Published at 22nd of August 2024 10:16 pm

Chapter 1996: Reinforcements

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Master let go of the Book of the Damned. Despite doing that, the book didn't return to his inventory. It also didn't stop the Demonic Contract. The crimson threads from the book continued to channel energies to his legion. The book floated beside him.

Another magic staff appeared in his hand that was originally holding the book. Spell formation started to form from this magic staff.

Jack charged forward. Under the Sphere of Tiamat, his already incredible speed was boosted. Even so, he failed to reach Master before Master completed the casting. Master's speed of casting was simply inhuman.

The spell was, of course, the Greater Dispel. The Sphere of Tiamat encasing Jack's body vanished.

Jack was prepared. As soon as the sphere was gone, the blood veins in his body bulged. They emitted crimson fog. This was the Devil Blood ability from his Ring of Devil Incarnate.

Master could again undo this transformation using the Greater Dispel. But to do that, he needed to take out the Necronomicon to use the reduced cooldown ability. While maintaining an active ability from the Book of the Damned didn't require him to use a hand, activating an ability did. He needed to let go of his staff, use the Necronomicon, re-equip his staff, and cast the Greater Dispel. Even with his insane spellcasting speed, he could not complete the spell before Jack arrived.

Hence, he forwent casting another Greater Dispel. Another spell formation formed when Jack was charging at him under the Devil Blood.

Master's minions never stopped trying to halt Jack, but their effort was largely ineffective. Jack used Soul Asura after activating Devil Blood. With six blades, his sword art danced through the enemies, stopping them while getting past them simultaneously. The gold dragon followed closely behind him, preventing enemies from ambushing Jack from the flanks.

Master's decision to chain-cast his spell instead of refreshing the Greater Dispel let him complete his spell before Jack reached him. The space directly before him turned into a world filled with elemental tempest. Jack was locked inside this elemental turmoil.

The spell was called the Domain of Elemental Pandemonium. It came from level 90 Elemental Master. It was an AOE offensive spell that covered an extremely large area, but Master used Form Manipulation to shrink its area. As a result, the elemental turmoil within its AOE became much denser. Even with his buff, Jack couldn't fly out of the tempest. He was helpless as he was rocked by the elemental force.

The gold dragon flying behind Jack didn't get caught by the tempest. It didn't try to save Jack. It flew to the side, avoiding the tempest, and charged at Master.

However, Master was already prepared. He cast another spell immediately after casting the Domain of Elemental Pandemonium. His next spell, the Elemental Singularity, was completed. This single-target spell struck the incoming gold dragon and sent it sprawling. Master's other summons immediately swarmed at the dragon once its momentum was stopped.

Master didn't let up. He resumed casting another spell, in preparation for Jack somehow freeing himself from the Domain of Elemental Pandemonium. He could see Jack inside the dense tempest. Jack didn't seem to show any sign of escaping the tempest. However, his mana sense suddenly picked up on an incoming danger.

He couldn't detect the source. He was about to change his spellcasting into a defensive spell when he realized it was of no use. The attack happened right where he was. He activated Soul Armor to tank the attack, but his mana sense quickly warned him that the Soul Armor was not enough.

He had no choice but to let go of the Second Sun. Demon wings spread on his back. He was about to shoot away when a strong sucking force kept him tethered. The Soul Armor lessened the sucking force, but it was not strong enough to resist the force from keeping him there. He speed-cast Teleportation but reappeared where he was. He soon found himself covered in a world of white.

The second sun in the upper sky slowly dimmed before fizzling out. In the lower altitude, where the battle was raging, another much smaller sun materialized. This one was entirely white, and it didn't burn those on the outside, but the ones inside it were another matter. Those caught within its radiance could no longer escape, and Master was right in the middle.

This white sun was Hope's Light.

Jack and his gold dragon's charge was the third layer of distraction in John's tactic. Even if Jack couldn't reach Master, he successfully laid eyes on him. With that information, they had Master's coordinates.

