Setting a Trap

Riyao lay behind a low slope in the Black Bone Mountain Range, his fingertips lightly touching the ground as his magic spread silently through the soil.

This was his usual method of scouting, subtler and more precise than magical sensing.

Before long, a dense mass of life-signs came from the direction of the abandoned mine. They weren't wild beasts moving at random, but figures moving in an orderly pattern, at least forty or fifty of them.

He immediately dismissed the idea of charging straight in.

He wasn't some reckless fool. Facing so many people alone was already a disadvantage, and who knew if there was an exceptionally powerful leader hidden deeper inside?

"No way am I fighting myself half to death. If things go wrong, the whole guild will be eating at my funeral."

Riyao was holding his breath and retreating, preparing to circle around and call for backup, when something unexpected suddenly happened.

The earth beneath his feet churned violently, and hidden binding vines shot out, wrapping straight toward his limbs and ankles.

His heart tightened. His physical strength erupted in an instant, and he kicked hard off the ground, leaping into the air and deftly avoiding the sudden entanglement.

The instant he landed, several dark cursed lights flared around him.

A dense crowd of black-robed mages emerged from behind the rocks and among the trees, ranks upon ranks of them blocking every escape route and surrounding him.

A pitch-black figure stepped slowly out on a halo of darkness, his lavish black robe embroidered all over with curse patterns. He clapped his hands leisurely, a calculating note in his voice.

"Lord Riyao, you've finally come."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nildo Longra, president of the Black Light Society."

Riyao froze for a moment, bewilderment written all over his face, then said flatly, "What the hell are you barking about?"

Nildo completely ignored the insult, lost in his own schemes as he burst out laughing.

"I planned it all, spreading the plague and sacrificing the lives in the town. I could please Lord Zeref and lure you into a trap to claim your body, killing two birds with one stone!"

Riyao frowned, his face full of disgust.

"Sorry, I don't like men. Even if you get my body, you won't get my heart."

"Shut up! What nonsense are you spouting, you bastard?!"

Nildo instantly lost his composure and roared in anger.

"Who wants your heart?! I'm going to refine your body into a vessel to offer to Lord Zeref!"

"Tch." Riyao curled his lip. "You put on that act for so long, and now you've lost all your class."

Those words utterly enraged Nildo. His face twisted as he barked an order: "Get him! Sew that bastard's mouth shut!"

In an instant, the black-robed mages surrounding them all lunged in to kill, their magic surging.

Riyao put away his playful expression. The muscles and bones throughout his body tensed as he sank into a firm stance, facing the swarming attackers with nothing but his long-honed physique, using no magic and summoning no plants.

Healing Magic: Hundred Battles activated instantly. Golden patterns spread across his body, pushing his self-healing to its absolute limit and greatly increasing the toughness of his flesh and skin, allowing him to heal rapidly even when injured.

With monstrous strength mode fully unleashed, his body looked ordinary, yet it burst with power far beyond its appearance.

He let out a low shout, planted his foot, and charged into the crowd like a cannonball.

A mage swung a blade at him head-on. Riyao neither dodged nor retreated, taking the blade on his left arm. His opponent's magic left only a shallow cut on his skin, which a flash of Qing instantly erased.

Before the mage could recover, Riyao clenched his right fist and twisted his waist, sending his fist whistling through the air into his opponent's face.

"Bang!"

The enemy's nose caved in, and he flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing into a rock and losing consciousness.

Someone swept a short staff at his knee from the side. Riyao lowered his center of gravity, his right leg as unmoving as a steel pillar. He caught the attacker's wrist with a backhand grab, yanked hard in the direction of the blow, then shoved forward, twisting the arm until it broke with a crack. At the same time, he drove his knee into the man's chest, smashing him into the dirt.

The fighting techniques he had practiced over the past two years all came into play. He used his opponents' force against them and controlled his center of gravity with perfect precision, making every blow both economical and deadly.

Flying blades and poisonous spikes formed from enemy magic kept striking him. Some grazed his flesh, while others lodged in his shoulders.

But Hundred Battles never stopped. His wounds scabbed over and healed at a visible speed, vanishing before even a drop of blood could fall.

Riyao paid them no mind, simply charging through the crowd with alternating punches. Every fist struck flesh, and every blow came with the crisp sound of bones breaking.

He grabbed one mage by the back of his collar and swung him around like a little chick, knocking down three of his companions before letting go.

Two more rushed in and grabbed him around the waist. Riyao abruptly bent forward and used his concentrated strength to throw them off. As they landed, he followed up with two kicks, breaking their ankles.

In the chaotic melee, Riyao moved as though no one were there, taking attacks from every direction as he unleashed a furious barrage.

Qing flickered across his body, a sign of his self-healing working at high speed. His fists never stopped, and within his seemingly lean frame lay crushing power.

There was no other expression on his face, only unrestrained exhilaration. A proper fight after so long was far more enjoyable than facing stacks of treatment requests.

Nildo Longra stood on the outskirts of the battle, watching his subordinates fall one after another like wheat before a scythe. There was not a trace of heartache on his face. Instead, his eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his lips curled into an almost greedy, sinister grin.

He rubbed his hands, his eyes glued to Riyao like a starving wolf watching its prey, his gaze so fervent it was almost burning.

The Qing flowing over Riyao's skin, his resilience in healing instantly after injury, and the vitality that remained vigorous even under a siege all took on the most alluring sheen in Nildo's eyes.

This body was even more perfect than he had imagined!

"Hahaha... Wonderful! It's absolutely perfect!"

He couldn't help chuckling aloud, his voice full of barely suppressed excitement.

"He can still attack so ferociously after taking so many hits, and his self-healing and vitality are both this strong. He's practically a vessel tailor-made for Lord Zeref!"

A lackey sent flying by one of Riyao's punches landed right at his feet. Nildo didn't even glance at him, simply stepping over him and advancing toward the battle one step at a time.

His gaze followed Riyao's every movement as he greedily sensed that inexhaustible aura of life, his breathing growing rapid.

"The better he fights, the more vigorous his vitality. Only a vessel like this can contain Lord Zeref's power!"

Nildo Longra was lost in his fervent covetousness, his gaze fixed on Riyao's body as he murmured praise without pause, paying no attention to the battle around him.

In the moment he was distracted by his own words, the remaining lackeys were still throwing themselves into the fight.

But ordinary mages were physically frail to begin with. They had neither powerful physiques nor the ability to heal themselves continuously, so how could they withstand Riyao's precise and savage punches and kicks?

Every clash was a one-sided crushing. Crisp cracks sounded in succession as the black-robed figures fell one after another, unable to withstand even one or two moves.

In just a few breaths, the crowd that had surrounded him in layers had dwindled to almost nothing. Dark mages lay sprawled all over the ground, unable to fight.

He raised a hand and gathered a dense mass of dark magic. A black-purple halo covered his entire body as he hunched over and let out a low roar.

Riyao ignored martial ethics and charged straight up to Nildo Longra, blasting a punch directly at his face.