Heroes Return

The illusion vanished, and the mage was sent flying. Zero casually bent down as he watched the mage being sent flying. A powerful magic bullet grazed past his head, and a mage in the distance, holding a special wand, couldn't help but scoff. At the same time, he instantly went invisible.

The ground beneath Zero's feet suddenly bulged up in that instant. Along with the bulge, a massive explosion ripped the ground apart. However, when the dust settled, Zero was still standing in the same spot. A brick had appeared in his hand, seemingly out of nowhere.

In the blink of an eye, the brick disappeared from Lin Jie's hand.

During the flight, it seemed to have crashed into something and shattered instantly. At a relatively far distance from Lin Jie, a person with a magical barrier appeared out of thin air in front of Lin Jie.

But just as he tried to become invisible again, Zero's fist, like a brick, flew towards him once more. The magic barrier didn't shatter, but he was sent flying, crashing into a distant sand dune and losing consciousness.

Of course, Zero didn't stop. He threw another brick directly at the head of a girl who was healing another mage, knocking her unconscious.

"I almost forgot, when raiding, kill the healer first." Lin Jie said to himself, "But don't worry, there's no fatal wound, so there's no need to rush to heal."

Chapter 18

After taking down the mage in front of him, Lin Jie's gaze finally turned to a direction not far away. There, several mages were chanting their spells, and powerful magical energy began to gather in front of them.

A powerful magic sphere gradually formed and flew towards zero. Seeing this magic sphere containing a complex, powerful, and explosive force, Lin Jie immediately gripped the Immortal Slaughtering Sword in his hand.

"Zero - Judgment!" With a blood-red sword light piercing through the heavens and earth, the energy ball was directly pierced through by Zero's sword.

The attack, originally powerful enough to rival nuclear weapons, vanished completely under Zero's sword strike. When Zero lowered the Immortal-Slaying Sword, only a handful of mages remained standing in the space. Looking at these few people, Lin Jie merely nodded indifferently, then slashed his sword down towards the distant crystal…

On the outskirts, an old man casting a spell suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his body was sent flying backward. The huge rhomboid crystal in front of him shattered instantly. The old man struggled to his feet, staring in shock at the scene before him.

"This is impossible! Those crystals are protected by spatial power! Even a zero shouldn't be able to destroy several crystals in one hit!" The old man exclaimed in shock at the scene before him. Almost simultaneously, another crystal on the other side was also pierced by a sword light, and the great mage standing in front of that crystal suffered the same fate, coughing up blood and flying backward.

Seeing that two crystals had been reduced in an instant, the mages began to speed up their spellcasting.

At the same time, they realized one thing: since Zero had already had time to destroy the crystals, it could only mean that Zero had defeated the dozens of excellent mages in the space. Time was becoming increasingly tight, and to their despair, the third crystal was destroyed in the blink of an eye, followed by the fourth, the fifth, the sixth…

When only one crystal remained, and the spell was still some time away from completion, the old mage, sensing the destruction of the surrounding crystals, unleashed countless arcane runes. At the same moment these runes flashed, a terrifying impact emanated from the crystal, yet it remained intact. With the old man's rune enhancement, the crystal had withstood Zero's attack.

But the attack did not end; a second, a third… a continuous barrage of attacks began to fall on the crystal.

"As expected, the War God Warriors who can defeat the gods are beyond the reach of us mortals." Feeling the impact on the crystals, the old man suddenly sighed. You must know that these crystals would not be easily destroyed even by nuclear-level attacks, but now they couldn't even block a single sword strike from Zero's attack.

It's important to know that the 'Spatial Escape' spell is one of the most powerful forbidden scrolls in the Magic Academy. It has always been carefully preserved as a strategic weapon. Unlike nuclear weapons, which can potentially recover after an explosion, the 'Spatial Escape' spell, once used, will permanently erase a section of the Earth's land. In the past, this spell caused an effect to completely disappear from the Earth.

However, this magic cannot be used frequently because even if you drive away your enemy, the original land will disappear, and the land on Earth is ultimately finite. If it weren't for dealing with Zero, the Magic Association wouldn't have considered using this strategic-level forbidden magic.

But Zero seemed tireless, able to unleash such powerful attacks continuously, even making the old mage feel as if he had reached his limit.

