Chapter 452: Mephisto's Summoning Power

Mephisto scrambled up from the dirt in sheer humiliation.

He had never expected, truly never expected, that his enemies would discover him and come knocking right on his door.

He could afford to be indifferent to any loss, for as long as he remained out of harm's way, he could always stage a comeback.

But now, the heavy hammer of peril had struck him squarely upon the brow.

Jesus also struggled to his feet, roaring in a furious rage: "Ronin, do not forget that my brother is the King of the Alduin Kingdom, and the Duke of Ferensburg! How dare you openly—"

Ronin cast a cold glance over at him, his gaze laden with the spiritual suppression of a Magister, forcing Jesus to seal his lips.

Jesus swallowed hard; in his memory, when he first encountered Ronin, the youth had been so utterly weak, yet now a single glance from him made his heart tremble, forcing the words back down his throat.

Ronin withdrew his gaze, having no intention of killing Jesus just yet, otherwise he could have easily dispatched him when he descended.

He shifted his focus back onto Mephisto: "I know this is your true body. In fact, you were present in the flesh back then on the plains outside Black Python City as well, weren't you?"

All of this was information Sophia and the others had revealed to Ronin, enlightening him on the unique traits of the Witch-Soul race.

Even with the Witch-Soul Orb, they could not control it from a vast distance.

It was only that Ronin had been ignorant of this intelligence back then, otherwise, after dealing with Orson, it would have been highly possible to seek out Mephisto and eliminate him once and for all.

"Hehe, I have heard of your story."

From beneath the black robe, Mephisto revealed a mouthful of white teeth, his voice carrying an eerie chill.

"So young, yet not only a Silver Moon Knight but also a Magister. Your talent would be considered top-tier even within the City of Dawn."

Ronin channeled his battle qi, and the Flowing Flame Sword in his hand erupted with brilliant firelight, "For the sake of these innocent lives, perish!"

He gave his opponent no chance to breathe, nor did he care for idle chatter; with a flash of his form, he had already charged right before Mephisto.

The Flowing Flame Sword swept out, a blazing torrent of fire enveloping Mephisto as if intending to melt him down entirely.

Dark energy surged violently around Mephisto, unexpectedly giving rise to a barrier of darkness that blocked Ronin's assault.

Simultaneously, the earth beneath their feet shook violently as a massive bone dragon crawled out from underground.

This bone dragon was not a winged drake like Carlos, but possessed a form akin to a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Mephisto extended his hand, and a jet-black staff fell into his grasp, its tip radiating a dark, ominous glow.

"Come forth, my servants!"

Space trembled as two golden skeleton knights stepped out from a summoning array.

Ronin had seen this from Blanche before; it was precisely the skeleton summoning art that leaned toward the necromantic branch of dark-attribute magic.

As Blanche's strength improved, the skeleton knights she summoned would also grow more powerful.

With Mephisto's prowess, the ones he summoned were two Silver Moon-level skeleton knights.

Such was the true might of Mephisto!

Facing such a lineup, Ronin's brow furrowed slightly; this would not be easy to handle.

Yet though the enemy was strong, he had no intention of retreating in the slightest.

He knew clearly that if he did not utterly defeat Mephisto today, this evil creature would absolutely find another piece of land, causing even more innocent lives to perish because of it.

Ronin took a deep breath and gripped his longsword tightly.

"Kill!"

Activating the Instant Step of Wind, his entire being appeared beside a skeleton knight.

"Explosive Flame Slash!"

The Flowing Flame Sword intensified the might of the Explosive Flame Slash, a strike intended to shatter the foe's skull.

The skeleton knight's movements seemed slow, yet at the critical juncture, it raised its shield to block before itself.

The Explosive Flame Slash bombarded the shield, blasting it to absolute smithereens. The powerful impact further shattered the skeleton knight's arm, sending it crashing into the nearby woods like a kite with its string cut.

Swoosh!

A greatsword smashed down; Ronin instantly grew alert and dodged to the side.

The other skeleton knight's greatsword cleaved exactly where he had just stood, and with an explosion of some unknown elemental energy, a crater was blasted into the ground.

Had Ronin not dodged in time just now, he would have been wounded.

Astride the bone dragon's head, Mephisto waved his magic staff, and dark magical claws sprouted from beneath Ronin's feet, binding his thighs.

Growl...

