Chapter 2220 Air Rings <TOC> Chapter 2222 Gentle Wind
Translator: SumTLMan
“The domain of wind is the hall of whispers, the boundary of distance, the invisible strings through which we perceive the world’s patterns…”
“Once you merge with the wind, you will hear its soft whispers to you…”
“Hmph, but you, a mere mortal, how could you comprehend the grace of the wind.”
As Angel found himself amidst countless air rings, dodging the assault of myriad weathers and feeling the roar of the storm, the voice of Fafnir suddenly echoed in his mind.
Dusty memories, unsealed by time——
Took him back to the days of his shop in La Sutherland.
Fafnir, as an abyssal wind dragon, always maintained a domain of wind around her, and Angel, by Fafnir’s side, could always feel the flow of the wind.
From initial disregard to later joyful exploration, and then to Fafnir’s ruthless attacks. This was Angel’s first contact with the higher powers of wind, and his most profound realization.
Fafnir always spoke with utmost indifference, deeming Angel’s understanding of the true essence of wind worthless.
Angel himself indeed lacked a high talent for the power of wind, so he briefly explored it and eventually, his research on wind came to an end without further progress.
Though, before the fall of La Sutherland, Fafnir had once said: “As a human, you barely qualify to research wind.”
But since Angel wasn’t a wind wizard and adept at illusion magic, lacking both time and energy to study across disciplines, it remained shelved until now.
Angel thought Fafnir’s words back then were just a kind farewell, but at this moment, truly surrounded by countless wild winds, he suddenly gained a deeper insight into wind.
Of course, even with newfound insights, it offered no immediate aid to Angel, for he couldn’t instantaneously transform understanding into applicable knowledge, it required a far-reaching journey.
However, although insights weren’t immediately helpful, but… the memories could provide Angel with a significant boost in a short time.
Memories, namely, the reenactment of the scene when he first opened his shop.
What seemed mundane at the time now revealed itself as an immense treasure upon reflection. Fafnir, as a pinnacle abyss dragon, constantly stimulated the domain of wind, embodying Fafnir’s understanding of wind.
This understanding included all of Fafnir’s insights into the sequence of wind.
Angel was fortunate not to witness the domain of wind in a battlefield context. The domain harbored no malice towards him, allowing him to comfortably immerse in the sequence of wind envied by all wind wizards, unconsciously listening to the whispers of the wind.
As he recalled those moments, it was as if he was conversing with Fafnir from that time.
Whenever he was hit by Kraken’s air rings, the Fafnir in his memories would mock and taunt with icy words that pierced his heart.
Whenever he dodged the air rings, Fafnir would calmly state: “This is the basics, failing to dodge would be shameful in my presence.”
Thus, Angel pressed on, dodging and advancing under Fafnir’s sharp words.
As the surrounding noise gradually faded, Angel found himself able to avoid many of the air rings.
This wasn’t a power given by the “hallucinated” Fafnir’s cursing but a kind of enlightenment boost Angel received while conversing with Fafnir and recalling the sequence of wind around him.
Under this enlightenment, he seemed to grasp a bit of the essence of wind.
Therefore, it was precisely because of this that he was able to decrease the probability of encountering air rings as he got closer to Kraken.
However, this peculiar experience could not be sustained for too long, and it might never be realized again in the future without the combination of environment and pressure. After all, memories are just memories, not reality.
But even if it only lasted for two or three seconds, it allowed Angel to avoid many air rings and arrive near Kraken with minimal cost.
At this moment, he was less than ten meters away from Kraken’s bell-like eyes.
But he could no longer get any closer.
The initial daze of Kraken had now returned to normal, and not only had air rings started to appear around it, but also a large number of invisible yet sharp wind spikes. These “spikes,” arranged by wind blades, enveloped every inch of Kraken’s armor-like body.
If Angel took one more step closer, he would inevitably be met with a fierce reaction from all the wind spikes.
Without the help of “memories” and the “advice” from Fafnir, if he touched the wind spikes, the result would be far from a mere minor injury.
But to control Kraken, he needed to touch it at close range, and ten meters was still too far.
