Chapter 811: Too Powerful
Seeing this scene, Thorne Merlin felt his vision go dark. Even a fool would know—they'd jumped right into a trap.
Those Blazeforge Orcs were clearly on high alert, not secretly defending at all. They'd formed a tight encirclement, who knows how long they'd been hiding, as if they'd known someone was coming all along.
After fighting the Blazeforge Orcs for so long, there was no way Thorne Merlin couldn't see through their tactics.
But now, there was no way out—the teleportation array had to be destroyed. Killing Hobbit was already a secondary concern.
In the blink of an eye, the battle erupted...
No one had time to think. A horde of Blazeforge Orc warriors, clad in heavy, crude armor and wielding massive iron shields, charged at the Merlin Family's ranks with furious roars.
In the rear, Blazeforge Orc shamans raised their rough staffs, screeching incantations that pierced the air. Instantly, dozens of meteors trailing long black smoke tails appeared in the sky and came crashing down.
The mages barely had time to conjure magical shields before a barrage of meteors crashed into their ranks...
A warrior raised his greatsword, roaring as he shattered a meteor into fragments—only to be struck by another. Flames erupted, the immense force smashing his armor to pieces. Black smoke and fire swept out, instantly engulfing his body...
In just a couple of seconds, more than a dozen Merlin Family warriors were consumed by meteors, and the magical shields of three Grand Mages were torn apart...
The agonized screams before death erupted instantly...
"Fight!"
Thorne Merlin roared, raising his greatsword. A four- or five-meter-long slash of battle energy flew out, viciously tearing three of the fastest-charging Blazeforge Orc warriors to pieces.
The other mages began chanting spells. Frost swept across the sky, transforming into razor-sharp blades like snowflakes, spinning rapidly and leaving bloody wounds on the Blazeforge Orc warriors.
Blades of wind howled forth, fireballs exploded among the Blazeforge Orc ranks, and walls of ice rose up at the front lines...
In an instant, dozens of the fastest Blazeforge Orcs were devoured by spells—wind blades sliced their throats, exploding fireballs shattered their shields, ice walls blocked their charge.
But there were just too many Blazeforge Orcs...
At least a thousand Blazeforge Orcs were attacking, with over a hundred Blazeforge Orc Shamans alone! And at the mountain's peak, the strongest—Hobart—hadn't even made a move yet!
Thorne Merlin gritted his teeth, holding his ground, eyes locked on the mountain's summit.
"Hold them off! I'm going to destroy that teleportation array!"
Thorne Merlin leapt forward, unleashing three crescent-shaped slashes of battle energy, cutting down several Blazeforge Orc warriors blocking his path as he sped toward the mountain summit.
The teleportation array covered the entire mountaintop, massive in scale. Thorne Merlin's battle energy surged, the light on his greatsword pulsing violently.
When he was still more than thirty meters away from the teleportation array, Thorne suddenly shouted. Blinding battle energy burst from his greatsword, hurtling toward the array.
If he could destroy the teleportation array, that would be the greatest victory!
From the moment he saw Hobart, Thorne knew he couldn't kill him. So now, if he could just destroy the teleportation array, the sacrifice would be worth it.
The blinding battle energy was about to hit the teleportation array—if it landed, this explosive strike would definitely destroy half the array!
If Hobart wanted to repair this massive teleportation array, it would take a long time!
As long as someone from the Merlin Family escaped, Hobart's plan would be ruined!
There was a glimmer of hope in Thorne's eyes. This was his strongest attack, and Hobart hadn't acted—he finally had a chance!
The next moment, a wall of blazing flames suddenly appeared in front of the teleportation array—a burning shield blocking the explosive battle energy.
The blinding battle energy exploded against the flame shield, endless fire scattering into crimson fragments. Half the shield was destroyed, but the teleportation array remained untouched.
A trace of disdain appeared on Hobart's face as he quickly uttered several notes. Instantly, a green cloud formed above Thorne's head, and countless fist-sized green droplets poured down.
Wherever the droplets hit, the ground fizzled as if doused in strong acid, leaving pitted craters and spreading acrid smoke. Even just breathing a little made Thorne dizzy, his lungs burning as if on fire.
Thorne's expression changed—without thinking, he tried to dodge.
A thirty-meter-wide Acid Rain spell, laced with intense poison—there was no way to endure it head-on.
But in the next moment, Hobart sneered and extended a finger. A black rune swirled at his fingertip, transforming into a jet-black ray that shot straight at Thorne.
