Chapter 148: Seventh-Order Grand Soul Master (Part Two)

A gigantic blade over ten meters wide! The sheer, ferocious force of its wind shattered the majority of V尔's skeletal soldiers. Watching that terrifying blade of light draw closer and closer, V尔 could not help but sigh inwardly: "Is this the true strength of Baric?!"

The advance of the giant blade was not particularly fast, but because the distance was far too close, the two of them were completely unable to escape. V尔 had already ordered all his skeletal soldiers to use their bodies to block the terrifying blade. Yet, wildcats would always remain wildcats; even a hundred wildcats combined could not match the charging force of an armored rhinoceros in battle.

"Snap!"

Countless skeleton bones shattered into tiny pieces, but immediately afterward, those fragments reassembled into complete skeletons, charging toward the blade of light once more. With another "snap," they were reduced to piles of bones yet again. The cycle repeated endlessly. Even so, the sheer number of skeletons could still not halt the forward momentum of the giant blade. The entire ground was gouged by the blade into a terrifying trench over three meters deep, with cracks fracturing the earth for more than ten meters!

Baric roared in frantic rage. His overly inflated confidence had subjected him to excruciating pain that pierced his heart. Although he had used his powerful soul force to block and gradually expel all of the corrosive dark aura from his body, the injuries on his legs did not improve as a result. The secondary effects of the darkness tortured Baric until life felt worse than death. One piercing, blood-curdling shriek after another made one's scalp tingle.

V尔's expression remained cold. The remaining spatial magic within his sea of consciousness was far from sufficient to perform another long-distance jump. As for other methods... they existed, but unfortunately, there was no longer enough time.

The greyish-white light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter, while V尔 offered a somewhat mocking smile. Everything had been planned out meticulously, yet the sudden appearance of Pepero completely disrupted his scheme, ultimately costing him even his life.

Until this very moment, V尔 did not know whether he should feel anger or sorrow.

Pepero! This young miss! Was she truly destined to be his nemesis?

V尔 grinned bitterly. Using a spatial shift, he flashed behind Pepero, standing right beside her. The blade of light in front of them was a mere half-meter away!

The piercing wind raged, the blade of light ran wild, and the two stood there side by side.

"Are you scared?"

V尔 had originally wanted to ask why she had come back, but for some reason, after turning the words over in his mouth several times, that was the sentence that finally slipped out.

"Maybe... Heh, who knows?"

Pepero smiled faintly. At that exact moment, the young miss who always managed to catch people off guard suddenly turned her head and uttered words that left V尔 speechless.

"You know what? I still don't like you!"

"Haha? What a coincidence, neither do I!"

V尔 gently placed his divine staff horizontally across his chest, extending a single finger to slowly trace the emerald-green crescent. His movement was exceedingly tender; with every inch his fingertip traversed, the crescent emitted a faint glow. As his finger swept across, that crescent suddenly burst forth with a dreamy, emerald radiance. The brilliance was so dazzlingly magnificent that it even surpassed the oncoming giant blade. Beneath that brilliant green brilliance, two exceptionally eye-catching red and blue lights constantly alternated and fused with one another, forming an ornate, intertwined red and blue light sphere that hovered steadily before V尔.

Of course, upon closer inspection, it was not difficult to notice that the light sphere was not actually stationary. On the contrary, it had been spinning rapidly from the very beginning. The two distinct rings of red and blue light rotated in opposite directions throughout the process: the red ring continuously spun toward the left, while the blue ring constantly rotated toward the right.

The Twin Flame-Ice Spiral Blast was one of V尔's self-created spells. It fused ice-elemental and fire-elemental magic of entirely opposing attributes, utilizing extreme traits and absolute repulsion to generate an unexpected, devastating attack. Given V尔's current strength, this could be considered his most powerful magical offensive to date.

On the other side, Pepero had also made her final preparations. The two flame tails that had been coiled around her legs had completely transformed into giant flame shields measuring one and a half meters high and over three meters wide. Streams of crimson fire continuously radiated from her body. The aura-infused claws on her hands, originally over a meter long, were compressed again and again until they shrank to less than half a meter. Even so, Pepero still seemed unsatisfied, desperately trying to compress the claws even further.

Yet, none of this mattered anymore, because the blade of light they were doomed to face finally bore down upon them!

"Boom!"

A deafening explosion rang out. V尔's Twin Flame-Ice Spiral Blast collided with the giant blade first. The violent blast instantly reduced everything around them to ashes. The ground cracked as if triggered by a severe earthquake, and the surrounding buildings emitted terrifying creaking sounds. Before the shock of that explosion had even subsided, Pepero's strike slammed into the blade of light as well. This impact was far more violent than the previous one. With a thunderous "Boom!", the earth was blasted into a giant crater over ten meters wide. Pepero and V尔 were both blown away by the extreme shockwave. V尔 had three or four ribs directly shattered, but by comparison, Pepero's condition was far worse. Because she had thrown herself directly against the blade of light, not only were two of her ribs broken, but the bones in her arm also suffered a severe fracture. Spouting a large mouthful of fresh blood, she was violently hurled onto the ground.

Merely to withstand a single blow from Baric had left V尔 and Pepero grievously wounded. One could easily imagine just how terrifyingly high Baric's true strength had become!

Is this the end of it?

V尔 sighed inwardly. He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, then reached into his robes and touched an item he had kept on his person the entire time... It was something Karen had given him. Although the item's effects were remarkable, precisely because it was a gift from that woman Karen, V尔 had been reluctant to use it. Yet, at this very juncture, was he finally forced to use it?

"Consider it finding a decent excuse... Hmph, let's just say it's to save that woman Pepero? That sounds like a good enough reason, doesn't it, V尔?"

V尔 muttered to himself with self-deprecating irony. He had already clenched the stone in his hand, abandoning his so-called persistence as he prepared to slowly draw it out. But at that exact moment, a powerful aura suddenly swept in from afar. V尔 was stunned by the murderous intent, because this formidable presence actually seemed several degrees stronger than Baric!

Who could it be?!

V尔's mind was filled with doubt. Right then, the distant presence was flying toward them at a tremendous speed. In the blink of an eye, a dazzling beam of light flashed across the sky, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

The light dissipated, revealing the figure within. Somewhat unbelievably, that person possessed a pair of wings! Indeed, he was flying through the sky just like a bird!

Virtually everyone was captivated by the flying figure. When Pepero finally recognized the person, her taut nerves finally relaxed. Spreading her arms and legs unceremoniously, she sprawled across V尔's body without a care, ignoring his wincing, pain-riddled expression. Gritting her teeth, she yelled with all her might: "Ha! We don't have to die! Hey! Can you stop howling like a wolf? It sounds atrocious!"

"Damn it! That's because you're crushing my injuries! And besides, you're really heavy!"

"What did you say?!"