Chapter 235 - 234: Can You Still Recover?
It was incredibly fast; it would reach Zelir in just a few seconds.
Without the protection of the Ring of Resistance, it could kill the Mage in the blink of an eye!
Moreover, the Bone Centaur raised its right hand again. Bones flew from all over its body, re-forming into a crude Long Halberd.
It assumed the same stance it had used to throw the Long Halberd earlier, all while charging forward.
The intertwining red and blue ball of light flickered.
The mixed Flame Thunder Power within had reached its most dangerous stage of repulsion. It could lose control and explode at any moment.
’Then... now is the time.’
Zelir relinquished his control over the fusion of the two Elements, instead pushing it forward.
In that instant, light and shadow flickered and danced throughout the entire circular, arched hall.
The ball of light streaked forward like a meteor, trailing a long tail of flame.
The Bone Centaur charged head-on to meet it.
And then...
Explosion!
For the first moment, there was no sound. The entire world fell silent.
Then, a sharp, buzzing ring drilled into his brain.
When the thunderous BOOM erupted, Zelir’s hearing vanished for a moment.
The fusion of fire and thunder blossomed like a firework. Beneath the dazzling light lay the ultimate, terrifying destructive force!
The Bone Centaur’s humanoid torso was instantly obliterated!
The layer of black qi desperately contracted, trying to protect the main body, but it was completely useless.
After the black qi was breached, the violent Magic Power immediately shattered its outer ribcage with unstoppable force!
And then came the purple core deep inside.
That strange purple core, which had been granting the Bone Centaur its incredible regenerative abilities, was directly annihilated by the red-and-blue ball of light!
The faint purple glow was quickly devoured by the Flame Thunder.
The destructive Power not only erased the Bone Centaur’s humanoid torso but also continued onward, striking the stone wall of the arched hall!
"BOOM!!!"
This triggered a secondary explosion.
Under the bombardment of the terrifying Flame Thunder energy, the stone wall instantly caved inward as countless spiderweb-like cracks spread frantically!
With a continuous RUMBLE, large chunks of rock broke off from the dome, and the entire arched hall shook violently from the blow.
The Bone Centaur, now missing its upper body, continued to run, but after just two steps, its skeleton began to fall apart.
Charred bone fragments fell off piece by piece, turning to bone dust.
Its body disintegrated as it ran, kicking up a large cloud of white dust behind it.
The shockwave from the explosion on the wall swept over and completely shattered the Bone Centaur’s remaining body.
"BOOM..."
Zelir quickly shielded his face with his hands as the shockwave knocked him to the ground.
Debris and bone fragments hailed down on him with a CLATTERING sound.
After a long while, the commotion finally subsided.
Zelir slowly lowered the hands that had been protecting his head. He propped himself up with his hands behind him, panting heavily.
He saw the Bone Centaur, so arrogant just moments ago, now reduced to a pile of bones scattered at his feet.
A sarcastic smile touched Zelir’s lips.
"Now... can you still regenerate?"
...
Once their two-man formation was split and surrounded, the situation on the flank took a sharp downturn.
"Damn it!"
Valles cursed under his breath.
He had just seized an opportunity to blast the head off one Skeleton Person, only to turn and see five more Skeleton People, shimmering with black qi, closing in.
Valles was cornered in a narrow space between stone pillars with no room to retreat. He had completely lost his space to dodge and weave, leaving him no choice but to draw his Curved Saber and fight head-on.
More importantly, he could no longer provide any fire support for Gray.
With a flash of his blade, Valles severed a Skeleton Person’s forearm while simultaneously dodging the Thrusts of three others.
As he dodged past, he sliced through another Skeleton Person’s cervical vertebrae.
Relying on his combat instincts, his Middle Level Class Fighting Qi, and his agility, Valles was managing to hold on.
Although the Skeleton People’s bones were tough, his Curved Saber, imbued with Thunder Fighting Qi, was still able to break through their defenses.
With one strike, as long as he could seize an opportunity to sever a neck, he could greatly hinder a Skeleton Person’s movements, even if he couldn’t follow up with a finishing blow to the head.
Meanwhile, after losing Valles’s fire support, Gray had been fighting a constant retreat.
In fact, it was more retreating than fighting.
He didn’t look pathetic, however. Gray was using the footwork of the Wind Stream style to its fullest extent.
His every sidestep, every retreat, every turn perfectly dodged the attacks of the Bone Blades.
It was as if a gentle breeze was truly wrapped around his feet, assisting his movements.
The feeling was strange... but also wonderful.
Without Valles’s fire support, by all logic, Gray should have been fleeing in disarray.
But now, he somehow had the energy to counter-attack while dodging.
The more Gray fought, the smoother his movements became, and the more he got into the zone.
This was completely different from when he had sparred with Maki.
Under the pressure of a life-or-death crisis, the skills Gray had learned were becoming fully integrated into his combat, allowing him to use them naturally.
Like water.
Slash!
His Longsword struck heavily against a Skeleton Person’s right shoulder.
As expected, the blade didn’t cut in, merely creating a shower of sparks against the hard bone.
Gray hopped back to dodge as the Skeleton Person struck back.
He couldn’t help but recall something Maki had said before.
"Relying on your own body alone, of course you can’t defeat me."
"That’s why I had you keep training, to search for that feeling."
"Combine your Fighting Qi with your body and do the things you couldn’t do before."
’Yes...’
’Relying on my own body alone, of course I can’t do it.’
’That’s why I have to use Fighting Qi.’
’Combine my Fighting Qi... with my body, my will, my sword, and reach a higher realm.’
In that moment, Gray seemed to fully understand the meaning behind Maki’s words.
’In normal training, if I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it.’
’At most, I’d just get hit by Maki’s Wooden Sword a couple of times. It was no big deal.’
’Even on a mission, if I couldn’t do it, then I couldn’t do it.’
’I could dodge, I could run, I could shift the pressure onto my teammates.’
’Zelir or Valles would always kill the Demon anyway. I just had to stay alive.’
’But now...’
’Now, that’s not an option.’
’If I can’t do it, I’ll die.’
Gray could see Valles’s situation clearly.
He was too busy to help him anymore.
Zelir was also risking his life fighting the most troublesome Bone Centaur.
Everyone was betting everything they had, trying their best to fight their way out of this death trap.
’And me...?’
’Am I still going to run?’
’Right now, the only one I can rely on is myself!’
’If I can’t do it, I’ll die!’
’So, I must do it...’
’I must survive!’
Two more Skeleton People closed in from the side.
After realizing Valles was an extremely troublesome opponent, the other Skeleton People had unanimously changed their strategy and turned to besiege Gray instead.
But they suddenly discovered that this guy, who had been doing nothing but retreating and fleeing, had stopped in his tracks, his entire demeanor changed.
A blazing fighting spirit burned in Gray’s eyes.
He had never felt in better shape!
Gray keenly perceived the gentle breeze swirling around him and resonated with it.
Step!
A brand-new Power erupted from his Heart of Qi!
It surged through his meridians, flowing to every part of his body, filling every corner!
Front Slash!
A cyan stream of qi burst forth, wrapping itself around the Longsword’s blade mid-swing.
The Longsword clashed with three Bone Blades simultaneously, but this time, it was not Gray who retreated.
Within the cave, which glowed with a faint blue light, a streak of cyan brilliance flashed by!