Ch. 501..510
Chapter 501
The black clouds above the Empress Cobra Zone kept it in perpetual darkness, which didn't help the nervous mood everyone was in.
The soldiers rarely talked since they had to be at the peak of their concentration at all times.
They knew that the enemy would show up. They just didn't know when and where they would appear from.
Sylvia had already shown the power of Susan's Darkness' Veil, and Susan would certainly take advantage of that Spell yet again.
Everyone knew that Susan's entire army would be hidden from view until it was ready to strike.
Whenever that would be.
And worst of all, there was no counter to Darkness' Veil.
Neither Sylvia nor Jerald could come with any kind of Spell or Magic Circle that would be able to feel Darkness' Veil.
This meant that the first attack for Susan and the Council would be free.
They had the initiative, which was a scary thought since she had tens of High Mages following her command.
A concentrated attack of so many High Mages was devastating.
Everyone knew that many people would die during the first attack.
They only hoped it wasn't them.
Hours passed.
Shang kept standing in front of the five Mid High Mages that stood in front of the fortified building.
His right eye was closed, and he kept his focus on his surroundings.
Jerald hovered in the air. Luckily, even though his Flying Spell cost a lot of Mana to activate, it didn't cost a lot of Mana to keep up.
Jerald hovered above the army like a beacon of hope and power…
Or like a target.
The wait was tense.
…
…
…
It felt like forever.
…
…
…
Shang's right eye shot open!
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
Suddenly, over 80 High Mages appeared in a half-circle formation behind where everyone was facing!
Even more, nine of these over 80 High Mages were Late High Mages.
The four remaining members of the main Council had obviously also gathered the five of the secondary Council in the Skythunder Kingdom's west.
Darkness' Veil could keep the Mages hidden, but it couldn't hide the fluctuations of Mana.
Shang had opened his eyes when he felt an astronomical amount of Mana basically shooting at a location behind them.
This was the absorption of Mana of over 80 High Mages preparing Spells.
Huge fireballs, storms of icicles, space-cutting waves of metal, gathered bolts of lightning, cutting storms, heavy boulders, all of this appeared in a giant cacophony of destruction above the enemy High Mages.
They had all prepared their Spells in an instant!
It had been so fast that no one had moved from their spot yet. Their bodies were just starting to get into a battle stance.
At that moment, only terror, fear, and anticipation existed in the minds of Jerald's forces.
On one hand, the moment they had feared had arrived, but on the other hand, the torturous wait was finally over.
"Charge!" Jerald's Spirit Sense transmitted to everyone below him.
The warriors' knees angled at the same time.
The Mages were all casting the same Spell.
Then, the wave of destruction shot at all of them.
Even though the wave of destruction looked like one entity, it was actually comprised of many small, targeted attacks.
It looked like a singular wave, but the Spirit Sense of everyone could immediately pick out the very attacks that were targeted at them specifically.
Shang also felt the Spells targeted at him.
Three Council members.
Three Council members were targeting him with their Spells!
Three Late High Mages.
At the same time, it also became apparent who was targeting Sylvia and Jerald, and it also became clear what the Council's strategy for this battle was.
Jerald had five Spells targeted at him, with one of them being a fast and powerful Darkness Spell.
Five Council members were targeting Jerald, including Susan.
Sylvia was being targeted by a fast bolt of lightning, which was increasing the humidity around it to give it a wider range.
This Spell was the best of both worlds. It was as wide as an area of effect Spell, but as soon as something entered the area of effect, the bolt of lightning would home in on the target with a concentrated strike.
This was an opponent that Sylvia would have big troubles with.
And now, their plan was clear.
Sylvia could fight one Council member equally, and the Council had also sent one member to her.
Jerald could fight five Council members equally, with Susan amongst them, and the Council had also sent five members, including Susan, at him.
Shang was not nearly as powerful as Jerald, even with his augmenting Spells.
At most, Shang could maybe win against two Council members.
But they had sent three to attack Shang.
Obviously, they wanted to stall Jerald and Sylvia until Shang was killed.
Then, the three Late High Mages would join the fourth one and kill Sylvia.
Lastly, all nine Council members would focus on Jerald.
Jerald could fight five, but he couldn't fight nine.
But the Council also knew that Jerald would take some of them with him to the afterlife.
Shang focused on the three Spells coming at him.
Shang had barely been able to react to Duke Blastfurnace's attack, and he hadn't even truly seen Sylvia's Spell.
…
But that had been when he hadn't been under his augmenting Spells!
Now, he could discern their characteristics and react appropriately.
A concentrated and massive beam of fire, a morphing column of stone, and a spear of sparking wind shot at Shang.
All the Council members knew more than one concept, and this became clear when looking at their Spells.
The beam of fire looked normal on the outside, but Shang could feel Earth Mana inside it. This meant that the beam wouldn't explode as soon as it hit its target. Instead, it would punch through its target like a blazingly hot spear.
The column of earth had a lot of Water Mana come off it. In comparison to normal earth, this column could flow and change its shape like water while still being as hard and heavy as the toughest rock.
But the most concerning was the third Spell.
The biggest problem for Shang when fighting Mages above his level was speed.
The main reason why he always lost was due to the attacks of his opponents vastly outclassing his own speed.
Nearly Shang's entire defense relied on being able to avoid and parry attacks, and one needed speed for both of these.
And the spear of sparking wind?
Its speed was unreal!
It combined the Wind Element's base speed with the Lightning Element's additional speed.
In comparison to the other two Spells, it didn't have the raw and destructive power, but it more than made up for it with speed.
This Council member was the perfect counter to Shang.
The spear of wind would hit Shang first, with the other two Spells hitting him simultaneously shortly after.
Their plan was obvious.
Shang would need to defend from the first Spell, which would lead him open to a devastating strike right after.
That would be when the other two Spells would kill him.
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Everyone reacted at the same time.
As the Spells were shooting at Jerald's army, the warriors jumped with all their power.
In the past, this would have been a death sentence to the warriors. After all, they would be sitting ducks in the air.
But things had changed.
While still shooting upward, the warriors all landed on their weapons and shot forward.
Meanwhile, the Spell all of Jerald's Mages were casting was Mana Step.
Earlier, the warriors had blocked the Mages' path, but with them jumping away, the Mages were free to Mana Step into any direction.
Sylvia managed to avoid the Spell that was targeted at her with a simple Mana Step.
As a Late High Mage, she could react to an attack from another Late High Mage.
However, the other Mages were not as lucky.
Just like the Council members had chosen their targets, all the other High Mages had also chosen their targets…
And only a few of them had attacked the warriors.
Only ten Spells had been shot at the collective army of 65 True Path Stage warriors, and the Spells all missed.
This was only a show to force the warriors to break their formation.
The ten Spells were never meant to kill the warriors.
With the nine Council members targeting Jerald, Sylvia, and Shang, and with ten Mages targeting the warriors, there were still about 60 Spells unaccounted for.
20 of the remaining 60 Spells were shooting at the fortified building.
Susan had had enough time to scout out everything and come up with a plan, and when she saw the five Mid High Mages defending the building, she decided to deal with them directly.
20 Mid High Mages were targeting the five Mid High Mages with combined Spells, exhibiting the power of the Spells of a Peak High Mage.
Five Mid High Mages combined their powers into one in four groups, meaning that four Peak High Mage Spells were shooting at them.
