Chapter 117: Powerful Tier 4 Spell!

Chapter 117: The Might of a Fourth-Tier Spell!

Alan released his mental energy, sweeping it across Levi.

Levi felt the wave of mental prowess wash over him and grew tense, fearing recognition.

Alan discovered his mental probe was blocked, unable to pierce through to see the man's true visage.

Had he forced his way through, it was not beyond the capabilities of his formidable mind.

Yet, to do so would undoubtedly be an act of provocation.

Were it an enemy, he would naturally have no such misgivings.

But the figure before him was of unknown allegiance, neither explicitly friend nor foe.

Alan deemed it unwise to pry indiscriminately.

Seeing Alan halt without further reaction, Levi let out a quiet breath of relief; it seemed Alan had not recognized him.

Levi also understood that his illusion magic held little sway before a man of Alan's caliber.

Cloaked entirely in his robes, his features remained obscured from view.

Levi glanced at Alan and spoke, "Greetings, Grand Mage Alan."

An expression of surprise crossed Alan's face. "Who are you? You know me?"

Levi replied, "I am Timon, a summoner traveling the world."

"The mages of Maple Leaf City mentioned that Grand Mage Alan would come to reinforce them. I presume you are the Grand Mage they spoke of?"

"I have long heard of your great renown. It is an honor to meet you, and I pray the Grand Mage will overlook any unintended discourtesy on this first meeting."

Alan cast a measuring look at Levi and said, "Welcome to Maple Leaf City."

"I have matters to attend to, so rest well. I shall take my leave."

Alan walked past Levi.

Once he had distanced himself, he cast a backward glance.

Finding Levi still seated in the same spot, drinking water and eating his rations, Alan's mind was set at ease.

Arriving at the military camp, Alan met Guz and the others.

Sweeping his gaze over the assembly, Alan inquired, "Where is Wylde?"

Vince stepped forward and said, "Wylde was blasted away by the Ant King in the previous battle, falling into the swarm. His fate remains unknown, and we have lost all contact with him."

"If he still draws breath, he should still be within the subterranean mines."

Upon hearing this, Alan sensed the brewing trouble.

Wylde could not be allowed to die.

Wylde was the representative dispatched by the great noble houses of Eternal Night City.

Even if death were inevitable, he could not perish here.

He served as the vital bridge between the aristocracy of Eternal Night City and that of Maple Leaf City.

Wylde's noble lineage was far more critical than his status as a Second-Ring Mage.

At least, such was the case for the current Maple Leaf City.

Alan made a swift decision, commanding, "Assemble all combat-ready professionals. We go to find Wylde."

Blade stood to the side and remarked, "Your Eminence Grand Mage, the mine entrance is currently overrun by Iron-Eating Ants. Even if we possess the will to search, we have no means to enter the mines."

He was quite reluctant to descend into the depths once more.

At the very least, not at this moment.

The successive battles had left him without even a moment to catch his breath.

From dawn until now, his battle aura had not once fully replenished.

Alan responded, "Leave the Iron-Eating Ants to me. Prepare yourselves to find the man."

Blade wished to decline, yet faced with Alan, the words died in his throat.

Whether it was the sheer might of a Grand Mage or his position as the Chief Mentor of the Mage Instruction Corps, it was something Blade could not refuse.

Unless, of course, he no longer wished to survive in Maple Leaf City.

In the world of the transcendent, strength reigned supreme.

The words of the powerful were the law itself.

Alan strode toward the ant swarm, and the crowd turned their eyes upon him, expressions of curiosity coming to the fore.

They wished to see how a single mage would resolve a swarm of such magnitude.

At present, at least a thousand Iron-Eating Ants wallowed around the mine entrance.

Among them were no small number of First-Tier and Second-Tier variants.

Alan raised his staff and began to chant.

The crystal atop the staff erupted in a magical radiance, drawing the elemental forces of heaven and earth to converge upon the spot.

The violent magical fluctuations triggered an agitation within the ant colony.

The Iron-Eating Ants scoured the area, seeking the source of the disturbance.

