Kanis, who had erased all distractions, looked at Shirone. His face, which seemed to have never experienced a day of difficulty, made him feel as if his insides were twisting.
'Hmph. You might think I'm the villain. But...'
Dark magic surged from the shadows of Kanis. Despite being affected by light magic, his regeneration speed increased tremendously.
'To me, you are the real villains!'
As the dark magic accelerated, Shirone swept the ground with a burst of photons. Then, he fired the photon cannon with his right hand. Havist blocked it and took the impact of the photon cannon to his torso, being pushed into the forest. However, instead of feeling impacted, he taunted Shirone with a snap of his long fingers.
"Hahaha, come, come."
For a dark wizard, the forest was like home, but Shirone rushed into the forest without hesitation. He then shot dozens of photons above his head, from left to right and from right to left.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Hundreds of flashes pierced the forest sky. Neid and Eruki watched in amazement as the sky lit up as if it were broad daylight.
"That bastard has activated his ability correctly," said Eruki.
"I suppose you know it too. If Shirone can't stop him, we'll ultimately lose the game," Neid replied.
Eruki slowly turned his gaze. Lucas was following Shirone into the forest. When he saw the gray smoke rising in front of him, he quickly flew back. Atomic Bomb exploded with a thunderous roar, and Lucas, who had retreated 10 meters in an instant, looked at Eruki with terrifying eyes.
"You, brat..."
"Don't do anything foolish. What you're thinking, we're thinking too. Stay put."
"It's ridiculous."
No matter how brazen you are, it's unheard of for an apprentice mage to face a Class B criminal. When Lucas unsheathed his twin swords, a hiss was heard. His temperament transmitted through the spiritual zone was burning like a blazing firewood.
While there is an infinite variety of body areas that can be strengthened through the spiritual zone, most users opt for proven designs, as imbalance can cause serious side effects.
A biased design can harm the body. For example, if the nervous system is strengthened too much, muscles can't keep up with the speed of nerves and tear.
The design Lucas was using at the moment was based on mitochondria design, strengthening the biological energy factory of organisms to temporarily increase energy efficiency. Despite rapid physical stamina loss, the effect of simultaneously increasing all parts of the body had its advantage, and most users opted for this design as a standard.
"It can be dangerous..."
Eruki examined Neid's expression. The cold look he directed at Lucas reminded him of a showdown on a rainy day five years ago. They clashed in torrential rain, and at that moment, Neid had little room to smile. It's a miracle he never shows his former face again. To him, the face resembling the most loved one in the world is what he abhors the most.
"Be cautious, Neid. That guy is a pattern user."
"I know. Let's increase the power and dominate him from the beginning."
Lucas was not someone who was afraid. The word "caution" is more appropriate for avoiding a puddle or crossing an unstable bridge than for situations where the blade threatens to separate the head at any moment.
"These kids today..."
Lucas, who was scratching his head, became blurry. At the same time, a golden flash occurred between Neid and Eruki. The teleportation light flashed, and the two appeared 10 meters away from Lucas. Eruki held his chest. His clothes were torn sharply, and blood was oozing from the lines drawn on his chest.
"Are you okay?"
"It's not a mortal wound. But he's really fast."
Although magic had transcendental power, a mage's body was still essentially human. Apart from the magical effects, the ability to react and adapt to the movements of the user's spiritual zone was limited.
However, conversely, users of the spiritual zone also had their own limitations. Magical power was not something that the spiritual zone could withstand. Even with student-level magic, if you allowed a direct hit, you could lose your life.
Neid and Eruki focused their fire. The chained explosions of Atomic Bomb happened like serpents, and Neid calculated Lucas's movements and made anticipatory shots. However, they couldn't hit him due to his movements being completely different from the mechanical patterns they had trained in the academy.
"Curse it! Are they just kids?"
Lucas was not in a relaxed situation. Due to the characteristics of the mitochondria design, his physical stamina was decreasing in seconds. By maximizing the energy metabolism rate, his speed increased considerably. He diverted the trajectory and leaped from the side of Eruki, wielding his twin swords. Neid ran from the other side, extending both hands. Electric Shock magic struck his abdomen, shaking his body at a speed of 60 vibrations per second.
"Eruki, now!"
Eruki was already prepared. A cloud of gray smoke rose in Lucas's paralyzed face due to the shock state. Lucas, who observed the chain reaction, fought with all his might to move his body. His muscles felt injected with carbon and didn't respond.
"Curse it! Curse it!""
Facing death at the hands of these young ones was an unusual matter. Or rather, was he really going to die? In the midst of an unexpected situation, even his sense of reality was fading.
Eruki was certain that it was all over. With the chain reaction, he wasn't making a hasty judgment. However, suddenly, the spiritual zone disappeared. Before they could identify the cause, his leg started to numb. Suddenly, another shadow connected under his feet. It was evident that it was an ability of Arin without even seeing her.
"Damn it!"
Lucas struggled with all his might to free himself from the alternating current vibrations. Then, he lunged at Neid, who had embarrassed him. His anger, which had reached its peak on the brink of death, surged to its maximum, and a series of emotions overcame him.
