The Battle Ends

The burning speed of the White Phosphorus Bomb (N) was extremely fast. The flames gradually extinguished, and thick smoke drifted with the wind.

Edward saw that it was almost burned out. He quickly adjusted his flight posture and shouldered the RPG. The crude mechanical sight framed the monster's head below. Then he pulled the trigger and fired.

That Red Warhead RPG was, of course, not a game item that could cure all giant monsters. It was just a warhead that Edward had modified.

Instead of explosives, it was filled with thermite. He had a whim and wanted to test the effect of his weapon against large monsters.

At this moment, Mr. Bug, seeing the flames on his body extinguish, began to use his red light to repair himself.

He knew he had miscalculated. His giant spider form, which had always been invincible, had now become a living target. But he was confident that he still had a chance to turn the tables.

As long as he could restore his body, he could launch a silk-spinning attack, take down the guy flying around like a fly first, and then suck his blood and flesh dry...

He thought this, felt that the damage to his body had almost recovered, and the severe pain gradually disappeared. Just as he was about to try to move his long legs, which had been burned bare of hair, a small red lump trailing a long smoke hit him in the face.

Fortunately, it didn't have the penetrating explosive effect of last time. His hard Shell withstood the small explosion. But the subsequent high temperature caused him severe pain. Fireworks started on his head again.

The red light had a limited ability to resist attacks. Such high temperatures could melt the tracks of armored vehicles, let alone flesh and blood.

Edward saw the giant spider rolling back and forth on the ground, emitting piercing shrieks. The river surface beside it was rippling from the shock.

Fortunately, he was far away and wearing a Helmet. Being closer could have stunned him.

The monster gradually lost its vitality, its eight long legs twitching and curling into a ball. Its whole body was black, blending in with the scorched earth.

At this time, the monster's skull had collapsed from the heat, forming a large hole. The blood and flesh inside had all carbonized and were still emitting faint sparks, like the embers of a bonfire from a camping trip.

Edward landed far away. The continuous hovering flight had depleted the magic power in his Magic Gem. He did not approach. Lessons from countless movies and TV shows in his previous life told him that when you think a monster is dead, it's actually not completely dead. Many protagonists fell just before victory, perishing together with the monster in a mutual destruction.

He decided to end this somewhat uninteresting battle and return to his interesting daily life. But when he rummaged through his Spatial Ring, he found he had no heavy firepower weapons left!

This was mainly because Monica had taken away most of his inventory. After thinking for a moment, he had an idea.

He took off the gloves of his combat suit, unhygienically put his index finger in his mouth to moisten it, tested the wind direction. Feeling it was just right, he put on his Helmet again and took out chalk to draw a Transmutation Circle on the scorched ground.

The Transmutation Circle was simple, but it required a large area. He spent two minutes drawing it. After finishing, he placed his hands on the Transmutation Circle and whispered, "Alchemy begins."

The Transmutation Circle on the ground flashed, but it seemed like nothing happened. Only a thin layer of white smoke rose from the ground, and a pool of liquid quickly dissipated.

He quickly ran backward, as if it were something terrifying. The wind blew the invisible gas towards the spider's head, where the embers had not yet cooled. Instantly, flames erupted, and sparks flew.

As expected, the monster was not completely dead and was still thinking of a final blow for mutual destruction. When the fire ignited, it began to roll violently. But this time, it was not the external fuel that was burning, but its flesh and blood.

That's right, Edward used the Transmutation Circle to condense the Oxygen in the air above. The pure oxygen blown by the wind caused the giant spider to enter an oxygen-rich environment. Things that could not burn before began to burn fiercely even with a faint open flame.

The reason he wore a Helmet and ran away quickly was to avoid inhaling excessive pure oxygen and to fear that the Oxygen would cause a violent explosion.

The giant insect, Mr. Bug, rolled only a few times before it truly stopped moving, allowing the fierce flames to burn its flesh and blood. However, the oxygen-rich environment did not last long. The open environment and the wind blowing from the river gradually reduced the intensity of the fire.

But the grease rich in Mr. Bug's body had been ignited. Before long, only ashes and shattered bug shells remained.

Edward saw that Mr. Bug was truly dead this time. He let out a long sigh and sat down on the river bank.

Tonight's encounter was truly thrilling. This was the first time he had killed an opponent of Sky Knight strength, and he had almost lost his life. It was thanks to this Mr. Insect mindlessly turning into a non-flying living target that he was able to easily defeat the opponent.

What kind of monsters were these mysterious hunters? Mr. Bug had spoken so much to him, and he had extracted a lot of useful information, but the fog surrounding him only thickened.

