Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn! 65 An Illusionary Crisis

*

*

*

The whole entourage of General Weres, Sefir Estreya, Yusof Jamal, Lina Sarouneh and Gaius Trenel turned up at the open air private viewing lounge. Astrid was nowhere to be seen, presumably headed back before she got a shelling from her parents!

"Esteemed General! Uncles Sefir, Yusof and Gaius! Aunty Lina! You've come to watch the preliminaries personally?" Vignis and Leocadius rose hurriedly from their seats and bowed deeply to their elders. Then they both scowled at their underlings and hissed for them to prepare 5 more seats for the newly arrived luminaries.

Ehhehe! How could I not come when my precious Natalie is competing! How's she doing? Nevermind, don't bother telling me, I'll take a look mysel-- OH MY GOD SHE'S AT LEVEL 9??! MORE THAN 80% DONE TOO?!!" Lina's rosy-cheeks turned white abruptly and she pressed her hands to her face, aghast when she saw her 15 year old niece equal her achievements.

"Haha! It's all thanks to Aunty Lina's experiences and the instructions written in your guide book. So far she's been following it line for line and come this far; who knows just how much she can achieve? We all memorise your book like a bible!" Vignis smiled and offered an explanation, also slipping in praises for her senior at the same time.

But despite her cheerful attitude, there was also a hint of resentment in her tone, perhaps due to the fact that they themselves had never been able to pass Level 9 before they hit the illusion arrays age limit.

However Lina's face turned slightly sour at the mention of how it was her guidebook that helped her niece get so far!

"Yes... Looks like she's about to reach the last step where the guide says once she eliminates the last of the drow squad, the death-dancer will strike within the next second... If she can survive that surprise attack, she might have a fair chance of progressing where no one in the Kingdom of the Sands has progressed before!"

The rest of those gathered there then looked on in rapt interest as Natalie hunted down the last drow assassin who moved far faster than her despite her bloodline strengthening.

But while the rest were excited or worried over the girl potentially creating a new national record, one red-headed Aunty crossed her fingers mischievously and stuck out her tongue.

Then they were all greatly shocked at the next scene that played out before them.

"*@&#@*#&*@#*!&@##@$!!!!!!!!"

A furious Natalie rolled out of the magic formation she was in while cursing loudly.

She slammed her fists into the grassy ground angrily as she shouted.

"WHY WAS IT COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE GUIDE??!! HOW COME THE DEATH-DANCER STRUCK RIGHT BEFORE I KILLED THAT LAST BLOODY DROW!!?? ARGHH!!! USELESS GUIDE!!!"

Yes, a certain guiltless red-haired Aunty was certainly not at fault. She definitely didn't modify the guide on purpose to make sure others failed.

* * * * *

Natalie's only comfort was that it was not just her who bowed midway through Level 9. Darius had not been able to progress as far in Level 9 and ended with a lower score than hers; leaving her comfortably in first place!

She sighed in disappointment. She did feel relieved though. Based on the scores, her first place finish was confirmed!

She walked back towards the resting area keeping her head down in reflection of the earlier battle and what she could have done better.

One thing that stuck out to her was that she shouldn't have relied on the guide so blindly. There was no point blaming the information that someone else provided to her, she had only herself to blame for not validating the notes before applying them!

'Even IF that dastardly witch did it on purpose... Grrr...' But she could only grumble in her heart - one did not simply diss a World-class expert, not unless one wanted to be subjected to torturous training for the next 10 years...

But halfway while walking, she stopped.

'Wait, why are so many people still here if the preliminaries are over...?' She thought to herself in surprise.

Then she heard sounds of the crowds around her murmuring, before they cried out in surprise and began to cheer loudly!

Dreading what she knew she was about to see, Natalie turned around slowly - and saw what she was afraid of.

The handsome and hot boy was still progressing strongly through the illusion array.

And he was almost at the last portion of Level 9.

'DAMMIT ALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!' She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly, feeling like running away to hide from the potential situation of losing the bet to Charley and Lars.

But she steeled herself and stayed to watch Lars' battle - and learn.

* * * * *

'Lars! Lars! My hunch was right!'

'Yup! Tell me! But sorry if I--' He swiftly parried a chopping sword blow and triggered a Level 2: Shield spell, a weak defensive spell, to deflect the volley of arrows headed his way.

He jumped 1 metre into the air and then tucked his chin as he landed in a roll, then swiftly dodged backwards again. He barely avoided the strike of the remaining drow assassin who immediately backed off after launching his attack.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the crowd were standing in stunned silence, in awe of the deft moves and terrifying sword skills demonstrated by the boy!

"How can he be so good!"

