CH 203

The crouching earth giant, which was around twenty meters in height and around 4~50 meters in width, slowly raised his body from the ground. He did not care about the Frost Wyrm Wyverns that towered over everyone else. His yellow eyes flashed as he took a huge step forward.

Thud!!!

A massive earthquake erupted, changing the surrounding terrain.

A Spirit King was the source of nature. As such, they had great control over their own attributes, their power reaching as far as their eyes could see. Since Gnoass was the spirit of the earth as well as the origin of the land, no territory existed that was not within reach of Gnoass’ powers. Any and all land was Gnoass’ territory. Even a strong existence at the level of a swordmaster would have a hard time against Gnoass.

If it was the power of Gnoass’ main body, then it would definitely reach the level of a grandmaster. However, the power that a Spirit King could use in the middle world obviously had certain limitations. Still, the basic specs would not disappear and would still be a cut above the rest of the beings in this continent.

“It’s really sucking up a lot of spirit power.”

A huge amount of spirit power had been siphoned off of Davey, making his head spin. After all, a large amount of the spirit power that he had stored in his body was decreasing at a very rapid rate.

Most of the power that Gnoass displayed and used was derived from the spirit power stored in Davey’s body. Naturally, the more Gnoass went on a rampage, the higher the consumption of spirit power.

A gigantic Frost Wyrm Wyvern roared as it flew over and scratched Gnoass with its sharp claws. However, Gnoass immediately raised both hands and grabbed its wings. His forceful grip rendered the Wyvern helpless.

When the Frost Wyrm Wyvern shrieked and struggled fiercely, it attracted the other Wyverns’ attention. The other Wyverns quickly aimed their muzzles toward Gnoass’ head and fired their freezing Breath.

“Stop playing around and finish it quickly. Do you think my spirit power is infinite?”

[I’m not trying to be funny!]

Gnoass’ yellow eyes flashed briefly when he heard Davey’s grumbling.

Crack, crack, crack!!!

At the same time, another arm popped up from Gnoass’ back and grabbed the Frost Wyrm Wyvern’s snout behind him. He then proceeded to snap the wings of the Wyvern in his hand before slamming it down to the ground.

Just like that, a gigantic Undead that was almost forty meters in size collapsed helplessly under Gnoass’ hands.

“Urk… Death Swamp!!!”

At that moment, the hard and solid earth beneath Davey’s feet suddenly turned into black tar and aimed to devour him.

[7th Level Holy Magic]

[Purification]

Death Swamp was a dark magic of the 7th Circle. It was a spell that could create a swamp of death that corroded everything at a rapid rate.

Davey instinctively used holy magic and casted Purification. Even if it was purely by reflex, the casting was done a bit too late. It was only for a very short moment, but he frowned upon seeing the metal on his shoes had melted.

“What’s this? Are you telling me to fight barefoot?”

Davey tried to complain, but he really could not bring himself to do so. This all happened because of his own carelessness.

When Davey turned his head, he saw the bastard whom he had just pulled Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon out of. He muttered, “You’re not dead yet?”

Davey thought that Blue Ribbon’s power to cut off and destroy immortality would kill the bastard in a single blow since it was a direct hit. It seemed like Davey had underestimated the guy.

“You got me once. Do you think you’ll get me another time?! I don’t know how you have the Spirit King under your command, but if you let it run wild like that… You are going to struggle to maintain the Spirit King!”

Just like what the bastard screeched in Davey’s ears, Davey needed a lot of power to let Gnoass run wild like that.

—It’s really too much for you.

Davey needed a lot of time to recover. However, because of the circumstances, he had no choice but to overuse the power that he was releasing. Even if Davey had a mana ring specifically optimized to help him release the greatest power, his body’s endurance would still face its limit.

“That’s true…”

Davey opened his eyes slightly as he moved his now slightly heavier body. When the bastard opened his eyes and picked up his staff that was emitting black energy currents, Davey said, “I don’t know what you like…”

Swoosh—

Bang!!!

“So, I prepared everything. Hey, where will I use them if you’re already terrified?”

“Crazy bastard! How dare you try and bluff your way out?!!”

“It’s a bit hard to believe, right? To be honest, I’m also someone who defies common sense.”

Bang!!!

As if he was trying to stage a counterattack, Grell shot out black bullets from his body.

The black bullets easily moved at the speed of light. On top of that, they were so sharp and cutting that a simple metal bullet could never compare. The effects of the bullets were ridiculously shocking.

—He reinforced the 3rd Circle Death Bullet? Considering the force behind that attack, it seems like the power has reached around the 6th circle… That’s a bit abnormal.

