Living Shield!

  When the triangular silver-white shield blocked the deadly ray, the pupils of everyone present constricted in unison.

  As one of the top defensive items among Alchemy-grade magical artifacts, a Living Shield not only possessed intelligent traits like auto-targeting and parrying but also carried a price tag starting at 2000 Gold Coins.

  Pierce actually had such a trump card in his hand?

  The most shocked was Silas. He clearly remembered that when Pierce was expelled from the family, his total assets amounted to no more than a few dozen gold coins. Where did an outcast struggling at the bottom get the resources to buy such a luxury item?

  But dwelling on this question was pointless now.

  Pierce's counterattack came like a storm. Silas had to suppress the shock and anger in his heart and brace himself to fight back.

  In an instant, light flashed across the clearing, and spells flew everywhere.

  Acid Splash and Ray of Frost crisscrossed in the air. Sometimes they collided and annihilated each other, bursting into brilliant elemental sparks; other times, they brushed past each other, blocked by their respective spell shields and the Living Shield.

  The high-frequency exchange of spells dazzled Clement and the others. Where had they ever seen actual combat of this intensity? Every second, at least three spells were formed, released, and collided in the air.

  Looks of disbelief gradually surfaced on the faces of Gwendolyn and Ingram.

  If they were somewhat uncertain just now, they were now absolutely convinced.

  To be able to fight on par with Silas, who used a wand for instant suppression, Pierce was undoubtedly using Segmented Casting!

  The two exchanged a glance, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

  They prided themselves on their superior aptitude and the massive resources provided by their families, growing far faster than their peers. Yet even so, they were still stuck at the bottleneck of Rank 2.

  And Pierce... a Bloodless with no resource supply, had actually broken through the barrier of truth a step ahead of them!

  What kind of monstrous talent is this?

  For a moment, these two favored children of heaven stood frozen in place, their minds in a trance.

  On the other side of the battlefield, the scales of victory had tilted completely.

  Under the high-frequency bombardment, the spell slots stored in Silas's wand were quickly exhausted, and the magic ring he brought from the family vault now glowed dimly like a candle in the wind.

  In contrast, under the protection of the A.I. Living Shield, Pierce was unscathed. He looked radiant, his deep eyes showing no trace of fatigue, his spiritual power seemingly endless.

  It is over!

  Silas's heart turned cold. He turned his head to look at the Blood Fey in mid-air, hoping it could create a miracle.

  However, one look made him utterly despair.

  The giant crow, which had swelled to two meters in height at some point, was rubbing the Blood Fey against the ground. Every time Mistfeather's talons swung, they created a shrill sonic boom in the air, beating the Blood Fey until it wailed incessantly, its originally solid blood body torn to pieces.

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  The defeat was set.

  Seeing his change in demeanor, a mocking smile curled on Pierce's lips. Without a word, he raised his hand for another Mage Hand.

  BOOM!

  The invisible fist of air hit the teetering shield in front of Silas like a battering ram.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Punch after punch, the momentum was terrifying. In just 3 seconds, the shield symbolizing the last line of defense shattered.

  The next heavy punch landed solidly on Silas's chest, knocking him directly to the ground and embedding him deeply into the mud.

  Pfft!

  Silas spat out a large mouthful of blood, his face pale as paper, his whole body limp on the ground like a pile of mud.

  Pierce didn't even look at him, turning to the still struggling Blood Fey. He raised his hand, firing a Daze.

  Although the fey race had high resistance and the stun effect lasted less than 0.5 seconds, it was enough.

  Seizing this opening, Mistfeather dived down violently, tearing a large piece of scarlet flesh from the Blood Fey.

  Watching Pierce release spells expressionlessly, throwing them at the Blood Fey one after another as if spiritual power cost nothing, Gwendolyn and Ingram couldn't help swallowing.

  In the battle just now, this guy released at least 40 spells, and now a series of high-consumption control skills... Is his spiritual power an abyss?

