Super Righteous Player

Before the old butler had a chance to crawl away, before the head of the guard could come to his rescue,

Benjamin, realizing someone was trying to assassinate him, lashed out in fury instantly!

He lifted his right hand, his palm vaguely aimed at the old butler.

A pure white light gleamed on the ring of his right hand.

That radiance, like a living thing, flowed from the ring, crawling and wriggling over his skin, assembling in his palm into a pattern resembling an eye.

There was no visible ray shot or light cannon fired, but the old butler suddenly let out a miserable wail, his whole body stiffening and unable to move.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh——"

In the midst of his piercing howl, he maintained an incredibly twisted and painful posture, prostrate on the ground, transformed into a crystal-clear, blood-red ice sculpture.

It was not that he was frozen to death, or covered with a layer of ice.

Rather, his entire being had "turned into red ice".

Yet there wasn't a trace of frost on the floor in front of the old butler.

After freezing the old butler to death, Benjamin did not relax in the slightest.

With a clench of his right hand, the ice sculpture that the old butler had become instantly shattered, exploding and scattering in all directions!

The head of the guard, who had been cautiously retreating with sword in hand, saw this attack and dared not underestimate it; he immediately leaped back, landing at the stern of the ship, and hastily grabbed a guard to shield himself.

That guard was immediately turned into a pincushion by the flying blood-ice. The guards who were dining to the sides, caught off guard, were also hit by Benjamin's ice needles.

Once these ice spikes hit their bodies, they immediately melted and penetrated their flesh. Within two to three seconds, their skin began to show dense, web-like black veins, and the head of the guard did not hesitate to throw the corpse into the sea.

Before long, the other guards who had been wounded by the blood-ice stiffened, dark web-like patterns seeping out onto their skin.

Benjamin impassively opened his clenched right hand.

The head of the guard's pupils shrank slightly as he leapt high—

The next second, the guards with black patterns on their skin exploded instantaneously.

Black-purple flames burst from their bodies, engulfing those close enough to them in an instant.

The bodies consumed by these flames burst forth with a great amount of smoke, like tiny mosquitoes. The smoke converged in the air, forming a giant hand that lashed out at the head of the guard.

"…The Transmutation School, huh."

Seeing this terrifying attack, the head of the guard's expression relaxed a bit.

Indeed, the Transmutation School was the least afraid of facing a crowd of opponents among wizard schools.

Be it humans, animals, plants, gems, or cursed objects, they would all be leveraged by their artifice, continuously converting into their own power, until their own bodies were eroded by the curse beyond limits, or their transmutations came to a halt; this chain reaction had no end.

However, the same Transmutation School had the fewest instant spells.

Their domain was the battlefield or the laboratory.

Yes, those mysterious powers that Benjamin had used was nothing but an active ability he gained from Curse Binding.

In front of Claus, a silver-ranked melee combatant, Benjamin had no room to cast spells.

Because he had to protect Tan Juan.

And Claus himself had no concerns.

Claus's previously anxious mind had already begun to settle.

At the peak of his leap into the air, he had already drawn the sword in his hand.

The silver guard of his long sword began to glow, and light streams much dimmer than Benjamin's drew over his back of the hand, his fingers, and the blade.

The next moment, he was as if gravity had reversed, swiftly changing direction in the air, running on an invisible slide like some sonic hedgehog, his speed ever-increasing, faster and faster!

"Windwalker? A Swordsman's Windwalker advancement?"

Upon witnessing this, the old man whispered a scoff: "A wild Transcendent…"

He still did not cast any spells.

Simply watching Claus calmly, while twisting the ring on his right hand.

"I hereby set a Curse Binding—"

He murmured in a very low voice, had Annan not been right behind him, it would have been completely inaudible what the old wizard was muttering:

"Firstly, I shall not retreat a single step in this battle!"

As the wizard finished speaking, a phantom rune appeared before him, then vanished.

He continued, "Secondly, I shall give up the use of spells in this battle!"

After saying this, he twisted the ring back.

At this time, Claus was still freely running through the air, his speed increasing more and more, faster and faster!

The black smoke trail that was initially almost touching him was quickly left behind. And as Claus's charge continued, the air around him began to blur.

Then with several more bursts of acceleration, he reached a staggeringly high point and began to dive toward the ship floating on the sea—

The old wizard, squinting one eye, watched him closely, his right hand vaguely extended towards Claus.

Finally able to catch me, are you?

Too late!

High on excitement, Claus's heart surged with joy.

He had been memorizing the abilities used by the old wizard all this time.

"The Inferior Crimson Crystal" was a necessary ability for wizards of the Transmutation School. Its normal lock-on time was four seconds; Benjamin had accelerated it to a second and a half. That subsequent unrecognizable ability clearly required The Inferior Crimson Crystal as a medium to be released through the air.

And he needed only a fifth of a second to—

Bang!

It was as if a leather wallet had been harshly slapped onto the floor.

In front of the old wizard, a phantom barrier suddenly appeared, clashing heavily with the diving Claus!

The barrier was instantly covered in cracks, but Claus's charge was stopped dead!

Claus was unforgivingly bounced backward, his body flung out.

And in less than a second, "The Inferior Crimson Crystal" had locked on to its target.

This was a temporary ability granted by the Curse Binding of "giving up the use of spells," [Supremely Efficient Ability]!

It was an ability that could accelerate the efficiency of abilities!

