"Gulp~"
The cold potion slid down his throat.
The crystal bottle, still containing the blue potion, hadn't even hit the ground yet.
Two figures, like leaping cheetahs, dashed out from the overgrown weeds in the wasteland.
"Clang~"
Two silver streaks traced circles as large as the full moon, slicing through the tall, wild grass, and struck at the mages riding on the horses.
The sound of the sword being drawn was drowned out by the rustling of the night wind sweeping through the barren field.
"Hahaha—"
At that moment, the two mages were laughing uproariously at some joke, completely unaware.
When the figures appeared in the light of the illumination spell, the laughter abruptly stopped. They tilted their heads to try and make sense of the approaching figures.
"Too slow!"
The cold blue cat eyes reflected the man's confused face.
Unprepared and wide open...
The man in front of Allen, Vilgefortz, was nothing like the skilled battle mage depicted in the books—someone who could defeat Geralt effortlessly and was an expert in combat. He seemed more like a scholar from an academy.
In the wild, having offended two Witcher masters, he dared to laugh like that without any defense.
His first reaction when encountering an enemy wasn't to cast a shield or resist magic but to tilt his head and look.
At this moment, Allen even wondered if he had over-prepared.
"Then again, Margarita Laux-Antille, the future head of Aretuza Academy, was just a mage apprentice back then, one who loved to sleep in, hated alchemy, and was confused about her future."
"How old is Vilgefortz now? No matter how strong, how tough can he be?"
But even so, Allen had no intention of holding back. His bright blue cat eyes locked on Vilgefortz' hands gripping the reins, and without hesitation, he slashed at his right arm.
If not for the fact that they still didn't know where the statue of Erni had been hidden, this sword would have been aimed straight for his throat.
Of course, even though Vilgefortz' movements were awkward and unprofessional, Allen didn't believe the strike would work.
"Whoosh!"
The sword broke through the air.
In the blink of an eye, it was like a silver lightning bolt striking the knitted outer garment of Vilgefortz' right shoulder.
"Ding~"
The second of the five multi-colored gemstone buttons on his outer garment, the square emerald one, suddenly shattered.
A layer of greenish light covered the knitted garment.
"Dong—"
The sound of metal clashing with the sword echoed as the sword hit the outer garment.
"Just as I thought!" Allen thought to himself.
At that moment, the greenish glow suddenly shattered, releasing a huge shockwave like a high-level Quen sign.
Or perhaps the reason the Quen sign had this special effect was because its creator had witnessed or knew how to release this greenish magic.
"Shir-rrr~"
The beautiful white horse under Vilgefortz screamed as it was crushed to the ground, its four legs snapping instantly, exposing its pale bones.
Allen was also blown away. After adjusting his posture midair, he landed lightly. Before his feet even touched the ground, another explosion of magic echoed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Allen saw Vesemir, who had also been blown away by the shattered magic shield, but he didn't say anything.
The magic surged inside him, and with a brief crossing of his hands in front of him—
Heliotrop Sign!
The light purple spherical shield appeared but vanished before it even had a chance to fully form, leaving only silver-purple magical light flickering on his red leather armor.
"Tap~"
The moment his right foot hit the ground, Allen stomped hard and rushed forward again.
It wasn't uncommon for a mage to have several magical defense tools, but he couldn't let Vilgefortz have any time to chant a powerful spell.
"How interesting!"
Through the dust, Vilgefortz shakily stood up, smiling elegantly as he lightly brushed off the dirt from his clothes.
"The lambs to be slaughtered are resisting, the fish in the net are jumping at the fisherman…"
He hadn't finished his sentence when—
In the light of the illumination spell, the brown dust was blown into the darkness.
The glint of the Witcher's sword forced him to close his mouth and wear a dark expression.
Before the Witcher could close in, Vilgefortz, slightly panicked, reached to one side and tried to form a two-yard long staff. However, before he could finish, he hurriedly held it in front of himself.
"Clang!"
The sound of metal clashing illuminated their faces with sparks from the friction.
Vilgefortz seemed to intentionally use the force of the impact to step back, but Allen never intended to let him create distance.
All the force was directed diagonally down.
The massive force almost caused Vilgefortz' staff to slip from his hands.
"Average staff technique!" With the sword clashing against the staff, the Witcher immediately judged.
"Allen, I know…"
He barely managed to say half a sentence.
