Chapter 115: Chapter 114: Settling the Grudge

Ian looked up at the thirteen suffocating fireballs, sensing the destructive energy they contained.

But there was not a trace of fear in his eyes, only an icy killing intent.

"Sterling."

"Hm?" Sterling raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know?"

Ian slowly raised his hands.

The ice-blue mist around him instantly condensed into fine frost crystals, which drifted down with a soft rustle.

"During those days I was fleeing through the Silent Death Mountain Range, I thought about one thing every day..."

His voice was soft, yet it pierced through the roar of the fireballs.

"I wondered... if one day I could make it back alive, if one day I saw you again."

"How... I would kill you!"

As his voice fell, dozens of chilling rays instantly materialized and shot out.

His "Twin" special effect, at maximum output!

Sterling’s pupils contracted sharply.

’He used no Witchcraft... it was instantaneous?!’

He was shocked, but his reaction was extremely fast. The thirteen fireballs didn’t merge, but instead smashed toward the ice-blue rays like meteors.

At the same time, his vigilance soared. The Energy Force Field unique to an Official Wizard lit up almost instinctively around him, stacking with the hastily conjured Flame Shield.

PFFT! PFFT...

Ice and fire clashed, and large clouds of white steam exploded outward!

All the Frost Freeze Rays were precisely intercepted and detonated by the fireballs.

But there were too many rays!

The residual, intensely cold aura pierced through the aftershock of the explosions and slammed viciously into the dual layers of protection in front of Sterling.

The Flame Shield vibrated violently, and with a CRACK, a thick layer of ice formed on its surface.

Even the invisible Force Field behind it faltered slightly, its operation momentarily feeling sluggish.

’Such powerful freezing ability?!’ Sterling was shocked again.

This was by no means a simple ice-type Witchcraft, but a bizarre power that carried the properties of Erosion and could hinder Energy Structures!

Before he could think further, Ian had already pointed with his right hand.

A beam of bright white light, condensed to the extreme and as thin as a strand of hair, tore through the air, shooting straight for the spot between his eyebrows with terrifyingly high temperatures!

[Scorching Beam]: "Focusing," "Yang Flame"!

The hairs on Sterling’s neck stood on end. He frantically channeled his Spiritual Power, thickening the Flame Shield once more.

TSSSS...!

The bright white beam struck the shield and, like a hot knife through butter, instantly pierced most of the way through.

The residual heat seared his cheeks, making them ache with pain.

’Dammit! How can his Witchcraft, as a mere Apprentice, all be instantaneous, and so powerful?!’

A storm raged in Sterling’s heart. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

This was definitely not the Attack Power a High Level Apprentice should possess. Ian must be hiding a great secret!

Greed flared in his eyes, but at the same time, he grew more cautious, no longer daring to be arrogant.

He retreated backward abruptly while pulling a Small Crystal Bottle from his robes and downing the viscous, dark gold liquid inside.

[Heart of Magma]!

BOOM...

Sterling’s aura suddenly surged. The morbid pallor on his face was replaced by a flush, and fierce flames erupted around his body, causing the rock beneath his feet to begin to melt.

"Damn you, you forced my hand!"

His eyes were bloodshot as his hands waved rapidly, and the thirteen fireballs reappeared.

But this time, each one swelled to the size of a house, Runes flowing within, emitting a heart-stopping, destructive aura.

"Let me show you the true power of a Level One Wizard!"

Sterling sneered, and the thirteen fireballs began to converge toward the center.

However, this was the exact moment Ian had been waiting for.

"Gaga!" he barked in his mind.

"Understood! Ga!"

Gaga, who had been lurking in the shadows, suddenly appeared!

With a flap of its wings, it activated [Shadow Jump] and instantly appeared above and behind Sterling.

Its mismatched eyes—one gray, one blue-green—lit up simultaneously... [Omen Eye]!

A gray light descended, and Sterling’s movements faltered for a split second.

Although its effect on an Official Wizard was brief, that momentary hesitation disrupted the rhythm of the fireballs’ fusion!

At the same time, in Ian’s Sea of Spirit, vaporized Spiritual Power surged forth.

[Crystal Energy Barrier], dual special effects activated!

The translucent shield instantly transformed, breaking into dozens of palm-sized, diamond-shaped "Floating Crystal Guards."

They shot out like a swarm of bees, striking and interfering with the thirteen fireballs from all angles!

BANG BANG BANG BANG...!

