Above the mage

Chapter 775 Winning the Championship

The moment the tender buds sprout, they grow wildly, their delicate branches stretching out like countless flower buds blooming simultaneously on a withered tree in spring.

These tender buds are not delicate; each new leaf is plump and resilient.

Because they grew by drawing on Ellie's physical strength.

Delicate green shoots break through the skin's surface, unfolding two or three translucent petals as thin as cicada wings in the air, their verdant greenness dazzling.

Then, with each breath, they wither, curl, and finally decay, turning into withered, yellowish fragments that drift away on the wind.

From budding and growth to withering, it fully enacts the so-called cycle of life and death in a short moment.

One rises, one falls; the cycle of life comes to an end.

That is: the cycle of withering and flourishing.

Unique dragon magic!

The entire room fell silent.

Tens of thousands of spectators at the Dragonspine Arena watched as a fleeting green wave surged across Ellie's body, an eerie and serene yet visually striking spectacle.

Ellie's taut wolf claws could no longer loosen, and the blood-red light around her body completely dimmed and extinguished.

Her body lost all support and fell straight forward, collapsing heavily in front of the icy barrier.

At the same moment when Ellie was exhausted, the ice barrier that isolated her from all external attacks began to slowly melt away from the inner wall.

Fine spiderweb-like cracks covered the ice wall, and pieces of ice crystals peeled off one after another, turning into countless tiny ice shards that dissipated with the wind, and the sealed ice cage slowly faded away.

Gao De's figure slowly emerged from the thin ice crystal mist.

He remained in the same posture he had before entering the ice coffin.

Like a statue that had been frozen for a long time, it has finally returned to the world.

Gao De's breathing was light but steady at that moment.

He blinked, and his fingertips twitched slightly in the air.

It takes several breaths for thinking to return to a normal pace from a sluggish and stagnant state.

After regaining his senses, Gao De looked down at Ellie, who was lying on the ground.

She wasn't seriously injured, but rather completely drained of her strength by the cycle of decay and prosperity.

Gao De remained calm, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever, and he showed no surprise whatsoever from beginning to end.

Every step of this duel was part of his complete tactical plan before the match.

In fact, he has a trump card that can end the battle even faster.

If we can bring out [North Wind], we can definitely win very easily.

As a pure ice weapon, [North Wind] is a hard counter to melee mages.

How could Ellie's wolf claws possibly stand against the Blade of True Ice?

The Kezhen Ice weapon is too unique and too eye-catching to be shown in public.

Aside from [North Wind], after much deliberation, the safest tactic for Gao De was to rely on the newly mastered Dragon Magic spell [Wheel of Life and Death] to wage a long and protracted war of attrition and achieve victory.

It will be a bit more strenuous, but it will definitely be safe.

The Wheel of Life and Death is also effective against melee mages like Ellie who rely on stamina and close-range berserk damage.

Despite having the extreme speed granted by Boeing at the start, he deliberately "held back" to allow Ellie to enter the casting range of his dragon magic, thus subtly applying the [Wheel of Life and Death] to her.

The spell effect of 【Wheel of Life and Death】is to inflict the Curse of Life and Death on the target, continuously draining the target's life force and stamina. It does not have an instant burst of damage; all its power relies on time to ferment, gradually plundering the target's stamina and life force.

To win a game, the key can be summed up in just two words: delay.

Therefore, he had to conceal the traces of the spell and absolutely could not let Ellie discover the existence of the Wheel of Life and Death in advance.

Only by having Ellie fight according to conventional magic combat strategies, gradually revealing her trump cards such as Wolf Transformation and Blood Boil, can the battle duration be extended indefinitely, allowing the Cyclone of Life and Death to fully stack its plunder effect.

Gaode even resorted to the extremely rare tactic of using "trash talk" for this purpose.

It wasn't meant to provoke her; it was purely to attract Ellie's attention and prevent her from quickly noticing her abnormal loss of stamina in the early stages.

By the time she realized it, it was naturally too late.

【Frost Barrier】was originally a spell meant to lead to certain death.

With its incredibly strong defensive capabilities, it allows Gaode, with his three rings, to withstand Ellie's continuous bursts of damage for so long without taking any harm.

However, the drawbacks are also obvious and fatal. Once the [Ice Barrier] is used, the caster will be immobilized and unable to perform any actions.

In an open-world duel without rules, the opponent can simply stand still and wait for Gaode's mana to run out and the barrier to break on its own.

In the end, Gaode will only run out of magic power, lose without a fight, and court its own demise.