He gritted his teeth, stood up, walked to the monster's remains, took out a long metal rod, and rummaged through the ashes. Finally, he found a red gem the size of a fist. The gem was crystal clear and emitted an intermittent eerie red light in the dark night.

He took it in his hand and looked at it, with no clue. Was this the Philosopher's Stone? If it were the Philosopher's Stone, then the monster's ability to quickly repair its body and grow larger out of thin air would make sense. Could hunters be related to the old monsters at the high levels of the Alchemist Association? Thinking of this, he frowned.

But upon closer inspection, this gem did not resemble the Philosopher's Stone described in the records. So, he decided not to think about it anymore. Although the battle tonight was far from White Eagle City, the commotion was quite large, with flames and explosions. He decided to leave as soon as possible.

Adhering to the principle of thoroughly cleaning up the battlefield, he put the red gem into his Spatial Ring and also put the larger Shell fragments into his Spatial Ring.

Then, he simply repaired his Flying Backpack, replaced the Magic Gem, and flew back to the mountainside north of White Eagle City in the non-glowing gale mode.

He quietly sneaked back to Fountain Square. It was already around two in the morning. The square and the night market had become much less crowded, and many night market vendors had already started packing up.

He had changed into ordinary clothes before he came and walked as if nothing had happened to the place where he had encountered Mr. Bug earlier.

There was indeed a deep pit there. He walked over and carefully sensed the inside of the pit with his mental power. Fortunately, no one had accidentally fallen in. He activated his Shaping Technique to fill the pit, even kindly restoring the floor tiles to their original appearance. It's just that people would feel that a large area of floor tiles here looked newer when seen during the day.

He returned home safely without incident. He activated the warning array at home to its strongest setting, then hurried to the underground laboratory.

Tonight's encounter gave him a sense of impending crisis. After working for several hours, he replenished the necessary weapons, equipment, and spell materials and put them into his Spatial Ring before he could relax.

He walked back to his bedroom, somewhat tired, took a shower, and went to bed. Although his injuries had been forcibly healed by the healing potion and Holy Light Divine Art, his body's rapid healing had left him somewhat weak.

Moreover, the tense battle tonight and the frantic restocking after returning home had consumed too much mental energy. Exhausted physically and mentally, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He thought he would sleep until noon. But he started dreaming.

Unconsciously, he seemed to have arrived in a boundless dark world. Below the world was rolling magma, slowly flowing in one direction.

He was floating above the magma, feeling no heat at all.

He looked around and felt that this scene was very familiar. Then, in his Back Heart, he suddenly realized: Isn't this the scene of Hell from my world?

At this moment, a somewhat familiar, unpleasant voice slowly came from below.

"Mr. Smith, we meet again!"

Edward looked down and saw it was Mr. Bug. He was still in Kevin's appearance. He was half-submerged in the magma.

He gritted his teeth, glared at Edward diagonally above him, his body trembling slightly as he sank, as if something below was pulling him into the magma.

He saw Ai De Hua look over at him and continued, "Thanks to you this time, I'll have to slumber in the Nether Sea for who knows how long again. But I'll be waiting for you down there! When you reach the Fifth Stage, when your life comes to an end, you'll eventually walk our path!"

With that, he stopped struggling and slowly sank down.

Edward thought to himself, This guy is dead, yet he's still trying to curse me in my dreams. Wouldn't it be easier to just stay put in your Nether Sea? He immediately wanted to retort a few words. Suddenly, he realized:

"Huh? How do I know I'm dreaming?"

Then his figure began to dissipate in this world. At the moment he was about to vanish, a colossal shadow emerged from the lava in the distance, gazing at the disappearing Edward with a pair of huge, malicious eyes. Edward also looked back, sensing something, and then he vanished from this world.

Edward suddenly woke up from his dream, breaking out in a cold sweat. The terrifying giant eyes he saw just before waking filled his mind. It was pitch black both outside the window and inside the room.

He felt restless and quickly turned on his bedside lamp. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Deciding to meditate, he sat cross-legged, cleared his mind, and began to focus...

The next morning, Captain of the Knights Reinhardt woke up very early. Just as he finished getting dressed and was about to start his morning exercises, a Guard came to report that someone from City Hall was looking for him.

A City Hall staff member, dressed as a guard, saluted Reinhardt and said, "Reporting, Your Commander, last night the guards at the Lighthouse spotted flashes, huge explosions, and fire in the direction of the Har River Delta. Crew members on ships in the harbor also heard loud noises and beastly screams coming from that direction last night. Mayor has sent me to ask for your instructions on whether to send a ship to investigate today."

Reinhardt was very pleased with this guard because he addressed him by the highest rank he held, omitting the word 'deputy'. However, the news that followed made him frown...