A giant wheel of blazing flames cut through the void, slashing a huge rift into the earth like a hurricane, spiraling towards Rody's body, intending to cleave him and Jill in half.
Rody stood still, not moving. The flaming wheel spun past his body, rumbling as it cut down a large swath of trees behind him.
"Hmph, just a toad, only good at blustering with words," the middle-aged man snorted heavily through his nose, pleased to see his magic slash through the opponent's body.
"That's right, I agree," unexpectedly, Rody was not dead. He clapped his hands and said, "It seems you are quite self-aware!"
"How did you dodge my magical attack?" The middle-aged man's eyes bulged out. He had clearly seen the flaming wheel slash through the middle of the opponent's body; how could he not be injured? But upon closer inspection, although Rody's face was smeared with a bit of mud and sweat, and his left cheek bore a few red marks from tree branches, he showed no other signs of injury and appeared lively and vigorous.
"With your wisdom, it's hard for me to explain it to you," Rody shook his head and sighed, his face expressing 'you're an incurable fool'.
"Cross of Fire Execution..." The middle-aged man's magical power was indeed astonishing, and he chanted at an extremely fast pace.
"Ah-choo!" Rody opened his mouth wide and yawned, looking utterly bored.
The middle-aged man was thoroughly enraged. He soared into the sky, first smashing a 'Cross of Fire Execution' down at Rody, then chanting several large fireballs and pillars of flame, igniting a fierce blaze at Rody's location. Still not satisfied, he finally summoned a burning meteor from the sky to smash down.
The entire earth shook, mountains trembled, forests tumbled, and fires raged everywhere.
The meteor deeply indented a burning crater into the ground, the violent shockwave destroying everything around, leaving only flames between heaven and earth.
Convinced that Rody was completely obliterated, with no life remaining amidst the fire, the middle-aged man was somewhat satisfied. Facing such mockery from a magic academy freshman, as a revered being, he couldn't contain his anger. Perhaps using a single 'Fire Lance Barrage' would have been enough to skewer and kill the opponent, but that would not have been satisfying enough. He wanted this sharp-tongued brat to be utterly destroyed, reduced to ashes.
A group of soldiers rushed over from afar, each one staring in shock and awe.
They thought they had encountered a powerful enemy, hence the need to summon a meteor. Seeing the middle-aged man flying towards them, they saluted him with a mix of reverence and admiration, protecting him as they returned to their assembly point to rest.
Everyone's face was filled with a sense of honor, as if they too had played a part in defeating a strong adversary, feeling proud.
Half a day later, the fire gradually died down. The ground was scorched black and red, and the ash and charcoal from the burnt trees still emitted wisps of light smoke, dispersing with the wind. As the sun set in the west and night slowly fell, the earth regained its tranquility. When the stars began to scatter across the sky, suddenly two black dots flew back, quickly inspecting the surroundings, then picked up half a skull from the ash and mud.
A skeleton seemingly materialized out of thin air, falling into the crater, charred and smoking from the intense heat of the meteor.
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But the skeleton didn't care, casually summoning two puppet stone demons to lift it up.
The puppet stone demons carried the skeleton to the top of the crater, where the skeleton suddenly opened its arms as if to embrace someone. Then, Rody appeared out of nowhere, carrying the unconscious Jill on his back. Her breathing was light and long, as if she had just fallen asleep. Rody gently landed from the grasp of Dark Servant Nicholas, quickly crossing the scorching ground.
"Marcus is left with only a skull; it seems I need to find a sturdy body for it," Rody summoned two mantises, looked at the skull they held, sighed slightly, and then stored Marcus's skull.
Looking at Jill, Rody gently put her down, conjured a large cloak, wrapped her in it, and held her in his arms.
Jill remained asleep, unaware that Rody had carried her through a harrowing battle of life and death, or that she was now safely sleeping in his arms. Rody remembered what the beautiful teacher had told him and smiled slightly. Although he wasn't strong enough to directly confront a Big Dipper Seven Stars magic master, he could use his intellect to manipulate his opponent.
He could protect Jill. If it weren't for his concern for her safety, he might even have considered fighting the opponent.
Fighting with Jill on his back was impossible. Rody, though eager to challenge his limits, realized after repeatedly luring the enemy into casting spells and seeing the enemy's still abundant magical power, that a seventh-tier magic master was beyond his current ability to defeat. He had no choice but to avoid battle and choose safety.
