Chapter 55: Storage Ring
Having narrowly survived the devastating blow, the masked assassin was the first to recover.
His body remained motionless for several breaths, yet the way he looked at Cole had completely changed.
The indifference that had previously filled his eyes was gone.
In its place...
There was solemnity.
And beneath that solemnity...
A faint trace of fear.
The attack from this so-called trash had far exceeded everything he had expected.
If that lightning arrow hadn’t deviated from its intended trajectory at the last moment...
He might already be dead.
Cold sweat slowly gathered across his forehead before rolling down the side of his face.
Countless thoughts surged through his mind like bolts of lightning.
What exactly had happened to Cole?
How had someone who was supposed to be completely useless suddenly become capable of casting such a terrifying spell?
And why...
Why had the intelligence about him been so completely wrong?
For a brief moment, a terrifying chill filled the abandoned building.
Unlike the attackers Cole had killed earlier...
This man wasn’t an ordinary assassin.
He was the acting leader of this operation.
Before accepting the mission, he had believed this would be nothing more than a simple task.
Find the Saint Family’s useless young master.
Kill him.
Loot whatever resources he possessed.
Then leave.
Simple.
Clean.
Almost effortless.
But as the battle progressed...
The assassin leader gradually realized how laughably wrong his assumptions had been.
The so-called trash young master wasn’t trash at all.
He possessed terrifying physical strength.
He could move at an astonishing speed.
And now...
He had even revealed that he could use magic.
The assassin leader’s fingers tightened around the hilt of his saber.
For the first time since accepting this mission...
He felt genuine uncertainty.
Meanwhile, Cole’s breathing gradually returned to its normal rhythm.
He had no idea what thoughts were currently running through his opponent’s mind.
And even if he knew...
He wouldn’t have cared.
The assassin’s thoughts were irrelevant.
His identity was irrelevant.
His reasons were irrelevant.
The only thing that mattered was simple.
This person...
Needed to die.
A faint humming sound suddenly echoed through Cole’s body.
Whirrr...
Cole could clearly feel the mana flowing through his veins.
The three spirit nodes within his spiritual space remained stable, quietly rotating as streams of spiritual force circulated through them.
Although he had just cast a Lightning Arrow...
His mana reserves remained extremely abundant.
Another spell...
He could easily cast another.
Perhaps even several more.
However...
Cole didn’t immediately summon another Lightning Arrow.
He had already recognized both his strengths and weaknesses.
His spell was powerful.
But his mastery was still poor.
His physical body, on the other hand...
Was something he could rely upon without hesitation.
He knew exactly what his body was capable of.
So...
Why waste mana?
Cole’s expression gradually became cold.
He simply tapped the ground beneath his feet.
Boom!
The instant his foot touched the floor...
His body disappeared.
The assassin leader’s pupils contracted violently.
For a fraction of a second...
He saw nothing.
Then...
A blurred figure flashed before his eyes.
Cole was already standing directly in front of him.
The distance between them had disappeared in an instant.
The assassin leader’s eyes widened.
His heart almost stopped.
"So fast...!"
The thought had barely emerged...
When another realization struck him.
The terrifying spell had made him subconsciously assume that Cole was a fragile wizard.
A wizard who relied on long-range attacks.
A wizard whose physical body would naturally be his weakness.
But now...
Cole’s speed had exploded with such terrifying force that it seemed to rival even physical-path Moon Knight warriors.
The assassin leader’s mind went completely blank.
He had experienced countless battles throughout his life.
He had survived situations where death had been only a step away.
He had faced monsters.
He had fought stronger cultivators.
He had even escaped from certain death more than once.
Yet...
The shock he experienced at this moment was unlike anything before.
His body instinctively tried to react.
His hand began moving toward his saber.
His muscles tensed.
His eyes desperately attempted to track Cole’s movement.
But...
It was already too late.
Cole’s fist had arrived.
Puchi!
The impact landed directly against the assassin leader’s head.
For an instant...
His metallic mask visibly deformed.
Then...
It exploded.
Fragments of black metal and crimson flesh shot violently through the air.
Blood splattered across the broken walls.
Tiny fragments of bone scattered across the dusty floor.
The headless body remained standing for half a breath.
