Chapter 157: Chapter 107: Rune Stacking, Thunderburst Kill
Yang Xu’s thoughts raced as he quickly formulated a plan, a measure of calm settling over him.
Without hesitation, he immediately activated his Witchcraft Artifact, and his body erupted in scorching flames.
In the dazzling blaze, his body rapidly swelled as if being inflated. His skin split open into a dense network of cracks, revealing a dark red, magma-like glow flowing slowly beneath.
A searing aura swept out in an instant, and the air temperature seemed to skyrocket by more than ten degrees.
The few Fog Crows that got close to Yang Xu only had time for a mournful cry before flames ignited on their bodies, incinerating them to ash in an instant.
’A magma-type biological modification.’
Pei Ze watched this scene with great interest.
’Evidently, the Witchcraft Artifact Yang Xu possesses is also related to fire, capable of amplifying his abilities.’
’Just like Xiao Xi’s Ring of Nether Fire.’
With a thought from Pei Ze, the dark flock of crows pressed down again, descending upon Yang Xu from above like a torrential flood to crush him.
Yang Xu had now transformed into a five-meter-tall giant, his body covered in rock with magma flowing within.
Facing the sky-blotting swarm of crows, his face—now petrified and webbed with dark red fissures—remained expressionless as he suddenly threw a heavy punch.
With a deafening roar, a massive cone of fire and magma erupted from his fist, like an enhanced version of Burning Hand, instantly engulfing countless Fog Crows.
With a searing sizzle, hundreds of Fog Crows turned to ash.
Yang Xu let out a low roar and unleashed a flurry of punches, each one annihilating over a hundred Fog Crows.
For a moment, the entire vast woodland seemed to be filled with flames.
Pei Ze raised an eyebrow. ’No wonder Red Lotus City sent Yang Xu out second. His ability is indeed a good counter to the Fog Crows.’
To defeat Gong Xinghe’s Blood-colored Vines, nearly two thousand Fog Crows had perished. Now, Yang Xu had taken out a significant number more, leaving less than half of them remaining.
Seeing this, Pei Ze simply recalled all the Fog Crows.
The oppressive black torrent of crows flowed in reverse, shrinking into a wisp of black mist as it reached Pei Ze before coiling around his wrist to become a motionless black bracelet.
Yang Xu furrowed his brow, looking at Pei Ze with surprise and suspicion, not understanding why he would recall his magical pet at such a critical moment.
But upon closer inspection, he noticed that a cyan halo had appeared around Pei Ze’s body at some point, swirling with a shockingly dense concentration of Energy Particles.
"Elemental Runes!" Yang Xu cried out in shock.
He wasn’t surprised that Pei Ze could use Elemental Runes; he already knew that much.
He was shocked because the effect of the Elemental Runes Pei Ze cast seemed excessively powerful.
Yang Xu’s attention had been mostly focused on the crows, so he hadn’t noticed. The onlookers, however, had seen everything clearly.
Pei Ze hadn’t cast just one Elemental Rune, but a full eight.
They included three Lightning Runes and five Gale Runes.
"Stacking Elemental Runes..." Xu Ke’s expression was numb.
’The Magic Tattoo from before was one thing, but now he’s stacking Elemental Runes.’
’These are all abilities not mentioned in the intel. Just how many trump cards is Pei Ze still hiding?’
Xiao Xi was also shocked, but a moment later her spirits soared. Her eyes remained glued to the battlefield below, unwilling to look away for even a second.
After empowering himself with the Elemental Runes, Pei Ze’s figure blurred as he shot toward Yang Xu like an arrow.
Seeing this, Yang Xu’s expression darkened.
Although he was surprised by the strangeness of Pei Ze’s Elemental Runes, he was confident he could utterly crush Pei Ze in close combat.
Seeing Pei Ze now daring to take the initiative and close the distance, he sneered inwardly.
Without hesitation, Yang Xu threw a punch.
The massive fist, like a blazing meteor trailing a tail of fire, whistled as it smashed toward Pei Ze’s head.
But in the next second, all Yang Xu saw was a flash before Pei Ze’s figure vanished.
’Flash Magic Tattoo?’
’No, that’s not it. It’s just pure speed—so fast I can’t even track his movements!’
His fist missed and slammed into the ground, instantly creating a huge crater and sending dust flying everywhere.
But Yang Xu had no time to worry about that. He immediately spun around, only to be met by the sharp glint of a sword that flashed like lightning.
