Chapter 217: The Power of Quasi-Oblivion (Part 1)

Chapter 217: The Power of Quasi-Oblivion (Part 1)



As Hoffman drew closer to Veronica and Rain, he could clearly see the young and beautiful girl with twin ponytails, her hand pressed against her chest, eyebrows furrowed in pain.

This calmed Hoffman's heart.

Evidently, Nehru's curse was as effective as ever.

Additionally, the age and appearance of this female wizard apprentice were both quite stunning.

Especially when she covered her chest due to the 'Pain Curse,' the contours of her upper body were perfectly accentuated.

This stirred a slight thought in Hoffman's mind.

He was a man, and it was natural to have certain thoughts about an eighteen-year-old beautiful girl.

So, his attention was momentarily drawn to the girl.

However, Hoffman cautiously glanced at the young Great Knight beside the girl.

The young man kept his head down, his face hidden, and he didn't immediately draw his weapon when he controlled the Spineback Sea Serpent to attack. All signs indicated that he was also under Nehru's 'Weakening Curse.'

Both of them were unexpectedly cursed, which suddenly made Hoffman's heart sink.

After some thought, he decided to deal with the young Great Knight first. As for the girl, he considered sparing her life, as a beautiful female wizard apprentice like her would be valuable wherever she went.

With this in mind, Hoffman's heart warmed up, and he immediately controlled the Spineback Sea Serpent to accelerate towards Rain.

At that moment, Rain lifted his head and smiled slightly at Hoffman.

Instantly, a warning sign flashed in Hoffman's mind!

His pupils contracted as he realized the young man before him had a body like an inflated balloon.

The originally loose-fitting silver knight plate armor on the young man suddenly emitted a 'squeaking' sound, as if it was about to be torn apart by his muscles.

There was not even a hint of weakness from the curse!

Simultaneously, the young man took a step forward!

Instantly, the seawater exploded, and the enormous counterforce propelled his body high into the air.

Holding a pitch-black double-handed hammer high in the air, the young man stretched his body like a taut bowstring, and then, from top to bottom, he fiercely swung the hammer down at Hoffman!

In the blink of an eye!

Hoffman didn't have time to dodge, and his body instinctively told him to raise his shield in defense.

This was not only due to the young man's attack being too fast and sudden but also because Hoffman had initially misjudged the situation, thinking that after being weakened by the curse, the young man would be an easy target.

Additionally, the beautiful girl beside him also drew a portion of Hoffman's attention.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Hoffman could only frantically mobilize the essence within his body and desperately raise the blood-patterned steel shield in his left hand to protect himself.

Not bad!

Hoffman's expression, which had lasted for less than a tenth of a second, suddenly changed drastically. His eyes widened, and his face was filled with horror!

The power of the young man's attack was simply terrifying, causing Hoffman's blood-patterned shield to shatter with just one blow.

Moreover, what was even more terrifying was that at that moment, Hoffman felt a strong force, a multi-frequency vibration with essence, transmitting from his plate armor to his entire body! In an instant, his left hand lost all sensation!

Immediately after, intense pain spread.

His palm, forearm, and arm all felt the pain, which even conducted to the Spineback Sea Serpent beneath him.

From Veronica's perspective, Hoffman seemed frozen in place, like a permanently paused photograph, with only the waves moving.

The next second!

Starting from Hoffman's left hand holding the shield, it exploded, followed by his forearm bursting, then his shoulder armor shattering, and finally, a 'crackling' sound reverberated from within Hoffman's body.

"You... you..."

"This... this..."

"Pffft!" Hoffman's eyes bulged as he spat out a mouthful of red mixture containing internal organs, his face filled with disbelief.

"How... how could you... not be weakened by the Weakening Curse?!"

Hoffman, like a snake with a broken spine, weakly lay on the Spineback Sea Serpent, managing to ask this question before dying.

Unfortunately, Rain did not answer his dying question.

Losing balance, Hoffman stared with wide eyes as he quickly slid off the Spineback Sea Serpent into the sea.

A tragic death!

The Spineback Sea Serpent, which was about to spit out toxic liquid for an attack, was directly interrupted by the multi-frequency vibration power from Rain's Quasi-Oblivion technique.

At that moment, the Spineback Sea Serpent, which had just recovered from its rigid state, looked at Rain with its large eyes, as if it had seen its nemesis.

