As the dozen Shadow Soldiers engaged Magnus, Vale seized the opportunity to get closer to the old man's shadow, setting his plan into motion.
"Cursed Flame!" Magnus exclaimed.
He then pressed his hands together, and soon, the black flames coalesced and began swirling, eventually expanding to engulf all of the Shadow Soldiers at once.
Boom!
The sheer force behind the strike shattered the castle's windows, leaving a visible crack on the pillars and walls.
Magnus was going all out!
However, to Magnus's surprise, the Shadow Soldiers endured for more than 10 seconds, demonstrating remarkable resilience.
They seemed protected by an unknown force he couldn't identify.
Nevertheless, it only delayed the inevitable. The Shadow Soldiers perished after some time.
Then, at the same time, Magnus's Cursed Flame Spell duration had also ended, rendering him unable to utilize the Spell for a period of time.
Adapting swiftly, Magnus decided to employ a different Alchemy Art. His strongest Fire-Related Spell was actually the Cursed Flame Spell. Now that he couldn't use it, he had to use another Spell that would work well against Vale.
"Incinerator's Flame!" Magnus muttered as blue flame started accumulating in his right fist.
Although not as potent as the Cursed Flame, this fiery manifestation possessed the unique ability to dispel Dark Arts' hexes, curses, and even necromantic spells.
This should be a good counter against a Dark Practitioner like Vale.
However, as Magnus invoked the Incinerator's Flame, he was suddenly wracked by a sharp pain in his abdomen.
"Ugh…" Magnus grunted as he felt a person close to him.
To his astonishment, Vale was already standing right beside him.
"You!" Magnus exclaimed, perturbed by his failure to detect Vale's presence.
'He's too close to me, but my Magic Zone didn't notice him! What was that Spell?!'
Unaware of what had transpired, Magnus felt his Energy Flow disrupted, causing the premature cessation of the Incinerator's Flame.
Bam!
The Incinerator's Flame was forcefully canceled, so it created a backlash, and his hand was burned. Luckily, he had gloves on his hand, which lessened the injury he sustained.
Then, Magnus swiftly reacted. He distanced himself by leaping back, and as soon as he did this, he checked his abdomen only to find no discernible evidence of a weapon or dagger piercing his armor. His defensive artifacts remained intact and operational.
"How?!" Magnus exclaimed in disbelief, unsure how he got an internal injury when his opponent didn't even pierce through his defenses!
Vale grinned as he observed Magnus's perplexity in the strangeness of his attack.
As expected, the Shadow Mutilation would surprise anyone… This Celestial Art was simply too unusual and could not be defended easily.
'We're just starting.' Vale silently thought. Well, he still felt a bit unhappy even with such a good result.
After all, his intention was to incapacitate Magnus with that precise maneuver, but regrettably, the Shadow Mutilation Spell didn't last as long as he expected.
He had only managed to inflict a single strike upon Magnus's shadow before the Spell abruptly dissipated. Evidently, Magnus's formidable Artifacts significantly shortened the Spell's duration. It seemed that if his mastery of the Shadow Mutilation had been lower, it might not have connected with Magnus at all.
Determined not to allow Magnus the opportunity to recover, Vale pursued him immediately.
'This is an opportunity… I can't waste it.'
The repercussions of Magnus's forceful dispelling of the Incinerator's Flame were likely to linger. Utilizing his Lightspeed Spell and Nature's Guise, Vale swiftly caught up to Magnus once more, evading detection.
The Nature's Guise Spell that he got from the Druids or Artificial Humans was actually incredibly good. This Spell was like an invisibility cloak, but it wouldn't last long if he wasn't close to nature, specifically trees.
Nevertheless, Vale could still use it for five seconds if no trees were around.
As soon as Vale got closer, he immediately reached out his hand and grabbed Magnus' shoulder.
[ Living Half-Spirit has been discovered. Would you like to start the extraction? ]
'Yes!'
[ Extraction Failed. ]
[ Extraction Failed. ]
[ Extraction Failed. ]
"What?" Vale was shocked at the unexpected result.
He didn't have the time to be surprised by the fact that Magnus was actually a Half-Spirit.
He couldn't help but feel at a loss after seeing three failures consecutively.
This had never happened before. This message would only normally appear if the target had been extracted a lot already. However, that was obviously not the case with Magnus.
"Get off me!"
Magnus shouted as he burst out with a fiery aura…
It appears that his main Arcane Arts was still the Alchemy Art. This would certainly provide a higher control over flames, but in the end, it wasn't as terrifying as Vale thought.
He easily moved away, but he didn't plan to end his assault here.
Vale decided to surprise Magnus!
As he fully activated his Meridian Access, he burst with Aura, exceeding the pressure that Magnus was emitting.
This time, there was no way for Magnus to dismiss the Aura he had felt.
"You're a Combat Arts practitioner… So I didn't make a mistake when I felt it a while ago." Magnus muttered as he pulled out his Grimoire.
It wasn't to summon a familiar to block Vale's incoming fist!
Bam!
The Grimoire and Vale's Gorrila Punch collided and created a small shockwave in the area.
Magnus stepped back a couple of times because of the impact, but it wasn't enough to defeat him.
"Haha! Good punch! However, you still lack experience!" Magnus shouted as his eyes turned red.
He successfully activated a Spell during this time!
Vale didn't seem to notice this as he pounced on Magnus without any care…
"Die!" Magnus shouted, expecting his eyes to release a Deathly Light.
It was one of his strongest Dark Spells, and he felt it would be a good way to end his opponent's life.
However, to his surprise, nothing happened.
Vale continued on his pounce and held him by his throat!
"Uck! H-how?!" Magnus was shocked as he struggled to remove Vale's hand.
'It's Spell Dispersion…' Vale smirked and answered in his mind.
Then, he continued with his Extraction, but this time, he didn't use the Auto Extraction and aimed at Magnus's Spell, the Cursed Flame.
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