Chapter 29: Mages Who Play Melee are All Heretics!

“Hey! Guys! I think we probably don't need to go to Germany anymore!”

Inside the cockpit of the Quinjet, two pilots turned toward Agents Coulson and Melinda, who were resting with their eyes closed, and little Annie, who was dozing off while hugging her teddy bear, Tiberius, shouting as loudly as they could! They were currently flying at high altitude and high speed, and the noise inside this military-grade Quinjet was somewhat loud.

“Is there some new development?” Coulson asked curiously, frowning at the cockpit crew after being startled by the words.

“That's right! Yes, sir! Agent Natasha just sent a message—oh! And combat footage! The battle ended two minutes ago! Captain America and Iron Man have already captured Loki, and they are currently escorting the prisoner back to headquarters. I suggest, perhaps, that we can head back now!” the co-pilot replied after re-confirming the message on the console.

Two minutes ago... Hearing this news, Coulson and Melinda exchanged an awkward glance before simultaneously looking at little Annie, who had just been startled awake, blinking her beautiful large eyes with an innocent and curious expression. Those expressive eyes seemed to be saying: *What are you looking at?*

Well! Originally, they could have made it to the battle, but now their plane had already entered German airspace and was about to reach its destination. Unfortunately, it seemed their itinerary had been delayed by Annie; they were just a tiny bit short on time!

Sigh... who told Annie that changing clothes and washing up took a full five minutes? It was a good thing Annie wasn't a professional agent; otherwise, her credentials would have been revoked and her rank downgraded! She was truly too unpunctual! In the face of an emergency combat mission, she actually insisted on washing her face and brushing her teeth first?!

“Sir, sir? What should we do now?” Seeing that Coulson hadn't responded, the co-pilot inquired again.

“You can head back now. Also, play the combat footage sent by Agent Natasha, let us see it!” Coulson pointed to the monitor on the cabin wall, signaling them to play the footage. Although the three of them hadn't made it to the battle, they at least needed to understand what the combat process was actually like.

“Yes, sir!” Upon receiving the order, the pilot began maneuvering the plane for the return trip, while the co-pilot busied himself for a moment before playing the recently received message on the cabin monitor.

Annie, Coulson, and Melinda all looked toward the monitor on the wall. Annie didn't care about any battle; she only wanted to know where the thing she wanted was! That thing called the Space Stone! Only now did she feel it was a pity—she had worked so hard for nothing and missed it!

*It's all your fault! You annoying Tiberius! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?*

While privately scolding Tiberius, Annie looked at the combat footage!

From the screen, she could see: after Black Widow Natasha's aircraft arrived, they discovered a strange man in the plaza below, wearing armor and a horned helmet, holding a long staff. He was intimidating the entire crowd in the plaza to kneel before him.

Annie guessed that this strange man might be some sort of evil god named Loki. As the camera panned out, Annie also discovered that the edges of the plaza were filled with clones of this strange man, surrounding the crowd within the square.

Annie recognized this spell! It was nothing more than Mirror Images or Arcane Images. If they were Mirror Images, they might possess a certain amount of the original's attacking power, but if they were Arcane Images, they were purely meant to fool laypeople.

*The people on TV are such idiots!*

Annie had already seen that those clones were very unstable, flickering from time to time; they were definitely Arcane Images! They were merely there to intimidate people and were completely useless! They had absolutely no attacking power! The people on the outskirts of the plaza could have actually bolted, yet now, they were actually huddled together in fear and kneeling in submission? What a bunch of uncultured fools!

Annie gave a disdainful "tch" and continued staring at the monitor. She didn't know what the strange man was saying to the crowd; the person filming was so irresponsible—couldn't they record audio? *Would it kill you to press the record button?* Annie knew that the recording function on the Quinjet could record audio simultaneously!

After the strange man spoke for a while, an old man in the crowd seemed very dissatisfied with what he said. He stood up and began to argue something. *He looks so brave...* However, the strange man, Loki, gave him no chance. He raised his staff, the tip glowed, and a blue arcane energy bolt shot toward the old man.

*This brave old man is dead!*

Annie felt that an Earthling with zero resistance like him certainly wouldn't survive an arcane missile! In the next scene, he would probably be blown to pieces, right? Annie suddenly felt a bit reluctant to watch. Perhaps she really should have left earlier; maybe she could have saved his life?

