Published at 22nd of August 2024 7:02 am

Chapter 1968: Defying All Sense

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Despite the urgency, Jack feigned calmness. He grinned mockingly and said to Satan, "I have no chance? Why is your tone doesn't sound as confident as your words?"

"F*ck youuu...!!!" Satan cursed. His two hands aimed forward. Multiple soul and chaos bombs were fired from those hands.

Jack cast Magic Bombs. The ten energy balls conjured by the spell were ten times the size of normal magic bombs. These bombs exploded mid-flight. The AOE energies produced by the explosions covered a large portion of the sky. These AOE energies became a wall that blocked Satan's Soul and Chaos Bombs. The Soul and Chaos Bombs exploded upon touching this energy wall.

Satan didn't let up. The Soul and Chaos Bombs continued to shoot out from his hands unendingly.

While that happened, Jack sent a message to John and the others. "Get ready!"

"Does your Strength of Hope finish its cooldown?" John asked.

"It has already finished its cooldown some time ago," Jack answered. "I'm waiting for one spell to complete its cooldown. It shouldn't be long now."

The Soul and Chaos Bombs scraped the energy wall formed by Jack's Magic Bombs. Suddenly, thirty thick beams pierced out of the wall. These beams traveled in zig-zag patterns, targeting the Soul and Chaos Bombs. Each bomb they pierced through exploded. Yet, the beams themselves didn't diminish. They continued to destroy the Soul and Chaos Bombs while closing in on Satan.

These beams were Jack's Tracing Light Beams. But if someone witnessed the spell at this moment, they wouldn't believe the beams were from that spell.

When the beams got dangerously close, Satan brought out his Soul and Chaos Ring of Defense. The defensive ring blocked the first wave of beams that arrived. The following beams spread and came at Satan from all other directions that were not covered by the defensive ring.

Satan split the ring into two again and spun them, forming a protective sphere. The beams crashed into this sphere. None of the beams could penetrate the defense. The defensive rings were augmented by Satan's Final Form and the Soul and Chaos Peak Flames. It was sturdy enough to endure the ridiculously empowered Tracing Light Beams.

When Satan thought himself safe inside his defensive sphere, he felt a distortion of space. He didn't have the time to react. A sharp spatial energy pierced out of his chest. This was Jack's Void Slash. It bypassed the defensive sphere and directly hit Satan.

"Graahhh...!"

The stinging pain was unbearable. Black blood spurted from the wound. This caused his control to waver. The defensive sphere protecting him returned to being two defensive rings. Fortunately, Jack's Tracing Light Beams had been exhausted. However, a surprising sight greeted him.

Jack was all around him. Thousands of him, at least. Jack had cast Hundred Mirages. Under the boost of Mana Manipulation, the illusions he produced were way more than the spell's original effect.

Satan was baffled by the scene. Each of these illusions had Jack's mana signature. While he was unsure about what to do, he received a hit on his back. He turned but saw no one there. None of Jack's illusions were near him.

He then felt another impact on his side. He still couldn't see his attacker or sense any presence.

He started swinging his arms blindly. Soul and Chaos Bombs were thrown in random directions. Yet, the invisible assailant continued to strike him again and again. To make matters worse, the illusions around him started to move randomly. Some came to attack him, which made it even more difficult for him to detect the real aggressor.

The real aggressor was, of course, Jack. He was invisible because he had cast Invisibility. Under mana awakening, he could alter the spell to an extent where he didn't lose invisibility even after making physical contact with the enemy. Combined with his mana concealment, he had become truly undetectable.

Satan continued to lose HP under Jack's invisible onslaught. Jack even combined his assault with the Nine Yin Phantom Swords. Black lights sliced Satan's body while invisible strikes continued to land.

"Raaggh..!! Damn you! I'm going to crush you...!!!"

Satan kept flailing his arms around. Searing flames followed his swings. They blasted the space around him. The Soul and Chaos Rings of Defense were on those arms. The rings were also potent weapons. He hoped the rings could cut his invisible opponent with a lucky hit.

All the while, the aureole behind him spun rapidly. He was shortening the cooldown of another spell. This act was not without cost, though. His MP dropped rapidly following the aureole's spin.

