CHAPTER 116: LANDING PUNCHES, CONSOLIDATING HEXAGRAM

People’s constitutions differed. Keith, Julian, and the scholars couldn’t resist Sigma’s abilities and ended up becoming puppets under his control, while Wayne only found the attempt noisy. The ancient god was noisy, too, but at least they didn’t make a racket. Their voice sounded magnetic, and they were actually reasoning with him.

Sigma, on the other hand, was like a construction crew working in a septic tank, with electric drills buzzing and flies buzzing along, creating such a cacophony that it irritated people.

Shut up!

No, wait, that’s not a mouth you have, but a septic tank. Close the tank!

Wayne’s eyes glinted with murderous intent as he charged up and threw a punch at Sigma’s face. As his opponent flew up and fell, he suddenly straightened his bent knees and made a powerful leap that crushed the ground, launching himself like a projectile.

Boom!

At that moment, Sigma crashed into the ground and bounced slightly into the air. The devastating knee strike collided with his chest like a cannonball, shattering his bones and caving in his chest cavity with audible cracks.

As if hit by a speeding car, his body bent backward and flew more than ten meters away, crashing into a large tree in the garden and shaking the canopy with a thunderous rustle. Wayne didn’t give Sigma time to react. In a few quick strides, he closed the distance and unleashed a flurry of punches, all targeting Sigma’s chest.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Blood sprayed from Sigma’s mouth freely, the arrows of blood shooting in all directions. Much of it landed on Wayne’s fists and face. Sigma’s facial features shifted rapidly like a malfunctioning display, unable to stabilize due to the continuous and intense impacts.

Wayne didn’t understand how Sigma’s unkillable body worked, but it didn’t matter. There was no such thing as absolute immortality in this world; his Death Knight disguise was no exception. Sigma’s perceived immortality was simply supported by his special ability. Beat him until he ran out of energy and his health bar showed, and he would inevitably meet his death.

Wayne’s arms whipped like wind, moving faster and faster with hissing sounds. This was the first time he had let loose with his physical strength. Previously, for various reasons, he’d held back somewhat. The joy of complete release was intoxicating. The four points of light representing his life essence pulsed violently.

Lines connected the points of the hexagram. Earth, fire, water, wind, void, and self became linked to create a unified whole. And it wasn’t over yet. The six points of light linked together again, drawing a hexagon outside the hexagram.

Wayne, lost in his punching frenzy, didn’t notice any of it. He only knew that the power within him seemed endless, and the more he dug, the greater it became. His fists became wreathed in flames as he wrecked Sigma with overwhelming force, the fire elements causing secondary damage.

Flesh and blood splattered, and one corner of the garden became completely ruined. Sigma tried to resist, but every time he raised his arms, the intense pain from his caved-in chest shot through his body, forcing him to give up. The large tree behind him had already bent to its limit. When Wayne’s punch penetrated his chest and struck the trunk directly, the tree snapped in half with a loud crack.

The tree had a long history at Saint Dominic’s Cathedral. A cardinal had personally planted it when the Church of Heavenly Father’s power in Windsor had not yet weakened. That cardinal became the Pope ten years later, and thus the tree’s symbolic significance was raised to a greater height.

Crack!

Wayne’s fist pierced through Sigma’s chest. The surging power made him desperately crave release, so he pinned Sigma’s face to the ground and drew back his fist, taking a breath before launching into another frenzied assault.

This time, he wasn’t pummeling the tree, but smashing the ground.

Sigma was like a ragdoll being pounded into the earth. His vitality was so incredibly tenacious that he had died hundreds of times, but still wouldn’t stay dead.

What had once been his source of pride now became Wayne’s accomplice in tormenting him. With trembling fingers, he traced an inverted pentagram on the ground. It took him a full fifteen seconds to complete the palm-sized magic circle, costing him tremendous vitality.

Black light blazed, throwing Wayne off his feet. He flipped mid-flight to regain balance and landed gracefully, taking several steps back before stopping. His fists itched, and his muscles were cheering with joy; he wanted another go.

At this point, he noticed the completely formed hexagram in his body. It didn’t happen when he was reading or writing his diary, but while he was fighting with his fists.

“Indeed, mages go better with muscles...”

Having waited days for the hexagram to form, he had thought that he would be thrilled, but when the moment came, he felt calm rather than ecstatic. He took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on Sigma’s black robe, now stained with blood. The word ‘greed’ was clearly written across Wayne’s blood-stained face.

Despite Sigma’s chest being destroyed—no, punched through—the black robe remained perfectly intact, not even stained with blood. It... was clearly the one he had lost. No wonder he could never find it. It had been stolen by the punk! Damn it, he would reclaim what was his today!

