The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 413 - 427: Combined Casting

Chapter 413: Chapter 427: Combined Casting

“I’m not that capable yet,” Lancelot rolled his eyes, “It’s mostly the work of old elves…”

He could indeed create such long, spiky vines, but only to a maximum extent of about a hundred feet, which was nothing compared to this miles-long wall of thorns that encircled the entire fortress.

For most of his life, magic had been a thing of fairy tales and folk stories, until the elves appeared before the Rebel Army and he learned that such supernatural power truly existed. Nevertheless, magic maintained a low-profile mystique, seldom used carelessly.

But after arriving in the Abyss, he found that magic was incredibly common, known to all intelligent species, and knowledge about spells was widely disseminated. More importantly, the difficulty of casting spells seemed much lower, which he had experienced firsthand—the elves had once taught him a spell to summon a warhorse, which would have a success rate of only once in five attempts in his home world, with half the outcomes being a donkey or a camel. Yet, in the Abyss, it seemed he had never failed.

Since encountering magic was exceedingly common in his adventures, Lancelot had once sought extensive knowledge about magic from Kalalin. Although Kalalin could only cast Third Circle spells, barely qualifying as a skilled apprentice, his understanding of magic far exceeded his spellcasting prowess.

According to Kalalin, although the effects of spells could vary greatly, one could roughly determine the level of a spell’s circle based on power, range, casting time, and duration.

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The lowest were the tricks that could be performed at will, such as the Arcane order’s Flame Arrow, much like an arrow shot by a longbowman in terms of power and capable of igniting the ground, while a Third Circle Fireball Technique produced an explosion comparable to a catapult’s launched stone. Moving up to the Sixth Circle, the Chain Lightning was nearly equivalent to a natural thunderstorm, and then the Ninth Circle…

Meteor Burst, with a casting range of a mile, calling down several meteors from the sky to the ground, leaving not a blade of grass alive within a hundred feet radius, killing any Middle Rank Demons or below, and if cast towards a medium-sized fortress like Pascaler, probably half of its walls would be destroyed.

This spell was still considered one of the weakest Ninth Circle spells, which included spells like Complete Transfiguration—transforming objects into living beings (a lifelong pursuit for some mages with peculiar tastes); an Interdimensional Gate that could transport or summon creatures like Archdukes of Demons and Abyssal Lords (although, once summoned, they would not obey any orders from the summoner unless they pleased).

Of course, the most miraculous was the Wish spell, which could even reverse time, making things that had happened as if they had never occurred (such as a lethal blow or a rejected proposal to a lady), retrieve a long-lost artifact, resurrect a hero who had died years ago, or immediately kill a hated enemy.

However, this spell was not so reliable. To retrieve a long-lost artifact might result in being teleported directly to the current owner; if the subject of resurrection did not wish to be disturbed from their eternal sleep, the spellcaster would only receive a soulless living corpse; and if the desired death was for a too powerful being, this spell could instead transport you to a moment in the multiverse on the brink of destruction, where that opponent had long been dead—so you see, wish fulfilled.

They say that a mage adept at using the Wish spell wouldn’t get a raw deal when signing contracts with demons, but this also subtly illustrates just how great the limitations of this spell are.

It was apparent that even high-level spells had various limitations: the most powerful spells typically only affected a single target, whereas those that could affect multiple targets tended to have less killing power. Judging by the power of the Thorn Wall, Lancelot guessed that a Fifth or Sixth Circle spell could achieve a similar effect. However, the extent to which it encircled the entire fortress was ridiculously large, and not even a Ninth Circle spell would have such a vast range.

Regardless of the rank of the spell, its effect was indeed tangible. So many Low Rank Demons had collided with it that they actually started rolling the Thorn Wall—revealing its underside that was not yet fully covered with corpses, its spikes still sharp, and then even more demons crashed into it.

In the main tower of the fortress, a large hall filled with mirrors, most of the spellcasters among the guards had gathered. They formed two concentric circles around the Great Elder Quirion; three powerful Elven Sages in the inner circle, and twelve weaker apprentices and assistants in the outer circle, were at that moment casting the same spell in unison, with precise chants and gestures.

At the center, the elderly elf held a slender magic wand, directing the arcane energy from the different spellcasters like a choir conductor, enabling their energies to resonate and amplify each other. The resultant effect far exceeded what each could achieve individually through spellcasting.

This was a unique collaborative spell-casting ritual of the Elves. After a severe spellcasting accident over eighteen hundred years ago, the Goddess of Magic prohibited mortal spellcasters from using spells above the Ninth Circle. This created considerable difficulties for the Elves, who had highly developed magical arts, and as a result, they developed this ritual of multiple spellcasters casting together.

It was said that sacrificing a spellcaster capable of using Ninth Circle spells during the ritual could even break the limits of the Magic Net, allowing the casting of Tenth or even Eleventh Circle magic. However, today’s ritual was merely meant to enhance the effective range of the thorn summoning spell, so there was no need for the newly liberated Great Elder to sacrifice himself.

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The spontaneously formed Wall of Thorns acted like a sea wall, stopping the tidal wave of demon forces. The defenders on the wall were greatly encouraged. This wave of attack had indeed caused them a lot of trouble, but if the demonic reinforcements could not keep up, and the defenders cleaned up those who had already reached the walls, the demons’ advantage gained at great cost would be completely lost.

The mirrors arranged around the room displayed the scene outside the fortress, clearly showing the results of their collective spellcasting. But they merely glanced at the scene in the mirrors before immediately proceeding with the plans to prepare the next magic, according to the pre-arranged strategy.

The demon’s reaction was slightly sluggish, but they still responded in time. Several huge fireballs were cast towards the spike-covered plants, apparently intent on burning them to ashes.

Unlike the devils, demons were not completely immune to the damage of flames. Those demons hanging on the thorns, still screaming, would probably be burnt to a crisp along with them, but would the commanders of the legion worry about injuring some Low Rank cannon fodder?

Of course not, cannon fodder was, after all, meant to be sacrificed. As long as the objective was achieved, did it matter whose hands they died by?