Chapter 361: Anomaly

The elemental ocean manifested by Ace was riddled with holes from the shadow penetrations. Alex seized the opportunity to fuse the remaining “Star of Ultimate Evil,” temporarily stabilizing his Level 3 state.

Relying on the Noble Phantasm, he successfully stabilized as a Pseudo-Rank High Demon. The six wings on his back solidified completely, and he shattered the Mental Imagery World manifested by Ace, breaking free.

Ace stared at the six-winged High Demon Alex, who had now taken physical form. His eyes and the cowlick on his head flickered simultaneously. In Ace’s vision, Alex gradually became transparent, his state being thoroughly analyzed.

Alex’s texture structure, the surging energy interwoven with shadows and the Abyss, his overall strength, and the rune structures hidden deeper within gradually became clear before Ace’s eyes.

“Mental strength around 1200 units, physical strength around 1100 units. Incomprehensible mysterious rune structures fill Alex’s body.

“But those mysterious rune structures don’t seem to be integrated with Alex. He must have forcibly achieved the Level 3 state by borrowing the effect of the Noble Phantasm. Since it’s unstable, it’s possible to crack it!”

Ace pondered while dodging Alex’s attacks agilely using the Portal spell. His use of the Portal became increasingly adept. One second, the Four-Element Pulverizing Disc was in his hand; the next, it appeared above Alex’s head, leaving Alex battered and miserable.

Ace wasn’t deliberately showing off. Alex was the rarest of combat experimental subjects. Although his strength had reached Level 3, he had only barely arrived there. Ace’s physical and mental strength were infinitely close to the 1,000-unit threshold, making this the perfect opportunity to test the gap between himself and an ordinary Level 3 Life.

Relying on extremely mobile spatial leap spells, unless the opponent could lock down space, dealing with Ace was incredibly difficult.

The Four-Element Pulverizing Disc wasn’t Ace’s most damaging elemental spell, but it was the most practical. If he could charge up, Ace could create elemental spells with greater lethality, but the enemy wouldn’t give him the time. Therefore, the Four-Element Pulverizing Disc, which could be used instantly, was the best choice.

Alex was driven mad by the newcomer Ace. If Arno’s constant explosive power-ups taught him what talent was, then Ace taught him the gap between eras.

Having lived for so long, Alex had never seen such a strange character. Ignoring space, leaping recklessly—clearly only possessing Golden Hero-level strength, yet wielding a Mental Imagery World that even Legendary Heroes might not possess.

Possessing a Mental Imagery World was one thing, but the key was that the manifested domain was different every time, as if using him as a whetstone.

“Ah! Where did you pop out from? Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why do you possess such power? Why!”

Boom! Shadows raged. Over a thousand sharp Shadow Claws extended rapidly, attacking everything within a 3-kilometer radius around Alex.

Ace watched all this with inquisitive eyes. The Portal flashed twice, and he easily escaped Alex’s attack range, stating firmly, “its the power of knowledge!”

Alex fused the thousand Shadow Claws into one, transforming them into a terrifying giant claw emitting an ominous shadow aura. Even space trembled slightly because of it.

Ace leaped backward repeatedly with whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The faint spatial instability couldn’t interfere with his leaps. On the contrary, Ace used this slightly unstable spatial state to continuously improve his proficiency with the 3-Ring Spell “Portal,” becoming more and more adept.

In the vision of the Eye of Truth (Pseudo), the mana within Alex’s body was being consumed violently. In just three minutes, nearly half of it had been used up.

Through occasional counterattacks, Ace also understood the power of that terrifying giant claw. The Four-Element Pulverizing Disc could only wound its surface, which would heal immediately.

Terrifying whispers permeated the air, constantly polluting the mind and guiding the opponent toward madness. Regrettably for Alex, Ace possessed the Glazed Heart Fire that burned all falsehoods; this influence was turned into fuel for the heart fire.

Movement speed approaching the speed of sound and occasional supersonic blade attacks should have been impossible to guard against. Even Ace himself only had a flight speed of half the speed of sound.

However, what Ace possessed was more than just the flight techniques of an ordinary Great Hero. The 3-Ring Spell “Portal” ignored distance; the time taken to move was merely the time to cast the spell and step through the gate.

As Ace became more proficient with the 3-Ring Spell “Portal,” the giant claw struggled to harm him even slightly. Even if blades protruded abruptly, they would be blocked by Ace’s Mental Imagery Manifestation.

Ace’s Glazed Heart Fire was still refining the 2/5 of the “Star of Ultimate Evil.” The Mana Lake remained overflowing, while Alex’s power was being constantly consumed, leaving less than a third.

“Going a bit mad? The huge disparity in knowledge structure means that even if you possess power far exceeding my life level, you cannot crush me, or even suppress me. But since you’ve offered me your highest respect, allow me to return the favor.”

Ace took off his hat and bowed elegantly while continuously teleporting to dodge the attacks of the terrifying giant claw. His eyes were cold, like looking at a subject about to go onto the dissection table.

He already had an idea on how to deal with Alex. Arno had woken up. Although Arno had completely converted to the Hatred Creed, he was undoubtedly a Level 2 Life, what could be called an Dark Knight or Knight of Sin.

Ace intended to use order and vitality to counter the demon, creating a brand-new 3-Ring or even 4-Ring spell, but this all required time.

Within his Mental Imagery World, the Sea of Vitality and Blood Qi surged. The True Spirit descended into the Mental Imagery World, transforming into a giant tens of thousands of feet tall, reaching out to pluck the highest star in the Mental Imagery World.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Sounds rang out. Images of sundials, water clocks, hourglasses, mechanical clocks, and other anomalies emerged one after another.

Seeming to have plucked a mysterious rule that had existed since ancient times, the anomalies gradually appeared around Ace from the inside out. Countless people seemed to be whispering, and deities seemed to be shouting.

Alex rubbed his eyes, looking at all this in disbelief. Spatial leaps were already incredible enough, but now anomalies he couldn’t understand were faintly appearing.

At this moment, Alex began to deeply doubt himself. He had paid an excessive price to possess the ability to become a Pseudo-Rank High Demon outside his territory, so why was the opponent handling it with such ease?

His authority’s power and speed were not lacking at all, yet he couldn’t harm or touch the opponent in the slightest. In the face of absolute speed, everything seemed useless.

Runes flickered in Ace’s eyes as he bore the time anomalies on his back. A voice as cold and precise as a scalpel rang out: “Alex, you are very good. I have gained a basic understanding of existences newly entered into the Legend rank. Thanks to you for all this. Let me play a farewell song for you. Wander on, High Demon Alex!”

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