Chapter 153 Close-Quarters Casting

According to the map, the Carlos Mountains stretch from south to north, separating half the border between the Kingdom of Elno and the Kingdom of Karachiya. Near Blackstone City, a river originating from the high reaches of the Carlos Mountains and connecting to the Elven Forest cuts off the border near Blackstone City from the enemy nation.

Chu Yun guessed that the First Prince could not possibly remain within the country. The closest and best way for him to escape to the enemy nation would be to cross the Carlos River clandestinely.

To reach the Carlos River, one had to traverse the Carlos Grasslands. Although the grasslands offered an open view, the grass here seemed to be bewitched. Following the fall of the stars and the riot of monsters, these unknown species of grass had grown over a meter high, severely obstructing line of sight.

When Chu Yun arrived at the vague location predicted by the teleportation scroll, he did not find any trace of the First Prince; instead, he discovered a little white rabbit with long ears.

The ungrateful little white rabbit spat a mouthful of saliva at Chu Yun upon seeing him. Fortunately, Chu Yun was a benevolent person and merely unleashed a weakened version of the Lightning Strike spell to paralyze the creature.

"Have you seen any humans passing by here?" Chu Yun activated the Monster Communication spell to converse with the little white rabbit.

"Spare my life~"

"Answer quickly, or I'll roast and eat you!" Sparks of electricity flickered in Chu Yun's hand once again.

"Over there, just now, magic." The little white rabbit spoke to Chu Yun in terror.

As a monster, it was quite sensitive to magical fluctuations. The commotion caused by a tier-three teleportation spell was not insignificant, and nearby monsters had been too frightened to approach.

Carrying the little white rabbit, Chu Yun arrived at the location it described. Sure enough, there were traces of human footsteps on the dense patch of grass.

True to his word, Chu Yun set the little white rabbit free, then returned to the Mirror World and flew at high speed along the footprints.

Chu Yun now possessed a full 910 shards of the Mirror Divinity, reducing his spiritual power consumption in the Mirror World to just 10% of the original amount. This allowed him to travel safely within the Mirror World for extended periods.

It had taken Chu Yun quite some time to travel from the First Prince's residence to the grasslands, and by this point, the First Prince had already covered a considerable distance.

Fortunately, Chu Yun's speed was much greater, and judging by the crushed grass along the way, he knew he was getting closer and closer to his target.

However, just as he was about to reach the banks of the Carlos River, the tracks on the ground suddenly vanished, as if the target had also entered the Mirror World.

"The surrounding grass shows no abnormalities; he shouldn't have been attacked by monsters."

"The footprints trampling the grass are very fresh; he should have just arrived here. How could he suddenly disappear?"

Filled with doubt, Chu Yun began to increase his flight altitude to survey the surroundings.

"Hmm? Patrolling guards?" Chu Yun spotted a squad of soldiers riding warhorses and patrolling along the riverbank.

"There are no hoofprints around; the patrols haven't entered the tall grass, nor should they have captured him."

"There are no signs of digging on the ground, and ahead lies a wide river which makes tunneling extremely difficult. That leaves only two possibilities," Chu Yun deduced.

One possibility was a teleportation scroll, though a directional teleportation was unlikely since it required prior setup on the opposite bank of the river. A random teleportation carried immense risks; one careless move could lead to discovery by the patrol or a direct plunge into the river.

Ruling out teleportation, the most probable method was that the target, much like himself, had resorted to flying across the river.

While Flight scrolls were expensive, they were far cheaper than teleportation scrolls. Since the target even possessed a teleportation scroll, it was impossible for him not to have a Flight scroll.

Although the border legions also employed hunting eagles as aerial familiars for patrols, their primary focus was guarding against large-scale invasions by enemy armies. If an individual professional cooperated with invisibility or aura-masking spells, it was not difficult to evade the eagles' sight.

Thanks to the lush growth of the grass here, otherwise the hunting eagles might have been able to spot Mula's traces from this distance.

"If the target used a Flight scroll, the duration is limited, so he should choose the shortest straight-line distance to fly."

With this thought, Chu Yun flew directly from the Mirror World toward the Carlos River. Although the hunting eagles in the sky possessed strong reconnaissance capabilities, their actual combat strength was mediocre, and a Mana Blast could easily eliminate their mirror duplicates.

Crossing the riverbank, Chu Yun arrived at the high altitude above the Carlos River.

Roughly halfway through the flight, his newly merged and upgraded professional player specialty suddenly reacted, marking a mirror duplicate in the distance.

Had it not been for the specialty's marker, Chu Yun might not have noticed the target at all.

At this moment, the First Prince should have been under the effect of a camouflage and concealment spell, perfectly blending his body into the clouds so that the patrolling eagles could hardly notice him.

When he soared above the clouds, his body color merged with the sky once again, making him look almost transparent.

"What a pity that you ran into me." Chu Yun accelerated and flew above the First Prince. The target's mirror duplicate had long since been killed by him, so there would be no danger even if he approached at zero distance.

Chu Yun maintained his speed to synchronize with the target. Since he had decided to kill him, there was no need for excessive hesitation; exposing his Mirror World abilities did not matter anymore.

Soon, however, a new worry arose: what if the target used a teleportation scroll to escape with the help of numerous magical defense items? To ensure his death, a single fatal blow was the safest option!

"Magical barriers and shields are usually generated at a certain distance outside the body. If I launch an attack directly inside the barrier, the target will have nowhere to run!" Chu Yun quickly devised a plan.

Chu Yun began to lower his flight altitude until he was right in front of the First Prince. Due to their nearly identical speeds, the two maintained a relatively stationary state.

Next, Chu Yun retrieved a mirror from his spatial equipment, extended it right above Mula's head to aim directly at his forehead, and began chanting the incantation for the Annihilation Divine Thunder, which produced relatively little commotion.

Normally, this spell required physical gestures to accompany the incantation. It was possible to cast it without gestures, but the casting speed would be severely compromised.

Incantations could assist in constructing difficult nodes and also accelerate the process. In reality, however, some spells could even omit the incantation altogether, provided the spell model was completely mastered.

"Annihilation Divine Thunder!"

The moment the mirror's surface flashed with white light, lightning pierced through the mirror and entered the real world.

The First Prince's magical equipment activated automatically at the exact same time. Unfortunately, just as Chu Yun had anticipated, while these items generated layers of spell shields outside the First Prince's body, they failed to defend against a sneak attack executed at almost zero distance.

The First Prince did not even have time to let out a miserable shriek. The powerful armor-piercing effect of the Annihilation Divine Thunder dismantled the defensive power of his magical helmet at close range.

The First Prince's head was charred black, and his body plummeted toward the Carlos River like a kite with a broken string.

The mirror used as a special spellcasting medium to cast magic within the Mirror World had already vanished. Chu Yun retrieved a new mirror, shuttled into the real world, and caught the First Prince's corpse.