Chapter 19: Explosion

"Protection Barrier!"...

The worm controller kept repeating this phrase in a hoarse voice, stunned into silence by what he saw before his eyes.

The protection barrier was a spell that could divide space and was considered one of the most resilient shields in the world. Even an official Mage would have difficulty breaking through this thin paper barrier.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" The worm controller lost control and let out a scream: "Your barrier must be fake! Otherwise, it would mean you are as strong as a Mage! March, my children! Use your numbers and overwhelm our enemy's defenses!"

Under the control of the worm controller, thousands of scorpions immediately crawled out from under his cloak, forming armies of scorpions that marched toward the little girl standing in front of them. At the same time, the worm controller opened his mouth, spewing countless flies that swarmed like dark clouds, quickly darkening the sky and the ground as they flew toward the little girl.

No beginner apprentice could interfere in a battle between two advanced apprentices. Thus, since the battle began, Leon had been slowly backing away, doing his best to stay out of the way so he wouldn't be hit by a stray spell.

Judging by the current situation, the worm controller had established a dominant position, as the little girl was trapped under a mound of his scorpions. As soon as he could find a way to get past the protection barrier, this battle would end.

Unfortunately for the worm controller, the situation was reversed in the next moment by an apparently unintentional counterattack from the little girl.

The little girl, who seemed to be trapped by countless scorpions, still wore the same sweet smile on her face, as if she had nothing to fear from the crawling scorpions around her. Looking at the worm controller through the growing wall of scorpions, she raised the cage in her hand and shook it toward him.

In that moment, the worm controller felt his heart freeze.

Leon had told him how bizarre this little girl was, so the worm controller was paying extra attention to any movement she made. When he saw her shake the cage, although he didn't perceive any attack coming at him, the worm controller still dodged to the side as quickly as he could.

"Urrrgg~~"

A scream of pain came from the worm controller's mouth.

His body indeed moved away from where he had been standing, but for some reason, he nearly fell after dodging the movement. Then he noticed that his right leg had mysteriously disappeared. In the next second, his missing leg appeared in the cage, looking extremely small.

The little girl looked at him in astonishment. She never expected her enemy to be able to dodge so quickly.

Before the enemy could do anything about his leg, the worm controller let out an angry scream, causing the small leg trapped in the cage to explode into countless scorpions. The scorpions turned into a thread of dark smoke and vanished. At the same time, his black cloak began to ripple and flow. This was caused by the movement of the scorpions, which started to cling to each other to form a new leg.

"Biological modification?" For the first time, the little girl's smile vanished. Her small face wore a dark expression that did not match her appearance. "What a surprise, so you gave up your human body and modified yourself to be entirely made of insects. Hmph! Don't assume you can be immortal like that. I, Lucy, will make you feel true terror today!"

After that, the little girl stretched out her cute little hands and made a grabbing gesture toward the worm controller. In the next second, the worm controller let out a roar, pressed his hand against his chest, and staggered back, nearly falling to the ground. At the same time, out of nowhere, a pulsating heart appeared in the little girl's hand.

If it had been anyone else, that might have killed them. But, obviously, the worm controller had undergone complete bodily modifications and rid himself of several organs that were vital for normal humans. When he saw that his heart had been stolen by the little girl, he simply let out a shrill scream.

Following this scream, just like his right leg, the heart in the little girl's hand exploded into countless scorpions, rapidly turning to ash.

"It seems you were quite meticulous with your modifications!" the little girl said savagely. In a squeaky and rough voice, she continued, "I can't believe you replaced all your organs. I will definitely find the core that keeps your body infested with insects!"

Finished speaking, the little girl began to recklessly attack with both hands, continuously grabbing at the body of the worm controller. Although some of her attacks were dodged, under her continuous assault, she still managed to strike her target successfully every few attacks. And whenever she did, some strange object appeared in her palms.

Covered in blood, disgusting and sticky, no one would be able to identify where these organs came from in her body.

But no matter what kind of organs appeared in the little girl's hand, in the end, they always exploded into scorpions and then turned to ash.

While she was happily pulling her organs out, the worm controller was filled with uncontrollable rage.

As he moved at high speed and continuously dodged the bizarre, mysterious, and long-range attacks from the enemy, the worm controller kept attacking the little girl with his scorpions. However, no matter how carefully he tried, he still could not completely avoid the strange spell attacks, which gave no warning and created no ripples of Elementium.

