Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 808 Exhaustion (Second Update)

The sorcerer, who seemed frozen in amber in the sage's eyes, suddenly vanished in a flash of teleportation. A scorching sword descended from the sky at a speed no human could react to, slashing down close to the sage's golden mask and carving a long gash in the plaza's stone pavement, stained red with angelic blood.

But the sage didn't seem too surprised. After dodging the attack, he kicked Salomon's shoulder armor, then skillfully and deftly dodged the edge of the shield that had been propelled by the force of the blow, and slammed his spear into the shield's sideways surface.

Salomon clearly heard the power armor's joint servo system groan, sparks erupting from his elbow, and countless bright red warning codes flashing on his retinal projection. He realized the [Swift Stream] spell had ended, and the sage's movements returned to normal. Without hesitation, he activated the jet thrusters, the intricate machinery spewing out massive amounts of heat and unleashing a thunderous roar, propelling the arcane mage like a battering ram, shield in hand, as the red robes covering the armor billowed in the wind like crimson wings.

The masked sage planted the lower end of his spear into the ground, the tilted shaft striking the right edge of his shield with a sickening metallic scraping sound. The powerful recoil forced the arcane mage to change his shield-holding posture and even its direction to avoid having his power armor joints and wrists snapped—he kept his knees bent while increasing the power of his left thrusters, his steel boots plunging deep into the stone pavement, allowing him to maintain his shield-raising stance and face the sage directly. However, the sage did not meet the attack as expected, but instead nimbly dodged the blade that swung upwards from below the shield.

Generally, few can dodge this insidious, near-close-range attack at extremely close range, but the Sage is no ordinary person. Seemingly because his attack triggered [Swift Stream] again, Salomon found the Sage vanish from his sight once more. Simultaneously, his shield was subjected to a series of terrifying, storm-like impacts, the ear-piercing sounds almost drowning out the deafening roar of the fists colliding between the four archangels and Lady Butterfly. Pressure warnings from the joint servo system flashed incessantly on the power armor's retinal projection; the electronic muscle bundles, twisted from vibranium alloy cables, trembled and groaned beneath the armor plates; and the hot air emanating from the heat vents on his back distorted the air around Salomon and the Sage.

Now he finally understood why Tony Stark had installed so many gadgets on his power armor; he just wished he had a machine gun on his shoulder to help him solve the problem. However, Salomon wasn't too embarrassed, because this time he saw the Sage's movements clearly—he slightly lifted his right boot, activated the right thruster, spun in place like a top, and then slammed to the left, his shield colliding with the golden spear. The golden spear tip, swung with terrifying speed, enveloped the white figure in a layer of illusory golden film. The arcane mage thrust his holy sword from above the shield, precisely blocking the ornate white spear's trajectory, pinning the Sage to the spot.

Unless the sage abandons his weapon, the holy sword could rise at any moment with the sound of gunfire and sever his fingers.

Surprisingly, Salomon's vision was completely obscured by the shield when he made this move, yet he still counterattacked without hesitation. This was because the sage's movements were clearly reflected in his prophecy. Even if he couldn't keep up with the sage's attack, he could still block most of the attacks. This is the terrifying aspect of facing an enemy who can see the future; you don't even know if your counterattack is within their expectations. In close combat, there's no time for much thought; all actions are almost purely muscle reactions, making it extremely easy to fall into a trap without realizing it.

The sage thus fell into the trap Salomon had set for him. However, the masked sage seemed to possess extremely rich combat experience; without hesitation, he released his grip on the spear with his other hand, seemingly intending to continue the attack from another direction. And that's exactly what he did.

There were few bystanders in this battle, except for the boy who called himself "Loki" and was perched on the rooftop. In his eyes, two golden figures trailing flames and a multitude of frenzied white figures surrounded him, filling the entire plaza. Gunshots and the clanging of metal mingled together, and jets of metal flew everywhere. The buildings around the plaza suffered varying degrees of damage; the continuous explosions had almost destroyed all the walls.

The boy swayed and almost fell off the roof.

He couldn't help but wave his arms in protest, but no one paid any attention to him.

Salomon took a large step forward, rotating his body to the right while keeping his shield pressed against the spear. He then increased the thruster's power, spinning again with astonishing speed and extending his arm to draw the holy sword and swing it behind him to the right. At the same time, he let out a deafening roar and a short but highly effective incantation—the masked sage felt an unbearable paralysis rush from his extremities to his spine. Although he quickly overcame the problem using his magic resistance and physical prowess, he had no time to dodge the attack.

The sage could only barely use protective spells and the sound of his spear to block the attack. The power boost from the stigmata and the terrifying output of the power armor made the holy sword roar out like a heavy hammer. The scorching blade sliced ​​through the geometric gold ornament on the sage's shoulder, and the blade cut into at least half of the spear shaft. Then the masked sage was sent flying.

All of this happened in the interval between two heartbeats. To the boy looking down from the rooftop, all he saw was a blurry afterimage and a flash of fire. Before he could react, a deafening roar accompanied by a white figure hurtling through the air, whistling as it flew overhead. The boy's eyes widened as he watched the golden spearhead approach his head.

Even faster than the Sage's spear was the Quadruple Virtue Angel [Perseverance]. To be precise, it was the body of the Quadruple Virtue Angel [Perseverance], stripped of its two dragon heads. Lady Butterfly, gripping [Perseverance]'s dragon tail, spun it around like a shot put and hurled it. The angel's massive body, splattering blood, streaked across the sky above the town of Noah'dune, its speed creating a sonic boom. No matter how the angel [Perseverance] spread its tattered wings to try and maintain its balance, it could not avoid crashing to the ground.

The sage and his spear were also slammed to the ground.

The boy couldn't help but lower his head, letting the howling wind blow off his hood. He clung tightly to the eaves to prevent the violent tremors from the angel crashing to the ground from throwing him off. But this was not the end. The Butterfly Lady's clone, made of witch's hair, swooped down from the sky like a missile, crashing into the remains of the [Perseverance] angel.

The female demon let out a hearty laugh and whistled, like a wrestler who had won a match.

"Darling, you're really bad at protecting others." The witch unfurled a pair of dark purple wings and drifted down slowly, carried by the wind that stirred the clouds. Salomon rolled his eyes and stretched his aching shoulders. Normally, after being empowered by the Sage's Mark, his stamina was astonishing, and fatigue was practically nonexistent for him, but he had genuinely felt exhausted during the battle with the Sage. He had to be constantly wary of the Sage's illogical speed and the possibility of the Sage disengaging from the fight to find the boy.

"At least I didn't smash a bunch of houses." As if in response to Salomon's words, a wall beside the square, riddled with scratches and bullet holes, collapsed instantly. Salomon raised an eyebrow, though no one saw it. "It certainly wasn't because of me. I guarantee that wall will hold for a while longer."

"Oh, darling," Bayonetta shook her head, "I don't want you to behave as badly as that wall tonight."

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(End of this chapter)