First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

Chapter 49: Cataclysm!

The rapidly falling meteorite scorched the air, even the towering academy tower was burned to sand by the intense heat wave.

Flames generated by severe friction gradually enveloped the entire massive rock, like a fiery sun plummeting downward.

“Fourth Order Magic: Falling Sun.”

The sky was scorched into a hole, with light slanting down from it.

Victor floated in the sky, overlooking the demon like a god.

The magic power level of a Fourth Order Mage is sufficient to reach the level of a natural disaster, which is the origin of the title of Saint Mage.

In fact, Cataclysm Mage is another name for Fourth Order Mage, describing their profound and powerful magic achievement.

“…Cataclysm Mage.”

Duke Rivierre on the ground, raised his head, the Falling Sun reflected in his eyes, he murmured.

“Everyone! Set up the defense formation!”

At his command, the Mage Corps and knights instantly built a tidy human wall.

The mages and Mage Knights muttered spells, a golden wall gradually appeared, surrounding the students and mages.

The knights crossed their swords and shields, a white light gradually appeared on the silver blades, a flash of bright light passed, and several white magic shields appeared instantly, blocking in front of the knights.

The momentum of the meteorite’s fall was earth-shattering. In an instant, flames burst from the surrounding debris, and the intense atmosphere shattered everything once again.

The combined shield created by the Mage Knights and knights was instantly shaky, everyone on the scene felt the heat from the soles of their feet to their brains.

The sky was completely destroyed, and it was deathly silent.

Smells, sounds, at this moment as if instantly stripped away by death.

People could barely realize that they were still alive under this earth-shattering magic, only by the light of the day.

The meteorite crazily smashed into the demon, the demon’s skin instantly burst open, the sizzling flesh was as painful as if it was in lava.

“Ah——!!”

The strong magic didn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

The buildings near the academy were also swept by intense heat waves, and the town houses were annihilated in the blink of an eye.

“Damn! Fourth Order Magic is so terrifying!”

“Victor! You’re the real demon!”

Everyone on the scene had the same thoughts, but they dared not shout out.

As soon as they opened their mouths, the heat wave poured into their mouths, they would feel their bodies burned.

The dazzling light dissipated, and the shield in front of everyone gradually broke and disappeared.

For a while, smoke and dust filled the air.

“How is it? Was the demon destroyed?”

“Under such powerful magic, it’s hard for the demon to survive.”

“Did we win?”

Joy gradually appeared on everyone’s faces, the feeling of surviving a catastrophe made them extremely excited.

However, as the layers of smoke dissipated, a huge black figure appeared in front of everyone.

“Heh, heh, heh, heh——”

“You, you’re all worms, worms!”

“What is that!?”

People who heard the demon’s voice were instantly stunned in place, they couldn’t imagine that the demon could still survive under such a scale of magic.

“Such a terrifying thing, why isn’t it dead!”

People who had once again fallen from a peak to a trough, sobbed.

The feeling of despair didn’t need to be spread, it naturally grew in the hearts of the people present.

The demon was not the first time it appeared in people’s vision, there had been many incidents where demons hurt people in many places before.

But most demons are disgusting bugs that bewitch humans and steal others’ powers.

In the eyes of many people, demons are more like stronger beasts.

But the demon in front of them was so terrifying,

“Can anyone really defeat it?”

Duke Rivierre’s face was solemn, perhaps the only way to defeat this demon was to prepare War Magic in advance.

Victor’s fourth Order magic just now, although as powerful as a natural disaster, was still not as terrifying as War Magic in comparison.

Moreover, the power of this demon was gradually dissipating. No one knew when it would be weakened to the point where they could defeat it themselves, but for the result, it was still good.

If they could hold off this demon for a long time, and prepare the magic array in advance when it was weak, then…

While Duke Rivierre was still thinking, a figure broke into his field of vision.

It was Victor.

He stood alone among the ruins, facing the astonishing demon.

His deep black cloak fluttered in the dust and occasionally flashed with red patterns.

What was he trying to do?

“So, you’re still alive.”

A dangerous light flashed in Victor’s eyes.

In his gaze, an obvious red health bar floated above the head of this filthy demon.

On the right side of the health bar, the demon’s level was displayed – Lv45.

Its level was not high, but as a boss unit, it was very powerful.

The demon’s health had already dropped below half, and it was still decreasing, albeit slightly.

This indicated that the demon in front of him was not as unscathed as others thought.

To last until now, it relied entirely on the magic energy it had absorbed from countless mages at the academy.

But!

‘It’s far from its peak.’

Yem, as the mid-term boss in the first chapter of the game, Yem’s failure was more due to the necessity of a plot.

Demons also have different strengths and weaknesses. The lowest level of demons are those without consciousness and emotion.

But Yem, had a resounding name.

Primeval Demon!

It was one of the top entities among demons.

Its name was – Greed.

Its strength was high, much higher than the player attributes at the time.

Therefore, when players teamed up to hunt down Yem, who occupied the Royal Capital, there would be many NPCs to help the players.

For example, Gwen, a year and a half later.

Victor glanced behind him, the injured and unconscious Gwen had already been protected by his spells in advance.

A year and a half later, Gwen appeared for the first time in the fight to assist the players, slaying Yem with astonishing strength.

This knight had an immense hatred for demons, she wished to kill all the demons in the world.

