128 Hell’s Magic Nucleus Part 1 (1/2)

Three hundred, no, three hundred and fourteen of them!

There were roughly three hundred and fourteen Grade 4 magic beasts in total. Even though Lex claimed she had enough scrolls, Saleen remained apprehensive. These beasts could spit fireballs, and only the two of them were mages. Even if they released all of their scrolls, they would not be able to defeat the beasts.

”Lex!” Saleen shouted.

The hell that had been brought about by god’s punishment had no day or night, and everyone had adapted to these conditions. Whenever Lex released the space of darkness, the others took it for nightfall.

It was nighttime now. But under these perilous conditions, the two swordmasters slept with their armor on as they did not want to remove it.

Saleen passed the alchemical binoculars to Lex. He knew that they had gotten themselves into huge trouble. These beasts were not hunting. They had regarded Lex’s group as intruders upon their territory.

That was why those beasts had left their nests. If it had only been for food, only around ten beasts would have been needed.

Magic beasts would fight until their last breaths when faced with intruders. Escape? With the exception of Lex, perhaps only Nailisi could carry Saleen on her back and escape to safety.

But even if Lex was prepared to sacrifice Holzer and Baimeng, Saleen would not abandon Sika. Saleen had seen how fast these beasts could move. In addition to possessing fire elements, these beasts might have possessed the powers of the wind elements as well.

The storm had just ended, so there was still flooding present on the ground. More than three hundred magic beasts slowly closed in on the campsite, giving the swordmasters time to put on all of their armor. Lex placed the binoculars down and said, ”Prepare to fight.”

Saleen heaved a sigh of relief. If Lex had chosen to escape, he would not have had a reason to stop her. Lex took out the scrolls silently and passed them bundle by bundle to Saleen. Saleen stored them into the demonic ring. These scrolls were mostly Grade 3 and some were Grade 4, but all of them possessed Water Magic.

As Lex handed the scroll to Saleen, she sighed secretly. Her father had asked the palace mages to prepare large quantities of magic scrolls for Lex to use in Laiyin Duchy. But now, they were going to be used on the beasts. Her father must have reached the frontlines by now, yet she was stuck here and could not guarantee his safety on the battlefield.

The camp had been built on high ground, so Lex’s group had a vantage point to observe things from afar. Very soon, the silhouettes of the magic beasts could be seen without the use of the alchemy binoculars.

In total, Saleen received twenty bundles of scrolls, and each bundle contained twelve scrolls. These scrolls were originally meant to be given to combat mages, and now that Saleen had them, he felt more assured. He then released the witcher spider. The nucleus on the puppet had been changed to a Grade 6 magic nucleus, so it would last longer in battle.

The hexagonal camp was like a hedgehog that was surrounded by metal, giving off a chilly glow. The six of them did not guard every side of the hexagon. They split into two groups – Holzer and Baimeng stood beside Lex, while Nailisi and Sika protected Saleen.

The magic beasts advanced slowly, and eventually surrounded the camp.

Saleen frowned. The distance between him and the beasts was no good. It was the maximum effective distance for Grade 4 magic. Aside from Lex, no one else had a way of dealing with these magic beasts.

Lex did not want to waste her magic chords, so she said to Holzer, ”Get the alchemy crossbow in position.”

Holzer nodded, went into the barracks, and brought out a colossal alchemy crossbow. This crossbow was already assembled, and it was almost as tall as a man. Holzer set the crossbow into its triangular frame, moved the wheels, and began loading arrows onto it.

The differences between various levels of magic had effects on the effective distances of spells. The effective distance of a Grade 0 spell was very short, and Grade 1 to 3 spells had effective distances of less than fifty meters. No matter how gifted Saleen was, the effective distance of his spells would never exceed more than ten percent of the current maximum effective distance.

Once magic reached Grade 4, the effective distance would be raised to roughly one hundred meters. Unless they were faced with archers, mages would try to cast their magic from about fifty meters away under most circumstances. With the exception of special magic such as Faerun’s Fireball spell, there was more elemental decay when spells were cast from a greater distance. Thus, the effectiveness of the attack would decrease. More importantly, a higher amount of mental power was drained when spells were cast from a further distance.

There was a self-activating magic array on the alchemy crossbow which could increase the crossbow’s range. The maximum range was more than three miles, and under Holzer’s control, arrows could be shot about five hundred meters. If Lex had more troops with her now, she would only have needed a few hundred crossbows in order to defeat those magic beasts.

Holzer spent thirty seconds loading all of the arrows onto the crossbow. Then he asked, ”Viscountess, do I fire now?”

”Wait,” Lex replied. Then, she took out five metal bottles and gave them to everyone. She then continued, ”This is magic liquid. I don’t have much left. If you feel that you have exhausted too much physical strength, take a sip.”

Magic liquid was produced from Grade 7 magic. Lex was only Grade 5, so she could not produce it yet. These bottles of magic liquid had been left behind by Faerun. When Saleen took a bottle from Lex, he felt a pang of sadness.