Chapter 38: You Started It

Facing Shabi who had taken to the air, the Fire Spirit accelerated to give chase. Its speed was not much inferior to Shabi’s, though the Ice Spirit was not as fast.

Zhai Guangyi increased the Magic Power supply to the Ice Spirit. His current Magic Power reserves were far from easily depleted. If his Divine Tree form could be described as an all-rounder, his Spirit form was a specialist in Magic Power.

Shabi’s body expanded a second time, growing even larger than a Giant Goblin. With bat-like wings and this enormous black form, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a demon.

It flew to the Ice Spirit’s side, wearing a triumphant grin, and swung a fist wreathed in Black Flame directly toward the Ice Spirit’s crystal core.

The Ice Spirit’s body rapidly condensed and expanded. In an instant, the Spirit, originally the size of an Infant, transformed into an ice-like doll with the stature of a Maiden. Shabi’s attacking fist was frozen solid in front of the Ice Spirit.

“A high-ranking Spirit?”

The moment Shabi saw this ice doll, its fist was already frozen and impossible to retract. The Ice Spirit reached into the air, and a slender ice sword appeared in its hand. Gripping it tightly with both hands, it swung with a force that seemed to slice through the air, aiming for Shabi’s head.

At that moment, the Fire Spirit crashed directly into Shabi’s back, enveloping its entire body in a wave of scorching heat.

With a single slash, only a Severed Arm remained before the Ice Spirit.

The instant the ice sword struck, Shabi twisted and broke off one of its own arms. Surrounded by flames, it burst out of the attack range and instantly appeared behind the Fire Spirit, raising its hand to unleash a surge of Black Flame.

The Ice Spirit swung its sword again, extinguishing the flames.

Shabi now clutched the cross-section of its Severed Arm, its bat-like wings charred black, even developing a layer of scorched material. Looking at its own body, the Killing Intent in Shabi’s eyes had solidified into something tangible.

“Do you want to die?”

It pulled a small black mirror from its chest and aimed it at the positions of the two Elemental Spirits.

Zhai Guangyi suddenly felt a pang of dread, an ominous premonition washing over him. He hastily ordered the two Spirits to retreat.

But Shabi’s movement of the mirror was instantaneous. The Fire Spirit was fast—a terrifying explosion rang out as it retreated a hundred meters back. Meanwhile, the Ice Spirit transformed its ice sword into an ice shield, holding it before itself.

A Black Flame shot out from the mirror, piercing straight through the ice shield and through the Ice Spirit. The flames seemed impossible to extinguish. At first, it was just a small point, but it spread rapidly. The doll-form Ice Spirit was completely burned away, leaving not a trace behind.

“Forget about that Fire Spirit for now. Capture that Primordial Spirit—it’s exactly what the King needs!”

A hoarse voice emanated from the mirror, tinged with a hint of excitement.

“Yes!”

The Demon Goblin Shabi reverently tucked the mirror into its chest and, ignoring its injuries, began rushing in the direction Zhai Guangyi had fled.

“Damn it, what the hell was that? How did it vaporize the Ice Spirit I nurtured with so much Magic Power? How am I supposed to fight that? And why does it get to bring cheat weapons along?”

From the Fire Spirit’s perspective, Zhai Guangyi saw Shabi charging straight toward his location, completely disregarding the Fire Spirit pursuing from behind.

At that moment, the Storm Holy Wolf carrying Xiong Er returned. Zhai Guangyi quickly climbed onto its back, urging the Storm Holy Wolf to accelerate while he frantically cast Spirit Magic from above to grant it buffs.

Simultaneously, he increased the Magic Power supply to the Fire Spirit, allowing it to evolve into a High-Rank Fire Spirit to block the pursuing Shabi. However, Shabi kept clutching that small black mirror, forcing Zhai Guangyi to remain cautious and avoid a direct confrontation.

It would take some time to resummon the Ice Spirit, so he couldn’t afford to lose the Fire Spirit now.

Seizing the moment, Zhai Guangyi hurriedly began healing Xiong Er. Back when he was still the Divine Tree, he could cast healing Magic from hundreds of meters away, but in his Elf form, he could only release spells within his line of sight.

With the purer Magic Power support, the Fire Spirit instantly transformed into a massive humanoid figure—a muscular, phantom-like man made of flames, lacking fully formed legs and appearing even more elemental than the Ice Spirit.

The Fire Spirit raised its hands, continuously firing fireballs at Shabi like an aerial fighter jet. Barrages of flame projectiles streamed forth, forming two fiery curtains of attack aimed relentlessly at Shabi.

Though Shabi dodged constantly, some fireballs still grazed past him and exploded. Shabi generated black flames to block the explosive blasts, but the impact still jolted his body, significantly slowing his Flight speed.

“Another High-Rank Spirit! Honored One, aid me!”

A stream of dark energy flowed from the mirror, enveloping Shabi and forming a translucent black armor.

“That Fire Spirit is too fast to hit reliably. Hurry and capture that Primordial Spirit!”

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Shabi flapped his damaged wings harder, accelerating forward and ignoring the Fire Spirit’s fireballs as he charged straight toward Zhai Guangyi.

The Fire Spirit’s fireballs slammed one after another against Shabi’s black armor, but not even a scratch appeared on it—the armor completely nullified all the Fire Spirit’s damage.

“Cheating! This is outright cheating! System, what do we do?”

“Notice: Control of the Fire Spirit can be transferred to me.”

“Great! And you didn’t mention you could AI-pilot earlier?! Little Shabi, you started this… hehe.”

Though Zhai Guangyi didn’t know how powerful the System’s piloting would be, it was undoubtedly far superior to his own skills. Holding off Shabi shouldn’t be a problem.

The Fire Spirit’s eyes gleamed with a golden hue. Previously flying in a superhuman posture, it now came to an abrupt halt, gazing at the distant Shabi. The Fire Spirit snapped its fingers.

Flames instantly engulfed the Fire Spirit’s body, then a blaze appeared right in front of Shabi. Slowly, the Fire Spirit emerged from within it.

Seeing the Fire Spirit suddenly materialize before him, Shabi was startled and instinctively swerved to change direction. But then it occurred to him—with the Honored One’s Defensive Magic protecting him, this Fire Spirit posed no threat and couldn’t harm him at all. There was no need to pay it any mind.

Yet the look in the Fire Spirit’s eyes stirred a faint sense of dread within him. Clenching his teeth, Shabi pressed onward.

The Fire Spirit raised a hand, and an intricate pattern materialized ahead, automatically arranging itself into a circle. A red light blossomed, and a Flame Giant Dragon burst forth from the magic circle. With a resonant dragon’s roar, the Giant Dragon opened its maw and swallowed Shabi whole in an instant.

The Flame Giant Dragon swallowed Shabi whole, soaring straight into the sky and carrying him far away. In no time, the Flame Giant Dragon’s body was suddenly enveloped by Black Flame, then completely swallowed by it. As the Black Flame began to contract, Shabi’s figure was revealed in mid-air.

The Fire Spirit snapped its fingers again, instantly blinking in front of Shabi, showing no intention of letting him go.