Chapter 403: Chapter 176 Workaholic
Bologue watched everything from afar, utterly stunned. Although he had long realized that his squad leader was no ordinary man, truly witnessing Lebius’s prowess left him deeply shocked.
The other side speculated that Lebius was a Condenser of the Origin School, but Bologue understood that this fellow was clearly a Condenser of the Commanding School.
Not only was his squad leader a powerful Overlord, but his individual combat ability was also terrifying. Bologue couldn’t help but imagine Lebius’s past battles.
The opponent struggled through numerous obstacles, barely breaking through the wolf pack’s defenses, thinking they could end Lebius with one strike, only for this guy to slowly draw his Staff Sword and start the second round.
It was like a terrible cold joke.
No wonder the Field Operations Department appointed Lebius as the leader of the Special Operations Group; only someone like him could command members who were Debtors, right?
Meanwhile, Hood furrowed his brows, his gaze firmly fixed on Lebius, even ignoring Bologue.
This Negative Power User was different; Lebius was unlike any Negative Power User Hood had ever faced.
Even with a difference in Tiers, the Secret Energy of the Prayer Believers had undergone a distortion in the path, so theoretically, they shouldn’t have been so vulnerable against attacks from Negative Power Users.
But the facts were as they were; in the moment of battle, Lebius had already shattered Fast and pursued Gold. Without Hood’s interference, both might have already been dead.
"Did you see that, Bologue?"
Lebius returned Hood’s gaze with equal vigilance; the other was a Negative Power User of the same Tier, and Lebius couldn’t be careless.
Now, he seemed formidable, but he could only bully these Prayer Believers. Without the pack beside him, Lebius’s combat strength was significantly reduced... Yet he was still confident, relying solely on his Ethereal Skill and battle experience to deal with Hood.
"As for this Ethereal Skill part... no, the trace back to Ether, or even to the Secret Source, doesn’t necessarily need the Origin School as an offshoot sub-school to achieve."
Lebius began teaching on the spot, trying to guide Bologue down another path, "Diligence and hard practice in later life can also accomplish this, compensating for one’s deficiencies."
"I understand," Bologue nodded earnestly. Lebius’s meaning was clear: in his future advancement, it was unnecessary to choose the Origin School as a sub-school.
Ethereal Silence and Ethereal Prohibition were exclusive skills of the Origin School, only mastered by Condensers of that main school.
Even if Bologue took the Origin School as a secondary sub-school, he couldn’t obtain such power. As for the Ethereal Skill? Lebius had already shown him that it could be fully mastered through learning later in life.
Mortals are limited by lifespan and cannot bring all techniques to the pinnacle of the Extreme Realm, but Bologue was different; he was an Undead, and the most precious thing he didn’t lack was time.
"Alright, next, go and do what you should, leave the rest to me,"
Lebius instructed once more, but this time his voice rose directly in Bologue’s mind.
On the way here, Lebius, with his authority as squad leader, urgently expanded the Heart Core Net, linking the two of them together.
Poor Yuriel, now standing in her pajamas on the Secret Core Ceremony, maintaining the Heart Core Net.
Bologue carefully sensed the Ethereal Fluctuation of the Fantasy Species, searching for the storm in the sea of Ether, and soon he detected some traces amid the chaos.
Without saying much, Bologue followed the traces in pursuit, searching for Aimou’s silhouette.
Only Lebius and the enemy remained in the battlefield; he seemed not to see the enemy, casually stretching his muscles, dull sounds emanated from his body.
Lebius felt he was somewhat unhealthy, sitting in the office every day, correcting files and drinking coffee.
Exhausted, he’d rest collapsed in his chair, sleepy, he’d push open the door on the other side of the office, behind which was his bedroom.
Lebius was a workaholic; he realized he severely lacked exercise. Even prior engagements had him standing afar, controlling the wolves in battle.
This was a good opportunity to exercise.
Lebius slowly clenched the sword hilt, as if intending to crush it, the phantom blue figure faintly appeared around him, overlapping with him.
If Bologue were here, he would surely find the sight familiar; when Bologue battled the Blade-Biting Wolf, beneath the cold armor, it was the same phantom blue that emerged.
Ether surged, released, surrounding Lebius’s body, forging into tightly fitted Ethereal Armor.
In fact, this was an Ethereal Barrier. But unlike common Ethereal Barriers, Lebius compressed the Ethereal Barrier infinitely, keeping it at the body’s edge, protecting himself.
