Chapter 844: Consider Yourself Lucky
Haste, Keen Mind, Giant's Strength, Stone Armor...
A flurry of support spells burst forth. The lightning spear in his hand grew more and more ethereal, fading until it seemed as though he was gripping nothing but a leaping bolt of lightning.
A fleeting afterimage appeared—Kempes vanished from his spot once again.
Leon frowned, then vanished with a burst of Flame Blink. The next instant, Kempes appeared, clutching a streak of lightning. The bolt seemed to stretch several meters out of nowhere, stabbing a gaping hole into the spot Leon had just occupied.
The earth erupted with a thunderous boom, leaving a crater over ten meters wide.
After being chased relentlessly by Kempes four or five times, Leon realized that with this guy's stamina, even an hour of fighting wouldn't wear him down.
These terrifyingly fast Caucasus Battlemages are the most dangerous of all. The former King of the Caucasus, Jason Vagran, was this kind of speed-type battlemage. Jason Vagran's feats included crossing thousands of meters in the blink of an eye and instantly piercing a Sky Rank mage's skull.
He shredded through more than a dozen layers of defense, barely spending any time at all. That kind of terrifying speed is every mage's nightmare.
"Damn bastard, is jumping around all you know? Where's your dignity? Where's your pride as a mage? Fight me head-on!"
Kempes roared in fury. He was fast, he was strong, but he still couldn't land a hit on Leon.
After several exchanges, Leon was certain—Kempes was imitating Jason Vagran's fighting style, constantly pushing his speed and his ability to shred through defenses. It was powerful, but far from invincible...
"As you wish..."
Leon came to a halt. Behind him, a massive phantom wheel appeared, spewing endless runes. The tip of his Dragon Staff blazed with a dazzling light.
Dark crimson flames erupted into a towering pillar. Within the fire, Kempes suddenly appeared—the tip of his lightning spear flaring with blinding energy. The pillar was forcibly torn open, and the spear continued its relentless thrust toward Leon.
Leon stood motionless, as if he truly intended not to dodge. Kempes was overjoyed, instantly channeling all his mana into the lightning spear, even draining the magic protecting his own body.
In a split second, the lightning in Kempes's hand surged to seven or eight meters long, the blinding spear driving straight at Leon's shield.
The lava shield in front of Leon was instantly shredded, but behind it, a rune shield shimmered with countless swirling runes. Endless symbols spun wildly, converging at the center, where a mysterious rune blazed with piercing light.
The bolt of lightning twisted and writhed, clashing madly with the rune shield, like thousands of blacksmiths hammering away at once.
The deafening noise shook the earth, making the ground tremble without end.
After just over a second, the force of the lightning strike began to plummet, and the seven- or eight-meter bolt shrank back.
A look of shock twisted Kempes's face as he cried out.
"Impossible! How could you block my lightning spear's rending strike?"
Lightning Rend—the Caucasus Battlemage's ultimate shield-breaking move. Legend had it that when Jason Vagran unleashed this skill, he could tear open a rift in space stretching for miles. No one could withstand that kind of destructive power.
Leon let out a cold laugh.
"How naive. Did you really think I dodged because I couldn't block you? Caucasus Battlemages are strong, but they're not invincible. Haven't you heard of rune shields?"
The defensive power of a rune shield doesn't actually depend much on its rank. What matters most is the sheer quantity of runes.
Back when Leon was an Archmage, he already had hundreds of thousands of runes—ten, even a hundred times more than his peers. After breaking through to Title Magus, his rune count surpassed a million. With such terrifying numbers, plus his mastery after advancing, his rune shield's defense became monstrous.
At the Title Magus stage, almost no one could tear through Leon's rune shield—except perhaps a peak ninth-rank Title Magus. Leon no longer worried about his rune shield being shattered.
The Caucasus Battlemage's shield-rending technique relied on overwhelming strength and a sudden surge of mana to create that unstoppable force.
If you can't shatter the shield in an instant, then it's safe to say it can't be broken at all.
