Chapter 209: 023: Default Rules

Avery’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

She knew Lynch was strong, but that was ten years ago. Back then, he was merely a Mid-level Apprentice.

She had thought it would be impressive if he managed to advance to a High-level Apprentice in the past decade, but she hadn’t expected his strength and spells to remain so intact—and even more terrifying.

Look at him now.

Effortlessly casting high-level magic, facing off alone against numerous Mid- and High-level Apprentices—some of whom were even infamous figures from the Black Tower—and yet he maintained the upper hand, leaving his opponents utterly defenseless.

Avery felt a strange sense of defeat rise within her.

She had spent the past ten years cultivating tirelessly in the Magic Mirror. Her strength had fundamentally transformed compared to a decade ago. Originally, she had assumed that when she met Lynch again, he would surely be surprised by her newfound power. But the reality... was nothing like she’d imagined.

The forest quickly fell silent.

The Black Wizard Apprentices who had charged forward yelling earlier lay all dead on the ground, leaving behind fragmented corpses that were now slowly being devoured by the earth.

Lynch walked over casually and gathered up all the Blood Crystal Pockets from these people.

He suddenly thought that always carrying Blood Crystals might not be such a bad idea. After all, it allowed him to pose as bait, attracting greedy fools like these who came running to deliver Blood Crystals—saving him the trouble of tracking them down himself...

[Blood Crystals +1328]

In mere moments, he had collected more than a thousand Blood Crystals. It was clear that there was truth in the saying: unexpected windfalls make fortunes. No wonder so many people chose to rob others; compared to painstakingly gathering Blood Crystals, this method was terrifyingly efficient.

"How... how did you manage this? How long have you been cultivating?" Avery exclaimed in astonishment.

How long had he been cultivating?

Lynch actually wasn’t quite sure about the exact amount of time. In Wizard Somda’s time-warped zone, it was impossible to perceive it accurately. A year? Two years? Ten? Twenty?

Frankly, when Lynch finally snapped back to reality, he’d already fulfilled the requirements to advance to Wizard rank. Most of the magic he’d learned had practically reached their peak levels. Against this bunch of weaklings, he could naturally defeat them with ease.

Lynch thought for a moment, then replied, "A long time."

With that, he walked towards the last corpse.

The last corpse belonged to the man covered in snakeskin patterns. Strangely, his body hadn’t yet been devoured by the earth. No one could tell the reason why. The earth’s corpse-devouring efficiency wasn’t consistent—sometimes it happened almost instantly, while other times it might be hours before the body vanished.

The man lay on the ground, lifeless. Lynch rolled him over, preparing to pillage his Blood Crystal Pocket.

But what Lynch didn’t expect was that, at the moment the man was flipped over, his previously dissipated spiritual power suddenly surged once more.

Lynch’s heart tightened, and he immediately retreated.

Almost as soon as Lynch stepped back, the dead man’s mouth opened wide and expelled a highly corrosive acidic liquid directly at Lynch’s face.

"Hisssssss!"

The Multi-element Shield began to emit white smoke, even showing signs of melting.

Taking advantage of the situation, the man’s corpse started contorting wildly, morphing into a giant snake and burrowing straight into the ground.

What a cunning trick—playing possum?

It was something Lynch hadn’t foreseen. Seeing the creature about to escape, he quickly raised his right hand and recited a gray spell.

A blood-red Magic Array blossomed quietly, a black crucifix emerging from within. Black chains unraveled from the cross, plunging into the earth to chase the marked man.

"Ahhhh!"

"Claaang, claaang!"

A pained scream followed by the eerie sound of chains marked the man’s return, dragged from underground with the black chains piercing through his scapula and binding him to the crucifix.

"Is that...?"

Avery’s pupils suddenly contracted as she stared at the crucifix. Lynch noticed her expression looked alarmingly terrified.

At that moment.

"Death Declaration! Death Declaration!"

"No... No!"

The man pinned to the crucifix let out a horrifyingly shrill cry. His expression was utterly consumed by fear, far greater than when Lynch had killed him.

He even started pleading desperately with Avery: "Avery! Make him stop! Please, make him stop!"

Avery trembled all over. She instinctively stepped forward, as if about to intervene, but suddenly seemed to remember something and stopped short.

Her face turned icy cold, now brimming with killing intent.

She urged Lynch decisively, "Hurry up and finish him off, Lynch. Don’t drag this out."

Lynch was baffled.

But he had no reason to reject Avery’s suggestion, so he resumed reciting spells to summon the Death God Projection.

"Nooooo!"

The man’s screams became hysterical.

"Cavendish!"

"You’re breaking the rules, Cavendish! You’ll pay the price..."

Before the man could finish, his words abruptly stopped.

The Death God Projection had already extracted his soul.

"Claaang, claaang!"

The chains retracted, and the man’s limp body dropped heavily from the crucifix, lifeless.

Lynch came back to his senses and turned to Avery: "What were you about to say?"

Avery’s expression appeared deeply tense, as though she were confronting something horrifying.

Upon hearing his question, she shook her head: "It’s nothing."

After pausing for a moment, she asked Lynch urgently, "This spell, Death Declaration, how do you know it?"

Lynch replied, "It’s a long story. I acquired it by chance, that’s all."

Avery continued, "Do you know any others? Any other spells like it?"

Lynch hesitated for a moment: "What do you mean?"

Avery clarified, "I mean other spells that can directly damage souls."

Lynch nodded: "Of course."

Soul-related spells were exceedingly rare, but over the years, Lynch had managed to learn several.

Avery’s expression grew grave instantly.

She solemnly warned Lynch, "Listen carefully, Lynch. Any magic capable of directly harming souls is strictly forbidden on the Blood-colored Battlefield. This is an unwritten rule everyone adheres to. The reason it’s not explicitly documented is that apprentices typically don’t encounter soul-related magic."

After pausing, she asked again, "Have you used any soul-related spells on others before? Aside from this one?"

Lynch nodded, "I’ve used Death Declaration once before."

Avery asked, "Did you leave any survivors?"

Lynch shook his head: "Of course not."

Avery’s tense expression finally relaxed, albeit slightly.

After a short pause, she added sternly, "Let’s forget about what happened today, but moving forward, you absolutely must not use these spells anymore. Not just this one—any spell that could harm souls directly must never be used!"

"And don’t mention today’s events to anyone. You must remember this!"

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