211: Chapter 212 What kind of mage can't cast spells?

Night Elf Seraphina, clad in form-fitting leather armor that accentuated her agile figure, her pointed ears twitched slightly. Her pale purple eyes reflected the more than twenty sculptures around her, emitting a soft golden light, and her small mouth was slightly agape in surprise. Her gaze was particularly drawn to the seven enormous, distinct twin-winged giant dragons.

In her homeland, in the ancient legends and ballads of the Night Elves, dragons were powerful creatures that soared through the skies, controlled the elements, and commanded the awe of all living beings, symbols of power and mystery. She had never imagined that the first time she would see a legendary dragon with her own eyes would be in such a scene—they were like the most exquisite works of art, frozen in brilliant golden light. Their claws, capable of tearing mountains, their mouths, capable of spewing destructive dragon breath, and their wings, capable of covering the sky, were all now in absolute stillness, an eerie quality within their majesty.

"So... so big..." Seraphina unconsciously murmured, then realized her impropriety, her fair cheeks flushing slightly, but the shock in her eyes remained undiminished. She looked at Lin Muyang, who stood at the very front, his back tall and composed, and an indescribable emotion surged within her. She had long known that her master was extraordinary, possessing inconceivable power. But only at this moment, seeing with her own eyes that even legendary dragons were easily frozen by him like toys, did she more intuitively feel the terrifying, almost rule-like power contained within those seemingly simple Auras that her master wielded.

"It seems some ignorant fools have disturbed Master's tranquility." The Vampire Alice elegantly brushed her waterfall-like silver hair, her blood-red eyes sweeping over the golden sculptures around them, finally settling on Slake, the only one still able to move, his face an extreme picture of ugliness.

Her red lips curled slightly, revealing a smile tinged with mockery and playfulness. The smile was breathtakingly beautiful, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness. After a brief "vacation" in Jingdu City, she had a clearer understanding of Blue Star's power system. This blond man's Aura was not weak, and he could be considered a top-tier existence among Blue Star humans. But that was all. Under the unreasonable Aura of their Master, any one of them had the strength to crush this person alone, let alone now that it was a group assault?

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Su Daji, with bare feet lightly touching the void, wore a half-smile on her exquisite face, and her nine fluffy, soft fox tails gently swayed behind her, each movement seemingly tugging at invisible threads of fate. She did not pay much attention to the frozen sculptures, her gaze lingering more on Lin Muyang, her eyes conveying an indescribable depth of meaning. She seemed to have little interest in this seemingly lopsided confrontation, as if everything was already within her expectations.

Together with Elf Princess Lilia, Succubus Elabess, and Yama Gui Wanwan, who were already present, these maidens, each with a distinct temperament yet possessing world-shattering beauty and terrifying strength, now surrounded Lin Muyang like stars orbiting the moon. Their gazes, whether curious, scrutinizing, indifferent, or eager, all converged on the lone, pale-faced Slake, carrying a shared sense of "you're finished" pity.

Being stared at by so many beautiful maidens of such caliber simultaneously, Slake felt no hint of romance, only a chill shooting straight up his spine to the back of his head, his scalp tingling.

"Damn it! What in the world is going on?!" Slake roared internally. He was the renowned Thunder Archmage of the Jia Mei Empire, a Level 255 top-tier expert, a destroyer who wielded thunder and arcane arts, adorned with mythic grade skills and equipment. Wherever he went, wasn't he revered? Even when facing a Nation-Guarding Level Expert of the same rank, he had the confidence to fight and even win.

But today, in this eerie dark space, all his pride, all his confidence, had been shattered by this overly young, pitifully low-level boy from Xia Kingdom, and this group of suddenly appearing, impossibly beautiful yet extremely dangerous maidens.

First, there was that unreasonable group "Time Stop," which turned all his companions and summoned dragons into ridiculous golden sculptures. Then, there was this absurdly numerous and high-quality army of summons that appeared out of nowhere! This had completely defied the limits of his understanding of the Summoner profession!