However, the scene Annie dreaded did not ultimately occur. At that critical moment, Captain America arrived in time and blocked the blue arcane missile with his shield. After the missile hit his shield, it was reflected back, striking the strange man Loki hard in the abdomen and knocking him to the ground.

*Eh? What a magical shield!*

Seeing this, Annie's eyes lit up! What material was this small shield made of? Annie also knew that all shields could block magic! Of course, the prerequisite was that the shield must not be damaged after the magic's power was released; if it wasn't, it could block it! Otherwise, you were finished! Some shields could even absorb part of the magic damage after being enchanted, but she had truly never seen a shield capable of fully reflecting magic.

The battle in the video continued. After being knocked down by his own magic, the strange man Loki stood up as if nothing had happened. Then, he noticed the Quinjet in the sky, raised his hand to fire another arcane missile, but the agile plane dodged it in time.

*One star!* Seeing this, Annie mentally gave that evil god Loki a low rating! As a mage, didn't he know how to cast a shield on himself? And once you throw the magic out, you just stop caring? *Would it kill you to lock onto the target and guide it a little? Are you that lazy?*

And then... and then Annie really wanted to rub her eyes. She seriously doubted whether she was still half-asleep. She couldn't believe what she was seeing on the monitor! Perhaps she was still dreaming?

Look at this evil god named Loki! Look at what he's doing! After firing two arcane missiles, he actually grabbed his staff and started engaging in melee combat with Captain America? A dignified mage fires two of the simplest arcane missiles and then picks up a staff to play hand-to-hand with a warrior who has defensive talents? You might as well just switch your class to Warrior!

Annie really wanted to grab him by the neck and ask him: *Are you actually a mage? Is this how mages play? I know I'm young, but don't try to fool me!*

Look at his mannerisms: waving that staff with such ferocity, how domineering! And he even knocked Captain America's shield away in one go—well done! That rather decent-looking staff was being used just like a club; when it hit the ground, sparks flew everywhere, looking incredibly fierce!

Even though Annie never used a staff, she felt a pang of heartache for him! Such a good staff being used like that—he might as well just switch to a fire poker! At least, you wouldn't feel bad if you broke a fire poker...

After staring blankly at the monitor for a while as the two continued their "I punch, you staff" brawl, Annie suddenly sighed. Fine, setting aside stances for a moment, as a fellow mage and colleague, Annie felt a bit concerned about Loki's IQ!

*You are a dignified Mage! Can't you keep your distance? Since you can use Arcane Images, you must know how to use Flash, right? Flash first, then throw various control and curse spells to restrict the opponent, and then pick a bunch of high-power spells to blast them. Now that the opponent's shield has been knocked away, wouldn't it be a matter of taking them down with a few spells? If a few spells won't do it, you can just channel a big ultimate! Is there any need to go up for melee combat?*

Annie felt she truly couldn't watch anymore. That evil god Loki wasn't lacking strength; he was lacking brains! Look, as soon as the long-range DPS, Iron Man, arrived, he was immediately captured! He deserved it! Despite having a full set of divine gear, his execution was so poor that he got caught! Playing a mage but going for melee basic attacks and hitting people with a staff? He deserved it! Even Tiberius looked down on him!

Annie finally understood why Loki was captured before she could arrive. It wasn't a matter of her being late; it was because the opponent had no brains! So weak! It was all his fault! He caused her to lose the chance to snatch that Space Stone. If she had known it would be like this, she wouldn't have even gotten out of bed!

And! It's all your fault, Tiberius! Why did you trick me into waking up?

“Sir! New news! Agent Natasha just replied: The prisoner Loki has been snatched away by someone named Thor. She requests that if possible, we head over to provide support as soon as possible!”

“Hmph! I'm not going. I'm exhausted! I'm going back to sleep. Goodnight, everyone, see you tomorrow!” Before Coulson could react, Annie used her teleportation spell for the first time. Amidst a burst of blue arcane light, she vanished instantly from the cabin, clutching her teddy bear.

The behavior of that brain-dead evil god Loki had reminded her—she was a mage too! Anyway, she knew the spatial coordinates of that house by the seaside, and since she knew everyone here well, there was no need to go out of her way to avoid anyone. She might as well just teleport straight back! A "whoosh" and she'd be home, which was much faster than a bumpy plane.

What? Go to support? Annie had heard that! The one who snatched the prisoner was a big uncle named Thor, right? He's an Avenger too, isn't he? She didn't want to get involved in these petty squabbles between members. Whoever wants to go can go, but she wasn't going. It was better to just go back to sleep!