Chapter 634: Self-Detonation
The enormous head opened its maw wide. Inside, there were no fangs, no tongue—only something that resembled a pool of dark red blood. Bubbles continuously rose from the blood pool, and even at a distance of two hundred meters, Leon could feel its overwhelming toxicity. If a dragon fell into that, it would be crippled if not outright killed.
Leon’s scalp tingled with dread, and he spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.
"Damn it! That thing just devoured the mana from two of my Alchemical Vortexes, and even more than half the power in my Mana Harness is gone! How could it get away with that so easily?"
While dodging the pursuit of the black tentacles, Leon drew mana from a Soul Mana Crystal.
On the other side, more than thirty black tentacles billowing with smoke had already cut off the Lich’s escape route, forcing it toward the monster’s gaping maw.
Yet the Lich showed no sign of resistance. Instead, clutching two glowing Soul Mana Crystals, it charged straight for the creature’s mouth.
The moment it rushed into the monster’s maw, the Lich swallowed both glowing Soul Mana Crystals whole.
As the Lich leapt into the monster’s mouth, the enormous jaws snapped shut.
But before Leon could finish his sentence, a deafening explosion echoed out.
The monster’s head was blown apart—the once tightly shut jaws burst open, the blood pool inside vaporized, and the entire lower jaw vanished. One of its eyes exploded from the inside out.
Violent magical fluctuations boiled through the air.
The monster’s wretched roar of rage echoed out.
"Damn you! You miserable ant—how dare you do this!"
Thick black mist surged toward the creature, and the blasted wounds began to slowly regenerate.
Leon charged the monster head-on, casting Fire Elemental Avatar, only to instantly disperse the fire and instead shift into a Wind Elemental Avatar.
Transformed into a four or five-meter-tall Wind Elemental, Leon couldn’t fly, but his agility soared to the extreme.
A barrage of Wind Blades rained down on the monster like a storm.
In Wind Elemental Avatar form, the power of wind spells was greatly amplified—even casting speed increased. The originally instant-cast Wind Blades now became a sweeping torrent, like a seventh-level spell Tornado.
Unfortunately, this ferocious assault barely threatened the monster. Aside from stirring up violent surges of Necrotic Power across its surface, all Leon got was another furious roar.
Amidst earth-shaking roars, the black tentacles snapped back, even the black mist that had been spewing from the hole in the ground came to a halt.
The monster’s head had lost its lower half and the upper part was misshapen—this time, it was seriously wounded. But Leon knew, despite its mangled appearance, the creature hadn’t suffered any real damage; its life was never in danger.
Leon’s relentless assault left the monster unable to recover for a moment, and it seemed to be considering retreating back into the small hole.
"Damn it, you think you can just run after stealing from me? There’s no way I’m letting you off that easy..."
Leon gripped the Doombringer Staff viciously. After paying such a steep price, if he couldn’t kill the monster, he’d at least rip a chunk off its hide!
The monster really did seem to want to avoid further conflict—a peak level 37 Lich self-detonating with two Soul Mana Crystals hadn’t killed it, which surprised Leon. Was it really going to escape unscathed now?
Leon saw clearly that the monster’s body was formed from vast Necrotic Power fused with all sorts of evil energies. That explosion merely restored its body to its original necrotic state—it hadn’t harmed the core at all.
Now, only seven or eight tentacles remained. Its strength plummeted, and it used them to shield itself, trying to squeeze back into the hole.
But Leon didn’t miss the change—the Wind Blades he cast grew darker. Originally pale green, they now deepened to a rich teal, and among them, hidden behind seven or eight deep teal Wind Blades, was a jet-black Wind Blade!
The deep teal Wind Blades were Greater Wind Blades, an advanced fourth-level spell. But that jet-black Wind Blade was a genuine seventh-level spell!
Dimensional Blade!
Legend has it, if one’s mastery and casting of the Dimensional Blade reaches the absolute limit, a single strike can tear open a spatial rift.
Of course, an ordinary Dimensional Blade doesn’t have that kind of power...
But even without that power, it’s more than enough. An ordinary Dimensional Blade is still a Dimensional Blade. Once a Wind Blade reaches the level of Dimensional Blade, it essentially turns a wind spell into a spatial spell—a qualitative leap...
