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Currently, Darian certainly doesn't look like a good person.
Especially the magic mask on his face, the strong evil aura almost solidified, even the bright aura emanating from the magic sword couldn't cover it.
Don't the people of Kamar-Taj care about such an evil magic artifact?
The Black Robed Woman looked at Mordo and Kaecilius, only to see one intently counting ants with his head down, and the other meticulously studying broken artifacts on the ground. Both looked busy but she couldn't tell what they were busy with.
Kamar-Taj has fallen after all!
The Black Robed Woman's mouth twitched, and she snorted coldly, "So what if I recover? Light is ultimately fleeting; only darkness is Eternity!"
With a wave of her hand, countless tentacles immediately wriggled madly, like a black tide, surging towards the three!
The vast majority of the black tentacles surged towards Darian, clearly targeting him, their dense numbers enough to make any magical girl feel intimidated.
Darian was fearless, his muscles bulging all over his body. At the same time, he conjured another magic sword in his left hand, and wielding both magic swords, he charged proactively into the black tide!
Since he hadn't yet unlocked the skill for basic dual-wielding of one-handed swords, his movements weren't as fluid as with a single one-handed sword, but it wasn't a big issue; his stats could completely compensate for any shortcomings in technique.
magic mask + Minotaur never takes off his mask + GANTZ reinforced suit + Grim Reaper's Eye!
Under the multiple enhancements of equipment and skills, Darian's various attributes received an extremely terrifying boost.
The twin swords danced like wind in his hands, moving so fast that only a blur of light and Shadow could be seen, as if forming an impenetrable barrier!
No need for intricate techniques, just hack and slash!
All approaching dark tentacles, once they entered the range of Darian's sword light, were like being fed into a shredder, instantly cut into several pieces, and under the purification of light energy, they transformed into wisps of black smoke and dissipated!
The Black Robed Woman watched, dumbfounded.
Is this a mage or a warrior? So fierce!
Seeing Darian relentlessly approaching with an overwhelming momentum, an alarm bell rang loudly in the Black Robed Woman's heart, and a strong sense of crisis instantly enveloped her whole body.
She dared not hesitate for a moment, immediately raising the scepter in her hand. The dark energy at its tip surged wildly, quickly condensing into a black energy ball, which she blasted directly at Darian!
Facing the whistling dark energy ball, Darian neither dodged nor flinched. He directly swung his magic sword, splitting it apart in mid-air, his footsteps not faltering in the slightest.
The Black Robed Woman's pupils constricted sharply, and in her horror, the instinct for survival overrode everything else.
She frantically waved her scepter, and one dark energy ball after another formed in quick succession, barraging Darian like a chain gun, attempting to use dense firepower to halt his advance.
However, Darian's reaction time and speed far exceeded the Black Robed Woman's imagination.
He wielded his twin swords, cutting and purifying the constantly surging dark tentacles around him, while his figure weaved and dodged through the dense energy ball bombardment. He thus advanced through the tidal wave of attacks, without even a noticeable decrease in speed.
Soon, Darian rushed in front of the Black Robed Woman, his leg muscles suddenly exploding, and he leveraged the momentum to leap forward violently!
He raised both magic swords above his head, activated the basic mage skill 'Jump Slash', and, using the downward momentum, brought them down towards the Black Robed Woman!
Bang!
A dark barrier instantly appeared in front of the Black Robed Woman, blocking Darian's magic sword.
However, the light energy contained within the magic sword, combined with Darian's terrifying strength, caused the sword tip to forcefully pierce into the dark barrier and slowly push forward!
The sword's edge was less than twenty centimeters from the Black Robed Woman's face!
The Black Robed Woman's eyes widened in fright.
But this was clearly a mistake; at such close range, her eyes were almost blinded by the magic sword's light.
She quickly shut her eyes, and at the same time, swung her scepter by feel.
The next moment, another dark barrier quickly condensed in front of her. With the double barriers stacked, it finally completely resisted the magic sword's forward momentum.
But this was not without cost.
Maintaining multiple spells simultaneously was already immensely draining, and coupled with the large number of dark tentacles summoned earlier, the dark energy within the Black Robed Woman was nearing depletion.
She felt a debilitating sense of exhaustion wash over her, and the stability of the dark barrier began to fluctuate.
Darian also noticed the weakening of the barrier's strength and grinned, "It seems your mana is almost gone. Do you want a mana potion? Since we don't know each other, just give me this scepter as payment."
