Chapter 383: A Single Strike
Pale golden light blossomed. Ace had no time to hesitate. He set the coordinates to a certain alien dimension on the outer plane and activated the combo spell “Spatial Banishment.”
Malgan’s strength was terrifying. His muscles swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye, almost breaking free from the control of “Fixed-Time Stagnation.” Just then, Ace’s spell finally activated. A spatial vortex swept Malgan and Helix away together, vanishing from sight.
Ace gasped for breath but dared not wait. He opened a Portal and immediately fled outside the city.
Only a small portion of Mana remained in his Lake of Mana; he was powerless to banish another Pseudo-Rank Legendary Hero. He had to escape immediately.
The King of Norton held the statue of the God of Strength high, seeming to trigger some kind of power. He flew rapidly into the sky and swung forcefully in the direction Ace was fleeing. Boom!
A phantom of the statue, magnified hundreds of times, pressed down on Ace. It actually passed through the Portal, and an extremely strong, oppressive force focused on Ace.
Ace was caught off guard and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His body was crushed almost instantly; his internal organs shifted, and his limbs were broken.
This was pure strength, unrivaled pure strength!
Enduring the discomfort of his body being on the verge of disintegration, Ace used his meager remaining Mana to activate the Portal. With several consecutive flashes, he disappeared from the border of Norton City-State.
The King of Norton stared at Ace’s retreating figure and said with some annoyance:
“Damn fellow, he arrived so quickly. His strength shouldn’t be enough to kill Malgan. A violent spatial tremor occurred there just now; perhaps Malgan was swept into spatial turbulence. To be able to pry open spatial barriers—something only Legendary Heroes can do with Noble Phantasms—using strength equivalent to a Great Hero, and to survive a strike from my God’s statue… what exactly is this guy!
“But even if he didn’t die, he probably won’t live long.”
Having escaped the Norton border, Ace’s body was festering all over. Apart from his head, the rest of his body had completely atrophied and become necrotic. With only a few minutes left, Ace’s life had almost reached its end. His body lay powerlessly on the grassy wilderness.
With only a head left, Ace decisively abandoned his body. Glazed Heart Fire emerged, instantly burning his body to ashes. The Mental Imagery World manifested behind him, sweeping up the ashes of his body and scattering them back into the Mental Imagery World.
“Heh, does this count as burning my own bones and scattering the ashes? It really is quite miserable. If I hadn’t analyzed the ‘Golden Regeneration’, I’m afraid I would truly be doomed this time!”
Ace’s head smiled bitterly, floating in mid-air, while his mind immersed itself into the Mental Imagery World.
In the Mental Imagery World, Ace’s True Spirit dived directly to the bottom layer of the dream world, hovering at the top of the tall pyramid of rune structures. He gently stroked the 4-Ring Spell Model “Golden Regeneration” with his hand. Mental Power poured into this complex and intricate Spell Model bit by bit, following specific textures.
As Ace’s Mental Imagery poured in, the “Golden Regeneration” Spell Model blossomed with colorful brilliance bit by bit, finally lighting up completely and floating in the hands of Ace’s True Spirit.
Ace’s True Spirit returned to the surface of the dream world with the Spell Model and raised it high into the sky. Pale gold mixed with deep red light shone brightly. Ace’s head was enveloped in colorful brilliance. If one could observe the cellular or even more microscopic level, they would find that the brilliance had penetrated every cell.
The wound at Ace’s neck began to surge. A mass of sarcoma grew from the wound, accompanied by some mucus. Stimulated by Ace’s scant remaining Mana, it proliferated rapidly into a giant meatball.
Ace’s head looked somewhat comical stuck on top of the meatball. His eyes were closed tightly. Within the Mental Imagery World, his True Spirit was manipulating “Golden Regeneration,” restoring his body bit by bit. About half an hour later, the meatball exploded with a boom.
A vigorous and slender body with eight-pack abs, possessing the perfect golden ratio like an ancient Greek sculpture, walked out wet.
Ace touched his wet body, his lips trembling as he whispered, “Clean and New.”
Mana flowed like water. His body was instantly dry and refreshed as a cool breeze blew past.
Several items—underwear, trousers, a shirt, boots, and a magic robe—manifested from Ace’s Mental Imagery World. Ace dressed neatly, conjured a magic hat to wear on his head, and walked toward the Larr Mountains with elegant steps.
With his mana nearly dried up, he had to meditate again to recover. Since the commotion caused by the Star Meditation Method was too great, Ace decided to meditate in the Larr Mountains.
Several days later, night was gradually falling.
In a town on the edge of Eric City-State, Nicholas had finally absorbed enough energy to consolidate his state and achieve symbiosis with the mecha. This mecha was excavated from the Pre-Civilization. By achieving perfect symbiosis with the mecha, Nicholas finally possessed the strength of a standard Great Hero.
Although Amid did not approve of taking this path, he still said joyfully, “Arch-Speaker Nicholas, your power is enough for us to gain a foothold in Salia. A stable strength comparable to a Great Hero will be the firmest foundation of our organization.”
Nicholas nodded reservedly, then frowned and said, “I originally intended to attack the Great Hero Helix of Milne. I didn’t expect him to have disappeared along with Malgan. The ‘Dark Raven Devil’ is truly astonishing. In just one week, he killed the Great Divine Artisan Bunian and caused the disappearance of the Golden Hero Malgan and the Great Hero Helix. However, he himself has also vanished. I wonder if…”
The handsome bald man, Amid, covered his entire body with liquid mecha and whispered:
“The ‘Dark Raven Devil’ took a hit from the God of Strength statue. Even if he isn’t dead, he will probably lay low for the near future to lick his wounds. We believe the enemy will likely take the initiative to search for his traces and kill him while he is exhausted and his injuries haven’t healed.
“We only need to find the enemy to find him.”
While the two were speaking, in the Royal Palace of Bakar City, King Ludendorff used the Universal Mirror to convene a Mirror Meeting with the other four Kings.
“Although we have lost three Great Heroes, the ‘Dark Raven Devil’ has also been heavily injured. He cannot withstand a strike from the God of Strength statue. We must find him immediately and kill him before he recovers, burying the Desecrator once and for all!”
As soon as the meeting began, the King of Milne spoke somewhat excitedly. Milne was the city-state with the heaviest losses, having lost two Great Heroes and becoming the weakest of the five states almost instantly.
“He must be killed. The only question now is: should the Kings lead the campaign personally?”
Ludendorff hit the nail on the head, voicing the most critical issue at hand.
Relying solely on the Jim Brothers of Eric City-State and the two brothers of Bain City-State might not be enough to deal with the cunning ‘Dark Raven Devil’. It would be difficult to truly kill him. If he just escaped, it would be fine, but if he managed to counter-kill one or two Great Heroes, the situation in northern Salia would collapse completely.
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