After breaking through into a state of supersensitive vision, for an Advanced Wizard Apprentice like him, although there were many disadvantages and a risk of corruption leading to a cost,
it was highly effective for observation.
While it couldn't penetrate obstacles, those shadowy figures hiding in the darkness had nowhere to hide under the gaze of supersensitive vision.
Since the second burst of light had occurred, numerous cultists and corrupt followers had continuously fled here.
Among them were wizards, knights, and ordinary people.
But now, without exception, they had all become the shattered corpses strewn across the ground.
Standing atop a mango tree and carefully observing to confirm there were no more figures in sight, Colin adjusted his position, preparing to observe the area where the firelight was further off.
Although he was killing vigorously here, in terms of the overall battle... his impact was actually quite small.
The real outcome of the conflict would still depend on Wizard Lap.
Hum——!!
Just as he pushed aside the leaves to look towards the source of the firelight,
a high-frequency humming noise—reminiscent of nails scraping a blackboard—reached his ears!!
Colin frowned slightly, suppressing the discomfort.
He continued to push aside the obscuring foliage, looking into the distance.
What met his eyes was nothing but the intense flames of the fire and the small yet significant figure of Wizard Lap standing in mid-air.
Streams of scorching fireballs flew from Wizard Lap's hands, but no enemy figures could be seen opposite him.
As if thinking of something, Colin concentrated his spirit and carefully looked towards the spot in front of Wizard Lap.
As his attention focused more and more, the feeling of washing away filth from bluestone to reveal a bumpy surface reemerged.
And with it, that same heart-piercing sensation of fear…
No, this time it was much stronger than before!
Colin's lips were tightly pressed together, and his heart pounded fiercely under the unexplained fear.
In his field of vision, on the spot that had been empty, a towering blood-red figure slowly emerged!!
Hum——!
As if struck by a heavy blow to the head, Colin felt dizzy, with bizarre whisperings in his ears!
"...He is redemption!! He is vengeance!! He is the endless, formless crimson mist...!!"
Ssst!
At that moment, an almost imperceptible friction sound came from the air.
Felling a prickling sensation on his back, Colin's heart surged, and he snapped out of his dizziness, controlling his body to leap down from the tree!
A semi-transparent arrow shot through where he was just standing! After snapping a few thick branches, it continued its trajectory undiminished into the air, the air current it swept up flinging mango tree leaves to the ground!
'This power... has already exceeded the range of an Intermediate Apprentice…'
Before he even landed, another semi-transparent arrow shot towards him.
Colin's expression was calm, and at a thought, a fireball shot out, colliding with the semi-transparent arrow, mutually annihilating each other.
He safely landed on the ground.
"Eh." A surprised voice came from the shadows not far away, "You're not an Intermediate…"
Ssst!
Before finishing the sentence, he felt a foreboding danger and his expression changed as he pushed his defense magic to the limit.
Ding!!
The cone bullet collided with the semi-transparent protective shield, producing a crisp sound, its tip distorting instantly upon impact, while the remaining kinetic energy continued to drive it against the shield!
The semi-transparent protective shield visibly dimmed slightly, but the cone bullet also lost its momentum and dropped to the ground.
He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Ding——Ding——Ding!
But in the next second, countless cone bullets began to fire towards him one after the other from the air in front of him!
His expression changed dramatically, fear written all over his face, as he dodged to the right while continuously channeling magic power into his shield.
Unfortunately, the robust shield on his body did not hold out for long and shattered suddenly after just a short while.
Phut!
Without the interference of the protective shield, the cone bullet shot straight in, its tremendous kinetic energy tearing his body apart. The breath of life vanished in an instant, and his mangled body collapsed heavily.
Colin's expression was indifferent as he tucked most of the cone bullets he was holding back into the cloth pouch at his waist.
Having done this, he gazed at the apprentice's mutilated corpse, his brow slightly furrowed.
Within the supersensitive vision, the apprentice's body still radiated a human-like spirit fog glow.
'It stands to reason that after death, the spirit fog should also dissipate quickly... Moreover, the previous attack, and the strength of the defensive witchcraft... this should have been an advanced apprentice... why is there still a glow of spirit fog...'
Pfft!
Colin raised his hand and fired several more cone bullets at the apprentice's body, stopping only when he had shattered the already broken body into chunks the size of a football.
He observed again.
Under the supersensitive state, the glow of the spirit fog was evenly distributed across each piece of the body's fragments.
After watching for a while,
he noticed that the glow of the spirit fog that shrouded most of the chunks was gradually fading.
After a while, only the chest fragment was still enveloped in the glow of the spirit fog.
Colin lifted his head and carefully surveyed the surroundings.
Wherever he looked, the place was deserted, not a soul in sight. Those civilians in the shacks had not shown their faces at the window again since he had killed the first person.
Colin hesitated for a moment, turned all his defensive witchcraft to the maximum, and quickly moved towards the pile of body parts.
No need to search extensively, as he approached, he noticed the white crystal necklace twinkling atop the chunks.
Swoosh—
Boom!
Suddenly, a red firework burst open in the sky behind him.
Colin turned around, his expression changing as he quickly pulled off the necklace and started to retreat.
'A retreat signal firework?... Has Wizard Lap been defeated? Or is it a misfire?!'
A flurry of thoughts crossed his mind as he clutched the white crystal necklace tightly in his hand, quickly reached the mango tree, leaped up it, and looked out towards the Thorn District!
Colin's brows were tightly knit as his gaze searched carefully.
Moments later, he saw a familiar figure in a gray robe. After careful observation, he noticed that Wizard Lap did not appear injured.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
It was at this point that the shouts came one after another, seemingly transmitting messages in the most primitive way.
"Wizard Lap commands..."
"Wizard Lap commands!"
"The Bishop of Flesh and Thorns has sacrificed all his followers and himself, temporarily summoning the embodiment of an Evil God projection!
To avoid unnecessary power expenditure, Wizard Lap orders all apprentices to return to the Wizard Territory, activate the Witch Array to wait at leisure, and avoid the sharp edge for the time being!
After a while, when the Bishop's power weakens, Wizard Lap will decapitate the Evil God's Bishop himself!"
"Wizard Lap..." the voice repeated.
Colin's eyes flickered as he leaped down from the mango tree, joining the wizard apprentices beside him in retreating.
Before leaving, he glanced back at the street behind him.
In the shacks, some ordinary people had already reacted, taking their wives and daughters and starting to flee.
Wizard Lap's decision might have been the right one... such a summoned Evil God projection wouldn't last long, using the Witch Array to temporarily avoid the fray, waiting for the foe to weaken before striking back— this was undeniably the most energy-efficient strategy.
As long as one doesn't consider the havoc the Evil God projection would wreak in Blackstone City, doesn't care about civilian casualties...
Colin's expression was calm as he ran, glancing at the grey figure of Wizard Lap who had unknowingly flown ahead of them and let out a slight sigh.
"Cough."
The fierce wind brushed his face as Lap coughed imperceptibly, slightly controlling his flight speed in the air.
He felt the weariness in his body and his expression grew even colder.
He looked back at the projection of the Lord of Flesh and Thorns that he had temporarily trapped in place and scoffed.
'If it had been fifty years earlier, how could a mere projection force me to retreat...'
His expression grew colder by the second, but inside he sighed almost imperceptibly.
'I've indeed grown old...'