novelraw Chapter 521: Material Manipulation
Chapter 521: Material Manipulation
Chapter 521: Material Manipulation
After realizing that the black-robed sixth-ring wizard before her was on an entirely different level from the “ordinary” sixth-ring existences she had encountered in the past, the last trace of contempt in Augusta’s heart vanished instantly.
In her eyes, only pure battle intent remained.
“Since Jie Ming can hold on… then I can too!” she silently chanted in her heart. With a sharp cry, the vast spiritual power within her body poured out without reservation!
Buzz!!!
Centered on her, an invisible yet terrifying magnetic field powerful enough to distort light erupted outward.
Within the magnetic field’s range, the countless metal fragments that had scattered across the sky from the disintegration of the metallic mountain range and were still falling suddenly seemed to be granted life!
Clang! Clang! Rumble…
Ear-piercing clashes of metal and sounds of colliding, compressing metal converged into a symphony that shook space itself!
Billions upon billions of tons of metal remnants surged toward her under the pull of the powerful magnetic field. The gathered metal fragments were then violently fused together by the magnetic field, as if kneaded by an invisible hand.
In the blink of an eye, a ten-thousand-meter-tall metal giant with rugged, power-filled lines rose from the ground, standing tall upon the wasteland! Blazing energy flames ignited in the giant’s eye sockets as it looked down at the tiny black-robed figure below, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.
The black-robed wizard raised his head to gaze at this instantly formed metallic colossus. Beneath his hood, his brows furrowed imperceptibly as he murmured to himself, “Material manipulation type… truly troublesome.”
If one were to speak of the opponent types his [Imaginary] Law disliked the most, material manipulation types would definitely rank near the top.
After all, material manipulation wizards controlled real, physical matter entities with complex physical structures and enormous mass.
To “define” an invalid outcome required “overriding” and “negating” far more complicated physical rules and energy interactions, naturally consuming a much larger “quota” than same-rank energy-based confrontations.
What was even more nauseating was that energy attacks, no matter how violent their effects or how bizarre their attributes, were at their core merely spell models constructed from spiritual power.
Once the core structure of a spiritual power model was “dismantled” or “deflected,” the threat would basically be neutralized regardless of how much energy it contained. But even if a physical entity was shattered, as long as the controller’s spiritual power remained, it could be re-condensed, restructured, and reshaped at any time to launch a new wave of attacks! Unless one could completely “disintegrate” or “annihilate” all the matter down to the molecular or even atomic level—but the “quota” that would require… just thinking about it gave him a headache.
“Then… I’ll force out the main body!” The black-robed wizard’s thoughts raced.
His figure abruptly “vanished” from where he stood.
In the next instant, he had directly “appeared” at the waist-abdomen region of the ten-thousand-meter metal giant, less than ten meters away from its rough, ice-cold metallic surface. He raised his right palm, covered by a black glove, and gently pressed it toward the giant’s metallic torso.
Crack!!!
Silent power permeated, manifesting the result he desired.
Centered on the point where his palm landed, the thick metal within a radius of several thousand meters, as if eroded by billions of years of time, had its disintegration process accelerated to the extreme and instantly turned into the finest metallic dust!
A massive hollow with a diameter exceeding one thousand meters appeared at the metal giant’s waist, severing it cleanly in half!
However, through the scattering, splashing metallic dust, the black-robed wizard swept his gaze across the area. His brows furrowed even tighter—behind the hollow, and even in the anticipated “control core” or “cockpit” positions within the giant’s torso, there was no one to be found.
“So quickly transferred the main body?” A trace of surprise flashed through his mind.
The opponent’s precision in controlling the metal giant and the speed of her own transfer had exceeded his estimation.
At that moment…
Whoosh!!!
An extremely shrill piercing scream suddenly rang out—the sound produced only when an object tore through the atmosphere at hundreds of times the speed of sound!
The metal giant’s remaining upper body twisted violently. Its two mountain-like metal fists, covered in blazing plasma red glow across their entire surfaces from intense friction with the air, slammed toward the black-robed wizard positioned in the waist hollow from both left and right sides with ferocious force!
The black-robed wizard clearly “sensed” that the trajectories of the swinging fists were filled with traces of extreme acceleration by a powerful magnetic field.
This meant that these seemingly clumsy physical strikes were essentially equivalent to two super-giant electromagnetic railgun shells!
The kinetic energy they contained was enough to pierce through continental shelves.
“Tch.” The black-robed wizard clicked his tongue lightly, clearly having no intention of taking such pure physical kinetic strikes head-on.
His figure blurred once again.
When the metal fists collided with each other amid destructive wind pressure, erupting in deafening metallic clangs and visible ring-shaped shockwaves, the black-robed wizard had already “appeared” directly in front of the metal giant’s massive head, level with the two blazing white flames in its eye sockets. His gaze was icy cold as he extended two fingers this time, pointing them like a sword toward the center of the metal giant’s brow and tapping out silently.
Buzz…
An invisible fluctuation spread outward.
Starting from the point where the fingers landed on the brow, the metal giant’s head rippled inward like the surface of water struck by a stone, collapsing inward.
This ripple rapidly spread across the entire head, neck, and even the remaining upper torso.
