I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha

After realizing that the initial ambush had failed, the two entered a phase of intense fighting. Spells and artifacts flew around the arena, making it seem like more than just two people were battling.

Both of them were skilled in multi-casting and split-mind techniques.

The senior apprentice used a wide array of spells, many of them bizarre and dangerous, and mostly cast through multi-silent incantations. Casting spells was like dealing cards; an ordinary wizard would be overwhelmed after just a few exchanges.

He used fewer artifacts—each pumpkin clone held a single card.

Roland, on the other hand, relied on swordsmanship and a barrage of artifacts, appearing less adept at using magic while manipulating artifacts.

However, he had a multitude of artifacts, suddenly unleashing more than three!

These three artifacts seemed to be controlled by three separate individuals simultaneously, working with incredible smoothness!

Even more astonishing was that he wielded a sword while manipulating the artifacts!

His movements were eerily unpredictable, the artifacts blocking his opponent's escape routes while his body appeared and disappeared at will. Whenever the senior apprentice showed an opening, he struck with deadly precision.

For a moment, the scene resembled not a duel between individuals, but a chaotic melee involving five or six people!

Before long, both of the pumpkin senior apprentice's bodies were pierced simultaneously by a sword beam from a certain angle, splitting them in half.

Then, these two little pumpkin senior apprentices transformed into four even smaller pumpkin senior apprentices!

At this point, his height was only about one and a half meters, and the magic in his hands was weaker than before, but these four figures were using four different kinds of magic! They also held four cards!

It seemed to increase the pressure on Roland, who occasionally used a spell to interfere with the senior apprentice.

At this moment, the pumpkin senior apprentice used a playing card to intercept one of Roland's spells. Subsequently, the pattern on the card randomly transformed into a 'fairy,' and Roland seemed to never use that spell again.

—Magic Seal!

The pumpkin senior apprentice had actually sealed one of Roland's spells!

'Just as I thought!' Roland mused inwardly.

Since the initial ambush proved ineffective, he had begun testing the waters, and by now, he had figured out about 70 to 80 percent of the card artifact's abilities.

The card's actions, whether receiving or launching attacks, were random. The power also varied depending on the card's value.

Occasionally, the card would switch to strange patterns, such as a wizard holding a mirror, a knight holding a shield, or a fairy.

These represented reflecting magic, blocking magic, and sealing magic. Roland suspected that the card could also seal people, or rather, immobilize them.

However, he had not yet been able to test this ultimate move, wasting several defensive spells in the process.

What Roland found somewhat strange was that, despite dealing with four opponents simultaneously, he could still spare the mental capacity to think and observe the details of the senior apprentice's artifacts.

After further probing, Roland became increasingly solemn. He noticed that the senior apprentice had been consistently using small cards.

Then what about his clone technique?

How many clones does this guy have? Where is the main body hidden?

Why didn't I eliminate the main consciousness when I destroyed the clones?

How does his main consciousness switch between different clones?

After a few more exchanges, Roland finally seized an opportunity, unleashing artifacts, magic, and his sword simultaneously, eliminating all four small pumpkin senior apprentices almost at the same time.

But after slicing them, vines rapidly grew out of the eight pumpkin pieces.

—That's what I was waiting for!

Seven phantoms suddenly appeared on the battlefield, making a total of eight individuals, each flashing eight bolts of lightning from their hands!

Instantly, the eight vines were struck simultaneously by the eight bolts of lightning, which continued to jump across the nearby vines.

In an instant, arcs of electricity flashed across the arena, turning the eight vines into ashes.

The hall fell silent.

Roland in the arena suddenly covered his mouth.

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh."

He couldn't stop laughing hysterically, and then his head fell off, turning into a pumpkin!

The other seven phantoms also suddenly covered their mouths, and then their heads fell off as well.

After the phantoms' heads fell off, their bodies struggled in mid-air before hurriedly picking up their heads and attaching them to their necks. However, their bodies had become much weaker.

Everyone looked at Roland—his neck was melting slowly like amber, and a head was growing out of it. Meanwhile, the pumpkin head on the ground squirmed into a liquid and pounced on him.

Upon closer inspection, the color of his clothes was slightly different from before, with more vibrant hues.

This had actually forced out Roland's true 'Substitution Spell'!

Leona had emerged after he was hit, transforming into clothes to cover him.

I was forced to use one of my trump cards!

Roland's expression was very unsightly, but he covered his mouth, unable to stop laughing.

It turned out that the vine was also one of the senior apprentice's trump cards, a deceptive one, concealing an instant-death spell. As long as the vine was destroyed, the caster would lose their head, which would turn into a pumpkin head.

