Leylin stood in the center of the troll camp, his fourfold arcane energy bursting forth to block the two powerful tornadoes. The arcane energy instantly tore the wind elements apart.
"Cover Aminel, Lor'themar," Leylin coldly commanded.
Lor'themar sheathed his ranger's symbol and drew his golden longsword, standing before Aminel. Compared to ranger combat, Lor'themar preferred close-quarters combat with swords and axes.
These troll soldiers and headhunters were no match for this small team; their numbers were merely a figurehead. In this troll camp, Leylin's team only faced Zul'jin, the chieftain of the amani trolls.
Under Aminel's frost magic, the troll soldiers struggled in agony under the frigid frost. The extreme cold was merely a drop in the trolls' blood hormones; these soldiers quickly lost their original fighting ability.
Lor'themar and Halduron charged into the ranks of the troll warriors, and soon, these warriors joined with the other dead trolls within Ghostlands.
This battle had become a full-blown boss fight.
In less than ten minutes, Zul'jin witnessed his warriors die a gruesome death. His cloudy white eyes changed, his bloodshot eyes revealing a bloodthirsty killing intent.
Zul'jin created ten more tornadoes, Akilzon granting him even more power. Drawing his pale dagger, Zul'jin slowly stood before the spell formed by these wind elementals.
He bent down and vanished into the whirlwinds.
The rangers' senses told them that Zul'jin had disappeared into these whirlwinds, and that he could move and change positions within them.
Sylvanas could sense Zul'jin's location; this move blurred the previously clear situation.
The rapidly moving tornadoes shifted, and Leylin knew that Zul'jin was hiding within them, but unfortunately, his spells couldn't immediately disperse all the wind elementals. With the power of the eagle loa, Zul'jin had ample opportunity to launch at least five deadly attacks.
"Cover each other, protect the mages," Sylvanas commanded.
The tornadoes relentlessly closed in, concentrating the self-proclaimed superior rangers and mages in one spot.
A cold glint flashed; Zul'jin had found the perfect opening!
A deadly dagger approached Sylvanas's back, moving so fast that the ranger-general didn't even have time to react.
But Leylin's awareness detected it immediately, connecting the two tornadoes near Zul'jin with an enhanced [Arcane Blast].
The instantaneous explosion of arcane energy staggered the rangers; after the shattering of the arcane energy, the remaining wind elementals still swirled around the squad.
"Spread out, don't let Zul'jin have a single, concentrated target," Leylin commanded.
Retreating from all directions of the troll camp through the gaps in the tornadoes' movement, the spinning tornadoes were forced to disperse to pursue their target.
Was this what teamwork was? Sylvanas's thoughts coincided with Leylin's. Simultaneously, the a [Dragon Breath] surged in front of Leylin and its fire spread out attacking different tornadoes.
Only one tornado remained, and Leylin waited for Zul'jin to move into this one. And sure enough, the scorching temperature propelled Zul'jin into the tornado without fire magic.
Using [Blink], Leylin instantly reached near the rapidly spinning tornado, which was laden with dust and gravel.
Zul'jin reacted just as quickly. Realizing he had fallen for the mage's trick, he thrust his gleaming dagger towards Leylin's chest.
"You don't have enough time to attack!" Leylin thought.
"Explode!" A six-times boosted [Arcane Blast].
The scattered arcane energy instantly tore apart the wind elementals in front of Leylin, blasting Zul'jin onto the troll hut behind him.
Zul'jin's body was tough enough, protected by the power of the eagle loa; even the beams supporting the troll hut were smashed.
In the rapidly changing situation, before the other squad members could react, Leylin blasted Zul'jin away.
Unbelievable. Among these rangers, Sylvanas was the most astonished. She had experienced many such squad attacks, witnessed the other magisters' fighting style and magical power, and now before her Leylin surpassed even the Grand Magister of Silvermoon City in explosive power.
Had he been toyed with by this mage? Zul'jin shrugged and stood up again. His body hadn't suffered much damage, only the impact of the arcane explosion.
Nalorakk, Zul'jin invoked the power of the Bear Loa. His hardened skin allowed him to dodge numerous magical attacks.
"My turn, Mage!" Zul'jin roared, as if possessed by the bear loa. The slender Zul'jin resembled a giant bear.
He rushed towards Leylin and slapped the mage away with a single blow. Leylin immediately casted [Flamestrike] and with its explosion helped propel Leylin outwards, but the swipe of Zul'jin still reached him even though he raised both arms and tried to block the attack.
Sylvanas rushed forward and caught Leylin. "Are you alright?" Sylvanas could sense the immense power Zul'jin's attack had unleashed.
He was just a mage, after all. Sylvanas thought anxiously. Stroking his bleeding shoulder, Leylin freed himself from Sylvanas's embrace.
With a relaxed smile and a calm expression, Leylin said, "I'm alright. The blast of my spell pushed me back and withstood that fatal attack."
A green life force swirled around her, and Sylvanas breathed a sigh of relief.
After Leylin was knocked away, Lor'themar and Halduron rushed forward, attacking the troll, more ferocious than a wild beast, under the restraining spells of Tyr'ganal and Aminel.
The powerful strength of the bear loa bent Lor'themar's golden longsword. Lor'themar and Halduron were clearly no match for Zul'jin in his bear spirit form.
"It's all over, elves," Zul'jin roared, charging at Leylin once more. As a seasoned forest troll chieftain, he understood that killing this mage rendered the raiding party completely harmless.
Sylvanas's sharp eyes flicked toward Zul'jin's charge, her instincts warning her of imminent danger. Without hesitation, she pushed Leylin aside, her movements swift and precise.
Her focus sharpened as she drew her Quel'Thalas golden bow to its fullest extension, nocking nearly a hundred magical arrows with practiced ease.
Her aim was unwavering, every arrow was directed at Zul'jin's eyes, knowing the trolls' formidable defenses could withstand many assaults, but not the piercing gaze of her enchanted arrows.
Sylvanas understood that if she couldn't kill him outright, she could at least blind him, blinding his vision and disrupting his deadly assault.
With a series of calculated shots, the arrows streaked through the air in a deadly barrage. Zul'jin, in his bear form, reacted swiftly, raising his arms to deflect the incoming arrows, each one striking with deadly precision.
Despite his agility, the onslaught forced him to retreat, slowly drifting away from the rest of the squad. Zul'jin's cunning was evident.
He carefully maneuvered to isolate his targets, planning his next move. After Sylvanas exhausted her enchanted arrows, he made a long detour.
His form blurred into a ghostly yellow streak—a spectral apparition of a lynx—appearing suddenly before Leylin.
In that moment, Zul'jin's deep, guttural voice echoed with dark intent. "Mage, I will offer your soul as a sacrifice to the Loas," he declared, his tone filled with malevolent promise and ominous power.
The air around Leylin thickened with the dark aura of the loa Halazzi, the lynx loa, as Zul'jin prepared to invoke ancient and deadly magic.