“Boom…!”
Once again, his body flew backwards and shattered a fence into pieces. It was unknown how often this scene had repeated itself.
“Getting up?? Did this sovereign give you permission to do so??” Lan Yu flew into a violent rage, unleashing magic without restraint like a torrent of unceasing rain.
Despite that, Ji Bai never stopped his actions. His trembling hands held onto his sword hilt and his gradually dimming eyes incessantly searched for an opportunity even when his gauntlet had been fractured and burnt black by all the explosions.
“Boom…!” Sparks incessantly burst out from Ji Bai’s armor, forcing him to retreat bit by bit.
Finally, his body shook twice and fell to the ground with a ‘poof’.
If an opportunity could be found before he was beaten to death, the situation would definitely take a turn for the better. If not, then…
“He’s finally dead…” Sweat flowed from Lan Yu’s forehead as he slightly adjusted his breathing. He himself wasn’t in a good spot either; Traces of rage flashed past his face as he shot a glance at the motionless Ji Bai lying still on the ground.
‘I guess only a pile of shattered flesh is left in that armor. After dozens of magic spells, the only thing I can claim in the end is just a pile of shattered meat with zero use?’
He couldn’t bring himself to muster any interest towards the flesh inside the tin can. If he factored in the end result he got after wasting so much energy and magic, he would have gotten nothing at all…
Lan Yu indignantly spat. Desecrating a corpse wasn’t one of his habits, neither did he desire to circle around a pile of smelly, shattered meat like a housefly.
Just when he was contemplating whether he should find a place to hide before deciding his next move, the “clack, clack” sounds of pebbles turning over and being crushed attracted his attention.
Unbeknownst to him, the “already deceased” Ji Bai had stood up once more. His long sword was pierced into the ground, with his hands placed on each end of its hilt. A dim light flickered behind the seams of his slightly-lowered helmet.
“You’re still alive?!” Lan Yu laughed in a fit of extreme anger. He had completely lost his patience towards this cockroach that refused to die no matter how hard he stepped.
“That’s fine as well. This sovereign will thoroughly smash you into pieces!”
[Destructive Class— Gangrend Rock Skin] A layer of solid brownish-gray substance wrapped around Lan Yu’s right arm like a plaster. With one swing, he ferociously sent his fist smashing towards the completely motionless Ji Bai.
The fully enclosed armor continued to refrain from making any movement, like a robot that only knew how to incessantly repeat its previous defensive actions.
“Boom!” Gangrend rock exploded in all directions and Ji Bai was unsurprisingly injured once more. Despite that, he didn’t take even half a step back and allowed the gangrend rock arm to smash onto his helmet.
“Creak…” A clear cracking sound resounded. Following which, fresh gurgling blood streamed out from his helmet.
“Hahaha, watch closely as I pulverize your head!” Lan Yu completely lifted the suit of armor up and tossed him away.
“Boom!” Countless cracks began to form on the ground.
“Die!”
[Destructive Class — Sound Waves of Annihilation]
Sound waves that caused extreme vibrations burst out from Lan Yu’s large mouth and exploded outwards. This was followed by the surrounding buildings cracking into pieces.
“Boom!…” A sea of smoke covered the area in an instant.
“The result for offending me is to end up in pieces” Lan Yu coldly harrumphed before turning his head and leaving without taking a look at the smoke-enveloped area.
“Clink…” A series of sounds reminiscent of glass breaking resounded. A lofty figure moved inside the smoke before walking out with his body upright, his shattered tassel swaying about in the wind.
“What!? This bastard…” Lan Yu narrowed his eyes and caught sight of the seams of Ji Bai’s helmet. It was unknown when he had wrapped it up with a ribbon and tightly covered up the area where his eyes were.
That meant that he was completely blind.
Lan Yu instantly flew into a fury, believing that this guy was underestimating him.
‘In that case, I’ll smash your head thoroughly and see if you can still get up again!’
[Destructive Class— Gangrend Rock Skin]
Hardened silt worked their way upwards Lan Yu’s right arm as he began to run at a speed comparable to flying. Stretching out the black wings that he had materialized on his back, he rushed forwards in quick steps.
