Wayne

In the Ensini Region, yellow sand filled the sky.

The casual promise made in front of the guild gate that "I should be back before dinner" has long been forgotten.

Jiang Bai's figure flickered continuously in space, each appearance and disappearance spanning tens of kilometers.

He ignored the rampant depletion of magical power within his body, pushing the frequency of Space Transfer to its limit.

Towns, forests, mountains, rivers... all the scenery turned into blurry patches of color that flashed by in his eyes, which he left behind without a second thought.

He had only one thought in his mind: faster, faster!

Finally, when the endless, desolate desert came into view, Jiang Bai's figure suddenly solidified in mid-air.

He's here.

His gaze swept across the desolate desert, and he instantly locked onto a direction.

There, a massive purple magic circle radiated an ominous light, like a hideous scar branded onto the earth.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Bai's figure flashed again, and the next second, he appeared less than fifty meters away from the magic circle.

He could see what was inside clearly.

Beneath the massive purple energy shield, Elfman and Lisanna had inexplicably collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Only Mirajane managed to maintain the form of the Satan Soul, kneeling on one knee, supporting her swaying body with her arm, her face as pale as paper.

Seemingly sensing the magical fluctuations in the outside world, Mirajane struggled to raise her head.

When she saw that familiar figure, a hint of joy flashed in her originally dim eyes, but it was quickly replaced by endless terror and despair.

"No!"

Mirajane waved his arms frantically, his lips moving rapidly as if he were shouting something at the top of his lungs.

"Run! Don't come any closer! It's a trap!"

Unfortunately, this damned magic circle completely blocked out sound.

Jiang Bai couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could read her anxious, distorted expression and understand her desperate attempts to push him away.

The meaning couldn't be clearer—run! Don't come any closer!

However, Jiang Bai's face remained completely unmoved.

Even on his way here, his Mental Detection, which covered the entire area, had already given him a clear understanding of everything.

He knew this was a trap set specifically for him, and that these fools were lurking in the shadows, waiting for him to walk right into their trap.

He also saw through the true nature of the magic circle.

This is a sophisticated spatial magic array that combines the properties of confinement, isolation, and magic absorption.

It is virtually impossible to break through it from the outside using brute force.

The only way to break this deadlock is to get close to it and use your understanding of the rules of space to dismantle its technical structure from within.

This played right into the enemy's hands.

But Jiang Bai did not hesitate at all.

He simply stared quietly at the girl inside the magic circle, who was still desperately shaking her head at him.

Seeing her, even though she was already in dire straits, still anxiously worrying about her safety.

Jiang Bai felt as if something had stabbed him hard in the heart.

He slowly raised his foot and took his first step towards the purple light screen.

Inside, locked up, was a girl whose heart and soul were completely devoted to him.

How could we not save them?

Jiang Bai took a step forward.

The purple light curtain rippled like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

His figure passed through without any hindrance, as if the energy shield that imprisoned everything did not exist at all.

The moment Jiang Bai fully entered the magic circle, the light barrier behind him instantly closed, returning to its original state and completely isolating him from the outside world.

The trap has been set.

The stone house door creaked open again, and the group of mages cloaked in black filed out, with the short, stout man at the head of the group— Wayne.

With smug smiles on their faces, they slowly walked to the magic circle and looked at Jiang Bai inside through the light barrier with a mocking expression.

"Jiang Bai, you've finally arrived." Wayne's voice was filled with an arrogant confidence.

Jiang Bai didn't even bother to glance at him, his gaze remaining fixed on Mirajane, who was still desperately shaking his head at him not far away. He simply uttered four words.

So what?

Wayne's smile froze for a moment, then widened again, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.

"I also know you have a mental magic spell with an extremely wide detection range, so you must have known we were hiding inside all along."

He scrutinized Jiang Bai with great interest, as if admiring a work of art about to be destroyed. "I thought you would choose to deal with us 'small fry' first."

Jiang Bai finally turned his head and glanced at Wayne with an expression as if he were an idiot.

"Since you know I possess Mental Magic, you should also know that I've discovered a magic circle specifically waiting for me in that dilapidated house, right?"

Wayne's expression froze instantly.

The muscles in his cheeks twitched violently, and a look of disbelief flashed in his eyes, but this shock was quickly replaced by a morbid excitement.