These were all the Mid High Mages the Council had access to.
All the other Mages were Early High Mages, and there wasn't a single Initial High Mage in the army.
The nine Late High Mages targeted Jerald, Shang, and Sylvia.
The 20 Mid High Mages targeted the building.
Ten of the 55 Early High Mages were forcing the warriors to break formation.
And the remaining 45 Early High Mages were attacking the Initial High Mages of Jerald's army.
Even more, three Early High Mages were targeting one Initial High Mage each.
This was devastating!
If these attacks had been launched by Initial High Mages, Jerald's Initial High Mages would be able to react…
But the enemy didn't have Initial High Mages.
The 15 Initial High Mages of Jerald's army that had been targeted weren't fast enough to react with Mana Step.
All the Mages of Jerald's army had had their Mana Shields active for hours by now, but what difference did that make when they were targeted by three High Mages a level above them?
Nothing.
The Initial High Mages' eyes opened in horror and shock.
They knew that they would die.
Jerald had about 30 High Mages, but around 20 of them were Initial High Mages.
In just an instant, 15 of the 20 Initial High Mages died, leaving five of them…
And three of these five were inside the building to keep Shang's augmenting Spells active.
Nearly every single Initial High Mage outside the building was killed in the first attack.
Half of all High Mages under Jerald died.
This was a devastating blow.
At the same time, the four Peak High Mage Spells cast by the 20 Mid High Mages were shooting at the five Mid High Mages defending the fortified building.
The Mana Shield of a Mid High Mage couldn't resist the power of a Peak High Mage's Spell.
The five Mid High Mages looked at the Spell.
Jerald had already received devastating losses, and it would only get worse from here.
…
Or would it?
BOOOOOOOOM!
The four extremely powerful Spells arrived, but before they could hit four of the five Mid High Mages, a gigantic shield appeared around them.
Darkness' Veil was probably the best Hiding Spell in the Skythunder Kingdom, but that didn't mean that there weren't others.
The eyes of the 20 High Mages opened in shock when the gigantic shield appeared.
This shield was obviously created by a powerful Magic Circle…
But they hadn't seen such a Magic Circle!
Susan also hadn't warned them about it!
Where did that Magic Circle come from?!
CRACK!
Yet, the four Spells were simply too powerful, and after blocking them for an instant, the four Spells broke through.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
But the five Mid High Mages immediately shot their own Spells at them.
This short moment had given them enough time to condense an offensive Spell each.
Even more, the barrier had weakened the attacking Spells substantially.
Back then, George had been killed by someone essentially drowning him in wealth.
And today, four extremely powerful Spells were stopped by throwing wealth at them!
Mana Crystals with a collective value of 1.5 billion gold had been sacrificed at this very moment.
This was 75% of all the accumulated wealth Jerald owned.
All for this single barrier.
The four attacking Spells were destroyed, and the Five Mid High Mages were ready to fight back.
Of course, five Mid High Mages couldn't win against 20 on their own.
But they weren't alone.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Like a barrage of rockets, the 20 most powerful warriors exploded into the group of Mid High Mages!
The other 45 warriors shot at the 55 Early High Mages.
In the sky, violent storm clouds were gathering.
This was a sign that Jerald was also unleashing his power.
At the side, the remaining four Initial High Mages, five Early High Mages, and three Mid High Mages were readying their Spells to shoot at the army of Early High Mages.
In the back, Sylvia was preparing her Spells against her opponent.
In the sky, Jerald was preparing his Spells against the Council after having dealt with the initial attack.
The battles were set.
15 people on Jerald's side had already been killed.
However, in total, 16 people died.
And, in fact, the 15 Initial High Mages died after the sixteenth person.
Just before the Spells hit the 15 Initial High Mages, a bright explosion of light appeared in the middle of Jerald's camp.
An instant later, a humongous explosion of lightning and wind exploded 500 meters away.
Since Darkness' Veil couldn't hide Mana fluctuations, the ambushing Mages couldn't activate Mana Shield.
Their plan was to launch their attacks, activate Mana Shield, and begin the battle.
That should be easy.
However, the attack of one Council member was just too fast.
Lightning and Wind.
The fastest combination of Elements.
And when Shang used Reflection with his Colossal Sword on that attack…
Well…
The other two Council members looked with horror as their fellow Council member was turned into dust by his own Spell.
The first casualty in the war had been one of the Council members, something no one would have expected.
And then, their attacks arrived at Shang's location.
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After the bolt of lightning was reflected by Shang, he immediately focused on the other two attacks.
Just as the enemy had predicted, Shang couldn't easily deal with these two Spells after dealing with the first one.
WHOOOM!
At that moment, Shang's surroundings began to turn into dust as he activated his Domain of Entropy.
At the same time, he put his Colossal Sword in front of him.
BANG!
Shang was blown into the distance by the flexible column of earth while the beam of fire had turned into pure Mana.
At the same time, all of Shang's skin and a lot of his muscles had been sacrificed to the Domain of Entropy, filling his armor with blood.
Shang immediately healed his body by using up nearly half of his life energy.
The Mages had only been distracted for an instant by the death of their companion, and they had already focused on Shang again.
While Shang was still flying away, healing water came out of his armor, refilling his life energy.
This was exactly why Shang had decided to destroy the second Spell with his Domain of Entropy instead of using his armor.
As long as his armor remained in one piece, he wouldn't run out of life energy anytime soon.
Shang landed around a kilometer away. The force of the pillar had truly been extraordinary.
But just an instant later, a wave of hard fire swept towards him, and Shang could also feel the air above him fill with Earth and Water Mana.
'They both use Spells associated with physical force. I can deal with energy-based Spells with Refraction and Reflection, but dealing with these kinds of Spells makes it very difficult to get close with my Colossal Sword.'
Shang's right eye shone.
BANG!
Then, he exploded to the side.
Due to the distance, Shang was fast enough to avoid the wave of hard fire, but the second Spells had already been prepared.
Shang could see something like clouds made of muddy earth being created above him, and a moment later, several terrifying spikes shot at him from the sky.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Shang continued running as he parried the spikes one by one. Without his augmenting Spells, he wouldn't have been able to do that.
But then, the next Spell had already arrived.
Several pillars of fire came out of the ground in front of Shang.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Shang unleashed one Fire Blast after the other as he burst through the pillars of flame.
They had been terrifyingly hot, but Shang managed to keep his temperature on a safe level thanks to his Fire Blasts.
Luckily, there had been no Earth Mana inside these fire pillars.
Shang managed to get further and further away from the Mages.
The two Council members looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. They were supposed to kill their target first, and Shang's constant running away made that difficult.
They exchanged several plans with their Spirit Senses in an instant.
SHING! SHING!
They both vanished with Mana Step and arrived around 500 meters away from Shang.
Their Foci had already prepared their next set of Spells.
The Mages cast another two Spells before releasing all four of them at once.
Count Sword wouldn't be able to block all of that!
Shang could see several pillars of fire and earth shoot at him from several directions, and he also noticed two additional waves of earth and fire come at him from the side.
He could only block with his sword in one direction.
However, he had already expected something like this.
He had already reached his target, and these Spells didn't matter anymore.
WHOOOOOM!
At that moment, a gigantic explosion of light occurred that could be seen from tens of kilometers away.
However, this was only one explosion amongst many. After all, nearly 100 High Mages in total were fighting here. There were gigantic explosions everywhere.
