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Chapter 259 - Chapter 259: The Price of Compensation!

Even without the ability to see the specifics of Robert and Valentine's battle, Claire could still sense how powerful Robert and Valentine truly were. The magnitude of their battle was such that, despite being within the fortified bounds of the Magic Academy, the place trembled incessantly…

Such terrifying strength left Claire somewhat bewildered. She had only just stepped into the supernatural world and, although she had known Robert to be powerful, she had no real concept of it until now. This time, however, Claire seemed to understand that the gap in strength between her and Robert was even larger than she had imagined!

"Their strength is indeed formidable, perhaps even surpassing the strongest of shadow hunters. Maybe only the angels who originally created the shadow hunters could be more powerful than them," said the Guardian, sighing lightly upon hearing Claire's words. Even though the lineage of shadow hunters had once flourished, compared to the current Robert and Valentine, they were far too weak!

"Correct, their strength in hell would be considered that of a demon lord. Such strength on Earth is also quite formidable. Apart from some hidden powerhouses, there are not many who are stronger than them…" Constantine agreed, nodding lightly.

"There are people on Earth even stronger than them?" Claire's eyes sparkled with disbelief. Robert and Valentine's current strength had already surpassed her understanding, and hearing Constantine mention even stronger individuals made it hard for Claire to accept.

After all, Claire had only recently entered the supernatural world and knew very little about it. The Magic Academy itself wasn't very strong, apart from dealing with demons, it had little interaction with the supernatural world. The academy knew that among the lineage of magicians, Kamathagee was a leading figure, featuring a powerful Supreme Mage, but beyond that, it knew very little…

"Earth, to some beings, isn't much, but to those just stepping into the supernatural world, Earth is vast. So vast that any random person you meet on the street could also be a member of the supernatural realm…" Constantine shook his head, speaking softly.

This wasn't something Constantine hadn't experienced before. In fact, there were a few times he almost fell just because he didn't understand the strength of the other party, including the first time he met Robert.

"So, what should I do to become stronger?" Claire said, lost in thought after hearing Constantine's words, murmuring absentmindedly after a long silence.

"Claire!" The Guardian became serious upon hearing Claire's words, "Do you realize how dangerous your current line of thought is? You haven't even mastered the abilities you have now, yet you're thinking of becoming even more powerful. This will lead you astray!"

"Originally, Valentine was like this too. He was an excellent shadow hunter, but when he coveted greater power, he went astray, becoming what he is now. Do you also wish to become like Valentine?!"

Claire lowered her head guiltily upon hearing the Guardian's words, falling silent once more. Beside her, some shadow hunters had harbored the same thoughts as Claire but now also fell into silence, feeling ashamed.

These shadow hunters had always fought against demons, never encountering any formidable opponents. Even with a recent surge in demon numbers, they hadn't faced any truly powerful demons because the powerful ones were either hiding or had been slain by Robert and Clark during their sweeps.

Therefore, these shadow hunters didn't think about whether their strength was sufficient; they hadn't seen the light, so they could endure the darkness.

But now, having witnessed the strength of Robert and Valentine, even the most talented Jess harbored thoughts similar to Claire's, knowing that even if he spent his lifetime developing his abilities, he could never become as powerful as Robert…

Fortunately, the Guardian noticed this and, through his rebuke of Claire, made the shadow hunters realize their error. Even though some shadow hunters still desired to increase their strength, the chances of them going astray were not high.

And to speak frankly, going astray also requires strength and talent. Valentine could reach today's level not just because he was led astray by others but also because of his top-notch talent among the shadow hunters.

Jess, the most talented of this generation of shadow hunters, wasn't nearly as gifted as Valentine, perhaps only Claire could surpass him a bit.

Thus, even though there was concern that someone among the shadow hunters might also go astray, it was sufficient to just pay attention to Jess, Claire, and a few others. The rest didn't have the capability to truly go astray; at most, they might become disheartened and give up their identity as shadow hunters.

Over the years, there were quite a few shadow hunters who did just that, which is why the shadow hunters in the Magic Academy were all quite young. They would eventually tire of the fate of continuously hunting demons and choose to abandon their duties…

"The Holy Grail…" However, what the Guardian didn't expect was that after falling into silence, Claire thought of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail was a sacred artifact of the shadow hunters, but it became a tool for Valentine's deviation. Claire wondered, if Valentine had become what he is now because of the demon blood, then what if angel blood was used instead? Would Valentine not have become what he is now?

As these thoughts flashed through Claire's mind, the tarot card with the Holy Grail image in her embrace began to emit a faint white light, concealed by her clothing and unnoticed by everyone, including Constantine and the Guardian, as their attention returned to the grand battle between Robert and Valentine.

"Why?! Why am I still not your match?!" Valentine, battling Robert, gradually became mentally unstable. He could hardly believe that he was being injured over and over by Robert. Even though his combat strength hadn't declined, Valentine distinctly felt that his strength was completely suppressed by Robert, an unacceptable reality for him.

