Chapter 174: Passive: Composite Magic! The Fierce Battle Concludes
There's something wrong with this black-haired youth!
Quinn Esai's expression remained calm, but a hint of solemnity showed in the depths of his eyes.
If before, he had only considered the other party a bluffing fool, overconfident in his own talent and power, then the series of magic spells he had cast—from the magic ritual, to summoning the angel, to fighting against the Gray-robed Mage—told a different story.
Despite such high-intensity consumption of magic power, the other party showed no signs of weakness from overuse.
An innate ability? A magic item?
Whatever it was—
The power he displayed had reached a level that had to be reported to his superiors.
However, his current private actions could not be revealed to anyone. Otherwise, not only would he be kicked out of the glorious unit, the Black Scripture...
Even his family would be affected!
His luck was truly terrible. What should have been a sure thing was inexplicably interrupted by this mysterious fellow.
"Basilisk!"
Quinn Esai's bright red pupils turned cold. He was furious inside; now was not the time to hold back.
"Roar!" Following the cry, the entire ground trembled as a gigantic, ten-meter-long Basilisk appeared before Quinn Esai.
The tremors continued.
"Crimson Lizard!"
A fiery red lizard, its entire body covered in crimson patterns and its appearance ferocious, also appeared on the scene. It was slightly smaller than the Basilisk.
In the blink of an eye!
Four giant lizards had already gathered before Quinn Esai: two Azure Lizards, one Basilisk, and one fiery red lizard.
However, it wasn't over yet.
Quinn Esai raised his right hand. A magic item, a ring on his middle finger, suddenly shattered, causing his aura to surge.
"Two-Headed Hellhound!"
"Swamp Giant Crocodile!"
"Black-Scaled Beetle!"
"Venomous Wolf Spider!"
"Frenzied Treant!"
"Manticore!"
Vicious, berserk roars echoed continuously through the forest. Ten monsters, the smallest three meters long and the largest ten, appeared one after another, their terrifying auras spreading wantonly.
If placed in any jungle, these monsters would be considered apex predators, regional overlords. Yet, here they were, gathered together!
This area of the wetland's dense forest seemed to be enveloped by an invisible aura. In that instant, whether it was the chirping of birds in the distance or the bugs on the ground, all vanished without a trace.
"Ten monsters? Is this the strength of a member of the Black Scripture?" Tang Zheng showed a rare hint of surprise, his eyelid twitching.
From the auras these monsters exuded, he could confirm that they were all at a standard of level 20 or above.
Especially the largest of them, the giant Basilisk, which should have reached its race's maximum level of 28.
He quickly glanced at his stat panel, looking at the information that appeared. Intermediate Job Class: Magic Beast Summoner.
"No need to be so surprised."
"You're not the only one who wields power beyond normal comprehension. You should feel honored to witness this greatness."
Quinn Esai's voice came from behind the monsters, each one revealing a savage gaze.
Whoosh—
The ten massive monsters parted to the sides. Quinn Esai walked out with a measured pace, looked at Tang Zheng opposite him, and smiled slightly. "Now, can you answer again? Who is it that's going to die?"
"You are indeed stronger than that other guy."
Tang Zheng let out a soft breath. "I still think you're the one who will die."
The air fell silent.
Boom!
All ten powerful monsters moved at once.
"Fifth-Tier Magic—"
Tang Zheng's magic power surged. Specks of crimson fire emerged from his arms, quickly gathering before his chest to form a draconic flame. This was done by using the passive ability 'Elemental Attribute Alteration' to change the original 'Dragon Lightning' into 'Dragon Flame'.
Tang Zheng had previously used 'Silver Knight's Lance' to experiment with the differences in magical attacks after converting them to the four main attributes. He found that the wind element had the strongest destructive power, but the fire element dealt area-of-effect damage. Besides, 'Dragon Lightning' itself wasn't purely a single-target offensive spell.
Whoosh—
As the draconic flame coalesced, a draconic hurricane formed from a fierce cyan wind also gathered around Tang Zheng.
The flames and the hurricane rose from Tang Zheng's body, converging in mid-air to form an even more terrifying aura of magic power.
These were clearly two different spells! A normal magic caster couldn't possibly use two spells at the same time, unless they used a special magic enhancement technique like 'Double/Triple Magic'. But even then, that would only release two or three identical spells simultaneously, not two different ones.
This situation was, of course, due to the Mad Mage's passive ability, 'Prepare Magic', which allowed him to store one spell in advance. The purpose of his earlier banter with Quinn Esai was to covertly store this spell.
"Dragon Flame, Dragon Wind!"
Tang Zheng's eyes widened as he unleashed both fifth-tier magic spells at once.
The two forces collided in mid-air and fused. It was like pouring hot oil onto a burning fire; the rampaging flames expanded.
In mid-air, it swelled into a dragon's head made of fire, about four meters in size, burning with a crimson glow.
