Bzz!
A silver-white arc of light, exceedingly fine, traced across the stone beast's head without creating the slightest ripple.
Bang!
Then the stone beast's head suddenly froze in midair. With a soft crack, the head exploded violently, shattering into a rain of stone fragments.
"The 'Great Sword' James from Wetland Garden! Impressive indeed!"
The leader chuckled, seeming very familiar with James.
"Who exactly are you?" James frowned. These bandits not only had a
He could smell danger.
"You think I'd tell you?" the bandit leader said coolly. "At the very least, there's a voice transmission array set on you. The moment I let anything slip here, it'll be relayed straight to Wetland Garden — am I right?"
As he spoke, beams of black light flared to life one after another around the bandit leader.
The black light coalesced, forming armored warriors with pitch-black skull faces.
"This is the Dark Slaying Array I prepared especially for you! Each black warrior is at least fifteen degrees in power! So — enjoy yourself!"
Amid his wild laughter, the black-armored warriors surged forward, surrounding James.
Watching the dozen or more black warriors closing in around him, James's expression darkened.
Though his giant sword Magical Item was tremendously powerful, it also consumed a great deal of energy. This bandit leader clearly intended to use cannon fodder to drain his mana and Spiritual Power.
Once his Spiritual Power and mana were completely exhausted, even the most formidable apprentice would be nothing more than a commoner — helpless before the blade.
"You — go eliminate the remaining apprentices. Everything they carry is yours!"
The black-robed bandit leader shrouded himself within the layered protection of the black warriors, pointing toward where Leilin and the other apprentices stood.
"Kill!" His subordinate dark wizards immediately roared and surged toward Leilin's position.
"Damn it! Hold on! Once Senior James takes out their leader, we'll be saved for sure…"
Besta clenched her teeth and spoke to the apprentices behind her.
At the same time, she cast a glance toward Leilin and the others.
"We need to work together! Otherwise not a single one of us will survive!"
"Hmph!" Though George knew full well the logic was sound, he still couldn't help letting out a cold snort.
He was a clever man — he understood perfectly well what had just happened.
He had no desire whatsoever to cooperate with that woman.
But reason told him this was the best way out of their current predicament.
"George!" Xiri glanced at George with worry, already having unslung her bow and nocked an arrow.
"Leilin! Let's go!" George roared with some reluctance, watching the black-robed bandits closing in fast.
Then the muscles across his body bulged one by one, and in an instant he transformed into a giant over three meters tall. At the same time, his skin turned green, and with the blue-green veins snaking across his muscles like earthworms, Leilin was instantly reminded of a certain classic green giant from his previous life.
"RAAARGH!!!" Now in the form of the green giant, George beat his bare chest and let out a thunderous roar.
Then he kicked off the ground! His entire body shot forward like a massive lead bullet fired from a cannon, barreling toward the charging bandits with tremendous force.
Smack!
George's green giant fist closed around a bandit who had rushed forward and swatted him flying. The sickening crack of breaking bones echoed through the air, blood spraying across the sky — even the wretch's shrill scream couldn't drown it out.
"Enormous strength! Aside from a few flaws in speed and judgment, everything else is perfect!" Leilin stood off to the side, watching George wreak havoc on the battlefield, a flicker of blue light passing through his eyes.
He hadn't expected that George's primary discipline would also be Mutationology!
But this made perfect sense. Wizards held high positions throughout their lives, and they naturally had an urgent desire for longevity.
The method of extending one's life by breaking through to the Wizard rank was far too difficult for ordinary wizards. As a result, transplanting powerful magical beast organs into one's own body — self-modification to gain greater vitality — had gradually become mainstream among wizards.
And Mutationology, the foundation of all such work, was naturally in high demand.
Strictly speaking, a warlock's modifications were actually an extension of Mutationology — at least the two shared considerable similarity in their early stages.
Therefore, when Leilin had been at the
With a single glance, Leilin identified the specific modification George had undergone.
"A Green-Bark Ironwood transplant from the Mutant Plant Transplantation category? This basic procedure is very popular among apprentices — simple to perform, easy to pick up, decent defense, and plenty of development paths afterward with very few restrictions!"
