Dark Gold patterns on the surface of her skin suddenly flared, and her entire arm swelled by a full size.
CRACK!
The first man’s skull was easily crushed.
His body slumped to one side, his ruined pupils dilating, his eyes still filled with the last vestiges of terror.
The corpse crumpled to the ground.
Without a glance, Adelle balled her left hand into a fist and slammed it into the second man’s back.
The punch, wreathed in a terrifying sonic boom, smashed against the Shadow Shield the man had hastily raised.
BANG!
The Shield shattered like paper.
Her fist, losing none of its momentum, drove solidly into the man’s back, right over his heart.
SQUELCH!
The muffled crunch of shattering ribs mixed with the wet sound of rupturing organs.
The second man flew backward, crashing through a side wall and embedding himself in the pile of rubble.
He went silent.
Two breaths. Two kills.
Adelle retracted her fist and casually flicked away the blood, as if she had just swatted two flies.
She lifted her head, her gaze fixed on the direction Grover was fleeing.
Deep within her cyan eyes, Dark Gold and silver patterns intertwined.
"You’re next."
Naseng’s figure blurred as he caught up to the slowest-fleeing black-robed Wizard—one of the men who had been injured earlier.
He used no fancy moves, just a simple punch.
The man spun around, raising an earthen-yellow Shield in front of him with both hands.
Runes flowed across the Shield’s surface, which was a good half-foot thick.
But the instant the fist met the Shield...
CRACK.
The Shield shattered, and the fist landed squarely on the man’s chest.
SPLAT!
His sternum caved in as he flew backward, slamming against a wall and sliding to the ground.
The power of a Level Two Middle Stage Body Refinement practitioner was far too much for an Initial Stage Wizard’s Shield to withstand.
Naseng’s feet blurred as he closed the distance, unleashing a flurry of punches.
THUD! THUD!...
The black-robed Wizard coughed up mouthfuls of blood. He wasn’t going to make it.
Meanwhile, Carl and Coraline charged Grover at the same time.
Their steps were heavy, each one leaving a clear footprint in the ground.
Deep within the imprints, a Dark Gold pattern flashed and vanished.
Grover glanced back, his pupils contracting sharply.
Somehow, Delia had closed in to within thirty meters of him.
"Damn it!"
He gritted his teeth and slapped his waist with his right hand, activating three Thunderstorm Talismans at once.
The Runes transformed into three blinding bolts of lightning that shot backward!
In their wake, the air crackled with the smell of scorched ozone.
Carl’s expression remained impassive as his charging figure came to an abrupt halt.
He stomped his left foot hard, and the ground exploded into a spiderweb of cracks.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest, the Dark Gold patterns on his skin flaring to life.
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning slammed squarely into his arms, the resulting explosion illuminating half the alley.
But after the light from the explosion faded, everyone was unharmed.
Carl grinned, lowering his arms. There were only a few faint white marks on his skin.
He glanced down at them, then looked up and shot a provocative glare at Grover.
Rage burned in Grover’s heart. ’A mere Level Two Wizard dares to show me such contempt?’
"If you were alone, I’d slaughter you like a dog!"
Before he could dwell on it, Coraline and Delia had already flanked him from the sides.
She was faster than Carl, her movements as lithe as a cheetah’s. In just a few bounds, she had blocked Grover’s escape route.
Delia provided support from the side, running interference.
With Coraline in front and Carl behind, they spread their fingers, Dark Gold patterns spreading across their palms.
"Shock Wave."
Both of them pressed their palms to the ground at the same time.
HUMMM...
A transparent ripple spread across the ground as if it were the surface of water.
Wherever the ripple passed, the Stone Slabs shattered inch by inch, turning to dust.
Grover’s expression remained unchanged as he prepared to leap away.
But the ground beneath him suddenly became as viscous as a swamp; an invisible Gravity Field tried to pin him in place.
"How annoying."
His main focus was still on guarding against a sneak attack from Delia.
With a twitch of his shoulder, the Thunder Eagle shrieked and spat a breath of lightning.
The lightning hit the ripple but vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.
The next second,
the ripple swept over his body.
The Shield on Grover’s body flickered violently, and he felt as if he’d been struck by an invisible giant hammer.
What he hadn’t expected was that this Shock Wave could actually pass through his Shield and attack his body directly.
A series of cracks, like popping beans, echoed from all over his body as his bones fractured.
"Aargh..."
He spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.
His body was thrown back like a rag doll, smashing hard into a wall thirty meters away.
