First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

A blue magic array suddenly appeared at the top of the volcano, and a figure gradually materialized from within.

It was Erica.

Without disrupting the magic array, she had also increased the casting distance of the spell.

It had to be said, this was indeed the most effective method she could think of right now.

The biggest difference between a second-order mage and a third-order mage in using teleportation magic was the difference in their magic power reserves.

And the reserve of magic power also determined the distance of teleportation.

Erica drank a potion to restore some of her magic power before she could barely conjure a teleportation array with enough distance.

And now, she had reached the top of the volcano.

In front of her, was the crater.

The temperature at the top of the volcano was already too hot for humans to withstand. As soon as Erica stood on the ground, the scorching heat instantly made her dizzy.

If she hadn’t used some anti-flame magic beforehand, she would have probably fainted instantly under this astonishing temperature.

She patted her chest and looked down, with a lingering fear on her face.

She put her hands together, and a white magic array began to spin in her hands, with a hint of chill emanating from it.

She cast the spell on herself, barely keeping her body at a constant temperature.

After doing all this, Erica finally looked around.

Nearby, there was nothing.

Only the crater of the volcano, looking as if it had just erupted, with the surrounding igneous rocks glowing red like blocks of burning iron.

Under the searing heat, even the air became distorted.

Erica was longing to find some answers at the top of the volcano, but the scene after climbing to the top was not what she wished for.

The heat made her dizzy and blurred her vision, and a sense of exhaustion had spread throughout her body.

“Can’t go on… Maybe I should leave here.”

She struggled to utter these few words. She felt like her heart was being strangled by something, painful beyond measure.

That cry of grief that only she could hear was still continuing.

In a trance, the volcano trembled, and a plume of magma spewed from the crater.

Watching the slowly flowing crimson magma, to Erica, it was like the blood spewing out when the volcano was in pain.

And now, it was about to become the weapon that would take Erica’s life.

Erica gritted her teeth.

Between life and death, she made a quick judgment.

The remaining magic power surged out all at once, forming a barrier that separated her from the flowing magma.

She still didn’t want to die, at least not a meaningless, stifled death like this.

But her remaining magic was not enough to support this barrier.

The magma seeped into the shield, and soon, it would flow to Erica’s feet.

Her body had started shaking uncontrollably.

Almost the next second.

Within her sight, a ray of white light seemed to burst out from the crater of the volcano.

Erica seemed to have forgotten the impending crisis, her eyes fixed tightly on the ray of white light from the crater.

“What is that…”

…

The mages and knights halfway up the volcano in Sanchel Town had also noticed the intense disturbance of the volcano at this moment.

“This is a prelude to the volcano’s eruption!”

A mage suddenly shouted, but everyone could see it now.

The spewing magma from the crater was the most powerful evidence.

All the third-order mages’ faces were solemn, on high alert, ready to instantly cast the terrifying war magic at Duke Rivierre’s command.

The powerful war magic was enough to completely suppress this volcano!

Duke Rivierre was very confident. He was just about to cast the spell, and even planned to have Erica continue supplying him with magic power.

“Erica, can you still hold on?”

He habitually asked, but no one answered him.

When Duke Rivierre looked back, Erica was nowhere to be seen.

“Erica!? Erica?”

Now Duke Rivierre panicked. He looked left and right at the base, but could not see Erica anywhere.

“How could she disappear at a time like this!”

Duke Rivierre became restless and anxious. She was missing at such a critical juncture, just before the war magic was about to be activated.

If she had run up to the top of the volcano, it would be extremely dangerous.

Duke Rivierre refused to believe Erica was so reckless. He could only continue searching halfway up the mountain.

All the mages who were waiting to cast magic were stunned. Why did Duke Rivierre suddenly stop the magic array at this critical moment?

Many third-order mages looked at Duke Rivierre anxiously and said:

“Your Grace! If the great array is not activated soon, the volcano will erupt completely!”

“It will be too late!”

The duke almost shouted at them:

“No! The great array must not be activated!”

“Your Grace! What on earth is going on?”

Everyone was puzzled, and could only hurry to ask.

“Erica is missing!”

When Duke Rivierre told everyone the news, they were all dumbfounded.

If Erica was on the top of the mountain right now, then the moment the great magic array fell, she would probably be torn to shreds instantly by the tremendous magic pressure.

However, if they did not activate the magic…

The volcano’s eruption would escalate into a massive disaster.

Duke Rivierre was extremely anxious at this moment.

If he had to make a choice, he would rather sacrifice his own honor and status, even not save those innocent lives.

He also wanted Erica back no matter what.

At this critical juncture, everyone was persuading Duke Rivierre.

Even if they could activate the magic array just one second before the volcano, it could still prevent the disaster from happening!

But without the magic commander Duke Rivierre giving the order,

The array would just stay there.

Suddenly, a piercing ray of white light burst out from the crater in an instant, shooting straight into the sky!

Everyone watched as the white light tore through the dark clouds and illuminated the sky, attracted by the sight.

In a flash, the sky revealed its original face, and the gentle moonlight pierced through large swathes of gloom, shining on everyone’s shocked faces.

Drip drip drip – !

Soon, raindrops jumped down from the sky like fairies after a disaster, one by one.