Its neck, which had been extended like an umbrella, now retracted, sticking close to its body.

This was a display of fear, terror, and weakness! But a dark hammer shadow flashed by, and the top of the Spineback Sea Serpent's head was instantly smashed, leaving a bloody hole!

The Spineback Sea Serpent, stunned by the sheer force, was sent to join its master in death by Rain's Boar Head Hammer with just one move.

The Spineback Sea Serpent instantly died, its body that had been standing above the water surface went limp, and the entire serpent, over eight meters long and as thick as a barrel, floated on the surface, drifting.

The nerves and muscles in the serpent's body were still moving, and its body kept twitching and writhing slightly!

At this moment, the sound of the crashing waves continued, but the only one standing on the water surface was Rain. The once intimidating enemies were now dead, their bodies drifting aimlessly on the waves.

Standing on a nearby small boat, the twin-tailed girl, though pale from pain, had a completely different mental state than before.

Like the cancer-fighting girl from his past life, her face showed pain, but her eyes shone with determination.

Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Rain's tall figure, filled with surprise, admiration, love, awe, and various other emotions. It was hard to imagine that a single glance could convey so much meaning.

Rain, on the other hand, shook the dark Boar Head Hammer in his hand.

He stood on the water's surface, savoring the Quasi-Oblivion 'Earthsplitting Hammer' he had just executed.

In four words, it was exhilarating! That hammer swing seemed to embody his spirit, essence, and the perfection of his technique.

He could feel that the hammer he swung had an odd power that, upon impact with the opponent's shield, conducted into their body, causing such severe damage.

This odd power must hold the secret to the true essence of the technique.

Perhaps a normal Quasi-Oblivion move wouldn't be as powerful as Rain's strike.

But the issue was that Rain possessed the Tokkar Hammer Technique at level 12, the Hammer Proficiency at level 3, and the Intermediate Gigantism buff.

So, that strike was almost at the peak level of damage for a Quasi-Oblivion move!

This was why a Great Knight was instantly killed with a single blow! Of course, it was also due to the opponent's unpreparedness, lack of focus, and other factors.

But that wasn't the main point, because even if the opponent had been ready, they wouldn't have been able to block it.

For Rain, it would have just been an additional blow.

---

On the main battlefield, several members of the Leviathan Squad, like Trevor and Nathaniel, had wanted to lend aid to Rain and Vynona.

However, as they were already at a disadvantage, after a few attempts, they disappointedly realized there was no chance.

But Captain Balon noticed that the Great Knight who had been guarding the black-robed wizard had left with the Spineback Sea Serpent.

Seizing the opportunity, Captain Balon mustered his remaining strength and suddenly charged towards the enemy wizard!

Unfortunately, Captain Balon's burst of energy was quickly extinguished by the wizard's magic attack.

Although Balon's counterattack wasn't very effective, it forced Nehru to divert more attention to him.

After all, in Nehru's eyes, Balon was the big fish, while the two new unstable factors were merely small fry.

It was essential to prioritize! Nehru cast two consecutive spells, suppressing Balon completely.

He casually glanced at Hoffman's situation, but in an instant, his entire body stiffened.

Huh? Where was Hoffman?

At that moment, the young Great Knight was still standing there.

The female wizard apprentice was also there.

But there was no sign of Hoffman or the Spineback Sea Serpent he rode.

Where had Hoffman gone? Could he have disappeared in just a few seconds of Nehru's inattention?

Nehru blinked in confusion, then focused his gaze.

The next second, he spotted two familiar corpses, one large and one small, floating up and down with the waves a few meters in front of the young Great Knight.

Nehru's face contorted in disbelief, his mouth twitching violently!

What the hell was going on? Had Hoffman died in just a few seconds of Nehru's inattention?

Balon was the most aware of Nehru's brief distraction.

As Balon felt the pressure lessen, the black-robed wizard who had been fixated on him turned towards Rain and Vynona, looking surprised.

This piqued Balon's curiosity as well. Could something unexpected have happened over there?

During a lull in the battle, Captain Balon quickly glanced over.

His eyes widened in shock, and the other members of the Leviathan Squad also noticed the unusual behavior of the black-robed wizard and their captain.

At that moment, everyone followed the two men's gaze and looked in the direction of Rain. The next second, they all showed expressions of shock, joy, and bewilderment.

What was going on?

