Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

Chapter 141 Fierce Battle

The man stood at the edge of the crack, and dark red light surged up from behind him, making him look like a bright red statue.

The hood was pulled down low, revealing only the chin.

He placed one hand on the stone slab at the edge of the crack, his five fingers spread open, the fingertips embedded in the crack.

His other hand hung at his side, with a dark red light flickering at his fingertips.

Giboduan's gaze also fell on the man in black robes.

The old mage squinted, raised his staff slightly, and aimed the blue light at the tip of the staff in that direction.

"As expected, he's a Paradigm-level sorcerer." The old mage quickly assessed. "I'll handle this one."

"Find a chance to shut down the portal." After saying that, Gibotuan tapped the ground with his staff, and a silvery-white light rose from his feet. He transformed into a streak of light and rushed toward the edge of the crack.

The man in black robes sensed his approach.

The hand that had been hanging down suddenly rose up, its five fingers spread wide, and a dark red beam of energy shot out from its palm.

Giboduan moved sideways like a phantom, the energy beam grazing past the hem of his robe and striking the ruins behind him.

The pile of broken bricks was blasted into countless fragments, and a piece of rock the size of a fist flew past Lance's ear, creating a sharp whistling sound.

"young people."

Giboduan landed on a raised stone slab, looking down at the man in black robes. "A portal of this scale can't be prepared in a day. You've been working under the capital for so long, and I didn't even notice you. Not bad."

The man in black robes slowly raised his head.

The hood slipped down, revealing a face.

He was around forty years old, with messy gray hair hanging over his forehead and unnaturally pale skin that had a bluish tinge.

His features were fairly regular, with a straight nose and thin, pale lips, but his eyes sent chills down your spine.

It was pure black, with no whites in its eyes, like two black holes embedded in its face. All the light that fell into it seemed to be swallowed up, without any reflection.

He glanced at Gibotuan, and a slow smile slowly spread across his face.

"Jibodduan," the black-robed man's voice was hoarse, "I've long admired your name."

Giboduan frowned.

He didn't know this person.

"Do you know me?"

"Who doesn't know Gibotuan?" the man in black robes said. "A seventh-ring archmage, president of the Magic Association of the Kingdom of Eredland, a pillar of the magical world of the Kingdom of Eredland. Your name is written at the entrance of that magic tower, and every mage who enters or leaves can see it."

Giboduan did not respond.

He observed from the shadows. There seemed to be magical energy surging beneath the man's black robe.

"What's your name?" Giboduan asked.

The man in black robes paused for a moment.

"Marduk," he said.

"Marduk," Gibotuan repeated, searching his mind but finding no matching information.

"I don't know you."

"Of course you don't know me." Marduk's smile deepened, but his dark eyes remained devoid of emotion. "Someone like me wouldn't appear at your banquet. Wouldn't be invited to tea at the Blue Tower. Wouldn't be referred to as 'my friend' in your letters."

He paused, then raised the hand that had been resting on the stone slab, palm up, with dark red energy pulsating in it like a heart.

"Someone like me deserves to stay underground, somewhere you can't see me."

Giboduan gripped his staff tightly, and the blue light at the tip of the staff shone even brighter.

"So you opened the Abyss portal?" Gibotuan's voice turned cold. "Is this because I didn't invite you for tea?"

Marduk smiled.

This time, her smile was a little wider than before, revealing two rows of teeth.

"Tea?" he said. "Gibbon, you still don't understand. This has nothing to do with you, nothing to do with anyone else. This is between me and the Abyss."

He stood up abruptly, his black robe billowing behind him like a black flag.

Dark red energy surged from his body.

"The abyss chose me."

"It has been talking in my ear for twenty years. It started when I was very young, and it has continued until my hair turned white, until my eyes changed color, until I could no longer distinguish between day and night."

Giboduan did not speak again.

This person has fallen into demonic possession; he must not be allowed to live!

With a wave of his staff, a bolt of silvery-white lightning struck out.

The lightning bolt, as thick as an adult's arm, crackled with electricity as it tore through the air and hurtled straight toward Marduk's chest.

Marduk did not dodge; he crossed his arms in front of his chest, and a dark red barrier unfolded in front of him.

