Chapter 402 – Explosion

The crisis Kane faced was not to be underestimated. It was evident that this Master-Level knight favored an evasive counterattacking combat style. When confronting enemy assaults, Kane primarily relied on dodging, supplemented by deflecting force, as outright resistance was clearly unwise.

But now, eerie crimson runes had spread across Kane’s armor. These seemingly living patterns radiated massive amounts of Abyssal energy, causing even Kane’s sharp light-based Battle Aura to momentarily stall for several milliseconds when resisting the Abyssal energy.

In battles between Master-Level experts, a few milliseconds were enough to determine life and death.

After devouring the souls of at least a thousand tribesmen, the ancestral spirit had become as monstrous and enormous as a demon crawling out of Hell. Black-red runes blazed fiercely across its body, while wailing souls mourned incessantly from every part of the ancestral spirit’s form. Originally meant to protect the tribe, the ancestral spirit was now recklessly consuming its own people to gain power. As these souls were completely devoured by the writhing, twisted Abyssal energy, the terrifying converted power was fully channeled back into the ancestral spirit’s body.

“ROOOOOOOAR!”

The enraged ancestral spirit let out a maddened, beast-like roar. The massive convergence of Abyssal energy even dyed its fists a sinister black-red. In the next moment, this fist, concentrated with nearly all the ancestral spirit’s power, carried mountain-shattering force as it slammed toward Kane, who remained immobilized mid-air.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why is today so unlucky for me? After this is over, I’m going to rent five or six of the prettiest girls in some city and play for a whole week!Facing the ancestral spirit’s heavy punch, Kane gritted his teeth while spouting nonsense, attempting to activate the solidification spell on his Lance. He had no time or energy to dispel the witchcraft curse on his body now. If he kept hiding his trump card any longer, Kane would never get the chance to use it.

However, although unaware of what trump card Kane possessed, Punk was still watching coldly from the sidelines.

Just as the ancestral spirit’s heavy punch launched and Kane’s mental energy began extending toward his Lance, Punk unhesitatingly cast the spell in his hand directly at Kane:

“Master-Level Conjuration Spell—Kinetic Twisting Spiral!”

Metamagic – Mana Compression!

Terrifying purple kinetic energy formed a finger-thick beam of light in Punk’s hand, “shining” toward Kane. Within this kinetic energy beam, the intensely compressed energy twisted and spun wildly. All matter, energy, and even space touched by the kinetic force were shredded into powder along its path. The spatial pull generated by the kinetic energy even attracted surrounding objects toward the energy beam—though the fate of any matter caught in such a terrifying energy distortion was predictable.It must be admitted that Punk’s spellcasting was perfectly timed. From the Ancestral Spirit’s heavy punch to the completion of Punk’s spell, it took only two to three milliseconds. In that brief moment, Punk’s spell coordinated with the Ancestral Spirit’s attack to set up a perfect kill formation for Kane. If Kane tried to dodge the Ancestral Spirit’s punch, he would inevitably be struck by Punk’s spell. If he attempted to evade Punk’s spell, the Ancestral Spirit’s full-force blow was equally unforgiving.

The most terrifying part was that Punk’s attack trajectory could be adjusted. The “Kinetic Twisting Spiral,” resembling a beam of light, pursued Kane with precision comparable to a guided laser under Punk’s control. Even if Kane tried to evade at this point, the knight, whose movement was restricted by the Minotaur Shaman’s curse, would find it difficult to avoid Punk’s assault.

Only a second had passed since the Minotaur Shaman was killed and Kane found himself in crisis. In such a short time, the shadow of death had suddenly and unexpectedly descended upon Kane. At this moment, the Master-Level knight faced an inescapable situation, with only one chance to find a way out. Failure meant… death.

“Boom!”

Clearly, Kane was not a knight who would wait passively for death. Just as Punk’s “Kinetic Twisting Spiral” and the enraged Ancestral Spirit’s punch were about to strike Kane simultaneously, the knight, who had seemed helpless a second ago, suddenly erupted with a terrifying surge of Battle Aura. With golden light flashing in his eyes, Kane raised his Lance without hesitation and charged straight at the Ancestral Spirit’s fist. Propelled by the explosive Battle Aura, Kane moved as fast as a laser, flashing forward instantly.

“Trying to dodge my spell and endure the Ancestral Spirit’s attack?”

Seeing the beam of the “Kinetic Twisting Spiral” narrowly graze the armor on Kane’s back, Punk’s gaze turned sinister.

“Dodge? With the enhancement of metamagic, this spell lasts a full 1.5 seconds. And… Kane, you underestimate a mage’s precision pursuit ability.”

A cold smile curled at the corner of Punk’s lips as he precisely adjusted the spell’s trajectory. The terrifying kinetic beam arced in a curved path, continuing its pursuit of Kane. In the area swept by the beam, space even collapsed into a semicircular, fan-shaped void.

“Screech—Boom!!!”

Accompanied by a sound like shattering glass, Kane’s figure, blazing with piercing golden light like a star, vanished instantly within the eruption of purple kinetic energy and crimson Abyssal energy. The clash of spell, Battle Aura, and Abyssal energy caused layers of space to collapse. A purplish-red shockwave radiated outward in rings, and endless energy tides conjured storms, lightning, scorching heat, and Frostbite across the Desert. The rampaging energy completely destroyed nearly half of the nearby tribal city within seconds.

Standing within the energy hurricane, Punk was protected by his “Spatial Distortion Barrier” from the onslaught of energy-laden sand.

At this moment, Punk silently watched the center of the Battlefield, now entirely shrouded in thick purplish-red mist. Even with his perception abilities, it was difficult to probe inside.”Did he die? It seems Kane only had that lance as his Master-Level Magic Equipment. Surviving the ancestral spirit’s heavy punch and spell barrage wouldn’t be easy.”

Cautiously observing the crater created by the explosion, Punk’s eyes brimmed with icy vigilance.

Though conventional reasoning suggested Kane should have been obliterated after suddenly being targeted by both the ancestral spirit and Punk’s combined assault, an instinctual perception told Punk such an attack still wasn’t enough to finish off that wolf in sheep’s clothing.

And reality proved—Punk’s intuition wasn’t mistaken.

Just as the thick mist was about to dissipate, a pale yellow Battle Aura blade suddenly sliced the fog in half. In the next instant, the undiminished aura blade flew toward Punk without hesitation:

“Damn Punk! Are you trying to blow me up along with this big oaf? This is murder, a sneak attack! Can’t you see I’m having a sacred one-on-one duel with this warrior?”

Accompanying the Battle Aura blade was Kane’s furious cursing. And… judging solely by his voice, Kane sounded completely unaffected, as if still at his peak condition.

(End of Chapter)