Chapter 99

After that single finger, the strange mark on Ma Le's body disappeared, but he did not suffer any attack or discomfort. However, Ma Le's face showed an expression of extreme surprise. At the same time, Ophelia and Helias also stared in shock, while Yue Hu looked at Ophelia with suspicion, seemingly doubting her move...

Ma Le was so shocked because the full-level special effect of his feign death skill, Death Resistance, had entered cooldown!

This meant that just now, Ophelia's finger had threatened his life. Without the Death Resistance effect, Ma Le would have already dropped the key!

"This woman is dangerous, she must be eliminated!" Ma Le, feeling his life threatened, instantly had bloodshot eyes and glared fiercely at Ophelia. Who knew how many more times this woman could use such a skill, and his Death Resistance had a 12-hour cooldown! Ma Le's killing intent surged, and he fully activated the Nine Yang Divine Skill, his body pulsing with true qi, even the air around him heated up, causing his figure to distort!

With a "whoosh," Ma Le entered a high-speed state, instantly accelerating to his limit, and charged at Ophelia with a fierce momentum!

Helias was still in shock that Ma Le hadn't died. After all, Ophelia had just used a B-level skill, Death Mark, which was extremely difficult to learn at the beginner level. Once successfully cast, it could instantly kill any creature with less than 500 health points! This guy from Miracle City had already taken two fireballs and a sword through the heart. Even with 1000 health points, he wouldn't have more than 400 left. How could he withstand the Death Mark and not die?

But reality didn't allow Helias to continue his shock. The moment Ma Le's killing intent spread, Helias felt the threat. This guy was planning to kill Ophelia, and he couldn't let that happen!

So, the moment Ma Le moved, Helias also acted!

Ma Le's acceleration was so fast that even Kerlayev couldn't react in time. But Helias wasn't Kerlayev; he was stronger, faster, with sharper instincts and more combat experience!

In just a few meters, Ma Le didn't even use half a second to reach Ophelia, but even so, Helias was already there, blocking in front of her with his sword!

"Get out of my way!" Ma Le was determined, his hands instantly turning into iron fists. His left hand grabbed Helias's sword blade and twisted it. Even a steel sword couldn't resist Ma Le's Terminator-like strength. With a creak, the sword bent and twisted, leaving Helias defenseless and wide open! Seizing the opportunity, Ma Le clenched his right fist and, using his momentum, delivered a full-force punch to Helias's chest!

This punch was fueled by Ma Le's hatred, using his full strength, the momentum of his charge, and the additional damage from the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Fatal Punch. The power exceeded 300 points, almost matching the destructive force of a rocket! With a crisp crack, something seemed to shatter, followed by a clang as Helias's large body flew backward, his sword flying out of his hand, his chest caved in, and several ribs clearly broken, with severe damage to his lungs!

After sending Helias flying, Ma Le's momentum was also canceled, and he stood steadily in front of Ophelia. This woman, who had always maintained a holy and calm demeanor, now showed surprise and fear on her face at the sight of Helias's condition.

Ophelia was a key magic user cultivated by the Cross Order, her status even more important than Helias! With the Order's support, she had another powerful B-level skill, Holy Light Shield! This skill created a defensive shell outside the target with 200 health points and 30 armor, capable of resisting all damage for 30 minutes, with a 5-minute cooldown and a priority level of 3! Before the battle, Ophelia, Helias, and Yue Hu all had this shield. When Ma Le first charged at her, Ophelia didn't react because she was confident in her Holy Light Shield, not because she trusted Yue Hu!

But just now, Helias, who also had the Holy Light Shield, was sent flying by this monster from Miracle City. The crisp sound was the Holy Light Shield breaking! One hit to break the shield and severely injure Helias, all done with bare hands! What kind of power was this? Was this guy really a beginner...

Ophelia had once thought Helias was the pinnacle of beginner-level physical strength, despite not liking this arrogant and self-important man. But now, facing this person, Helias was as helpless as a baby. A strong man had met a monster...

Ophelia was deeply terrified. She was a mage, and with Ma Le, such a powerful attacker, close to her, even with a thousand tricks, she had no way to use them. She was so afraid that she could only tremble, unable to even think of running...

