Chapter 214 – Harvest

The scroll in Iron Tower’s hand unleashed “Disintegrate”—a spell whose offensive power ranked among the top even at the Master-Level. This spell could reduce matter and energy into a pile of green dust. What would happen if a Formal-Level creature were struck by it?

Simple—instant annihilation!

In less than a second, “Disintegrate” could obliterate up to five layers of any Formal-Level defensive measure. Even Punk in his current state would undoubtedly meet his end if hit by it.

So in a sense, Iron Tower’s chosen attack could truly be called a one-hit kill. Of course, this was on the premise that his target wasn’t Punk.

Watching the brilliant green light cross the short distance in an instant to assault Punk, the air, light, and even space along its path were instantly disintegrated into emerald powder drifting in the wind. The terrifying disintegrating ray advanced toward Punk with absolute, unstoppable momentum.

But just as the disintegrating ray reached Punk, a translucent energy shield glowing with faint red light suddenly appeared. The ten-faced energy shield completely enveloped Punk.

At the critical moment, Punk had activated the solidification spell on the “Haitzita Magic Box.””

Master-Level Conjuration spell—”Kewoyin’s Improved Ruby Shield.”

The next instant, the sickly green “Disintegrate” made contact with this gem-shaped, ten-faced protective shield.

Like a stone tossed into a pond or a fish diving into the sea, the powerful “Disintegrate” only created peculiar ripples of green light on the “Ruby Shield,” while Punk inside remained completely unharmed.

“This… how could…”

Witnessing this completely unexpected outcome, Iron Tower’s metallic face contorted in shock, fine metal filaments trembling uncontrollably.

He likely meant to exclaim, “How is this possible?” But before Iron Tower could finish those last two words, a faster, thicker, and even more terrifying green beam reflected back from the center of the ripples on the “Ruby Shield.”

Still holding the torn scroll halves and frozen in place, Iron Tower had no time to react. His metallic body was instantly struck by the beam.

Amid the spreading green radiance, the incredibly sturdy metal filaments silently dissipated—like an eraser gently wiping away all traces in the air.

Finally, as the sickly green light faded, the once-arrogant Iron Tower—who had openly provoked others in Black Fort—vanished without even a scream, reduced to a small pile of green dust on the ground.

“Poor fool. If you’d kept hiding in that turtle shell, I really couldn’t have done much. But you brought this on yourself.”

Puck shook his head amusedly, casually kicking away the pile of green dust before him.

Though he had killed Iron Tower, he gained no spoils. The dust contained Iron Tower’s Space Ring and everything inside it, but now these “worldly possessions” had “merged with Iron Tower”—indistinguishable from one another. The raw power of “Disintegrate” was laid bare for all to see.”Alright, you’ve been watching for so long. Isn’t it time you came out and shared some opinions?”

Punk turned around with an air of nonchalance, brushing off nonexistent dust from his clothes as if he hadn’t just killed a Formal-Level professional who could dominate an entire city, but merely swatted an insignificant fly.

He calmly recalled Golem Two to his side, then suddenly hurled a “Kinetic Burst” toward a distant jungle thicket.

“BOOM!!”

“Hey! Hey! I’m not your enemy, no need for such an intense greeting, right?”

Amid the deafening explosion of the Kinetic Burst, Bloodclaw leaped out from the jungle, his agile movements allowing him to evade every fragment of kinetic energy.

Punk watched expressionlessly as Bloodclaw’s gaze darted about nervously. Once the vampire came to rest on a rock, Punk casually extended his left hand.

“Hand it over!”

“Wh-what? I’m just a poor devil! That big oaf you just killed was way richer than me! Haha, I think you’d have better luck searching his corpse than digging through my pockets for a few copper coins… ha… haha… right…?”

“You know what I’m talking about!”

Ignoring Bloodclaw’s frantic gesturing and idle chatter, Punk’s actions spoke volumes. At the tip of his Emerald Staff, purple energy cones began emerging one after another, while beside him, Golem Two’s claws started swirling with threads of black-red Abyssal energy.

“Dammit, how did Iron Tower get taken down so easily? This monster’s mana hasn’t even decreased! Now I’m going to lose out instead of profiting!”

Seeing Punk ready to fight at the slightest provocation, Bloodclaw wore a faint, bitter smile.

He knew there was no leaving today without paying some price. Though as a vampire warlock who’d invested all his “upgrade points” in escape skills, Bloodclaw still had some costly methods up his sleeve, using those life-risking measures for a Master-level equipment wasn’t worth it. Not to mention those trump cards might not even guarantee escape from Punk’s pursuit.

Having reached this conclusion, Bloodclaw heaved a heavy sigh and reluctantly produced the crystalline “Tears of the Spring.”

“Fine, fine, you win again. I’m just destined to be poor. You can have this thing.”

With that, Bloodclaw fought back the pain of loss and hurled the “Tears of the Spring” necklace in the opposite direction with all his strength, before quickly transforming into a crimson shadow and diving deep into the jungle.

Seeing the “Tears of the Spring” flash blue as it flew toward him, Punk swiftly used Mage Hand to catch the rapidly approaching necklace. After carefully verifying it contained no traps, he paid no further attention to Bloodclaw fleeing like a scared rabbit.Punk wasn’t actually as brimming with confidence as Bloodclaw appeared to be. In fact, all Punk wanted right now was to find a place to carefully sort through his gains from this venture. In a way, he was even less inclined to fight than Bloodclaw, as back-to-back battles had nearly exhausted all his trump cards. Within a day, he couldn’t use “Anywhere Door” even once more, let alone activate “Kervin’s Ruby Barrier” a second time.

So, after confirming that Bloodclaw had truly turned and left, Punk cautiously placed the “Tears of the Spring” necklace around his neck and departed with Golem Two.

“Thinking it over, the batch of ‘Shadow Maggots’ I implanted before leaving should have matured by now. It’s time to return and brew some more ‘Focus Potion.’ Hmm, yes, it’s about time to put the super-magic technique ‘Multiple Spellcasting’ on the agenda.”

For Punk, whether it was the internal strife of the Dillon Kingdom or the schemes of the Church of Dawn, these matters had little to do with him. As long as no fool with no sense bothered his experiments, he couldn’t be bothered with such trivial affairs!

“This operation yielded at least two Master-Level items, and besides that… Hiss!”

Just as he stepped out of the jungle, Punk nearly stumbled.

During his routine check of his soul state, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that, at some point, he had actually leveled up. The System’s level analysis panel clearly indicated:

Punk Cyan, Level 14 Formal Mage!

“The combination of research and practice truly is the best path to advancement. The ancients did not deceive me!”

Gently clutching the more condensed and dazzling mana in his hand, Punk thought with joy.

(End of Chapter)