Jim’s Restlessness and His Greatest Fear
“Now it’s time to begin the real battle.”
Heidel was slightly taken aback at first, but a faint smile soon played across his lips.
Nodding his head, he chuckled softly and replied, “In that case, I’ll start taking this seriously, Spear Hero of Mankind!”
With those words, a massive surge of dark energy erupted from his body, sending nearby human soldiers flying several
meters away.
The calm, casual aura he had earlier shifted to one of overwhelming intensity, filling the air with a suffocating sense of dread that struck terror into all who looked upon him.
“By the way, Spear Hero of Mankind, I have a question for you,” Heidel said abruptly, surprising Valen.
“A question? What do you want to know?” Valen replied, raising an eyebrow with feigned indifference.
Heidel’s eyes turned pitch black, and his right hand darkened, sharp claws
extending from his fingertips.
“Do you have a good relationship with the Sword Hero, Leon Kruger?” he asked in a casual tone.
Valen gasped in surprise at the question, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
“What’s your purpose in asking that?” he inquired coldly.
Heidel shook his head and pressed, “Just
answer my question.”
After a moment of silence, Valen smiled coldly and said, “To be honest, I’m reluctant to answer you. However, since you’re one of the greatest opponents I’ve ever faced, I will. My relationship with Leon Kruger isn’t easily defined as good or bad. But one thing is certain: I loathe him with a passion. I resent his superior talent. No matter how hard I tried to defeat him, he always outclassed me effortlessly.”
In his life, Valen had only one goal-beyond surpassing Leon. To achieve it, he trained tirelessly every day.
Yet fate seemed to conspire against him. His hard work never bore fruit, as Leon
always defeated him with ease. This constant failure bred jealousy, and before he knew it, he began to harbor deep
resentment toward Leon.
Upon hearing Valen’s words, a flicker of
surprise crossed Heidel’s face, but it vanished quickly.
“I see. I didn’t expect you to face such struggles,” Heidel said indifferently.
To be honest, the reason he asked that question was to assess whether he needed
to take serious action against Valen.
After all, he was one of the few who knew
that Leon Kruger, the Sword Hero of Mankind, was actually alive and residing in the Demon Emperor’s palace.
Moreover, he understood that Leon, who
was supposed to be an enemy of the Demon Race, seemed to have an unusual relationship with the Demon Emperor.
Taking all this into account, Heidel decided to give Valen a chance. However, since Valen’s relationship with Leon appeared to be strained, it meant there was no need for him to show mercy.
Valen shrugged both shoulders, a careless
smile blooming on his lips as he tightened his grip on the Soaring Dragon Holy Spear
in his right hand.
“Enough with the pleasantries. Now it’s
time to fight!” Valen exclaimed, his voice
ringing out.
*Whoosh!*
With holy power surging from his body, he lunged swiftly toward Heidel.
Heidel chuckled and nodded, adopting a
fighting stance. His expression turned icy, and pitch-black demonic energy radiated
from his claws.
“Of course, let’s get started!”
Ten kilometers from the heart of the
battlefield, Rain and over 90,000 Mage soldiers stood united, forming a massive star-shaped formation.
Within this formation, the mages held hands, channeling their mana to Rain, who stood at its center.
With a serious expression that was rarely
seen, Rain closed her eyes and raised her Calamity Magic Staff high.
“I didn’t expect it to work this way,” Rain
whispered softly as she gradually opened her eyes.
Casting ancient-level magic in a desert of
chaos known for its powerful magical fields should have been impossible.
However, with the aid of over 90,000 mage
soldiers, it was easily achievable, leaving
her both surprised and impressed by Jim’s brilliant plan.
Taking a deep breath, she intensified the
magic she was chanting, and the Calamity Magic Staff in her hand radiated a brighter blue light. Simultaneously, hundreds of thousands of
mages intensified their mana, channeling it toward her.
*Whoosh… Boom!*
As she concentrated, a massive explosion
echoed from far away, causing her to gasp
in shock.
She quickly turned her gaze toward the
sound, her eyes widening as she spotted a black cloud accompanied by flickering black lights rising in the distance.
“What is that?”
Standing quietly and gazing into the distance where the battle between humanity’s army and the Demon army
raged, Jim asked Natasya behind him in an indifferent tone, “Is there any update from the battlefield?”
Natasya nodded slightly in response. “Five
minutes ago, we received an update from the battlefield.”
Jim raised his eyebrows slightly, a faint smile spreading across his lips.