Seeing the frightened woman in front of him, Ma Le showed no mercy, raising his right fist and decisively smashing it down. Just as the fist was about to hit Ophelia's forehead, the light distorted, and Ophelia's entire body became blurry. Ma Le's fist passed through her shadow, exerting no force, and only the Nine Yang true qi attached to it exploded, but the damage was minimal, with no significant effect.

Ma Le recognized this move; it was the same as Brad's signature move, Phasing. The skill might differ, but the principle was similar, making the target immune to physical damage and doubling energy damage. Ma Le didn't care and continued to punch. Although his Nine Yang Divine Skill wasn't very destructive, it still dealt about 50 points of damage, which doubled to around 100 points. A few punches like this would be too much for Ophelia's small frame to handle!

Seeing the situation, Yue Hu quickly cast Invisibility, helping Ophelia disappear and shouting, "Run, do you really want to be beaten to death?!" It wasn't that Yue Hu was particularly righteous; she was also intimidated by Ma Le's terrifying strength, knowing that he couldn't be defeated by one person. Helias, the melee expert, was already out of commission, and if Ophelia, the spellcaster, fell, she would be next!

Ophelia, hearing this, was startled and finally reacted. As her form disappeared, Ma Le's next punch missed. Clearly, Ophelia had recovered from her shock and was using the advantage of invisibility to avoid his attacks.

Ma Le turned to look at Yue Hu. The Phasing was likely her skill. This woman didn't have powerful attack skills, but she was excellent at support. If she wasn't eliminated first, it would be hard to kill the others. With this in mind, he turned and charged at Yue Hu.

Yue Hu was prepared. She clasped her hands, and her body violently shook, splitting into four clones, each running in a different direction!

A fourth skill! Ma Le was surprised to find that, including Invisibility, Phasing, and Forced Displacement, this woman had already used four skills! Beginners only had three skill slots, so how did she manage this?!

But there was no time to think about it. Ma Le threw a dagger at the first clone, which burst into a puff of smoke. He then used his superhuman speed to catch up to the second clone and punched it, but it wasn't the real one. By then, the remaining two had already run into the forest. Just as Ma Le was about to chase them, he saw a figure charging from the air—it was Helias!

Ma Le dodged Helias's sneak attack, focusing his true qi in his eyes to observe the tall man. In energy vision, Helias was surrounded by white light, clearly using his energy. His long sword was gone, replaced by a short sword about two feet long. The indentation on his chest had flattened, but the blood on his chin and collar remained. Ma Le's punch must have hit him hard, but he had clearly used a skill to recover.

Ma Le looked far away to where Helias had fallen. There stood two young men, Gato and Graf, from Yue Hu's district, the strongest duo in the original story. But here, in this level of combat, they were not even useful as support. However, seeing Gato's empty hands and Helias's short sword, it seemed they weren't completely useless.

"I was thinking, if you were killed by Ophelia, I would be disappointed!" Perhaps annoyed that Ma Le was looking elsewhere during their confrontation, Helias initiated the conversation: "This is better, a one-on-one battle like a man! I've seen your strength, and now it's your turn to taste fear!"

As he spoke, Helias's holy power surged, and he charged at Ma Le with his short sword, using all his might. The data from the Insight was a bit outdated; Helias's strength was now 31 points, and with the surge in holy power, he could exert the equivalent of over 40 points. Holy power was a burst-type strength, and he could only maintain it for a few dozen seconds, but the boost was significant. Helias didn't need to actively release energy like Ma Le; as long as his holy power was active, each of his attacks would have energy damage. At full power, his damage was 60 points, plus his enhanced strength and weapon, making his destructive power formidable!

As he charged, Helias shouted, "How much strength do you have, 40 points? Or 50 points? From the energy flow, you seem to be practicing qi, that soft, weak energy can't possibly match my holy power..." "Bang!" As he reached Ma Le, Helias's arrogant words were cut short by a black fist and a caved-in temple...

"Don't talk so much during a fight!" Ma Le shook the blood off his fist and picked up the key that Helias had dropped.

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