Chapter 102: The Battle of Riox (1)

That was what was said, but Thors wasn’t sure how things would actually turn out.
The atmosphere in the academy was extremely heavy. The professors were preparing for the impending battle—some were sorting through scrolls in the alchemy room, discarding those that were defective or damaged; others were reciting spells from their magic notebooks like students about to take an exam, aiming to use the simplest magical formulas in battle. Still others were strengthening the massive barrier surrounding the academy, replacing the core power sources with new magic stones, or carefully checking every magic circuit to ensure the barrier wouldn’t fail mid-battle.
Not many students remained in the academy at this time. Including Thors and the others, there were less than a hundred people. Aside from the international students from Salonia, most of them were senior civilian students in the fifth or sixth grades who worked in Vando for various reasons—some to save on travel costs, some to earn extra money, and others simply to reinforce their knowledge.
As future recruits for the empire’s dark mages, they volunteered to assist the professors. Though their contributions might seem insignificant, they were at least contributing to protecting Riox.
Compared to them, Thors and the others seemed rather idle. Scott, who had the most comprehensive knowledge, was under house arrest in Galk; Lavia, though skilled in magical theory, was even less proficient in practical applications than Thors; Leryla, who performed fairly well, chose to stay in Galk; Allen couldn’t cast any magic except for enhancement spells; Dia’s skills were only average, and her water magic was utterly useless; as for Lisa, who only knew summoning spells, there was nothing to say about her.
Waiting aimlessly easily led to anxiety, especially when something major was about to happen. The necromancers gathered in Vando felt nervous—of course, this didn’t include Ulric and Thors. The optimistic vampire noble had no idea what kind of people necromancers really were, while Thors was concerned because of Sloth’s existence. Although overusing Sloth’s power might lead to serious consequences, that power was indeed extremely strong—so strong that even Thors wasn’t confident he could control it completely.

Furthermore, Thors did not believe those necromancers could do much to Rexox. After all, Rexox was the cradle of dark magic. Without even considering its profound heritage, the over thirty professors currently at the academy alone represented a force that could not be underestimated. Not to mention the old dean, whose strength was unfathomable, there was also Professor Hode, who only held a standard magician’s certification, yet his abilities already surpassed those of an ordinary magician—especially in controlling fire. His mastery even exceeded the old dean’s violet flames, reaching the most lethal white flames. His strength could be said to rank second only to the grand magicians at Rexox Academy. Then there was Professor Alonso Kales, the instructor for enchantment courses. As a veteran professor who had dedicated himself to alchemy for over twenty years, his mastery of alchemical magic far surpassed that of Bernie, a half-baked magician from the Galic Magic Association’s branch. There was also Professor Salter Amix, the instructor for dark magic defense techniques, and his instant spellcasting skills… And then there was Ms. Vera Covetti, the instructor for potion-making—she was the only one at Rexox Academy who understood green magic… And so on… It was certain that the magicians teaching at Rexox Academy all possessed skills well above average and were capable of working directly for the royal family. Thus, even Thors thought the old dean’s request for help from the Royal Magic Association was merely a precautionary measure. But reality often defied expectations. As the old dean had predicted, around dusk, a flock of pitch-black crows appeared above Rexox Academy. They circled high in the sky, overlooking the entire academy. A few of them seemed to try to land inside, but when they approached the protective barrier, they were burned to ashes by lightning-like energy. “Black crows…” Lavia’s expression grew grave. According to historical records, black crows, which feed on rotting food, were the most loyal companions of necromancers. Just as dark magicians doted on owls, wherever black crows appeared, necromancers were bound to follow. One might have thought these crows would simply leave after a while, but instead, they began to recklessly crash into the shield surrounding Rexox. This strange phenomenon was clear evidence—it was a signal that the necromancers were about to attack Rexox.

