Chapter 695: The Gate of Purgatory
Anderson's complaints, tinged with obvious bias, were useless now. All they could do was run while casting spells to slow down Oracis behind them.
The once thousand-strong Dark Elf mage legion now had just over twenty members left—or rather, over twenty still uninjured. In this chase, getting wounded was as good as dead.
Hundreds had been killed by Leon Merlin, then hundreds more devoured by Oracis. The rest fell behind during the retreat, practically served up to Oracis, or were eaten by carnivorous plants and magical beasts along the way...
Thick black smoke, infused with ice and fire, chased them across space. A Dark Elf was caught by the tendrils of a low-level vine beast...
In less than a second, she was swallowed by a barrage of abyssal spells. Billowing smoke and molten flames consumed her instantly—she didn't even have time to scream...
Sweat beaded on Leon's brow as he sprinted, rapidly casting dozens of Wizard's Eyes—forty or fifty in total.
Scenes from both sides and ahead flooded Leon's mind...
It was like having fifty pairs of eyes at once; the surge of images and information made Leon's head throb.
Even so, Leon had to spare the effort to cast spells, constantly keeping his mana stable—a feat of control bordering on the impossible.
Too bad no one had the energy to notice what Leon was doing.
Many of Leon's Wizard's Eyes were overtaken, while others were shattered by the surging magical energy chasing them from behind.
After releasing more than a hundred Wizard's Eyes, Leon finally spotted something unusual at the very end of this dead end.
Only three li left before reaching the deepest part of the dead end—which meant Oracis would have them completely cornered.
Leon glanced at Anderson. "Make sure you hold off Oracis for a bit when the time comes."
With that, the magic array within Leon's body roared to life, his mana boiling over. He cast Flight and shot forward, leaving a trail of explosive energy behind him.
This was a technique that used a massive amount of mana to forcibly boost speed. Most titled Archmages could do it—only those at that level had enough mana to burn.
Leon covered the three li in less than ten seconds.
At the end of the dead end, Leon landed in front of an alchemical array. He tossed out four vials of Star Ink and pulled out four crystal pens.
Two of those crystal pens were ones Leon had casually made before—decent quality but otherwise useless, except for remote control.
Those two remote-controlled junk pens had suddenly become lifesavers.
Leon shoved all thoughts of Oracis aside, trusting his companions to cover his back. Focusing on four tasks at once, he gripped two crystal pens in his hands and magically controlled two more, all four furiously inscribing alchemical runes.
The silent alchemical array before him flared with light the instant the first rune was written. The faint glow nearly brought tears to Leon's eyes.
This meant the alchemical array was intact—and more importantly, it was a teleportation array!
It was just a standard teleportation array, not meant for great distances—thirty or forty li at most.
But right now, even a short-range teleportation array could mean survival!
Leon’s eyes widened, his internal magic array calculating at a frenzied pace. Runes danced in his vision, his mind working at a creator’s limit.
Each instant of computation would make any master craftsman’s brain freeze; Leon’s calculations under Oracis’s pressure equaled three days of sleepless work for the best of them.
The two crystal pens in Leon’s hands, plus two floating in the air, left streaks of afterimages as they wrote a barrage of unlocking runes.
Unlocking runes fell like rain—hundreds written in just three seconds, breaking through the array’s outermost layer!
By now, Oracis was right behind them—two serpent heads roaring in fury, spewing fire and frost. The demonic central head bared its blood-soaked fangs, runes wreathed in black flames and fog shooting out to form waves of abyssal magic.
Black flames heavy with sulfur fell like rain, while demonic claws formed in midair, crashing down like meteors.
In the first attack, three Dark Elves were smashed into pulp; another’s protective spell was pierced by abyssal fire, and in a second, they were reduced to ashes...
Jeremy and Elsa were surrounded by Dark Elves, magical runes flaring across their bodies. Every spell they could cast was unleashed—no amount of mana was worth more than their lives.
But now, cornered by Oracis in a dead end, they could barely withstand the barrage. Black smoke, sulfurous fire, and molten rock poured over them; every so often, a Dark Elf’s defenses failed from exhaustion...
At times like this, losing your defenses meant death. Elsa’s face had a lifeless, blue-green pallor. She’d cast the Wood Barrier once, but now her mana wasn’t enough to use it again...
The only goal left was to survive one second longer...
Anderson, Reina, and the others gritted their teeth, unleashing every last trick they had. The Heart of Lava on the Wheel of All Magic blazed, Anderson wringing out every drop of mana, spells surging forward in a wild torrent.
Shuban stood to the side, swinging his greatsword, blocking stray spells—especially making sure nothing disturbed Leon as he frantically unlocked the alchemical array.
Everyone fought with everything they had, but all they could do was block Oracis’s spells. The maddened beast unleashed magic from all three heads—none of which were below sixth tier...
Some seventh-tier spells were even unleashed, the barrage of sixth-tier magic creating an overwhelming suppression—there was simply no resisting it...
Oracis was now only a thousand meters away. With its massive body, that distance would be covered in seconds...
At this range, Oracis stopped flinging spells from afar and started casting even stronger magic...
A wall of Ashfire erupted a kilometer away, towering over a hundred meters high, burning with a silent, deadly aura—a sword hanging over their heads, cutting off the last escape route...
Abyssal runes flew from Oracis's demonic head, the air thick with doom and foreboding.
The demon's whispers echoed in everyone's ears...
Even Shuban knew now—Oracis was about to unleash a catastrophic abyssal spell...
The Dark Elves were utterly hopeless. One wept as they sang a mournful, tragic song.
It was the last pride of the Dark Elves in the face of certain sacrifice...
Anderson turned to look back, watching Leon's hands blur with speed, mouth open but unable to say a word.
Suddenly, Leon’s hands froze, and the two crystal pens in midair—now a blur—fell to the ground.
The faintly glowing teleportation array flared with blinding light. A pillar of radiance shot skyward, star-like motes swirling upward within it.
"Go!"
Leon barked, his trembling hands gripping the Dragon Staff tight. He spat out five syllables, unleashing a torrent of mana that surged before the group.
In an instant, five layers of Eskrim Wood Gates appeared out of thin air, blocking Oracis’s spells from the serpent heads—though the first gate shattered in a blink.
Shuban, Anderson, Reina, the alchemical golem, and Seth—all turned and dashed into the teleportation array, vanishing in a heartbeat.
Leon glanced at the nearby Dark Elves, teetering on the edge of collapse. Oracis’s spells were mere meters away, the heat setting some of their hair ablaze.
Standing at the edge of the array, Leon raised the Dragon Staff and spat out three syllables. A Gate of Purgatory materialized in another direction.
A vortex of black, silent light slowly formed, hellish energy spreading as the roars of infernal creatures echoed from within.
Oracis’s two serpent heads immediately turned toward the Gate of Purgatory, eyes full of malice and hatred, forgetting even the Dark Elves.