408: Chapter 395 Sadu is a little panicked: What exactly is that thing?

Sadou understood the source of his Aunt's excitement.

High in the air, with their Mental Energy deployed, they were very clear that the surroundings of the ground squad were safe and no enemies existed.

The squad's previous actions also confirmed this point; their advance was smooth, without the slightest stagnation.

However, just a few seconds after he cast his gaze toward them, the captain seemed to have sensed a crisis, alertly searching the surroundings in an attempt to find the enemy.

As for who the enemy was, only he himself on the scene fit the definition of an "enemy."

What means did they use to discover him?

That captain was only a Magic Apprentice; it was impossible for his Mental Energy to detect him, so the answer was obvious: intuition.

The captain's series of reactions was a manifestation of intuition being stimulated by a threat.

He might not know where the enemy was, or even if an enemy existed; only his intuition constantly used a "sense of unease" to remind him that death was approaching.

Sadou clenched his fist: "Aunt, can I be a child one more time?"

Aunt remained silent for a moment, then raised her hand to remove her helmet, letting her fiery red hair cascade down. The ends of her hair reached her waist, and as the breeze stirred, the flying red hair was like a blazing flame baring its fangs and claws.

Her features exposed to the air were not particularly stunning, but the ordinary features were exceptionally harmonious and pleasing to the eye when put together, just like her favorite red wine, which one had to taste carefully to appreciate its mellow fragrance.

"Only this last time, okay?" Aunt said, her right hand clenched into a fist with her index finger raised while she held the helmet under her arm.

With his worries eliminated, Sadou felt as if he had been unbound, and his erratic breathing gradually stabilized.

He looked at his Aunt's face, which seemed to have frozen time and had not aged for a thousand years, and a memory surfaced before his eyes.

As the eldest son of a prominent Magic Family and having an Aunt who was a Gods Blessing level powerhouse, he could be said to have done whatever he pleased in the Imperial Capital after his birth, except regarding important members of the Royal Family.

Until his sixteenth birthday.

Sixteen is considered just reaching adulthood in the Gangnuo Empire. Sadou, looking forward to the coming-of-age birthday banquet his father was hosting for him, happily invited friends throughout the Imperial Capital.

On the way, he ran into a scion of a Magic Family with whom he had a grudge.

Sadou was in a good mood and didn't want to deal with him; moreover, the other party's family power was far inferior to his own, and they had always been at a disadvantage in their years of competition, so he ignored the man and continued walking grandly.

But the man abnormally stepped across to block his path.

His Professional level was higher than Sadou's, and his strength was much greater, but Sadou was not afraid at all, because the guys who used to rely on their strength to bully him had all been severely punished by his Aunt.

Sadou showed a mocking expression, intending to drive the man away and be done with it; today was his coming-of-age ceremony, and he didn't want to ruin his good mood. As a result, the person didn't say a word, invited him outside the city, and then gave him a beating on the grass in front of the city gate.

Sadou accepted the invitation purely because he truly didn't expect the man would actually dare to lay a hand on him.

After being beaten, he ran home crying and requested his Aunt to vent his anger for him.

However, strange things seemed to concentrate on that one day.

Aunt didn't care about the injuries on his face at all, smiling as she reached out to pinch the soft flesh on both sides of his face: "Sadou is sixteen now, an adult, so you have to solve your troubles on your own."

He originally thought this was a joke, but in the days that followed, no matter what kind of crisis he encountered, even if it was a life-threatening danger, his Aunt never stepped in to save him.

The gray images before his eyes receded like a tide, and Sadou regained his senses, adding: "I'm not afraid, it's just that this battle really doesn't have much meaning, but out of personal curiosity, I want to try."

Simply put, Sadou felt that the contest with the seven people on the ground had no practical significance; if he really wanted to eliminate the Special Operations Squad, directly mobilizing a legion to crush them would be the most reliable way.

But just as Sadou said, he really wanted to know what seven Magic Apprentices actually relied on to gain the qualification to fight for their lives against him.

Curiosity was like a feather moving back and forth on his back; a faint itch traveled all the way up his spine and into his mind, entangling his thoughts.

This awkward feeling tormented Sadou, to the point where he would rather discard some dignity to request his Aunt's protection once again after a thousand years.

Fortunately, Aunt agreed.

Sadou took out his wand and threw a fireball next to the squad captain who was still alertly looking around.

Under his deliberate control, the fireball's power was limited, only blasting a circular pit in the ground covered with rotting leaves, without causing any harm to the squad members.

Suddenly attacked, Damu performed a backward roll away from the spot, though surprised, he was not panicked.

After rolling several times to hide behind a tree, Damu took out a hand mirror to observe the circular pit blasted by the fireball.

