Chapter 342

Chapter 342

The immense surge of magic was overpowering.

Kaichen remained as calm as possible as he stood in the artificially created void, looking at the land that looked like hell.

As Dalia had anticipated, among the numerous crowds that flocked to Heullin, the local citizens had been transformed into ‘zombies’ by the potent combined drugs, running rampant.

Master Hamal and the mages of the Magic Tower were scrambling to contain the mayhem that had broken out all over Heulin.

Exchetra’s nauseating purple energy, heavily condensed, grew larger and larger until the barrier could not contain it.

It seemed as if the life force was being sucked from not only the nobles under the altar but all of Heulin.

The barrier narrowed down to the imperial altar was further reduced to where Exchetra and the purple orb were.

The writhing purple magic, seemingly aware of this, pounded against the barrier even more fiercely. Like a storm raging in the area where time magic had occurred, the immense magic was being absorbed beyond the barrier into a tangible form.

Due to the unique nature of magic emitted only by time magic, the barrier was futile. The familiar foreign sensation made it even more eerie and unsettling.

The magic from the three cities and fed the sphere was not significantly different from Dalia’s magic.

So, it aggravated Kaichen even more. While he couldn’t discern what it was preparing for, it was certain that the magic must not escape beyond the barrier.

It wasn’t a ritual to summon a blue dragon, that was for sure.

Even he, who was said to be the incarnation of the Golden Dragon, could not clearly see what that thing was, but his instincts were telling him so.

The writhing magic whispered. It’s something else.

He’s not calling a friend. The willingness to sacrifice for the friend he missed disappeared, and a fierce fire rose. It was also a disappointment of the golden dragon, as his hopes of being able to do something for the blue dragon were shattered.

Despite being an incarnation, Kaichen’s disappointment was outweighed by joy. Joy that he would not have to be sacrificed.

Relief that he would not have to worry about Dalia.

Gritting his teeth, he extracted more magic and thickened the barrier even more.

However, despite that, the speed at which his barrier was being broken, layer by layer, was gradually increasing.

The nauseating stench told him how many lives she had taken.

Tens of thousands, perhaps millions.

She had killed so many, yet somehow he remained unaware until now. He had come face to face with her so many times. It was astonishing how she had concealed such a dreadful smell.

His jaw clenched as the purple orb grew in size.

Kaichen had felt his limits ever since hitting rock bottom.

Since then, he has learned to use magic to accumulate natural mana in real-time, but the method he finally mastered cannot keep up with the amount of power consumed.

The speed at which the barrier was broken was fast, and the mana required to form the barrier was increasingly depleted.

‘Da!mn.’

His stomach churned, and he felt like he might vomit. It was a sign of manamagic exhaustion. Even the illusion of a hidden sun ominously pressing down on his shoulders seemed to arise.

Then, he saw Dalia running up the stairs like a madwoman.

He had asked her so many times to stay away from Exchetra, even if she could fight.

Really, she never listened to his requests.

He always put her where he thought she’d be safest, but he was surprised when she wasn’t, and it broke his heart to see her struggle to get out of there on her own, to heal her wounds and hold on despite her injuries.

His heart ached at the thought of not being able to rush down to rescue her, to protect her.

Even as he frowned, his gaze remained fixed on Dalia.

He didn’t want her to get hurt again.

He had layered every protective spell onto her bracelet, but he couldn’t ignore the ‘what ifs’ running rampant in his mind. He would have shouted for her to come down immediately if he could, but he feared that if he opened his mouth, all the magic he was barely holding together would scatter, leaving him helpless.

Exchetra must have something else up her sleeve if she wasn’t summoning the blue dragon. Dalia was right; Exchetra was a vile cockroach whose true nature was unknown.

Kaichen pressed his lips together in a frown.

Although he couldn’t hear it, the way Exchetra looked to bewas conversing with Dalia. Something didn’t seem good at all.

At that moment, the barrier shattered into pieces with a loud crash. It happened too fast. There was enough magic to withstand it, so how?

Before he knew it, he was hit head-on by a purple orb flying toward him.

if it weren’t for the barrier he had around him, he would have been blown to bits.

“Keugh–!”

He was hit with an immense shock that shook his brain and made his body heavy, at the same time feeling as if someone was squeezing and contorting his entire being.

Without a chance to do anything, he plummeted to the ground.

“Master—!”

Dalia’s scream, like a tearing cry, echoed.

Despite the trembling and pain, as if his body was about to tear apart, he managed to grasp his arm and barely lift his head.