I am the Archmage

Chapter 143 Destinatio

“The Polar Temple”

Behind the ice-sculpted giant dragon statue at the temple’s entrance, a white-clad, silver-armored angel stood silently, almost blending into the statue itself. If one did not look closely, it would be easy to overlook his presence.

This angel was one of the four tasked with guarding the demon assassins imprisoned in the Polar Temple. Being a member of the “Warriors of the Gods,” the most elite of the divine army, he had been relegated to the role of a mere jailer—a testament to the importance the King of the Gods placed on Lahart and his two companions. Among them, Shannon was particularly concerning; though her mastery of “Sacred Battle Aura” was still shallow, given time, she might become a truly unparalleled powerhouse. The King of the Gods, wary of her potential, had taken no chances.

As this “Warrior of the Gods” stood there without making a sound, a hand suddenly extended from behind him, covering his mouth and nose. At the same time, a massive and peculiar force entered his body through the base of his spine, instantly paralyzing all his meridians.

The “Warrior of the Gods” truly lived up to his title. Even in such an unfavorable and sudden ambush, he managed to summon a powerful burst of divine energy in resistance. However, the invading force was overwhelming, comparable to that of the King of the Gods. In mere moments, his counterforce disintegrated like snow under the sun. His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.

I released my grip on the “Warrior of the Gods” and let him collapse to the ground. This guy was quite something. Even with my surprise attack and using “Demonic Battle Aura” to invade his body, he had managed to resist momentarily—an impressive feat.

Behind me, the sisterly duo of Linsha and Aya appeared. Linsha, concerned, asked, “Lai, did you kill him?”

I turned back with a smile. “Relax, I merely sealed his meridians with ‘Demonic Battle Aura,’ making him unconscious. He’ll recover after some time.”

Linsha heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Shannon and the others are imprisoned in this ‘Polar Temple.’ Besides this ‘Warrior of the Gods,’ there are three other guards. Can you subdue them as quietly as you did with him?”

I grinned mischievously. “What, no faith in me? That calls for punishment!”

Before she could react, I stole a quick kiss from her cherry lips, then darted into the icy Polar Temple. Linsha gasped lightly, raising her hand to cover her reddened lips. Her beautiful face glowed with shyness and happiness, making her look utterly adorable.

Aya patted Linsha on the shoulder and said, “Sister, the Master truly dotes on you. He has a quirk—he loves to tease and play tricks on those he holds dear. It’s both frustrating and endearing.”

Linsha’s bright eyes sparkled as she quipped, “Then you must get teased a lot, don’t you?”

Aya, blushing with joy, lightly hit Linsha a few times. Waves of happiness and contentment surged through the hearts of these two divine and demonic sisters.

The three “Warriors of the Gods” hiding in the Polar Temple had concealed their auras, but they couldn’t achieve the flawless subtlety I could. Under the probing of my spiritual energy, three faint traces of their presence immediately echoed back into my consciousness.

Action!

My figure flickered silently onto the top of an icy pillar where one of the “Warriors of the Gods” stood statue-like.

Mimicking my previous approach, I swiftly extended my hand from behind, covering his mouth and nose. Simultaneously, an immense surge of “Demonic Battle Aura” surged into his meridians through his back.

This one reacted similarly to the last. Though he was caught off guard, he quickly tried to rally his energy to resist. But just like his companion, his efforts were futile. Within moments, his meridians were blocked, and he lost consciousness.

Using this seemingly simple but highly effective method, I quickly subdued the other two guards as well. (This was only possible because of the vast difference in our powers. No one else could have managed this.) Once they were dealt with, I headed straight for where Shannon and the others were being held.

When I finally laid eyes on Shannon, Lahart, and Rowey, my heart ached so intensely that I almost wept on the spot. These three—my beloved treasures and favorite subordinates—had been frozen stiff in the icy prison chamber. Shannon was in the worst condition: her power had been stripped away, she was severely injured, and the relentless cold had brought her life force to the brink of extinction.

I could no longer care about whether I would expose my presence. With a single punch, I shattered the eternally frozen ice wall into dust and darted to their side.

The three of them were too frozen to even speak, but their eyes conveyed their excitement at seeing me.

“Dark Dragon!”