Even so, the great magician did not back down, but gritted his teeth and persevered, sweat constantly dripping from his forehead and eventually onto his snow-white beard.

Faced with Zero's latest attack, the crystal, empowered by the old man, once again withstood it. A mouthful of blood spurted from the old man's mouth, and his body began to sway. In the past, he would have given up, wouldn't he? But this time, he couldn't do that, because he knew this might be the only way to defeat Zero. The gods had descended, and Zero had already demonstrated his power to the world. He had also earned the world's admiration.

However, in the old man's view, this was not a good thing. It was like someone having the right to launch nuclear missiles from all the countries in the world. Was that really a good thing? Obviously not. Just like the old saying goes, it was too dangerous. No one could guarantee that this person would press the switch to launch nuclear weapons when they got angry.

Undoubtedly, after Zero displayed his overwhelming power, he became, in the eyes of the World Government, someone who held the key to nuclear war. Even if he remained a hero, no one can guarantee that someone will always be righteous, nor can anyone guarantee that someone will always make the right decisions. Once this person's thoughts change or become wrong, it will be a disaster for the entire world.

Although the old man admired Zero's power and appreciated his past deeds, his opinion of Zero had changed after the God-Slaying War. Perhaps it would be better for Zero to disappear from the world now?

Of course, this is not the reason why the old man has persisted. The reason he has been able to persist until now is actually only one thing: for the future of magicians.

If the cataclysmic end of magic continues to descend, humanity will gradually lose those with the aptitude to become magicians, and the study of magic will become extremely difficult. In that case, the entire magical world will face a hopeless future of gradual decline.

Therefore, the old mage had to persevere, knowing that the only way to eliminate all traces of the dead was to burn out his last breath. In his extreme weakness, the old mage had opened a special secret scroll, which could convert his soul and life into magical energy in a short period of time—his final means of survival.

……

"Hmm?" Inside the sealed space, after unleashing several sword strikes in one go, he couldn't help but look at the approaching crystal with some surprise: "It seems this one is the most difficult to deal with."

As soon as he said that, the Immortal Slayer Sword in Zero's hand finally erupted with a terrifying red sword light.

"Three moves—Slaying Immortals!"

……

Outside, the old mage was prepared to sacrifice himself, and the magic scroll in his hand was opened at this moment. However, he didn't even have a chance to activate it before he was directly blasted backward. A soaring red light burst out from the last crystal, and the last crystal shattered violently under the old mage's blessing.

Zero stood before everyone once again, and at this moment, the Magic Academy's attack finally failed.

In the desert, a dark figure stood calmly on the small oasis where the others were. A bottle at his feet emitted a faint glow. Around him lay a litter of mages, and shards of broken crystal littered the surrounding dunes. In the distance, around Lin Jie, twelve robed mages struggled to their feet. They appeared unsteady on their feet, and most of them had bloodstains on their robes, likely from recent vomiting.

From a distance, they looked more like a group of disheveled refugees, but these mages all struggled to walk towards Lin Jie.

"Hey! You guys should just give up. In this state, it's better not to fight anymore." Lin Jie said helplessly, looking at the mages in front of him.

“We cannot let you destroy the magical world. Even if it costs us old folks our lives.” The leading old mage said with difficulty to Zero. This man was none other than the president of the Magic Society, Ralf Sarumans.

"To protect the Magic Academy? But you can't win with your strength alone. Even if you want to win, shouldn't you unite more forces together?" Hearing his words, Lin Jie said to the old mages, "Put down the scroll on your forehead. Although I don't know what kind of scroll it is, using it would be suicide, wouldn't it?"

"..."

“Take these mages back now. They’re all fine. They should be alright after some treatment.” Zero said calmly to the old mage. “Why don’t you go back and gather more strength before coming back? The failure of this spell doesn’t mean you have no chance at all.”

"..." Upon hearing his words, almost all the mages present showed expressions of confusion.

"Why are you letting us go? Do you think we're so lowly that we're not even worth killing?" Raoul asked Zero with difficulty. "Or do you think our strength is insignificant in your eyes, so you don't care at all that we'll find other ways to deal with you after we leave?"

“Value? Life is priceless.” Hearing the old master’s words, Zero shook his head: “I have looked down on many things, but I have never looked down on life, especially human life.”