“Oh? An update already? That was quick. Go ahead and read it to me,” he said casually, folding his arms across his chest.
Natasya took a white letter from her pocket, opened it, and began to read.
“A short while ago, Rain successfully cast ancient-level magic, suppressing the Demon army on the battlefield. As a result, our human forces, which had previously suffered losses, now have the upper hand,” Natasya explained calmly, though a flicker
of emotion in her eyes was difficult to
conceal.
Initially, she had been skeptical of Jim’s
plan for Rain to cast ancient magic on the
battlefield. After all, the desert of chaos was filled with an exceptionally powerful magic field that reduced a mage’s power by 20 to 30 percent. However, she hadn’t anticipated that Jim’s
plan would actually succeed, which only deepened her admiration for him.
“With his abilities, it’s no wonder His Majesty the Emperor entrusts him with everything,” she whispered softly with a small sigh. Jim smiled slightly, his expression remaining unchanged.
“Very good. That’s truly exciting news,” he
said casually. Then he shifted the topic and
asked, “By the way, has the sword hero Guren used his hero power yet?” His question instantly jolted Natasya from
her reverie, and she shook her head slightly.
“Since there haven’t been any reports from
the battlefield about that, it seems he
hasn’t used it yet,” Natasya replied nonchalantly.
“That’s good to hear,” Jim said, offering praise before adding, “I hoped he wouldn’t
use his hero powers prematurely, so I’m
really glad he didn’t.”
Confusion flickered across Natasya’s face as she asked, “Why did you hope he wouldn’t use his hero powers earlier, Jim? Is there a specific reason?” “Of course there is,” he replied calmly, a
faint smile crossing his lips. “As you know, Sword Hero Guren’s identity is still unknown to both Spear Hero Valen and
Bow Hero Luna. This poses a problem, as I can’t predict how they might react later. That’s why I really hope Sword Hero Guren doesn’t reveal his hero power prematurely; I want to keep the momentum of the battle in our favor.”
After a brief pause, he gazed up at the bright blue sky with a calm demeanor and continued, “However, I realize that sooner or later, Spear Hero Valen and Bow Hero
Luna will inevitably find out the truth. Therefore, Sword Hero Guren must be ready to unleash all of his abilities, including his hero power, in case any
unforeseen circumstances arise on the battlefield.”
As he had previously noted, the likelihood
of unforeseen circumstances arising in warfare was significant, estimated to be around 20 to 50 percent. Given such a high percentage, he intended
to use Guren as his ace in the hole.
Fortunately, Guren had indeed refrained
from using his hero power, which left Jim feeling quite satisfied.
Natasya nodded slightly, indicating her understanding, but a question suddenly crossed her mind, piquing her curiosity.
“By the way, I’m genuinely curious about thing: what unforeseen circumstances are you actually concerned about, Jim?”
one
she asked.
Jim lowered his gaze and took a slow
breath before answering in a serious tone, “There are quite a few unexpected
circumstances I foresee, but one in
particular concerns me the most: the
arrival of someone.”
“Someone’s arrival? Who?” Her eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. Jim turned to face her, maintaining a calm
expression as he replied, “Leon Kruger.” *Badump!*
As soon as Natasya heard the name ‘Leon
Kruger,’ her heart raced, and her eyes
widened in disbelief.
Her usually indifferent demeanor shifted
dramatically, revealing a torrent of
emotion.
“Are you serious, Jim? You’re not joking, are
you? Didn’t Leon Kruger already die?” Natasya stepped closer, her expression now earnest and tense.
Seeing the panic in Natasya’s eyes, a faint
smile crept onto Jim’s lips, and he chuckled
softly, shaking his head.
“Of course he was supposed to be dead.
But in the past few days, I’ve had a premonition that he’s not actually gone,”
Jim said, gazing into the distance.
“This
feeling has been growing stronger each
day, and it makes me uneasy.”
Beyond his intelligence and talent, Jim’s
remarkable intuition has been the key to his success.
With this keen sense, he seems to predict significant events before they unfold. Thus,
even though he doubts the possibility of
Leon still being alive, he knows he must
prepare for it.
Otherwise, the disaster that could befall him and those involved in Leon’s murder scheme-like Rain, Natasya, and Velix- would be inevitable.
Natasya paused for a moment, taking a
deep breath.
“In that case, we must remain vigilant and avoid being careless,” she said nonchalantly.
Jim nodded slightly, a light smile on his
face as he replied casually, “Yes, you’re
right.”
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed behind
them, followed by a man’s loud voice.
“Report! We have news from the mage
army!”.
