Chapter 88: Accident (3)

“Hey, what’s going on here…?”
Overwhelmed by a series of unexpected events—whether it was the twenty-yard-tall dark bear or that mysterious puppet, Soghes… no, it should be called Cain now—but what surprised Allen the most was the strange behavior of his best friend.
“On Thos’s body…”
“What are those black flames?”
Lisa and Lelira whispered to each other.
“There’s a strong sense of darkness…” Scott subconsciously pushed up his glasses and said in a low voice, “I have a bad feeling…”
“A bad feeling?” Allen grinned beside him before shouting at Jiang Zhe, “Hey, buddy, is this some new trick? Wow, pretty cool, you jerk!”
To Allen’s surprise, the boy surrounded by black flames remained silent, lost in thought. Frustrated, Allen called out loudly, “Hey, stop showing off! Come help us!”
“Something’s wrong!” Scott stared intently at the boy enveloped in darkness, pushed up his glasses, and shouted at Lelira and Lisa, “Lelira, Lisa, back up! Don’t get close to Thos—something’s seriously off about him!”
“Is it magical backlash? Why isn’t he responding? Damn it!” Allen scratched his head in confusion.
Scott shook his head slightly and said softly, “It can’t be magical backlash… this ominous dark power…”
“Hm?” The changes on the scene also caught the attention of the lich Amos Hallwell. He stared intently at the dark power surrounding the boy and said gravely, “Darkness… the pure dark power I sense from you. How surprising. Have modern humans turned to demons already? Hehehehe, humans… there are always fools who seek ultimate power—you’ve made a deal with demons, haven’t you? Little reptile?!”
“Reptile?” With disbelief in his eyes, the boy raised his head and looked at the lich indifferently, saying coldly, “Are you talking about me?”

“Hm? Hey!” The lich’s body floating in mid-air trembled, before he burst into laughter. Pointing at the boy disdainfully, he said, “Humans are the most ignorant and foolish creatures—there’s no doubt about it, especially you brats—thinking you’ve become arrogant just because you’ve gained a little power! Even the demons of the abyss mean nothing to Amos, let alone you, who’ve only gotten a little power from those demons! With just a flick of my finger, I can easily kill you!”
Raising his head, the boy gave the lich a cold glance and said slowly, “Then what are you waiting for? Flick your finger already!”
“Thors?” Ravia found it hard to believe.
He… he actually spoke?
Unlike the underground mine near Asher Village a year ago, it seemed he hadn’t lost consciousness this time.
Filled with surprise, Ravia slowly walked over to the boy, hesitantly raising her hand and saying, “Are… are you okay?”
To Ravia’s surprise, the boy merely gave her a brief glance before turning his attention back to the lich in the distance.
Ravia couldn’t help but take a few steps back, as the coldness in the boy’s eyes deeply hurt her.
Idiot!
What kind of look was that, as if she were a stranger!
Ravia instinctively covered her chest; her heart seemed to contract violently, and the sharp pains made it hard for her to breathe.
It can’t be him… not Thors…
Recalling that heart-wrenching cold gaze, memories from the past flooded Ravia’s mind…
Somehow, she had taken pleasure in tormenting the boy—mocking him, teasing him, and occasionally arguing with him. Indeed, she liked seeing the confidence in his eyes, but even more so, she enjoyed seeing his helpless and pained expression, and him awkwardly apologizing to her while she pretended to reluctantly accept it…
Then, once again, she would push him to the limit of his endurance…
She loved that feeling…
But now, recalling the way he had looked at her just now, Ravia suddenly felt as if something had vanished from her fingertips. Vaguely, her heart became extremely heavy.

