Krian, still in his lightning form, leapt up from the ground. He refused to believe he had actually been struck by Ye Chui, and in such a humiliating way, a slap across the face. In his current state, how could anyone possibly hit him? It was true that a small portion of his body remained physical, but it was only a tiny part. Ye Chui landing a blow on that part just now had to be pure luck!
He let out a furious roar and charged once more at the calmly approaching Ye Chui, trailing streaks of lightning. If his earlier attacks had carried a hint of playful cruelty, now he was filled with pure killing intent. The ferocity and brutality in his strikes were palpable.
The lightning reached Ye Chui in an instant. Krian’s electrified body twisted into a long serpent that wrapped inescapably around Ye Chui and rapidly constricted. Bolts of thunder engulfed Ye Chui completely. To outside observers, Ye Chui was now encased in a terrifying sphere of lightning, within which only a faint human silhouette could be glimpsed.
Krian laughed maniacally, unleashing the full power of his lightning. Anyone caught in it would be reduced to ashes!
Yet his laughter abruptly cut off. Ye Chui’s palm suddenly rose through the enveloping lightning and casually grasped something within.
At such close range, Ye Chui had located the small physical portion Krian had failed to fully electrify and had hidden inside the lightning.
Krian’s triumphant laughter turned into a scream of terror.
Despite being bombarded by lightning at point-blank range, Ye Chui appeared completely unaffected. The next instant, with a loud bang, Krian’s lightning body was yanked away and hurled into the ground. Ye Chui stood revealed before the crowd, not a single mark on him. His clothes were pristine, his skin unburned. He had bathed in terrifying thunder yet emerged unscathed!
Ye Chui’s expression was calm. He only felt a slight tingling in his body. Through 【Designated Enlightenment】 he had acquired his current rubber physique, the ability of the Gum-Gum Fruit from One Piece. By comprehending this spell, Ye Chui had unlocked the advanced life spell 【Rubber Body】. He could now do most of what Luffy could.
Whether he could use moves like Gear Second or Gear Third remained unknown, but one thing was certain: he was now completely immune to electricity. Aside from any physical impact that lightning attacks might carry (which he would have to block separately), the electrical current itself was entirely nullified.
When he had decided to comprehend the Gum-Gum Fruit, Ye Chui had also considered other Devil Fruits from One Piece. Among their marvellous abilities, the Gum-Gum Fruit was actually one of the less impressive ones; it only seemed overpowered because of the protagonist’s aura. Many others were far superior in raw destructive power or sheer cool factor. Ye Chui had particularly liked the Glint-Glint Fruit.
But reality proved he could not yet comprehend abilities of that level.
Or rather, he could not comprehend any of the Logia-type fruits from One Piece.
Logia fruits allowed the body to become a natural element, light, fire, magma, and so on. That kind of power was precisely what the Holy Archmage realm granted: complete fusion with a magical element. Ye Chui was still only a high-level archmage; he could not wield power beyond his realm.
If he ever reached Holy Archmage, all those abilities would become available to him.
Carrying this faint regret, Ye Chui continued walking towards Krian.
Krian leapt up once more and charged.
Ye Chui raised his arm and slapped again. Smack! With a crisp sound, Krian was sent flying.
That clear slap, though not especially loud, seemed to echo in everyone’s ears.
Less than a minute earlier, Ye Chui had appeared utterly outmatched, relentlessly pursued by Krian. Now the tables had turned completely, almost absurdly so. It looked as though Krian had no power to resist Ye Chui at all… Everyone stared in stunned silence.
Lightning Krian charged again, only to be slapped back to the ground once more.
Ye Chui’s slapping motion was growing smoother with practice.
The slaps were not intentional humiliation. The 【Rubber Body】 spell merely transformed his body into rubber, granting extreme elasticity. Apart from near-total immunity to lightning magic, its offensive options were extremely limited. If he were to attack while shouting “Gum-Gum Pistol! Gum-Gum Bazooka! Gum-Gum Banana Rocket!” like Luffy, the cringe would be unbearable.
