Chapter 73 of 100

Chapter 73

15 min read3,855 words

"No, Gorden! You bastard, you've opposed me time and again, and this time you even destroyed the Sinful Pearl!" The black-armored warrior drew a large sword from his back. Though his face was hidden, his tone revealed intense anger.

Gorden did not know that the black-armored warrior was Koyan, nor did he understand why the other party harbored such deep resentment towards him. However, just by destroying the Sinful Pearl, the other party had ample reason to kill him.

Gorden staggered backward, his back against the wall. The impact from earlier, combined with the lethal technique from Amavre, had taken a toll on him, even with his Constitution attribute at 15. His body was exhausted, every part of him ached, and his hands trembled uncontrollably from fatigue.

Koyan pointed the tip of his sword at Gorden's throat. "I will kill you. And after you die, I will destroy everything you love. Your sister, your women, they will all be mine!"

Confident that his identity would not be revealed, Koyan spoke with reckless abandon.

However, Gorden remained calm, his eyes fixed on Koyan's shoulders, not reacting to the other's words. His extensive combat experience in *The Ancient Epoch* taught him how to deal with warriors in close combat. No matter whether the opponent moved left, right, or straight, whether they slashed, cut, thrust, or slashed, the shoulders would always be the first to react.

Gorden held a crossbow in his hand, hidden in his sleeve, and tightly gripped a "Exhaustion" scroll in the other. His mind rapidly calculated the timing and opportunity for casting.

Though at a disadvantage, he did not give up. The enemy was not in perfect condition either. The enemy wielded a two-handed greatsword, but one of his arms had been cut off by Liness earlier, making it impossible to control the heavy weapon with just one arm.

This was his chance.

Gorden and Koyan, like two wounded and exhausted beasts, had to fight to the end for victory.

Suddenly, a blue portal appeared in the hall, rippling like a waterfall.

A cold, sharp edge emerged from the other side of the portal, the sword's light reaching before the wielder.

Zantaba, the Pale Lord, who had been suppressing Liness, saw the sword tip emerging from the portal, pointing directly at him. Despite countless necromantic enhancements, his body was incredibly resilient, but the concentrated destructive force of the blade still made him shudder.

Zantaba had to abandon his attack on the Holy Warrior, chanting spells to cast various defensive enchantments on himself.

*Clang!*

The sword tip pierced Zantaba's bone arm in front of his chest at an extremely strange angle. A radial crack immediately appeared on the bone, which had been hardened through countless magical treatments, making it as hard as mithril.

Zantaba swung his bone staff, emitting a dense black mist, temporarily forcing back the deadly sword.

"Heh heh, the sword technique of the Wild Elven Spirit. Lord Rob Antello, I didn't expect a Spiral Tower Mage like you to join the fray." Zantaba's tone was light, but his expression and actions were those of a man facing a formidable enemy.

"Such a major event near the Azure Water City, did you really think I wouldn't notice? The Three Saints' Baptism should add 'arrogance' to its list of flaws."

At that moment, a deep, magnetic male voice spoke, and a middle-aged man, holding a staff in his left hand and an Elven Spirit sword in his right, dressed in luxurious attire, stepped out of the portal.

He was the Lord of the North, the Grand Duke of the Staff, Gorden's new boss, Rob Antello.

Though Gorden was still in a tense standoff with Koyan, the arrival of strong reinforcements made him breathe a sigh of relief. Zantaba, the fourth seat of the Twelve Stone Seats of the Three Saints' Baptism, was formidable, but he was no match for Lord Antello. Unless, of course, the enemy's chief could arrive.

Both sides were straightforward. After a brief exchange, the battle between the two powerful mages began.

Zantaba struck first, his sharp, terrifying bone claws gathering a ball of pure black energy, with the faces of banshees faintly visible within the swirling black mist.

"Soul Siphon!"

The Soul Siphon cast by the Pale Lord was flawless. Facing the Lord of the Staff, he did not dare to be overconfident and used his most skilled spell.

However, Rob Antello was clearly prepared for Zantaba's magical attack. His brow furrowed slightly, and he opened his mouth, uttering four smooth syllables in Elvish: "Radiant Rebuke!"

A beam of golden light shot from the Lord of the Staff's brow, shattering the Pale Lord's spell into nothingness. The massive energy backlash forced Zantaba to take two steps back, spitting out a mouthful of red and black blood.

