Chapter 1197 - Confrontation (1/2)

Loud explosions boomed as the large white bone claw clashed with the fire column coalesced from lava. But Canary and Di weren’t concerned about the result of their clash. On the contrary, they made spell-casting gestures with their hands immediately after casting their earlier spells. The most important things about duels between spell casters were damage, speed, and accuracy. In ‘anime’, two people fired beams and competed against each other to see who could last the longest, but it was meaningless in this case. Not only must a top spell caster grasp the proficiency, speed, and mastery to cast spells in the shortest time possible, but one must also anticipate whether the next spell was offensive or defensive and come up with a corresponding response. From a certain aspect, the duel between two top spell casters was like gambling. While one grasped the card in one’s hand, one must also guess what card the opponent held and make the right call.

As a spell caster in the Peak Legendary Stage, Di wasn’t slow at all. Even though Canary’s skills were considered to be above average within Rhode’s group, Starlight was a leading guild, after all, and despite her being in the middle to upper rankings, her skills shouldn’t be belittled. Canary and Di stroked their hands in midair and made complicated gestures one after another. Then, they retracted their arms almost at the same time, before pushing them forward.

There was neither brilliance nor flashes of lightning. It was so peaceful as though nothing happened. But all of a sudden, the empty ground in front of them ruptured and a raging magical torrent metamorphosed into an ax that split the earth, where not even hard mountain rocks could withstand the powerful strength as they disintegrated instantly. Canary withdrew her arms and placed them on her chest. Then, she drew a circle in midair and shortly after, the coalesced wind blustered around her, taking shape into a sturdy barrier that kept out the splattering debris. But at the next moment, a mystical shadow shuttled out of the mass of debris. It was Di. He stretched his arms out and widened his palms, pouncing on Canary with a mighty force. He thrust his hands on the barrier in the blink of an eye and—bang! The barrier protecting Canary shattered completely. Looking at this result, Di’s eyes glinted in delight. But thereafter, a surprising flash reflected in his eyes.

Boom!

The scattered flames exploded and Di retreated quickly as though he was bitten. On the other hand, Canary raised her right arm calmly and slowly. Three bursts of flames like fire serpents slithered across the ground and chased the vampire closely. Facing the oncoming catastrophe, Di gnashed his teeth. A blood mist spurted from his mouth, enveloping the fire serpents ahead and extinguishing them entirely.

“Big Sister Canary’s reaction sure is quick.”

Upon hearing his younger sister’s comment, Rhode couldn’t help but nod in agreement. This wasn’t a battle to the death, but both sides were giving their all. Even though they didn’t manipulate the rules of Order and only carried out a duel between spell casters, it was enough to show their individual strength. Earlier on, Di obviously decided to rely on his ability as a vampire to catch Canary off guard. After all, he was different from a human like Canary. The speed and regeneration ability of vampires ensured that he could dodge the debris effortlessly and not need to defend himself. But Canary had to protect herself as a human, which was why Di attacked decisively and attempted to break through Canary’s barrier to defeat her.

But Di was surprised by Canary’s quick reaction. The young lady’s double mastery in wind and fire prepared her for such a situation. The moment Canary released the wind barrier, her left hand was preparing another spell. As a human, she couldn’t compete against Di in speed. But if she prepared her spell beforehand and waited for Di to come knocking on her door, it would be an entirely different matter. And now, it was apparent that Di didn’t anticipate this move from Canary and suffered a huge loss. If it weren’t for the incredible speed of a vampire that made Canary miss the chance to follow up with her attack, perhaps he would have already turned into a roasted bat.

At that moment, Di decided to stop casting spells. He zoomed in a trail of afterimages, shuttling around Canary continuously. It was apparent that he was using his innate ability to take advantage of Canary. No matter what, Canary was only a normal human being. Even after she arrived at this world and gained her own power through Rhode, her constitution didn’t change due to that. When humans faced agile creatures like vampires, they were lacking innately.

Facing the change in Di’s attacking style, Canary chose to stay in place. She withdrew her arms and the spiraling, fiery gusts transformed into a perfect shield that enfolded the young lady. No matter where Di attacked from, he would never cause any damage to her. But… in this case, Canary lost her initiative. She lost the ability to lock onto his position and didn’t know when he would attack. Logically speaking, Canary should be waiting and observing the situation. But she chose a totally different method.

“Masa… uiy… dis…”

Facing Di’s harassment, Canary lowered her gaze without the slightest care. She kept her palms together and chanted in a low voice. Shortly after, runes appeared between her palms one by one, drifting around her slowly. Looking at this scene, Di couldn’t help but feel startled. As a spell caster, he knew that this young lady was preparing to release a legendary AOE magical spell and it didn’t require her to aim at him either! As long as she cast the spell, Di would be dead!

Di was also dubious as to why Canary chose to release a legendary magical spell right now. Even though this magical spell would be formidable, its biggest flaw was its long chanting time. No matter how, she couldn’t complete the spell in just a few seconds. Even if she were ambushed, she couldn’t stop chanting the spell or forcefully disrupt it, else she would receive a massive backlash. Judging from the strength that Canary displayed earlier, she would never commit such a mistake.

Is she that confident in her defense? But a mage’s defensive shield isn’t stronger than a cleric’s, after all!

This thought cropped up in Di’s head for only a split second. After all, opportunity knocks only once. He should give it a shot no matter what. If not, he would be equally doomed once she released the legendary spell! Di hesitated no more. He drew circles in midair with his hands. His pale, jade-like arms were covered in pitch-black patterns immediately. Then, he lunged at the young lady like a whistling arrow!

Facing this attack, Canary didn’t falter at all, or perhaps, she didn’t even have the time to react. She also couldn’t see what Di was doing exactly. She continued to keep her palms together while chanting the spell. And at that moment, Di’s hands arrived beside her.