Then...
Thud!
It collapsed heavily onto the ground.
Silence once again returned to the abandoned building.
Cole stood quietly beside the corpse.
His gaze remained indifferent.
There wasn’t even the slightest trace of surprise in his eyes.
The result had been completely within his expectations.
The two of them might have been standing within the same major realm...
The Moon Knight Realm.
But the difference between them was greater than heaven and earth.
After successfully fusing with the Thunder Worm Leviathan bloodline, Cole’s physical body had already reached a level that ordinary human warriors could hardly imagine.
His muscles were stronger.
His bones were harder.
His blood was more powerful.
Even his cells had been fundamentally transformed.
And that wasn’t the end.
With every moment that passed...
Mana continuously circulated through his body.
Boundless energy flowed outward from his dantian, constantly nourishing and strengthening his flesh.
Every breath he took...
Every heartbeat...
Every circulation of mana...
His body continued becoming stronger.
Cole slowly lowered his gaze toward his clenched fist.
A faint light flashed within his eyes.
This...
Was the power of perfect fusion.
A lone figure stood silently within the broken building.
Blood slowly dripped from his fist.
The shattered wall behind him allowed the cold night wind to enter, carrying away some of the lingering dust.
After another brief moment...
Cole finally shook his head.
"Let’s get moving..."
His thoughts had already become urgent.
Although he had deliberately hidden himself...
The enemy had still managed to find him.
That alone was enough to prove that his current hiding methods were far from perfect.
This time...
He had managed to deal with the attacker.
But what about the next time?
What if the next group was stronger?
What if a Sun Knight came?
Or something even stronger?
Cole didn’t dare gamble his life on luck.
Without wasting any more time, he immediately crouched beside the bloodied corpse and began searching through it.
His fingers quickly moved across the assassin’s clothes.
Nothing.
His spatial pouch...
Empty.
His waist...
Nothing.
Hidden pockets...
Still nothing.
Cole’s expression gradually became darker.
Again?
These people really were poor.
Just as he was about to give up...
Something caught his attention.
His gaze stopped on the assassin’s right hand.
More specifically...
His index finger.
A black ring rested quietly there.
Unlike ordinary metal, its surface was completely dark and smooth, resembling polished obsidian.
Yet...
It carried a strange atmosphere.
Cole’s eyes narrowed.
He slowly picked it up.
"What is this...?"
The moment his fingers touched the ring, a faint spatial fluctuation spread across his palm.
Cole’s expression immediately changed.
A treasure...
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Could it be...
A storage ring?
According to the knowledge he had obtained, humanity’s major powers had spent countless years researching spatial storage treasures.
The battlefield was far too chaotic for ordinary storage methods.
Mana potions were essential for warriors and wizards alike, yet carrying dozens of fragile bottles into battle was extremely troublesome.
One careless movement...
One stray attack...
And those precious potions could easily shatter. Mana potin were not simple treasure but the very fuel that kept the humanity alive in this wretched world.
For ordinary warriors, the problem was even more serious.
Unlike Cole...
They didn’t possess a dantian capable of storing massive amounts of mana within their bodies.
They needed external mana potions to replenish themselves during battle.
Because of this...
Humanity’s major organizations had invested enormous resources into researching a treasure capable of safely storing multiple items within a small space.
According to the rumors...
They had eventually succeeded.
The resulting treasure...
Was known as the Storage Ring.
When Cole had first heard about such a treasure, he had merely shaken his head.
A spatial treasure capable of storing objects...
It sounded far too difficult to refine.
Yet...
Looking at the black obsidian ring resting in his palm...
Cole’s eyes gradually brightened.
Could this really be one?
Without wasting another second, he slipped the ring onto his index finger.
Surprisingly...
It fit perfectly.
The ring settled naturally around his finger without being even the slightest bit loose.
It was almost as though...
It had been made specifically for him.
"What a pleasant surprise.." Cole muttered out loud, feeling extremely thrilled, without wasting any time he sent a wisp of his will inside the ring and immediately his mouth opened wide.
From the inside the space was field with dozens of mana potions, the burning red liquid flickering wildly.
These were no ordinary low grade mana potion but notch above.
Mid-grade mana potions.