A Sorcerer's Journey 362 The World Gate IV

Boom!
Grimm, whose body was covered in gray-colored bone spikes moved with absolute swiftness. Beneath the Mask of Truth, his pair of elemental eyes vanished into the shadows, appearing only as remnants of light as he traversed around in high-speed. He struck at the Acraepoid World Guardian, who was enveloped in the black flames with his Sabbatical Goat Staff.
Boom!
The black flame vanished. Grimm turned into a cloud of yellow sand and deftly dodged the black flame pillars of the world guardian.
The sand gathered once more. In a split second, a few shadowy figures charged forward.
"This! This is…"
One of the dark figures was a Level-2 Acraepoid commander. The dark infernal energy of his blade was burning furiously. He was only tens of meters away from Grimm, ready to strike.
Yet at this moment, the Acraepoid was unable to see the terrifyingly powerful creature from the foreign world. Instead, he only saw his own eyes, which were filled with killing intent.
Within a split second.
The Sabbatical Goat Staff was heading down for a strike. The Acraepoid's battle would manage to wake him up in the critical moment. With a deathwish, the Acraepoid clutched his sword and met the attack with speed that was beyond his limits.
He had never swung a blade so perfectly, and his mastery of the infernal powers had never been more precise!
This…
This battle will…
He's had a breakthrough! He's finally had a breakthrough!
The Acraepoid was screaming with joy in his heart, a pure, unbounded joy. His path of swordsmanship, which had plateaued for a few centuries had finally been surpassed!
Buzz!
A high-frequency vibration spread out from the top of the Sabbatical Goat Staff. The infernal powers of the Acraepoid's blade vanished at the sound of a whoosh. His blade was turned into dust, gone with the wind.
"This…"
The Acraepoid stared blankly at the pale-gray mask and the pair of dual-colored iris underneath it. So cold and chilling, there was no disturbance at all, like a dead pool of water in the abyss that had been frozen solid for ten thousand years.
Bleurgh…
The Acraepoid turned into a mist of blood, blown away by the wind.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Five strokes of lights lunged toward Grimm. Without the sorcerer's barrier, these powerful attacks penetrated the jellyfish-like elemental base and even the flaming layer underneath it. The blows landed directly on his ivory bone spike.
Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!
The clashing metals made a total of four sounds before a crisp "clack" was heard. One of Grimm's bone spikes had been cut down, but there was still a layer of bone armor underneath the spikes. The attacking powers of these people have yet to reach the ivory armor's threshold of five thousand points.
The bone spike that had been cut off landed on the ground.
Boom!
Suddenly, more than ten ice spikes were ejected from Grimm's body in an explosive sound. The shadows that were attacking Grimm were taken aback. They retreated a few ten meters back quickly. Only one of them suffered a flesh wound after being brushed by one of the ice spikes.

