The giant gorilla was slain, its body dissolving into streams of light and disappearing.
Lucas descended from the air, then, like a pinball, skimmed across the ice towards Willard.
Seeing the elf move so swiftly and easily kill his summoned beast, Willard quickly changed tactics.
The whirlwinds, which consumed mana, moved slowly, and were easily weakened by obstacles, dispersed. The seemingly ineffective electric chains were also retracted.
He slammed his staff into the ground, embedding its tip into the floor, and a large magic circle spread out from the staff as its center.
Transparent air walls rose within the circle, forming a maze and trapping Lucas inside.
Lucas halted before one of the air walls.
He knew these air walls were compressed gas, their high density causing light refraction that made them visible.
They also held immense pressure inside, which, when released, would create powerful air hammers.
Furthermore, with light refraction combined with illusion magic...
Lucas looked towards Willard and saw eight Willards through the air walls, each standing in different directions covered by the magic circle, constantly shifting positions.
Air Maze.
This was a large-scale formation that Willard had developed specifically for the castle environment.
In this terrain with limited vertical space, once trapped in the maze, it was easy to trigger air hammer blasts.
As the formation operated, one of the air walls began to press forward.
Lucas retreated at the same speed as the advancing air wall, keeping a careful watch on his surroundings.
The air wall explosions were triggered by contact with magical marks placed by Willard.
The formation would only activate an air hammer blast when those marks were touched because Willard himself was affected by light refraction within the air maze, preventing him from accurately locating the enemy.
Lucas had one of Willard's magical marks on him.
The formation would continuously move the air walls. Once one air wall was triggered, the entire formation would control all air walls to compress together. No one could withstand such a pummeling by air hammers.
"Elf, your strength surpasses my expectations. As long as you hand over the Book of Calamity, this fight can end at any time."
Willard's voice echoed from all directions.
Lucas kept retreating at a steady pace, sliding to the side just before his back touched the air wall behind him, slipping through a gap between two air walls.
"Willard, are you really so confident in this formation? Three!"
While speaking, Lucas sidestepped another approaching air wall.
Willard didn't understand why the elf said "three" after each sentence.
"I just don't want to see someone as talented as you die here. You are strong, and I can see you are very young… If you live to my age, you would be far more powerful than me."
Lucas dodged another air wall.
"Thank you for your praise. Two!"
"Don't be stubborn. New air walls will soon form in this formation, and then you will have no space to dodge.
You… will truly die!"
"I know..." Lucas didn't rush to move as two air walls pressed in from both sides. He stared at the air wall in front of him and said to Willard, "Headmaster Willard, do you know there's a maneuver that can reach your staff in four steps?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means this... One."
As Lucas said "one," the air wall in front of him shifted. Ahead, all the obstructing air walls moved in such a way that a narrow corridor was formed.
At the other end of the corridor stood Willard's staff, embedded in the ground.
This opportunity was discovered through countless player deaths in the air maze, resulting in a four-step maneuver.
No matter where you are in the air maze, using this four-step maneuver, you can reach this point in four steps, creating a brief moment where the air walls align to form a direct path to the staff.
If missed, the formation will generate new air walls, forcing the player to endure the continuous blasts of the air hammers with only their defenses.
The opportunity lasts only a moment.
Lucas, already prepared, burst into his maximum speed the instant the air wall moved aside. His form left an afterimage, and with an added teleport, he appeared right beside the staff.
Because of the formation's constraints, Willard hadn't been able to grasp his staff.
He watched in astonishment as the elf appeared in an unbelievable manner, then reached out and pulled the staff free.
With the core of the formation removed, all the air walls emitted a hissing sound like deflating tires and quickly disappeared.
Lucas grabbed the long staff, wielding it like a pole. With a flick of his wrist, the tip of the staff extended into an ice blade.
In Lucas's hands, Willard's staff transformed into a long spear, its movement like a dragon, its flourishes like ripples.
Ice walls rose on all sides. Ela's level pushed to 120.
Time Rewind caught the panicked Willard, who was preparing to transform and escape.
The spear tip thrust out.
A freezing surge blasted forward, sealing Willard against the ice wall with only his head exposed.
Lucas adjusted Ela's level back to 80.
With a single-handed thrust of the spear, Lucas slammed the staff heavily onto the ground.
Willard quickly freed himself from the ice, appearing on the other side of the wall.
He made no further aggressive moves.
The sheer power the elf had unleashed in an instant had frightened him, especially the helpless feeling against Time Rewind, making him feel like a piece of meat on a chopping board.
He also realized the elf had intentionally spared his life.
"Thank you."
Facing Willard's gratitude from the other side of the ice wall, Lucas smiled and said, "No need to thank me. Your death wouldn't benefit me. And I didn't expect that coming to Arcanum Academy, I would not only get the Book of Calamity but also gain the Rehud Staff.
Quite an unexpected gain."
Willard looked at his staff and said to Lucas, "Please return my staff."
"Haha… I'm not giving you the Book of Calamity, do you think I'd return the Rehud Staff? I took it fair and square. If you want it back, come and get it yourself.
I don't have time to play with you now. Goodbye!"
At Lucas's feet, where the staff had struck the ground, cracks spread across the floor.
It looked as if the lower levels were collapsing.
Lucas fell with the debris to the first floor of the castle. By the time Willard reached the edge, the elf was out of sight.
...
Much later, the Arcanum mages, Congressman Virgil, Imperial agents, and sheriffs rushed up to see Willard standing by the gap.
Congressman Virgil asked Willard, "Headmaster, where is the elf?"
"Gone."
"Did you retrieve the 'Heart of Red Dragon Nielcolone'?"
"No… she also took the Book of Calamity."
Hearing the name of the Book of Calamity, Virgil was shocked, "Wasn't the Book of Calamity destroyed? How could you let the elf take it… it's more dangerous than a red dragon."
Willard sighed, "What could I do? She even took my staff…"