With a soft command, six differently colored bands of soul energy emerged, coiling around me. In an instant, they fused into one and solidified into a deep, jet-black full-body swordsman’s armor—the Dark Dragon Armor.

Once the armor was fully equipped, a crimson glow erupted from my back. A pair of fiery wings, the Immortal Phoenix Wings, spread wide. In this situation, using the healing flames of the Immortal Phoenix Wings was far more suitable than relying on holy light-based healing magic.

The expansive wings unfolded and enveloped Shannon, Lahart, and Rowey in an instant. Fiery red flames surged and roared, their heat so intense that even the eternally frozen ice of the chamber began to melt.

At that moment, I was feeling extremely nervous. Although the effects of the **Immortal Phoenix Wings** had been described to me by Dark Dragon, I had never actually tested them. Watching Shannon, Lahart, and Rowey engulfed in roaring flames made me hesitate. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used the Immortal Phoenix Wings. Using holy light-based healing magic might have been slower, but it would have felt safer and more reliable.

As it turned out, my worries were unnecessary. After only a brief moment of being roasted by the divine flames of the Immortal Phoenix Wings, Shannon and the others were miraculously rejuvenated, their wounds healed, and their spirits revitalized, as if reborn like phoenixes from the ashes.

Delighted, I quickly retracted the Immortal Phoenix Wings and, with a sharp command, struck each of their chests with a single punch. The seals placed on their powers by the King of Gods were instantly broken, and their strength returned to them.

**“Master!”**

Shannon let out a cry and, disregarding Lahart and Rowey's presence, threw herself into my arms. The usually icy and stoic beauty could no longer hold back her deep longing and affection, breaking into uncontrollable sobs as she clung to me.

Lahart and Rowey, seeing their cold and aloof little sister behave so emotionally for the first time, stood dumbfounded.

Suddenly, two elegant and graceful figures shot into the room like streaks of lightning. Lahart and Rowey immediately sprang into action, adopting battle stances to guard me. Even though they had lost their signature weapons—the **Armored Spear of Magic** and the **Forked Saber of Shadows**—they used their qi and magical power to form a spear and sword, exuding a majestic and imposing aura no less fearsome than before.

The newcomers were two stunning beauties clad in exquisitely crafted armor—one in black, the other in white. The moment Lahart and Rowey recognized one of them as **Princess Linsa,** their expressions darkened, and Lahart growled lowly. His spear, forged from condensed qi, thrust forward with deadly precision.

Rowey followed suit, his sword of dark energy unleashing a fan-like barrage of blade shadows aimed at Linsa’s vital points.

For the two warriors, Linsa was the person responsible for all their suffering, and they harbored an unrelenting hatred toward her.

Though Lahart and Rowey's strength was equal to Linsa’s, and they were weaponless, their attacks were overwhelmingly fierce. Caught off guard and without any malice toward them, Linsa had no time to react or defend herself.

Fortunately, I sensed their murderous intent and fighting spirit the moment it flared. In a flash, I moved to shield Linsa, raising my left hand to create a **Dimensional Shield**—a warped and collapsed space before us.

Lahart’s qi spear and Rowey’s dark energy sword struck the Dimensional Shield one after the other, releasing chaotic energy ripples.

**“Stop this right now!”**

“I dispersed the distorted space formed by the ‘Dimensional Shield’ and pulled the stunned Linsa into my arms. ‘She’s my woman now, so show some respect. This time, it’s for real!’

To emphasize my point, I gave Linsa’s sweet lips a hard ‘bite.’ Despite her overwhelming shyness, Linsa stayed perfectly still, allowing me to savor her sweetness. We looked like the very picture of a perfect couple.

Just then, Aya laughed softly and said, ‘If you harm my sister, Father won’t let you off lightly. After all, she’s my biological sister!’

Lahart and Rowey weren’t fools. They immediately grasped the meaning behind Aya’s words, and their faces paled in shock. The usually stoic Lahart even blurted out, ‘Princess, you mean… you mean she’s…’

Aya confirmed with a nod, ‘That’s right. Linsa is my half-sister, born of the same father.’

Rowey, equally shocked, exclaimed, ‘If Lord Lucifer is Linsa’s biological father, then the King of Gods…’

I interrupted with a grin, ‘Of course they’re married. A stunning beauty like the King of Gods ended up with an old fox like Lucifer… Destiny can be so unfair to beautiful women!’

