Chapter 298: The Chase

Chapter 298: The Chase



As the molten colossal hand loomed, Rain's eyes narrowed.

With a swift tap of his toe, he darted towards the side of the gate.

But the next moment, the molten hand, like a burrowing earth dragon, made a thunderous turn, plowing the ground as it continued its pursuit of Rain.

Given the choice, Rain naturally preferred not to withstand the formidable power of the Second-Level Sorcery.

So, when he saw the molten hand still chasing him, Rain took a swift step, spun, and changed direction, rushing towards the wall where Asimov stood.

It seemed he wanted to close the distance between them, forcing Asimov to bear the brunt of his spell's damage.

At that moment, a smile crept onto Asimov's face.

His combat experience was extensive, and he immediately understood Rain's intention upon witnessing the scene before him.

Close-quarters combat against a formidable Knight like Rain would inevitably involve closing the distance, or else it would be impossible to inflict any harm.

As for this, he already had a well-established countermeasure.

A fiery red ring of light suddenly appeared around Asimov, and he quickly began reciting an incantation.

Just as Rain was about ten meters away, Asimov raised his staff and pointed it at Rain, from which a flame beam erupted, shooting towards Rain's face.

Rain's reaction was equally swift; he raised his Enchanted Cersilver Falcon Shield, blocking the attack with a steady stance.

"Boom!" Rain successfully blocked the flame burst, but the impact forced his charging body to momentarily halt.

Asimov smiled, thinking, 'Just as I expected.' He raised his left hand and clenched it tightly.

The next instant, the massive molten hand swooped in from behind, reaching out to grab Rain.

But the following second, a look of shock flashed across Asimov's eyes.

He saw three metal falcon shields suddenly envelop Rain, blocking the descending molten hand just a few meters away.

Although Rain's shields were creaking under the strain, they had managed to withstand the attack.

How was this possible?

Asimov's molten hand had at least 60 degrees of power, and yet Rain had managed to withstand it with his innate magic?

This shouldn't be!

Asimov naturally mistook the 'Metal Barrier' Rain had just cast for an innate spell.

After all, 0.25 seconds of casting time was enough to blur the lines between real and fake.

Taking advantage of the momentary respite provided by the three falcon shields, Rain calmly sidestepped, evading the molten hand's grasp, and once again stood face-to-face with Asimov.

Although he had been at a slight disadvantage in the previous round, Rain's eyes now gleamed with growing intensity of his battle intent.

Asimov was the first Second-Rank Wizard he had encountered, and in terms of combat power, he was the second most formidable opponent he had faced, second only to the ancient hero Meng.

However, the two were completely different in their combat styles. One was bold and unyielding, while the other was cunning and calculating.

Most importantly, Rain could clearly sense that as he immersed himself in the battle, his will seemed to become more concentrated.

Indeed, combat was the shortcut to enhancing willpower.

At that moment, outside Rain's Manor, the Bloodcap Mercenary Group had just eliminated a Night Watch Patrol.

The three of them had failed to swiftly subdue the opponent, and they exchanged glances, each seeing the shock in the other's eyes.

If the adults didn't leave soon, the consecutive disappearances of the patrol members would soon be noticed by the Empire's law enforcement, making a subsequent retreat more challenging.

For the adults, being surrounded by the Empire's elite might be a minor inconvenience.

4 refers to the other side of the vassal squad.

The four Third-Rank Apprentice Wizards responsible for suppressing the powerful magical energy fluctuations in this area were now sweating profusely, their foreheads glistening with perspiration.

They gazed at the mist-shrouded manor, their eyes filled with astonishment.

The energy fluctuations were too intense!

Could it be that Master Asimov was exerting his full power?

Who was this person they were up against?

They were barely holding on, and could only sustain their efforts for another minute at most, as their mental strength was nearly depleted.

Inside the manor.

Asimov's expression grew more somber after his previous attack had been in vain. For the first time, he regarded Rain, the young man, as a formidable foe.

Simultaneously, he knew that this stalemate couldn't continue.

Asimov's time was limited, and according to the planned schedule, he had about half a minute left.

