First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

Chapter 19: That Year, My Hands Were in My Pockets

At this time, Victor was at the lowest level of the volcano, in the sealed alternate space.

He had his hands in his pockets, his coat fluttering in the heat waves.

A sentence flashed through his mind automatically.

That year, my hands were in my pockets, not knowing what was a match.

An amazing pillar of fire rushed towards him. Victor looked at it calmly, a curtain instantly rose from the magic circle under his feet, easily blocking the attack.

With the support of countless magic circles, he teleported and shifted, the waves surged to the sky.

The huge boss in his eyes was just a bigger and more durable toy.

Guldons body gradually rose, actually carrying a small mountain on his back.

Lava gushed out from his body, sweeping up gravel.

The gravel penetrated his body, but it was as if it hit a water curtain.

A splash of water fell, and Victors original figure disappeared.

2nd Order Magic: Water Mirage

The next second, the real Victor appeared behind the beast, a tidal spear made of water condensed in his hand, stabbing towards Guldons butt.

Due to the elemental restraint, Guldon felt the water spear damage was very strong.

Angrily, lava spewed towards Victor again.

Seeing Guldons output become more and more fierce, Victor easily dodged those deadly attacks with his unparalleled agility.

As long as Guldon lifted his hand, Victor knew what fart he was letting out.

Guldon stabbed his palms into the ground, and a sky-piercing pillar of fire erupted under Victors feet.

Victor waved his hand instinctively.

2nd Order Magic: Water Curtain

The instantly generated water-blue membrane blocked the fire pillars offensive.

Guldon squinted his eyes at Victor, who was dealing with it easily, extremely resentful, and roared to the sky, spewing out his dissatisfaction.

After a long battle, Victor was still as relaxed as he was at the beginning.

However, Guldons HP had only decreased by a fraction.

Seeing that Victor could deal with it so easily, Veega was lost in self-reflection.

This guy, who can fight evenly with the Calamity, is he really human?

Unable to figure it out, she simply gave up thinking and shouted at Victor:

Hey, its been hours! Are you going to keep fighting?!

Hearing Veega say this, Victor thought about it slightly.

The first time he saw Guldon in the game, he and the player legion fought with it for three days and three nights.

So

Then lets fight for another three days.

Victor rubbed his fists in anticipation. He looked forward to this thrilling battle.

2nd Order Magic: Galvis Ice Storm

2nd Order Magic: Death Ritual

2nd Order Magic: Still Water

Countless spells were cast from Victors fingertips, magic circles flashing one after another in the air, like stars under the dark clouds.

Watching Victor, who was pouring magic, Veega was completely shocked in the air.

Damn, this guy is a freak.

This is not the strength of a 3rd order mage.

The endless waves of colorful attacks continued to wear down the towering monster.

The surrounding rocks were also pressed and vanished by the intense momentum.

Being attacked by so many spells, Guldon felt like needles pricking his body, painful but not fatal.

Its tail swung hard, cutting the relatively narrow crater in half.

With a rumble, it fell into the magma, splashing thousands of feet high.

Victor stood on the black magic circle, instantly vanished into black fog.

He reappeared on the other intact side of the crater, seizing the chance to attack.

Guldon bared his fangs, a dazzling fireball brewing in his throat ready to erupt.

Boom!

The fireball suddenly burst out, attacking the mountainside.

The rocks cracked and dust rose to the sky.

Victor pinched a magic circle and swapped positions with the icy shell buried not far away.

The icy shell took this straight-to-the-face fireball instead, vaporizing into steam and vanishing in the air.

2nd Order Magic, Icy Body Double

All his remaining teleports were on cooldown, and Victor grasped the maximum dodging distance of the icy double precisely.

The flying rubble barely brushed past his clothes.

He took no damage, the bosss skill just grazed him.

Victor clasped his hands together, and a huge brightly lit gate appeared behind him.

[3rd Order Magic, Summoning: White Wraith]

At Victors command, the enormous white marble gate behind him slowly opened.

Billowing mist instantly swept across the entire volcano.

Veegas view was suddenly obscured by the white fog, and she yelled hoarsely: Victor! Victor! Im still here! Dont let your summon attack me!

With Veegas knowledge, she of course knew what Victor had summoned.

The White Wraith does not distinguish between friend and foe.

Guldon was shrouded in the white mist, constantly waving its huge claws trying to brush the fog away.

But the mist clung to it like a spider web, refusing to be torn apart no matter how much it thrashed.

A pair of withered, slender, pale arms slowly reached out and grabbed at Guldon.

Guldons head was seized by the hands and forcefully dragged towards the gate.

But due to the lava beasts extremely heavy weight, the White Wraith was unable to move it.

So the white gate began to shake and totter.

The first part of the summon to emerge was a head, or something resembling a head.

Seven eyes encircled the skull, and each gaze caused Guldon to feel intensely dizzy.

