Chapter 101: The Archmage’s Staff! [Seeking Recommendation Votes]
Soren advanced along the mountain range.
After entering the territory of the red dragon, he could clearly feel the increase in monster activity.
Generally, starting from old dragons, giant dragons will recruit monster guards after establishing their nests, and an ancient dragon will control even more minions. The most common monster Soren saw was ogres, and even though they had been defeated once by the army of White Horse City, the chaotic evil ogres still gathered together with the chaotic evil red dragons. In addition to them, there were werewolves, bear goblins, dark creatures, and others, all occupying the road leading to the red dragon’s lair. They were responsible for blocking others, causing White Horse City to repeatedly return empty-handed, and Soren barely encountered the ancient red dragon on a few occasions.
More obvious traces began to appear in Soren’s line of sight.
The target not only entered the ancient red dragon’s territory but also delved deeper into the mountains, with all the monsters along the way failing to detect his presence.
Soren possessed the Divine Profession of Shadows, making his stealth abilities frighteningly high, so it was normal for monsters not to notice him. However, this guy was clearly not a wanderer; it was somewhat irrational that he could avoid so many creatures.
About ten kilometers into the journey, Soren discovered signs of a battle for the first time, although the fight had ended quickly.
“What is this?”
“Marjourf’s Acid Arrow?”
Soren crouched down to look at the corpses before him, as well as a group of bear goblin corpses.
The entire battle ended swiftly; it seemed the target unexpectedly encountered a group of bear goblins, and there were traces of a campfire nearby. Based on Soren’s speculation, the target likely set up a campfire at night, and then suddenly encountered wandering bear goblins. This time, he was detected by the enemy, and Soren suspected he had not used an item he possessed at that moment.
“It looks like he was attacked while camping.”
“The caster level seems not low! All the bear goblins were killed in one hit by spells, and the opponent’s casting speed was incredibly fast!”
Soren fell into deep thought as he stared at the traces.
According to the feedback from the Tracking Divine Profession, the battle broke out last night. This meant the target had relaxed his vigilance after entering the mountains and chose to set up a tent camping not too far from Soren. However, after such a battle, he would likely be much more cautious.
Soren decided to chase after him in one go.
When night fell, he could already sense he was very close to the target.
However, Soren did not discover the other party; he could only find slight clues along the traces. The monsters in this area became denser, all of them enslaved creatures of the ancient giant dragon, and there were even minotaurs active in the Underdark nearby.
“Eh?”
Soren bent down to examine a stone in front of him, then murmured, “Right nearby. Did the target go up the mountain?”
Up the mountain?
Before him was a towering peak that reached into the clouds.
At the peak was a semi-active volcano, a situation caused by humans; the ancient red dragon had transformed this place into a dormant volcano using the powers of elemental chaos to create a lair suitable for itself.
After approaching the peak, the number of monsters noticeably decreased.
“He actually hid under the ancient red dragon’s lair! This guy really has some guts!”
Soren tracked the traces and quickly spotted a cave, inside which was pitch black, but it did not affect Soren’s dark vision.
He cautiously entered.
Then,
An unbelievable thing occurred.
Soren sensed the presence of a human, yet he could not see the other party at all!
It was as if Soren had put on an anti-detection cloak; any shadows were completely revealed before him, who wielded the Divine Profession of Shadows, and the other party’s invisibility seemed to be caused by some artifact.
There was a very faint sound of breathing in the cave.
It appeared the target was quite tired after fleeing for so long, and there were alarm traps at the entrance of the cave, but they posed no problem for Soren and were easily disarmed.
Inside the cave, there was an array set up.
And the target lay on a long stone slab before him; this should have originally been a bear’s den.
——”Time Stop! [Legendary Spell]”
Soren could not see the other party, which made him act even more cautiously. To ensure there were no accidents, he directly cast the legendary-level spell Time Stop.
Everything froze.
Soren’s figure quickly approached and lunged towards the target.
Mortals cannot escape Time Stop; this is an advantage of deities against legendary spellcasters.
An invisible energy barrier appeared.
The target had several defensive items, and at the moment Soren attacked, almost all of them activated automatically.
——”Duplicate!”
Two figures of Soren emerged, and in an instant, a silvery flash of light turned into a curtain that broke through the opponent’s energy shield in the blink of an eye.
Then!
Soren pressed down on the target that he could clearly touch but could not see at all.
bl**d splattered!
Soren slashed at the opponent, then felt the scepter the other party was holding; without thinking, he swiftly severed the target’s arm, and the scepter fell into Soren’s hand.
A figure emerged.
The effect of Time Stop was still ongoing, and after Soren seized the scepter, a somewhat disheveled yet familiar figure appeared before him.
——Ildis!
According to the original historical trajectory, he was a favored one who inherited part of the powers of the Goddess of Magic.
In the original history, this lucky fellow would supposedly have become the new God of Mages, but due to Soren’s involvement, Soren had actively helped the Goddess of Magic in the Misty Forest, causing Ildis to lose an important opportunity. However, as a prominent native, he still attained another fortuitous encounter: Ildis successfully found the legendary [Archmage’s Staff]!