"In that case, I have no choice but to use that move!"

"As long as he's injured, the rest of the battle will be much easier."

Asimov's eyes narrowed, and he raised the staff in his hand, beginning to chant loudly. A surging wave of energy emanated from him.

Rain was the first to react, and based on the energy fluctuations, he could tell that Asimov was casting a Second-Level Sorcery, which would be far more powerful than the First-Level Sorcery Flame Burst he had used earlier.

Moreover, it was likely a Second-Level Sorcery with concentrated power and difficulty in dodging, otherwise, there would be no reason for Asimov to abandon the use of the Molten Colossal Hand.

Rain narrowed his eyes and made a swift decision.

A Crane Shield, transformed from Enchanted Serenium, appeared around his body, and he rushed towards Asimov.

Although Second-Level Sorcery was more powerful, it also meant that the chanting time would be longer.

Additionally, Rain's close-range damage was far superior to his long-range attacks, so closing the distance was the best strategy for victory.

When Rain charged towards him again, Asimov glanced at Rain with a meaningful look.

Even as Rain approached, Asimov did not move but continued chanting the sorcery, confident in the defensive power of his innate sorcery.

The power of the sorcery he was casting was extraordinary, as evidenced by Rain's dual-bladed warhammer swings towards Asimov.

Just as Rain was about to strike, Asimov finished his chant.

He pointed his finger at Rain, and a scorching ray as thick as a bowl appeared from his fingertip, shooting straight towards Rain.

Without hesitation, Rain swung his warhammer, transformed from Tempered Gold, and unleashed the Annihilation Hammer! Both of them had absolute confidence in their defense and attack power.

The speed of light is 300,000 kilometers per second.

The scorching ray hit Rain first.

The ray struck the Enchanted Serenium Crane Shield, and although Enchanted Serenium had strong resistance to energy damage, it did not mean complete immunity.

Reducing the damage by 60-70% still left 30-40% of the remaining power.

The power of a Second-Level single-target sorcery was incredibly strong.

The Enchanted Serenium shield only blocked it for a moment before a small hole appeared in the center, and the remaining scorching ray struck Rain with its residual force.

The Mithril Embroidered Chestplate was penetrated.

The power of the scorching ray was almost entirely dissipated.

However, Asimov believed he had the upper hand because even a tenth of the ray's power would be enough to pierce through the flesh of a Great Knight.

At the same time, Rain's warhammer struck Asimov's body.

A ring of fire flashed across Asimov's body, and a shockwave hit him, but it was shattered by the crushing power contained within the hammerhead.

This caused a moment of panic in Asimov's eyes for the first time!

"Bang!"

The fire ring weakened the hammer, which then struck the suddenly generated Rock Armor on Asimov's body, causing dirt to splatter everywhere!

The Rock Armor was broken open, revealing a large hole!

Just as the hammer was about to touch Asimov's body, an invisible Flame Shield appeared and blocked the attack!

"Crack!"

Asimov's crystal necklace shattered.

Apparently, the Flame Shield was activated by the crystal necklace's self-protection.

Although both of them had hit their targets, neither seemed to have achieved the expected results.

The impact of the sorcery forced them to separate once again.

Asimov's confidence in victory vanished instantly.

He stared at the crystal fragments on the ground in disbelief. Rain's attack power had exceeded seventy degrees, which was an extremely high level of damage even among Liquidation Wizards.

Moreover, Rain's defense was also formidable.

Asimov looked at the faint smoke rising from the hole in Rain's chestplate, deep in thought.

At this point, Asimov realized he could no longer continue fighting as he had.

The consecutive releases of Second-Level Sorcery had clearly rendered the Obscuring Magic Array ineffective.

The energy fluctuations from the previous sorcery had likely already spread out.

If he didn't leave now, he would be at a significant disadvantage. He wasn't worried about being surrounded by the Empire's elite forces, but as the provincial capital, Minster had no shortage of powerful individuals.

However, he had already lost two capable subordinates and still failed to defeat Rain, let alone achieve his primary objective.

