Chapter 17

The giant dragon was guarding the bodies, intent on destroying the bodies of the Order Maintainers to buy time. The Dragon King had gone to the Summer Palace, where VIP players gathered, leaving the game administrators in the Divine Palace feeling helpless.

The Dragon King's speed was simply too fast. All the administrators could do was quickly gather dark clouds above the Summer Palace and prepare for divine punishment, which would take at least five minutes. It was uncertain whether they would be in time.

Silence fell over the Divine Palace.

Chen Hansheng paced back and forth, sometimes rubbing his face vigorously and other times pulling at his hair, showing extreme frustration.

This time, the disruptors were too powerful, especially the Dragon King. His ability to gather information and reason was extremely strong, allowing him to quickly piece together the situation from the slightest clues, making him very difficult to deal with and causing immense headaches.

The mages in the Summer Palace were VIP players and not weak in the game. They also had the artifact 'Shur's Staff' to rely on, which should allow them to temporarily hold off the Dragon King's attacks. However, the Dragon King was too cunning, with a powerful fourth-level structure. The outcome was uncertain.

As for the three Order Maintainers being guarded, he could no longer worry about them.

Chen Hansheng knew that if any of the mages were harmed, or if the Summer Palace was destroyed, his position as director would be at an end, and the reputation of Shur Virtual Game Company would plummet, leading to disastrous consequences.

"The director, that Sun Ran is still not dead," a monitor operator suddenly said.

"Huh?" Chen Hansheng's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "What's the situation? Bring up the footage!"

This mage had left a deep impression on him, and he had a feeling that there might be a turning point here.

The footage was enlarged and displayed in the center of the Divine Palace.

Under the snow, Sun Ran was slowly digging through the snow, gradually crawling to the surface.

Sun Ran was covered in blood, especially a large gash on his forehead, which made half of his face look fierce. However, his eyes remained clear and calm, showing no negative emotions.

The monitor operator zoomed out to show the broader scene.

After Sun Ran emerged from the snow, he appeared about a hundred meters behind the dragon. The fire dragon was still tirelessly digging through the snow, determined to dig out Charlie and Moli's bodies and burn them to ashes with its dragon breath, completely unaware of the movement behind it.

This should have been an excellent opportunity for a sneak attack. If Sun Ran had a powerful spell, he could have killed the dragon in one strike. However, Sun Ran only had a first-level spell, a zero-level spell, and a second-level staff. He could only cast a first-level spell, but the Frost Rune was a triggered spell, unsuitable for a sneak attack, leaving him with only a zero-level spell.

Although his spell casting speed was faster due to his second-level permissions, it was impossible to kill a dragon with a third-level structure using a zero-level spell.

The hope that had just risen in Chen Hansheng's heart was immediately shattered by the cold reality. Unless Sun Ran had the artifact 'Shur's Staff,' he would not only fail to change the situation but also put himself in danger.

He sighed deeply. If possible, he would have given 'Shur's Staff' to Sun Ran to slay the dragon. Unfortunately, the game was primarily managed by an AI, and unless there was a significant bug, it was impossible for a third item with fourth-level permissions to appear in the Dragon World, even if the CEO of the virtual company came.

At this moment, the dragon was almost digging up Charlie's body, the bronze Order Maintainer, who was his primary target for destruction.

Sun Ran had also reached the surface of the snow. He did not dig through the snow but instead made a slanted hole, observing the dragon's movements through the hole.

Of course, this was for the game company to see; he already knew where the dragon was.

After confirming the dragon's position, Sun Ran remained silent for a moment, his face becoming increasingly resolute, as if making a decision. After a short while, he crawled out of the snow hole without hesitation.

As soon as he emerged, Sun Ran's staff slashed through the air in front of him. At five-centimeter intervals along the arc of the staff's movement, ice spikes appeared, totaling ten, all of which whistled toward the dragon's exposed lower abdomen.

Ten zero-level ice spike spells, condensed in one second, with a spell casting speed that was breathtaking.

The sound of the ice spikes exploding was dense, almost continuous, looking very powerful.

Zero-level ice spike spells naturally could not harm the dragon's belly, leaving no trace. However, the impact force still existed.

The dragon, fully focused on digging the snow hole, was caught off guard by the ice spikes' impact, causing it to lunge forward, losing balance and falling into the hole it had dug, looking very embarrassed.

This greatly enraged the dragon. Before it could even climb out of the snow pit, a furious dragon roar echoed from the hole, followed by a bright yellow dragon breath flame, showing how angry it was at Sun Ran's sneak attack.

Fortunately, the snow layer was temporarily stable; otherwise, another avalanche would have been triggered by the roar.

The enraged dragon temporarily abandoned Charlie in the snow hole. To the dragon, the strength of these three Order Maintainers was negligible, and it could kill any of them at will. Now, someone had provoked it, wanting to die, so it would grant his wish!

The massive dragon emerged from the snow pit, ten meters long, with its head over two meters high. Sun Ran's slave body was very weak, less than 1.7 meters tall and probably weighing less than 100 pounds. Standing before the dragon, the contrast in strength and size was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

The game administrators in the Divine Palace believed that Sun Ran was about to meet his end.

The next moment, the dragon opened its mouth, and a bright yellow dragon breath flame spewed out. The flame was powerful, like a high-pressure jet, rushing toward Sun Ran from a hundred meters away.

