Otherwise... if this continues, he would transform and corrupt...
He clenched his fists.
A layer of confusion suddenly veiled the eyes of the beast-faced wizard, and a sinister smile appeared on the corners of his mouth.
"It seems... this state isn't too bad; I am much stronger now than before."
The coarse black hair on his face, like some kind of living creature, kept churning and trembling at this moment.
The next moment.
Bang!
His palm collided with his head with a dull thud.
Under the stimulation of pain, the confusion in the eyes of the beast-faced wizard finally faded, and the black hair on his face also calmed down.
"My condition is getting worse." He lifted his head, trying hard to maintain his sanity.
In the distance, Burns had taken the opportunity of his chaos to hop away a considerable distance.
"Stranger wizard..."
Burns's shouts continued.
A flash of brutality flickered in the eyes of the beast-faced wizard as he lifted his arm.
Swoosh!!
Like a phantom, he rapidly charged towards Burns!
The sound of the wind whistled past his ears; he could already imagine the beautiful scene of Burns being pierced from behind by his claw, lifted high, with blood spraying everywhere!
Getting closer...
Almost there!
The scene imagined in his brain was about to become reality in the next second!
A brutal smile appeared on the corners of the beast-faced wizard's mouth.
Swoosh!!
The next second, a hard cone bullet shot towards him at high speed.
The beast-faced wizard's pupils suddenly shrank, and his legs bent at an incredible angle as he crouched down, narrowly avoiding the cone bullet.
"Colin, Wizard!"
Burns cried out in surprise at the sight of Colin floating in the air.
"Uh-huh." Colin responded softly as he continued to pull out cone bullets and shoot them at the beast-faced wizard.
Burns and his group had been out for too long, so he was somewhat worried and decided to check up on them.
Not far from the cave entrance, he heard Burns's shouts and hurried over.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Cone bullets continuously shot at the beast-faced wizard.
To quickly eliminate the enemy, he used the Foolishness Scepter to enhance his Arrow Shooting Skill to a power close to that of a First Rank Basic Level...this was the most cost-effective enhancement he had tried.
With such an enhancement, he would likely use the Arrow Shooting Skill about five times before its progress would decrease a bit.
Although the beast-faced wizard dodged the first cone bullet, he was not so lucky with the subsequent continuous shots.
Pfft, pfft, pfft!
The hot tips of the bullets chaotically hopped inside his body, and his body trembled continuously as if struck by an invisible force.
The situation was very favorable.
But the next second!
Swoosh!!
The beast-faced wizard's figure suddenly disappeared from view.
Colin looked up and saw that, unbeknownst to him, the beast-faced wizard had sprouted two tattered flesh wings, glowing purple, from his back.
He was now quietly floating right in front of him,
Hum—
The defense strength of the Steel Temperature Resistance Field was raised to its maximum, and Colin's brow furrowed slightly.
Ding... ding... ding...
The previously shot cone bullets squeezed out from the beast-faced wizard's body and fell to the ground.
Around the fist-sized wounds, malignant growths rapidly sprouted one after another, instantly sealing the wounds completely.
"Such recovery power, it might not be much weaker than my own."
Since the cone bullets were useless... Colin waved the Foolishness Scepter once again!
Boom!
An orange-yellow fireball shot towards the beast-faced wizard at high speed!
"These fireballs... and the previous cone bullets, surely they've already exceeded the Apprentice level."
"Could it be an Official Wizard?!"
The Beast-faced Wizard thought to himself as he effortlessly dodged the Fireball.
Although his current state was nearly corrupt and degenerate, hanging by a thread, it had granted him power surpassing that of an Apprentice Wizard.
He hadn't reached the level of an Official Wizard, but in terms of speed, he was already at the threshold!
Dodging such a slow Fireball was a piece of cake!
"No, if it were an Official Wizard, it wouldn't be this easy... This Magic Power is probably just a bit stronger than an Apprentice's, barely touching the threshold of an Official Wizard."
The Beast-faced Wizard continued to dodge the Fireballs, waiting for a chance to counter-attack.
"It seems that this power must come from that scepter!"
A flash of greed sparkled in the Beast-faced Wizard's eyes, but then his expression changed.
Whoosh!!
A Cone Bullet suddenly shot towards him.
The Cone Bullet was much faster than the Fireball, and he couldn't dodge in time,
Pfft!
The Cone Bullet penetrated his body, the immense kinetic energy causing a slight delay in his dodging motion.
Then a Fireball followed closely behind and hit him hard!
There was no escaping now!
The Beast-faced Wizard's expression changed as he closed his wings around his body to shield himself.
Boom!!
The Fireball exploded, blasting huge holes in his purple-tinged flesh wings, and the edges burned fiercely like a clinging bone plague.
Severely injured, the clarity in the Beast-faced Wizard's eyes faded away like a receding tide, and strange swellings continuously emerged from his body like waves.
Just as the clarity was about to disappear completely and his body seemed on the verge of bursting,
The Beast-faced Wizard took a deep breath and barely managed to regain his senses.
Immediately, the battered purple-tinged flesh wings began to rapidly heal.
"That was close... Looks like I'll have to rely on my speed advantage to fight this out."
As the Beast-faced Wizard thought this,
A blinding light burst forth!
A Sun Fireball, like a glowing sun, struck him.
"No!"
The Beast-faced Wizard's eyes filled with fear as he desperately flapped his flesh wings!
But the next second, his body melted away instantly like ice under summer sunlight.
"Hu—"
Colin exhaled a heavy breath, the red light on the crystal of the Sun Fireball Ring on his index finger gradually dimming.
Realizing that the witchcraft just touching the threshold of an Official Wizard couldn't harm this peculiar Wizard, he had prepared to use the Sun Fireball.
After all, he couldn't drag the battle on too long, as it could lead to complications.
But if he had used the Foolishness Scepter to elevate his Magic Power a notch higher, the cost would not have been small, and he didn't want his progress with the Fireball Technique to regress again.
Fortunately, the power of the Sun Fireball was still strong enough... to secure victory.
He turned to look at Burns on the other side.
Clang!
He just saw Burns retract his Giant Sword.
At his feet, where he stood on one leg, lay the three Light Armor Knights who had accompanied the Beast-faced Wizard.
He was about to ask for details about what happened,
Patter—patter—
But suddenly, a series of sounds came from behind...
Turning his head, he saw that it was the remains of the Beast-faced Wizard, making a slight noise as they hit the ground.
Colin approached, glanced, but did not find a Storage Ring or anything similar.
"This is..."
Among the ash-gray remains, he found the only object that had survived the Sun Fireball—an Crown Ornament.
It was considered an ornament because the crown was only the size of a regular ring, made of metal, interwoven in gold and silver colors, and exquisitely detailed.
"It looks familiar..." Colin frowned slightly as he picked up the ornament.
"Better keep this for now, it's not the right time."
He turned and walked over to Burns, who was barely able to stand, ready to inquire about the specifics of everything.