While Roland laughed hysterically and lost his head, the pumpkin pieces on the ground were also laughing, very excitedly. It seemed that no one had truly forced him to act in a long time.

The eight pumpkin pieces slowly wriggled, dividing themselves into sixteen pieces. Then, instead of growing vines, the sixteen pieces of pumpkin sprouted small hands and feet and stood up.

They were sixteen pumpkin-piece people with hands, feet, and eyes!

The whole process was: Roland attacks, vine destroyed, small pumpkins stand up and laugh hysterically with Roland.

The moment the small pumpkins stood up, sixteen spells and sixteen cards flew out!

This time, the spells had very little power compared to before, but combined, they were terrifying. And he also started using mid-range cards.

As the spells and cards flew, the phantoms had already picked up their heads and immediately threw out more than a dozen artifacts, desperately defending and dodging.

Roland did not immediately attack, but while laughing and dodging, he observed the small pumpkin senior apprentices with a solemn expression.

He was proficient in three schools of techniques—Twilight's Mystical Body, Black Abyss's Bizarre Spells, and White Chess's Artifacts!

Who exactly is this senior apprentice? This is a wizard who has assimilated with mystery, a BOSS, a high-end version of Hayward!

I was careless from the start! I treated him like a human!

The pumpkin senior apprentice belonged to the kind of Twilight wizard who looks like a human. If you treat him like a normal wizard from the start, you will suffer a great loss and it will be difficult to reverse the situation.

After observing for a while, Roland said while laughing: "I understand, I understand!"

"This isn't a pumpkin!"

"This is a bush!"

"A bush with sixteen branches!"

"It has roots, and the roots are the seeds!"

At this point, Roland had already discovered how to eliminate the senior apprentice.

The senior apprentice has no main consciousness. His consciousness is like a bush, with sixteen branches.

Each one is the main consciousness!

And the roots are the pumpkins.

To eliminate him, you have to force out all sixteen consciousnesses and then eliminate them simultaneously!

If you kill even one less, he will not die, he can counterattack, or escape!

Furthermore, the longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for me—that laughing technique is the senior apprentice's magic. When I laugh to a certain extent, my SAN value will drop to zero, and then I will turn into a pumpkin and become part of the senior apprentice.

After Roland stopped treating the senior apprentice as a human, he finally saw through the senior apprentice's true nature.

He didn't want to use the Coral Sword, because the senior apprentice was also holding back! Because he hasn't even played his big cards yet!

If I use the Coral Sword, then I will lose!

So, to win, I must put in a lot of effort.

He threw out the scabbard, activating a series of Holy Fire Servants, and began to use all his magic while simultaneously manipulating numerous artifacts to launch a siege.

For a moment, the people watching from upstairs in the hall couldn't tell how many people were fighting below.

Each of the sixteen senior apprentices seemed to have a slightly different personality. Their laughter varied, and their magic had its own characteristics.

Although the effect of the magic was very weak, the combination of twenty-odd spells was terrifying.

And Roland's side not only had eight people, but also more than a dozen artifacts.

At this time, people realized that the little wizard with extremely high odds in the bet was actually fighting Utherak's third disciple to a standstill!

One is the Snake Tower Master's proud disciple, a battlefield killing star, even first-tier late-stage wizards dare not provoke him at will, and is one of the three heirs heavily cultivated by Lord Utherak.

One is a closed-door disciple, the youngest disciple, with no battle record on the battlefield. Many people think that he hasn't killed a few people after advancing to a formal wizard!

Who knew that this guy could fight so well?!

Look at that skilled technique and insidious routine... I'm afraid he has already killed hundreds of people.

This kid has been hiding his clumsiness from the beginning. At first, everyone thought that he was not very proficient in multi-casting. As a result, now it seems that he and his senior apprentice are both complete personality splits!

Normal people multi-cast, and the more powerful ones are like dealers dealing cards, swish swish swish one after another. He separates his divine thoughts and chants spells in his heart at the same time!

He has don't know how many selves in his brain!

Everyone suddenly discovered a problem, could it be that those dozen or so artifacts are all controlled by him alone?

Strictly speaking, this is an excellent puppet master seedling, and also an excellent necromancer seedling.

Being able to control so many artifacts means that he can command hundreds of puppets and undead alone without the assistance of a corpse wizard or a brain in a jar!

Those older Black Abyss wizards are watching with shining eyes. Some hidden necromancer masters can't wait to take this kid under their wing, and then help him kill himself, change a body, and become a lich on the path of the underworld!

And the White Chess wizards feel that there is no need to fight anymore.

Either of these two can be used!

A bodyguard doesn't need this kind of selection process. Look at these two kids; they aren't holding back at all!

They can tell that Roland and his opponent likely have trump cards they haven't used yet, but their attacks are all aimed at killing the other person.