A minute later, Alan's incantation reached its completion.

"Fourth-Tier Spell! Sandstorm Tornado!" Whir! Whir!

The winds began to rise between heaven and earth, and in the blink of an eye, the breeze escalated into a tempest of catastrophic proportions.

Vast sheets of sand and dust materialized, whipped violently into the raging gale.

Gradually, they coalesced into a colossal sandstorm tornado that pierced the very heavens.

Howl! Howl! Rustle! Rustle!

Under Alan's absolute control, the sandstorm tornado ground its way toward the ant swarm.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

Legions of Iron-Eating Ants were hoisted into the air by the ferocious winds, sucked directly into the vortex of the sandstorm.

Clatter! Clatter!

The magical grit generated a terrifying friction, acting like a myriad of diamonds to shred every living creature trapped within the tempest.

Even the Iron-Eating Ants, whose bodies were as rigid as metal and stone, fared no better once drawn into the vortex.

Within moments, their forms were torn to ribbons.

They became one with the sandstorm tornado itself.

The crowd was blinded by the gale and the stinging sand, unable to open their eyes.

Yet every single soul strained to peer through the blinding dust, desperate to witness the staggering spectacle unfolding before them.

Tat-tat-tat!

The sandstorm tornado swallowed more and more iron-eating ants, its yellow funnel gradually stained a deep, morbid black.

Minutes later, the tempest dissipated, raining down a sky of severed limbs and broken carapaces.

Looking across the camp, the surviving iron-eating ants could be counted on one's fingers.

Gulp.

Braid swallowed hard, his throat tight with dread.

He wondered if he would have survived had he been caught in that swirling vortex.

The answer was bleak.

Even the second-order iron-eating ants had been torn to shreds by the sandstorm.

His own defenses were not much stronger than theirs.

Against magic of this scale, the hardest armor on his body was utterly useless.

Allen lowered his staff and said, "Alright, go quickly and find Wild."

This time, Braid did not refuse.

Nor did anyone else dare defy Allen's words.

The crowd gathered their things and hurried toward the mine entrance.

Walking through the camp littered with the remnants of the iron-eating ants, the horror of the sandstorm became even clearer.

Among the carpet of corpses, hardly a single piece remained whole.

Everything had been ripped to fragments by the raging winds.

The few ants fortunate enough to survive lay mutilated on the ground, their limbs torn away by the storm, clinging to a miserable, dying breath.

Allen looked at Gu Ze and the few others passing beside him, suddenly asking, "Do you know a summoner named Teemo?"

Gu Ze and Rota stopped in their tracks, turning to face him, "We do."

Allen stared at Gu Ze.

Gu Ze hurriedly explained, "He arrived yesterday afternoon, and he even fought shoulder-to-shoulder with us today against the iron-eating ants."

"His summoned beast is a golden anteater, which happens to counter the iron-eating ants perfectly."

Hearing this, Allen nodded, "Mhm, I understand."

Seeing this, Gu Ze said, "Lord Allen, if there is nothing else, we shall take our leave."

"Go on."

Once Allen knew that Levi had not lied to him, he put the matter out of his mind.

He was far more concerned about where the Ant King had gone.

Allen tracked down Raina, who was in charge of the iron-eating ant clearing operations at the Kovada Mine.

"I heard you lured the Ant King away earlier, where is it now?" Allen inquired.

Raina bowed respectfully and said, "Archmage Allen."

"After I drew the Ant King away, I encountered a mysterious, powerful mage who killed the Ant King and took the corpse."

Allen asked in bewilderment, "A mysterious, powerful mage?"

Raina replied, "He could fly, severely wounding the Ant King with a single blow, and then flew away with the heavily injured creature."

A look of surprise crossed Allen's face.

"How did he fly? Wings of the Wind Sprite?"

Raina shook her head, "I did not see any Wings of the Wind Sprite. There was nothing around him at the time, he just floated directly in the sky."

Allen was left utterly confused, having never heard of such a spell.

He turned his questioning around, "What kind of spell did he use to wound the Ant King so heavily?"

(End of Chapter)