Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

On the other side, Hughes and Billy were locked in a fierce battle, while Green continuously cast simple spells from a distance, frequently distracting Hughes.

After a prolonged battle, cold sweat beaded on Hughes's forehead. He knew that if this continued, he would eventually collapse from exhaustion.

"We can't wait any longer!"

Hughes took a deep breath, his chest expanded suddenly, the muscles in his arms bulged, and the accumulated power exploded in an instant—he made a desperate gamble, using all his strength to swing his sword fiercely at Billy.

The cross-shaped sword whistled through the air as it aimed straight for Billy's neck. Billy hadn't expected Hughes to possess such explosive power, and he felt the chilling blade whistling past his neck.

Without a second thought, he instantly drew away all the dark elements gathered in his right arm and right hand, and poured them all into his left arm and left hand.

In an instant, his left arm swelled up, and the skin with bulging veins was covered with a thick layer of dark elements, as if he were wearing a heavy black iron arm armor.

"clang--"

A deafening crash rang out as Hughes's cross-shaped sword slammed into Billy's swollen left arm.

The blade was firmly held back by that layer of dark element, unable to advance even an inch further. The force of the recoil caused Hughes's hand to split open instantly, and blood dripped down the hilt of the sword.

Billy suddenly exerted force with his left arm, using the power of the dark element to deflect the blade, while his right hand formed a claw, re-condensing a dense black mist to grab at Hughes's heart.

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes—he didn't want to capture him alive anymore; he'd just finish him off!

The instant the sword was deflected, Hughes used the recoil to spin around sharply, narrowly avoiding Billy's outstretched hand. The black mist trailing from Billy's fingertips grazed his shoulder.

Hughes dared not pause for a moment. He slammed his toes into the ground and used the momentum of his spin to retreat rapidly. His body shot off like an arrow, creating several steps between him and Billy, until his back hit a broken, charred tree trunk.

"Clang—"

The cross-shaped sword fell to the ground, its blade vibrating and making a crisp sound. Seeing him retreat, Billy didn't immediately pursue, but instead flexed his numb left hand, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"It can hold up better than I thought."

Taking advantage of this brief pause, Hughes released a deflection field. The wind bullet fired by Grimm crashed into the field, its trajectory suddenly distorted, and it slammed into the nearby boulder with a "boom," blasting up a pile of rubble.

Hughes caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't get distracted. His attention remained firmly fixed on Billy. He immediately sketched runes, and in an instant, several frost bullets emitting a chilling aura flew towards Billy.

Billy didn't dodge. A wall of wind rose in front of him. The frost projectiles, carrying a chilling aura, crashed into the wind wall and were torn into tiny ice crystals by the violent airflow before they could explode, falling to the ground in a flurry.

Billy sneered, bracing himself again to pounce on Hughes, just as his body lunged forward.

"Bang—"

A muffled thud rang out, and the ice crystals that had just been torn apart by the wind wall and scattered on the ground suddenly exploded all at once! Countless sharp ice shards, carrying with them a chilling aura, scattered in all directions.

Caught off guard, several sharp ice shards precisely sliced ​​across Billy's ankle, instantly tearing away the dark elements clinging to his skin.

Without the protection of the dark elements, the ice shards mercilessly pierced the flesh, leaving several bloody gashes. The ice shards relentlessly cut into the flesh, causing beads of blood to gush out, and a bone-chilling cold seeped into the skin through the wounds.

Billy grunted, his sudden movement coming to a complete halt. This half-step delay gave Hughes a chance to catch his breath, and he quickly conjured an ice spike about the length of an arm.

Hughes thrust his wrist forward sharply. The spinning ice spike, like a crossbow bolt, carrying a chilling aura, aimed straight for Billy's chest.

Billy caught a glimpse of the incoming ice spikes, a contemptuous smile playing on his lips. He raised his hand and conjured another wall of wind.

Just as the ice cone was a few inches from the wall, it suddenly began to spin rapidly, frantically stirring up the surrounding airflow with a sharp buzzing sound.

The spinning ice spike pierced the wind wall, and the originally thick wind wall was actually broken open by the ice spike that suddenly accelerated.

"laugh--"

The ice spike easily pierced through the wind wall and entered Billy's chest cavity. The ice spike penetrated his body, and the spiraling force did not stop, forcefully piercing through his body. The spike tail flew out from his back with blood streaks.

His chest was not covered by dark elements, which gave Hughes an opportunity. Warm blood kept gushing from the blood hole in his chest, spreading a glaring crimson stain on the ground.

Billy's smile froze on his face, his pupils dilated suddenly, and he looked down at the bloody hole in his chest, letting out a hoarse gasp.

Despite Billy's biological modifications, which gave him a physical strength far exceeding that of ordinary people, his true strength was ultimately only that of a second-class wizard apprentice.

At this moment, a bloody hole was forcibly torn open in his chest, and the powerful regenerative ability brought by the modification seemed to be a drop in the ocean in the face of such a fatal injury.

Blood gushed out uncontrollably, and his swollen muscles instantly withered. The fierceness in his eyes was quickly replaced by disbelief, astonishment, and the gloom of impending death.

Almost the instant the ice spike pierced Billy's body, Hughes gathered his magic power, and a ball of energy distorting the surrounding light and shadow appeared in his palm—it was the Shattering Impact.

The energy cluster emitted unstable fluctuations, and the light at its edges was stretched and slightly distorted, carrying a power like shattering space as it accurately shot towards Billy's already sunken forehead.

Billy was about to look up—"Bang...Sizzle!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a dull cracking sound. The transparent ball of energy instantly entered his head, and then Billy's forehead exploded, with brain matter flowing out of the wound.

Billy's body trembled violently, his eyes widened, but he was completely devoid of any spirit. The dark elements attached to his limbs receded like a tide and dissipated into the air.

He fell straight backward again, crashing with a thud onto the scorched earth behind him. The blood on his chest hadn't dried yet, and a few dark red drops of blood splattered out—Billy never got up again this time, and the sharp teeth in his mouth finally stopped growing.

Hughes stared at Billy lying on the ground, his tense body not relaxing. He looked at Green not far away and fired several more spinning ice spikes.

At that moment, when Green saw Billy fall, his face turned deathly pale. Seeing that Hughes continued to cast spells on him without stopping, he hurriedly activated the magic tools on his body, and a solid light shield appeared in front of him.

This time, Hughes held back, easily shattering the hastily erected light shield by the ice spike. However, at the moment of penetrating the shield, the ice spike's momentum slowed slightly, showing a barely perceptible pause.

In that split second, Green lunged to the side, rolling half a circle on the ground in a sorry state. The ice spikes grazed his body, not injuring his flesh, but tearing several long gashes in his robes.

He staggered to his feet, and the disdain he had shown before was gone from his eyes as he looked at Hughes; only deep fear remained.