Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst-Chapter 153: VOL 2 - 98: Traitors.

"Everyone, get ready, we're going with a combined spell at maximum power."

While taking a mana recovery potion from her storage ring, Elara quickly gave the order, then drank the potion in one go and threw the crystal to the ground, at which point more magic circles formed in front of her. The young man with long black hair tipped in pale green, and the young man with dark skin and golden hair responded in unison.

""Understood.""

After speaking, the pair of young men took their recovery potions in one gulp, at which moment three magic circles began to form in front of the short-haired, golden-haired young man. They started to create small, yellowish points of light that clustered into what appeared to be three prisms of a brittle crystal.

Likewise, around the black-haired young man, different softly pulsing runes began to appear, while the air around him started to swirl, forming a greenish sphere in front of him. At that moment, Elara turned to Liliana and commented seriously.

"Liliana, for now, focus on keeping up the barriers. Your affinity isn't very good for combined attack spells."

"Though I would've liked to give that bitch a good thrashing, fine, leave defense to me. The enemy is about 850 meters northeast of our position."

Liliana answered quickly, with a hint of regret in her tone, but just as quickly canceled the magic circles before her. She then raised the staff in her hand, pointed it at the sky, and announced confidently, causing several magic circles to form around the group, surrounding them in all directions.

"Archangel's Hold!"

The magic circles swiftly conjured six beautiful angel wings made of light, which fluttered gently, then enveloped the group like a mother cradling her child. This caused a spherical barrier to form within the wings and protect them from any attack, while still allowing their own attacks to pass outward.

Meanwhile, small flames began to flicker from the jaws of the impressive nine-tailed fox, yet they didn't even graze the staff between its teeth. At the same time, its beautiful tails rose elegantly into the air, like those of a peacock. At that moment, large amounts of fire began to form in front of it, accompanied by strange currents of hot air, all of which gradually converged into a sphere that slowly turned white.

"Magni, stay alert for any enemy attack." At the same time, Zoe spoke in a serious tone as she took a stance ready to draw her katana at any moment, to which Magni responded sternly, gripping his huge two-handed mace firmly.

"Understood."

Though the barriers were excellent for defense against enemy spells, things were different against knights. Over time, knights had focused on discovering ways to deal with barriers. Methods existed to bypass or destroy them, and even Zoe and Magni knew various ways to attack a mage inside their own barriers. Staying on guard was therefore paramount.

"Attack! Flame Path!"

Once Elara saw that everything was ready, she quickly gave the command. At the same time, three powerful spheres of compressed fire shot into the sky, heading northeast. The two student mages pointed their staffs in the same direction and announced in unison.

""Shear Vortex / Prism Blast.""

Almost instantly, a large greenish sphere of wind and three yellowish crystal prisms soared upward, closely followed by a huge sphere of ominous white fire, and soon they managed to catch up to Elara's fire orbs. They then began to rotate in the air, accelerating further, but suddenly, the crystal prisms exploded unexpectedly, causing the combined spell to detonate prematurely.

The premature detonation triggered a massive explosion in the air that violently shook the huge cavern, sending brutal shock waves in all directions amid a thunderous roar and a blinding flash, momentarily incapacitating the mages. At that instant, the light barrier gleamed brightly.

Simultaneously, the six angelic wings covering them spread wide to meet the explosive shards head-on, creating a powerful air pressure that helped lessen the shock waves. However, the detonation of the crystal fragments, coupled with the small white flames shooting out in every direction, quickly destroyed the wings one by one.

Almost in unison, Magni gave a malicious grin as the runes tattooed on him glowed faintly. He then spun around in a swift motion, aiming a brutal blow with his mace at the head of the black-haired mage, who was caught off guard.

"Silent Tempest."

Just before Magni's attack could reach the young mage, a melodious voice resounded at his side, causing the warrior's face to flood with panic. At that moment, streaks of blood appeared all over his body, one particularly deep across his neck, slowing his perception of time almost to a standstill—long enough for him to turn his head and see the beautiful black-haired girl staring at him with a chill so piercing it could freeze flames. That sight etched itself in his mind as he was teleported to the space station.

Brimming with murderous intent, Zoe once again made three hand signs with her left hand, whereupon a layer of wind enveloped her. She vanished from sight, reappearing before the golden-haired mage with her katana embedded in his neck. The young man's face contorted in terror, but although he tried to lift his hands, he was abruptly teleported to the space station, thus being eliminated from the tournament.

After disposing of the two traitors in her team, Zoe briefly closed her eyes to burn those rats' faces into her memory, quickly turning over in her mind every possible means to make them wish for death. She took a deep breath and steadied herself; this wasn't the time. The situation was too dire to lose focus. Sure enough, the urgent voice of Disciple Williams reached them just then.

"A dozen spells have just entered the fog! They'll impact in a few seconds!"

"Run!"