The skeleton knight emitted a spine-chilling sound as it rushed forward to slay him.

In this moment of peril, Ronin thrust his longsword downward into the soil, his fiery battle qi purifying the evil restraint, before barely raising his sword to parry.

A shocking clash ensued as a tremendous force surged forward, sending Ronin reeling backward to crash into a tree behind him.

"Haha, die!"

Unable to restrain himself, Jesus brandished his sword and charged into the fray.

"Scram!"

Ronin barked coldly, throwing out a punch as a massive fiery fist phantom slammed into Jesus, sending him flying.

At the same time, he retreated swiftly, rapidly tracing the magical lines to summon a fire elemental, and soon, a seven-to-eight-meter-tall fire elemental materialized before him.

The moment the fire elemental appeared, it unleashed a flame storm, scorching the space ahead to counter the oncoming skeleton knight.

"Hehe, where are you looking?"

Though the bone dragon possessed a massive frame, its speed was remarkably swift.

Mephisto maneuvered it to Ronin's flank, where dark elements condensed into a flying bat that surged forward.

"Fighting against summoning-type enemies is indeed rather troublesome."

Ronin compressed his wind-attribute battle qi within his mouth and abdominal cavity, then exhaled a colossal storm that tore the demonic dragon apart.

Boom!

The two forces clashed, generating a deafening explosion.

Mephisto's magical attainments were exceptionally formidable; hellish claws, corrosive spears, dark bats, and the like were deployed one after another, and the summoned bone dragon could even spew corrosive dark gases.

Yet all these techniques were evaded by Ronin without any actual mishap; relying on his rapid speed and the velocity bonus granted by the Aurora Shadow magic scroll, Ronin did not fear his

He was experiencing this level of battle for the first time.

Whoosh~

The sound of rapid air splitting reached him, and Ryder appeared atop the barren mountain.

"Sir, how are you?"

Rony smiled, "No harm done. What about below?"

"It's pretty much winding down. The Marquis and Petro, they can handle the remaining Soul Knights."

"Excellent!"

Rony looked at Mephisto, "So, one of the three divine messengers from the distant Crescent Continent is going to be dealt with today?"

The Flame Sword pointed at Mephisto, "I know you have the ability to temporarily boost your rank. Why not use it now?"

Back then, Oson absorbed the soul power of a Soul Knight to cross boundaries and become a Moonlight Knight.

Rony originally thought it was permanent, but later obtained detailed information from Sofia:

Boosting levels by directly absorbing soul power is temporary; only nurturing with Soul Pearls is permanent.

For example, Honasan’s enhancement from absorbing soul power within a Soul Pearl was permanent.

"You know I can cross boundaries, yet you still give me time."

Mephisto sneered, "Your arrogance will cost you!"

He took out a Soul Pearl and shoved it directly into his mouth, swallowing it forcefully.

Gulp~

With the sound of throat movement, dark energy surged wildly around Mephisto, his aura climbing steadily!

He roared madly, "Come forth, Destroyer from Hell!"

Above Mephisto’s head appeared a massive summoning array.

Roar!

From the space connected behind the array came bursts of roaring, and a huge skeletal bear, over ten meters tall, appeared before Rony.

The skeletal bear wore steel armor, wielded a giant spiked club, clenched fist shaking the air, stomped foot trembling the earth.

It beat its chest, raised the spiked club ready to smash down.

Ryder erupted with Sun-level combat aura, gathering on his fist.

"Heavy Strike Burst!"

This was his signature combat skill after becoming a Sun Knight. Though its power was lower than the secret technique Blazing Sky Flame, it was enough for this giant.

He punched out, the flame combat aura on his fist seeming condensed to the extreme, forming a beam that pierced the Destroyer’s breastplate, pouring into its body.

The immense impact entered from the front chest, exited from the back, penetrating its chest.

Unmatched force directly knocked the massive skeletal bear down, raising huge dust clouds.

But being a necro creature, this strike wasn't enough to kill it.

Rony flashed directly above the skeletal bear.

Wind elements gathered toward him, forming translucent ripples in front.

"Heart-piercing Wave!"

The highly penetrating magic pierced the skeletal bear’s skull, obliterated its ghostly flames, sending the newly summoned giant back to its world.

Then, lines of text appeared in Rony's vision:

["King of Slaughter" achievement attained, attribute points +10,000, energy essence +20,000] (End of chapter)