Mage Manual
Chapter 332 - Chapter 332 Chapter 281 The Ruined Law Office

Chapter 332: Chapter 281: The Ruined Law Office Chapter 332: Chapter 281: The Ruined Law Office Family Reunion Office!

Ash’s mind quickly flowed with information about this office–number 2 on the Azura Task List, number 9 on the National Task List!

One of the two institutions among Azura’s top ten dark forces ‘one hall, two offices, three families, four companies’!

Don’t be fooled by the office’s seemingly friendly name; actually, this was the norm, after all. An office belonging to the service industry couldn’t present itself as aloof, especially as various industries had seen rapid changes in the past fifty years. Previously, there were less than ten offices in each area; now, dozens of offices are competing for business in a pot, the seller’s market has transformed into a buyer’s one, and the industry has naturally begun to cannibalize itself.

On the contrary, names like ‘Funeral Service Office’ belonged to a negative stereotype, at first glance indicating that the person in charge probably spoke in enigmatic riddles, and might even have their unique ideas when working–indeed, this wasn’t far off the mark.

But in today’s world, such a service attitude no longer worked.

Luckily, the Funeral Service Office was a two-hundred-year-old established business, so it could survive until now with such a name and attitude. However, once this centennial foundation had fallen into Hanna’s hands, the office was already at the level of a district’s tenth-place goalkeeper, which shows that these old-time, small workshop-style offices are now obsolete.

In contrast, the Family Reunion Office represented the New Age’s assembly-line industry: easy to remember names, full advertising, thorough services, heartwarming prices, and a complete training process for employed mages, which is why it became a force that couldn’t be ignored in the Azura region in just a few decades.

Moreover, Ash and the others learned through accompanying Hanna on tasks that the strength of an office lay not in the mages themselves, but in…

What postures they had unlocked in the Gospel Book.

“Why are you silent now,” Maynard said, “If you don’t make your position clear, then I can only assume…”

“You’ve refused the generous offer from the Family Reunion Office.”

Buzz!

With the sound of shattering coming from all directions, everyone clearly realized that dozens of drones had broken through from all over the building!

“The classic trick of the Family Service Office,” Hanna introduced at high speed: “Almost all modern intelligent home systems use the Gospel Book’s data analysis. They can use the Gospel Book as a medium to invade all drones, Spider Servants, Floating Cars, and any other automatically operated device you can see. We have to take them down, otherwise, we won’t be able to call a Floating Car to leave.”

They lived in a layer hanging hundreds of meters in the air, which was refreshing to view but limited their modes of egress–either fly down directly in a Floating Car or take the elevator to the ‘ground’ of the second-layer city and then catch a ride.

But whichever mode of transport they chose, they had to embark on automated vehicles. If they didn’t deal with these two enemies who could invade all smart devices, taking any transport would be like willingly lying down in a coffin and delivering themselves to the doorstep!

“Split into two teams, the front team forcibly breaks through and deals with those two, the back team is responsible for covering,” Hanna griped her beloved submachine gun, “Miss Two,” while still in her pajamas: “I’ll cover, but I need one more person.”

No one thought Hanna was shirking duty, as the back team’s mission was even more important than the front team’s–dozens of drones armed with guns and cannons were swarming from other parts of the building, and the back team had to deal with them with fewer numbers to ensure these rogue delivery drones didn’t affect the front team’s task!

“I’ll do it,” Harvey patted the coffin beside him, “One against two.”

Necromancers were uniquely reassuring when it came to numbers.

“Move.”

There was no time for negotiation or hesitation. The almost strangling sound of the drone’s rotors was already very close, and the drones on the other side of the ice barrier had also reloaded–within a few breaths, thousands of gun bullets would tear every object in the space to shreds!

Banjee charged out first, already gripping his twin guns with a misty cold emanating nonstop from the gun muzzles.

In the Kingdom of Gospel, gun technique was even more rampant than in the Kingdom of Blood Moon. Even mages like Banjee, who majored in Ice Technique, would study gun technique to assist in their casting–thanks to the miraculous gun bullets, which allowed fireballs and ice to break the sound barrier!

Miracle*Blast Ice Spikes!

As the gun muzzle fired, a few small holes appeared in the ice barrier, just perfectly allowing the lethal Miracle gun bullets to pass through the barrier and shoot towards the enemy!

This scene caused Ash and Igula’s pupils to constrict sharply–as mages, they naturally knew the value of this tactic. Being able to cast both Defense Miracles and Attack Miracles at the same time, and temporarily creating flaws in the Defense Miracle to provide an opportunity for the Attack Miracle to take effect… Unreservedly speaking, just with this finesse alone, Banjee could rank among the top fighters of the Two-winged!

Mage combat boils down to two tactical aims: self-preservation and inflicting damage on the enemy.

But with the resources of a Two-winged Mage’s Realm, it’s tough to achieve both goals simultaneously; one either had to put offense over defense, like the Sword Witch, or vice versa, like Ash.

