Chapter 520 211: I Give Up (Part 2)

Unforgivable!

"You weak maggot! You have thoroughly enraged me!" the Great Demon Commander's roar echoed through the void.

Hm?

Wei'en snapped back to his senses. He knew this wasn't the time to be studying the amplification of his origin and his toughness level.

He quickly blinked away from the Great Demon, then pulled out his sniper rifle, aimed at the wound, and pulled the trigger.

BANG, BANG...

The Great Demon Commander glared at Wei'en, ignoring the bullets that felt like ant bites.

The horns on its forehead curved backward as searing magma began to flow from between its brows, trickling down the crevices on its skin. As it spread its wings—over ten meters across—the magma on its body began to flow faster, making its pitch-black scales glow with a fiery light.

"Demon Slash!"

Its body paused, leaving only an illusory afterimage behind. The next second, it was beside Wei'en, gripping a greatsword with both claws. It raised the blade high as scorching power condensed into a single point, then brought it slashing down!

"Specter!"

"Nico, Ruke."

[Due to the solidification of the surrounding space, your cast of Blink (Death God) Magic has failed. You have suffered a spiritual shock. Evaluation: This is the proper way to use origin—condensation... Special Reward: Survival Points +50, Spiritual Power +3.]

'Damn it!'

Under the terrifying pressure of the greatsword, Wei'en was horrified to find he couldn't move an inch. The spiritual shock muddled his thoughts for a moment, making it impossible for him to steady his mind.

'So this is the true power of an Abyssal Great Demon Commander?'

'This is it, I'm dead...'

SNAP!

Just then, with a crisp snap of his fingers, the clown's less-than-imposing figure appeared before Wei'en.

"ROAR—" The Great Demon Commander saw the figure blocking its blade. The look in its eyes changed, but it was already too late to stop.

TAP!

HISS—

A sound like leaking air hissed through the void. The clown had placed a single fingertip against the greatsword, stopping the terrifying strike and dissipating all the power the Great Demon Commander had condensed.

"Mr. Arnold?"

No expression could be read on the Great Demon Commander's pitch-black face, but its eyes betrayed both shock and terror. It couldn't fathom why the fearsome being before it had intervened.

"All right, time for you to go back."

CRACK!

Before he had even finished speaking, the clown flicked his finger and shattered the greatsword. The tip of the blade went flying.

"I..."

"Hm?"

"My apologies, Mr. Arnold."

Seeing the look in the clown's eyes, the Great Demon Commander's towering body cringed. It didn't dare say another word. Tearing open a Gate of Abyss in the void, it dove straight through.

Wei'en watched the clown's unimposing back, deactivated his Boiling Blood state, and let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you for saving me, Mr. Leonard."

The clown turned halfway around, the smile on his lips having somehow stretched from ear to ear. His crimson eyes glinted with mockery. "Thank me? What an idiot. I was the one who summoned it!"

"Er."

Wei'en rubbed his nose, his expression slightly awkward.

'That being said, summoning an Abyss Demon to improve my strength was my own request.'

'It's just that tonight, a real monster showed up...'

"Let's go. I have some questions for you." The clown said no more, simply waving his hand and transporting them back to the small wooden cabin.

They sat down facing each other. "What did you want to ask?"

Wei'en glanced around. 'I don't get why this Mr. Leonard likes a cabin like this.'

"Just now, where did you go?" The clown cut straight to the point, placing his clasped hands on the crude wooden table and fixing his eyes on Wei'en. "Don't lie. You can't fool me."

'This?'

Wei'en's brow furrowed. 'He could sense that place?'

"That place... where was it? Was it the domain of a deity?"

'A deity's domain?'

Wei'en's mouth fell slightly agape. 'He knows?'

"Of course I know. You..."

The clown had intended to ask which deity the domain belonged to, but after getting the confirmation he needed, he hesitated, then shook his head. "Forget it. You don't have to tell me."

'No matter whose domain it is,' he thought, 'it doesn't change the fact that I've become a forbidden existence.'