In the distance, Hood and the others were ready for battle. Without warning, Lebius stomped the ground, declaring the start of the fight.
Under the protection of Ethereal Concealment, Lebius showed no ether response. Fast and Gold, as Prayer Believers, found it difficult to pursue Lebius by the flow of ether and could only rely on their sight to chase his figure. But worse, Lebius was too fast, even the naked eye had a hard time capturing his trace.
Hood, however, could keep up with Lebius’ pace, his burning eyes tracking Lebius’ figure while letting out roars of rage.
The impact of the sound wave shattered everything in its path, turning it into flying dust.
A cold staff sword tore through the smoke and dust, dense roots rose from the ground like countless hands reaching for Lebius. They surged up and crashed into the rocks, the ground trembled incessantly, and cracks spread continuously, even covering the cliffs.
Gold emitted low growls of unwillingness. No matter how he released his Secret Energy, the roots he created could not catch up with Lebius, nor could they even affect him.
Lebius moved like a swift in a storm, darting like a sharp sword, avoiding all the raindrops.
Gold was completely suppressed by Lebius. His Secret Energy was the Giant Wood Garden, allowing him to freely create plant-like structures such as roots over a certain area for combat. Every time he released his Secret Energy, it brought about a terrifying scene.
Such a large range of Illusion Creation had Gold’s Secret Energy naturally lean towards a sprawling type. But it also meant his Secret Energy required some time to release. Usually, this brief delay could be smoothed out in his continuous attacks, but against Lebius, this weakness was fully exposed.
The Illusion Creation School was originally the easiest among all schools to detect ether flow. As long as one sensed those ether vortex points gathering in the air, avoiding them before they materialized into entities was sufficient.
Lebius avoided the growing roots, his gaze wandering among the three, seemingly deciding which to target first.
Fast stood among the three, his body shimmering with the glow of ether, providing the Shadowless Barrier to the three as a defense.
It seemed that Lebius had no chance to catch them off guard. Once he launched an attack, he would directly face the firepower of all three.
Lebius stopped his steps, pierced the staff sword into the rock, and hung himself high on the cliff.
Gold did not miss this opportunity. Toyed by Lebius, his heart was already filled with anger.
Secret Energy · Giant Wood Garden.
The roots grew like gigantic, wantonly spreading vines. Using the earth as the base of Illusion Creation, they swiftly climbed over the cliff, intertwining and twisting.
Lebius leaped into the air, becoming a target in mid-air without a place to gain footing. All the firepower focused on him.
Gold immediately launched an attack at him. Hood felt something was amiss. How could Lebius easily expose a flaw? He wanted to stop Gold, but it was already too late.
The roots tore through the cliff, with thick trunks branching out countless twigs and thorns, leaving Lebius nowhere to hide.
Yet just as Lebius was about to be shredded into pieces, his body inexplicably shifted a bit, the twigs swiftly attacked, and the staff sword cut them down one by one.
Amid broken wood chips, Lebius agilely maneuvered in the heavy encirclement, performing moves beyond human capabilities and physical laws.
Now, Lebius appeared like a marionette, controlled by invisible strings. At the same time, the ghostly blue aura on him became increasingly apparent, as if a specter beneath his shell was ready to break free.
"This bastard is from the Commanding School!"
Witnessing the wavering specter, only at this moment did Hood react, shouting out, but it was all too late.
Under the slow and powerful tangling of the roots, the rocks covering the entire cliff were filled with fissures. As they surged up to chase Lebius, the cliff collapsed along with them.
The sky was filled with falling rocks mixed with dust, blocking all light, along with Lebius’ figure.
Hood let out a thunderous roar, the booming sound wave spreading out like a tsunami. The giant stones in mid-air temporarily stagnated and were then shattered into fine dust by the surging ether.
A strong wind followed, sweeping away the dust like a sandstorm.
Before the field of vision fully recovered, the sharp sound of the wind arose again, and the dazzling blades flickered incessantly from all directions.
Fast only felt concentrated slashes on the Shadowless Barrier, and then his proud defense collapsed in an instant.
The Death God broke through, Fast was unable to resist.
Hood sensed Lebius’ assault. But when he turned around to rescue Fast, he could only see Fast’s body standing in place, with a sword blade piercing through from his chest.
Lebius stood in front of Fast. The two seemed to be embracing, but Lebius’ gaze was not on Fast.
He looked coldly at Hood, as if conveying through his eyes that Hood would be the next one.