Chapter 117: A Freakish Mage

Everyone witnessed how the level-seven Mage stood in a daze when he saw the Fireball. He stood rooted to the ground, allowing the flames to engulf him…

This was followed by a distortion in the surroundings.

After that, they realized that the level-seven Mage was still alive, while the blazing Fireball had vanished…

Completely vanished…

The glaring glow of fire was gone, and the long trail of flames was nowhere to be seen; even its strong sense of destructiveness was wiped off instantaneously. Not a single trace of magical wave was left.

Everyone was stunned by the disappearance of the Fireball.

The crowd observing the battle was all distinguished members of their own Guild of Magic. Among them, many were renowned and powerful Mages. Even the least skilled was at least a level-eight Mage. How could they not understand what was unfolding before their eyes?

Never would they have imagined that it was possible to swallow a Fireball without the protection of the elemental shield…

At that moment, the silence was deafening.

Everybody was stunned as they stared blankly at Lin Li as though he was a frightening creature.

“A monster!” someone shouted among the masses after a while.

As though it was a contagious disease, this sentiment started to spread among the crowd. What followed was a wave of discussions in subdued voices.

“Did my vision blur? T-that was really a Fireball? How could it not result in any harm…”

“What the heck, is he still alive despite being hit by that Fireball? Is he even human???”

“Hey, how about you go and have a taste of that blow?”

“Which Guild of Magic is that freak from? I have never heard his name before.”

“The Guild of Jarrosus. I heard that he’s the illegitimate son of Gerian… Never knew that old man treated this brat with such partiality!”

“For real?”

“Absolutely! How else could he be so outstanding?”

“How was it even possible?” muttered Matthias. He was so stupefied that his eyes were as wide as that of a cow, and his expression was as though he had just met a ghost.

He nearly died from instant shock due to that Fireball.

Matthias was so confused. Without the protection from the Elemental Shield, how did his opponent manage to withstand the impact of the Fireball? What was more, a Fireball was not a loaf of bread. How could it be swallowed by a human being?

Before Matthias had time to make the situation clear, the sound of recitation could be heard from a distance.

What followed was a sudden flash of light blazing into the eyes of Matthias. In his vision, a fiery sphere with a long trail of flames grew larger and larger…

“BOOM!” An ear-splitting explosion could be heard when the Fireball collided with his Elemental Shield, creating dazzling and vivid sparkles as the Fireball erupted.

Under the attack of a level-eight magical element, a bright glow was reflected on the Elemental Shield.

Seeing that, Matthias heaved a sigh of relief.

Luckily, that Elemental Shield could defend him from a Fireball…

Being the most outstanding Mage, Matthias was certain that five seconds were the timing needed for calling out a Fireball!

Although five seconds were not long, they were sufficient for Matthias.

That was because the timing required for Matthias’ Elemental Shield to cool down would be four seconds. After that, both men would be back to square one of their battle again.

At that moment, Matthias was filled with confidence again.

To him, the dire situation he’d encountered previously was only due to that one Fireball. Once everything restarted, it would very likely be a sure-win for him since his opponent was a level-seven Mage.

He did not believe that that a level-7 mage had the ability to swallow three Fireballs.

Yet… Matthias’ prediction was not entirely correct.

After swallowing the first Fireball, it was a given that Lin Li did not have any ability to take in another blow. However, what he could do was to spit out the previous one that he’d swallowed!

Matthias suddenly realized he got surrounded by those blinding sparkles again…

“Boom!” The sound of explosion was so loud that it echoed in everyone’s hearts.

Matthias’ heart sank at once…

“Sh*t…”

In this instance, the only line that Matthias felt like screaming was, “Goddammit, this rascal cheated!”

All these were indeed a fraud.

It was clear that the second Fireball was released with zero recitation. It merely shot out when the level-seven Mage raised his magic staff.

‘My God… Isn’t that a level-eight skill!’

Not to mention that he was only a level-seven Mage, a level-seventeen Archmage would also not have the skills to unleash a level-eight spell immediately. This was totally against humanity, and also breached the Laws of Magic.

Every time a spell was upgraded by a single level, its complexity would be increased by multiple times.

It was almost impossible for a level-eight spell like the Fireball to be unleashed instantaneously.

The compression of a five-seconds-long recitation would complicate the magical elements within it by numerous folds. No mortal—even if he were to have a huge mental capacity—would be able to summon a spell like that. The intricacy of the spell was totally incomprehensible to any normal human being.

But… how could one explain what had just happened before their eyes?

The crowd of mages fell into a frenzy.

Firstly, they already thought that the act of Lin Li swallowing a Fireball was a feat out of this world. Then, they grew totally incredulous with what happened thereafter…

This crazy fella could summon a Fireball instantaneously!

At that moment, everyone had the impulse to crash into the wall because of what they had witnessed.

That was such a contradiction to human nature!

“Pom!”

A Fireball dropped onto the trembling Elemental Shield, and the collision generated a series of uncontrollable magical waves. In that instance, the tremendous impact inflicted on Matthias’ Elemental Shield caused the plate to split into a thousand fragments. Without the last layer of protection, he was as though a disrobed young lady, confused and terrorized by the hideous laughter of perverts surrounding her…

After Matthias got disarmed by the Fireball, Lin Li grabbed the opportunity to continue his attack. He raised his right arm and unleashed a series of Arcane Missiles on the poor man.

“AHHH…”

The excruciating cry of Matthias reverberated lastingly… In the midst of that shrill shriek, everyone heard a distinct crisp sound as well. They knew that it was the sound of bones breaking.

Four Arcane Missiles created four explosions, also breaking the bones of Matthias. Unlike how he treated Orrin—breaking one of his arms—the ruthless Lin Li was more thorough in his actions. He broke all four limbs of Matthias…

The agonizing pain from his broken limbs was so tormenting that it went beyond what normal human beings could handle. His blood-curdling wails were never-ending, and sent shivers down everybody’s spines. Squirming on the ground in a pool of sweat, Matthias was like a dried shrimp that was soaked in boiling water.

“You are free to submit your application for a duel now,” gibed Lin Li as he looked at Matthias in disdain. Then, his glance fell on the two mages who were chiming in previously.

He raised his brows in contempt, but inquired politely, “May I know if my teammate had offended your Guild as well?”

“Nonononono…”

“H-he’s right! Absolutely not!!”

Lin Li’s sarcastic tone as he asked his question contemptuously was so terrifying it nearly drove their souls out in fear. While denying, both of them inched backwards as if they could break off any relationship they had with Matthias that way.

He had to be joking…

Not to mention if Orrin had even offended any Guild, if he really had, who would have had the guts to admit it in front of this freak? Should they agitate this fella, how would they survive his four Arcane Missiles? They would have to be mad to challenge him…

“I-it’s Matthias! H-he tried to sow discord between us and Brother Orrin!” one mage said.

“Y-yes, yes! He’s really a sly fella!” The second Mage followed suit.

After nodding profusely to make themselves seem more credible, they strided towards Matthias and gave him a strong kick with zero hesitation.

Having lost all his limbs, Matthias was already pitiful enough. Tears of pain were already welling up in his eyes. With the additional kick, it was like splashing oil on top of fire. It aggravated his suffering, and caused him to roll around in greater pain. His screams intensified, provoking sympathy among the onlookers.

…