As soon as the other party reveals a flaw, the card is played! And the person dies!

At this moment, a middle-aged wizard has appeared beside the Medusa woman. He looks a bit handsome in an aged way, but the muscles on his face seem to have a problem, making him look like a zombie.

His mouth keeps twitching into what seems like a happy grin.

It is none other than Lord Ussakt.

Beside Lord Ussakt stands a White Chess wizard. This person bears some resemblance to Alfonso and isn't too tall.

It's hard to tell if he's in his thirties or forties. He sports a Balbo beard, meticulously trimmed.

This wizard is very handsome, but his crab-like eyes give him an air of boldness. He seems like someone capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities and possessing a strong sense of the bigger picture, but also somewhat stubborn and unfeeling.

This temperament, combined with his handsome face, suggests that he must have many women and sons, but he might often sacrifice his descendants or neglect his loved ones for the sake of the greater good or his friends. He may have sons but be unable to provide for his parents.

This person is none other than Alfonso and Barnett's biological father, 'Amos,' the Lord of the Crab-Eyed Elephant Tower.

His name comes from a great sage in ancient mythology who led the wizards against the gods.

He comes from a very noble background and is the biological elder brother of 'Catalina,' an important successor to the White Queen.

'Catalina' is the 'female boss' currently leading the team to negotiate with the Twilight Council representatives.

Her airship will arrive at the Black Abyss shortly to pick up the last batch of people from the Black Abyss and then depart.

Since she is not present herself, and her brother, Lord 'Amos' of the Crab-Eyed Elephant Tower, happens to be in the Black Abyss for an exchange, Lord 'Amos' has been choosing people on behalf of his sister these past few days.

As a result, these past few days... have been hard to describe.

Yes, the White Chess School proposed this competition.

But the purpose of the competition is to choose people, not a deathmatch!

These past few days, the Black Abyss has held no shortage of life-or-death situations!

He knows that this mission, on the surface, is a feint, but in reality, it's a secret maneuver. There are only three people truly departing, and each of these three people will have someone providing cover on the surface.

Because there are only three people on the mission, each person is very important.

One of them is absolutely irreplaceable. Another has already been decided by that person.

The last person needs to be chosen from the Serpent Tower. They need to be the most suitable, able to avoid being detected when manipulating 'self' with multiple consciousnesses, and also possess a certain degree of combat power.

Therefore, this assistant chosen from the Serpent Tower is very important.

In his view, both of these two are qualified for this mission, as long as there are no accidents.

Well, just choose a more stable one. Like the older one.

Such good seedlings, even if they cannot step towards the second door of truth in the future, are still the grassroots elite backbone of the council in the future, or extremely outstanding professors and mentors.

If they continue fighting, and one of them dies... Not to mention dying, even if their body is crippled, it would be too regrettable.

Amos saw that the Medusa woman had no intention of stopping them for a long time, so he couldn't help but speak.

"Scholar Ussakt, it's almost enough."

Ussakt grinned, as if smiling. He looked at the Lord of the Crab-Eyed Elephant Tower and asked, "Scholar Amos, my two disciples have not yet determined a winner, so how can it be almost enough?"

Hearing this, Lord Amos was very annoyed. What exactly are these lunatics in the Black Abyss thinking?

He looked at the Black Abyss wizards on the upper floors who were excitedly watching the battle, and his face became even more unsightly.

He could see that this group of people in the Black Abyss were not trying to choose people for them at all!

They were just using this as an excuse to let everyone 'have fun'.

"This is already a deathmatch, Ussakt! Do you have to make your disciples fight to the death?!"

Ussakt twisted his neck to stare at Amos. He said coldly, "Scholar Amos, just like you didn't listen to advice and kept provoking the Twilight Council, causing them to launch this war.

You can decide when to start, but you can't decide when to end...

Without a ruthless attack and without the awareness of life and death, wouldn't that be just a game of playing house? How can that be called a competition?

Now, no matter who withdraws first, the other will surely die. They can only go all out.

My two good disciples have fiery tempers to begin with, and now they've really gotten into it.

If I were to stop them now, they would definitely be dissatisfied. At that time, my two good disciples will either have a deathmatch in private, or they will encounter each other again in the future and decide who lives and who dies.

Unless a winner is determined, this matter cannot be resolved."

Lord Amos was choked up and couldn't say a word for a long time. He really wanted to say, we just wanted to play a game of playing house from the beginning, isn't it just about benefits? Why risk your life!

As a result, as soon as the war started, the Twilight Council was aiming to wipe them out completely... It's really hard to describe.

Just then, the bright light in the hall suddenly dimmed, as if daylight had turned to dusk.

