Chapter Thirty-Three: The Battle's End

“No, there’s a flaw in her magic shield,” Chu Yun noticed after careful observation. The shield circled around Eve’s mother, protecting her, but its upper and lower parts were not its main lines of defense, making them particularly weak. The best way to break the shield was to attack from above or below. Of course, Chu Yun could have destroyed it outright with a second-tier spell, but he wanted to reserve those for the Thunderwater Ray.

The torrential rain summoned by the Thunderwater Ray had left the camp flooded—an ideal battlefield for Chu Yun. With his mirror attack ability, he could strike from any angle at will. This time, though he didn’t use a higher-tier spell, he activated the enhanced effect of Burning Hand.

Burning Hand: For each additional doubling of mental energy consumed, the base damage increases by 1–6 points, up to the intelligence cap.

Burning Hand normally consumed three points of mental energy, with base damage between three and six. Chu Yun’s intelligence was twenty-one. This time, he spent nine points of mental energy in the mirror world to cast Burning Hand, boosting the spell’s damage to five to eighteen points, plus an additional eleven points from his intelligence bonus.

The final damage of Burning Hand reached a terrifying sixteen to twenty-nine points!

Increasing the mental energy expenditure extended the casting time, but in the mirror world, Chu Yun had ample time to chant and construct the expanded spell model.

Once the chanting was complete, Chu Yun released his enhanced spell at Eve’s mother, targeting her reflection in the water.

A pillar of fire erupted from beneath her feet. The monster tamer, still focused on controlling the Thunderwater Ray, sensed danger too late. The intense heat not only vaporized the water around her into steam but also destroyed her shield from below.

Once the bottom structure of the magic shield was damaged, the entire construct collapsed, and the scalding heat and steam enveloped her.

A scream tore through the air. On the other side, Eve—who had been taming Paimon—looked anxiously at her mother.

“Mother!”

Her mother’s mage robe offered decent resistance against lightning, but almost none against fire. When the flames burst from the water and engulfed her, she was grievously wounded and ignited in moments.

Even though the rain lessened the flames, her frail body could not withstand them for more than a few seconds.

Eve abandoned Paimon and rushed to her mother.

“Don’t come closer, run!” Her mother’s desperate warning came as her final words.

But it was too late. An arcane energy surged up from the ground. Driven mad by her mother’s death, Eve failed to dodge in time.

With a thunderous blast, the energy beam shattered Eve into pieces.

The true power of sorcery lay in both its destructive force and its cunning application; the strength of a monster tamer lay in their monsters. In terms of vitality and defense, the Lalafell race was far inferior to humans and could not withstand Chu Yun’s powerful assault.

The Thunderwater Ray in the sky let out a mournful wail. The tamer’s death struck at its soul, as their contract bound their fates. Fortunately, she had not invoked the contract’s power to force the Ray to die with her, so it still had strength left and could seek vengeance for its master.

Unable to locate Chu Yun, the Ray redirected its fury onto the other people in the camp. Its soul and mind wounded, it abandoned the now-difficult ranged magic attacks and instead dove straight into the panicked crowd, lashing out at close quarters.

Chu Yun first gathered the items dropped by the two, and since he had slain them in the real world, he received not only standard experience points but also a special reward for real-world kills.

[Received 102 points of class experience]
[Received 105 points of general experience]
[Acquired second-tier spell “Beast Contract,” allowing the signing of contracts and mental communication with monsters of tier two and below.]

Beyond the contract, a monster tamer had an entire suite of spells to control, strengthen, breed, and train monsters. Though Chu Yun had only obtained the contract spell, it was a significant gain—a second-tier spell, and perfect for contracting Paimon.

[Beast Contract]
Tier: Second-tier Contract (Ritual)
Casting Time: Ten actions
Range: Touch
Components: Incantation, gestures, material (monster’s blood)
Duration: Permanent
Effect: You sign a contract with a monster. It becomes your servant, obeys your commands, and you may control its life or expend mental energy to compel it to act as you wish.
Note: Consent is required for the contract; attempts to force it may fail depending on the relative strength of each party.

Chu Yun refocused on the real world. With the monster tamer dead, the torrential rain conjured by the Thunderwater Ray ceased.

Earlier, in the stormy darkness, the humans had been at a severe disadvantage. Crossbows and arrows rarely found their marks, and panic and wishful thinking had thrown them into chaos, leading to a complete rout.

Now, the tide was turning. The humans finally began to mount a counterattack.

There were quite a few second-tier professionals in the camp. They weren’t suited to long-range combat and had poor magic defenses, but now, in melee, the situation was different.

The Thunderwater Ray began to suffer injuries. Seeing hope, other adventurers joined the fray.

Wounds covering its body, the Thunderwater Ray gradually regained its senses. Though it was overcome with rage and grief at its master’s death, it realized that pressing on would only lead to its own demise.

Vengeance could wait for another day, once its wounds had healed. It flapped its wings, preparing to escape.

“It’s trying to flee! Stop it, quickly!”

The Thunderwater Ray was indeed worthy of being a second-tier elite beast; if it was determined to escape, it would be difficult for the crowd to stop it.

Just as it lifted off, and the others thought victory was slipping away, a chant rang out.

“!@#￥!#%#!”

“Destroy it, Hand of the Flame Demon!”

A pillar of fire surged from Chu Yun’s palm. The Hand of the Flame Demon shot straight into the Thunderwater Ray’s gaping, tentacled maw, and its body began to swell visibly.

With a muffled pop, the Ray’s head exploded from the heat-induced pressure.

The ten-meter-long body crashed to the ground. Chu Yun quickly dodged aside to avoid being crushed.

He had originally intended to strike from the mirror world, but the Ray’s rapid movement during battle made it nearly impossible to aim for a vital point. He was unsure whether his Hand of the Flame Demon could finish it instantly; if it managed to escape, all would be for nothing.

So, during the chaos, he slipped back into the real world and lay in ambush. Only when the Thunderwater Ray prepared to retreat did he unleash his magic.

Normally, a standard second-tier spell would have taken longer to cast. But Chu Yun had used a first-tier spell, warped by the rules of magic into a special second-tier form, allowing for a much quicker release.

Looking at the Ray’s fallen corpse, there was little joy among the survivors—only grief.

Many of their friends and family had died in the battle, some right before their eyes, slain in brutal fashion.

[Received 415 points of class experience]

Having landed the killing blow, Chu Yun gained a generous amount of class experience. He was eager to see what loot awaited him in the mirror world, though now was not the time to leave.

As the hero who had slain the Thunderwater Ray, he was already surrounded by a grateful crowd.