Star Forge Titan

"In the name of His Majesty Gustav Adol Andre Gusmith, the 42nd Demon Lord, Avonmore is under emergency curfew! No one is allowed to leave their residence without permission!"

The deep and loud voice of the messenger echoed through the streets and alleys.

More than a dozen Alsvor flying beasts took off urgently from the Mystery Nest, the large training base of the Blood Order.

These fifty-meter-long living airships hovered over the capital, shining bright white light beams from the sky to the ground like sharp swords.

They are like eyes overlooking the city, revealing all the evil and uncleanness.

Fights began to break out in various parts of the city. It was obvious that there were more members of the Undead Cult who had infiltrated Avonmore than expected.

Although in history most of the official members of the Undead Cult were solitary, they liked to launch various evil blood sacrifices or spread plagues and create disasters as lone wolves.

But this time, their actions were completely different.

It looked as if all the active Undead Cult members in Elrond had gathered in the capital. Even if the Silver Knights and the armed priests of the temple put all their efforts to encircle and suppress them, they would not be able to end the battle in a short time.

Compared to the "liveliness" of other places, the Three Towers Hill where the Undead Faction is located is as peaceful as ever.

All apprentices and low-level mages were ordered to stay in their rooms and not go out. The huge mage tower that could accommodate thousands of people was so empty that it was shocking.

The long staff tapped the ground rhythmically. Leaving his own wizard tower, Gaius walked alone in the corridor of another wizard tower with the long staff.

There was no expression on his face, but the huge scar that ran through his left eye bulged outward due to congestion, like a bright red centipede lying on the wizard's old face, foreshadowing the anger boiling in his heart.

Just then, he saw a lone figure standing in the corridor that should have been deserted.

Gaius stopped in his tracks. The extremely heavy magical pressure from the fourth-level great wizard enveloped the surroundings. Ordinary low-level wizards might have knelt down, but that figure only lowered his head slightly and respectfully performed a wizard's salute.

"Long time no see, Lord Gaius." Kayon Paulus looked at Gaius with his flawless fake smile.

No emotion could be seen in those eyes that were narrowed into slits. They were like puppet masks carved on ice, cold and hard, but without any real warmth.

"It's you, Khayon." Gaius put away his imposing aura, his tone calm but with some ups and downs.

Looking at the young man in front of him, he couldn't help but think of his past. At that time, Gaius was also a lucky guy who was born into an ordinary family but became a superhuman by chance.

Like a wild dove in a crow's nest, he didn't fit in with most of the people around him. A child whose elders had been farmers for generations couldn't get along with the second and third sons of the nobles, and the brutal competition within the Undead faction made it impossible for him to find friends.

Gaius remembered that he had used this false mask to protect himself until he was able to freely reveal his true emotions. However, he found that he had forgotten how to take off the mask.

Even if he didn't want to continue wearing the mask, he could only remain expressionless like a ghost.

"The Mage Tower is under martial law. Return to your rooms." Gaius said in a serious tone.

But when he passed by Khayon, he raised his hand and patted his shoulder.

Afterwards, the high and mighty wizard and the ordinary little wizard passed by each other, and there was no further conversation between the two.

Even after walking a long way, one could still see Khayon standing there, bending in the direction Gaius left, maintaining the posture of a mage.

For a moment, a smile so faint that it was almost imperceptible appeared on Gaius's lips, and then disappeared as quickly as a drop of water in the desert.

When they first met, Khayon was still a junior apprentice who was pinned to the ground and beaten like a dead dog by a senior apprentice.

That day, Gaius didn't say much, but just used a cold gaze to make those senior apprentices tremble and retreat.

At that time, there was no communication between them, but he noticed that even though the junior apprentice was beaten black and blue, the corners of his mouth still had an unchanged smile.

Perhaps it was that smile that made Gaius remember him.

Later, Gaius felt more and more that this young man was too similar to himself. They both came from a common family, had no friends, and protected themselves with a fake smile on their faces.

The most important thing is that in such a gloomy and dark place as the School of the Undead, he still retains a ray of light in his heart.

Gaius recalled when he lost the last ray of light in his heart, but found that after a hundred years, he had completely forgotten all the good memories, just like the final goal of his promotion sequence, the fifth-level lich.

What remains is only the pursuit of magic and the anger that penetrates deep into the soul, anger towards Lind, anger towards the war, and more, anger towards himself!

He hated himself for not being able to stop those terrible disasters and hated his own powerlessness.

From then on, Gaius took care of Khayon secretly.

After his parents died, he no longer had any family, so he didn't know why he did this.

The communication between the two of them has always been like that just now, so simple that it is only slightly better than that between strangers.

Perhaps it was precisely because he didn't want Khayon to become like himself that he recommended him to join the Hippocrates School, the oldest and most orthodox school among the undead factions.

The fifth level created by the ancient psychic Hippocrates does not require the promoted person to give up all the beautiful emotions of mankind and become a skeletal lich that rises after death, but to complete the cycle of life and death in a more profound way.