However, when paired with the [Wheel of Life and Death], the [Ice Barrier] is like lamb meeting radish—it's wonderfully perfect, and its shortcomings are completely made up for.

Gao De looked up and gazed in the direction of the referee.

At this moment, the entire venue was deathly silent. Tens of thousands of audience members held their breath in unison, and even the faintest conversations disappeared completely.

Could it be... really...?

The referee's throat bobbed, as if even he needed to double-check that everything he was seeing was real.

After a long silence, he raised his right hand, his voice resounding throughout the arena through the runic array, solemn and clear: "The victor of this duel is: Gao De of the Golden Flower Dynasty!"

"We have defeated the Holy Empire!"

"We won! We won! We really won!"

"The third ring defeated the fourth ring; our Golden Flower Dynasty's mages are indeed the strongest!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the deathly silent Dragonspine Arena erupted in a deafening roar, with cheers sweeping across the entire arena like a tsunami.

"Did we win?" Evan asked, somewhat incredulously.

Even though it was a done deal, he still found it hard to believe that Gord had actually defeated Ellie Warwick.

"We won! We won! Gao De is too strong!" Aliya, with no complicated thoughts, was filled with pure joy and cheered loudly.

"How is this possible..." Conrad stood there, his face frozen.

He looked at Ellie lying on the stage, his eyes filled with an inconsolable shock.

Conrad never expected that Ellie would lose to a third-circle mage he had always looked down on.

"We didn't lose unjustly." In the stands, the Linhai City mage team, who had stayed behind to watch the finals instead of returning home, were filled with emotion. Captain Cui Si said this.

"Yes, who would have thought that in addition to Liu Ying, the Golden Flower also has Gao De? We didn't even force him to show his true level. It's clear that they don't need to go all out to deal with us."

"The Golden Flower Dynasty is hiding too well; under the spotlight, everyone is only focused on their captain, Liu Ying."

"No one expected that they still had Gaode as their trump card, and even put it in the position of a substitute player, keeping it dormant until the finals before finally revealing it."

"They perfectly deceived all the participating forces and completely shattered the Holy Empire's entire scheme," Olivia remarked.

"Truly remarkable." On the Dragon Claw platform, Richard looked down at the bustling Dragon Spine Arena and said, his tone filled with undisguised joy.

As a member of the Golden Flower Dynasty, Liu Ying's older brother, and the person in charge of this year's Unparalleled Magic Fighting Tournament, the Golden Flower Dynasty's mage team's ultimate victory was naturally a cause for celebration for him.

Lady Wang Mian, standing beside him, remained expressionless, showing no emotional fluctuations.

Richard discovered that his mother showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.

He thought for a moment, then looked at Gao De, who was standing at the very center of the fighting arena and in the eyes of everyone below, and said again, "It seems that he not only has talent and strength, but he has also reached the point where he can stand on his own. Don't you think so?"

This statement is also true.

After this legal battle, everyone could see that Gaode's future was unimaginable.

"Hmm?" Madam Wang Mian looked up at her eldest son.

Richard smiled, as if what he had just said was just a casual remark.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"The champion of this year's Unparalleled Magic Fighting Tournament—the Golden Flower Dynasty Mage Team!"

As the referee solemnly announced the news, the dazzling magical fireworks that had been prepared in the stadium simultaneously soared into the air.

Even in broad daylight, the stadium was still dazzling with light, and magical light spots rained down on it, creating a grand atmosphere for the championship.

As Gao De stepped off the dueling arena, his waiting teammates swarmed around him, celebrating this rare victory. "You did us justice! The Empire's elaborate schemes ultimately failed." Gareth punched Gao De on the shoulder, his tone full of genuine approval.

Team leader Fritz stepped forward to stop the excited crowd. His expression was calm, but he couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes. He said in a deep voice, "Everyone, don't surround him yet. Let the healing mage treat God's injuries first."

Everyone then came to their senses. Gao De had endured a massive amount of claw attacks throughout, and even though he had toughed it out, his injuries were actually quite severe.

Moreover, everyone knows that Ellie's attacks are accompanied by blood poison, and we just saw that Gaode was hit by so many of them, so the blood poison in his body must have accumulated a lot.

Although Gaode also possesses healing spells, he is a specialist in his field and certainly cannot compare to the dedicated high-level healing mages assigned to the team.

The dedicated healing mage had already come over with an excited expression and was about to treat Gao De.

His green-glowing hand stroked Gao De's wounds all over his body, and the wounds quickly healed and scabbed over at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Treating these external injuries was a piece of cake for him, a professional healing mage; the real problem was the blood poison contained in Ellie's attack.

