Chapter 166: Thank You for Telling Me
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Logically thinking, Tiamat should be a long-range monster and the two pair of limbs behind her was able to cast all types of demonic spells. The two horns on her head could be considered as a type of antenna that was able to boost her Psychic Energy. For that reason, even though they were quite good in melee combat, most of the time, they would maintain their human appearance and act as the 'sorceress' for their devil army.
... Which was why the current situation was a little strange. The two opponents who were supposed to be sorcerers actually gave up on using magic and resorted to hand-to-hand combat instead? And the fight between them was brilliant! Their technical and tactical level was even higher than fighters of the same level!
That inadvertently added a touch of comicality to the exciting one-on-one duel.
However, it was not a simple or funny situation to Baiyi at that moment. The strength of the Tiamat had surpassed his imagination and in the face of the increasingly fast offense, things had somehow turned a little difficult and yet, the speed of his opponent kept on increasing. Before this, he had relied on his short-ranged Teleportation Spell to launch multiple counterattacks but his opponent had somehow seen through him and was able to accurately locate his landing spot. On that account, there were already a few scars that were left on his armor.
Although the poison on his opponent's claws could not threaten his life, it could possibly destroy his present body. Mithril was a material that helped boost Mana but was not strong enough to withstand all of the enemy attacks. Not only that, his body had began to give away under all of the attacks from the Tiamat.
Even though he had received the blessing from the Ancestor, his armor was unable to hold off such a tremendous blow. No matter how he tried to adjust his power and tried to cast his magic with the smallest amount of power possible or tried to avoid the blows from the Tiamat directly, several joints on his armor had started to crack under the pressure.
The main reason he was maintaining a passive stance was because of Mia who was hiding in the woods behind him. Although he had already arranged for the hammerhead shark plushie to look after her, he was still slightly worried. Not only that, if he decided to flee, the town behind him would be directly exposed to the devils' claws, leaving him no other choice but to continue to stay put and fight the army off.
Still, the most important question was how did the Tiamat became so strong? Had she eaten a Devil's Fruit 1 or something?
"This is not the Tiamat's original power. Their stamina, speed and strength are the lowest among the high-level devils but looking at how she's able to force you into this current situation, I think it's obvious that the mark is the source of her power," The Devil explained calmly, not at all panicked. He even had the heart to make a joke as he said, "I know you wish you're Sven the Rogue Knight now, don't you?"
In truth, there were still many cards left in Baiyi's hand. Be it martial art, Theurgy, or even his trump card, the Void Energy, any of those could easily turn the current situation around to his favor but at the moment he was in his guise as the almighty and respected Master Hope, not that Sven who perpetrated whatever evil he pleased as he run amuck in society. With his current identity, he could only use a sorcerer's means to fight that high-speed devil, which caused him to lose the upperhand.
The thing was, when she had just appeared from the crack, she was just an ordinary Advanced Level devil, equivalent to the Master Level of a human being, but ever since the emblem on her chest was set ablaze, her strength had suddenly skyrocketed to the Legendary Level. Worse still, the power continued to grow, and presently, it was making a steady progress towards the Immortal Level.
This mark is really strange. It doesn't look like an ordinary Boost or Hysteria at all... Baiyi thought to himself but he did not have the time to contemplate any further. After two more teleportation spells, he noticed his opponent did not give chase to him anymore. Instead, she was standing at the same spot about to say something.
"In front of true power , your resistance only brings me more happiness you know," The Tiamat sneered in a crow-like voice, "Go on! Continue to resist! When depair comes, you will become my most delicious dessert!"
It seemed like she felt that she was already winning the duel. In that instance, she could not wait to enjoy the fruit of her success.
"I'm curious though, why aren't you feeling any fear?" Baiyi asked back. He did not bother to use the idle time to cast any magic. The pair of horns on her head boosted her Psychic Energy and it made here sensitive to any slight movement be it physical or magical. Baiyi just wanted to buy some time.
"I think the people from the Church would be here anytime now," Baiyi continued.
As a matter of fact, the fluctuation coming out from a realm crack was as prominent as a night pearl so he was certain that the Church had already noticed it when it first appeared, and they were particularly unforgiving when it came to their land being invaded by other species. By the time the strong army from the Church arrived, those devils would certainly not escape the fate of being executed.
But the thing was, it had been quite a while now. Why was the Tiamat still continuing her game so calmly without worrying about the Church at all?
"Oh! So, you're waiting for backup, huh?" A hideous smile crept up onto the Tiamat's face, as if she was about to devour something very delicious, "Heh, this is really amusing. You're actually trying to buy some time?"
