Chapter 447: Act 197 – The Final Moments (14)
The stone slabs in the square transformed into rubble, cascading down with a rustling sound, leaving only a thin layer of mist; for a moment, the battlefield felt more dangerous than tranquil, as the immense power of magic tore the ground apart, forming a deep chasm—when the Chaos Barrier shattered, it would release all absorbed attacks, and the three full-force strikes from Veronika could be imagined; the numerous intersecting and fragmented cracks in the square were proof of that.
Suddenly, a surge of magical energy stirred, and a chilling aura emanated from behind the white mist; both Brendel and Veronika felt their hearts skip a beat. Amann had previously been leisurely discussing terms with Veronika, which indeed was just a ploy to buy time.
“You brat, what exactly is that thing…” Veronika gasped, feeling nearly suffocated by the magic fluctuations at her level. What terrible spell lay behind it?
Brendel felt even worse; although the capabilities of a traveling mage, along with various tools, allowed him to come up with many means of escape, even he felt a sense of impending doom at this moment.
“Malvicarte’s Book… I never expected it to be… here,” Brendel gritted his teeth and said.
“That book! How could it be here?” Veronika’s expression also changed.
The cursed book, ‘Malvicarte’.
Named after the Abomination Demon, it was regarded as a holy scripture by the followers of chaos, a primordial evil born from the Sea of Chaos. This book was said to consume everything between heaven and earth to gain forbidden power; despite being an evil object, it almost possessed power rivaling divine artifacts.
However, it was rumored that this book had perished during the Twilight War. How could it appear in Amann’s hands?
In the brief moments of conversation, the magical power between heaven and earth had further converged, as if a black hole had formed in the center of the square, drawing in wind and mist into a swirling vortex.
But in just a blink, the magic suddenly erupted outward, unleashing a ring of black light that blasted forth. This light first swept over Brendel and Veronika’s heads, stirring up a clamor of sand and earth, sweeping across the entire ruins in an instant.
A few startled cries came from the edge of the square, seemingly Faina’s voice; they were retreating into the forest under Xi’s protection, but in an instant, they were caught by the black ring.
Not only on the ground, but even in the sky, Andisha and Mephistopheles—locked in a fierce battle—sensed the seismic tremors of the surging magical energy below.
After transforming into a magical dragon, Andisha could still barely maintain an advantage, but she was not a true dragon, and besides, the Gray Saint Mephistopheles was not foolish enough to confront her directly, merely circling around her and denying her the chance to escape the thorny realm of this demonic domain.
Andisha felt her strength gradually declining with time, almost to the point of being unable to maintain her dragon form. Yet, there was nothing she could do; the anger within her burned like a blazing flame, almost causing black flames to seep from her eyes.
But it was at this moment that both of them simultaneously looked down at the square, quietly uttering a soft “huh.”
The second ring of black light was spreading out—
“This is…”
“It’s deadly… Dark Shockwave!” Brendel cursed inwardly. The eleventh-ring top-level spell, superficially a pure ground-impact spell, but the eleventh-ring spells were all renowned for not being simple; the first component of this spell was called the ‘Anti-Space Curse.’
Andisha and Mephistopheles, suspended in mid-air, immediately felt a constricting force; the ability to hover granted by elemental power vanished in an instant, and even flapping their wings brought no lift. Both of them fell from the sky.
“This is… indiscriminate attack!” Andisha’s face blanched. She screamed, “Hamil, are you insane?”
Amann was certainly not insane; amidst the dense mist, a cackling voice resounded: “Andisha, this is my way of thanking you for buying me time to prepare the power of this ancient holy artifact—too bad you brutish creatures could never understand the loftiness of supreme power…”
He appeared confident, yet there was no slack in his actions; the speed at which magic was gathering behind the mist only increased. The third round of black light erupted forth, this time with even more astonishing force; the black tail trail swept across half the square like a whip, producing crackling sounds in the air.
Veronika felt a tightness in her breath; the fierce wind whipped her emerald hair, and she turned her head: “The Book of Malvicarte possesses near-godlike power, we can’t match it; we need to find a way to retreat first.”
“There’s no time,” Brendel gritted his teeth and replied, “Running means certain death; counterattack may offer a slim chance.”
“How do we counterattack?”
