Chapter 30
Peng! *
Ron's head, an unresigned expression upon his face, flew several meters in the air and finally fell to the ground. His eyes were open wide and he was no longer able to close them.
His headless corpse was still kneeling in front of Ron, and blood poured out from it continuously. The corpse's left hand was still extended, but it was blocked by grey radiant armor, a few inches away from Ron's body.
"Even without the defense of the Fallen Star Pendant, I don't have to fear most of the acolytes' attacks. Along with the frost runes' enhancement of a greatsword, combined with Grand Knight's abilities, it is one of the top strengths amongst acolytes!"
In the last exchange against Ron, Dodge, rather than using the Fallen Star Pendant to test his newfound abilities, had grown very strong due to not using it in an actual life-and-death fight, but he had not yet grasped it completely. Today, though, using these acolytes as practice, he was sharpening himself even further.
Ron was very satisfied with this battle's outcome.
Saurun was only an acolyte who was slightly less inferior to Torash. When Ron used his techniques, Saurun couldn't withstand even a few rounds before being completely defeated, with his head being chopped off.
"It's your turn now!" Ron kicked Saurun's corpse away and charged towards the blonde female acolyte.
"It's completed!"
At the same time, the blonde female acolyte exhaled, as if shouldering a huge burden.
A bright red flower unfolded its petals and revealed a green rock the size of a fist. It had a dazzling gleam, with the blonde female acolyte's fresh blood sprayed on it. There was also a broken half of a dagger, which lay on the floor.
These three items faintly resembled a triangular formation, with many greyish power runes surrounding them.
Ron didn't charge towards her but stayed put, letting her do her thing. The female blonde acolyte smirked and pointed at Ron.
"By the name of Memphis Rofar Maginent, of the Gigantic Binding Sprite from the abyss, the person that I point to will lose all ability of motion!"
Weng Weng! *
Light began to shine from the triangular formation, and Ron suddenly felt a huge binding strength engulfing him, which rooted him to the spot.
The smile that mocked her efforts still remained on Ron's lips, with no fear or agitation at all.
Ron remained still, looking at the binding with an amused expression, and the sounds of shackles sounded from the void.
"You will pay for your crimes. I will quite enjoy your agonizing screams and pleas for mercy. These are the chains of the Gigantic Binding Abyss Sprite. No matter how many of them you break, the remaining amount will not only regrow, but the binding power will also be doubled!"
As the female acolyte spoke, Ron felt the chain getting tighter and tighter around his body.
Chi! * The silver glow from the Fallen Star Pendant continuously clashed against the strength from the void, sometimes producing white mist.
"You despicable maggot, the shameless murderer, you dared to kill the acolytes from two of our great academies, so I will grant you death to redeem your sins!"
The thrill of revenge and smugness filled the face of the female acolyte. The muscles on her face contorted, turning the once-beautiful face into an extremely loathsome one.
"You dared to kill Saurun; I will make you pay the price in blood!"
The female acolyte pointed at Ron. "Strength deprivation!"
As she spoke, Ron felt the strength in his body dispersing. In an instant, it was as if he had changed from a Grand Knight into a regular human.
"Is this how it feels to be cursed?"
Ron shrugged. "Such a measly curse. How can it make me bow my head?"
"It's all over!"
The female acolyte chanted an incantation, "Flames of the abyss, cremate this sinner into ashes!"
As soon as the incantation in the Byron language had been uttered, a black fire suddenly blazed from below Ron's body. The flame continuously spread, engulfing Ron's whole body in an instant.
Peng! * The frost greatsword in Ron's hands fell onto the floor. The icy shards shattered and broke into many pieces. Finally, even the refined metal blade of the cross blade melted under the black-red flames, turning into a puddle of liquid metal.
Chi Chi! *
The grey armor on Ron's body started to give in, and the AI Chip wildly flashed its alert in front of Ron's eyes: "[Warning! Warning! The energy from the Fallen Star Pendant is rapidly decreasing. Currently left with: 45%. Estimated to be fully depleted in 34 seconds!]"
