The battle was essentially over.
It had concluded much faster than Leon had anticipated.
He had originally thought that dealing with the Silver-rank transcendents inside the small attic would require a prolonged fight, perhaps lasting seven or eight minutes.
However, after stacking multiple buffs, Leon discovered that every Divine Art within a Linkage could benefit from those enhancements.
Previously, Leon hadn't felt this so acutely because his enhancement Divine Arts were few and not powerful enough.
But now, under the influence of numerous buffs, Leon finally realized something:
The Radiance Longbow received a mental power boost, and then through Linkage with the Hammer of Sacred Light, it gained another boost.
Once the Hammer of Sacred Light was linked to the Divine Art, it received yet another enhancement...
After this series of buffs, the power of the Hammer of Sacred Light fired from the Radiance Longbow was more than fifty percent stronger than usual!
Consequently, the Silver-rank transcendents in the attic couldn't even withstand the Hammer of Sacred Light fired from the Radiance Longbow, let alone the Linkage between the Hand of Thunder and the Hammer of Sacred Light!
Furthermore, Leon discovered that his Thunder Vibration had a miraculous effect against these alchemists who had replaced their flesh with alchemical machinery.
With every Thunder Vibration and flash of electric arcs, the Gold-rank dwarf chairman would be paralyzed for a split second.
The alchemical machinery inside his body seemed to short-circuit from the electric shocks, twitching uncontrollably.
Thanks to this, even though the Gold-rank dwarf chairman was incredibly resilient, he could only continuously condense his Battle Qi into armor to endure the relentless strikes of the Hammer of Sacred Light.
However... the dwarf chairman was left with no choice but to take the hits; he couldn't even manage a counter-attack.
"It seems the saying that bloodline warriors are a dime a dozen while mages are revered isn't just nonsense."
Leon thought of the Mad Shark King. That king wouldn't have been affected by the Thunder Vibration because he could cast magic shields to block the attacks of the Hammer of Sacred Light entirely.
In contrast, the dwarf chairman, as a bloodline warrior, was also at the Gold rank and possessed a continuous supply of transcendent power. But because he couldn't block the air and had to tank the hits physically, he was being shocked into a literal electric boogaloo.
"Still, he's incredibly tough for a Gold-rank transcendent..." Leon muttered as he watched the dwarf chairman continue to resist despite being electrified.
By now, the other members of the Alchemy Guild in the attic had been smashed into meat paste by Leon's Hammer of Sacred Light.
Only the dwarf chairman remained. He wailed as he used his surging Battle Qi to resist the onslaught of eight Hammers of Sacred Light, yet he had not sustained any major injuries.
"Mages have frail bodies; if I break their shields, a single hammer strike can make their heads pop."
"But bloodline warriors, while lacking shields, are very durable. Taking dozens of hammer strikes isn't a problem for them..."
Leon assessed the situation while observing the dwarf chairman's desperate struggle.
One had to admit that the Gold rank, known as the 'mid-tier transcendent' level, was a qualitative leap compared to the small fry at the Silver rank.
This survivability was practically more tenacious than a cockroach.
"The Silver rank is still a bit too limiting. Once I reach the Gold rank, dealing with these Gold-rank experts will be much easier," Leon thought.
Meanwhile, the dwarf chairman—whom Leon considered himself to be "barely managing"—was gritting his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, and his face filled with suppressed rage and humiliation.
The Alchemy Guild he had painstakingly built had been systematically destroyed by this priest in just a few minutes!
Every single member of the Alchemy Guild had been hunted down and slaughtered by this damned priest!
And he, the chairman of the Alchemy Guild, could do absolutely nothing against him.
He might even lose his own life to this wretched priest!
"You damned inferior creature! You damned priest!"
The dwarf chairman truly couldn't understand how this priest, who was clearly only at the Silver rank, could single-handedly wipe out an entire group of Silver-rank guild members!
He understood even less how this priest, a mere inferior being whose body wasn't even implanted with alchemical machinery, could suppress him—someone who had achieved a half-step Alchemical Ascension!
Alchemy! Alchemy was supposed to be omnipotent!
The dwarf chairman couldn't wrap his head around it!
"You look quite confused?"
At that moment, Leon, the man the dwarf chairman hated with every fiber of his being, spoke.
Leon stared at the struggling chairman and said, "Are you confused as to why a Silver priest like me can suppress a Gold-rank bloodline warrior like you and beat you... like a dead dog?"
Hearing Leon's words, the dwarf chairman glared at him with fury.
However, in the next instant, a Hammer of Sacred Light wreathed in electricity slammed into his forehead, forcing his attention back to the attack.
At this point, the dwarf chairman couldn't even afford to glare at Leon for long.
"I know you're confused, but..." Leon looked at the dwarf chairman and let out a scoffing laugh. "Your level is too low. There's no need for me to explain it to you."
"What did you say?!"
The dwarf chairman's eyes flashed with a murderous light, his face contorting in rage!
You, a goddamn Silver priest, are telling me, a Gold-rank bloodline warrior, that my level is too low?!
This was beyond mere contempt; it was the ultimate insult. It was as if Leon had taken the chairman's dignity, his pride as a Gold-rank warrior, and his sense of superiority as an ascended alchemist, thrown them all to the ground, and ground them into the dirt with his heel!
This was unbearable!
The legendary dwarven short temper caused the chairman's face to twist. He decided to risk being hit by several Hammers of Sacred Light just to teach Leon a lesson.
Regardless, if this continued, the electric arcs from the hammers would only leave him more and more paralyzed.
He might as well trade injury for injury, life for life, with the priest in front of him!
If he won, it would be a massive gain. Even if he lost, he would at least leave this damned priest heavily wounded!
With that thought, the dwarf chairman stopped his futile resistance. Instead, he erupted with all his remaining Battle Qi, channeling it entirely into his war hammer.
His eyes burned with a murderous intensity as he locked onto Leon, his body sinking low to build momentum.
"Give me—urgh!!!"
However, in the very second the dwarf chairman prepared to tank the Hammer of Sacred Light to kill Leon...
A shadow flickered beside him. A dagger as black as a black hole grazed his thick, coarse skin, leaving a tiny bloodstain.
But that tiny scratch, less than half a knuckle in length, caused the dwarf chairman to shudder violently.
The murderous light in his eyes was instantly replaced by a frantic, maddening hunger. A ghostly, wolf-like howl of starvation erupted from his throat.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
The dwarf chairman's flesh seemed to gain a mind of its own at that moment. Countless bizarre, skin-crawling mouthparts suddenly emerged from his palms!
These mouthparts were like ravenous beasts, frantically gnawing at every inch of flesh on his body.
Within seconds, the mouthparts spread across his entire frame, completely consuming him and leaving behind nothing but a mangled, unrecognizable pile of gore!
"This power of Hunger is truly exaggerated..."
A tiny wound was enough to make a Gold-rank bloodline warrior meet his end on the spot.
It was incredibly underhanded!
"Is the battle over here?"
Just then, a figure flickered and entered the small attic.
It was Doncic, who had gone to find the remaining two members of the Alchemy Guild.
He looked completely dazed. "Wait, I was only gone for a moment. You've already wiped them out?"
In Doncic's hand was an unconscious man he was dragging along.
Rate on N.U.