Sigma clutched his chest and stood up, looking at Wayne in disbelief. He wanted to say something, but could only cough repeatedly.

“You don’t even know how to take a beating properly, and you call yourself a demon’s subordinate? Go to hell!”

Wayne broke into a predatory smile. His pulsing muscles could no longer be contained. He eagerly pounced on Sigma.

Sigma panicked. Having died hundreds of times in a row, the intense pain prevented him from maintaining his sanity. Terrified of getting pinned down and beaten one-sidedly once more, he switched through countless faces rapidly, which overlapped and fused into one.

The face wasn’t particularly handsome, but undeniably charismatic. His eyes were deep and bright with wisdom, while his thick, long eyebrows resembled knightly swords, guarding his reserved thoughts and emotions. He seemed bemused and wise, like a philosopher lost in contemplation.

“Ahhhhh—”

Sigma’s body rapidly expanded, his height shooting past two meters. Taking control of too many minds at once made him cry out in anguish. His overactive muscles made his head look disproportionately small.

His eyes turned blood-red, and he breathed out white steam. The itch and soreness of his writhing muscles beneath his skin caused him tremendous discomfort. He shed his now too-tight black robe, revealing a terrifyingly powerful and horrific physique. His naked body was knotted with muscles and covered in webs of pulsing veins, and despite the violent heaving of his chest, the taut muscles continued to expand.

His extremely high body temperature made his breath visible to the naked eye. Hot air radiated from his muscles and skin, forming heat distortions around him that made him appear twisted, blurry, and unreal.

His eyes turned red, and his entire face, a deep purple. His heart pounded thunderously to send his blood rushing through his vessels, so quickly that it seemed like the vessels would burst at any moment.

He took a staggering step forward. After two steps, he suddenly accelerated, his bear-like frame parting the air as he charged toward Wayne. The waves of heat he radiated struck Wayne’s face, making him narrow his eyes. His mind told him that brute force wouldn’t be wise, that it was time to use magic.

His fists told him to forget magic and go for brute force!

Wayne’s fists itched, every muscle in his body trembling. With the hexagram fully formed and his life essence transforming, he chose to trust his instincts and swing his fists to use physical magic.

The two men collided like arrows released from bowstrings, fist meeting fist. The air exploded with such a tremendous rumble that nearby shrubs trembled.

Wayne took several steps back, his feet creating deep craters in the ground to absorb the impact, while Sigma maintained his stance as he slid back several meters, his feet carving into the garden lawn.

He stared at Wayne in astonishment, muttering, “Impossible, absolutely impossible for humans.” The shock in his eyes transformed into rage as he roared with heated breaths, charging forward again.

Wayne met him with simple punches with no techniques, relying only on brute force and never even considering evading. He needed to quickly familiarize himself with his power and understand his limits.

Bam!

The two figures smashed through the corridor’s wall, moving from the garden into the cathedral. They found themselves in an office with five desks and numerous filing cabinets. The larger and smaller beasts that knew only raw strength collided once more, wreaking havoc throughout the office, smashing desk after desk and sending documents flying everywhere.

Sigma pushed himself to the max. Gathering the strength of countless people, his physical prowess had surpassed human limits as he threw punches tirelessly, heated currents swirling around his increasingly blurry form.

Fists landed like raindrops. Wayne found pleasure in the pain.

He was right. When the hexagram formed and his life essence evolved, it was only the beginning rather than the end. Waiting passively wouldn’t unlock his limits. Only by pressing his advantage could he grow stronger through adversity.

Ten minutes later, Wayne and Sigma had demolished their way to the fourth office.

The intense pain drove Sigma to madness, his breathing quick and chaotic. Though the power of his punches remained undiminished, his footwork was far less nimble than before. Meanwhile, Wayne grew stronger with each exchange, sensing his peak. Watching the rapidly approaching figure, his heart remained perfectly calm. He sidestepped to avoid a punch, his left foot tapping on the ground to send his body spinning a semicircle, lashing out with his straightened right leg.

The kick was heavy and sharp, his pant leg hissing like a black python flicking its tongue. He aimed directly at Sigma’s vulnerable neck. The head was Sigma’s vital weakness, completely disproportionate to his muscular limbs and torso. His neck, though thickened, still looked comically frail compared to the rest of his body.

Unable to dodge in time, Sigma blocked the devastating kick with his arms. With a bang, his arms slammed into his face, sending his body flying uncontrollably.

Another tremendous impact. The office wall collapsed as Sigma flew through the corridor and landed before the warehouse. His blood-stained body was covered in dust with patches of black and white all over him. His ears rang as he staggered to his feet.

