Chapter 240

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Chapter 240

"What is this… Could it be a dragon’s bone?!" She opened the door and stepped onto the terrace, but in that instant, she realized that something was off.

The wind wall had disappeared. The strange sound from earlier was… it was the sound of the crystal at the top of the tower being knocked down.

She pushed the door hard and kept the wind outside. She walked up to the top floor along the stairs. The top floor of Aimekotes was her bedroom, but there was another staircase leading upwards on this floor. This meant that there was another floor above, but very few people went there because it led outside the tower, and the top of the tower was the only place without a wind wall. The Energy Storage Crystal that supported the wind wall was floating in a groove. The base was made of expensive mithril, and the Mithril Wire was connected to it, buried in the wall and leading down to the mithril array underground.

However, now the crystal had lost its brilliance, came out of the base, and got stuck between the mithril base and the stone wall, even breaking some of the stones.

The bone dragon in the sky was still circling, with a slightly strange flying posture. This was because it was not relying on flapping its wings but flying with magic. Two thousand years of time had dried up all its flesh and blood, so flapping its wings might just be a habit, but it had no effect on adjusting its flying posture.

However, the archmage soon changed his mind. Similar to Sylas’s idea, this bone dragon with a completely decayed brain was filled with spells that were like wind shields between the frames of its wings. The chaotic wind element was like its wing membrane, allowing it to fly as well as it did when it was alive, even in the chaotic west wind.

Before she could observe carefully, the dragon bones had already adjusted their flight posture and swooped down towards her. Even from a distance, she could feel the strong elemental fluctuations. The archmage squinted and analyzed where these fluctuations were coming from, suddenly having a ominous premonition.

This is a sign of an attack!

The wind flowed rapidly, and she quickly stretched out her hands to write in four directions. Four air cannons shot out, while another small tornado instinctively wrapped around her in the middle.

Just as her spell was completed, rotating wind blades appeared wherever she sensed elemental fluctuations. They oscillated back and forth, collided with each other, and exploded with large and small bursts. Her air cannons coincidentally canceled out the wind blades coming from all sides, and the noise of annihilation echoed one after another. Finally, the tornado also made the wind element near her orderly in advance, making the wind blades at her standing position ineffective.

She successfully resisted this attack perfectly, but the explosions didn’t stop. The dragon bones swooped down, accelerating abruptly along the air duct it had just created on its own.

Xerath didn’t have much time. The wind pressure was approaching in an instant, even before an ordinary mage could chant a small spell.

The scorching air surrounding them started to stir again. Flames seeped out from the cracks of the dragon’s bones. The surrounding space was torn apart, creating countless openings to the realm of fire. Flames of all sizes were gathering inside, waiting eagerly for the remains of the divine dragon to complete its final command and burst out together.

There was still time! Xerath quickly spread open her hands and the speed of her writing increased even further. The traces of golden brilliance left in the air didn’t immediately fade away. Instead, as she waved her hand and lifted her robe, they transformed into sharp blades and flew out. The vacuum created by the spell caused obvious refraction, reflecting a dazzling white light under the intense sunlight.

Air is a poor conductor of heat. To make the flames spew out tongues of fire, it must rely on wind. Wind is the flow of the wind element from a high concentration area to a low concentration area. So, the flames will definitely be sucked away by the vacuum.

But bright flames still radiate heat. Xerath was not someone who always had to maintain her composure. She commanded the stone slab to stand up and hid underground before the tongues of fire spewed out. The Sunstone embedded in the stone cover helped her complete the Light Mirror Technique. As expected, after the waves of fire overflowed from the void, they rushed into the trajectory of the wind blades one after another, colliding head-on with the plummeting dragon bones.

"Boom!"

She could clearly hear the impact sound even from under the stone slab. The dragon bones swept past the place where she had just stood, which was not far from her head now.

Suddenly, the stone slab above the archmage’s head turned into a short and chubby Earth Child, flipping forward. Xerath immediately stood upright, raising her hands high. The bright brilliance from her left hand tore apart the damaged interface barriers on the Elemental Gate, while her right hand followed her gestures, causing the wind in front of her to stir and form a falling tornado, just like a celestial deity stirring the Milky Sea.

Wind is the most lively element. It is impossible for it to stand idly by watching its siblings revel. The wind element of the Elemental Gate is also the most unrestrained group in the whole world. The whirlwind formed in front of the archmage continued to draw in air towards her. The surroundings were already in complete chaos, with the wind coming and going. The outer ring lingered without leaving, cheerfully proclaiming loyalty to the king.

