Battle qi is an intricate topic. Cysper and Yulanda had discussed it extensively before, providing me with substantial knowledge. The manifestations of battle qi are diverse and ever-changing, with practical applications that are quite limited due to the rarity of humans who develop it.
One main use is direct release against enemies for offense or defense, through techniques like qi blasts, sword qi, or barriers - immensely powerful but requiring long practice. Enhancing one's physical body is another application, though less common. After awakening battle qi, users can contain and re-absorb it to rapidly enhance their constitution, but with low efficiency and significant wastage.
The self-enhancing effect may be less than half as potent as the overwhelming external power release. However, those gains are permanent, trading burst power and range for vastly superior endurance. An inch of growth brings an inch of strength, but you can only engage in close combat while others unleash ranged magic instantly without defensive needs. Even with superior strength and toughness, it's frustrating. Against another battle qi expert, if you can't deplete their internal reserves, you have almost no chance of winning. This was Mike's weakness.
However, dealing with just a single four-winged angel was nowhere near enough to expose those weaknesses!
Unexpectedly, the four-winged angel who had retreated to the rear showed no signs of panic. She clasped her hands together, appearing to pray.
"Your lord is nothing but a false god. Praying to him is completely useless!"
Mike roared, charging towards her. Since he couldn't fly, after that bout of furious attacks, his body could only fall back down before using a rooftop for leverage to leap back into the air.
But in that brief exchange, something disastrous occurred.
"Watch your head..."
For some reason, I could sense an immense concentration of light elements gathering above in the sky. Before I could finish speaking, I saw a slender beam of white light precisely strike Mike from above.
The flash of brilliance seemed to have no particular effect at first glance. Mike, propelled by inertia towards the four-winged angel, did nothing as she casually shifted aside, allowing him to plummet straight down, unmoving after hitting the ground.
"Impossible! His physical defenses can withstand high-tier blast spells without a scratch, let alone some light magic..."
The blade of grass Ron had been chewing on slowly drifted to the ground. As a light mage, he could tell that white beam was the four-winged angel's doing. Even if it was some divine angelic spell unknown to humans, it shouldn't be able to instantly take down a battle qi-wielding sixth rank expert like Mike, right?
Moreover, the angel only had four wings.
"It's not that simple, this may not be ordinary magic...it may not even be magic at all!"
I shook my head, quickly rushing over with him towards where Mike had fallen.
When it came to divine spells - high-tier magic from an angel's perspective - I had some authority to speak on the matter. That beam of light seemed reminiscent of the "Lost Paradise Shockwave" attack at first glance, but the power and form differed greatly.
The stronger a "Lost Paradise Shockwave", the thicker the descending pillar of light, with a wider area of effect. But this slender beam that appeared was extremely narrow, yet its force was many times more potent than a shockwave, even faintly surpassing the source magic I recently learned from Cysper!
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Moreover, that four-winged angel appeared to be praying the whole time, but she did indeed seem to be genuinely praying! At least I detected no light elemental activity within her related to casting a spell - it completely violated the conditions for spell release, even if no incantation was required.
"Wait for me!"
Vivianne also looked dumbfounded. The Star Glory Knights had always maintained an image of being highly mysterious and formidable in the eyes of ordinary people. Her earlier boldness in confronting us was largely due to feigning bravado. Now that other enemies appeared, and Mike was instantly struck down upon contact, she no longer dared linger alone, hurriedly following behind us.
"His breathing has slowed tremendously, but maybe we can still save him!"
Ron checked Mike's condition, breathing a sigh of relief. It was exactly the same as I had seen with those trees struck by source magic before - Mike lay on the ground emanating a faint white glow. Although his body showed no wounds at all, he was completely motionless, appearing essentially dead.
So this was the reaction to being struck by light elemental magic? Like a vegetative state...
Seeing this situation, I suddenly had an epiphany, recalling Wozwal Hus' warning to me during the rank advancement test. I felt a chill realizing how fortunate we were.
This was someone capable of battle qi. It was only thanks to Mike's tough physique that he survived. If it was anyone else, they might have died instantly.
"This is divine punishment upon you!"
While Ron's attention was on Mike, the four-winged angel hovering above naturally wouldn't just remain idle after taking down one of our strongest. She pointed a finger at us on the ground, sending another brilliant beam raining down.
This was plagiarism!
This time, I saw it clearly again. There were no traces of light elemental flow within her, yet she could unleash such a powerful technique. What was most unforgivable was that her hand gesture was exactly the same as when I used "Lost Paradise Shockwave"! A blatant copy, but without grasping the essence!
"Get back, here it comes again!"
Vivianne saw the beam aimed at Ron's head and swiftly pulled him back by his clothes in a stroke of quick thinking. As a result, the attack struck Mike's prone body directly instead.
"Ugh..."
That final blow was quite the unfortunate follow-up. The Chief Seat of the Star Glory Knight was likely beyond saving now.
"Mike!"
Ron's eyes turned red as he let out an anguished roar.
"You're also an angel with even more wings than her. Think of something quickly!"
Desperate, Vivianne no longer cared about my third-rank abilities as she shouted urgently at me.
"I'm just as helpless!"
Although my strength had increased greatly, facing an angelic opponent, I realized I was completely out of options. My magic was utterly useless against angels, leaving only swordsmanship as a possibility - which I had no confidence in whatsoever.
To be honest, none of us expected the strongest among us, Mike, to fall so quickly in such a humiliating manner. It threw us all into a panic.
"What about Nicola? Why isn't she with you?"
In this crisis, Vivianne finally remembered that other cheat character. It seemed she no longer doubted my identity. Nicola's Condensation Sword had left a deep impression, so it wasn't easily forgotten.
"That girl went on a revenge quest, don't count on her!"
I gritted my teeth bitterly. If Nicola was here, we probably wouldn't be in this predicament. Now only I could fly, and although Vivianne's martial skills were decent, it was a stretch to challenge a four-winged angel - let alone one with such "hax" abilities.
"Regardless, we have to try!"
I drew my longsword and charged the angel above. I had only experienced using swordsmanship against angels when sparring with Cyra. Hopefully it would suffice.
After all, the opponent was just a four-winged angel...
"So you really are in league with them. But you betrayed my lord, and must receive divine punishment!"
Strangely, she didn't seem intimidated by me at all, maintaining an "absolutely righteous" demeanor. Despite having an extra pair of wings, I instilled no fear in her whatsoever.
That brilliant beam's source was bizarre, but it was essentially a light elemental energy attack. There was no way it could affect a fellow angel like me. Just to be safe, I still enveloped myself in a defensive sphere of light elementals to guard against any contingencies.
"You're dead!"
In the blink of an eye, I had flown right in front of her, but she still hadn't taken out any weapons to defend herself. Although it was a bit strange, I didn't hesitate to raise the long sword in my hand and strike towards her neck.
At that very moment, the layer of light elements covering my entire body suddenly scattered uncontrollably in all directions. In an instant, the magical defense layer I had set up disappeared without a trace.
"Impossible....."
The unbelievable events continued: not only the light elements covering me, but the light elements constituting my body also started a chain reaction. Watching my own hands turn into specks of white light dissipating into the air, like how angels look when they die, while accompanied by intense pain, it plunged me into extreme fear and wailing.