Under John's instruction, those with Hope's Sanctification gathered around him. Jeanny, Paytowin, Grace, and another of Jack's clones came to the Celestial Moth. The Archdemon Lord and the Celestial Moth cast defensive spells to protect the five while they readied their assault.

Under concealment, they successfully launched their artillery assault. Master didn't know what hit him until it was too late.

"Grgghhh…!"

Master was enduring tremendous pressure within Hope's Light. His attributes were high enough that Hope's Light couldn't dispel the Soul Armor protecting him, but there was nothing he could do while under the light's pressure. He tried casting a spell but kept failing. He couldn't form a clear thought. It was like the light was also assailing his mind.

Despite possessing the highest HP bar among players, Master's HP still could not be compared to a native. His soul armor reduced the damage he received, but the damage was still substantial. He roared in frustration when his HP was depleted.

*

"What kind of enchantment did you people place here?"

The other Master, who was fighting mana-awakened Jack, asked Jack after his other self's demise. That other self was under an enchantment cast by a High Angel, which he summoned using a spell from the High Priest class. The enchantment allowed him to come back to life if killed within half an hour of the spell being cast. Yet, his other self didn't return to life.

"I have no idea what you are asking," Jack replied. "Shouldn't you be worried about your condition? Your divine incarnations will end soon."

After activating Demonization, Master was slightly stronger in terms of raw power. Jack was the one getting pushed in each clash. However, the divine incarnations had a short duration. They would end soon, and Master was nowhere close to defeating Jack.

Without the harassment from the Second Sun, Jack's force was no longer in a hurry. With Will's and Elayne's music, they could even take it easy despite the enemies outnumbering them. Furthermore, after Hope's Light defeated one Master, the Demonic Contract ended. The Book of the Damned vanished as it returned to the inventory of the still-living Master. Without the buff, the members of the Council of Elpo were stronger on average.

The scale tipped further following an earsplitting screech from the sky. Those who turned to the screech saw a giant white eagle diving toward them. This giant white eagle came because of John's Summon Apex Monster. The white eagle was not alone. Accompanying it were many other flying monsters, which came due to John's Call Monster Horde.

These monsters were not the only reinforcements.

"Jeanny!"

Jeanny turned when her name was called. The one who called her was her companion, Garuda. He was not alone. Flying with him was a horde of eaglefolk who lived nearby.

Jeanny used her companion token when Master summoned his legion. She didn't use the token to call Garuda. She used it to communicate, requesting Garuda to bring reinforcement. The Council of Elpo had a good relationship with the nearby eaglefolk. Hence, the eaglefolk didn't hesitate to help when they learned of the trouble befalling the divine faction.

These reinforcements removed the advantage of Master's legion. They no longer outnumbered their opponents.

Master looked around. His situation was not good. To make matters worse, his divine incarnations ended. He only had the Earth Titan Suit and Demonization. His power level decreased drastically.

Jack didn't let the chance go. He slashed using One-word Slash. A multi-color line shot out and sliced Master's head. The attack broke the stone mask covering Master's face.

"You lose! Our fight ends here!" Jack exclaimed. He was prepared to use a big skill to deal the finishing blow, but he paused when he saw Master's expression.

His attack had broken the stone mask covering Master's head so he could see Master's face. Master was grinning.

"Thank you," Master said.

After uttering the words, different elemental energies erupted from his body. Fire, ice, lightning, and the last was a fierce wind sphere that encapsulated his body.

Jack recognized those skills. They were the Fire God Suit, Ice God Suit, Lightning God Suit, and Wind God Rage. Together with the still-active Earth Titan Suit, Master had activated all the second skills from the divine treasures.

Jack wondered what the point was for Master to do that. Those skills were more for a defensive purpose. Did Master use it to prolong his survival? But that didn't explain his grin.

When Jack was still bewildered, an astonishing sight greeted him. All the elements shrouding Master's body were replaced by a multi-color aura like the one shrouding Jack's body.

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