Dozens of bullets flew swiftly and tried to pierce through Davey, who evaded the attack by kicking around the surrounding terrain without hesitation.

The constant firing of the bullets eventually turned the area black, because everything rotted and decayed. If one bullet so much as grazed Davey…

Sizzle!!!

“Oh my.”

—Davey?!

Just then, one of the black bullets nicked Davey’s sleeve. His clothing began to corrode, turning into black powder. Not only that, but it also affected his forearm, leaving a scar on his otherwise fair and spotless arm.

—Hurry! Use Purification!

“There you go.”

Sizzle!

As if it had been waiting, the holy power in Davey’s magic moved and began to burn away the death energy that tried to encroach upon his body. The pain that followed was quite considerable, but it was truly nothing. After all, Davey had gone through many things during his training back in the Hall.

“Paralyze!”

“Confuse!”

“Blind!”

Not long after, curses—a trademark of those that dealt with dark mana—began to pour out.

The use of the curses was to slow one’s opponents down, so one could use an attack magic and finish them off.

Davey turned dizzy. In fact, even his vision was starting to blur, so he couldn’t avoid the black bullets that were flying his way.

The bastard was strong. Simply looking at the extent of his power, Davey could tell that Grell Orfan was in the transcendental realm. He was a being on par with Shandra Minea and the vampire that Davey had met during the Rowane Kingdom’s rebellion.

So far, Davey had only met two transcendental level beings. However, compared to Pace, who had only reached that level due to temporary doping, and Shandra Minea’s clone that had lost all sense of reason, Grell Orfan was far stronger.

This was because Grell Orfan was a true powerhouse who had reached the 8th Circle. In fact, compared to the stupid mosquito who had only thought of using pure force to suppress and hold Davey down, the Lich currently in front of Davey was freely casting dozens of hidden attacks and abilities.

Even if people were on the same level of power, the force that they could exert would drastically differ depending on how the individual used their power. Except for holy mana, Davey had recovered all of his mana and had reached the 8th Circle. The Lich in front of him was also on the 8th Circle, but was also ridiculously strong.

“I’m a bit touched.”

Thwack!!!

So far, Davey’s enemy had made moves that were still within his acceptable range.

“If you truly want to threaten me, you should have dragged the World Tree’s true body.”

“Don’t make me laugh! The giant tree that supports the world is life itself, it’s not something that an existence like you can handle!”

Even before Davey had reached the Master level, he was already able to deal with Master-level beings. If someone at his level could push him back, then it would be better for him to just bite his tongue and kill himself.

“Keheok?!”

Of course, it was only natural for Davey’s body to start corroding from the onslaught of magic. However, it shocked the Lich that Davey was able to escape the rain of attacks intact and could still jump at him.

“Let’s see if you can still endure this.”

Davey did not trust that the Lich would answer his questions. So, as soon as he reached out to grab Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon, he immediately cut down the huge staff that was swinging to counter Red Ribbon’s attack.

“What?!”

Davey could tell that the staff was made out of a very tough material. If Blue Ribbon could cut down anything that had transcended the laws of nature, then Red Ribbon had abilities on the other end of the spectrum.

After stabbing the Lich successfully, Davey immediately stabbed him in the head with Blue Ribbon.

“Aaaaaaaaack!”

A painful, terrifying, and desperate scream rang out in the area. Then, openly showing his hostility towards Blue Ribbon, Grell Orfan yelled, “That damned weird blade!!!”

[Waaaah!]

The hilt of the blade moved slightly from Blue Ribbon’s sudden outburst. She was seemingly ready to cry.

“Who are you calling weird? You crazy bastard.”

Crack, crack, crack!!!

The Lich’s skull now had a gaping hole. It looked like Davey had spun his sword around after stabbing the Lich’s skull.

‘I’ll stab you in your head as many times as the hilt of my sword moves!’

Since the Lich had made several precautions against Blue Ribbon, he did not die so easily this time. He had fully disguised his preparations, so it was a bit hard for Davey to notice. After all, it was difficult to fish a needle out of a haystack. But if that was the case, then…

“Guess I’ll just have to burn everything down.”

Thud!!! Crack!!

After pulling Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon out of Grell Orfan, Davey summoned his cross-shaped divine spear, Longinus. He flipped it over before striking the Lich's body.

“Argh?! What the hell is this…?!”

“Here, let me give you a present.”

[8th Level Holy Magic]

[Divine Flame Cannon (Upgraded)]

Baaaaaang!!!

White cannons shot out of Longinus’ tip, going straight through Grell’s body.

Since Davey had decided to go all out, he would not spare any expense at all.

Vwoooooong!!!