Because of that, the huge explosion of light went unnoticed, except for the two Council members following Shang.
BOOOM!
Their Spells hit the huge dome of light, destroying a big part of it, but their Spells were still stopped in the end.
Deep inside the dome of light, Shang's body atrophied to a terrifying degree, but healing water arrived just an instant later.
At the same time, the light around Shang entered his Colossal Sword, which quickly started to burn with black fire.
The two Council members were still over 500 meters away, and Shang couldn't get there quickly enough.
But that didn't matter.
After using Brilliance, Shang ran forward and swung down.
Yes, Shang couldn't reach the Council members.
However, one had to remember that this wasn't a duel.
This was a war!
CRACK!
Under Dusk's impossibly powerful force, the Mana Shield of a Mid High Mage broke into pieces, and the Mage themselves was turned into dust.
Yes, this had been Shang's goal.
If he couldn't get close to the two Council members easily, he would simply go for someone else.
The Mid High Mage that had just died had been fighting a warrior while one of the five Mid High Mages that defended the fortified building were helping him.
Due to the cacophony of destruction happening around everyone, the Mid High Mage hadn't noticed that the brilliant explosion beside him had been targeted at him. Additionally, Brilliance also distorted Spirit Senses, making it difficult to notice Shang's approach.
The warrior that had been fighting the Mage looked with shock at Count Sword.
Shang could see gratitude in his eyes.
BANG!
However, Shang had to blast away again as the two Council members resumed attacking him.
Luckily, the two Council members completely ignored the warrior. Shang was of much higher importance to them.
The warrior narrowed his eyes and charged at another Mid High Mage, who was currently pushing back another warrior.
At the same time, Shang was charging at the Council members again, his sword now in its Great Sword State.
As Shang charged at them, his body seemed to grow hotter and hotter.
Shang's entire body received severe burns, and it became more and more difficult for him to move.
The two Council members noticed that something was going on.
Count Sword's aura had grown unstable.
Nevertheless, they had already prepared their next set of Spells.
And then, Shang stopped.
The air around him warped as hot and cold fought each other.
Then, a pause.
For just a moment, everything seemed to stabilize around Shang.
WHOOOOOOOM!
A domain of extreme cold suddenly shot out of Shang's body, completely encompassing the surrounding two kilometers, including the Council members.
The domain had arrived in an instant, and they hadn't been able to react.
Their entire world turned into an icy hell, and they could feel their Mana slowly being drained as the icy coldness tried to get past their Mana Shields.
Shang had activated his icy domain.
New Moon!
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In the beginning, the Ice Mana in New Moon only consumed a bit of the Council members' Mana, but just a bit later, it started to rapidly consume their Mana.
All of the Ice Mana inside New Moon was rapidly moving at them.
It was almost like Shang wanted to drown them in it.
Usually, Shang used New Moon against beasts to make it easier to blast around and to use Frostbite and Piercing Cold, but these two attacks didn't help against Mages.
The power of these attacks was low, and they were aimed at breaking through armor, not Mana Shields.
Because of that, Shang was simply shoving as much Ice Mana as he could at them, consuming their Mana.
The two Mages were surprised that Shang could summon such a powerful domain of ice.
They hadn't heard about that ability before!
However, they were not inexperienced, and they knew how to deal with such domains.
SHING! SHING!
They both used Mana Step and retreated from the domain.
They had noticed that Shang's body had grown unstable before summoning this domain, which meant that it had cost him a lot.
The best option was to retreat until it vanished.
But when Shang saw them retreat, his right eye shone.
All the Ice Mana in New Moon stopped moving towards them, and Shang charged in a different direction.
A second later, Shang arrived at a different battlefield.
The constant explosions happening in his domain consumed his Ice Mana like crazy.
Shang quickly gathered all the Ice Mana inside New Moon and threw it at 30 of the Early High Mages fighting the warriors.
Domains were summoned all the time in such a war, and it was normal to be inside someone else's domain, even if they were not fighting the owner of that domain.
Because of that, the Mages ignored the domains they were in unless it was the domain of someone they were fighting currently.
The 30 Early High Mages realized that their Mana was rapidly being consumed, and their eyes widened in shock.
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
All 30 High Mages used Mana Step and retreated from the domain.
In just this short second, Shang had already used up all of New Moon's Ice Mana.
He had thrown all of it at the Early High Mages.
He hadn't killed even one of them, but he was sure that he had consumed at least 10% of each Early High Mage's Mana and also forced them to abandon their current Spells in order to cast Mana Step.
The warriors didn't wait and immediately shot after the retreating High Mages.
They had the initiative now, and their opponents had been weakened slightly.
The Council members noticed that Shang had given another substantial helping hand to his allies and gnashed their teeth.
They were supposed to kill him, but he somehow managed to help his allies!
The two of them communicated via Spirit Sense and decided on a change of plans.
Their target was constantly running away from them and helping his army?
Fine!
Then, they would just do the same!
Their eyes focused on the battlefield with all the Mid High Mages and prepared their Spells.
Shang noticed that, and his right eye narrowed.
He pulled his Great Sword back, and it caught on fire.
Then, Shang shot a wave of black fire at them.
The two of them quickly noticed and used Mana Step.
They could feel the pure destructive power inside that attack, and getting hit by that would be bad.
The black wave of fire missed, and the two of them looked at the distant Shang.
He was currently three kilometers away from them, which wasn't an easy distance to bridge.
If they decided to attack him, they would need to use two consecutive Mana Steps to get close enough so that he couldn't avoid their attacks, and they knew that he would only retreat again.
In the end, they decided to focus on another battlefield.
BANG!
Suddenly, a spear of fire landed on one of their two Mana Shields, and they focused on Shang again.
How had he launched such a fast attack from so far away?!
Then, they noticed that several more Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns were already shooting at them.
Even though there was a great distance between them, the bodies of the two Mages were too weak to avoid Shang's ranged attack.
They would either need to block them with Spells, use Mana Step, or block them with their Mana Shields.
Meanwhile, Shang was fast enough to avoid their Spells from such a distance.
Even worse, he could even unleash his attacks while running!
The two Mages quickly conjured two forcefields in front of them and moved them around, destroying Shang's ranged attacks.
They specialized in fighting Mages, and Shang's ranged attacks were not difficult for them to block.
Three seconds of attacking and blocking passed.
They were sure that Shang had to run out of Mana at some point, even with the augmenting Spells. He was just unleashing too many attacks.
Another three seconds passed.
The Mages started to furrow their brows.
Their opponent didn't seem to grow tired.
They were sure that Shang had already unleashed over 200 ranged attacks, and the fact that he wasn't tired yet was shocking them.
One of the Mages noticed a glint of fire at the corner of his eyes and followed it with his Spirit Sense.
Then, his eyes widened in horror.
This was one of Shang's hidden attacks, and it wasn't shooting at them!
BANG!
The Shooting Star hit one of the Mana Shields of the Early High Mages.
How long?!
How long had their opponent been doing that?!
They had been so focused on dealing with Shang's ranged attacks that they hadn't paid attention to their surroundings. After all, even though they could block all of the attacks, they still had to concentrate on them.
Had Shang attacked other Mages all this time as well?!
Shang noticed the change in his opponents' eyes and snorted.
'They noticed, huh?'
Yes, Shang had been shooting at other Mages as well during the last four seconds.
