Whoosh! Whoosh!

Across the vast snowy plain, a group of mages and magic users glided swiftly over the thick white snow. A faint white light flickered beneath their feet, trembling with each step.

Snow flew and the air crackled as the howling wind filled every member's ears.

Under the influence of magic, the extreme wind and snow seemed to propel them forward with even greater speed.

The mages consistently followed behind the silver knight at the front of the team.

That noble and proud knight faced the wind and snow, her demeanor utterly cold and indifferent.

Her silver hair danced in the heavy snow, reminiscent of a merciless princess atop the ice and snow.

At each destroyed tribe they encountered, they would halt their rapid advance.

Those massive settlements still burned with wrathful flames, crackling loudly.

They had been burning for several days, swaying precariously in the wind and snow.

Several large barbarian corpses lay scattered across the snow plain.

Although their flesh had long since been burned to ashes, scattering in the air, strangely, their bones remained.

Flames still burned on the bones, seemingly impossible to extinguish.

It was as if their very sins were being burned away.

Even amidst such fierce wind and snow, the flames continued to burn.

Ceaselessly.

This was the fifth destroyed tribe the Pale Mage Association had encountered.

At each site, the previous tribes were like this one, burning with unceasing flames.

A charred smell constantly emanated from the barbarians' bones.

Remnants of their bodies seemed to linger.

Erica stood among the crowd, watching the scene from afar.

She wore a thick hood, covering her mouth.

Even from a distance, this scene filled her with intense disgust and discomfort.

It wasn't that Erica found it too cruel.

It was just that the scattered debris in the air made her feel that she might inadvertently breathe in fragments of those filthy, polluted barbarians.

Beside her, Amelia glanced at Erica, seemingly noticing something. She reached into her pocket, rummaged for a moment, then pulled out a lollipop, still in its wrapper, and handed it to her.

"Want one?"

Erica was startled, looked up, and saw Amelia nod at her.

"Th... thank you," Erica thanked her softly and took the candy.

She unwrapped it and put it in her mouth.

Hmm, strawberry flavor.

Amelia looked at the fire in front of her, her voice cold and clear. "The barbarians have killed too many of our people. They deserve this fate."

"You don't need to feel uncomfortable. Just think of them as wild beasts incapable of communication."

Erica sucked on the lollipop, feeling the sweetness spread, and her heart calmed considerably.

She now realized that the stick her sister had been chewing on was actually a lollipop.

At this moment, the Pale Mage Association mages surrounded the towering flames, chanting arcane incantations that sounded like prayers or worship.

White light flickered faintly amidst the wind and snow, and the unceasing flames rose even higher.

They added their own magical power to the flames, making them burn even more fiercely.

They hadn't participated in killing these barbarians.

But they hoped this fire would burn hotter and fiercer.

Let it exist permanently in this extreme northern snowland, making the barbarians forever remember this scorching disaster.

Amidst the chanting prayers, the flames grew even more vigorous in the wind and snow.

Even the blizzard couldn't conceal their conviction.

Imperceptibly, Gwen returned to the team.

As a knight, she naturally didn't need to chant with the mages.

As if she had just done something, she shook the remaining blood off her silver sword and sheathed it.

Vladimir raised an eyebrow as he watched Gwen return.

"Barbarians gathering nearby?"

"It's the 'Blazing Sword' team, about twenty or so. From the looks of it, they're heading towards the extreme north."

That basically matched their target location.

That is, where Viktor was.

"The Far Northern Ice Fields, huh." Vladimir chuckled softly.

The barbarians had gathered on their own.

Perhaps Viktor's actions had incurred their collective wrath.

After all the mages finished their fire prayers, Vladimir called out to them:

"Alright, boys. We should get moving too."

"Oh!!"

With the president's order to depart, the magic users immediately raised their voices, as excited as the increasingly intense flames.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The team regrouped and sped off across the snow plain, kicking up meters-high snow dust that covered the ruins.

No one noticed that not far away, a pile of bloody, dismembered remains was gradually buried completely by the wind and snow.

......

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Flame-wrapped wooden vines transformed into countless spikes, flying towards the giant bird in the clouds.

One spell was followed immediately by the next.

The green leaves and fire snakes in the sky seemed to intertwine, attacking ceaselessly.

The white-feathered giant bird appeared quite distressed, unable to find even a moment to counterattack under the fierce onslaught.

It felt extremely surprised.

The Wind Temple's blessing should have made it immune to fire damage, but facing this challenger, it actually felt the pain of being burned.

Viktor's magical attacks gave it a very familiar feeling.

In all these long years, over thousands of years, no successful challenger who had made it this far had ever put such pressure on it.

The giant bird twirled its body in the air, dodging Viktor's dense attacks.

It spun in the air, suddenly flapping its wings vigorously.

A gale fanned out, seemingly transforming into blades, instantly slicing through the air towards Viktor.

The speed was extremely fast, leaving no time to react.

But Viktor remained calm, continuing to cast his unceasing spells.

As the air blades approached, the iron badge at his waist spontaneously burst forth, forming a storm around him.

The powerful whirlwind blocked all the air blades.