"Be careful, this monster must be a new terrifying creature that was recently born in the Burrow World!"
In a distance.
The powerful level three Acraepoid Noble who had chopped off one of the bone spikes from Grimm's ivory gear clutched his sword as he stared at the monster who came from the Burrow World with striking sharp eyes. He was huffing in a deep voice; his eyes were deep.
Although this terrifying creature is not a god, it was outrageously powerful to an inconceivable level.
He had defeated the Noble Sungta and Bolonger, as well as the legendary Noble Yimo in just a single strike. Now, with the combined attacks of more than a hundred Acraepoid commanders and nobles, and even with the mystical World Guardian joining them, how could he…
Not only could they not lay a single scratch on him, they were being massacred in reverse!
An insidious presence that could kill off his enemy at will. Underneath his heart, he has already crowned him the title, the King of the Nobles.
How did such a genius evolve to such level in mere centuries in the Burrow World? If he were given a thousand more years, he would certainly become a great god.
Well, blame it on his fault for defying the will of the great Acraepoids!
Although he had enjoyed a moment of brief glory, he's already a dead man. No one could ever save him. His path toward ascension has come to an end.
"Aughh…"
A Level-2 Acraepoid commander who had just struck at Grimm suddenly screamed in pain.
The Acraepoid commander curled up in pain. Beneath his green skin, his tissues were squirming endlessly, as if something was about to burst out.
"No!"
The Level-2 Acraepoid commander was trying his best to suppress the abnormality in his body with his infernal powers. He raised his head at Grimm and screamed out in despair.
Grimm gradually reached out his scaly palms where a hedge of bone spikes had emerged.
"Mutation field!"
As he Grimm clutched his spike-covered palm into a tight fist, his voice was exceptionally cold and ruthless. Beneath the Mask of Truth, his eyes were tranquil.
The curled-up body of the Level-2 Acraepoid commander seemed to have been melted away into hundreds and thousands of wriggling organs and feelers. They started to entangle and consume each other.
Its whole body was completely disintegrated as it fell from the sky.
"Argh! You monster!"
An Acraepoid Noble who had witnessed the terrifying scene from afar charged in. His eyes were filled with killing intent. His battle will was burning furiously. He swung his blade, infused with the power of a thirty-meter long infernal flame across the sky.
Whoosh!
The two horns of his Sabbatical Goat Staff, one representing the fire element while the other the ice element channeled a scarlet energy sphere in the moment of a single breath.
The scarlet energy sphere flickered for a bit and turned into a ray that was aimed at the Acraepoid Noble.
Boom!
The Acraepoid Noble swung his burning infernal sword precisely at the scarlet energy ray. The eternal flame was split into two by the swing of his blade. The split energy ray brushed against both sides of the Acraepoid Noble.
"Arghh…"
Still, the Acraepoid Noble was blown away by the impact of Grimm's fireblast. He had no choice but to retreat a few hundred meters away to escape from the scorching heat of the eternal flame.
The whole episode was merely a minor interruption.
Beneath the Mask of Truth, Grimm's ice-elemental eye was pointed leftward while his fire-elemental eye pointed rightward. In his thoroughly cold and calm analytical manner, he was able to process the battlefield intelligence in a blink. Whoosh! A fire was fiercely ignited from the Sabbatical Goat Staff in his hand.
"Negate!"
Whoosh! Grimm violently swung his Sabbatical Goat Staff. The burning flame, fanned by the negating forces turned into a huge firestorm, dying the surrounding sky in a hue of red. Some of the approaching Acraepoids retreated.
"So...this is what Half-step feels like? Magnificent…"
There was a strain of pure, unadulterated indulgence Deep within Grimm's calm and rational battle will.
'So, is this how time passes from the eyes of a high-level lifeform?'
Although his body was still subjected to the laws of the boundless worlds, his thought process had been hastened, making him feel as though time had been slowed down.
This condition would be absolutely beneficial to him, be it out here fighting in the field or when doing his research.
It was like using his Infinity Eyes to observe the cross-sectional blips of a radar. Such was the advantage of controlling the perception of time!
If he hadn't experienced the Half-step Time, he wouldn't be able to wreak so much havoc even if he'd greatly improved his base attributes.
"Be careful, Master Grimm!"
The Thousand-eyed Carcinus screeched. His hundred over scarlet-red eyes came together to charge up a streak of thick red-colored ray toward a Noble Acraepoid.
"Hmph, Spirit Blade Slash!"
The Noble Acraepoid was holding an extremely broad sword in his hand. He looked at the last few creatures that were still standing in front of the world gate before violently swinging the infernal energy of his blade.
The boiling infernal power collided directly with the Thousand-eyed Carcinus's scarlet red rays. Both their attacks canceled each other out.
Grimm turned his head. Beneath the Mask of Truth, his pale, cool eyes turned into that of a devil's. As he watched slowly at the Noble Acraepoid who was about to sneak up on him, he vanished into a cloud of sands.
"No!"
The Noble Acraepoid was shocked. He merely felt a chill at his back; a primordial fear emerged.
The terror of the foreign world creature had exceeded his knowledge of the Nobles. To be caught up by him was bad news.
The Noble Acraepoid was disconcerted as his eyes swept across the battlefield. He wanted to ambush Grimm at first. But he soon found himself away from his friends. There wasn't anyone out there who would be able to lend him a helping hand.
The Noble Acraepoid swung his sword backward out of instinct.
Boom!
The infernal flames and eternal fires canceled out each other in a huge explosion. The shockwave sent the Noble Acraepoid backward, putting a huge gap between them. The dark flame on top of his head increased rapidly; his face was now burning furiously with flames up to ten meters long.
"Roar!"
The burning Acraepoid screeched at the center of the explosion. The pure boiling energy from his soul turned into an energy wave.
Huff! A wave of fire emerged from the pale-gray mask. Beneath the mask, his eyes remained calm as usual.
The energy wave from the Acraepoid's soul energy dispersed the sand that was obscuring Grimm's body. He appeared unscathed by the attack, however. He conjured a few fire hornets on his Sabbatical Goat Staff in an instance. The fire hornets flapped their wings at high speed and flashed toward the Noble Acraepoid.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam…
Each hit of the explosive blazing waves dealt one thousand and five hundred points of damage. The Noble Acraepoid was consumed in the sea of fire.
Grimm's elemental eyes were shining brilliantly like two strings from the devil's threads. His eyes vanished, leaving only a remnant of shadow. He was about to jump into the fire to kill the Noble Acraepoid with the Sabbatical Goat Staff in his hand.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Grimm's body turned into sand once again.
In the next moment, he appeared on top of the Thousand-eyed Carcinus. He was holding off a black fireball with his Sabbatical Goat Staff. The huge impact made Grimm hunch his body slightly. Still, he held up his staff persistently until the black fireball was completely warded off.
"Master Grimm…"
The Thousand-eyed Carcinus was now left with one pincer left. The red-brownish hair on his carapace was singed. It was moaning in pain.
"Give up your foolish resistance."
Enveloped by the power of the world in the form of a black flame column that was thirty meters in height, the Level-3 World Guardian creature coldly spoke from a high position.
"Great warrior from the Burrow World, your persistence has earned the respect of the great Acraepoid's will. If you have someone to blame, blame it on your lowly birth in the Burrow World... give up your insolence, the great Acraepoid's will is not something you could defy. The great Acraepoid's will shall crush any enemy who dares to stand against us. The Burrow World is not something you could protect."
At the side of the World Guardian were hundreds of Acraepoid Nobles and Commanders, all lined up in a row. Surrounding them were millions of Level-1 Acraepoid warriors. Their numbers were so great that they could block out the sunlight. The huge amounts of Acraepoids had surrounded Grimm and the soul slaves behind that were in utter despair.
In the eyes of the Acraepoids, Grimm was merely a creature at the peak of the Noble-level, trying to protect the Burrow World.
Behind the Thousand-eyed Carcinus, a faint light was coming through from the hundred-meter tall world gate that was connected to the Burrow World. Grimm was vigorously trying to protect the gate. He was adamant not to let any low-leveled Acraepoids into it.
This was the mission given to Grimm!

Chapter end