Chapter 278: An End, A New Beginning

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Lin Li shook his head, and said nothing. He just muttered a spell, and countless red vines covered the Aurora Square like tide water.

“It’s the Blood-vine Spell again!”

Before the audience could calm down, the crazy blood-vines grabbed Matthias’ body. It was as though those blood-red vines had their own consciousness. The moment they caught onto Matthias’ body, their prickles sunk into his flesh like leeches, sucking his sweet fresh blood hungrily.

“AHHH…” Matthias let out a weak scream. It was as though he had his throat strangled by someone.

The audience was dumbfounded. Everybody stared at that scene blankly. Aldwin shook his head, and a bitter smile surfaced on his face. This old man who had been managing the Alanna for decades felt that he was out of control for the first time. The battle was a disaster. Although he had already intervened in the flow of the finals, he could not change the end result.

The silence in the Aurora Square was deafening. There was only sound from the growing blood-vines.

A blood-vine that was filled with blood climbed around Matthias’ neck. It was like a poisonous snake. Everyone could tell that if it were to tighten further, the heir of the Marathon Family would die in the Aurora Square.

“Mage Felic, please let him go!” At this time, 10 warriors clad in armor burst out from the crowd. Their leader looked to be over 30 years of age and resembled Matthias.

Lin Li suddenly remembered that he was the same man he’d met in the Fire Plume Ridge. That man was with Argus when they visited the Silver Hand to ask Serena about his whereabouts. Oh, yes. Serena told him that this man, named Gaud, was the cousin of Matthias, and the nephew of Wilhelm.

The gravity of the situation made Gaud lose the cool he’d had back in the Fire Plume Ridge. He brought the team of warriors through the crowd and barged into the Aurora Square. The two judges who had been hiding in the corner got shoved away by the warriors.

“Get off!”

Gaud was aware that he was in the Aurora Square, and knew that it was the day of the finals. After bringing his team in, he only asked the judges to stand aside, and did nothing intrusive. The group of men in armor were also left at the edge of the Aurora Square. He walked up to Lin Li alone and stood a few meters in front of him.

“Mage Felic, please think of Master Wilhelm and give Matthias a chance!”

Lin Li glanced at him, and said nothing. He secretly dispersed his mental energy while scanning the four mageweaths that were tampered with by someone. At the same time, he controlled the strength of the blood-vines to ensure that they did not wrap Matthias too loosely or tightly. He let Matthias hang there lifelessly.

“Mage Felic, you are a smart man. I’m sure you know that you gain nothing if you kill Matthias. You had already won this battle. Why are you creating more trouble for yourself?”

Yet, Lin Li could not care about Gaud’s patient advice. At this time, his gaze was on a sky-blue-colored streak of mageweath on his right. It was between a few cracked stone slabs, and at least 10 meters away from him.

As the Guru of Inscription, Lin Li could tell straight away that it was a bipolar mageweath. Its mana was supported by two level-15 magic element crystals, namely ice and fire. It had a total of 33 magic nodes and 14 magic circuits. The reason for its existence was to balance out the clash between magic from the two elements.

Within the area it covered, the impact of the magic would be minimized. While the same Flaming Storm could burn a cargo ship outside, it could only burn a long robe inside the area.

However, when Lin Li’s gaze fell onto the mageweath, he frowned. While there were indeed 33 magic nodes, there was a lack of the most crucial magic circuit. Lin Li remembered that there should be one more magic circuit near the source of the mana. This magic circuit would be the one that would ensure the balance between the ice and fire elements.

This magic circuit was absolutely vital on the bipolar mageweath!

Without it, the entire bipolar mageweath would be incredibly dangerous. It was difficult to stabilize the energy between ice and fire elements by itself. If the concentration of either magical element were to get higher than the critical point, the balance would be broken. Then, it would engulf the person who cast the spell…

“Darian is indeed a talent…” Lin Li muttered sarcastically. To be honest, at first, he did not believe such a narrow-minded man would be able to craft such a comprehensive conspiracy.

Unfortunately, he had used in at the wrong place.

To play tricks in front of an Inscription Master was insignificant. Lin Li did not need to do anything much on his side. He only need to release a small sense of mental energy to change the entire bipolar mageweath. In reality, Lin Li only tweaked the bite of mana effect brought about by the mana imbalance such that it became a magic sequence that would allow direct attacks…

“Mage Felic…” Gaud drew a breath after realizing that Lin Li was not responsive to his persuasion. “Could you let Matthias down first? I’m afraid that those blood-vines might…”

“Let him down? Sure…!” Lin Li raised the Aether Staff in his hand. A dark red glow flashed past. Immediately, the numerous blood-vines dispersed like snow under the sunlight.

Matthias stood himself up with his staff. The loss of blood had made him really dizzy and weak.

“Thank you…” Gaud thanked Lin Li after seeing the blood-red vines disappear and Matthias get down. He sighed, and just when he wanted to continue thanking him, he felt gentle magical waves around him.

The magical waves were not vigorous. They were like ripples on the surface of a calm lake.

The magical waves from Lin Li were not vigorous, but caused the imbalance of the ice and fire elements in such a sensitive environment.

At once, countless Wind Blades came flying in like butterflies.

Matthias, who had just got away from the blood-vines, had no time to understand the situation. A Wind Blade slit his throat.

“Mage Felic…” When Gaud realized something was amiss, and wanted to stop it, but it was too late. He could only watch while the Wind Blade cut Matthias’ throat.

“Hey, this is not my fault anymore…” Lin Li said innocently as he rubbed his nose.

Frankly speaking, he was not wrong.

When the blood-red vines dispersed, Lin Li did not attack Matthias at all—he did not even touch his hair. Now, even Macklin could not help but frown.

What is this kid doing?

He was still wondering why Lin Li did not choose to kill Matthias at such a good chance. Then, he realized that Aldwin’s bipolar mageweath failed due to the over-concentration of elements…

What followed was Matthias falling straight onto the ground.

Gaud was stupefied. He’d never thought that it would end this way. Matthias’ death was too absurd. Although he knew it was the doing of the Jarrosus mage, he had no proof. Thousands of mages saw very clearly that Matthias was killed by a random Wind Blade. His death was not related to Felic at all.

Since the grounds belonged to Alanna Guild of Magic, Gaud could not do much without credible evidence. Even though he was the nephew of Wilhelm, the only thing he could do was grit his teeth and snap at Lin Li. “Mage Felic, I will report everything to Master Wilhelm.”

After saying that, Gaud walked out of the Aurora Square, and exited Alanna Guild of Magic with the team of fully armored warriors.

“The ultimate victory goes to Felic from the Jarrosus!” Herza’s voice was very clear. At this time, the audience who were stunned got back to reality. A round of thunderous applause filled the arena.

The two-month-long trial might appear to have ended with the applause. However, to most people, it was just the start.