Kempes gritted his teeth, unable to believe what he was seeing. That rune shield wasn't an ordinary barrier anymore—it was a shield made entirely of runes!
Kempes staggered, then swept his lightning spear sideways at Leon.
The lightning in his hand surged, smashing into Leon's rune shield. The moment it struck, the bolt twisted, snaking behind Leon. A black spear appeared, drawn by the lightning, and lashed at Leon's back.
The rune shield absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the sudden strike from behind shattered Leon's lava shield and slammed into his back.
But suddenly, Leon's body warped—the struck Leon faded into a phantom and slowly dissipated.
Startled, Kempes didn't hesitate; he tried to flee, his lightning spear snapping back to his hand.
"You think you can still get away?"
Leon's figure appeared more than ten meters away, staring coldly at Kempes.
End of this chapter segment~.~ Click next page to continue reading!
Cold sweat beaded on Kempes's forehead, but his expression showed no fear.
When did that bastard show up over there? Why didn't I sense him at all? Damn it, was I fighting a mirror image the whole time?
Shit, no good—this guy's way stronger than I thought, even faster than me. Looks like I won't be able to kill him today. Guess he's lucky. But if he knows how to detox, he'll definitely be back.
Damn bastard, just you wait. Next time, I won't be so careless. That'll be your death sentence. I've wasted too much time here, and if I stay any longer, the poison will start eating away at me...
"Bastard, consider yourself lucky today. Next time, you won't be so fortunate..."
With that, Kempes stomped his foot, ready to make his escape.
But the moment he pushed off, his body lurched—somehow, the ground beneath him had turned into a swampy mire.
As he tried to move, his lower legs sank instantly into the muck. Looking around, he saw that dozens of meters in every direction had become a swamp.
He tried to leap out, but the swamp only rippled slightly, refusing to let him go. Worse, a massive suction came from below, as if some giant magical beast was opening its jaws to devour him.
The earth around him seemed to be collapsing, merging into the swamp. Kempes's face twisted in terror—he couldn't understand how he'd ended up trapped like this.
Leon sneered. This wasn't some ordinary swamp spell—it was Devouring Mire, a seventh-rank spell recorded in the Book of Ten Thousand Curses. Not even a dragon could escape easily, let alone a Caucasus Battlemage like him.
This guy was fast, but his speed was all brute force—he used explosive strength to rebound off the ground. Jason Vagran was a whole different story; that was real speed, not something forced by raw power.
Speed achieved by sheer force is only good for charging straight ahead—it's not agile, and the weaknesses are obvious.
Just like now: he was strong, but without noticing the Devouring Mire—and thanks to his own power, his legs sank even deeper. Now there's no way out.
If it were just his feet, he might have broken free, but his own strength betrayed him. He's so used to launching off the ground for speed.
This time, though, it wasn't solid earth beneath him—it was Devouring Mire...
To cast Devouring Mire, Leon had deliberately created a mirror image, even placing a rune shield on it.
Just a few seconds of distraction was all Leon needed to silently unleash Devouring Mire.
Half of Kempes's body was already swallowed by the mire. As he struggled, waves of mud surged around him—any strength he put into his legs was evenly dispersed throughout the massive pit. He couldn't get any leverage.
The phantom wheel behind Leon turned slowly, and a ball of blue flame shot down from the sky, exploding thunderously atop Kempes's head.
Boom! Boom!
Two thunderous blasts rang out. Kempes was only left a bit more charred, barely harmed at all.
But Explosive Flame wasn't about burning—it was about the force of the blast. The two explosions drove Kempes even deeper into the mire.
And things were about to get worse for Kempes—three more Explosive Flames were plummeting from the sky...
Boom! Boom!
Two more violent explosions followed. Kempes's chest was now swallowed by the Devouring Mire, and two more Explosive Flames were coming, with five more right behind them...
Terror seized Kempes—he never imagined that as an eighth-rank Title Magus, a Caucasus Battlemage hailed as the future King of the Caucasus, he might die in a swamp...