Boom!
The moment the flame dragon head collided with the ten monsters, it exploded, creating a monstrous wave of fire that swept through the surroundings.
Agonized shrieks and roars came from the group of monsters. The surrounding dense forest was completely swallowed by the flames. Blinding firelight shot into the sky, turning countless trees to ash. The broken branches and rotten leaves on the ground were incinerated in an instant.
The ten terrifying monsters that had been charging forward only managed a few pained cries before they, like the surrounding trees, vanished.
A fifth-tier magical attack was not something monsters around level 20 could withstand, let alone the combination of 'Dragon Flame' and 'Dragon Wind', which unleashed a power far exceeding that of a normal fifth-tier spell.
As the firelight dissipated,
The large patch of dense forest ahead had vanished, replaced by a stretch of scorched earth that appeared before Tang Zheng.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a figure shot out from beneath the scorched ground. A battered Quinn Esai soared into the sky, flying away at high speed.
A magic item for flight!
"As expected, you're not dead!"
Tang Zheng wasn't surprised at all to see that Quinn Esai had survived such a powerful magical attack. The prompt for gaining experience hadn't appeared, after all.
He was a member of the Black Scripture, after all. It would be impossible for him not to have a life-saving trump card.
Flight!
A current of magic power quickly enveloped his entire body.
"You two, one of you watch the Gray-robed Mage, the other go and capture the Twin Witches!" Tang Zheng instructed the two Tranquility Archon Angels beside him before soaring into the air in pursuit.
"Damn it!"
"What in the world is with that guy!"
Quinn Esai's delicate, soft golden hair was now a mess, the tips of it scorched in many places. He looked utterly wretched.
The airflow generated by his rapid flight continuously whipped past him, causing his blackened cloak to flap loudly in the wind.
Quinn Esai yanked hard, tearing off the inconspicuous gray cloak and tossing it away.
It was an extremely expensive piece of magic armor. Not only did it possess the ability of invisibility and resistance to detection magic, but it also offered excellent protection.
But against two fifth-tier magic attacks, it clearly couldn't hold up and was completely ruined!
Quinn Esai's face was so grim it looked like water would drip from it. The ten strongest monsters in his possession were all dead. The words 'heavy losses' were not enough to describe the heartache Quinn Esai felt. These were powerful monsters he had spent a great deal of stamina to collect.
They could handle various opponents and different environments!
Most importantly, half of his strength was derived from using these monsters to enhance himself. Now, with the death of his ten strongest monsters, it was a foregone conclusion.
He had been utterly defeated at the hands of that mysterious youth.
Something's not right—
This is too strange. That person must have a secret!
Swoosh!
The sound of pursuit tore through the air from behind.
Quinn Esai's expression changed. He glanced back at Tang Zheng, who was already catching up, cursed inwardly, and raised his hand to remove the ring from his left thumb. He opened his palm and waved it behind him, and the ring on his left index finger flashed brightly!
Holy Light!
A dazzling light was released, forming a blinding ray.
"You really have a lot of tricks!" Tang Zheng squinted his eyes instinctively, his expression serious as he quickly scanned his stat panel.
The number of magic items on his opponent was too high, making Quinn Esai's various methods unpredictable even to Tang Zheng.
Moreover, as a Magic Beast Summoner and a Beast Tamer, and a member of the Black Scripture, his countermeasures for his own weaknesses and his combat abilities were not something an ordinary hero-class human could compare to.
In short!
He absolutely could not let Quinn Esai escape, or he would be in big trouble.
What Tang Zheng feared most was being unable to determine if Quinn Esai could contact the Slane Theocracy.
He skipped the 'Holy Light' magic notification and looked at the new magic reminder that appeared.
『Skill 'Water Lizard's Invisibility' discovered. Requires Intermediate Job Class [Hunter]. Current conditions not met...』
『The [Genius] class has activated. The base class was successfully converted, meeting the learning requirements. Spend 3 skill points to learn?』
Another intermediate job class!
Beast Tamer, Magic Beast Summoner, Hunter!
The other party's class structure of one basic job class and two intermediate job classes became clear to Tang Zheng.
He stopped his forward flight.
As the dazzling light faded, Quinn Esai was nowhere to be seen.
In the vast, empty sky, there was nothing. Aside from the occasional gust of fierce wind, there was no movement at all.
Tang Zheng hovered in mid-air, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings. He hadn't mastered any detection-type magic, so he couldn't determine Quinn Esai's position after he turned invisible.
Even if he had mastered such magic, Tang Zheng guessed that Quinn Esai would have a countermeasure for it.
Did he flee in that direction?
No!
A sharp glint flashed in Tang Zheng's eyes. Based on Quinn Esai's earlier behavior, it certainly looked like he was escaping, but his third class was [Hunter]. Against a pursuing magic caster, creating distance was not the right choice. If Tang Zheng were Quinn Esai, the real move after turning invisible wouldn't be to run, but to—
"Mind's Eye!"
