"Well done!"
The Black Duke couldn't help but cheer as he watched the scene unfold in the distance.
"That guy really had a backup plan!"
The Red Widow smiled, but then furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Why haven't we seen the Deathbell Beetles use this ability before?"
If the Deathbell Beetles had used such self-destructive attacks in past insect disasters, their city-states wouldn't have lasted this long.
The Black Duke was puzzled as well but quickly dismissed it with a cold laugh.
"Who cares? This puts Lake U City and Kasham back on equal footing. If this continues, they'll both suffer heavy losses, and it'll be our turn to clean up the mess."
The Red Widow agreed. The Deathbell Beetles' newfound capability was undoubtedly good news for them.
It's the wizard of Lake U City who should be worried.
On the city wall, Karolaina watched as golems fell one after another to the Deathbell Beetles' suicide attacks, her expression growing increasingly grim.
In just a few breaths, more than half of the stone golems were destroyed.
Even an elite stone golem was slowly being dismantled by the relentless beetles, a terrifying sight.
Yet when she turned, she found Sunan still calm, as if this situation was within his expectations.
"Buzz!"
A thunderous sound suddenly echoed through the air.
It came from the elite Twin-Blade Spider, which opened its mouth wide to emit a massive soundwave that visibly distorted the air, hitting the swarm and exploding violently.
In an instant, over twenty Deathbell Beetles were shredded before they could react!
Karolaina was momentarily stunned.
The Red Widow and Black Duke, hidden in the shadows, were equally shocked.
This golem could perform the same sonic attacks as the Deathbell Beetles?
Before they could recover from their shock, the elite Twin-Blade Spider charged into the swarm, its sharp limbs reaping lives with each swing, occasionally unleashing soundwave blasts that created gaps in the dense swarm.
The Deathbell Beetles' self-destructive attacks only caused the elite Twin-Blade Spider to pause momentarily, leaving its body unharmed.
Sunan nodded in approval.
With the dual reinforcement of the [Black Steel] enchantment and [Tenacity], the elite Twin-Blade Spider's body was incredibly resilient.
Though the Deathbell Beetles' self-destructive attacks packed a punch, they couldn't harm the elite Twin-Blade Spider.
At that moment, a roar echoed from across the lake.
Hearing it, Sunan's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Found you."
The instant the words left his mouth, Sunan floated into the air, swiftly flying towards the sound's source, leaving Karolaina puzzled and bewildered.
As he flew over the battlefield, some Deathbell Beetles attempted to attack him, only to be swiftly dispatched by his lightning and fire spells.
With alternating bursts of lightning and fire, Sunan carved a path through the swarm, reaching the opposite shore in no time.
Hovering in mid-air, Sunan looked down to see a chaotic swarm with the Hidden Dragon weaving through it, ferociously pursuing a figure in a gray robe.
Spotting the gray-robed figure, Sunan raised an eyebrow.
"So it is you!"
"Ugo!"
The gray-robed figure heavily guarded by the swarm was none other than Ugo, whom Sunan had seen at the Spark Church headquarters.
Sunan had suspected as much.
Building a force of Kasham's caliber would require a third-level wizard apprentice.
And third-level wizard apprentices capable of controlling large insect swarms were rare, so when he deduced a third-level apprentice behind Kasham, Ugo from the Immortal Society came to mind.
The facts confirmed his suspicion.
Seeing Sunan, Ugo's expression darkened, murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
Upon learning that Lake U City had a new lord, and finding out it was Sunan, Ugo planned to use this opportunity to eliminate him and reclaim the divine remains. He even abandoned years of waiting for the right moment, allying with Matu and Osen to ensure success.
Yet the strength Lake U City revealed was beyond expectation, and those two traitors, the Red Widow and Black Duke, had left him in the lurch.
"Damned undead, never to be trusted!"
Ugo cursed inwardly, dodging the Hidden Dragon's sudden claw swipe from behind, feeling vexed.
Sunan's pet, with both intangibility and invisibility, was a nuisance. If not for his alertness, he might have been ambushed, though it did expose his position.
"Enough, since I'm exposed, let's finish this."
"Kill him, get the divine remains, and my Death Knell Striker can break through again!"
Ugo's eyes were icy as he glared at Sunan, murderous intent growing stronger.
He pressed his index and middle fingers together, slicing them across his left arm. With a muffled squelch, his entire arm severed at the shoulder, falling to the ground.
A bizarre scene unfolded as the severed arm writhed like a living thing, swelling rapidly like an inflated balloon, its color darkening swiftly.
Within a second or two, a giant beast, gleaming with an obsidian-like sheen and resembling an enlarged Deathbell Beetle, appeared in Sunan's view.
"A magical pet?"
"No, it's not a magical pet. Did he fuse the insect beast to his body?"
Just by looking, this giant insect gave Sunan a sense of danger, even more so than the adamantite golem he had faced before!
"A third-circle-level beast, is it?"
Sunan murmured.
Seemingly hearing Sunan's murmur, Ugo sneered.
"My Death Knell Striker is a beast with ancient bloodlines. Don't compare it to ordinary third-circle beasts."
"Today, you'll witness its power!"
Beasts with ancient bloodlines typically had unique abilities, making them stronger than ordinary beasts of the same level.
Ugo expected Sunan to be shocked, even terrified, by his statement. Instead, the man's eyes lit up, a look of surprise on his face.
What's going on with this guy?
"An ancient beast, huh, how fortuitous."
Sunan's lips curled into a smile, his gaze on Ugo softening.
This guy was a godsend, bringing him the ancient beast bloodline he had been searching for.
For that, he'd leave him a whole corpse later.
Noticing Sunan's gaze, though unsure of his thoughts, Ugo sensed disdain, his expression darkening. He issued no more warnings, commanding the Death Knell Striker to attack.