The scorched smoke filling the pit was dissipating with the wind, and Damu narrowed his eyes, analyzing the enemy's intentions and information.

Bypassing the built-in target-seeking Core of the magic guidance sniper rifle, they must be at least at the Magister level. A sneak attack that only released a fireball and even intentionally missed my position, this is...

He thought of the accurate descriptive words, and after a moment, a scene surfaced in his mind.

A knight draws his longsword and swings it with a loud noise to remind his opponent—I invite you to a fair duel.

A duel?

A Soldier has no reason to duel an enemy.

But...

Damu controlled his heartbeat to lower its frequency and raised his hand to tap the headset in a rhythmic pattern.

Enemy level, unknown; Magister, tentative; begin operations.

Upon receiving the instructions, the squad members and Damu together activated the magic Core engraved with the Shadow Technique, and their figures became like pencil marks being rubbed by an eraser, gradually fading until they disappeared completely.

Sadou witnessed all this and understood that the squad had accepted his "invitation to battle," so he raised his wand, prepared to launch an attack.

An attack is roughly divided into two steps: locking onto the enemy and launching the attack. Even for the Saint-level Sadou, this was no exception.

He followed the rules by spreading out his Mental Energy to search for the squad's position while simultaneously gathering magic power, brewing a large-scale spell.

However, he encountered an obstacle at the first step: he couldn't find where the enemies were.

Sadou's expression became confused; where were the people?

His enhanced Mental Energy repeatedly swept through the woods where the seven people were hiding, but he could not sense their existence at all.

Aunt raised her eyebrows: "They truly bring many surprises."

"Where are they hiding?" Sadou asked instinctively.

"That would be cheating."

Sadou shut his mouth and continued his search.

Aunt, however, became interested and kept chattering beside him: "They're just Magic Apprentices anyway, it's impossible for them to master a Magic Shield. Why not just release an area-of-effect spell down there? No matter what tricks they have, it will all be over."

Sadou said with a dark face: "Knowing the enemy has the ability to break my own defense and still releasing an area-of-effect spell first? Aunt, are you playing with me?"

"Call me Lord Gods Blessing."

"Lord Gods Blessing, are you playing with me?" Sadou tried hard to express his dissatisfaction.

According to the combat common sense of Professionals on the Saul Continent, when competing with an opponent of the same level, one must never release a high-level spell first.

The reason is very simple.

The magic power in an area will be in a stable state when there are no external factors. But once a sufficiently powerful spell intrudes, the magic power will immediately be stirred up and become chaotic.

In such an environment, even a Saint-level's perception will be interfered with, and it's very likely they will overlook spells with weak magic fluctuations specifically used for sneak attacks.

Aunt giggled foolishly, trying to muddle through.

Sadou was helpless and focused his attention back on the battle, continuing to search for the enemy's position.

Ten minutes later.

He dispersed the spell he had prepared and looked down at the ground in confusion.

Strange, I actually can't find them.

Among the invisibility spells that Magic Apprentices can use, which one can hide from my perception?

Is this a joke?

"Could it be that they ran away?" Sadou couldn't help but guess.

Aunt was about to say something when she caught a glimpse of a certain person's hand vein on the back of their right hand twitching slightly. The finger resting on the trigger followed suit and exerted force, so she closed her lips again and began to smile enigmatically.

"Aunt," Sadou turned his head to look at her, "Did they run away? If they did, we're just—"

If they did, we're just standing here—"

"Whoosh—"

The moment a slight sound of breaking air entered his ears, an icy chill spread through Sadou's entire body, and the stimulation of his life being threatened made his pupils shrink suddenly.

If he had accumulated experience in fighting against firearms, he should have quickly moved his position to dodge.

For example, for a Soldier from Blue Star, the instinctive reaction upon hearing a gunshot is to make various tactical dodging movements and rush toward the nearest cover.

However, Sadou's opponents, whether strong or weak, had always been Professionals.

Professional, or rather Mage combat, is mostly very monotonous: raising a Magic Shield and then blasting each other with magic from a long distance.

The basis for determining the winner is also very simple; one doesn't even have to wait for one side to be blown to pieces by magic; whoever's Magic Shield is broken loses.

Accustomed to this way of fighting, a Mage's first reaction upon being attacked is to raise a Magic Shield.

After all, as long as the Magic Shield is raised, it can withstand any attack; if the power of the attack exceeds the Magic Shield's limit, that's another matter.

Sadou is a Mage, and sensing a "hidden arrow" shot at him, he "correctly" and immediately sent magic power to the Magic Shield to reinforce the defense, not diverting even a bit of attention to controlling his limbs to move his position.

Consequently, as a matter of course, the specialized bullet hit the translucent purple Magic Shield.

