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nEverything hinged on this moment!

nShang was around eighty meters away from his opponent, and he was prepared for the four Spells.

nThen, the first Wind Blade was released.

nShang pointed to his left and unleashed an Ice Blast.

nBANG!

nShang managed to avoid the Wind Blade.

nThe second one came immediately after.

nShang hadn’t been able to regain his balance yet before the second one arrived.

nBANG!

nShang pointed down diagonally and shot upward again, barely evading the Wind Blade.

nHowever, his left arm was turned into nothingness.

nShang’s arm quickly regenerated, but before he could get it into the position, the third Wind Blade arrived.

nBANG!

nShang headbutted the Wind Blade, activating the Magic Circles on his uniform.

nBANG!

nShang used another Fire Blast, rising even higher into the air.

nYet, no Wind Blade came.

nThe Adept hadn’t released his fourth Spell!

nTheir eyes met again as the Mage pointed at Shang with his scepter.

nThen, the fourth Wind Blade came.

nBANG!

nShang’s left arm exploded as he released a Fire Blast, turning his arm into splinters.

nHe had managed to avoid all four.

nAnd then…

nA fifth Wind Blade came.

nFor a moment, Shang felt like time had stopped.

nFive?

nWhere did that fifth one come from?!

nA blast with his legs wouldn’t be fast enough to evade that Spell.

nHis Magic Runes had already activated.

nAt that moment, Shang made a decision.

nBANG!

nA Fire Blast wouldn’t be fast enough to evade the Spell, but it would be enough to rotate his body!

nJust before the Wind Blade hit Shang, he managed to put his legs in the way.

nBANG!

nThe Wind Blade cut through Shang’s calf.

nThen, it cut through Shang’s femur.

nThen, it cut through Shang’s abdomen.

nAnd then… it stopped.

nAfter cutting through so much of Shang’s muscles and bones, the Wind Blade had lost all its power.

nHowever, Shang had no more Life Energy or Mana.

nAn instant later, all his organs would fall out of his body and rain down on the floor in pieces.

nShang’s intestines, liver, and lower back had been completely decimated.

nEven if he managed to reach the Adept, he wouldn’t be able to kill him.

nThe Adept still had his legs.

nShang didn’t.

nShang gritted his teeth as he put his sword at the gigantic cut on his abdomen.

nThe sword kept his organs from falling out as his body rotated towards the Adept.

nBOOOOM!

nA huge explosion of fire left Shang’s lower abdomen!

nThe Adept’s eyes opened as he saw a sword quickly approach him.

nThe sword passed through his head without any issue.

nBANG!

nShang’s body barreled over the Adept and kept rolling on the ground.

nA moment later, the smoke from Shang’s abdomen lifted.

nShang’s entire abdomen was severely burned.

nAnd his organs?

nStill inside!

nHe had cauterized the wound with the Fire Blast!

nShang threw his sword to the side, grabbed the ground with his remaining arm, and threw himself at the corpse.

nThen, he absorbed the life energy that was leaving the body with Darkness Absorb.

nThere wasn’t much left, but Shang managed to gain enough to regrow his organs.

nA moment later, Shang felt an irresistible and painful urge to puke.

nHe did so, and a river of blood and guts left his mouth.

nHowever, Shang had never been so happy to puke blood in his life.

nIt meant that he had survived!

nAfter puking out several liters of blood, Shang collapsed to the side and only looked at the sky.

nSilence.

nAnd then, cheering.

n“I won,” Shang said while breathing heavily.

nSword slowly slid back to Shang and rested in his right hand.

n“We won,” Sword said.

nShang looked at Sword.

n“Yes, we won.”

nThe dried-up corpse of the Adept vanished shortly after.

nJust like the last time Shang had been this injured, the wheel took some time to return.

nA minute later, Shang stood up, his body having completely recovered.

nThe damage had been severe, but it was still far easier to repair than the damage caused by using his mysterious ability.

n‘We won against our first average Early Adept.’

nAt that moment, the wheel returned.

nShang looked at the wheel, and just for a second, he considered forfeiting.

nHe didn’t want to die again.

nThe feeling of death was horrible.

nHe already had 21 points.

nDid he really need 22?

n“Level six: Powerful Early Adept.”

nShang could have also only just used his ability to get this point.

nShouldn’t he get some break?

nShouldn’t he get some reward?

nThe wheel began to spin.

nShang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

n‘No.’

n‘I have to!’

n‘How can I expect to become the strongest if I don’t give it my all?!’