Perhaps this was a stunning sight the children had never seen before—thousands of black crows covering the entire sky like dark clouds, rushing frantically at the invisible shield. Countless lightning bolts, as thick as fingers, shot out from the surface of the shield. There was no need to target anything specific; each bolt could take the life of a crow. Black feathers rained down like a storm, along with the charred corpses of the crows.

“How cruel…” Lisa, standing beside Allen, couldn’t help but whisper. Though the pitch-black crows were certainly unappealing, and their habit of feeding on rotting food was even more detestable, witnessing such a brutal scene forced her to feel sympathy for them.

Everyone took shelter under the eaves of Rex’s ancient castle, as tiny black crystal fragments drifted down like light rain. No one wanted their clothes to get stuck with those things.

The necromancers did not appear, but the shield that Rex’s side relied on grew increasingly fragile under the frenzied suicidal attacks of the crows. The energy consumption was enormous. I think even the professors at the academy never expected that the shield they hoped to use to defend against the necromancers would be depleted in this way.

Despite their anger, the professors had no choice but to replenish the magic stones. After all, if the shield disappeared, it meant Rex would lose his strongest barrier, and his advantages would vanish instantly. If those necromancers managed to enter Rex’s Academy, the protective barrier formed by the enchantment spells would be useless.

It was a difficult choice, but the professors had to keep spending those expensive magic stones on the crows, hoping to keep them outside the academy before the royal magicians arrived. —They had no way back.

Wishes are beautiful, but reality is cruel! As the saying goes, under the assault of the flock of crows, the shield held on for an hour before finally shattering with a loud crash. The magic stones that provided energy were completely exhausted, and the crows rushed into Rex’s territory like a deluge.

“Ah!” Lisa couldn’t help but cry out in shock. But before the crows could get closer, Dia had already created a water barrier. The crows, who naturally favored fire and hated water, changed direction upon approaching the water barrier and perched on the trees inside Rex’s territory, cawing loudly. Their cries filled those who heard them with unease.

Suddenly, all the black crows stopped cawing. The sudden silence envelopedthe whole of RiokesRiokes, until Lisa’s surprised voice broke through the oppressive quiet.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong, Lisa?” Ravia, still focused on the crows, asked with a frown.
Lisa pointed toward the school gate and murmured, “At the gate, grayness is approaching here…”
“Grayness?” The others looked puzzledly toward the school gate, their expressions instantly changing.
It wasn’t grayness at all—it was the forest and flower beds inside the school withering at an alarming rate. Even the grass on the ground had died. In just one minute, Riokes’ once lush and beautiful campus was left devoid of even a single blade of grass, turning into a desolate place filled with an evil aura.
“That’s too much…” Ulric looked at the withered flowers in the flower beds, his eyes filled with distress. For this vampire noble who cherished beauty and goodness, the necromancer’s act of intimidation was unbearable.
“Creak!” The castle’s door opened, and Professor Hod rushed out, saying to the children, “Hurry inside!” As soon as he spoke, the old dean came out of the castle along with the professors. After glancing at the children, he whispered to Professor Manhet beside him, “Follow the plan we discussed earlier: we’ll draw their attention while you seize the opportunity to take the children away with the professors. If we can avoid them, do so; if not… prioritize the children’s safety. I’m counting on you!”
“Yes, Dean!” Professor Manhet nodded silently. In his forties, he gazed at everything inside the castle with deep affection before turning to Sos and the others, “Children, it’s dangerous here. Let’s leave through the back door of the castle. Hurry!”
Allen and Ravia instinctively looked at Sos, about to say something, when Professor Hod said firmly, “Go! Staying here won’t help, and it will distract us… Leave with Professor Manhet!” He said the last part looking at Sos.
From an angle where no one else could see, Dia squeezed Sos’s hand and said softly, “Professor Hod is right… Let’s go, Sos.”
“Mm!”
The children followed Manhet around to the back of the castle. Just then, the old dean’s expression turned stern. Narrowing his eyes, he said in a low voice, “They’re coming!”

