Chapter 530: The Black Sphere

Aurelio narrowed his eyes slightly.

The man before him possessed a beauty rivaling that of an elf, yet it was not the delicate elegance of an elf.

This man was harder, more rugged, his eyes blazing with an innate battle aura.

"Forest Warden Luo De? Hmph, so he's truly only seventh-rank."

He spoke first.

Since Aurelio arrived at Coral Bay on assignment, he had heard countless exaggerated tales of Luo De's exploits.

He had won countless minor battles, nearly never losing.

Early on, he had driven off two seventh-rankers alone with just his sixth-rank power—killing one and leaving the other critically wounded.

More recently, he had repelled two adult dragons of eighth-rank consecutively.

The latest one, it was said, had left him severely injured after being bathed in acidic breath.

But what he saw now.

Aside from some torn clothing, his body showed not a single wound.

The black dragon was almost certainly lying.

Yet

this Forest Warden Luo De had clearly just been in battle.

But

unlike Aurelio's caution,

Luo De didn't even glance at him.

He turned directly to the elf Kalist, frowning.

"What are you trying to prove? If Bond hadn't told me your location—"

Even if you couldn't win,

with your elf's methods, escaping would be effortless.

Luo De naturally knew she was forcing herself to stay, simply to avoid disrupting the front-line battle.

Kalist scowled: "I left you a message in the 【Far-Speech Chain】."

"You just wrote 'come.' What kind of message is that?"

"Can't you understand?"

The halfling Lily jumped out from Tally's shadow.

She ran to Kalist's side and began healing.

"There, there, Kalist, don't get excited—you'll start bleeding again!"

"Mmm."

Seeing her condition, Luo De's heart tightened.

He cast 【Fungal Unity】 from the Plague Domain, his tone softening:

"Sorry, I wasn't blaming you—I was just too worried."

Kalist collapsed fully onto the ground, her pale, delicate face resting helplessly against Lily's arms.

Hearing Luo De's words, she faintly smiled, then quickly scowled again.

"I don't need your concern."

"."

Luo De laughed bitterly.

This elf was stubborn, prickly, and annoying—more troublesome than a stone in a latrine.

He turned away, then strode straight to her.

Before Kalist could react, he pulled her into his arms.

He planted a loud, firm kiss on her cheek.

The power of the Grass Domain's 【Green Vine Mutual Healing】 and the Plague Domain's 【Fungal Unity】 surged wildly.

Tally, on guard ahead, whistled softly—no sound escaped.

Lily beside him stared, dumbfounded.

Wait—didn't Luo De just ask Tally to confess to me?

And now he's hugging another girl?

Kalist froze, her eyes darting in panic.

"Get off!"

"Why are you so worked up? It's just healing."

Luo De didn't force it—he let her push him away.

Yet his gaze remained unflinching, fixed on those gradually brightening emerald eyes.

Kalist held his stare for a moment, then broke, her gaze flickering away.

"You'll answer to the Elven Court, human."

"So kissing me means you'll sue me?"

Luo De smiled.

He patted her head—immediately swatted away by her weak hand.

He didn't mind.

He turned and patted the skull of the wounded rat-girl Thirteen: "Good job. Sticking with this stubborn master must've been hell."

Thirteen's face was also terrifyingly pale.

She turned her head, nuzzling Luo De's palm with her pink-furred rat ears.

She left his hand smeared with blood.

Luo De's smile faded quickly.

"Lily, take them both back to the rear—Xiao Ke's healing is far superior."

"And you?"

"Don't worry—I can handle this alone."

Lily trusted Luo De completely. She nodded and flew off with the two wounded.

Luo De watched their retreating backs.

He turned again toward the man trapped in the 【Magic Prison】 in the distance.

He drew out the 【Great Pruner of the Grand Cultivator】.

Rage surged.

"Our sides are enemies—no need for words. Die."

Aurelio had been coldly watching his moment with the girls.

Hearing this, he instantly perked up.

His thrusting sword darted rapidly, shattering the magic prison before him.

"To avoid accusations of bullying, I'll lower my spiritual rank to seventh—let me test just how strong you, the Stone Town Guardian, really are."

As he spoke,

he smiled confidently, and his spiritual pressure visibly shrank, compressing down to seventh-rank levels.

Would Luo De care?

He wouldn't.

He slung the giant shears over his shoulder and walked forward slowly.

With each step, his aura and pressure rose higher; behind him, pale blue soul mist rose gently.

The battle spirits of the Bronze Dragon, the Fungal Warrior Gorgon, the Astral Ambusher, the Ancient White Dragon, and the Hundred-Eyed Demon crowded tightly behind Luo De's clearly medium-sized humanoid frame.

Five battle spirits, each unstable.

They seemed to tangle together, becoming something neither one nor the other.

Thump-thump-thump—

Two dragon hearts amplified his bloodline, their thunderous pounding unbearable, overwhelming pressure flooding outward.

【Spiritual Overload】

【Powerful Strike +1】 【Dragon Power Technique +2】 【Fungal Warrior Physiology】...

【Power Release: 1500%】!

Aurelio's face twisted in shock.

