"Corpse Summoning—Undead Creation!"
As Star Track formed, the train's once-solid floor turned into a sticky mire. One Black Rot Corpse after another crawled out of it, their empty eye sockets filled with a hunger for flesh and blood.
"Go on, my little darlings. It's lunchtime."
Tu Chao's lips twisted into a savage grin, and a feverish light gleamed in his eyes. At his command, the Black Rot Corpses howled and charged toward the carriage entrance!
"Get back!" Liu Guifang roared. "Wind Disk—Tornado!"
The crowd had been in chaos just moments ago, and the carriage had been packed with people. He hadn't been able to unleash his full power, which was why the Black Rot Corpses had trampled lives.
Now he was standing right here. Not one of these disgusting corpses would get past him!
A violent gale rampaged through the carriage, sweeping up the Black Rot Corpses and slamming them hard against the train.
The moving train lurched violently, as if it might derail and overturn at any moment.
Liu Guifang was startled and instinctively stopped casting. But he had his reservations; the lunatics of the Black Vatican had none!
"Heh..."
A flicker of mockery passed through Tu Chao's eyes. "Honorable, kindhearted judge, try this! Raging Wave—Exile!"
A surging torrent crashed down from midair. The carriage's cramped space only made the spell even more destructive.
"Shadow Dodge—Phasing!"
Liu Guifang's body merged into the shadow beneath a seat, leaving him unharmed.
But his fury surged like lava, because he could only watch as the Raging Wave swept countless Black Rot Corpses into the next carriage.
Liu Guifang couldn't even bear to imagine how many lives this torrent of corpses would claim.
"You lunatic! Giant Shadow Nail—Pear Thorn!"
As an Intermediate Level 3 Shadow Element spell, it had extraordinary destructive power. It usually formed three nails: the first immobilized the body, the second pinned the mind, and the third locked down the soul.
With every additional Giant Shadow Nail, its powerful control and devastating damage grew exponentially, until the enemy's body and soul were utterly destroyed.
Few were as abnormal as Mo Fan, who could fire all six nails at once. Even Liu Guifang's three nails were fearsome in the eyes of mages at the same level!
"Your opponent is me." Lu Wanqing sneered as he linked his Star Track. "Light Blessing—Holy Shield!"
The Giant Shadow Nails hissed as they touched the golden shield, evaporating on contact. Deprived of their stealth, they were easily dodged by Tu Chao.
Liu Guifang was so frustrated he could have spat blood!
Meanwhile,
the Raging Wave had already rushed toward Xu Fang. Countless Black Rot Corpses were caught up in it, their mangled heads tumbling through the water as they howled at him.
"Holy shit!"
Xu Fang had never seen anything like this. It was even more bizarre and terrifying than Yang Zuohe's Intermediate Magic!
There was nowhere to dodge. Xu Fang clenched his teeth and channeled his magic energy into his Star Track. The Golden Star Seeds and Crimson Star Ring lit up together once more!
"High Temperature Core!"
Crimson-gold flames surged and danced around Xu Fang, carving out a semicircular patch of dry ground in the middle of the flood.
The Black Rot Corpses in the Raging Wave flailed their remaining limbs at Xu Fang, but the moment they touched the flames, they turned to ash.
This was the second combination spell Xu Fang had grasped after Crimson Fire Light Array!
The spell had evolved from Fire Spark Burning. It harnessed the flame's unmatched, violent power to forcibly burn away the surrounding elemental cores, converting them into pure magic energy and gathering it within himself.
In other words, it was a spell that built up power!
Xu Fang's golden hair stirred in the wind, and his eyes had turned crimson-gold. The surging energy made him feel as though his body might burst apart the very next second!
"Crimson Fire Light Array!!!!!"
Die, every last one of you!!!!!
This was Xu Fang's full-power strike. The Raging Wave in the carriage had turned crimson-gold, and not a single Black Rot Corpse remained. Every last one had been reduced to a Remnant Soul.
Carriage 6.
The sudden flash of light left the three combatants frozen.
"Is that Light Shine? No, that terrifying heat..." As a judge, Liu Guifang had seen plenty in his time.
Even he couldn't figure out who the newcomer was or what their abilities were. But with the Black Rot Corpses wiped out, this person was clearly an ally, not an enemy!
"I'm a judge with the Bell Tower Judgment Society! Help me arrest the Black Vatican criminals!" Liu Guifang shouted.
His answer was a sudden spike in temperature and the carriage shaking violently!
Tu Chao and Lu Wanqing's expressions changed.
This guy had severed the connection between the carriages!
Carriages 5 and 6 had broken away from the main train, which was packed with passengers. Carried by its own momentum, the detached section was about to leave the tracks!
In a one-on-one fight, neither of them could beat Liu Guifang. They could only gain the upper hand by working together and holding hostages.
That was why they had waited until noon, when the Magic Train reached Yangcheng, a backwater town in the middle of nowhere, before making their move.
The train had mages on board, but certainly no Intermediate Mages. A mage at that level could rule a small town; why would one settle for being an ordinary train guard?
They had calculated everything. But the mysterious person before them had completely destroyed their trump card!
Boom—!
With a deafening crash, the carriage flew off the tracks and slammed into the ground. Already riddled with holes from the magic, it had finally reached the end of its run, breaking apart into scattered debris.
The four of them were flung far away.
"Shadow Dodge—Phasing!"
"Water Shield—Protection!"
"Light Blessing—Holy Shield!"
"Sand Shield!"
Mages were physically fragile. Even Intermediate Mages were hardly any stronger than ordinary people; a fall like that would be fatal.
In the crisis, all four used their own methods to protect themselves, landing—some more gracefully than others.
"Bastard! Bastard!!" Lu Wanqing staggered to his feet, blood covering his face.
Light Blessing was far less effective against physical attacks than it was against magic. Caught off guard, he had hit the ground hard enough to feel as if all his internal organs had shattered!
Not far away, a young man with golden hair stood up too. His shattered shield Magic Tool dissolved into a flash of light.
"Damn brat!" When Lu Wanqing saw Xu Fang's youthful face, the fear in his eyes instantly turned to cruelty. "Fire Spark!"
Unlike Liu Guifang and Tu Chao, who were Intermediate Mages with two elements, Lu Wanqing hadn't completed his Fire Element Star Map yet.
But how old could this youngster in front of him be? He probably wasn't even an adult. A Level 3 Fire Spark was more than enough to handle him!
After all, even if he was a prodigy at that age, there was no way he could be an Intermediate Mage, right?
Even the Black Vatican couldn't cheat this hard!
"Brat, you've run out of magic energy by now, haven't you? Let's see what you can do to resist me." Lu Wanqing's voice was vicious. "Don't worry, I'll spare your life. I'll make sure you suffer the worst torture imaginable. Then I'll drag you, half-dead, to the Ghoul Acid Pool and turn you into a Black Beast Demon, neither human nor ghost..."
The scorching flames had already reached Xu Fang!
"You wasted my train ticket, destroyed my luggage, and now you dare threaten me..." Xu Fang burned with rage. "You don't even have a Spirit Seed. Who gave you the nerve to think your measly Mortal Fire could hurt me?"
"Fire Spark Burning!"
Fire Spark against Fire Spark!
Let this old bastard see what a real Fire Element looks like!!!
Before you continue