Including Professor Hode, nearly twenty professors and Father Andrew instinctively glanced toward the academy’s gates, just in time to see dozens of men in gray cloaks entering outside. At a rough count, there were fifty or sixty of them—perhaps not even the total number. Necromancers; they had finally arrived!
“There are quite a few of them. They really overestimate us…” a professor named Ibi couldn’t help but say with a bitter smile. Immediately afterward, he realized his mistake and stepped back quietly, lowering his head.
Perhaps sensing the professors’ unease, the old dean, dressed in a dark blue robe trimmed with gold, spoke in his usual tone with a smile, “Everything will be fine, everyone. Vando isn’t far from Sassen. The Royal Magicians might already be on their way… All we need to do is hold them back until they arrive to rescue us!”
Hearing the dean’s usual tone, the weight in the professors’ hearts eased slightly, and they nodded, saying, “Yes, Dean!”
“Well, to be irresponsible for a moment, everyone, be careful!” With that, the dean stepped forward firmly, raised his staff-like magic wand in his right hand, and shouted, “Gentlemen, the land beneath your feet belongs to the Heliriox Magic Academy. Without an invitation, Riox does not welcome you. Please leave immediately!”
Perhaps even though both sides knew a fierce battle was inevitable, necessary courtesy couldn’t be omitted—maybe that was just human habit.
One of the necromancers stepped forward, removed his cloak, revealing silver-white hair. Aside from slightly sunken eyes and faint gray eye bags, he appeared to be an ordinary old man, far from what the records described.
“You must be the great magician Greta Kaines?” The old necromancer performed a common magician’s greeting and spoke in a hoarse, aged voice, “You are an outstanding and renowned dark magician. I have always held you in high regard… There’s no need for pointless talk. Let the past persecution by you dark magicians remain buried in history. Our purpose this time is only two: to destroy Heliriox, and the other…” He raised his head to look at the dean. Though he didn’t say it outright, his meaning was clear.
Professor Hode couldn’t help but step forward, frowning in disgust, “What a joke!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a necromancer on the other side said to the elder necromancer, “Elder Boris, there’s no need to waste words with them. There’s no need to show mercy to enemies—this is what you taught us!”
“Hm!” The necromancer elder named Boris nodded, then glanced at the four necromancers standing beside him and said in a deep voice, “Then, everyone!” From his tone, it seemed the other four also held the rank of elders.
“Hm!” The four others nodded.
Immediately, the five of them stepped forward a few paces, positioned themselves according to the shape of a pentagram, spread their arms wide, and chanted loudly, “Servants of darkness, we summon you here with the power of death that transcends darkness. Servants of death, come to us and become part of our forces of death! We shall grant you the power to devour flesh and blood; and you shall sign a contract of equality with us, to live and die together until my soul leaves this body and reincarnates into another. In the name of the indestructible King of the Undead…”
As soon as they finished speaking, a strange white light burst forth from the ground beneath their feet. After the light faded, purple stripes slithered across the ground like snakes, quickly forming a massive composite pentagram magic array. Accompanied by a strange purple glow, a passage to the Land of Death was temporarily opened, and a huge stone door emitting a stench of decay slowly rose from the ground.
[Dark Passage: Gate of Immortality]
Meanwhile, the other necromancers and Rex’s professors launched magical attacks at the same time. In just a few seconds, a barrage of various spells—water walls, flames, lightning, bones, poisons—rained down. From the moment they were summoned, the summoned creatures such as skeletons, boulders, beast hybrids, and venomous monsters were all attacked by spells from the opposing side.
A true battle between magicians, especially a fierce or life-or-death struggle, is not as simple as two people standing still and competing with their magic.
Nearly a hundred magicians of top-tier strength kept repeating the cycle of teleporting, casting spells, teleporting again, and casting more spells. Barriers, wards, and shields were all cast at near-instant speeds. Spells that required complex incantations were completely ignored.
Like Thos, Professor Hode was also not accustomed to using a wand, as he preferred to control flames with his hands, though he lacked Thos’s snap of his fingers.
“Swish swish!” After making a series of complex hand gestures, Professor Hode shouted softly, “Balance…Release!!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a strange pale red tattoo appeared faintly on his face and arms, wherever his skin was exposed outside his clothes. Soon, the color of the tattoo deepened until it turned dark red. Professor Hod suddenly raised his right hand, and a burst of white flame erupted in the direction his finger pointed.

