Demon-Breaking Bow and Arrow

"Toxic Fang? Source of Plague?"

Cain scratched his head and looked at Erza beside him. "Erza, have you heard of them?"

"No." Erza shook her head honestly.

"Hahaha, me neither. Maybe they're some tiny guild that crawled out of some backwater hole."

Cain's mockery made Ruben tremble with rage, but Harold, worthy of being the president of Toxic Fang, had far better self-control than Ruben.

Harold stared at Cain viciously. "Kid, I hope you can still laugh in a moment. Venomous Devouring."

A dark green magic circle appeared before Harold. Then a massive poisonous python, glowing ghostly green and as tall as a two-story building, slithered out and lunged at Cain and Erza.

When they had faced the earlier barrage of magic, Cain had used Light Shield to block the attacks, then cast the Holy Light Trio on himself and Erza. As a result, the python, which would have seemed incredibly fast to ordinary people, failed to hit either of them.

Cain looked at the large hole the ground had been easily corroded into and thought, If that hit a person, they'd melt instantly. And judging by Harold's casting speed and power, he was clearly no nobody.

Seeing the two evade his attack, Harold said to Ruben beside him, "You attack too. Finish these two brats quickly."

"Yes, President." Ruben nodded, produced a longsword from nowhere, and swung it at them from where he stood.

As he swung the sword, crescent-shaped wind blades shot toward Cain and Erza.

The crescent wind blades were extremely sharp. When they struck the warehouse and the ground, they instantly carved grooves three fingers wide.

Coupled with Harold directing the venomous python to attack them relentlessly, Cain and Erza were suppressed for a time.

After dodging the python's bite, Cain snorted and suddenly leaped into the air.

Seeing Cain jump up and make himself a target, Harold and Ruben were delighted. One directed the poisonous python while the other unleashed wind blades, both attacking Cain in midair.

Cain paid no attention to their attacks. "Light Feather Explosion."

Countless golden feathers shot from the magic circle before Cain's right hand.

The moment the golden feathers struck the poisonous python and wind blades, violent explosions erupted.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The explosions instantly collapsed the entire warehouse, forcing Harold and Ruben to scramble away in disarray.

Just as the two found their footing, before they could even catch their breath, a flash of sword light swept toward them from the front.

It was Erza, who had prepared in advance.

Facing the fierce sword light, Ruben hurriedly raised his sword to block it.

Clang—

The sound of the longswords colliding rang especially loudly through the night.

The tremendous force transmitted through the blade forced Ruben back several steps before he finally steadied himself.

Looking at his slightly trembling right hand, he said in shock, "Can a little girl barely in her teens really possess this kind of strength?"

Seeing Ruben at a disadvantage, Harold was annoyed that he could not even hold back a little girl. Just as he was about to help—

Cain's voice sounded beside his ear. "Old man, what are you looking around for?"

Bang!

Cain's right fist smashed viciously into Harold's face.

The sudden attack gave Harold no chance to react. He was blasted several meters away by Cain, crashing into the warehouse ruins and kicking up a cloud of dust.

His yellowed teeth flew out with him.

Tasting rust in his mouth, Harold said through his broken teeth, "Kid, you've made me angry! Venom Missiles!"

Fist-sized ghostly green missiles shot out from his hands.

Cain's figure flickered repeatedly as he easily dodged the Venom Missiles flying toward him.

As he dodged, Cain mocked him, "Old man, did that punch knock you stupid? Your aim is terrible."

Cain's mockery made Harold's expression turn even uglier. His triangular eyes glared fixedly at Cain. If looks could kill, Cain would have been carved into a thousand pieces by now.

After forcing Ruben back with a slash, Erza looked toward Cain. She had not expected the normally gentle Cain to have such a sharp tongue.

After dodging the last Venom Missile, Cain smiled. "Old man, don't you have any other tricks? If not, then it's my turn."

"I hope you can still laugh later." A confident smile appeared on Harold's face. "Ghostly Venom Array, rise!!"

The Venom Missiles Cain had dodged earlier had fallen to the ground and formed pools of green liquid. Now, those pools glowed ghostly green and connected to one another, forming a massive magic circle.

"Hahaha, kid, just wait for death." Seeing that his magic was about to be completed, Harold laughed arrogantly, as if venting all the frustration he had suffered earlier.

On the other side, the battered Ruben laughed as well. "You're finished. Once the President uses this magic, you'll die in agony—"

Before he could say the word "die," a dazzling light interrupted him.

When the light faded, the magic circle of the Ghostly Venom Array had vanished. Cain said disdainfully:

"I'm not some idiot villain who waits for you to unleash your ultimate move. Your spell has such a long windup that I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't interrupt it."

"Y-you... what... what magic did you just use?" Harold stammered as he watched the spell he had painstakingly prepared get broken so easily.

Cain answered casually, "That? It was my Holy Light Magic: Purification. It has a great dispelling effect against poisons, negative statuses, and things like that."

Harold stood frozen in place, his lips trembling as he tried to say something, but no words came out.

After waiting until it seemed about right, Cain smiled. "Then it's my turn. Adamant Chains."

Cain stretched his right hand forward and clenched it sharply. In an instant, several golden chains shot out from the void and bound Harold.

Harold only realized what was happening when the chains were already upon him, but by then, it was too late to dodge.

Bound by the chains, Harold tried to erupt with magic power and break free. But Cain had not wasted so much breath just to watch an old man's bondage play.

A golden longbow taller than Cain himself appeared before him. Then, the muscles in Cain's right arm tensed as he slowly drew the bowstring.

As the string was drawn, a golden arrow appeared on the bow. When the string reached a quarter draw—

No matter how hard Cain tried, he could not pull it any farther. Realizing that this was his limit, Cain did not force it.

He aimed at Harold, who was bound by golden chains and preparing to unleash his magic power. "Old man, it's over."

Sensing the magic power concentrated to its absolute limit within the bow and arrow, Harold struggled even more violently. Panic filled his face. "No, you can't kill me—"

Cain ignored him and released the bowstring. The golden arrow shot toward the terrified Harold like a streak of light.

Boom!!!

A violent explosion erupted from Harold's position and rapidly spread outward.

The kingdom army and Magic Council forces, who had just arrived in Mუდorud, felt a powerful tremor. Then they saw a massive golden sphere appear within the city.