’Ridiculous, preposterous, utterly absurd!’

’How could it possibly be hurt by this Level 2 Mage!’

BOOM!

The massive explosion sent its body tumbling hundreds of times. As it tumbled, the Ice Lake, Ice Shuttles, Earth Spikes, and Earth Fire on the ground relentlessly pursued it.

The tables had turned.

’What on earth had caused this reversal?’

’He’s getting stronger far too quickly.’

To the demon, it felt like Lu Cang was constantly growing stronger in the heat of battle—every moment, every second.

A hundred, even a thousand times stronger than before!

The first time it had him in its grasp, he was just an ordinary Level 2 Mage.

He could barely even dodge its attacks.

But after just a few short seconds of clashing, he was already able to counterattack.

Now, he could actually harm it, and even...

...hunt it down?

Lu Cang held his Magic Staff high.

A Sea of Fire raged, countless shards of Ice rained down from the sky, and an Ice Lake formed on the ground below.

Nie Ye could clearly sense it.

Lu Cang’s Casting speed was continuously increasing.

’Was his Casting this fast before? The moment one Magic spell formed, the next one followed right behind it.’

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Punching Pillars erupted from the ground, combining with Earth Fire to produce waves of scorching lava.

Giant Waves of lava, accompanied by Heavy Walls, crashed in from three directions!

Scorching boulders rained down from above!

’Dozens of Magic spells were attacking it simultaneously.’

’It was like an inescapable net; there was nowhere to run!’

’No, wait...’

’Why am I dodging?’

’When did I start needing to dodge? In the beginning, I completely ignored his attacks.’

Nie Ye touched its head.

It came away sticky.

Having lost half its head, Nie Ye finally remembered.

Perhaps it was because that last explosion had blown off half of its head that it now felt the urge to dodge his Magic.

THUD!

Dozens of Earth Spikes erupted from the ground behind it!

Like a thorny barricade, they blocked its retreat. At the same time, Ice Element began to gather at its feet; if its speed faltered for even an instant, the ground would immediately freeze into an Ice Lake.

The way the Magic spells worked together wasn’t just to inflict damage, but also to restrict its movement—step by step, forcing it into a dead end.

’Is this a joke?’

’I came here to kill Izparut! Dying at the hands of this kid would make me a laughingstock!’

The instant this thought flashed through its mind!

SWISH!

BOOM—

With the demon at its center,

the ground instantly split open in dozens of directions, like the petals of a blooming flower!

Earth-Splitting Slash!

But this time, there were more of them, and they covered a wider area!

The slashes cut through the town wall.

They tore through the Forest!

Lu Cang used Death Substitute to switch positions again, rendering its attack useless.

But Lu Cang glanced in the direction of Raine Town.

The town wall was shattered.

It looked like many people had died...

’Even though I threw up a barrier in that direction, it was no use.’

’Its attacks are just too powerful.’

’With my current defenses, I can’t block any of its attacks.’

’Unless I sacrifice a massive number of Dead Souls.’

’But using a massive Sacrifice to defend against what amounts to its basic attacks... would be extremely disadvantageous for me.’

’I have a lot of Dead Souls right now, but the supply isn’t infinite. And I still don’t know the limits of its defenses.’

’All I know is that if I can’t kill it before my Dead Souls run out, then I and all of Raine Town will be the ones to die.’

’The best option is still to go on the offensive... and finish it.’

CRACKLE—

The moment it paused, the Ice Lake materialized beneath its feet—a perfectly timed trap.

’As long as it stops, I can get it.’

’And this time...’

’Spirit Burst.’

’Sacrifice Soul—50,000.’

’I’m sacrificing fifty thousand souls. It’s not that I don’t want to go all out, but... the power would be uncontrollable.’

’If I sacrificed any more, I’d blow up Raine Town along with it.’

’No one over by the walls would survive.’

VMMMM—

Above its head, a Soul Light appeared, as bright and transparent as the sun!

Spirit Burst!

BOOM!

The explosion was a maelstrom of spiritual smoke!

Souls, so dense they were almost tangible, surged through the air!

A hemispherical crater tore through the earth, a massive pit a full kilometer in radius.

The power of this single strike far surpassed that of an evil blood sacrifice of fifty thousand infants!

The destructive blast reached the very edge of the town wall, stopping just short of it.

Nie Ye’s mangled body went tumbling. It was somehow still alive. Its entire head was gone, both arms were severed, its legs were broken and twisted, and its body was riddled with gaping holes—yet it still lived!

It twisted and rolled, desperately trying to dodge Lu Cang’s relentless follow-up attacks!

