Chapter 320: Rare Formidable Enemy, Void Spirit World

"Boom!"

The charred, rotting flesh that had been clinging to Noelle was blasted into nothingness in an instant, reduced to mere useless particles in the air. The shockwave of the dragon roar swept through the surrounding area, striking a three-story warehouse; the immense force caused the structure to collapse and shatter, sending wooden planks and twisted steel beams flying through the sky.

"Clang!"

From the spatial rift stepped a figure clad in heavy, pitch-black iron armor, shielding Noelle behind him. It was Wang Yu, who had only moments ago been processing materials at the Truth Oversight Committee; the dark armor he now wore was forged from alchemical alloys he had pulled from the ether on a whim.

"That was the alienated breath of an adult dragon. Is this Sieg? No, the thread is pointing in the wrong direction..."

Valmar, whose monster made of cultist corpses had been obliterated by Wang Yu’s dragon roar, did not panic. The invisible undead eyes floating in the air watched the heavy-armored knight emerge from the phase gate, mistaking the roar Wang Yu had just unleashed for some form of specialized dragon breath.

"If it isn't a dragon, then this becomes troublesome. My luck is worse than I thought. If all else fails, I will have no choice but to drag this knight and the young dragon into the Void Spirit Realm."

"Though I can only eliminate one heretical dragon, there is no help for it; the alchemical mechanical legion of the Sky Mechanical City is not something I can contend with. This battle will be discovered soon."

The phylactery at her heart continuously projected undead mana, forming thick, suffocating mists of dead souls that shrouded the entire vicinity, naturally including Noelle and the newly arrived Wang Yu.

The mist of dead souls could temporarily shield them from the detection of the Sky Mechanical City’s magic network, but the dragon roar Wang Yu had just unleashed had destroyed a building within the city. Within one or two minutes, the vanguard of the alchemical mechanical legion would inevitably arrive.

"Are you alright? Aivia and your brother will be here soon. Just hold on for a moment; stand behind me."

A muffled voice emanated from the heavy armor. Wang Yu did not look back; he deployed his Chariot Force to confirm Noelle was unharmed before piercing through the mist of dead souls to hunt for his enemy.

The item Noelle had used was a directional teleportation artifact prepared by Aivia specifically for Wang Yu, designed to pull him across space directly to her location within a certain range.

This device was tailored exclusively for Wang Yu. In an environment like the Sky Mechanical City, which was entirely covered by spatial-sealing arrays, this was the only artifact the girl could craft that could bypass the blockade.

The reason was simple: teleporting Wang Yu was exceptionally convenient. One only needed to open a path, and he would come. For anyone else, such crude spatial transport would likely cause the soul to suffer the trauma of passing through the body, but for Wang Yu, teleporting him was no different from teleporting an inanimate object.

He pulled several mithril needles from his armor, held them between his fingers, and flicked them into the mist. The needles transformed into silver streaks invisible to the naked eye, piercing the air with phantom cracking sounds as they struck and shattered several floating mage eyes hidden in the fog.

"This fellow can see through the mist of dead souls?"

Valmar frowned slightly. With several mage eyes destroyed, this suddenly arrived knight was even more troublesome than she had anticipated. The spell structure she was preparing in her hands accelerated; she had to speed up.

"Gak gak gak gak!"

With a harsh, grating sound of metal grinding and bursting, Valmar channeled her necromancy to its limit. A vast quantity of bone matter materialized from thin air, stitching, bonding, and shaping itself into a massive, semi-circular bone cage that rose from the ground, gradually trapping Wang Yu and Noelle within.

"Sizzle, sizzle..."

Grey, stagnant undead mana coursed through the nodes of the bone cage, saturating the structure. The bones began to tremble and crack, emitting a faint, ominous glow from the fissures. Corpse Explosion? Modified.

The bone cage served not only to restrict their movement but also as a gargantuan undead bomb; the power of a bone cage saturated with such concentrated mana would be terrifying.

"Move..."

Grabbing Noelle with one hand, Wang Yu charged toward the edge of the cage without hesitation. He had to shatter the obstacle before the energy within overloaded.

Although smashing bones saturated with undead mana would trigger an explosion, it was still far better than being hit directly by a Corpse Explosion imbued with corrosive power.

"Bang!"

"Stay inside and wait for death, you annoying obstacle."

