellcasting.

As long as it doesn't affect their spellcasting, they still have the potential to counterattack and turn the tide.

A minor injury is nothing to them.

Although they were born into nobility, as elite battle mages, they were not pampered. They had rich combat experience, had suffered injuries, and were very resilient.

The two exchanged a quick glance, both with the same thought flashing through their eyes.

Although Ellie has strong close-range suppression capabilities, it is not a dead end.

They still have a chance to win this round.

On the field, the two became increasingly determined to fight, gritting their teeth and continuing to maneuver, doing their best to resist the relentless crimson offensive, and persistently searching for the slightest opportunity to turn the tide.

However, in the players' rest area, Gao De, who had been intently watching the battle and observing the situation with his Mandora's Eye activated, had an extremely solemn expression.

Ellie is deliberately letting the game slide!

Ellie absolutely possesses the absolute power to end a match instantly.

The reason she hesitated to unleash her killing move wasn't because she couldn't, but because she deliberately chose not to.

Gao De's Mandora's Eye clearly captured those hidden details that no one else could detect:

Each time Ellie landed a shallow claw strike on the two of them, a thin, blood-red light, completely invisible to the naked eye, would seep into the torn wounds.

She deliberately slowed down the pace of the battle, taking the initiative to accompany Cedric and Feng Lin in their entanglement, just to "inject" more crimson light. Gao De stared intently at the crimson figure that was galloping across the battlefield.

He could see through Ellie's deliberate restraint, but he had no idea what the effect of the crimson glow injected by this ace player of the Empire was, or what unknown purpose she was trying to achieve.

But Gao De knew perfectly well that if this stalemate continued, Cedric and Feng Lin would inevitably suffer a huge loss.

What puzzled him even more was that both players on the field were intelligent and composed, and it was impossible for them not to see the strange flaw that their opponent was deliberately holding back.

Logically, upon noticing something amiss, the two should have decisively abandoned their mission to minimize losses and preserve their own fighting strength.

But reality is incredibly strange.

In Gao De's eyes, the two should have been clear-headed and rational, but at this moment they were unusually persistent, completely disregarding the abnormal situation of the battle, and stubbornly fighting to the death, refusing to give up.

Time passed by, second by second.

Every time Ellie made a close-range attack and every time her crimson claws struck, she left behind a faint, almost imperceptible glimmer of crimson light.

These crimson glimmers completely permeated Cedric and Feng Lin's limbs and bones.

Even now, a chilling, ruthless glint appeared in Ellie's eyes, who had been locked in a fierce battle.

She wasn't going to hold back anymore.

In the next instant, the crimson aura around Ellie suddenly surged several times, and the power that had been suppressed was completely unleashed!

She suddenly accelerated, and as her afterimages blurred, several consecutive claw strikes pierced the air.

No longer deliberately avoiding key points, no longer suppressing the damage threshold.

The chilling, blood-red claw blades, imbued with pure, deadly power, precisely struck the core of the two men's magical shields and vital points of their torsos.

Click!

The magic barrier shattered and collapsed instantly, leaving not even the slightest bit of resistance.

A crimson light shone brightly, carrying terrifying magical energy fluctuations, as if it were about to tear the two people's bodies apart.

Upon detecting power exceeding the threshold, the high-ranking mages on the Dragon Eye Tower responded promptly, activating the arena's protective array.

A pale golden protective barrier enveloped the two, forcibly blocking all combat damage and preventing them from suffering severe injuries.

"Match ended! The Holy Empire team has won!"

The referee's clear announcement resounded throughout the entire stadium through the loudspeaker array.

Everyone thought the final match between the Holy Empire and the Plantagenet Dynasty would be a closely contested contest.

No one could have predicted that the Holy Empire would achieve a crushing 2-0 score in the first two games, holding three match points.

The audience from the Holy Empire cheered for the Holy Empire's victory while simultaneously booing.

Despite the boos, the Plantagenet audience did not fall into complete anger and disappointment.

Their gazes, without prior agreement, fell upon the slender young woman standing quietly in the contestants' area.

Liu Ying.

The young girl who made a strong entrance and won the match against Linhai City gave them peace of mind with her dominant performance.

Liu Ying hasn't appeared yet, but once she does, she's sure to win.

They still have a chance to reverse the seemingly crushing situation.

The noise from the arena hadn't subsided, but the atmosphere in the players' area was unusually heavy.

Fritz frowned, puzzled, as he faced Cedric and Feng Lin, who had returned defeated.

Gaode also had many questions in his mind.

"Given your combined battlefield experience, you should be able to tell that Ellie is deliberately holding back, right?"

