#568 - Thunder pierces! (Seeking monthly ticket recommendation)

Seeing the scene before him, Anduin didn't delay. They had already wasted nearly ten seconds on the upper floor, and if he gave the phoenix any more time, she might really get away.

Determined, Anduin immediately held his longsword upside down and stabbed it into the ground. With a loud bang, another hole was broken through the floor, and he descended to the first floor.

However, after reaching the first floor, Anduin realized something was still wrong. There was another large hole in the ground. The phoenix had actually drilled directly into the basement.

This made Anduin feel somewhat strange, because when the phoenix returned to France, he had infiltrated this house and inspected the entire building, including the basement. There were no passages leading to the outside down there. Why would the phoenix enter the basement?

But he didn't have time to think too much at this moment. He had to seize the time to prevent any unforeseen delays. Immediately, Anduin repeated his trick, using his longsword to stab the ground and continue falling through the broken hole.

"Shadow of Destruction!"

Just as Anduin was descending from the ceiling into mid-air, a fierce incantation suddenly came from the basement below. Then, several black magic projectiles, like shadows, shot towards him!

Seeing this, Anduin not only didn't feel nervous, but heaved a sigh of relief.

Since the phoenix chose to ambush him here, it meant that she didn't have any means of escaping. In other words, he had blocked the phoenix.

Facing the rapidly approaching spells, Anduin didn't choose to dodge. He simply shook his body, and the flying cloak behind him stirred without wind, directly supporting him and floating steadily in the air.

Then, Anduin swung the longsword, which was shining with blue-silver electric light due to the infusion of [Barren Lightning], and slashed at the incoming magic projectiles.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Those spells named [Shadow of Destruction], although they were the phoenix's signature moves, were still a bit lacking when facing Annihilation, which was infused with [Barren Lightning] magic.

Under the mutual impact, apart from erupting into violent sounds, they couldn't break through this sword net at all. They were either annihilated by [Barren Lightning] on the spot, or slashed away to fall into the empty space beside them.

However, the strong corrosive effect and the ear-piercing 'zi la' sound that these [Shadow of Destruction] spells produced when they came into contact with the walls or floor also proved that the power of these magic projectiles was not simple.

After resolving the phoenix's ambush, Anduin finally had the opportunity to re-examine her current state.

At this moment, the phoenix was standing in a disheveled state next to the fireplace about ten meters away in the basement. She was still wearing that skimpy lace nightgown, but she had an extra wand in her hand, which she didn't know where she got it from, and her other hand was covered in Floo Powder.

It seemed that the phoenix had tried to use the Floo Network to escape before, but obviously her attempt had failed.

Since Anduin was going to encircle and suppress her, how could he leave such an obvious escape route for the enemy? He had already cut off the Floo Network connection in this area before entering.

In fact, Anduin had also tampered with the ground beneath them, in addition to the Floo Network, because he knew that the club had collected a [Shuttle Charm] that could pass through walls and drill into the ground. To prevent the phoenix from escaping underground, the disruptors deployed outside also had the function of blocking the Shuttle Charm.

The phoenix didn't expect the other party to arrive so quickly. Her Soul Elegy should have delayed the other party for at least a few minutes. She was preparing to use this time to find a way to escape, but who would have thought that she would be caught up after only getting rid of the enemy for ten seconds.

The reason why she didn't try to escape from the front door just now was also because she sensed that there were other people ambushing outside the house.

Without knowing the other party's configuration, and unable to use Apparition, running to the open ground would make it easier to become a target, causing her to be held back.

So she thought about escaping through the Floo Network, but she didn't expect these enemies to be so ruthless that they even cut off the Floo Network.

After discovering that she was blocked in the basement, the phoenix's eyes were full of ferocity. She knew that she couldn't get away with it today without a fight.

But at the same time, the phoenix still looked at Anduin with some unwillingness, "I have never met you before, why are you looking for me for no reason..."

"Thunderous Thrust!"

Just as the phoenix was trying to communicate, Anduin had already held Annihilation against his ribs and adopted a straight thrust posture.

Then, he poured Barren Lightning magic into the longsword as if it were free, and delivered a fierce straight thrust at the phoenix.

The violent and annihilating Barren Lightning, after being guided by 'Annihilation', extended a solid blue-silver sword blade along the tip of the thrusting sword, rushing towards the phoenix with a fierce aura that destroyed everything, arriving in front of her in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the phoenix really felt like she had been screwed over. The wizard in front of her was obviously young and handsome, and looked very kind, but why was he acting so violently?

He didn't even let her speak, and just started attacking. Moreover, he was facing a delicate girl like her, who wasn't even wearing clothes. Was it necessary to be so decisive?

