481 Only one can live

The Syer bandits were very surprised now too as they were not aware that the Tower of Dusk had brought in the Malfa Family as backup. They had thought that they would have been able to wipe out at least half of the Tower of Dusk's team with the offensive spells earlier and completely finish them off with the Alchemy Colossus.

A Guild that had only been around for a few months was insignificant in their eyes as any of the 10 Archmages was capable of leading a Guild themselves. However, even after the 10 Archmages did all they could to attack them, the magical defense barrier of the Tower of Dusk remained operational, albeit barely.

That was embarrassing for the people hovering in the sky as the amount of mana they had depleted in the short attack was astonishing. It would have been alright if they had gained something, but it seemed like the mana they had depleted earlier was completely useless. Even an Archmage could be easily defeated if they had depleted their mana too early on.

Now, they could only rely on the Alchemy Colossuses to break down their defense barrier. Without that, they were sure that it was only a matter of time before they achieved victory. After a short discussion, they decided to change their tactics and focus on shielding the Alchemy Colossuses.

The people from the Tower of Dusk were aware of how scary the Alchemy Colossuses were as well. They formed a group whose main focus was to do all they could to halt the approaching Alchemy Colossuses. Unfortunately, they were limited in what they could do—each Alchemy Colossus was already well-equipped to defend itself, and with the 10 Archmages shielding them from the sky, it seemed almost impossible to slow them down. While it had been an exciting fight filled with Sludge Spells and Frost Spells, the Alchemy Colossuses continued to move closer despite their efforts.

The archers of the Syer bandits, who were behind the Alchemy Colossuses, all raised their bows and aimed their arrows at the Tower of Dusk's campsite even though it was useless. Some of these arrows fell before they even reached the camp, while some of them were repelled by the defense barrier, but these people did not seem to care, just as though their only goal was to annoy the others as they continued to shoot their arrows.

What good was this? It was like attacking a Wyrm with wooden sticks…

The mages from the Tower of Dusk had experience dealing with Alchemy Colossuses; hence, they were not as flustered as the mages from the Malfa Family who began to panic as the Alchemy Colossuses moved closer.

That was hardly their fault as the mages from the Tower of Dusk were barely any better when they'd first faced an Alchemy Colossus.

They did not spend the last couple of months in the Dragon Mountains in vain, however. Hence, as Gerian led them against the Syer bandits, Hutton could not help but watch in envy how well-trained they were.

"This can't go on, the defense barrier will be destroyed sooner or later." Seeing as Lin Li did not mention anything, Gerian took the initiative to lead. As they were not in an advantageous position, he decisively commanded, "Give up the defense barrier and form small groups to fight the enemy." Since it'd be destroyed anyway, they might as well give it up now and take the initiative.

It was natural to become reliant on something that could save their lives; hence, nobody would want to give it up. The Malfas thought that since there was a barrier that could block attacks, there was no sense in them having to fight. Even if the barrier would not hold up for long, they could always wait until it was down before they fought.

However, the mages from the Tower of Dusk were already used to following orders immediately and saving their questions for later. Seeing as those from the Tower of Dusk had already given up on holding up the barrier, the Malfas could not do anything but follow along and curse inwardly.

"What!? Damn it, what kind of order is this?? We can barely survive, yet you want to give it up now?!" Yeric was in charge of passing the message to the Malfa Family, and he could not help but scream in anger, yet he could not do anything about it. There was no place for him to act out of anger, as he might put himself in danger.

The enemy attack did not stop even though the defense barrier had vanished, and they wreaked havoc in their campsite. The tents were swept away and torn into pieces, and the traces of offensive spells could be seen on the ground, be it charred black or frosted white. There were even holes and cracks.

Thankfully, the mages form both sides had already prepared themselves; hence, there were no casualties from these attacks. After the attacks, they followed Gerian's instructions and formed groups to head towards their targets.

Thud.

An Archmage from the Malfas had just begun using a Levitation Spell when an Alchemy Colossus reacted with speed ill-befitting of its size and smacked him down like a fly.

"Idiot! Does he think he is a Legendary-mage? Fancy using the Levitation Spell in front of an Alchemy Colossus," Gavin silently mocked him. He was not in the least bit sorry for this unbearably arrogant guy.