Tang Zheng shouted inwardly.
An invisible perception spread out from him as the center, forming a sensory space with a diameter of about five meters.
Silently!
Quinn Esai's invisible figure had already circled behind Tang Zheng. A purple, venom-coated dagger appeared in his hand.
"Swamp Crocodile's Powerful Jaw Strike!" Quinn Esai's eyes were icy cold as he stabbed viciously toward the back of Tang Zheng's heart.
Die!
Bang.
A white spark of light coalesced, and a third-tier Flame Archangel appeared behind Tang Zheng.
Crack!
The purple dagger easily tore through the silvery-white armor of the Flame Archangel, piercing it. The Flame Archangel dissipated into specks of light.
Using the brief obstruction provided by the Flame Archangel, Tang Zheng, as a magic caster would, created distance again.
[Orb of Death: 50→25/280]
"Dragon Lightning!"
Tang Zheng raised his hands. Dazzling blue lightning gathered between his arms, coalescing into a draconic thunderbolt that blasted forward fiercely.
"Basilisk's Protection!"
Quinn Esai's crimson eyes widened. He dropped his invisible state and roared.
A layer of rock-like stone scales appeared all over his body.
Boom!
"Argh!!"
The blinding lightning enveloped Quinn Esai. He let out a pained grunt as the petrified scales on his skin turned pitch-black.
"You're really tough to deal with, Goldilocks." Tang Zheng's eyelid twitched as he saw the other party endure the magical attack head-on. He spoke loudly.
The stored magic power in the 'Orb of Death' was down to 25 points, enough to use a fifth-tier spell one more time. This was the first time he had ever completely drained the magic power in the 'Orb of Death' in a single battle.
"Who the hell are you!" The stone scales on Quinn Esai's body disappeared, revealing large areas of burns. His expression was twisted in pain as he growled, "There's no one with your kind of strength in any of the surrounding nations."
Crack—
A faint cracking sound came from a ring on Quinn Esai's right hand as it shattered between his fingers.
"Crimson Owl's Flash Strike!" Quinn Esai, holding the purple dagger, ignored his injuries and spoke with a ferocious expression.
Swish!
Quinn Esai's figure vanished again, but this time it wasn't invisibility. Instead, he reappeared behind Tang Zheng in a bizarre fashion.
This time, he appeared closer and faster!
But.
Under the ability of 'Mind's Eye', Tang Zheng instantly detected Quinn Esai appearing out of thin air behind him. He condensed a semi-transparent, wind-attribute lance in mid-air.
"Hurricane Knight's Lance!"
Tang Zheng didn't need to turn around. The Hurricane Knight's Lance in front of him had already been thrown.
Swoosh!
The Hurricane Knight's Lance stirred up a fierce, vibrating air current, instantly colliding with Quinn Esai, who had just appeared behind Tang Zheng.
At such close range, with the explosive speed of the Hurricane Knight's Lance, even if Quinn Esai had a ring that could deflect magical attacks, he had no time to dodge.
Boom!
The Hurricane Knight's Lance pierced through Quinn Esai's chest, its powerful destructive force nearly tearing his body in two.
Flesh and blood splattered through the air!
"Aaargh!!!"
Quinn Esai let out a blood-curdling scream and fell heavily toward the ground.
As death approached, his fading deep red pupils struggled to look up at the blurry figure hovering in the sky.
"The truth can't be hidden, but maybe I can bluff my way through." This thought flashed through Quinn Esai's mind, and then a ferocious grin suddenly appeared on his lips:
"Heh, you'll soon understand... just what it is you've provoked."
Boom!
A loud crash echoed from the jungle, and a deep crater appeared in the earth.
Tang Zheng was momentarily stunned, because Quinn Esai, facing the final attack of the Hurricane Knight's Lance, hadn't resisted at all.
"Damn it!"
Tang Zheng came to his senses and descended rapidly.
He found Quinn Esai lying in the deep crater, his chest completely obliterated by the Hurricane Knight's Lance, with only the skin on his sides barely holding him together, preventing him from being completely dismembered.
At this moment!
The other's aura was already so weak it was almost imperceptible.
Without a moment's hesitation.
He took out bottle after bottle of regeneration potion, pouring them on the other man as if they were free.
The moment Quinn Esai died, the Slane Theocracy would surely know, especially the God-kin Captain of the Black Scripture, who was responsible for reviving all the members of the unit.
And then there was the most troublesome of all, 'Stargazer Far-Sight'!
That detection-type magic caster who wore something like a high school uniform.
There was no such thing as a high school uniform in this new world. The outfit she wore was very likely an equipment item left behind by the Six Great Gods.
In the anime, she was able to lock onto and observe the kingdom's battlefield from a great distance. Naturally, she also had the ability to lock onto the Great Wetland.
(end of chapter)