"Ahhhhhhhhhh——"

Like the old butler, Claus immediately let out a pained howl.

He fell directly to the ground, his left arm and right cheek manifesting blood-colored crystals.

Yet the crystallization on his body was much slower than that of the old butler. At least he could still resist after he fell to the ground—

And as this process continued, Annan, hiding behind the old wizard, finally saw the model of this ability:

In Benjamin's palm, there was an extremely delicate, blood-vessel-like ethereal conduit, one end connected to Claus, and the other disappearing into the "eye" pattern on the old wizard's palm.

Seemingly noticing Annan peeking, the "eye" pattern twitched!

Its eyeball, which was originally centered, suddenly moved to the left.

It was as if it was glancing sidewise at Annan!

But Annan was not the least bit frightened.

He simply glared back.

What are you looking at?

Perhaps noticing "John's" gaze or perhaps having been informed by the lines on his hand, old wizard Benjamin slightly tilted his head, nodding to Annan with goodwill.

"Don't go over there, little John. Be careful."

Seeing Annan as if about to step forward, the old wizard unmercifully stopped him, "Claus is just acting, he hasn't lost his combat ability.

"Such pain... is nothing compared to the agony during advancement. If he could be so pained to lose the ability to resist, he would have lost control during his advancement."

Hearing this, Claus, still lying on the ground, abruptly ceased his painful screams.

He lifted his head, glared at John, and slowly got up from the ground. His left eye had already crystallized, while his right eye was bloodshot with anger.

"You first betrayed Tan Juan, and now you betray me! You're even more despicable than I am, John!

"Do you think you'll have it easy? You too are a traitor, a spy sent by the Duke of Winter! If I die, you will die too!"

Claus growled in a low voice, the muscles on his back twitching and bulging unnaturally.

It was as if his ribcage had grown on his back, sprouting what looked like a set of small wings made of bone.

Upon seeing this, the old wizard's expression changed abruptly.

He glanced at Annan and immediately changed his tune, "Tan Juan, kill him now! Use the ice spell I taught you—I'll control him!"

No sooner had he spoken than he clenched his open right hand fiercely. Crimson crystals burst from Claus's joints and twisted in the air, sticking into the deck like a crab's limbs.

"What is this?"

Annan raised his unsheathed long sword, asking curiously.

But the old wizard was sweating profusely in urgency, "Don't ask, back away! Don't touch him with weapons!"

Upon receiving the command, Tan Juan immediately spread his right hand, his bronze ring gleaming dimly, chanting quickly in an unknown language:

"Elements of frost, construct of threads—frost as wheels, flesh as the path."

He raised his right hand, connecting his fingertip into a circle. A blue magical array emerged at his fingertips, with many blue lines interweaving, condensing into a blue halo within.

Then Tan Juan flung it forcefully.

That halo flew out, rapidly enlarging in the air, turning into a massive, more than man-high wheel of frost.

The wheel of frost did not have a solid body but was formed from strands of azure light into a hollow and exquisite shape, shimmering with mysterious brilliance.

It landed on the deck without any reaction, simply rolling forward swiftly. But when it rolled over Claus, it left behind a terrifying, jagged frost mark.

Yet it didn't freeze the guard chief whose transformation was becoming increasingly severe.

With just a little effort, the chief shattered the thin ice covering him.

…Was the power of the distant spell not enough?

"Elements of frost—"

Tan Juan paled, summoning his courage to run forward, chanting once more.

But before he could finish, Annan interrupted him with a pull.

"Does it have to be ice?"

"Yes, swords are useless!"

Seeing his chanting interrupted by Annan, Tan Juan didn't have the time to get frantic with Annan but simply hopped anxiously a couple of times on the spot before quickly running forward again, reciting once more, "Elements of frost—"

His chanting stopped again, and his steps gradually came to a halt.

This time it wasn't because Annan interrupted him again.

It was because he was stunned:

He saw "John" slashing forth without hesitation, making three simple, unadorned cuts, as straightforward as giving New Year's greetings.

But three frost marks flew out of nowhere, etching onto Claus's body.

After that, a surge of intense cold erupted, instantly covering the chief's body and freezing him solid. Just the aftermath forced Tan Juan to retreat, stumbling and falling to the ground.

Claus's transformation was hence completely halted. He remained frozen in that pose, devoid of breath.

The old man arched an eyebrow, glancing at "John" with an odd look.

This was the legendary Frost Sword Technique—

Tan Juan instantly recognized the signature ability of the enemy duchy's family.

But old wizard Benjamin knew more than Tan Juan.

This was not simply a frost that could freeze the flesh.

It was a winter frost powerful enough to freeze the soul.

Passed down by the Frost Sword Saint three hundred years ago, his high-level sword technique he had never named before his death, it was simply referred to by later generations as the "Frost Sword Technique".

Containing the already solidified elements of frost, coupled with the intense curse that only the direct bloodline of the Duke of Winter could suppress, the Frost Sword Technique passed down from generation to generation—

Its real significance lay in the fact that it was equivalent to the right of succession to the ducal throne. Only by succeeding as the Sword of Winter could one obtain the complete Frost Sword Technique.

Why, why did John know this technique?

Or could it be... am I currently in someone's nightmare?

But just as the old wizard was about to inquire further with John, "John" had somehow disappeared from his spot.

The next moment, the whole world came to a standstill.

Afterward, the world suddenly filled with cracks, silently shattering and melting away.