The reason was quite simple.

The elder sister of Gwen, who had never been seen among players, Caifla Delin, died at the hands of the Greed Demon.

If nothing unexpected happened, the demon that Caifla came to the Royal Capital to find, was Yem.

The final outcome, of course, goes without saying.

The demon once again spewed ink from its mouth, gradually enveloping the entire academy. In an instant, tentacles began to extend from under the ink, dancing wildly.

This time, compared to before, unrecognizable organs began to form on the tentacles, emitting a sound that stimulated people’s inner greed.

Many mages saw the demon releasing its powerful forces again, their bodies trembled, and they fell to the ground, begging for mercy.

Victor was drawn over by the movement of the demon, he faced Yem, standing still amidst the storm.

Regardless of the demonic sound entering his ears, Victor’s heart was as calm as a lake.

He murmured softly:

“Veega.”

“I understand what you mean!”

Veega was so excited that she wished she could rub her hands together, her feathers stood on end, and her eyes were full of blue light.

Mana gushed into Victor’s body like a fountain, making him feel instantly powerful.

And it was more violent than the last time!

“Is it because Veega has regained some of his power?”

Victor quickly realized the source and didn’t think much about it.

From his body, countless chunks of shining red crystals flew out. These were the fallen crystals that Gwen had collected for him from the bodies of demons.

Now, they were being put to use.

One by one, the crystals embedded into the ground, and a sophisticated red formation appeared in the sky.

The red crystals gradually began to shatter, suspended in the air, reflecting intense red light.

From the corners of the crystals, red chains burst out, and between the chains, a crystalline structure gradually wrapped around the demon.

These fallen magical items could strengthen the power of Victor’s magic, not only simply enhancing the magic’s power but also imbuing it with many attribute effects.

Soon, Victor’s hands were gradually wrapped in runes, and mana continually emerged from between these runes, transferring to the crystal chains.

“The demon of a thousand demons is utterly exhausted.”

“The ancient prison, the mad god loses his mind.”

…….

With each phrase Victor chanted, the chains released a bloody light, and for a moment, countless souls burst forth, floating in the sky.

Despair, resentment, and anger, these emotions suddenly emerged from the formation.

Under the sky, there was a blood-colored flash.

Correspondingly, with each phrase he chanted, Victor’s mana storage would plummet significantly.

“What does Victor want to do!?”

The mages present looked up at the bloody souls flying in the sky, their hearts filled with fear.

They suddenly realized that the feeling of greed within their bodies had almost completely dissipated.

A red thread appeared on their bodies, linked to the chains.

All the mages had a bad hunch at this moment.

He wants to make us all part of the formation!

“Darn it! Victor!”

Every mage present thought the same thing.

The demon also gradually went crazy, with the last mouth even swallowing its own head, and for a moment it exploded, turning into a rain of black droplets that corroded everything present.

Rubble dissipated, the air was sour.

The gloom in the sky was also mostly corroded, with patches of clear and dark, bizarrely contrasting.

Victor pinched his fingers and muttered:

“The formation of Evil Binding, urge it to repeat.”

He waved his hands, and the chains suddenly became restless, the sound of them hitting the red crystals reverberating crisply.

The demon’s moaning was gradually suppressed, completely locked within the chains, and powerful magical energy burst from it.

A white magical energy instantly devoured everything around it, covering the sky, like a nuclear explosion engulfing the entire academy.

The demon, within the white light, incredulously widened its eyes, and shouted at the end:

“You can’t kill me! Victor! I’ll remember you!”

Because the demon exists within a host, even if it shows its true form, the actual lethal damage would only be transferred to the host.

But suddenly…

Under the pale sky, it was as if a bridge connected Victor and the demon.

In this strange space, they could only see each other.

The demon was confused, at this moment, the outside world seemed to have been frozen as if time had stopped.

Victor connected to the demon’s mental world, he stood in front of the demon, his voice calm as water, slowly saying:

“You know, Yem, I’m quite handy when it comes to dealing with demons.”

The demon was stunned for a moment, and at this moment, it felt as if countless shackles had taken control of its spirit.

When someone utters the true name of a demon, the control of the bargain transfers from the demon to the person who spoke its true name.

Thus, Yem had to agree to Victor’s deal.

“Enough of your antics, then.”

“It’s time to get back to work, Hennie.”

As soon as the words fell, Yem felt a continuous drain of power from deep within.

Fear began to set in, and it shouted loudly:

“No! Don’t!”

“Little girl, don’t leave me! I can help you take revenge! I can give you more power, I can do more!”

“No… don’t…”

Its pleading was to no avail. Its massive body was stripped away layer by layer as if the flesh were being peeled off, revealing Hennie inside.

It seemed as if tears were rolling in her glowing yellow eyes, and she collapsed from Yem’s body as if all her strength was drained.

It was like falling from a tremendous height.

But the next moment, she fell into a sturdy embrace.

Hennie wanted to hold onto him tightly, even in this brief moment of lucidity.

Zap—

A burst of white light seemed to tear the space apart, the violent power around it threatened to destroy everything in sight.

It swallowed Yem, swallowed everything within its range.

The surrounding noise seemed to have completely quieted down.

Only one voice was left, falling clearly into Victor’s ears.

“Professor.”

“I’ve missed you.”