A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 69 Blood-Red Beach

In fact, the attitude was not wrong; something had indeed happened at the rear.

Jiang Shuzhou brandished his knife, aiming it at the trapped priest.

With a soft thud, the priest's head fell to the ground; he was dead beyond any doubt.

This is the consequence of daring to challenge a mage; being challenged is still a challenge.

Jiang Shuzhou dares to have a decisive battle here, and you guys actually dare to come?

All around were people controlled by the magic array, and most of them had already died under Jiang Shuzhou's blade.

Do you remember that energy-binding array?

When Jiang Shuzhou was drawing it, he realized its versatility; it could not only bind energy, but also people.

Jiang Shuzhou only needed to make slight modifications, and the energy-binding array became a binding array.

Now all the people in the back row are bound within the magic circle, and not even a sound can escape.

The magic circle was changed so that entry was permitted but exit was not, which allowed Jiang Shuzhou to kill them easily.

As for how Jiang Shuzhou came to be?

All that was needed was to destroy one rune in the magic circle. These people were suddenly trapped in the magic circle and had no knowledge of magic, so they naturally did not realize that the way to escape was right under their feet.

An idiot is beyond redemption.

And so, Jiang Shuzhou easily reaped the lives of these fools.

The first person he dealt with was the priest. It wasn't entirely out of personal grudge, but mainly because of his overly strong support abilities. If they were allowed to survive, they might pose a serious threat to Jiang Shuzhou.

Secondly, there are Druids and Musketeers. Druids have decent support abilities, while Musketeers are simply convenient because they are close by.

"Now it's your turn. Speaking of which, we were one family 1000 years ago."

As he casually remarked, Jiang Shuzhou picked up the still-dripping Miao knife in his hand, ready to finish off mac10.

"Don't even think about it!"

Jiang Shuzhou felt a chill run down his spine and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

A paladin, shield in hand, roared and charged toward him.

No, buddy?

How did he manage to charge with hundreds of kilograms of equipment?

Without time to think about the answer, Jiang Shuzhou immediately dodged backward and used his Mage's Hand to drag over several corpses of priests and musketeers, quickly piling them together.

"bump!"

Originally, Jiang Shuzhou was just being cautious. He was no longer in a straight line with the paladin, so theoretically the paladin's charge should not have been able to hit him.

However, some things cannot be explained by reason.

The Paladin's charge initially hit mac10, but since they were teammates, there was no friendly fire.

So the Mac10 wasn't harmed in any way, except for psychological damage, of course.

Despite bumping into his teammate, he showed no sign of stopping and turned to continue charging towards Jiang Shuzhou.

Thanks to his talent "Agile Charge", his charge skill, which was originally only able to dash in a straight line and deal damage, has been changed to one that can be adjusted in direction, requiring only a little more stamina.

However, Jiang Shuzhou was not completely unprepared. There was a binding magic array in front of him, and it was already in operation.

As expected, this time her attitude didn't waver; she charged straight at Jiang Shuzhou.

He stepped into the binding magic circle!

Just as Jiang Shuzhou was overjoyed, thinking he had finally got the paladin under control, the paladin did not stop but instead turned around and continued charging.

"Smack."

It was the sound of runes overloaded. Clearly, the runes of the binding array could not withstand such a powerful impact and had become overloaded.

At this moment, the paladin charged straight at Jiang Shuzhou, but Jiang Shuzhou had already set up a defensive formation, so he wasn't too afraid.

"puff."

The sound of flesh shattering rang out, and all the corpses that made up the defensive fortifications were destroyed. However, Jiang Shuzhou had also achieved his goal, successfully blocking the paladin's charge.

Looking at the carcass on the shield, Jiang Shuzhou couldn't help but make a final sarcastic remark.

"Brother, you rushed in pretty fast, it's just a pity your brother turned to mud."

After saying that, seemingly afraid of being beaten, Jiang Shuzhou used the same trick again and activated the smoke screen technique.

A thick cloud of smoke descended once more, and Jiang Shuzhou's figure gradually disappeared.

Seeing that Jiang Shuzhou was about to run away, several soldiers prepared to stop him, but instead, they reached out and blocked his way.

"Don't go. Let's gather and assess the losses first. What if they set up another trap?"

