Chapter 145: Chou Part 8: Smile For The Camera!

Shinji's POV:

I am so screwed!

I was planning to use the new stuff I learned at that 'library of Babble' to manipulate some of those traitors into following my lead, but it seemed like Sakura beat me to it. She showed exceptional talent for the art of mind control, so I assumed the boss had taught her in secret. That's why I let her do her thing without interfering, but soon after we reached the secret tunnel.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

She lost control of every last soldier there. It would seem she was a novice at this and so we rushed after the hoard of berserkers, intending to use them as a distraction as we would sneak into the Emperor's room to assassinate him. However…

"WATCH OUT!"

*Swoosh*

*Crash**Splash*

I had barely managed to keep the stream of water from that nascent soul geezer from piercing her skull. I was going to tell her to retreat, as there is no way I'm prepared to fight a nascent soul cultivator, but there was just something about this situation that felt familiar.

"YOU DARE SULLY THE MEMORY OF THE IMPERIAL PRINCESS! HOW DARE YOU IMPERSONATE HER HIGHNESS YOU HARLOT!" The old man shouted with a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

Something tells me this old man knows this is the real Sakura. Which means he is likely just putting on an act as he intends to support her uncle.

As I looked at the scared girl shivering behind me, I remembered where I had seen this before. The scene of the strong bullying the weak. I remember it because I was on the wrong end of that stick only a year ago, but back then there was someone who would stand up to the strong on my behalf time and again. No matter how big the opponent, even when faced with the sage of runes, that mad professor wouldn't give an inch. If she was in my shoes, she wouldn't be this spineless.

"Sakura! You go and hide! I will take care of this old guy!" Shinji spoke.

"No. You can't! He is too strong!"

"Trust me! I can handle this guy! Now go!" I said, hoping she couldn't see the fear on my face.

"GET BACK HERE YOU CUR!"

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" I shouted as I launched one of my new spells at the old bastard in hopes of distracting him.

*Smash*

I was a little too slow to launch my attack, but fortunately, he reflexively moved to dodge my Ice Shot, causing his attack to miss by an inch.

"Tsk! I missed! Well, no matter! I'll just-!"

*Bang*

I launched a dirt shot at the old bastard, landing a direct hit to his elderly face.

*Swoosh*

Unfortunately, it seems to have done no damage to him as a nascent soul is too robust to take damage from a mere 2nd tier spell. That said, I definitely took his attention away from Sakura.

"YOU IMPUDENT WORM! HOW DARE YOU DIRTY MY FACE WITH YOUR VILE MAGIC! DIE!" The old man screamed as he started swinging wildly, tearing up the courtyard with ease as he tried to slice me in half with that elongating water whip.

*Bang*

*Bang*

Determined to keep his attention on me, I used the first stage of aura to enhance my body, while utilizing the reflexes I got from surviving my master's lessons to dodge his attacks, while launching a continues barrage of dirt shots to piss him off.

"Whoa!"

Though, even with my current power, dodging the attacks of a nascent soul is no walk in the park. If I let my guard down for even a second, it could be the last thing I do.

*Huff*

After destroying the courtyard in his rampage, the old man seemed to be getting a little tired. Seeing an opening I made my move. I cast my 3rd tier spell, chain lightning. Sensing the danger the old man used his nascent soul strength to jump into the sky to avoid my attack. Fortunately, he wasn't the target of my spell.

"Hm! Argh!"

I was actually aiming my attack on his whip. It's something the boss taught me awhile back. Water more often than not can function as an even better conductor for electricity than air. My plan was to fire a chain lightning at his whip and have the electricity travel up the water whip until it reached the old man. And it seems to have worked as I could see the old man twitching as he floated in the air. However…

*Swoosh*

*Squelch*

"Ugh! Shit!"

It seemed as if the chain lightning wasn't enough to paralyze him, as his left hand suddenly moved, and from it shot a concentrated beam of water that pierced a hole through the side of my stomach. I quickly deactivated the spell before I lost focus and clutched my side as I could feel my blood leaking out of my body.

"Lowly mage! You should have just stayed in your place!" The old man spoke as he floated down in front of me.