He clapped his hands vigorously.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

"As expected of 'Infinity' Jiang Bai." Wayne's voice became somewhat shrill with excitement. "Nothing can be hidden from you. But so what?"

A sinister smile spread across his face, filled with cruel pleasure.

"Today, you will die here. The only consolation is that your beloved companion will accompany you on your journey to death. Haha!"

The ear-piercing laughter echoed through the empty desert.

Jiang Bai picked at his ear, his face still displaying that calm and languid expression.

"Are you so sure you can kill me?" He tilted his head, pointing to the massive magic circle at his feet. "With this lousy array?"

"Of course not!"

Wayne's laughter stopped abruptly, and his eyes became incredibly fanatical and venomous.

"You know what? I have absolutely no respect for you so-called geniuses!"

His voice was almost a roar, venting all the jealousy and resentment that had been suppressed for so long.

"He can easily surpass my entire lifetime of effort with just two days of casual cultivation! How dare he?!"

He stared intently at Jiang Bai, his gaze seeming as if he wanted to devour Jiang Bai alive.

"I, Wayne, will prove to the world today that you can become the strongest just by using your brains and your schemes! And you, Jiang Bai, this so-called once-in-a-century genius, are the perfect stepping stone for me to reach the top!"

Jiang Bai sighed helplessly, his face displaying the classic expression of someone who hates trouble.

As the saying goes, "People fear becoming famous, just as pigs fear growing fat; a tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease."

I just wanted to coast along in the guild, living a carefree and unambitious life, so why do these clueless guys always have to jump out and force me to work?

Looking at Jiang Bai's lazy appearance, Wayne's anger burned even more fiercely.

"Do you think we wanted this?" His voice turned sharp, filled with long-suppressed jealousy. "Most importantly, you've been annihilating our Dark Guild! You've wiped out our strongholds one by one, wiped out our comrades one by one! We can no longer sit idly by and wait to die!"

"You forced us to do this."

He pointed to his head, a morbid arrogance on his face.

"Our guild may not have a monster like you, or a powerhouse like the Ten Wizard Saints Mages. But!"

"We have our brains!"

Wayne spread his arms wide, like a madman standing in the center of a stage, showing the world his most prized work. He took a deep breath, ecstatic, and looked at Jiang Bai with fervent eyes.

"Jiang Bai, you should have noticed it after you came in, right?"

Jiang Bai picked at his ear, then reached into his pocket with his other hand, seemingly rummaging for something. After a while, he lazily raised his head.

"Ah, you mean that magic keeps leaking out uncontrollably in here?" he said in a casual tone, as if discussing the weather. "Yeah, it's quite noticeable."

Hearing Jiang Bai's casual confirmation, Wayne was not angry at all; instead, his smile grew even brighter, a smile of ultimate pleasure born from the perfect execution of a plan.

"Right!"

He clapped his hands excitedly, like a child who had been praised by his teacher.

"Before deciding to deal with you, I had already collected all your information and all your battle footage, and studied them no less than a hundred times!"

Wayne's voice was filled with an intellectual superiority complex. He was like a preacher, proclaiming this long-planned victory to Jiang Bai and to himself.

"I know you possess a magic called 'Infinity,' a spatially based, absolute defensive spell. As long as you have the magic power to maintain that spell, no attack can touch your body!"

"What an outrageously shameless ability," he remarked, then his tone shifted, his mockery and smugness becoming impossible to conceal.

"But all magic requires magical energy to operate, doesn't it? Since I can't break through your 'Infinity' from the outside, why don't I just cut off its fuel supply and drain all the 'fuel' you use to maintain it?"

He pointed triumphantly to the enormous purple magic circle beneath his feet.

"This 'Magic Power End Magic Circle' is the ultimate cage I painstakingly crafted for you over several years! Its sole purpose is to relentlessly and forcibly drain the magic power of every being within the array!"

Wayne's laughter became unrestrained, filled with the exhilaration of revenge.

"Besides, you came so quickly to save your little lover. Your convenient and fast Space Transfer magic must have consumed a lot of your magic power along the way, right?"

"A monster that was already short of fuel fell into a pool that was constantly being pumped out."

Wayne opened his arms wide, as if embracing his impending victory. "Jiang Bai, tell me, how much magic do you have left?"