Upon hearing this, and looking at the thick smoke ahead, everyone fell silent.

"This is not cowardice, but reason."

Seeing the other contestants' resentment, he offered a word of comfort and then looked at his Mac 10.

"Does he have accomplices?"

"No, he was alone the whole time."

mac10 responded, clutching his chest as he spoke, seemingly still shaken by the earlier collision.

"Captain, could you please be more careful next time? You almost gave me a heart attack."

"No friendly fire, and you didn't get your heart knocked out, that's pretty good."

He gave a casual reply, his expression grave as he looked at the tragic scene behind him.

After just one round of fighting, they lost half their men: two priests, two druids, and three musketeers.

If they hadn't arrived in time, the only magic mage and the remaining two musketeers probably wouldn't have survived.

Of course, there is an even more important issue now, and that is time.

There are only eighteen minutes left to complete the hidden mission.

Just as the officers were pondering how to deal with Jiang Shuzhou, a soldier spoke up.

"In my opinion, we should just charge in headfirst. Even with nine against one, we can't win, can we?"

"No, what if we encounter fire again?"

Looking ahead, shrouded in smoke, he dismissed the idea.

"I can handle it!" mac10 said.

"I can use a smokescreen too! He can cast a spell and I'll dispel it! That should get you through!"

Seeing his teammate's words and attitude, he thought for a moment and then agreed.

Their time is running out.

He recalled the words of his mentor when he became a paladin.

Too cautious and lacking drive.

This was his mentor's assessment of him, but similarly, it was a common flaw among all paladins.

They are shields to protect others, not spears to attack.

"Once the smoke clears, we'll charge straight in. The musketeers will provide suppressive fire. Mike, the rest is up to you."

"It's Mac10, Captain!" Mac10 corrected.

"I will complete the mission," he replied again.

On the other side, while the Imperial Dynasty team was discussing tactics, Jiang Shuzhou was quite idle.

"He seems quite cautious, as expected of a paladin."

Seeing the smoke remain motionless, Jiang Shuzhou used the grease technique again, spreading layers of grease on the ground.

It's a pity we didn't manage to kill the opposing magic mage right away, but it doesn't matter. Jiang Shuzhou dares to cast spells casually. Look at that magic mage, does he dare to do that?

The mages' rebellion against the Goddess of the Magic Network wasn't simply a matter of love for freedom; the main reason was that spell slots restricted all mages.

Can you imagine a legendary mage only able to cast twenty first-tier spells a day?

Jiang Shuzhou cast over a dozen first-tier spells in a single match. A legendary mage was surprisingly weak. It was only later, when mages were forced to invent spell scrolls, that they were able to break through the limitations imposed by the Goddess of the Magic Network on another level.

Whenever Jiang Shuzhou sees this passage, he sighs, "Life always finds its own way."

"bump!"

The sound of gunfire rang out, and Jiang Shuzhou was hit by a bullet.

Are you kidding me? You can even hit something through smoke?

However, Jiang Shuzhou didn't care. These bullets couldn't break through his defenses at all. The only thing he cared about was the paladin's charge.

This is currently the only attack that could potentially harm him.

Fortunately, he was not careless and spent more than 20 minutes setting up the venue, which allowed him to fully capitalize on the venue's advantages.

Otherwise, if the paladin hits him twice, it would be bad.

Seeing the figures rushing out of the smoke, Jiang Shuzhou released his spell again.

Fireball Technique!

"Splash!"

The flames reignited, but the opposing magic mage unleashed his power.

Smoke screen technique!

A cloud of smoke enveloped the flames, and due to the lack of oxygen, the fire, which should have swept across the land, eventually went out.

Fortunately, the dust from the smoke screen was not easily flammable, otherwise it would have definitely caused a dust explosion.

Alright, alright, you want to compete with me in analyzing the game, huh?

"Great opportunity! He can't see us now, let's charge!"

Who says I can't see it?

Gale Force!

Fireball Technique!

After a series of attacks, the wind blew away the smoke, and flames once again engulfed the land.

Hey bro, how many spell slots do you have left?

Brother, I still have one mana potion. Without it, I have enough mana to cast ten more spells. What about you? Do you have enough spell slots?