novelraw Chapter 520: Stalemate and the Troublemaker
Chapter 520: Stalemate and the Troublemaker
If things could continue like this…
In theory, he could rely on the nearly infinite energy supply from the inner world within his body to drag this out until the end of time!
He could exhaust every last resource this sixth-ring wizard had in reserve!
By then, the tide of battle could truly reverse!
This was his only path to victory!
However…
This tempting idea had barely taken shape before it was doused by the cold reality!
Jie Ming’s expression darkened imperceptibly.
“This place… is enemy territory.”
From the start of the battle until now, this black-robed wizard—perhaps out of absolute confidence in his own strength, or because he believed he could end the fight quickly—had not called for reinforcements.
But the battle had already dragged on for a “long” ten minutes!
Unless the opponent was a fool, he must have realized by now that he could not take Jie Ming down in a one-on-one fight quickly!
In that case…
A request for reinforcements had very likely already been sent!
The reinforcements might even be on their way!
If he continued to drag things out, what awaited him would not be the opponent running out of resources, but even more—and stronger—enemies! Once surrounded, no matter how strong his evolution or how fast his regeneration, there would be no path to survival!
“Can’t drag this out any longer…” A surge of urgency rose in Jie Ming’s heart, cold sweat forming on his forehead.
“…Should I attempt ‘Light Transformation’ to escape?” The thought surfaced once again.
But using Light Transformation carried great risk!
Jie Ming did not expect to actually escape from the opponent’s grasp with it. He was simply uncertain what the result would truly be when he activated it.
If he could successfully change his position after being intercepted, that would be fine…
But if even the escape process was “omitted” by the opponent, leaving him still in the same spot after interception, then using Light Transformation would consume massive amounts of spiritual qi and mental energy, putting him at a disadvantage instead!
While engaged in a dazzling, fierce exchange with the black-robed wizard—fists and feet clashing with continuous explosions, energy surging in all directions—Jie Ming rapidly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, his expression shifting unpredictably.
Above the battlefield, energy storms howled.
Deep underground, rock layers continued to collapse.
Two figures madly intertwined across this hellish battlefield. Every collision released terrifying power capable of tearing space itself! Yet Jie Ming’s heart grew heavier and heavier…
Buzz… Rumble rumble rumble!!!
Just as Jie Ming clenched his teeth, preparing to risk everything and activate “Light Transformation” for a slim chance of survival…
The sky changed!
A low yet extremely penetrating roar, as if billions of thunderbolts were brewing in the distant depths of the earth, tore through the air from far to near at an inconceivable speed!
Both Jie Ming and the black-robed wizard felt their hearts tighten. Their movements in the midst of fierce combat slowed involuntarily by half a beat as their senses locked onto the source of the sound and energy fluctuations!
In the distant sky, an enormous black shadow that blotted out the sun was hurtling toward them at nearly a hundred times the speed of sound!
It was a colossal metallic object composed entirely of dark, somber metal—sharp-angled, diamond-shaped, and mountain-sized!
Its sheer volume was enough to easily cover the entire stretch of gobi desert below. The shadow it cast instantly enveloped the two combatants locked in battle!
Because of its terrifying speed, the air at the front of the giant object was compressed to the extreme. Friction between layers of air formed a bright white plasma shockwave, like a blazing crown of light placed upon this metallic mountain range!
The sonic boom, shrill beyond the limits of human hearing, manifested as tangible destructive shockwaves. Some of the earlier waves even swept across the land far ahead of the main body!
Wherever they passed, the already shattered rock pillars and ground were torn apart as if plowed by an invisible giant plow, collapsing and hurling debris everywhere!
Carrying the overwhelming momentum to crush everything in its path, the object hurtled straight toward the core area where the two were fighting!
The dark red gleam beneath the black-robed wizard’s hood flickered.
His figure blurred slightly in place. In the next instant, he “appeared” tens of thousands of meters away in another section of the high sky, far outside the giant object’s direct impact range.
Against a purely physical, large-scale orbital strike of this magnitude, meeting it head-on was absolutely not a wise choice!
Although the [Imaginary] Law could “define” outcomes, facing such mass and kinetic energy would likely consume a considerable “quota.” It was better to temporarily avoid the sharp edge!
Jie Ming, however, remained completely motionless where he stood. He merely tilted his head slightly upward, calmly watching the approaching metallic mountain.
In an instant, his spiritual sense completed complex calculations…
Trajectory, speed, kinetic energy decay, air resistance, and… a certain subtle manipulative spiritual force field attached to the giant object!