Ash was a typical example of ample defense but insufficient attack; he could cast the Sword Barrier to protect himself, but the Sword Barrier restricted movement, so he could only attack remotely with Technique Spirits like ‘Heart Sword’ and ‘Substitute.’

However, even though ‘Heart Sword’ was indeed a swordsmanship spirit adept at long-range attacks, its destructive power wasn’t even a tenth of the Sword Maiden’s up-close combat prowess.

When attacking, one’s self is vulnerable; when defending, the damage is almost negligible.

This phenomenon was even more apparent among gun masters, who were safe behind cover but unable to shoot; as soon as they fired, the enemy could shoot back at them.

Banjee’s ice screen was undoubtedly an exceptional defensive miracle; however, it also blocked his own attacks. Yet, Banjee could still send gun bullets through while maintaining the integrity of the ice screen… Though it appeared simple and straightforward, this was a tactic burgeoning from a position of invincibility!

Before Banjee’s magic power was exhausted, the opposition could only be unilaterally ravaged by him and were unable to affect those behind the ice screen!

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The crisp sounds of the ice spikes shattering were like wine bottles breaking, instantly dealing heavy damage to the drone swarm ahead, which fell down with electric sparks crying out in loss.

Igula, unnoticed, had a whistle in his mouth and suddenly moved close to Ash’s ear, blowing it with all his might!

Shooo!!!!!

The sound of the whistle overwhelmed all gunfire, the miracle transforming the noise into the most hideous and filthy vile creature, penetrating the eardrums of the enemies, burrowing into their brains!

Miracle * Spiritual Scream!

Even if not specifically targeted, Banjee, Hanna, Liss, and Harvey were all affected without coordination. Only Ash, who was inches away, felt nothing but Igula grinding his teeth in his ear.

Rich combat experience allowed Ash to immediately grasp the flaw of this miracle: the closer the distance, the weaker the Spiritual Scream. On the contrary, the enemies trying to distance themselves suffered a hammering blast from the sound waves.

Ordinary mass attack miracles would distribute magic power evenly, ensuring that enemies were damaged no matter where they were; but excellent mass attack miracles would concentrate magic power where enemies were most likely to appear, maximizing the lethality.

The Sword Maiden’s ‘Blood Flower, Water Moon’ worked similarly; before casting, she often swung her sword forward–not to attack but to force the enemy to retreat, because the maximum lethal distance of Blood Flower, Water Moon was just beyond the sword’s reach.

At that moment, the two enemy specialists within this optimal attack range felt the whistle sound piercing their heads like sharp swords!

“Cough!” Maynard groaned, his brain feeling like mush, his body curling up and kneeling like a shrimp, blood dripping unstoppably from his nose.

Riman also staggered but still managed to maintain her form, summoning several drones in front of her just in time to shield her from another round of bursting ice spike bullets!

But that did not matter; outside there were countless drones waiting for orders, many carrying deliveries and takeaways, which would soon have their orders automatically canceled due to accidents, causing many nocturnal workers to go hungry tonight.

These drones were not yet equipped with automatic guns and could only act as a wall of shields.

Beneath the upside-down building, on the road on the ground, hundreds of drones were queuing up to get equipped with automatic guns from container cargo, and then flying to join the battle above.

The emergency courier drones weren’t obviously carrying guns, but they were equipped with back doors for installation, ready to transform into aerial firepower. Therefore, the Family Reunion Office only needed to drive an arms truck to spontaneously create a horde of drones capable of waging a war anywhere in the city.

Furthermore, at that very moment, hundreds of mechanical spiders were crawling on the outer wall of the upside-down building to join the battle. The elevators in the building were already out of service, and the automatic doors in Hanna’s home were locked, all escape routes were blocked.

Maynard and Riman had no intention of fighting to the death with the funeral service office staff; as long as they used the drones and mechanical spiders to delay their targets, trapping them within this building with minus 51 floors, they just needed to wait for the ‘Duchess Red Cicada’ to arrive.

Even though the Funeral Service Office showed decent combat power, they were still absolutely confident in this task–in this ‘big family’ of the city, their Family Reunion Office was the master of everything!

Shooo!!!!

The whistle sounded again, and at the same time, another wave of blasting ice spike bullets struck.

However, Maynard and Riman were prepared this time, covering their ears to barely withstand the sound blast, while the swarm of drones rushed forward to detonate the miracle gun bullets!

‘If this is the extent of their abilities, they’ll probably be overwhelmed by drones before the Duchess even arrives…’

Just as Maynard entertained this thought, he suddenly saw a Sword Shadow fly out from behind the ice screen, not stabbing at them but piercing the ceiling.

Hmm?

They looked up at the trembling longsword in the ceiling, and the next second, the sword hilt suddenly gave birth to a man in a dark red windcoat. Taking advantage of the momentum, he pulled out his sword, pushed off the ceiling with a forceful leap, and like a Meteor falling, lunged at the two alone!

Miracle * Rush!

“Good evening, I’m here to unlock your Mage’s Handbook!”