  "Stop! Pierce, I yield! Stop!"

  Hearing the screams of the Blood Fey, Silas finally broke down. That was a familiar his father had spent a fortune to get; if it died here, his status in the family would be doomed eternally.

  "Pierce, you—"

  He wanted to say more, but a foot stepped heavily on his back.

  Crack.

  It sounded like ribs breaking. Silas let out a scream and couldn't speak another word.

  After more than ten breaths.

  As Mistfeather tore open the Blood Fey's abdomen with a claw and pulled out a crystal-clear scarlet bead, the arrogant bloody humanoid figure froze instantly, then turned into a puddle of foul-smelling blood water with a splash.

  Caw!

  Mistfeather flew back to Pierce, handing him the Blood Core as if claiming credit.

  "Good job."

  Pierce took the bead and smiled, stroking its feathers. This was top-tier material for refining Vampiric Golems, priceless on the black market.

  Putting away the loot, Pierce moved his foot and grabbed Silas by the collar, lifting him like a dead dog.

  Silas's eyes were bloodshot, filled with malice.

  Pierce sneered and punched him in the face without a word.

  Bang!

  The bridge of his nose collapsed, blood flowing freely.

  "Losers should have the awareness of losers. I do not like that look in your eyes."

  This punch made Silas see stars, nearly fainting. After catching his breath, he decisively cowed, averting his gaze.

  "Hand over all the points." Pierce's voice was devoid of emotion.

  Silas's cheek twitched, but under that cold gaze, he trembled as he activated his bracelet and transferred all points to Pierce.

  "That is a good boy."

  Pierce patted his cheek, then threw him aside like trash. Then, he turned to look at Clement and the other four on the side.

  The four were still immersed in the shock of Silas's defeat until they met Pierce's indifferent gaze, causing them to shudder in unison.

  "Pierce..." Clement swallowed, speaking cautiously.

  "Hand over your points too." Pierce interrupted him.

  The four turned pale but didn't dare to disobey in the slightest. After a moment of hesitation, they obediently transferred their points.

  "Take this guy away." Pierce pointed at Silas on the ground.

  The four felt as if they had been granted amnesty, hurriedly picking up the unconscious Silas and fleeing in panic.

  After dealing with this group of small fry, Pierce finally turned around, looking at Gwendolyn and Ingram with a faint smile.

  "Now, it is your turn."

  Gwendolyn laughed awkwardly, retreating a step imperceptibly. "Well... I do not want the Myriad Flower Fey anymore. Can we just let it go? At least we did not fight, right?"

  Pierce smiled without speaking.

  "Hand over the points, and I will let you leave."

  If not for the fact that the two hadn't taken advantage of the situation to rob him, it wouldn't be as simple as just asking for points now.

  Seeing Pierce being stubborn, Gwendolyn sighed, her eyes becoming resentful. "Pierce, I do not want to fight not because I am afraid I cannot beat you, but because I do not want a lose-lose situation."

  "You are very strong, true. But you just fought Silas, so your consumption must be significant. Are you sure you still have the strength to deal with both me and Ingram?"

  Ingram stepped forward cooperatively, his Shadow Blade looming in his hand, stating his stance.

  "Lose-lose?"

  Facing their threat, Pierce smiled disapprovingly.

  "You guessed one thing wrong."

  Gwendolyn frowned in confusion. "What?"

  "It was not me fighting you, but it."

  Pierce pointed to Mistfeather beside him.

  As his voice fell, Mistfeather suddenly disintegrated into a mass of extremely dense black mist.

  In the next second, countless pure black crows scrambled out of the mist, surging into the sky like a black torrent. In an instant, a dark cloud blotting out the sun covered the entire sky, completely cutting off the sunlight.

  Gwendolyn and Ingram looked up in horror.

  In their vision, only endless darkness composed of thousands of red-eyed crows remained.