The bastard glared sharply at Davey as the holy magic, a power that he couldn’t disregard, began to pour out from the cross and embed deep in his body. Then, he stretched his open palm out toward Davey and shouted, “Death Breath!!!”

Baaaaaaang!!!

The counterattack happened in a split second. However, Davey had no plans of losing this match. Most of the mana stored in Davey’s body fought back without any hesitation, pushing him a dozen meters away from the Lich.

“Cough… urk…  I told you, I will not be hit twice by the same attack. It’s true, you’re strong. But compared to your level of power, your output is declining,” the Lich mumbled as if he had noticed the strangeness of Davey’s body. “In the end, that’s all you can amount to. You won’t be able to kill me this time, bastard.”

Davey, who slowly raised his body from his crouched position, opened his hands and said, “Tadah! Guess what’s this?”

Above his palms was a sphere made up of an ominous black light.

Blue Ribbon’s power could destroy anyone, even if they had a decent amount of defensive magic slapped on their bodies. The only reason why the Lich bastard had survived was that he had a medium hidden somewhere in his body where he had directed Blue Ribbon’s power to. It was a pretty smart move. However, it was a complete mistake on his part to forget that Davey was someone who could also use dark magic.

“That?!”

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“Dark magic. You’re not the only one who can use it. Why are you trying to teach a fish how to swim, huh?”

The Lich instinctively rushed towards Davey. Unfortunately, the black ball of light was unable to withstand the tight grip of Davey’s hand and easily broke down.

“Aaaaaaaaaack!”

The bastard, who had lost his protective layer, collapsed from Blue Ribbon’s constant assault. The speed at which his body collapsed was faster than before.

“Now, there are only six more left.”

The Lich’s eyes swayed at Davey’s warning. He screamed, “Impossible! How can a Saint bearing the stigmata… How can you use dark magic… And how can you use spirit magic?!!!”

Spirit magic was a lot more forgiving, so even those who used the sword and some kind of magic could still learn how to use it. The most ridiculous thing, if Davey stood in the Lich’s shoes, was the fact that both holy magic and dark magic were coexisting in his body. Davey thought that the bastard in front of him would definitely love to learn about all of the elements and power hidden within him.

Those thoughts lingered in Davey’s head as he crushed Grell’s skull with his hands. He spat out a short breath as he stood up straight.

—After everything is over, you have to rest like you're dead for months. If you don’t listen to me, then I’ll force you to do it.

Perserque snapped coldly at Davey. She could not let go of what she had seen, especially after seeing the side effects that Davey had to endure from fighting with strong opponents.

“Perserque… Have you seen an enemy take into consideration my situation before attacking me?”

The short question made Perserque go mute.

“If I collapse, the entire Heins territory will be destroyed. The humans will die and all of the elves will be taken away.”

—Davey!

“I don’t have any grand cause like saving the world. I never intended to do that in the first place.”

However, Davey was proud and had a great sense of dignity.

“I have to show them that they need to be prepared to get swept away if they tried to mess with me.”

This was not about Davey’s war with the World Tree. This was a warning to all the beings that hid and waited to strike at Davey once chaos unfolded. Davey was telling them: I don’t care what you want to do, but don’t ever dare touch me and my people.

The moment the Lich collapsed, the remaining three or four Frost Wyrm Wyverns flew away in escape. Simply put, those who could not feel pain nor fear ran away and the bastard who had lost his life once again sensed great danger and immediately retreated to save his strength.

—How will you find the next one? He will not show himself to you so easily anymore.

The bastard must have already realized that he was no match against Davey in direct combat. After all, he had already been hit once or twice in the same way.

Davey could tell from the Lich’s movements that he was trying to revive someone or something. This meant that he would have an advantage over Davey if Davey continued to drag things on.

If the Lich was wise, he would never dare show up in front of Davey anymore. If that was the case, then…

“I’ll go and find him myself.”

While breathing roughly, Davey slowly woke up the element mana that he still had hidden in his body and cast a warp magic spell in front of him.

“You better hide as best as you can.”

Hum, hum, hum!!!

“I can see your head~”

Baaam!!!

An empty and solitary region appeared in front of Davey as his background changed. There was no place better than this, since there was nothing but bones here. It was also very far away from where Davey had been, so the Lich could reconstruct the body and recover.

“S… Space transfer magic?! How did you find this place?!”

“Do you not know how magic works, punk?”

Davey listened to the Lich’s shock and horror. He never expected that Davey would be able to follow and find him right after his resurrection. Nevertheless, it was already too late for him.

Slash!!!

Davey slashed the Lich’s head once again. He could not help but smirk when he saw the newly reconstructed bastard’s skull get trampled on like this. Then, he said, “Five more times left, right?”