After the Spirit Burst detonated, Lu Cang’s assault never paused for a second. He immediately hounded its blasted body, firing a constant stream of Ice Shuttles and suppressing it with entangling Poison Vines.

However, the Spirit Burst was so destructive that its detonation had also obliterated all the other Magic Lu Cang had cast.

This prevented him from keeping it pinned down for the kill.

"Human..."

"Human."

"Damnable human."

"If it weren’t for this damned gravity..."

"If it weren’t for that trash leaving me with so many injuries."

"Damn it!"

It roared in fury!

But this time, it didn’t stay to fight Lu Cang. Instead, its headless body began to twist and sprint wildly into the distance!

It fled into the distance like a beaten dog, scrambling desperately on its twisted, broken legs!

BOOM!

Three Heavy Walls erupted from the ground!

’It’s trying to run!’

Lu Cang realized.

’There’s no way I’m letting you escape!’

’I can only fight around here. If I get too far away, there won’t be any corpses to use for Death Substitute.’

Before casting Spirit Burst, Lu Cang had stored a number of corpses in his Space Ring for this purpose.

’But tossing out a corpse right next to me... isn’t that the same as standing still and letting it slaughter me?’

’Death Substitute is for dodging attacks. The key is to evade, not to take a hit head-on.’

’And at my current Speed, I can’t catch up to it!’

’I can’t let it get away!’ 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Heavy Walls rose to obstruct it, barriers blocked its path!

Ice Shuttles shot out in pursuit!

A Wind Roar blasted it back toward him!

The one who was originally being hunted had become the hunter.

And the original Hunter had become the prey, fleeing for its life in a panic!

"I’ll remember you, human!"

"To The Ends of the Earth, I will remember you."

"Sooner or later, I will kill you! I’ll tear you to shreds and offer your remains to appease the hatred I feel today!"

"No, not sooner or later! The moment my wounds have healed, I will kill you immediately!"

’Spirit Burst.’

’Sacrifice—10,000 souls.’

BOOM!

Lu Cang predicted its movement, but the moment the deadly Spirit Burst began to form, the demon detected it.

It immediately sidestepped and rolled, putting a great distance between them!

’Rejection Wind Roar.’

’Sacrifice—5,000 souls.’

BOOM!

The Wind Roar blasted it back toward him a short distance!

But the next second...

PUFF!

It actually did a flip in mid-air and shot high into the sky!

It had finally realized that many of Lu Cang’s Control-type Magic spells were ground-based.

’Tch.’

’If I don’t pin it down, I’ll never be able to hit it at this speed.’

The Magic Lu Cang used to trap his enemies had a very short wind-up.

Others might not be able to react to that wind-up, but this thing’s Perception was obviously far more acute.

Even now, while it was heavily injured,

it still possessed incredible Speed.

On top of that, as it got farther away from Izparut’s Gravity Array, its movements were becoming increasingly nimble!

Iz’s Gravity Array could instantly crush a Tier Four King Level Demon flat. One could only imagine how terrifying its gravity was.

And once it got far enough away... its speed began to skyrocket.

Lu Cang used Wind Roar for Acceleration, riding an Ice Shuttle in pursuit!

The chase led them deep into the Forest.

’But I can’t keep chasing.’

’If I go any further, I won’t be able to use Death Substitute... My life will be in danger.’

’Besides, I can barely keep up. Its speed is increasing, and the gap between us is widening.’

’Is this it, then?’

’Am I just going to let it escape?’

’Let an enemy this dangerous get away?’

’No, there’s still one more chance.’

’We’re far enough away now.’

At this thought, Lu Cang raised his hand. A brilliant Soul Light began to condense before him.

’Spirit Burst.’

’Sacrifice Soul—250,000.’

’All the souls I have!’

’This should be enough to obliterate this entire area. No matter where it runs, it won’t be able to escape.’

’But if I do this... I’ll have no more souls left.’

’Sacrifice fewer souls?’

’No... Its Life Force is too tenacious. If I don’t kill it this time, I’ll never catch it again, and a weaker blast won’t be enough to finish it.’

Lu Cang had made his decision.

He began to gather the power for the Spirit Burst.

SWISH!

Suddenly, a tyrannical hurricane tore past him!

BOOM!

The dense Forest on both sides was instantly blown apart, revealing a perfectly straight path!

"This is the end!"

A perfectly straight, cylindrical tunnel now stretched to the horizon...

At the farthest end of the path stood a red-haired man with a Heavy Sword resting on his shoulder.

"Yo."

"Not bad, kid."

"I’ll take it from here."