Chapter 498 Reduction

'',

"Bastard! What are you going to do?" Ern exclaimed.

"Just moving on to the next stage..." The Statue muttered, "You've proven that I can't handle you in my current state... I'm grateful to you... After all, if you hadn't completely filled the bowl, I wouldn't have had this opportunity."

Whooooooooosh.

The cells joined together to form a crown with three spades. It flew toward the Statue as a golden explosion blew away from it. The shockwave knocked Ern aside, but he bounced off the wall and quickly got ready to fight.

"Hey, did we actually do the right thing? Maybe we shouldn't have given away our treasure!" Erza exclaimed.

"Don't be silly. I wasn't going to take the easy way out anyway." Wain muttered as he reversed the action of the fourth form, "We have only one chance to get the key, so we must do what we can."

Wain could not use the special ability of the fourth form for long. Only ten seconds, that was pretty short, but Wain still had plenty of weapons.

'Let's go.' Wain internally uttered.

'Of course. Your opponent has a great balance between defense, speed, and attack, so we have to show him that destroying the balance is pretty easy.'' Code of Light and Darkness muttered.

Whooooooooosh.

A dark robe appeared on Wain, a demon mask, and a white phantom appeared above him. Wain swung his arm slightly as the phantom turned into a compressed light blade.

"Wow, is that a laser sword?" Ern wondered.

"Something like that." Wain swung the sword as in the air left a trail that cut through space.

'Hmm? I can do that?' Wain wondered.

'That's your second Concept. It is different from skills as you act intuitively, in time, it will become as easy as jumping or running.' Blind Sorcerer uttered.

'Great. That's what you need against a stone.'

Crackle.

He began to change when the crown was on the Statue's head. He became several times smaller, now he was slightly taller than Wain. The stone body showed the outline of muscles and golden veins through which energy flowed. The spear became shorter as the tip twisted like a drill.

"I hope you don't run away and fight to the end." The Statue said as his silhouette blurred.

The Statue appeared next to Alas and swung his spear. Alas blocked the attack with a gust of wind, but was immediately struck in the stomach with his fist. The impact tossed him aside, and the spear fell out of his hands.

"Well, well. Stop hitting our Elf. There's no one else to get the Royal Spirit beside him." Ern appeared behind the Statue.

Ern grabbed the Statue by the arm and turned him toward him.

Bam.

Ern delivered several powerful blows to the stomach. He punched so hard that each blow caused a shockwave, but the Statue sustained almost no damage.

"What the hell..." Ern raised his head as their gazes met.

"You must be proud of your physical strength, and you're entitled to it, but if you can't penetrate your enemy's defenses, then you're useless." The Statue smirked as he attacked.

His fist sank into Ern's stomach.

"Argh!" Ern threw up a mouthful of blood.

Statue attacked again with the spear, but when the tip came close to Ern's face, he grinned and ducked slightly. The spear passed over Ern's head as he grabbed Statue by the arm and thudded him to the ground.

'ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelB(i)n. ᴄᴏᴍ',

,m Ern started to punch Statue in the head, but Statue threw him off in one motion and tossed him aside.

"Damn! Why isn't anyone helping me!?" Ern exclaimed as he climbed out from under the rubble.

"Don't worry. I'm here." Wain said calmly.

He appeared above the Statue and swung his sword several times. The Statue only smirked as he thought Wain's attacks couldn't penetrate his defenses.

Crackle.

The light blade easily cut through the stone armor, and golden blood gushed out.

"What the hell!" The Statue exclaimed as his veins glowed brightly.

The cracks in his body glowed, and a golden wave of energy came away from him. It threw everyone aside.

"Why did this happen...? Wasn't my protection enough...?" The Statue muttered.

A few of Wain's attacks were enough to inflict many serious wounds on him. Gold poured out of the Statue, which was to him what blood was to humans.

"Well, your flawless defense has one fatal flaw, too, doesn't it?" Wain smirked as he headed toward the Statue.

"Bastard! You can't win anyway! There's no way you can get the Royal Spirit!"

'.',

"I don't need it. I came here for something else, probably more special. Even Ern's blows didn't hurt you, however, you can't regenerate, so that's the end." Wain snapped his finger.

Whooooooooosh.

Several magical circles appeared around the Statue.

"No!"

"Goodbye."

Four energy lasers from different directions pierced the Statue as it tore him apart. Even the best armor was useless if there was a gap in it.

Bam. Bam. Bam.

The stone fragments shattered into tiny shards, and the spear melted and turned into a puddle of gold.

'',

"Phew, that was hard, but we made it." Wain canceled the form.

"Hmm? The test isn't over yet?" Erza was puzzled.

"I guess we'll have to decide for ourselves when it's over, so I think the moment has arrived." Wain shook his head, "We're done. We've taken everything, we've lost everything, and we've defeated all our opponents. There's nothing else in this ordeal to interest us."

Tremble.

The Legendary Spirit appeared in the air.

"Huh, you're right boy, there's nothing else here, so that means you've completely exhausted your greed. There's nothing else to feed it. Okay, congratulations, you've passed the test."

The spirit spoke as it disappeared.

In its place appeared a golden key and a ring with unusual symbols.

"Yes! Wain and I were right after all!" Ern exclaimed cheerfully, like a child.

"You were just lucky. We would definitely have lost if the test had been more cunning." Erza waved her hand.

"None of that matters. What matters is that we have the key." Wain smiled.