Of course, Valentine's mental collapse wasn't surprising, given his sudden acquisition of powerful abilities without understanding he was merely a pawn in someone else's game. This made it difficult for awakeners like him to maintain a stable mentality when faced with setbacks.

With a loud "Bang!" Robert punched Valentine from the sky, crashing him into the ground, creating an unfathomable hole. Even with the formation's reinforcement, the ground could not withstand Robert's power, and Valentine was severely injured in this move.

Of course, possessing both angelic and demonic blood, Valentine recovered quickly, but his mentality had completely collapsed. He couldn't accept his current situation because his thoughts told him the outcome shouldn't be like this!

"No! I refuse to accept this! This isn't real! I am to become a demon lord, the future ruler of Earth. How could I lose to someone of unknown origin?!" Below the earth, Valentine struggled to accept his current situation, roaring in anger, his divine light dimming as the power of demons surged within him.

While it's said that the power of angels and demons were integrated within him, after falling angels entered hell, they derived new powers from the hellish essence, abandoning their former divine light. How could Valentine, of all people, perfectly wield the integrated powers of angels and demons?

The power within Valentine was forcibly accommodated within his body by the consciousness of the angel who entered him. Despite human blood serving as a binder, it appeared perfect only superficially. To fully merge and derive stronger powers from the angelic and demonic

 forces, even the controlling angel couldn't achieve it, let alone Valentine.

Now, as Valentine's mentality completely collapsed, the balance of power within him began to destabilize. Compared to the divine power of angels, the power of demons was more fitting for Valentine's current state of mind!

"Is his energy becoming chaotic? And yet, nothing has happened? Do I really need to kill him again for the person behind the scenes to make another move to save him?" Robert sensed the chaotic energy beneath the ground and muttered to himself, "You better keep a close watch. Don't let Valentine be taken away again…"

At this moment, Robert wasn't talking to himself; he was communicating with Clark, who was observing the situation. With Robert alone, it was difficult to notice the movements of the person behind Valentine, but together with Clark, the chances of detection greatly increased.

"Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on things!" Clark nodded, his voice reaching Robert's mind.

"Good, then I'll go down and stir him up a bit more!" Robert nodded and instantly disappeared, heading towards the deep pit where Valentine was. Since Valentine showed no sign of coming up, Robert had no choice but to go down himself!

"Trash!" However, just as Robert had just entered the deep pit, a terrifying consciousness swept out, and the demonic power surging around Valentine instantly subsided. Then, a voice akin to that of a deity sounded.

This voice wasn't addressing Robert, but Robert felt a tremendous pressure, his figure flashing away from the deep pit and reappearing on the ground, vigilantly observing the pit.

In that moment of consciousness, Robert felt an immense pressure. He wasn't sure if even Clark, at his full strength, could exert such pressure on him, but Robert was certain that the consciousness during the battle wasn't as terrifying as Diana's!

As the divine voice emerged, Claire, whose consciousness was somewhat blurry, took out the tarot card with the Holy Grail image and extracted the Holy Grail itself.

"Claire! What are you doing?!" Constantine reacted the quickest, calling out to Claire in surprise.

"Huh? Ah!" Claire came to her senses upon hearing Constantine's voice, shuddering involuntarily and instinctively releasing the Holy Grail. However, the Holy Grail didn't fall but hovered in mid-air, enveloping the entire Magic Academy in a bizarre power.

As this strange power emerged, everyone present, except Constantine, lost their ability to move, standing still as if turned to wooden statues…

"What the hell?!" Constantine exclaimed, realizing something was wrong with the Holy Grail. Just as he was about to form a magical seal to counter the Holy Grail, a sense of life-or-death crisis enveloped him. As someone who had navigated the edge of life and death for many years, Constantine instinctively trusted his initial reaction, changing the magical seal in his hand. With a flash of divine light, Constantine's figure vanished from that spot, leaving a gap where the divine light had swept.

With a hum, as Constantine disappeared, the Holy Grail began to rotate above the heads of Claire and the others, casting sacred white light upon them. Their expressions instantly weakened, but they remained unconscious and motionless, like statues.

Then, droplets of sacred blood rose from the bodies of the shadow hunters and flew into the Holy Grail. Claire and the others fell to the ground, feeling incredibly weak, as if their own powers had vanished, leaving them without the strength to move.

Clearly, not only did the tracking magic taught by Constantine require a price to be paid, but the lineage of shadow hunters also needed to pay a price. The angel that had bestowed the angelic blood reclaimed its blood!

This angelic blood had been passed down through generations of shadow hunters, making each generation weaker while absorbing the power developed by the shadow hunters and the residual hellish energy from the demons they killed. This was the price the shadow hunters paid for their power…

The power bestowed by angels was not without cost!

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