Trevor and Nathaniel exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion.

They had just been planning to help Rain and Veronica, but within a matter of seconds, the two of them had taken out the enemy?

Since no one had witnessed how Rain had defeated the Great Knight and the Spineback Sea Serpent, their minds were still trying to process what had happened.

They didn't know whether it was Rain or Veronica who had taken out the enemy.

After all, they had already experienced Rain's strength in the Training Room of the Fishing Port Town Hall, and in their current assessment, it was highly unlikely that he could have accomplished this feat.

'It must be that Veronica used some powerful Wizardry Scroll!' they thought.

'As for not sensing the energy fluctuations of the magic, it's probably because the main battlefield's intense fighting, combined with the enemy wizard's magic and the attacks from the Spineback Sea Serpent, interfered with their perception.'

Regardless, Rain and Veronica's victory was a great boon for the Fish Dragon Squad.

It meant that the originally unfavorable battle situation now had a chance to turn around.

The squad's morale visibly soared at a noticeable rate.

However, while this was good news for the Fish Dragon Squad, it was clearly not the case for Nehru.

The Dragoon Empire Navy Squad, which he had almost cornered, had suddenly regained their vigor, causing his face to turn ashen.

There was one thing he still couldn't understand.

How did those two unpredictable factors break through his curse and defeat Hoffman?

But with the current situation on the main battlefield, Nehru seemed unable to spare any attention.

So, with no other choice, Nehru's best option for now was to cast another curse and deal with those two unpredictable factors, stabilizing the situation.

Hmm?

Nehru checked on the two again and noticed that the female Apprentice Mage seemed to be enduring his Pain Curse, which meant the problem likely lay with the male Great Knight.

Perhaps he possessed some rare Wizardry Scroll or magical item that could dispel curses.

After a moment's thought, Nehru made his decision.

Whether it was a Wizardry Scroll or a magical item, it was likely that it could only dispel a curse once, after which it would either be used up or require some time before it could be used again.

Therefore, in either case, the simplest solution was to increase the power and frequency of the curse, making it impossible for the target to resist.

Nehru's face turned grim, and a glint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He used a short dagger that emitted black light to slash his left wrist, causing blood to spurt out. The dagger absorbed all the blood in an instant, and its black light intensified.

At the same time, Nehru's lips moved silently as he began to chant a curse.

The reason Nehru didn't choose a long-range single-target magic attack was that his role as a Deceiver differed significantly from that of an elemental wizard.

After becoming a Deceiver, his enhancement leaned towards negative energy and curses.

It wasn't that Deceivers couldn't cast water-based spells like Water Arrow, but the cost-effectiveness was low.

Firstly, the power of such spells was relatively weak, and secondly, they weren't advantageous in terms of casting speed and mental energy consumption.

However, when it came to casting curses, Deceivers were almost always enhanced in this aspect.

So, for Nehru, using curses to attack was still costly, but the casting speed was incredibly fast, the mental energy consumption was minimal, and the damage was more potent.

Although Deceivers had bizarre and varied methods, they still followed the basic principle of equivalent exchange. If he were to cast a curse that wasn't particularly powerful, the cost might be as little as a drop of blood, like the one he had used against Rain and Veronica earlier.

But if he wanted to cast multiple curses or a powerful curse to attack his enemies, the price he had to pay would be much higher.

It might require a large amount of blood or even the sacrifice of a body part...

Meanwhile, Rain, seeing Veronica's pale face, quickly walked over and supported the twin-tailed girl, asking with concern, "Miss Veronica, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lord Rain. If I'm not mistaken, I think I've been hit by a Pain Curse."

"Pain Curse?" Rain asked, puzzled.

He had just been affected by a Weakening Curse, and it was clear that the Pain Curse was a different curse.

"That's right. Those affected by the Pain Curse will feel intense pain at all times. Lord Rain, I probably won't be of much help in the upcoming battle."

"A formal wizard's Pain Curse will significantly impact my abilities. I don't have a good solution to this problem right now."

"However, please rest assured. If I stay here quietly, the Pain Curse's effect on me will be greatly reduced, and I'll naturally recover with time.

"How does this affect the casting of magic? Does staying still reduce the pain?" Rain asked in confusion.

After all, the curse he had just encountered was not the Pain Curse, but the Weakness Curse.

It seemed that the deceiver had used different curses on different enemies.

