Chapter 371

The vampire froze for a moment. He looked up at Anser, noticed the bloodstains still clinging to his dragon claws, then thought of the lich who had yet to appear. His heart immediately tightened.

"Retreat—"

Before the word had even left his mouth, he was already the first to duck behind a pillar, ready to flee into the corridor at any moment.

But the undead weren't nearly as obedient. Some slowed their steps, while others continued charging. Very few actually retreated.

Most of the undead weren't under the direct control of the two of them in the first place. Ordering them to kill people was easy enough, but commanding them to retreat was another matter entirely.

Many undead weren't lacking in Intelligence at all, yet their behavior simply didn't match it.

Anser found that slightly regrettable, but he didn't wait. He decisively took out the Arcanefire Longbow and drew upon the Spirit Net.

At that moment, he was like a spider perched at the center of its web. Not a single movement of his prey could escape his notice, giving him the unhurried composure of someone who had everything under control.

Under the constraints of the Spirit Net, the surging Magic Power was extraordinarily obedient. At a single thought, it surged like rivers pouring into the sea, vast and mighty, entirely at his command.

He lightly hooked the bowstring, activating the Magic Power.

Innate Sorcery + Metamagic: Enhanced Quickened Spell, Enhanced Subtle Spell, Maximized Spell + Sunburst!

At the edge of the circular Teleportation Circle, right where the undead were packed most densely, dazzling golden radiance suddenly erupted. Its diameter was greater than the entire hall, forcibly filling every corner and turning the place into a world of light.

The instant the radiance touched the undead, it was like water splashing into a vat of boiling oil—the entire area erupted!

How could holy light possibly tolerate the existence of darkness, death, and decay? Only complete destruction and purification could count as fulfilling its purpose.

Behind the pillar, the vampire curled himself tightly into a ball. The shield covering his body was swept away as easily as a candle flame, while the holy radiance scorched both his flesh and soul, making him tremble continuously in agony.

Of all undead, vampires were undoubtedly the ones who feared sunlight most.

[Target killed. Gained 110 experience points.]

[Target killed. Gained 435 experience points.]

[Target killed. Gained 1,080 experience points.]

The corners of Anser's mouth lifted. Casting within the Spirit Net's range was simply too comfortable—fast, accurate, stable, and ruthless!

As expected of an Artifact!

Together, the "Sakkors Mythallar," "Arcanefire Longbow," and "Magic Power Control" provided him with a whopping +11 to Attack Rolls and +11 to attack dice.

Combined with "Innate Sorcery," ordinary Professionals didn't even need to consider dodging.

Because they simply couldn't.

After the radiance erupted, it began to fade from its peak.

But before the light could dim, Anser lightly plucked the bowstring and fired another Sunburst!

This time, he changed the point of detonation. The undead who had luckily been shielded by curved stone slabs or pillars were once again subjected to a baptism of holy radiance.

Their flesh rotted away, and the undead bodies they took such pride in instead became fatal weaknesses.

The zombies' "Undead Fortitude" failed. The flaming skulls' "Undead Reconstruction" became utterly useless. Even the vampire could only cling desperately to life through "Legendary Resistance."

Floating amid the boundless radiance, Anser felt exceptionally comfortable.

In the past, Quickening two 8th-level spells in succession had put at least some strain on him, requiring his body and mind to recover for a moment. Now, however, it felt incredibly easy.

At that point, the experience notifications became sparse. Nearly all of the dozens of undead in the hall were dead.

{Watch out for that Red Wizard!} Sakkors's telepathic warning suddenly came.

Anser's heart jolted. Thinking back carefully, he realized that he hadn't seen a single combat record concerning that Red Wizard.

There was no time to think about it. He was preparing to finish off the vampire before chasing the man down when he suddenly sensed a faint spatial fluctuation coming from the far end of the castle corridor.

'He's calling for reinforcements. Who's coming?'

He lowered his altitude and looked toward the end of the corridor.

A blue-black portal stood there unmistakably.

Through the portal, three Red Wizards stood side by side inside a black hall, their gazes firmly locked onto Anser.

Behind them, numerous figures milled about.

'What the fuck? That's cheating!'

After a moment's hesitation, Anser didn't back down. He chose to strike first.

