Mage Manual

Chapter 192: Chapter 169: It’s Time to End_2

Two sniper bullets were violently deflected by Lanna!

This was the power of a top-tier Two-winged Weak Mage! Catching sniper rifle bullets with bare hands!

While being protected by Lanna, Ronald was not idle; he threw a bunch of steel balls backward. The steel balls accelerated with a sonic boom in midair, shooting towards Gersas like missiles!

Although the process seems long when described, all of this happened in the blink of an eye. Ash erected the Sword Barrier for defense, Gersas propped up his heavy snipers to take precise shots, and the prisoners defended and counterattacked.

As the only long-range attacker, Ronald did not disappoint Ash; his storm of steel balls forced Gersas to defend himself.

This was exactly the opening Ash needed!

But after this moment of delay, Ash had fallen to the rear of the group. The high platform was difficult to climb, and he had not even drawn his sword from the ground.

As everyone knows, in an escape, running slowly might allow one to survive, but being the last puts one in certain death—the pursuers will do everything to catch the easiest prey!

He needed a miracle, at least one that would allow him to keep up with the team and not be the last!

Heart Sword, Substitute, and Entanglement—these were the three Technique Spirits he was most proficient in handling at the moment, and Sword Barrier was the only Miracle Technique he had mastered.

When Ash had the thought, the effects of these three Technique Spirits surged in his mind, the structure of the Miracle Technique unfolded layer by layer before his eyes. Insights from both the Sword Technique Faction and the Water Technique Faction realms blazed like wildfire, burning all of his thoughts to ashes, revealing only the most brilliant crystal of wisdom!

Suddenly, he remembered Valcas’s last sword strike, the miraculous moment where the Sword Maiden and he flew into the sky.

Then Ash started to move. His right hand was still planted on the sweet words and hidden dagger thrust into the ground, but his left hand suddenly held another sweet words and hidden dagger, with a sharp golden light wrapped around its blade.

Using ‘Substitute’ on the sweet words and hidden dagger, he let ‘Heart Sword’ attach to the Substitute sword.

By this time, Harvey had already stepped into the Void Realm passage, and the other team members were only a few steps away from it. Yet Ash stood still, holding the Substitute sword backward, poised like throwing a spear, and he hurled the Substitute sword, striking the very top step of the platform!

Then he activated ‘Earth Sword’ on both the Heart Sword-attached Substitute sword and the sweet words and hidden dagger!

Two warm yellow columns of light appeared on the high platform at the same time. As Igula passed by the column of the Substitute sword, Ash’s heart leaped—just a casual flick from Igula would have shattered the Substitute sword—but it seemed Igula had no intention of wasting any more time on Ash, heading straight for the Void Realm passage.

At this point, Ash had fallen far behind, and he could even hear Gerard shattering the moonlight behind him. Ash had never felt so intensely that his fate was in his own hands; a single small mistake would burst his fragile fate, extinguished by his palm.

However, Ash was not fearful, excited, or even composed.

He was just very quiet.

He quietly appreciated the story that ‘Ash’ would tell next.

With the Substitute sword as the target coordinate, the sweet words and hidden dagger as the starting coordinate, ‘Heart Sword’ as the guide, ‘Earth Sword’ providing the path, ‘Entanglement’ altering the rules!

Miracle!

Aside from a faint yellow trace that suddenly swept between the two warm yellow columns, there was no other movement as if nothing had changed. But in that brief instant, Ash had reached the topmost step of the platform; he drew the sweet words and hidden dagger from the ground, and the Substitute sword below dissipated into light smoke.

He had succeeded!

The Earth Sword transformed into a pathway, eliminating friction as it flowed, and the Heart Sword drew Ash forth, successfully swapping places with the Substitute Sword in an instant while Ash gripped the sweet words and a hidden dagger!

This Miracle Technique was called… “Bidirectional Rush”!

Lanna and Ronald, seeing Ash suddenly appear in front of them, looked slightly astonished, but didn’t dwell on it, assuming this was one of Ash’s hidden trump cards—indeed, such a short-distance garbage Miracle really didn’t need to be concealed.

The three of them were only ten steps away from the Void Realm portal, with Igula having half a foot inside the portal when he looked back at them, his pupils suddenly dilating.

Even though his Wild Intuition had not been triggered, Ash did not hesitate to use “Slay Me Miracle” on himself, severing the illusory Substitute and purging all abnormal statuses within his body! The blood that was about to stagnate within him immediately returned to normal, and so Ash only stumbled slightly, not even falling to the ground.

Lanna seemed to also possess a Miracle for dispelling abnormal statuses, completely unaffected, while only Ronald screamed in agony, collapsing on the ground, his entire body convulsing and paralyzed.

Igula, too, stumbled and crashed into the Void Realm portal, clearly struck at the very last moment.

Behind them, Gerard’s chain sword had extended to its longest state, rending the air with mournful howls, rushing forth shrouded in a cruel bloodlight!

Without a doubt, the abnormal blood status they encountered was Gerard’s doing.

As a Three-winged Blood Saint Clan member, Gerard might not fancy the Blood Magic Faction, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t skilled in it!

When it came to dealing with any creature of flesh and blood, the Blood Magic Faction was truly the professional authority!

Lanna reacted incredibly fast, kicking Ronald away with one foot. Ronald’s abdomen emitted a dull, crisp sound, clearly having broken a good number of ribs.

Then this bald man turned around, his shadow on the ground like a swarm of black cats climbing onto him, arming him with a set of shadow armor, making his already towering figure seem even more imposing, gloomy, and ferocious—as if he were a pitch-black Abyss.

Boom!

Lanna blocked Gerard’s sword with his arms, the shadow armor nearly shattering to pieces, with his left foot carving a notch into the stone pavement, but ultimately withstanding the blow, even flipping Gerard’s chain sword upwards!

On the other side, Ash caught Ronald and, with astonishing speed, cast “Slay Me Miracle” on him, frantically pulling him by the collar as he sprinted. Ronald, too, was a hardened ‘Woodpecker Golden Mouth’, regaining control of his body to stand up despite the severe pain in his abdominal cavity, the pain not affecting his movements one bit.

But he didn’t rush to follow Ash’s retreat; instead, he looked back for a moment.

Gerard had stepped out of the moonlight, his chain sword morphing into a long sword, his face, already unattractive, further marred by anger and shame. Lanna stood in silence, ready to face Gerard’s venting.

Everyone could predict the scene that followed—no one believed Lanna could withstand Gerard’s full-powered strike. The chain sword’s attack had been weakened due to the distance, but now that Gerard had finally caught up, he didn’t need to get around Lanna at all. With a single strike, he could rip through Lanna, Ronald, and Ash all at once!

There was no better opportunity than now.

This was my last chance.

“It’s time to end this.”

Ronald, after murmuring this, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes, suddenly stopped in his tracks and, turning, flung a steel ball with his right hand.

The steel ball accelerated violently in the air, turning into a Meteor as it struck towards Lanna!