The faint white flame lacked the characteristics of flames of other colors; its hallmark was extreme heat that caused instant vaporization. The stone pillars beside the flower bed were vaporized to a large extent just from slight contact with it. Stones, soil, and even water—nothing could withstand the terrifying heat of this white flame, shattering people’s understanding of flames worldwide.

Unlike Thors’s unskilled tactics, Professor Hod, at full power, was clearly a formidable opponent. His flames seemed endless, and every necromancer he detected was forced to flee in panic using teleportation, with no chance to fight back.

“Damn it!” A necromancer who managed to escape Professor Hod’s grasp cursed angrily. He quickly formed several seals in front of his chest, then pressed his foot on the ground. A complex black pentagram magic array appeared instantly, and soon, a figure clad in a black cloak, holding a scythe, emerged from the white light.

“Kill him, Danast!”

Danast—this was the name of the Death God in legends. Of course, this necromancer hadn’t summoned the Death God. This so-called Danast was an immortal creature similar to a ghost from the Land of Death. Of course, it was far more powerful than a ghost, after all, it bore the name of the Death God.

Just as in the legends, Danast was an expert at harvesting lives. It possessed a ability similar to dimensional traversal, allowing it to dodge attacks.

Humans classified the undead creatures of the evil faction in a manner similar to demons: Level 1 were Telvi demons, Level 2 were Hous demons, Level 3 were Chastus demons, Level 4 were Bershad demon messengers, Level 5 were Minister demon messengers, Level 6 were Edvother demon messengers, Level 7 were Piers demon army commanders, and at the highest level, the legendary Level 8, the Satan Demon King.

The strength gap between consecutive levels was enormous. Danast was a Level 4 demon messenger, which, in human terms, was equivalent to a regional army commander—a truly formidable opponent.

By the way, if we use this classification, the werewolf Jean Connel belongs to the fifth-level demon commander, Lelajin’s power is around level four and a half, Simonli is at level four, while Hampa is only at the second-level demon soldier level. In short, strength level and rank are different—the former represents actual power, while the latter is merely a title. Of course, there are also some special demons that, even if they don’t possess much power, can command lower-level, stronger demons through their lineage of higher-tier demons, as demons place great importance on bloodline. In the Land of Death, however, it’s purely about strength that matters. Originally, for an ordinary human, dealing with a level-four Danast would indeed be extremely difficult. But Professor Hod was not an ordinary human. As Danast stared at Professor Hod with his dark green eyes beneath his cloak and rushed toward him at high speed, Professor Hod slammed his right hand on the ground, and a barely visible white flame barrier surged up from beneath the earth, instantly engulfing Danast. [Blazing Fire: Flaming Torrent] Unfortunately, if level-four dark creatures could be dealt with so easily, humans wouldn’t feel fear. After the wall of white flames disappeared, Danast emerged unharmed from the lower-dimensional space and flew toward Professor Hod again, waving his scythe. “Hod, get out of the way!” a woman’s voice rang out not far away. Aibel held a delicate, small magic wand and pointed it at Danast from afar. Soon after, a substance resembling dust fell from the sky. Once it touched Danast, his movements gradually stiffened, and eventually he stood still, like a statue. “Aether magic? And there’s an astrologer too?” A necromancer seemed to have witnessed this scene, frowned, erected a wall of bones to protect himself, quickly recited a few spells, and then dozens of thin, long bone spikes rapidly formed around his body. Pointing at Aibel with his right hand, he whispered, “Go!” As soon as he spoke, the dozens of bone spikes scattered in all directions before instantly changing direction and attacking Aibel at the same time. Surprisingly, Aibel easily avoided this all-around attack with almost no blind spots, and her timing was perfect—those green-tinged, venomous bone spikes failed not only to wound her but didn’t even touch the hem of her clothes.

