Chapter 385: Chapter 384: Apprentice vs. Wizard

After a long silence, Ji Burlen looked at Richard with a slightly changed expression and said, “Kid, I can’t understand what you’re talking about. I don’t know what the purpose of all this is, and I’m not sure if it has anything to do with what I learned from the people I just killed.

But whatever the case, your request exceeds the ‘scope’ I’ve set. I’ve said that within a certain scope, I can satisfy your request — but since you’ve gone beyond the ‘scope’, it’s still up to me to decide how you die.”

Richard’s complexion changed, reacting like someone with a little cleverness who had been found out — first with surprise, then with panic.

He instinctively retreated backward, appearing very fearful, but his eyes, watching Ji Burlen, were extremely clear on the current situation: the man in front of him was powerful, capable of easily killing Suladi, certainly stronger than Suo Men and Mu Konni.

If that were the case, there was no point in confronting him head-on. Once his location had been exposed, trying to kill the opponent would be almost impossible. However, he still had one advantage, the only advantage:

He had entered concealed by the Shadow Cloak, hiding any extraordinary power and aura. That’s why the other party only discovered him when he opened the door, showing a surprised expression.

That meant, in the eyes of the other party, he was just an ordinary person who had wandered in by mistake, and so he could launch a surprise attack.

However, once he attacked, whether successful or not, the other party would see through his disguise, become alert, and would no longer be careless. Perhaps they would do what Suo Men and Mu Konni had done before, engulf in flames to upgrade and burst out with incomparable power to kill him.

So, there was only one chance to attack!

Just one!

Richard’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he kept retreating, exiting the study and heading towards the doorway of the house, as if petrified with fear.

Ji Burlen followed with a calm demeanor, walking out of the study towards the doorway of the house, and said, “Kid, you can’t escape. It’d be better to accept all this calmly.”

“I…” Richard hung his head, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something, but he said nothing.

Ji Burlen was watching all this unfold and said softly, “Alright, kid, my time is limited, and I don’t have much time to waste with you. Even if you’re unwilling, you still have to die.”

With those words, Ji Burlen raised his hand, and the air stirred slightly as an Ice Cone formed at his fingertips, ready to pierce Richard’s body and take his life.

Just then, Richard looked up and said directly to Ji Burlen, “My lord!”

“Hm?”

“There’s one thing, a request, I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Oh? What request?” Ji Burlen asked, his fingers lengthening and sharpening the Ice Cone into a slender Crystal Cone.

Richard spoke earnestly:

“You know, I have no hatred or conflict with you, just an innocent ordinary person, and our meeting was purely by chance — you weren’t expecting it, and neither was I.

You have your own business to attend to, and I have mine. I don’t want to affect you; I just want to take care of my own affairs. And the things you and I are busy with do not stand in opposition.

In such a case, whether you kill me or not won’t make a difference. Why then do you insist on killing me? I may just be a common person, but even common people can feel rage, can despair — why push all this to the brink?”

Ji Burlen’s eyes flickered as he watched Richard, then said, “Are you implying I shouldn’t provoke you? Heh, you’re indeed somewhat interesting.”

After a pause, Ji Burlen added meaningfully, “True, according to what you’ve said, I really shouldn’t kill you. However, I prefer not to leave any variables in my actions, for variables can become the flaws in an entire plan.

To me, dead people are the safest, so a living, interesting you is not as useful to me as an angry, desperate, dead you. Do you understand, kid?”

“I think… I understand…” Richard said, a glint appearing in his eyes.

“Good,” Ji Burlen replied. “My break is almost over, I really need to attend to other matters now, so kid… goodbye.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Burlen waved his hand, sending the Ice Cone hurtling towards Richard’s chest at high speed. Then he turned and walked back towards the study, ready to deal with the unconscious Heidi and leave the place.

But the next moment, just as Ji Burlen turned around, he heard the sound of an Ice Cone shattering with a “crash” behind him, not the anticipated “thud” of it piercing through his body.

This!

A voice rang out, Richard swiftly said, “My lord, I understand your methods, but that doesn’t mean I agree with them, so… really, don’t provoke me!”

Ji Burlen spun around, only to see Richard, who he remembered as an ordinary person, suddenly wielding a Short Wand, pointing it straight at him. He then released a Spell, and small Mars flew toward him.

“A Wizard, a surprise Spell attack?” Ji Burlen thought to himself, not too worried. He was certain the Spell released by Richard was not even First Circle level, and even though time was tight, it was sufficient for him to cast a Magic Shield before the attack reached him, safely blocking it.

But!

The next moment, Ji Burlen’s eyes narrowed to see that what flew out from Richard’s Short Wand wasn’t just a single Mars, but…

One Mars, two Mars, three Mars…

Ten Mars, twenty Mars, thirty Mars…

A dense swarm, dozens, hundreds of Mars appeared, turning into a true Magic Salvo, merging into a true barrage of Energy, fiercely bombarding his way.

Ji Burlen had just hastily conjured a cyan Magic Shield, and the numerous Mars ruthlessly collided with it. The power burst forth and in an instant, the Shield was torn apart, and the tremendous destructive force was unleashed without restraint.

“Boom!”

…

“Boom!”

The ground shook violently, half a house disappeared into thin air, and a pillar of Flames rose dozens of meters high, like a massive torch lit against the night sky.

Emerging from the billowing Flames, Ji Burlen looked down at his clothes to find that a large area had been scorched, leaving him somewhat disheveled.

Ji Burlen frowned deeply, angered and frightened by the close call: if he hadn’t activated a precious Magic Tool in time, he might have been seriously injured!

There was no helping it–the attack had been too sudden, too far beyond what he could have imagined, making it impossible to respond as easily as usual.

What in the world was that?

If Richard were here, he would tell Ji Burlen that it was an attack he had been preparing for a long time.

In fact, from the moment he had discussed “Schrodinger’s cat death method” in the study, under the concealment of the “Shadow Cloak,” he had been multitasking to marshal the numerous Free Energy Elements within his body.

As he exited the study and retreated towards the front door of the house, he continued to marshal the Free Energy Elements.

The lengthy talk was all in preparation for one explosive attack.

That’s why there was a Magic Salvo.

This was a true Magic Salvo, unlike the “Fake Magic Salvo” he had used long ago when he had just confirmed his path as an Apocalypse Wizard.

The previous Magic Salvo involved rapidly releasing Spells over an extended period; though called a salvo, it was actually a line of fire. Now, after extensive research, he had succeeded in unleashing all the firepower in an instant, turning it into a true Magic Salvo, a true barrage of Energy.

Such explosive power was enough to destroy most unsuspecting targets.

“This kid…” Ji Burlen, emerging from the Flames, squinted his eyes towards the door, only to see a Black Shadow quickly sweeping toward the distance–that was Richard, employing the explosive speed of the “Wind Lord” to escape.

“Thinking of running away? I’m afraid it won’t be that easy,” said Ji Burlen, his foot stomping down as he chased after Richard out of the house and into the darkness.

…