Chapter 615: The Prohibition's Favoritism

Rod swept a glance at the distant battle between Cardinal David and the scorpion woman Hera, lightning flickering between them.

Both were speed-oriented types, but Hera was clearly a cut above.

David was sent flying time and again, crashing into the earth and sending dirt churning.

Hera was, after all, someone who had once stood at the Ninth Tier; an adjustment period meant nothing to her, and she simply beat the frail, aging David into the ground.

Rod set his heart at ease.

He looked toward the distant piercing mage, Vincent.

At the far end of the land where massive bone spurs crisscrossed, he sat upon a throne of enormous vertebrae.

The other's eyes narrowed slightly, gazing down with cold arrogance.

"Eighth Tier? So what. With your current Dragon Scale Art, can you still resist my domain, Rod?"

The winged being Caroline in the sky seemed to have entered a state of nothingness; spells and physical attacks alike could not touch her, and naturally could not dispel the 【Flickering Flash】 banishment effect.

Rod sneered, unhurriedly closing the distance with measured steps.

"Go ahead and try."

"Empty bravado."

Bone-white spiritual light flickered.

Several "Bone Fang Wanderers" burst from the ground, howling at the sky.

Before they could even finish howling, as Rod strolled forward, a massive Hyakume war soul materialized behind him.

Withered, slender arms instantly pierced through the skulls of those Bone Fang Wanderers; then the withered yellow eye in its palm turned red, and 【Flame Ray】 blasted into the wanderers' bodies.

Sparks burst forth.

In an instant, all the Bone Fang Wanderers were burned to bone powder.

The first effect after reaching Eighth Tier.

All war soul skills directly +10!

A spiral bone spur streaked with crimson blood grooves suddenly thrust upward from beneath Rod's feet.

As if foreseeing it, he stepped back directly; the waist-thick bone spur spun madly, grazing his body.

Boiling lines wrapped in infernal magma surfaced along both arms, and a single fist smashed the bone spur to pieces.

The fragments became like shotgun pellets, blasting directly onto Vincent's spell shield with a clatter.

Vincent's expression shifted slightly, the corner of his eye twitching despite himself.

This kind of power and spiritual quality had already far exceeded the limits of Eighth Tier.

Eighth Tier peak?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Going straight from Seventh Tier peak breakthrough to Eighth Tier peak? You can't play it like that.

He raised a staff pieced together from bones, his face full of cold killing intent.

The Ring of Truth behind him began to rotate, emitting dazzling light.

【Spell Metamagic】 · 【Lightning Storm】!

This spell had an enormous area; combined with metamagic boosting it two tiers into a Ninth Tier spell, its power and range became a cataclysm-level super spell!

You can take it, can you?

Good, good, good. Let's see how the woman behind you can take it!

The staff blazed with light; chanting a Seventh Tier-level spell was already second nature to him, and in the blink of an eye it was complete.

"Heh heh. Rod."

And at that moment he saw a grotesque, ugly fungal creature war soul materialize behind Rod.

A flash of green light struck directly onto his staff.

Bang!

The staff instantly shattered into powder!

And the 【Lightning Storm】 using it as a medium abruptly broke off.

"Disintegrate?!"

How is that possible?! But I already set up a spell to replace Disintegrate!

He stared, eyes wide in disbelief.

A wisp of green psionic energy appeared in the air.

"Psionics?! This place still falls within the Twilight Hills' territory. How can you ignore that bitch's prohibition?!"

"Guess."

Boom!

With an explosion, Rod had already blasted apart the ground, rocketing like a cannonball to slam right in front of Vincent.

The 【Sacrificial Body Sword】 in his hand instantly turned black-gold.

Blue spiritual motes rapidly gathered on the blade, dazzling and shifting.

Vincent recognized this as the 【Giant-Cutting Slash】 that had cleaved through his metamagic shield back in the arena.

But at that time, because the back door of the arena had been dug through, its power had been boosted tenfold.

You broke through a tier, and I don't believe you still have that kind of power!

Vincent's face turned vicious; he slammed the armrest of the massive spinal throne and rose ferociously, roaring at him.

"Come on!!!"

What came head-on was indeed 【Giant-Cutting Slash】.

But it was a super-enlarged 【Giant-Cutting Slash】, amplified by 【Twelve Flashes】 + 【Strike Burst】 stacking slash counts + 【Blessing of the Ancient Tree of the Firmament】.

Rod had never used this before because this combo consumed an absurd amount of spiritual energy, draining a person dry in an instant.

Even Rod, a Tier Seven with quality far exceeding the standard, could not complete it.

But now, things are different.

Peak Tier Eight!

【Water-type Spiritual Energy: Individual Spiritual Energy Capacity +3545%!!】

【Sharpness Spiritual Energy: Spiritual Energy Cutting Ability +525%, Slash-type Spiritual Energy Art Effect +638%!】

【Mature Spiritual Energy: Strength +424%, Agility +288%, Constitution +588%, All Spiritual Energy Art Effects +438%】

Rod took a moment to test himself on the brass Spiritual Energy Measurement Sphere.

533 marks -> 756 marks!!

This also includes the -50 mark debuff from Fabio's Soul-Gazing Gaze.

Mistral's Gao Jie Zhou spell is already taking effect; it will be completely lifted in half a day.

Without it, Rod's current power, based solely on his physique and spiritual energy, would directly break through 800 marks!

The numbers have inflated, buddy.

Crack!

The blue transparent defense field shattered!

Vincent's face changed wildly; his fierce anger vanished instantly. In terror, he produced a palm-sized stone carving.

Pfft—

The blade broke through; overflowing sharp silver lines tore the space apart. Sword light more violent than a meteor shower poured down from the dome, each arc of light slicing the air and emitting a metallic hum.

Vincent's entire body was torn into more than a dozen pieces.

Then the stone carving in his hand shattered, and his body turned into a shadow, leaping back a hundred meters before reforming.

He knelt half on the ground, his face's gray-white bone structure cracking and shattering all over the floor.

Drip—

Cold sweat fell directly onto the ground.

He looked at Rod nearby as if seeing a ghost, filled with terror.

"Why! Why can you, a Tier Eight, have such power now?!"

Rod said nothing, just sneering coldly.

As the sword light faded, he walked forward slowly.

Vincent made up his mind.

Since this Rod can use spiritual energy, it means that bitch's ban doesn't reach deeply; being located within the maze, even within the range of the Twilight Hills, might not affect it.

Perhaps that bitch favors this person?

Impossible!

That stinking woman is incredibly rigid; she has spent her whole life studying the Magic Web and holds a great disdain for non-mage populations.

Even if she favored someone, it would absolutely not be this spiritual energy warrior!

Thinking thus.

The bone in his palm cracked open, revealing a blood-red, rotting mouth in his palm, from which foul-smelling spiritual energy emanated.

Vincent sneered coldly.

"If you think only you can use spiritual energy, you are greatly mistaken, Rod."

Boom!

At that moment.

The clear blue sky in the maze suddenly changed color; dark clouds gathered.

A deep blue Magic Web canopy appeared above; a wisp of magic slid, outlining the starry shadow of the Magic Goddess Mistral, majestic and indifferent to all beings, holy yet equal.

Three aligned beauty marks twinkled; she declared again ruthlessly:

"Spiritual energy and Ether are forbidden in the Twilight Hills."

Vincent's eyes immediately bulged with rage.

"Why?" Those three words appeared in his mind again.

"Wha—"

Before he could finish speaking.

A bolt of Lei Guang crashed down, smashing him to pieces in an instant.

(End of this chapter)