Meanwhile, in the center of the battlefield, George — transformed into the green giant — was gripping an unlucky bandit by the leg and swinging him around like an enormous bludgeon, keeping the approaching enemies at bay.
The "human cudgel" scraped along the ground from time to time, leaving trails of bright red blood. It seemed the apprentice George had seized was already beyond saving.
Shhh! Shhh!
At the same time, several green arrows hissed from Xiri's bow behind George, providing cover and defensive support.
"Mm! Not bad coordination!" Leilin nodded, looking perfectly at ease.
Around his body, a layer of concealed mental suggestion radiated outward. Any apprentice who entered its range involuntarily chose to ignore him and began attacking each other instead.
This eerie state of affairs naturally drew considerable attention.
"Him! Look! The enemies aren't attacking him! He must be a spy!!!"
Three apprentices following behind James spotted the anomaly and immediately shouted.
Leilin touched his nose.
This posture of his was, admittedly, a bit too conspicuous amid such a brutal battlefield.
But before George and the others could react, the fight at James's location suddenly reached its conclusion!
"You forced me into this!!! Burst Mode — activate!!!"
After a rapid series of sword strikes that scattered several charging dark wizards, James looked at the swarm of black-armored warriors surrounding him and a trace of grim resolve appeared on his face.
Then he quickly tapped several points on his body, apparently activating some kind of special state.
In an instant, every strand of his blue hair stood on end, and powerful waves of energy radiated from his body.
Bzzz Bzzz!!!
The white giant sword in James's hands began to roar.
"Whirlwind Type Two!!!" James bellowed.
At the same moment, a violent green hurricane erupted from the great sword.
The massive hurricane enveloped James's entire body in an instant, and he began to spin at tremendous speed.
Like a green spinning top — the outer edge formed by the silver gleam of the giant sword's blade — the whirlwind swept across the field of black warriors like the wind itself.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The black warriors caught in the green hurricane were instantly seized as though by an invisible hand and dragged into the vortex, shattering into countless black fragments that danced through the air.
The green hurricane roared, smashing through the black warriors' layered defense in a heartbeat and arriving before the bandit leader.
"Night Demon!"
The leader pulled a black ring from his hand, panic flashing in his eyes for the first time, and screamed.
Bang!
Countless rays of black light radiated from the ring, coalescing before the bandit leader into a massive black shield covered in fine black barbs that gleamed with a metallic luster.
The green hurricane blade collided with the black shield, and a tremendous shockwave of energy swept across the entire battlefield.
BOOM!!!!
With a thunderous crash, the ground exploded into a massive crater, the earth peeled back to reveal grass roots and countless grey pebbles.
Even Leilin's side of the battlefield was caught in the blast!
Both bandits and Leilin's apprentices alike were sent tumbling.
After the great shockwave passed, clouds of dust rose like curtains, shrouding the entire field.
Both sides simultaneously halted, their gazes fixed on the center of the battlefield.
After a moment, the dust cleared, revealing the scene at the heart of the confrontation.
At the bottom of the massive crater, countless fine cracks radiated from beneath the two combatants' feet like a spider's web. James gripped his silver-white great sword with both hands, pressing it against the face of the enormous black shield.
"Hah… hah…"
James was gasping for breath, beads of sweat the size of beans dripping from his forehead one by one.
It was clear that his earlier explosive effort had placed a tremendous burden on his body.
"Heh heh… I'll admit you're strong — but so what? You've already burned through a great deal of Spiritual Power, haven't you? And just how much energy is left in that sword of yours?"
The bandit leader let out an eerie laugh.
With his laughter, the dark aura on the shield pressed forward against the great sword.
A strained expression surfaced on James's face as the giant sword was forced back inch by inch.
"James… Senior James…" The apprentices who had come with James found their voices cracking with fear.
"Surely James won't actually lose? He's one of the academy's most talented apprentices…"
Besta's face had gone pale. She began scanning their surroundings frantically.
"Heh heh… I'll hang your head in my bedroom. It'll be one of my proudest trophies!" The bandit leader laughed triumphantly.
"You're wrong! You're the one who will fall! And I'll simply crush your corpse beneath my boot — like stepping on a stone!"