"Neid, escape!"
Despite his paralyzed situation, Neid generated electricity in both hands. Lucas's twin swords got stuck unexpectedly in the thick ice that sprouted on both sides of Neid.
With a screech, the twin swords became trapped in the ice. Lucas's eyes, which were paralyzed by shock, twitched. His sword skills could cut through even rocks. However, he found himself in a situation where he couldn't even cut a single piece of ice.
Eruki's gaze slowly settled on the unknown face that Lucas was looking back at. The woman was the teacher he had thrown off the cliff just moments before.
"Professor Siena!"
Neid shouted with an alarmed expression, but Siena didn't say a word. With cold and expressionless eyes, she only stared at Lucas.
***
"Ha... Ha..."
Ethella, leaning against a tree, seemed about to kneel at any moment. She had been in pursuit for a long 30 minutes. Despite that, she couldn't completely elude Arcane.
'The poison is spreading. I can't delay the treatment any longer.'
Ethella, sitting on the ground, tore the bottom of her monk's robe. There was black blood flowing from a wound that pierced her abdomen above her navel, a wound caused by Poison Cutter. Although she was slowing the poison's spread through her breathing, it was only a temporary remedy. The wound was in an inaccessible place for extracting the poison.
Ethella passed both hands behind her hips and grabbed a piece of tree bark. Tilting her head down and bending at the waist, there was a crunch in her spine. When she stretched her spine using her erector spine muscles, her hips lifted off the ground, and her back arched sharply. By taking a spiral shape, she could finally reach her lips below her navel.
Ethella pushed all the poison that had infiltrated her body out through the wound. Then, she filled her lungs with air and sucked the wound. The moment the poison left, an unbearable wave of pain seized her. She furrowed her brow and shook her head vigorously. When she expelled the poison from her mouth, the black blood fell to the ground. It dried instantly.
Ethella began to regain color in her face. Tossing her crooked glasses to the ground, she bumped her fists against the robe she had torn a moment ago.
"Ah... Ah. Now, I'll survive."
The wobbly spiritual zone regained its strength, and the surrounding energy flowed through her senses. With wide-open eyes, Ethella leaped up from the ground. Dozens of common hands emerged from the ground as if they were extracting poison.
"When did he arrive?"
The fact that he could tirelessly pursue an exploration expert with expansion demonstrated how agile a dark wizard could become when surrounded by darkness.
"You've removed the poison. You continue to surprise me."
Arcane appeared through the curtain of darkness. However, Ethella no longer needed to flee.
"From now on, it won't be easy."
"Are you ready? Do you believe you can do it right? In that case, don't give up and entertain me."
When Ethella clenched her fists, her spiritual zone suddenly disappeared. Arcane immediately noticed her transformation. She had completely abandoned the Spirit Zone.
Mages handle the Spirit Zone, while martial artists handle the scheme. However, monks train in both. The existence of a monk wasn't to rise to higher places but to embrace the world with the broadest heart. Arcane didn't like that. If she had focused on one area from the beginning, there wouldn't be anyone on the continent who didn't know her name.
"It's a pity. Why would someone with so much talent to be at the top of the world choose this path? But even if I tell that to someone who doesn't even consider climbing, it will be in vain."
Arcane extended his hand and recited a spell. He had a plan in place to face someone who controlled the scheme.
"Guardian of Darkness."
In the shadow of the forest, countless spiders began to move. The sight of human-sized spiders writhing was eerie to behold.
Grrrr!
But the true power of Darkness was about to manifest. Next to Arcane, a Dark Golem over 3 meters tall emerged.
Its face was buried in its shoulders, and its body and limbs were bloated as if filled with threads. Its arms were long, and its legs were short.
Shadow Power was a magic that converted 100% of one's mental power into physical power, controlling shadow specters. It was fundamentally different from magic that absorbs energy from the outside. Although not immune to light, on a moonless night, there was no more powerful weapon in battle than this.
"Forward, my subordinates."
Leading the way was the Dark Spider. With so many of them gathered, it was impossible to determine how many of them were moving.
Ethella made them scatter in all directions by swinging her staff. Then, as the spiders regrouped, she unleashed a "Straight," and the shadows erupted with a loud bang.
Grrrrr!
The Dark Golem plowed through the airborne spiders. When Ethella jumped like a flying squirrel, the Dark Golem pounded the ground with its thick arms. The ground rippled and then exploded under the impact. The power was so impressive that Ethella paled. Since all of Arcane's mental energy had been converted into physical power, his strength was unimaginable.
The Dark Golem planted its hands on the ground and turned its head. Then, it attacked again by drawing a circle with both arms.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Ethella retreated while defending against the successive attacks. The Dark Golem was an extremely powerful war machine with speed, flexibility, and destruction in its arsenal.
Finally, she couldn't retreat any further, and at the end of her escape, she stomped on the ground before facing the Dark Golem.
Grrrr!
The Dark Golem, which had risen like a wall, took a hit on the side as Ethella leaped towards it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Golem staggered. As the exchange of blows continued, the shock reverberated through Arcane's mind.