Ye Chui followed behind the rat, and upon seeing the gaunt old man and the God Punisher soldier, he immediately used his magic guidebook to scan their score values.
The gaunt old man’s score was only thirty-five, of no particular value, so Ye Chui dealt with him directly, while the God Punisher soldier’s score reached a full ninety-five, a level that was far from low, comparable to Gilga’s back in the Sword Burial Grounds (Gilga had been at 95 then)—of course, having gone through more battles alongside Debbie, and with her own magical power increasing, Gilga’s score had now surpassed one hundred and fifty, and Gilga’s own strength had grown even more formidable, though due to Debbie’s restrictions, she could not unleash her full power.
This God Punisher soldier would be a very difficult opponent for Green, Jacob, and Dany to handle, and Ye Chui could just use this as a chance to see the results of their practical training.
As for the man’s church affiliation…
Ye Chui truly did not care much about it; back when he had left Stan Town earlier that year, he had still harboured deep wariness towards the church, carefully concealing his hostility towards it, but in the Star Empire, the royal family had never been too fond of the church, and Prince Geller and the old emperor had long been scheming to remove the church’s influence over the empire, so Ye Chui naturally had no need to hide anything.
Jacob, Green, and Dany stepped out from behind Ye Chui; they all looked somewhat tense. Green had been adventuring with Ye Chui for a long time, yet his current score was only sixty-five; Jacob’s was forty-five, and Dany’s was even more pitiful, just twenty-five.
At the same time, Ye Chui knew that these score values only represented their current combat capabilities, not their true potential; they all had vast untapped reserves waiting to be unlocked.
Leaving aside Green and Dany, Jacob alone had a magic guidebook containing a number of spells that even Ye Chui, with his cheats, could only envy from afar; after this period of Saitama-style Golden Miracle fertiliser training, his magical power had greatly improved, and if he could use his spells more effectively, his score would surely rise dramatically.
Training and real combat were crucial benchmarks for determining a person’s power.
The heirs to the twelve zodiac kings of the Magic Guild had all been raised as magic prodigies from childhood, taught combat techniques, just like that Posley; though she had not yet inherited her magic guidebook, she already possessed a score exceeding fifty, and if she awakened it, her score would likely jump straight to a thousand or even higher.
“The Thirteenth Prince?” The God Punisher soldier spotted Jacob and immediately revealed a bloodthirsty, ferocious grin; he turned to Ye Chui. “You actually want him to fight me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill him?”
“The Crown War is about to begin, and before that, I need sufficient power; I won’t die at your hands.” Before Ye Chui could reply, Jacob had already summoned his magic guidebook, his voice firm as he spoke.
“Is that so?” The God Punisher soldier extended his rough tongue to lick his lips.
Green had also summoned his magic guidebook and his brick, while Dany summoned her beast Hal.
The battle was on the verge of erupting.
The God Punisher soldier was like a cornered beast.
Bang!
The ground beneath the God Punisher soldier’s feet suddenly shattered; rage boiled in his heart. Ye Chui had actually treated him merely as a training dummy, which was the ultimate insult; he would make Ye Chui regret it. Killing the Thirteenth Prince would be immensely beneficial to the church, and if he could accomplish this before his own death, surely the gods would rejoice!
The God Punisher soldier’s greatest weapon was his physique; the runes inscribed on his body granted him immense strength and enhanced attributes, making him nearly invincible in close combat. His fists were enough to smash the Thirteenth Prince before him into fragments!
Seeing the God Punisher soldier suddenly lunge, a flicker of panic crossed Jacob’s mind, but he had been through enough adventures with Ye Chui that the panic subsided in an instant; he hurriedly crouched down, placing both hands on the ground.
Advanced earth spell: [Earth and Stone Defence]
A stone wall instantly grew before him, rising up to block the God Punisher soldier, while Jacob’s hands remained pressed against the wall.
Gravity magic was an advanced form of earth magic, and Jacob could likewise use most earth spells!
