"Mother of Rome, the joy of gods and all living things ..."

As the rebuke ended, this Original Text holder of the Nine Commandments Secret Society immediately began chanting an incantation.

An Original Text related to Rome and the gods?

Ronald felt the words sounded familiar, but before he could recall which Original Text it was, there was no way he would just sit back and let the other side do as they pleased.

So in the very next second after this caster opened his mouth—

He stamped down on the ground, power erupting in an instant, and his whole body shot forward like a fired arrow.

Boom—

Before the caster of the Nine Commandments Secret Society, the flames of the Power of the Sun and the pitch-black blade arrived together. The high temperature and extreme speed even warped the surrounding air, twisting and distorting one's vision.

Ronald's speed was terrifyingly fast.

By the time these casters realized the attack was already in front of them, what was actually left to them was only the very last instant.

Yet the caster who was chanting reacted with composure.

He calmly continued the incantation, eyes locked on Ronald and the incoming strike, without retreating a single step.

This unshaken calm came from his trust in his companions.

Right behind him, the three casters who had originally taken a step back and just now displayed a terrified posture—one of them actually rushed forward at this critical instant, using his own body as a shield, placing himself between Ronald and the chanting caster!

Bang!

The blade came down, and the ring of metal clashing echoed along its edge.

This time Ronald struck with full force. Under the impact of the tremendous power, he himself couldn't advance even half a step—instead, he was forced back two steps.

When Ronald raised his head again, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

This was more than a little unbelievable!

Right now he had attacked at full strength—the power contained within was indescribably fearsome.

But faced with the enemy who suddenly rushed up to act as a human shield, this sword of his had actually failed to break through the opponent's defense and had instead driven himself back a few steps?

Ronald recalled that fleeting instant just now.

At the point where the blade met the enemy's body, what came back was an extremely hard sensation, even giving him the illusion that he was clashing against himself.

Ronald was certain this absolutely wasn't a feeling that flesh could produce.

This guy who dared step up to block the sword was definitely a powerful caster specialized in defense. Some kind of continuously active spell was the main reason his sword had achieved nothing.

"..."

With his first strike having achieved nothing, Ronald of course stared solemnly at the enemy in front of him.

The enemy who had just blocked his strike now had a thin layer of pale pink membrane covering his whole body surface—something that definitely hadn't been there before they made contact.

So this was what had passively triggered under the impact and blocked his attack?

By now Ronald had seen a great deal.

So just a quick look was enough for him to analyze the roots of the opponent's spell.

This kind of defensive spell automatically triggers when the caster is attacked.

Moreover, judging from the actual Magic Fluctuation on the shield, this wasn't a shield formed purely by Magic Power directly. It was more like Costate's kind of indirect-type spell, using Magic Power to control airflow and thereby achieve the protective effect.

Against something like this, simply pitting Magic Power against it would hardly be effective.

Only by understanding the origin of the opponent's spell and then responding accordingly would one be using the most reasonable and refined method.

Having reached these conclusions, Ronald immediately started thinking about how to probe the nature of the opponent's defensive spell and devise a corresponding battle plan.

However, the enemy's reaction that followed completely disrupted the arrangements Ronald had in mind.

Just as he was racking his brains over how to respond, this guy saw that Ronald hadn't immediately launched a second wave of attacks and actually took the initiative to taunt him:

"Hahaha—why aren't you coming anymore?"

"Give it up. My Klein Shield is the hardest defensive method in existence. Today you won't take even a single step past me!"

Klein Shield …

Watching his opponent's actions, Ronald felt both helpless and amused.

He was helpless because the name "Klein Shield" already pointed out the essence of this defensive spell.

Its function was most likely to generate a two-dimensional plane on the caster's body surface to serve as a shield.

Any attack that landed on it, by virtue of the two-dimensional plane's properties, could never transmit its attributes beyond the shield, thus achieving a truly absolute defense.

Judging from the offensive methods Ronald currently had at his disposal—

Even if he drew on the accumulated value-quantity of Capitalism to activate Enhancement Magic, in terms of sheer force alone it still wouldn't be possible to break through the opponent's defense.

Because this was a fundamental property defined by dimensionality, not a question of whether the power was strong enough.

And yet the amusing part was that the other side had actually blurted out the essence of his own spell, which in turn told Ronald exactly how to handle him.

The Klein Shield was indeed invincible on the physical level.

But this world has spells!

Since he couldn't break through the opponent's defense, he would simply bypass that boundary and use spells that directly targeted the man's body—such as Divine Comedy - Purgatory.

"..."

Silently and without a trace, Ronald's Original Sin Spell had already enveloped this caster.

And that arrogant mentality born of his invincible spell was immediately amplified by Purgatory's emotion-guiding power. As his movements and expression grew ever more exuberant, even his face was flushed red with excitement.

"Why aren't you still charging at me? Weren't you very cocky just now?"

"Since you're not coming, then I'm going to come to you!"

While continuing to howl, the caster of the Nine Commandments Secret Society also began to move.

On the other side, Ronald stayed calm. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He was considering what sort of offensive spells an Original Text capable of generating the Klein Shield might provide.

Ronald was making contingency plans in his heart.

At the same time, he had already determined his primary tactic—to focus on stalling for time.

As long as the power of Original Sin continued to steer and inflame this caster's inner feelings, under the sway of that pride and arrogance, the man would inevitably bring about his own destruction once his emotions inflated without limit.

With that in mind, Ronald carefully and cautiously continued to retreat.

Seeing this, the caster with his whole body protected by the Klein Shield became even more arrogant, striding boldly forward toward Ronald.

Swish—

Yet at that moment, a ray of sunlight fell upon both combatants.

Ronald looked up in astonishment to survey his surroundings, and a shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.

The hellish black mist he had spread across the island, the environment that had become completely favorable to him—had all vanished at this moment!

The sight of a clear sky and bright sun returned to the land in an instant.

—It's that guy!

Ronald reacted at once, fixing his gaze on the enemy not far ahead. The source of all these changes was the Original Text holder who had been chanting all along.

This guy had actually dispelled the Divine Comedy spell!