Even the top-tier Summoner, Hansa Bami, being able to simultaneously summon and maintain seven pure-blood dragons in battle was already astonishing and required a huge price. But this Lin Muyang, with a casual wave, summoned nine! Moreover, the energy fluctuations and rule-like essence emanating from each of them made his heart pound with fear, absolutely no less than any of Hansa Bami's main dragons, and perhaps even surpassing them!

"Calm down! Slake, calm down!" He forcefully suppressed the surging waves in his heart, trying to analyze the situation. "Although his summons are numerous and strong, control skills always have a time limit! Hansa and the others could break free at any moment! What I need to do now is hold on! Just hold on until the control ends, or find a way to take down this Summoner himself first!"

Catch the thief, catch the king—this is an immutable truth. As long as Lin Muyang can be killed or severely injured, no matter how strong these summons are, they will vanish!

With this thought, a fierce glint flashed in Slake's eyes. He no longer hesitated, and the vast, ocean-like magic power within him erupted, attempting to cast his most adept and powerful instant spells, to directly blast Lin Muyang, who was "protected" among the maidens, with the force of a thunderbolt!

"Thunder of..." His mind moved, trying to guide the violent thunder elements within him to release a simplified version of his most proud thunder-element forbidden spell, [Thunder Annihilation]. With his Level 255 and profound understanding of the laws of thunder, this simplified forbidden spell was enough to unleash city-destroying power in an instant. He was confident that even if Lin Muyang had peculiar defensive means, he would definitely not fare well under this attack!

However, just as the incantation was about to leave his lips, he was horrified to discover that the magic power within him, which was originally as easily manipulated as an arm and surging like a torrent, was now like being trapped in the stickiest mud, operating extremely sluggishly! Not just his magic power, he felt his body also become unusually heavy, as if tons of shackles were added with every move, each action several times slower than usual! What was even more terrifying was that his connection with the external elements became weak and sluggish, as if an invisible membrane separated him from the magic elements between heaven and earth!

"Silence? Slowdown? And attribute reduction?!" Slake instantly identified the abnormal statuses on him, his face becoming extremely grim. He had encountered opponents with control skills like silence and slowdown before, but those skills either had weak effects, lasted for a very short time, or were easily resisted and dispelled by high-level magic resistance, Super Armor skills, or special items.

But the negative statuses Lin Muyang imposed on him were incredibly strong! The slowdown effect made him feel like he was moving in mercury; the attribute reduction made him feel as if he had suddenly gone from his prime to old age, with most of his strength drained; the most crucial was the silence effect, which almost completely severed his link with his skills, leaving him with vast magic power but unable to use it, like a dam with its floodgates blocked!

"This is impossible! My magic resistance is as high as 85%, and I have three mythic grade accessories that add advanced magic resistance, unwavering will, and elemental affinity effects. Even a Nation-Guarding Level Expert's control skills shouldn't be able to suppress me to this extent!" Slake was horrified, but he was, after all, a battle-hardened top-tier Archmage, and he instantly made the most correct decision.

"I can't just endure this! I must first remove these damned negative statuses!"

Without hesitation, and even with a hint of pain, he retrieved a magic scroll from the deepest part of his storage space, which emitted a soft, sacred glow, as if condensed from the purest light elements. Golden, complex, and profound magic patterns flowed across the scroll's surface, and a warm, purifying, supreme Aura permeated the air.

mythic grade one-time magic scroll—[Heavens Gift]!

This was a life-saving divine item that the Jia Mei Empire's Royal Magic Workshop had poured all its national resources into, consuming countless rare materials, including core materials from several Mythical-grade Demonic Creatures, and could only be created by several God-tier Scroll Masters working together! Its value was comparable to an ordinary mythic grade equipment! Even with Slake's identity and status, he only possessed three such scrolls, each one practically a second life!

"Heavens Gift, activate!"

Slake roared, unhesitatingly tearing open this incredibly precious mythic scroll.

Buzz—!

Blinding yet not harsh pure white holy light descended like a waterfall, completely enveloping Slake. Within the holy light, countless tiny angelic phantoms seemed to be circling and chanting, as sacred, warm, and purifying power cleansed his entire body.

At this moment, Slake felt as if he was immersed in the purest holy spring. The mountain-like slowness, the weakening attribute reduction, and the silence that blocked his magic and skill links, all began to rapidly melt and dissipate like ice and snow under the sun!