"Sorry."

Wei'en pressed his lips together. 'It's a place I didn't want anyone else to know about anyway.'

"No need to apologize, and no need to thank me, either," the clown said, his lips twisting into a playful grin. "Don't you think your emotional state is a little too volatile?"

'Volatile?'

Wei'en looked at him, confused. "What do you mean...?"

"Emotional volatility is spiritual volatility. Every Extraordinary I've ever known, regardless of their power, fears having their Spirit contaminated and losing control of themselves."

The clown paused, looking at Wei'en with amusement. "Hee hee hee... But you? You're not like that at all!"

"Hm?"

Wei'en frowned. "And what effect does that have on me?"

"No, no, no, I'm not saying it's wrong. It's more like you have some sort of safeguard, something that prevents your Spirit from being contaminated when it fluctuates?"

"I guess... I'm just an optimistic person..." Wei'en said, looking away and giving a dismissive answer.

"Perhaps," the clown snapped his fingers. Two wine glasses appeared on the table. "Care for a drink?"

"Yes, alright."

They poured a small amount of red wine. Each took a sip, savoring its sweet, sour, and bitter complexity.

After a few seconds of silence, the clown set down his glass, his tone uncharacteristically serious. "After today, you need to start thinking about how to shore up your weaknesses."

"Yes. I was actually thinking the same thing..."

"Getting stronger isn't just about amassing raw power. Watching you fight is like watching a baby swing a greatsword. You have all this strength, but you can't properly wield it."

"I know," Wei'en said with a wry smile. "It's true."

'I've noticed that, too.'

'Whether it was that time in the Caster City State or in the fights since, my tactics have been crude and direct. Most of the time, I've had to rely on external power.'

"Of course, I'm not saying your choices during the fight with Balumonger were wrong," the clown said calmly. "Given the power disparity, your reaction wasn't incorrect, but it wasn't the best option, either."

"The simplest, most direct method would have been to... well, since you can freely enter and exit that domain of yours, you could have just dragged it in there with you. It would have died on its own inside."

'Wait, drag an Abyss Demon in there?'

Wei'en's eyes lit up. 'I never thought of that. I wonder if it would even work.'

"Besides, compared to Balumonger, your own power is indeed weak, but it's not so weak that you should have been as pathetic as you were today."

'Pathetic...'

Wei'en took a deep breath. "Please, Mr. Leonard, just tell me."

"First, you need to understand the nature of power!"

A Metal Shield materialized in front of the clown. He extended a finger and poked it, effortlessly piercing a clean hole right through it.

"What's this?"

"This is me. And this is you!" The clown poked the shield again. "See?"

Wei'en looked at the new dent in the shield, then at the neat, clean hole from before, and fell into thought.

'Is he saying my use of power is too crude? That it's not focused enough?'

"Focus is one aspect. The other is—"

The clown extended the same finger again. A ripple appeared on his white glove, which began to shimmer with a faint red glow.

The next second, he tapped the shield again, very casually.

Hm?

Wei'en looked at the shield, which hadn't changed at all, and asked in confusion, "What was that?"

"So stupid. This is a simple application of origin. Tina could do this when she was two!" the clown glared at him, then blew a puff of air at the shield. "Hah."

"What?!"

Wei'en's eyes flew wide. 'It's gone?'

No, to be more precise, the shield was blown apart, disintegrating into fine dust before vanishing completely.

"Remember what I wrote for you before? If you reverse the sequence of changes that happen inside a corpse, you get the most basic application of origin."

The clown tilted his head back, looking down on him with contempt. "So, have you learned anything?"

'Learned anything?'

'Yeah, I've learned that I'm hopeless!'

'Attacks infused with origin are certainly powerful and practical...'

'But there was just one problem... He was a damn Wizard!'

P.S. Book recommendation time! Check out "Dragon Race: I, Lu Mingfei, Am Not Unwanted." It's a Dragon Race fanfiction written by a friend of mine.