Shang had landed around 25 hits on different Early High Mages during these four seconds.
Five of these shots had led to the immediate death of an Early High Mage, while the others had turned the tides of the individual battles.
When the two Council members noticed, their rage exploded.
They had been played for fools!
They immediately decided that they had to deal with Shang immediately!
First, they would-
WHOOOM!
Their eyes shot open as an impossibly fast black bolt of fire shot at one of them out of nowhere!
This attack was much faster than Shang's previous ranged attacks!
At the same time, they also felt the incredible power in this attack and knew that they couldn't allow themselves to get hit by it!
SHING! SHING!
They both used Mana Step to avoid the attack.
Shang smirked.
Star Shatter suddenly started to change direction mid-flight!
One shouldn't forget that Sword could control its trajectory to some degree.
BANG!
An ear-shattering collision reverberated throughout the surroundings as Star Shatter hit a Mana Shield.
But the Mana Shield was still in one piece.
However, the owner of the Mana Shield's face turned white in shock.
That had just consumed 30% of his Mana!
An instant later, a needle of ice shot at him.
He gritted his teeth, canceled his Spell, and used Mana Step to evade to the side.
His opponent glanced at Shang and smiled.
"Thanks," Sylvia transmitted.
She had been on the defensive this entire time due to her opponent's powers, but Star Shatter had more than equalized the playing field.
In fact, she had the advantage now!
The two Council members noticed what happened, and their shock and anger grew.
First, Shang had killed a Mid High Mage.
Then, he had interfered with the Early High Mages' battles several times.
And now, he had interfered in Sylvia's battle!
He had impacted every battlefield except for Jerald's!
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This was bad!
Shang had interfered with so many different battlefields!
If they didn't put a stop to it, they would lose the entire war!
The two Council members communicated with each other and decided to go all out.
They had been fighting with a neutral expenditure up to this point, only using as much Mana as they were regenerating, which was also why they were both at 100% of their Mana capacity.
They had thought that they could deal with Shang while still having enough Mana to help the others directly after that, but that wasn't the case.
If they wanted to deal with Shang, they would need to burn through their Mana!
They would no longer hold back!
SHING!
But before they could form a plan, Shang suddenly appeared between the two of them after leaving behind a black streak.
Shock!
Sword entered Shang's hand after flying back.
Shang had made full use of all of his abilities to impact the other battlefields, and now, he was in his Long Sword State.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
Shang unleashed Anger and hit the Mana Shield of one of them five times before he could even react!
At the same time, Shang's body atrophied considerably, but his armor was healing him.
SHING! SHING!
BOOOOOOM!
A humongous explosion appeared at the place where Shang had just been.
The two Mages had released both their Spells on that spot, and if Shang hadn't retreated with two Shocks, he would have died just now.
At the same time, an Early High Mage opened her eyes in shock.
Where did that warrior come from?!
How had he gotten so close to her?!
Shang's expression didn't change.
He hadn't retreated in a random direction.
BANGBANGBANGCRACK!
After arriving beside the Early High Mage, Shang used Anger, destroying her Mana Shield in an instant.
SHING! SHING!
Shang used another two Shocks.
The eyes of one of the Council members opened in shock as Shang arrived in front of them again.
They had just released their Spells, but Shang had retreated, killed an Early Mage, and returned in less than a second!
This was ridiculous!
If Shang were fighting alone, all of the Mana in his mind would have already been used up since he had used Shock five times already.
However, Shang had contacted the three Mages in the fortified building just as he entered his Long Sword State and had told them about his plan.
For the next five seconds, they would pour as much Mana and life energy into the Magic Circles as they could, keeping Shang at his peak.
However, they would run out of Mana after the five seconds were up.
Shang's expenditure of life energy and Mana was crazy!
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
Shang hit the Mana Shield of one of the Council members again with Anger.
The Council member realized with horror that 20% of his Mana had already vanished, and he used Mana Step to retreat.
At the same time, the other Council member released a terrifying wave of fire at Shang, who was only a couple of meters in front of him.
SHING SHING!
BANGBANGBANGCRACK!
SHING SHING!
The Council member gritted his teeth in hatred.
Shang had just retreated, killed another Early High Mage, and came back again!
But just as Shang arrived in front of the Council member again, the Council member's Focus exploded with a violent wave of fire and earth.
However, Shang had already expected that.
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
This time, Shang used Shock four times in a row.
Then, Shang looked at the person in front of him.
The person noticed Shang and narrowed their eyes.
Their hand pointed at Shang in an instant.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Abyss Cometh!
Yes, Shang had just arrived in front of Susan.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Of course, Shang was already retreating again.
He had never intended to attack Susan.
He knew that he wouldn't be able to fight her on his own.
BANG!
An instant later, a terrifying, spiraling bolt of green lightning hit one of the Council members near Susan and threw him into the distance.
Susan narrowed her eyes.
She had wasted one of her offensive Spells on Shang just now, giving Jerald an opening.
Susan quickly focused on Jerald again and continued casting Spells.
Even though Shang hadn't done anything really, his actions resulted in one of the Council members losing around 40% of their total Mana.
SHING!
Shang arrived in front of one of his opponents again.
BOOOOOM!
The area around Shang exploded again before he could attack.
SHING! SHING!
He arrived in front of his other opponent.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
The other member had been two kilometers away, and he hadn't had a Spell prepared to deal with Shang when he was so close to him, leaving him open to Anger.
The Mage quickly created another Spell and unleashed it.
BOOOOM!
SHING SHING!
Shang retreated with another two Shocks.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
Sylvia's opponent's face whitened as he suddenly felt 20% of his total Mana vanish.
At the same time, the two Council members fighting Shang gritted their teeth so violently that blood flowed out of their mouths.
He was playing with them!
Earlier, they had chased him, and he had interfered with other battlefields!
Then, they had decided to also interfere, but Shang completely stopped them!
Lastly, they decided to go all out, but Shang was so insanely fast that they couldn't catch him!
The two of them had to prepare powerful close-range Spells to kill Shang as soon as he came close to them, but whenever they unleashed them, he would just run to a different battlefield, interfere, and return again!
They couldn't kill Shang because he was retreating all the time!
They couldn't interfere with other battlefields because, if they did, Shang would hit them with his horrifying barrage of attacks!
There was nothing they could do!
He was simply too fast!
This was so frustrating!
They had to put a stop to this!
No matter the cost!
Fire suddenly appeared around the Fire Mage's body, burning everything in the surrounding 100 meters to ash.
Fire also appeared in his eyes, and he looked at Shang.
SHING!
Shang arrived in front of the other Council member.
SHING!
Then, the other Council member arrived in front of Shang at the same time.
The Council member's hand shot forward, right at Shang.
SHING!
Shang retreated.
SHING!
The other Council member used Mana Step again and arrived in front of Shang again.
SHING!
SHING!
SHING!
Shang kept retreating while the Council member kept chasing.
If Shang stopped, he would be hit by a terrifying Spell.
Shang could no longer interfere with any other battlefield.
"I'm nearly out of Mana!"
At that moment, Shang heard the message from the Mage responsible for refilling the Mana in his mind.
Shang had used way too many Shocks.
Even a High Mage's Mana reserves would run out at this point.
"What about you?" Shang asked the Mage responsible for refilling his life energy.
"I still have about 50% left."
"Okay, be ready to use all of that now."
"Understood," the Mage answered.