At that moment, the force Allen received from Elsa suddenly loosened. Vilgefortz' hand, which was gripping the staff, unconsciously rose, throwing off his balance as he lurched forward.
Allen stepped back with his right foot, drawing his sword in an arc. The tip of the silver sword turned around once and then aimed directly at Vilgefortz' chest.
Vilgefortz didn't have time to bring the staff back to block.
"Ding!"
"Clang!"
With a familiar sound of gem shattering and metal clashing, the third gemstone broke.
The green glow flickered on his exquisite black suit, before shattering again under the immense impact.
At this moment, Vilgefortz' face twisted in the uneven air pressure. He moved his mouth as if trying to chant a spell.
But after already enduring one blow, and with the Witchers' training against the Quen sign, there was no way he would be sent flying like the first time.
Already prepared, he leaned forward, his right foot pressed into the ground as his heel sank into the mud.
At the same time, his left hand released the sword hilt, his middle finger pushing hard at Vilgefortz' right side.
Aard Sign!
Telekinetic force twisted the air, not only negating the explosion from the unknown magical shield but even impacting the right side of Vilgefortz' body, sending him stumbling.
His incantation was interrupted, and he gasped painfully.
Allen naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. As his left hand completed the Aard Sign, his right hand, still holding Elsa's finger bone, stabbed directly for Vilgefortz' chest.
Before he could even grab the sword hilt again, the blade was already pressed against the elegantly curved crossguard, accelerating its speed.
"Ding~"
"Clang~"
Another familiar sound of gemstone breaking and metal clashing rang out.
This time, it was an obsidian gem that shattered, but there was no magical glow on Vilgefortz' body.
"Not good!"
What seemed like an insignificant change sent a chill down Allen's spine, and he silently shouted in his mind.
There was no time to press the attack. Instead, he retreated quickly, stepping back several paces until he stopped next to the white stallion, which was still gasping and bleeding.
At that moment—
"Vroom~"
The wolf emblem emitted a fierce hum.
The ground suddenly erupted with at least thirty two-meter-long sharp stone spikes.
"Gulp~"
The Witcher looked at the towering and sharp stalactite. Even though he had the Heliotrop Sign's Mirror Shield to withstand three magical attacks, he couldn't help but swallow nervously.
He looked further ahead.
A one-meter-high stone wall also appeared around Vilgefortz's side.
It had to be said that, even though Vilgefortz was visibly inept at practical combat, his staff technique was nowhere near as good as the legendary scholars in the books, yet he was still very difficult to deal with.
In the blink of an eye,
Vilgefortz's body lit up with a familiar blue magical glow.
"Whoosh~"
Allen twirled his sword in his right hand to catch his breath while glancing at another battlefield. However, The first thing he saw wasn't Vesemir or the female sorceress.
It was the badge on the saddle of a dying white horse, its jingling sound and flashing red light catching his attention.
The badge was etched with many white dots, like stars.
Allen thought it resembled the robes of high-ranking wizards, such as those worn by the male wizards who descended after the Apprentice Combat Tournament, before leaving the arena.
"Rumble~"
A distant rumbling sound drew his attention.
Vesemir was crossing his arms, using the Heliotrop Sign to block a fireball coming his way, then closing in on the target.
The female sorceress looked flustered, with her forehead drenched in sweat, her condition quite pitiful.
Clearly,
Under Vesemir's intense attack, her condition was even worse than Vilgefortz's…
To be honest,
Generally speaking, top sorcerers should be stronger than top Witchers.
But in a situation like this, where one is ambushed, it's not easy to fight back, which shows that the female sorceress's strength wasn't weak either.
"Keep going!"
Seeing that the Witcher was fine, Allen turned his attention back to Vilgefortz, who was partially blocked by a stone wall.
"How rude!" Vilgefortz's eyes ignited with terrifying red flames. "Is this how the Wolf School operates, attacking without greeting? I thought I encountered some despicable and treacherous cats…"
Allen's cat-like blue eyes glanced at the hard stone wall.
Seeing that Vilgefortz wasn't chanting any spells but was instead babbling useless nonsense, Allen gripped his sword with one hand and slowly approached, circling him: "Rude? You, a male wizard, who kidnapped children under thirteen, still have the nerve to say that?"
Children… Vilgefortz gave Allen's youthful face a strange look.