“Though the Book of Malvicarte is indeed aligned with the highest powers of chaos, it is still not as formidable as the Duskgazer Dragon, especially since the caster possessing it is merely a mortal like Amann; therefore, we still have a chance,” Brendel explained calmly.
“How do you know that?” Veronika asked curiously, her emerald eyes fixed on Brendel.
“Earlier, Amann was stalling for time with words; I assume you noticed as well, lady, so I deduce that there must be intervals between the casting of that book’s spells.”
“Is that so?” Veronika still harbored some doubts, but Brendel’s “In any case, there’s no time for explanations now; our only chance is to seize this moment,” silenced her.
Time was indeed at a critical juncture.
“But, young one, how do we block this spell?” The chanting of the fallen priest could not be stopped; magical power surged, and the intensity of the magic’s oscillation was enough to make one’s scalp prickle. No one believed they could escape such power unscathed.
But Brendel did not respond; he discreetly glanced in a certain direction. In that direction, Andisha was screaming as she fell from the sky—
Veronika immediately understood: “Young one, you don’t mean…”
Just at that moment, the fourth round of black light flashed, interrupting her words. Another light ring swept over the two of them. The clouds in the sky suddenly parted, revealing a black magical array formed of interlocking lines.
The enormous magical array glimmered slightly, with runes representing ‘Arus,’ ‘Cau,’ and ‘Tiamat,’ symbols of darkness and destruction, lighting up one by one. The outer rings spun in reverse, and then the center brightened, allowing a thin black line to drop from there.
A black line.
It struck Amann amidst the mist, and an overwhelming force surged forth, awakening a tingle of dread in the hearts of everyone present.
“Here it comes!”
Brendel immediately bit down on his tongue; the sharp pain pierced through his brain, jolting him awake. With this moment of clarity, he broke free from the dreadful pressure.
“Run!”
He quickly retreated; at this moment, Andisha had just crash-landed heavily to the ground. Brendel seized the chance to circle around behind her, aiming to have the lord of the Shepherds shield them from the first strike.
“You two bastards!” Andisha immediately sensed it; she gave an angry scream in mid-air, but with a loud crash, she landed solidly on the ground.
Transformed into a massive dragon, Andisha staggered from the impact, gritting her teeth as she brushed aside the debris on her body. As she rose, ready to lash out, she lifted her head just as Amann’s spell hurled toward her.
The eyes of the Shepherds’ lord glimmered with a deep purple hue, reflecting a black beam of light that fell from the sky like obsidian.
In an instant, the light beam seemed to thicken tenfold.
Andisha gasped; the beam resembled a water column descending from the clouds, and upon touching the ground, dark ripples instantly scattered like water, expanding outward in circles.
But those were not water ripples; they were waves of destructive dark power.
“Hamil!” Andisha’s rage surged to its peak; she lowed as if to curse him to a thousand deaths, but at that moment, the tsunami-like black waves approached her, and in her dragon form, she could only spread her wings to form a half-dome shield.
With a tremendous crash, the black light collided with Andisha; she let out a piercing scream as the shield violently trembled, and within moments, the entire shield was covered with spiderweb-like cracks.
Wherever the black wave passed, everything turned to dust—the square itself had already become rugged and fragmented due to the previous battles—but the black wave seemed like a comb, sweeping through and leaving behind only a layer of smooth, thin earth.
“Ah—!” Andisha stared, horrified yet unwilling; had she been at her peak, she might have resisted this spell, but now, blocked by the hellish thorns and severed from the power of nature (even if it were corrupted natural power), her strength had dwindled to below half of its original.
The black tide surged forward, the entire shield almost twisted out of shape, and blood oozed from the dragon scales of Andisha, with scales rising and cracking one by one, creating large splashes of blood, her cries turning into wails.
“Ah—! Hamil, I curse you!”
With this scream laced with hatred, the ‘dragon’ was forcibly torn from the ground by the overwhelming force, flung far away into the forest, vanishing without a trace.
Brendel’s eyes brightened; after all, Andisha was a powerful being nearing level 90 at this time, close to ‘that last line.’ The Dark Shockwave would require a significant amount of energy to completely overwhelm her. Approaching him and Veronika now would be her last gasp.
“Now’s our chance!” he declared.
Veronika understood, activating her magical gear—being of her level, she would possess some powerful defensive gear—and raised a faint green shield.
Next, Brendel calmly retrieved his shale longbow.
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please consider casting your recommendation or monthly vote on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
