Chapter 239
Werner, perhaps conscious of his nearly shattered pride, slapped mercilessly.
“Admit it. Challenging me was an act of sheer arrogance.”
Slap! Slap!
Despite the stinging pain, Yan glared at Werner, his mind racing.
‘Absorbing mana from the opponent, and durability surpassing even strong qi.’
There must be a weakness.
If not, Werner could defeat all the dukes if he deployed his domain first.
But Werner had shown a distressed expression when the Sun Art appeared.
Unless it was because of the notary’s presence.
‘What if it’s because the Sun Art and his technique are polar opposites?’
Plants would simply burn in the face of intense heat.
With this thought, Yan’s lips curled into a smile.
This was worth testing.
‘Let’s do it!’
Yan’s eyes widened as he began to draw out his mana.
Nearly half of the mana stored in his mana heart burst forth, and the vines wrapped around his body absorbed it eagerly.
Whoooosh!
Yan then summoned a power he rarely used, the fire energy.
Flames appeared on Yan’s skin.
“This is!”
Werner, who had been relentlessly slapping Yan, swung his hand in a panic.
The vines constricting Yan’s body quickly retreated.
Though it was only for a moment, Yan saw it clearly.
Crackle!
The surface of the vines was charred black.
In other words, the result was successful.
Pat pat.
Yan brushed off the remnants of the vines from his limbs and looked at Werner with a grin.
“There was a critical weakness after all.”
Yan’s gaze shifted to the retreating vines.
Unlike before, when they attacked with incredible speed, they now moved slower than a turtle.
This revealed that fire energy was like poison to the plants created by the ‘Garden.’
Werner’s face twisted in rage.
“You, you bastard…”
To think he could wield fire energy!
As Yan had suspected, the weakness of Werner’s domain was fire.
Thus, the situation would now turn completely in Yan’s favor.
Knowing the weakness, Yan’s next move was clear.
‘No! It’s not the Sun Art or the Knight of Scorching Heat’s level of fire. I can handle this.’
Moreover, the mana he had absorbed from Yan’s body was now nourishing him.
In a war of attrition, he would inevitably win.
Look at him, his face pale and exhausted.
Werner leaped back and swung his sword.
Sword energy swept across the ground, scattering petals everywhere.
The petals filled the space between them.
Each petal carried a sharp aura, so charging recklessly would turn his body into a rag.
‘This will block his approach.’
During this time, he needed to force Yan to exhaust his mana from a distance.
This was Werner’s strategy for victory.
When he had widened the distance to about 50 meters, something unexpected happened.
Whoooosh!
What Werner hadn’t anticipated was…
‘This… this insane… How can a human possess such mana without consuming a dragon heart!’
Yan’s mana, greatly increased by the transplanted White Flame Jade.
The mana absorbed by the vines was already equivalent to two third-grade superhumans combined, and the current output was no less.
Yan’s lips curled as he kicked off the ground.
The countless petals in the air tried to pierce Yan’s skin.
Fwoosh!
But they vanished instantly upon contact with the flames surrounding Yan.
40 meters.
The distance between Werner and Yan.
Werner’s face hardened as he waved his left hand.
This time, countless vines shot up from the ground, forming a thick wall to block Yan’s charge.
Slash!
But the fire energy imbued in Ascalon turned the vine wall to ashes effortlessly.
30 meters.
Werner, who had allowed Yan to close in by 10 meters in an instant, broke into a cold sweat.
He poured most of his mana into controlling his domain.
The Garden’s domain, which had covered his entire field of vision, began to shrink rapidly.
The flowers that had spread far and wide withered immediately without mana supply.
But the flowers around Yan bloomed even more vibrantly.
Instead of expanding the domain, he concentrated its power.
Meanwhile, Yan continued to chase Werner diligently.
20 meters.
Werner, thinking he was ready, struck the ground with all his might, infusing it with mana.
Simultaneously, a deep vibration resonated from the ground.
The knights protected by the Sun Art exclaimed in surprise.
“An earthquake?”
“The ground is splitting!”
As one knight said, the ground between Yan and Werner began to crack.
And something surged up from the gap.
Crack!
It grew rapidly, towering high enough to block the sun.”
As the towering figure rivaled the height of a small mountain, Yan slightly slowed his pace.
He squinted, glaring at the monstrous plant.
Unlike the vines that shot upwards, the flower that bloomed was staring right at him.