Now, Leon’s Wind Blades poured down like a flood—every second, the monster was struck by dozens of blades. The concentration and activity of wind elements in the air surged to the extreme.
In this chaotic, turbulent sea of wind elements, even the smallest change was completely suppressed.
It wasn’t until the Dimensional Blade sliced into the monster that it finally realized.
But by then, it was already too late.
Parts struck by ordinary Wind Blades just turned to mist and quickly reformed, but wherever the Dimensional Blade hit, the tiny spatial rift at its tip sliced space itself in two!
This Dimensional Blade slashed through the monster’s left eye, cutting off the upper left corner of its head as if with a razor-sharp blade!
The severed part of the monster’s head instantly collapsed, turning into a mass of viscous black liquid that splattered across the Soulwood floor.
The monster screamed in agony, its voice shrill and venomous. If it hadn’t dodged just as the Dimensional Blade struck, that blow would have sliced it clean in half!
"Damn rat, you just wait—just you wait..."
Gray flames in its eyes flickered violently, filled with pure hatred and venom. In an instant, the head disintegrated into smoke, surging madly into the small hole in the floor, leaving only tentacles outside to ward off Leon’s attacks.
This time, the monster was determined to escape. In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the hole.
The cabin suddenly fell silent, and the sizzling sound from the floor became piercingly loud.
The viscous black liquid sliced from the monster rapidly corroded the Soulwood floor, leaving a growing pit in the once-smooth surface.
Leon glanced at it and shuddered with disgust.
Leon knew exactly how tough the enchanted Soulwood floor was—it had taken Xuban the strength of three Golden Dragons just to punch a thumb-sized hole in it.
Yet this viscous black liquid was so corrosive that even Soulwood couldn’t withstand it!
The immense Necrotic Power and poison radiating from the liquid made Leon break out in a cold sweat. He quickly cast a Gale spell, blowing the air away—he didn’t dare touch a drop.
The monster was temporarily driven off, but Leon was left aching at the loss.
The losses this time were enormous. Not to mention the spent mana—both alchemical Mana Vortexes were completely drained, and the Mana Harness had less than twenty percent power left.
Both Soul Mana Crystals were gone, and the Elemental Amber on the Arcane Wheel had dimmed, its vast reserves nearly depleted.
Taking out the Death Tome and summoning the Lich, Leon’s face turned a little green.
The Lich, once peak level 37 and on the verge of reaching 38, was now only level 35—and a rather average level 35 at that.
From the moment those tentacles grabbed him, Leon understood—all those level 39 magical beasts had died because the monster drained their mana and life force.
Leon didn’t think he could escape while most of his mana was suppressed, his strength down to just ten percent, and every tentacle was as strong as a Swordmaster’s grip. Unless the monster let go, he had no chance.
With the monster’s greed, Leon instantly devised a plan.
First, he used an Explosion spell to break free, then took out two Soul Mana Crystals and poured mana from the Elemental Amber into them like mad.
In fact, as soon as Leon took out the two Soul Mana Crystals and the monster ignored them, he knew his guess was correct.
Those twelve monsters from before—each still had their mana crystals, just drained of power. Leon guessed this creature could only sense flowing mana.
Anything alive will always have mana in motion—it’s never as stagnant as dead water.
Pouring massive mana into the Soul Mana Crystals pushed them into overload, far beyond their limits—a perilous state.
This also caused mana to surge within the crystals, much like the flow in a mage’s Mana Vortex. That’s why the monster ignored the crystals at first, but tried to snatch them as soon as they began to glow.
The moment the Soul Mana Crystals began to surge, Leon summoned the Lich to his side.
A peak level 37 Lich, not only at full strength but radiating immense Necrotic Power—perfect bait for the monster. Its tentacles didn’t hesitate, instantly releasing Leon to grab the Lich.
Once Leon escaped, he ordered the Lich to approach the monster’s head and swallow the Soul Mana Crystals, then self-destruct.
A peak level 37 Lich, plus two overloaded Soul Mana Crystals, all detonating together in the monster’s sealed maw—the destructive power was colossal. Only a Heavenly Mage could survive that kind of blast!
The results were spectacular, but the cost was steep. Just thinking about it made Leon wince.