Wang Yu’s charge toward the edge of the cage was blocked by a figure that suddenly emerged from the mist—it was Valmar, occupying the mage’s shell.

Bone spurs proliferated, spreading through the fragile body, piercing skin and muscle. While rendering the shell a mangled, horrific sight, it provided strength far beyond what the body should have possessed.

A fist covered in bone spurs collided with Wang Yu’s alloy-clad elbow. The impact of their immense strength erupted in a dull, thunderous roar.

A multitude of bone spurs were shattered and pulverized, bone fragments spraying everywhere.

Yet, the opponent had successfully blocked him. Numerous sturdy bone arms thrust into the ground, bracing the skeletal palms against the earth behind her. Wang Yu’s heavy elbow strike had crushed her arm, but it failed to break through the defenses entirely.

He spun and threw a punch, his Chariot Force lashing out to drag at the corpse-like shell. His fist tore through the mist, imbued with battle qi, and struck toward Valmar’s head, but it hit nothing but air.

Her figure dissipated silently into the mist, drifting away as basic wraith-fog. The Chariot Force failed to catch her, clearly because a soul still resided within that shell.

"..."

He scanned his surroundings coldly. During the time Valmar had delayed him, the bone cage had shifted, and while the power of the Corpse Explosion continued to accumulate, the walls of the cage had moved further away from Wang Yu.

The opponent was powerful, capable of matching Wang Yu’s Great Knight-level strength with magic. Even if only for a moment, her level as a caster was at least that of a mid-stage Archmage, possibly even a high-stage one. He could not deal with this alone—at least, not by himself.

There was no time to reach the boundary of the cage again; the explosion was imminent, and Wang Yu could not guarantee he wouldn't be blocked a second time. He had to change tactics.

"Noelle, help me light a fire."

He instructed calmly, then communicated with his blood pool, drawing out all the blood within in a single surge. Suddenly, a waterfall of blood rained down, descending continuously within the confines of the bone cage.

He raised his hand, channeling his battle qi.

The Bloody Gale Knight secret technique and the Chariot Force were activated simultaneously. The blood rain gathered into a massive sphere, then suddenly exploded outward in all directions.

The Bloody Gale Knight technique and the material-shaping sword art altered the nature of the blood. Tough, blood-red thorns grew and spread wildly from Wang Yu as the center, crawling along the ground and climbing the bone cage, filling every inch of space inside and out.

The chaotic, omnidirectional expansion was something Valmar could not prevent. Peering through the mist, one could see the porous bone cage covered in blood-red thorns in a matter of seconds, like a trellis overgrown with vines, blooming with bewitching, crimson flowers.

"Hoo, hoo."

"Boom!"

Blazing spell-fire ignited in both Noelle’s and Wang Yu’s hands. However, the orange-yellow flames in the hands of Noelle, a dragon, were clearly a level above Wang Yu’s ghostly green fire.

Without hesitation, the two slammed their spell-fire into the thicket of blood thorns. Instantly, the thorns were engulfed, the spell-fire greedily devouring and burning the abundant life force within, growing more ferocious and lethal with every second.

The life force, sublimated by the spell-fire, transformed into pure energy, wrapping around the bone cage saturated with undead mana. The red flames incinerated the bone, and the cage, along with the burning thicket, dissolved into ash in the intense heat.

"So persistent..."

Valmar cursed. Realizing something was wrong, she immediately triggered the Corpse Explosion, but the response was merely a relatively weak, corrosive blast.

The undead mana in the bone cage had been countered by the sublimated life force, consuming most of the "gunpowder" required for the Corpse Explosion. The resulting blast only scattered the already charred blood thorns, surrounding Noelle and Wang Yu with a corrosive aura.

"Click, bang!"

Wang Yu reshaped the metal cover he had formed with his Chariot Force to deflect the blast, incorporating it back into his heavy armor. He chose not to move again, instead gathering all his strength and slamming a fist into the ground beneath his feet.

The weight of the alloy armor combined with Wang Yu’s own immense strength allowed him to punch a deep crater into the floor. The iron plating below bent and buckled, the bolts and welds connecting it to the surrounding iron tiles snapping and collapsing.

Beyond escaping the mist of dead souls, Wang Yu had always had another path of retreat: the interior space of the Sky Mechanical City beneath his feet. As long as he smashed through the floor, he could descend into the city.

