His ploy had actually worked?
Although faint surprise appeared in the Knight's mind, he put it aside as his goal had been reached. The King of Lanthanor had willingly walked out of the safety of his formation to face him, and now the only thing remaining was to kill him where he stood.
Seeing the strongest mage in his vicinity flung back and removed from the fight in a second, the Knight couldn't help but chuckle a bit seeing the bratty King's foolishness.
Indeed, it seemed that age really did matter when it came to controlling one's emotions in order to take right decisions.
Not one to question a good thing, the Knight pulled back his arm to shoot another fist of green flame at the King who was now confidently standing at the same spot as the Grand Court Mage before.
Yet, to his surprise, a wall made of ice appeared in an instant in the place of the barrier that had been keeping his green flame at bay.
The green flame was something which the Church of Rectitude had developed after centuries of research and experimentation. Capable of eating away at the root constituents of anything it came into contact with, it was fueled by the mageroot of the person it was attached to.
It was for this reason that those chosen to carry the green flame could not go past the level of an Exalted Human Mage, as the mageroot could not develop any further after being possessed by the flame which was also said to have a sentience that integrated with that of the person whose mageroot it possessed.
This was why those who carried such flames were known to be prone to emotional outbursts, which often resulted in the doom of all those around them, or even themselves.
Of course, the Church did not care about all these, as all it wanted was disposable individuals who had no talent to reach further levels anyway. After training them to the peak, the flame would be injected into them causing their power to skyrocket to the mid-Warrior realm.
Thus, even though the Knight's eyes widened seeing that the King of Lanthanor was actually an Exalted Human Mage due to the speed with which he conjured the ice wall, he only smiled even broader at the happiness that came with the thought that he would be snuffing out a once-in-a-generation talent that had graced this primitive continent.
If someone with this much talent had been born in his homeland, they would already have been fought over by all the major sects and forces before being snatched up and put away in order to train directly to the champion level.
Thus, this development had only resulted in bringing him even more joy in having the chance to finish this mission. Not only would he be killing someone who was a thorn in the Church's plans, he would also be destroying the bright future of someone who would almost definitely have trained to become a Champion level powerhouse to oppose the Church.
Nothing could stand in the green fire's way. With confidence, the Knight watched as his punch impacted the ice wall and broke through immediately.
Yet, the next moment, he felt that something was wrong. Behind that ice wall, there were multiple others which stretched on as far as his eye could see. Each wall contributed to lessening the momentum and the power of his punch bit by bit, making it so that at the end, all that remained was the power of a simple physical punch with a sliver of the green flame which had already been consumed because of eating through all the ice that had obstructed it till now.
The next instant, he felt a threat coming from under him.
Teleporting immediately to the side, the Knight looked back to see that five ice shards had just shot out of the ground at the place he had been standing at. Because of the distortion of the formation, teleportation was also possible in the sphere of its effect.
The king was nowhere to be seen, but he did not even have time to think about his target's whereabouts as he was currently being assaulted from all directions.
First, a few more ice shards attacked him from the ground, making him levitate in the air knowing that standing on the ground was no longer safe. Yet, as soon as he reached an altitude of 5 m in the air, a lightning bolt struck down from above while 10 fireballs flew in his direction as if they had already known that he would reach that position at that exact moment.
With no choice but to teleport again, the Knight controlled his growing shock at the fact that the King of Lanthanor was capable of controlling so many elements with so little casting time.
It wasn't difficult to conjure lightning bolts, fireballs and ice shards, as they were all basic spells. Yet, what amazed him and showed the power of an Exalted Human mage was that each was conjured in barely an instant, and the sheer amount of each attack suggested that the one behind it had mastered these elements to a high degree.
A single title reverberated his years on realizing this fact. A title which was revered in his homeland, as those who were capable of holding it were all individuals who could not be trifled with.
Paragon.
The area he could teleport to was becoming limited, as the distortion worked by making a bubble in which the formation had no effect. This meant that he could only teleport in this small bubble, as the Dragon Claws would be able to reach him if he crossed the sphere.
Where was the King? He asked himself while frantically looking around. From the locations of all the spells that were repeatedly bombarding him no matter how many times he teleported, he realized that his target was definitely close.
Although it had barely been 10 seconds since the fight began, he had already teleported six times. Each time, he was met by volleys of fireballs, lightning bolts and ice shards that would definitely injure his body if he wasn't fast enough.
In a way, this showcased the power that an Exalted Human Mage who was a Paragon held. Any other mage would have had to resort to a single type of attack, which could have been neutralised easily by opposing spells.
When one reach this level, there were two ways of fighting: brute force and advanced spells.
The King of Lanthanor was clearly using the former. Because an Exalted Human Mage could control so many more elemental particles at a speed much higher than any below his level, he was using this advantage to repeatedly put the Knight in situations where he might be stressed enough to make a single mistake.
After all, in such a high paced fight, a single mistake was all that was needed to decide the victor and the loser.
Already, the Knight was feeling flustered as the repeated changes in position had started to make him woozy.
Enough is enough, he thought, before activating his mageoot completely.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
With a scream of rage, the Knight extended his arms and legs in the air as green flame blossomed all around him, surrounding him in a blazing cocoon that completely nullified all the attacks flying towards him.
This nullification allowed the Knight to focus his attention on the battlefield again, letting him see that the King of Lanthanor was standing right in front of him with his hands held high as he had just conjured all the spells that had been devoured by the green flame.
Seeing his target so close, the Knight implemented the strategy that had won him many fights before.
Taking out an orb from his pocket, he squeezed it before instantly teleporting in front of the King.
This was an instant high-level space lock, which was so rare that it was definitely not even available in this continent.
In the Knight's vision, an expression of panic appeared on the King's face, as he realized that he could no longer teleport away to escape the clutches of the man who had come to kill him.
Yet, after all, he was a King. A high-level barrier came into effect around his body, protecting him from the cocoon of green flame around the Knight which had already extended forward in order to devour the King whole.
The Knight knew that victory was in his grasp. As the space was locked, the King could not run anywhere and the barrier would also soon be broken through.
"Noble king? More like foolish king. Good job coming out to meet your death. The Church sends its regards."
Usually, there was nothing dumber that an individual choosing to talk to their opponent in the middle of a fast paced fight.
Yet, the Knight chose to utter these words as he was only waiting for the barrier to break.
Also, one of his pleasures was seeing the hopelessness on his opponent's eyes when they knew that death would soon consume them.
But to his surprise, instead of hopelessness, a small smile appeared on the King's lips.
"Oh? Then Lanthanor sends its regards as well."