SHING!
Shang used one last Shock.
SHING!
The burning Mage appeared in front of Shang again.
Shang's stance lowered as his arms strained.
The burning domain around him turned to pure Mana as the earth around him turned to dust.
Sword began to burn with black fire.
506 Chapter 506
The intense fire around Shang vanished just as Shang's skin began to vanish.
The Mage extended his hands forward.
His Focus and his body were shining with incredible amounts of Fire Mana.
Shang narrowed his right eye.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A humongous explosion appeared.
The Magic Circles of Shang's armor appeared and blocked the attack.
At this moment, Shang had decided to use his armor to block the attack while his Domain of Entropy took care of the fire domain.
And then, Shang's sword shot forward.
Silence!
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!
Five rapid strikes occurred, and Shang's body was beginning to vanish.
However, a wave of healing water came out of his armor, healing his body in an instant.
The Mage supplying Shang with life energy was pouring everything he had into it.
Then, the Mage moved his burning hand forward again.
Shang gritted his teeth.
WHOOOOM!
His Domain of Entropy canceled the huge explosion, but half his body vanished again, the healing water healing it in an instant.
BANGBANGBANG!
CRACK!
All the fire vanished.
The Mage's face turned white.
His Mana Shield just broke!
Shang's left hand moved forward, grabbing the Mage's throat.
SHING!
BOOOOOOM!
Shang vanished with the Mage in his hands as a terrifying spire of stone shot out of the ground where Shang had just been.
The Mage in Shang's arms atrophied until he was a dry husk of a corpse.
The Council member was dead!
His fire domain, Explosion Spells, and his constant use of Mana Step had severely depleted his Mana reserves.
It had only taken nine hits with Silence to consume his remaining Mana.
The other Council member realized with horror that his colleague had died.
However, he also noticed that Shang's weapon had gotten even smaller than before.
By now, it was only as long as a short sword.
Additionally, Shang had used so much Mana in the past seconds that it bordered on ridiculousness.
He knew that Shang was nearing his end.
"Status?" Shang asked the Mages in the building.
"I'm out," the Mage responsible for refilling the Mana in Shang's mind answered.
"20% left," the Mage responsible for healing Shang answered.
The third Mage was only responsible for keeping the Magic Circles active and directing all the Mana.
"Be ready to use the last 20%," Shang said.
BOOOOOM!
SHING!
Another huge explosion of earth appeared below Shang just after he retreated with Shock again.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Shang used three Shocks in succession.
This time, the Mana in his mind didn't get refilled.
After using the third Shock, Shang arrived beside another Mage.
The area around Shang seemingly turned into nothingness as he activated his Domain of Entropy again.
"Eternalfrost!" Shang transmitted to Sylvia.
Yes, Shang had arrived in front of Sylvia's opponent again.
The Mage hadn't been prepared for Shang to get involved yet again.
He had to put 100% of his concentration into fighting Sylvia, or he would lose.
When he noticed Shang arrive beside him, he gritted his teeth and canceled his Spell.
He used Mana Step-
…
It didn't work!
His Mana Step didn't work!
Shang's body atrophied again.
Mana Step!
Mana Step!
Mana Step!
The Mage used ten Mana Steps in a row, but none of them worked!
Shang's skin and most of his muscles had vanished.
Even though he was being bathed in healing water, his body was vanishing too quickly!
BANG!
A needle of ice broke past the Mage's Mana Shield, turning his body into multiple pieces.
"I'm out!" the Mage responsible for the healing water told Shang.
At that moment, the healing water stopped while Shang's body had only recovered to half of its peak condition.
Shang gritted his teeth.
SHING!
BOOOOM!
Shang used one last Shock to disappear from the place where he had just been, and just an instant later, that place exploded with earthen spires again.
Shang grimaced.
His body was still atrophied to a considerable degree, and he had overdrafted the Mana in his mind with that last Shock.
Sword had turned into a short sword.
The defenses of his armor had already been used up.
Then, Shang saw another earthen spire shoot at him.
SHING! BANG!
Someone appeared between Shang and the spire, throwing the spire to the side.
"This one is more to my liking," Sylvia told Shang with a smirk.
The Council member with the Earth Element gritted his teeth as Sylvia appeared between him and his target.
An instant later, humongous icicles and gigantic boulders appeared above Sylvia, which quickly shot at the Council member.
Another battle broke out, and Shang only breathed heavily.
He was spent.
Shang inspected his surroundings and noticed that everyone was still busy fighting.
Sylvia was fighting one of the three Council members that had attacked Shang.
The battle against the Early High Mages would soon be over. Shang's involvement had resulted in the Council losing double the number of soldiers as Jerald.
However, the battle against the Mid High Mages was still very brutal and close.
Right now, nobody was focusing on Shang.
When he saw that, Shang summoned a big piece of ore and stabbed Sword into it.
Shang closed his right eye and focused on the Mana in the air.
A couple of seconds passed.
Then, some healing water and Mana came out of Shang's armor again.
"I'm at 40%," the Mage responsible for the Mana said.
"I'm at 30%," the Mage responsible for the healing water said.
At that moment, Shang was happy that High Mages could recover their Mana at such a rapid rate.
Shang returned to his peak condition again.
CRK!
He pulled his Colossal Sword out of the ground beside him and held it up.
Then, his right eye narrowed as he looked in a certain direction.
BANG! BANG!
Shang used several Blasts in a row to accelerate.
A moment later, the light around him distorted, making it appear like there were several Shangs charging forward.
Some light gathered on the tip of Shang's Colossal Sword.
The next moment, someone turned to Shang, and their eyes narrowed.
Shang also looked forward, and their eyes met.
Susan and Shang looked at each other.
Susan prepared a Spell.
And black fire appeared on Shang's Colossal Sword.
507 Chapter 507Shang knew that he couldn't possibly beat Susan, but that also wasn't his goal.
Susan was the biggest issue for Jerald, and as long as Shang managed to distract Susan for a while, Jerald would be the one fighting her.
Even though Shang was using Distortion to approach her, he could feel that Susan knew exactly where he was, which didn't surprise him.
Susan was a Peak High Mage, and she even had a Darkness Affinity. Darkness Affinities dealt with a lot of subterfuge and illusions, making them similar to Light Affinities.
For a moment, the two of them only looked at each other.
Then, Susan's shoulder moved just a tiny bit.
When fighting another person physically, looking at the shoulders was the best way to see when an attack was coming.
As soon as Shang saw the slight movement, he immediately summoned all his Mana and life energy.
Shang knew that he wasn't fast enough to react to Spells after they were already cast, which meant that Shang had to guess what kind of Spell Susan was going to use and act appropriately.
It was a guessing game for Shang.
BANG!
Just as Shang put his sword in front of him, a black streak hit it.
The black streak was thin and barely visible, but the power inside it was horrifying.
As the black streak hit Sword, Shang's entire body atrophied to a terrifying degree as he summoned more and more Light Mana.
The spot where the streak and Sword touched started to shine brightly.
Half of Shang's body mass vanished.
He barely looked like a skeleton with some skin.
Shang gritted his teeth.
Then, he grunted and pushed his sword to the side.
CLING!
The streak bounced off Sword and shot to the side, missing Shang.
Shang had to take a deep breath after that.
Originally, he wanted to use Reflection, but he just couldn't muster enough Mana and life energy to make it work.