Cedric and Feng Lin were also completely bewildered at this moment.

The two looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

They carefully recalled the entire fight, and the more they thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

On a rational level, they had long realized that Ellie was deliberately holding back, and they were clearly aware that the battle situation was abnormal.

For some reason, the obsession with "there is still a chance to win, there is still a chance to turn the tide, we must not give up" lingered in their minds, as if their judgment was restricted by invisible shackles, causing them to ignore the abnormality.

Feng Lin focused intently on reviewing the details of the entire match, and a sudden shock struck her.

"It's Viola!" she exclaimed in a low voice, her tone filled with realization and shock.

"It's Viola's enchantment magic; we've been affected by her enchantment magic." Feng Lin understood everything.

For the second half of the entire match, Viola remained on the sidelines, observing without launching a single attack, seemingly completely detached from the battle.

This is inherently unreasonable.

Why is it possible to see one person leisurely watching the entire two-player battle?

In reality, Viola had been casting spells ever since she entered her effective casting range.

At first, it was a rescue, but afterwards, it was a silent maintenance of the fourth-ring enchantment spell [Higher Charm of Humans].

This enchanting spell is different from regular enchanting spells that force control.

It does not control the body or restrict movement; it only subtly interferes with the target's judgment and mind.

The more inconspicuous, logical, and realistic the suggestion, the higher its likelihood of being effective and the less likely it is to be noticed by the recipient.

Viola's constant hints were precise and singular.

After Cedric and Feng Lin realized that their injuries were under control, she continuously implanted in their subconscious the idea that "there is still a chance to turn the tide of the battle and they must not give up."

That's why, even though they should have been able to see through Ellie's leniency, they were forced to solidify their obsessions by the magic and lost their rationality.

Finally, he "foolishly" stayed with Ellie for a long time, letting the eerie crimson light continue to invade his body.

Just as Feng Lin understood everything and revealed the truth, intense pain suddenly swept over her and Cedric's entire bodies without warning. In an instant, their limbs convulsed and spasmed wildly, and waves of aching and stinging pain came from all over their bodies, as if countless tiny poisonous insects were gnawing at their flesh.

Every inch of my skin was filled with excruciating pain.

Fine beads of cold sweat instantly covered their foreheads.

Their bodies suddenly stiffened and tensed, their strength and soreness completely drained, and they could no longer stand steadily. Suppressed groans of pain escaped their throats, and they swayed precariously.

Gao De and Fritz reacted quickly, stepping forward to steady the two who were about to fall, their expressions growing increasingly serious.

"Quickly! Call the healing mage over!" Fritz shouted urgently in a deep voice.

The Golden Flower Mage Team is equipped with dedicated high-level healing mages.

It is designed to provide a safety net for players who are injured or in abnormal condition during the competition, ensuring that players' injuries and negative conditions can be treated as soon as possible so as not to affect their participation in subsequent competitions.

Upon hearing the commotion, the high-ranking healing mage on standby rushed over, his expression solemn.

She first examined the root cause of the two people's abnormal condition.

The healer raised his hand and spread a layer of soft white divine light, which flowed over Cedric's limbs and torso like water.

After a few breaths, the healer frowned slightly.

Having gained nothing, she thought for a moment and immediately changed her spell.

The clear white light faded, and a wisp of translucent pale blue spiritual light gathered at the fingertip. This was a detection spell specifically designed to detect hidden anomalies, magical erosion, and poison contamination.

A pale blue aura slowly traveled around Cedric, like fine probes.

The normally flowing light trembled slightly and dimmed when it touched Cedric's blood.

This time, the healing mage finally uncovered the truth.

Without pausing, she immediately moved to Feng Lin's side and used the exact same examination method to screen her layer by layer, finally confirming that the two were in completely identical condition.

She slowly withdrew the magical light, arriving at a definitive conclusion: "These are not ordinary injuries; they have been poisoned."

"Poisoning?!" Fritz frowned. "Is it possible to cure the poison?"

"I'll give it a try," the healing mage said, not daring to make a guarantee.

Without the slightest delay, she immediately raised her hand to cast a spell.

As a high-level healing mage, she had treated many poison injuries and was quite confident in her abilities.

Her hands burst forth with white light, and pure, healing light fell upon Cedric's body, preparing to forcibly flush away and remove the toxins from his body.

However, just as the spiritual light enveloped Cedric's body, a layer of crimson light suddenly burst forth from the wounds on Cedric's body.

Cedric's spasms and stabbing pain suddenly intensified, and his suppressed moans of pain became even more violent.

He was in so much pain that his body curled up.

