Chapter 38: The SSS Archmage Returns to His Throne! One Strike Wipes Out an Entire Mountain Range!

[Lord "Tyrant" has successfully established a contract with the SSS-grade hero "Raistlin"!]

[Hidden Synergy Condition Fulfilled!]

[Congratulations, Lord "Tyrant"! You have unlocked the training rights for a six-star unit: Fire Mage!]

[Obtained: Six-Star Unit Training License · Fire Mage ×1!]

[Obtained: Six-Star Unit Altar Stone ×1!]

John looked at his newly summoned hero, feeling rather pleased.

"Rise."

As he spoke, he raised a hand and swiped through the air, bringing up the legion management interface.

Two hundred Undead Frost Mages were removed from Ophelia’s formation and reassigned to Raistlin’s command.

Ophelia’s troop count dropped from 1,350 to 1,150, leaving only the Dark Knights and Dragon Knights under her command.

Raistlin’s formation now showed 200/2,000.

Naturally, the mages would be far more effective under Raistlin’s leadership.

Raistlin slowly rose to his feet, his bones emitting faint cracking sounds.

The hem of his patched gray mage’s robe dragged across the ice, its edges now covered in a thin layer of frost.

The old man glanced down at his clothing, a trace of disgust flashing through his cloudy eyes.

He casually waved his hand.

Whoosh!

A stream of warm air flowed from the tip of his staff, instantly evaporating the frost on his robe into wisps of white mist.

At the same time, the ice beneath John’s feet suddenly cracked, and all ten stacks of Elemental Corrosion vanished.

[System Notification: The Elemental Corrosion effect affecting you has been removed.]

[Current Elemental Corrosion Stacks: 0]

John froze for a moment.

He instinctively checked his health bar and confirmed that his HP was no longer decreasing.

His eyelid twitched.

He had assumed that summoning a hero might at best reset the Elemental Corrosion accumulated throughout Frostspine Mountains.

He had never expected it to eliminate the effect entirely.

What did this mean?

It meant that Raistlin possessed some form of absolute control over this region.

"You..."

John had barely begun to speak when a line of pale golden system text interrupted him.

[Special Passive Triggered: Hero "Raistlin" — Homefield Domain]

[Description: While Lord "Tyrant" is within Frostspine Mountains, all Elemental Corrosion effects are completely nullified for the Lord and all units under his command.]

John stared at the notification and took a deep breath.

"Raistlin."

The name escaped his lips almost involuntarily.

The old mage lifted his eyelids slightly.

"I’m here."

John studied him for two seconds before asking curiously,

"How much do you know about Frostspine Mountains?"

Raistlin looked momentarily bewildered, as though he found the question rather strange.

He slowly turned toward the endless range of snow-covered peaks. The corners of his withered mouth trembled slightly.

"Know?"

He repeated the word, his voice carrying the weight of a distant memory.

"My Lord, this place was once my home."

The old man raised his withered hand and pointed toward the highest peak in the distance.

"Every blade of grass, every tree, every stone, and every shard of ice here was once under my control."

John nodded.

"Then can you sense every resource deposit in this region?"

After using the Hero Compass, he had precious few resources left to his name.

He naturally intended to strip the place of anything valuable before leaving.

Hearing the question, Raistlin slowly closed his eyes.

The six-faceted crystal at the tip of his staff began to glow faintly. Six incredibly fine strands of light extended from his body in every direction, traveling along the ground, penetrating the frozen earth and rock formations, and climbing toward the snow-covered peaks.

John stood quietly beside him, waiting.

Ten seconds later, the old man’s brows suddenly furrowed.

"How...?"

Raistlin abruptly opened his eyes.

"These things!"

He pointed toward the foot of the mountain, his voice trembling with anger.

"Ice Golems, Lava Brutes, Wind Spirits, Thunder Slimes... Who gave them permission to come here?!"

The old man’s beard stirred despite the absence of wind, and his gray mage’s robe fluttered violently.

John instinctively took a step backward.

"This is MY territory!"

Raistlin roared.

He raised the withered wooden staff high above his head, then slammed it into the ground with tremendous force.

BOOM!

The instant the staff struck the earth, the entire mountain range seemed to tremble.

A six-colored shockwave erupted from the tip of his staff, sweeping outward across the ground in every direction.

Wherever the shockwave passed, the frozen earth shattered, snow soared into the air, and the atmosphere itself began to convulse violently.

Fire.

Ice.

Lightning.

Wind.

Earth.

Water.

All six elements erupted simultaneously within the shockwave, unleashing a devastating assault across every corner of Frostspine Mountains, with the mountaintop where John stood at its epicenter.

Down in the snowy valleys at the foot of the mountain, hundreds of Ice Golems wandering through the snow suddenly shattered without warning. Their ice shells burst apart, and their health bars instantly emptied.

Halfway up the mountain, the frozen ground beneath a group of resting Lava Brutes suddenly split open. A surge of icy blue energy erupted from below, freezing an entire group of fire-rock creatures into pale gray ice statues.

In a canyon inhabited by Wind Spirits, countless yellow-brown stone spikes erupted from the ground without warning, impaling dozens of translucent spirits in midair.

Across the snowy plains, Thunder Slimes were swallowed by a rain of magma that materialized out of nowhere. Before they could even scream, they had been reduced to piles of dark red rubble.

More than ten thousand elemental monsters were wiped out almost simultaneously under the combined assault of six different elemental spells.

[Ding!]

[Your hero "Raistlin" has slain Ice Golem Lv.15 ×999, gaining 10,000 EXP!]

[Your hero "Raistlin" has slain Lava Brute Lv.15 ×999, gaining 10,000 EXP!]

[Your hero "Raistlin" has slain Six-Aspect Wind Spirit Lv.15 ×999, gaining 10,000 EXP!]

[Your hero "Raistlin" has reached Lv.2!]

[Your hero "Raistlin" has reached Lv.3!]

[Your hero "Raistlin" has reached Lv.4!]

System notifications flooded John’s interface at a frantic pace.

In just a few breaths, Raistlin’s level skyrocketed from Level 1.

[Your hero "Raistlin" has reached Lv.12!]

[Ding!]

[System Notification: Frostspine Mountains has been completely cleared!]

[Remaining Monsters in Current Region: 0/9,999]

[Congratulations, Lord "Tyrant"! You have obtained: 156,800 gold coins, 124,800 Wood, 128,600 Stone, 131,200 Iron Ore, and 148,400 Meat!]

John stared at the enormous list of incoming resources, unable to speak for quite some time.

Standing beside him, Ophelia’s dark golden slit pupils widened slightly.

She gazed at Raistlin’s back and murmured,

"...Incredible."

John finally tore his gaze away, equally astonished.

Raistlin’s Elemental Burst was outrageously powerful.

But, on second thought, it made a certain amount of sense.

What had the skill description said?

The higher the concentration of surrounding elemental energy, the greater the damage multiplier.

And what exactly was Frostspine Mountains?

The home of the elemental monsters.

In other words, Raistlin had activated his skill on his home turf, stacking every available environmental bonus to its maximum.

That single Elemental Burst had therefore dealt damage approaching its theoretical maximum.

He wouldn’t be nearly as overpowered in other locations.

"Good thing. Otherwise, if I took him out and he pulled something like this every time, everyone would think I was cheating."

For some reason, John felt strangely relieved.