Chapter 173: Beyond Expectation, Within Reason (Part 1)

  Although it was just ordinary rainwater, when shot out violently as the entire bodies of the element giants contracted and exploded, its force and momentum were comparable to the heavy crossbow bolts used for attacking cities. Two jets shot towards Ethan, while the other two shot towards the body of Talise in his hands.

  Ethan, holding Talise, dropped to the ground and rolled. The four jets of water passed over their bodies, and just the gust of wind and the splashing rain they kicked up caused a faint pain. Two jets struck the ground, and amidst a dull, booming roar, rubble flew everywhere. The other two hit the water elementals opposite. With a paa sound, water splashed everywhere. The two water giants hit by their companions almost completely fell apart, although they immediately reformed into a solid human shape under the condensation of magic power, their bodies shrank considerably after a bout of rippling. For a water elemental's body, which has no solid form, any cutting or piercing damage from ordinary sharp weapons is ineffective, yet it was this very attack, launched by one of their own, that caused them the most damage.

  But to dodge completely, Ethan had no choice but to let go of Talise in his hand as he rolled. At this moment, Mage Saye's face, which had been laughing loudly, suddenly changed drastically, and he shouted at Orrin, "That girl is really still alive. Kill her first."

  Orrin made his move at the same time as the four water elementals. The two of them had always had good chemistry. The faint yellow light of Battle Qi enveloped his entire body as he charged straight towards Ethan, who was dodging on the ground. But upon hearing Saye's voice, the yellowish figure, like a phantom in a rainy night, turned without the slightest pause or hesitation, swift as could be, and pounced towards the motionless Temple Knight on the ground.

  The long sword, shining with countless magical runes, was about to chop down on Talise's slender neck, but Orrin had to retract his sword. Because at the same time, a faster figure caught up to him from the side, a fist bringing with it the sound of wind like thunder, the white light of Battle Qi like lightning. If he had continued to let his sword fall, this bolt of lightning could have shattered him to pieces, to a pulp. So he had no choice but to retract his sword, turn, and meet this thunderbolt-like strike.

  With a boom, all the raindrops and water droplets within several meters of the two of them were shaken away. The white Battle Qi and the faint yellow Battle Qi, along with the magical runes, entangled and clashed with each other. The more Orrin fought, the more alarmed he became. In truth, whether it was swordsmanship or Battle Qi, he had the upper hand, but the actual situation was that he was at a disadvantage. This was because of fighting spirit and momentum. This opponent used his full strength with almost every single strike, with the momentum of "if you stab me with a sword, I will definitely land a punch or a bite on your body, your hand, or even your sword." It made him feel as if he was not fighting a person, but tearing and biting with a nearly crazed beast.

  But while he was alarmed, he was also half-relieved. A gust of wind doesn't last the whole morning. Such a frantic, all-out attack couldn't be sustained for long, no matter what. Besides, he had a great mage for backup above his head. But he also couldn't help but feel that it was strange and baffling. He didn't expect that the female knight was truly not dead, and even less did he expect that it was only at this moment that Mage Saye reminded him, as if he had suddenly discovered it.

  Since he was fighting alongside a great mage who possessed the Mana Divine Eye, he left the observation of the battlefield to the other party. No matter how sharp the naked eye was, it couldn't be as useful as this top-tier magic specialized for observation. That was why Orrin confidently entrusted all observation and judgment to the court mage, but unexpectedly, this situation still occurred.

  But from the court mage's perspective, this was also helpless. Because when Ethan dodged and slightly loosened his grip on Talise, the Mana Divine Eye immediately displayed the faint life force represented by the Temple Knight's body.

  Before this, there had been absolutely no life reaction from the Temple Knight on the Mana Divine Eye.

  The court mage was very confident in his mastery and use of the Mana Divine Eye. In fact, he truly had the right to be confident. The Mana Divine Eye was not something every mage could use. Unless one specialized in it, no matter how high-level the mage, it was impossible to use. And someone like him, who had specialized to the grandmaster level, was unique on the continent. So he was very confident that if a person showed no life reaction on the Mana Divine Eye, there were only two possibilities. Either the person was truly dead, or they were at the brink of death, just a little better than dead. Their life force had dropped to a level similar to that of a mouse, a frog, or a sparrow.

  However, on that kid's person, the Mana Divine Eye could detect that he was continuously transmitting faint magic power into Talise's body. That faint and direct magic fluctuation, even for a grandmaster-level Mana Divine Eye, could not distinguish whether it was a healing spell to maintain the Temple Knight's life, or a Necromancy that contained a dangerous corpse bomb.

  But as time passed, Saye finally noticed that the opponent's magic power and Battle Qi were both continuously recovering as the standoff dragged on. Although it couldn't compare to the astonishing recovery speed he had when he was lying in the corner earlier, it was still shocking enough. In a short while, he had actually recovered to six or seven-tenths of his strength. Saye then immediately made his judgment: those words were just the opponent's trickery to buy time to recover his strength and then find a way to break out. So he immediately began to command the water elementals to attack. Even if it was the Necromancy trap, it was better to trigger it when he still had six or seven-tenths of his strength than when he had recovered his full magic power. Besides, there was a real possibility that the female knight was not dead. That made it even more imperative to act immediately.