The healer's movements suddenly froze.

She quickly cast a spell, gently stroking Cedric's wound with her hand, her eyes closed as if searching for something.

As time passed, her expression grew serious.

After a long while, the healing mage opened his eyes and slowly said, "The poison they are afflicted with is very special; it's a blood poison that has seeped deep into their bloodstream."

"It's not that I can't detoxify; with my abilities, completely eradicating this blood poison is no problem."

"But the problem is that this poison is not an external toxin that infects instantly, but rather a blood-eroding agent that penetrates layer by layer."

"It has already completely integrated into their blood, without a concentrated source of poison, it has spread throughout the bloodstream in every part of their body."

"Forcibly removing toxins on a large scale will not only fail to detoxify, but will also stimulate the toxins to run rampant, aggravate the pain of the injured, and cause them more serious injuries."

"Therefore, we can only simmer it over low heat, peel it off layer by layer, and gradually eliminate the blood toxins along with the blood."

"This process is extremely long, taking at least a day. During this time, the blood poison in their bodies will continue to stimulate and cause pain, making it impossible for them to move normally."

"As for playing in the subsequent matches... that's even more impossible." The healing mage knew how bad this was, so he spoke with great difficulty.

The moment the words fell, everyone present was shocked and their faces froze.

Gao De sighed softly, inwardly marveling at the depth of the Empire's scheming.

At this moment, he finally saw through the Holy Empire's entire scheme.

Previously, when the Empire sent Ellie to fight, he shared Fritz's view, considering it a simple case of "Tian Ji's horse racing strategy" (a Chinese idiom referring to a strategy where one person outmaneuvers another to gain an advantage).

The Empire deliberately avoided Flowing Fire, using their positional advantage to secure a victory in the single game.

In reality, this was only part of the empire's objective.

The true tactics of an empire are not just about the strategy of "Tian Ji's horse racing" (a Chinese idiom referring

Another option is to take advantage of the fair rules of the competition to eliminate their two key members, making Cedric and Feng Lin completely absent from the subsequent matches.

They not only wanted to win, but they wanted to win completely.

On the other side of the arena, in the Holy Empire's players' preparation area.

Ellie and Viola, who had just finished their battle, returned side by side.

At the front of the group, the imperial mage in charge of on-site coordination stood quietly.

Today he wasn't wearing the armor commonly worn by Imperial mages; instead, he wore a loose, dark robe that covered his entire body.

The low-hanging hood cast a deep shadow, completely obscuring the whole figure.

Only half of his square jawline was visible outside the light and shadow, revealing no emotion, but exuding a completely different temperament from his usual self.

It was a kind of indifference and composure, like looking down at a chessboard.

"A classic misdirection," "he" praised Viola.

It was still the same voice and tone, the familiar intonation unchanged, but now it carried a veil of elusive indifference, sounding both strange and eerie.

The composed and distinguished Viola, who was usually neither arrogant nor humble, bowed slightly in unusual respect when faced with the leader's praise: "You flatter me. This superficial mental manipulation is just the most rudimentary application of trickery. It is nothing more than child's play in front of you and is not worth mentioning."

Her eyes held a genuine sense of awe, which was not just polite talk.

Tricksterism is the name of a unique category of spells created by Mei Qiang, the chief mage of the Holy Empire.

It is not fundamentally divorced from the basic foundation of the eight classic schools of magic, but like Iceborn magic and Wolfborn magic, it has unique properties and is not a common general-purpose spell.

Trickery is an extremely sophisticated art of deception, known only to a select few within the empire.

Its core essence is extreme fraud, seamless manipulation, and the subtle and pervasive manipulation of people's hearts.

[Advanced Charm to Humans] is one of the most basic spells in the Plum Blossom Trickster system.

Upon hearing this, the leader mage remained silent, merely nodding slightly with an indifferent demeanor.

His eyes, hidden beneath the shadow of his hood, lifted slightly and fell upon Fritz, a player in the opposite Plantagenet section, whose face was solemn and whose mind was in turmoil.

A faint, fleeting, eerie purple light flashed across the depths of his otherwise ordinary gray-blue eyes, so fast that no one could catch it.

After that faint purple light flashed by, Fritz, whose eyes had been somewhat bewildered by Cedric and Feng Lin's poisoning, seemed to have figured something out and gradually became resolute.

"A classic misconception."

The Holy Empire's leading mage repeated his praise of Viola once more.

A moment later, a very soft chuckle escaped from the shadow of the hood.

"hehe..

'

The laughter was slightly cool, very faint and light, full of mockery, as if it were a sarcastic jab at the opponent's foolishness.