His body was simply not powerful enough to reflect Susan's casual Spell.
Because of that, Shang changed Reflection to Refraction at the last second.
Directly after using Refraction, Sword began to burn with black fire, and Shang swung forward.
A wave of black fire shot at Susan.
While still swinging upwards, Shang stopped his swing and held his Great Sword in front of him.
TCHIIIIIIII!
The black wave of fire was blown apart, and a wave of destructive black energy hit Sword.
Like a stone in front of a blowtorch, Sword cut apart the black energy, resulting in most of it missing Shang.
Most of it.
Since the Great Sword State wasn't as wide as the Colossal Sword State, the sides of the blast still hit Shang's shoulders and parts of his torso and legs.
These parts immediately vanished, and Shang felt a terrifyingly powerful force of Darkness Mana entering his body, consuming his life energy.
Then, Shang's right eye shone.
All the Darkness Mana inside of him suddenly transformed into Light Mana, healing his body.
In just an instant, Shang was nearing his peak again, and the healing water he was receiving finished it.
This was Abyss Cometh, one of Susan's strongest Spells.
Luckily, it didn't only destroy the target's body but also tried to poison them with Darkness. Without that second component, Shang wouldn't have been able to heal his body this quickly.
This had been the first time in Shang's life that he had been poisoned by pure Darkness Mana. He had theorized that he would be able to transform this kind of Darkness Mana into Light Mana, but he had actually never tried it.
Sadly, this only worked on pure darkness.
Poison Affinities would still poison him successfully.
Just when the wave of darkness passed Shang, his sword caught on fire again and swung upward, releasing another wave of black fire.
When Shang's Saber reached its peak, he immediately pulled it back and threw it forward.
Star Shatter!
He knew that he couldn't block the next attack, and this was the best alternative.
As soon as he threw his Saber, he immediately released three Blasts from his feet to jump upward.
BANG!
A thin, black streak destroyed the wave of fire.
Then, it flew past Star Shatter.
CRACK!
It hit Shang's chest, his armor exploding into pieces.
BANG!
And everything below the middle of Shang's chest exploded and shot into the distance.
The healing water and Mana stopped coming from his armor since it had been obliterated.
Shang could only grit his teeth and use his life energy and Mana to recover, his entire body regrowing in an instant.
BANG!
The sound of a loud collision reverberated throughout the battlefield.
Star Shatter had hit Susan's Mana Shield!
When Susan felt 15% of her Mana vanish, she frowned and looked at the Long Sword touching her Mana Shield.
Then, her fingers moved with imperceptible speeds, and she pointed at Sword with two fingers.
When Shang saw that, his face whitened.
BANG!
A concentrated needle of Darkness and Metal Mana shot out of Susan's fingers and hit the side of Sword's blade.
CRACK!
Shang's expression turned to horror.
Sword broke into pieces!
Time seemed to stop as Shang saw Sword being thrown into the distance, only its hilt and a bit of its blade left.
However, Shang knew that Sword wasn't dead yet.
If this had happened in the past, Sword would have died without a doubt.
Luckily, while creating Silence, Shang and Sword had made it possible for Sword to survive as long as it still had enough of its blade left to rival a dagger.
Shang knew that Sword was still alive, but it was probably in immense pain, and it also wouldn't be able to help in the fight anymore.
SHING!
Shang used Shock to grab Sword out of the air.
"Are you ok?"
"Can't… help. Nearly… dead," Sword answered with difficulty.
Shang couldn't answer since he had to use Shock again.
SHING!
The terrifying black streak shot past the spot where Shang had just been.
SHING!
Shang immediately used Shock again, and a small needle of Darkness and Metal Mana shot past him.
Susan's speed and offensive powers were absolutely terrifying!
Shang had only managed to hit her once with Star Shatter.
All the other times, Shang had been busy with barely surviving.
As Shang fought against Susan, his opinion of Jerald's power reached new heights.
'Jerald managed to fight Susan and four other Late High Mages at once for nearly 20 seconds.'
'Meanwhile, I'm barely staying alive after only one second.'
508 Chapter 508
SHING!
Shang had to use Shock once more to avoid another one of Susan's Spells.
SHING!
And then, Shang used his fifth and last Shock to retreat even more.
Shang was completely out of Mana, and his head hurt like hell.
Then, he saw Susan prepare another Spell in the distance.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Shang used three Blasts to shoot to the side.
BANG!
His left shoulder was blasted off by another black streak.
Luckily, Shang had been far enough away to avoid being hit in the head.
SHING!
But then, Susan used Mana Step to get closer to Shang.
There was no way for Shang to avoid the next Spell, but he tried anyway.
Ding.
Shang heard something quiet hitting something else.
However, that tiny sound had managed to slightly disturb Susan's concentration, her black streak only obliterating the lower left side of Shang's head.
Luckily, his brain was uninjured.
Susan's brows furrowed, and she looked to her right.
A spear had just hit her Mana Shield.
It hadn't even consumed 1% of her Mana, and the attack had been pathetically weak, but it had resulted in her missing her killing blow.
Shang also noticed the spear.
It was George's spear!
It was impossible to communicate with the spear as long as one wasn't a similar weapon or its owner, but Susan and Shang could somehow still feel the spear's feelings.
"I hate you!"
This was what they felt coming from it.
Susan only snorted.
Then, her hand pointed at the spear.
BOOOOOOM!
George's spear turned into dust as Abyss Cometh consumed it.
George's spear had followed him to the grave.
Then, Susan focused on Shang again.
Suddenly, Shang's body was gripped by several brown tentacle-like things.
Susan shot another Spell at him.
BANG!
Everything below Shang's chest was obliterated again, thanks to the tentacles. Without them, Shang's head would have been destroyed.
Shang's pitiful and heavily injured body was thrown away from Susan, and he used his last bit of Mana and life energy to heal his organs. Without his organs, he wouldn't be able to condense more life energy, which would mean that he would die from his injuries.
Susan frowned and looked at the person that now stood between her and Shang.
It was Sylvia.
"It's my turn now to help you," Sylvia transmitted to Shang with a smirk.
Susan's Spirit Sense encompassed the battlefield at this moment.
She didn't like what she saw.
All the Early High Mags had died, and her Mid High Mages were severely outnumbered.
Jerald had already killed two of the Council members that had been fighting him in the short time Susan had been occupied with Shang.
"The war is lost," Susan transmitted to Sylvia and Shang.
"I will die soon."
Then, her Spirit Sense focused on Shang, and he could feel a terrifying murderous intent come from Susan.
"But not before I kill you," she stated with a cold voice.
BANG!
An icy needle exploded on Susan's Mana Shield.
"Don't talk during a battle, Susan," Sylvia said with a grin.
Susan's expression didn't change.
CRRRRR!
Then, a terrifying amount of burning Darkness Mana began to surround her.
SHING!
And she arrived directly in front of Shang!
SHING! BOOOOOM!
Sylvia arrived between Shang and Susan, Abyss Cometh hitting Sylvia's Mana Shield.
CRACK!
Sylvia's Mana Shield broke apart, and Abyss Cometh shot at her.
At that moment, Shang grabbed Sylvia and pushed himself in front of her.
CRRRRRR!
The outside of Shang's body vanished, but he knew that he could take the Spell. After all, it had just wasted enough power to break through a Late High Mage's full Mana Shield.
Sylvia and Shang were blasted into the distance.
