Bullets pinged and ricocheted off Dunn, merely tearing his clothes, the projectiles sprung away as they touched skin like steel.
He growled lowly as his body swelled, his height reaching two and a half meters, his muscles rippling beneath his suit, now a tight-fitting garment. With one arm propped against his chest like a shield, he charged like a shell towards the mine’s exit.
What kind of magic is this, that it can block bullets, a metal shell?
Wayne looked towards the rip in the suit, and with the help of the dim mine light, he vaguely saw the sheen of white metal.
He had no time for wonder as he stepped in front of the mine’s exit, fingers hooking slightly as several vines shot out from the ground.
The vines, like venomous snakes, wound around Dunn’s feet. Though they were torn apart by the brute force enacted upon them, their resistance still affected his balance. He pitched forward, his momentum involuntarily decreasing and stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.
Wayne raised his fingers, summoning vine serpents thick as arms, which coiled around Dunn’s ankle and viciously slammed him into the ground.
Wind howled before Dunn’s eyes, and with several loud booms, the mine’s lights flickered, and the rock walls trembled as dirt and debris fell.
Wayne had no intention of engaging in close combat; adhering to the principle of ’if it works, use it to death,’ he manipulated the vines to slam and smash repeatedly, each time leaving an indented human-shaped crater in the ground.
In the mine, not only was the ground compacted soil, but also wooden sleepers laid with steel tracks. Dunn bellowed, with both hands in front of his face, able to defend the front but not the back. His head smashed against the track with gruesome intimacy.
It rang crisp and clear, its reverb lingering, the sound of fracturing bones distinctly audible.
"Hey, don’t kill him, we need a live one to interrogate for information."
Kerr reminded. Dunn viewed Eclipse Town as a bank, regularly withdrawing large sums of cash through Mayor Welsh with an organized, premeditated plan, clearly backed by a professional gang.
Holy Light Magic excels in healing, not resurrection. With Wayne’s slamming method, once he’s done, the brain matter would be flung out, beyond saving.
If the lead was lost, it would be much harder to trace the source.
"Serious injury is remarkable, but dying isn’t so easy."
Wayne said this, but he still held back, releasing the vines and slamming Dunn harshly against the wall.
Not far away, the portly, greasy Mayor Welsh, teeth chattering, held a pistol and feigned calm.
"Don’t come any closer, I have a gun."
Wayne didn’t even glance at him but waved his hand, blowing a cloud of spores in his direction.
The mayor very obligingly fell down as soon as Wayne raised his hand.
Sir, the times may have changed, but a hand pistol won’t scare a mage. Remember to use a submachine gun next time.
No, use a heavy machine gun.
Someone once said, heavy machine guns work better than submachine guns!
Dunn got up groggily from the ground, his head spinning and his legs feeling light, as everything seemed to spin around him.
With skin tough as hide and an uncanny vitality, even by mage standards this was too absurd.
Wayne squinted again, catching the metallic glow of the white bone through the tear in the suit—it wasn’t metal at all but bone.
Dunn had extracted his bones and layered them over his skin.
True exoskeletal defense!
Leaning on one hand against the wall, Dunn raised his other arm high and glared venomously at Wayne, "Heretic, return to the embrace of Death!"
His bones were thick, the raised arm thicker than a common man’s thigh, and it was covered in dense, tadpole-like black symbols.
As magic power flowed through him, the tadpole symbols travelled along his arm’s skin, transforming into a black crow with open wings.
The Goddess of Death had three Proxy Deities. Since the Goddess would not deign to sully herself with the mundane world, apart from the God-chosen Knight, even the most outstanding disciples could hardly hear her Divine Decree. To touch Death, one had to go through the three Proxy Deities.
Thus, these three Proxy Deities were also known as the Three Proxies: Observer, Judge, Executioner.
Observer, Doom Spider Grew, previously invited Wayne to join the ranks of Death.
The black crow on Dunn’s arm symbolized one of the Three Proxies: the Judge—Spirit-eating Crow Senet.
As the black crow symbol lit up, a grey Death Swamp swept down, a desolate and chilly wind of wilting instantly killed the lingering spores in the air, and the vines withered and rotted upon contact.
Dunn roared, his body encircled by the aura of Death as he lunged out of the mine.
The magically augmented and hardened exoskeleton pierced through his skin, transforming him into a three-meter-tall hedgehog with a metallic sheen, soaked in blood, that turned Wayne’s stomach.
He had contemplated many possibilities, but never imagined that the Black Sorcerer not resembling a human would be a follower of the Goddess of Death.
Indeed, just because he equated Death with tranquility and eternity didn’t mean Death was only about peace—most often, Death was synonymous with evil.
The Necromancer controlling the mayor to pilfer the wealth of the people, funding the Death Church with dirty money; it all made sense without fault.
As a Death Knight, Wayne felt a deep shame and glared fiercely at Dunn charging towards him.
Return to the embrace of Death!
Wayne pushed with both hands, the ground thundering as countless vines erupted from the earth, spiking upwards and assembling into a towering wall, rolling like a chariot.
The grey swathe of Death Swamp collided with the vibrant vines, like oil against water, two utterly opposing energies grinding against each other, locked in a fierce struggle.
"He’s invoked the Divine Power of the Proxy Senet," Kerr reminded from the side. "Continuing won’t give you an edge. Don’t waste magic power; free up some space, let’s go at him together."
There’s no need for chivalry when dealing with evil and deceit, let’s join forces!