“Ivan Marichardon, you killed my son Dorando; today, a life for a life,” Oz Trollope said with intense hatred as he stared at him.
If looks could kill, Ivan would have been riddled with a thousand holes by now.
“My life is right here; come and get it if you dare.” While his adversary was still in midair, a sky full of ashy green flames appeared at Ivan’s command, barring Trollope’s advance.
The Candle Flame Spell, as his second solidified witchcraft, had fast casting speed, nearly instantaneous, and consumed very little energy.
Using the Candle Flame Spell to block the enemy was more than appropriate at the moment.
“Zizz.”
Trollope also launched an attack. The power of lightning bypassed the ashy green flames and struck straight at Ivan himself.
This was undoubtedly a battle strategy of exchanging wound for wound.
The ashy green flames were blocked by the defensive formation created by Trollope’s first solidified witchcraft, preventing any progress; on Ivan’s side, apart from the ‘Flower Tree Shield,’ he also produced the Black Magic Wind Fire Pearl.
“Trollope has been a Level 2 Sorcerer for only thirty or so years, but his power is not to be underestimated,” Ivan thought to himself, as the Black Magic Wind Fire Pearls turned into copper spheres floating around him.
The Black Magic Wind Fire surged up, dispelling some of the might of the lightning, thus ensuring the stability of the Flower Tree Shield.
“Die!” Seeing his enemy weakened, Trollope’s eyes turned blood-red. Abandoning the slow-moving flying beast beneath him, he dove forward like a falling rock, determined to close in on his enemy in one fell swoop.
In his view, the enemy had only recently become a Level 2 Sorcerer, surely lacking in techniques compared to a seasoned sorcerer like himself—an opportune moment for vengeance.
“Courting death!”
With the enemy acting so recklessly, Ivan’s gaze turned even colder.
The next moment, a large torrent of Black Magic Wind Fire poured out from the copper spheres, gathering together en masse to form magic-casting materials.
Making use of the power of the Formation set by the Black Magic Wind Fire Pearls, Ivan employed his usual tactics, having developed his Black Magic Hand to Level 2.
This was his current strongest strike; the enormous hand created was now larger than the Small Bronze Square behind him, a sight that demanded attention.
“Not good, I underestimated him.”
Faced with the oncoming giant hand, Trollope realized he was in trouble.
In face of the deadly crisis, he didn’t dare to delay, frantically launching his Lightning-type magic at it, clashing with the giant hand above the square, creating a thunderous noise.
But what he didn’t know was that the Black Magic Hand was exceptionally adept at countering magic, causing his attack to melt away like snow in the sun.
With no other choice, he activated a high-level defensive magicalized item.
After the giant hand struck, Trollope, finding no foothold in midair, was immediately sent flying back.
Adding fuel to his rage was that Ivan’s two pet beasts had sneakily bypassed him, taking the opportunity to kill his flying beast, leaving him with nowhere to land and falling helplessly back into the dark clouds.
In an instant, Trollope had vanished from sight.
Victorious, the swamp ant and the Silkworm Queen soon returned.
“You two did beautifully,” Ivan praised without stinginess.
“Hehe, just a Level 2 creature, not worth mentioning,” the Silkworm Queen said with ease, not forgetting the swamp ant in her response: “Right, Big Black One?”
“Mhm, what a pity the sorcerer got away too quickly,” the swamp ant said with a hint of regret.
“Indeed, it’s a pity, Sorcerer Doug has already snatched him away,” Ivan said as he gazed into the black clouds for a few seconds before shaking his head and recalling the floating Black Magic Wind Fire Pearls surrounding him.
As his most effective method, he had worked hard on all aspects of the Black Magic Hand, and its combat power was far ahead of his own actual strength level. That was the basis of his confidence in confronting Trollope.
However, the opponent was too careless and was knocked away in two rounds, then got tangled up by Doug.
“Sorcerer Ivan, no time for sentiments here. We’re still waiting for you to take charge,” Solomon reminded loudly, his face turning somewhat dark. When had he, Solomon, turned into a menial worker?
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“Sorcerer Solomon, you really are reliable.”
“Reliable or not, I won’t allow this next time. Who leaves half-way through an adjustment?”
Amidst Solomon’s muttering, Ivan returned to his original post, continuing to refine the layout within the Shadow Sphere, making it steadily shrink and become more stable.
Outside the Small Bronze Square, taking advantage of the special current circumstances, Doug defeated his powerful enemy amidst dark smoke clouds where explosions and screams erupted intermittently. The battle quickly came to an end.
As the roars of lions and tigers echoed, the dark smoke clouds gradually settled and transformed back into the Black Water Lake.
On the surface of the lake, only Doug and the Shadow Tigon remained.
All the others were gone without a trace, as if swallowed by the lake, even the signs of battle thoroughly erased, appearing no different from before.
“How did it go?” Solomon asked, turning his head.
“All are executed,” Doug answered with a tired expression.
This battle, due to the special environment created by the Shadow Power and the unique aspects of the Shadow Tigon, did indeed give him an advantage.
Still, his ability to fight against six and kill all six demonstrated the potency of his strength.
“Impressive.”
Ivan understood that in a real battle, he might not be able to kill Trollope, and recognizing someone could take on six adversaries, he deeply acknowledged the gap between the strength of him and the two men.
Perhaps this was also the gap between him and the Third Leaf members.
“It’s nothing. Most of the Third Leaf members could do the same.” Doug’s next words confirmed his guess: “Sorcerer Ivan, Black Reef Sanctuary is unlikely to become significant now. You wouldn’t mind if I lead my men in cleaning it up, would you?”
“What do you mean by ‘cleaning up’?” Ivan asked, his brow furrowing imperceptibly.
“You might not know, but Black Reef Sanctuary was infiltrated by the Sea Race long ago. The families in power there all have the Sea Race’s bloodline, like the two Level 2 Sorcerers who came to attack this time.
They’ve always been in cahoots with the Sea Race. If it hadn’t been for the decline of the Sea Race, the Flash Vortex Alliance would probably have been overrun by them long ago.
I know they’ve always wanted to use the Star Moon Alliance, but little did they know that we’ve been keeping an eye on them, planning to purge the Black Reef Sanctuary,” Doug revealed a secret.
Ivan was momentarily taken aback, convinced there was no reason for the other to deceive him.
“After this incident, I plan to take over the Black Reef Sanctuary and use it as a base for the Star Moon Alliance. As for the rest, I won’t cause a stir if there aren’t some who refuse to see reason,” Doug continued.
His main target was the Child of Shadow, which he had achieved, so naturally, he didn’t wish to linger on the Moon Pincer Peninsula.
Before leaving, he surely had to handle the affairs of the Star Moon Alliance properly; he would only take some people with him, and the rest could be settled in the doomed Black Reef Sanctuary.
“Do as you wish. There’s no need to ask me about this.”
Ivan had no intention of meddling. After all, the Moon Pincer Peninsula was too barren for it to be worth involving himself in any dispute.
In the time that followed, without any disturbances, Ivan accelerated the adjustment of the runes lines.
In the blink of an eye, another two days passed, and he had finally dealt with everything; he successfully merged the Shadow Sphere with the Small Bronze Square, successfully replacing the original role of the Shadow Tigon.