Chapter 238
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This sudden change shocked everyone .
From Suyass to Lys, from William to Xiuban, everyone in the joint exploration team stared blankly when they saw Fran get sent flying like a broken kite before crashing heavily with a bang that echoed in everyone's heart .
"This…" No one thought that the one sent hurtling away would be the Archmage, Fran! He had the power of an Archmage, and even Lys, a 9th Rank High Mage, was unable to retaliate!
But now, his Elemental Shield was pierced by a Flame Burst . . .
And the one to let off that Flame Burst was a 9th Rank Great Mage!
What was happening?
This incongruous sight was too shocking . It was already beyond what could be attributed to carelessness or underestimating the enemy .
The gap between the two was too shockingly huge . It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that even if an Archmage just stood there without retaliating, it would be very difficult for a Great Mage to injure him . Just the mana alone was hundreds to a thousand times better, let alone since Fran had used the Elemental Shield spell . Just how did this happen?
This wasn't logical at all . . .
Yet no one expected something even more illogical to follow up!
Lin Yun moved just as Fran was knocked off his feet .
He moved like lightning . With the Haste boosted by the Magic Arrays, Lin Yun's speed was pushed to its limits and everyone only heard a soft sound echoing before Fran fell to the ground, with Lin Yun standing in front of him .
"You…" Fran was on his back, but he didn't have time to get up . When he noticed Lin Yun standing before him, he was so shocked that he didn't dare to meet his eyes . That Flame Burst had just pierced through the Elemental Shield like punching through a piece of paper . He didn't get up and just cast a Counterspell .
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This was no joke .
An Archmage still had a fleshy body . . . without the protection of his Elemental Shield, he could still be killed by a 9th Rank Great Mage .
And his opponent just broke through his defenses .
Fran's reaction could be considered extremely quick, casting Counterspell right after his crash landing .
Unfortunately, he was still too slow .
Fran didn't even have time to launch his Counterspell before he felt a pain in his chest . A dazzling white light exploded on his chest, followed by uninterrupted sounds of impacts as one white light after the other kept striking his chest .
Fran knew that these were Arcane Missiles .
It didn't actually do him much harm . It was a 1st Tier spell, after all, and with his current level of strength, he could use the power of the fused runes to cast a spell with only a gesture or transfer a huge amount of mana anytime . Although the Arcane Missiles were endless, most of them were blocked by the mana Fran released and few of them actually hurt him .
But to Fran, the repetitive sound of the Arcane Missiles truly sounded like slaps, making him feel very embarrassed . Not only was an Archmage's Elemental Shield pierced by a Flame Burst, but he was also still being stepped on as a flurry of Arcane Missiles kept falling onto him .
It wouldn't be fun if news of his predicament spread!
But there was nothing he could do . . .
Fran truly felt that he couldn't make it out . He obviously held the power of an Archmage, but he was being beaten by a 9th Rank Great Mage . This was incredibly awkward, and it was driving him crazy .
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To be honest, his opponent wasn't even casting very quickly . As the owner of the Time Hand Magic Conducting Rune, he still wouldn't put Lin Yun's current casting speed in his eyes .
But now, Fran was backed into a corner by this kind of unhurried yet brisk casting speed .
Indeed, Lin Yun wasn't casting spells very quickly right now, but he was being very precise and effective, as if he had already calculated exactly how everything would turn out . Each of his spells would break Fran's rhythm, and he even forced Fran to interrupt his casting four times in a row .
What kind of concept was that?
Even for an Archmage powerhouse, rashly cancelling a spell while still casting it was very dangerous . In fact, this wasn't just a matter of wasting mana; each spell cancelling could lead to magical backlash . It could be said that unless necessary, no mage was willing to cancel the casting of a spell .
But each time he was forced to do it, it was very necessary .
The first time was just as the Elemental Shield disappeared . Fran was fighting to get the initiative and wanted to use a quick Burst spell to get the upper hand back . He planned to fire it right when his opponent's mana sharply gathered for the next spell so that the gathered mana would detonate and hit Merlin with the backlash . Yet, right when he had his Burst spell ready, the other side just happened to make a critical mistake . The Elemental Burst that originally would have gathered a sudden surge of mana before firing was delayed by a few seconds, making the mana swell slowly instead, and throwing a wrench in Fran's plan . . .
