Ye Chui had barely seen off the disappointed Lauren and Lale when the recent calm of the Random Magic Guild was shattered once more.
This time it was Sheral, president of the Flower Village Magic Guild, accompanied by a massively built man wearing simple yet extraordinarily heavy armour and a bull-head helmet complete with horns.
Ye Chui could tell Sheral regarded this bull-helmed man with a subtle warmth, as if he were family.
“Who might this be?” Ye Chui asked as he greeted Sheral.
“His name is Irak. He is the chieftain of the Barbarian Bull Cook clan from the Tidal Empire,” Sheral introduced.
“Barbarian Bull Cook clan?” The name made Ye Chui pause.
The Tidal Empire, an island nation, had customs utterly unlike the mainland countries. Its royal bloodline was divided into twelve great clans, each able to summon a unique phantom beast. These were the famous Twelve Phantom Beasts of the Tidal Empire.
Sheral himself came from the Tidal Empire and carried thin royal blood, allowing him to summon the Divine Dragon phantom beast. Ye Chui had once jokingly asked Elis whether their clan in the Tidal Empire was called the Divine Dragon Shimada clan…
Unfortunately, it was not.
Hearing “Twelve Phantom Beasts” and names like Divine Dragon and Barbarian Bull inevitably made Ye Chui think of the Chinese zodiac. Could the Twelve Phantom Beasts be the twelve zodiac animals? The answer disappointed him. While some matched (Divine Dragon, Barbarian Bull, Shadow Snake), others (Ocean Demon Beast, Fire Civet, Falcon Eagle) did not.
Furthermore, the Divine Dragon was not officially one of the twelve. In the past, the Mad Dragon phantom beast had split during a succession dispute between Sheral and his brother. It divided into Divine Dragon and Mad Dragon lines.
Sheral’s brother became chieftain of the Mad Dragon clan. Sheral left in exile, founding the Flower Village Guild in the Star Empire and establishing the Divine Dragon branch.
Strictly speaking, the Divine Dragon clan was an offshoot of the Mad Dragon clan.
Though Sheral had never returned to Tidal Empire soil because of his status, he still felt deep attachment to his homeland. That was why, when the Barbarian Bull chieftain asked to meet Ye Chui through him, Sheral immediately agreed.
He naturally felt kinship toward a fellow countryman.
“So you’re Ye Chui?” Irak sized him up. Beneath the bull helmet, his rough face showed clear disdain. “The legendary Omni-Magician is nothing special. So scrawny. I seriously doubt which of your famous deeds are real and which are fake!”
The words were extremely rude.
Sheral’s expression changed. He hurriedly said, “Chieftain Barbarian Bull, mind your manners!”
“Let me see today whether you’re all talk!” Irak snorted coldly. His body hunched, and a terrifying, powerful Barbarian Bull phantom materialised around him.
He now looked exactly like a fearsome bull!
Ye Chui’s face turned icy. Attacking without a word?
…
The Tidal Empire had always been on good terms with the Star Empire. When war broke out between the Star Empire and the Church, the Tidal Empire was the only nation to immediately raise the banner of resistance. Yet now a member of its delegation attacked Ye Chui the moment they met?
Even the Morning Wind Empire envoy, whose nation supported the Church, had been perfectly polite.
Irak transformed into the Barbarian Bull, radiating terrifying ramming power. With a roar, he charged at Ye Chui with earth-shaking force.
Under the bull phantom’s enhancement, let alone a person, even a small mountain would be smashed to pieces!
…
“President Ye Chui, let me witness the power of an Omni-Magician!” With that bellow, Irak thundered forward. Boom, boom, boom… The ground shook with every step.
After the initial surprise, Ye Chui’s expression returned to calm.
“Greenton!” he called softly.
The next instant, a cyan blur appeared beside Irak’s bull head. BANG! Sparks flew as a brick slammed squarely onto one of the helmet’s horns. BOOM! With overwhelming force, Irak’s charge veered wildly off course. Crash! A locust tree as thick as a man’s waist was snapped clean in half.
Irak staggered to a halt. The Barbarian Bull phantom vanished completely.
He shook his head, stunned, and looked at Greenton, who was walking back to Ye Chui. One of the finely forged steel horns on his helmet was now bent.