The wall collapsed with a roar, burying him in rubble.
The Thunder Eagle let out a mournful cry, its feathers exploding outward as it fell from the sky like a black shadow.
’What kind of Witchcraft is this?’
Buried in the rubble, Grover thought to himself that broken bones were no big deal; he could recover quickly.
’How could I, a dignified Level Two Late Stage Wizard, be injured by two barbarians?’
’Forget it. I’ll have to settle this score another day.’
He pulled a Blood-colored Jade Token from his robes and crushed it fiercely.
Instantly, a blinding flash of lightning enveloped him and the Thunder Eagle, and they vanished in the blink of an eye.
「Meanwhile.」
Morris’s escape route was even more bizarre.
His figure moved through the shadows like a phantom, reappearing ten meters away with every flicker.
But the Cursed Wizard, Roy, had already locked onto him.
His slender fingers tapped lightly in the air. With each tap, a dark purple thread materialized.
The threads extended and intertwined like living things, weaving themselves into a large net in the air.
Its mesh was fine, covering every possible direction Morris could use to evade.
"Shadow Binding: Thousand Threads."
Roy whispered the incantation, and the great net contracted suddenly.
Morris had just emerged from a patch of Shadow when he found the space around him sealed off.
His eyes filled with contempt. The nail on his right index finger shot out, and he swiped it at the threads.
The potent poison coating his nail was strong enough to corrode the structure of a Tier Two Witchcraft.
The instant his nail touched the thread...
HISS...
The thread was severed, and the net shattered instantly.
"Brat, you dare attack me today? One day, I’ll be sure to rip out your Soul."
After speaking, Morris prepared to melt back into the shadows and escape.
"You’re not getting away."
At some point, Adelle had arrived nearby.
Within a hundred-meter radius, the air grew heavy. Even the Magic Power seemed to be imprisoned, losing all its vitality.
Morris’s lips trembled, and terror finally appeared in his eyes.
Adelle stood straight, slowly clenching her fingers into a fist, and stomped her foot.
BOOM!
The ground shook, and her figure vanished.
Her fair fist slammed violently into Morris’s chest.
CRUNCH!
Flesh and blood splattered, mixed with the muffled sound of breaking bones.
As if struck by a sledgehammer, Morris was launched backward, his body bending into a V-shape.
"Aargh... Adelle, just you wait..."
A thick crimson light enveloped Morris and carried him swiftly into the distance.
A sharp light flashed in Adelle’s eyes. She knew that with this kind of escape Secret Technique, even a Level Two Late Stage Wizard couldn’t possibly catch him.
The battle, from start to finish, had lasted less than a minute.
Of the seven Level Two Initial Stage Wizards, five died gruesome deaths on the spot, while the other two were lucky to escape.
Corpses lay in the ruins, their blood staining the Stone Slabs.
Naseng collected the spoils of war from the bodies while Roy methodically retracted his threads.
Aliya scanned their surroundings vigilantly, wary of another ambush.
Adelle strode to Delia’s side, pulled a Healing Potion from her Dimension Ring, and uncorked it.
She poured the pale green liquid onto the wound on Delia’s shoulder. It sizzled softly as it made contact with flesh and blood.
Delia gritted her teeth, fine beads of sweat forming on her temples, but she didn’t make a sound.
Adelle took out a Recovery Potion and held it to Delia’s lips.
"Drink this."
Delia took it and tilted her head back, downing it in one go.
The Potion went down her throat and became a warm current that spread through her limbs. A hint of color returned to her pale face.
Leaning on her Short Blade, she slowly stood up. "My lady... I retrieved the Potion."
"You’ve done well. Let’s go back first," Adelle said, turning to look at the night sky.
There, the Crystal Ball atop the Time Trace Tower was still glowing, illuminating a large part of the city’s night sky.
It also illuminated the cold, blade-like glint in her eyes.
"It’s time to give certain people... a wake-up call."
The night wind swept through the old alley, carrying away the stench of blood and scorching.
Seven figures melted into the darkness and vanished, leaving behind only a scene of utter ruin.
And five slowly cooling corpses.
「On a distant rooftop.」
A Grey Falcon spread its wings and took flight, a Communication Tube tied to its leg shimmering with a faint light.
It carried news of tonight’s events to the spying eyes that lurked in the shadows.
「From this moment on.」
The seventh-in-line successor, Adelle Justice, had officially torn off her disguise.
She had bared her vicious fangs.