"Is that so? But your suggestion will only bring you trouble, won't it? Don't you care?"

"Do I need to care?" Zero retorted upon hearing the old man's words. "This time, I just didn't want to kill anyone."

“I understand, it’s an honor to meet you.” Raphael gave Lin Jie a salute. “We will leave together with the mages here. We will come back to find you before the time comes.”

Hearing the old mage's words, Zero didn't say anything more. He simply looked calmly at the sand in the distance. As for the old mages, after using magic to levitate all the mages on the ground, they used a magic circle to teleport everyone away.

Looking at the empty desert, Lin Jie couldn't help but shake his head: "Why should I help the enemy?... Forget it, I'd better not think about it too much."

Chapter 19

"Kuhoo! The battle seems to be over!" Alice smiled indescribably as she looked at what was displayed on the screen. "Giving it a shot, it seems like we can win!"

"Are you really sure you can win?" Miracle Master asked, a curious expression on his face. After witnessing the battle at the Magic Academy, Miracle Master was practically in despair. Several of those battles involved mentors he deeply respected, and even the Academy's president, considered unfathomable, was beaten so badly. Could he really possibly stop Zero?

However, looking at the confident expression on the girl's face, the Master of Miracles felt a strange sensation. It was a chilling feeling, as if he were being schemed against by this girl.

'Ivan?' Seeing the girl's excited expression, the Master of Miracles instinctively thought of that name, but then shook his head. This girl might have been influenced by Ivan, right? After all, she was captured by Ivan when she was young. And Ivan should be dead by now, although no body has been found.

"Will we win? Who knows? But if we don't try, we definitely won't win." Alice said to the Master of Miracles with a smile, "Kuhu, this is really interesting. Although I don't know what Zero is insisting on, he doesn't seem to be suited to be a villain."

"what do you mean?"

“Zero, so many battles have been fought so far, but you haven’t killed a single person. Kuhu, do you know what that means?” Alice suddenly said to the Master of Miracles.

"This means that Zero might still have a chance to turn back," the Master of Miracles suddenly said. "We've also discovered that he didn't kill anyone. Zero doesn't seem to have any intention of killing; on the contrary, he seems to want us to defeat him. Perhaps Zero instinctively doesn't want to do this?"

“Kuhuhu, your thinking is completely wrong!” Alice directly refuted the Master of Miracles: “Your way of thinking seems to be that of heroes. But if we want to overcome this zero, it’s not just about thinking like heroes. You also need to learn to think from the perspective of criminals.”

"What do you mean by that?" Upon hearing Alice's words, the Master of Miracles showed displeasure on his face: "We are heroes, so naturally we don't act like criminals."

"So, you're completely unqualified to be a hero," Alice sighed, then said to the Master of Miracles, "For criminals, not killing is their biggest weakness!"

"Are you planning to use Zero to threaten him? I won't allow you to use any despicable means! We are heroes, and we have a bottom line." The Master of Miracles' expression changed at that moment.

"Kuhuhu, you're really stubborn. So, do you want to uphold justice and defeat Zero, or just watch Zero bring down the end-of-days catastrophe once again? I know that your mentor is in the Magic Academy, right? Do you want to see their hard work disappear? Also, your mysterious master will be affected! I heard you go back to see her every few days."

"...I said, heroes have their bottom line. We won't use overly despicable threats." The Master of Miracles' expression was a little stiff, but his words softened in the end.

"Do you really think ordinary methods will work on Zero? Threatening Zero with the lives of ordinary people? Is that really effective? Threatening Spirit with Zero's identity? Doesn't that seem pointless? Using Zero's family is a good option, but you'd better be prepared to make Zero give up this weakness." Alice's face showed a wicked smile: "We can't just run up to him and say, 'If you don't stop, we'll kill ourselves in front of you and splatter you with blood,' can we? So, even if it's a weakness, we still need to find a way to effectively exploit it."

"Effective utilization?" Upon hearing his words, Miracle sighed and slapped the table helplessly: "You shouldn't be discussing this with me. It would be more appropriate to discuss it with Leng Yan."

“Leng Yan? I’ll discuss it with him, but before that, I need to confirm a few things with you.” Alice pointed to the sky: “Could you help me contact the floating islands? I’m very curious about one of their abilities.”

"What exactly is the ability you're referring to?"