  But he didn't expect that the moment the two separated, the life reaction of the female knight suddenly appeared on the Mana Divine Eye. Only at this moment did Saye finally understand that there was another possibility for a person not to be displayed on the Mana Divine Eye: using Necromancy to neutralize the originally faint life force, causing it not to manifest. Clearly, this person now understood the observational power of the Mana Divine Eye and had used this method to create a false impression to confuse them.

  But now the situation was clear. They knew there couldn't be any Necromancy trap, so the attack could be made without any scruples. Orrin and that kid were already fighting. His target was naturally the heavily unconscious Temple Knight. Following his gesture, the transparent bodies of the four water elements trembled and writhed. The arms, condensed from water, were raised, and a second volley of water arrows was about to be fired.

  Ethan knew that he was temporarily holding the upper hand, and he knew that Orrin must be quite alarmed, but he knew even more that the one in a dire situation was himself. Especially when he saw the four water elements trembling like giant jellies and raising their arms, he became even more certain that the situation had become critical to the extreme.

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  In his original plan, he was thinking of going all out to force Orrin back. But even though he had pushed his Battle Qi, fighting spirit, and momentum to the limit, he still couldn't force him back even half a step. That sword, shining with magical runes, was not only sharp, but it also carried at least three kinds of curses on it. If the surging Battle Qi in his body, like a tsunami or a mountain torrent, hadn't blocked these curse magics, he would have probably fallen long ago.

  But this magic weapon was not the most difficult thing to deal with. The most difficult thing to deal with was this number-one swordsman of Erathia. Ethan was certain that even without a sneak attack, even in a direct confrontation, Talise would never be his match. If Orrin hadn't already harbored the intention of just stalling him, he could have even held his own against Ethan's full-force attack. Although that long sword was not as earth-shattering and irresistible as Lancelot's or Gru's attacks, it was dense, long, yet tenacious everywhere, sharp, and incredibly keen, like a spiderweb woven from swords. No matter how one attacked, it was impossible to repel or break it; instead, one would get stuck and be injured by its sharpness.

  But now, no matter what, he had to break free from this sword web, because he had to protect the Temple Knight on the ground. It wasn't just because she would be an excellent weapon to drive a wedge between Erathia and Celeste. More importantly, she was now also an important bargaining chip for Ethan's escape.

  Ethan roared, and a fist forcefully broke through this sword web, pushing aside the warp and weft formed by the countless sword points around him. At the same time, this arm that had plunged deep into the sword web gained at least a dozen more wounds. Three pieces of flesh from his shoulder flew into the air, almost taking the entire shoulder with them. If it hadn't been infused with Battle Qi, this arm would have long been twisted into a pulp. At the same time, he also had to use all his Battle Qi to resist and dissolve the three curses attached to the sword: Slow, Weaken, and Armor Piercing. Although it was so difficult, this fist that broke through the sword web finally landed on Orrin's body.

  But this punch, which had been achieved through such hardship, did not cause much damage. The magical runes on Orrin's leather armor suddenly gathered together, blocking it just in front of Ethan's fist. So this strike, which could have shattered a stone statue with one punch, only made Orrin stagger back.

  But even this retreat was enough for Ethan. He took the opportunity to leap towards Talise on the ground. But at this moment, four jets of water, far more powerful than the last, had already sprayed out from the hands of the four water elementals.

  They were just four jets of water, as thick as arms, but they emitted a tremendous sound like a waterfall plunging down or a tsunami approaching. Even the surrounding air and raindrops were pushed away by the immense wind pressure. Even the bodies of the four water elements shrank by a circle from unleashing this strike. This was an all-out attack from these elemental creatures. Although it was just water, even with the defensive power of the Radiant Battleplate, it would absolutely be unable to withstand the combined force of these four powerful jets. Besides, two of the water elementals were aiming for the Temple Knight's head, and even an elephant's head would instantly scatter like a puddle of water under the impact of these jets.

  Although Ethan had already jumped to Talise's side, no matter how fast his movements were, it was too late to pick up the female knight and dodge together. This time, the angles of the four water elementals' attack were coordinated perfectly. No matter how he rolled and dodged, it was impossible to evade.

  Mage Saye was first startled, surprised that Ethan could actually force Orrin back. Then, seeing him actually pounce towards Talise's side, he was pleasantly surprised. In truth, after he discovered the female knight was still alive, he already understood that the priority now was the female knight's life. Since that kid had been hiding her life force, it meant he must have had a plan. Now, as long as he could kill her for sure, this assassin who killed Archbishop Eschol could even be ignored. But he didn't expect this guy to not take the opportunity to escape, but instead jump to the female knight's side. This was killing two birds with one stone. He was very confident in the all-out attack from his water elementals. Even with Battle Qi, it was absolutely impossible for the opponent to resist with his bare hands.

