Shadow Magecraft, a variant magecraft born from the combination of Imaginary Number Magecraft and the water attribute.
Li Zihan, who had nearly gone bald from dealing with Gem Magecraft and the Imaginary Number of magecraft, was naturally not proficient in Shadow Magecraft.
However, if it was merely mimicking its most basic form, it was practically effortless for him.
"Wh-what in the world are you doing?" "Welt," who had accepted Cocolia's order to capture both Raiden Mei and the kidnapper, had a twisted expression, as if he were about to devour someone.
"My strength isn't sufficient to oppose the entirety of Anti-Entropy's radical faction. If I keep running with her, I'll slip up sooner or later."
The young man, who had commanded his own shadow to devour Raiden Mei, snapped his fingers, and new gemstones floated out from his pocket.
"If Raiden Mei, who has the Gem of Conquest within her, is captured, the Third Great Honkai Eruption will occur, and that would be troublesome."
"Protecting a living person is troublesome, but preserving a gemstone is much simpler."
"So, I killed her."
Under "Welt's" gaze, which was practically shooting fire, the magus stated this nonchalantly.
"You bastard!!" "Welt's" furious voice erupted.
He wasn't angry because of Raiden Mei's death, of course; his loss of composure was entirely due to his inability to fulfill his promise to Cocolia, which would make him lose face.
"Be crushed under a hundred times gravity!!"
Rampant gravitational force pulled at everything in the surroundings. Wild winds howled, soil flew, and immense power was applied to an area tens of meters in radius as if without any warning.
A violent pressure descended from the sky, kneading and tearing at everything around. The ground was sinking, and everything in the vicinity was vibrating.
"Tsk tsk, is he this strong even as just a knock-off?" The magus, instantly crushing a gemstone to complete a teleportation and escape the area of immense pressure, looked at the shattered land and clicked his tongue.
"He sure can thrash about!" "Welt," clearly enraged by the magus's actions, snorted coldly and clenched his fists.
The deep blue gravitational field condensed into a dozen or so spheres. Following "Welt's" will, those dozen spheres suddenly burst forth, like a simultaneous cannon barrage.
The sheer momentum—if someone said there was a military exercise being conducted here, people would probably believe it.
The barrage, like an artillery drill, tore apart the innocent earth. Chunks of soil and rock hidden underground shot out. As far as the eye could see, it was a desolate and terrifying landscape.
Unfortunately, such powerful force was so utterly helpless before an exception who could freely change his spatial location.
Crack—
Before "Welt's" attack landed, the sound of a gemstone shattering rang out once more. The magus, targeted by the gravity spheres, vanished again, without any warning.
The saying "all that ferocious maneuvering, only to end up back at square one" probably described this kind of situation.
"Damn it!" "Welt," who hadn't thought spatial transfer was much trouble when watching the recording, only realized how unexpectedly difficult the enemy was after engaging him, and gritted his teeth.
If he were the true Herrscher of Reason, he could perfectly simulate a gravitational field ten thousand times Earth's gravity, easily tearing apart the surrounding space and capturing the magus.
Unfortunately, he was a counterfeit, and a low-quality one at that.
He had unleashed a slew of impressive-looking attacks, only to hit absolutely nothing in the end.
He could only forcibly suppress the anger in his heart, scan his surroundings, and search for the whereabouts of that incredibly evasive fellow.
"You've already attempted to kill me twice. If I fight back now, it should count as self-defense, right?"
In the distance, a voice suddenly sounded. The young man, holding a short sword, was smiling cheerfully.
"You actually dare to show yourself." "Welt," suddenly discovering that the fellow was standing to one side, watching him unleash his power as if watching a play, flew into a rage.
Anti-Entropy's agents were all respectful and deferential when they saw him, yet a damned kidnapper dared to wear the expression of a spectator.
Without any hesitation, blue, eerie patterns lit up on "Welt's" body. Under his control, Honkai energy released gravitational force, whipping up an immense storm.
The storm of gravity howled, its terrifying sound like the wailing of vengeful ghosts. As the storm rose, another gemstone shattered.
Without a doubt, this magus had chosen to use spatial magecraft to depart once more.
Without any warning, dozens of small spheres of gravity were flung out from the storm, exploding simultaneously, expanding in different areas, and devouring everything around them.
"Let's see how many you can dodge." A cruel and gleeful smile appeared on "Welt's" face.
The gravitational force carried by those small gravity spheres also possessed power equivalent to a hundred times Earth's gravity.
No one could survive in gravity equivalent to a hundred Gs; all creatures sucked into them would be crushed into a bloody pulp.
As long as one of them hit, victory would belong to him.
He could no longer be bothered with Cocolia's so-called order to "capture alive."
When he saw the magus's body struck by a gravity sphere that suddenly shot out from the storm, and blood splattered, a rampant smile spread across his face.
There's blood, it's the real one.
So what if he was a special character who could manipulate space? Before the First Herrscher, they were all trash.
"Tsk, is this IQ really that of Joyce's clone?"
Then, abruptly, a voice sounded from behind "Welt."
Accompanying it was a sharp sound of something tearing through the air.
"Welt" subconsciously threw a punch. Because he had exerted force too hastily, his Honkai-energy-enhanced fist failed to send the blade flying, merely managing to block the pounce.
The young man, who in "Welt's" perception should have been dead, narrowed his eyes, which had for some unknown reason turned blood-red, bathed in the moonlight, and swung the short sword in his hand.
That was a very dangerous armament. "Welt's" expression tightened; he had heard about this short sword while watching the recording. If his body were pierced by it, the blood vessels around the wound would be severed and then randomly reconnected.
Just imagining the consequences of an artery and vein being connected made even "Welt" feel a chill. He couldn't heal himself!
The second round of attack arrived immediately. The sound of a sharp weapon tearing through the air came from beside his ear, like the call of the Grim Reaper.
"Welt" abruptly gathered Honkai energy in his fist and hammered it towards the weapon that could almost be described as a one-hit kill.
"Welt's" expression was savage. His fist, enhanced by an enormous amount of Honkai energy, collided with the fatal blade in an instant.
He was going to smash this thing to pieces!
The short sword, made merely of alloy, twisted drastically under the immense force, emitting the unique lament of metal.
A smile appeared on the face of "Welt," whose close-combat abilities had been enhanced by Honkai energy to a terrifying level.
And then—
Bang bang bang—!
A continuous series of gunshots rang out. Amidst "Welt's" incredulous expression, Origin Bullets, each engraved with Runes, erupted from a revolver and slammed into his body.
Dark red blood splattered, and then, the concepts of "Sever" and "Bind" activated at the massive, torn wounds.
The massive blood loss drained most of his stamina. The blood that hadn't yet been lost flowed through the randomly connected vessels, destroying his bodily functions and bringing immense pain.
"Welt" wanted to activate his power, to give that rule-breaking fellow a vicious blow, but under the double impact, he sank powerlessly to his knees, his expression contorted like a demon's due to the pain.
"My Lord, the times have changed." The young man, his face now somewhat pale, lifted the slightly bent short sword and swung it down at "Welt's" head.
Blood splattered.
Here, Welt-One exited the stage.