"It's that ability that links everyone's power together. It seems that when the floating island was attacked last time, it was this ability that blocked several strategic weapons."

"That's the mental ability of a superhuman on the floating island. What do you plan to do with this ability?"

"Of course, it's used to deliver the final blow after exploiting Zero's weakness," Alice said, her gaze returning to him. "Also, is there a kind of magic..."

……

The two talked for a long time in a small room. When the Master of Miracles came out, his expression was not very good, but Alice's smile did not change at all: "Finally, we have a chance to have a game of our own."

After saying this, her gaze fell on Time and Fenrir, who were sitting in a corner not far away, eating cold drinks. Accompanied by Delis, the two girls walked directly towards them.

“You seem to have a very special bloodline? Who were your ancestors?” Fenrir sniffed as Alice approached. “I don’t think I noticed it when we last met, mortal. Your ancestors should have seen me.”

“Who knows? I don’t know anything about our ancestors.” Alice just smiled and sat down opposite Time and Fenrir, and Delis sat down with her.

"Alice, you're right, Leng Yan has really accepted me." Shi Kong suddenly said to Alice, "Let's have another sisterly gathering sometime. Let's invite Po Jun and Isabella, and Amyra too. Speaking of which, it seems that the Swift Light Girl has been released by Leng Yan. Let's invite her as well."

"Kuhuhu, Cold Flame? It seems you've set some conditions to increase our fighting strength." Alice thought for a moment and nodded. "But the sisterly gathering seems to have to wait a bit! If you want, a night of revelry isn't out of the question."

"By the way, Alice, may I invite my two sisters along?" Time suddenly asked Alice. "Pandora and Blue, they are my sisters! But we haven't had a proper chat in a long time."

"Are you really hoping to mend your relationship with them?" Upon hearing Shi Kong's words, Alice's face suddenly showed an expression of interest: "Speaking of which, are your two sisters also powerful ability users?"

"Yes! Their abilities were originally very powerful. Smurfette could extract other people's abilities from their bodies and then freely place them into anyone's body. As for Pandora, she used to be very powerful. Daddy said that if she exploded, the whole Earth would be destroyed. But now it seems that she no longer has that power. What a pity, she was so powerful."

"Oh!" Hearing Time and Space's words, Alice's smile deepened. She had originally planned to chat with them for a bit while the Master of Miracles contacted the floating islands, but Alice didn't expect to get some very interesting information: "Let's have a girls' party after we beat Zero. Kuhuhu."

"Can we really win?" Fenrir suddenly stared at Alice. "Zero's strength is not something that can be easily defeated. He is a man who can face the gods of the world alone. If he were in the mythological era of the past, perhaps his myths and legends would be known throughout the world?"

"Kuhuhu, are you afraid of Zero?"

“I fear his power.” Upon hearing Alice’s question, Fenrir answered without hesitation, “Even the gods would only fear such power, right? But compared to fearing Zero, I prefer life here. So I must find a way to stop him. For ordinary mortals, the end times may just be myths and legends, but for us, it represents annihilation.”

Just as Fenrir was speaking, DouDou appeared beside the four girls. At this time, the hall was filled with combat-type heroes on standby. As for those with scientific research abilities or excellent combat skills, they were all in their respective research institutes and associations, painstakingly searching for a way to deal with Zero. The appearance of a dog was quite conspicuous.

“Let me introduce him, he’s my boyfriend. That’s what people in your world call him, I think.” Fenrir suddenly said to DouDou, “The way humans and their thoughts are in this world is quite subtle and interesting.”

"A dog as a boyfriend?"

“In modern terms, it’s like trying things out first.” Fenrir took a sip of milk tea, then hugged DouDou tightly. “This guy has been behaving well lately, so I think I should give him a chance.”

“It…is it a dog?” Delis couldn’t help but ask after hearing her words.

“Although I am a wolf and there is a difference in species between us, it doesn’t seem to be a big problem,” Fenrir said nonchalantly.

"..." Hearing Fenrir's words, everyone present fell silent for a moment, and many heroes in the distance looked at DouDou with envy.

Speaking of which, DouDou seems to be the only dog ​​to get an A-level hero license during this period, and he also became Fenrir's boyfriend. His future looks bright!

After Fenrir said those words, everyone present looked at DouDou in shock. Many even looked at her with admiration.