Two raging torrents of mana collided violently in the narrow Underground Chamber.
Mana erupted from the Deputy’s wand tip, searing flames detonating instantly—seventh-tier magic, [Blazing City Incineration].
[Blazing City Incineration] wasn’t a scattered stream of fire, but a highly compressed seventh-tier flame ray. Where it passed, the air shrieked with tearing pressure, and the heat instantly melted and vaporized the surfaces of distant ice sculptures.
The Pope swung his Wand in response, earthen-yellow Magic Array Patterns converging abruptly at the wand’s tip.
Seventh-tier earth magic, [Earth Pulse Tremor].
Not only did the ground begin to quake violently, undulating like waves, but countless sharp Rock Spikes thrust out from every direction.
The Deputy’s footing was destroyed, and his room to dodge was sealed off.
Meanwhile, the ground beneath the Pope’s landing point rose instantly, and even the tunnel ceiling above him developed a crater.
This let him perfectly evade the Deputy’s [Blazing City Incineration]—nearly two birds with one stone.
At the same time, a dense beam of corroding dark-purple energy weaved through the chaos, silently striking at the Deputy’s flank.
It was [Shadow Burst]. The Pope had unleashed two high-level magics in rapid succession.
Yet the Deputy’s figure blurred abruptly a hair’s breadth before the Rock Spikes closed in, leaving only an afterimage in his place.
The next second, he appeared in midair five meters away, [High-level Levitation Spell] letting him hover with ghostly grace.
His former position was already covered by interweaving Rock Spikes and corroding energy.
The Deputy’s wand stabbed downward, and a blinding serpent of lightning shot straight at the Pope.
Seventh-tier magic, [Chain Lightning].
The single bolt split into dozens of finer Arc Lightnings midair, blanketing the Pope’s entire body and forcing him to defend.
The Pope snorted coldly, neither dodging nor flinching. A layer of earthen-yellow glow surfaced across his dark-red skin.
Seventh-tier earth defense magic, [Rock God’s Protection].
Most of the Arc Lightnings were deflected by the glow or grounded into the earth. Only a few struck true, making his body sway slightly and leaving shallow scorch marks on his skin—gone in an instant.
***
Meanwhile, the Pope’s left hand clenched the air, and sixth-rank dark magic [Shadow Binding] descended abruptly.
The Deputy’s shadow beneath his feet came alive, extending several pitch-black tendrils that snaked toward his ankles!
The Deputy immediately used [Teleportation], appearing at the Pope’s flank and rear, perfectly evading the Shadow Binding.
His wand swept, and countless blade-sharp [Wind Blades] and [Ice Spikes] merged into a frozen storm, crashing down upon the Pope.
It was a fine test of mana control—combining low and mid-tier magics of different elements into a compound attack that was difficult to defend against.
The Pope turned, spinning his wand in a circle, and cast seventh-tier compound defense magic [Elemental Shield].
The shield’s surface shimmered with flowing light. The Wind Blades and Ice Spikes smashed into it, and clashing attributes triggered small-scale elemental turbulence. Most were deflected or annihilated, but some still pierced through, carving small wounds across his limbs.
A fierce glint flashed in the Pope’s eyes. Seizing the gap between the Deputy’s attacks, he opened his mouth and let out a silent shriek.
It was a mental attack! [Fear Shriek].
The Deputy knew nothing of this. It was a skill belonging to Demons of another world, not within the human category.
Invisible psychic ripples spread outward. The face behind the Deputy’s mask paled slightly, and his Levitation Spell wavered for an instant.
The Pope seized the moment, stomping the ground hard. His entire body shot upward like a cannonball, his dark-red fist tearing through the air with residual gale force, driving straight at the Deputy’s chest!
He’d abandoned magic entirely, relying on his monstrous physique for a melee ambush!
At the critical moment!
The Deputy gritted through the mental discomfort, activated [Teleportation], and narrowly dodged the fist.
The punch’s wake grazed his robe, shredding the fabric. The residual force blasted a web of cracks into the rock wall behind him.
Such frightening physique!
The Deputy’s heart ran cold.
He hesitated no longer, pulling distance and raising his wand high. Three searing Fireballs the size of houses condensed in the air.
Seventh-tier magic, [Explosive Flame Star].
The magics descended in a triangular formation, sealing off the Pope’s escape routes, while the ground surged again—another magic, [Earth Spike Prison], thrust up from below. The two combined flawlessly!
The Pope’s expression didn’t change. He swung his wand heavily, a blue Magic Array Pattern gleaming at its tip.
The next second, vast mana converged into surging, rolling floodwaters that drowned the entire tunnel. The Deputy’s Fire Magic smashed into the water, sending up a veil of dense steam.
Seventh-tier water magic, [Deep Water Deluge].
In an instant, the entire tunnel was filled with billowing vapor, and visibility became extremely blurred.
The Pope himself briefly submerged into the flowing water, caught in his own magic’s radius.
Though somewhat disheveled, he’d cleverly avoided the epicenter of the Deputy’s two-magic combination strike.
The Pope’s figure burst abruptly from the water.
Through the hazy mist and towering Rock Spikes, the Pope’s dark-red form appeared suddenly. Gripping his wand in one hand, he fired a ray of dark-red light, condensed to the extreme, straight at the Deputy.
Seventh-tier dark-fire dual-element mixed magic, [Abyssal Karmic Flame].
The Deputy used [Teleportation] once more to evade. The spot where he’d been hovering was grazed by the ray, space itself seeming to corrode with faint black traces.
He appeared on the other side, rapidly calculating known intelligence in his mind.
His opponent cast magic with practiced speed, mastered all attributes, and especially boasted a monstrous physique that shrugged off sixth-rank magic with little damage. His close-combat burst was terrifying.
His own [Teleportation] and [High-level Levitation Spell] gave him a mobility advantage, but their mana cost was considerable, and he couldn’t land a decisive blow.
If the fight dragged on, once his mana depleted to a certain point and his mobility dropped, facing this monster’s physique and sustained magical pressure, he’d surely fall into crisis!
The probing goal was already achieved.
This Greater Demon’s strength was estimated at around mid-Eighth-Rank Mage, formidable in both magic and physique.
With this preliminary understanding, he could slowly devise targeted strategies later. Acquiring the “sample” would require careful long-term planning.
The Deputy formed a plan for a strategic retreat. He used [Teleportation] again to open a large gap, then feigned gathering a massive seventh-tier magic to draw the Pope’s attention and defense.
In secret, he’d already locked onto the Middle Courtyard Garden’s coordinates above, mana beginning to flow into the [Teleportation] magic circuit.
In just an instant, he could escape, leaving this Demon raging impotently underground.
However, at the very moment spatial fluctuations were about to ripple, an unusually obscure sense of resistance—like an invisible quagmire—suddenly seeped down from the rock layers above, firmly locking onto this space!
The spatial coordinates for [Teleportation] blurred instantly. Mana flow felt like it was stuck in thick glue, sluggish and rough. The half-formed spatial passage trembled violently, nearly collapsing.
“Huh?!”
The pupils beneath the Deputy’s mask shrank abruptly.
Why… won’t the [Teleportation] magic activate?!
This was definitely not any magic effect the Pope had just used!
Was this… a seal against spatial movement? Or was there some interference barrier up above?!
What in the world is going on?!