Of course, it was also because this path was too difficult that the disciples gradually gave up this route of advancement and chose the path of Lich, which required them to give up part of their lives.

But, this is not the reason why they choose to fall!

The rage in Gaius's eyes grew more intense, and the scar on his face twitched slightly, as if the poisonous centipede had come alive at this moment, ready to pierce the enemy's throat with its venom-filled fangs at any time.

When he arrived in front of the study, the large undead guarding the door tried to block his way under preset commands, but the artificial magic eye embedded in Gaius' left eye socket suddenly turned towards them.

There was no casting gesture or chanting of spells, just a cold glance, and the large undead stopped moving instantly as if its soul had been sucked out.

"Lucius!" Gaius Marius roared his colleague's name, and the door of the study burst open under the pressure of magic.

Inside the study, Lucius Sura stood calmly by the window, his hands behind his back. He looked outside at Evanmore, which was no longer as lively as it had been at night, with a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Look, don't they look like a group of busy ants?" Lucius Sura, also a great wizard, said with a sarcastic chuckle.

"Put away your condescending look. I'm here only to ask a question!" Gaius' voice was as cold as ice.

"Why would you assassinate a member of the royal family? Have you completely become a lackey of the evil god?!"

"Running dog? Ha, don't say that. I just figured out some problems." Lucius turned around. The skin on his face was as pale as a corpse. You could even see some tiny things wriggling slightly under the skin.

"Besides, didn't you also borrow the power of that person to research the so-called 'Eternal Army'? Ha, I really don't see what qualifications you have to condemn me."

"That's just a deal." Gaius said calmly:

"Furthermore, just as an arrow is most intimidating before it's released, the Immortal Army isn't a plan that must be executed. Ultimately, that plan can only lead to our mutual destruction. Even if it's executed, we're doomed, while Linde might not be completely annihilated."

"So, what we really want is to be able to study magic more freely and unconstrainedly, like the Blood Order, and eventually find new technologies like Lind's magical technology that can change the world."

"Don't forget, we are mages! Not fanatics! What we seek is the reality of the world, the truth of magic, not to let some stinking creature come to the material world!"

Gaius practically roared at the end.

"So what if he's a wizard? He's just a mortal. So he can only use that flawed methodology to try to understand the laws of the world in a wrong and superficial way." Lucius' voice also became excited.

"You're wrong! The methodology a person can come up with to understand the world may be limited, but this is precisely why we form a school to pass on knowledge and methodology, and pursue magic and truth from generation to generation." Gaius slammed the long staff in his hand, and the magical pressure surging around him became heavier.

"Ha, one hundred mortals cannot defeat one transcendent, and one hundred low-level transcendents may not be able to match high-level transcendents like us."

"Then the question is, if a hundred of us were put together, could we be a match for the gods?"

"Hahahaha, this is really funny!"

Lucius laughed loudly and raised his hands to cover his face. The curve of his mouth became more and more crazy and terrifying, as if he wanted to tear himself apart.

"Gaius, I learned a lesson from the painful defeat in the Human-Demon War." The Archmage laughed until he was breathless, and continued in a strange voice:

"Magicians have their limits. No matter how hard we struggle, it's just the struggles of mortals."

"So..." Lucius lowered his hand, and the skin on his face fell off piece by piece as if it were melting, leaving only a hideous smile made up of blood-red muscles and pale bones.

"I'm not a mage anymore!"

Chapter 53: The Battle of Mages (Part 1)

"Ah, you bastard, you've completely lost yourself!!!"

The long staff in Gaius Marius's hand made a crisp sound like a spring snapping, and quickly turned into a spear with a crystal inlaid on the front end.

The rotating artificial eye in the eye socket suddenly stopped, and purple light poured out like a waterfall, pushing everything around it away, including the heavy obsidian desk and the bookshelf fixed on the wall. The powerful magical pressure pushed everything away.

The papers torn into pieces by the pressure flew everywhere, the ground made a terrible noise that was hard to bear, and even the walls began to show cracks, revealing the active pro-demon metal pipes buried deep within.

Accompanied by the harsh sound of metal twisting, the pipe quickly deformed and broke, and the magic power flowing in the public mana pool leaked out, turning into a large number of star-like sparks bursting everywhere, flickering in the air like fireworks.

"Lost? No, no, no, I just want to get rid of the curse that mortals are born with!"

"Look, Gaius! Even the weakness of death has been eliminated by our God."

Lucius Sura's skinless face was covered with an extremely terrifying smile. It was a heartfelt laugh that came from the depths of his heart, filled with horror and hideousness, but also with incomparable pure joy.

"Immortal! I'm now as young and healthy as I've ever been! Hahahahahaha!!!"

The great wizard opened his arms, and the wizard robe wrapped around his thin body rustled, as if he was standing on the cusp of a storm.

The next second, a crystal spear emitting purple negative energy pierced through his body.

The smile remained stiff on his face.

Law: Contact Death!

Abandoning long-range casting, he concentrated negative energy on one point, creating an instant death spell that took effect upon contact.

