Chapter 401: Withdraw
Sein had significantly modified his Verdant Flame Eye spell following the end of the Viridian Venom Flame World war.
At that time, his primary research focus was on integrating the power of Verdant Flame into the spell, rather than increasing the number of Solar Eye beams per round.
However, more than ten Verdant Flame Eyes had materialized in front of Sein at this moment, nearly doubling their previous count.
This dramatic increase was not only due to the Verdant Flame Heart Rod, which significantly amplified the power of the Verdant Flame elemental power but also because of a temporary doubling in Sein’s mental focus.
Mental focus was crucial for mages, as it enabled them to draw elemental energies from the surrounding space, thereby enhancing their magic prowess.
For example, a Minor Fireball spell cast by a junior initiate might be only fist-sized and possess limited destructive capability. However, when unleashed by a Rank One, or even a Rank Two mage, the same spell could demolish a city wall.
The energy beams of the Verdant Flame Eye spell shot out violently. At the same time, Sein also unleashed the power of the Verdant Flame Eye Mask he wore.
A barrage of nearly twenty verdant flame beams were fired toward the dense cloud created by the Rank Two black mage.
This was just the beginning—at least six more rounds followed, unleashing over a hundred verdant flame beams that tinted the surrounding sky green!
Such power was definitely beyond the capabilities of a Rank One mage.
Thatch, positioned on the opposite side of the battlefield, observed Sein’s actions from beginning to end.
Initially, he had been skeptical about Sein’s approach of layering multiple magic shields around himself, but Sein’s subsequent actions quickly altered his opinion.
Thatch could tell that Sein had just been promoted to Rank One not long ago, given his apparent youth and the lack of intensity in his aura.
As a more seasoned Rank One mage, Thatch knew the disparity between them involved not just a disparity in accumulated knowledge, but also in focus level and other aspects.
Yet, when Sein wielded his magic rod, his focus was boosted to a level close to that of Thatch. Not only that, the Verdant Flame Eye spell he wielded was a formidable spell that surpassed Thatch’s current capabilities.
Sein had tested the potency of verdant flame magic during the interplanar war.
Although the elemental power wielded by Rank Two black mage possessed certain corrosive effects, it was clearly inferior to the fruit of Feylis’ research.
Under the relentless assault of Sein’s Verdant Flame Eye spell, the dense black clouds rapidly thinned, revealing the obscured figure of a Rank Two black mage.
He was a gray-haired man clad in tattered clothes, bearing visible injuries on his chest.
His appearance was different from the old black mage Sein had encountered in the underground space of the Monique Black Market. However, they shared the same aura!
This suggested that the Rank Two black mage possessed advanced disguise skills, and even the face Sein was seeing right now might not be his true appearance.
Although Sein’s Verdant Flame Eye spell was potent, it was not solely responsible for the disheveled state of the Rank Two black mage.
The tattered robes and the wound on his chest, which exposed part of his heart, suggested that he had gone through a fierce battle before even encountering Sein and his group.
The black mage’s emergence caused a Rank One knight, who lost an arm at the beginning of this battle, to emit a cry of rage.
Despite his left arm being reduced to bone, the knight, driven by intense pain and fury, charged at the black mage, his eyes blazing red.
His impulsive nature was typical of knights, contrasting sharply with the calculated calm typically expected of mages.
Although the Rank Two black mage had been forcefully revealed by Sein’s Verdant Flame Eye beams, he remained mostly unscathed.
Given this, the smartest course of action for Sein’s group was to fight strategically and retreat when necessary. Attacking recklessly was tantamount to serving themselves up on a silver platter.
As anticipated, the impetuous charge of the injured Rank One Knight yielded no favorable outcomes.
The Rank Two black mage fixed his icy gaze on Sein, and with a menacing tone, he spat, “You’ve managed to piss me off!”
He then raised his arm, and a sharp black arrow shot out with lethal force toward the knight who was charging toward him.
The knight was protected by layers of battle qi, yet the wrath of the Rank Two black mage rendered them utterly fragile and ineffective.
The sharp black arrow easily pierced through the knight’s defenses and his body.
A single, fatal blow was all it took—the knight's forward charge abruptly ended in a tragic fall, a bloody hole marking the space between his eyebrows.
The event unfolded so quickly that Sein and the others barely had time to react.
Since this Rank Two black mage was capable of defeating a mage of the same rank, eliminating a lower-ranked knight within seconds was hardly a challenge for him.
In terms of strength, he was clearly at the upper echelons of Rank Two. On top of that, his ruthless and aggressive fighting style made him a formidable opponent.
Startled by the splash of the fallen knight hitting the seawater, Sein snapped back to reality.
In that brief moment of shock, two more black arrows were already speeding toward him.
Amidst the chaos, the Rank Two black mage targeted the sole remaining Rank One knight nearest to him.
Though his fury was directed at Sein, he maintained his tactical acumen, refusing to let any nearby combatants escape.
His formidable strength afforded him considerable confidence, bordering on arrogance.
Rather than swiftly killing Sein, the black mage preferred to torture Sein, interrogate him, and extract the secrets of the Verdant Flame Eye spell and the mysteries of the verdant flame magic directly from him.
Among those on the battlefield, Sein was a more challenging target because he had the protection of an engineer.
In contrast, the other Rank One knight presented an easier mark!
The approach of two black sharp awns triggered an alarm in Sein’s heart. He had just witnessed how they had killed the Rank One knight moments ago.
At this critical juncture, Sein doubted whether his multi-layered magic shield and other magic equipment could withstand these lethal projectiles.
He contemplated evasion, but the arrow’s blistering speed made dodging seem unlikely.
In this critical moment, Yuri proved her loyalty.
She acted decisively by quickly positioning the two grayish-white mecha units in front of Sein, using them as shields to absorb the impact of the black arrows.
Although the arrows penetrated the mecha units, their velocity and force were significantly diminished, allowing Yuri’s shoulder cannon to intercept and neutralize the remaining threat.
Among all the Rank One beings present, Yuri was the only one who could pose a threat to the black mage.
However, despite being at the peak of Rank One and possessing combat abilities comparable to those of Rank Two creatures, Yuri was not truly a Rank Two being and lacked the sheer power necessary to confront a Rank Two mage alone.
After releasing a barrage of Verdant Flame Eye beams, Sein felt a considerable drain on his mana.
He recognized the futility of continued combat with a Rank Two mage, especially at sea where he was uncertain whether the Viridescent Seeds given to him by his mentor could transform into creatures under such conditions.
Nothing could come from nothing. The law of conservation of energy was a fundamental principle well understood even by a magic initiate.
During the Viridian Venom Flame World War, Sein had successfully used these seeds due to the presence of ample water and soil.
Now, amidst the boundless sea, while water was abundant, soil was notably absent.
This raised a critical question—could hydro element alone catalyze the growth of the plant life these seeds were meant to produce?
With the immediate threat of the black mage looming, Sein knew he could not afford the risk of seeking an answer through testing.
Grabbing Yuri, who was poised to sacrifice herself to buy him time, Sein made a decisive call.
“Let’s go! We need to retreat first!”