Chapter 659: Huge Losses
The Fire Elemental Dragon was wreathed in orange-red flames—a signature ability known as the Sacrificial Fire. Anyone who ventured too close would be scorched by its burning embrace.
And as a pure elemental creature, unless slain in a single blow, any wounds it sustained could be rapidly healed by channeling fire elemental energy. Its regenerative power even surpassed that of regular dragons.
Above its head, the vortex of flames remained open, pouring out torrents of fire elements. This not only amplified the power of fire spells and made casting them much easier, but also enhanced the Fire Elemental Dragon’s recovery.
With the Fire Elemental Dragon summoned, Leon gripped the Arcane Wheel and charged forward, nearly barreling ahead like a warrior.
A horde of undead creatures below level twenty were swept into Leon’s thirty-meter radius as he charged. The Bane of the Undead ability kicked in, sending these lesser undead fleeing in terror. But behind them, even more undead blocked their escape—there was nowhere to run.
The undead in front panicked and crashed into those behind, but the rear ranks weren’t affected by the Bane of the Undead’s aura and refused to retreat.
It wasn’t until Leon closed to within ten meters that the Bane of the Undead’s power intensified yet again. The undead within this range finally cracked under the overwhelming instinctual terror.
From the moment the first skeleton warrior hacked down its would-be blocker, the infighting among the undead erupted in full force.
A level thirty Skeleton King tried to rally the fleeing skeleton soldiers into a counterattack, but within ten seconds, it was torn to pieces by the very cannon fodder it usually controlled.
Even in the face of other undead, sheer numbers could still unleash terrifying power.
Within Leon’s thirty-meter radius, he barely needed to lift a finger. Any high-level undead that entered this zone would be swarmed by the frenzied low-level undead, driven by terror...
There were simply too many undead. So many that none of them could even turn around—packed together, shoulder to shoulder...
This dreaded 'sea of undead' tactic, usually so formidable, turned out to be its greatest weakness against the Bane of the Undead.
The low-level undead tried to flee, but the high-level ones blocked their way. With their instincts in control, the only thing on the minds of these lesser undead was to hack down whatever stood in their path.
And then, the whole scene grew bizarre.
Leon and his companions barely had to intervene. Waves of undead surged forward, but as soon as they hit the thirty-meter mark, the vast majority of low-level undead instantly turned on their own, swinging bone blades at those behind them...
Some of the low-level undead within this range didn’t even react to Leon’s attacks—they were completely fixated on madly slashing at their own kind.
The bizarre spectacle left not only Anderson stunned—even Hubert, gripping his warhammer Slaughter, was frozen in disbelief.
But seeing Leon charge ahead without a word, no one dared ask questions—they simply followed in his wake.
Earlier, when they fought their way out from near the Crystal Wheel, the journey—less than ten li—took over an hour, even as the pressure gradually eased...
But now, heading back the other way, the number of undead had multiplied beyond counting. Yet it only took a dozen minutes to return—almost no resistance at all!
Leon gritted his teeth, frantically driving the Arcane Wheel. A torrent of fire spells swept forward, incinerating countless undead.
They charged all the way to the front of the four Half-Liches, but Leon didn’t let up—instead, he kept squeezing every ounce of power from the Arcane Wheel, unleashing even more fire spells into a blazing flood that crashed into the four Half-Liches...
Bang, bang, bang...
Three muffled booms echoed as three massive Gates of Eskrym materialized...
But against the Arcane Wheel pushed beyond its limits, the fire spells—empowered by the Fire Elemental Dragon—took just three seconds to shatter all three Gates of Eskrym.
In a blink, pitch-black mist poured down from the sky like water, forming a thin curtain that blocked the flood of fire spells. Behind this veil of darkness, five more Gates of Eskrym rose up.
The defense was simple, but utterly flawless...
Faced with this, Leon did something no one expected.
He turned and bolted...
After running a dozen meters, he saw the four Half-Liches attack in unison—waves of dark magic, frost spells, and curses rained down where he’d just been.
Countless arrows of darkness fell like rain, a hundred ice spears twisted the air, and even a Corrosive Totem Pillar slammed into the ground...
Arnold even used instant summoning to call forth over a dozen Death Knights and ten Bone Dragons from the battlefield.
A barrage of empowering spells landed on the undead, along with seven or eight vicious weakening curses—but none of them worked.
Leon, wielding the Arcane Wheel, unleashed a flood of fire spells and, with Hubert, Reina, and the Alchemical Golem, had already dashed hundreds of meters away.