Gorden watched in amazement. The Pale Lord, whose body was not human—indeed, not human at all—had been so easily made to bleed by Rob Antello. Gorden's first direct experience of the Lord of the Staff's formidable strength left him impressed.

Zantaba had said that Rob Antello was a Spiral Tower Mage. Gorden had some knowledge of this unique mage advancement class.

The Spiral Tower, located in the Elven Wastelands in the western continent, was a spiral-shaped tower built by the Elven Spirits. There, the Elven Spirits studied intricate arcane arts and ancient sword techniques. Mages who graduated from the Spiral Tower were skilled in both arcane and sword techniques, and could combine them effectively.

The saying goes, "broad is not as good as specialized, and specialized is not as good as refined." Both arcane and sword techniques were complex and profound. Even learning one was not easy. The Elven Spirits, distant relatives of the elves with a quarter fey bloodline, had a much stronger sensitivity to energy and magic than most intelligent beings.

Even with such remarkable talent, only a few Elven Spirit mages were recognized by the Spiral Tower. For a human, who had no particular advantage among intelligent beings, Rob Antello to become a Spiral Tower Mage was truly impressive.

After using "Radiant Rebuke" to counter Zantaba's mental attack, the Lord of the Staff immediately pressed his advantage, calmly thrusting his sword forward, its blade glowing with the power of twilight from the Elven Wastelands.

This was the unique technique of Spiral Tower Mages: Sword and Spell as One.

Though Rob's sword seemed ordinary, no matter how the Pale Lord tried to evade, he could not escape being struck by the blade.

The power of the Elven Wastelands exploded on the sword, severing Liness' Dawnbringer's bone arm, which had been impervious to her attacks.

Zantaba let out a scream, both shocked and terrified. Knowing he could not match Rob Antello, he immediately drank a speed potion and ran towards his portal.

"Retreat!" he shouted.

Koyan, who had already considered retreating when he saw the Lord of the Staff appear and strike back Zantaba, dropped Gorden and moved towards the portal. Seeing Zantaba's order, he immediately ran over without hesitation.

"Lord Zantaba, the Sinful Pearl!" Koyan suddenly remembered.

Zantaba gritted his teeth and instantly cast a Mage Hand, grabbing the Sinful Pearl, which had split into two halves on the ground. He noticed that Rob Antello was casting a Dimensional Anchor, knowing that if he did not act quickly, the spell would prevent all teleportation, trapping him.

He grabbed Koyan and used another Instant Flash, barely managing to enter the red portal just before Antello completed the Dimensional Anchor...

"Pity." Rob Antello shook his head. "But the Sinful Pearl is destroyed, and the ritual is stopped. The outcome is not too bad."

The powerful lord did not show much emotion, narrating the result as if he were an observer.

Like the ending of an action movie, the heroes ultimately defeated the enemy, foiled the plot, and the enforcers arrived late. The city guard and the three major temples entered the castle, stunned by the scene in the hall. The impact on the upper class of Azure Water City was unknown, but one thing was certain: the sales of magical contraceptive potions in the underground black market would surge in the coming days.

However, Gorden had no time to worry about these matters. After the Grand Duke of the Staff said, "Follow me," he obediently followed through the portal, leaving the underground hall.

Stepping out of the portal, the sudden brightness made Gorden squint. After spending so much time in the dark underground, he could not immediately adjust to the blue sky and white clouds.

Gorden found himself standing in a beautiful garden, where a water elemental in a maid's uniform was quietly sweeping up fallen leaves nearby.

"Phew, finally over." After several battles in the dark, oppressive underground, and with his body covered in injuries, Gorden finally breathed a sigh of relief upon returning to the Rainbow Spring Manor.

No matter how realistic the simulation, the game could not compare to reality. Spending just one day in the castle was more exhausting than a month-long epic dungeon in *The Ancient Epoch*.

"What's wrong?" Lord Rob noticed Gorden's change in mood.

"Nothing," Gorden shook his head and smiled. "Just a feeling of being in a different world."

Rob also smiled, understandingly. "When I was young, I spent half a year in the Abyss, enduring that terrible blood war. When I returned to the Material Plane, I felt the same way. Who knew how much effort it took to wash off the sulfur smell from my body!"

"I wouldn't dare compare myself to you," Gorden waved his hand. "That was the Blood War, a conflict between demons and devils that lasted for ten thousand years, with no one surviving intact. My little adventure can't be compared to that."

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