Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Sande pressed his lips together.

As far as strength was concerned, Doran was just low-level among third-level Wizards. Desperate to make a lethal strike, it was indeed possible that he could kill him. But it was inevitable that Doran would have some special life-saving measures. Sande could tell that much from the process of hunting him. Therefore, if he truly wanted to kill the enemy, there was a high chance of failure, and it might be safer to choose to take away someone else.

But the attack had already been launched, and there was no chance to change course now. He could only give it his all.

Then let him use the last of his life's strength to teach the other a lesson. Even if he couldn't kill him, he would severely wound him, leaving an indelible shadow.

This was for Sofia!

Sande roared in his heart, his body's speed surged, and the black energy condensed into long, fine nails on his fingers, stabbing straight at Doran.

Then with a "puff," the nails penetrated Doran's body with almost no resistance.

Hmm?

Sande slightly raised his head in surprise and looked at Doran, catching a glimpse of a strange smile on Doran's face as his body gradually faded and dissipated.

An illusion!

Sande was shocked, then quickly realized.

Yes, what he had stabbed was indeed an illusion, a decoy disguised by some spell, looking very much like the real body, but with no connection to it. This was a trick he had often used to deceive enemies. He had never imagined that Doran would turn the tables on him and that he would fall for it!

In that case, he no longer had the chance to leave a deep impression on Doran.

Sande's heart grew cold as he felt the intense killing intent from behind him. He could clearly guess that this was Doran's counterattack. Feeling somewhat desperate, he closed his eyes, quietly awaiting death's arrival.

But!

Seconds later, instead of death, he heard the sound of a weapon piercing flesh with a "puff."

It wasn't he who was pierced, but the attacker—Doran!

Hmm?

Sande opened his eyes in confusion and turned his head to look behind him. Then he saw Doran staring at him with wide eyes, a hand almost on his back. In that hand was a terrifying purple destructive energy. Had it hit him, it would have undoubtedly killed him.

But at that moment, the purple destructive energy was slowly dissipating, Doran's body went limp, staggered, and then fell heavily to the ground. A blood hole over a centimeter in diameter was glaringly obvious on his forehead.

What is this?!

Sande was stunned.

The surrounding Wizards were also stunned. They then quickly reasoned and deduced that Sande must have used some underhanded tactic to kill Doran in retaliation.

Thinking this possible, the many Wizards roared in anger and unceremoniously launched their attacks at Sande.

However, before their attacks could be unleashed, several more "puff, puff, puff" sounds were heard.

The Wizards who were just about to release their attacks swayed and then simultaneously fell to the ground, each with a hole in their forehead—penetrating straight through the back of their heads, taking away a large portion of their skulls.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The bodies of the dead Wizards fell to the ground one after another, and everyone was suddenly alarmed, looking at each other with no understanding of what had just happened.

Amidst the confusion, the "puff, puff, puff" sounds continued, and one by one, Wizards were struck through the head and fell.

"Attack, defend!" At last, one of the more lucid Wizards realized the situation, shouted loudly, and was about to cast a Magic Shield.

His movements, however, were a bit slow, and just as the Magic Shield was about to be successfully cast, a "puff" sound was heard as his brow was pierced, and his body fell.

Those who successfully released their Shields after him had no reason to rejoice.

The sound of "puff, puff" continued. The Shields of most First-level Wizards shattered after a violent shake, and their brows were pierced all the same. Only the Shields cast with full force by Second-level Wizards could barely withstand one invisible attack, but with the second and third strikes, death was still inescapable.

The atmosphere in the field congealed, the temperature dropped to freezing point, and everyone was terrified, completely clueless about what was happening, let alone knowing what to do.

It seemed as if someone was ambushing them, but the assailant's presence was utterly undetectable, leaving everyone ignorant of the attacker's location.

How could the ambusher hidden in the dark attack all of them?

Could it be...

A tall, thin Third-level Low-level Wizard was puzzled, then suddenly guessed a possibility, his head shooting upwards. His eyes dilated as he vaguely saw a streak of black light rushing towards him.

So that was it!

In an instant, the Third-level Low-level Wizard figured everything out, waving his hand to release a counter Spell, but the black light was too fast, piercing his eyes with a "puff" sound almost as soon as he raised his hand.

The tall wizard's body swayed, feeling the world plunge into darkness, and with a "bam," he fell to the ground.

The last thought of the tall Third-level Wizard was: If the attack hadn't come so early, I would have had a chance to dodge it, a chance...

Following the death of the tall Third-level Wizard, the remaining people in the field reached their limit of endurance. Someone screamed and ran in all directions, but soon their flight turned into a cacophony of screams.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

One scream after another echoed as one person after another fell, the number of people steadily decreasing. No matter how alert, defensive, or evasive they were, it made no difference to the outcome.

What made them most desperate was that most of them—First-level Wizards and Second-level Wizards—didn't know who was attacking or how until their dying moments. Their power was too weak to resist the overwhelming assault.

Only a very few—several Third-level Low-level Wizards—sensed something. Given time to digest and understand, they might have had a chance to fend off the attack, maybe even avoid death, but not so easily. But it was for this very reason that they were the first on the hit list at the onset of the attack.

"Puff, puff, puff!"

The sound continued, and the number of people in the field dwindled. Emotions shifted from astonishment to confusion, fear, and finally to numbness.

Yes, numbness.

Faced with an attack that was undetectable and unresistable, they became numb.

Minutes later, the last few people standing stiffly on the ground had completely given up on resisting. They glanced around occasionally, then sighed quietly, silently waiting for their own blow to come.

"Puff!"

"Bam!"

Finally, the last person fell, closing his eyes with a hint of relief as silence enveloped the field.

"Huh—"

At that moment, a gentle night breeze swept by, the air stirred, and a figure slowly descended from the sky.

...