Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

"Puh!" Blood spurted.

"Ah!" Cheka grunted.

"Hmph." The Witch Demon Elder snorted disdainfully, "Are you sure you're really good at close combat? With your skills, you're not even as good as a child." The Witch Demon Elder was telling the truth; in his view, Cheka's close combat skills were indeed not as good as a child's—Pandora.

Cheka listened but didn't respond, instead channeling energy into his wound to control the injury and prevent it from worsening, silently continuing his fight with the Witch Demon Elder.

The Witch Demon Elder was not polite, swiftly swinging the dagger, and within seconds, found an opening and stabbed again, creating a second wound on Cheka's body.

Cheka grunted again, remaining silent, persistently battling the Witch Demon Elder.

And so, in the blink of an eye, several minutes passed.

Cheka's body bore more than a dozen wounds of various sizes, his clothes tattered, looking utterly wretched.

The Witch Demon Elder, on the other hand, was unscathed, calmly fighting with Cheka.

A few seconds later, catching an opening exposed by Cheka, he stabbed without hesitation.

But just as the dagger was about to strike, the Witch Demon Elder was suddenly startled to find that Cheka's speed increased by half, narrowly dodging his attack.

What happened next surprised him even more; Cheka swung his arm, and a bone blade shot out from his hand like lightning, stabbing into the Witch Demon Elder's abdomen, swirling before retracting.

What!

The Witch Demon Elder's eyes widened, violently swung the dagger, forcing Cheka back with all his might. He retreated several meters, clutching his wound, with a puzzled expression, unable to fathom why this happened.

How... how could this be?

"You're very puzzled, aren't you?" Cheka spoke up, panting slightly, "You must be wondering how I suddenly became faster. Actually, it's not that I got faster; it's that you got slower."

"I got slower?"

"Yes, you got slower," Cheka said, "I have to admit one thing to you: I'm not very good at close combat. The reason I engaged in close combat with you was to steal your Soul Energy."

"Steal?" The Witch Demon Elder was taken aback. Sensing his body's condition, his face changed drastically.

"Hah, you finally realized?" Cheka smiled, "That was my purpose—to steal your Soul Energy. As an awakened ancient Witch Demon, you are indeed very rare, even rarer than the extinct Strange Species. However, I happen to master a method that can restrain you, which is the theft of Soul Energy.

During our fight just now, I have been stealing your Soul Power, eventually reaching a limit, resulting in substantial changes. If it were at the beginning, I wouldn't have been confident enough to defeat you, but now... heh, you definitely won't be my opponent."

"By the way, I forgot to mention," Cheka added, "your close combat skills are indeed impressive. If I hadn't been on high alert, I might have been killed by you at the start. But now, you've completely lost that chance."

The Witch Demon Elder quietly listened to Cheka's words, let go of the hand on his abdomen, and a mass of granulation tissue rapidly extended, forcibly healing the wound.

Then the Witch Demon Elder raised his head, looked directly at Cheka, and spoke: "I really have a bit of respect for you young people now—so smart, unlike my earlier generation. I shouldn't have been careless, otherwise, I wouldn't have ended up like this.

But even so, it's still early to judge the outcome! I admit, you did steal a lot of my Soul Energy, putting me in a weakened state. But there's still a lot of time left before this battle ends. I also have many trump cards that haven't been used yet; it won't be too late to talk about winning or losing after I've played them all."

After finishing, the Witch Demon Elder took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale all the surrounding air into his body. The surrounding air surged, and his chest visibly swelled, almost to the point of bursting.

Then the Witch Demon Elder opened his mouth, releasing a thick black gas at high speed.

The black gas rapidly changed in mid-air, eventually condensing into a long, thin whip, held by the Witch Demon Elder, who lashed it toward Cheka.

Cheka quickly dodged, and as soon as he moved, the spot where he was standing was hit by the Witch Demon Elder's Black Whip, instantly exploding into a hole a meter deep.

Cheka looked at the effect caused by the Black Whip, his expression becoming cautious.

The Witch Demon Elder, seeing the first strike fail, didn't hesitate to start a second follow-up attack.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Thus, the Witch Demon Elder and Cheka began their second round of battle.

Soon, several minutes passed.

Cheka's arm was hit by the Witch Demon Elder, breaking it off. Even spells couldn't heal it; it just hung limply, swaying in front of his chest.

After successfully landing a hit, the Witch Demon Elder stopped the attack, standing silently on the ground. Then he slowly lowered his head, seeing a bone blade lodged in his heart—it was thrown by Cheka.

"Drip, drip..."

Blood seeped from his heart, dripping to the ground, and the Witch Demon Elder's face was very grim.

Cheka looked at the Witch Demon Elder, waving his still-intact arm, "You see, you're really not my opponent. The source of your strength—Soul Energy—is continuously depleting. Perhaps we are no longer engaging in close combat now, but I can still steal your Soul Energy, just not as efficiently as before.

So, you will only grow weaker, whereas I can endure exchanges like this, but it's doubtful if you can. After all... you're too old. In fact, for someone as old as you, who doesn't belong to this era, a graveyard is the place where you should stay..."

"Enough, young man!" The Witch Demon Elder suddenly interjected, cutting off Cheka, his expression somewhat gloomy, "You talk too much."

"Uh..."

The Witch Demon Elder sternly voiced, "Indeed, I also spoke quite a bit before, but... at least not as much as you. Don't you know that in battle, talking too much brings retribution? My current state is an example, yet you don't learn from it."

"Cough, cough." The Witch Demon Elder coughed, looking aside at Pandora, and spoke, "Girl, you should stay away. The battle between me and this man is a bit troublesome, and the outcome is uncertain at the moment; I don't want you to be affected, so the farther you are, the better."

Pandora blinked at his words and retreated to a distant place, into the house where she resided.

"That's not very far," the Witch Demon Elder shook his head, then looked at Cheka again, "Alright, kid, I don't feel like saying much to you now, I just want to prove one thing."

"Hmm? What thing?"

"That is, this old man is somewhat useful," the Witch Demon Elder shouted.

As soon as the words fell, a powerful aura suddenly erupted from the Witch Demon Elder's body.