Amos looked intently and found that the sixteen pumpkin men and Roland had already flown into the sky above the arena.

The cards flying from the pumpkin senior brother's hand had silently formed an astonishing killing formation. And Roland, seizing the opportunity between his attacks, unexpectedly released Twilight Radiance without any warning.

It seemed that both sides had been secretly preparing for a long time. The two moves may not be the most ruthless and strongest trump cards, but they were both extremely suitable.

The pumpkin senior brother's move would leave Roland with no escape.

Roland's move would annihilate all of the pumpkin senior brother's small bodies, leaving not a single one behind.

But according to this momentum, both of them would have to die! They would have to perish together!

In a flash, the pumpkin senior brother actually had an extra card in his hand—a hidden card!

This is the simplest 'magic' in the White Chess School!

But using it at this time is just right.

That was a small trump card! The content on the card was a painter!

A painter who is displaying a blank canvas!

As soon as this card was revealed, an oil painting of a sunset appeared on the canvas. The sky in the painting was beautiful, but the earth was covered in scars in the twilight!

Roland was immediately silenced, his magic sealed on the canvas inside the playing card!

—"Hahahahaha!"

The pumpkin senior brother gathered the killing formation in wild laughter, but just then, he found that a node was missing from the magic formation... No, eight, fifteen!

In an instant, the pumpkin senior brother found himself melting in the high temperature!

He suddenly raised his head and saw fifteen clusters of raging flames erupting near his fifteen clones, and a 'phoenix' that had inexplicably appeared in front of him was also pouncing over with raging flames!

It turned out that the phoenix was holding the silver pocket watch and using Leona's flash, holding the Fire Serpent Staff, and releasing 'Raging Flames' with all its strength while constantly shuttling between the inner world and the outer world.

When the divine bird shuttled through the inner world, the flames had already risen to the extreme high temperature.

When the divine bird appeared in the outer world, it turned into fire and passed through the sixteen pumpkin senior brothers, and the flames behind it were immediately brought out of the inner world by the divine bird.

This move could not be stopped.

As soon as the fire appeared and exploded, it instantly enveloped the entire martial arts arena.

Even if the little pumpkins reacted quickly when the divine bird appeared and were not touched by the divine bird, they could not escape!

When Red Skull's Brown used this move back then, Roland was scared half to death.

In the hands of Roland, this formal wizard, the power is unparalleled, and the skill is even more different!

In addition, the pumpkin senior brother has already split into this appearance, and each clone is very fragile, so it is simply a death if burned.

Lord Amos didn't even have time to save them!

Just then, Lord Amos discovered that those little pumpkins had turned into playing cards one by one before they were burned to death.

Lord Amos looked at the ground of the martial arts arena and found a life-saving trump card hidden in a bluestone crevice.

This card barely supported itself in the flames.

"Not bad."

A huge black curtain flew out from Ussakt and covered the martial arts arena. Instantly, everything on the martial arts arena was swallowed by darkness.

That black curtain was the robe of mentor Ussakt. He had prepared it long ago.

And the pumpkin senior brother also secretly stuffed a life-saving card in the crack in the floor.

The words that mentor Ussakt had just said to Amos were very cool, but in reality, he cared about his good disciples more than anyone else.

And he also knew that even if he didn't take action, these two guys wouldn't die. Because they both had a backup plan and were prepared to save the other party.

The pumpkin senior brother might not necessarily die, because that card could save his life before he died.

Roland would definitely not die, because the pumpkin senior brother knew how to save people better than Roland—that card could save the senior brother's life before the senior brother died, and it could also save Roland's life before Roland died.

This battle, seemingly, the pumpkin senior brother won by a narrow margin—giving his little junior brother a taste of his power, he was at ease. He seemed to want to kill Roland, but he was prepared to hold back, but he was confident that he could save Roland.

But in reality, he lost.

One is that he entered the tower more than twenty years earlier than Roland and is also one small realm higher than Roland.

One is that both of his trump cards have been forced out, but he is not sure whether Roland still has a trump card.

Most importantly, this card was originally reserved for Roland and intended to protect Roland, but it was used on himself to save his own life!

That little guy is really ruthless! If it had been any later, all fifteen of my clones would have been dead.

As for the last one, that phoenix would probably pounce on me and swallow me whole rather than burn me to death. I’d likely be sealed away, ultimately left with my life, but severely injured.

If he were an enemy, or if he wanted to kill me, then the consequences of being sealed would be incredibly dire. At the very least, I’d be strapped to an experimental table.

After using his trump card to save his life, Brother Pumpkin could actually keep fighting.

But he doesn't think it's necessary. This little brother of mine doesn't know how to hold back; he only knows how to kill, not how to save people.