“There aren’t many opportunities, perhaps only this once.” Looking at the giant squid close at hand, Angel made a decision in his heart: “If I don’t want to miss this chance, it seems I can only try this method.”
Angel did not want to give up the hard-won opportunity because next time, if he wanted to “force” his way to Kraken’s side, it probably wouldn’t be as easy as now.
With this thought, Angel took a deep breath and, before the surprise in Kraken’s eyes had dissipated, he suddenly opened his right eye.
The green runes surrounding his right eye began to dance as they were nourished by the aura of the Nightmare Plane, and numerous symbols and structures orbited within his right eye.
In the eyes of Kraken, Angel’s right eye had now completely turned green.
Moreover, an aura emanating from the right eye, which caused Kraken’s heart to palpitate, spread out.
Under the oppression of this aura, Kraken showed a moment of hesitation.
It was this brief pause that gave Angel the chance to cast his spell.
He cast a heart illusion model, which he had already constructed in his mental space, through the spellcasting channel directly.
Previously, whether facing Chimera or Lobert, the spellcasting channel he used to cast the heart illusion model was always his most familiar fingertips.
But this time, the final outlet of his spellcasting channel was his right eye.
Because maintaining the stability of magical power is crucial, the choice of spellcasting channel is generally the most familiar location. Angel’s preference was his right hand fingers, both out of habit and because the green runes on his right hand could incidentally add the power of Nightmare Illusion. This sudden change carried a great risk of decreasing stability and success rate, and failure could even lead to backlash.
But Angel decided to proceed anyway.
Because he had tested before that activating the green runes of his right eye and using the right eye as the spellcasting channel would slightly enhance the power of the mental illusion.
Even if it was only a “slight” enhancement, if successful, it would be the last straw that broke the camel’s back!
As Angel fully maintained the stable flow of magical power into his right eye, the entire misty battlefield was suddenly enveloped by a terrifying hurricane.
The wind swept away the remnants.
A large amount of mist, in the concerto of this hurricane, began to disperse.
Even if Eremy did not send a mental message, Angel could tell from the changes around him that Harlequin had finally taken action against the illusory battlefield.
Suppressing all irrelevant thoughts in his heart, Angel devoted all his attention to maintaining the “channel flow” of his right eye.
He knew that victory or defeat hinged on this strike.
When he gave his all, the sound of the wind by his ears ceased, and no more bubbles appeared before his eyes; the world was left with only the pattern of green lines, growing ostentatiously like the emerald water grass in gentle waves.
When the “water grass” spread to every part of the pupil, a sphere of light emerged from the depths. Its glow was faint, yet it illuminated the pitch-black, stagnant pool.
As the sphere of light broke through the surface of the stagnant pool, several tender green runes, as if summoned, gently enveloped the sphere, causing the once dim light to suddenly burst forth in dazzling brilliance.
This was the power of heart illusion enhanced by Angel’s right eye.
When the heart illusion leaped from Angel’s right eye and penetrated the wind spike armor of Kraken with unparalleled speed, entering its brow, Angel finally exhaled in relief, as though drained of strength.
It was a success.
The dramatic success at the last moment might seem contrived, but it was not. Angel seldom used his right eye for casting spells, referring specifically to casting practice. During his time in the ruins, in order to study the green runes of his right eye, he actually cast spells with it numerous times because casting spells calmly and slowly never once went wrong.
It was precisely because of those accumulations that he had the foundation for casting spells in combat today; otherwise, everything would be mere talk. On the accumulation of strength, castles in the sky sound very appealing but only appear in dreams.
When the heart illusion broke through the spatial constraints and entered Kraken’s brow from ten meters away, Kraken’s constantly expanding gas bladder and its coquettishly swaying tentacles gradually came to a halt.
This meant that Kraken was now under the control of the heart illusion.
At this moment, Angel finally moved his stiff body, and with a series of “crack” sounds, waves of tearing pain and the intense agony of dislocated bones surged like a tide.
Even Angel, accustomed to enduring, couldn’t help but cry out in pain.