KRRSSSH!
The sword light, carrying what looked like tangible arcs of electricity, slammed into Yang Xu’s back and then violently exploded.
Yang Xu felt as if he’d been struck by lightning, and he was uncontrollably thrown forward as an intense, bone-deep pain shot through his back.
Even without looking back, Yang Xu knew his back must be charred black.
’How is this possible?!’
’He only used Lightning Runes, so why is the attack so powerful?!’
Yang Xu was horrified. He felt the power of that last strike was nearly on par with a Tier One Witchcraft Artifact.
’How on earth did Pei Ze do it?’
Before he could figure it out, Pei Ze’s next attack was already upon him.
With five Gale Runes stacked, Pei Ze’s speed had reached an astonishing level.
Yang Xu couldn’t even touch the hem of his clothes; all he could do was passively take the beating.
Even when he unleashed wide-area attacks, the meager damage was easily blocked by Pei Ze’s Mage Armor, leaving him completely unharmed.
Yang Xu, on the other hand, suffered a new, charred gash on his body every time Pei Ze’s sword found its mark.
With the tables turned, he was so completely suppressed by Pei Ze that he was in constant peril, unable to fight back.
Watching this unfold, the members of Red Lotus City fell into a dead silence.
Xu Ke’s expression was incredibly grim.
’Legendary Knight... Pei Ze has actually advanced to Legendary Knight!’
’Another detail not mentioned in the intel.’
In his mind, Xu Ke couldn’t help but curse out the person responsible for gathering their intelligence.
’How on earth did that idiot gather this intel?’
’It’s riddled with errors!’
’Otherwise, if we had prepared for this, we definitely wouldn’t be in this situation.’
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The dazzling light and roar of exploding lightning filled every inch of the woodland.
The battle had now become a completely one-sided beatdown.
Yang Xu was covered in wounds, completely powerless to retaliate.
’It’s time to end this.’
Pei Ze abruptly retreated to create some distance and made a grasping motion with his hand.
In that instant, a dazzling light shone from his back. Countless tiny arcs of electricity appeared in his palm, rapidly coalescing into a tangible Lightning Spear that he grasped firmly.
Staring at the Lightning Spear, Yang Xu felt an unprecedented sense of dread wash over his heart.
’This is the feeling of facing death itself!’
Terrified, Yang Xu opened his mouth to surrender, but he saw Pei Ze flick his arm, and the Lightning Spear in his hand vanished.
At the same time, a sharp pain shot through Yang Xu’s chest. He looked down to find the Lightning Spear had somehow appeared there, piercing him clean through.
...
Yang Xu’s lips moved a few times, as if trying to speak, but before he could utter a sound, a violent explosion of brilliant lightning completely engulfed him!
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion echoed through the sky above the forest, reverberating for a long time.
The blinding flash of lightning covered an area with a radius of nearly one hundred meters.
When the light from the blast dissipated, a massive crater had appeared in the woodland. It was three to four meters deep with a radius of over one hundred meters.
As for Yang Xu, he was gone without a trace. Not a single speck of flesh or bone remained; he had been completely annihilated by the lightning.
The six Wizards stared blankly at the scene, speechless for a long time.
Xu Ke’s face was ashen. His fists were clenched so tightly that his white knuckles betrayed the terror in his heart.
Xiao Xi’s eyes sparkled as she stared at Pei Ze.
’He won again!’
’And it was another decisive, crushing victory!’
’Now we’re back on equal footing with Red Lotus City!’
Pei Ze lowered his hand and let out a long breath, a hint of delight flashing in his eyes.
’As expected of an offensive Magic Tattoo. Its power is definitely over 200 degrees, maybe even close to 250. I’m afraid only stacking Lightning Runes to the absolute limit as a Silver Star could surpass this.’
Pei Ze had used the Thunder Burst Magic Tattoo so decisively because he saw that Yang Xu was about to surrender.
He was very satisfied with its power, which had blasted Yang Xu into dust.
’It’s just a shame about the loot. It was all annihilated in that Thunder Burst.’
’Fortunately, I already collected Gong Xinghe’s dimensional bag and Magic Items.’
Collecting his thoughts, Pei Ze looked up toward the Black Giant Eagle, his gaze landing directly on Xu Ke. He spoke indifferently,
"You’re the only one left."
His voice, amplified by wind-aspected Energy Particles, carried far and wide.
Aboard the giant eagle, Xu Ke’s face paled, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
