Rescuing Hogg

Watching Hogg endure Gilmore's attacks, Lei Lin's mind was torn by indecision.

He had come here just in case, but he'd never expected that just as Hogg was about to succeed, Gilmore would suddenly appear as an obstacle.

"Uncle Hogg..."

"Does he really have to be sacrificed to the heavens?!" Lei Lin murmured, as if hoping someone would answer him, though perhaps he was only asking himself.

Yet without realizing it, his hand had already come to rest on the hilt of the Judgment Blade.

Lightning patterns densely covered the blade!

The three-minute transformation was about to end, and the period of weakness Lei Lin had specially designed to follow his first transformation using the Dragonblood Pill was about to begin.

Hogg seemed to sense it too. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He gave up resisting and instead attacked his own face with his savage dragon claws. In a single swipe, he tore his face to bloody shreds, scales peeling back!

Lei Lin had waited in vain for something else to happen. Seeing this, he finally...

Made his move!

The Judgment Blade became a streak of light, instantly crossing the distance between him and Gilmore and arriving before the cardinal.

In that instant, the entire street seemed to turn to daylight, the lightning on the blade illuminating every shadow!

Then the Judgment Blade pierced Gilmore's protective magic and emerged from his back, staining itself a vivid red!

Gilmore had been completely focused on fighting Hogg. It had never occurred to him that someone would attack him at a time like this.

He was a Level 9 Great Mage, but fighting a Dragonblood Warrior was no easy task.

Lei Lin's attack had completely caught him off guard!

Even more unexpected was that someone could break through his magical shield with a single strike, especially when light magic wasn't particularly suited to defense!

Standing behind Gilmore with one hand on the Judgment Blade's hilt, Lei Lin watched the result of his attack and curled his lips into a faint smile.

Over the past year, his strength had risen to the peak of Level 7, which had already increased the power of this move considerably.

But more importantly, his Golden Finger had gotten lucky again and granted him Misaka Mikoto's Electromagnetic Cannon skill.

Yes, the Electromagnetic Cannon from A Certain Scientific Railgun!

At first, he'd wondered if the Electromagnetic Cannon skill he'd developed based on the principles of electromagnetic guns was theoretically the same as Mikoto's, and figured it wouldn't be of much use to him.

But in the Railgun world, psychic powers were supposedly the result of science, and were activated through scientific methods.

The corresponding quantum and chaos theories weren't exactly nonsense, but they were—science fiction!

Yet the theory of using reality within the mind to influence the outside world fit surprisingly well in a fantasy world like Coiling Dragon.

Put simply, it was the use of mental power to control the elements and form magic.

After understanding the Electromagnetic Cannon technique, Lei Lin not only optimized his own Electromagnetic Cannon attack. His control of the elements with mental power also improved, like a computer program whose algorithms had been optimized.

Without increasing his overall reserves, he became far more efficient at gathering magical elements, drastically reducing the time needed to build up energy.

Its power increased by roughly fifty percent!

And on top of that, Lei Lin's strength had now risen to the peak of Level 7!

The two factors combined: a single super Electromagnetic Cannon shattered Gilmore's defensive magic!

"This is my first time fighting a Level 9 Mage. I thought breaking through your defensive magic would be the best I could hope for."

"But I didn't expect to punch straight through you!"

"Man, you're fragile!"

Hearing Lei Lin's voice and realizing who he was, Gilmore's eyes flew wide open. He turned as if to confirm Lei Lin's identity.

But the next moment, his vision sank into eternal darkness!

A Mage whose shield had been broken and had an enemy warrior right on top of him had no fate but death!

Realizing that someone had come to help, Hogg, who'd been suppressed all the way through the fight, stopped trying to disfigure himself.

He charged over as fast as wind and lightning!

Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough. By the time he reached Gilmore, Gilmore's head had already been separated from his body.

Lei Lin had beaten him to the kill!

Fortunately, Hogg didn't mind having his kill stolen. When he saw Lei Lin's face, his heart filled with gratitude.

Then Hogg's strength gave out. He went limp, passed out, and collapsed to the ground like a noodle, leaving his transformed state behind.

Without another word, Lei Lin took out a rope and tied Duke Paterson's body to Gilmore's.

He hoisted the limp Hogg onto his back, grabbed Gilmore and Paterson, and hurried away from the scene.

After all, the commotion Gilmore and Hogg had made during their fight was considerable. From what Lei Lin could sense, people were already on their way.

If he didn't leave quickly and got caught in the act, he had no idea what the consequences would be.

After all, Gilmore was a cardinal of the Radiant Church—the very face of the church!

The next day

Feeling the substantial power coursing through him after transforming once more, Hogg said excitedly, "Lei Lin, th-thank... thank you. You must have paid a great price to save me!"

Hogg was now in good health, and his self-inflicted wounds had mostly healed, leaving only a few scars.

Lei Lin said nothing. He looked around at the various objects, as if reflecting on the tremendous price he'd paid and the precious materials he'd used.

Following Lei Lin's gaze, Hogg surveyed the materials and magical items around them.

He didn't know what the things were or what they were used for.

But judging by their appearance and the magic they contained, they were...

Expensive. Incredibly expensive!

Hogg's gratitude deepened all the more.

In truth, Lei Lin was only buying time while he thought of an explanation!

But he wasn't much of a liar, so in the end, he hid everything behind silence. Hogg would fill in the blanks on his own whether he said anything or not.

The undisguised excitement and gratitude on Hogg's face made that clear.

Embarrassed, Lei Lin abruptly changed the subject. "Uncle Hogg, the Dragonblood Pill didn't cripple your body. Instead, it helped you fully awaken your bloodline. That was mainly thanks to your good luck."

"What I did was nothing."

"What I really wonder is why you went after Paterson. If I hadn't wanted to visit Azure Water Paradise last night and happened to find you..."

"You might have—"

At his words, Hogg's excitement at having avoided becoming a cripple and instead fully awakened his bloodline to become a true Dragonblood Warrior faded.

Looking at Paterson, whose limbs had been broken and battle-qi cultivation destroyed, he said coldly, "Because he killed my wife!!!"

"All these years, if it hadn't been for Lin Lei and Warton, I would have long since thrown caution to the wind and taken my revenge."

"I wouldn't have cared if it cost me my life or left me broken and shattered!"

Hogg's voice was cold. Those few short sentences were full of bitter hatred, and he made no effort to hide his murderous intent toward Paterson!

He didn't conceal anything from Lei Lin. After all, Lei Lin had saved him and even killed Gilmore, a cardinal of the Radiant Church. What reason did Hogg have to hide anything from him?

Now, he was even wondering why Lei Lin had been willing to kill Gilmore for his sake.

After all, if he had to make the choice himself, he...

Wasn't sure he'd be willing to take on the behemoth that was the Radiant Church for Lei Lin.