  Sure enough, the four jets of water, fierce and powerful and not at all like water, converged and struck the target, letting out a dull sound like a battering ram hitting a city gate. The splashing water smashed countless small dots on the surrounding walls like darts, and even Orrin, who was standing relatively close, had to retreat to dodge.

  But after the water splashes dissipated, the figures of the two people in the middle were not, as Saye had expected, smashed into a pulp and scattered like two tomatoes. Not only did that not happen, but they were completely unharmed. A milky-white, light-like substance turned into specks of white light and, along with the water splashes, disappeared around the two of them.

  "The Divine Aegis shield?" Saye and Orrin were both dumbfounded. What they were surprised by was not the magic itself, but the fact that this unique defensive magic, attached to the Radiant Battleplate, was not activated by the Temple Knight, but by Ethan.

  Ethan let out a long sigh. Although after he picked up Talise, he used the keen sense of touch from his meditation technique to clearly feel out the magical structure on the Radiant Battleplate, he himself wasn't sure if he could really activate this protective magic, which was originally prepared for the wearer of the Radiant Battleplate.

  The powerful combat strength of a Temple Knight was not just in the individual, but that set of magical equipment, unimaginable to ordinary people, was the strongest. And the reason Ethan snatched Talise the first moment he jumped out was to use her as a "weapon." A Temple Knight's corpse transformed into a living corpse, with its mutated combat power in the few short minutes while it burned its remaining life force, combined with the Radiant Battleplate, would be enough to be compared to a Behemoth.

  But the magic to control the corpse failed, and only then did Ethan discover that Talise was not truly dead. But he had no intention of adding another blow to kill her and turn her into a corpse. A living knight who could cause a split between Erathia and the Church was far more useful than a dead zombie.

  As for the question of how to escape, Ethan wasn't worried. Although he didn't have the Temple Knight's corpse to help, there should be other things. When he grabbed Talise, it was just a casual search, and he immediately confirmed his guess. The Divine Aegis shield was one of them.

  "The Divine Aegis shield only has one use." Orrin shouted in a deep voice. Archmage Saye immediately came to his senses. A Thunder Frost light condensed in his fingers, and the four water elementals immediately began to writhe again.

  But at this moment, an incomparably intense light erupted from the darkness. A small, crystal triangle appeared in Ethan's palm, emitting a light of substance towards the surroundings. This light passed through countless raindrops, scattering and refracting, completely submerging the figures of him and the Temple Knight. It was as if a small sun had appeared in this corner of the royal city. The originally pitch-black rainy night, under the illumination of this light, became like noon under the setting sun.

  Saye instinctively covered his eyes. He could see that this was a high-level white magic, Mirror Light, stored in a magical item. This kind of magic should normally be used in a narrow, indoor space, relying on the intense light to burn a large number of enemies at close range. Using it in this situation now, it was impossible to burn anyone, but to suddenly stare directly at such a light in the darkness, even if it was just for an instant before closing one's eyes and raising a hand to shield them, was enough to temporarily blind a person for a good while.

  Although he couldn't see anything himself, Saye was not panicked in the slightest. This kind of method could, at most, deceive the eyes of "people," but it was impossible for it to have the slightest effect on his Mana Divine Eye. Although his own eyes were closed, the huge eyeball above his head had been constantly watching the figures that had already been submerged by this light.

  In the blink of an eye after the white light flared, he immediately "saw" abundant magic power instantly generate in Ethan's hand, condense, and store up power, as if a volcano had appeared on Ethan's hand in that blink of an eye. Within it, the chaotic, scorching, and violent magma was boiling, about to burst forth and break through the air.

  Almost without needing to use the Mana Divine Eye to distinguish, just with the instinctive feeling of a mage, Archmage Saye knew this was a fire-type magic fluctuation. And to be able to emit such a strong fire-type fluctuation in this torrential downpour, an environment almost saturated with the water element, what this magic was was beyond doubt.

  "Orrin, get out of the way!" the court mage roared. Only then did he realize that this seemingly useless Mirror Light was not meant to blind his eyes, but Orrin's.

  Although he had already shouted a warning, although the time it took for him to detect, realize, and shout added up to no more than two blinks of an eye, in a life-and-death situation like this, two blinks of an eye were usually enough for a person to die twenty times.

  If the ball of light just now was like the sudden appearance of a sun, then now, a sun had truly appeared. Because in addition to the still unparalleled brightness, there was also unparalleled heat.

  An incomparably dazzling orb of light shot out from the scope of the Mirror Light, rushing towards Orrin with the momentum and sound of a thousand troops and ten thousand horses, a mountain call and a sea tsunami. This orb of light was not the holy, dazzling white magic. It originally had no momentum or sound of wind. All of this came from its own temperature.

  Because it was hot to the extreme, it was also bright to the extreme. Its own heat instantly vaporized all the raindrops and moisture within a ten-meter radius, turning into an explosive air wave that rumbled and rolled violently, pouncing towards the now seemingly tiny yellowish figure in front.