“Oh? Confidence swelling after gaining power?” The lich Hallewell seemed to laugh, pointing at the boy with his bone-white fingers in mockery. “So eager to challenge the mighty Amos already?” He shook his head, speaking with deep regret, “But there’s no need for me to intervene. I know very well that your powers are nearly exhausted. In such extreme cold, you won’t last long. Besides, your opponents are those Frost Skulls and the Crystal Phoenix summoned by Amos—they’re more than enough to deal with you!”
“Frost Skulls… Crystal Phoenix?” The boy glanced at the Frost Skulls around him and the giant Crystal Phoenix with an emotionless expression, then said calmly, “That confident?”
“Of course!” The lich spread his arms and laughed deeply. “Don’t underestimate these Frost Skulls, nor this Crystal Phoenix—Or do you think you can handle them? Hehehehe, let Amos see then! Let him see what kind of power you’ve gotten from that demon, you reptile!”
Staring intently at the lich, the boy whispered, “As you wish—do as you say!” With that, he turned and walked toward the giant Crystal Phoenix.
“Thos?” Coming back to her senses from shock, Ravia rushed forward, ignoring her own injuries, and grabbed the boy’s arm. But the next moment, her hand was pushed away.
“Get out of the way!”
Get… out of the way?
Ravia’s body and soul trembled.
He actually said she was in the way?
That bastard actually said she was in the way?
How could he do this?
How could he say such things?!
Ravia had never felt so wronged.
Everyone in the world could call her in the way, but him… only him couldn’t!
How could this be…
She clearly…
“Hey,” Allen said in confusion as he watched the boy walk past him. “That’s too much, man!”
But the boy didn’t stop; he continued walking toward the Crystal Phoenix.
Glancing at the boy’s back and then at Ravia, who seemed to be holding back something, Scott sighed slightly and shook his head. “It seems my intuition was right. Something’s definitely off…”
“What do we do now?” Allen asked, bewildered.
“Let’s see…” Scott replied calmly.

“Check the situation?” Allen said in disbelief, his eyes wide open. “Hey, are we really going to let Thors deal with that damn giant ice bird by himself?”
“It’s an Ice Crystal Phoenix!” Scott rolled his eyes at Allen helplessly before whispering, “Indeed, that Ice Crystal Phoenix is extremely powerful, and that lich is even stronger. But… the pressure Thors exerts on me right now is greater than theirs… That powerful dark force pouring directly into the soul through his body…”
“Pressure? I don’t feel any,” Allen scratched his head in confusion. It wasn’t surprising—perhaps he simply lacked the natural talent to sense such subtle things.
Bernie narrowed his eyes at the boy’s back and murmured, “No wonder… From the start, I felt this kid’s strength was incredibly strong. He’s even stronger than us, who are national magicians. If he made a deal with a demon, that makes sense…”
“Power obtained from a demon?” Reed murmured, feeling the inexplicable pressure coming from the boy. “Is it really just an ordinary demon from the abyss, as that lich said? Can an ordinary demon make one’s soul tremble just with its presence? Maybe… it’s a great demon!”
“Hm?” Seemingly not hearing his companion, Bernie turned around confusedly. “What?”
“Nothing…”
Under everyone’s focused gaze, the boy stopped about ten yards away from the Ice Crystal Phoenix. Then, the puppet calling itself Cain stepped forward, holding a steel greatsword, and said in a deep voice, “Master! Cain is ready for battle. Please give your orders!”
The boy glanced at the frosty skeletons slowly encircling them and said calmly, “Get rid of those annoying guys!”
“Yes!” King Cain, the puppet, nodded respectfully. Then, he gripped the steel greatsword with both hands and plunged it deeply into the ground beneath his feet.
“Buzz…” With a humming sound, fifteen white circular halos suddenly appeared on the ground near Cain. After a pause of about a second, those fifteen halos suddenly emitted white beams of light. Within those beams, a shadow emerged in each one…
“This is…”
“Oh my god!”
Under everyone’s astonished looks, fifteen figures stepped out from those fifteen halos.

