"Damn it, why are there so many!" Leon was startled. The number of skeletal warriors in this area far exceeded anything he had imagined.
By comparison, the Bone Plane's vein of Nether Iron, with its gathering of skeletal warriors, was nothing—what were a mere hundred skeletons? Now, before Leon, was a dense, black mass, numbering at least in the thousands...
What now...
The first thought that popped into Leon's mind was to use Levitation to escape via the cliff behind him.
But before he could utter the spell, Leon remembered the journal left by that master craftsman—this was a real and dangerous illusion...
That statement sounded contradictory, but Leon knew the emphasis was on the word "real."
Leon had already learned what a real death legion looked like from Sandro's notes. He was certain that if he tried to use Levitation to escape over the cliff, what awaited him would likely be a swarm of gargoyles, a dozen obsidian statues, or even several bone dragons...
The Death Garden itself was an unreasonable existence. The immense power of death gathered and ultimately catalyzed this bizarre domain; the Death Garden was the embodiment of death energy. In a sense, it even hinted at rules of its own. How could such a strange place ever allow someone to take shortcuts so easily?
The first wave of skeletal warriors had already climbed the slope, their rusty scimitars raised high.
Leon had no time to think. He spat out a string of incantations, and a wall of fire instantly rose at the foot of the slope. Now that Leon had advanced to High Mage, compared to his first entry into the Bone Plane, his power had increased tenfold. This fire barrier struck the first wave of skeletal warriors, unleashing terrifying might—over a dozen skeletons were reduced to ash by the searing heat before they could even struggle.
The appearance of the fire barrier threw the skeletal warriors into chaos. Fear of fire is instinctive for all undead creatures—even the lowliest cannon fodder like skeletons are no exception. As Leon's fire barrier descended, the front ranks of skeletons began to retreat, while those behind still tried to climb the slope.
Chaos erupted...
Leon seized the opportunity amid the chaos and forced through the incantation for Flame Storm. With a thunderous roar, a mass of fire appeared among the panicked skeletons, spinning like a top and unleashing a torrent of heat. The Flame Storm swept through, reducing nearly all the skeletal warriors to ash. The spell lasted exactly ten seconds, and in that time, at least a hundred skeletons vanished—of the first wave, barely a dozen remained after Leon's Flame Storm.
But Leon knew this was only the beginning.
Sure enough, as Leon wiped out the first wave, the remaining skeletal warriors had already climbed the slope. The closest were now less than a hundred meters away, and their numbers had multiplied—almost tenfold compared to before.
Leon knew that if these skeletal warriors closed in, not even a High Mage—let alone an Archmage—could survive. Under siege by thousands of skeletons, anyone below Title Archmage would be doomed, drowned in a sea of undead.
The only thing Leon could do was push his casting speed to the limit. His Mana Harness was running at full overload, unleashing fire spells one after another. In a way Leon never wanted, he was reliving the battle strategies of Maxwell, the Flame Tyrant.
If it weren't for the sheer number of skeletal warriors, this battle would actually be a valuable experience for Leon. Every fire spell cast deepened his understanding of the Flame Tyrant's combat style. By the end, Leon felt as if he'd become Maxwell himself, fighting endless undead in Ghostspire...
One skeleton fell after another, but more quickly filled the ranks.
For Leon, the whole battle felt like a test of patience and endurance. In the end, he couldn't even remember how many spells he'd cast or how many times his mana had run dry. All he knew was that, each time his mana was depleted, he drew a little from the Soul Essence of the Blood Wraith.
Fortunately, the Blood Wraith was an entity of resentment, and the mana contained in its Soul Essence was far purer than any ordinary magic crystal. When Leon drew power from it, it was much easier than extracting mana from a crystal. The only flaw was that this pure mana always carried some sickening negative emotions—every draw left Leon's mind agitated.
But right now, there was no time to care about that...
If the Blood Wraith had been the most troublesome enemy Leon had faced since arriving in this era, then this battle was by far the longest he'd ever endured.
The cold crescent moon was sinking, and dawn was breaking in the eastern sky.
More than half the night had passed...
Leon was still slaughtering relentlessly. The whole slope was littered with charred bone fragments, fire spells pouring from his hands, skeletal warriors falling one after another. It felt as if the battle would never end...
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It wasn't until the sun had fully risen that Leon cast another fire spell and suddenly realized—the slope was empty. Not a single skeletal warrior remained standing.
"It's finally over..." Leon gasped for breath, reaching for the Soul Essence in his pocket to restore his mana one last time. But his legs gave out, and he stumbled, collapsing to the ground.
This battle had been unbearably long. For more than half the night, Leon had been casting spells and fighting nonstop. No other High Mage of his rank could have endured what Leon did—this was far beyond the limits of a first-rank High Mage.
Thankfully, it was all finally over...
Almost as soon as Leon collapsed, the scenery around him shifted. The rotting corpses vanished, the congealed blood disappeared, and in their place was a lush, fragrant landscape filled with birdsong. Leon realized he had finally escaped the illusion of the Death Garden.
Leon felt both anticipation and nervousness about the rewards to come.
The master craftsman had written in his notes that every choice made within the illusion could affect the final reward.
Thinking back, Leon realized he hadn't made any choices in the illusion—he'd been casting spells and fighting from start to finish. So, what kind of reward would he receive in the end?
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