Chapter 137: Chapter 136: Formidable Enemy

Ian stopped dead in his tracks.

At the end of the narrow passage ahead, a withered figure stood silently.

In the dim purple light, the deep red Wizard Robe looked like a dried blood scab.

Murphy slowly turned around, his wrinkled face filled with bone-deep hatred.

"Ian Marcus." His voice was hoarse and grating.

"That trash Sterling must have died at your hands. For a newly promoted Level One Vaporization Wizard to kill him when he was on the verge of Liquefaction...

The secrets you carry are even more valuable than my vengeance."

Ian’s pupils contracted, and his Spiritual Power tensed instantly.

Twelve Floating Crystal Cones silently merged into the space around him.

’Murphy knows my name and that I killed Sterling. He must have been watching me for a long time.’

"The Assassins in the area... are they with you?"

Ian’s voice was calm, the three-layered Shield from his Ring of Overlapping Peaks already shimmering faintly on his skin.

"Let’s just say we exchanged some information."

Murphy’s withered fingers caressed a pale white skull atop his Magic Staff.

"I didn’t expect a little Insect like you to be so lively, but this is as far as you go."

Before his words had faded, Murphy pointed his Magic Staff.

Without any spell chanting, three grayish-black Fingers of Death shot out in a triangular formation.

Their speed was so extreme that they left three hollow trails of Erosion through the air.

Ian was already prepared. With a thought, the six Crystal Cones patrolling in front of him instantly combined, forming a small, diamond-shaped Crystal Shield to block them.

At the same time, he retreated rapidly.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

The Death Rays struck the Crystal Shield, emitting a corrosive SIZZLE.

The glow on the Crystal Shield’s surface dimmed rapidly, and fine cracks even appeared in the areas that were hit.

’Murphy’s Death Witchcraft... its corrosive nature and Penetration Power are far greater than the black-robed man I fought before.’

"A futile struggle." Murphy sneered, waving his Magic Staff again.

The fungal carpet on the ground suddenly bulged, and three jet-black, corrupted skeletons burst from the earth, brandishing Bone Blades as they lunged at Ian.

Simultaneously, the Death Energy in the air began to gather, forming an invisible pressure field.

It was an attempt to slow Ian’s movements and the circulation of his Spiritual Power.

A sharp glint appeared in Ian’s eyes, and he advanced instead of retreating.

He waved his left hand, and a sweeping, pale purple Frost Ash Beam shot out.

The beam of Interweaving Ice and Fire sliced the two foremost skeletal guards in half at the waist.

He jabbed his right index finger repeatedly, sending three condensed Scorching Beams straight toward the Soul Fire in the third skeletal guard’s eye sockets.

However, Murphy’s attacks came one after another.

He uttered a short Spell, and a Withering Ripple with a much wider range spread out from him.

Wherever the ripple passed, the fungal carpet rapidly decayed and blackened, and even the vein-like patterns on the rock walls dimmed.

The Shield on Ian’s body vibrated violently. The outermost layer shattered instantly, and dense cracks appeared on the second layer.

His Spirit Devourer trait activated frantically, but some of the power still penetrated through, sending a sharp, stabbing pain through his Sea of Spirit.

"Gaga!" Gaga, hidden in the shadows, couldn’t help but want to reveal himself.

"Not yet!" Ian barked in his mind.

Enduring the Erosion of the Withering Ripple, he stomped hard on the ground, unleashing a burst of raw physical Power.

His body shot forward like an arrow, rushing toward the fluctuating core of the Earth Hernia.

At the same time, he recalled his remaining six Crystal Cones to form layers of interception behind him.

He was feigning defeat, intending to use the complex terrain to shake Murphy off his tail.

"Trying to escape?" A ghostly light flashed in Murphy’s eyes as his figure floated up like a phantom, giving chase relentlessly.

’Ian’s Shield has an unusually high resistance to Death Energy.’

’That Devouring and weakening effect is definitely not something an ordinary defensive Witchcraft possesses.’

