The area beyond these 10 kilometers was by no means unscathed, though. The destruction had extended far into the distance, and the shockwaves had even reached the city in the distance.
The forest around the area of the explosion had disappeared. As for the forest far away from the explosion, all the trees in it have been flattened by the shockwaves of the explosion.
It was just that the area around 10 kilometers from the explosion had experienced the full blow of that attack and had been immediately melted into hot lava.
Loki had survived the explosion, but his Life Ability had taken a heavy blow because of it. Even though he had reinforced the energy shield with a lot of energy and had consumed more than half of his energy to resist the explosion, his Life Ability was still left in tatters.
His black armor was now hanging over his body like a rag. For the first time in a long time, the Shifting Armor can’t cover his entire body anymore, so his real skin has become exposed.
The exposed part of his real skin has also been burned. So it wasn’t just his real skin that had become exposed. His metallic muscles have also become exposed for everyone to see.
As he assessed his situation, he shook his head and said, ’I didn’t know that she was capable of doing that. Even if I knew that she was capable of doing it, I would doubt she could actually go through with it.’
Then he chuckled as he said out loud, "It seems she really didn’t want me to kill her."
He didn’t face the explosion head-on, yet he is in such a battered state. So there is no way that she could have survived that attack.
He has already confirmed that she is dead because the Vengeful Bones Metac has lost its target and its enhancement of his power. He has also received a notification of a reward of 10 grade five merit points.
So he nodded in satisfaction and said, "As long as I get paid, I don’t care how she dies."
Then he deactivated his Life Ability to let it recover. This caused his large muscular form to shrink until his small body was revealed.
The Shifting Armor can heal on his body, but it will heal faster when it is deactivated and left to float in his energy well. This is why he deactivated it.
After letting the Shifting Armor relax and heal, he looked at a place to his left, some distance away, where he had caught a glimpse of someone. The person he saw was wearing a white robe. They also had a sword and a gourd hanging on their hips.
The person had been struck by the blast of the explosion and had been killed by it. What he found odd about the whole thing was that she had a smile on her face during the whole process.
The memory of that smile made him shake his head and say, "What a masochist. There are so many freaks in this world. Not even the upright swordsmen are exempt from being freaks."
Then he saw a black crow fly over from the city in the distance. The sight of the black crow filled him with dread, but he didn’t show it and remained calm.
The black crow circled in the air above him for a while. When it was done examining the situation, it landed on the ground some distance from Loki and stared at him with its single eye.
Loki was the first to speak. He said, "What are you looking at?"
The black crow cawed loudly before saying, "I am trying to figure out how it is that you are the only survivor of this destruction."
Loki said, "Is that so? Why don’t you tell me where your true body is so that I can tell you about it?"
His words made the crow laugh. It opened its long black beak and cawed loudly in laughter for a long time.
Then it said, "You’re very funny. Your sense of humor is making me want to add you to my collection so bad. But I don’t know if you’re the one responsible for this much destruction or the target of the destruction."
As helpful as always, Loki grinned at him and said, "Why don’t you take a guess?"
But the crow shook its head as it said, "There is no need to guess which it is because both options are bad. What I should guess is if you’re still capable of producing so much destruction or if you’re still capable of withstanding so much destruction."
In response, Loki said, "I see. That makes sense."
As if excited by his agreement, the crow cawed in excitement before saying, "There is also the fact that you look like a rank 4 forger. That is wrong because a rank 4 forger shouldn’t be able to create or withstand this level of destruction. Especially since many rank 5 beings just died here."
Then it pointed at the imprinted shadow on the ground in the distance and said, "The destruction here even killed a rank 5 swordsman that was a bystander. So I don’t see how a rank 4 forger or any rank 4 cultivator could have survived or created this level of destruction."
As it spoke, it became more and more excited. Its excited state was obvious in its voice as its voice rose higher and higher, and its words came out faster and faster.
Its excitement made it rush to say, "So you’re either a deceiver or a rank 4 in possession of Divine Metac. Whichever one it is, it’s someone I should kill. You understand?"
Loki’s heart sank when he heard this. But he continued to smile unperturbed as he said, "I understand."
The black crow nodded in satisfaction and said, "It is good that you understand. It is very good indeed as I won’t have to explain to you."
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A/N: Please, don’t forget to vote with your power stones and golden tickets. Thank you for your support.