This filled him with a sense of frustration and anger.

Asimov suddenly turned towards Rain's manor and unleashed a Flame Emitter, setting the building ablaze.

Rain narrowed his eyes, and his heart filled with rage!

But now it seems that things are not as they appear!

As soon as Rain appeared, he transformed his warhammer into a greatsword and slashed at the burning wall, extinguishing the flames with a single stroke.

However, Rain hesitated, unsure if the enemy had any more tricks up their sleeve.

If he were to pursue now, would it be...

At that moment, Vieri shouted from the window, "Captain, I've sent a signal to Neor and the others. We'll take care of things here, so don't worry!"

Rain glanced at Vieri, nodded, and immediately gave chase.

Several Night Watch patrols had already spotted Asimov's trail and quickly nocked their arrows, but the enemy was too fast, surrounded by a green aura, moving with lightning speed.

Before the Night Watch could release their arrows, Asimov had already darted into an alley nearby.

Rain, guided by the Blood Feathered Eagle Beast in the air, created a gust of wind and pursued the enemy.

The commotion from the second-level sorcery was enough to alert the city, which was already on high alert due to the failure of the obscuring magic array.

In the sky, two more black dots joined the Blood Feathered Eagle Beast, swiftly flying towards Asimov and Rain.

They were the patrolling Minster Griffin Knights.

Despite the darkness and low visibility due to the thick clouds, the Griffin Knights could vaguely make out two fast-moving figures on the ground. They immediately controlled their griffins to dive down.

The two Griffin Knights aimed to capture both Asimov and Rain simultaneously.

But in the next moment, the figure in front, moving at high speed, quickly raised his hand and unleashed a face-melting flame burst towards the diving Griffin Knight.

The Griffin Knight was startled and roared, furiously flapping its wings to dodge the flames, nearly throwing off its rider.

Rain, facing the diving Griffin Knight, skillfully dodged its attack with a Z-shaped acceleration and shouted from a distance, "Imperial Swordsman, Rain!"

Hmm?

Rain?

The Griffin Knight's eyes widened in shock.

"Damn! I just attacked Lord Rain."

It turned out that this Griffin Knight was Fischer, who had witnessed Rain's battle with the ancient hero Meng at the Myester Temple.

He had just returned to Minster the day before after being reassigned.

Asimov, who had startled the Griffin Knight, suddenly darted into an alley.

He quickly chanted a spell and waved his staff.

In an instant, two lifelike shadows appeared around him, identical to his own form.

The next second, including himself, all three shadows dashed off in three different directions.

Rain, following behind, had a glint of understanding in his eyes.

He had some insights into the spell 'Doppelganger'.

After encountering Galina's doppelganger technique, Rain had gained valuable combat experience.

Rain pursued without hesitation, commanding the Greyhound 'Cookie' to chase the shadow on the left while the Blood Feathered Eagle Beast pursued the one on the right.

However, the Griffin Knights in the sky were momentarily confused by the three identical shadows in the dim night.

They had to draw lots to choose which shadow to pursue.

The Imperial elite forces, including the Night Watch and the City Guard, who had initially determined their positions based on the Griffin Knights in the air, were now divided as the two Griffin Knights split up.

In a short time, the fastest among them, the Blood Feathered Eagle Beast, pounced with its claws, shattering the right-side shadow like a bursting bubble.

After a few seconds, a painful howl came from the left side—Cookie charged at the shadow, only to be hit by a flame burst, setting its back fur ablaze. It hurriedly rushed to the nearby fountain to extinguish the flames.

This action, however, undoubtedly revealed Asimov's true position.

Rain immediately abandoned the central shadow and changed direction, letting the Blood Feathered Eagle Beast guide him from the air, while he pursued on the ground.

Although Cookie was scorched, it possessed the innate ability of 'Rapid Regeneration'.

The injury was not severe for it.

Cookie emerged from the fountain, roaring angrily, and continued its pursuit of Asimov.

Asimov, having shaken off his pursuers, was about to circle back to the administrative district and take a flying ship back to the imperial capital in ten minutes.