“The main shockwave direction is toward… the second quadrant. The remaining kinetic energy is insufficient to breach the current threshold of the Return to Ruins Armor.” He reached this conclusion in his mind instantly.
Thus, under the slightly astonished gaze of the black-robed wizard…
Amid the terrifying hurricane and sonic shockwaves carried by the metallic mountain—strong enough to blow away entire peaks…
Jie Ming simply drifted a short distance away.
BOOM!!!
In the blink of an eye, the burning-red underside of the metallic mountain, carrying enough destructive kinetic energy to annihilate everything, slammed mercilessly into the earth! The entire world seemed to tremble!
Centered on the point of impact, the ground within a radius of several hundred kilometers instantly shattered and collapsed, forming a gigantic meteor crater so deep it had no visible bottom!
The ground seemed to turn into liquid. Countless concentric rings of earthen waves surged outward like tsunamis, completely tearing apart the already riddled gobi desert!
Rumble rumble rumble!!!
The shockwaves spread outward at supersonic speeds like tangible tsunamis!
Wherever they passed, rock layers were pulverized, the atmosphere was torn apart, and every tangible object was reduced to fine powder!
Countless tons of rock fragments were hurled into the sky, colliding with the sonic shockwaves high above and triggering chains of secondary explosions. The entire sky was dyed a fiery red!
The earth wailed!
Space twisted!
This was a strike capable of altering the landscape itself!
The entire metallic mountain range embedded itself deeply into the ground, with only its upper half still exposed—like a metal peak that had suddenly risen from the earth. The mountain’s surface was burned bright red from intense friction, covered in countless massive cracks. Streams of glowing red molten metal continuously flowed out from the fissures!
And right beside this newly fallen metallic mountain range, Jie Ming stood there calmly and unperturbed.
The invisible field of the Return to Ruins Armor flowed with light, effortlessly absorbing and smoothing out all the violent physical impacts and residual high-temperature plasma waves. Not even a single strand of his hair was disturbed.
He stood like the immovable Sea-Calming Divine Needle at the center of the storm.
“Looks like you’re in quite the bitter fight, Jie Ming.”
A somewhat lazy, somewhat arrogant female voice—sounding a little unfamiliar, yet stirring a strange sense of familiarity from the depths of memory—came from the peak of the metallic mountain.
Jie Ming looked up toward the sound.
A tall, slender figure was slowly descending from the “summit” of the massive metal object.
She had long, smooth, lustrous black hair like the night sky, fluttering wildly in the turbulent airflow.
Her figure was curvaceous and explosive, perfectly outlined by a dark purple form-fitting combat suit adorned with silver star patterns.
Her features were exquisite and three-dimensional, carrying an aggressive kind of beauty!
Especially her pair of black eyes, which were currently narrowed slightly as she looked down from above at the somewhat “disheveled” Jie Ming below, the corners of her lips curved in a half-smile.
Jie Ming searched his memories with slight confusion and quickly found the corresponding recollection.
A flash of surprise crossed his eyes. Almost subconsciously, he spoke the name that had nearly been forgotten:
“Augu…sta?”
Berta Vera Augusta!
The heaven’s pride who had entered Noren Academy in the same period as him, dominating the first Academy Trial and seizing first place!
A genius who had displayed astonishing lightning-element affinity even during her wizard apprentice days, with an arrogant and competitive personality.
However…
Jie Ming stroked his chin. He remembered that he didn’t seem to have had much interaction with her, right?
When Augusta heard Jie Ming accurately call out her name, a nearly imperceptible spark flashed in her black eyes!
Immediately afterward, that trace of laziness was swiftly replaced by pride.
She lifted her delicate chin slightly, like a queen surveying her domain, her voice crisp:
“That’s right, it’s me! I never imagined… that the guy who always kept such a low profile back then would now show such a disheveled appearance. Truly…” She paused, her gaze sweeping over Jie Ming’s torn robes and the fine wounds on his body that had yet to fully heal…
A complex emotion flashed deep in her eyes, ultimately turning into a soft sigh that was impossible to tell whether it carried disappointment or something else:
“…It makes me somewhat disappointed.”
To Augusta, Jie Ming was an extremely special “coordinate” on her path as a wizard!
Even during their apprentice days, she had sensed with her keen intuition that this guy who spent all day in the laboratory and library harbored a kind of heart-palpitating power within him!
Although Jie Ming had never taken her childish “challenges” seriously, perhaps he hadn’t even remembered her, she had stubbornly regarded him as a target she needed to chase and surpass.