Still, they were allies, and they could not afford to stab each other in the back in the face of an enemy. Seeing as the Alchemy Colossus was heading towards the guy who had fallen, Gavin hurriedly brought his companions and headed towards it. While the people from the Tower of Dusk were unable to defeat the Alchemy Colossus, they were able to delay it for some time based on their experience in dealing with it.

The Archmage Carter who'd been shot down sheepishly climbed up, thankful that he had used a defensive spell earlier, which saved him from being beaten into mush. Shaking his head, he looked around and could not help but admire those from the Tower of Dusk.

It was a common sight to see on a battlefield. While the mages from the Tower of Dusk were not as powerful as those from the Malfa Family individually, they were much more powerful combined.

While working together might mean deciding what to do in terms of attacking and defending after looking at what their companions were doing, it might mean that their actions would be delayed. On the other hand, those from the Tower of Dusk seemed to be able to predicts their companions' actions and worked flawlessly together like an incredibly precise machine.

With such teamwork, they were able to protect themselves even though they could not cause any harm to the Alchemy Colossus. This was an achievement in itself as the Alchemy Colossus was not only incredibly hardy, but it could also easily break a wall with its power with movements that were not restricted by their size as they were as nimble as a man's. Hence, it was not an easy feat to be able to escape an Alchemy Colossus unscathed, much less be able to do so while fighting it.

Hutton saw how well the people of the Tower of Dusk worked together, and was as impressed with it as he had been with the Alchemy Colossus. Was this not the team he had dreamt of? Moving his gaze towards his own mages, he could not help but turn red.

There were differences in cooperating styles. The Tower of Dusk made use of a method that allowed them to make up for their individually lacking power with sheer numbers. This was something that Lin Li had come up with based on games he had played, and its main purpose was to make up for the lack of high-leveled mages in the Tower of Dusk. With their fancy footwork, they led the Alchemy Colossus in circles and escaped at the very last second from what looked to be a fatal blow.

Meanwhile, the Malfa Family—like most forces—trained their mages to cooperate like soldiers. All the commands and formations focused on firing spells at the same time and defending using formations. Their goal was to win by oppressing the enemy with magic, which was by winning in power. Even then, most mages were not motivated to train even such simple maneuvers, as they enjoyed a high status and nobody could force them to do what they did not want to.

The mages from the Malfa Family stood in a formation and were trying to defeat the Alchemy Colossus using magic, but the problem was that their magic did not work on the Alchemy Colossus. Seeing that it did not have an effect, all they could do was gather around the Alchemy Colossus and attack together, yet due to their lack of teamwork, they were a mess, even obstructing their teammates' escape sometimes.

The situation in the sky was much like what happened on the ground as the 10 Archmages were comparable to an Alchemy Colossus. As they lacked powerhouses, the allies could only make up for it with numbers and maintain a deadlock for now.

But anyone could tell that this was not sustainable, as a small mistake could be fatal in battle, and they were facing level-18 Archmages too. While level was not everything, these Archmages were great at seizing opportunities, and casualties appeared amongst the Malfa Family's mages due to their inability to cooperate well with each other.

While the fight was exciting, everyone was clearly aware that the Tower of Dusk and the Malfa Family were merely holding on. Yet, the strange thing was that an outsider would not have been able to tell which side had the upper hand.

After the fight started, the first to die were the foot soldiers of the Syer bandits—those from the Tower of Dusk were already angered from being oppressed for so long, so they directed their anger at these foot soldiers who were far too easy to deal with compared to the Alchemy Colossus.

Hence, something strange happened—even though the Syer bandits had the upper hand, they were the ones who screamed for help. Those foot soldiers did not have the ability to go against mages, while the 10 Archmages and the Alchemy Colossuses could not be bothered to deal with them.

Sadly, they could not even measure up to ashes, as even though these foot soldiers were exterminated, that made no difference for the situation. The 10 Archmages and the Alchemy Colossuses were an unbeatable presence on the battlefield.

"Sheesh, what the hell are these things made of!"

Seeing their magic leave no trace on the Alchemy Colossuses made everyone feel hopeless, yet they could not stop. It was as futile and depressing as an ant trying to chew through an elephant's skin, only to realize that it was merely a tickle for the latter…

These Alchemy Colossuses were difficult to deal with as they were too well-equipped to defend themselves. The materials and magic used to make them were very powerful, and the Alchemy Array also provided magical defenses, which was another layer of defense. They were designed for use on the battlefield, after all, so they could not be too frail.

