“Die!”
Sidney had no time to cast a spell, but Ivan did. Another Black Magic Hand formed and unceremoniously struck toward Sidney, its mighty force changing the expressions of the several people in the air.
“Audacious!”
Under Steve and his companions’ gaze, their ally was smacked down from the clouds by two fiery giant palms, his spell-summoned puppet shattered on the spot, and Sidney was sent flying heavily.
One of them made a decisive move to change direction and chase after Sidney, whose fate was uncertain.
The other two continued their charge toward the enemy.
Facing two opponents alone, and not in the terrain of the Night Forest Dungeon, Ivan naturally wouldn’t choose to clash head-on. After exchanging one spell, the Silkworm Queen smoothly opened the distance.
“Stop!”
After witnessing the enemy’s strength, Steve and his partner no longer dared to spread out as before.
It didn’t take long for the Silkworm Queen to circle to the other side. Ivan struck at the sorcerer in front of him, again with his most proficient Black Magic Hand, as the black fiery giant palm emerged once more.
Steve of course understood the enemy’s intent, but they couldn’t match the enemy’s speed and could only watch helplessly as the enemy found an opportunity to strike while they ended up behind their companion Beale, in direct opposition to the enemy’s position, with Beale exactly blocking the space between them and the enemy.
The confrontations between sorcerers often hinge on a matter of seconds, and the current situation was undoubtedly a fatal flaw.
“Steve, save me!”
With Ivan and the Silkworm Queen’s coordination, the enemy in front of them quickly fell into a disadvantage.
Steve acted in time, entangling Beale’s waist with an energy rope and forcefully pulling at the critical moment, avoiding the fatal attack from the opposite side and pulling Beale toward himself.
The magic pet, however, was not so lucky. It let out a piteous cry, turned into a bloody pulp under the fiery giant palm.
“Wretch, we’re going all out against you.”
The death of the magic pet caused Sorcerer Beale, who had just landed on another flying beast, to show a trace of pallor, clearly suffering from the mental backlash of the magic pet’s death.
With no more obstacles in the middle, Ivan had to face the two enemies directly.
“Seeking death is nobody’s fault but your own.”
In the face of the enemy’s ferocity, Ivan remained unfazed, considering it merely the struggle of a cornered beast.
Instead of using other spells, he took out a vial resembling black magma, surrounded by floating black catkins.
The giant palm burning with black flames materialized in the sky, its contours and lines clearly visible.
“Be careful, his spell can crush the mental energy that supports our spells. We should take turns attacking, let’s go all out against him.” The loss of his magic pet had filled Beale with hatred for Ivan, suggesting a fight strategy that might inflict mutual injuries.
“Good,” Steve decisively agreed.
Steve acted first, casting a spell to intercept the oncoming fiery giant palm.
Beale acted next, trying to find a breach in the enemy’s rhythm with this cadence of spellcasting, ensuring they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the enemy in a single blow.
The enemy, with the Silkworm Queen coordinating with Ivan, showed no weaknesses either.
But the battle had reached a stalemate.
“Tactic number five.”
Upon hearing this, the Silkworm Queen knew what to do.
The next moment, a beast over fifty meters long appeared in the sky, displaying the Silkworm Queen’s greatest form and delivering a ferocious strike at the tiny figures in front of it.
It was a straightforward strike, relying on the sheer brute strength and size of the Silkworm Queen at that moment to break the deadlock in battle.
The two sorcerers were immediately knocked away.
The summoned puppet shattered.
Ivan wouldn’t miss this opportunity, urging the Silkworm Queen to chase after them, determined to eradicate them completely.
One sorcerer was struck down by him, another sorcerer who wished for mutual destruction was overwhelmed by the power of his own blast potion.
Ivan glanced below and noticed another sorcerer who had gone to save his companion had disappeared without a trace. He immediately ordered the Silkworm Queen to quickly leave the area and fly off in the direction of the Highland Alliance.
“Silkworm Queen, are you alright?”
Being large in size made it an easy target, an unavoidable circumstance. Despite his best efforts to take care of everything, the Silkworm Queen still suffered considerable damage from the spells.
“Of course, I’m fine. Just spread the injury around and it’s all good.”
The Silkworm Queen spoke in a muffled voice, having immediately transferred the injuries it suffered to other rapid wood silkworms, and was now in pretty good shape.
“How does it feel to engage in battle for the first time?”
“Hehe, thrilling, but next time try not to be so desperate, I was almost scared to death just now. It was a close call without any mistake.”
“Fine.” Explore more at empire
Ivan had never considered the Silkworm Queen as a combat unit, and he agreed without hesitation to its request.
As he departed, the commotion outside of Floating Clouds Square continued. The auction had ended, and a large number of sorcerers came out just in time to witness the one against four scenario—three dead and one escaped, which left them astonished.
“Ivan Marichardon, from the Mongna Ant Land Cottage comes an amazing sorcerer.”
“That bounty can probably be ignored now.”
Sorcerers discussed in pairs and groups, Ivan Marichardon’s name thereby became memorable to many sorcerers.
As for others’ astonishment, Solomon, one of the onlookers, just smiled. In his view, this was to be expected; Ivan was a prospective member of the Five Leaves Spear, and he wouldn’t have bothered recommending him if he lacked such capability.
“Such a pity, it’s all because of that Toyennes. He had the chance to recruit Ivan earlier and didn’t, causing me to miss out on a great talent,” Jeeson muttered to himself not far away.
Next to him, Molly blinked her beautiful eyes and said nothing, just feeling somewhat delighted for her friend Randall’s excellent discernment.
…
A few days later, a green pigeon landed in the vast Kilslogg Mountains.
A dark-eyed young sorcerer, about twenty years old and one meter eighty-five tall, with distinctive hair—brown mixed with a significant amount of green—jumped off the back of the pigeon.
“Ivan, is that magic stone mine located in such an ordinary place?”
“It’s the Solo Magic Stone Mine. According to the information gathered by Sorcerer Christian, the mine should be nearby.”
The young sorcerer was none other than Ivan. The Silkworm Queen shrank in size and reverted to the form of a rapid wood silkworm, quickly landing on his shoulder, its head raised, surveying the surroundings.
This valley amidst the mountains showed no sign of anything extraordinary, not looking at all like a place housing treasures, which somewhat disappointed the excited Silkworm Queen.
Ivan knew that things are not always what they seem on the surface; the location of the Kanda magic stone mine of the Mongna Ant Land Cottage was also quite nondescript.
Subsequently, he began searching the area with the Silkworm Queen.
“Indeed, the magic stone mine of the Night Forest is in Kilslogg Mountain, Christian is reliable.” Before long, he encountered a layer of substantial protective force hidden beneath some disordered rocks and wild grass.
The magic stone mine obviously extended beyond just the area under the pile of rocks; from what could be seen at the Kanda magic stone mine, it must encompass a vast area, with the defensive sorcery array surely covering the entire mine.
Ivan didn’t rush to break the defensive sorcery array.
The Solo Magic Stone Mine before his eyes had been emptied a long time ago, greatly diminishing its value. For such a ‘tasteless but not to be discarded’ object, people of the Night Forest would unlikely expend much resource to maintain it.
As time passed, the defensive sorcery array might have developed flaws.
Naturally, he wanted to walk around the mine to check, as this would save a lot of hassle.