“Kanso?” With wide eyes, Allen stared in shock at the person beside him. That can’t be right… Isn’t Kanso right here?
“Knight?” Scott, usually calm, showed some surprise. He instinctively looked for his puppet knight, Knight, only to find him standing right behind him.
“Queen…” Ravia frowned as she stared at the beautiful woman who appeared beside Cain. Suddenly, she felt a breeze and instinctively glanced around, only to see her own puppet back by her side. But what was that female puppet that looked exactly like hers, standing beside Cain?
“Huh? Sogjes has turned into eight…” Lisa blinked curiously.
“That’s not Sogjes. The one who calls himself Cain is actually Sos’s true puppet, the soldier Sogjes. But for some reason, he’s turned into this form. These fifteen puppets must be summoned by him…”
“Mm-hmm,” Lisa nodded vigorously. “That’s amazing! Avi’s puppet queen, Queen Queen; Scott’s puppet knight, Knight; Allen’s puppet castle, Kanso—all have been summoned! And there are even two Knights and two Kansos. Hmm, plus the soldier Sogjes… He’s summoned eight Sogjes! Hehe, so interesting… Yeah, I haven’t seen the remaining two yet, but they look exactly the same too…”
“The ones we haven’t seen are probably the bishop among the pawn puppets,” Scott said softly, pushing up his glasses.
“Hmm!” Allen nodded, touching his smooth chin thoughtfully. “That old professor only created six different pawn puppets. He gave us four of them—queen, knight, castle, and soldier. The rest are king and bishop…”
“Looking at that Cain, he’s exactly like the king pawn from back then. Clearly, Cain is the king. Then the remaining two we haven’t seen must be the bishops,” Scott said, pushing up his glasses with interest. “Is this the infinite possibility of the soldier puppets? Can they turn into the highest-ranking king? Or can they turn into any other one? It’s so interesting!”
“I’m really jealous! Whether it’s Knight or King Cain, they both look so handsome. Damn it! Why are my puppets, Allen’s, so ugly?” Allen said angrily, scratching his hair.
“Uuuu…” Beside him, the castle Kanso looked at its master with a pitiful expression.

Seemingly amused by the look on his puppet’s face, Allen clenched his left fist and slammed it hard into Kanso’s stomach, then laughed deeply. “Why the long face? For a man, being strong is more important than looking good, buddy!”
Shaking his head helplessly at Allen, Scott pushed up his glasses and said calmly, “But… have you noticed? Allen, the puppets summoned by Kane are all without independent consciousness. Real puppets…”
“Mm!” Nodding, Allen said with a smile, “Of course. My Kanso is far better than those two stone pillars. On the contrary, your Knight and those two chess puppets seem pretty much the same…”
“Can I take that as you being jealous?” Scott rolled his eyes in exasperation, then shifted his gaze from Allen to the battlefield, pushed up his glasses again, and said softly, “In terms of strength and speed, those puppets are on par with our puppets, but there’s still something missing… It must be independent consciousness!”
“They must be controlled by that Kane. Look, Kane hasn’t even moved; he’s just standing there showing off with that heavy sword…”
“Heh, maybe he doesn’t need to lift a finger. Those fifteen chess puppets are enough to take care of those Frost Skelets. Maybe… perhaps Kane is the weakest among his six chess pieces! A king doesn’t necessarily need to be extremely strong—just able to wield that power is enough…”
Observing the battlefield from afar, Allen mused, “Is this King Kane’s special ability? To summon and control other chess puppets in battle, but he doesn’t have much strength himself?”
“Probably…”
Just then, Scott suddenly saw one of the soldier puppets killed by the Frost Skelets. But soon, another soldier puppet appeared among those fifteen auras and joined the battle again.
“It seems it’s more than that…”
“How jealous!” Allen looked frantic, but strangely, his gaze remained fixed on Kane’s armor. It seemed that it was that heavy and magnificent knight’s armor that he was truly jealous of…

As Scott guessed, King Kane himself did not possess great strength. On the contrary, despite wearing heavy knight armor, he was the weakest among the six puppets. Yet, he could summon and control fifteen other puppet minions to fight—one queen, two bishops, two knights, two castles, and eight soldiers. Even more astonishingly, whenever one of these puppets was destroyed, those fifteen auras would immediately replenish themselves. This incredible special ability was both extremely powerful and, at the same time, extremely weak. Because if King Kane himself was destroyed, his battle would end—after all, he was the king!