The rain poured down heavily, splashing on the mountain top, hitting the flowing lava.

As if by magic, it fell on Mount Vesuvius.

At this very moment, the volcano lost all its momentum.

The astonishing temperature dropped sharply.

The whole volcano was like a lump of hot molten iron doused with a bucket of cold water, giving off intense steam.

No one felt hot anymore.

On the contrary, they actually shivered under this sudden heavy rain.

The flowing lava also gradually solidified, and those igneous rocks slowly turned back to their original black color.

“…The eruption of Mount Vesuvius has stopped?”

A mage voiced the shock in everyone’s mind. The rain had soaked Duke Rivierre’s hair, and he squinted at the sky, not knowing what he was thinking, with an extremely complicated expression.

Near the mountain top, Gwen, who felt the raindrops, looked up and saw the moonlight peeking through the sky. She breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been very close to that ray of white light just now, and clearly felt that terrifying power.

The obstructing lava had now cooled down.

She stood up, picked up her silver sword, with determination in her mind, and rushed towards the summit…

…

Erica was stunned on the spot, staring blankly at the sky. For a moment, her mind went completely blank.

She had been closest when that burst of magical power appeared.

That was definitely not a magical power that humans could possess.

She knelt in the rain with her eyes closed, letting the raindrops drench her completely.

At this moment, there was no danger at all.

Under that astonishing magic, it seemed to have completely defused all crises.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius was like a wonderful joke that heaven had played on everyone.

Its erratic behavior made everyone believe it was about to erupt. But in the end, when everyone was tense and on high alert,

at the climax of the atmosphere, the volcano went dormant.

Its prank had succeeded in attracting everyone’s attention.

Two streams of tears flowed from Erica’s eyes. Even she couldn’t tell whether it was raindrops or tears flowing down her face right now.

She was scared.

She had almost died on this volcano.

She had almost been unable to preserve even her bones.

She had almost paid the price for her arrogance and pride…

Her sobbing attracted a fire urchin. In this astonishing rain, it gave off steam all over as the raindrops drenched it, blending perfectly into the environment.

It bared its fangs.

The distance to Erica was very, very close. With just a short burst of speed from its legs, it could bite her throat through.

While Erica, with her magic power completely depleted, and even mentally exhausted, no longer had any ability to resist.

She just kept crying there, unaware of the approaching danger.

The next second, the fire urchin pounced at her with a terrifying shriek.

Erica reacted, but her weakness no longer allowed her to put up any resistance.

She would die.

“Dad…”

Boom!!!

A fiery snake as hot as lava brushed past Erica’s cheek and struck the fire urchin.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The fire urchin instantly turned to ashes, without even leaving a trace behind.

Erica was stunned. She forgot to cry, and stared blankly at the scene.

But she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“I should have taught you.”

“A mage’s top priority is always one’s own safety.”

She whipped her head around and saw the staggering Victor.

“Professor! You…”

She was extremely pleasantly surprised, but before she could say another word, she suddenly saw the shocking lava flowing down Victor’s body.

The lava fell to the ground and cooled down rapidly, and wisps of steam floated up.

The next second, Victor fainted and fell straight to the edge of the crater.

Erica was dumbfounded. She hurried to Victor’s side and reached out to touch his body.

“Ouch… So painful.”

The astonishing temperature on Victor’s body would cause burns from just a touch.

“Victor! What’s wrong with you? Victor!”

She didn’t care about the serious risk of her hands being badly burnt. Using the last of her magic power, she barely conjured a thin layer of frost on her hands, and tried to prop Victor up.

The scorching heat made her hands ache, but she desperately tried to prop Victor up.

The next second, Erica’s burnt legs could no longer bear the pressure.

With a thud, they both fell to the ground.

Fortunately, the temperature of the volcano had completely dropped now, otherwise the two of them would have been seared into a pancake.

In a flash, a feeling of resentment rose from the bottom of Erica’s heart. She hated herself.

She hated her arrogance, and hated her powerlessness even more right now.

Everything she had learned at the Magic Academy seemed to have become a burden.

But she stubbornly tried again and again to prop Victor up, even though her whole body was scalded by his temperature.

Erica extremely hated her own weakness, but she did not regret climbing to the top of the mountain.

If she hadn’t been here, who would have noticed the severely injured Victor?

He would definitely have died here.

Erica tried again and again, getting up, falling down, getting up, falling down.

Although the distance she could move was barely two meters, she kept going.

Without magic power, she could only rely on her own body.

Victor had saved her, so now, she had to save Victor too.

“Little girl.”

An abrupt voice sounded in her ear, making Erica, who was barely propping Victor up again, suddenly freeze.

She looked left and right, trying to find the source of the sound.

But no matter how hard she looked, there was no one else on the summit.

Only a one-eyed crow stood at the edge of the crater.

It was Victor’s pet, inseparable from him.

Erica had even fed it before.

Suddenly, Erica’s eyes widened.

No matter how heavily the rain fell,

not a single raindrop had touched the crow’s feathers.

Its feathers seemed to be polished smooth, and in the rain, it was like a unique existence.

The one-eyed crow opened its ugly beak, with a blue light flickering under its single eye, exuding an aura of wisdom.

“Do you really want to save him?”