"That... Is he a disciple of Sword Saint Murane?!!"

"That can't be! The Sword Saint only has one disciple and he's in Danedaar!"

"Then how can that #777 be so incredible?!?"

"amazing..." Even Natalie stood in admiration of the commoner boy whose esoteric mastery of his weapon put even her to shame!

But not everyone was pleased at the sight - especially not Darius, the white-haired descendant of the god-blooded race. He maintained an enigmatic and expressionless look on his face, but gave off a frigid aura that made whoever looked at him feel like he would cut down them where they stood!

By this time, Lars had already killed 3 of the close combatants - 2 drow sword fighters and 1 assassin. In the process, he had added several cuts to his collection of 4 from the earlier Level 8.

Despite his significant power-up from arming himself with the katana, the step-up in difficulty was significant - and he had only managed to eliminate the 3 drow by utilising his maximum capabilities.

And now he was half out of breath as well as slightly light-headed from virtual blood loss from his illusion body.

'As I was saying, kiddo. Seems the reason for that feeling of familiarity is because there's a demonic treasure hidden in this array! If I'm not mistaken, this is one of the Slayer Trials that just happened to be preserved over the years! What an amazing find, kiddo!'

Lars did not have the time or chance to hold a conversation with his pet demon as he fought to stay alive. He could only listen but not respond while frantically parrying both sword strikes, dagger thrusts and arrows.

"Chasing Shadow!" He lunged forward and released a swift slash, shooting out a shadowy sword light that darted here and there. The sword fighter he aimed at moved her weapon to block, but Lars smiled as the sword light abruptly changed trajectory and slipped past her defences to pierce her throat!

'One more down! 7 to go!' He hurried out of the way of a fresh barrage of projectiles sent his way, then suddenly spun around and cleaved his sword down in an overhead descending strike.

The thin air before him suddenly wobbled and shimmered before revealing the drow assassin - or what was left of him, as he was segmented from the top of his head until his hip!

Then he angled his katana behind his back to block a sharp sword slash aimed at his shoulder blades, before kicking out backwards fiercely.

As the last drow swordsman leapt away to the side, Lars smiled as the trap he had set earlier was sprung.

During the course of the melee, he had been consistently backing away towards one end of the 400 metre diameter battlefield. As a result, the archers had been forced to slowly move together with him. Despite their max range being 200 metres, they had a much shorter effective range of 100 metres within which they could actually land their arrows, due to the speed and strength of their target's defence.

However, once Lars had moved 100 metres, the archers ended up standing nearby if not exactly where he had started out.

And this proved to be a fatal mistake.

Without letting the archers have a chance to release their next batch of shots, he gathered mana in his left hand and threw nearly 2 dozen bolts of mana forward to trigger his trap.

"Delayed Casting: Level 1: Mass Magic Missiles x20!"

The ground under the middle-most archer rumbled and parted as countless glowy comets of arcane power erupted from the earth and shot towards the other 4 archers. The poor drow who lost his footing also quickly lost his life as the foot-wide fiery white missiles pierced through his body on the way to their targets.

Try as they might, the archers who were caught off guard had no chance in front of the sinister trap laid for them. With each cast of the magic missile spell triggering 5 magical bolts, the sky was lit up with a radiant display of mystical powers that quickly left the 4 remaining archers as pin-cushions, bloodied and mangled from multiple bullets of power!

Then before the last swordswoman's feet could touch the ground Lars smiled and chanted his spell: "Level 2: Acid Arrow, Level 2: Acid Arrow!"

The drow fighter swung her sword in vain to slice apart the incoming globs of caustic liquids. But it was to no avail. Her sword merely passed right through the fluids uselessly and was corroded, just like the female elf ended up being corroded until all that was left of her chest and upper body were bones.

'Alright, now for the last submerged fish--'

'!!!!!!!!'

A fierce dual stab shot towards him from point-blank range as the death-dancer teleported across the distance, triggering his innate skill: Instant Blink!

Just before the peak-Elite level drow launched his twin sword slashes, Lars heard some unintelligible words as he desperately dodged.

"Matilah, syaitan menyampah!!" (Die, demon scum!)

"Shield!! Mirror Image!!" Lars cried out in response, setting up his defences as he felt an unnerving sense of danger. Then he swivelled his sword in an arc, trying to deflect both his opponent's curved blades.

Unfortunately, he lacked the raw power to stop his enemy. When he blocked the first sword, he felt as if he were trying to hold up a mountain with a toothpick! Unable to fully block the attack, he could only just barely push the strike aside with all his might...

And the drow's other sword was still slashing down, straight at his shoulder!

Chapter end