Close Combat Mage Chapter 386

Sorry for the lack of updates! I swear I’m alive. I procrastinated a bit with this chapter because I was struggling with naming their techniques…and then by the time I wanted to finish it I got too busy with work >.<.  Next chapter won’t take long…hopefully…as long as there are no stupid technique names to make up.

Happy Holidays!

Translated by: Taffy

Chapter 386 – Diamond Dragon’s Explosive Strength Pt. 1

When Xiang Yun noticed Roger and Nicole merging with the crowd, he suddenly lifted the blade in his right hand and threw his head back to arrogantly laugh out, "Oi! You guys don't really just plan on trapping me here forever right? If so, then I'll just have to break through!" Xiang Yun bent his knees slightly, prepared to charge out.

In response, a deep voice suddenly roared out from amidst the crowd, "Everyone, attack! Don't let him escape!"

Without caring about who had said these words and feeling more courageous with a crowd, everyone raised their weapons and boldly rushed towards Xiang Yun.

"Hehe…" Despite the large number of enemies charging at him, Xiang Yun didn't panic; rather, he chuckled to himself instead. The next moment, Xiang Yun slowly reached to grab the hilt of a blade on his back. He drew the long blade and held it up horizontally in front of his chest.

"Endless Massacre: Spinning Blade!" Following Xiang Yun's loud roar, his body quickly swerved and began to spin furiously like a tornado. At the same time, the rust-covered Chasm Moon blade began to glow an eerie yellow color!

Fierce clashing sounds could be heard as Xiang Yun slashed through the enemy crowd left and right like a hurricane. He advanced easily as if there was nobody there. Enemies on the stronger side were forced to stagger back from the centripetal force of Xiang Yun's attack, while enemies on the weaker side were directly cleaved in half!

The battle immediately turned into a chaotic disarray. Although the enemy was far greater in number, they had absolutely no form of organization amongst themselves and were therefore unable to work together well; it was so bad that they were actually blocking each other from advancing! This was a mix of ten different troops, they lacked communication and mutual connection. Thus, despite having many people, they were unable to exert any form of dominance!

Suo Jia nodded to himself, pleased by the situation. The shout just now had actually come from Roger. Who would've guessed that the simple-minded Roger could learn how to stir up disorder so quickly! It was progress, he was definitely a great prospect for the team!

When Suo Jia studied the battle situation below him more closely, he immediately located Roger, who had secretly infiltrated the crowd and killed off a few of the weaker warriors. That guy was really contemptible; he didn't even touch the stronger ones, and instead chose to beat up the easy targets. Still, it was amazing how skillfully he could pick out every weak enemy he encountered!

Just then, Roger suddenly bent his knees, his palms against the ground. He first did a full spin kick to push away the person next to him, and then his arms suddenly straightened up against the ground as his legs split in the air and spun around like a windmill, causing a terrifying scene unfolded!

Although his opponent had Life Protection, Roger's attack was just so fast; with his hands on the ground and his legs split parallel to the ground, he managed to spin wildly three times; within a split second, his opponent had been struck by three heavy blows! The first two blows broke his Life Protection, while the third landed directly on the completely exposed enemy!

This was a direct blow! With the shattering effect Roger's combat boots had, any person struck by Roger would end up with their bones smashed and their body torn to shreds. Scarlet blood instantly dyed Roger's legs and feet. Roger's nickname "Red-footed Roger" was definitely well-deserved!

After getting rid of several enemies next to him, Roger rolled forwards before standing up and spinning a hurricane-like kick towards the enemies in front of him. Before they had even turned around and figured out what was coming at them, they collapsed miserably to the ground with dull thuds.

The enemy wasn't comprised of idiots; immediately after noticing Roger's abnormal movements, a burly warrior shouted, "Everyone, watch their backs. That guy…"

Before he could finish his sentence, a bright glow flashed before his eyes. When he tried to continue shouting, he could only futilely open his mouth, unable to make a sound. Instead, fresh blood violently spurt out from his throat. Like this, he crumpled to the ground, silenced for eternity.

Instant kill! It was a one-sided instant kill! Although the enemies were much greater in number, there was no single person among them that was a match to Xiang Yun, Roger, or Nicole. While Xiang Yun drew their attention, Roger would strike from behind and Nicole would stealthily attack. It was an unavoidable massacre.

Of course, that wasn't to say stronger people didn't exist on the Greater Trade Routes. It was precisely due to that crazy killer that all the more powerful people had already broken through the homicidal maniac's blockade and gone through the third checkpoint, while those with strength slightly above average had died by the crazy killer's hands. Thus, there were no experts left here [at the second checkpoint].