As for the existence that had suddenly attacked—likely from the Dragon Cult—he would leave that to the alchemical mechanical legion of the Sky Mechanical City. Never mind an Archmage; even a Legend would die here.

"Damn it... if not for the suppression of the main plane, how could I fail to kill this annoying pest head-on?"

Valmar immediately saw through Wang Yu’s intent. He was going to smash the floor and flee into the Sky Mechanical City. This move was utterly disgusting, and suppressed by the main plane, she found it difficult to stop him.

Valmar’s hand reached for the item to open the Void Spirit Realm, but she ultimately pulled it back. It was not yet time. She only had one chance to hunt heretics in the Alchemical Mechanical City; she could not give up the opportunity to drag the other dragon into the Void Spirit Realm.

"Whoosh!"

Bone spurs regenerated, growing within the tattered mage shell to forcibly enhance its physical strength. Valmar had to stop Wang Yu one more time; if he really broke into the Sky Mechanical City, the trouble would be immense.

Her body turned to mist, reappearing instantly at Wang Yu’s side. But she did not choose to attack him; instead, she thrust her bone-spur-covered arm with lightning speed toward Noelle, who was shielded behind him.

She was certain that the knight who had suddenly appeared to protect the young dragon would never allow her to be harmed.

As expected, Wang Yu, who had been attempting to smash through the floor, immediately shifted his focus, swinging his iron fist toward Valmar as she attempted to kill Noelle.

The fist collided with the bone spike, and once again, Wang Yu’s strength reigned supreme; Varma’s hand, reaching for Noelle, was shattered and twisted by the iron fist encased in battle aura, sending his form spiraling to the side.

Yet, those severed bone spikes, suddenly caught in an invisible tether, drank deep of the necromantic mana within the spectral mist and altered their trajectory, hurtling toward Noelle with lethal velocity.

Malva was forcing the issue, using the assault on Noelle to compel Wang Yu to retreat, while simultaneously seeking a genuine kill; to slay the heretical dragon whelp here would simplify all that was to follow.

"Roar!"

Noelle opened her maw, unleashing dragon breath once more against the incoming spikes, the crimson flames tearing through the undead fog and annihilating the projectiles.

But the bone spikes had already dissolved into mist; anticipating Noelle’s move, Malva had shifted the attack, pulling the shards behind her and aiming them directly at the nape of the dragon’s neck.

The fatal strike was moments from impact, yet Wang Yu’s arms were ensnared by a barrage of bone spikes erupting from the mage’s corpse, and his attempt to break free was clearly too slow.

However, Wang Yu had held one power in reserve: the Force of the Chariot, a killing blow prepared specifically for this wretched member of the Dragon-Worshiping Cult.

"Hum, bang!"

An invisible ripple of mana surged from Wang Yu, causing Varma to freeze in bewilderment; when had this man cast a spell, and what was this—a mana disturbance?

Unbeknownst to him, a lens of pure mana had manifested over Wang Yu’s right eye, a perfect fractal; Avia had arrived nearby, using Wang Yu as a conduit to cast the spell from afar.

The necromantic mana reinforcing the spikes collapsed into chaos under the interference, and though they struck Noelle’s neck, they failed to pierce skin that appeared delicate but possessed a resilience beyond measure.

Wang Yu stomped the ground with violent force, the immense pressure depressing one end of the already unstable iron plating, causing the other end to catapult upward and slam into Malva, who was slowed by the lingering effects of Avia’s disruption.

"Crack."

The bones and muscles of the legs, unreinforced by bone spikes, were instantly pulverized by the iron plate’s impact, sending the mage’s body airborne, where Wang Yu’s lethal trap had long been waiting.

Shards of shattered meteorite iron, transformed into scattered blades, erupted from the ruined ground, pulled by the Force of the Chariot to strike at every vital point—the head, the throat, the spine, the lungs, the heart—piercing and shredding the vessel to pieces!

"!!!"

Ignoring the myriad blades aimed at his frame, Varma’s eyes were fixed solely on the shard hurtling toward his heart, for within that heart lay his phylactery!

Like a jolt of electricity, Varma did not pause to consider if the blade would strike true; the instinct for survival left no room for hesitation, and he activated the artifact to tear open the void.

A ring of abyssal darkness descended from the sky.