*Ptooey*

I spat my bloodied spit at him, staining his shirt.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He screamed as he lifted me up by my neck, intending to shoot a beam of water through my face, but…

"Gotcha!" I said as I used my third stage aura to kick him in the face.

My aura is a peculiar one, I call it the 'Fires of Death', it's a particularly strong one because of its origin. Its effects are instant death to anything it touches. Anything it burns die instantly, however its not the kind of death that will kill just with a touch. Let's say for example someone was to touch the flame with their bare hands. Instead of the whole body dying, only the hands that touched the flames would die, becoming completely unresponsive in less than a second of being enveloped by my flames. Also, as I am still a novice in the use of the third stage of aura usage, the time it takes for the flames to completely consume a targeted area can be delayed significantly or even warded off by just submerging the targeted area in the first stage of aura. It also doesn't stick around long after leaving my body. Hence, if I want it to be fatal, I need to get in close to make physical contact with the target's vitals. Which is why

*Thud*

"ARGH! WATCH DIDGE YOU DJO CHO ME?!" The old man spoke, half his face completely paralyzed as he had quickly reacted to my aura and taken a step back before the Fires of Death could completely envelop his head.

"Ugh! Still alive! Well, whatever! It doesn't matter!" I said as I was getting ready to finish this.

"DJE! HUH?" He said, while pointing his gray and limp hand in my direction.

He seems to have been too focused on my kick to have noticed that my flames had also enveloped his hand when he grabbed me by the neck.

"Ice Lance!" I said as I shot my new 3rd tier spell through his last functional eye, piercing his brain.

My aura wasn't the only thing I had been practicing since Walpurgisnacht. It wasn't the most ideal place for that kind of magic, but I felt the need to expand my arsenal of spells beyond just three elements. Normally, mages much like cultivators tend to focus on a small number of elements to delve into, but as the boss once said.

'When researching magic or anything else for that matter, it's important to not just focus on just a single subject of interest.'

'All these different paths and concepts are connected. The world is a giant jigsaw puzzle, while magic is just a piece of it. If you only focus on one piece while ignoring the others, then you'll never see the full picture.'

So, I've been trying to practice my spellcasting along with the black magic and aura I've been learning. That said, there weren't too many books on magic spells in that library, so I had to make do with my memory and experiences. The basic 'Shot' spells are all pretty similar in structure so it wasn't too hard to figure out, but the one that was the hardest to figure out was that last attack in the finals, 'Ice Lance'. Aside from that 4th tier spell, that was the only spell the girl cast that genuinely impressed me. It was fast and lethal. Had the boss not drilled the notion of not counting your chickens until they hatch into our heads, I would have been skewered on the spot. I only glimpsed the spell circle as it was happening so fast, so it took me months to get it right. And it seems to have paid off as it was the only spell I had on hand that would have the piercing power to land a lethal blow to a nascent soul.

*Huff*

"Ugh! *cough*! Damn! That was close!"

Had he not let his guard down and approached me like that and chosen to attack me from afar, I would have been screwed. Same goes for the timing of my ice lance, had I been a little late on that, he would have used his one remaining hand to slaughter me. If a single thing had been off about this battle I would have…

*Squelch*

'YOU BASTARD! DIE!'

"Shit! *Cough*!"

I coughed up blood as a blade of water carved its way down my chest. It was the old bastard, and he was now a translucent blue energy ghost with half his face missing. I had forgotten that nascent souls can use their cores to survive as energy-based lifeforms for a period after death. Though, it seems his attacks had weakened significantly as my body wasn't cut in half from that blow.

*Cough*

Still, I'm not sure I can move in my condition.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

"It would seem *cough* I couldn't handle it after all!" I muttered to myself.

As I was trying to prevent my organs from falling out of the cut on my chest as I watched the old water ghost prepare his next attack.

*BANG*

But right before I met my end, a pink-haired girl wielding a giant hammer, came falling from above, smashing the old man's ghost along with his core.

"Sakura?!"

"You liar!"

"Hehe! *cough*! I'll be fine! *wheeze*!"

"I'm not a child! I can tell! You're dying! *Sob*"

"Please don't cry! I'll be fine once the boss ge-! *muffled*"

I could suddenly feel something soft touching my lips as my vision started to darken. The last thing I recall before losing consciousness was the sound of the boss's voice.

"Smile for the camera! *Click*"