That said, against these Frost Skelets, this special ability proved highly effective. The seemingly terrifying Frost Skelets were steadily pushed back by the attacks of the fifteen puppet minions, and most of them were destroyed within a few minutes. Meanwhile, the demonized boy also seemed to have begun fighting the Crystal Phoenix.

Lavia kept an eye on the boy, worried about his condition. She seemed to realize that this situation was different from the last time. Yes, it indeed was different. At least last time, the boy, who had been in a dazed state, could never have provoked his opponent.

“A Crystal Phoenix, huh? What are you waiting for?”

Standing seemingly unprepared just a dozen yards away from the giant Crystal Phoenix, the boy said calmly, “Let’s end this troublesome battle sooner!”

The boy’s provocation seemed to anger the bird soul inside the Crystal Phoenix. It let out a low growl and spread its wings, sending gusts of icy wind in an attempt to freeze the boy into an ice statue. Unfortunately, its plan failed…

“Boring tricks!” the boy said indifferently. Immediately afterward, the giant dark bear slowly moved forward to protect the boy, and the freezing wind had no effect at all.

“Oh? Do you still plan to use that ridiculous bear to fight my Crystal Phoenix?” the lich Amos Hallwell sneered. “It’s useless. Didn’t you try it already?”

To the lich’s surprise, the boy gave him a casual glance. Then, the giant dark bear gradually shrank to about two yards in size, clinging tightly to the boy. At roughly head level, a pair of pale red eyes slowly opened…

“Uuuu!” Seeming to spot those eyes, the Ice Crystal Phoenix instantly became terrified and frenzied. Flapping its massive wings, it rushed at the boy with a fierce gust of wind, its closed beak glowing with a chilling light.
“Thors!” Lavia and Dia exclaimed in unison in shock.
“Those eyes…” The sorcerer Amos Halwell’s blue flames in his eyes flickered, as if he was surprised too, but what surprised him even more was that the ridiculous reptile had simply disappeared from where it stood.
“Tho… where’s Thors?” Lisa opened her eyes, searching for the boy.
Then, Lelira beside her seemed to see something and raised her hand, saying, “I found Thors! On the back of that Frost Phoenix!”
Amidst everyone’s astonished gazes, the boy had already stood on the back of the Frost Phoenix, staring at it with an emotionless, cold expression.
“Flash?” Lavia murmured to herself. “Has he fully mastered Flash? No way… Just a few days ago, he said it would take time to prepare it…”
As she spoke, Lisa’s puzzled voice came from beside her.
“Huh? What does Thors want to do?”
Lavia immediately raised her head and was stunned to see a beam of light shoot out from the boy’s right hand in an instant. The beam was black on the outside and red on the inside, over twenty yards long, resembling a sharp sword. Then, with a swift swing of his right hand, the Frost Phoenix’s wings were cut off like withered branches.
With the soul of a bird trapped within it, the Frost Phoenix let out a mournful cry before crashing to the ground, scattering ice shards and frost everywhere.
“How cruel…” Covering her mouth, Lisa stared in disbelief at the expressionless boy and said timidly, “Thors… he seems so terrifying now…”
“…” Lavia silently bit her lip, staring at the boy as he gently landed on the ground, then stepped toward the Frost Phoenix’s head and placed his right palm in the center of it.
A dissonant black-red light surged from the Frost Phoenix’s body, and with a loud explosion, its massive body was shattered into countless ice crystals.
A kill without even exerting any effort…
Staring in shock at this scene, Allen widened his eyes and said in disbelief, “Hey, that was way too clean and quick, wasn’t it?”
“The gap in strength…” Scott frowned as he watched everything and whispered, “They’re not even in the same league—those Frost Phoenixes and the current Thors…”