"Damn fellow, do you think this is enough to kill me?"
The Black Robed Woman gritted her teeth, raising her scepter, wanting to draw light energy from the surrounding environment, but the light energy in this area had already been completely drained by her earlier. Moreover, the tourists had long since been evacuated, making it difficult to quickly replenish her depleted dark energy.
So, she set her sights on Darian, who was close at hand.
This scepter could draw the light from people's hearts—the power of beliefs supporting justice, hope, and courage—thereby amplifying the target's inner wavering and darkness.
In her opinion, since Darian was a mage of Kamar-Taj, he should uphold the beliefs of a Guardian, and his heart must be filled with justice and hope.
As long as she successfully drew this light, even if she couldn't destroy him, it would be enough to cause inner turmoil, buying herself a moment to breathe!
Without the slightest hesitation, the Black Robed Woman aimed the scepter's tip at Darian, who was close at hand, and activated its ability with all her might, attempting to forcibly extract the light from his heart!
However, a few seconds passed, and Darian showed no reaction; not a single speck of light was visible!
"How is that possible? Where is your light?"
The Black Robed Woman cried out in disbelief.
Darian pouted, "My light was borrowed by a giant when I was little, and he still hasn't returned it to me."
The Black Robed Woman: "???"
What she didn't know was that there existed a type of creature in this World called 'players,' whose thoughts were fundamentally unpredictable.
One moment they could be a saint, saving the World from Water and Fire; the next moment, they could transform into a demon king of destruction, kicking the World back into Water and Fire.
What drove them was not some firm belief, but pure curiosity and experience, as well as the underlying logic of 'would doing this be more fun'.
The light that the Black Robed Woman attempted to draw from within, from a player who fundamentally didn't care about the alignment of good or evil, only pursuing the process and fun, was naturally nonexistent.
Seizing the moment while the Black Robed Woman was stunned, Darian grasped the opportunity, exerted force with both hands, and the magic sword burst forth with an extremely dazzling light!
Illumination spell!
A surging wave of light energy erupted!
With a 'click,' the already precarious double dark barrier shattered completely, transforming into countless black particles scattering in the air.
The magic sword, now unimpeded, slashed down towards the Black Robed Woman!
The Black Robed Woman was horrified. In a rush, she could only raise the scepter in her hand, holding it horizontally above her head, attempting to withstand the magic sword head-on.
The next moment, she felt an overwhelmingly brutal force transmit from the scepter. Even she, who had previously been able to send Kaecilius flying with a single staff strike, was now unable to even momentarily slow the sword's descent.
"Crack!"
A crisp snapping sound rang out, not from the scepter, but from the wrist bones of her arms holding the scepter.
Upon contact, they were instantly fractured by the irresistible immense force!
The intense pain made her vision go black, the scepter, losing its support, was easily knocked aside, and the magic sword, carrying its residual power, continued to strike down without pause!
At the brink of death, the Black Robed Woman instinctively arched back and twisted her body, the sword's edge narrowly grazing her face.
But before she could even catch her breath from that lucky dodge, Darian landed a direct left front kick to her abdomen!
Bang!
The Black Robed Woman was struck hard, instantly bending into a shrimp-like shape, flying several meters backward, finally crashing heavily to the ground, unable to get up again.
Shortly after she fell, the surrounding frantically dancing black tentacles seemed to lose their energy source, abruptly came to a standstill, and then, like weathered sand sculptures, slowly transformed into countless black particles and dissipated into the air.
Mordo and Kaecilius, who had been grappling with the dark tentacles, immediately felt the pressure ease.
Watching the rapidly dissipating dark tentacles, both sighed in relief and immediately dispelled the Rings of Raggadorr in their hands, afraid to maintain them for even a second longer.
No choice, life-draining magic really couldn't be wasted!
Mordo saw the Black Robed Woman, whose fate was unknown, and said to Darian with emotion, "Darian, thanks to you, otherwise we would have been in trouble."
Kaecilius didn't speak; his face was already swollen, in every sense of the word.
Darian waved his hand, "It's a small matter. If there are any more missions like this in the future, feel free to come find me."
Such richly rewarded side quests were naturally the more the merrier, far more cost-effective than tedious daily quests.
"Oh, right, but remember not to open a portal in my house, especially in my room, otherwise I'll treat you all as enemies." Darian didn't forget to remind them, as these Kamar-Taj mages had a precedent for such actions.
