Chapter 638 - 54: Whether It’s Futile Is Not for You to Say

Murphy's pupils contracted slightly.

The Ironspine Duke watched him, the smile on his lips finally taking on a hint of sincerity.

"Once your Golden Core forms, you will exist on another level entirely. Only then can we truly have a fight to see which of us is stronger."

"But now..."

He shook his head gently.

"You can't kill me."

Murphy tightened his grip on the longsword in his hand.

The blade trembled slightly—not from fear, but from rage, indignation, and the helplessness of facing an insurmountable gap in strength.

He knew the Ironspine Duke was telling the truth.

He could feel it.

The light from his sword, powerful enough to kill any Second-Level Wizard, struck the Duke as if landing in a void.

He wasn't enduring the attacks.

He was ignoring them.

But Murphy was never one to give up easily.

He glared at the Ironspine Duke's composed, smiling face, his mind racing.

'Time?'

'Time, my ass.'

'Mastering the Time Domain? Past and future? What a load of crap. It's just that old bastard trying to sound mysterious.'

He knew the real reason all too well.

The connections between unobservable matter were inherently weak, like water. If you slice it with a blade, the water separates, then flows back together as if it were never harmed.

And the Ironspine Duke, a being who had fully ascended to Level 3, was composed of pure unobservable matter.

The flashes of his sword hitting the Duke were like striking water.

It looked like a direct hit, but in truth, nothing was struck at all.

There was only one way to hurt him—

Strengthen the connections between the matter.

Turn the "water" into "ice."

To make that which was flowing, diffuse, and intangible become solid, hard, and severable.

This thought flashed through Murphy's mind.

And in that very instant—

The outline of a Sword Array appeared without warning in the depths of his consciousness.

The structure of that Sword Array was complex and precise, with four swords each occupying a position, echoing each other, forming a peculiar cycle of Spiritual Power.

He didn't know where this Sword Array came from.

It might have been a fragment of heritage from some ancient Wizard ruins, or a partial text he'd chanced upon at the Holy City Research Institute. Or perhaps it was an intuition, an instinct honed over countless battles through the years.

But he knew he could use it.

And right now, he knew how to use it.

Murphy said no more.

He simply raised his hand.

HUM!

The Crimson Longsword in his hand trembled lightly, and then three beams of light, virtually identical to the blade itself, split away from it, becoming as solid as reflections in water.

One became four.

In an instant, the four Crimson Longswords occupied the four cardinal directions with the Ironspine Duke at the center—

East, south, west, and north.

The Ironspine Duke's brow twitched slightly.

He looked at the four longswords surrounding him, at the Dark Gold Dao Patterns that began to flow across their blades, and a flicker of interest appeared in his eyes.

"Oh?"

His voice was still calm, even carrying a hint of appreciation.

"Interesting. What are you trying to do?"

Murphy didn't answer.

He simply focused his will.

Between the four longswords, countless crimson lines of light began to extend, crisscrossing and rapidly weaving into a three-dimensional and complex web of light.

The web of light grew denser and tighter, trapping the Ironspine Duke securely within.

"Is this... a Mist Lock?"

The Ironspine Duke glanced down at the contracting web of light around him, then looked up at Murphy, a trace of surprise in his eyes.

"To think you'd know about this."

Murphy still didn't speak.

The four longswords erupted with a dazzling light simultaneously. The light web contracted inward at a visible speed, slicing viciously toward the Ironspine Duke!

The moment the web of light touched the Ironspine Duke's body—

It vanished.

Murphy's pupils contracted sharply.

The crimson threads, the very power of the Sword Array infused with a massive amount of his Mana, touched the Ironspine Duke's body... and it was as if they had struck something intangible.

They passed right through.

Like passing through a cloud of air, a phantom, a patch of nothingness.

The web of light passed through the Ironspine Duke's body, then reformed behind him, continued to contract, and finally dissipated slowly into the void.

Nothing was left behind.

The Ironspine Duke stood in place, not a single hair out of place from beginning to end.

He glanced down at his body, then looked up at Murphy, the smile on his lips slowly widening.

Then, he laughed.

The laughter was soft at first, but it grew louder and louder, echoing across the high heavens.

"Haha... HAHAHAHAHA!"

He laughed until he was doubled over, until tears almost streamed from his eyes, as if he had just witnessed the greatest joke in the world.

Murphy's expression darkened.

The Ironspine Duke finally stopped laughing and looked at Murphy, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery.

"Interesting. Truly interesting."

He raised a hand and pointed at Murphy, his voice dripping with playful mockery:

"Did you think you could hurt me with a petty trick like that?"

Murphy didn't speak.

The Ironspine Duke continued, "You wanted to turn me from 'untouchable' to 'touchable.' You wanted to use a Mist Lock to strengthen the connections between matter. You wanted to turn me from water to ice, and then shatter me with one strike, am I right?"

The Ironspine Duke shook his head, a hint of pity in his voice:

"A nice idea, but useless."

He clasped his hands behind his back and rose into the air. Looking down condescendingly at Murphy, he said, word by word:

"Do you know what your biggest problem is, Murphy?"

Murphy did not answer.