Chapter 222 – Blood Radiance

As a certain sage once said, if one is already prepared, then so-called “unexpected events” cease to exist. In other words, the reason an “unexpected event” can be called such is precisely because when it arrives, neither those present nor those absent have made any preparations.

Now, Punk had successfully killed the Formal-Level warrior leading the team, and his goal was within reach. But at this most critical moment, an “unexpected event” occurred without warning.

From a position almost entirely in Punk’s blind spot, a blood radiance so fast it was nearly imperceptible suddenly revealed itself. The radiance instantly elongated its form, its sharp tip easily piercing the ornate carriage, and the entire streak of light slipped through the fist-sized hole.

From the moment the blood radiance abruptly appeared to its entry into the carriage, the entire process happened in an instant, and it all unfolded right before Punk’s eyes.

But it happened too quickly, too suddenly, and too silently. Punk didn’t understand how the blood radiance, moving at least fifty times the speed of sound, could penetrate the air and pierce the wooden planks without a sound. All he knew was that its speed had reached the limits of his reaction time. Even with the System’s assistance, Punk only had time to activate the “Chaos Cloak” on his person.

As the blood radiance brushed past him, Punk’s first instinct was to turn and flee, for the speed the opponent had unleashed was undoubtedly at the Master-Level.

Just as Punk almost instinctively prepared to manipulate the “Greater Swiftness” to retreat backward, his mind caught up.

“Something’s off. If that blood radiance possessed Master-Level power, why would it avoid me, a Level 14 Formal-Level spellcaster? And… why does this blood radiance look so familiar?”

The thought process of a Formal-Level powerhouse was incredibly swift. Almost the moment the question arose, Punk had already analyzed the answer:

“The enemy deliberately avoided me to attack the carriage precisely because this method of drastically increasing speed and concealment must come with side effects that reduce attack and defense capabilities. The reduction is so significant that the opponent has no confidence in breaking through the ‘Greater Mage Armor’ and ‘Deflection Field’ I always maintain.”

As for why the red radiance seemed so familiar…

“Damn it! This is the innate spell-like ability Bloodclaw used to rescue Trelinka!”

Punk suddenly recalled the origin of this red radiance. He had last seen it just two days ago, when Bloodclaw used this very method to snatch Trelinka right from under Vick Swordsaint’s nose. Now, this guy had pulled the same trick in front of him, except this time the princess was replaced by a ring, and Vick Swordsaint was replaced by Punk himself.

“Bloodclaw! You’re seeking death!”

With an angry roar, the mana fluctuations around Punk stirred into violent storms that tore apart the solid ground.Punk was truly furious now. He had patiently followed that young master Kulun all the way to this desolate wilderness far from Greenvine City, then gone through the trouble of eliminating the Formal-Level warrior leading the escort. Did he do all that for that silver-plated armor that was worthless except for its appearance? Of course not – it was all for the ring in Kulun’s possession!

But just as the spoils were within reach, this Bloodclaw had suddenly appeared out of nowhere trying to snatch them away. If Punk agreed to that, he wouldn’t be the benefit-first spellcaster he was known to be.

“You bastard thinking you can use me as your pawn? Don’t overestimate yourself.”

Terrifying mana burned like flames in Punk’s eyes. Without even bothering to cast a spell, he grabbed the wooden wall of the carriage and, empowered by mana infusion, tore off half of the gold-and-silver-inlaid luxurious compartment.

Simultaneously, a sharp cry came from inside the carriage.

“No, you can’t catch me! No one can catch me!”

Amid the flying wood splinters, a blurry blood-colored shadow clutching an ancient-styled ring shot out from the carriage in the opposite direction of Punk, leaving behind a mangled corpse that was no longer recognizable as flesh.

The moment Punk saw that ring, he recognized it as the core target of his mission. It appeared Bloodclaw had sliced Kulun into pieces and searched for the ring within mere fractions of second. Punk’s movements had ultimately been half a beat too slow.

Watching the blood shadow darting toward the nearby dense forest, Punk snorted with rage:

“No one can catch you? Don’t let your boast blow your tongue away!”

Admittedly, this situation had taken Punk by surprise. He never expected someone would intercept his prey. To avoid detection by the Formal-Level warrior leading the escort, Punk had maintained the “Aura Masking” spell throughout the journey. While this effectively concealed his own aura, it inevitably greatly weakened his ability to perceive others’ auras. Combined with Bloodclaw’s exceptional hiding and escape abilities, Punk’s entire operation had been completely disrupted by Bloodclaw.

But…

“You really think a mage like me can’t catch up to you? Dream on!”

Punk fixed his icy gaze on Bloodclaw who had already taken the lead, then without hesitation slammed the spell he had just prepared onto himself.

“Formal-Level Conjuration Spell – Kinetic Ejection”: Attaches tremendous kinetic energy to any object and propels it in any direction.

“Metamagic – Mana Compression!”

Indeed, Bloodclaw was incredibly fast. His tiger’s mouth snatching wasn’t some impulsive act – it must have been carefully calculated. While Bloodclaw became extremely fragile after using his burst technique, his speed reached absurd levels. At his current velocity, even rangers of the same level would only be eating his dust. Theoretically, as long as he focused entirely on escape, shaking off a spellcaster who hadn’t reached Master-Level should be more than sufficient.However, Bloodclaw made his first mistake—he had no concrete intelligence on Punk at all. The template he had in mind was merely that of an “ordinary” spellcaster, and Punk was clearly no “ordinary” spellcaster.

Bloodclaw knew Punk was a relatively high-level spellcaster, and he also knew Punk had some powerful trump cards up his sleeve.

But he had only seen Punk exhaust the three “Anywhere Door” spells fixed on his equipment, and Master-level Equipment couldn’t recharge in such a short time. So Bloodclaw presumptuously assumed Punk had temporarily run out of usable means.

He had no idea that Punk was extremely proficient in “kinetic” spells, let alone that Punk was a level 14 spellcaster fully capable of instantaneously casting “Metamagic – Mana Compression.”

Most importantly—Bloodclaw probably never imagined a mage would unhesitatingly apply highly destructive kinetic force to their own body to enhance speed.

And now, Punk did exactly that without a moment’s hesitation.

(End of Chapter)