NOVEL NEXT Chapter 121
Chapter 121: The Clash of Powers
“Look at me! Right now!”
The man swung one arm wildly.
In response, a myriad of shining silver blades poured down like a torrential rain towards Lin Xue.
At that moment, Lin Xue was still locked in a kiss with Lee Si-hyun.
“It’s dangerous!”
Cheol-hyung raised his voice to warn them.
He could definitely feel that the newly appeared mysterious woman was immensely powerful.
However, she seemed completely defenseless at that moment.
That’s why he hurriedly warned her.
Yet, Lin Xue appeared to be doing nothing outwardly.
The blades rushed toward her and Si-hyun, as if they were about to engulf them.
“Aagh!”
Someone screamed.
Everyone here understood that if she died, they would all be dead too.
In that instant.
A translucent blue barrier began to rapidly form around Lin Xue.
The hunters realized that she had cast Defensive Magic, known as a Shield.
However, it seemed insufficient to withstand the torrential onslaught of blades.
“Do you really think such petty tricks can block my blades?!”
Crash! Clang! Clang!
The shield shattered one after another as it collided with the blades.
The man smirked triumphantly, while the expressions of those around darkened.
But soon enough, they began to notice something strange.
Crash! Clang! Crash! Clang!
The sound of the shield breaking continuously echoed, but the blue barrier did not disappear; it held firm.
In fact, it was the blades that began to disappear, visibly diminishing as they collided with the shield.
“What the…?!”
The wizard’s eyes widened in shock.
It was Magic Overlap.
That was a certainty.
But the number of overlaps seemed to be beyond imagination.
Even wizards known for their overlapping techniques shook their heads, insisting that having double digits in overlapping was nonsense.
That was the norm.
But it seemed the shield she had unleashed was stacked to an unfathomable degree.
100?
200?
No, even more…
The wizard was engulfed in a shock that turned his world upside down multiple times today.
The man too seemed to feel it, naturally.
“Ugh!”
He irritably swung his arm again, generating countless blades.
And once more, he sent them flying.
Clang! Clang! Crash!
He was breaking the shield.
There was no doubt about it.
However, no matter how much he broke it, they never got close to those two.
“Damn it! How many layers of shields did she put up?!”
The man screamed in frustration.
He had fought and killed numerous human wizards.
But this was the first time he encountered such a situation.
It infuriated him even more since it was unprecedented.
At that moment, Lin Xue pulled her lips away from Si-hyun.
She turned her head slightly.
The man’s gaze met hers.
But soon she turned her head back, biting into the remaining Fruit of the World Tree.
Then, she continued what she had been doing.
After chewing sufficiently, she leaned down to Si-hyun, passing the fruit to him with her tongue.
The man was momentarily frozen in place.
‘…What the hell?’
The moment their eyes met, a chill shot down his spine.
A cold and refined intent to kill pierced through his body.
He was a noble king, born of a lineage more exalted than anyone else’s.
Yet, how could he feel such murderous intent from a mere human…?
No.
Absolutely not.
That couldn’t be.
“It can’t be true!”
With a twisted expression, the man shouted.
He channeled enormous amounts of Magic Energy into his hands.
A dark and ominous aura wrapped his hands tightly.
Cheol-hyung felt as though he was going to suffocate the moment he laid eyes on that energy.
It was that overwhelmingly potent.
Even he, an A-rank Hunter, felt it.
Others trembled involuntarily in fear.
‘This is dangerous!’
Cheol-hyung’s instincts screamed at him.
“Be careful!”
He hurriedly warned Lin Xue.
But Lin Xue was already aware of the ominous energy behind her.
She moved her finger, stained with Si-hyun’s blood, quickly drawing something on the ground.
It was a rune that could unleash magical power.
The wizard wore a puzzled expression at her action.
That wasn’t a magic circle.
A magic circle had to have a certain structure.
But she was just arranging letters on the ground.
‘Could it be…? No, even so…’
The wizard shook his head in confusion.
“I’ll break all of it at once!”
Finally, the man, having gathered enough Magic Energy, launched his attack.
Whoosh!
Dark energy erupted into flames from both of his hands.
It was a terrible black flame that seemed ready to engulf everything and reduce it to ashes.
The hundreds of layers of shields Lin Xue had conjured melted away, absorbed by the black flames.
“This can’t be!”