After all, what he considered a minor injury was actually fatal for other apprentices.
After casting a healing spell on himself, Angel felt somewhat better. He then slowly walked over to Kraken, ready to complete the final corner of the illusionary triangle structure.
The surrounding fog became increasingly sparse, and the power of the Harlequin’s hurricane was beginning to show. However, Angel was no longer as fearful, facing the howling wind and setting Kraken as the final corner.
The moment his fingertips touched down, the entire illusory battlefield began to undergo earth-shattering changes.
The clouds and fog that had been thinned by the wind gathered anew, even denser than before Harlequin had intervened.
And as the clouds and fog grew thicker, not even Harlequin’s full force could disperse the re-emerging clouds.
When Harlequin’s hurricane could no longer disturb even the basic clouds and fog, it indicated that the illusory battlefield’s energy level had undergone a qualitative change.
By this point, it would not be so easy for Harlequin to break the illusion. Only by exhausting all the energy of the three nodes could it possibly break free from the illusion. The three nodes represented the three wind generals, in this sea of clouds that could replenish wind energy at any time, it would not be easy for Harlequin to exhaust the energy of the three wind generals.
Of course, Harlequin could enter the mist to find the three nodes corresponding to the wind generals and kill them one by one to break the illusion. However, for Harlequin, that would definitely be a loss-making endeavor.
Having done all this, Angel dusted off his hands, though there was no dust, and gently pushed Kraken.
The giant squid, as large as a mountain, was thus pushed into the mist and eventually disappeared from sight.
Afterward, Kraken, Chimera, and Lobert would drift in the mist, constantly maintaining a stable triangular structure, allowing this illusion to persist until the end of the battle.
Observing the direction in which Kraken vanished, Angel could almost hear Sanders’ scolding voice beside him.
If Sanders knew that it was only by taking a risky move and embedding the heart illusion into Kraken’s body that he succeeded, he would probably be furious.
Placing himself in Sanders’ shoes, Angel felt that his combat today was indeed disgraceful.
This was the retribution for his lack of foundation.
There was no helping it; his accumulation of experience was still too short. Given another five to ten years of sedimentation, these overlooked flaws would inevitably be addressed gradually.
Angel shook his head, pondering in his heart that once the Tidal Realm matter was resolved, he would use the formation disc to return and continue his closed-door cultivation.
…
Since his clothes were torn due to the impact of the aura, Angel had no choice but to change.
This time, he put on the star and moon wizard robe he used to wear while teaching at the Achillea Comprehensive College.
Although he preferred the appearance of a gentleman, the only clothes he had in his bracelet were mundane, forcing him to make do with this clean wizard robe.
After changing into the wizard robe, Angel’s gaze shifted towards the south of the misty battlefield.
Harlequin, finding that the hurricane couldn’t dispel the mist, didn’t hesitate at all. He immediately stopped the futile attempt, didn’t entangle with Eremy anymore, and directly charged into the misty battlefield.
From this, it can be seen that Harlequin values his companions highly, daring to break into the mist without knowing the situation inside or whether there were any dangers.
It seems Harlequin wouldn’t choose the path of killing the three wind generals.
In that case, they had plenty of time left.
Angel looked in the direction where Harlequin entered from afar. Instead of immediately seeking battle, he flashed towards the opposite side of the battlefield, following the wind’s lines, and appeared on the other side.
A few strands of green smoke appeared in the mist, and a shadow bearing a blue lantern flower emerged from the smoke.
The newcomer was indeed Eremy.
Under the effect of the Nightmare Illusion power, the misty battlefield was practically a walk in the park for Eremy. However, it was not the master of the illusion, and even though it could enter and exit the misty battlefield at will, it was still ignorant of the layout inside.
Since Angel had already decided to deal with Harlequin, he naturally had to inform Eremy about the situation in the illusion in detail to avoid any accidents.
After explaining the general arrangement, Angel also inquired about Harlequin’s abilities from Eremy.
Only by understanding Harlequin in-depth could they counter him more effectively.
Eremy transmitted the scenes from its battle with Harlequin directly to Angel’s mind.