Baiyi was a little stunned. Keeping quiet, he lowered his head slightly. He seemed to have realized the situation.
"You must have noticed this barrier, haven't you?" The Tiamat looked up to the sky, "This barrier bars everything from going through it. Every single thing! And that, of course includes the fluctuations of the crack! So, do you understand the situation now? Your reinforcements will never come until we're all gone from here..."
" Every single fluctuation? " Baiyi's body trembled slightly as he asked.
"Yes! All sorts of fluctuations! Which is why, you need to stop fantasizing about issuing your siren alarm. Nobody will ever hear you!" The Tiamat chuckled confidently, "What's more ironic is, this barrier was created by your species! Well, now that you have finally understood the situation, what are you planning to do next?"
She stared at Baiyi's body that was quivering slightly and sniffed the air, trying to take in the taste of sweet despair that she loved so much.
To her disappointment, the long-awaited feeling of despair did not emanate from Baiyi's body at all... not even a tiny bit. B-But, his body was obviously trembling, wasn't it?
"You bastard!" The Tiamat seemed to have noticed something and once again, her body transformed into a black lightning and charged towards him.
Much to her annoyance, Baiyi who had completely been suppressed by her earlier did not bother to dodge her attack at all. He did not even make any movement and just stood there motionlessly on the spot. Yet, the Tiamat let out a shrill cry before being thrown backwards by an invisible force. The force was so fierce that she repeatedly knocked over several devils who were watching by the side and in the end, she had to plant her spider legs into the ground in order to stop herself, leaving four deep gullies as she pulled at the earth for traction.
"H-How... How is this possible?" The Tiamat stood up in rage. She did not prepare for what entered her sight next. Baiyi already had his head lifted up and the few main joints on his body was ignited by an ominous black flame. His visor that originally had nothing on was burning with the strange black flame, and with the vile smile that was painted on it, it gave off a chilly and eerie feeling.
Baiyi was using that method to convey the joy that he felt in his heart, "I must thank you for telling me such good news ..." Since his opponent had built such a wonderful stage for him, there was no reason for him not to unleash his real power and perform a great show for her.
When the Tiamat charged at him earlier, he had already replaced all of the Mana in his body with the dark Void Energy. Without wasting another second, he enveloped the cracked joints on his armor with Void Energy and now that he had the protection from the energy, he no longer had to worry about the state of his armor anymore. Without any pretense, he directed a fierce blow at the Tiamat as she came near him.
The next instance, he kicked his feet and his whole body turned into a cyclone and instantly, before the Tiamat even realized what was happening, he had already materialized beside her, one of his hands was gripping tightly on her neck and lifting her up from the ground.
"W-What are you?" The Tiamat struggled violently under his tight grasp. However, under the dual force of both the Ancestors' energy and the Void Energy, even if the emblem on her chest was burning so brightly that it almost melted, she still could not break away from his crushing grip.
Baiyi did not answer her. Instead, he cast a sweeping glance at the other devils who were charging at him trying to save their commander and lifted his free hand up. Unhurriedly, he said, "Ants belong on the ground..."
He fisted his palm calmly, and at once, dark flames suddenly emerged out of nowhere and engulfed the devils from all directions. In just a blink of an eye, the remaining hundred over devils of all sizes vanished and faded into thin air.
That was the Black Flame that could burn everything into nothingness. As a manifestation of a higher power, it only needed a second to burn its victim and the worse thing was that it did not leave even a tiny speck of ash behind 2 , therefore, making the devils looked like they had disappeared into thin air.
"W-What's this?" The Tiamat's dynamic vision allowed her to see clearly the image of her subordinates being burnt into nothingness in just a blink of an eye. She had lived for thousands of years but she had never seen such horrifying black flames in this world before. Those poor devils did not even know what hit them before they were all completely wiped out.
In that instance, she was hit by a horrible pang of realization that she would never be able to resist that terrifying black flame at all.
"Where did this emblem came from?" After he was done dealing with the scraps, he stared at the emblem that was still burning and asked the Tiamat. The more vigorous the flame was, the more violently she struggled under his grip. At that moment, her power was already almost at the Immortal Level.
Unfortunately, in the face of the overbearing Void Energy, the physical enhancement would not be helpful to her at all. All her struggles were in vain. Despite the fact that she tried to pierce Baiyi with her spider legs as a last resort, it only took a look from him to burn all of them into nothingness.
"D-Do you really think I'll let t-that girl get away?" The Tiamat gave up on her struggles and choked the words out with a sneer on her face. The fire on her emblem had started to spread all over her body.
"All hail Lord Thaas!" She shouted shrilly before her body rapidly turned into ashes.