n‘I can’t make the deaths of my previous enemies become useless!’

nThen, Shang opened his eyes and looked at the wheel with fire in his eyes.

n‘So what if I die?! It’s only a moment of horror, which will quickly pass!’

nA moment later, the wheel stopped at the Ice Affinity.

nAfter a brief glimmer of light, Shang’s opponent appeared.

nIt was a beautiful, young woman with long, icy-blue hair.

nShe carried an azure gem in her right hand, which was orbited by a circlet.

nIt was a Focus.

nShang took a deep breath and looked at his left arm.

nThen, he looked at his opponent.

nThe jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell.

nThe girl opened her eyes, and she looked at Shang.

nShang exploded forward with all his speed.

nHe didn’t believe that his ability had infinite range.

nFrom what he had seen, the destructive area of his ability was a cone. At least, the hole in the porcupine had been cone-shaped.

nIf Shang didn’t get close, his power might be too scattered to kill his opponent.

nThe girl quickly cast her Mana Shield.

nAnd then, an icy light appeared above her.

nShe began to speak mystical words, and an icy stream of Mana left her mouth and entered the icy light above her.

nBut that wasn’t everything.

nHer Focus was also sending Ice Mana towards the light.

nWhen Shang saw that, his eyes widened.

n‘Focus Fusion?! An Early Adept can do that?!’ Shang thought in horror.

nWhen Shang was still 40 meters away, his opponent had finished creating her Spell.

nA two-meter-long icicle appeared above her.

nWhen Shang saw the icicle, a shudder went through his being.

n‘That Spell has the power of an attack from a Late General Stage beast!’

n‘It will break through my uniform in one strike and kill me!’

nThere were still 40 meters between him and his opponent.

nWould his scattered power be enough to kill her?

nShang’s left arm pointed forward.

nThen, his left arm turned to dust.

nBut that wasn’t all.

nBoth his legs also turned to dust.

nAnd lastly, one of his eyes turned to dust.

nThe Adept released her icicle, which shot at Shang with surreal speed.

nAn instant later, Shang’s body atrophied, and he hit the ground.

nSilence.

nShang felt pain come from his entire body, weakness gripping his being.

nWith all his power, Shang managed to lift his body a bit with his right arm to look at what had happened.

nAnd then, his remaining eye opened widely in shock.

nDestruction.

nNothingness.

nA cone-shaped crater stretched out from Shang’s position.

nMeters of earth had been consumed by the attack.

nAt that moment, Shang remembered what his teacher had told him.

nGeneral Stage Abominations could be a danger to High Mages.

nThis attack…

nThis was an attack that only a High Mage could unleash.

nHowever, Shang had paid dearly for unleashing it.

nIf he had used this attack outside the trial, he would become a useless cripple with no chance of recovery.

nOn Earth, one could still live a fulfilling life with such a disability, but in this world?

nNo.

nWHOOOOM!

nAnd then, a storm of Mana assaulted Shang.

nShang felt like his entire being was being bathed in the purest of Mana in the world.

nA couple of seconds later, everything calmed down.

nHis world returned to its previous, lifeless self.

nThere was no wind.

nThere was no movement.

nThere might as well be nothing.

nShang was the only living being here.

nAt that moment, Shang looked at his world.

nIt still had matter.

nThen, Shang looked at the crater of destruction in front of him.

nBut there was nothing.

nShang remembered the ability of the Abominations.

nShang remembered the fact that there could also be exotic Affinities like Space in this world.

nShang remembered his Ice and Fire Affinities.

nLess heat, more heat.

nLess energy, more energy.

nShang remembered his Light and Darkness Affinities.

nLife energy was essentially mass or matter. With more life energy, one could regrow one’s body parts. With too much, one’s body would become too big and would explode. With too little life energy, one’s body would vanish.

nLess matter, more matter.

nLess energy, more energy, less matter, more matter.

nWhat if everything was put together?

nIt would just become neutral.

nIt would become the same.

nThen, Shang thought of something.

nWhat if his Affinity interacted with the entire world?

nAll the matter would vanish and be converted to Mana, which was basically energy.

nAnd every spot in the world would have the same amount of energy.

nThere would be no movement.

nThere would be no matter.

nThere would be no life.

nAnd lastly, Shang remembered a concept from earth.

nIn many, many, many, many years, every piece of matter will be transformed into energy. At that point, the universe will cease to be relevant.

nIt was the heat death of the universe.

nShang looked forward in shock.

n“My Affinity is Entropy.”

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