"Ignore it! Deactivate Fallen Star Pendant!" Ron ordered. Immediately, Ron's muscles bulged, and his whole body seemed to increase in size.
"[The Host has entered the state of a Grand Knight's secret technique. Strength and agility have been greatly boosted!]" The AI Chip very soon reported the change in stats.
Suddenly, the protective layer was gone, and fire engulfed Ron. He closed his eyes, marveling at his phenomenal physique, as he felt a burning sensation which was not very agonizing.
An invisible layer of energy separated the fire away from his body, keeping it at bay.
Ron clenched his fist and felt sensational strength. He slowly but surely walked toward the female acolyte, who was beyond terrified.
Ron looked at her, expression very pleased with the results. 'Yes, this is what I wanted. Power so great that my enemies have nothing but despair in their visage and unbridled guilt to even dare to stand before me.'
Ron walked impassively, like an asura from the depths of hell. Crackling and rattling sounds could be heard from his body, and countless black-rune-inscribed chains became visible and were broken by Ron. They then fell to the ground and vanished.
"It's your turn now, you disgusting whore!"
Ron's figure flew like a gust of wind and appeared directly in front of the female acolyte.
"Im… Impossible, how did you manage to counter it?" shrieked the female blonde acolyte, and she pointed her finger at Ron. Then several basin-sized fireballs directly struck Ron's body.
Boom! * The flames exploded, burning with the previous black fire, and they extinguished very soon. After the explosion ended, Ron was unscathed.
"No! No!" The female acolyte fell onto the ground and crawled backward.
Ron kicked the green rock and dagger on the ground, breaking the spell formation.
Two streams of red fluid trickled down from the female acolyte's nose, even her tears were falling.
"No! Don't kill me! My mentor is…."
The female acolyte sniveled continuously as she crawled and spoke.
"I don't care who you are!" Ron's expression appeared indifferent as he shook off the flames and knocked her out, controlling his strength.
Ron stopped using his burst of strength.
Throughout these battles, Ron effectively put himself in the most adverse of situations, in order to test his strength and see the progress he had made. He came to a single conclusion.
"Too Fucking Weak."
Ron looked toward the burning flames. "In the legends and tales told by the bards, the abyss fire is something that can burn the void. An existence that all children of the earth cannot resist! This is most likely just a projection of the true abyss fire—it does not have even one zillionth of the original's might. If not, I would have long turned into ashes!"
Ron thought for a while before returning to the original place. He then recorded all the ingredients and the spell formation that the female acolyte used before roaming the battlefield to collect his spoils of war.
Peng! * The unconscious Jayden was tossed before Bicky.
Although the battle earlier looked extremely intense, it was without a doubt a one-sided affair. The time that had passed was extremely short—so much so that Bicky was still in shock.
"Hurry and leave this place. The energy waves from earlier will attract many acolytes. If you don't wish to die, hurry and leave now!"
Ron cleared his throat and looked at Bicky, who nodded her head before he left the place. Looking at Ron's back, Bicky's expression was extremely complicated.
This person was here to save her. Moreover, the strength that he possessed was far above that, which Bicky could imagine. Lightning Wielder, Silver Claw, they were all impressive and notable acolytes from the opposing academies. However, in front of that person earlier, they were as weak as a sponge when they pleaded and were slaughtered mercilessly.
"But... exactly who is he?"
Bicky blinked her eyes. Merlin, Ron, Fayle, and the others, all of the acolytes' images flashed past her memory, yet she felt helpless as there was no such person in all of the acolytes that she recalled that resembled her savior.
However, her instincts told her that she definitely knew this person and that they had an extremely intimate relationship.
"Magi are reputed for their rationality. Such a thing like instinct will lower our judgment. Everything has to be proved beyond refutation..."
The sayings of an elder surfaced in her mind. Bicky's expression seemed vacant as she gritted her teeth and poured a potion on Jayden's face, before she, too, left that place.
Although Jayden was Molly's idol, she was now dead. Naturally, Bicky wouldn't risk anymore for Jayden.