The brick in Greenton’s hand had cracked and crumbled into dust, falling from his fingers.
Greenton frowned and shook his slightly numb hand. “Teacher Merlin’s enchanted brick actually shattered… President, this guy is incredibly strong!” Since leaving Stan Town, Greenton had gradually realised that Merlin was a magician who had already touched the realm of Holy Magus.
“Mm… I’ll make you a vibranium brick later,” Ye Chui consoled, inwardly wincing. Vibranium cost one point per gram. A brick powerful enough would need at least ten jin (five kilograms), that was five thousand points. And he still had to forge a vibranium greatsword for Guinevere. Of course it hurt.
Irak was equally shocked. His charge had been unstoppable. With the phantom beast fused, his armour became nearly indestructible, yet Greenton’s brick had deflected him… That bald kid’s brick was no ordinary weapon.
And rumour had it Greenton was the weakest of Ye Chui’s group (Greenton: …). How terrifying must Ye Chui himself be!?
“Irak, I kindly brought you to meet President Ye Chui. What do you think you’re doing?” Sheral stepped forward, furious, a faint Divine Dragon phantom already shimmering around him.
“President Sheral, President Ye Chui, I was only testing a little. No harm meant!” Irak raised both hands with a simple, honest grin. “After all, the Tidal Empire will soon fight alongside the Star Empire against the Church. His Majesty was worried about President Ye Chui’s strength, so he specifically asked me to probe. If you want to settle accounts, take it up with the Tidal Emperor.”
He looked the picture of rough, straightforward silliness.
“Is that so?” Ye Chui had been examining his magic codex. Something caught his eye; he narrowed his gaze, then smiled at Irak. “And what did you discover?”
“President Ye Chui is indeed formidable. Even one of his subordinates can withstand my Barbarian Bull charge.” Irak glanced at Greenton with clear provocation, clearly holding a grudge.
Greenton, still mourning his long-time companion brick, looked up and met Irak’s gaze with equal challenge. He was no longer the timid young gambler who had left Stan Town. He had even won the heart of a Phase King Magister; his confidence knew no bounds.
“Heh heh, I hope one day I’ll have the chance to spar with President Ye Chui personally.” With that, Irak turned and left without another word, displaying appalling manners.
Sheral’s face darkened.
Ye Chui, however, looked intrigued.
…
Outside the guild, Irak Cook angrily yanked off his bull helmet, glanced at the bent horn, and spat on the ground. “That bald bastard broke my favourite helmet!” He was clearly not as honest and straightforward as he appeared. He suddenly turned to an empty patch of ground beside him. “Well? How tough is this Ye Chui?”
There was no one there, yet a voice answered, “He never even made a move. How would I know? But he seems dangerous.” As the voice spoke, a man with long flowing hair, clad in black robes, eyes like thin slits, exuding a bewitching aura materialised. A snake was embroidered on his robes. When he finished speaking, he vanished again.
This was not shadow magic but a far more advanced concealment ability, true complete invisibility!
“I almost couldn’t hold back from attacking him just now…” the snake-like man said, flickering in and out.
“Don’t ruin the plan. Our target is the Star Empire’s new emperor!” Irak growled.
“Of course I know,” the man reappeared. “Relax. My Shadow Snake phantom beast erases my existence from the world completely. No one can detect me. No magic array can sense my arrival. I will silently reap the new emperor’s life at the coronation. Heh, at least today’s test proved one thing: even Ye Chui cannot perceive my phantom snake stealth! He never noticed me!”
“That’s perfect. Hmph. The Church had better deliver the rewards they promised!” the Barbarian Bull chieftain snorted coldly.
…
Inside the castle’s reception hall, Sheral spoke apologetically. “I had no idea Irak would suddenly attack you. I was friends with his father, but he seems very different from him.”
“His charge was insane. My hand is still tingling,” Greenton said, his palm still trembling slightly.
Ye Chui told Greenton, “Once you have my vibranium brick, the recoil won’t affect you.”
Greenton’s face instantly lit up.
Then, quite casually, Ye Chui turned to Sheral and asked, “By the way, who was that effeminate pretty-boy standing next to Irak the whole time?”