Watching the strangely shaped arrow being blocked by the shield, Sadou's tensed muscles relaxed: "Heh, I thought—"

"Crack—"

A sound similar to glass shattering rang out. To Sadou's horror, countless irregular cracks rapidly extended outward from the point where the bullet head struck, and then...

"Crack—"

Fragments of the Magic Shield fluttered and fell, turning into points of light and dissipating.

His Saint-level agile reaction nerves allowed him to recover from his daze in a fraction of a second, and he immediately gathered magic power to raise a second Magic Shield.

That seven Magic Apprentices could evade his perception and that their attack could break his defense was already enough to shock him, but an even more terrifying scene followed immediately.

What were likely similar "arrows" attacked again while the Magic Shield was still forming. And it wasn't just one; it was three.

He was Saint-level after all; once his Mental Energy was focused, he easily captured the trajectories of the bullets.

However, his thousand-year-old combat instinct made him commit the same mistake; facing the "arrows," he chose to strengthen the Magic Shield in an attempt to resist rather than moving his position to dodge.

Actually, it was also excusable; after all, in a Mage's understanding, a Magic Shield successfully blocking an attack equals being in an invincible position.

With such a good thing, why wouldn't one do it?

His response cannot be said to be completely wrong; after all, currently only Lake, and even the First Army's Special Operations Squad, possess magic guidance sniper rifles. Except for fighting the First Army, in other combat scenarios, prioritizing the reinforcement of the Magic Shield is still the most correct reaction.

But the current enemies were from the First Army's Special Operations Squad, so the scene that happened not long ago repeated itself.

Fragments of the Magic Shield fell, reflected in Sadou's somewhat dazed eyes.

Having his Magic Shield shattered twice didn't mean he would necessarily lose; on the contrary, at this moment, his chances of winning were infinitely improved.

Because the enemy's attack method had already been revealed, and having lost the advantage of surprise, and adding that Sadou had already noticed the "arrows" could not change their trajectory mid-flight to track the enemy, it was not difficult for him to formulate a counterattack method.

Even so, he still stood there blankly, silent.

Aunt laughed: "Why are you unhappy? Haven't you already won?"

"Aunt." Sadou raised his head blankly and was about to speak, but then remembered he was in the middle of a battle and shut his mouth again.

No matter what kind of shock his heart suffered, he would end this battle first.

Sadou reconsolidated his Magic Shield, raised his wand to gather an area-of-effect spell, and at the same time rapidly changed positions in mid-air in an irregular pattern.

The gem at the tip of the wand emitted a glow, gradually becoming dazzling.

Just as the magic was about to take shape, a teasing voice suddenly came from beside Sadou: "Hey, hey, hey, this isn't what we agreed on."

The countless afterimages Sadou left in the air due to his rapid movement vanished instantly, and his true self appeared behind his Aunt.

Aunt turned her head to look at the young man floating not far away: "Speaking of which... compared to that squad below, you give me even more of a surprise."

"Is that so?"

Aunt scrutinized the young man: "You can clearly block my perception, but my invitation received no response. Is it a refusal, or can you not do it?"

The young man's smile was strange: "Take a guess?"

Sadou stared at the young man's familiar yet strange appearance.

He is Zhang Mu? The heretic wanted by God?

"He... is actually a Gods Blessing? Wasn't he said to be a Magister?" Sadou muttered to himself.

The two ignored him and talked to themselves.

"We agreed to let your nephew and my squad compete without using lethal force, but if your nephew's magic just now had smashed down, would they still be alive?"

"Is that how you address an elder?"

"Uh—" Zhang Mu scratched his head, "Teacher didn't tell me he had a wife either."

"Tsk, that old bastard..."

"Fine, fine, let's not talk about this." Zhang Mu interrupted the woman's anger, "The agreement is considered complete now. Can I take them back?"

Aunt was not quite satisfied: "I also wanted to see how their defense is; what's the harm in letting the magic smash them once?"

I would have stepped in if they couldn't block it."

Heh.

Zhang Mu sneered in his heart.

It's easy to say; if you let Damu be crushed to death by magic, would I have the ability to retaliate?

Of course, this definitely couldn't be said explicitly; after all, she was a Gods Blessing, and it wasn't worth it to provoke her.

Zhang Mu waved his hand: "I'm off."

As his voice fell, his figure disappeared.

Sadou found that the killing intent locked onto him had also left.

He looked at the woman: "Aunt, we..."

"The main person has already left, so why are we still staying? Let's go back."

"Yeah."

On the return journey, Aunt didn't seem to have the mood to enjoy the scenery along the way. She placed a hand on Sadou's shoulder and activated a teleportation magic.