Thus, Fran fell into a very awkward situation .
He either had to interrupt his spell, or he would have to just cast his relatively weak spell directly and try to overcome the Elemental Burst in a contest of strength .
The problem was that Fran actually knew of the formidable might of Elemental Burst .
Although it wasn't like that previous illogically powerful Flame Burst that could pierce through barriers, that power was definitely not something a 9th Rank Great Mage could produce . It was hardly an exaggeration to say that without an Elemental Shield to defend him, even an Archmage would seriously suffer from that Elemental Burst .
Thus, Fran had no choice but to cancel his Burst and recover as much mana from the spell as he could before condensing it into a Runic Shield to resist the Elemental Burst .
There was nothing else he could do because a Runic Shield was far inferior to an Elemental Shield . If he wanted to use it to resist an Elemental Burst, Fran would have to draw as much mana as he could out of the spell he had been ready to cast .
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This was too embarrassing .
After managing to find an opportunity to counterattack, Fran was forced to spit blood because of the other side's mistake . At this time, Fran really wanted to ask, 'Who do you think is paying for your mistake?'
However . . .
After similar situations kept appearing, once, twice, thrice . . . Fran felt like something was wrong .
'Is Mafa Merlin doing it on purpose? No, No way . . . '
How could a 9th rank Great Mage possess such an incredible ability? Let alone a 9th Rank Great Mage, even Suyass and Karon, who had become Archmages before him, couldn't cast spells in such a sinister manner . Perhaps only his unfathomable teacher, Nolan, could pull off something like that on purpose .
But wasn't this too coincidental?
One time, two times, three, four, five, six . . . Could there be such a series of coincidences in this world?
Unfortunately, there was no time for Fran to think about it properly . After having to cancel several spells in a row, Fran was at a huge disadvantage . While constantly being forced into using defensive spells, Fran couldn't find any way to counterattack .
An esteemed Archmage was being thoroughly suppressed by a 9th Rank Great Mage, and he wasn't able to retaliate at all .
That scene made everyone in the exploration team watch in shock .
"Solomon, can you guess who will win in the end…?" Lys had already been freed from Fran's binding, and his injury had been healed . He was standing next to Solomon, watching while inquiring .
"I can't…" Solomon shook his head .
"Also…" When these words came out, Lys felt that his question was rather dumb . Although Solomon was Thousand Sails City's most powerful High Mage, that battle had clearly surpassed what he could analyze . Even if Merlin was a 9th Rank Great Mage, the power he displayed had already reached that of peak High Mage .
And that was only the raw power .
The most frightening part about Merlin was that his fine control over his mana and his spells could only be described as unfathomable . This surpassed the limit of casting altogether . Let alone a 9th Rank Great Mage, it would be terrifying even coming from a 9th Rank High Mage . Not to mention, Fran might not have been able to see it carefully, but Lys clearly saw what happened .
Merlin had a firm grasp on the rhythm of the battle through his shocking insight and control!
The only thing Lys couldn't see for sure was the final outcome of the battle .
Obviously, it currently looked as if Merlin had an overwhelming advantage . But the fact that Fran was an Archmage shouldn't be ignored . He was one of the existences at the peak of the magic world . There were over 10 ranks of difference between them . Under ordinary circumstances, there would be no need to fight to declare the outcome .
But Merlin going all-out greatly pleased Lys .
'Enough, it truly was enough…'
This battle proved that Merlin had the strength to contend against an Archmage . Even if he now suffered a defeat at the hands of Fran or Suyass, they would still have to consider Merlin's reaction when picking magic materials .
Naturally, there was a voice echoing within Lys .
'What if he can win…'
But this could only be said in his heart . Lys knew that there was some luck involved for a fight to reach this stage . Merlin had completely relied on that weird Flame Burst to break the Elemental Shield and take the upper hand .
But even if Merlin didn't say anything about it, Lys knew that this definitely wasn't something he could use again right now . Otherwise, Merlin wouldn't still be fighting with Fran, he would have just cast a few of those Flame Bursts to finish the fight .