Multiple faces flickered across his face as his ability teetered on the edge of crumbling. He shook his head to clear the dizziness, struggling to focus his vision and find Wayne.

“Don’t bother. I’m right behind you.”

Wayne charged forward, crushing the ground under his feet. The moment Sigma turned around, Wayne leaped into the air and drove his knee hard into his face.

Crack!

Sigma flew upward, his already slender neck stretching violently. When he crashed to the ground, he coughed up blood and gasped out foul breaths, his breathing erratic and uncontrollable. His willpower alone prevented his ability from falling apart completely.

He pushed himself up with his hands.

Wayne narrowed his eyes, rejecting the instinct to celebrate prematurely. Instead, he landed a devastating hook on Sigma’s left abdomen. Let the champagne warm up first. He’d drink it later!

He stepped forward, flexing his biceps to make a sharp hook, smashing Sigma hard in the face. The moment he was about to fall backward, Wayne took quick steps forward and caught his tilting body, slamming him to the ground.

Combo!

Wayne grabbed Sigma’s ankle, lifted it, and elbowed his thigh before wrapping his arms around the thick leg and throwing Sigma. He was moving so quickly as he bent down and made the next move that the moment Sigma shakily stood up, his face bloodied from the continuous hooks, he was already thrown off his feet with another knee slam to the chest.

Boom!

The warehouse’s wall caved in with spider-web cracks spreading across its surface. Sigma was embedded in the wall, now motionless. Steam hissed from his body as his swollen muscles contracted and reverted to their original size. His hollow eyes stared vacantly at the ground, losing focus and gradually dimming. This time, no face flickered across his. Blood flowed down the wall, pooling on the ground.

Bam!

A figure flashed to him. The thick warehouse wall crumbled and shattered. Wayne’s punch had crushed Sigma’s chest, smashing him into the warehouse. Looking at the motionless corpse, he ran up and kicked Sigma’s twisted neck.

Splat!

A head flew out, shattering against the wall and splattering the inner tissues everywhere. After the repeated finishing blows, Wayne could finally confirm that the enemy was truly dead.

But it wasn’t enough! He summoned fire elements with a wave of his hands, thrusting his fingers into the minced flesh of Sigma’s chest to roast the corpse into charcoal inside out.

He only made sure his enemy was dead and didn’t destroy the corpse—only villains did that. Righteous characters knew to leave the body behind. Otherwise, Wayne wouldn’t be able to prove that the theft of the cathedral’s warehouse had nothing to do with him.

Having dealt with the enemy, he wiped the blood and flesh from his face. Water gathered before him to wash away the filth on his hands. He dried them with a handkerchief before putting on white gloves, rummaging through the first section.

The sculptures were exquisite and gorgeous, all ancient pieces that would make valuable collections. The replicas of armor and weapons were all crafted by masters, too, so despite not being the real deal, their artistic value was incredible and would sell at a high price in the market.

“Such a pity that my car’s trunk isn’t big enough. The treasures and I weren’t meant to be.” Wayne felt around and shook his head regretfully.

“Mr... Mr. Wayne...”

The bound Bishop Keith opened his eyes, groggily catching sight of Wayne’s sneaking figure.

“What? You’re now my dog, yet you’re still worrying about outsiders,” Wayne murmured. He stepped forward quickly and knocked Keith unconscious with a hand chop. He entered the second section of the warehouse and found a box, pouring all the valuable jewelry into it. Huffing, he carried it into the garden, manipulating vines to pull it underground.

“Oh, right. There’s the robe. I almost forgot to reclaim what’s mine.”

After grabbing the robe, he went to the third section to steal close to a hundred precious ancient books, leaving a third behind for borrowing next time.

All done. He gathered more water to wash his face and took off his white gloves before approaching Keith. The vines loosened, releasing all the clergy members. Wayne called out in an urgent tone and a serious expression, as if he had been defending justice rather than looting the warehouse a moment ago.

“Bishop Keith, Bishop! Wake up!”

Keith groggily opened his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck and hissing. “Mr. Wayne, why did you knock me out?”

“What are you talking about, Bishop Keith? I just defeated the demon’s follower. When did I lay a hand on you?” Wayne put on a puzzled look. “Think again. Did you remember wrong, or mistake me for someone else?”

Huh? Did he? Keith felt lightheaded, like his thoughts had been drained. His whole body ached. Thinking about it, he had indeed been so dizzy that he might have seen it wrong.

“Oh no, the demon’s servant!”

Keith jerked up like he had just woken from a dream. He remembered pursuing the servant to the coffee shop, but nothing else. His world went dark then.

He knocked on his head and racked his memory. “I remember confessing to Father, and there was a night with many people and black candles...”