Linsa and Aya playfully smacked me a few times in protest of my disrespect toward their father. Meanwhile, Shannon, Lahart, and Rowey stood dumbfounded, reeling from the unbelievable revelation.

At that moment, two immense energy signatures suddenly registered in my spiritual senses, rapidly approaching the celestial realm.

Shannon, having sensed the same, paled and exclaimed, ‘Master, it seems like…’

I frowned and nodded. ‘Yes, it’s Lucifer and Yu Yi. They’re flying toward the heavens at full speed—probably because of us. Haha, this should be interesting. What do you think will happen when Lucifer and the King of Gods meet? I can’t wait to see!’

Aya and the others smiled wryly, unsure how to respond. Then, dozens of other powerful energy signatures erupted from the heavens, soaring into the air. Among them, one was especially overwhelming, covering the entire celestial continent—it was undoubtedly the King of Gods, accompanied by her ‘Divine Warriors,’ whose strength rivaled that of the ‘Seraphim.’

Naturally, I couldn’t miss such an epic showdown. Without informing the others, I unfolded my six pairs of celestial-demonic wings and soared into the sky. Aya and the others quickly followed.

Since I didn’t want the two powerhouses to detect me, I concealed my energy signature. However, this significantly slowed my flight speed. By the time I arrived, the energies of the two giants had already clashed, creating a shockwave of incredible magnitude. It seemed the estranged couple had begun their battle.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the overwhelming energy waves ceased entirely. Even the presences of Lucifer, the King of Gods, Yu Yi, and the ‘Divine Warriors’ vanished. It was likely due to some specialized barrier designed to isolate their activities from the rest of the celestial realm.

My hypothesis was quickly confirmed. About 600 kilometers outside ‘Ethereal City,’ an enormous dual-layer barrier had appeared. The outer layer was the King of Gods’ signature high-frequency vibration barrier, while the inner layer was a pitch-black dark energy barrier that obscured all vision—Lucifer’s handiwork, no doubt.

I stopped outside the barrier, and Aya, Linsa, Shannon, and the others soon caught up. Linsa frowned and said, ‘That’s Mother’s most powerful barrier. Anyone trying to approach will be pulverized. And now, with Father’s dark barrier inside… Lai, you need to be careful.’

I smiled faintly. ‘The barriers set up by these two big shots are indeed impressive. Lucifer’s barrier doesn’t have the destructive power of the King of Gods’, but when I used my spiritual energy to probe earlier, half of it was absorbed. It seems this barrier functions similarly to “Hell’s Cataclysm,” drawing in ambient energy. Quite tricky. But it won’t stop me. Do you think something like this can hold me back?’

As my mental signal spread, Aya transformed into her sword form and flew into my hand. I softly activated a minimal amount of ‘Demonic Combat Energy’ and channeled it into ‘Aya.’ Though Aya could amplify energy threefold, the amount I used was so small that it only created a faint black glow around her slender blade—barely noticeable.

Seeing me raise the dimly glowing Aya and slowly press her toward the King of Gods’ high-frequency vibration barrier, Linsa shouted, ‘Wait! Mother’s barrier is immensely destructive. Aya may be incredibly sharp, but with so little energy…’

I smiled but didn’t pause. ‘Relax, Linsa. I’ve already deciphered the essence of this barrier. In fact, I understand its principles better than your mother does. Let me show you how I’ll break it with just this little bit of power!’

As I uttered the final word, ‘watch,’ Aya’s blade touched the high-frequency vibration barrier. A piercing screech filled the air as a circular gap appeared around the contact point—large enough for a person to pass through.

Knowing the destructive power of the high-frequency vibration barrier, Linsa couldn’t believe her eyes. ‘Unbelievable… You actually did it. How is this possible?’

Shouldering Aya, I replied smugly, ‘The answer’s simple. The particles in the Demonic Combat Energy I infused into Aya are vibrating at an even higher frequency than the barrier’s particles—several times faster, in fact. That’s why, even with a tiny amount of energy, it’s like using a sharp knife to pierce leather. When it comes to understanding the physics of high-frequency vibrations, your mother’s got nothing on me!’