Chapter 324: Thank You
It was terrifying.
Suyass' heart sank, 'He is really using it...'
The hurricane of mana was frantically rushing towards the hand, as if it was being absorbed by an incorporeal force. In an instant, the peaceful laboratory turned into a great tempest.
"Barlow, get out!" Suyass had personally clashed with the Devouring Hand before and knew how terrifying it could be. He had suffered from it a few times during that pursuit.
Now that this Devouring Hand appeared, Suyass instantly knew that something bad would happen and thus immediately pushed Barlow away.
Sure enough...
The power of the Devouring hand burst just as Barlow started to retreat. Suyass then heard a cry and turned, only to see Barlow's extremely pale face.
And the scariest part was that Barlow tried to cast a spell, twice... But the Runic Shield never came out.
Barlow was a genuine 5th Rank High Mage, he only needed to say one word to release his Runic Shield. But now... He chanted two full incantations, and it didn't show any signs of appearing...
Suyass knew that this was the evidence of mana disorder...
This detail made Suyass' expression turn unsightly. He truly didn't expect that in a few years, Herman's Devouring Hand would become so much more frightening. After all Barlow had only been affected by the aftermath of the Devouring Hand, yet it caused him mana disorder.
The true target of the Devouring Hand was Merlin.
As he thought of this, Suyass' expression became even worse.
"Shit..." Suyass cursed while raising his head.
Because he saw Herman's right hand extending towards Lin Yun.
Suyass knew that the most terrifying part of the Devouring Hand was when the hand directly touched one part of the body. At that time, the Devouring Hand would be akin to an unequalled existence. Even an Archmage like himself would lose a great amount of mana by getting in contact with that Devouring Hand and ending up with a mana disorder was the best outcome. At worst, his mana whirlpool would be drawn out.
The young High Mage should immediately withdraw.
He would only be able to find a chance to counter-attack if he avoided the strongest attack of the Devouring Hand.
But Suyass instantly froze when he saw the raising magic staff in the young High Mage's hands.
'It's over, it's over...'
Sure enough, the magic staff was already risen as Suyass cursed.
In a flash, the magic staff embedded with a huge precious gem knocked against that hand.
"Truly overestimating yourself...." Herman coldly snorted as he grinned at Lin Yun. He had been able to distinguish himself in the ruthless Black Tower and went through so many close calls over the years. He defeated countless powerful enemies. No one knew more than Herman how powerful the burst of his Devouring Hand was.
Let alone a twenty years old mage, even those rivals who had surpassed him a long time ago with their power and talent would be instantly shocked and filled with remorse once they experienced a touch of that hand.
Another burst of power came from the hand as the magic staff and the now huge Devouring Hand came in contact. It was followed by the huge magic gem embedded at the tip of the magic staff darkening as a steady flow of mana poured into Herman's body. Herman felt infatuated with that familiar feeling. It wasn't unexpected, nor was it a pleasant surprise. Herman knew that this decent Magic Tool would soon turn into scraps by the Devouring Hand, that young mage's turn soon following. It would only take a minute or two, it would be very fast. If he could absorb every trace of mana of that young mage, he would thoroughly cripple him.
Everything was under Herman's control.
The magic staff with the huge gem inlaid was standing off against the Devouring Hand. The gem blossomed with radiance as runes started appearing on the magic staff, looking shocking and inspiring.
But Herman knew that this was only the final radiance of the Magic Tool.
Sure enough, under the continuous draining of power, the precious gem bloomed with light, before becoming darker and darker. The runes appearing on that magic staff were just like flowers wilting. It only took ten seconds before Herman felt the power of that magic tool sharply declining. It would soon be unable to stop his Devouring Hand.
'What should I do...' Suyass was pale and fearful. Herman's move had been too unexpected, Suyass never expected Herman to use the Devouring Hand.
Moreover...
Merlin was too careless.
'How can you be so careless as to directly touch the Devouring Hand? This is Herman's greatest card, one of the most powerful Magic Conducting Runes of the Black Tower. This ability evolved from it and Herman's Meditation Law Set. This was a terrifying ability that could make Herman crush any opponent on the same level as himself.'
Merlin was facing off such a frightening ability.
'What should I do? What can be done?'
Suyass knew that this Magic Tool wouldn't be able to last, the Magic Tool would turn to scrap and the Devouring Hand's power would directly fall on Merlin.
Suyass felt that he had to do something!
He absolutely couldn't let the Devouring Hand's power descend on Merlin, nor could he let Herman carry Merlin away, otherwise how could he face his teacher, how could he face Karon?
In Suyass' eyes, the Devouring Hand would be able to devour anyone within the same rank.
Just as Suyass was in a hurry, the Elemental Amber at the top of the Magic Staff let out its final spark of light. This meant that the last bit of mana of the Elemental Amber had been devoured, and the Devouring Hand would now devour the power of the magic staff itself.
"What a pity, this was a decent Magic Tool" Herman shook his head as he urged the Devouring Hand once again.
The Magic Tool was thoroughly destroyed.
"Indeed, what a pity. It's the first time I see this kind of ability..." Lin Yun had yet to talk since the battle started.
But the others didn't understand what he meant..
What did he mean by this was a pity?
"You won't trick me!"Herman coldly snorted as the Devouring Hand burst with all its power. In a flash, the Spiritual Magic Staff deformed, the many runes on it deforming along with it as well as the arrays on it.
This was the sign of the Magic Tool collapsing
It wasn't just Suyass this time, even Barlow who hadn't been too happy with Lin Yun couldn't help sweating and crossing his fingers for that young mage. If the Magic Tool exploded, the young mage would lose the last thing he had been relying on and would have no other choice but to face the Devouring Hand on his own.
Time seemed to be frozen at this moment.
The entire alchemy laboratory felt stifling.
One second, two seconds...
Eventually, the power of the Devouring Hand thoroughly destroyed the array of that magic staff, and in that split second, everyone seemed to hear a mournful sound. That was the sound of the Magic Tool falling.
"Hey..." The pale Suyass let out a sigh.
What a pity...
But then, Suyass saw that the young mage who had lost its Spiritual Magic didn't seem to be annoyed, he actually looked rather happy.
"Thank you, Sir Herman." The Spiritual Magic Staff's arrays had already collapsed and the esteemed Spiritual Magic Tool had already turned into something ordinary, yet Lin Yun actually thanked him?
It was indeed a "Thank you"...
The three other mages all thought they had misheard.
Did that young mage go crazy? His Spiritual Magic Tool became something ordinary and he might lose his life to the Devouring Hand, why would he thank him?
But they didn't have time to think, because Lin Yun put away the remains of the Magic Tool in his pocket while revolving the Magic Arrays and the two Alchemic Mana Whirlpools. The mana poured in an incredible way, it was like an unrestrained flood crazily attacking the Devouring Hand.
"Ridiculous!" Herman sneered.
It's not as if Herman never met someone trying such a move, this was something that would happen quite often, he met many such opponents that would burst with all their power at a critical juncture, vainly using this method to try making a comeback.
But unfortunately...
No one succeeded. Even those Archmage rank opponents had been left suffering a loss.
Not to mention a young mage in his twenties.
Indeed, that young mage was really powerful and persevered in front of the Devouring Hand. Although he lost a Spiritual Magic Tool, that kind of performance already made Herman respect him.
But it was only respect.
A twenty years old kid's mana was bound to be inferior to his, in these circumstances, no matter if he burst or counterattacked, it would be nothing more than a joke.