At the same time, when faced with the indestructible protection barrier, he truly felt a sense of helplessness, as he could not find the opportunity to attack the little girl. If this continued, even though he had high confidence in his modified insect body, he might have to admit defeat to this little girl. Searᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Just when the thought of retreating was growing in the mind of the worm controller, Leon suddenly shouted at him.

"Mr. Worm Controller, attack the back of her head…"

Huh? Attack the back of her head?

The worm controller groaned in his mind. He had already tried the back of her head. In fact, he had tried attacking from every possible angle and position, even from underground. But no matter what he did, the paper protection barrier had dissolved all his attacks. No matter how hard he tried, he simply could not find any weak point in her protection barrier.

But something surprised him, for when Leon's shout reached Lucy, she unconsciously stiffened for a second. At the same time, her large purple eyes looked at Leon, who was hiding in the distance, and she began to grit her teeth silently in anger. Although no emotion could be seen on Lucy's stiff face, the worm controller still noticed a hint of panic in her eyes.

Could this really be her weak point?

Although he was still skeptical about what Leon had said, the worm controller's heart was filled with rage, as he had most of his internal organs ripped out by this little girl. So, without thinking twice, he launched a long-range attack.

Without making a sound, the worm controller collapsed. His black cloak fell to the ground after losing support, revealing nothing but emptiness beneath it.

At the same time, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind Lucy.

It was a shadowy figure completely formed by countless scorpions, an insect body that had been assembled in human shape. A face could barely be seen on the head of this figure.

Shortly after it stood up, the humanoid figure immediately leaped forward, pressing its body against the invisible barrier that it was struggling to break through. In the next instant, the scorpions around them transformed into a black wave, crashing wildly against the nape of Lucy's neck.

Somehow, a fist-sized ripple finally appeared in the protection barrier, right at the spot where all those scorpions were colliding.

In fact, that region was not a Protection Barrier, but a Mini Aerial Barrier, which articulated perfectly with the Protection Barrier.

The worm controller instantly widened his eyes, and his heart was filled with indescribably wild joy. Indeed, there was a flaw in the enemy's defense, and the flaw was this Aerial Barrier.

Although both were Barriers, there was a significant difference between their magical characteristics!

The Protection Barrier was a Space-Type Spell, the main Principle among all the Principles of Mages. It was also referred to as the strongest defense within the Plans. On the other hand, the Aerial Barrier was formed from a variant of the Elementium of Wind.

If no one noticed this weakness, it might be extremely difficult for someone to discover this small 'backdoor' hidden in the Protection Barrier. But when the worm controller used all his effort and hit that particular point, the only unstable part of the protection barrier exploded instantly.

"Pow~~"

After a heart-wrenching roar, the army of scorpions shattered the 'Barrier' and surged into the protection barrier like a dark tsunami. In an instant, Lucy's small and cute body was covered by the rolling and crawling wave of scorpions.

"I swear I will tear you apart!" Unexpectedly, a shrill scream resonated throughout the scene, and an earth-shaking explosion suddenly rippled from within the army of scorpions, which had piled up like a small black hill.

Broken pieces of black scorpions flew in all directions, while terrifying-looking cracks spread out in a spiderweb pattern.

"Crack~~"

Whenever a scorpion was touched by these spatial cracks, its body would immediately disintegrate without making any sound. No matter how thick its shell was, no one could escape the devastating attack. This perfectly showcased the incomparable power of spatial spells.

A furious shockwave repelled all the scorpions that had accumulated on her body. Then the 'spatial cracks' swept through the area, violently crushing and disintegrating any scorpion that crossed their path, revealing the small form of Lucy within the mound of insects.

Right in the center of the suddenly web of spatial cracks, Lucy was floating in the air, her long wavy hair flowing from her head. She let out a terrifying and extremely furious roar to the sky.

Using space as her weapon, she disintegrated all the scorpions around her. Once this little girl, who possessed a great innate talent for space, became enraged, she was capable of launching such terrifying and deadly attacks. This made Leon, who was hiding hundreds of meters away, feel his heart tremble with fear.

Was the difference between a Beginner Apprentice and an Advanced Apprentice really that vast? Although he kept reminding himself that this Lucy belonged to the higher level of Advanced Apprentices, he couldn't contain the growing fear and shock in his heart. This group of people was simply too powerful!

Even if they were not yet official Mages, or even Pseudo-Mages, they possessed terrifying abilities that were unbelievable!

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