Chapter 191: No One Is Faster Than Me
“Boss, what do we do now?” The Dark Thin Gnome shook the blood from his hands and turned to look at the Black Robe.
“Wait! He will definitely come back.” The Black Robe’s voice was cold, his gaze eerie.
There are not many ultra-long-distance Teleport spells, the most common being the Fifth Circle Teleportation Circle, but there were no traces of a Magic Array on the ground, indicating it was not this spell.
The other spells are all Seventh Circle or higher, such as Seventh Circle Teleport, Plane Shift, Ninth Circle Gate.
With the current chaos in the Magic Net, he did not believe anyone could so quickly master a high-circle Teleport spell of extreme difficulty, so he deduced that the target must have left using some kind of Teleport item, or entered another plane.
Regardless of which, the possibility of returning to the original location was high.
The Tiefling hesitated: “Halflings are very united. If they see the tavern not opening, they might have noticed something wrong and could break in at any time. It won’t end well then.”
“Then block them in the name of debt collection. Whoever wants to meddle can pool money to redeem him. Set it at… two hundred thousand Gold Coins.” The Black Robe’s tone was calm.
They just needed an excuse. As long as the Magistrate didn’t interfere, these were minor problems.
“Leave it to me.” The Orc grinned widely, his fangs glinting coldly.
The Dark Thin Gnome stood up, revealing an ugly smile: “Then I’ll guard his room.”
The Black Robe nodded silently, his gaze flickering uncertainly.
——
Hollewen, Black Tower top floor.
Anse had long finished Meditation. After clearly communicating his situation with the Treant and Salian, he returned to the Black Tower top floor again.
In critical moments, he needed the Treant, Salian, and others to help him fight together. One more helper meant one more chance of victory.
‘It’s been several hours. I wonder what’s happening outside?’ He decided to go take a look.
He had already completed Attunement with the Star Robe and could now use the robe to Teleport to the Astral Sea, giving him another lifesaving method.
It also came with six Fifth Circle Magic Missiles, one with seven Flashing Missiles, powerful lethality, but the drawback was that Metamagic Techniques could not be applied to the spells, with average Casting Speed.
He began sorting his Equipment. In the 「Alchemist’s Belt Pouch」 were a Health Elixir and a Greater Healing Potion, and beside him was a bottle of Indestructible Potion.
Left hand 「Aegis of Euryale」, right hand Dragon Gold Slash Sword, Elemental Orb swirling around him.
Mei Fu sat on the Book of Castella, hovering beside him. With a swipe of her paw, a transparent Mage Armor fell over him, Armor Class +3.
Anse raised his hand to cast Shield of Faith on himself, Armor Class +2. Including the Shield, Anse’s Armor Class reached 29, extremely tough.
He glanced at the Shield in his hand, his heart skipping a beat: ‘Could the original owner have come looking?’
After careful inspection, the Shield showed no abnormalities. He breathed a slight sigh of relief and did not put away the Shield. He couldn’t abandon a Legendary piece of Equipment based on baseless speculation.
‘Get ready for Combat!’
‘Meow.’
The next moment, Anse slapped his body, layers of spell glows buffing himself: Blade Ward, False Life, Great Step, Jump, Shield of Fire, Divine Favor, Detect Evil and Good.
Then he downed the viscous Indestructible Potion in one gulp, maxing out his damage Resistance.
He had originally planned to drink an Invisibility Potion, but attacks and Spellcasting would reveal him, as would Teleport, so he decided not to waste the potion.
“Mirror Image”（Netherese）
Three illusory duplicates identical to Anse appeared beside him. They exchanged glances with varying expressions, then simultaneously vanished from the Black Tower top floor.
Light and shadow shifted, and Anse’s vision blurred. He had already appeared in a messy small room, with a Dark Thin Shadow Figure standing by the broken wooden door, tossing a Dagger.
He did not hesitate and decisively ordered the duplicates to charge out with him. Killing was secondary; leaving this place came first.
It was too cramped here, inconvenient for Spellcasting.
“Boss—”
The Dark Thin Gnome did not expect the enemy’s reaction to be faster than his. He roared in anger and charged at one of the illusions.
But silver mist flashed on the illusion, Teleporting to the Corridor in an instant, then flashing again, vanishing from his sight.
Not just one—all four were the same.