’And that ray of Interweaving Ice and Fire... its power far exceeds that of a normal Level One Witchcraft.’

’I must capture him! Once I extract his Soul, all his secrets will be mine!’

Murphy’s killing intent intensified, and he increased his pursuit speed by another thirty percent.

The two of them, one chasing and one fleeing, sped through the maze-like, distorted caverns.

The color of the veins on the cave walls had turned a deep purple that was almost black, and they pulsed like war drums.

The Demonic Qi in the air was as thick as paste, and the whispers had turned into frenzied roars.

Just as Ian rounded a corner.

The Abyssal Soul Contract (Extremely Damaged) in his mind suddenly grew slightly hot.

An extremely subtle yet cold stream of thought, like a glimmer of light in the darkness, gently touched his consciousness.

It pointed downward and to the side, toward a location where the Energy was unusually chaotic.

There was no sound; it was more like an instinctive "pull," as if something there shared the same origin as this fragment.

Ian’s heart tightened, but Murphy was too close behind him.

With a quick shift of his eyes, he followed the subtle guidance and rushed into a narrower, downward-sloping fork in the path.

Murphy followed close behind. Seeing the path Ian chose, the corners of his mouth curled into a cruel arc.

"A death wish. That path leads to a more deeply contaminated area where the Rules are even more twisted!"

But he didn’t hesitate and plunged in after him.

The secrets Ian carried were worth the risk.

The end of the path was not a dead end but a suddenly open, hidden cavern.

The cavern was about half the size of a basketball court, and the Demonic Qi in the air was actually thinner than in the passage.

But a more ancient and pure Abyssal Aura permeated the space.

In the depths of the cavern stood a crude altar.

The altar was built from Obsidian and twisted white bones, its surface covered in constantly writhing Abyssal Runes.

At the center of the altar was not a physical object, but a slowly rotating, dark red Energy Vortex.

Like a miniature crimson nebula, it was drawing wisps of polluted Energy from the Void.

Ian stopped ten meters from the altar, his gaze sweeping over it quickly.

’This altar isn’t large, and the Runes look crude. It’s like an unfinished or small-scale "transit station."’

’Its function seems to be for locating and summoning?’

"What an interesting discovery."

Murphy’s figure blocked the entrance, a mocking expression on his withered face.

"To think you’d lead me to a place like this. It seems even the Abyss shows me Favor, wanting me to claim your Soul right here."

He wasted no more words and slammed his Magic Staff heavily on the ground.

From the shadows around the altar, four corrupted skeletal guards—larger than before, with bones of a Dark Gold color—slowly rose.

They held Giant Scythes condensed from Death Energy.

At the same time, Murphy began chanting a long and obscure Spell.

The Death Energy in the cavern converged on him frantically, and two ghastly white flames ignited in the eye sockets of the skull on his Magic Staff.

Ian knew the battle for his life was about to begin.

"Gaga!" he roared in his mind.

"Understood! Gaga!"

Gaga, who had been lying in wait, finally shot out from the shadow behind Ian.

While in mid-air, his wings instantly expanded to fifteen meters.

His mismatched gray and cyan eyes locked onto Murphy, and he activated his Omen Eye at full power.

A thick gray light swept toward Murphy!

Murphy’s chanting faltered slightly, and the fluctuation of Death Energy around him fell into momentary disarray.

Although his Liquid Stage Spiritual Power prevented the Omen Eye from completely immobilizing him, this momentary interference was enough to interrupt or delay the major Witchcraft he was preparing.

"A Summoned Demon? Annoying little pest!"

The Soul Fire in Murphy’s eyes flickered. He split off a sliver of his focus and sent a Soul Whip lashing toward Gaga.

Gaga nimbly performed a Shadow Jump, reappearing in another corner of the cavern to dodge the whip.

At the same time, he flapped his wings repeatedly, sending several condensed Wind Blades slashing toward the joints of a skeletal guard.

Ian seized this precious opportunity and unleashed his full power!