After sprinting over a thousand meters, Leon led the group back again—same routine: get close to the four Half-Liches, drop a barrage of fire spells, then run for it.
The Half-Liches’ spells grew stronger and more ferocious each time, leaving Hubert and the others on edge. Why was Leon so intent on provoking them—was he trying to get himself killed?
"Leon, take it easy! If you keep pushing the Arcane Wheel this hard, it’ll fall apart…"
Anderson, pale with worry, couldn’t help but speak up.
Leon didn’t respond, just kept charging back and forth with his head down.
By the third run, the four Half-Liches were finally enraged. With the upgraded Bane of the Undead, Leon and his group could move freely through the sea of undead, casting spells and fleeing each time—even spells landed near the Crystal Wheel.
Irrelevant passage—skipped.
There was no way these ruthless figures could ignore that.
For the first time, the four Half-Liches began their pursuit...
Frost Emissary Kirk, Dark Left Hand Hall, and the Silent One Garcia—all Half-Liches—chased after Leon, while Arnold remained still.
Leon seized the opportunity—while running, he hurled the Arcane Wheel ahead, driving it toward Arnold and squeezing out every last drop of its power.
The Elemental Amber embedded in the Arcane Wheel was already dim, but under Leon’s desperate pressure, it blazed with unprecedented light.
This was the Arcane Wheel’s most powerful spell yet—dozens of fire spells burst forth every second.
Arnold used instant summoning to call forth a dozen high-level undead as shields, but they were incinerated in an instant as a barrage of fire spells rained down on him.
At that critical moment, Hall pointed from afar. Countless dark red rays gathered at his fingertip like thunder, and in a flash, a blood-red bolt of lightning exploded from his hand.
The lightning, moving faster than the eye could follow, pierced through the torrent of spells cast by the Arcane Wheel and struck the Elemental Amber embedded within.
Crack...
With Hall’s trump card, the instant-cast Finger of Death, the Elemental Amber on the Arcane Wheel finally couldn’t take it anymore—it shattered.
Without its Elemental Amber, the Arcane Wheel lost its source of magic and crashed to the ground like a useless hunk of scrap.
The Arcane Wheel was ruined...
This blatant provocation finally sent Arnold—the pure death summoner—into a rage.
Arnold joined the hunt.
Leon led the group in a rapid retreat, while the four thoroughly enraged Half-Liches pursued like mad dogs.
But no one noticed—the ruined Arcane Wheel, as it hit the ground, seemed to roll itself toward the Crystal Wheel...
Arnold, with only his summoning ability, nearly got blasted to pieces. Even if he survived, it was enough to send this Half-Lich into a rage.
All the undead followed the four Half-Liches in pursuit of Leon. In less than ten minutes, the area around the Crystal Wheel—once swarming with undead—was now completely deserted.
In the distance, Leon gripped the Death Tome in one hand and the Doombringer Staff in the other, fleeing in utter disarray.
With all four Half-Liches attacking together, the pressure was overwhelming—it felt like walking a knife’s edge over a bottomless chasm; one misstep could mean falling into the abyss.
Whether it was Leon, Hubert, or Reina, their fighting strength was pushed to the limit—one slip and they could be killed.
Frost Nova, Eskrim Gate, Ice Lance...
Every frost spell in Kirk’s hands became a tool to block Leon and his companions.
Hall’s Dark Hand and Dark Arrow were all brutal attack spells, each one targeting Leon’s weakest spot.
Not to mention Garcia’s nauseating curses, and Arnold’s most insidious instant summoning ability...
Leon struggled to hold on, silently praying: 'Anderson, it’s all up to you now!'
Meanwhile, beside the Crystal Wheel, smoke quietly rose from the ruined Arcane Wheel, coalescing into three faces twisted in pain.
Anderson cautiously poked his head out. After confirming the coast was clear, he conjured a pair of hands and retrieved a Spatial Ring from a slot in the Arcane Wheel.
Several Crystal Quills, a dozen bottles of Stellar Ink, and even an Alchemical Vortex—all retrieved by Anderson.
Anderson first stuffed the Alchemical Vortex into the spot where the Elemental Amber used to be. As the vortex began to spin, the Arcane Wheel—deprived of its magic source—started running again.
"Damn, this is a huge loss—a true Essence Relic, destroyed just like that. And that Elemental Amber? We’ll never find another one that big again..."