Second World

1930  Chapter 1930. Recovery Speed

'That doesn't need to be the case,' Jack thought.

Master might have exhibited an ability similar to form manipulation, but he hadn't heard about Master exhibiting a similar ability outside of that one time. He remembered when he was under the effect of Lightning God Incarnation, everything felt slightly different. It was not as profound as when he was under Mana Awakening, but close. Probably this special condition let one exhibit an ability one couldn't have pulled off under a normal situation.

He thought about when he altered the finishing blow of Lightning God Incarnation. He didn't alter its form as Master did. What he did was simply suppress the accumulated energy from being released and focused those constrained energy into his fist to deliver one powerful punch. It was not fully a form manipulation but was still an alteration. Perhaps at that time, he had already touched the realm of form manipulation without realizing it.

Nevertheless, the same concern lingered. This proved Master's advancement in mana manipulation was better than him. Even if Master did it unconsciously, he could already perform Form Manipulation while under the divine form when Jack still couldn't.

"Hey, do you plan to find out how long Satan can maintain this beam?" Peniel asked.

"Not really," Jack answered. "Let's go."

Jack moved forward. He advanced normally through the powerful pushing force of the Soul and Chaos Extinguishing Cannon. The pushing force from the beam couldn't reach him because the distorted space was too vast. The destructive beam might as well be in another country than where Jack was.

*

'Did he die?' Satan thought.

He no longer sensed Jack's presence once Jack was engulfed by the Soul and Chaos Extinguishing Cannon. The plausible explanation was Jack vaporized from the intense power of the beam. If that was true, then he was disappointed at this outworlder. He expected Jack to be more resistant. Not die from this one hit.

Then again, he remembered when he couldn't sense Jack's presence earlier. When Jack smacked his head from behind using the giant golden hammer. The golden weapon, now an axe, was still floating nearby. It was held in stasis by his fire bind.

Seeing that gold axe, he thought, 'If Storm Wind dies, shouldn't that axe disappear?'

Something burst out between his hands, which was still firing the silver and dark purple beam. He turned to see Jack's draconic face grinning at him, right before Jack's claw slammed into his face. He jerked backward. His concentration was disrupted. The Soul and Chaos Extinguishing Cannon ended.

Jack pressed on his assault by activating Soul Asura. His two claws executed Penta Slash, while his four extra arms used Formless Flowing Sword Style. Jack's boosted speed let him land many slashes before Satan could retaliate.

Satan opened his mouth and roared. The roar created an explosive shockwave. Being so close, Jack felt like he was blasted by a cannon. His assault stopped.

When Jack paused, Satan's eyes flared. Two flaming beams shot out from those eyes. Jack was too close to dodge. He was also stunned by the roar just now. The flaming beams smashed into him, and he crashed hard into the ground.

Jack quickly rose again. A layer of golden suit covered his body. That was War God's Suit. Though he couldn't dodge, he could still activate this defensive skill to reduce the damage he received.

"You can erase your presence?" Satan asked. He massaged his face. There were thin marks where Jack's Penta Slash had hit. Jack used form manipulation to make the Penta Slash sharper. Still, they couldn't pierce Satan's skin. They only left slight markings.

"… Maybe," Jack answered.

"Hehe," Satan simply chuckled at Jack's vague answer.

"Hehe," Jack chuckled back. He might be chuckling, but he was wary. Satan's HP was almost back to sixty percent, courtesy of his high HP recovery and the Flame Meditation. With the runic layer protecting the devil, Jack couldn't deal meaningful damage. He was also running out of big skills.

The gentle flames of the Flame meditation were burning again on Satan's body. Like Battle Monk's Meditate, its cooldown was only a short one minute.

"Damn it! You won't let me relax, will you?" Jack cursed and rushed forward.

But as soon as Jack charged forward, Satan also lunged. His flames changed color as he lunged. Half became silver, and the other half dark purple.

'Soul and Chaos Peak Flames…!' Jack exclaimed when he saw the transformation.

Both of them were charging at one another, and the transformation gave Satan a boost of speed. By the time Jack registered the transformation, Satan's fist was already next to him.

"Fuc–!"

Jack didn't complete his curse because he was already swept by Satan's flaming fist. He lost significant HP when the punch touched him. Thanks to his Ring of Dark Abyss, this punch didn't take out more than half his life. The excess damage was reflected at Satan, but the devil didn't seem to care.

Jack was stuck on Satan's fist. The punch was simply too swift. He saw the ground approaching fast from behind. Satan wanted to flatten him into the ground. He didn't have time to cast any spell. Luckily, Teleport Slash was off-cooldown.

Teleport Slash brought him to a target within range. In this case, Satan. Hence, he reappeared next to the devil. He hurriedly used War God's Recovery to heal himself before delivering his slash. But before his slash hit, he was again swept by another fist.

'How did he detect my position?!' Jack thought. He was using mana concealment.

Satan didn't use mana sense to detect Jack's position. He was using his eyes. After activating Soul and Chaos Peak Flames, his perception also improved significantly. He saw and reacted the instant Jack reappeared after Teleport Slash.

Similar to the first punch, Jack couldn't escape getting stuck on Satan's fist. Jack used Gold Dragon Scale just before Satan's fist slammed him into the ground. A silver explosion detonated at the point of impact.

Satan lifted his fist. Jack was buried deep in a crater. His HP was near death, even with all his buffs. Jack used Gold Dragon Vitality. His HP was fully refilled, and his max HP doubled.

Satan's fist came down again. This time, Jack was ready. He was already casting when he hit the ground. He cast Ghost Form and turned into a smoke. Satan punched at him multiple times without success. Jack flew away while in smoke form.

Seeing that he couldn't hit his opponent. Satan stopped trying. He stood still and waited.

Jack noticed something then. Even though the Flame Meditation was still on cooldown, Satan's HP recovery when he was not moving was still higher than his natural recovery rate. This meant Satan had an inherent recovery boost when he stayed still.

Jack sighed and ended his Ghost Form.