Chapter 354: Barcas's Deadly Trap

Ansu was not about to answer Barcas's question.

Of course, it wasn't just that.

Because the simulation was his greatest trump card, and the desperate situation before him hadn't actually happened yet.

After thinking quickly for a brief moment, Ansu curled his lips, intentionally letting a mocking smile play on his face.

“Barcas, you don't actually think I would rush in here to my death without any preparation, do you?”

Barcas's brow furrowed slightly.

“Have you demons already forgotten how miserably you failed every single time you ran into Celia and me?”

Ansu clicked his tongue, his tone growing even more mocking. “Or is it that some idiots are just born with terrible memories?”

“You...” Barcas paused instinctively.

Of course he remembered. It was precisely because of these two that his plans had failed time and time again...

The great cause of the demon race's revival had been thwarted at every turn!

Could it be...

...that Ansu really had another trump card up his sleeve?

“Angelu.” Barcas's voice sank as he warily scanned the darkness where the blood mist swirled. “Has that witch Celia... already followed us here? We need to be careful.”

“Impossible!” Angelu replied immediately. “With the Filthy Heart here, the Ash Witch couldn't possibly find this place. This kid is clearly bluffing, and you actually fell for it?”

His gaze swept over Ansu, and he sneered.

“The helpers who came in with him have already been dealt with by the academy's people. Rest assured, this guy is just bluffing to buy time!”

Barcas stared intently at Ansu's expression, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Just as Angelu was speaking, he caught a very brief flicker in Ansu's eyes, as if his weakness had been exposed.

He understood instantly.

“Hehehe...”

His low laughter carried a hint of annoyance from being played.

It really was a bluff.

It made sense. Having suffered defeat at Ansu's hands so many times, he had practically developed a conditioned reflex, hesitating even over something so obvious.

“Kill him!” Barcas hesitated no longer. “Don't wait for Celia to actually find us. Let's finish this quickly!”

Before his words could even fade, Angelu spat out a low, ancient syllable.

A terrifying aura of death suddenly manifested as a dark red, almost black ray pierced through the thick, blood-colored mist, shooting precisely toward Ansu's chest.

Disintegration

This 6th Circle magic, which would normally take a high-tier mage a long time to channel, was used by Angelu as casually as a 0th Circle trick. It was near-instantaneous, without even the slightest sign of charging.

Faced with such a swift and deadly attack, Ansu had almost no choice but to take it head-on. The first Disintegration slammed violently into his deep blue magic shield, shattering the barrier instantly.

Angelu gave him no room to breathe as a second one followed immediately.

“Die!”

The bald mage's mouth stretched into a grin, as if he could already see his opponent being dissolved into a pile of ashes.

But the moment the ray struck, a familiar magical glow flashed. Ansu's figure shifted through empty space, landing once more on a rocky slope over a hundred yards away.

The Disintegration had only hit a scarecrow wearing a comical smiley mask, which immediately crumbled into a pile of ashes and scattered in the wind.

“That damn thing again! Just how many of those does he have?”

Angelu was instantly infuriated. Gritting his teeth, he glared at Ansu in the distance and could only charge after him once more.

Barcas, however, remained where he was, watching coldly from the sidelines.

He had long known that Ansu would have plenty of life-saving tricks. After all, this guy and Celia had inherited the treasures of the entire ancient demon empire.

At this moment, as he fled, Ansu had almost no room to counterattack if he wanted to avoid being locked onto by Disintegration. He could only rely on gravity magic to repeatedly adjust his trajectory, dodging the successive incoming attacks.

Despite his pathetic state, he actually felt a sense of relief in his heart.

His gamble just now had paid off.

This was a deadly trap designed specifically for him. From the very beginning, he had never expected to escape from Barcas and the mages of the City of a Thousand Stars.

Rather than wasting his mana and time fighting a losing battle, it was better to pry some information out of Barcas to gather key intelligence.

But Barcas was not Gulzan, after all; he wasn't the type of guy who would start rambling endlessly after a few simple bluffs.

The best way was to let him "see through" Ansu's bluff on his own, making him absolutely certain that Ansu had no remaining cards to play and was completely doomed.

(I predicted your prediction of my prediction.)

“Two of you teaming up against me, and you still can't take me down.” Ansu panted heavily, dodging yet another magic beam from Angelu, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Once Celia actually gets here... you two idiots are dead meat.”

“Hmph!” At the thought of the humiliation of almost having his entire arm torn off by that witch, Angelu's anger flared even hotter, and the magical offensive in his hands suddenly grew violent. “I am a Saint Tier mage! How could I possibly lose to her?”

A sky full of Magic Shards poured down like a falling meteor shower, each one precisely tracking Ansu's constantly fleeing figure.

This large-scale spell showed no signs of stopping even after a long time. The sky changed color, briefly turning from crimson to a series of deep blue hues.

Faced with this all-out assault, Ansu could only take out his defensive magic items one after another. Layer upon layer of shields stacked around him, forming a barrier like a giant tortoise shell.

In reality, these items were consumed upon use, but in the simulation, they didn't cost him a thing.

Seeing that Ansu was still alive and kicking, Angelu grew increasingly frustrated.

The boy was clearly just a high-tier mage, and had been a mere mid-tier mage not too long ago, yet the trouble he caused far exceeded many of his past opponents.

An endless supply of magic items was simply cheating; this wasn't the strength he should possess!

“You don't actually believe...” Ansu's mouth didn't stop as his gaze swept over the giant, slowly pulsing heart in midair, “...that you can kill Celia with just a thing like that, do you?”

“Still mentioning Celia?” Barcas finally couldn't help but let out a soft, mocking laugh. “Ansu, it seems you won't even realize until your dying breath that this is a hunt specifically targeted at you. How ridiculous.”

He paused. “I originally thought that without your assistance, Celia would be nothing more than a crazy witch with raw power, unable to achieve anything of significance. But your performance now...”

“...makes me wonder if I've highly overestimated you.”

Ansu's brow furrowed, and then, a look of belated realization dawned on his face. “So... this was a trap set for me from the very beginning? The moment I stepped into the blood mist zone, my death was guaranteed?”

Barcas wore a dark smile, as if enjoying the final struggles of his prey before death.

“So that's how it is, so that's how it is...”

Ansu frowned. “You used the illusion of the Filthy Heart to forcefully split our entire team, trapping everyone in their own nightmares, and then... picking us off one by one.”

He stared at Barcas, looking increasingly puzzled.

“But why aren't you affected by the Filthy Heart? You can move freely here, and you can even control it to deal with us?”

Mid-sentence, he noticed that Barcas merely smiled without saying a word.

He clearly had no intention of answering.

“Impressive, truly impressive...”

“You really went to great lengths for this trap.” Ansu curled his lips, his voice carrying a desperate, self-destructive edge. “If you kill me, you will absolutely not be able to withstand Celia's wrath. Do you honestly think you can survive when she goes mad? She will raze this place to the ground and avenge us all!”

“I don't need to withstand anything.” Barcas's smile widened. “Because she is doomed to die as well.”

“Why?”

Barcas refused to say more. He merely smiled and slowly added, “Her death will only be slightly later than yours. With one of you following the other, you can reunite in hell.”

Ansu's eyes flickered with surprise; this time, he was genuinely shocked.

Barcas actually had the confidence to claim he could kill Celia?

He rapidly ran through the various possibilities, until a thought finally flashed in his mind: Was it the eye-like curse mark on his wrist?

Could it be that even Celia wouldn't be able to withstand the erosion of this curse in the end, and would be assimilated... or killed by the Filthy Heart?

...