This obsession had, to some extent, driven her to grow and advance at a shocking speed.
Now, unexpectedly reuniting with him on this dangerous behind-enemy-lines battlefield, what she saw was the Jie Ming who had always seemed calm and in complete control, now trapped in such a difficult, even tragically fierce battle…
The feelings in her heart were truly mixed.
Augusta seemed to want to say something more—perhaps to show off her current strength and title, or to question why Jie Ming had fallen to such a state.
Unfortunately, Jie Ming gave her no such opportunity.
The moment he confirmed the newcomer was Augusta, a sharp light suddenly burst from Jie Ming’s eyes.
He completely ignored the complex look in Augusta’s eyes. A condensed stream of mental information instantly flowed into her mind: “Perfect timing! Help me pin him down from the front! Buy me one second! Be careful! He controls the [Imaginary] Law! Absolutely do not let any of his attacks directly touch your body!”
Jie Ming’s tone was unprecedentedly grave and urgent!
“…Ah?”
Augusta was momentarily stunned by the sudden mental transmission. Her black eyes were filled with astonishment.
She was, after all, an elite wizard who had undergone countless real battles. Although she didn’t understand the situation, Jie Ming’s urgent warning and the solemn spiritual fluctuations could not be faked!
Moreover, almost at the exact moment she received the information, she sensed danger approaching!
The black-robed wizard seemed somewhat impatient with Augusta, this sudden “troublemaker.” Seeing her “conversing” with Jie Ming, he casually raised a finger toward her direction.
And lightly tapped.
A seemingly unremarkable dark gray energy bullet shot out silently.
Its speed was not particularly fast, and its trajectory was ordinary.
Under normal circumstances, with Augusta’s strength and pride, she might have casually swatted away or hardened her shield against such a “probing” attack, or even ignored it entirely.
But at this moment, with Jie Ming’s warning still echoing in her mind, alarm bells rang wildly in her heart!
“Magnetic Field Manipulation!”
Augusta shouted sharply. She thrust her hands forward in a virtual press, her black eyes exploding with intense spiritual radiance!
The massive metallic mountain range that had just crashed into the earth—heavy beyond measure in billions of tons—seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand. It emitted a deafening roar of twisting metal!
Rumble rumble!!!
With agility and speed completely disproportionate to its size, it was instantly wrenched from the ground. Countless tons of soil and shattered rock cascaded down like a waterfall! The entire metallic mountain range shifted horizontally, acting like an incomparably enormous super shield as it brazenly positioned itself between Augusta and the dark gray energy bullet.
The entire process was smooth and fluid, revealing just how exquisitely refined Augusta’s current control over magnetic fields had become.
However…
The scene that appeared next caused the proud expression on Augusta’s face to freeze instantly!
Puff…
There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any clash of energy flames.
The seemingly insignificant dark gray energy bullet sank into the incredibly thick metallic mountain body without any resistance, like a red-hot iron ball falling into snow!
Immediately afterward, centered on the point of impact, the internal structure of the impossibly vast metallic mountain range seemed to have its “integrity” and “structural strength” “negated” at the most fundamental atomic level by some incomprehensible power!
Rumble rumble rumble!!!
A collapse sound even more muffled than during its descent echoed from within the mountain body.
Countless massive fissures spread and expanded at an unimaginable speed!
In the blink of an eye, the metallic mountain range completely disintegrated and shattered before Augusta’s incredulous gaze, turning into countless metal fragments and powder of varying sizes whose edges rapidly oxidized and dimmed!
The out-of-control metal chunks exploded outward in all directions. For a moment, the entire area seemed to be raining a storm of steel and dust.
Through the curtain of falling metal debris, Augusta stared fixedly at the black-robed wizard still standing quietly in the void in the distance, as if he had merely done something trivial.
The proud, beautiful face no longer held any trace of her previous laziness or arrogance—only unparalleled solemnity.
To so easily annihilate the giant metallic construct she had fully controlled and reinforced with multiple runes…
There was definitely something wrong with that attack!
Jie Ming’s warning was real!
In the distance, the black-robed wizard’s gaze also pierced through the rain of debris and landed on Augusta’s highly recognizable face.
He seemed to identify her for a moment. From beneath the hood came a nearly inaudible sound of realization:
“Judging from the spiritual fluctuations and fighting style… that should be the fifth-ring wizard from the Noren Workshop side who has been making quite a stir recently… the one with the ‘War God’ title.”