Both of them were still alive.
Frustration appeared on Susan's face.
SHING!
She arrived in front of them again and pointed her hand at them.
CRACK! CRACK! BANG!
Yet, three of Sylvia's Mid High Mages appeared in front of them, overlapping their Mana Shields.
Abyss Cometh broke through two Mana Shields, but the third one managed to block it.
Now, there were five weak people in front of Susan.
"RAAAAH!"
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
Suddenly, three warriors appeared around Susan, attacking her Mana Shield with their weapons.
DING! DING! DING!
Additionally, even more weapons were thrown at her from a distance.
All the warriors that Susan considered worthless ants were now attacking her.
They didn't deal much damage, but their intent was clear.
They were going to kill her, even if it killed them!
Susan gritted her teeth in rage, but her eyes never left Shang.
Count Sword was the reason for all of this!
Susan ignored all the attacks and created her next Spell.
She would die, but she would take Count Sword with her!
Then, Susan pointed her hand at the five weak people in front of her.
CRRRRRRRRR!
The ground shook as a humongous drill made of wind and lightning hit the side of Susan's Mana Shield.
The sheer power of this attack was unreal!
Susan released Abyss Cometh, but the impossibly powerful drill threw her to the side, making her attack miss.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Swathes of lightning battered the ground around the five weak people, and a figure clad in lightning and wind landed between them and Susan.
Jerald's eyes reflected the image of an apocalyptic storm as he glared at Susan.
Susan looked at Jerald after landing in the distance.
Then, she looked with hate at Shang.
She spat to the side, a rare showing of emotion from her.
"Lucky shit," she said.
After that, a terrifying amount of Darkness Mana gathered around her.
Jerald only watched.
BOOOOOOOM!
And Susan exploded.
She had killed herself.
Except for a couple of distant explosions, everything returned to silence.
For three seconds, nobody moved or said a thing.
Then, a Mage arrived beside Shang and cast a Spell.
Shang's body was bathed in healing water by the Mage that usually sent the healing water to him via the Magic Circles.
Shang's body rapidly healed.
At that moment, Jerald turned around and focused on the last Mages of Susan's army.
CRK! CRK!
Bolts of lightning crackled in the sky as the wind pushed them forward.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The last five Mid High Mages of Susan's army were killed in an instant by the bolts of lightning.
The mood was still tense, and the atmosphere was still oppressive.
However, that would soon change.
"Everyone, we won!" Jerald announced with his Spirit Sense.
"The Council and its supporters are dead!"
And then, the warriors cheered loudly.
Chapter 509 509 – Gratitude
As all the warriors cheered around him, Shang only released a deep sigh.
He had come too close to death too many times in the last couple of seconds.
Shang only looked at the dark sky above him.
'The two Mages that killed George and Mattheo are dead.'
'Duke Torrent and Duke Mithril are dead.'
'The Council is dead.'
'Susan is dead.'
'Everyone that was involved in George's and Mattheo's murders is dead.'
Then, Shang looked to the place where George's spear had died.
'I guess it didn't have much reason left to live. It only lived for revenge, and when it saw that the revenge would soon be completed, it went in to attack Susan on its own.'
Shang sighed.
"Count Sword, you saved my life! I can't thank you enough!"
Shang looked to the side as one warrior ran up to him, some tears in his eyes.
Shang didn't know who this was.
"Count Sword, I don't know how to repay you! You saved my life!"
Shang looked over and saw another warrior approach him.
Shang also didn't recognize that one.
"Count Sword, you saved my life!"
"Mine as well!"
"Count Sword!"
"Thank you so much, Count Sword!"
"You're our hero, Count Sword!"
One warrior after the other arrived near Shang, everyone standing around him.
They were all shouting their thanks at him.
'Right,' Shang thought. 'I guess I saved a couple of lives while getting involved in the other battlefields.'
"You saved my life as well," Sylvia said with a smile.
"I think you saved mine as well, Shang."
Shang looked with surprise at Jerald, who was also walking over.
For the first time in a long while, Jerald's warm smile was back on his face.
"Susan was giving me a lot of trouble. I think, if you didn't distract her, I would have died to her in the end," Jerald said.
Jerald was the most powerful person here.
Jerald was the one that declared the war and led everyone to victory.
Jerald was everyone's leader.
Yet, everyone was crowding around Shang instead of Jerald.
Shang wasn't sure what to do in this situation.
He had never been in such a place before.
"Ehm," Shang slowly said. "No problem, I gue-"
However, Shang couldn't finish his sentence as several warriors grabbed him and lifted him up.
"Three hip-hips to Count Sword!" one of them shouted.
Shang felt quite embarrassed at this point. "Can I maybe put on some pants first?"
Since Shang's armor had been destroyed and since his body had been blasted apart several times, all his clothing was gone too.
Yet, the warriors didn't give him any opportunity to do so and threw him in the air.
"Hip, hip, hooray!" they echoed.
As Shang flew through the air, he felt very awkward and embarrassed.
But as he saw all the smiles on the warriors' faces, he decided to just go along with it.
If it made them this happy to throw him in the air, he should let them.
Clank!
Shang's half-destroyed helmet clattered on his face, making him take it off.
The Spirit Senses of all the warriors and Mages homed in on Shang's face.
This was the first time they saw it.
When they saw his uncomfortable expression, their smiles only widened.
Whenever they had seen Count Sword, he had seemed like an ice-cold machine.
It was like Count Sword was an emotionless construct only made for killing Mages.
Seeing such a relatable human expression on his face made him much more likable in everyone's eyes.
After throwing him in the air three times, the warriors put him down, and Shang finally got an opportunity to put on some clothing.
His clothing simply consisted of some black pants and a black shirt.
And then, the warriors swarmed Shang again with their thanks and well-wishes.
The remaining Mages only looked with smiles at the group of happy warriors.
They had seen the warriors fight with everything they had, and the warriors deserved their newfound freedom in the Mages' opinions.
At that moment, Shang looked through everyone that was alive.
A lot of people died.
Originally, there had been 65 True Path Stage warriors.
Now, there were only 17.
Originally, there had been 30 High Mages.
Now, there were seven, including Sylvia.
There were three Mid High Mages, and three Initial High Mages left, the latter three being the ones that had supplied Shang with Mana and healing water.
There had been nearly 100 people under Jerald at the start of the battle.
Now, there were less than 30.
The battle had been bloody and brutal, and if Shang hadn't interfered in so many battlefields, he, Sylvia, and Jerald might have been the only survivors.
Shang was probably responsible for saving every survivor's life in some way.
No wonder they were this thankful to him.
During the battle, Shang's actions seemed like they had lacked any impact.
He had attacked some Mages here and there, but it felt like he hadn't made a big difference, especially since his two opponents had still been alive at that point.
Only after the battle did the true impact of Shang's actions show itself.
As Shang was bombarded with thanks and questions, he only gave short and uncomfortable answers.
It felt weird that the warriors had such intense feelings of gratitude because of actions that had been easy for Shang.
He had only thrown a couple of attacks.
Yet, who could fault them?
These simple actions from Shang saved their lives.
Jerald only looked at Shang with a smile as he was being swarmed by warriors.
'You're always so isolated and don't want people to get close to you.'
'But this time, you can't avoid it.'
'I hope you find more friends and companions, Shang,' Jerald thought.
"Alright, that's about enough. You can party later."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock as they looked at the sky.