The barrier was like a semi-transparent eggshell, enveloping his entire body.

The lightning struck the barrier, exploding into a blinding white light.

boom-!

The shockwave spread outwards, blowing away rubble and shaving away a layer of soil from the edges of the cracks.

Lightning and a barrier are locked in a standoff.

The silvery-white light pressed forward, while the dark red light pushed outward. A hissing sound emanated from the boundary between the two colors, like two snakes intertwined and tearing at each other.

Marduk's foot was sliding backward.

His shoes left two shallow grooves on the stone pavement, and his knees were slightly bent.

But his expression didn't change; his pure black eyes were fixed on Gibotuan, and there was even a smile on his lips.

"A seventh-ring archmage," Marduk said, his voice barely audible amidst the roar of lightning. "Truly worthy of being a seventh-ring archmage."

He pushed hard, and the dark red barrier suddenly expanded, deflecting the silvery-white lightning.

The lightning veered off course and struck a broken wall behind him, instantly blasting it into dust.

Giboduan gave him no chance to catch his breath.

The staff drew a circle in the air, and silvery-white light overflowed from the tip of the staff, condensing into a complex magic circle in the air.

The magic circle has twelve nodes, each of which is emitting light. The lights are connected by silver lines, forming a geometric pattern as precise as the inside of a clock.

"Seventh Ring Spell - Cage of Light!"

The magic circle fell from the sky and enveloped Marduk.

Twelve beams of light shot out from the node, surrounding him in the center.

A thin film of light formed between the beams of light, like a transparent wall, trapping him inside.

Marduk reached out and touched the layer of light. The moment his fingertip touched the light, it made a sizzling sound, like flesh touching red-hot iron.

He abruptly withdrew his hand, a wisp of white smoke rising from his fingertips.

"Does it hurt?" Giboduan asked indifferently.

Marduk looked down at his fingertips. The skin had been burned away, revealing dark red flesh underneath.

He put his finger in his mouth, sucked on it, and then spat it out.

"It doesn't hurt."

Then he placed his hands on the light membrane.

Dark red energy surged from his palm, like ink dripping into clear water, and quickly spread across the light membrane.

The light film began to change color, from silvery-white to light red, from light red to dark red, and finally to black. Black cracks spread across the light film, as dense as a spider web.

Giboduan's expression changed slightly. He tapped his staff three times, sending three silver-white beams of light into the magic circle in an attempt to stabilize it.

But the black cracks spread too quickly, too fast for him to repair.

"Click!"

With a crisp crack, the light membrane split open. Dark red energy squeezed out from the crack, like blood gushing from a wound.

"Click click click!"

More cracks appeared.

The entire cage of light trembled violently, as if it were being subjected to some force that it could not bear.

"boom--!!!"

The cage of light exploded.

Silvery-white fragments scattered and flew everywhere, turning into specks of light in the air and disappearing.

Marduk stood in the center of the debris, his black robe billowing upwards in the air currents, revealing his pale, emaciated body beneath.

There was a dark red rune on his chest, deeply etched into his flesh. The surrounding skin had grown into the rune, making it impossible to distinguish where the skin ended and the tattoo began.

The runes were glowing, flickering on and off like a heartbeat.

Giboduan's pupils contracted slightly when he saw the rune.

Those are abyssal runes, and not ordinary abyssal runes, but contract runes—

This person not only worshipped the Abyss Demon as his lord, he sold himself to the Abyss Demon.

That rune is proof of the contract, engraved not only on the heart, but also in the soul.

"You're insane!" Giboduan exclaimed in shock.

"Maybe."

"Marduk said. He moved his burned hands, his knuckles cracking, "But at least I knew what I was doing. What about you? Gibotuan, do you know what you're doing?"

"You stand here, blocking the portal, preventing the arrival of a great being. What do you think you're protecting? The commoners? The nobles? Or the king?"

He took a step forward.

Dark red energy spread from beneath his feet, turning the ground black.

"This world is rotten!"

He spread his arms wide, as if embracing the world, "From top to bottom, from nobles to commoners, from kings to beggars, they are all equally rotten!!!"

Giboduan did not respond.

He raised his staff, and blue light began to gather at its tip.

It quickly became a ball of light, which was small, only the size of a fist, but extremely bright.