That impenetrable defense filled it with despair.

From beginning to end, Viktor had stood on a single pillar.

He just stood there, not even thinking about dodging, completely motionless.

The giant bird kept roaring, its powerful ripples shaking the endless clouds, constantly raising white waves.

But Viktor seemed completely unaffected, continuing to release powerful magic.

Countless formations in his hands seemed to form and release as quickly as simple sketches.

Under the extremely fierce offensive, the giant bird completely lost its last patience.

It understood that if this continued, it would have no chance of defeating its opponent.

The giant bird flapped its wings once, passing through the cloud layer, heading towards an extremely distant place.

Relying on the tailwind, it quickly pulled away from the range of Viktor's magic.

Although Viktor still had countless methods to reach it, and could even easily knock it down, he just watched its actions.

The giant bird opened its beak, and a storm immediately began to swirl and gather in its mouth.

[Aerial Blast]

A white storm that swept across the sky appeared out of thin air above the heavens.

The next moment—

The huge airflow instantly tore through the clouds, penetrating the pure white clouds, a wave-like spiral seemingly shooting straight into the sky.

It was as if even sound had paused for a moment, the surging airflow seemed to carry raging waves, tearing the air into a series of cracks.

The pillars beneath the clouds became shaky because of this.

The astonishing giant projectile suddenly attacked towards Viktor.

The attack hadn't arrived yet, but its aura had already made his coat flutter loudly.

The giant projectile suddenly attacked towards Viktor.

But he just stood there, hands in his pockets, keeping his coat steady on his body.

On the coat, a shocking green light lit up.

In an instant.

Behind him, countless glowing green formations burst forth, roughly appearing to number nearly a thousand.

Exquisite green patterns covered his entire body, flashing with streaks of light.

Then, countless green arrows made of energy continuously erupted from within the magic formations.

[Thousand Arrow Barrage]!

The vast natural energy converged together, pouring out all at once!

The two magical forces violently collided.

But the giant projectile only resisted for a second before being engulfed by the overwhelming magical power, which quickly attacked towards the giant bird.

Before the atmosphere could catch a breath, the giant bird was instantly submerged in a sea of glowing green.

As the dust gradually settled, waves of green completely surrounded it, emitting a rich scent of fresh grass.

The raging magical power on Viktor's body slowly subsided.

An ordinary temple guardian beast wasn't enough to make him use any devastatingly powerful magic.

Using just the skills of a Calamity was enough to easily defeat it.

Those war magics couldn't be used casually, and without Vega's magical connection, he couldn't prepare war magic extremely quickly either.

As the glowing green magical power gradually dissipated, the giant bird lay dying on a distant pillar.

Vega looked at Viktor, slowly asking.

"Is it over already?"

It hadn't even warmed up yet.

It had thought this guardian beast would be formidable, but it turned out to be not even as strong as a Calamity.

As the fierce wind gradually subsided, Viktor, with his hands in his pockets, leisurely walked towards the giant bird.

"I didn't come for its divine power in the first place."

The divine power of the Inheritance Temple was a manifestation divided from the abilities of the Calamities.

Obtaining the final inheritance in the Inheritance Temple would give players a 150% increase in damage for the corresponding attribute.

That's right, from one to nine would only increase by 10%, but if the final level was successfully challenged, it would directly increase to 150%, and one would obtain part of the corresponding attribute's abilities.

This was perhaps a form of recognition for players who successfully completed the challenge.

But Viktor didn't need this, the divine power of the Inheritance Temple was just an extra for him.

What he wanted was this divine power's perception of the Calamities.

The Wind Calamity was different from other Calamities, it wouldn't appear in a fixed place.

Just like the wind, it was elusive and unpredictable.

Today it might appear in the skies above the Imperial Continent, and the next day it might appear in another corner of the world.

It fell upon the clouds, a truly 'free' Calamity.

Coincidentally, the power of wind could help Viktor sense it.

Finally, Viktor walked up to the dying giant bird.

The giant bird flapped its wings, straightening its body, seemingly wanting to maintain its dignity as a temple guardian beast.

It succeeded, even in defeat, it still held its head high, incredibly proud.

A white radiance separated from its body, slowly infusing into Viktor's body.

Accompanied by a flash of cyan on his body, Viktor felt his body become much lighter.

The power of wind.

After completing all this, the giant bird looked at Viktor with satisfaction.

Then, it flapped its wings, heading towards the sky ten thousand meters high.

But suddenly, countless red chains appeared above the clouds.

Like venomous snakes, they rapidly approached the giant bird.

The chains instantly enveloped the giant bird, entangling its wings and its enormous body.

With the restraint of the giant bird, the temple seemed to tremble as well, the sky ten thousand meters high appearing to sway precariously.

In that moment, the crow on Viktor's shoulder seemed to flash with a wicked gleam.

An extremely large black formation slowly appeared above the pure white clouds.

Like a single stroke of black ink on a scroll, it continuously attached itself to the giant bird.

In the giant bird's terrified eyes, Viktor's eyes flickered with a faint blue light as he spoke dispassionately.

"I apologize."

"I didn't say you could leave."

....

To Be Continued..