Healing System

Chapter 205 Trial of the Golden Dragon Sect (9)

Michael saw Lapis opening and closing his mouth, followed by a wave of mana circling all around him.

Immediately, Michael began infusing mana into his ears, reinforcing them against the ongoing blast that, by now, had covered the entirety of the city.

But the strangest part was, the metro he had exited just a few moments ago was unscathed, as if a mana barrier had blocked the attack.

Upon noticing, he took a better glance around and noticed that, aside from the area he had directly blasted, certain areas were not affected in the slightest.

'Is it that octopus's doing?' Michael thought as he could finally start hearing screeching—the resounding energy of the Heavenly Judgment skill.

And at the same time, a voice.

"Do you understand what you did?" Lapis said, his voice turning into a screech due to the distortion of sound waves around Michael.

Michael swiftly replied by doing something Lapis definitely did not expect.

Of the many things that remained unaffected by the blast, his clones were included.

Michael had managed to draw his attention just enough to kill the clones—or so he hoped.

He brought his arms down on both sides, and an array of half-invisible swords flew directly toward the clones.

The real swords, however, were right above, having already reached the target.

Yet, it did not seem like Lapis would intervene. In fact, his clones weren't moving either, waiting for the swords to eventually pierce them.

It took a few moments and hundreds of swords to kill one and then the other, yet he did not notice a change. The man before him did not grow any weaker.

'Did the system make a mistake?' Michael thought as an ominous feeling arose in his chest.

Before he could question the situation further, he watched as, instead of fighting him, Lapis suddenly vanished, his mana only leaving a faint trace.

That trace? It led straight to the underground town.

'Fuck...'

[Mikhail's POV]

"Count to three," Mikhail said in a playful voice, watching the child before him look at him as though he was some sort of idiot.

Anna rolled her eyes and began stubbornly counting. "One, two—"

"What's the fourth letter of your alphabet?" however he once again quickly interjected. It felt like something was off.

'It's not working anymore.'

He glanced toward the exit that Michael had used and sighed.

'I wonder when he will finally realize the intentions of these types of people,' Mikhail thought and stood up, slightly stretching his back.

The pedestal behind him lit up for a moment before shattering, yet in the end, that did not mean much.

After all, the pedestal was just a simple transcription of Lapis's thoughts.

It was nothing but a shackle, since Lapis had already been affected by his own puppetry. Read latest stories on empire

A strange being he was, neither human nor machine, yet he was not able to control his own powers.

'At least Michael got away. Things won't get as messy now.'

He finished his stretches before glancing toward Anna.

"Child, close your eyes," Mikhail spoke, and with a confused look, she followed his words, immediately closing her eyes.

Just as she did that, however, a faint vibration escaped his hand before quickly enveloping her in it.

Her breathing slowed until it eventually came to a complete stop. The same went for her movements.

She was completely frozen with the use of his favorite skill.

'Time stop.'

Noticing that the ability was successful, he checked the halo, making sure he still had mana left over.

'290%... that did not take much at all.' He chuckled, reminded of old times as he swiftly slashed his hand in the air.

Just as he did that, she suddenly disappeared, entering a storage-like time-stasis chamber connected to his past self.

Time did not pass in there, so he could easily store a whole civilization if he wanted to.

But that was not the plan currently. Instead, he had to deal with more urgent matters.

Lapis suddenly dashed through the entrance of the metro and appeared right before him, his expression one of both anger and disbelief.

"You...? How did you get here before me?"

Mikhail shrugged, trying his best to imitate Michael. "Surprise."

The moment his words fell, he could tell Lapis had finally snapped. What had been left of his remaining sanity just a few moments ago was now gone.

"I don't suppose we can talk this out?" Mikhail questioned teasingly. The man before him was nearing Tier 7 but not exactly there yet.

To no one's surprise, he did not receive a response—merely a contorted expression from Lapis, which slowly revealed his true self.

A faceless being, one whose gender Mikhail was unable to tell.

In a way, it looked similar to a watcher, except its color was not white but pure black.

'Hmm... Is he the opposite of a watcher perhaps?' he mused inwardly, watching his transformation unfold.

But Mikhail was starting to grow a little impatient.

After all, this situation was nothing but a minor inconvenience. Even as the ugly being before him powered up, he couldn't care less.

"Can you quicken your pace already? I don't have all day," Mikhail expressed as he felt Michael quickly making his way down. In just a minute or two, he would be here.

Noticing that the being was unresponsive and completely ignoring him, he decided to simply speed up the process.

He brought his hand forward, releasing another vibration, yet this one seemed faster.

Its effects were immediately noticeable. The former Lapis's eyes widened and began bulging, whereas the rest of his body quickly began showing signs of wrinkles, slightly making the being slouch down.

"Whoops," Mikhail said with a chuckle before quickly reversing the vibrations, making the wrinkles disappear and its body age back down.

'Almost accidentally ended the fight right there...' He shrugged at his own carelessness before glancing at the being's lifeless eyes.

"I can't quite kill you, bug. After all, this is not my trial."