382 Understanding

Baiyi's question made the Wise Mad King's smile vanish. Suddenly, an expression of understanding appeared on the fairy's face. He quickly turned to a pile of rocks at his feet and bellowed, "Kill him! Kill him now!"

The rocks slowly rose into the air, and right in front of Baiyi, they coalesced onto a seven-foot rock golem — the very same rock druid Baiyi saw Mr. Bear fight. It seemed the druid had been allowed to keep his power, as it was loyal to the Wise Mad King and served as his bodyguard.

"This little brat did not think one Gundam was enough, so he brought a Transformer to play, huh…" Baiyi murmured in surprise.

The Wise Mad King really was cautious, it seemed. With the overwhelming advantage the fairy had, there was nothing wrong in coming alone, yet he had brought the rock druid along, just in case. 

Was the rock druid strong enough to help the Wise Mad King deal with a cheat-like character like Baiyi?

The rock druid felt confident, though. As it watched the stiff Baiyi, it stretched out a hand, causing the surrounding rocks to fly over to its palm. These rocks merged with the outstretched hand to form an even bigger hand. It flipped the enormous hand over and assumed a weird stance, as though it was about to smack an annoying mosquito. Barely a moment after, the huge palm was swung towards Baiyi.

With contempt, the rock druid cried, "A weakling like you, with a weak body and soul, should die!"

This was the same technique the rock druid had used to beat up Mr. Bear. Now that Baiyi was bound and without his powers, his fate was uncertain.

The palm landed with a bang, causing dirt and dust to soar into the air. All that could be seen in the dust cloud was Baiyi's fluttering cape. Had he really been slapped into a metal sheet?

"Hmph! Crushed, just like an ant! I heard you were a powerful adversary — the messenger of a god. But, in the presence of a real god, you are pitiful," the rock druid said in jest.

Little Mia and Tisdale had been watching from a distance, and at that moment, they were stunned. The horror they felt was so intense, they had yet to cry out; they could only gape in disbelief. Moments later, they began to tear up, and grief and hopelessness welled in their hearts. Unable to think straight, they gripped their chests and began to sob.

It was then that they realized how much Mr. Hope had meant to them.

"Hmph. It looks like someone's all noise and no substance!" The Wise Mad King snorted, inwardly heaving a sigh of relief because Hope had been taken care of. He had been so worried earlier, his skittish behavior had embarrassed him.

His gaze shifted to Hope's fluttering cape, and he decided to grab it so that he could take it back to the palace. To him, the robe was more priceless than the beautiful ring on his thumb. That was because the cape used to belong to the messenger of a god. 

"Eh?" Suddenly, the rock druid mumbled in surprise.

Its enormous palm, which had just slapped Hope to oblivion, began to tingle. Since it was made of rocks, not flesh, the druid's sense of touch was dull. However, it reflexively pulled the enormous pam backward, out of the dusty area.

However, when it did, all it saw was a stump at its wrist; there was no enormous hand anymore.

"This…" The rocky druid's expression quickly changed to alarm.

Suddenly, a strong gale blew by, taking all the dust in the air with it. Contrary to what the Wise Mad King had hoped for, there was no bloody meat paste where Baiyi had been standing. What he saw, however, was a spherical object encased in a thick cloud of black fog. The spherical object greatly resembled a meatball. Inside this meatball-like sphere, the Wise Mad King could barely make out the silhouette of a human, whose head had been adorned with a blue headband. 

Unable to restrain himself, the Wise Mad King cried out a line that villains were known for: "Impossible!!!"

With a commanding tone of voice, the black meatball replied, "There are powers even gods cannot control."

Within the black meatball, the silhouette raised his right hand and, in a steady yet powerful voice, said, "Ants like you only belong in the dirt."

Suddenly, black flames appeared on the rock golem and began to consume it. The golem's body was supposed to be unbreakable, but to the black flames, it was no different from paper. In less than a moment, half of the golem's body was gone.

It was at this point the rock druid finally cried out in agony as pain devoured it. It quickly turned to face a nearby rock, intent on transferring its consciousness into it. If it could do that, it would be able to use the new rock as a core through which it would construct a new body to fight the black meatball.

However, Baiyi knew what the druid sought to do. As soon as it felt the druid's consciousness leave its burning body, he smirked, "Even souls bare themselves before me."

