Chapter 208 – Potion

Vick Swordsaint was utterly bewildered when he saw Boss Lady. Although she now resembled a giant slime, Vick quickly recognized her as one of the enemies who had surrounded him—the shapeshifter radiating shadow energy waves.

While appearing before an enemy was surprising enough to make Vick suspect a long-planned conspiracy, the Sword Saint didn’t lose his composure from the sudden shock. In fact, after realizing his primary target had perfectly escaped, Vick not only continued his assault but maintained his Combat Skill—Charge.

Watching the last corner of Punk’s robe disappear into the “Anywhere Door,” Vick Swordsaint clearly understood he could no longer strike Punk. But as a Sword Saint with countless battles under his belt, he neither flew into a rage nor abruptly halted. Instead, Vick made the most rational decision—to continue his strike, ensuring the attack containing 80% of his total Battle Aura wouldn’t be wasted.

“If I can’t kill the mage, eliminating one of the enemies isn’t a total loss. And if this is a trap… I’ll face it head-on.”

Thinking with soaring determination, Vick brought the massive “Wind-Bathing Punisher” down with full force. The space around him strained under the pressure, developing fine cracks as violent flames formed giant fiery wings that further accelerated the “Wind-Bathing Punisher.”

“Perish!”No, you damned black robe!” This means eternal war between us!”

The shapeshifter “Boss Lady” shrieked, though it was unclear which part of her produced such high-decibel screams. The genuine fury and terror in her cries were unmistakable.

Before facing Vick’s attack, Punk had at least prepared several defensive spells. But now, as a Stalker, Boss Lady was in a true defenseless state. Moreover, with the Formal-Level divine spell “Dawn’s Radiance” still maintaining its luminous mist on the ground (a characteristic of divine magic—persistence), she couldn’t use “Shadow Plane Shift” to evade.

If Vick’s strike landed, especially followed by a Master-Level conjuration spell—”Annihilation”… the outcome was inevitable—complete annihilation without a trace!

Boss Lady now harbored extreme hatred toward Punk. She had just been gloating over watching the fight from safety, never expecting the attack meant for Punk would suddenly target her. This truly embodied that saying… enjoying a hotpot while singing, only to be ambushed by bandits—no, ambushed by a Sword Saint!

Facing Boss Lady’s hatred and meaningless threats, Punk, who had just emerged from the Anywhere Door, shrugged indifferently.

At this point, there was no room for reconciliation. Even if Vick Swordsaint couldn’t kill Boss Lady, Punk would decisively deliver the finishing blow. Hadn’t she declared eternal war herself? When it’s eternal war, what more needed to be said?

Besides… Punk didn’t believe Boss Lady was completely powerless to retaliate.He gazed toward the center of the battlefield, where a flash of firelight had already vanished in an instant, the terrifying storm even sweeping across the entire battlefield.

“Alright, Boss Lady, let me see what trump card you have. Don’t die too pitifully”!

Punk narrowed his eyes slightly. The keen vision of a Formal-Level powerhouse allowed him to clearly observe the movements of anyone on the battlefield. He didn’t believe that Boss Lady, as a shapeshifter bold enough to live in a human city, would lack a sharp trump card. Moreover, her earlier shriek, though filled with endless fury and fear, lacked the despair of one facing certain death!

Punk’s guess was correct. Boss Lady indeed possessed a formidable trump card—one even more powerful than the Master-Level spell “Annihilation” fixed on the greatsword “Wind-Bathing Punisher” wielded by Vick. At this life-or-death moment, the usually unassuming Boss Lady finally revealed her card with venomous resentment.

Three small emerald-green bottles suddenly appeared in Boss Lady’s hands. She manipulated her tentacles to thrust these seemingly fragile potion bottles toward Vick’s greatsword, which was cleaving through space.

In the next second, a terrifying aura caused the very air on the battlefield to stagnate abruptly, and Punk involuntarily held his breath.

As a mage, he could sense more keenly than anyone the dreadful pressure emanating from the shattering of the three small bottles in Boss Lady’s hands. That was definitely not a level of power that could be produced by “a single” Master-Level spell.

The three emerald-green bottles in Boss Lady’s possession actually contained three doses of Master-Level potions.

Drawing on the memories inherited from his cheap Master-Level parents, Punk recognized that those three potions were likely the so-called “Metal Killer”—Melta-Acid. This potion was an alchemical concoction specifically designed to handle Master-Level metallic materials, its corrosive power even surpassing that of the Master-Level Summoning Magic—”Acid Melt Corruption.”

If this semi-energy-based strong acid were splashed on a person, it would reduce any enemy below the Master-Level to green vapor in less than a thousandth of a second. Defensive measures at the Formal-Level, whether energy shields or physical armor, would offer not the slightest protection.

Now, as Vick’s sword shattered the three bottles, the viscous emerald-green liquid instantly coated the greatsword “Wind-Bathing Punisher” in his hands. Some of the splashing potion corroded most of Boss Lady’s massive slime-like body. Though Vick erupted with Battle Aura and retreated in an instant, nearly half of his body was corroded by a few drops of the acid, leaving not even bones behind!

For a moment, aside from the billowing dark green fumes rising from where Boss Lady and Vick Swordsaint had just clashed, the entire battlefield fell into a dead silence, as if frozen in time.

Punk also stared in astonishment at Boss Lady, now reduced to half her volume and trembling violently. He had considered that if Boss Lady dared to participate in this operation despite being countered by “Dawn’s Radiance,” it meant she must have a trump card she was fully confident in.

But Punk never expected Boss Lady’s trump card to be so terrifying—three doses of Master-Level potions, unleashed together, were hardly different from instantly casting three Master-Level spells. If he were to take a solid hit from that, even Punk wasn’t sure he could escape unscathed.

“But somehow, Vick actually survived.”Punk, frowning slightly, carefully examined Vick, who had lost half his body and even had his brain exposed, murmuring in surprise.

After understanding Vick Swordsaint’s condition, he quickly relaxed. Of course, the reason wasn’t that Vick appeared certain to die—Punk would never let his guard down just because an enemy had lost half their body. He hadn’t forgotten how the formal mage Mainaixi, reduced to just his upper body back in the day, had still mustered a “cosmic explosion” of power right before death.

The reason Punk relaxed was that he saw the greatsword in Vick’s hand. The “Wind-Bathing Punisher,” which originally radiated a sharp, cold gleam, was now pitted, charred, and twisted, with occasional flickers of magical light—energy leaking from the damaged core enchantment.

The Boss Lady hadn’t used the three bottles of “Melta-Acid” to directly attack Vick Swordsaint. Although that would have ensured the death of Vick, who was in a state of extreme Charge, the Boss Lady would have been struck head-on by the Annihilation of the “Wind-Bathing Punisher.”Such a mutually assured destruction outcome was clearly unacceptable to the Boss Lady, so she chose to use the ‘Melta-Acid’ to damage the ‘Wind-Bathing Punisher’ as much as possible, rendering the Master-Level spell solidified within the greatsword ineffective.”

The result was clear: although the Boss Lady hadn’t killed Vick, she had bought herself a little more time at the cost of half her body.

But… only a little!

Looking at the limp sludge on the ground—the shapeshifter Boss Lady—the magical light in Punk’s eyes slowly began to rotate.

(End of Chapter)