"Blue Extreme Fire Resistance Ring."

A blue Fire Resistance Ring spread out, with Li Wei at its center.

It pushed Erica, who was suspended in mid-air, far into the distance.

Losing his head did not affect Li Wei’s ability to cast Magic in his Flame Lord form.

Strictly speaking, he no longer had a head.

The Flame Lord was a single entity, with no distinction between head and feet.

Erica’s white robe was burned away, revealing a body wrapped in white bandages underneath.

The white bandages were tightly wound around Erica’s stunning figure.

Intricate Magic Runes shimmered on the bandages.

Li Wei’s flames were unable to destroy her bandages.

He stared in surprise, seeing her covered in bandages.

Erica, however, gave a mischievous smile. "How embarrassing, for you to see me like this."

"I’ll end this fight as quickly as possible."

After she spoke, Erica stomped down hard in mid-air.

The terrifying burst of power seemed to solidify the very air beneath her feet, providing the propulsion she needed to move through the air.

Li Wei sensed Erica’s movement and spun around to meet her attack.

In the next moment, Erica suddenly vanished.

She had vanished from his senses.

He scanned the area, but there was no sign of Erica.

With a jolt of realization, Li Wei looked up.

’She’s above me.’

Erica descended from the sky, plummeting like a meteorite.

For a moment, Li Wei seemed to see a Giant Dragon diving from high in the sky towards its prey.

BOOM!

The Flame Lord was instantly blasted apart.

It scattered into a storm of fire that filled the air.

Li Wei’s consciousness went blank for a moment.

As he regained consciousness, he heard Erica chanting in a profound and arcane draconic tongue.

’A Dragon Language Curse!’

Li Wei’s heart went cold, realizing what Erica was doing.

Erica uttered the final syllable of the draconic chant.

"Elemental Return!"

An invisible Power swept over Li Wei.

He was involuntarily forced out of his Flame Lord form, reverting to his human state.

When he tried to transform back, he found he couldn’t.

The Power within his body was suppressed.

Li Wei looked at Erica, suddenly suspicious of her true identity.

’Is she really a Biological Alchemist?’

’She has the Power of the Giant Dragon and knows Dragon Language Curses.’

’These aren’t abilities one can gain just from a Dragon Blood Potion.’

’A Dragon Blood Potion can only grant a human a portion of a Giant Dragon’s physical constitution.’

’It can’t enable a human to master a Giant Dragon’s Magic, let alone a Dragon Language Curse, which is inherited through the bloodline.’

’A Giant Dragon’s Magic is on par with a Mage’s Magic.’

’A Dragon Language Curse is on par with Rule Power.’

’They’re on two completely different tiers.’

Erica looked at Li Wei, took out a white robe, and put it on.

"You lost."

Li Wei stared at her for a moment. "Yeah, you won."

Li Wei walked off the stone bridge arena.

Erica was incredibly strong.

It would not be easy for Li Wei to defeat her either.

’If it were a matter of killing her by any means necessary, that would be much simpler, of course.’

’Assuming she’s even human.’

Li Wei was deeply suspicious of her true identity.

’A Giant Dragon transformed into a human? Or the offspring of a human and a Giant Dragon?’

Li Wei glanced at Erica, lost in thought.

’I wonder if the people from the Alchemy Tower actually know who—or what—she really is?’

’If they don’t, things could get interesting.’

Li Wei glanced at Erica, who was checking the attributes of the hidden item, and turned to leave.

He was interested in Erica’s true identity but couldn’t be bothered to investigate it.

On his way out, Li Wei ran into Eiris, Elfa, and the others, who were rushing over together.

Seeing Li Wei, Elfa exclaimed in surprise, "The hidden arena was taken already?"

Li Wei nodded. "Couldn’t be helped. My opponent was too strong."

Elfa frowned, thought for a moment, then said, "Let’s go take a look."

Seeing this, Li Wei could only follow them.

Li Wei and Eiris walked behind, chatting in low voices.

"Did you run into any danger?" Li Wei asked Eiris.

Eiris shook her head. "I didn’t run into any trouble myself, but I heard that a terrifying monster has been sighted near the arena we were holding earlier. Apparently, any Mage who runs into it gets eliminated."

"Good thing you left when you did, or you would’ve been in danger," Eiris added, relieved.

Li Wei laughed to himself.

"Oh yeah, totally. Just my luck."

Little did she know, Li Wei had not only encountered the monster but had also made it his subordinate.

Eiris’s reminder made Li Wei think of his Shadow Attendant.

’Where did the Shadow Attendant go?’

Li Wei reached out to the Shadow Attendant with his mind.

There was no answer.

He frowned. ’That’s not right!’

’He and the Shadow Attendant are bound by a Soul Contract. It should be impossible to lose contact.’

’Unless... the Shadow Attendant isn’t in this dimension.’

Li Wei’s heart sank. ’Don’t tell me it was captured by a Space Mage?’

「In the forest.」

A disheveled Roger watched the monster darting about frantically, trapped inside the Space Maze.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

"Fuck, what the hell is this thing? Scared the shit out of me."

Roger had been startled by the Shadow Attendant that had suddenly appeared and attacked him.

The Shadow Attendant moved silently, its victims only able to sense the attack at the very moment they were hit.

Luckily, his Space Shield was strong enough and wasn’t shattered by the Shadow Attendant.

It took some effort, but Roger finally managed to lure the Shadow Attendant into a trap he had set, imprisoning it within a Space Maze.

After observing it for a moment, Roger’s eyes widened in surprise. "A Nitro?"

"What’s a Nitro doing here?"

Roger’s heart leaped with joy. ’This is a golden opportunity!’

A smile spread across his face. He had thought it was an unmitigated disaster, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

This ’blessing’ was a big one, though—not something an ordinary person could handle.

Luckily for him, he could.

Roger thought for a moment, planning to capture this Nitro before him and take it back to the Space Tower.

’Killing a Nitro is worth three thousand Points.’

’But a live one is worth far more.’

Just as Roger was preparing to cast a Space Magic to imprison the Shadow Attendant and take it away...

The ground trembled.

Heavy footsteps echoed from not far away.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Roger felt a shadow fall over him and looked up.

A giant Nitro was looming over him.

WHOOSH!

A huge foot descended from the sky, stomping towards Roger.

CRUNCH!

A deep footprint was left in the ground, but Roger was nowhere to be seen.

The giant Nitro ignored the vanished Roger.

It looked down at its companion trapped in the Space Maze.

The five purple energy bands on its body began to glow. Its bird-like beak split open, firing a purple beam of light that struck the Space Maze.

KRAK!

The Space Maze shattered, and the Shadow Attendant escaped.

It looked up and saw the giant Nitro.

The two stared at each other for a long moment.

Li Wei, Elfa, and the others arrived at the edge of the stone bridge.

Elfa saw Erica on the arena and exclaimed in surprise, "It’s you!"

Li Wei was a little surprised and asked, "You know Erica?"

Hearing this, Elfa said, "So her name is Erica. Remember what happened this morning? She’s the one I ran into."

"She doesn’t look like a Mage in the slightest. What is she doing here?"

The mere sight of Erica made Elfa’s head ache.