Dazzling electric arcs crawled across the Elder Fire Elemental's colossal frame, drawing furious roars from its throat.
"You... burn to death!"
The electric current reacted with the oxygen around the Elder Fire Elemental, generating pale blue gas that gave off the pungent stench of ozone.
At the borders of the Elemental Planes, fire elementals and lightning elementals clashed frequently.
The final self-destruct of the Firewarden Arcane Armor had indeed proven quite effective; the elder elemental's massive frame moved considerably slower now, crackling with electricity with every shift.
The spellcasters of Magic Coin and Wangquan quickly rallied together.
Faced with such a powerful foe, rivalries no longer mattered—one slip-up and everyone here would be wiped out.
"Great opening! It can't move for now!"
"Hurry!"
"Don't cast a fucking Fireball!"
"Move it! Cast cold damage spells! Crowd control too!"
Charlotte raised his staff and chanted an incantation, releasing pale red ripples from the magic crystal at its tip.
*Slow.*
Immediately, fluctuations in the force field enveloped the Elder Fire Elemental, rendering its movements even more sluggish, dragging it into near slow-motion.
Seizing the opportunity, Xiaye Qiuyu brought her arms together and crossed her hands, letting dazzling thunder and lightning burst from her fingertips.
*Lightning Bolt.*
The beam of lightning shot straight toward the elder elemental's chest, only to be held back by the surging fire energy.
Seeing this, Mingyue, Fengyun, and the other wizards leveled their staves at the enemy simultaneously, unleashing volleys of frigid icicles and cascading ice.
*Ice Burst.*
*Ice Storm.*
*Ray of Frost.*
*Snilloc's Snowball Swarm.*
...
The caster players present all cast spells at once, releasing over a dozen cold spells in unison.
Magical auras intertwined brilliantly in a spectacular display.
Frost finally began to spread across the Elder Fire Elemental's body, constantly melting even as it condensed and billowing white steam.
Yet under the combined efforts of a dozen players, its body gradually froze over.
The dozens of players on the field fought in concert, pouring spells, skills, and potions onto the Elder Fire Elemental as if they cost nothing—a veritable "thirty heroes battling Lü Bu."
Meanwhile, Singo had long since ascended into the sky atop his wyvern. Drawing his Hunter Longbow to full stretch, he swooped down in a steep dive.
The "Hunter's Mark" appeared above the Elder Fire Elemental's head to deal bonus damage.
And Mantou, already charred black from head to toe, had readied himself as well, diving in from behind with a frost elixir coated over the tip of his lance.
*Whoosh—*
The arrow ripped through the air, its gleaming, frigid arrowhead sinking deep into the Elder Fire Elemental's chest before erupting into jagged icicles inside the torso cavity.
It was an Arrow of Ice Spikes, a specialized weapon forged by frost giants specifically to counter fire element monsters.
Even within the Empire, such arrows were exceptionally rare; one had to commission the Ministry of Magic to have frost giant slaves craft them.
"Roar—!"
The Elder Fire Elemental threw its head back and howled once more, finally letting out a roar of agony.
The behemoth thrashed wildly, sending the magma lake churning violently while flaming rocks rained in all directions, crushing several innocent players to death on impact.
"A glint of cold steel strikes first, followed by the dragon's thrust!"
"Die, you old thief!"
Mantou bellowed as he swooped down behind the Elder Fire Elemental. Carrying tremendous momentum, he thrust his lance deep into the behemoth's back and through its chest.
*Shk!*
"Haha, all that EXP is mine!"
Mantou cheered in wild excitement, but a moment later, something felt wrong.
After driving his lance home, he received no notification of gained experience.
"What the hell?"
"Does it have a second phase?"
Mantou broke into a cold sweat, a terrible premonition rising in his chest.
The Elder Fire Elemental slowly turned its head, glaring at Mantou with eyes like twin spheres of molten rock, burning with boundless fury.
"Burn—"
"Everything!"