Upon seeing the staff in his hand, Soren immediately realized why Ildis could seize Saphiras’ scepter and evade so many people’s pursuit.
Without a shred of mercy.
Soren instantly struck down the Ildis before him, for the effect of the Time Stop spell was about to end, and the target was a legendary-level mage, with Saphiras’ scepter still on him. Soren absolutely would not allow any unexpected situations to arise.
d*ath descended.
A soul surfaced in Soren’s divine perception.
——”Soul Binding!”
Why not leave a survivor for interrogation? This was Soren’s reliance; as a deity, he possessed the ability to bind souls, and interrogating what he needed to know from a dead enemy was clearly much safer.
A trace of divine radiance appeared.
To Soren’s great surprise, as he killed Ildis, a data prompt appeared:
“k*ll [Archmage] Ildis!…”
“Extract target’s soul energy!… Target’s soul is bound!… You gained 250,000 Killing Experience!…”
“Target possesses Divinity Value!…”
“Extract target’s Divinity Value!… You gained 5 points of Divinity Value!…”
“Target possesses Godhood Value!…”
“Extract target’s Godhood Value!… You gained 3 points of Godhood Value!…”
…………
“Target possesses Divine Profession Domain!…”
“Extract target’s Divine Profession Power!… Compatibility 85%!… You gained partial information of the [Mage] Divine Profession!…”
“Divine Profession Fusion!…”
“You mastered the [Mage] domain!… You gained partial information of the [Mage] Divine Profession!…”
…………
Golden divine radiance appeared.
Soren indeed did not guess wrong; Ildis had inherited part of the power of the God of Mages, indicating that his decision to k*ll the target was very correct. Because Ildis was currently only a mortal, he could not fully wield the power of the God of Mages; if given a little time, combined with the power of Saphiras’ scepter, Ildis would likely soon achieve godhood.
“What a lucky fellow!”
Soren gazed at the corpse before him, whose eyes seemed unable to close even in d*ath, and muttered to himself.
Although he had changed history, it was clear that Ildis was someone favored by luck; even by obtaining the power of the God of Mages, if he hadn’t encountered Soren, achieving godhood as a mortal would not have been difficult for him.
Before long.
Saphiras’ scepter was found by Soren.
However, his main focus remained on the first staff, the legendary [Archmage’s Staff]!
To his surprise!
This artifact staff actually exuded the aura of the God of Slaughter and retained a hint of slaughter divinity, indicating that it had once been wielded by the God of Slaughter and had killed numerous enemies.
“Item Type: Archmage’s Staff
Item Level: [Fifth-Order Artifact]
Item Description: This is a legendary artifact. It possesses incredibly powerful strength, and whenever it appears, a wave of bl**d and slaughter will ensue in the Material Plane. The God of Slaughter once used this weapon to slay enemies during the final battle of godhood; this weapon has been tainted by [Divine bl**d] and bears residual slaughter aura.
Equipment Requirements: Spellcaster.
Equipment Effects: Artifact Features, Divine bl**d, Greater Dispel Magic, Succubus Immunity, Saving Throw Enhancement, Protection from Evil, Energy Protection, Spell Storage, Permanent Invisibility.
Weapon Special Effect: [Artifact Features], this weapon is a legendary artifact that cannot be destroyed by conventional means and is immune to disintegration spells; only legendary disintegration spells have a 1% chance to destroy this artifact, but the destroyer must also suffer a backlash from divine power.
Weapon Special Effect: [Divine bl**d], this weapon has soaked in the bl**d of countless greater demons, demigods, quasi-deities, and even true deities over the long years; some powerful beings that had coveted the Divine Profession of Slaughter also perished at its hands.
Weapon Special Effect: [Greater Dispel Magic], when this weapon strikes a target, it will automatically cast a legendary level Dispel Magic, automatically dispelling any defensive spells on the target.
Weapon Special Effect: [Immunity to Charm], when wielding this artifact, it automatically grants immunity to all charm spells.
Weapon Special Effect: [Protection from Evil], when this artifact is activated, it will automatically enhance Protection from Evil spells.
Weapon Special Effect: [Saving Throw Enhancement], while possessing this artifact, all saving throw resistances +2.
Weapon Special Effect: [Energy Protection], when this artifact is activated, it will automatically open an energy protection stance.
Weapon Special Effect: [Spell Storage], this artifact contains stored legendary spells: [Spell Trap], [Chain Lightning] (2 times), [Lightning Bolt] (4 times), [Fireball] (6 times). The artifact will automatically recharge each day.
Weapon Special Effect: [Permanent Invisibility], when this artifact is activated, the wielder will enter an invisible state; this invisibility has no cooldown time and lasts indefinitely unless canceled by the wielder.”
…………
The Archmage’s Staff!
If there is any other artifact in the Material Plane that can be compared with the Holy Avenger, it is undoubtedly the Archmage’s Staff!
An artifact that automatically casts “Greater Dispel Magic” when hitting a target.
Soren finally understood why Ildis could evade so many outdoor leaders; those enemies simply could not see his existence. (To be continued ~^~)
