"Rorschach!"
Koborfield yelled in disbelief as he contended with the fierce Frost Tiger's continuous assaults, veins popping on his forehead.
He couldn't fathom how Rorschach, in a frenzied state, could be so easily hit by the dragon's breath without even attempting to dodge. It was all so sudden.
Distracted by the Frost Tiger, Koborfield failed to notice the brief pause in time and space.
After learning from Garon's attacks on casters, the Frost Tiger quickly targeted Koborfield, relentlessly seeking to kill him. Ordinary casters could hardly escape the vicious pounce of the Frost Tiger, but Koborfield, a tough kill, drew all of its attention.
Meanwhile, as Koborfield showed a moment of vulnerability, the Frost Tiger pounced fiercely. Its agile body's muscles clearly defined, it leapt a hundred meters, clawing towards Koborfield.
Koborfield had no choice but to divert his attention to the Frost Tiger.
An invisible stance extended around him, enveloping his body.
The highly efficient deflection stance, offering great protection against physical attacks.
When the Frost Tiger's claw struck the deflection stance, it slid off like it hit a slippery eel, involuntarily shifting and thunderously crashing into the ground, forming a deep crater.
At the same time, runes lit up on the ground, exploding rapidly like landmines.
The explosive rune, a rare offensive spell among protective schools.
The Frost Tiger, unable to defend properly, was blown apart by Koborfield's counterattack, bleeding from its limbs and letting out a pained growl, its movements becoming slow and sluggish.
The surrounding armored knights immediately crossed swords, but the injured Frost Tiger, still possessing great jumping power, first blew away the nearest knights with a blast of cold wind, then leapt tens of meters to escape the encirclement.
Next to Koborfield, a group of armored knights specially tasked with protecting him gathered.
But they had no good solution for the Frost Tiger, which moved like the wind with astonishing jumping and pouncing abilities.
Even Garon was wary of the creature's leaping prowess. Murphy, normally vigilant, was also brought down by the Frost Tiger's attack.
The spot where Garon and Murphy clashed.
A blast of frost dragon's breath hit Murphy's face almost point-blank. His movements instantly stiffened, slow as if in a film, then covered in ice crystals and frozen into a lifelike statue of ice.
But he was not dead yet.
Garon could feel the heartbeat within the ice crystals.
The surface ice trembled visibly, cracks slowly emerging from within.
Murphy's resistance was high, making it difficult to kill him instantly as with other creatures.
But first inflicting damage with the frost breath and then sealing his movements made it convenient for Garon's next attack.
He focused, the spell models in his mind beginning to flicker.
Words of a profound curse from the Curse School spilled out, stirring magic, forming two spheres the size of millstones in front of Garon, both spinning rapidly.
One was an ice sphere, continuously emitting cold; the other a fire sphere, radiating intense heat.
Fourth Circle Curse, Sphere of Cold.
Fourth Circle Curse, Sphere of Fire.
These two spells were extremely similar, allowing Garon to cast them almost simultaneously.
They were designed to be used together.
Among all the magic schools, the Curse School had the richest effects and most varied types, summoning creatures, manifesting energy, healing, creating objects, teleporting.
Some spells that sounded like they belonged to the Transmutation School were actually of the Curse School, not involving the reshaping and fine manipulation of energy.
Under Garon's control, the Sphere of Cold and Sphere of Fire moved to either side of Murphy, then smashed together in the middle.
If both the Sphere of Cold and Sphere of Fire hit the enemy at the same time, their power was tremendous, surpassing similar spells from the Transmutation School, but their slow speed made them difficult to hit targets, clearly showing their strengths and weaknesses.
As Murphy's lips turned pale and he broke through the ice, he felt an intense cold and a burning heat very close to him.
Boom!
When the Sphere of Cold and Sphere of Fire collided, a violent explosion created an inverted bowl-shaped energy vortex. The swirling ice and fire elements rapidly engulfed the surrounding land and air, shaking the ground and steaming the air.
The entire battlefield paused for a moment due to the impressive spectacle of the spell.
Just having gone through the ordeal of the dragon's breath, without a moment's respite, Murphy was once again swallowed by the brilliance of the spell.
"In the end, he is no match for a caster."
Garon shook his head, mourning for Murphy.
In a battle between a human warrior and a human mage, unless one could strike with the swiftness of thunder, killing the other before they could cast, they
would be caught in an unending barrage of spells.
The more complex and massive the battlefield, the more significant the role a caster could play. A well-prepared spell, an experienced caster, could often turn the tide of battle.
Thus, their esteemed status stemmed from this capability.
Murphy, tempered through countless trials, had a body like a human-shaped true dragon, but lacking magical skills and relying only on his physique, he appeared somewhat powerless against a true dragon who mastered both magic and martial arts, especially since Garon also used an unbeatable temporal method like time stop.
When the red and blue energy vortex receded, the ground had a new crater tens of meters in diameter, filled with ice spikes and burning flames.
A half-dead figure lay at the bottom of the crater, motionless, his magical greatsword still gleaming, catching Garon's sidelong glance.
Garon felt regret that Murphy was wearing a space ring, which had now been destroyed by the energy vortex.
Looking again at the barely alive but not yet dead Murphy, Garon couldn't help but admire his formidable vitality.
Even a White Dragon Mother would not die from such a hit but would suffer greatly. To endure to such an extent with a human body was to be a truly powerful warrior. A normal adult white dragon, in a one-on-one fight, would likely not be his match. Without using time stop, Garon would have had difficulty defeating him.
Enduring many powerful magical attacks, Garon approached Murphy, extending a dragon claw, aiming for his heart.
The sharp claw pierced the chest of his foe, extinguishing the faint life force.
Garon then exhaled another breath of dragon fire, burying him in a forest of ice crystals.
Then, he looked up, his gaze meeting that of a despondent old mage. He could clearly see the flames of anger and helplessness in his eyes.
As a mid-ranking Fifth Circle mage, Koborfield had mastered several Fifth Circle protective spells, but being swiftly incapacitated by Garon, he was unable to cast any of them.
The physical and mental state of a caster are also crucial for casting.
After being heavily injured, it was commendable that he could barely use Fourth Circle spells.
As time passed, this war that took place on the far northern ice plains was drawing to a close.
Garon's followers had suffered sixty percent casualties, while the human side's armored knights and casters had suffered over eighty percent, blood flowing into rivers, creating a red painting in the white world.
Due to the deaths of many casters, the spell that sealed the sky was now ineffective.
With the loss of the sky-sealing spell's constraints, the White Dragon Mother flapped her wings and soared, laughing triumphantly in dragon roars, continuously blasting the ground with dragon breath, occasionally diving down to crush some humans.
Tomorrow, six chapters will be updated at noon.