By saturating the battlefield with fire beforehand, Freon could skip one step in his spell process and directly use the fire! Although his heart bled at burning his own home, he was very resolute. His home was one thing, but surviving this ordeal was another! Think about everything else later! His casting speed was immediately advanced to the next level, and while his opponent was recovering, his spell activated. The tiny fireball morphed into a magnificent fire bird that crashed into the swordsman, engulfing him in flames! Although he tried to defend, how easy was that? His clothes and skin were immediately torched. The man screamed and panicked. No one could maintain their cool upon experiencing such a thing.
Freon continued to look coldly as he decided to throw all his cards on the table. This swordsman was too dangerous to him right now. A close quarters fight was the worst result for him. He dismantled his current spell, but the flames lingered on his enemy. Why? The flames were originally present to begin with! Even if the world restored equilibrium, the flames would only lose the flame bird form. It would not completely dissipate. He worked quickly while the enemy Arcanists also did the same. Thankfully, he was a step faster, thanks to the natural advantages he created.
Without regard to his Magic Energy, he created a second spell to explosively amplify the flames! He wanted to torch the swordsman alive and kill him! The spell activated and controlled the flames once more. This time, the flames were transformed from their lazy orange to a frightening white! The temperature soared by several times. The man screamed even more as the heat seared his flesh into ash. It was a truly horrific sight. The pain alone would make even the most masochistic of people pale. The mental damage was second to the physical damage!
Originally, at the start of the fight, he used a different spell, namely those fire needles. This was to account for his weak magic reserves by compressing the destructive force of his spell into lethal projectiles. Furthermore, it could effectively maim or outright kill many of them without a hassle. Sadly, it was countered by the opposing Arcanists. His plan failed. This forced him to resort to a very crude method, namely the fire bird. Truthfully speaking, its destructive potential was astounding, but it could only be used against a single target. Using it on six enemies required a higher Core Level, at the minimum of Medium to High Gaseous Fog! This led to the current situation.
Of course, if he wanted to, he could use his World Energy as well. Much like when he fought in the Xingyuu Empire, there were several times when he had to resolve the deficit of Magic Energy with World Energy. But this came at a dangerous cost. World Energy was the purest form of energy that permeated the world. It was wild and untameable. No one could freely use it. Everyone had World Energy in them, and it was akin to lifeforce. By using it, it would directly impact the Arcanist. It was really playing with fire. A single wrong move and it would bring disaster.
After the fight with Emperor Lianghu, his Core Level had directly fallen to the bottom of Low Gaseous Fog as a result! This time, if he used World Energy again while his Core Level was already at its weakest… The consequences would not be so simple! Hence, Freon was hesitant to do so.
A few seconds later, the enemy Arcanists finally acted. Although their natural casting speed was several levels greater than Freon, their composure was shaken upon seeing their comrade engulfed in flames. The screams were enough for them to subconsciously step back. This, combined with Freon's ample planning, allowed Freon's spell to activate first. Otherwise, Freon would have had no chance to succeed! The first Arcanist used a water-type spell to counteract the flames. The two spells collided on the body, sending a plume of mist into the air. The sizzling sounds revealed how hot the flames really were. These two Arcanists flinched. While the poor swordsman was still alive, it was clearly painful to continue living. How ruthless was this?
The second Arcanist proceeded to directly attack Freon! His spell overflowed with an immensely bloodthirsty aura. No matter what, seeing his comrade incinerated had infuriated him. His rage burned just as hot as the flames! He wanted to take revenge! Once again, those black needles coalesced. However… they blended together and formed into three massive black blades! One could finally see what this strange substance was. It was actually water, high density water! The water was compressed so much that it turned black. Clearly, this required a very advanced level of skill to create, far above Freon's crude fire needles. This was why his spell could completely dominate Freon's as well. His Core Level was surprisingly High Gaseous Fog, a step from Peak!
Freon became tense as the first blade shot out! It crossed the battlefield in the blink of an eye and aimed straight for his neck! It quickly enlarged from a thread into a wall in his eyes. Before he saw it, he already dove to the side, exerting his full energy in avoiding the attack as much as possible. Even if he could defend in time, he dared not use his magic shield. As he dove, the black blade sliced through the air and grazed him. But even that graze had cut through his clothes and skin like paper, barely missing his shoulder! The shallow cut was a thousand times more painful than the black needles from before! However, his eyes nearly bulged out at seeing their destructive power. The black blade had sliced clean through the wall and floor behind him, disappearing into darkness! If he were stupid enough to defend against that, it would have killed him instantly!
The Arcanist sneered and was about to continue his offense, but… Shirley had just broken through the defensive line and killed one of their own! Seeing this, his confidence was visibly shaken. After such a short scuffle, already two of them were incapacitated or dead. What nonsense was this? It was a freaking six versus two! That was three on one! And this was their battle result? This was a real joke!
The truth was exactly as Avin described. They belonged to an Engelsheft Family, equivalent to a Grand Nobility Household in the Zino Kingdom! While they were not the strongest fighting force in the family, they ranked in the top five. For an Engelsheft Family, the power of this unit was not to be underestimated. Their captain was even a Peak Gaseous Fog Arcanist! Remember that the Ten Dawns, the ten mightiest Arcanists under the Conquestian were merely Low Condensed Drop! So, their confidence was initially sky high. Of course, when compared to the Second Hand, whose leaders could face off against Sir Winstin, their combat strength was nothing that impressive at all.
Therefore, they disdained this mission as they believed it was child's play. Originally, there were nearly twenty members. They hoped to come in, kill everyone, clean up, and leave quickly. But when half of their members were executed by Avin, everyone felt their hearts sink. That simple psychological impact had subconsciously influenced everyone. In fact, everyone was too wary to fight at their full strength, in case Avin decided to throw caution to the wind and retaliate. This allowed Shirley and Freon to contest against six, which was normally an incredibly hard feat to pull off. However, Avin could not claim all the credit. The fact was these two had performed exceedingly well! They learned from their weaknesses in the Xingyuu Empire and actively fixed them! And the results were beginning to show now!
Shirley hacked down once more and took out a second Arcanist, but this time, the two swordsmen behind her caught up. She was immediately entangled in a bitter fight. The last Arcanist using the black blades heaved a sigh of relief. But he cursed right after! This interruption diverted his attention away from Freon! As expected, Freon did not let this chance slip away. He was always watching the battlefield and his grasp of timing was perfect! Using his previous tactic, he directly manipulated the lingering fire into a dozen fire needles! His Core plummeted to a mere fraction of what it was. Before the enemy Arcanist could respond, Freon attacked!
Shirley understood Freon's intentions well and disengaged from the two swordsmen. With the three in the middle, a dozen fire needles descended on them! The two swordsmen had greater reaction speed and flexibility, so they were able to dodge or block most of the projectiles. They were scarcely hit and when they were, it was in non-lethal places. Unfortunately, the Arcanist was not so lucky. His spell might have been fast, but he was not. With Freon having the upper hand already, how could he retaliate in time? Five needles pierced into him with three in the chest and two in the head. He was dead!