An earth-shattering roar erupted.
The Elder Fire Elemental's immense body shone with a dangerous crimson light, like an enormous bomb on the verge of detonating.
Reflected in the light, Mantou's blackened face twitched. Dumbfounded, he could only gasp:
"Holy shit... it's gonna blow?"
In the very next instant, he was swallowed by the blaze.
*Boom!*
A terrifying explosion!
The magma lake churned violently.
Even the volcano seemed to tremble.
The Elder Fire Elemental's body erupted in an explosion, releasing endless torrents of flame that instantly shattered every binding icicle, frost layer, and force field.
In the blast, Mantou and the wyvern beneath him turned into a solid block of charcoal, hurtling dozens of meters through the air before crashing to the ground.
*Crack!*
They shattered into blackened charcoal fragments.
"Mantou!"
"Mantou really got toasted!"
"Holy crap, look how far he flew! Did he just crash and burn?"
The players stared at the charcoal blocks tumbling through the air, crying out in shock.
Yet the Elder Fire Elemental was now consumed by sheer wrath. Reverting to its true, primal form, searing flames soared into the heavens.
It raised its arms high, and a chaotic storm of fire rained down from the sky, hurtling toward the players.
A mere brush against the highly concentrated fire elements was enough to burn a person to cinders, and several players caught fire instantly.
The leader of the Wangquan guild shouted, "Watch out, don't let those flames touch you!"
"Where are the wizards? Cast Protection from Energy on us!"
"The wizards are already burnt to a crisp!"
"Damn it!"
"Paladins, get in front! It's charging!"
Floating in midair, the Elder Fire Elemental tore into the crowd amid licking tongues of flame and swirling smoke.
*Boom!*
Another thunderous blast.
Even Wangquan's high-level paladins were smashed into meat patties by the flaming fists, reduced to kindling for the fire.
"This monster hits way too hard, crowd-control it first!" someone yelled.
Charlotte rolled to dodge a stream of flame, gritted his teeth, and pulled out an expensive spell scroll.
"Screw it!"
"*Hold Monster!*"
A crimson ray shot forth, striking the Elder Fire Elemental's body, but it produced not the slightest effect.
The Elder Fire Elemental wheeled around, flames bursting from its eyes as infinite fury surged within them.
"Roar!"
"Fuck, it made the saving throw against a spell that high-circle? What kind of bullshit luck is that!"
Knowing things looked grim, Charlotte scrambled backward, not forgetting to trigger the defensive spells woven into his robes.
A chunk of burning sulfur crashed down.
*Boom!*
Another violent explosion.
Charlotte threw himself to the ground as his personal shield abruptly shattered, the back of his robes scorched black.
"Damn it, my rare gear!"
Battered and disheveled, Charlotte wanted to cry. Yet the enraged Elder Fire Elemental spat another plume of searing flames at him.
"Is it specifically targeting me?!"
He rolled across the ground, then activated *Misty Step* to teleport dozens of meters away, barely escaping with his life.
Floating in midair, Xiaye Qiuyu dodged the streaming flames while absorbing the surrounding fire elemental energy.
As a draconic bloodline sorcerer carrying the red dragon bloodline, her fire resistance was far higher than an ordinary person's.
Xiaye Qiuyu looked up at the furious Elder Fire Elemental not far away, fiery light dancing in her golden pupils.
*Do they really expect us to kill this monster?*
*Most of the top-tier players right now have red dragon bloodlines, and the sorcerers participating in the trial are almost all fire-spec...*
*Asking us to kill a high-level fire elemental monster like this is a bit too harsh, isn't it?*
She looked down at Mantou's blackened remains on the ground and blinked.
*I get it!*
*So...*
*The Machine Cult folks were wasting their effort. The core objective of this trial must be survival.*
*According to the class lore, Dragon-Pact Sorcerers are servants and attendants of the Red Dragon Emperor, so they need the ability to survive in extreme-heat environments!*
Chapter 429