"As expected of [Heavens Gift]!" Slake's heart filled with joy, feeling his strength return to his body and his magic flow unimpeded once more. That feeling of controlling everything returned somewhat. He believed that under this "Divine Protection" state, which lasted for 12 seconds, he would be immune to all negative effects and return to his peak!

However, his smile lasted less than half a second before it abruptly froze on his face.

Because his anticipated "complete purification and return to peak" did not occur!

The heavy, shackling sense of slowness was indeed greatly weakened, but it had not completely disappeared! He felt his movements were still far, far slower than normal. If before it was like moving in mercury, now it was like trudging through a thick swamp, at least 70% slowed!

The despair-inducing attribute reduction was also not dispelled; its effect was merely lessened. He estimated that his overall attributes were still suppressed and weakened by over 70%!

What he found most unacceptable was the "silence" effect! The purifying power of [Heavens Gift] seemed to have a fierce conflict and cancellation with that invisible silent power. Ultimately, the silence effect was not completely removed, but rather turned into an extremely nasty and unstable "probabilistic silence"! He felt that the link between himself and his skills became intermittent and extremely unstable, as if it could completely break at any moment!

"This... how is this possible?!" The color instantly drained from Slake's face, his pupils constricting to pinpricks from extreme shock and an uncontrollable trace of fear. His fingers, gripping his staff, turned white from excessive force.

[Heavens Gift]! This was a mythic grade purification and Super Armor scroll! Theoretically, unless it involved rule-level negative effects of the same or even higher tier, it should absolutely completely dispel and grant immunity for a period of time! He had once used this scroll to calmly escape from another Nation-Guarding Level Expert renowned for curses and control; their curses had melted away like ice and snow after he activated [Heavens Gift], having no effect whatsoever.

But today, facing Lin Muyang's inexplicable suppression, [Heavens Gift] actually... mostly failed? No, it wasn't a failure, but rather an inability to completely dispel, only able to greatly weaken and partially resist?!

What kind of control ability was this? Could it be that this Lin Muyang wielded a legendary... rule-level ability, even more advanced than mythic grade skills? No, impossible! What level was he? How could he possibly touch upon rules?

Slake screamed internally, his worldview suffering an unprecedented impact. One of his proudest and most relied-upon trump cards was actually so powerless before the opponent's seemingly unremarkable "Aura," which didn't even have much energy fluctuation?

"No! I don't believe it!"

After the extreme shock came even more frantic stubbornness and rage. Slake could not accept that he, the dignified Level 255 Thunder Archmage, a top combat force of the Jia Mei Empire, would be defeated by a mere youngster's inexplicable "Aura"! He attributed all this to a possible "flaw" in the [Heavens Gift] scroll, or that Lin Muyang had used some unknown "trick" specifically designed to counter purification effects.

"Break for me!"

He roared, no longer dwelling on the negative statuses, but instead poured all his focus into forcefully casting spells! Since the skill link was unstable, he would overwhelm it with sheer quantity! He would use his most violent magic power to impact that damned "probabilistic silence"!

"Thunder Spear!" "Arcane Torrent!" "Elemental Storm!" "Blazing Meteor!"...

One powerful, at least S-grade, top-tier magic spell after another, driven by his frantic will, tried to break free from the invisible shackles and erupt! For a moment, Slake's body surged with lightning, arcane energy pulsed, and elemental phantoms of fire and storm wildly condensed, making him appear like an enraged Elemental God!

However, what responded to him was a continuous, despair-inducing sense of backlash from "skill cast failed."

The lightning glow had just appeared before it abruptly extinguished, as if the power had been cut.

The Arcane Torrent dissipated into chaotic energy Turbulence before it even fully formed.

The phantom of the Elemental Storm twisted a few times, then unwillingly vanished.

The Blazing Meteor didn't even produce a spark...

He was like a clumsy magician, desperately waving his arms on stage, yet unable to perform even the simplest trick. Only the constant turbulence and backlash of magic power within him, caused by failed spellcasting, reminded him how real and cruel all of this was.