Chapter 407: Caged Bird

"It's an amplification engraving..."

"Look closely at Princess Saint Luni's hands."

"That should be a magical engraving specially researched by the Witch, used to extend the duration of this SS-level skill."

At this moment, another Archmage noticed the complex magical engravings covering Saint Luni's palms.

This was a top-level magical pattern that even a Level 100 Archmage like him couldn't understand the flow of magic within.

As mentioned before.

When a mage undergoes their second class advancement, they can methodically choose to become an Archmage.

But if you desire close combat and no longer wish to be chased around by melee classes, you can choose to become an 'Elemental Warrior.'

Of course, that is if you have the path to becoming an Elemental Warrior.

The combat style of an Elemental Warrior is to engrave magical formulas onto their body, allowing them to cast spells freely without the need for a staff.

At the same time, to ensure they can hold their own against melee classes, 'amplification engravings' came into being.

Elemental Warriors typically have two types of magical engravings on their bodies.

One is 'skill engraving,' and the other is 'amplification engraving.'

'Skill engraving' is self-explanatory; it's like writing down a magical skill in formulaic form and engraving it onto your body. Even without talents like 'silent casting' or 'staffless casting,' as long as you channel your own magic, the skill can be cast silently.

'Amplification engraving' is used to enhance one's own magical engravings.

If an Elemental Warrior wants to have the strength to fight against melee frontline classes, physical enhancement is naturally essential.

The basic 'amplification engraving' enhances constitution, strength, speed, and reaction abilities.

Advanced 'amplification engravings' can significantly boost the power of one's skills.

And now.

The profound fluctuations emanating from the magical engravings on Princess Saint Luni's hands caused even a Level 100, fourth-tier Archmage to be moved.

This clearly must be a special engraving specifically designed to amplify the 'Forbidden Domain' SS-level skill.

Only the Witch, who has devoted herself to studying magic for hundreds of years and is nicknamed the 'Magical Inventor,' could have researched something like this.

"I see, that makes sense..."

The other strong individuals also agreed with this explanation.

SS-level skills have the same priority as Order-level skills.

Every Level 100 Archmage has some understanding of the principles of magic, let alone that Witch.

She probably delved into Order-level skills many years ago.

As for the results of her research, no one knows, but from her invention of an amplification engraving specifically for the 'Forbidden Domain' skill, it's clear she has achieved remarkable results.

Thinking of this, many of the powerful individuals present couldn't help but feel a bit restless.

Especially the ministers of the Holy Light Empire, who found their breathing becoming more rapid.

Their desire to win over this Witch grew even more urgent.

But for now, their attention was pulled back to the screen by the exclamations of the hundreds of thousands of spectators below.

In the previous clash, the Dragon Kingdom team had suffered a significant loss.

All the members who charged alongside Ling Zhan were ruthlessly sent flying by the Holy Spirit Barrier wielders' defensive skills.

In that instant, all active skills of the entire team, including Ling Zhan, were instantly dissipated.

Even Ling Zhan's punch, which was imbued with the 'Clothes Explosion Technique,' only managed to push the Holy Spirit Barrier wielder back two steps.

At this moment.

On the battlefield plain.

Aside from Ling Zhan, Li Chaoge, and the five divine beasts, the rest of the team members and contracted beasts suffered varying degrees of injury.

The frontline warriors took the least damage.

But the more fragile professions like swordsmen and assassins suffered much more severe injuries.

In fact...

Some team members were sent flying by the Holy Shield Smash and, unable to control the momentum, crashed into the mages, archers, and priests behind them.

This caused collateral damage.

Without being able to use active skills or even active talents, the Holy Light Empire team didn't even need Princess Saint Luni to take action; the ten Holy Spirit Barrier wielders alone inflicted significant losses on the Dragon Kingdom team.

"Move in and surround them."

Holding a magic sword in her left hand and a holy staff in her right, Princess Saint Luni calmly gave the order.

Swish!!

The faces of the Dragon Kingdom team members turned ashen, but they were powerless, forced to watch as the opponents used displacement skills to move beside and even behind them, forming a complete encirclement.

Moreover...

Because of the 'Forbidden Domain,' little Meng Shuang could no longer maintain the 'Azure Thunder Soul Locking Prison' and had to dissipate it.

The origin spirits of the ten barrier wielders took this opportunity to soar into the sky, without any obstruction, and the Dragon Kingdom team could only watch as they rejoined their team and were quickly resurrected by the priests.

The most critical thing is...

Even the buffs on the Dragon Kingdom team members were removed.

It seems that this Forbidden Domain doesn't just silence; it also nullifies all active skills and talent effects.

The buffs on the team members were all generated by the priests' active skills.

At this moment.

The resurrected ten barrier wielders had already re-equipped their gear and sneered as they joined the encirclement of the Dragon Kingdom team.

Of course...

They were wearing their own equipment; the Holy Spirit Armor isn't something trivial, and after being destroyed, they could only wear the backup gear their teammates had prepared in advance in storage rings.

Yes, it was prepared in advance.

Because Princess Saint Luni had planned from the beginning to use these ten Holy Spirit Barrier wielders as bait.

Therefore, the 'battle damage sharing,' 'feedback sharing,' and other armor-linked buffs were never applied to them.

At this point, some might wonder...

If the Forbidden Domain is so powerful, why bother with all this, why not activate it before your teammates are sacrificed?

Naturally, there is a reason for this.

Domain expansion takes time.

Why did the official tournament rules stipulate that the initial confrontation distance between the two teams must be five hundred meters?

It's because the tournament officials know that many teams have extremely powerful trump cards.

To avoid a one-sided situation right from the start, they deliberately provided enough distance, which also means giving both teams ample reaction time.

Remember.

Any domain expansion takes time, even for SS-level skills.

Although the expansion speed of the Forbidden Domain is fast, for most class advancers, even if the distance is five hundred meters, they might not react in time.

But for that non-specialist...

Princess Saint Luni dared not take any chances.

If he really used his miraculous teleportation skill to dodge the domain.

It would mean that the Holy Light Empire had already lost this battle.

But fortunately, the outcome is favorable now.

That non-specialist is like a caged bird, firmly in her grasp.

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A big thank you to [Trevor Standifer] and [Willi Sarit] for joining my Patreon! Your support means a lot to me.