There were about 20 Archmages from both the Tower of Dusk and the Malfa Family, but the most powerful of them was only level-17. The Tower of Dusk did not have as many Archmages as the Malfa Family, as they had only been around for a couple of months, and even these Archmages were introduced by Basel.

Lin Li was not in a hurry, however, as the only problem he had was a lack of time. He already had the ingredients for the Rune Potion ready; all he needed was time to make it. With the amount of Dragon's Tongue he had, he could make at least 10 Rune Potions, and that meant 10 Archmages. The Tower of Dusk would surely experience a huge increase in power then.

This was the reason why Pharmacists enjoyed a higher status than mages in Anril. Even if someone was limited by their talent and could only remain a mage apprentice, all they had to do was take a potion, and they would become a mage. Even if they could not do anything in the future, this business was profitable. There were potions for every bottleneck a mage could meet on their journey; it only depended on whether someone could come up with it. While this might be difficult for other pharmacists, it was nothing to Lin Li, who was a pharmaceutics guru.

Dressed in the Sunset robes, Alan hovered in the air as he held the Sunset magic staff tightly in his hands, looking at the enemy. Even though he knew that they were level-18 Archmages, he was not afraid. He had only joined the Tower of Dusk because of Mr Basel, his teacher, but now he knew that it was a blessing for him to be able to join the Tower of Dusk.

Sunset robes, Sunset magic staff, and the Sunset ring—this was the Sunset set, one of the highest quality sets there were. It was far more expensive than what any mage could afford. If not because he had joined the Tower of Dusk, there would've been no way he would be able to touch any of them in his life.

The material gains were not the most important to Alan, as he had been stuck at a bottleneck because of a bad habit—something that even his teacher could not do anything about. Yet, that young President was able to get rid of this bad habit with a seemingly simple method. Having been in the Dragon Mountains for two months and with the accumulated experience he had from the bottleneck, he was finally able to break through it and reach level-15, becoming a true Archmage.

Now, the young President Felic enjoyed a similar status as his beloved teacher Basel in Alan's heart. President Felic was watching from the ground now, and even if his opponent was a level-18 Archmage, he could not afford to embarrass the Tower of Dusk in this fight.

An orange light lit up on the Sunset ring as Alan struck first. Even though he was at lower level, he could make up for it by fighting as though his life depended on it. The worst thing one could face was an opponent who fought with disregard for his own life, but this was not something just anyone could do. If Alan still had been a level-14 Magic Shooter, it would have been futile even if he fought that way, but now that he was a level-15 Archmage, it was different. Even though it was only one level higher, it was vastly different. Besides, he also had the Sunset set, and that was why he was able to stop a level-18 Archmage when he fought like his life depended on it.

The fight in the sky was far more exciting that the one on the ground as the dozen or so Archmages fought, and sparks flew like fireworks in a celebration. Once in a while, someone could be seen falling from the sky with a loud cry, but unfortunately, none of them were the enemy.

The four Alchemy Colossuses stood up suddenly as though they were annoyed at having their companions in the sky stealing the limelight. The complicated Alchemy Array on their bodies lit up randomly, and it shone brightly as though a magical machine gun was getting ready to fire.

The surrounding people were sent flying instantly, but thankfully, they remembered their shields, the most important thing to remember when fighting an Alchemy Colossus. While you might not be able to touch or hit it, you had to make sure that you did not die when it did.

The enemy had the upper hand, be it on the land or in the sky, and the allies were only barely holding on. This could not last long, as they might all suffer a complete defeat the next second.

"President Felic, what do we do now…?!" Facing such a powerful enemy, Hutton was incredibly anxious. He'd brought all the elites from the Malfa Family, and if they were to all die here, the Malfas would be quiet for a long time. However, when he tried to ask Felic, he nearly lost his mind in anger.

How could the owner of the Tower of Dusk, the young President of the Breezy Plains Guild of Magic, be toying around with something on the ground at a time like this?! Does he think that he can draw a few circles and curse the enemy, and they would leave of their own accord? Hey, you're the leader for a reason! If not because he knew that Lin Li was a Legendary-mage, Hutton would have jumped on him and given him a beating. However, he could only think about it in his head as he would surely die a death much worse than being stepped on by the Alchemy Colossus if he did try it.

While Hutton did not have the guts to say that, he had men who feared nothing. They did not know what Felic was capable of anyway. Yeric in particular hated Lin Li very much, especially because he had just been scolded by Hutton earlier.