Rumble rumble rumble!!!
A scene of destruction even more complete than the previous waist disintegration unfolded.
The ten-thousand-meter-tall metal giant’s upper body and head completely disintegrated in a frame-skip-like manner, turning into a vast metallic dust cloud that blanketed several thousand kilometers and blotted out the sky!
Yet the black-robed wizard’s expression did not improve. Because within the collapsing dust cloud, he still had not caught any trace of Augusta’s main body.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
At this moment, several sharp piercing sounds came from below.
The metallic dust that had scattered after the metal giant’s waist disintegration had, at some point, been re-magnetized and reshaped into seven or eight giant metal drill bits—each with a diameter exceeding one hundred meters and a length reaching kilometer scale, their fronts carved with spiral patterns!
Accelerated by the powerful magnetic field, they shot forward like super electromagnetic cannons launched from the ground, trailing blue-white electric light, hurtling toward the black-robed wizard suspended in the air from tricky angles!
“Troublesome…”
The black-robed wizard’s figure flickered several times in the air, dodging the drill bits’ direct impacts with minimal movement while a trace of impatience and understanding flashed in his eyes.
If this continued, it would never end.
He still needed to locate the main body.
He no longer insisted on destroying those seemingly endless metal constructs. Instead, he sank a portion of his mind into the [Imaginary] Law and activated a more “information-probing” application.
Thus, feedback from the Imaginary Law flowed into his perception: in a certain region of the ground below, the magnetic field intensity and turbulence were abnormally concentrated. Moreover, the “source” of that magnetic field seemed to be hidden deep underground, making minute adjustments and shifts at an extremely high frequency.
“So… she hid underground. Using the earth to shield against detection while continuing remote control of the battle.” The black-robed wizard instantly understood. A cold light flashed in his dark red eyes.
Good. He had found the rat’s hole.
He no longer paid attention to the metal constructs that were re-condensing and glaring menacingly around him.
His figure vanished abruptly, then reappeared in the air above that region.
While still mid-air, he had already raised his fist. The power of [Imaginary] coalesced at his fist’s edge, locking onto the continuously shifting magnetic field source underground. With this strike, he would “define” both that area and the manipulator hiding within it as “destroyed”!
However, the instant his figure descended toward the ground…
A sudden change occurred!
The magnetic field below, which had been “abnormally concentrated,” abruptly changed its nature.
It shifted from a concealed control source into a powerful suppression field covering several thousand kilometers!
This force field was intangible and formless, yet heavy as a mountain range and viscous as glue, attempting to lock down the black-robed wizard’s figure and movements tightly!
At the same time, the ground below, already half-melted into lava by the residual waves of the battle between the two, seemed to come alive!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Over a hundred super-giant fists, formed purely from dark red lava and hard rock, erupted violently from the ground!
Each fist had a diameter exceeding one hundred meters, flowing with scorching magma and radiating terrifying heat and oppressive pressure.
They did not swing chaotically. Instead, under some exquisitely refined control, they attacked like over a hundred giant martial monks striking in unison. From all directions—above, below, left, and right—they formed an almost airtight cage of destruction, smashing mercilessly toward the black-robed wizard who had just entered the force field’s range and whose movements had slightly stalled!
Meanwhile, far away, inside a giant metal drill bit that the black-robed wizard had previously dodged and which was now deeply embedded in the ground.
In a narrow space isolated by a precise force field that blocked all auras and energy fluctuations,
Augusta held her breath, her eyes seeming to pierce through the metal shell as she stared fixedly at the distant area being submerged by the sky-full of lava fists. Fine beads of sweat covered her smooth forehead, and her breathing had become slightly hurried from the extreme mental focus and massive expenditure.
After confirming the critical importance of Jie Ming’s information regarding the [Imaginary] Law, she had devised this tactic.
On the surface, it seemed she had been maintaining the initiative the entire time, commanding a world-destroying flood of matter.
But only Augusta herself knew that every single instant she was walking a tightrope over death.
Her spiritual power was being consumed like a floodgate released, and the mental effort required to control the overall battlefield and make tactical micro-adjustments was so enormous that her temples throbbed violently.
Augusta was very clear that if the opponent identified her true position even once, with the unreasonable power of the [Imaginary] Law, she probably wouldn’t even have time to react before being instantly “defined” as dead.
“Hold on… it’s almost time. That guy Jie Ming should be almost ready…”
She anxiously calculated the time in her heart, feeling that this brief pinning battle of less than a second had stretched as long as a century.
Earlier, she had even secretly wondered just how strong an enemy must be to force someone as unfathomable as Jie Ming into such a sorry, bitter fight. Now that she was facing him personally, she instead felt even more puzzled: just how monstrously strong was Jie Ming, that fighting this guy only left him looking disheveled?!
Just as she focused entirely on manipulating the lava fists for a saturation bombardment and began considering whether to continue the fierce assault or immediately shift her hiding spot for the next move…
A calm voice without the slightest ripple, yet seeming to resound directly from the depths of her ear canal like the coldest viper, suddenly drilled in:
“Well done. Found you.”
Every hair on Augusta’s body stood on end in an instant!
Her black pupils contracted to the size of needle tips. Boundless chill instantly froze her blood and thoughts!