The dragon bones without physical form are much more flexible compared to the giant dragon (of course, the archmage has never seen a giant dragon). It noticed something unusual and immediately decided to turn around. However, the call between the wind elements made their stickiness very strong. Whenever the archmage commanded them to change direction slightly, they eagerly stuck themselves to the activated elements around the dragon bones. The elements calling to each other made the dragon bones seem like they were covered in oil, and magma gushed out from the cracks while flames were sucked into the tornado, completely filling the air duct and violently hitting the spine of the dragon bones.

The strong suction brought this creature, accustomed to flying, towards the archmage. But before it reached, hot flames from deep within the Fire Elemental Realm came rushing towards Xerath, almost obscuring the view.

However, the archmage was not afraid and asked the surrounding wind in a soft voice, "Will you pledge loyalty to me?"

"Then I command you,"

"Go forward,"

"Never—look back—"

The tornado paused abnormally before this strongly worded command. The winds that had been excluded by them became restless and instantly gathered. Even Xerath’s robe was sucked towards them. But the archmage stood firmly. The scenery in front of her twisted deeply due to the intense concentration of wind elements, and a whirlwind even larger than the tornado suddenly formed, forcefully distorting the space in the opposite direction, ruthlessly destroying the previous tornado.

The will of the Elemental King moved forward relentlessly. The dragon bones were unable to escape the stickiness of the wind, and they watched helplessly as they tore apart the flames and were crushed.

The wind element cheered as the space rift closed. The pale dragon bones scattered not far from the tower. Xerath sighed with relief, waking up several sleeping Earth Children and instructing them to lift the fallen crystals back onto their pedestals.

With her command, the crystal started to emit a gentle glow again, finally revealing its brightness in the sunset.

The dim radiance gathered at the bottom of the pedestal and flowed into the ground through the wires. The wind barrier rose, and the wind orderly rearranged itself and started to sound constant again. However, because they were outside, it seemed a bit noisy.

Among the constant wind sound, a strange noise mixed in.

It was a wolf.

"Howl!"

"Howl, howl, howl!"

At first, she thought it was Titus sensing the approaching danger of the dragon bone. But the intermittent howling of the wolves made her feel a sense of foreboding. She leaned over the top of the tower and saw white bugs gathering continuously in her beautiful little garden.

There were also air walls suddenly lifting and falling, crashing onto her beloved flesh plants. Surprisingly, they didn’t die from the fall, but instead caused more damage to the plants.

This made Xerath angry and worried. She held onto her dress and ran downstairs. After only a few steps, a white fur sand wolf with a layer of light brown fur ran towards her. She called out, "Titus," scolding him, "No transforming upstairs!"

The sand wolf ignored her and pounced when she was startled.

Xerath’s reaction didn’t become too slow despite her peaceful and comfortable life for over ten years. In the instant the sand wolf leapt, the archmage recognized it as a male wolf, and since Titus was a girl, there was no need for concern.

Her hands emitted a golden glow as she tore open a crack leading to the Endless Water Realm. The crack was transparent on both sides, and water gushed out from it. Water lord Hyectra’s body instantly turned into a spiked ice shield. The sand wolf was too late to change direction and collided with it, whimpering and whining. The ice spikes pierced its body, freezing the blood into icicles before it could splatter.

With the support of powerful magic, the water lord returned to its liquid state. The blood-colored ice shell fell off its body, forming a dirty mixture of ice and water floating in mid-air. The archmage tossed it out of an open window.

The sound of wolf howls faintly echoed.

As they descended to the laboratory floor, the sounds of slaughter from the lower levels suddenly grew louder. The sharp teeth of canines made a tremendous noise as they snapped shut, accompanied by threatening deep growls. Occasionally, there was also the sizzling sound of electricity passing through, and the air was filled with the scent of burnt fur.

"This is really bad," the water lord commented, "Why would a wolf pack come deep into the desert? There’s nothing to eat here."

"Perhaps they were driven here, by dragon bones maybe?"

"Then why would the dragon bones come deep into the desert?"

The archmage said, "Maybe the energy of the earth veins finally awakened it. After waking up, it wants to become the ruler of the desert."

This is a very reasonable guess. The higher-level hunters need a larger area to roam, but in an Elemental Gate, there can only be one King of Elements. Feeling that its territory was invaded, it is very likely that it came to challenge Xerath for this reason.

"Why did it drive away the wolf pack?"

"Maybe the wolf pack is its family." This is also a reasonable and straightforward guess. The archmage always prefers simple and direct answers. Her research experience tells her that such answers are often the most likely options.