Although the phoenix had cursed Anduin tens of thousands of times in her heart, she still responded very quickly to the menacing attack.

The moment the other party made a move, the phoenix judged that this magic could not be taken head-on. The destructive aura that seemed to penetrate everything even made her skin feel a burst of stinging pain from a dozen meters away.

The phoenix didn't hesitate at all, and hurriedly fluttered to the side, even with a sense of tumbling and crawling.

There was no way, this piercing sword aura came too fast. She felt that if she was even 1 second slower, she would be grazed by this terrifying magic blade, and if she was grazed even a little, she would probably be completely annihilated.

Of course, the phoenix didn't underestimate the power of Anduin's attack. After the blue-silver sword aura was thrust out, it was like turning on a flashlight in an instant, instantly piercing the fireplace where the other party was before.

After hitting the thick fireplace, there was no violent vibration or sound during the collision. Only a 'swoosh' sound was heard, and the magic sword body was deeply embedded in the fireplace.

After Anduin finished this attack and dissipated his magic power, the place that was hit had left a smooth cut, completely invisible how deep it was, a fist-sized hole.

"Tch..."

As if regretting that he couldn't kill the phoenix with one blow, Anduin pouted with some dissatisfaction. He had been developing this move [Thunderous Thrust] for some time, and its characteristics were concentrated power, extremely fast speed, and strong penetration. As a result, he didn't hit it the first time it was used in actual combat, which made him somewhat unhappy.

Seeing Anduin's regretful expression, the phoenix, who had just escaped from death, immediately felt angry. Due to the hasty response, her condition was even more disheveled than before. Not only did she have multiple abrasions on her arms and legs, but her nightgown was also torn in several places. She was already wearing very little, and at this time, she was no different from being naked.

However, she didn't have the mind to think about covering herself up now. Anduin's posture of not saying a word of nonsense to her and only thinking about putting her to death brought heavy pressure to the phoenix.

And the most important thing was the strength shown by the other party, especially the lethality, which was somewhat too amazing. In addition, she didn't forget that the other party had several other companions. If she waited for them to join, her hope of escaping would become even more slim.

Unfortunately, most of my equipment and props are not on me. I should have carried the space props with me when I was sleeping. The habit of sleeping naked is really harmful!

After cursing inwardly, the phoenix's eyes immediately became fierce. She knew that if she didn't pay some price today, she would probably be in danger.

"Shadow of Destruction!" "Tremor of Fear!" "Corrosive Bone Erosion!"

As soon as the phoenix got up, she immediately waved her wand, and in an instant, she shot out more than a dozen of her signature dark magic spells. During this period, she also used the casting techniques of [Grounding Charm] and [Concealing Charm] to try to trick Anduin.

However, for Anduin, who was also highly skilled in dueling techniques, these little tricks could only have some delaying effect at most. The rapidly approaching magic spells couldn't even get close to him, and were soon broken by the Godslayer Shadowless Sword Qi that Anduin slashed out.

But at this time, the phoenix didn't want to defeat Anduin with these magic spells. What she wanted was to delay the opponent for a few seconds.

At this moment, the phoenix suddenly held her wand upside down and stabbed it hard into the palm of her hand. The wand, which was not very sharp, directly pierced through her palm under her resolute force, and blood spurted out immediately, flowing out of her fingertips.

After performing this incredible act of self-harm, the phoenix's expression did not show any hesitation, as if she couldn't feel any pain, and she pulled the wand out of her palm.

And at this time, when the wand that had been pulled out was separated from the phoenix's palm, it actually brought out a long strip of blood from the wound, like drawn sugar, or like a long whip made entirely of blood.

After the phoenix completely pulled out this 'whip' made of blood, she lowered the whip head and touched the ground, allowing the blood to completely stain the floor.

Then, the phoenix was seen quickly rotating her body, using the blood in the 'whip' as ink, drawing a circular pattern on the ground that contracted from the outside to the inside, just like the spiral pattern on a snail shell.

After quickly completing this pattern, the phoenix suddenly squatted down hard, and at the same time, she vigorously stabbed the wand stained with blood down, right in the center of the spiral pattern.

"Nether Guard!"

The phoenix, whose face was pale due to blood loss, shouted loudly, and then a wave of impressively powerful magic power erupted from her and the pattern on the ground at the same time.

Immediately afterwards, the spiral pattern drawn on the ground quickly turned from red to black, and finally a ring of red-black turbid smoke gushed out from the edge of the pattern.

After the smoke gradually dissipated, the spiral pattern on the ground had now completely become a red-black circular pit, with a viscous liquid attached to the surface that was bubbling.