His concentration sharpened to an unprecedented degree as he raised the bow and drew the string.

Innate Sorcery + Metamagic: Enhanced Quickened Spell, Enhanced Subtle Spell, Maximized Spell + Sunburst!

At the center of the portal, brilliant sunlight silently erupted, forming a gigantic sun more than eighty-six meters in diameter. It poured endless light and heat through the portal, scattering its radiance across Thay thousands of miles away.

[…Thayan Red Wizard hit. Took 67 radiant damage. Current Hit Points: 114/181.]

A long string of combat notifications swept through Anser's mind. His vision was blocked by the radiance, leaving him unable to see what was happening on the other side.

But the Spirit Net could still sense the portal's existence!

So Anser simply stopped caring. Relying on his own perception, he drew the bowstring again and unleashed another Quickened, Maximized "Sunburst."

Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth... all the way to the tenth!

Wave after wave of radiance surged forth, each stronger than the last, becoming almost tangible, like flowing molten gold that "washed" over more than half the castle.

The surrounding energy structure suffered fundamental damage. The portal collapsed with a thunderous crash, annihilated amid the overflowing radiance.

Anser breathed a sigh of relief and gently rubbed his aching temples as he watched the radiance before him gradually dissipate.

The castle returned to its former gloom.

Not a sound could be heard, as though nothing had ever happened.

Anser silently checked the combat log. That barrage had injured several Red Wizards in one go, especially the first eruption.

Unfortunately, none of them had died.

'That shouldn't be right.'

With an eruption like that, even a Legendary would have had to give it a wide berth. Anser was confident that no ordinary spellcaster could produce something like it.

'It must've been because of the portal's interference and their defensive wards.'

A portal was fundamentally a spatial passage, so some energy loss was inevitable. On top of that, the other side was probably their stronghold. There was no way it wouldn't have defensive measures in place.

Now, if he'd actually wiped them all out in one shot, that would've been ridiculous.

He waited for quite a while, but the portal didn't reopen.

That had probably been the Red Wizards' trump card, something they used to call in reinforcements at a critical moment. Otherwise, why would they have gone to all the trouble of drawing a teleportation array?

{That vampire's getting away,} Sakkors reminded him.

He had witnessed the entire battle from beginning to end, and his understanding of Anser had been completely overturned.

He had seen powerful spellcasters before.

He had never seen one like Anser.

More than thirteen 8th-level spells cast consecutively in a single short battle, yet Anser wasn't bleeding from every orifice, his head hadn't exploded, and he still looked to be in fairly good condition.

That was something only a Legendary could do!

{He's not getting away.} Anser was brimming with confidence.

He used the Spirit Net like a grid of latitude and longitude to pinpoint the vampire slowly flying farther away, then cast "Dimension Door" several times in succession.

After several teleportations, he was already more than a kilometer from the castle. A swarm of bats appeared in his field of vision, flying together into the depths of the night sky.

'Oh, that's a pretty convincing disguise. Too bad...'

Anser couldn't be bothered figuring out which bat was the transformed vampire. He simply raised a hand and fired off a "Sunburst."

Blinding radiance erupted, forming a massive sun in the night sky and turning darkness into daylight.

Most of the bats were burned to charcoal. One of them transformed into a cloud of mist, only to be purified by the lingering radiance moments later, vanishing without a trace.

[Target killed. Gained 10,000 experience points. Level up!]

'Peak tier, huh? It came so quickly. I'm suddenly feeling a little emotional.' Anser's heart leapt with delight.

Sure enough, crisis and opportunity really did go hand in hand!

He was starting to like Thay more and more. They had traveled thousands of miles just to help him reach the peak. How could he not be moved?

He turned toward the nearby white castle with its gates tightly shut, the corners of his eyes crinkling with amusement.

'There are still plenty of undead in there.'

He immediately returned, summoned Maeve, and together, man and cat used "Arcane Lock" to seal every exit from the castle.

He had expended quite a lot today, so he couldn't afford to rush things. First, he needed to recover and remain on guard in case Thay's forces returned.

Thay had at least several hundred Red Wizards, and the number of Legendaries among them was unknown.

Even the slightest underestimation of them would be irresponsible toward his own life.

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