On the contrary, the magic cast by Abel left the necromancer with no way to avoid it; he could only dodge using Flash, and even then, he had to use it repeatedly, or else he would be struck.
“Astral prediction? Tch, damn it!” The necromancer cursed inwardly as he watched Abel sneer.
Meanwhile, the other professors were also fighting fiercely against the necromancer. Soil, rocks, water—everything available on the land in front of the Ruins of Riox became weapons in their battle. The various animated beasts created from these materials kept repeating the cycle of being formed and destroyed. The place had truly turned into a fierce battlefield.
Just then, the five elders of the necromancers finally stopped chanting. After a strange vibration, a giant skull slowly passed through the Gate of Immortality and descended into this world. It emitted an endless aura of death, so dense that it formed a grayish mist.
This skull was enormous—just its upper body was almost as tall as the Ruins of Riox. Moreover, it was completely different from any skull that had appeared before, not in terms of size, but in terms of its presence. Its bones were perfect silver-gray, with a deep gash running through its right eye socket like a ravine. Even more astonishingly, atop its head was a huge silver-gray crown. After taking in the scene before it, the skull spoke, its voice loud and imposing, with a hint of anger.
“You’d better give me an explanation, insignificant humans! Why have you summoned me, Edmund Pankhurst the Skull…”
It—no, he—was one of the thirteen Immortal Kings who wielded the power of the Land of Death!
With his appearance, a vast army of skulls surged forth from the ground. Even the skulls summoned by the liches of the Dark Ruins of Galic were not as powerful as these, a stark difference between amateur forces and a professional army.
Due to the arrival of this uninvited guest, the battle came to a brief pause. The professors of the Ruins of Riox stared in shock at this monstrous being with terrifying power, momentarily at a loss for words. After all, at their level, they had already developed a certain understanding of strength and could easily gauge an opponent’s power from their aura. But this guy was simply too terrifying…

Just as the professors at Rex Academy were uneasy at the appearance of the Immortal King before them, the twilight sky was illuminated by an inexplicable fiery red light. Under that glow, a massive fireball could be seen falling from the sky like a meteor.
“Boom!” The flaming meteor crashed heavily into the sea of skeletons, causing heavy casualties among them.
At the same time, the old dean, who had remained motionless until then, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Holding his magic wand, he pointed at the massive crater and declared in a deep voice, “Come out, Lord of Flames!”
Amidst everyone’s shocked and astonished gazes, a roar came from the crater. Soon after, a huge arm made of flames and rock stretched out, and then an incredibly massive figure slowly stood up—its height comparable to that of the Immortal King. Its entire body was composed of burning rocks, constantly emitting waves of heat.
[Forbidden Curse-level Fire and Earth Enchantment Manifestation—Lord of Flames: Flame Demon]
Meanwhile, on the roof of a bell tower in Vando City, Argus sat on the edge, observing the situation in Rex Academy, with an amused smile on his face from time to time.
“Do you plan to intervene?” asked Pur, the necromancer standing behind him, calmly. “There’s no need. The power of the elders is enough to destroy ten Helirexes!”
“Oh? Is that so?” Argus chuckled mockingly, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “The Immortal King… Heh, interesting! But those two old guys aren’t easy to deal with… Old people always keep a backdoor. If pushed too hard, hehe… Be careful!”
Frowning, Pur asked softly, “What do you mean?”
Shaking his head, Argus watched the battle in Rex Academy with a somewhat smug smile.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it…”