For Veronica, a wizard apprentice, the Pain Curse was cast, which would directly cripple her combat abilities if she couldn't dispel it, effectively rendering a third-rank wizard apprentice useless.

For Rain, a great knight, the Weakness Curse was used, which would significantly reduce his threat level if not dispelled, dropping his combat prowess from the great knight level to that of a mere knight.

However, it was evident that the deceiver could cast two different curses on a single person.

Even more, it was possible to cast more than two curses, such as three or more.

"Yes, Lord Rain," came the reply.

Rain nodded, understanding a little better. He then turned to look at the distant main battlefield, where Fish Dragon Squad Captain Baran was moving swiftly.

At this moment, the pressure Baran was enduring must be intense!

"Miss Veronica, you can rest in the boat for a while. I'll go support Captain Baran."

"Lord Rain, please be careful. The deceiver's attacks are extremely difficult to defend against, and their power is not to be underestimated," Veronica said as Rain helped her sit down in the boat.

Rain nodded. At that moment, he stood up, preparing to turn and leave.

However, he soon remembered something and checked the system notification:

[Your Tokkar Hammer Technique has improved. Experience +791]



[You have gained experience in Weapon Master (Legendary) +465]



(Note: The above skill experience has been increased by 30% due to the exclusive talent 'Basic Extraordinary Insight.')



[Congratulations! Your Weapon Master (Legendary) profession level has increased!]



The Weapon Master (Legendary) profession level has been raised by one level, reaching lv4 (10/1000).

This allowed Rain to gain one more attribute point and one more skill point, restoring his remaining attribute points to 6 and his remaining skill points to 1.

As he was about to face a formal wizard for the first time, and a troublesome deceiver at that, Rain decided to add one more point to his Tokkar Hammer Technique.

When his Tokkar Hammer Technique reached lv12, he had a feeling that if he could improve it further, he would enter a higher level.

Perhaps then, he would truly master the Great Technique!

At this moment, Rain's eyebrows suddenly furrowed.

The system notification appeared:

[Point addition failed!]



[Your Tokkar Hammer Technique has reached lv12 and is at a critical point. It cannot be improved through skill points. If you wish to continue improving it, use the Golden Skill Point!]



Golden Skill Point?

Rain quickly recalled the system's previous notification when his Weapon Master (Legendary) profession level increased to lv2: 'Golden Skill Points can be synthesized from three skill points or obtained by defeating strong enemies.'

At that time, he had wondered what these Golden Skill Points were for.

Now it seemed that one of their purposes was to break through certain boundaries of Extraordinary Combat Techniques.

However, even if he couldn't push the Quasi-Oblivion to the true Great Technique, Rain wouldn't choose to avoid the fight!

Suddenly, as Rain was moving at high speed towards the main battlefield, he suddenly felt a surge of negative energy particles around him, and just like the last time, the feeling of weakness reappeared!

This caused his movement to slow down instantly.

But this time, it didn't end there! Rain felt a mysterious side energy, cold and eerie, abruptly invade his body, like a small, icy snake slithering into his heart, followed by intense pain!

A heart-wrenching pain emanated from his beating heart.

This forced Rain to stop. However, the negative energy around him gathered again, rushing into his body and attaching itself to his muscles, tendons, and various joints.

Rain felt that every muscle and tendon in his body ached!

At this moment, even a slight lift of his hand caused excruciating pain.

This was Nehru's 'Weakness Curse', 'Cold Heart Curse', and 'Pain Curse' used in succession!

The deceiver was using the same methods he had employed against Fish Dragon Squad Captain Baran, a Grand Knight, with the intention of eliminating Rain, an unstable factor.

However, Rain, who had stopped midway, felt this intense pain and silently opened the system attribute panel, adding one more attribute point to his spirit.

As his remaining attribute points decreased from 6 to 5, and his spirit increased from 32 to 33, a warm current surged from his heart, dispersing the negative energy snake coiled around it!

Then, this warm current began to sweep through his entire body. The negative energy that had settled in Rain's joints, tendons, and muscles, like snow meeting hot water, was instantly swept away and dissolved!

In less than a second, Rain's body was filled with warmth, and all the negative energy, like ghosts and phantoms, was completely swept away!

Excellent!

Rain smiled slightly.

Although he couldn't dispel the curses, he had his system to rely on!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end