"Let me examine you, bear with the pain for now," he whispered to Gao De. Then, just as he had examined Cedric and Feng Lin before, he examined Gao De. "Why is the level of blood toxins in your body so low?" The next moment, he suddenly looked up and couldn't help but exclaim in disbelief.

The first World's Unparalleled Fighting Tournament has now come to a complete end.

The audience remained incredibly excited, still basking in the afterglow of the decisive game.

This final was full of twists and turns, and there were countless highlights.

The Golden Flower Dynasty Mage team was in dire straits from the start, trailing the championship favorite Holy Empire 0-2.

However, the team withstood the pressure and tied the score, dragging the game into a decisive set.

Finally, the third-ring mage Gao De appeared and, despite being weak, defeated the fourth-ring Ellie.

Every game was full of exciting moments, enough for them to talk about for days afterward.

Lieutenant Colonel Grayling, who brought the jade dragon marrow to Gaode, was also present to watch the game today.

He's still a bit dazed, feeling like he's dreaming.

Looking back, his initial expectations for Gaode were limited to the art museum challenge.

Hopefully, this talented young mage can conquer more spell halls and earn some ranking points for the Sea Sentinels.

But who would have thought that in just a few months, Gaode would advance triumphantly, sweeping through the twelve magic halls, becoming a dark horse and a substitute for the Dynasty Mage Team, and even successfully winning the most crucial decisive game.

However, it wasn't that he underestimated Gao De; it was simply that Gao De at that time didn't have the strength to win the final match.

Keep in mind that when the Art Museum Challenge began, Gao De was only a second-ring mage.

However, in just one year, from the gymnastics challenge to the pre-competition training, and then to the group stage and the knockout stage, Gaode's strength has been continuously improved until it reached its current level.

"I really have a good eye this time..." Lieutenant Colonel Grayling murmured to himself.

He knew in his heart that, based on his godlike performance in this decisive battle, Gao De would definitely be recruited by the Sentinels of Light.

Military rank and status will rise rapidly in a short period of time, and soon they will far surpass one's own.

But Grayling felt no jealousy, only immense relief.

Regardless, before Gaode rose to prominence, it was he who overruled objections and recommended Gaode for a promotion.

Mithril City was completely engulfed in a wave of celebration after the Magic Tournament ended.

The whole city was filled with jubilation.

From high-end magic material merchants selling advanced magical materials and alchemy consumables to ordinary taverns and restaurants on the street offering drinks and food, almost all of them launched corresponding celebrations.

The flags of the Plantagenet dynasty can be seen fluttering everywhere on the streets.

The entire city celebrated their national team's victory in this top-level French fighting competition on the mainland.

The Golden Flower Mage Team, who had made great contributions, did not participate in any celebratory activities; instead, they all went back to rest and recuperate.

The prizes for this competition will not be awarded immediately.

Both of the strong teams had several players injured in the fierce battle and needed ample time to rest and recover.

The official reward settlement will be completed three days later.

At the same time, in Linhai City, at the O'Kenley family mansion.

Inside the closed council chamber.

"Elder, this is all the information we've gathered about the Venerable Master Gaode of the Golden Flower Dynasty..."

'

The man dressed in O'Kennedy family attire bowed respectfully and handed over a scroll, continuing his report.

"During the investigation, we were obstructed by the official forces of the Plantagenet dynasty, so we were unable to delve deeper into his experiences and the information we collected was extremely limited."

Deng Lai tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, his expression cold: "Get to the point."

"According to our investigation, this God was not a native citizen of the Plantagenet dynasty, but rather acquired Plantagenet citizenship in 9657 of the Nolan calendar through a noble recommendation."

"Later, he performed exceptionally well in the open selection of the Sea Sentinels and successfully joined the Sea Sentinels. At that time... he was only a first-ring mage."

Upon hearing this, a sharp glint flashed in Deng Lai's eyes.

"Where did he originally come from?" he pressed.

"After the Plantagenet Dynasty discovered our investigation, they completely blocked all of Gao De's records before he joined the Sea Sentinels, erased a large number of his whereabouts records, and even began to track us."

"We dare not delve any deeper into his past before joining the Sea Sentinels, otherwise we might not only fail to obtain intelligence but also expose the intelligence network we painstakingly built in the Golden Flower," the man explained cautiously.

Upon hearing this, Deng Lai did not make things difficult for the other party. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and pondered in his mind.

In the year 9657 of the Nolan calendar, he was only a first-circle mage.

Right.

Foreign monks.

That matches up.

These two points perfectly match the information he was looking for from Gaode Maps.

In addition, they look similar and are of similar age.

What a coincidence!

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