But that stone wall clearly could not stop the God Punisher soldier.
Boom!
The stone wall shattered, revealing the God Punisher soldier’s ferocious face; his fist continued hurtling towards Jacob.
But then his expression changed in shock as he found his body growing unbearably heavy, his fist halting in mid-air, unable to advance a single inch.
Intermediate gravity spell: [Gravity Pull]!
After forming the stone wall, Jacob had immediately cast another gravity spell, [Gravity Pull]; this spell allowed any object Jacob touched to gain powerful gravitational properties, firmly binding it to the enemy. The stone wall, through his touch, had already acquired immense gravity, and when it shattered, the fragments flew towards the God Punisher soldier like magnets, clinging tightly to his body and restricting his movements.
Though this world had gravity magic, it lacked scientific theories like universal gravitation, but it was an indisputable fact that any object with mass possessed gravity; gravity was essentially attraction, and [Gravity Pull] was simply a way to harness it, infinitely amplifying an object’s gravitational pull and using the enemy’s body as the anchor, creating the current situation where the stone fragments wrapped around the foe.
Those shattered stone pieces enveloped the God Punisher soldier, nearly turning him into a statue of stone.
Seeing this, Ye Chui could not help but nod. “Magic is merely a magus’s tool; not relying on it for direct attacks but using it flexibly, well done.”
Seeing his method take effect, Jacob let out a slight breath of relief, but in the next moment, his expression tightened abruptly; with a bang, the left side of the stone figure encasing the God Punisher soldier suddenly crumbled—that was his arm; his left arm swung forcefully, smashing once more towards Jacob, who could no longer dodge and instinctively cried out in alarm.
But at that instant, a patch of cyan light and shadow blocked the God Punisher soldier’s fist; Green’s brick emerged from within it. Boom—the fist slammed hard into the brick, sending it flying back like a cannonball, retreating into the cyan light and shadow, and then another patch of cyan light appeared beside the God Punisher soldier’s head, from which the brick burst forth, smashing straight into his skull.
—Green had used teleportation to block the God Punisher soldier’s fist with the brick, which in turn absorbed the blow and became a cannonball-like projectile; Green then used [Teleport] again to send the cannonball brick to the side of the God Punisher soldier’s head.
With a boom, the stones encasing the God Punisher soldier’s head scattered in all directions; that immense force even twisted his body to one side, sending him crashing heavily to the ground.
“Brilliant!” Ye Chui praised. The [Teleport] spell was merely an intermediate spatial incantation, but Green had mastered it to perfection; in that split-second exchange, he had shifted the brick, returning the God Punisher soldier’s attack entirely upon himself, amplified and doubled, dealing him a severe blow.
Under such a heavy impact, the God Punisher soldier’s head lolled almost completely to one side of his neck, appearing to have sustained enough damage.
“Beast Hal, you’re up!” At that moment, Dany let out a cheerful cry, and the black-and-white husky immediately charged forward with a howl, pouncing on the fallen God Punisher soldier and biting into his neck.
Dany stepped forward too, hands on her hips, smugly declaring, “This big lug has been successfully taken down through our three-person combined effort, ha ha…”
The others: “…”
Wasn’t this just stealing the kill?
“Dany, don’t let your guard down…” After a brief daze, Ye Chui hurriedly warned.
But just then, with a startled “Awoo!”, the beast husky was swatted away by the fallen God Punisher soldier; the spot where the husky had bitten showed not even a tooth mark. The God Punisher soldier sprang up from the ground at once; though his head still hung grotesquely to one side, his movements seemed utterly unaffected, and one hand swiftly clamped around Dany’s neck.
Shilaisi, standing nearby, had not even unleashed her black fire when the God Punisher soldier’s voice rang out: “No one move, or I’ll snap her neck; believe me, it won’t take a tenth of a second… And you, Mr Ye Chui, I see you know teleportation-style magic; I warn you not to act rashly.”
“Don’t do anything foolish!” Jacob shouted in alarm, momentarily at a complete loss.
