Avin Arcellius glanced outside with a piercing gaze. Even though it was dark outside, his aura cut through the night and shot straight into the hearts of all the attackers. Everyone instinctively shivered, as though death was staring at them! His Perception was not a joke! He raised his hand and summoned a magic circle. Magic energy poured into his spell and within seconds, a dozen white thread-like objects materialized to connect him to the attackers. It was like a spider web formed with Avin at the center! No one was spared! The attackers had a bad premonition as Avin narrowed his eyes. He twisted his hand and all the strings vibrated before snapping. Like puppets with their strings cut, all the attackers instantly died! A single attack and a dozen people were killed! This was the power of Avin Arcellius!
He was indifferent to murdering so many. At his level and age, it was nothing special to him anymore. Although he looked middle-aged in his forties or fifties, he was nearly twice that age. He could be counted amongst the oldest humans! His wealth of experience over the years could not be estimated. However, despite his calm appearance, he frowned inwardly. He projected his Magic Perception internally and confirmed his Core's status. His face sunk slightly. The spells he used were simple on the surface, but they were still extremely powerful and energy consuming. To finish the battle decisively, he used such a method. The cost of which had nearly bottomed out his Core with the little scraps of energy remaining!
He wanted to say something when his expression changed. A bright red beam shot through the window at astonishing speed and slammed into Avin. The projectile was several times faster than a crossbow bolt! Surprisingly, it was a spell! Avin was not a Perception Realm, so his reaction speed was quite ordinary. When relying on his Magic Perception, he could compensate, but he was quite weak now. The attack was so sudden and fast that it arrived without warning. Avin was pushed backwards like a bouncing ball as the floor fractured under his feet. The furniture around him was destroyed. Shirley, Freon, and Yuna were shoved aside by the pressure alone! He slid all the way to the other side of the house, only stopping when he crashed into the wall. In an instant, the house turned into a mess!
As the dust settled, the three were dumbfounded. Avin stood up with a sharp glint. He was covered in head-to-toe in dust. His clothes were burnt, his skin was red, and his hair was a mess with a small portion singed. As his clothes fell apart, a peculiar armor revealed itself. It looked quite ordinary like any other plate armor except there were strange runes etched on the surface. Indeed, it was rune etching! They were light up in a blinding white before they faded away. In the second that Avin realized he could not react in time, he channeled his energy into the spell on his armor. The spell then gave him the defensive protection required to brush off the damage and come out practically unfazed!
This armor had extraordinary origins as one of the most treasured artifacts of the Arcellius Family! It directly countered the basic weakness of an Arcanist, that of close combat! There were many examples of rune etching already such as the Sky Towers and the new Zino Kingdom's experimental fleet. By directing carving runes onto the surface, they could skip a step in the spell casting process, dramatically increasing casting speed. This was why Avin could defend in time! It was a very rare and difficult craft, so Avin's armor could be considered as the frontier of rune etching research. Even after the Arcellius Family's fall, the Zino Kingdom did not have much progress. Of course, compared to Lord Wenmord's profound invisibility spell, the difference was still massive…
Meanwhile, the Arcanist who attacked Avin was crouched on a nearby rooftop. Since magic had the benefit of range, he could attack from further away than the crossbowmen. This allowed him to evade Avin's weakened Martial Perception and give him the chance to retaliate. While he was quite shocked at Avin's performance, he believed that his sneak attack would be successful. His spell was a unique creation, a combination of fire and energy, that excelled at speed. It was perfect for surgical strikes. Barely anyone could survive it! But his eyes were nearly dropping out right now. Avin was perfectly fine! He could not help but curse his informant!
However, it was not all fine. Avin's Core took another dramatic drop. Although the attacker was at best Peak Gaseous Fog, it did not look good at all. If things continued like this, there would be no saying how it ended. It sufficed to say that he was currently at his weakest!
"The three of you run away! I'll hold the rear!" Avin shouted.
From start to finish, less than three seconds elapsed. The three of them were still stunned over everything that happened and stood like headless chickens. One second, they were talking… The next second, the house was nearly destroyed! However, as reality set in, their minds began processing everything and turned increasingly grave. Freon had a complicated expression. They did not delay and shot for the staircase. Their goal was to find the city guards! But when they reached the door, several armed figures rushed up with swords. Their intentions were obvious. Avin, and the three grimaced. The situation was getting worse.
As Avin was about to clear the way, his opponent attacked again with fearsome vigour. Avin snarled and diverted his attention. This time, he was better prepared and raised a defensive barrier. The two sides clashed again, sending a small shockwave of dust and wood splinters everywhere. He was really cursing in his mind. He could not even double-cast to attack and defense simultaneously. If he was in his peak condition… No, even if he recovered more than one hundredth of his Core… Then he would be nearly unmatched in the entire Zino Kingdom! Alas, there was no time for regret.