"Woo!"
The Death Knell Striker raised its head, emitting a thunderous roar.
A visible sonic wave spread from it in all directions!
Ten meters away, the Hidden Dragon, poised for another sneak attack, was suddenly revealed, stumbling back a few steps, shaking its head in pain.
Sunan's eyes flashed with surprise.
These ancient bloodline beasts were indeed formidable, their sonic attacks imbued with soul power, rendering the Hidden Dragon's intangibility unable to fully negate damage.
Seeing the Hidden Dragon outmatched by the Death Knell Striker, Sunan decisively released all his golems.
In an instant, three high-grade stone golems and four elite Twin-Blade Spiders appeared, activating Levitation and encircling the Death Knell Striker with fierce intent.
"Woo!"
The powerful sonic wave swept the surroundings.
The insects present seemed modified, completely immune to sonic damage.
But the golems couldn't claim the same. The soul-infused sonic wave could harm them, though their resistance was higher than the Hidden Dragon's.
Seizing the momentary stiffness caused by the sonic attack, the Death Knell Striker charged, knocking a high-grade stone golem aside, its massive pincers tearing a gaping wound in another.
However, the high-grade stone golems' massive fists landed on the Death Knell Striker in return.
Crack!
Lightning crackled, paralyzing the Death Knell Striker momentarily.
Taking the opportunity, the four elite Twin-Blade Spiders shook off their stiffness, rapidly closing in on the Death Knell Striker, their sharp limbs slashing down!
"Woo!"
Blood spurted as the Death Knell Striker let out a pained wail.
Its abilities were strange, but defense wasn't its strength. Both the high-grade stone golems and the elite Twin-Blade Spiders could inflict damage on it.
Seeing this, a flicker of fear crossed Ugo's eyes.
These seven golems were all second-circle level!
"Damn it, how does this guy have so many powerful golems?"
Second-circle golems weren't low-tier like stone golems.
Given the Starlight Continent's current state, collecting resources to craft second-circle golems would be extremely difficult.
One second-circle golem might be acceptable, but seven—no, eight including the one on the battlefield—was staggering!
Where did he get the resources to craft eight second-circle golems?
Ugo's mind was in turmoil.
Seeing the Death Knell Striker besieged by Sunan's pet and golems, Ugo gritted his teeth, his body exploding into countless insects swarming towards Sunan.
He initially thought the Death Knell Striker could easily handle Sunan, but with the change in situation, he had to personally eliminate Sunan.
But the next moment, Ugo saw Sunan blur, splitting into eight, dispersing in all directions.
Mirror Image Technique!
"Wait, no incantation, it's Spell Quickening!"
Ugo was horrified.
This guy knew metamagic techniques!
Mastering metamagic techniques as a wizard apprentice was a testament to exceptional talent!
He had been a third-level wizard apprentice for over fifty years, yet hadn't mastered metamagic techniques. Encountering a younger, more gifted apprentice filled him with intense jealousy.
"Buzz!"
Eight Sunans opened their mouths simultaneously, releasing visible sonic waves from all directions at the insect swarm that was Ugo.
In Mirror Image Technique, the actions and spell effects of the main body and clones were identical, indistinguishable to the naked eye.
But Ugo had no intention of dodging, each insect emitting ear-piercing cries, unleashing a torrent of sound waves that shattered the sonic blasts, then surged towards Sunan like a tidal wave.
The same sonic ability as the Deathbell Beetles.
Sunan realized immediately that Ugo had likely fused with the Death Knell Striker's bloodline.
The two clashed fiercely in the cave's sky.
Spells and twisted sonic waves alternated, clashing and neutralizing each other.
After tentatively withstanding several sonic attacks, confirming they couldn't breach the Extreme Protection Ring's defense instantly, Sunan ceased dodging and defending, activating the Magic Rune Core.
Whoosh!
Silver metallic liquid poured from Sunan's pores, hovering in the air to swiftly form glistening spikes, pausing momentarily before unleashing like a storm.
Whoosh!
Ugo's insect swarm, spread out to evade spells, couldn't escape the equally wide-ranging metal storm.
Under Sunan's precise control, each spike hit an insect with pinpoint accuracy, never missing.
In a single volley, the swarm's numbers dwindled by more than a third.
"What is this power?!"
Ugo was terrified.
These insects, though seemingly fragile, were highly durable and resistant to spells; even a second-circle spell wouldn't harm him much.
With this ability, he had killed more than one third-level wizard apprentice.
But these metal spikes could easily slaughter his insects. What power was this?
Seeing the metal storm closing in again, Ugo had no time to ponder, commanding the swarm to disperse and evade, yet the spikes pursued relentlessly, picking off insect after insect.
Desperate, Ugo consolidated the insects, reforming into his original shape, then splitting again, the swarm regaining its original size.
"It can split?"
Sunan raised an eyebrow in surprise but quickly returned to normal.
This splitting couldn't be without cost, likely consuming a lot of mental power.
If that's the case, he'd just exhaust the opponent's mental power!
"Woo!"
The swarm evaded the metal storm while launching sonic attacks at Sunan, yet he stood firm like a rock in the sea, unyielding and unharmed by the waves.
Ugo felt his heart sink.
He realized Sunan must have powerful twilight-grade magical items, likely more than one, or he couldn't block his attacks so easily.
"Magical pets, golems, magical items, and these strange metal spikes, where does this guy get so many trump cards?"
Ugo was both shocked and furious.
What he thought was a surefire battle had turned into a series of unexpected setbacks, leaving him at a disadvantage.
Sunan's strength far exceeded his expectations!
Now, forget killing Sunan and acquiring the divine remains; he was worried about saving his own life!
Sorry for the delay.
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