A person was slowly floating down and landed a bit outside the gathered group.
The warriors and Mages immediately became nervous again.
They weren't sure what would happen now.
Jerald only smiled.
Then, he bowed respectfully.
"My King," he said.
The warriors and Mages saw what Jerald was doing and copied his actions, also bowing politely.
"My King," they echoed.
Of course, Shang did the same thing.
King Skythunder looked around the gathered group, a smirk on his face.
Then, he looked at Shang.
"Whatever Spell you used to keep your real identity secret has worn off. You should reactivate it soon," King Skythunder transmitted to Shang.
Shang's eyes widened.
Since he had used up all the Mana in his mind, Humanity had worn off.
"Thank you, my King," Shang transmitted back.
King Skythunder's smirk only widened.
"Shang, Jerald," he said after throwing a glance at both of them. "You two have fought impressively."
"Thank you, my King," both of them said.
King Skythunder nodded. "Walk with me. I want to talk to you."
Shang and Jerald rose and approached King Skythunder.
Then, King Skythunder turned to the rest of the group.
"Do whatever you want, but I don't want any Spirit Senses listening in on the conversation."
Everyone bowed once more.
Then, Shang, Jerald, and King Skythunder walked away.
Chapter 510 510 – Assistant Supervisor
King Skythunder, Shang, and Jerald walked for a couple of kilometers in silence.
When they were outside everyone else's Spirit Sense, they stopped.
King Skythunder turned to Shang. "Reapply your Spell."
"That might take a couple of minutes, my King," Shang said.
"Then, we'll wait a couple of minutes," King Skythunder answered.
Shang nodded and focused on casting Humanity.
"Also, I won't be your King for much longer. My name is Agon Skythunder. You can just call me Agon," Agon said.
"And stop with all this bowing nonsense. I'm sick of it."
Jerald and Shang looked with surprise at Agon Skythunder.
"Okay, Agon," Shang said.
"Thank you, Agon," Jerald said with a smile.
Agon only nodded.
After that, Shang focused on Humanity and began to draw some lines in the air with his finger.
Jerald and Agon could see which lines Shang was drawing, but the full diagram and where the lines would be placed were in Shang's mind, which meant it was invisible to them.
Out of interest, Jerald and Agon looked at the lines Shang was drawing, but they gave up after the eighth line or so.
The lines Shang was drawing seemed to follow no rhyme or reason.
They had no idea where Shang would place these lines.
Shang created thousands of lines, surprising both Jerald and Agon.
Shang could cast a Spell that required this many lines?
The most complex Spell Agon knew didn't even have a quarter of that.
How could a warrior remember such an intricate diagram?
After around five minutes, Shang was finished with the Spell, and it entered his mind once again.
Agon watched Shang with interest as the hostile aura Shang gave off vanished.
No matter how hard Agon tried, it was impossible for him to connect the current Shang to the hostile aura he had just stopped emanating.
Shang opened his eye again and looked at Agon. "I'm done."
"Good," Agon said with a nod.
Then, he summoned a Communication Crystal and looked at it for a couple of seconds.
He put the Communication Crystal away. "He should be here soon."
Shang and Jerald looked at each other with a bit of confusion.
BANG!
Suddenly, a couple of seconds later, a white lightning bolt hit the ground beside Agon.
Shang and Jerald looked in shock as a person stepped out of the small crater.
It was a young man with white hair and simple white robes.
However, the power he was emanating was unreal!
Agon seemed like a tiny firefly beside the raging sun.
The young man looked at Agon, who only gestured to Jerald with his head.
The young man looked at Jerald for a couple of seconds without saying anything.
At that moment, Jerald grew nervous.
"Did you reach the High Mage Realm after comprehending two Concepts?" the young man asked.
Jerald looked surprised. "Yes, how did you know?"
The young man only nodded and summoned a stack of papers.
After that, some lightning bolts hit the pieces of paper in front of him in different places.
"You comprehended a Complex Level Two Concept before comprehending a Pure Level Two Concept?" he asked.
Jerald was a bit confused about the terminology, but he could guess what it meant based on context clues.
"Yes, I call it Storm," Jerald said.
"Show me," the young man said emotionlessly.
Jerald lifted his right hand and summoned a small storm cloud in it.
The young man looked at it and nodded while more lightning hit the pieces of paper in front of him.
"The proper name for this Concept is Summer Drizzle," the young man said.
Jerald looked with surprise at the young man, but he quickly realized that he probably hadn't been the first one to combine these Concepts. It was actually logical for this Concept to already have a name.
After a couple more seconds, the lightning stopped hitting the sheets of paper, and the young man nodded.
"Everything looks fine. You're eligible for the position," the young man said.
"What position?" Jerald asked.
The young man furrowed his brows. Then, he looked at Agon with annoyance, who only grinned.
The young man could only sigh.
"The position of Assistant Supervisor," the young man said. "I'm the Supervisor of Area 23, the place that you know as the five Kingdoms. As an Assistant Supervisor, you will assume the role of one of five Kings."
Shang's and Jerald's eyes opened wide in shock.
King?!
They looked over at Agon, who only shrugged. "As you've said, Jerald. My shift will be over soon."
"Thank the Mage God," the Supervisor grumbled.
Agon didn't comment.
"But, sir," Jerald said. "Aren't Kings supposed to be in the Archmage Realm?"
"Don't call me sir," the Supervisor grumbled with annoyance. "We'll be working together from now on. Call me, Relon."
"Okay, Relon," Jerald said. "I thought Kings were supposed to be in the Archmage Realm."
"Change of policy," Relon answered. "With the recent resurgence of the secondary Paths, we decided to employ Peak High Mages as Assistant Supervisors from now on. That makes it seem like the Mages are not that untouchable to the secondary Paths."
"And the other Kings?" Jerald asked.
"They will leave together with Agon soon. We will stage a big battle, and the public will think that all the Archmages died in one big fight. Due to the imbalance of forces, the current Assistant Supervisor of the central area will also be taking several Peak and Late High Mages with him, saving the other areas from destruction."
Shang and Jerald felt a bit uncomfortable at this moment.
They had known that all of this belonged to the Lightning Manor and that everything was orchestrated to some degree, but seeing it happen right in front of them still felt unreal.
The Magic Purity Kingdom was like the big antagonist for the Skythunder Kingdom. It felt like a powerful and cruel giant.
Yet, a humongous portion of its forces would simply leave the five Kingdoms soon.
Just like that.
"Read through this and sign it," Relon said as the stack of paper floated over to Jerald.
Jerald was still a bit perplexed, but he read through the sheets of paper.
But the more he read, the more his eyes widened.
These sheets of paper explained absolutely everything about Area 23 and why it even existed in the first place!
"Is he your plus one?" Relon asked as he looked at Shang.
Jerald looked up from the piece of paper in surprise.
Then, he remembered that he had just read about the part in the contract that spoke about the option to have one more person work for the Assistant Supervisor.
This also explained how Miriam, the Archduke, was connected to Agon.
She was his plus one.
"Yes, he is," Jerald said.
Shang only looked at Jerald with a raised eyebrow.
Relon nodded and took out a second stack of papers.
This one was much smaller than the first stack, and he quickly filled it out as well with his lightning.
Then, the second stack of papers floated over to Shang, who also read it.
The more Shang read, the more his eye opened as well.
This answered so many questions!