Chapter 37: The Second SSS Hero Acquired! The Elemental Archmage with Unlimited-Range Teleportation!

The stone statue stopped moving.

Its enormous, ten-meter-tall body remained motionless for two seconds before cracks began spreading through the six-colored crystals. Brilliant streams of mixed elemental energy poured out from within.

BOOM!

The statue exploded.

Six beams of different colors shot into the sky, scattering into countless elemental fragments amid the howling snowstorm.

[ Ding! ]

[Your legion has successfully slain the Six-Aspect Elemental Core of Frostspine Mountains (Lv.20 · Dark Gold Lord-Rank Boss)!]

[Rewards obtained: 8,000 gold coins, Building Blueprint: Tower of Mist (Rare) ×1!]

The enormous crystal wreckage crashed onto the black frozen earth with a heavy thud. Broken stones rolled across the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

All that remained was a pile of glowing loot.

John breathed a sigh of relief and glanced down at his status bar.

[Current HP: 5,320/9,500]

[Current Environmental Effect: Elemental Corrosion (8 stacks)]

[Movement Speed reduced by 30%. Fixed HP loss: 400 per second!]

In barely any time at all, he had lost nearly half his health.

This was the first time since entering Godfall Battlefield that John had lost so much HP in an actual battle.

It wasn’t because the monsters here were particularly difficult to defeat. The real culprit was the area’s Elemental Corrosion mechanic.

Every thirty seconds, another stack of the HP-draining effect was forcibly applied. The damage was deducted directly as a fixed amount, completely bypassing the protection provided by high Defense.

"Lord, your condition is rather poor."

Ophelia sheathed Dragon Fang and hurried to his side. Her dark golden slit pupils reflected the rise and fall of his chest.

She herself had an enormous health pool, and her troops were protected by her auras.

In other words, John was practically the only one on the battlefield in such poor condition.

"I’m fine. It should stop once we summon the hero."

John waved dismissively and bent down to collect the loot.

The moment his fingertips touched the blueprint, a system panel automatically appeared.

[Building Blueprint: Tower of Mist]

[Quality: Rare]

[Base HP: 20,000]

[Construction Requirements: Wood ×10,000, Stone ×10,000, Iron Ore ×10,000, Gold Coins ×10,000]

[Upgradeable Levels: Lv.1–Lv.10]

[Base Effect: Generates a dense anti-reconnaissance mist around the territory, severely suppressing enemy perception and reducing enemy units’ vision range by 90%. Units below six stars cannot detect the tower’s effects.]

[Range Progression: Initial coverage radius of 1 kilometer at Lv.1. Coverage radius increases by 1 kilometer per level, reaching a maximum radius of 10 kilometers at Lv.10.]

[Upgrade Cost: Each level requires 5,000 units of each basic resource: Wood, Stone, Iron Ore, and Gold Coins.]

John studied the blueprint’s specifications and began calculating its potential value.

In Godfall Battlefield, building blueprints were ranked from lowest to highest as follows: Common, Excellent, Fine, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Divine.

A Rare-grade building blueprint like this could easily fetch an astronomical price on the current market.

After all, territories were randomly assigned at the beginning of the game.

John’s own territory, for example, was located on a relatively flat mountaintop.

That might not seem like a problem now, but thirty days later, when the territories merged into Godfall Continent, his location would become an obvious target.

However, once this tower was constructed, even upgrading it by just a few levels would render several kilometers of surrounding territory invisible to enemy observers.

It was an excellent acquisition.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to examine it in greater detail.

-450!

-450!

-450!

His HP continued to drop.

In the short time he’d spent inspecting the blueprint, another stack of Elemental Corrosion had already been applied.

John looked up toward the snow-covered summit ahead.

"We can’t waste any more time here. Head to the summit."

"Understood!"

Ophelia transformed into her hundred-meter-long dragon form once more. With a powerful beat of her wings, she swept up the snow on the ground and carried John toward the mountaintop.

Only after they passed through the howling snowstorm did the summit’s complete scenery come into view.

A colossal palace stood suspended in midair above the snowy peak.

Its entire structure was assembled from six completely different types of translucent crystals.

Six streams of elemental energy rose from the abyss below, supporting the palace from beneath.

The dragon landed on the spacious entrance platform and folded her wings before transforming back into human form.

John leaped from her back and stepped onto the stairs, where ice that had remained frozen for tens of thousands of years covered every surface.

BOOM!

The palace doors opened automatically.

After passing through a corridor lined with enormous pillars dozens of meters tall, each radiating a different elemental color, John and Ophelia finally reached the center of the main hall.

There lay a hexagonal stone sarcophagus measuring more than three meters in length.

Its entire surface was pitch-black, wrapped in six thick elemental chains whose opposite ends were embedded deep within the surrounding walls.

John stepped forward and retrieved a golden scroll from his inventory.

[Hero Recruitment Scroll]

"Awaken."

The scroll dissolved into golden flames in his hand.

In the next instant, the entire temple began to shake violently.

The elemental energy contained within the six pillars surged like floodwaters breaking through a dam, rushing along the channels carved into the floor toward the center of the hall.

The chains wrapped around the crystal coffin began to shatter inch by inch. Brilliant light in all six colors flooded the hall, nearly blinding everyone present.

With a thunderous crash, the coffin lid slid open.

A shriveled figure slowly straightened up as it floated in midair.

When the light finally faded, the figure descended onto the marble floor.

It was an elderly man with a slightly hunched back, dressed in a dark gray mage’s robe covered in patches. The uneven hem fluttered in the wind.

A small, distinctive mustache adorned his gaunt face. His eye sockets were sunken, and his nose was high-bridged.

In his hand, he held a crooked black staff made from withered wood. A dull, six-faceted crystal was embedded in its tip.

The old man rubbed his cloudy eyes and slowly raised his head. After studying John for a moment, he bowed respectfully.

"Raistlin, at your service, my Lord."

[ Ding! ]

[Congratulations, Lord "Tyrant"! You have successfully summoned the SSS-grade hero Raistlin!]

A status panel unfolded across John’s field of vision.

[Hero: Raistlin]

[Race: Human (Elemental Affinity)]

[Quality: SSS]

[Level: Lv.1 (0/10,000)]

[HP: 10,000/10,000]

[Attack: 3,500]

[Defense: 800]

[Skill 1: Elemental Burst (Lv.1 · Active/Passive)]

Active Effect: Draws upon all free elemental energy in the surrounding environment and detonates it in a devastating attack. The higher the ambient elemental concentration, the greater the damage multiplier. Base cooldown: 1 minute.

Passive Effect: While Elemental Burst is not activated, Raistlin’s basic attacks and standard skills can draw upon environmental elements for coordinated attacks without consuming additional resources. All skill damage multipliers receive a flat 500% increase.

[Skill 2: Elemental Shift (Lv.1 · Active)]

Instantly teleports Raistlin to any coordinates previously visited by either himself or his Lord, regardless of distance. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

[Skill 3: Archmage Aura (Lv.1 · Passive/Aura)]

While assigned to a formation, all mage-type units under his command receive a 300% increase to all base attributes and a 20% reduction in skill cooldowns. Current formation capacity: 1/2,000. Formation capacity increases as the hero levels up.

[Background: The last wielder of complete mastery over all elements in the ancient era. Before the collapse of the world, he sealed the Six-Aspect Elemental Core single-handedly, preventing an elemental cataclysm from destroying the continent. During the War of the Gods, the deities joined forces to erase his physical body, sealing his remaining soul atop Frostspine Mountains. His very existence is a living chronicle of the rise and fall of elemental civilization.]