The Rover's Strength

What kind of power was that?

Mo Bai saw that every Shikigami around the Rover had grown sluggish.

Because they were his shadows, Mo Bai could choose whether to share their senses.

The instant he connected their minds, he cut the link.

Slow.

Around the Rover, the Shikigami's movements had slowed—and so had their thoughts.

It was almost as if time had stopped.

"Tch."

Seeing this, Mo Bai immediately recalled the Divine Dogs on the ground into his shadow.

The Rover had used such a strange power without hesitation. She had to be able to move freely within the area where time had stopped.

To be safe, he had chosen to recall his Shikigami.

Though they had been slowed in every way, he could still recall them as long as they had somewhere to land.

But there was nothing he could do about the Toads from the Bottomless Well in the sky.

Whoosh!

The Rover made her move.

Dark light swirled in her golden eyes, and a Hei-purple wing sprouted from her back.

Mo Bai remembered that she had used this power to catch Lynae earlier.

Now she flew into the air, and a massive Hei Scythe suddenly appeared in her hand.

"Ribbit! Ribbit!"

In an instant, she destroyed every Toad from the Bottomless Well Mo Bai had summoned.

"Come on, isn't that way too overpowered...?"

Mo Bai's mouth twitched as he thought back over everything she had just done.

If she was a runaway truck, then he was basically cosplaying as a speed bump...

Whew.

After clearing out the Shikigami, the Rover turned her cold golden eyes toward Mo Bai.

He knew they were only testing each other's moves, but under that gaze, he still swallowed involuntarily.

Thud!

The next second, the Rover charged at Mo Bai with her Scythe raised.

That pressure was intense!

As she rushed toward him at incredible speed, Mo Bai racked his brain for a plan.

Summon more Shikigami?

No. The Toads from the Bottomless Well had already served as speed bumps. His Shikigami simply weren't strong enough to face her head-on.

He had two options now.

One: reinforce his body with Cursed Energy and fight the Rover head-on.

Two: try the Ten Shadows Technique's Shikigami inheritance mechanism.

A destroyed Shikigami could never be summoned again, but its power would pass to another Shikigami.

That way, one plus one could ultimately become greater than two.

So far, the inheritance information the technique had automatically poured into his mind said that destroying the White Divine Dog would greatly strengthen the Black Divine Dog born alongside him.

But...

In that moment of deliberation, he remembered the look the White Divine Dog had given him in Lynae's dorm room, when he had been torn over whether to rescue his companions.

Thud!

Mo Bai pushed off hard and wrapped his fist in Cursed Energy.

In the end, he chose to fight the Rover himself.

Clang!

The sound of sharp edges clashing rang across the grassland. The Rover noticed that Mo Bai held no weapon.

He had shaped his hand into a claw and was attacking her Scythe with it.

Animal-form boxing.

Since he could share his Shikigami's senses, Mo Bai could experience how they attacked.

Then he could apply some of their abilities to himself.

Right now, he was attacking with the Divine Dogs' Wolf Claw.

"Clever idea."

After praising him, the Rover suddenly pressed harder.

Thud.

Mo Bai had no intention of continuing a head-on contest. He slipped into the shadows.

When he had first unlocked this ability, he could only hide in place.

But during his later fight against the Voidworm, he had learned that he could move freely through shadows.

Thud.

Once the Rover's Scythe struck empty air, Mo Bai emerged from the shadow behind her.

Fwoosh!

As flames of Cursed Energy flared around Mo Bai's fist, the shadow beside the Rover began to stir.

Whoosh!

A huge serpent's tail burst from it.

An attack from both sides?

Sensing the strike beside her, the Rover remained calm.

But when she saw what it was, her brow creased slightly.

It was her Blood Pact, flying toward her from the front.

Clearly, this was part of Mo Bai's plan.

Earlier, after blocking the Rover's attack with Nue, Mo Bai had intended to leave the Swift Blade alone.

He had seen her summon weapons out of thin air and guessed the blade was bound to her.

But when she switched to a Scythe, Mo Bai decided to take a gamble.

He bet that after switching powers, she could no longer control the Swift Blade, since the weapon seemed linked to her command of wind.

So far, the Rover had displayed three powers.

Wind pressure, time, and the immense destructive force of that dark-purple energy.

Surely she couldn't be monstrous enough to use all three at once...

So Mo Bai had stored the Swift Blade in his Shadow Space.

Then, while the Rover was busy fending off his attack, he used the ornate Swift Blade to draw her attention.

It was her weapon, after all, and it did not look cheap.

Though doing that felt a little underhanded.

At least so far, Mo Bai's plan was going smoothly.

The Rover said nothing as she watched the Blood Pact fly toward her. She merely raised a hand and stopped it.

Got her!

Seeing that the Rover really was occupied with retrieving her weapon, Mo Bai rejoiced.

That feeling lasted until he saw the Rover stamp her foot.

Hummm—

That strange time-stopping power swept over them again. This time, it caught not only the Shikigami but Mo Bai himself.

Worse, both his feet were off the ground, so he could not even dive into a shadow.

Then, suspended in midair, Mo Bai witnessed a sight he would not soon forget.

The Rover held her Scythe in her left hand, pointed at him. With her right, she aimed the recovered Blood Pact, wreathed in wind pressure, at the Great Serpent's tail. The power of time beneath her feet had not weakened at all.

She really could use all three powers at once...

"Yay! The Rover wins!"

Off to the side, Abu declared the Rover the victor, as though he had expected the result all along.

At Abu's announcement, the Rover withdrew her power. She smiled and offered Mo Bai, still on the ground, a hand.

"Jeez... You're terrifying. I feel like you could've dealt with that Voidworm on your own."

Mo Bai took her hand and rose, muttering.

"It was an emergency. Without you and Lynae helping me, the Academy would have been in serious trouble," the Rover said, shaking her head.

Mo Bai still felt she was being modest.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Oh my god! Why are there so many huge holes?"

Just then, an Academy teacher arrived with his students for a field survey.

At the sight of holes all over the ground, he felt as though his world was collapsing.

He had spent ages finding this perfect spot!