Cheol-hyung gasped in astonishment.
It was an overwhelming force beyond anything he had imagined.
At this rate, she and Si-hyun were in danger.
Some people terrified shut their eyes tightly and buried their heads.
Just then, when the black flames attempted to engulf and melt everything away, a brilliant white shield appeared.
However, it looked too small and weak to withstand the terrifying black flame.
It seemed about to melt away at any moment.
Then the black flames collided with the shield.
And the outcome was…
“No way?!”
The man gasped in disbelief.
The dark flame, filled with Magic Energy, couldn’t pierce through the white shield.
Though it blazed fiercely, trying to break through, the shield stood firm.
As time passed, the flames gradually waned in power.
“What… what kind of magic is that? And could it really be cast through writing…?”
The wizard murmured, his voice trembling. The previously ludicrous thoughts he had in his mind were proven right.
Lin Xue had indeed implemented the magic through Writing.
As her title of the Silent Great Sorceress indicated, she was capable of casting nearly all magic without incantations.
However, there were exceptions.
The 9-class magic, which transcended human limits, required a casting even from her.
Usually, she would cast it aurally.
But now, with Si-hyun’s life on the line, she couldn’t speak.
So instead, she cast it through Writing.
Absolute Shield.
The most powerful defensive magic of the 9th class.
“This cannot be!”
The man shouted in disbelief, and this time he lunged at Lin Xue.
With his hands filled with the ominous black Magic Energy, he began pounding against the shield.
Boom! Crash! Crash!
The man thrashed against the shield with frenzied eyes.
Despite the horrifying onslaught that would frighten anyone to the bone, the shield did not budge.
Meanwhile, Lin Xue had finished feeding Si-hyun the Fruit of the World Tree.
The effect was astounding.
The damaged tissues began to regenerate at an astonishing rate.
The wound on his chest healed quickly, and the bleeding started to slow down considerably.
“Ugh….”
Lin Xue felt Si-hyun’s previously pained groan ease a bit.
His face, which had been as pale as a sheet of paper, began to regain some color.
“…Thank goodness.”
Lin Xue murmured softly, holding Si-hyun’s hand.
A complicated emotion was evident in her voice.
For a brief moment, she continued to hold his hand tightly before tilting her head down.
Their lips met again.
This time, it was different.
It was truly a kiss.
After the brief kiss ended, she lifted her head.
“I’ll kill you.”
Swearing, Lin Xue finally rose to her feet.
Her eyes were filled only with a cold hunger for slaughter.
“Damn! Damn it!”
Frustrated that it was still standing, the man drew forth a blood-red sword.
From the blade, a terrifying aura radiated.
It was the Blood Demon Sword, which had grown strong from consuming countless blood.
At the instant he tried to strike the shield with his Blood Demon Sword, Lin Xue turned her body.
Her gaze met the man’s.
“I told you I’d kill you, didn’t I?”
She spoke in a voice cold enough to freeze the soul.
“You wretched bitch! How dare you just lie there like a rat! Come out before me, now!”
The man shouted with rage, his eyes bloodshot.
Lin Xue calmly walked out from behind the shield.
However, she did not deactivate the Absolute Shield.
Maintaining a 9-class magic while fighting was an extremely draining process.
But what mattered most was his safety.
“Finally, you came out, you bitch!”
They were very close now.
A devastating situation for any ordinary wizard.
Needing casting time, the fundamental belief of wizards is to maintain distance from their opponents.
Especially with powerful spells, the longer the casting, the more critical it was to keep space when facing a strong foe.
But at this range, where he could snuff out her life with a mere flick of his finger, Lin Xue remained unfazed.
“I won’t let you die easily!”
He knew well that wizards were physically weak.
Once he seized a single point, it was over.
The man’s hand, wrapped in Magic Energy, struck lightning-fast toward Lin Xue.
She would surely evade.
He was certain of it.
Wizards he had fought before would have hastily cast Blink in such a situation to urgently escape.
But Blink was only that.
There was no way to move a great distance.
He could grab hold and kill her before she could cast another spell.
But this goddamn woman was different.
She needed to hurry up.
Much more…
No, far, far more.
She could fling Blink-like magic dozens of times without needing to cast it, but…
He had to strike first with his Blood Demon Sword as soon as he pinpointed her location.