Kaecilius: (╬ ▔ dish ▔ )
It's not my fault, I'm the victim!
Darian bent down and picked up the scepter from the ground, looking at its information.
[Dark Scepter]
[Description: A magic artifact capable of drawing light and converting it into dark power. It has no usage restrictions and was casually forged by a hidden dimensional demon god. The user will continuously be subjected to the demon god's whispering temptations and power erosion, their mind gradually sinking, eventually becoming its complete servant.]
"As expected of a dimensional demon god, even the equipment they create comes with various pitfalls."
Darian weighed the scepter, sighing with emotion.
These dimensional demon gods are the true capitalists, using the guise of 'free' to make you work for them for nothing.
Mordo observed the scepter and said seriously, "These types of magic artifacts are essentially bait thrown out by dimensional demon gods. Although their true forms cannot invade the real dimension, they can infuse their power and will into them, thereby developing their followers and tempting those who crave power to open the door to the real dimension for them."
"Is Earth really that coveted?" Darian couldn't help but complain.
Just the local supervillains wanting to rule the World was chaotic enough. A while ago, there was Loki, that alien god, who descended upon New York with the Chitauri army, also wanting to claim Earth.
And now, there are also various ridiculously powerful dimensional demon gods eyeing Earth covetously.
He wondered what Earth had done to deserve all this.
At this moment, Police sirens could be heard in the distance, growing closer.
Just like the Police in the U.S., the British Police perfectly timed their arrival for after the incident had concluded.
"The Police are here. Take the magic artifact and that woman. We need to leave here quickly."
Mordo cast a spell, clearing away the traces they left behind, then opened a golden portal, picked up the Black Robed Woman, and stepped inside, signaling Darian and Kaecilius to enter quickly.
Kaecilius, however, didn't move immediately. He frowned, seemingly searching for something on the ground, but couldn't find it after a long search.
Strange, where did the scimitar I dropped earlier go?
Back at Kamar-Taj, Darian handed the Dark Scepter to Mordo.
This kind of special equipment couldn't be put into the game inventory, and holding it felt unsafe; he always felt an indescribable being peering at him from above, so it was better to hand it over to a professional.
The next moment, the system's notification sound rang in his mind.
[Quest 'Unknown Artifact' settlement complete]
[Rewards obtained: 2000 Experience Points, 10 Mordo Favorability, Equipment 'Level 6 Armor', Item'Shapeshifting Stone', Item 'One-Time magic Scroll']
[Equipment: Level 6 Armor (Possesses extremely high defense against bullets. The armor must be shattered before the body can be harmed, but it cannot block headshots or foot shots.)]
[Item: Shapeshifting Stone (Can reshape the appearance of a weapon, but the weapon's attributes and effects remain unchanged.)]
[Item: One-Time magic Scroll (Contains an unknown magic. Requires an identification spell to determine its specific effect, or can be used directly.)]
The Level 6 Armor was useless; it protected against gentlemen but not against rats.
The Shapeshifting Stone offered limited practical improvement, but it would be good for changing a weapon's skin or having some fun.
As for this One-Time magic Scroll, it exuded a strong 'blind box' vibe; who knew what magic was sealed inside?
If he was extremely unlucky and opened a magic that didn't distinguish between friend and foe, that would be a huge laugh. He could only keep it at the bottom of his box, to be used as a last resort.
After completing the quest, Darian did not leave but chose to stay at Kamar-Taj to improve his magic knowledge.
After this battle, he realized that his magical methods were too singular, currently only having Illumination and the magic sword.
Although in his opinion, a true mage didn't need to learn so many spell skills, he still needed some superficial flair. If he didn't maximize the magic effects and light pollution, how could he highlight the gravitas a major figure should possess?
Just like the Black Robed Woman today, although her strength was inferior to Darian's, her presence was not at all. She could casually change the environment and summon a bunch of dark tentacles. This was indeed something Darian needed to learn from.
The thought of himself changing the environment with a flick of his hand made Darian's heart stir with excitement.
Time to grind, time to grind!
Darian, a man of action, immediately plunged into Kamar-Taj's library and began devouring books.
Now he no longer needed to watch videos; if he was bored, he could directly appreciate Emma's complete equipment gallery in his mind, or the CG animations only unlockable by VVVIPs.
First day without Emma, missing he