Shadow Fade, Level Four (Part One)

Just as Lingling had predicted, Zhao Manyan was thrown into disarray at first by the cascading waves of White Sand Giants — but in the subsequent assault waves, the giants' sheer size and density worked against them. Their massive bodies blocked each other, and without any ranged attacks to speak of, Zhao Manyan's layered defenses managed to hold the line.

A defense-oriented mage like him had little hope of systematically clearing the surrounding White Sand Giants anyway, so whether he was encircled by two rings or three made little practical difference. Only the giants in the first and second rings could actually reach him. As long as they couldn't shatter his iron-thick shell in a single push, he could hold on a while longer.

Zhang Xiaohou's situation, by contrast, was relatively favorable. The extra White Sand Giants swarming Zhao Manyan meant fewer for him to deal with.

Like Zhao Manyan, Zhang Xiaohou didn't have many devastating spells at his disposal. Rather than burn through his Magical Energy trying to kill them outright, it made more sense to keep them chasing him in circles.

The white sand carpeting the ground was perfect for Earth Wave, letting him cast it freely at will. Combined with his Spirit Seed, his Earth Element magic hit even harder than usual.

The White Sand Giants weren't fast. Just raising their massive, heavy sand-blades took a full two seconds — giving the nimble Zhang Xiaohou more than enough time to react.

**Clang!!**

**Clang!!!**

**Clang!!!**

The enormous sand-blades came crashing down one after another along the path of Zhang Xiaohou's movement, each time finding only the swirling air currents he left behind. Among all basic-level spells, only three granted mages explosive, rapid movement. Zhang Xiaohou happened to have mastered two of them.

On top of that, his Footwear Enchanted Gear was excellent quality. With so many movement options at his disposal, he was one of the rare agile mages who could genuinely weave between Demon-Beasts.

Zhang Xiaohou sprinted at full tilt and glanced back to find the lumbering White Sand Giants already a hundred meters behind him. He was just starting to feel a little smug about his speed when, without warning, the white sand directly ahead erupted into billowing clouds of dust.

Ten White Sand Giants shot upward from the ground, their massive bodies forming a wall of giants nearly twenty meters wide, standing shoulder to shoulder.

It hit him then — these things didn't have to walk. In this landscape of endless sand, they could sink beneath the surface and travel underground, emerging wherever they chose. It was the only explanation for how so many of them had converged from kilometers away so quickly.

The blade wall swung into motion all at once, every sand-blade aimed straight at the Zhang Xiaohou hurtling toward them. With pursuers at his back, he had no room to change direction. His feet moved urgently, tracing the Star Chart.

"Stone Wall!"

Zhang Xiaohou slammed to a halt, sliding to a stop right in front of the giants. He drove both palms forward, and a stone barrier woven from his Flowing Marsh Spirit Seed erupted from the ground before him.

The rising wall took the hit. All ten sand-blades came crashing down against the defense at once.

The White Sand Giants' strength was extraordinary. Blade after blade rained down in relentless succession, and Zhang Xiaohou's Spirit Grade Earth Element defense magic crumbled apart in moments.

His heart lurched. Then a cyan whirlwind began spiraling around his feet, its shape resolving into the outline of a pair of boots wrapping around his ankles.

The wind boots launched his speed to its absolute peak. He tore through the space around him in a streak of wind and dust. The White Sand Giants charging from behind — intent on crushing him flat — found only empty air and crashed headlong into the ten giants who had formed the wall.

The collision roared behind him like a highway pileup. Zhang Xiaohou breathed out slowly, still shaking from the close call.

Thank god he'd used the Footwear Enchanted Gear he had acquired not long ago. If those giants had pinned him in, all the nimble footwork in the world wouldn't have saved him from being cut to pieces.

In a brief moment of rest, Zhang Xiaohou glanced toward Mo Fan's position.

Unlike Zhao Manyan and himself, Mo Fan's approach was simple: kill everything in sight.

Mo Fan was built entirely for offense. Against the White Sand Giants, he didn't bother dancing around them — Lightning and Fire Elements hammered into them together in relentless combined assault, and even their thick sand-crystal armor couldn't fully withstand the punishment.

Against enemies ranked in orderly rows, Blazing Fist — Nine Palaces was devastating at full effect. One complete cast was enough to mow down White Sand Giants in swaths.

But the Nine Palaces Star Chart couldn't be drawn in an instant. Mo Fan had to alternate other spells continuously, waiting for those brief windows to complete the full Star Chart undisturbed. Fortunately, night was closing in — Shadow Element magic performed at its peak in the growing dark. Without that edge, against numbers like these, with White Sand Giants crashing forward wave after wave like surf, there would have been no chance at all to trace a Star Chart as complex as this.

Mo Fan was no stranger to fighting surrounded. Back in Jinlin Desolate City, when the Lizard-Skull Giant Demons had boxed him in, he'd used his Level Four Lightning Seal to generate a wide paralyzing electric field that kept the Giant Lizards at bay.

The paralysis effect, unfortunately, did absolutely nothing to White Sand Demon Soldiers. Elemental Demons had no flesh, no blood — lightning damage against them was reduced to begin with. So Mo Fan generally just drove his lightning spells directly through them to blast them apart.

Fire Element proved the more practical tool. A Level Four Fire Burst: Detonation might not cripple a White Sand Giant outright, but it broke their formations fast. Chain a few together and the giants got blown apart piece by piece.

Each White Sand Giant he killed left behind a Remnant Soul that the little Loach Pendant devoured. By now, Mo Fan had slain at least ten of them. The quality of their Remnant Souls was exceptional — he'd been roughly thirty Servant-class Remnant Souls away from condensing a single Spirit Essence, but after collecting just ten White Sand Giants' worth, the little Loach Pendant had already produced one complete Servant-class Spirit Essence.

In fact, Mo Fan had already used the Loach Pendant to strengthen all five of his Shadow Element Star Motes. He'd just gotten a sixth — meaning he needed only one more to push Shadow Fade, his basic Shadow Element spell, all the way to Level Four.

He just needed to kill roughly forty more White Sand Giants to condense another full Servant-class Spirit Essence, and the upgrade would be within reach.

*If I could get that upgrade right now, it would change everything about this fight.*