They don't want me to try anymore.

There was a loud bang.

The black light blasted away the old butler's lower body and even completely destroyed the house beneath his feet, turning it into ruins.

"Where's my... my butt..."

At first, the old butler looked around blankly until he saw his other half on a tree.

Why is this happening...

Isn't it clear that our organization has a significant advantage?

How could it be that in the blink of an eye, I... I was... done by the envoy...

"Why are you dazed?"

At that moment, Richard jumped onto the ruins, looked down at the old butler, and snapped his fingers.

"Go back and see your damn Lord of the Void."

A dazzling fireball slanted down, turning the disgusting body, already ravaged by its own leader, into ashes.

The old steward, a cadre of the Khmer Rouge, has passed away.

Everyone was stunned.

Is this the level expected of a high-level Bronze rank player?

In just a few seconds, he killed Baiyin?

Horror!

Richard simply wiped his sweat, not thinking anything of it. In his opinion, although both were silver, this butler was far inferior to Linda.

He didn't relax at all, because although the soldiers and civilians inside the city could now hold off the cultists without much trouble, the most crucial thing outside the city walls hadn't been dealt with yet.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that David and the bandits were still holding on. Richard didn't dare to waste any time. After giving a few instructions to the people around him, he went into the tower.

"Are you injured?"

Seeing Luvia's visibly worried face, Richard said, "I'm fine. I'm going to try to advance. Save that sword strike for when the giant fungal beast gets close."

"I understand what you mean."

After saying that, Richard stood on the mercury magic circle that the apprentices had drawn and closed his eyes to meditate.

Luvia suppressed the jumble of thoughts in her mind and, sword in hand, went to the entrance of the tower.

Soon, the bandits were routed by the giant fungus beast and could no longer pose a threat, so they could only circle around the perimeter.

Meanwhile, the giant fungal beast turned its attention back to the tower.

It gathered a chilling mass of dark green magical energy in front of it, hoping to eliminate the threat once and for all.

But he moved very slowly, as if he was waiting for something or testing something.

Ah.

Luvia knew that the other party was assessing whether her mirror image was capable of taking action.

So she took a deep breath, without any impulse, and even closed her eyes, relying solely on her sense of killing intent to wait for the final moment.

Finally, the giant fungus beast, feeling no threat, sped up its pace, preparing to unleash the spell in the next second.

Right now!

Luvia lifted the tower and shouted, "Don't even think about it!"

She aimed her sword at the giant fungus's waist and slashed down hard from a distance!

"Roar!"

A dazzling sword light flew over, not only shattering the energy ball but also leaving a huge, almost transparent wound on the fungal beast's body, causing the latter to scream in agony and retreat in large strides.

After sheathing her sword, Luvia's mirror image forced herself to return to the tower, strictly forbidding any of the apprentices around her from leaving, before slowly disappearing.

Just as she expected, after the giant fungal beast outside stabilized itself, it couldn't see her and didn't know if this was another trap, so it chose to cast a spell to build a defense first and did not attack immediately.

But how much time can this buy us?

In the last moment before the mirror image disappeared, Luvia looked at Richard in the formation and sighed softly.

Richard, now you're all alone, you have to catch up!

at the same time.

Under the influence of mercury magic called the Inverted Magic Circle, Richard's consciousness partially detached from his body and ventured into endless alternate dimensions.

Through a thin layer of silvery-white mist, he saw dozens of illusory realms of various shapes and sizes.

It was a wonderful experience; he felt as if he had returned to his childhood in a past life, visiting an aquarium for the first time and appreciating the enormous sharks and whales swimming overhead from an unprecedented perspective.

However, soon, driven by an inexplicable intuition, he turned his gaze to a dreamlike world filled with countless crystals that shot straight into the sky.

There, he discovered a deep cave, and inside lay the wounded Big Black.

The wounds on the black dragon's body had not yet completely stopped bleeding, and the areas that had been penetrated by those fungal beast particles had even developed large areas of ulceration—clearly, he had been poisoned.

Big Black howled, its voice filled with pain.

At this moment, a giant snake with two heads, drawn by his painful breath, slowly approached.

Danger!

Richard's eyes widened, and he immediately took action!

The advancement ceremony for the Key to Ten Thousand Gates requires him to kill and bathe in the blood of an otherworldly creature, so it's decided that it's you, Two-Headed Serpent!

He focused his mind and, with the help of the magic array, forcibly summoned the serpentine monster whose strength was roughly equivalent to the middle level of the Bronze Realm.

At the same time, guided by his intuition, he subconsciously used the ability [Great Reformer] on the festering wound of the large black dog.

Before he could even see the consequences of his actions, his mind was pulled back to his body in the next second.

And right above his head, a spacetime rift opened.

The two-headed snake, who was just looking forward to a comfortable meal, fell out completely bewildered.

Take advantage of it now!

Richard suddenly stood up, first striking the snake's head with a bolt of lightning, then summoning his greatsword, enveloping the blade in flames, and slashing heavily at the snake's neck before it could react!

It's troublesome to have two heads in one body. Don't worry, I'll separate you right away!

Oops, sorry, I cut it horizontally~

"Roar——"

Logically speaking, even a giant serpent with mid-Bronze level strength would be cut in two by such a rapid combo, its four eyes glaring at the same time.

Warm snake blood, carrying chaotic magical energy from another world, poured down, soaking Richard's entire body.

The ceremony was then completed.

The mercury lines on the ground suddenly floated into the air, forming a cocoon that enveloped Richard.

A few seconds later, the silver cocoon broke open, and Richard, completely clean, walked out.

Kata took a deep breath...

It feels so good!

My physical and magical energy are more abundant than ever before, and I can feel the magical elements flowing with every breath!

However, before he could fully appreciate the subtle improvements after advancing to Silver rank, a series of screams caught his attention.

Looking around, they realized that the giant fungal beast had already partially surrounded the tower!

The soldiers' and civilians' defenses were completely breached, resulting in numerous casualties. The survivors either scattered and fled or hid inside the tower, where they clung to several apprentices and screamed in terror.

day!

Richard leaped up and flew straight to the center of the floor, activating the cross-shaped protective array amidst the expectant gazes of everyone around him.

In an instant, hundreds of phantom crosses appeared in the cloudless sky, and then they fell like raindrops, smashing into the body of the giant fungal beast!

"Roar!"

Almost visibly, the giant fungal beast's momentum immediately weakened, and the tower that had just been almost broken by the impact became as stable as a rock once again.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

We're saved?

"The magic circle has been activated; it can't get in!"

Indeed, the fungal beast trembled and stopped attacking. After hesitating for a moment, it turned around and crawled into the forest.

So they were forced to back down?

more than!

Richard realized that the fungus, understanding it could no longer obtain flesh and blood within Nion, was afraid Luvia would return soon, and was therefore trying to escape…

...Are you kidding me!

After killing so many people, you can just come and go as you please?

Richard sneered and channeled all his magic into the magic circle, summoning more phantom crosses that rained down like celestial weapons, all nailing themselves to the back of the giant fungal beast!