The fireballs were knocked off their trajectories, and their fusion speed was greatly reduced.

"Bastard!" Sterling was both shocked and enraged.

He hadn’t expected that Ian not only had a variety of Instantaneous Witchcraft, but also such a bizarre ability to manipulate shields, and even a Summoned Demon capable of interfering with an Official Wizard!

He forcibly calmed his mind and accelerated the fireballs’ fusion.

Ian took a deep breath, his powerful physique faintly resonating with the earth under the effect of [Earth Vein Resonance].

He raised both hands at the same time.

In his left hand, two ice-blue [Secondary Frost Freeze Beams] condensed once more, their chill biting to the bone.

In his right hand, the extremely condensed, bright white [Scorching Beam] was compressed to its limit, its high temperature making the surrounding air crackle.

Then, before Sterling’s horrified eyes...

Ice and fire—the three beams spiraled together in front of Ian!

The ice-blue current of cold and the bright white searing flame did not cancel each other out.

Instead, under Ian’s exquisitely precise control, they resonated and intertwined at a bizarre frequency...

Forming a spiraling beam of intertwined gold and blue light!

Ice and Fire Spiral!

"Break!"

Ian roared, thrusting his arms forward as if throwing a spear!

The spiral beam tore through the air, carrying a dual destructive aura of freezing and incinerating, shooting straight toward the incandescent white sun that was about to form!

Terror finally appeared in Sterling’s eyes.

He frantically channeled his Spiritual Power, trying to accelerate the fireballs’ fusion.

But it was too late.

The Ice and Fire Spiral beam viciously slammed into the half-formed, incandescent white fireball!

There was no sound.

Only a burst of pure white light that swallowed everything in sight.

Then came the shockwave—a visible, circular wave of air that spread madly outward from the point of impact.

Wherever it passed, the black stone pillars snapped like straw, shattering and vaporizing!

Sterling bore the brunt of it.

His Flame Shield lasted only for half a breath before it shattered violently.

His Deep Blue Wizard Robe instantly turned to ash, his skin charring and carbonizing.

He was thrown back like a broken sack of rags, slamming hard against the rock wall behind him.

"No!!!"

His bloodcurdling scream was drowned out by the roar of the explosion.

With a crisp CRACK, the sound of his spine shattering was clearly audible.

Sterling collapsed to the ground, spitting up mouthfuls of black blood mixed with chunks of his internal organs, his aura weakened to the extreme.

The dust settled, and a towering, three-meter-tall figure slowly walked out.

STEP! STEP! Step by step, he crossed the still-smoking molten ground and walked up to Sterling.

Sterling struggled to lift his head. He looked at the approaching Ian, his eyes holding no regret, only intense unwillingness to accept his fate.

"My... Talent... is average..."

With every word he spoke, more bloody foam gushed from his mouth.

"Everything... my knowledge of Magic Potion Science, my combat experience, my status as a Wizard... I went through countless hardships, life and death trials... to achieve what I have today..."

"If you didn’t have some great secret... by what right... by what right do you get to kill me?!"

Ian stopped and looked down at him, his expression calm and emotionless.

"Life and death trials?"

He repeated the words softly, as if asking Sterling, and as if asking himself.

"Who hasn’t?"

As his voice fell, a condensed [Scorching Beam] pierced through the spot between Sterling’s eyebrows.

Sterling’s words were cut short. His body stiffened, and the light in his eyes quickly dimmed, finally freezing into a dead, ashen gaze.

Ian stood there in a long silence.

The Ian from the "Furnace" camp—the one who was somewhat naive and still felt uneasy about the deaths of his companions—had already died after his life-and-death flight through the "Silent Death Mountain Range."

The moment he stepped out of the "Silent Death Mountain Range" and into the Glowing Forest.

All that was left was a Wizard who gripped his Power tightly and moved cautiously forward in this cruel world.

He would not deliberately bully the weak, but he would also never again feel pointless compassion.

When in a good mood, he might teach some people the most basic knowledge of what it is to be a wizard, but it would be limited to just that.

Ian let out a long breath. He quickly took Sterling’s Dimensional Ring and the empty bottle from the [Heart of Magma] Potion, then used an Ice and Fire Beam to clean up the traces of the battle.

Then he turned and, with Gaga, quickly disappeared into the shadows of the black Stone Forest.

The wind whistled through the crevices of the Stone Forest, making a whining sound.

Soon, it blew away the last lingering traces of blood and char.

As if nothing had ever happened.