Minutes later, Jayden opened his eyes and got up.
"What happened to me? Where is Torash?"
Jayden was at a loss, before the colors on his face changed. Touching his chest, he felt for the magic artifact, which was still resting in his arms. Moreover, when he ensured that his sack was present, only then did he heave a sigh of relief.
"This is the aftermath of an intense battle! Who is it that saved me?"
Jayden scratched his forehead before thinking of a girl's figure who had dashed toward him. "Was it Molly? Such a terrifying battle, I wonder how she is..."
"Here!" Footsteps drew closer, and very soon two acolytes appeared within Jayden's vision.
"An acolyte from Abyssal Bone Forest Academy! Kill him!"
After seeing Jayden, the two acolytes let out an excited howl and began to prepare their rank 0 spells.
Jayden sighed before bringing out his magic artifact once again.
Ron was, by now, dozens of miles away from this battlefield, carrying the unconscious female acolyte. He returned to his base, checking his spoils.
Those three acolytes were well-known for their strengths. Furthermore, the ingredients and magic crystals that they carried with them were plentiful. They gave Ron a total of tens of thousands of magic crystals and other valuable resources.
Ron felt the surface of a black-red diary cover and exclaimed in glee. "This is the female acolyte's abyss fire, but I know it's in Abyss Script!"
Ron flipped open the diary, and a mysterious rune appeared. "A.I. Chip, compare to the database!"
[Beep! Mission establishing, comparison in progress! Similarity level to Abyss script: 98.7%, Purgatory script: 45.3%....]
"No matter what, it is a good spoil!"
Satisfied, Ron kept the black-red diary in his possession.
What followed next was the most valuable loot this time around.
Ron looked at the pile of items in front of him and muttered irresolutely to himself.
There were a few broken items, a dagger which had been broken in half, the remnant of a silver palm, an incomplete silver necklace with lightning flashing from time to time.
The three acolytes who died under Ron's hands were the potential Magi of the enemy academies, so how could they not have magic artifacts on them?
'I will reverse-engineer them to increase my understanding of alchemy and then discard them.'
Ron didn't care for their badges because they were a ruse for him anyway.
Two days passed.
The wilderness found outside the secret plane was lit up with a bright yellow color. From time to time, gusts of wind blew granules of sand, and the living organisms on the ground avoided this place at all costs—even the moles and ants were not an exception.
The entrance to the secret plane was slowly shrinking, as if it were a live animal.
Ron looked at the silver hourglass floating in midair. On the upper half of the hourglass, beads of golden sand trickled downward, finally leaving behind a thin layer.
Di! * With the passing of time, the final golden bead of sand trickled downward.
"The time is up, let us receive our acolytes!" Siley opened his mouth and spoke in a low tone.
"Are you extremely anxious?" Guru, who was at the side, smirked. "Every minute that passes, one acolyte from Abyssal Bone Forest Academy will be slain. Their heads will become the glory of Sage Gotham's Hut, and they will hang on the large gates...."
"At this moment, the secret plane might no longer have any more Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolytes. We all know that once the acolytes from the two academies have gathered, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's acolytes will be meat on a chopping board for us to slice, not even equivalent to a lamb."
The other blonde woman smiled, but her smile seemed somewhat malicious.
"Nicola, you still can't let it go?" Finally, a trace of expression surfaced on Siley's face, and it seemed to be—regret?
"I have long since forgotten the matters from the past!" The female blonde woman, Nicola, said with a frosty expression.
"You can seek revenge for the matters previously, but once you are bent on destroying this academy that I succeeded as a professor, then you will be my eternal nemesis!"
Siley's face, too, gradually hardened.
"Haha... Haha... You are still as arrogant as before, thinking that you are the main character of some novel, which the earth would revolve around you indefinitely!"
"However, such an expression makes me want to puke!" Said the blonde woman as her eyes appeared to emit flames.
"I want to destroy your life's work, destroy the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, even if there is the Lighthouse of the Night mediating, this time, there is still the next time...."
"Enough!" Guru at the side interrupted Nicola.