Chapter 88: Caught You

"In other words, to catch him, I have to be faster than what he can foresee—so fast that his mind can keep up, but his body can't react…"

As that thought formed, Ethan Hayes had a plan.

He retreated a distance and took out his fire-element four-leaf grimoire.

"Oh? Are you planning to bombard me now?"

The Wizard King smiled faintly.

If this were a real fight to the death, he wouldn't give Ethan a single chance to breathe.

But this was a sparring match, and besides, he wanted to see just how powerful Ethan had become after his rebirth.

[Fire Creation Magic – Phoenix Flame Spirit!]

[Wind Creation Magic – Kamaitachi Blades!]

Two massive area-type spells were unleashed in an instant.

The sky was filled with an overwhelming blaze and countless razor-sharp wind blades.

Just watching it made Marx's scalp go numb.

If he had been on the receiving end, he would've been turned into a porcupine in under two seconds.

There was simply no room to dodge—it was too much.

Whoosh!

At the same time Ethan vanished, the barrage of fire and wind blades surged toward the Wizard King.

His method was simple: increase the number of attacks.

Overwhelm him.

He might be able to foresee the first and second steps—but not dozens or hundreds of steps in advance.

Each foresight, Ethan guessed, must reset every time.

Just like stepping with your left foot—only then can the next step with your right be predicted.

But if he didn't move, maybe he wouldn't be able to foresee it at all.

There had to be a short foresight timing window.

If he could lock that window down...

Zing!

Zing!

Magic rained down. Julius moved through the air as if teleporting.

The wide-area spells were indeed massive, but dodging them wasn't difficult for him.

He was curious to see what Ethan would do next.

"Hmm? He's steady…"

Just as he furrowed his brow, the ground below vanished.

A massive earthen spear shot up from below.

Before he could regain his footing, a lightning bolt struck the spot he had just landed on.

Immediately after, a barrage of light swords rained down.

No time to think. No time to breathe.

Water dragons surged. Thunder dragons roared.

Some spells were even combined with spatial magic, striking unexpectedly.

The entire forest was shaking from the magical shockwaves, triggering the attention of the Diamond Kingdom garrison nearby.

"What's going on? Is the Clover Kingdom attacking?"

At the border outpost, one of the Eight Shining Generals, Rakas, frowned and looked toward the forest bordering the Clover Kingdom.

But logically, it shouldn't be.

The Clover Kingdom had always been defensive for years—never once initiating an attack.

And something as big as war? He would've heard about it in advance.

"Call the army together!"

Rakas began mobilizing the troops to investigate.

Back in the forest, the battle between Ethan and Julius had reached its climax.

Concealed and suppressing his presence, Ethan launched wave after wave of ranged attacks.

Wind, fire, lightning, light…

He had lost count of how many different elemental magics he'd used.

But no matter what, none of them hit Julius.

In the Wizard King's time magic dictionary, the word "hit" simply didn't exist.

"But I'm not giving up that easily!"

With a burning will in his eyes, Ethan felt every cell in his body surge with excitement.

Fighting someone this powerful—this was exhilarating!

[Earth Magic – Might of the Earth God!]

Boom!

Boom!

"Oh?"

Standing calmly, the Wizard King watched the stone walls rushing toward him from every direction.

If he didn't move, he'd be crushed into meat paste.

But of course, only a fool would stay still.

Whoosh!

He flashed away just as the walls closed in, reappearing above them.

But five spirit wind arrows were already waiting for him.

"Oh? Homing spells? Not bad at all!"

With an unchanged expression, the Wizard King turned and finally activated his own time magic.

[Time Magic – Continuum Lock!]

One, two, three…

Five circular time spheres wrapped with flowing time lines enveloped the wind arrows.

Inside, time would endlessly loop—frozen in stasis.

This move, troublesome even for Patolli, was neutralized effortlessly by the Wizard King.

Boom!

Another explosion. Ethan's assault never stopped.

As countless light swords poured down, a massive tornado surged across the land.

"It's no use. No matter how many spells you use—you won't hit me…"

Evading two large-scale spells, Julius spoke as he gazed at the stormy landscape before him.

He had pretty much figured out Ethan's plan.

Overwhelm him with non-stop attacks and wait for an opening.

But that wouldn't work!

He admitted the execution was nearly perfect.

Dodge one, the next was already there.

Sometimes they even appeared in the most unexpected spots.

But it didn't matter!

He had already foreseen all these moves in advance.

Long-range map-wide spells would never touch him.

His only chance… was to get up close, close the distance, and strike fast.

That much was clear to both of them.

[Wind Creation Magic – Spiral Shuriken!]

A shrill sound pierced the air.

The sandstorm in front of Julius scattered.

A high-speed, power-packed vortex shot toward him.

One hit—death or serious injury, guaranteed.

But of course, Julius had foreseen it.

Calmly, he shifted his position to dodge.

But the ground beneath his feet suddenly turned soft—like a swamp—and trapped his legs deep within.

At the same time, a light sword shot at blinding speed from the woods.

In a blink, it pierced right through Julius's body.

"W-Wizard King?!"

Marx was stunned.

Did Ethan… just kill the Wizard King?

But the next second, seeing Julius's body fade away, he sighed in relief.

It was just an afterimage—not his real body.

"Got you!"

But behind the Wizard King, who had narrowly escaped just now, Ethan stood with a slight grin on his face.

All those spells he'd been throwing weren't random.

Some were obvious distractions. Others were held in reserve, never used.

He'd even been analyzing Julius's habitual dodge patterns.

And none of that had gone to waste—he'd won!

…Or so he thought.

Unbeknownst to him, a hand slowly reached out from behind and landed gently on his shoulder…

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