Chapter 360: Plunder
Alex’s power lay in shadows and mutations. Such chaotic attacks were often unpredictable, but Ace was gradually forming a plan in his mind.
As Arno’s overwhelming momentum waned, Alex seized the opportunity. Shadows dispersed, and he finally managed to sneak into the shadow layer. From another dimension, he launched a dense barrage of attacks at Arno with hundreds of Shadow Terror Claws.
At that moment, Ace canceled the 3-Ring Spell “Invisibility and Concealment” and activated the 3-Ring Spell “Portal”, appearing beside Ollie. His Mental Imagery World opened instantly. Vitality and extreme cold frost, generated from the Six-Element Ring, instantly encased Ollie in ice.
This was a spell modified from the special runes of the Frost Bloodline, a derivative 3-Ring Spell called “Frost-Life Seal.” The original expression of this rune structure was to seal the enemy’s body and soul, then completely disintegrate them with extreme cold.
Ace had recorded this rune set from the battle between the Great Hero Moore and Alex before fleeing the North. He modified the rune expression, replacing the original extreme cold with vitality-related runes, changing the entire expression to freezing, sealing, and preserving vitality.
In this way, the spell became the perfect life-saving technique, capable of freezing a dying comrade to be treated slowly after the battle.
After freezing Ollie , Ace glanced at Ancestar, who was covered in black mud. The black mud had the effect of binding the soul, preventing Ancestar’s soul from leaving his lifeless skeletal remains. This state of being neither alive nor dead intrigued Ace.
“I’ll freeze and take him too,” Ace murmured.
He froze Ancestar and absorbed him, along with Ollie, into his Mental Imagery World.
Most Level 2 Lives’ Mental Imagery Worlds did not possess physical space; in other words, they couldn’t absorb physical objects.
But Ace was different. His Mental Imagery World incorporated Space Series Runes. Combined with the ability to manifest and overlay reality, his Mental Imagery World possessed a certain degree of reality and a super-stable subspace.
The ice coffins of Ollie and Ancestar entered the Mental Imagery World through the sky gate, landing slowly beside the Lake of Mana. Aleias was waiting nearby.
Using a special method of the Artisan Bloodline, she reinforced and sealed the two ice coffins.
Ace activated the 3-Ring Spell “Portal” again. With the rhythmic pulse of magic power, an oval light gate appeared. Ace stepped out, instantly appearing beside Arno and Alex, the Six-Element Ring flickering behind him.
3-Ring Spell: “Element Creation”. Death Element deflection, Life Element injection. In an instant, Alex, hidden in the shadow layer, was expelled.
Alex was bewildered. He couldn’t understand why he was expelled from the shadow layer.
He couldn’t possibly understand the hypothesis of elemental generation and inhibition, nor did he know about the basic six-element relationships researched by Ace and the other Wizards.
Ace had no habit of explaining things to his enemies. Without a word, the Six-Element Ring behind him shone brightly. “Elemental Disjunction”.
Swish!
Alex, having just left the shadow layer, hadn’t reacted yet when he saw multicolored light enveloping him. He condensed shadow power into a giant shield, trying to block the strange light.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Disregarding mana consumption, Ace used “Elemental Disjunction” continuously. Not only did he dissolve the giant shield created by Alex, but he also severed more than half of the expanding “Star of Ultimate Evil” behind him.
Alex strangely found that the light didn’t seem to harm him much, only causing minor stinging injuries. However, all the weapons and armor he created with shadows vanished.
Arno looked at the suddenly appearing Ace with dark red eyes. Dressed in a loose, deep black magic robe, wearing a magic hat, with an Elemental Ring containing terrifying power behind him, and eyes radiating wisdom and inquiry—there was no mistake. It was the Firelinker, Ace.
Arno didn’t speak. His emotions seemed unstable as he continued to attack Alex frantically.
Ace manifested his Mental Imagery World. A deathly silent battlefield graveyard surged with ominousness. The Glazed Heart Fire hovered above, tearing apart more than half of the “Star of Ultimate Evil,” which was filled with the power of sin.
Alex’s Noble Phantasm was premature and extremely unstable. A large part of it was pulled into Ace’s Mental Imagery World, refined by the Heart Fire. Part of the “Star of Ultimate Evil” was destroyed and refined into pure mana and vast desire-sin.
The mana nourished Ace’s Mental Imagery World, while the desire-sin merged into the Glazed Heart Fire, making the heart fire colorful. These various desires and sins were the best fuel, boosting the Glazed Heart Fire bit by bit. The heart fire flickered, seeming on the verge of mutation!
Ace felt as if he had eaten a highly nutritious meal. Just by digesting part of the mana, his mental and physical strength gradually reached the peak of Level 2, infinitely approaching the 1,000-point threshold.
Level 3 Life, the realm of Legend, seemed within reach, but the reality wasn’t so simple.
He hadn’t yet upgraded his Mental Imagery World with Level 2.5 Runes. Without that state higher than Level 2 but lower than Level 3, it was impossible to touch the boundary of Level 3.
Ace didn’t attempt to break through. In fact, he hadn’t found a feasible method yet. He had to deduce the Level 2.5 Runes first and elevate his Mental Imagery World to its optimal state.
Advancing from Level 2 to Level 3 was a massive leap. For Golden Heroes, they would spend hundreds of years spreading their epics. Some would be recognized by humanity, accumulating enough through oral tradition to become Legendary Heroes who could live for ten thousand years.
Others, unrecognized, would eventually run out of lifespan and die around five hundred years old.
Level 3 Lives had long lifespans and powerful vitality. This transition was extremely difficult. Regarding mortals singing epics, Ace had an idea.
From his experiments in the Pocket World, he already knew the immense effects of Racial Qi and Origin Power. Spreading epics was likely for a similar effect.
If he could find a way to activate the status of the High Tower Territory and utilize the status power of human city-states within the inner world—something even deities needed—perhaps he would also have a chance to advance further.
Alex was about to collapse. He had painstakingly waited until Arno was nearly spent, sneaked into the shadow layer, only to be knocked out by a suddenly appearing unknown person. More than half of his remaining “Star of Ultimate Evil” was eaten, leaving him only a small portion to digest.
Ace switched the manifestation of his Mental Imagery Barrier. He replaced the deathly battlefield overlaying reality with a surging elemental ocean, temporarily trapping Alex within it.
Taking the opportunity, Ace used “Directional Sound Transmission” to speak to Arno: “Ollie is not dead yet. Her soul still exists, and her body hasn’t lost its vitality. I have sealed her with frost. We can go back and slowly study how to save her life.”
The dark red in Arno’s eyes dimmed significantly. He was already tired. Hearing Ace’s words now, the taut string in his body suddenly loosened.
He plummeted powerlessly. The door to Ace’s Mental Imagery World opened, and Aleias caught Arno, taking him to the villa by the Lake of Mana.
Crack, crack!
The part of reality covered by Ace’s Mental Imagery World began to shatter.
Tn: torch-bearer = Firelinker
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