Though that was what was said, such an outcome was still far beyond everyone’s expectations. After all, the Ice Crystal Phoenix was so powerful that even the previous Fire Bear couldn’t handle it, and even the Lich Amos Halwell couldn’t believe what he saw.
“How… how dare you… destroy Amos’s Ice Crystal Phoenix?” With blazing anger, the Lich’s face twisted in fury as he roared, “That soul… it was indeed the soul of the Ice Crystal Phoenix! Amos had worked so hard to obtain it, and you… you wretched reptile, you destroyed it?!”
“Weren’t you the one who said that?” The boy wore an indifferent expression, scratched his hair, and said casually, “But… that so-called Ice Crystal Phoenix really disappointed me…”
“You wretched reptile! You damned reptile!” The enraged Lich slowly descended from the air, standing about ten yards away from the boy. He raised his bony fingers at the boy and said harshly, “Amos swears he will make you die in the cruelest way possible. After your death, your soul will not go to the Land of Death. You will become Amos’s possession, and your soul will forever be enslaved by him!”
“Alright, whatever,” the boy said indifferently in the face of the Lich’s anger. He lazily scratched his black-gray hair and thought for a moment before saying, “Hmm… fighting is so troublesome. How about playing a game?”
“A… game?” The anger in the Lich’s eyes paused as he asked in confusion, “What kind of game?”
“Nothing much. We just count to ten and then start fighting to see who kills the other first. How about that?”
“Hmm?” The Lich was stunned and nodded helplessly, saying, “Is that more interesting? Very well, reptile. Amos accepts your rules!”
“Hmm, then let’s start!” The boy stood in front of the Lich with his arms crossed and whispered, “One, two, three…”
Suddenly, as the Lich Halwell listened to the boy counting, he found that his opponent had disappeared in an instant. Before he could react, he was shocked to see a palm-sized black-red beam pierce his chest.
That terrifying black-red beam was like deadly poison. Amos felt an indescribable pain deep in his soul. He could only watch helplessly as his pale blue body was covered with black-red patterns, which then gradually cracked, with strands of black light emerging from the cracks, just like the Ice Crystal Phoenix before.

“Ugh…” The lich Hallevell, whose body gradually glowed with black light, roared with endless fury, “You damned reptile! How dare you deceive Amos! How dare you… deceive Amos! Amos swears he will return to avenge this…” Yet he never finished his sentence. With a loud crash, Hallevell’s body shattered like glass, revealing the boy’s figure. The boy scratched the hair at the back of his head and said in a somewhat lazy voice, “As expected, counting to ten is too much trouble… Anyway, the outcome won’t change, so… just leave it at that!” “Crack, crack!” Amidst the sounds of breaking, the remaining dozen or so Frost Skelets in the frozen library shattered one by one due to the loss of lich Amos Hallevell’s magical support. The ice in the entire library gradually melted, and the temperature rose, but everyone remained in a state of shock and stupor. “It’s… over?” Allen, who had planned to help his best companion when he was in trouble, was too shocked to speak. “A lich… that was a lich…” Bernie stared wide-eyed at the boy standing beside a pile of blue crystals, almost popping his eyes out. “Thors…” Dia, who also witnessed this scene, was equally speechless, covering her mouth in disbelief as she stared at the boy. “What an utterly overwhelming power!” Due to the temperature, Scott’s glasses became foggy. As he wiped them, he looked at his closest friend. Suddenly, he noticed Ravi’s expression. Hm? “Hey, buddy, aren’t you a bit too strong? You’ve completely taken away Lord Allen’s glory!” With a carefree expression, Allen smiled as he walked toward the boy, reaching out to pat his shoulder as usual. Suddenly, he sensed a gust of wind beside him. Turning around, he was shocked to see Cain raising his heavy sword at him. Dodging Cain’s swing, Allen stepped back several times and said in confusion, “Hey, Sordges, uh, no, Cain, what are you doing? Hey, Thors, control your puppet! That’s outrageous! Making such a joke…” His words suddenly stopped as he saw the boy turn his head and give him a cold glance—emotionless, as if looking at a complete stranger…

Looking at the fifteen puppet demons summoned by Kane approaching him, along with Kane’s hostile gaze from within his horned helmet, Allen couldn’t help but take a few steps back.
“Hey, come on! Are you kidding? This isn’t funny at all!”