Chapter 175: Did Aiden Run Away? Gareth Steps In

Aiden stood still, his face calm. He slowly raised his head and looked at a thin crack on the Blacklight Ward.

At first glance, the crack was almost impossible to see.

"You’re much stronger than most geniuses," Aiden said seriously.

He remembered when Calvin, who was praised by a divine powerhouse as having the potential to become a god, had attacked the Blacklight Ward with fire arrows in Money Space. That attack had also left a crack.

But back then, because of Money Space, Aiden’s level had gone up, while Calvin’s had dropped.

Now, Aiden’s four-dimensional stats had improved a lot. His power was definitely stronger than before.

But Nellie still managed to leave a crack in the Blacklight Ward.

That showed that her potential was even greater than Calvin’s.

The geniuses from the hidden families were really not easy to beat.

Aiden thought this to himself, but his hands didn’t slow down. He quickly lit up The Abyssal Flame Demon staff.

Ultimate Frost!

Boom!

A terrifying ice energy appeared instantly. The training field, which had been warm, now filled with ice crystals.

The air turned freezing cold. Nellie’s face changed. Without hesitation, she jumped high into the air.

As she reached the middle of her jump, a huge ice column shot up from the ground and froze one of her legs.

"Uh-oh!" Nellie’s face changed. She was in a bad position—like a target she couldn’t move from.

At that moment, Aiden, who used skills very fast, quickly gathered several green Wood Elemental Arrows in front of him.

He knew the best plan was to keep Nellie locked down. Otherwise, something unexpected might happen.

Sure enough, before the arrows reached her, a thorn suddenly shot out from the Radiant Thorns Crown on Nellie’s head and hit the ground behind her.

In the next moment, Nellie disappeared. When she reappeared, she was where the thorn had landed.

Swoosh!

The Wood Elemental Arrows missed completely.

"I underestimated you, Aiden. You’re stronger than I thought," Nellie said, lowering her chin slightly. Her eyes turned serious.

"Time to use my full power!"

"Radiant Thorns Armor!"

Boom!

A strong energy wave appeared. The Radiant Thorns Crown on Nellie’s head shot out many thorny vines, completely covering her body.

Then, a thorn armor formed around her.

Her body became taller and more beautiful, with a perfect shape that looked both elegant and strong—like a work of art.

"You make me use all my power. That’s something many top Reclassers can’t even achieve," Nellie said, standing in her glowing thorn armor.

Gareth, watching from the side, stayed calm. To him, Nellie using the Radiant Thorns Armor already meant the battle was decided.

He turned to Eira and said,

"Now, Aiden is in big trouble. His defense is strong, but the Radiant Thorns Armor doesn’t just make Nellie faster and stronger—it also lets her use her skills faster and with less energy."

"Even more important, any attack she makes now deals true damage."

"This fight won’t last long."

Eira clenched her imperial staff tightly.

On the surface, this was just a fight between Aiden and Nellie.

But in reality, Aiden represented the Great Shaw Empire, and Nellie stood for the Wycliffe Family.

Eira didn’t want Aiden to lose. She knew hidden families were powerful, but she still hoped the Great Shaw Empire wouldn’t be looked down on.

"Come on, Aiden. You always bring hope. I believe in you," Eira said, staring at Aiden with hope in her eyes.

Under her gaze, Aiden finally answered Nellie’s words.

He looked more relaxed now and said,

"You used all your strength. That means you won’t get hurt easily. That’s good."

Eira’s eyes lit up instantly.

From what she knew about Aiden, she knew he wouldn’t say that if he wasn’t sure.

She took a deep breath and said to Gareth,

"I think Aiden’s next move will surprise you."

Gareth frowned. He didn’t think that would happen.

While Eira and Gareth were talking, Nellie attacked again.

She dropped down and placed her hands on the ground. The whole training field started to shake.

Then, Radiant Thorns shot up from the floor, covering the whole area!

In a blink of an eye, the place turned into a sea of thorns!

Facing this situation, Aiden reacted quickly. He used the Iron Dragon Wings’ burst speed and flew straight into the air.

"Hmph. Now you’re in the same situation as me. See how you get out of it!" Nellie sneered. The thick Radiant Thorns on the ground suddenly moved toward Aiden fast.

But in the next moment, a thick shadow surrounded Aiden, making everything around him completely dark.

Then, the shadow spread across the whole field, and Aiden disappeared completely.

The Radiant Thorns on the ground lost their target and stopped moving.

Nellie frowned and quickly turned around, swinging her thorn whip behind her.

Whack!

The whip hit nothing.

"Not here?"

"So he’s still in the air!" Nellie’s eyes became sharp. She placed her hands on the ground again, controlling the Radiant Thorns to move wildly, trying to find Aiden.

But even as the thorns nearly pierced the ceiling of the training area, they still couldn’t find where Aiden was.

Nellie got nervous. Her eyes were full of confusion.

"This isn’t possible. Aiden should be nearby. Did he run away?"

She didn’t know what to do. According to her experience, when an enemy disappeared, they usually went around for a surprise attack.

But with Aiden, that didn’t work.

She quickly turned her head, looking everywhere.

Gareth, watching from the side, narrowed his eyes.

There was still one place Nellie had missed!

That was right above her!

"Aiden really took a risk. The most dangerous place is often the one people ignore. Nellie was just too careless!"

Sure enough, Aiden suddenly appeared right above Nellie.

His Abyssthe Flame Demon staff glowed in his hand.

Blazing Tornado!

Boom!

A huge fire whirlwind appeared out of nowhere, making the flames even wilder.

Even though Aiden had never upgraded Blazing Tornado, it was still only Platinum Rank.

But because his staff had a burn effect, the attack could ignore both physical and magic defense, and deal burn damage for 30 seconds, reducing the enemy’s health by 1% per second.

Plus, since he just came out of the shadow, this was his first attack, and it had a shadow boost, increasing its power by 20%.

With all that, even a Platinum Rank Blazing Tornado could do a lot of damage.

"Damn it, you were right next to me this whole time, and I didn’t even see you," Nellie muttered in her mind.

It felt like a pro was teasing a noob.

She couldn’t stand it at all.

At this point, she had two choices: defend or attack back.

Feeling insulted, she didn’t hesitate. She chose the second option.

She was about to swing her thorn whip for a counterattack, but then her movement suddenly stopped.

The fire around her was even stronger than she expected. Her health was dropping fast.

"No, this doesn’t make sense. These flames and the tornado shouldn’t hurt me this much!" Nellie paused, shocked. She had underestimated Aiden’s attack.

That short pause was all Aiden needed.

Thunder’s Wrath!

Suddenly, the training ground covered in Radiant Thorns was filled with thick purple lightning.

Boom!

Thunder rolled and lightning flashed.

In just a blink of an eye, Nellie’s Radiant Thorns Armor had blackened burns on it.

Her health dropped quickly.

"Did that first lightning strike do true damage? It just took a big chunk out of her health?"

Thunder’s Wrath had a 30% chance to deal true damage with each strike. Aiden realized right away—it must be because of Twin Coin that he was having good luck.

He saw Nellie’s face turn pale.

Her health was dropping fast, and she looked scared and nervous.

But Aiden wasn’t holding back. He wanted to break her confidence completely—especially since she was so proud.

Demon’s Domain!

Boom!

In the middle of the storm, dark energy appeared quickly. The area around Nellie was filled with death and destruction.

"Wait, if this keeps up, Nellie could die!" Gareth’s eyes widened. Without thinking, he flew straight toward Nellie.