If Starlight were to pour out all his power, neutralizing and dismantling that troublesome black shield would not be impossible. However, in his view, now was not yet the right moment.
“Wait a little longer. It’s fine to let them stay grouped together for now. Although I can’t break their defense yet, their combined attacks have become more predictable, making them even easier to dodge.”
While speaking with Noah, Starlight shifted his body slightly, once again dodging his opponent’s corrosive magic with startling agility.
Under his clever guidance, the black light aimed at the crowd altered its trajectory in mid-air, veering away from the direction in which Tara and the others were escaping.
The distant clamor of voices persisted, serving as a reminder to Starlight that the captives behind him were still in danger.
He knew he had to buy them more time.
While that corrosive magic could cause unimaginable damage to a single target—even the hard earth could be easily eaten away into shocking pits—it lacked the massive area-of-effect damage of other spells.
Because of this, Starlight was able to maintain his composure and keep his own combat rhythm during the battle.
Although it appeared that the seven black-robed figures had the upper hand by working together, their attacks were all neutralized by Starlight one by one.
At the moment, he merely looked a bit disheveled; his actual consumption of mana was not significant.
By then, the icy mist in the air had gradually dissipated. Without the influence of those stray water elements, Starlight seized the opportunity. He turned toward the black-robed figures and hurled several massive fireballs he had already prepared in his hands.
The bright red fireballs resembled blazing meteors as they streaked through the sky, striking the black magic shield with destructive force.
Instantly, a deafening roar erupted. A surging heatwave swept out like a violent storm, turning the surrounding dozens of meters into a sea of raging flames.
Yet, even an attack of this caliber failed to shake the black barrier. It remained steadfast in the face of the thousand-degree heat. This was the gap created by magical rank.
Seeing the grand explosive flames being completely blocked, the black-robed figures breathed a small sigh of relief.
But their relief did not last long, as Starlight’s next wave of attacks followed immediately.
Just like before, massive fireballs descended from the sky, landing on the ground that hadn't even had time to cool. The shield maintained by the black-robed figures was once again submerged in brilliant flames.
Before the embers of the second wave could fade, the third and fourth waves followed like a meteor shower, continuously bombarding the location of the black-robed figures.
For the next few minutes, the vision of the black-robed figures was almost entirely swallowed by endless fireballs. Their surroundings were nothing but roaring flames and deafening explosions.
Though their shield remained indestructible, the massive noise and the churning fire still left them trembling with fear.
“Who on earth is this kid?” one of the black-robed figures couldn't help but ask under the fierce assault. “How can he cast this magic so continuously? Isn't he afraid of mana exhaustion?”
He was almost certain that if the seven of them were not working together but were instead spread out, they would have been turned to ash long ago by these relentless flames.
“I don’t know his background either, but maintaining such a massive mana output is certainly no easy task,” another black-robed figure replied. “However, it seems he can’t break our Shadow Shield. As long as we hold on, the final victory will be ours. After all, there are seven of us maintaining this spell together!”
“Exactly. Once his mana is exhausted, dealing with him will be easy.”
The other black-robed figures also discussed their strategy in low voices under the cover of the shield. They agreed that although they were currently trapped by the fire, their opponent could do nothing to them. As long as they remained patient, a turning point would surely come.
What they didn't know, however, was that Starlight was not consuming nearly as much energy as they imagined.
What he was casting was merely the most basic fireball spell. It was only because of the grand scale and extraordinary destructive power that they mistook it for some medium or even high-level spell.
In Starlight’s hands, the destructive power contained within each fireball far exceeded that of an ordinary fireball spell by several times or more.
But for Starlight, who possessed a massive sea of mana, this was not much of a burden. This was precisely the result of the years Carlos had made him focus on practicing basic magic.
If measured by numbers, the damage of an ordinary fireball might be one, but in Starlight’s hands, that damage value had been raised to at least three, or even higher.
Even Starlight himself did not realize that the basic magic he cast had already surpassed the power of the intermediate magic used by many others.
While maintaining the continuous fire suppression, he did not slacken in the slightest. Instead, he was silently calculating the perfect moment to strike a winning blow.
Shadow Wave, the basic dark magic spell he had mastered, was actually quite clunky. Aside from having a slightly better range, its speed and reach were both unsatisfactory, which was why he rarely used dark magic in his daily life.
If he wanted to use dark mana to neutralize the black-robed mages' shield, he had to close in to almost zero distance to cast the spell, and such an opportunity would only come once.
Recalling the experience of the battle two days ago, Starlight knew that once the black-robed mages realized he had a way to break their shield, they would not linger and fight him for long.
If the opponents truly chose to flee, he had no means to stop them.
“It’s about time...” Starlight whispered to himself.
Just as he finished speaking, the black shield suddenly jolted violently. For some reason, the mana of several black-robed figures inside suddenly became chaotic.
They clutched their heads one after another, their faces showing looks of disbelief, as if they had been struck by some kind of attack.
As it turned out, the several minutes of fire suppression were not just a simple bombardment. Starlight had three purposes for doing so.
Besides forcing the black-robed mages to stay in place to buy time for the captives and obscuring their vision, the third purpose was to use the flames to deplete all the air around them.
While the Shadow Shield could block fire and heat, the air inside the shield obviously could not support seven people for long.
The headaches and dizziness they had just experienced were signs of hypoxia. It was this momentary distraction that gave Starlight his chance. Taking advantage of the shield’s weakness, he waved his right hand, and the flames in front of him immediately parted to both sides.
He quickly charged through the surrounding fire, condensing the dark energy he had been brewing into his left hand, and slammed it hard against the black-robed mages' shield.
“Shadow Wave!”
A black ripple emanated from the point where his hand met the shield. The previously indestructible shield instantly became as soft as mud, turning into a cloud of black mist in the blink of an eye.
The moment the shield broke, fresh air rushed in. But before the black-robed figures could even catch their breath, they saw Starlight’s hands, which were already glowing with condensed mana.
Countless dazzling white lights burst forth from his hands. The dense light cones were like scattered petals, turning the black-robed figures into pin-cushions.
Caught in the sudden attack, the black-robed figures immediately lost their composure and scrambled to scatter.
Although Starlight’s attack had successfully hit them, the result made him frown slightly; it clearly hadn't achieved the expected effect.
Looking closely, most of the light cones that should have pierced through the black-robed figures' bodies were blocked by the black robes they wore, only penetrating a centimeter or two before stopping.
“It seems their clothes are also a type of protective gear. How troublesome!” Starlight quickly realized this and immediately locked onto a target, deciding to pick them off one by one while they were scattered.
Even though the power of each light cone was weakened under the protection of the black robes and failed to be fatal, the black-robed figures still had to endure a fair amount of pain.
The black-robed figure Starlight targeted happened to have his unprotected ankle pierced by a light cone. Limping, he only managed to run two or three steps before being heavily pinned to the ground.
At the same time, the ground beneath him suddenly churned. Soil and stones acted like living things, quickly coiling around his body to lock him firmly to the ground.
The black-robed figure tried to reach into his pocket, but Starlight had already anticipated their escape methods. Two stone locks rose up, directly sealing his hands just as he raised them.
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