There was no chanting, no movement, just released by Gaius the moment the battle started. His movement just now was even faster than that of an ordinary warrior.

"Lucius, at least die with dignity." The Grand Master, the leader of the Undead faction, said coldly.

Cracks spread out in all directions from the tip of the spear that pierced Lucius' body. A strong glow of negative energy shot out from the inside out. The great wizard's stiff body looked as if it would completely split apart in the next second.

But right now!

A hand with pale, cracked skin, revealing the scarlet flesh inside, suddenly grasped the crystal spear.

The spreading cracks were forcibly healed by the amazing regenerative ability, and even the negative energy infused into them was offset by a deep green vitality.

"What a pity! Gaius!" The voice of the great wizard Lucius sounded in his ear, and even Gaius's only remaining eye revealed a hint of surprise.

Boom! A magical pressure comparable to that of the Grand Master suddenly erupted from very close, throwing him far away.

The collision of the two forces filled the surrounding atmosphere with deafening explosions. The tsunami-like sound waves turned into translucent ripples visible to the naked eye, pushing towards the surroundings. It was as if a bomb had exploded in the luxurious study, and the valuable decorations and furniture were all shattered. Several gaps opened in the walls, revealing the pitch-black night outside.

"Do you think that a wizard of the Hippocratic school will become vulnerable as long as he is not accompanied by a group of undead battle groups?" Lucius pulled out the crystal spear that had pierced his body and threw it aside, still with that crazy smile on his face.

"You're wrong! Gaius!"

The mage's originally thin body swelled up quickly as if it were blown up, and he quickly turned into a ferocious giant nearly three meters tall.

The pale skin rotted and fell off at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then thicker skin grew in its place. Pus-oozing sores of all sizes were scattered all over it. In areas where the skin had not yet fully grown, the scarlet flesh was directly exposed. The itching made Lucius scratch it hard with his five swollen carrot-like fingers, leaving narrow wounds with blood flowing.

"Half-undead, the precursor to the Hippocratic school's fifth-order supreme secret, the River of the Underworld. How did you do it?" Gaius's expression became increasingly serious.

He had indeed intended to end the battle as soon as possible while Lucius did not summon a group of undead battle groups if he could not convince him.

Most of the extraordinary people of the Hippocratic school rely on the undead battle groups of the sea spirits or elite battle groups composed of high-level undead to protect themselves before reaching the fifth level.

Normally speaking, Lucius, who chose to become a Pale Bone, should be weaker than an ordinary fourth-level cultivator. Considering that he relied on external forces during his promotion, his soul power must also be weaker than that of an ordinary fourth-level cultivator. He may even be unable to fully liberate his soul power due to the purity of his soul.

But the scene before him completely overturned his expectations. The other party had actually completed one of the prerequisites for mastering the supreme mystery, semi-undead.

In this state, Lucius Sura will be immune to most negative energy spells, and even his physical strength will become far beyond that of ordinary people.

“How did you do that? Do you think that a fourth-level cultivator like me who relied on external forces to advance has a fatal flaw?” Lucius, whose body was half-rotten, laughed as he looked at Gaius with a look of shock on his face.

"You're still wrong! Gaius! You know nothing about the power of the gods!"

"What's a mere half-undead? I am now an immortal being!"

"Oh? Really?" Gaius Marius slowly stood up and tore off the tattered robe.

The defensive spells solidified on it were all damaged in the previous magic conflict, and even the robe itself became tattered.

What was revealed under the robe was not the weak and skinny body of an ordinary wizard, but a body with exceptionally developed muscles and various scars all over the surface, a tough body that was tempered like a veteran soldier.

"It seems that necromancy has little effect on you." The great master who understood the mysteries of the Hippocratic school knew this very well, but he was not discouraged.

He raised his hand and the thrown crystal spear vibrated and hummed, then spun and flew back into Gaius's palm.

"Yes, what are you going to do next? Do you want to share the mercy of our God? As long as we complete the sacrifice, we can both become the chosen ones who have made a covenant with God!" Lucius stretched out his swollen hand as if inviting the other party, but there was a cunning murderous intent in his eyes.

"Humph, I'm not like you, completely giving up the pride in my heart." Gaius held the crystal spear with both hands and slammed it heavily to the ground.

A magical pressure even more powerful than before surged up into the sky behind him. Even the top of the Mage Tower, which was heavily protected, was completely shattered by the impact of this force, revealing the starry night sky above his head.

"Even if we learn necromancy and spend all day with negative energy, we are still Elrond's transcendents, and the successors of the first batch of warriors who swore to protect the people behind them."

"As long as I'm alive, I will never allow that to happen!" With the Grand Master's cry, the powerful and pure soul power awakened.

Amidst the madly surging magical pressure, Gaius roared and mobilized all his magical power, even the artificial eye on his left was cracked.

Gradually, the old wizard straightened his back and stood sideways, pointing his index finger like a sharp sword at the fallen man in front of him.

"You, cannot pass!"

Gaius, soul power, completely released!!!