But his brow furrowed again as he looked up at the Blood Feathered Eagle Beast in the sky and glanced back at Rain and the Greyhound behind him. He cursed under his breath, "Stubborn bastards!"

Asimov had no choice but to accelerate once more. Both parties were incredibly fast, quickly passing through the Minster administrative district, the trade district, and finally entering the civilian district.

In the blink of an eye, Asimov's entire body suddenly vanished from sight.

Two seconds later, Rayn arrived at the alley, cautiously on guard while looking around. His brows furrowed.

"Invisibility spell?" he wondered.

He was certain that the other party had entered the alley and never came out.

There were only two doors in this alley, and there were no signs of them being opened.

"Woof!"

Cookie, who had followed Rayn closely, sniffed with her dog's nose and immediately started barking at the roof on the right.

Rayn laughed. He suddenly spun around and, in an instant, hurled a hundred four-cornered darts at the direction Cookie was barking at. "Sword Storm - Modified!"

On the roof of a civilian house, Asimov, with nowhere to hide, reluctantly revealed his figure.

Although the four-cornered darts didn't cause him any harm, they foiled his plan to escape using the invisibility spell.

"Damn it, you stupid dog!" Asimov cursed.

He should have known that he should have directly killed that troublemaking dog earlier.

Cookie, on the other hand, shook her wet fur and wagged her tail, looking rather proud as if to say, 'I'll make you regret it, you mutt!'

Asimov, on the roof, once again used the Swift Wind spell, wrapping himself in a pale cyan whirlwind, and continued to flee.

Rayn quickly leaped and jumped onto the roof of the civilian house, chasing after him closely.

In the current situation, Asimov naturally knew that if he didn't shake off Rayn's pursuit, he wouldn't be able to return to the auction house, let alone go to the airship docking point and return to the imperial capital.

Fortunately, the night was cloudy, and the visibility was poor. Otherwise, he would have been easily spotted.

"Do you really think I'm afraid of you?" Asimov angrily turned to look at Rayn, then at the tall Minster City Wall in front of him, and immediately made up his mind.

Inside Minster City, he would immediately be detected by the city's array and quickly surrounded by the empire's defensive forces.

But it would be different if he left the city.

At that moment, the two sides would engage in a short-term battle.

The next second, Asimov rushed towards the tall city wall of Minster.

Rayn, who was pursuing from behind, saw Asimov defeating several city guards and quickly climbing the wall. He narrowed his eyes.

"Is he trying to escape outside the city?" Rayn thought as he sped up, using the Hardened Gold to climb the wall like a hawk, taking the shortest route.

Since Minster City was built on a mountain, some sections of the wall had a significant drop of seventy to eighty meters from the ground.

Suddenly, Asimov, a few dozen meters ahead of Rayn, rounded a watchtower and cast a Levitation spell on himself.

He then leaped down from the wall.

Asimov, slowly floating away, turned to look at Rayn, pointed at him, and made a throat-slitting gesture.

He meant to come back and show Rayn who's boss.

Rayn narrowed his eyes, looked down at the ground outside the wall, with a drop of over seventy meters. If he jumped down directly, he might not die, but there was a high probability of sustaining serious injuries.

But the next second, he had an idea.

The Hardened Gold in Rayn's hand instantly transformed into two thin, long metal plates resembling wings.

As a pair of claws grabbed Rayn's shoulders, Rayn leaped, and the two of them, like a biplane, jumped off the wall, gliding rapidly in pursuit of Asimov.

Although the Blood Feathered Eagle Beast was not yet fully grown and couldn't bear Rayn's full weight, it could still reduce the falling speed and prevent Rayn from getting injured.

This scene made Asimov's expression twitch uncontrollably.

The two of them landed almost simultaneously, dozens of meters apart, facing each other again.

However, both of them stared at each other without moving.

At this moment, a flash of lightning illuminated the surrounding wilderness and their solemn faces.

Thunder rumbled, and heavy raindrops fell like a torrential downpour, splashing on the ground and rising a pungent smell of water vapor and mud.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end