Chapter 75: This Isn’t Stific, But It's Magical

  “What is this?”

  Charles froze as he suddenly found himself enveloped in a circle. He raised his hands cautiously, magical light flickeriween his fingers. As a mage, Charles knew better than to make rash judgments about unfamiliar things. Although he could sehat the girl's poeaker than his, the fact that she was an angel was enough to make him treat her differently.

  However, Ikaros didn’t attack. Instead, after casting the field, she quickly hid behind Alex. Alex dashed forward, his sword transf into a fsh of silver light before exploding into tless light swords that appeared out of thin air, surging towards the bald mage.

  Holy Storm!

  “Hmph!”

  Seeing the torrent of sword energy rushing toward him, Charles snorted. Although he looked down on warriors, that didn’t mean he could emerge unscathed from Alex's holy-power-den attack. Still, as a mage, he had his own termeasures. He took a step bad spread his hands. A radiant, multicolored barrier unfolded beside him, attempting to block Alex's all-out assault.

  From Charles' perspective, his ter was fwless. The Rainbow Wall could withstand any attack below legendary level, and all he o do repare his spell us prote to finish off the annoying warrior and the priest.

  A cold smile flickered in his eyes as his hands trembled, drawing magi the air, densing it into a powerful force that leaped and surged, ready to explode…

  “Huh?”

  But at that moment, Charles felt something was off.

  Where’s my Rainbow Wall?

  The enormous barrier, which had just been there, had vanished without a trace.

  What oh…

  Before Charles could make sense of it, the r Holy Storm swept over him like a tidal wave, pulling him in. His lightning shield sted barely three seds uhe storm’s onsught before being torn apart. With a shriek, Charles was engulfed by the blinding holy light.

  "Finally…"

  Alex wiped away the cold sweat as he g the unscious bald mage lying on the ground. He had to admit, this mage was a tough oppo. If not for Ikaros' intrusion and her ability to seize trol of the defense spell, he would have had a much harder time dealing with him.

  After defeating the bald mage, the remaining cultists were no match for Alex. Though they could summon projes of low-level demons from the Abyss, they themselves had little bat power—those with real fighting abilities had already been quietly eliminated by Alex during the rescue.

  The rest were nothing but sitting ducks. Initially, they had used their o suppress the padins, but once Alex joihe battle, the tide immediately turned. Against his uable illusions, nothing could stand in their way. Most of the cultists were wiped out, with the survivors swiftly subdued by the padins.

  The mission was, without a doubt, a great success. Not only had they rescued the padins, but they had also captured the bald mage—though Alex had no idea who he was, he was clearly someone important.

  However, ohing tio puzzle Alex: Why had his abilities failed?

  Was this mage really that formidable?

  To be ho, this was Alex’s first time fighting a mage from the main world, and based on his experiehis guy was no slouch. What troubled Alex the most was how the bald mage was like a pore, impossible to approach.

  Several times Alex had tried to use his speed to ambush him when he wasn’t paying attention, only to be thwarted by that lightning shield. Even worse, the mage’s spells were either rge-scale attacks or had auteting, so there was no need for him to even aim!

  Apart from using his invulnerability, Alex had no good way to defend himself, and he had to rely on Fina, the divine priestess, for prote.

  Damn it, no matter the world, a mage is a mage.

  As for assassinating him? Alex hadn’t fotten how his initial attempt—using a time stop—was immediately tered.

  What’s going on?

  “Mr. Alex? What should we do now?”

  Alex’s thoughts were interrupted as Fina approached him, curiously asking. He shook his head, refog as he looked ahead. The entire camp was now uhe padins’ trol, littered with the bodies of cultists. The demon projes they had summoned vanished after their masters were killed, returning to the Abyss.

  The padins had taken some casualties too. After all, they weren’t as powerful as , the temple padin, and had only retly reached elite level. About five of them had fallen in battle, though fortunately, most of them survived.

  “Did you get any information from the cultists?”

  “No.”

  Fina shook her head at Alex's inquiry.

  “They itted suicide right after being captured. We couldn’t stop them in time…”

  “Such resolve…”

  Alex was momentarily stunned. He had po capture one of them alive to gather information, but he hadn’t expected the cultists to be even more ruthless than he imagined. Seeing their failure, they had immediately chosen suicide.

