Realm of Myths and Legends

As the spiritual force spilled from the small orb in Fan Guang's possession, it sped towards Helkali.

In the blink of an eye, the spiritual force was absorbed by the giant serpent.

At the same time, the energy build-up near its left eye surged to new levels. Based on the energy alone, it was at least twice—no, several times more powerful than the might it previously displayed!

...WOOOM!

This time, instead of the serpent's eye flashing blue, it glowed red as a massive shockwave erupted. The main wave of the attack was headed right for Valentine!

It did not take long for the overwhelming power to crash into Valentine's body. And, the instant it came into contact with him, a crushing pressure was created that forced everything it touched to cave in on itself, which caused its targets to ultimately implode.

By the time the attack ended, Valentine's figure dissipated into countless energy particles as he collapsed in on himself, unable to resist the overflowing pressure from Helkali's strike.

When Fan Guang witnessed Valentine's fate, she felt a sudden sense of relief.

"That was too close. I used up nearly all of my spiritual force in that last attack. Although it's my victory, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth." Fan Guang said to herself as the serpent Helkali started to dissipate.

Fan Guang could no longer maintain Helkali's existence since her spiritual force had practically run out.

Despite her victory, Fan Guang did not feel happy in the slightest. If she knew it would require this much effort, she would have just taken other missions. After all, her spiritual force was a unique mana type. It took considerably longer for Fan Guang to recover her spiritual force compared to a player restoring their mana. That's why she always tried her best to conserve spiritual force. But, Fan Guang understood that if she hesitated towards the end, it may have been her who ended up dead instead of Valentine!

"The kill should be automatically recorded to the cube. I will report back to collect my reward and call it a day." Fan Guang said to herself as she sighed.

"That would be quite difficult." Valentine's voice abruptly sounded from next to Fan Guang.

"?!" Fan Guang's eyes widened in shock. This person—Fan Guang was certain she had just killed him! How was this possible?!

Without thinking and acting on instinct alone, Fan Guang prepared to strike first and ask questions later as she clenched her fists. But, she suddenly stopped after sensing the terrifying magic aimed at the side of her head coming from a magic staff barely in her peripheral vision.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. If I'm correct, which I am, you do not possess enough of your energy source to retaliate. And, if I see the slightest suspicious gesture... Well, I'm sure you understand your situation. Looks like it's my win, wouldn't you agree?" Valentine stated calmly.

With that statement, Fan Guang gave up on retaliating.

As for how Valentine managed to survive Fan Guang's all-out attack... It started from the moment he activated Stride of the Nimbus.

Stride of the Nimbus was a version of flight with less mobility; however, it had another effect. The user could turn invisible!

Based on how long one was flying and how much mana they consumed during a certain period of time while Stride of the Nimbus was active, the time of the invisibility could last from a few seconds to several minutes. Though this was only one part of it.

Zarkox Fifth Sequence: Fragmentation was not made solely for confusing enemies. It allowed Valentine to instantly move to any of the fragmented areas that were like large shards of glass at the time.

But, what changed the battle was what happened in between Valentine's use of the fifth and fourth sequences.

Valentine used a skill called Reflect Self that enabled him to create an identical copy of himself. This copy was capable of casting one preset skill at multiple levels above the original, which in this case was Zarkox Fourth Sequence: Boundary. However, the spells it cast were merely for show! It looked grand and intimidating, but in reality, it was completely harmless. But, Valentine knew that there was no way someone like Fan Guang would wait around to find out what it did or did not do. And so, he baited her into using her ultimate attack.

Unfortunately for Fan Guang, Valentine made a perfect swap, using the invisibility effect from Stride of the Nimbus and the confusion brought about by the fifth sequence. All the time, Fan Guang was none the wiser.

In the end, it was Valentine's complete victory!

"Indeed... The loser has no rights. Do what you will. But, know this—I am not the only one who is after your life. Soon, you will be hunted down without end. And, there will be no place left for you to hide in the entire-" Fan Guang spoke, but was suddenly cut off.

"Oh, that? I'm not really that worried. More importantly, I hope you did not forget our deal." Valentine mentioned.

"Deal...? What are you-"

"If I won, you promised we could have a proper discussion. Your mana type... I want to know more about it! Ah, and that orb, it acts as a vessel that contains it, right? That's why my Eyes of Magic were unable to detect your presence. All of your mana is carried within that orb. Once I noticed that I figured there was a clear limit to how much of that energy you could release. You—your mana control is quite poor, you know? With just a few modifications, you could reduce the amount of energy you use by 30%. Also..."

Valentine went on a long ramble and the more he talked, the more excited he became.

However, the entire time, Fan Guang stood there in a state of befuddlement.

"What's wrong with this person...?" Fan Guang thought to herself.

As Fan Guang watched Valentine happily chat about magic, she was unsure how to respond. Not because she could not follow what he was talking about, but rather it was the first time someone seemed to be genuinely excited to speak to her.

Typically, those who met Fan Guang were unsettled by her appearance. She was born with a sickness in her face and so people usually did whatever it took to avoid her, yet... This person was casually talking to her about magic—even though she had just tried to kill him a few moments ago!

"You... are strange..." Fan Guang's uttered in a distorted voice from beneath her mask as she turned to face Valentine, who lowered the magic staff in his hand.

"Strange? Yes, I suppose to some it is quite strange. However, when it comes to magic—I love it more than anything in this world." Valentine responded with a warm smile.

Fan Guang felt her heart flutter as her eyes widened. To love something so much that they were capable of making that kind of expression when talking about it...

"...How nice."—that was the sole thought that crossed Fan Guang's mind at that moment.

After listening to Valentine speak for a bit, Fan Guang finally made a decision.

"...You are not the only one being targeted. Someone put out six assassination requests to the organization I usually take missions from called Siren. Since the requests came together, I assume they must be your friends. You should be careful this week as I will not be the last one." Fan Guang explained.

"This is bad... They won't stand a chance." Valentine muttered as he furrowed his brows with a troubled expression.

Fan Guang was surprised to see to Valentine was finally taking the threat seriously after his previous responses. At the very least, he seemed to understand the position he was in now.

"I suggest you hide or stay offline for a while. All requests have a maximum ten-day period, so-"

"You should find another place to take requests from. Also, since you gave me a warning, I'll return one to you. Whatever you do, you should distance yourself as far as possible from this Siren." Valentine sighed as he shook his head helplessly.

"What are you..." Fan Guang could not follow Valentine's words.

"They chose the wrong targets. That guy will definitely not sit back and allow his people to be bullied. Kindness is paid tenfold and contempt a thousandfold. Since there are six targets, that's at least six thousandfold..." Valentine muttered the last part to himself.

Valentine shook his head and continued, "It seems that place has brought a disaster upon themselves."

...

Back at the Mystical Realm Palace, after Izroth awakened...

"Handler Izroth...! Thank goodness you are alright..." Opal gasped and then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Izroth.

Opal immediately noticed when Izroth left the room on the sixth floor and rushed over with haste.

But, Opal quickly realized that something was off.. The aura around Izroth was more suffocating than usual.