As the soul fragment of the Saint Archmage Carlos, Noah lacked a physical body, but this did not prevent him from possessing soul power that far exceeded common logic. Coupled with his incredibly sharp combat experience, he possessed a level of mastery that the current Starlight simply could not match.
At this moment, Noah intended to use a pulse of soul power to cover the surrounding area for several kilometers. Under his investigation, any hidden object would have nowhere to hide.
While Noah began his search, Starlight’s attention was suddenly drawn to the scenery in the distance.
From within the chaotic battle below, it had been impossible to tell how many enemies there were. But having reached a high vantage point, Starlight immediately discovered that the number of bandits was not as high as it had first appeared.
Even more bizarrely, the figures that had previously fallen in pools of blood—including Tara’s attendant, Xiao Qi—had actually vanished. Only patches of darkening blood remained on the distant road, looking particularly gruesome and shocking.
“Found them. In the woods to the west, three hundred meters away!” Before Starlight could think further on what he saw, Noah’s voice rang in his ear.
Starlight had no time to ponder. He immediately adjusted his objective and, utilizing the springiness of the tree branches, leaped in the direction Noah indicated.
To avoid alerting the enemy, he refrained from using any spells except for wind elements to lighten his body. His agile form moved like a leopard darting through the treetops, rapidly advancing toward the west.
The experience he had gained from living in the valley played a crucial role. In just dozens of seconds, Starlight arrived silently at the target location.
He looked down through the dense canopy. In a clearing within the forest stood two strange figures dressed in black cloaks, holding staves.
They were currently standing atop a purple magic formation that emitted an eerie aura, chanting under their breath, completely unaware that someone had arrived directly above them.
“The abnormal state of those thieves should be related to this magic formation. Destroy the formation first, then find a way to deal with them!”
Under Noah’s direction, Starlight quickly gathered a large fireball in his right palm and threw it straight toward the two figures.
The two cloaked strangers clearly hadn't expected anyone to get so close. By the time they reacted, Starlight’s fireball was already falling toward their heads.
In their haste, the two immediately raised a light barrier above them to block the menacing fireball. However, to their surprise, the massive fireball simply burst apart upon contact with the barrier.
What shocked them even more was that the seemingly powerful fireball dissolved into a cloud of smoke and dust the moment it touched the barrier, while their magic shield remained completely unshaken.
“Huh? All bark and no bite?”
While the two were inwardly surprised by the weakness of the fireball, they failed to notice that under the cover of the smoke and noise, Starlight’s figure had already landed silently behind them.
Starlight pressed his hand against the ground at their feet. A massive amount of earth elements surged from his body, instantly shattering the unprotected magic formation beneath the two into countless pieces.
Carlos had mentioned in his basic lessons that mage combat generally falls into two categories: one is using one's own stored mana to fight, and the other is inscribing magic formations for positional warfare.
There wasn't much to say about using one's own mana; controlling it was a required course for all mages. Magic formations, however, did not have such restrictions.
As long as one spent enough time preparing, a mage could use a magic formation to draw upon surrounding elements and enhance the strength of their spells, or even turn a disadvantageous situation into an advantage to reverse the tide of battle.
However, the flaws of magic formations were equally obvious. Without stable base materials, they were extremely easy to destroy. Therefore, large-scale formations used for war or city defense were often constructed using nearly indestructible materials.
But the formation beneath these two mysterious figures was clearly not such a semi-permanent large-scale project; it was simply inscribed on the ground with tools.
When they focused their energy on protecting themselves from the blustering fireball, their protection of the formation slipped, providing Starlight with a perfect opportunity.
The two never dreamed that a mage would approach them in such a strange way, destroying the work they had spent hours preparing without any warning.
While they were still in shock, the cracked earth beneath their feet transformed into sharp rock spikes, piercing straight through their feet.
Seeing his strike succeed, Starlight’s next spell followed immediately. Two light cones pierced through one mysterious person's shoulder with lightning speed, interrupting his attempt to raise his hand and cast a spell.
Seeing his companion injured, the other person waved his staff, and a gust of black wind howled out from before him, rushing toward Starlight.
However, by the time the black wind took shape, Starlight’s figure had already vanished. The black wind struck nothing but empty air, landing where he had been standing and shredding the surrounding grass and flowers to pieces.
“What on earth am I fighting!?” The black-robed man was terrified. From the moment they were ambushed until now, they hadn't even seen the opponent's face clearly, only catching a glimpse of a blurry silhouette.
Just then, he felt a chill on his back. He spun around and saw a row of ice icicles that had silently condensed behind him, shooting toward his face.
This sudden attack made him pale with fright. If he hadn't reacted in time, he would likely have been heavily wounded by this sneak attack.
He hurriedly raised his magic shield again, barely protecting himself and his injured companion.
The fighting style Starlight displayed was simply unheard of. They had never imagined that a mage would engage in hit-and-run tactics like an assassin.
What surprised them even more was that in a short moment, the opponent had already used several spells of different elements, seemingly without any casting movements or delays, making it difficult for them to cope.
“No, could it be that there’s more than one person?! Yes, it must be! There’s another one hiding in the shadows for sneak attacks. This is bad; we have to retreat!”
After a brief thought, the black-robed man made a quick decision, reaching into his robe to pull out a sphere shimmering with silver light.
Seeing the sphere in his hand, Starlight, who was preparing his next wave of attack, immediately retreated into the shadows of the forest with caution.
That was something he had never seen before. It was unwise to attack blindly without knowing its function.
It was this momentary hesitation that allowed the black-robed man to crush the silver sphere under his gaze. In the next instant, a distorted black void appeared abruptly behind him, like a portal leading to an unknown realm.
“Not good, they're trying to escape! Stop them!” Noah roared urgently.
However, by this point, even though Starlight rushed out immediately upon receiving the command, he couldn't stop their flight. The black void had already taken shape.
The black hole spun continuously, and the figures of the two black-robed men rapidly began to distort, finally disappearing into the mouth of the hole. The magic Starlight released afterward hit nothing but air, only blasting a deep pit into the ground.
“Noah, what was that thing they just used?” Seeing his attack hit nothing, Starlight stopped and looked around, asking in confusion.
Noah was clearly dissatisfied with letting the enemies escape so easily.
“Tch! That was an Inscribed Stone containing a sealed spell. It’s a relatively rare magic item; it’s normal that you haven’t seen one. The one they used was likely sealed with a Displacement Spell or a Teleportation Spell.”
“However, your choice to retreat just now was also wise. If that Inscribed Stone had contained a large-scale killing spell, you would likely be in dire straits. But who could have guessed these two despicable cowards would use such a thing to run away!?”
“Right, since those two have retreated, the situation with the caravan shouldn't be as dangerous. Shouldn't you hurry back and check?”
At Noah’s reminder, Starlight suddenly remembered that the battle on the other side was equally critical. He wanted to ask Noah for more clues about the two black-robed men, but he ultimately swallowed his words.
Fortunately, from the time Noah discovered the black-robed men until the end of this sudden battle, only a few minutes had passed. Returning now should still be in time.
Rate on N.U.