Despite his efforts, Jack continued to land hits on him. Running out of ideas, he again spun the Soul and Chaos Rings of Defense and formed a defensive sphere.

He felt several impacts on his defensive sphere. Those attacks failed to penetrate his sphere. He felt safe again, but that also changed soon.

He again sensed the distortion in space. Unlike before, it was not from within his defensive sphere but outside.

Outside, a thin black line sliced through Satan's defensive sphere. Upon closer inspection, this thin black line was a tear in space. It was Jack's Void-tearing Slash. A skill that caused a huge tear in space was now compressed to a tiny line. This amplified the sharpness of the slash by many folds.

Satan's Soul and Chaos Rings of Defense stopped spinning. As they did, the rings split into

two.

"Im-Impossible...!" Satan had a hard time believing what had happened. These rings were his strongest defense.

The aureole behind him stopped spinning. He had finished refreshing his skill.

"I'm going to kill yoouuuu...!!!"

Following his roar, soul and chaos orbs appeared in his hands. He slammed these two orbs together. The skill he refreshed was the Soul and Chaos Chain Reaction.

An energy sphere, half silver, half dark purple, grew with Satan in its center. The sphere covered a tremendous area. All of Jack's illusions were devoured by this sphere. Because of the boost from the Final Form and the Soul and Chaos Peak Flames, the power and AOE of this skill were augmented. It covered almost three times the skill's normal coverage.

John, who had taken care to consider the chance of Satan using Soul and Chaos Chain Reaction, didn't expect this. He led everyone to stay outside the reach of the skill's normal range. When the menacing sphere came at them at breakneck speed, he was at a loss about what to do.

However, when the silver and dark purple sphere washed over them, they were surprised to find themselves without harm. The Soul and Chaos energies were all around them, ravaging everything. Yet, these energies didn't touch them. They were as if in a bubble where the destructive energies couldn't enter. They didn't even sense the energy raging outside the

bubble.

When they were still bewildered about what was happening, Jack appeared next to them. His sudden appearance made them all jump in surprise.

"Whoa! How the hell did you appear here?" Paytowin exclaimed.

"I've been here since before this Soul and Chaos Chain Reaction arrived," Jack answered. "I'm

simply invisible."

"... This is your doing?" John asked. He was referring to the bubble that protected them.

Jack nodded. "It's my Void Defense. Normally, the skill only protects me. My mana awakening let me alter the skill so it covers an area."

"Damn! That mana awakening truly throws all the rules into the bin," Paytowin remarked.

"It certainly defies all sense," John agreed.

"Can you defeat Satan?" Jeanny asked.

"... I can, but not fast enough," Jack answered. "I can feel it. I'm approaching my limit. If I don't end this mana awakening soon, I will go into a blackout. I can't defeat Satan with the

little time I have."

"So... should we retreat?" Paytowin asked.

"I cannot defeat Satan alone. But together, we can," Jack uttered.

"How can we help?" Grace asked.

"By using Hope's Light. Place your hands on my back!" Jack told them.

"Wait! If you are using Hope's Light, shouldn't I be at the center?" John asked.

"My mana awakening grants me better aim. Don't worry. As long as you people don't fight it,

I can draw Hope's Sanctification from your bodies."

The four complied and placed their hands on Jack's back. Aside from John, everyone activated their Hope's Sanctification. Their chests started to glow. The four behind Jack felt an invisible force enter them. They didn't fight it. A thread of light came out of the glow in their chests. It wormed its way through their arms and into Jack.

The light on Jack's chest intensified.

"Hey, I thought you said you are waiting for one spell to finish its cooldown?" John asked.

"Yes," Jack answered. "That spell is needed to ensure Satan cannot escape Hope's Light. It has come off cooldown. That's why I am here."

The Soul and Chaos Chain Reaction finally ended. Satan looked around the place. He was wary.

He couldn't sense Jack. He didn't know if Jack was still invisible. After searching around, he finally saw Jack with the other outworlders a great distance away. Those five outworlders were

covered in worrisome light.

"Then, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and..."

John's words stopped because, at that moment, Jack used Time Stop.

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