After several consecutive slaps, Krian finally seemed to realise how terrifying Ye Chui was. His furious roars turned to heavy panting. His Holy Archmage state had been forcibly ripened by the jade tablet from his father; the realm would soon collapse, and he could feel his time running out.
Victory was hopeless. Now he only wanted to escape!
Though Krian was extremely narcissistic, he valued his life even more.
So when he leapt up again, he poured everything into turning into a bolt of lightning and fleeing into the distance.
But Ye Chui would not let him go. Ye Chui stretched out an arm that elongated instantly. Rubber elasticity allowed it to extend almost indefinitely. Almost the moment Krian took off, Ye Chui’s palm was already in front of him. It opened wide, forming a rubber net that enveloped the ball of lightning.
The lightning shot skyward, stretching Ye Chui’s arm into an impossibly thin line, but it could not break free. Ye Chui gave a light shout and began retracting, retracting, retracting… like pulling a rubber band to its limit and suddenly releasing it. He let go.
As he stepped aside, the tremendous rebound force sent lightning-Krian rocketing past him at a speed even greater than natural lightning. It smashed into the ground with a tremendous boom, rolling and bouncing with a series of bangs.
The once-intangible lightning now behaved as though solid. It finally halted against a large tree with a thunderous crash. The impact shattered the tree’s roots; the trunk swayed a few times before toppling.
Krian’s lightning flickered weakly and then vanished entirely. He reverted to flesh and blood, collapsing half-dead beneath the ruined tree.
His time as a Holy Archmage was over. He had fallen back from that profound realm.
Ye Chui continued walking towards him. The weapons scattered on the ground trembled at his call, rising once more into the air and following behind him. Thus escorted by a cloud of floating blades, Ye Chui reached Krian. Countless swords pointed down at the man on the ground.
Krian no longer resembled the handsome golden-haired youth. His clothes were in tatters, and his crumpled, wretched appearance was utterly pitiful. He struggled up, staring at Ye Chui in terror and urgency. “What are you going to do? I surrender! I shouldn’t have come looking for trouble, but what are you planning? My father is a Phase King Archmage, one of the three strongest Phase Kings! If you dare kill me, my father will hunt you down at any cost!”
Hearing this, Ye Chui seemed to pause slightly.
Krian gasped in relief, thinking his words had shaken Ye Chui. He forced himself to stand straighter and continued shouting, “You’re strong, I admit it, but so what? My father is a Phase King! You injured me and humiliated me like this. I will never let him forgive you. You’d better apologise to me right now…”
As he spoke, arrogance crept back into his expression. Earlier he had truly feared for his life, but now that he had invoked his father’s name, he felt secure again. What did he have to fear? His father stood at the pinnacle of power in this world. No one dared offend him, not even an emperor. Everyone who met his father treated him with the utmost respect.
What did he have to fear? His father was a Phase King…
Yet the next instant, his fleeting satisfaction was shattered by agony in his leg. A longsword fell from the sky, piercing straight through his thigh and embedding half a foot into the ground. Krian screamed and collapsed backward, clutching his leg and shrieking in pain. He stared at Ye Chui as though the man were insane. He had actually dared to strike!
His father was a Phase King Archmage…
Of course Ye Chui was not insane.
He had seriously considered the consequences of killing Krian, the wrath of the Bell-Ringing Phase King, and he knew full well how powerful a Phase King could be.
In the secret realm, Persily had not seemed overwhelmingly strong, but remember: she had awakened less than ten days ago. In that short time she had already fought alongside Ye Chui as an equal. Given more time, she would grow at an astonishing rate. Even the Holy Archmage realm would pose no barrier to her; in fact, Ye Chui was certain that Persily already had one foot in that realm.
If a Phase King who had awakened less than ten days ago was already this powerful, how terrifying must Krian’s father be after at least twenty years as a Phase King?
Offending such a figure would normally be suicidal. Yet after careful thought, Ye Chui had decided to do it anyway.
“You injured my subordinate,” Ye Chui said to Krian. Then he waved his hand. One sword after another fell from the sky, raining down onto Krian’s body…