  This didn’t make sense—weren’t cultists supposed to be cowardly, scheming, and evil?

  But at least they still had one prisoner.

  The bald mage was still lying on the ground, unscious. He looked pale, his breathing rapid, as though he were about to be rushed to the ICU. However, Alex clearly didn’t care about whether he lived or died. He simply stared at the bald mage, w how to wake him up. Since Alex wasn’t up for doing anything too plicated, he figured he might as well sp him awake.

  “Wait, Mr. Alex!”

  Just as Alex was about to act, Fina hurriedly stopped him.

  “Waking up a mage like this could be dangerous! I think we should prepare…”

  “Prepare? It seems you're right.”

  Hearing Fina’s words, Alex nodded. He now uood that mages in this world were even more dangerous than those in games. Who knew if this guy would trigger some shield when he woke up and escape? Many mages in games had spells like teleportation. Alex wasn’t sure if this bald mage could use them, but better safe than sorry. If the guy did run, all of Alex’s effort would be wasted. He could trol time, not space—or even time didn’t seem to work well against this guy.

  But still…

  “Do you have any good ideas?”

  “Sorry... I don’t have any. I’m just a priest…”

  Fina owerless in this situation. She was only an apprentice priest, and the mage was far stronger. Priests, by nature, focused on healing and prote, not skills for impriso.

  At that moment, Ikaros raised her hand.

  “Master, I think I try.”

  “Oh?”

  Alex turo his little angel.

  “You have a way?”

  “I think it should work, but…”

  “If you're fident, give it a shot.”

  Though Ikaros seemed a little uneasy in front of Alex, after sidering it, Alex decided to let her try. After all, she had already dispyed some remarkable abilities. She had been crucial iing the mage earlier, so Alex had a lot of trust in her.

  “Yes!”

  With Alex’s approval, Ikaros approached the unscious bald mage and pced her right hand on his forehead.

  “Initiating intrusion!”

  With a soft whisper from Ikaros, her hand began to glow, enveloping the bald mage in a radiant light. The glow sted for several seds before fading away. Ikaros then removed her hand from his forehead and turo Alex, nodding.

  “Master, the task is plete.”

  “Good. Now, wake him up.”

  Hearing Ikaros' response, Alex nodded and walked up to the bald mage. He raised his hand and spped the mage several times.

  “Ugh…”

  Whether it was because Alex hit him too hard or the mage was too weak, after a few sps, the bald mage groggily woke up. He shook his head and opened his eyes. Upon seeing Alex, his expression suddenly ged, and he quickly raised his right hand.

  “Dispel!!”

  With a shout, the bald mage extended his right hand, pointing at Alex. However... nothing happened.

  “……………”

  Seeing that Alex erfectly fihe bald mage’s face turned even paler. He stared at his hands in disbelief and started waving them frantically. He muttered all sorts of mysterious intations, but no matter what he said, nothing happened. He looked like he was on the verge of losing his mind.

  “How did you do that?”

  Watg the frantic mage, Alex curiously turo Ikaros and asked. Ikaros smiled faintly and expined.

  “It’s simple, Master. I just invaded his brain and applied a lo the part of his memory that deals with casting spells.”

  “...So?”

  “So, he’s fotten how to use magic.”

  “……………”

  Alex thought to himself, even though everything she said sounded stific, why did it feel so magical? Invasion of the brain? Log memory? Are we sure we’re talking about the real world and not the Matrix?

  But whatever…

  Looking at the dumbfounded bald mage, Alex smiled slightly.

  “Hello, sir. It seems we have a lot to discuss.”

  ? Unlock the World of Stories with Early Access on Patreon! ?

  Hello, beloved readers and supporters!

  I am thrilled to offer you an exclusive opportunity to dive deeper into our captivating stories before anyone else. By joining the Patreon unity, you'll unlock a treasure trove of bes, including:

  ? Early Access to 20 Chapters: Be the first to explore neters, experieng the twists and turns of our tales well ahead ur readers. Your jourhrough our stories doesn't have to wait!

  ? ect with the unity: Join a vibrant, like-minded group of readers who share your passion. Engage iing discussions, share theories, and make new friends who love the stories as much as you do.

  ? Support the Creator: Your patronage directly tributes to the ongoing creation and improvement of the tent you love. Be a vital part of the creative journey!

  Patreon./anish_44