The man prepared for his next move as he extended his hand.
Then—
‘Huh?’
His eyes widened in surprise.
Lin Xue took an entirely unexpected action. She reached out her hand toward him. Their hands collided.
Ka-Boom!
A gigantic crash echoed.
Along with it, the man was knocked back.
“Ugh?!”
He didn’t crash to the ground, but the impact seemed to have shaken him significantly.
Blood trickled from his mouth, indicating he might have sustained internal injuries.
But more than that, the mental shock seemed greater.
With a dazed expression, he muttered.
“This… this is impossible….”
What had just happened wasn’t magic.
Just as he had funneled Magic Energy into his palms, she simply held her hand out and released her own magical power.
In that moment, the man felt an unexplainable force wash over him as their hands collided, and it left him in shock.
“How could a human possess such strength…!”
He had never even dreamt of such a thing.
That one of these trivial, insect-like beings possessed such power.
Something was wrong, this was not right.
This defied all logic.
Lin Xue shot an icy glare at the stunned man, raising her hand.
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, a scream burst from the man’s lips. He felt an overwhelming pressure bearing down on him.
In the end, he couldn’t endure and fell to his knees.
He was a king of noble blood.
He had never knelt before anyone.
With the humiliation of being forced to kneel, he felt like he might go mad.
“You… you wretched bitch! How dare you… how dare you do this to me… ugh!”
Blood that had been flowing lightly now poured down like rain.
As the unbearable pressure pressed down on his already injured body, he felt himself deteriorating.
Lin Xue extended her hand.
But this time, it wasn’t to attack him.
The Acureruts that had fallen to the ground began to levitate and was pulled into her hand.
Tap.
She gently grasped the hilt.
It was the sword she had engraved with her magical intent.
She planned to finish this with his sword.
Lin Xue started walking slowly toward the man.
He thrashed around desperately, trying to free himself from the crushing pressure, but it was futile.
“Ugh! If this was my kingdom… if this was my kingdom, you… you wretched being could never…!”
He erupted in frustration.
The world where he existed differed entirely from this one.
The air was filled with Magic Energy.
In that place, he could draw power without limit.
In that realm, he would never suffer such abject humiliation.
Slash!
The white light of Acureruts flashed.
The man’s right arm was severed.
The dismembered arm and the Blood Demon Sword dropped to the ground.
Blood mist swirled around them as both the man and Lin Xue became stained in crimson.
“Kraaaah!”
The man screamed.
“…No matter where it is, your death remains unchanged.”
Lin Xue, having taken the man’s arm, spoke in a chilling tone.
“Ugh… remember this… remember it well!”
The man spat through gritted teeth, face filled with resentment.
A king would rather die than run away. Fleeing before an enemy was the utmost disgrace.
It was an act he could not bear in front of other kings.
But…
The man resolved to escape.
He could not die at the hands of a mere human.
He felt he wouldn’t be able to close his eyes if he died by the hands of such a trivial being.
He vowed to return and exact his revenge.
On the man’s left ring finger was a ring bearing a small magic circle.
By rubbing that ring, he could return to the royal palace.
It was a precaution made in case something happened to the palace while he was out.
But now, it was going to be used for an entirely different purpose.
Although he felt unbearable humiliation, the man gritted his teeth and endured it.
“I’ll have to pluck out those devilish eyes.”
Lin Xue’s arm moved.
The man quickly rubbed the ring engraved with the magic circle.
However, before he could even transport his body, the blade of Acureruts plunged into his left eye.
“Gahhh!”
As his eyeball was sliced, an overwhelming pain surged through him.
He let out a blood-curdling scream.
Yet the magic of the magic circle activated properly.
His entire body shimmered and then vanished rapidly.
“….”
Lin Xue stood frozen, staring at the spot where the man had been.
Such a foolish mistake!
Though she sensed the magic from the ring, she thought it wouldn’t pose a threat and brushed it off without a second thought.
So, she severed his right arm.
She should have cut off the left first.
Had she done that, this wouldn’t have happened…
With her brows heavily furrowed, Lin Xue irritably stomped her foot.
In her annoyed eyes, frightened orcs came into view.
Just as she was about to take out her anger on them with Chain Lightning—
Woop! Woop!
From afar, siren sounds rapidly approached.
The sirens escalated in volume.
A rescue team composed of hunters had finally arrived.