But remembering the suffocating onslaught earlier, any unusual feelings immediately vanished.
After a brief silence,
"I knocked." He weakly waved his metal staff.
Knocked?
Allen's forehead veins tightened, and he didn't intend to waste words.
He pushed off the ground with his right foot, like a tiger or leopard descending the mountain, his speed incredibly fast as he aimed his sword straight for the gap in the stone wall.
"Why bother?" Vilgefortz stood firm, waving his staff to fire fireballs, all of which Allen dodged effortlessly.
It was as if only the firelight could chase after the Witcher's agile figure. But Vilgefortz wasn't in a hurry, not even thinking of aiding the female sorceress, who was being fiercely attacked by Vesemir.
Instead, he used these simple fireballs to wear down the Witcher's stamina, elegantly like a shepherd who, with a flick of the whip, could redirect a flock of sheep.
"You broke through a layer of explosive barriers, I can regenerate two more layers, or even a rock barrier, water shield…" Vilgefortz's pupils reflected Allen's silhouette. "This doesn't even consume my magic power…"
"Why not obediently come back with me? With the reputation of the Wolf School, the academy won't do anything to you…"
"Is that so?"
Allen crossed his arms, using the Heliotrop Sign to neutralize an unavoidable fireball, then closed the gap with Vilgefortz by one more step.
Only about fifteen meters separated them now, roughly three more charges.
"How many instant-trigger magical gems do you have left?" Allen smiled as he glanced at the two remaining gems on Vilgefortz's attire.
Instant-trigger gems, each etched with a magical array, could store a spell below the skill level of an experienced wizard.
Once the preset conditions were met, they would automatically trigger without needing the user's input.
At critical moments, like just now, each gem was like an extra life.
In other words, Allen's ambush had taken away three of Vilgefortz's lives in under a minute. However, the remarkable effects of these gems were matched by their price.
The rarest gem core, top-tier gem engravers, and the skilled wizard artisans who inscribed the magical arrays…
Each instant-trigger gem was something an ordinary wizard couldn't afford in a lifetime.
"Wealth is a wizard's greatest weapon."
This was something Vera had told him before the High Mountain Trial. Honestly, just having five instant-trigger gems already spoke volumes about Vilgefortz's strength… in all aspects.
During the Apprentice Combat Tournament, even the vice president of Ban Ard Academy, Jenks, didn't have a single instant-trigger gem, or perhaps he wouldn't have ended up dying under the weight of the Drowner King and the Bog Nymph.
Of course, this wasn't entirely normal.
Maybe Jenks was overly confident and didn't carry any with him at Ban Ard Academy, or perhaps he invested all his wealth into indulgence or research.
In another sense, this also highlighted how remarkable Vilgefortz's wealth was, at such a young age, to have five of these gems.
"Hmph~"
Hearing this, Vilgefortz continued casting fireballs, his gaze flicking to his attire, now somewhat comical with three gems missing, but he didn't speak any further. His lips tightened, and the speed with which he waved his staff increased.
But the speed of waving his staff couldn't accelerate the casting.
The magical talent could only allow him to instant-cast fireball spells, a basic spell at this stage.
And the Witcher was closing in!
"Clink, clink, clink~"
The white horse with a broken leg lowered its head, seemingly dead, but the emblem tied to the reins still pulsated with agitation.
Each second, it grew more frantic.
Vilgefortz's eyebrows furrowed deeper with each ringing sound.
"What's that?" Allen rolled to dodge a half-transparent razor-sharp blade, closing the distance to Vilgefortz by another step.
There were only two more charges between them now.
Vilgefortz said nothing, merely mechanically waving his staff, but this didn't stop Allen from getting closer.
Until...
"DONG—"
The rapid ringing suddenly turned into a roaring bell, like a final warning.
Vilgefortz's face subtly changed, and he gritted his teeth, releasing a dazzling lightning bolt before retreating two steps, hiding behind the two stone walls.
He didn't even look to see if Allen dodged the lightning.
With a wave of his staff, he raised the stone walls by two meters.
Then...
An ancient, mysterious chant resonated through the wilderness.
The world seemed to echo.
.....
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
347. Intense Battle.
348. The Surge of Primal Chaos.
349. Elder Blood and the Miracle Child's source.
350. The Royal Griffin! The Royal Griffin!
351. Druid Allen?