The First Magic World War

Two alchemical schools were popular in the Old Continent.

One was called Classical Alchemy, also known as Magic Alchemy. Charles's staff is a product of this school, with the highest achievement called Self Alchemy, transforming oneself into rare and curious objects.

For example, Magru Teller, now half-man half-spider, refused to die despite his lower half being blasted away.

The followers of the Lampbearer did not establish a university. This school's teachings were secretly passed down. Although Charles had seen some fragments of documents, he did not fully understand the Kabbalah Magic school and did not know how to crack the Cursed Armament.

The other school is called Classic Alchemy, founded by the Great Philosopher of the Human Race, Hermes, a devout of the God of Mechanics and Alchemy. Hence, Classic Alchemy is also known as Mechanical Alchemy.

Techniques like antispace and long-range sniper rifles are products of Classic Alchemy, and the highest creation of this branch is the creation of deities.

Although the followers of the God of Mechanics and Alchemy did not found a university, the Great Philosopher Hermes had once been a professor at Hatingen Thunder and Stormwind University, hence all four universities offer Classic Alchemy courses.

During his college years, Charles had also envied the splendor of alchemy, but although he was born into a merchant family, his elder brother controlled the family's finances. Alchemy is famously a money pit, and his family could not afford to provide substantial funds for him to pursue such a money-draining venture.

Moreover, he had never shown talent in the path of the Transcendent, not even being good at cultivating Fighting Spirit, so his family did not believe he could achieve anything in alchemy either.

Fortunately, even among the four universities, there were not many who could afford the study of alchemy. So, during his school days, Charles maintained a rather peaceful mindset.

Now, seeing a high-grade product of Classical Alchemy, aside from being chased, he also felt some regret that he could not take any spoils of war.

The Cursed Armament is rooted in the user's husk and soul; indeed, in some sense, the user's husk and soul are also part of the materials for the Curse, making it impossible to separate. Once the user died, the Cursed Armament would also be destroyed.

Magru Teller had long understood that he could not progress far on the Transcendent path. Being a seventh-level knight was probably the limit of his life, which is why he had spent all his wealth to seek out the thirteenth secret of the Alchemist Master, Aubrey Barrington Atwood, to custom-make this set of Cursed Armament for himself.

Seeing Charles's agile movement technique and missing all his shots, he threw down his thunderous gun, suddenly wielding a massive axe in his hand, sneered, and charged at him with a howl, even faster than before.

Charles did not want to remain passive either. Manifesting the Bloody Glory, he swept his alchemy staff to "brush" against the descending massive axe, refusing to directly resist the blow.

Although Charles was also a Fourth Order Transcendent, having mastered four Bloody Runes, Insight, Blood Flame Qi, and Angel's Thorn, Quickness Technique, he was still rocked by a tremendous force that numbed his arm and could not help but inwardly exclaim, "What immense strength this fellow has!"

Magru Teller, now completely transformed into a half-man, half-spider monster, wielded his axe swiftly. Although his axe skills were not exquisite, combined with his unparalleled strength, he made Charles sweat profusely from the effort to avoid his attacks.

As he swung the round massive axe, striking fierce and aggressive blows, he bellowed, "Do you know? Once the Cursed Armament is activated, one can never revert again, I can no longer return to a human form, and it's all your fault."

Charles pointed his alchemy staff, executed the Quickness Technique, and leaped back more than ten meters, thinking to himself, "Without the Cursed Armament, you'd probably be dead by now." But there was no need to quip about that to the opponent and he called out solemnly, "Why seek revenge on me? I have no quarrel with you!"

Raging, Magru Teller shouted, "If it weren't for your accusations, saying I framed Menilman, how could I have been abandoned by the higher-ups, stripped of my warden's position, and thrown into prison?"

"Kilmainham Prison only held trash, and those damned prison guards were trash too. I should never have been there."

"They forced me to cough up the wealth I had amassed over a lifetime, humiliated me, tortured me, and intimidated me."

"I've killed them all now, leaving only you."

Magru Teller's stamina seemed inexhaustible; swinging a giant axe and roaring in battle for over half an hour, he still showed no signs of fatigue.

Though the battle between the two had drawn countless onlookers and even damaged many homes, Charles tried his best to prevent destruction in the surrounding area. However, the battle was not so easy to control, yet still, no sign of the Patrolling Army.

Charles himself was the chief officer; of course, he knew what the Patrolling Army was like.

He no longer hoped anyone would stop Magru Teller; he could only desperately think of a way to defeat his opponent with his current combat strength.

Charles was fairly certain that as long as Magru Teller stood still, he could obliterate him with just two Magic-Breaking Bombshell Bullets, but the former warden moved too quickly, and Charles didn't have many of these bullets left. Lord Leo had only given him twenty in total, and once they were used up, that would be it. That's why he was hesitant to fire recklessly.

The Vampiric Hand Axe was blocked by the eerie energy emanating from Magru Teller, unable to chop through and break his defense. It was very likely that the Blood Rose wouldn't work either, and the Magnum Hand Shuttle and Alchemy Handgun were even less likely to succeed.

In an instant, Charles thought of seven or eight strategies, but none seemed truly useful.

Charles felt that he was at a disadvantage, exhausting his wits without securing a victory, but he didn't realize that, a hundred meters away, two spectators were utterly astonished by his formidable strength.

Reggie Asu and Calanda Modi, both Mid-Level Transcendents and employees of the Liemar Detective Agency, were two of the candidates scheduled for a duel with Charles.

They had brought the duel contract crafted by Aubrey Barrington Atwood and came to Sparrowhawk Street to deliver it, also taking the opportunity to observe their opponent.

According to the records, Charles was merely a Fourth Order Transcendent who walked the relatively mediocre early-stage path of Bloody Glory but had an outstanding record, having killed eight detectives from the Liemar Agency, including Winterburn, who was also Fourth Order.

They had not expected to witness Charles being "assassinated in the street" by a Mid-Level Transcendent.

As Magru Teller dueled with Charles down the long street, his body was half-destroyed; the two just marveled, noting that the young man possessed a Transcendent-Level rifle and was decisive in action, truly skilled.

When Magru Teller used the Cursed Armament, transforming into a half-human, half-spider monster, the two were genuinely astounded.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Charles, with his limited combat experience, had no idea that in this state, Magru Teller's strength was comparable to a Mid-Level High-Grade, at least equal to a Tenth-Level Knight.

Being able to trade blows with Magru Teller, who was using Cursed Armament, and only slightly at a disadvantage, Reggie Asu and Calanda Modi exchanged glances, deciding to persuade their boss to remove both names from the duel list.

After all, they weren't truly "relatives" of those eight deceased detectives.