When Marduk saw the ball of light, a flicker of emotion finally appeared in his dark eyes.

Instead of feeling fear, he was quite excited.

"That's more like it." He grinned, his jaw stretching to his ears. "Show me your true skills!"

He clasped his hands together, and dark red energy surged from all directions, condensing into a huge dark red longsword in front of him.

The sword was formed from pure and powerful magic, with black patterns flowing along its blade like blood vessels.

The two attacked almost simultaneously.

The ball of light and the dark red longsword collided in mid-air.

The two forces collided, but instead of bouncing apart or exploding, they eroded and devoured each other.

The sphere of light was devouring the dark red, and the dark red was eroding the sphere of light. At the boundary was a chaotic gray zone, as gray as fog.

Meanwhile, the battle between Alicia, Lance, and the projection of the Abyss Lord has reached a fever pitch.

The projector has lost three arms, but the remaining three are even more flexible.

It no longer wields all its weapons simultaneously, but uses them one by one, greatly increasing its speed, like a combo attack.

Sword after sword, axe after axe, hammer after hammer, the pace was so fast that Alicia could only block, dodge and retreat.

Her greatsword was riddled with nicks and chips.

The projected weapon was made of some unknown material, but it could leave a nick in the blade with just a few hits.

Even with Lance's support, Alicia only suffered no obvious external injuries, but her left hand had a split at the base of her thumb, her right wrist was twisted, and the blood at the corner of her mouth kept flowing and flowing.

[Ascending Ring Spell - Healing Mantra!]

Golden light shot from Lance's fingertips and landed on Alicia.

The wound on her hand began to heal, the torn muscles rejoined, and the bleeding stopped.

"Thanks." Alicia flicked her right hand.

The projection lunged at them again.

While harassing the projection with [Secondary Spirit Bomb] in the air, Lance kept an eye on Alicia's condition.

It seems unlikely that we can take this guy down.

Lance quickly glanced at the battlefield.

Giboduan and Marduk were still exchanging blows. The gray sphere had expanded to more than two meters in size, and the energy inside was spinning wildly, like a centrifuge that was about to fall apart.

Both of them were as white as paper. Blood seeped from the corner of Giboduan's mouth, and Marduk's nose was bleeding, which stood out starkly against his pale skin.

"How can the old mage be evenly matched with a level twelve sorcerer?" Lance frowned.

We can't count on Giboduan.

We can only rely on ourselves now — we must act quickly.

Lance pulled the [Space Lockdown Scroll] out of his dimensional pocket and held it in his hand.

I was thinking of taking down that projector first—what a pity.

"Alicia!" he shouted, "Ten seconds! Hold on for me for ten seconds!"

Alicia didn't turn around. "You do your thing!" she yelled. "I won't let this thing touch a single hair on your head!"

Lance unfolds the scroll.

The runes on the parchment began to glow. Silvery light emanated from the paper, flowing down his fingers like water.

According to the roadside report, it takes ten seconds for the reel to fully activate.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

The projection seemed to sense something.

Its blood-red eyes moved away from Alicia, across her shoulder, and locked onto Lance.

It abandoned its attack on Alicia and stretched out all three arms towards Lance at the same time.

"Where the hell are you looking?!"

Alicia roared, and her greatsword slashed at the projection's waist from the side.

The projected arm had to turn to block. The blade struck its forearm, cutting halfway in, and got stuck.

Alicia didn't draw her sword; she simply let go.

The greatsword was still stuck in the projection's arm, and she stood in front of the projection empty-handed.

Four seconds.

Five seconds.

The projector paused for a moment.

It probably had never seen a soldier voluntarily drop his weapon.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Alicia had already rushed in front of it and punched the charred wound on its chest.

Her fist sank into the projection's flesh, and a fiery aura surged forward, actually piercing through the Abyss Lord's projection's body.

Dark red liquid spurted out and splashed all over her face.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

You could tell that the Abyss Lord's projection was indeed in a lot of pain.

The projection roared and swung its other arm at her. She had no time to dodge and was sent flying, rolling several times on the ground before crashing into a pile of rubble.

Six seconds.

Seven seconds.

Alicia climbed out of the rubble, her left arm hanging limply, unable to lift.