‘A Wizard with Sword and Shield?’ He froze for a moment, then hurriedly gave chase.
Anse chained two Misty Steps and arrived at the tavern. With one sweeping glance, he took in the entire situation in the Hall.
One Black Robe Spellcaster, one Orc melee fighter, one Tiefling Ranger, and a Deep Gnome Rogue following behind.
The Orc was blocking the door. Leaving required opening an inaccurately targeted Misty Step, but he wanted to try!
He raised his Shield. The relief of Medusa Euryale on it suddenly opened its eyes, emitting bright light that fell straight on the Black Robe Spellcaster.
The other illusory duplicates followed suit, but their light and shadow effects were fake.
The Black Robe Spellcaster looked up, a chilling smile curling his pale lips, his expression calm.
The petrifying light fell, his figure pausing slightly as if utterly unaffected. His fingertip flicked, instantly releasing four beams of Scorching Ray straight at Anse and the four illusory duplicates.
【You cast Petrifying Magic on the peak Warlock, the peak Warlock succeeds on the Saving Throw】
‘A Warlock above level 17!’
Anse huddled behind his Shield, mentally locking onto the Black Robe. Like turning a dial, he rewound the flow of time around him to the maximum extent.
Time Alteration!
A momentary blankness appeared in the Black Robe’s eyes under the hood, his actions rewinding. When he reacted, he saw the petrifying light “again” falling on him.
‘What?’
His body stiffened, and he slumped powerlessly back into the chair, limbs rigid, unable to Spellcast.
【You cast Petrifying Magic and Time Alteration on the peak Warlock, the peak Warlock fails the Saving Throw and enters Restrained status】
At the same time, a beam of Scorching Ray hit Anse’s Shield, exploding violently and blasting him away with the Shield. Multiple shields, including Shield, shattered in succession.
Anse’s limbs went numb, barely holding onto the Shield. He flipped to his feet, feeling as if his chest had taken a hammer blow, stuffy and uncomfortable.
【You are hit by the peak Warlock’s Eldritch Blast attack, you are hit, taking 11 Force Damage, current Life 103/103, temporary Life 1/12】
His three illusory duplicates fared worse, exploding on the spot and dissipating into light and shadow.
‘Probably Repulsion Eldritch Blast and Agony Eldritch Blast. Lucky my armor is thick.’
Without the duplicates’ interference, the Orc and Deep Gnome charged Anse simultaneously, while the Tiefling nocked an arrow, preparing a close-range shot.
The tavern was small, the enemies’ speed astonishingly fast. Anse didn’t even have time for normal Spellcasting.
‘At least all Advanced Professionals.’
In the flash of lightning, he had no time to think and instinctively cast his most proficient strong control spell.
“
「Metamagic」+「Metamagic: Empower Quicken, Escalate」+「Fifth Circle: Hold Person」!
The Elemental Orb flashed with rainbow light, four invisible magical waves instantly striking the four enemies.
The Orc, Tiefling, and Deep Gnome all stiffened simultaneously and collapsed to the ground.
But the Black Robe was unaffected. He had even resisted the second check of the Petrifying Magic, fully escaping Restraint.
He looked up at Anse, a Tarot Card appearing between his fingertips.
Anse sensed danger, strongly suppressing the urge to open a Misty Step and leave, focusing again on Spellcasting.
“
「Metamagic: Empower Quicken, Enhanced, Careful」+「Fifth Circle: Fireball-Cold」!
A bright Flash formed instantly at his fingertip, then exploded immediately. Biting Cold swept the tavern, white mist filling the air, Frost condensing, as if plunged into the polar regions, bitterly cold.
Too fast—except for Anse and the two Halflings, everyone was covered in thin ice.
“…”
Urgent Dragon Speech rang out again. Second and third Flashes descended in succession, forming and exploding instantly.
Extreme Bitter Cold rampaged in the cramped “Ice Cave,” sealing everything in layer upon layer of ice.
【Target Death, gain 2450 Combat Experience】
【Target Death, gain 2080 Combat Experience】
【You cast Enhanced Fireball-Cold on the Advanced Barbarian, the Advanced Barbarian is hit, taking 48 Cold Damage, current Life 39/172】
‘One less!’
Anse forcefully tore off the Ice Layer stuck to his face and looked around. The corner was empty, the Black Robe’s figure nowhere to be seen.
