Chapter 97

【PS: Hello hello, the author is back asking for votes and flowers!】

Boom!

Boom boom boom!

Collisions rang continuously, and the entire Gao Ta began to shake violently.

Xiao Nan, watching this from afar, slightly furrowed his brow.

He simply waved his hand, and a large number of talismans inscribed with defensive runes appeared, sticking tightly to every corner of the Gao Ta.

After acquiring energy blocks to replenish his energy bar, Xiao Nan's abilities were greatly enhanced due to his "infinite blue bar"; originally, completing this project would have required at least over eighty percent of his blue bar.

Now, with energy blocks, after covering every part of the Paradise Tower with talismans, his blue bar was still at one hundred percent.

As Xiao Nan acted, the Paradise Tower, which had been shaking uncontrollably, became stable once more.

Soon, Jeral's attack ended.

Aizen Sōsuke remained standing in place with his usual calm expression, not moving a single step from start to finish.

But only Lin Cheng knew how much of Aizen Sōsuke's blue bar had been consumed by those two passive defenses.

The first time he blocked Jeral's normal attack, Aizen Sōsuke had spent roughly three percent of his spiritual energy; this second time was the real drain.

To show off, Lin Cheng made Aizen Sōsuke stand perfectly still and take Jeral's ultimate attack head-on.

It directly consumed twenty-five percent of his spiritual energy.

At this moment, the battle between Aizen Sōsuke and Jeral was extremely unfair, because Lin Cheng, considering future plot elements and for the sake of showing off, had forbidden Aizen Sōsuke from using Kensei Suiyō.

He could only fight Jeral using Kidō and Hohō.

It was like Aizen Sōsuke had bound his own hands—after all, the reason he was rated an S-class puppet was largely due to Kensei Suiyō and his extraordinary intelligence.

Now, with Kensei Suiyō and his intelligence temporarily banned, he was just charging forward blindly, equivalent to tying his own left and right hands together before fighting Jeral.

Jeral, restored to his peak power, was nearly at the level of the top four S-Class Mage Slayers, the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar; even Ace, an A-class two-star, couldn't guarantee victory even with full power unleashed.

In other words, factoring in energy consumption, even though Aizen Sōsuke was an S-class puppet and excelled in Kidō, Hohō, spiritual energy, and spiritual pressure compared to his peers, he was still at a disadvantage.

Aizen Sōsuke was a genius, but Jeral was one too.

But who else but Lin Cheng had just obtained a high-concentration energy block formed from Magic Fairy Power?

In the next instant, Lin Cheng fully replenished the spiritual energy Aizen Sōsuke had consumed.

But by now, the showboating had gone far enough; continuing to stand still and take another direct hit was truly overdoing it. Seeing Jeral charging toward him again, Aizen Sōsuke moved once more.

Kidō No. 4: Byakurai.

Spiritual energy surged from Aizen Sōsuke's fingertip, launching a pillar of lightning toward Jeral.

"Bang!"

Facing the lightning that instantly reached him, Jeral sneered, his immense magical power surging wildly; under the acceleration of a meteor, he instantly released a celestial body that blocked the lightning.

"Celestial Magic: Seven-Star Sword!"

Looking at Aizen Sōsuke, Jeral's eyes flashed with cold light, and he swung both hands.

Seven magical arrays appeared in the darkened sky, forming the shape of the Big Dipper.

Then, an endless rain of light, carrying the aura of death, continuously rained down upon Aizen Sōsuke's position.

"Hohō No. 39: Enkaisen."

A semi-transparent shield reappeared before Aizen Sōsuke, blocking the endless rain of light.

"Good. Very good."

"Your strength is indeed impressive."

Jeral, staring at Aizen Sōsuke—who had remained utterly unmoved from start to finish—his face twisted into a grotesque snarl; he assumed a specific stance and said: "True Celestial Magic: Starfall!"

As Jeral spoke, the sky, previously only somewhat dark, plunged into complete darkness.

This was Jeral's strongest magic.

He leaned his body, left hand touching the ground, right hand tilted upward, unleashing a massive meteor crashing from the heavens to inflict enormous area damage.

"Oh?"

"Are you finally getting serious?"

Aizen Sōsuke, watching Jeral enter his charging state, slightly narrowed his eyes.

To block Jeral's ultimate attack, Aizen Sōsuke would have to take it seriously.

Normally, according to Aizen Sōsuke's usual fighting style, Jeral would never have gotten close to him today—but Kensei Suiyō had to remain hidden for now.

Plus, for a bit of visual flair, to help Lin Cheng's reporting.

Yes, Lin Cheng had already sent several puppets working at the newspaper to the front lines to take photos.

For visual impact, to harvest more emotional value later, Lin Cheng planned to make Aizen Sōsuke and Jeral clash head-on, and allowed Jeral to unleash his ultimate technique.

Otherwise, before Aizen Sōsuke, Jeral wouldn't have been able to release any technique requiring charge-up at all.