Basically, the dozen or so groups that had successfully gotten past the homicidal maniac and reached the third checkpoint during the past two years were all stronger than Suo Jia's group. Even the ones that had died tragically by the crazy killer were either pretty close in level or stronger than Suo Jia and his group. However, it didn't seem like there were any such figures among the ten large troops here at the moment.

True experts grew stronger upon encountering strong enemies, and easily eliminated any weaker opponents along the way. The path Suo Jia and his companions needed to continue on was long. Even if Suo Jia became a Mage Saint, he'd only be at the next starting point; it was only after that that he'd be able to start his long journey to become an expert!

After watching the chaotic battlefield below him for a while, Suo Jia smirked and stretched out his right hand and gripped the empty air in front of him. With a brilliant myriad of colors, Ocean's Soul appeared in his grip.

While the Sea God's Trident's name stemmed from the fact that it belong to the renowned God of the Sea, Poseidon, this wasn't the weapon's original name. The Sea God himself had given it a different name while it was in his possession which it naturally went by now in Suo Jia's hand: Ocean's Soul! After all, it wasn't like Suo Jia was a [sea] god.

Facing the direction of battle, Suo Jia raised Ocean's Soul high up in the air. A blue light surged outwards and Hailstone Technique was immediately activated at full force!

The Hailstone Technique's attack range was originally a circle with a 40-meter diameter. But in the past year, Suo Jia's Exhaustion Training Method had doubled his strength, therefore raising his Hailstone Technique by a level. Its attack range had expanded to anything within a 60 meter diameter. This was pretty much the highest a human could achieve; any increase in level would only boost the attack power, not its range!

However, Suo Jia's Divine Artifact, Sea God's Trident, also doubled the attack range of all magic. In other words, his Hailstone Technique now spanned across a 120 meter diameter. In addition, the hail was also denser and therefore more destructive; the speed of the spell also increased. The temperature of the hail also lowered in temperature, as did the amount of freezing air each hailstone carried.

Although all these improvements still couldn't immediately kill a person, any victim would undoubtedly die if they didn't escape from the attack perimeter quickly. The strength of a mage lay in their immense firepower!

As long as a mage could fire attacks from a distance, even a warrior of equal power at close range would not be able to withstand the attack. The instant Suo Jia made his move was a critical point to determine victory in battle. If Suo Jia's spell wasn't immediately dispelled, even the ten troops combined would definitely fall!

As the azure light surged outwards, dense, black clouds swiftly began to gather in the air above the battleground. A heavy, chilly air seemed to press down on the people below as they could sense the magic enveloping them. Suo Jia shut his eyes as sparkling tears of excitement fell from his eyes. So this was the power of a Divine Artifact?

Even a Mage Deity's Fire Meteor Shower could only span across 150 meters. But with the Ocean's Soul boosting his magic, Suo Jia's attack range covered nearly as much as a fire magic's wide range!

What was the extent of an area 120 meters in diameter? It was around the size of a small soccer field. If ice magic with the effect to slow movements covered this large of a space, it would be no simple feat to escape it.

It was at that moment Suo Jia finally understood the terror of Divine Artifacts. The reason they were so much stronger than Epic ranked equipment was because Epic ranked equipment was restricted by human limits while Divine Artifacts were able to double one's strength regardless of their current level. Suo Jia's limits had fused with his weapon's limits, expanding the limits of his attacks!

Everything in the world had its limitations, but the average person wouldn't ever reach that point. Superior tier warriors were probably the people closest to reaching the maximum limits for a human. However, Divine Artifacts could go against the gods, and could forcibly extend human boundaries by at least twofold! This was the true power of a Divine Artifact.

In most situations, Divine Artifacts weren't as useful as a Legendary equipment set. But once a person's strength reached a certain level, it's clear that even with [the more superior] Epic-ranked equipment set, it was impossible for their attacks to go beyond human boundaries. If one's attack had a 150 meter attack range, their attack range would still be 150 meters even with Epic ranked equipment. But with a Divine Artifact that could break through limitations, their attack range would increase to 300 meters!

If the best humanly feasible performance was to cover a hundred meters in eight seconds, the Divine Artifact would be able to shorten it to a hundred meters in four seconds. This was the difference between humans and gods! This also showed the gap between Epic ranked equipment and Divine Artifacts!

Upon feeling the great amount of energy in the air above, every member of the ten troops on the battleground instinctively looked upwards at the sky. Countless flashes of blue light lit up the dense, black clouds, and as the flashes grew brighter, they also started descending closer to the ground!

Finally, someone with sharper eyesight shouted in panic, "That doesn’t look good! It's Hailstone magic!"

Chapter end