Chapter 1023: Stop
Back then, I didn’t pay much attention—after all, it was just the smallest anomaly. But now, it’s clear that these mana crystals must be the keys to activating the Stone Gate.
Directly in front of the Stone Gate lies an equally large open space. On the ground is a circular pattern, sixty-six meters in diameter, divided into three sections, each with ten circular stone pedestals.
Leon nodded to himself in secret, realizing that the mana crystals were indeed the keys, and those ten stone pedestals marked the teleportation spots. Three sections, ten in each, for a total of thirty positions. In other words, wherever this leads, only thirty people can pass through at a time.
Each section of the Stone Gate has thirty-six slots. Doing the math, it takes a hundred and eight mana crystals to fully activate this ancient alchemical array.
With only twenty in my pocket, it’s obviously not enough.
Leon waited in place, certain that the other factions would be arriving soon as well.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before someone made it through that thin layer of mist and arrived before the Stone Gate.
These people seemed to have no shadows at all. Under the light, their bodies looked almost ethereal, drifting silently like illusory phantoms.
Leon glanced over—the leader was none other than Diras, cold-faced and unmistakably from the Shadow Tower.
Diras saw that it was Leon and his group, and immediately burst out laughing.
"Leon Merlin, I didn’t expect you to be the first one here. Excellent, just excellent. Your luck really isn’t that great."
I’ve been waiting a long time. Too bad I never ran into you in the Blazeforge Battlefield, but now that we’re here, it’s perfect. You might not be that strong, but you’ve probably collected plenty of mana crystals. If I kill you and take your crystals..."
Diras wore a look of satisfaction, mana already beginning to circulate around him—silent and serpentine, like some venomous snake opening its eyes in the dark.
Diras grinned at Leon, eyes full of mockery and playfulness, like a snake eyeing its prey.
"Last time, you got lucky. Others helped you out—even the Burning Tower spoke up for you. That was only because you helped them cut their losses and gain some benefits. But things are different now.
Let’s see who can save you now. I told you, you’d better pray you don’t run into us in the Blazeforge Battlefield, or I’ll make your death utterly miserable. Even your soul will be forged into a shadow thrall."
You bastard, you ruined our haul, cut our gains by several times in an instant. If it weren’t for you, this time the Shadow Tower would’ve come out on top—maybe even surged ahead of everyone. In just a few years, we’d be a force even greater than the Burning Tower.
Now it’s all ruined, and it’s all because of you. You’re dead—I’ll make sure you understand exactly what happens when you cross the Shadow Tower!"
Diras’ face twisted with malice, his eyes glowing with murderous intent.
By previous calculations, the Shadow Tower was supposed to be this round’s biggest winner. Even if their actual haul was the smallest, they’d still come out on top in the end.
The importance of the Blazeforge Battlefield isn’t fully understood by most humans, but the major factions all know the saying among the Blazeforge Orcs: Winner takes all.
After his plans were ruined, Diras had been searching for Leon’s trail ever since entering the Blazeforge Battlefield—he’d even sent out dozens of shadow thralls, but still couldn’t find them. Only now did he realize Leon’s group had actually moved faster than the Shadow Tower, already ahead and searching the rear and flanks, which made finding them impossible…
A cloaked shadow appeared behind Diras, its powerful magical fluctuations sweeping past like a gentle breeze. The aura wasn’t particularly strong, but everyone felt a tingling sense of danger.
Leon looked up at Diras, squinting slightly, and said seriously:
"Diras, you’re courting death. You’ll be beaten to death right here."
Anderson floated over with a weird laugh, eyeing the magical artifact drifting behind Diras.
"Heh, that artifact’s a fine piece—perfect for stealing things. If I remember right, it started out as a thief’s tool. That guy was bold, stole from plenty of people. And you lot dare to use it openly? No wonder you’ll get yourselves killed."
Hubert grinned savagely, hefting Slaughter and eyeing Diras up and down like a lab rat.
"Lord Merlin, this weakling’s not worth the trouble. One slap and he’s done…"
Reina didn’t even glance at Diras, instead dragging a lump of ice and focusing intently on deciphering its rules, completely ignoring the Shadow Tower’s people.
Joey was a bit stunned, seeing the fight about to break out, and hurried over to intervene.
Archmage Leon, please, let’s stay calm. We’ve come this far—don’t act impulsively, it’s not worth it…
Joey looked at Leon with concern, his meaning perfectly clear.
This time in the Blazeforge Battlefield, the Odin Kingdom sent six factions, while Andalusia only sent four. We’re already at a disadvantage, and now our Cloudspire Tower is nearly crippled, with heavy losses among our forces—the gap is even more obvious.
If Merlin fights the Shadow Tower, there’s no way Merlin would lose—his strength is enough to face Sky Rank now. The Shadow Tower’s artifact is still intact, but in the end, they’d probably be killed by Merlin…
If the other Odin Kingdom factions arrive, they’ll definitely unite against us—we wouldn’t stand a chance…
Leon didn’t say anything; he knew Joey was worried he’d kill that idiot Diras…
But Diras didn’t see it that way—he heard Joey’s words and burst out laughing in triumph.