Since the flame was expelled from the dragon's body, and the dragon's internal data structure was only level two, the dragon breath attack was also level two, but its destructive power was already terrifying, enough to melt most metals in the Dragon World.

"Sun Ran is about to turn to ashes," Chen Hansheng said, feeling a bit reluctant to watch.

Sun Ran, however, remained calm, running a few steps to the side, raising his blackwood staff, and once again displaying his exceptional spell casting ability.

In an instant, a light screen appeared in the air, quickly evolving into a Frost Rune.

This time, the rune was not slapped on the ground but suspended in the air like a shield in front of Sun Ran.

No, not just one, but two, three, and more, appearing in layers in front of Sun Ran's body at regular intervals.

Sun Ran now had complete second-level permissions. According to the tenfold increase rule, he could mobilize enough data to cast ten first-level spells in one second.

However, this was the theoretical limit. In reality, no Order Maintainer mage could cast ten first-level spells in one second. The official mage limit records showed that zero-level spells could be cast fifteen times in one second, first-level spells seven times, and second-level spells only four times.

The higher the level of the spell, the more difficult it was to cast. Some high-level spells required hours of guidance or even the cooperation of multiple people to cast. Of course, these data were official, created by the Order Maintainers in the sunlight and did not include the disruptors. The disruptors were mostly highly intelligent individuals, and many of them scoffed at these records.

To avoid drawing too much attention, Sun Ran controlled his spell casting speed to five first-level spells per second. This level was sufficient to handle the current battle without drawing too much attention, in line with his low-profile principle.

By the time the third Frost Rune was formed, the dragon breath flame, which had been rushing through the air, collided with the Frost Rune.

The first rune exploded, extending into a flower of ice spikes, successfully blocking the dragon breath's path. These runes were only level one, while the dragon breath was level two. After one second, the ice flower was melted and penetrated, but there were more Frost Runes behind it, continuously appearing.

For a moment, ice flowers bloomed in the air, stubbornly blocking the dragon breath, which was one level higher, stopping it twenty meters in front of Sun Ran, unable to advance!

This was a classic battle of low-level spells against high-level spells, worthy of being recorded as a holographic video and used as a textbook for the Mage Guild.

Almost everyone in the Divine Palace was stunned.

What is this Sun Ran's background? His spell casting speed was impressive, but with the Earth's population of 30 billion, there were many who could surpass him. However, his spell casting technique, which involved imprinting Frost Runes in the air, completely defied common sense. Even the great mages in the Summer Palace would have to admit their inferiority.

Sun Ran was doing his best to release Frost Runes, one after another, which were triggered and melted by the dragon breath, buying time.

However, after waiting for three seconds, he saw no sign of Charlie, who was almost dug out of the snow, and he cursed inwardly.

Damn it, I'm fighting here, and you guys are just watching. A bunch of newbies, you're really a bunch of useless teammates!

"Quickly resurrect Charlie!" Sun Ran shouted. The dragon was a level three legendary creature, and the power was severely imbalanced. He could hold out for a while, but he had no means to break through the dragon's defenses, and if the battle lasted too long, he would surely lose.

This shout finally woke up the staff and also alerted the fire dragon.

The dragon was surprised by the Order Maintainer mage in front of it, but the leader had said that the opponent was only a trainee Order Maintainer who knew only two spells and posed no threat.

Thinking this, he calmed down slightly and decided to turn around and first eliminate the bronze Order Maintainer behind him to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

Seeing the dragon turn around, Sun Ran could not let this happen and immediately started to threaten.

"You big lizard, if you have the guts, try to burn me to death. Do you really think I only know two spells? The one I stand for is the Supreme God Shur!"

After saying this, Sun Ran shouted to the sky, "If you don't want to go bankrupt, quickly give me a high-level spell!"

The dragon hesitated. The opponent's words made sense. Threatening bankruptcy might make the game company impulsively send down a second-level, or even a third-level spell.

If the company goes bankrupt, who would be afraid?

If it were a regular mage, he would not hesitate, as even if a spell was sent, it would take time to master. However, the dragon was uneasy due to the opponent's demonstrated spell casting skills.

Chen Hansheng in the Divine Palace knew that Sun Ran was just bluffing to scare the disruptors, but he was genuinely moved.

His position as director and the fate of Shur Virtual Game Company were closely tied to the success of this mission.

They had underestimated the disruptors' abilities and now, realizing their strength, it was too late to hire more powerful Order Maintainers.

Since this Sun Ran had shown great potential, betting on him might just turn the tide.

Chen Hansheng immediately opened the online spell market, planning to purchase a second-level spell with his own funds.

A second-level spell was the highest level spell that could be purchased with credit points in the online market. Higher-level spells required joining the Mage Guild and becoming a formal member, and even if they were available, they would be of no help to Sun Ran.

The market opened, and a list of second-level spells appeared, including fire, ice, earth, light, and dark spells.

Considering that Sun Ran had been using ice spells and that the subsequent battle would take place in the cold environment of Agas Peak, using ice spells would give him a home-field advantage. Chen Hansheng ultimately spent 10,000 credit points to purchase the second-level spell 'Ice Spiral Blade.'

Ice Spiral Blade: Using the power of ice and snow, it creates a massive, rapidly spinning blade, more stable and colder than a first-level spell, with even more terrifying impact and destructive power.

After paying, 10,000 credit points were deducted, and the spell data was transmitted.

Chen Hansheng located Sun Ran and pressed the transmission button, sending the spell down.

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