Chapter 685 - 441: Phase Shifting

Chapter 685: Chapter 441: Phase Shifting

The information gleaned from this Phase Mantis was more extensive than he had imagined.

Besides the "Phase Grandmother."

The armor it wore also had an interesting origin.

Lu Cang saw an ant wielding a black iron hammer, relentlessly forging an alloy...

"Creator: The Fourth Insect Legion: Furnace — Legion Officer: Melt Horn"

’The Fourth Insect Legion...’

’The Insect Nest actually has a legion that specializes in crafting equipment.’

’This was completely different from my understanding of Demons...’

’Even during my time in the Moon Sea, despite reading so many books from the White Tower, I never came across any mention of this.’

’I don’t know if the world is just too big, or if the White Tower’s knowledge is too limited.’

This Phase Mantis’s Date of Death was very short.

Its Date of Death was a mere one minute.

In fact, all the insects had very short Dates of Death...

It was just that on their path so far, because of Izparut, the Date of Death for every visible insect was measured in minutes and seconds.

After all this time, Lu Cang’s development of his Talent had progressed another step.

’Since the "predestined outcome of death" simply counts down another’s fated demise without factoring in my own existence...’

’...then I can definitely influence others.’

’I can make the Date of Death for certain creatures arrive sooner.’

’While I might not be able to kill them outright, shortening a Date of Death from hundreds or thousands of years down to a few decades... would significantly lower the threshold for executing an enemy via their Date of Death.’

’Or take some gods, for example.’

’They might originally live for hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, but if something were to hasten the arrival of their Date of Death...’

It would also allow Lu Cang to kill them with greater ease.

The mantis before him...

...had been subjected to just such an effect.

Because of Izparut’s presence, it was already close to death.

In other words, Izparut could also take care of it in a very short amount of time.

But this time,

’I won’t trouble Iz.’

CLICK—

Time began to flow again.

SNAP—

SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP-SNAP—

Lu Cang’s Perception clung to the mantis like glue. In that same instant, he sensed the creature flash across a distance of hundreds of millions of kilometers.

In a single instant, it had already completed thousands of extremely long-distance shifts!

「Phase Shift」

This was the mantis’s Innate Talent.

"Azure Sky Stream—Ninth Form: Trace·Heart Shadow Trace."

The foundation of this form was to carve a detonable trace onto an enemy, which could then be used to trigger various types of Magic.

The variant—Heart Shadow Trace.

Any creature he marked...

...would have its position permanently tracked. Furthermore, the trace wasn’t just left on the body but was imprinted upon the target’s very soul.

Moreover, Mind Category Magic... could be detonated through this imprint, producing an even stronger Effect than usual.

"Tier Six Root Magic: Stunned Chaos."

"Poison Calamity—Madness Poison."

Most Tier Six Magic would struggle to harm a Level 8 Reincarnator.

However, a Tier Eight Demon was a special case.

Demons generally had very low resistance to Mind-related attacks. This Demon, in particular, was a type that possessed extremely low Spirituality—no higher than a human’s.

Mind Category Magic was, conversely, most effective against such creatures.

Lu Cang had stolen this Root Magic back in the Moon Sea... Throwing an enemy into confusion for a very short period was still achievable.

Combined with the poison, it would plunge the mantis into a chaotic madness, unable to distinguish friend from foe.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—

A straight line appeared through all the Space the Phase Mantis had traversed, and every insect Demon along that line died instantly.

In its confusion, the Phase Mantis moved almost completely at random. In a mere moment, it had carved a path of destruction to a very distant location.

If one relied on Perception alone, it would be impossible to track its movements.

Combined with its absurd Speed, it would normally be impossible to defend against its attacks.

’No... this isn’t Speed. It’s pure spatial movement.’

Brightly colored crystals appeared in the Space the Phase Mantis had moved through.

Lu Cang noticed that numerous temporal fluctuations of varying levels had also manifested around Iz.

His gaze lingered on the traces left behind by the Phase Mantis’s movements.

The whole process was actually very quick.

During the brief moment when time had stopped, Lu Cang marked the mantis with his trace, after which it went berserk and vanished.

"Iz, what do you think?"

Lu Cang felt that Iz must have noticed the mantis’s presence.

An ordinary Mage might not have noticed it at all... but Lu Cang was sure Iz would have.

As expected, Iz had seen it. He answered, "It’s a spatial ability from the exact same source as those spatial fissures."

"So that’s how it’s achieved."

"It’s completely different from the Space Magic described in the Ancient Magic Books I’ve seen before..."

Lu Cang could also tell that the principle behind the mantis’s movement was completely different from Dusk’s Space Root Magic.

Dusk’s Root Magic swapped the positions of two points in Space.

Whereas the Phase Mantis’s Phase Shift...

...was to travel *through* Space.

Iz spoke slowly, resting a hand gently on his chin in a thoughtful pose.

VMMMM!

Suddenly, another Phase Shift!

Lu Cang sensed that the mantis had recovered from its madness and had shifted back.

’Don’t help me.’

The thought appeared in Lu Cang’s mind almost simultaneously—it was Iz’s voice, speaking directly to his Mind.

Lu Cang didn’t move.

THWIP!

The moment the Phase Mantis appeared beside Iz, it stopped dead in its tracks, as if ensnared in countless spiderwebs.

Iz had torn that tiny pocket of Space into the Void. The Space in that spot no longer existed.

This wasn’t a matter of destroying or shattering the original Space.

It was more like taking a world normally filled with Space and inserting a patch of Void; the Phase Mantis fell directly into it.

The moment it fell into the Void, it lost the ability to Phase Shift.

SWISH—

A moment later, Izparut extended one hand.

Countless streams of Magic gathered as overlapping layers of Sealing Magic encased the mantis before him.

Lu Cang watched Iz’s actions...

...and was inevitably reminded of himself from not too long ago.

’Like master, like disciple, I suppose?’

’Our methods for capturing people are cut from the same cloth.’

After capturing the Phase Mantis, Iz held it between his fingertips, observing it quietly for some time. About ten minutes later...

Iz looked into the distance once more.

He gently raised his hand.

With a wave of his hand, a blue-violet magical Array condensed before him.

BANG!

A spatial fluctuation erupted, and a purple trail shot straight out!

Once the eruption subsided, it instantly formed a straight tunnel leading far into the distance.

Lu Cang saw a new Magic appear on Izparut.

"Tier Six Root Magic: Phase Shifting."