Thorne roared, his battle energy surging, enveloping him in a radiant glow. As the light met the poisonous acid rain, it hissed and corroded his defenses rapidly.
He raised his greatsword to block, and the jet-black ray struck it head-on.
The ray hit the greatsword, but instead of the overwhelming force Thorne expected, a jet-black light instantly spread from the blade to his body.
Suddenly, a wave of crushing fatigue flooded Thorne. He staggered—his surging battle energy weakened in an instant, and his greatsword felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. With all his strength, he could barely hold it aloft.
This wasn't a poison ray—it was an Exhaustion Ray!
The thought flashed through Thorne's mind, and a wave of imminent danger surged up. Every hair on his body stood on end; he tried to dodge, but his limbs wouldn't obey.
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But after taking a direct hit from the Exhaustion Ray, his body felt like it had fought for three days and nights, with barely any strength left. His hand trembled as he gripped the greatsword.
His battle energy defenses were steadily corroded by the Acid Rain. In just two seconds, a huge hole appeared in the protection over his left shoulder. The rain touched Thorne's skin, and a searing pain like fire shot through him, turning his face pale.
His legs trembled as he took two steps, just in time to see a meteor over two meters wide, trailing thick smoke, hurtling toward him.
Thorne glared, forcing his battle energy to surge with all his might, but his legs felt weighed down by a thousand-pound boulder—lifting them was nearly impossible.
Two seconds later, the Exhaustion Ray's effect finally faded. Strength flooded back into his body, his weakened battle energy surging out—but the massive meteor was already upon him.
The force of impact, driven by speed, crashed down on Thorne like a mountain—there was no way to dodge, and no time left.
Thorne unleashed his battle energy, gripping his greatsword and slashing fiercely at the meteor.
Boom...
Thunder roared. Blinding light burst from the greatsword as it collided with the meteor, sending sparks flying. In the next instant, the meteor exploded, and Thorne spat blood, his body flung backward like a cannonball.
Tumbling down the mountainside, Thorne rolled for twenty or thirty meters before stabbing his greatsword into the ground to steady himself.
He spat out a mouthful of blood; his face was drained of color, his armor torn to shreds, his left shoulder covered in gruesome corrosive wounds, and his hand shook as he gripped the greatsword.
Too strong!
There was no way to win—was this the true power of a Peak Eighth-Rank Title Archmage?
His casting speed was terrifying, and every spell was far stronger than normal. That Acid Rain—every drop was the size of a fist and laced with poison. Even the Exhaustion Ray could be cast instantly.
Even an instant-cast Exhaustion Ray could leave me drained for more than three seconds!
Too strong...
This time, not only is the mission impossible to complete, but I probably can't escape either...
Thorne struggled to his feet, spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, and understood—victory was out of reach. Forget killing Hobart; he couldn't even destroy the teleportation array.
Now, the only thing that mattered was getting out alive and delivering the news. If not, the Merlin Family would be in grave danger.
Resolute, Thorne turned back and rejoined the battle, only to find that more than half his men were already lost—while the Blazeforge Orcs' numbers seemed hardly diminished.
Especially those Blazeforge Orc Warlocks casting spells in the rear—almost none had fallen.
A wave of despair surged through his heart...
Ten minutes later, the encirclement had shrunk even further. The Blazeforge Orc warriors charged recklessly, heedless of death...
A Merlin Family warrior was torn to pieces, blood spraying over several Blazeforge Orcs—only making them more ferocious.
Now the circle was just twenty or thirty meters across. Hobart struck again, conjuring a simple flaming meteor...
The meteor, three or four meters wide, burned fiercely, trailing a long plume of smoke as it smashed into the center of the encirclement.
Thorne roared, swinging his greatsword in a blast of battle energy—but all he managed was to shatter fragments from the meteor's surface.
The meteor crashed into the center. Three mages' magical shields were instantly shredded, and in the blink of an eye, their bodies vanished beneath the meteor.
The violent shockwave swept up dust in waves, and the meteor's fragments burst out like hundreds of deadly arrows.
In an instant, the Merlin Family suffered devastating losses.
Of the last few dozen, only ten remained in a heartbeat.
Thorne's left arm was twisted into a grotesque shape, pale bone shards piercing through the skin. He gripped his sword one-handed, his face drained of all color.
Though they'd escaped the encirclement with the meteor's help, only eight people remained at his side—all wounded, and two seriously.