Chapter 162: Revealed [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]

Alex did not even wait for the body to fall before turning and dashing toward the direction where he had heard Roan’s voice. For some reason, there was no longer any noise coming from that area, almost as if Roan had stopped fighting, and that worried Alex more than the sound of battle would have.

He dashed through the alley at full speed, simply bulldozing through the wreckage in his way. The debris struck his injured body and caused more pain, but dodging every obstacle would only slow him down, and Alex could not afford to waste time.

Then a massive explosion of Origin Energy erupted ahead. Alex recognized it immediately because he had already seen the same phenomenon once before, which meant the caster was calling more Wild Orcs.

Alex pushed himself harder and finally exited the alley. His eyes immediately found Roan standing in front of an eight-floor building, and Alex quickly understood that this had to be where the caster was hiding.

Roan was frozen in front of the building. He had probably tried to get closer so he could determine which floor the caster was hiding on and finish the fight, but the plan clearly had not worked.

At that range, the caster’s Origin Energy must’ve easily penetrated Roan. Or, perhaps Roan had simply run out of Aura and could no longer protect himself from the caster’s ability, leaving him unable to move.

Alex could sense more Wild Orcs approaching through his Mana Sense. The Wild Orc that had rushed toward Roan earlier had almost reached him, and from the monster’s movement, it was obvious that it intended to crush Roan beneath its foot.

Alex was too far away. He immediately poured the maximum amount of Will he could into three Fire Bullets and fired them toward the back of the Wild Orc’s head.

The monster was facing away from him, giving the bullets a clear path to their target. As expected, the hidden caster began absorbing the Will from the bullets, but they were already moving at tremendous speed and had almost reached the monster’s head before their casings finally dissolved.

The resulting explosion struck the back of the Wild Orc’s head and made the monster recoil. It was only a brief opening, but it was enough for Alex to nearly reach Roan.

Alex stopped near Roan. He knew he could not simply run closer. If he entered the caster’s effective range, he might become immobilized just like Roan had, leaving both of them helpless against the approaching monsters.

Instead, Alex rapidly created a long rope of mana. It was a simple construct, so he could form it quickly, and he immediately poured as much Will into it as he could before spinning it and throwing it toward Roan.

The Wild Orc had recovered and was now enraged, its face still burned from the explosion. It raised one leg and kicked toward Roan while Alex’s rope continued sailing through the air, rapidly losing its Will and beginning to lose its shape.

The rope reached Roan just before the Wild Orc’s foot came down. Alex could not control his mana with perfect precision beyond thirty inches, but he could make small adjustments to its movement, which was how he controlled the paths of his Fire Bullets.

He used that same control now. Alex flicked the end of the rope and wrapped it around Roan’s waist before pulling with all the strength he could manage.

Roan’s body was dragged backward as the rope finally lost its remaining Will and dissolved. At almost the exact same moment, the Wild Orc’s foot slammed into the ground, and Roan barely avoided being crushed.

The impact sent a shockwave through the street and threw Roan backward. As soon as he moved close enough to Alex, the caster’s influence seemed to have weakened as his body finally responded normally, allowing him to roll across the ground and get back onto his feet.

"Thanks," Roan said, breathing heavily as he looked at Alex.

"Take care of that Wild Orc. I will figure out what we do about the caster," Alex said, not taking his eyes off the approaching Wild Orc.

Roan nodded. He must have also been able to sense the approaching Wild Orcs, since the ground was already shaking beneath their feet. Their numbers were not more than ten, but both Alex and Roan were badly injured and exhausted, so they needed to finish the hidden caster before the new wave reached them.

Alex immediately started creating five Fire Mana Cables and combined them into a Fire Bullet. He kept pouring more and more Will into the construct, reinforcing the casing as much as possible and making sure the caster would not be able to take absorb the Will of the Fire Bullet before it reached its destination.

The Wild Orc reached them first, and Roan moved to engage it. Alex did not spare a glance toward their fight because all of his concentration was focused on the Fire Bullet in his hands.

Alex could not enter the building to search for the caster. Going that close would immobilize him, and even if he somehow managed to move through the caster’s range, searching every floor would take too much time because the new wave of Wild Orcs would reach them before he could finish. Mana Sense would not help as it could detect things on one axis only.

Clearly, Alex could not find the caster because of the time constraint. If he could not find the caster, then there was only one other option.

He would make the caster reveal itself.

Alex fired the raging Fire Bullet toward the building. The construct ripped through the air at tremendous speed, and Alex could immediately feel immense Origin Energy attacking it and trying to absorb the Will holding the spell together.

But Alex had packed so much Will into the casing that the caster could not immediately break it apart. The Fire Bullet continued forward and reached the fifth floor before the remaining Will finally gave way, causing the spell to explode.

A giant explosion tore through the building. Windows shattered, beams broke apart, and parts of the structure were blown outward as the upper floors began to collapse.

Alex kept his eyes on the falling building while rapidly creating another Fire Bullet. He was not looking at the destruction itself, but at every opening and broken floor, searching for any sign that the hidden caster had been forced to reveal itself.

..

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