Its appearance was truly bizarre.
The yellow petals surrounded a sinister black core, giving off an eerie vibe.
‘Sunflower?’
If it were smaller, it might have been tolerable, but its gigantic size made it unsettling to behold.
At that moment, the ground beneath the enormous flower cracked again.
And from within, something root-like surged upwards.
Boom!
It slammed into the earth, as if a giant had burst forth from the ground.
Its size, comparable to a small mountain, was intimidating.
The abomination Yan had seen in the Plateau of the Dead was nothing compared to this.
As Yan let out a dry laugh, Werner, who was fleeing in the distance, shouted.
“Kill him, Giant of the Flower!”
At that moment, a long leaf attached to the side of the sunflower, now called the Giant of the Flower, swung towards Yan.
“…!”
Its speed was astonishing.
Yan leaped into the air, and the leaf struck the ground where he had been standing.
The sight that unfolded was shocking.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The seemingly delicate leaf caused the ground to explode upon contact, sending shockwaves towards the knights, which were blocked by the Sun Art. Considering the distance of several hundred meters, the power was chilling.
In terms of sheer strength, this was the strongest opponent Yan had faced.
However, seeing that the Giant of the Flower relied solely on brute force, Yan felt somewhat relieved.
If it had other special abilities, it would have been troublesome, but if it was just strong, he could handle it.
‘The surface is damp.’
It seemed difficult to burn it with ordinary fire energy.
If he tried to burn it with enough fire energy, he might collapse from exhaustion before succeeding.
But Yan had another excellent weapon besides fire energy.
Swish.
Yan drew a dagger from his back.
“Let’s do some flower arranging.”
The black dagger, known for its unparalleled cutting power, was called Unknown.
With Unknown in hand, Yan leaped onto the leaf.
As he clung to the leaf, the Giant of the Flower lifted it high.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
As soon as Yan landed on the leaf, he sprinted straight ahead.
The Giant of the Flower tried to slam the leaf into the ground again.
Boom!
But Yan had already moved past the leaf and clung to the stem.
The Giant of the Flower shook its body, trying to shake Yan off.
Yan smirked at the struggling giant.
“Want to get rid of me?”
Yan plunged Unknown deep into the stem with both hands.
“Then I’ll go down.”
With a grin, Yan released his legs wrapped around the stem.
Slash!
As he let go, his body naturally slid down, leaving a long gash from Unknown.
From the wound, a liquid gushed out.
Reaching the roots, Yan’s eyes gleamed as he swung Unknown wildly.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
In an instant, Unknown cut through the roots of the Giant of the Flower.
The accumulated damage eventually severed the thick roots completely.
With its supporting roots cut, the Giant of the Flower’s body tilted and fell backward.
Yan kicked off its body.
Boom!
The massive body crashed to the ground, raising a huge cloud of dust.
Yan turned to locate Werner.
‘He didn’t get far.’
It seemed controlling the Giant of the Flower had drained Werner’s stamina, as he had only managed to widen the distance by 10 meters.
A total of 30 meters.
Yan took a deep breath and pushed off the ground, launching himself towards Werner.
20 meters.
“Damn it!”
Werner’s face twisted as he saw Yan closing the distance rapidly.
He had summoned the Giant of the Flower, which could easily withstand ordinary fire energy, but to think Yan could cut it down.
‘He can cut through that tough exterior!’
Even strong qi couldn’t scratch the surface of the Giant of the Flower.
He had thought Yan would be exhausted after dealing with it, but contrary to his expectations, Yan was chasing him with vigor.
10 meters.
Now within arm’s reach, Werner had no choice but to use his last resort.
His eyes turned pitch black, and thick demonic energy began to fill the surroundings.
Werner, who had been trying to widen the distance, stopped and turned around.
Squirm, squirm.
The flowers touched by the demonic energy began to change strangely.
They intertwined, and the once colorful flowers turned a deep purple.
With black pupils, Werner gritted his teeth at Yan.
Using this power meant he could no longer maintain his status as the Duke of the East and would have to live as the Sin of Envy.
How long had it been since he came into the light, only to be forced back into the shadows?
“You made me use demonic energy. I will kill you.”
* * *
From a distance, the Sun Duke drew his sword.
The crimson blade, Ifrit, emerged into the world, enveloping the surroundings in immense heat.
The Sun Duke spoke softly.
“He was right.”