In his dark elf's heightened perception, the spiritual energy—and even the air—around him suddenly thickened and grew sluggish.

Like drowning in a sea of hastily solidified slime, every muscle in his body now required 20% more effort to move.

He abandoned all courtesy and poise, instantly releasing the spiritual pressure he had just suppressed.

This clearly delayed his reaction by a fraction of a second.

Luo De slammed forward, the ground cracking like a spiderweb beneath him—he shot toward Aurelio like a cannonball.

CLANG—

BOOM!!!

The tip of the pruner dragged a blade of air charged with extreme spiritual pressure.

As it swung, excess energy spilled over, striking the grass to the left of their collision.

In an instant, the ground shattered, dust and shattered rock erupting skyward to form a straight, bottomless chasm.

【Triggered Sharpness Check】!

【【The Great Cultivator's Pruning Shears' Sharpness: 130】

【【Demon Hunter' Sharpness: 92】

【Result: Success!】

Crack—

Half of a stiletto blade, along with a large spray of glowing blood, shot skyward.

"Wha—"

Aurelio staggered back in shock.

He unleashed the fastest speed he'd ever shown since becoming leader of the Nightclan, even shattering two magic rings imbued with flash spells.

Only when he'd put enough distance between himself and the man did he stop.

He was stunned to realize he was relieved the man hadn't pursued—his face turned ashen.

"Forester Luo De."

His right hand, gripping the sword, trembled so violently he could no longer hold it.

He looked down and saw his palm bones twisted and flipped backward, most of them shattered, even piercing through the skin and exposed to air.

The 【Demon Hunter】 in his hand hung only by his numb pinky and ring finger.

Pfft—

A massive slash wound, cleaving through bone, gushed blood, staining his ruined right hand crimson.

The half-deer watcher, who had been observing all along, could no longer stand still.

He rushed to Aurelio's side and cast a healing spell.

Yet his eyes never left Luo De, filled with dread and disbelief.

"You're not a 【Hero】? Why?"

Then he suddenly realized, wild with excitement, "You're the obstacle to the future?"

Luo De paid him no mind.

He swung the heavy pruning shears with a whoosh, then abruptly halted.

Glowing blood splattered across the ground.

"Is that it? That's all? Is that really all you've got?? Then what the hell was all my patience for?"

Luo De laughed bitterly, arrogantly.

He tore open his chest clothing, revealing a wound marked only by a pale scar.

"A sorcerer at peak eighth tier—only raw power and speed, relying entirely on weapon traits, utterly lacking the advantages of seventh-tier schools."

"I wasted so long preparing, thinking you were strong."

"Boring. Useless. Pathetic!!!"

The spirit measurement of this dark elf was around 500 ke.

Although close to Mikhail the Black Dragon's 510 ke, his physique made his strength and constitution utterly incomparable.

He couldn't compare at all before someone who had activated 【Power Liberation 1500%】.

Luo De stomped hard.

The ground exploded into cracks; 【War Trample】 sent out dozens of heavy, spiritual shockwaves, shattering the earth as they surged toward them.

Aurelio, face ashen, switched the 【Demon Hunter】 to his left hand.

He kicked away the half-deer beside him and leapt to the side.

But before he landed—

A vast shadow appeared before him in an instant.

The forester Luo De carried no weapon, his spiritual energy surging violently and dominantly.

His right fist clenched, drawing his arm back like a steel crossbow string pulled to its limit.

Aurelio instinctively raised his ruined right arm to block.

"Die!"

The block did nothing—nothing could stop that battering-ram fist. Crack. His bones shattered instantly.

The force didn't weaken. It slammed a second time into Aurelio's handsome face!

Crushed!

Blood sprayed!

"Agh!"

Luo De wouldn't let him retreat—he unleashed a furious barrage of punches.

Calling it a "punch exchange" wasn't quite right.

Most of the time, Luo De's fists rained down on him, while Aurelio's stiletto never once pierced Luo De's sixteen-layer-enhanced 【Dragon Scale Technique】.

His left hand shot forward like a dragon's claw.

He seized the upper half of Aurelio's face, fingers squeezing as blood and shattered bone oozed between them.

Ignoring the frantic thrusts of Aurelio's blade.

He slammed him to the ground and dragged him, carving a deep trench, stones and dust spraying from the friction.

Then, with explosive leg muscles, he launched skyward.

At the peak of his ascent, Luo De's eyes blazed crimson, his fist drawing back once more to gather power.

"DIE!!!"

Boom!

Aurelio's body crashed to earth like a meteor, the ground collapsing violently, dust surging like a tidal wave.

Luo De threw his head back and roared.

"I'M FUCKING INVINCIBLE!!!"

He was reveling in it.

The half-deer watching from afar shouted:

"Natalie! How much longer are you going to wait!"

"Why the rush? Do you think rituals take no time?"

The seductive, alluring Natalia Blackmoon appeared silently on a nearby hill behind them.

Her face bore no more of its former confident, seductive smile—only gloom and a twisted, ugly expression.

As she appeared—

Vast amounts of magic gathered, rapidly forming a massive, pitch-black sphere.

It instantly engulfed Luo De, still laughing midair.

(End of Chapter)