“Go to hell!”
“Clank!…” An intense sound of metal colliding resounded.
Lan Yu was shocked.
It was almost as if a block of tofu had become a piece of iron biscuit.
A dazzling sword light flashed past Lan Yu’s eyes as his stone arm was firmly intercepted and held back by the fang-shaped longsword.
A scene that could be described as nothing but astonishing took place in front of Lan Yu’s eyes, forcing him to suspect that he had recited the wrong Deepspeak incantation.
“C-Crack…” The stone skin faded off his arm as the armored man slowly pushed it away. Ji Bai then swung his longsword, causing his pommel to ferociously smash a dent into his opponent’s left cheek.
“Guhk…” Lan Yu spat out a mouthful of spittle. Covering his face with one hand, he stared in disbelief at the blindfolded man in armor before him.
It was almost as if some changes that weren’t visible yet couldn’t be ignored had occurred to the aura of the man before him when he had been distracted.
“W…What sort of tomfoolery are you trying to pull here!?”
[Destructive Class — Soul of the Hunter]
[Destructive Class — Sound Waves of Annihilation]
[Destructive Class – Ghostfire Ball]
Lan Yu incessantly panted heavily. Even someone like him would begin to feel somewhat exhausted from chain-casting destructive-class magic thrice.
A fireball created from burning magic, soundwaves that far exceeded the limit that humans could endure, as well as wolf heads crafted with [Magic] followed in quick succession.
It was an extremely perilous situation.
Ji Bai’s vision consisted of a sea of darkness. Yet within it, ripple-like undulations faintly stirred. Whenever a series of ripples passed by, they would sketch out the form of the attacking [Magic Spell]. Instantly, the theory behind how that [Magic] was formed, as well as its internal composition would faintly and blurrily reveal themselves to him.
He heard the crackling sound of igniting [Magic].
Before the fireball struck, Ji Bai had already sensed its flight trajectory, speed, as well as… the [Magic]’s weak points.
[Common Class – Capric Counter]
“Clank! Clank! Clank!” Collision sounds rang out three times as large quantities of metallic sparks burst outwards from his blade.
One, two, three.
Every destructive magic had been intercepted, without the slightest pause in his movements. He had smashed them into pieces in a smooth manner.
“When dealing with changing matters, one must adhere to one fundamental principle: When faced with endless techniques, formlessness is the best move… You need to hold onto the feeling you have at the critical point between life and death, survival and destruction. If you are lucky enough to grab a hold on it, keep it tight and observe it… Only then, it would open up your second pair of [eyes].”
Even now, this state of enlightenment wasn’t something that Ji Bai could explain. No one knew the prerequisites for getting such a fortuitous opportunity, and it was even more unclear what one should exactly do in order to achieve it.
This state of enlightenment wasn’t particularly foreign to Ji Bai.
If he counted the moment when he fought the vampire earl, this was the second time he had entered such a miraculous state.
“Wh-…What?!” Lan Yu was momentarily dumbfounded, as he looked at his big, wrinkled-filled hands in a daze.
‘My magic has lost its effectiveness?? Where… Where did it go amiss?? The five year plan that I had painstakingly prepared for. It should have clearly been… within my grasp…’
‘How could this happen… How could this happen…?!’
“Impossible… Impossible…” Having been ferociously beaten, Lan Yu’s appearance had become incomparably wretched as he buried his head and continuously howled in a deep voice.
“This sovereign had already transcended beyond the existence of a lower-tier species! How could I be overpowered by one?! Impossible…”
He let out a sharp howl in an incomparably hoarse tone. This was followed by a chain of DeepSpeak words that resounded like flowing water and the sound of grating teeth.
“Stallae Daminum, Doum at astra: epparet venales prestantium……” Overlapping syllables were spoken from a voice that was, without a doubt, inhuman.
As dense Deepspeak continuously overlapped each other, massive fissures occured on the surrounding stone walls and ground.
Lan Yu kneeled on both knees with his head raised upwards, resembling a fantastic believer praying for his true god to descend.
‘This time… You will die!’
[Despair Class — Demonic Planetary Destruction]