Zoe quickly commanded in a solemn voice as she leapt onto the nine-tailed fox. Elara immediately drew out her flying carpet, while beautiful angelic wings formed behind Liliana, and a whitish cloud appeared beneath Ethan. The only remaining student produced a futuristic-looking hoverboard.

Once airborne, the mages on the team raised their staffs overhead, various magic circles and runes emerging around them, summoning different barriers as they declared in loud, reverent voices.

"Prism Aegis!"

Upon Liliana's declaration, a prismatic, semi-transparent barrier of light took shape around the group. At that moment, Elara spoke with blazing anger in her eyes, causing a large mass of flames to gather above them, dancing together in harmony to form a fiery barrier.

"Phoenix Veil!"

"Gale Bastion!"

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Quickly, the last student announced in a firm voice, causing the runes around him to stir and create a swirling wall of wind to the left of Liliana's prismatic barrier. At that moment, Ethan finished drinking a new mana recovery potion and announced loudly, causing more runes to form around him. These runes lit up, conjuring a dark fog that shaped itself into a cyclone to the right of Liliana's barrier.

"Obscuring Shroud!"

Almost immediately, a barrage of spells slammed into the barriers, reacting differently to each one. Liliana's light barrier caused the spells to split into scattered beams of light striking far from the group, creating massive explosions.

Elara's fire barrier, by contrast, appeared to absorb the spells entirely, making them vanish before flaring even more intensely. Yet, she was guzzling mana potions at a frantic rate, plainly indicating the considerable cost of maintaining such a spell.

Meanwhile, Ethan's barrier functioned similarly to Elara's. The spells that reached the dark fog vanished into nothingness, as if they were mere illusions. However, since he was consuming mana recovery potions at an even faster rate than Elara, it was obvious that maintaining both the barrier and the surrounding fog required an enormous amount of mana. The fog itself was what prevented all the firepower from concentrating on a single point.

Lastly, the final student's wind barrier both deflected and weakened the incoming spells, though with every impact, the swirling wall shrank, forcing him to drink mana potions at a rate almost equal to Ethan's—evidence of just how formidable a disciple of a Master-level could be.

"Damn it!!! We didn't just have one, we had two traitors, and now we're screwed!!" Amid the furious onslaught, Elara shouted from atop her magic carpet, practically spitting flames and itching to skin someone alive with her own hands.

"Now's not the time to complain—we're in serious trouble. We only have five people left, and chances are we didn't do them any real damage." Zoe added with a dark and furious expression, clutching the fur of the beautiful fox beneath her tightly.

"Our advantage is that we're four direct disciples, and that bitch is alone. We could try overwhelming her with artifacts and potions, and we also have stealth on our side. Divine Resurgence!"

Quickly, Liliana added while casting healing spells on Ethan and the last student, both of whom had pale expressions due to the incredible exhaustion they were suffering. Moreover, drinking so many recovery potions in succession wasn't very healthy either.

"That's one plan, but that bitch is definitely surrounded by students pushing three hundred years, so it won't be easy. Still, if we use our stealth wisely, we can whittle down their numbers. But taking her out is another story—let's not forget her background. That bitch is bound to be loaded to the gills with magical artifacts, plus she's probably guessed you can now use [Light Echo], so she'll be on high alert." Elara remarked as she tried to rapidly strategize a workable plan.

Following Elara's words, Liliana quickly tried using Light Echo once more to pinpoint the enemy group. But merely seconds after the magic circle began to form, it burst in a flash of light, proving unable to locate them—something that everyone noticed, prompting bitter smiles all around.

"Certainly, she's taken precautions. But there's no need to worry. Her mother may be a famous artificer, but she's nowhere near my master's level. So if this becomes a battle of magical artifacts, I'm certain I'll take victory."

Liliana said this with confidence, which boosted everyone's spirits. Although they were aware of who Liliana's master was and how skilled she must be, they didn't really know the extent to which Master Silverwood spoiled her disciple, nor how lavishly equipped Liliana might be. But seeing her so self-assured made it evident she received plenty of special attention from the legendary Artificer.

"In that case, what we need is a swift, lethal strike—attack and then escape at top speed." Zoe suggested, newly motivated, and the other girls nodded as they downed more mana potions. Zoe then turned to Ethan and asked in a grave tone.

"Disciple Williams, how long can you keep us hidden?"

"Five minutes if I'm on my own, but if Disciple Faye helps, that time easily doubles." Ethan replied confidently, placing the empty glass bottle from his mouth into his storage ring. Zoe spoke next, in a contemplative voice.

"Then we won't have to worry about that. The issue is how to figure out their positions..."

Zoe's words made everyone think hard about how to solve that problem, even while they kept moving erratically in the fog, dodging the spells raining down like a storm. Some inevitably struck the barriers, but at that moment, the lone remaining student—who flew upon a futuristic hoverboard—cleared his throat and spoke up, visibly uncomfortable.

"Honored direct disciples, as a matter of fact, I might have a way to pinpoint them."

***

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