He closed his left hand, making a gripping gesture. After replacing Death Force with Void Energy, he cast a secret undead-spell — Soultrap. This allowed him to grasp the rock druid's consciousness with his outstretched hand.

"A weakling like you, with a weak body and soul, should die," Baiyi coldly said, repeating the druid's words. He balled his outstretched hand into a fist, and the soul of the rock druid — who did not even get a chance to scream — was crushed.

The proud rock druid had been insta-killed in almost no time at all. The Wise Mad King's face was completely drained out of color, and he could only stammer, "Wh-what is this power? Why c-can it still be used… within the P-P-Power God's Holy Ground?!"

"I am not obligated to tell you anything," Baiyi coldly replied.

However, he did not attack the Wise Mad King; instead, he continued, "Just you wait patiently for me in whatever sh*thole you live in. You forced me to assume this form in front of my students. You are going to pay for this with the more gruesome death possible — a generous courtesy from me!"

Baiyi was infuriated; this was evident from his cold tone of voice. He had yet to decide on the best time to tell his students about Void Energy. This was because he was worried about the possibility of repudiation, but now, however, he had been forced to show his hand, all because the Wise Mad King had forced him into a corner.

Baiyi swung his arm in fury, and the Wise Mad King's body turned into black fog. A moment later, the scattering black fog merged to form a crow.

It seemed that the Wise Mad King did more than bring a bodyguard with him to meet Baiyi. He had not even come in person. This technique was the same technique Vidomina's mother had used to visit Baiyi, and this was why Baiyi had been able to recognize it instantly.

That was why he had had to settle with giving his enemy a piece of his mind. There was no way to kill an illusion, after all.

"I have to finish off this gigantic leviathan first," Baiyi mumbled to himself before using Void Energy to remove the binding spells that had bound his students. He slowly turned around to see the expressions on his students' faces — an action that made him quite apprehensive.

He feared they would wear horrified expressions on their faces.

However, as soon as Mia's binding spell was lifted, she asked, "A-are you still… Mr. Hope?"

Her voice seemed to contain a trace of excitement. Could that be what she truly felt?

"Yes. It's still me, but I am using my other power. It's a power that is not under the jurisdiction of Laws," Baiyi calmly replied. He paused for a bit before asking, "Are you scared?"

He had yet to turn around fully, but from his peripheral vision, he could still Mia's ponytails rocking from side to side. It was something that could only happen when one was shaking their head sideways.

"Why would I be scared of you, Mr. Hope? My Mr. Hope is always the coolest and the best!" Mia exclaimed earnestly.

Even Tisdale had something to add. "Well, the black stuff stuck on you is kind of terrifying, but once I remember that I am looking at the same Sir as before, I don't get scared anymore."

The other students hurriedly jumped in to express themselves, as well.

"I know you as my Godfather, and no matter what you become, you will always be my Godfather!" Vidomina exclaimed.

"My faith tells me that your energy is sinister, Mr. Hope. But, for some reason, I also find it incredibly endearing..." the Village Maiden, Laeticia, added. Unlike the others, she had a complicated expression on her face. The clash between her faith's teachings and her instinct placed her in a dilemma.

The remaining students had only positive words for Baiyi.

To them, surviving the rock druid's attack was nothing short of a miracle, so why would they consider this strange power of his evil? Even if the power was evil, they would still be okay with it. They knew who their teacher was, and they remembered just how much he had taken care of them and guided them. Although Justice and Evil are vague concepts which conflicted each other, the feelings one had toward another was all too real.

Even Zakum the Fox, who Baiyi had dealt with for eating a farmer's herd of goats, did not oppose Baiyi's current form. It ran over to the black meatball and tried to rub itself against it to express its gratitude at having its life saved.

However, it was ill-advised for any living organism to touch the black flames, so Baiyi moved out of its way. However, he was touched by their acceptance. "I'll go and defeat that big guy over there. You guys stay here; don't wander, alright? We'll continue this discussion when I return…" Baiyi said, a little too passionately.

"Go get' em, Mr. Hope!" Mia shouted, punching the air hard.

With a heart filled with content, Baiyi soared into the air with Void Energy and streaked towards the approaching Gundam.