Chapter 661: Star Swirl
This is… magic?
Roland subconsciously recalled Nightingale's description of magic, but in his opinion, this swirling vortex was more like a galaxy—the brightest stellar core in the center, surrounded by several spiral arms rotating around the core. Although it was only palm-sized, a closer look seemed to reveal endless details and surging power within.
"You are the martial artist?" The other party suddenly spoke, his mouth opening and closing, his voice as hoarse as a leaky bellows.
"You've mistaken me for someone else." Roland's vigilance was at its highest.
"Indeed," the scarred-face man's body also turned around, while his head remained motionless. "Your scent is sweeter."
"If you were a woman, I might be a little interested in that remark." He sized up the places on the other's body that could be weaknesses. "You are the one who was devoured by magic… no, by the power of nature?"
"The power of nature?" The scarred-face man let out a disdainful hum from his almost destroyed nose. "They simply don't understand where this power comes from, and they know nothing about its essence."
"You talk as if you know." Damn it, is this still his dream?
"I can't explain it, but I can feel it—it doesn't belong to this world, but is a gift from the gods," the other party grinned, revealing a mouth full of blisters. "I thought the robbery would attract one or two martial artists, but that guy surrendered a little too quickly. Fortunately, it wasn't all in vain, luring you here too—"
Crack!
Before the scarred-face man could finish speaking, Roland had already made his move. It was better to strike first than to be struck later. Whether it was the other party's tone or the feeling he gave off, he was a dangerous element. Waiting for the enemy to finish blathering before starting the fight was not a wise move. Based on his childhood fighting experience, seizing the initiative was the most important thing.
He swung a straight punch at the other party's forehead, the speed of which was like a bolt of lightning—considering that his strength had greatly increased, he did not use all his power in this punch. Even so, he could feel the sensation of the cheekbone cracking under the fierce blow of his fist.
The scarred-face man was directly sent flying.
The heat current in his body boiled, as if cheering for this blow.
After landing, the man rolled twice and stopped against the wall. Just as he was struggling to get up, Roland unhesitatingly launched a pursuit.
This is the dream world.
And the opponent is not human—at least, not an ordinary person.
No ordinary person could continue fighting with a fractured cheekbone. He neither cried out in pain nor begged for mercy, which in itself meant that he had kicked himself out of the category of human.
Roland felt his consciousness was incredibly clear.
Although the surging heat current filled his entire body, it did not make him feel dazed in the slightest.
The second move after seizing the initiative was to beat a drowning dog.
This time, he did not hold back.
Without any technique, just like beating a sandbag, the scarred-face man was obviously caught off guard and could only parry wearily. However, as Roland's strength further increased, the defense quickly became ineffective. The hands used to block were broken into several sections, and the chest bones and ribs were all shattered. Each of his punches felt like hitting tofu. The other party's originally hard muscles gradually turned into a puddle of mud. If it were a normal person, he would have died long ago.
"Let you pretend, let you pretend!" Roland cursed as he beat him hard. "Is it great to be able to turn your head? Do you think you're filming a horror movie!"
To be honest, he was really taken aback by the scarred-face man's entrance when he first entered the alley—to actually act like a ghost in front of the dream creator, why don't you go to heaven!
"This… is… not… possible…" The other party's voice completely changed, and it was almost impossible to tell what he was saying. "Why… can't I… use it…"
"Use what?" Roland noticed that the rotation speed of the vortex above his forehead was slowing down, and he tried to grab it with his hand, only to find that it had become a solid object at this moment. "Use this ball of magic?"
"No, don't touch it…"
What the enemy says not to do is naturally what he must do. He pressed down on the other party's head with one hand and pulled the vortex with the other. When the heat current in his body surged to its peak, he forcibly tore off the vortex!
The scarred-face man instantly fell silent, collapsing on the ground as if he had lost all vitality.
After falling into Roland's palm, the vortex changed from a dark red color to a brilliant color of white inside and blue outside. Looking at it this way, it looked even more like a galaxy.
However, it did not stay in his hand for long. After resuming its rotation, the vortex burst out with a dazzling light that shot straight into the sky, as if leaving a silver thread between heaven and earth, and disappeared without a trace after a few seconds.
At this time, Roland noticed that the warm current in his body had also calmed down, and as if it had been greatly satisfied, an unspeakable comfort emerged from his entire body.
He was completely at a loss.
This world might be much deeper than he imagined.
After taking a glance at the scarred-face man on the ground, who was no different from a dead person, Roland twitched the corner of his mouth and turned to leave the street.
Back at the tenement building that stood like a gable wall beside the long street, it was already getting dark. The lights in the corridor attracted a swarm of flying insects, making an annoying buzzing sound.
He fumbled for the key and inserted it into the lock, using the dim light. Before he could twist it open, hurried footsteps came from the other side of the door.
The door was opened, and Jie Luo, with a frown on her face, revealed a trace of anxiety in her rather dissatisfied expression.
"Where did you go?"
"Where did you go?"
The two asked almost simultaneously.
"The cram school had an extra class temporarily because a teacher is coming to inspect tomorrow, and school is closed for a day."
"I went to find you."
"Find me?" The little girl asked with suspicion.
"Yeah, who told you not to come back on time?" Roland laughed, ruffled her head, and walked into the house.
Three dishes and a soup were already set on the table, but the bowls and chopsticks were still clean, obviously Jie Luo had been waiting for him to come back.
That's why she ran over the moment she heard the sound of the key unlocking the door.
"Let's eat," Roland sat down at the table. "I'm starving."
"Are you worried that I'll be tricked away by strangers?" She glared. "I'm not a kid anymore. Just wait for me to come back next time."
Roland couldn't help but roll his eyes. Are middle school students already this sensible? He remembered that when he was this age, he was crazier than a dog. He would run to the arcade if he had pocket money, and go to the back mountain to catch beetles if he didn't. He would never go home until dark. Compared to the little girl, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.
A strange feeling of guilt surged into his heart.
"By the way, you have a day off tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah," Jie Luo still looked a little angry, but her expression had softened a lot. "What's the matter?"
"Accompany me to the library tomorrow," Roland said while eating. "I'll buy you some things while we're at it."
"Buy… things?"
"Yeah, clothes, skirts, shoes… it's time to change your outfit," he smiled. "Let's buy you a phone too—if we can communicate easily, things like this won't happen again in the future."