Its body continued to be pulled out. The lower half was like three giant pythons intertwined, covering the lava beneath the volcano.

It tore open the skin on the back of its neck and forcefully sprouted a third arm.

It pulled out its own spine and formed it into a sharp blade, slicing open Guldons rocky armor.

Seeing the white gate collapse, Victor could only sigh and shake his head.

As reckless as always.

The summon was not as powerful as him, its only advantage was being more resilient.

With the Wraith occupying the beast, Victor withdrew and continued casting weakening spells on the monster, preparing for the next round of magic.

Victor took out some materials from his backpack and started making some magic artifacts on the spot, casually throwing them at the boss.

The effects were negligible.

Better than nothing, Veega consoled herself.

Soon, Guldons health bar dropped by about ten percent.

The flames in Guldons eyes became more vivid, and the lava on its body flowed away rapidly.

Its hands were enveloped by a violent inferno. Sharp spikes also began generating on its tail.

Victors eyes lit up, feeling a heat surge through him.

He had regained the feeling of battling.

That excitement flooded his brain.

In this form, Guldons defenses greatly increased, and its skills were also enhanced.

This was the true reason it was called the Furnace Beast.

The flames turned into magma, leaving nowhere for Victor to stand.

The intensified environment also caused the White Wraith to shriek painfully.

Since theres no foothold, Ill make my own, Victor said.

He drew a neat square in the air.

With a snap of his fingers, the water vapor condensed into a block of extremely dense ice suspended in midair.

The battle raged on as Victor stood on the ice block continuing his spellcasting.

Outside, Mount Vesuvius was also exhibiting shocking changes.

The knights had already evacuated the people at the foot of the mountain to the nearby towns, leaving only Gwen and a few others halfway up the mountain to monitor any abnormalities.

As Gwen had anticipated, something did happen.

They looked up at the volcanos surface slowly turning red, with plumes of steam billowing from the crater, as if the outer shell had peeled off revealing its true colors underneath.

Commander, the crater is as hot as an iron skillet! one of the knights warned.

Gwens expression was grave as she instructed several knights:

Hurry! Report to the capital immediately! Request reinforcements!

The knights nodded and ran towards the town to contact the capital with magic crystals.

Ducal Residence

In her room, Erica sat on her bed hugging a bottle of blue potion, her eyes blank.

She felt like all her knowledge had been wasted.

In the past, she would have thought spending so much money on just a few bottles of potion was definitely unprofitable.

This single bottle costs a thousand ducats?

But now all she could think was:

How is this only a thousand ducats?

She stared blankly at the potion, her mind in turmoil.

The Duke was out and had not returned home yet, but she couldnt wait to tell her father about this discovery.

Your Grace, shall I inform the young mistress of your return?

Hearing the servant speaking outside, she darted out like an excited fawn.

But the Dukes reply left her somewhat at a loss.

No need, tell her Im leaving on an urgent trip and wont be back for several days.

Standing at the door, Erica heard the whole exchange and stopped in her tracks.

Seeing his beloved daughter had already overheard, the Duke gave a wry smile.

Erica, the Emperor has assigned me an urgent mission that requires support.

She was very confused and couldnt help but ask:

Father, youre a Duke, why do you have to go personally?

The Duke beckoned her over, and Erica obediently approached.

He stroked Ericas head and gently explained:

My dear, this is no small matter. All 3rd Order mages in the capital are required to go, so 2nd Order mages like me are naturally included as well.

Since youre still young, the royal family wont summon you.

Erica suddenly recalled Victor who left on a mission days ago.

He was also a 3rd Order mage.

Could it be they were going to the same place as her father?

What exactly happened that requires so many mages?

Before the Duke could explain further, Erica eagerly interjected:

I want to go too!

Hearing Erica say this, the Duke immediately became much more stern and rejected outright.

No, youre still young, and you have school.

Im not that young anymore, Im a 2nd Order mage now. If all the 2nd and 3rd Order mages in the capital are leaving, the academy will naturally be no exception. What, am I supposed to ask the Headmaster to personally tutor me?

She knew the Headmaster would not readily leave the capital, as he was the only 4th Order Archmage within the city walls, tasked with overseeing the capital and deterring unlawful elements lurking in the shadows.

As for everyone else, Erica arrogantly believed that aside from Victor, no one at the academy could teach her anymore.

Even if you say that

The Duke carefully pondered for a while, hesitating.

As Erica said, she was no longer a child.

At seventeen, she would come of age next year.

He could not keep protecting Erica forever, or she would remain a fledgling forever.

Erica had her own dreams, so when necessary, he had to let her go.

He could not let his excessive fatherly love clip her proud wings.

Alright, Erica. Ill allow you to accompany me.

Were going to Mount Vesuvius. The Royal Knights have sent a distress signal.

To be precise, Mount Vesuvius may erupt.