Ye Chui gave Dany a somewhat sweaty glance; this girl was a natural at dragging everyone down… Jacob and Green coordinated seamlessly, their combined efforts yielding more than the sum of their parts, but adding Dany turned that into less than two; on the Crown Battlefield, it seemed best not to let Dany participate, or she might doom them all.
Dany was terrified too, her body trembling nonstop, her eyes rolling in panic; the beast husky cowered nearby, showing both fear and loyal protectiveness, letting out low “awoo awoo” growls.
“Don’t hurt her!” Ye Chui said.
Jacob feigned panic as well; he bent down carefully to pick up the brick Green had dropped earlier, handing it to Green beside him, then slowly approached the God Punisher soldier: “Don’t threaten Dany; use me as the hostage instead. I’m far more important than Dany; if you use her, Mr Ye Chui might not care, but as the Thirteenth Prince, he definitely won’t ignore me.”
Hearing Jacob’s words, Ye Chui was momentarily stunned; this was not the sort of thing Jacob would normally say, but then he noticed something and a smile tugged at his lips: Who would have thought of it this way; interesting…
Following along, Ye Chui played his part: “Jacob, what are you doing? There are plenty of women like Dany; don’t do something stupid for her sake!”
Ye Chui had only said this to go with Jacob’s ploy; though Dany was utterly useless in various ways, she was still his companion, and he would never abandon her to die, however… he had underestimated Dany’s intelligence. Hearing his words, Dany’s tear-filled eyes widened in fury: “W-what did you say!? That there are plenty of women like me? You, you…” As she spoke, she began struggling.
“Don’t move!” The God Punisher soldier roared furiously at Dany.
It was at that precise moment that Dany suddenly let out a startled “Yah!”, her body slipping downward from the God Punisher soldier’s grasp—Jacob had cast [Gravity Space], an advanced gravity spell that enhanced gravity within a certain area; with proficient control, Jacob could apply it selectively, as he did now, targeting only Dany to make her body instantly several times heavier, forcing her to squat down involuntarily.
The God Punisher soldier had been gripping Dany’s body, nearly lifting her off the ground, but the girl in his arms suddenly grew several times heavier; caught off guard, he lost his hold, though his reaction was swift, and in less than a tenth of a second, he swung his fist towards the escaping girl.
Yet at that very instant, a cyan light and shadow abruptly appeared before his chest.
The brick burst forth.
Bang!
The brick’s force was so ferocious that it instantly pierced through the God Punisher soldier’s chest!
Just earlier, when Jacob had picked up the brick and returned it to Green, he had quietly amplified its gravity by dozens of times, and while tangling with the God Punisher soldier, Jacob had been repeatedly teleporting the brick up and down to build its falling momentum; this was his self-devised [Tenfold Samsara Heaven], now enhanced with Jacob’s gravity magic.
For objects of similar volume, doubling the mass doubled the falling kinetic energy; increasing the gravity tenfold equated to increasing the mass tenfold, and finally, Jacob teleported the brick, laden with that kinetic energy, horizontally into the God Punisher soldier’s chest—that was equivalent to the impact of a fifty-pound brick dropped from forty metres high, enough to pierce the God Punisher soldier’s body in an instant!
This could be considered a joint spell between Green and Jacob.
[Gravity · Tenfold Samsara Heaven]!
Brilliant!
The fallen God Punisher soldier could no longer rise; Shilaisi approached him, incinerating him to ashes with a burst of black fire, then went to deal with the gaunt old man’s corpse as well—such tasks were child’s play for her black fire magic. Jacob seemed utterly spent, taking several deep breaths, before rushing to Dany’s side and scooping up the girl still sprawled on the ground.
Green walked over to retrieve his brick, taking out a cloth to wipe it carefully.
“Green, Jacob, you both performed very well this time.” Ye Chui said with a smile, his gaze then shifting to Dany; he sighed. “Dany, don’t join the Crown Battlefield; our team already has one scatterbrain, adding another would make it impossible to lead…”