Holding Jill, Rody had barely walked ten steps when he stopped again.
"Who are you?" Rody asked coldly, but there was no one in front or behind him.
"I am a hunter, a very patient one," a shadow less than three meters behind Rody gradually deepened, eventually forming into a tall man. The tall man's face was hidden in the darkness, and he spoke indifferently, "You may have fooled others, but you can't fool me. Especially your previous use of a storage space for evasion has piqued my curiosity."
"Is that why you've been lurking here for hours?" Rody asked softly.
"No, mainly it's a feeling," the tall man smiled, "You give off a strange feeling, like you can't be killed even in dire situations."
"Since I can't be killed, are you still going to make a move?" Rody slowly turned around, but even with his dark vision, he couldn't see the tall man's face clearly, only his eyes emitting a faint golden light. Shocked, Rody asked, "Are you the Sword Emperor?"
"No, I am just a Sky Warrior," the tall man rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, paused, and then asked, "How do you know I can't kill you?"
"If you could, you wouldn't waste time talking so much," Rody laughed, "I know Sky Warriors are fast, but not faster than my mental power. As soon as you draw your sword, I'll retreat back into the storage space, ensuring not even a hair is harmed by your sword qi. If you were confident, you would have already made your move, instead of playing psychological tactics with me."
"I can suppress you with my mental power, just for a second," the tall man's golden eyes grew brighter, eventually shining like a bright moon.
"Child's play," Rody said with a faint smile.
"Even if I can't kill you, I can wait here. You can't hide in there forever," the tall man's grip on his sword tightened.
"Of course, I can't stay forever, but I can sleep in there for over a year," Rody's expression remained unchanged.
"What about her?" the tall man sneered, "How long can this girl last?"
"A few days, at least," Rody slowly raised his hand, showing the 'Mind Saw' to the opponent, while casually saying, "During the days you wait, I can attack you at any time with my mental power! Unless you are outside my control range. If you leave a hundred meters away, I can expend mental power to move a few meters forward, wait for you to arrive, then hide again. It's troublesome, but do you think you can stop me from leaving?"
"If I were a Sword Emperor, I would have killed you without hesitation," the tall man released his grip on the sword and sighed, "Unfortunately."
"I will spare you once when we meet again," Rody said with a smile.
"Why?" the tall man asked in surprise.
"Because I dislike trouble. If you insist on waiting, it would spoil my mood," Rody laughed, "But since you let me go now, I will return this 'favor' to you. So, if you ever fall into my hands, I will also let you go!"
"Interesting boy," the tall man chuckled, "Quite arrogant!"
"Goodbye," Rody turned and walked away.
"Hey, what's your name?" the tall man raised his voice, "Arrogant boy, tell me your name!"
"You'll know when my name becomes famous," Rody, of course, wouldn't foolishly tell his enemy his name – that's what brainless braggarts do. Taking advantage of the moment while the other had not changed his mind, he quickly carried Jill into the darkness.
After traveling about five or six kilometers and confirming that the other was not secretly following, he finally relaxed slightly.
If that guy really waited outside his storage space, it would be extremely troublesome. With Rody's current mental power, he couldn't launch a powerful attack through the storage space to harass the enemy. Moreover, the opponent was a Sky Warrior, highly sensitive to sneak attacks, making success unlikely. Most importantly, while Jill was in a timeless sleep in the storage space, she was a living person, and maintaining her existence consumed an enormous amount of Rody's mental power. Rody, whose mental power couldn't recover in the storage space, couldn't maintain her existence while simultaneously using his mental power to harass the enemy.
Fortunately, he managed to bluff the Sky Warrior with psychological tactics, or the consequences would have been severe.
Rody didn't realize that after he left, the tall man was also secretly shocked. An enemy who could hide and not be attacked, always able to harass with mental power, was also a painful matter.
Especially that terrifying 'Mind Spiral', sharper than sword qi, not only spinning at high speed but also invisible and traceless.
If it weren't for that arrogant boy raising his hand to show him, he wouldn't have discovered such a mental magic attack that uses mental power as a spinning force.
"Felik really is a land of talent," the tall man looked in the direction Rody disappeared and sighed slightly, "It's hard to conquer this country... Now I understand why even the Divine Race couldn't destroy this nation."