Chapter 402 - - 399 A Fair Fight_1

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The power of the Sea God and the Sea God’s Martial Spirit are two entirely different matters.

While the Sea God’s Martial Spirit can only strengthen the physique and increase combat ability, the power of the Sea God can control all water. The moment Duge chose the Rhein River as the battlefield, he had already established an invincible position.

No one could contest the control over the water at the riverbank with him.

Not even the Great Sorcerer.

Duke Linqi’s Frozen World only managed to freeze the Rhein River momentarily.

The frozen river returned to a tumultuous flow with just a thought from Duge.

In the astonished gaze of Duke Linqi, dozens of hands made of water surged up from the Rhein River, catching the meteors falling from the sky.

Then, these hands holding the meteors made a throwing motion, hurling the meteors back toward him.

When had Duke Linqi ever seen such a maneuver?

Not a single magician could control magic so flexibly, much less use the Water Element to lift meteors and hurl them back.

Even the Pope, awakened with a ten-star Martial Spirit, could only dodge the Meteor Rain or rely on his powerful Soul Skills to shatter the meteors; he definitely could not throw the Meteor Rain back.

What kind of monster was he facing?

Was this truly a human?

Duke Linqi twisted the ring on his hand.

He activated the shield sealed within the ring just in time to block the meteors hurtling back at him.

Magicians trump over martial artists with awakened Martial Spirits, but that’s assuming there’s enough distance between them. After all, most magicians do not possess the ability to cast instant magic like he does, nor do they have as many magic items.

Once a martial artist closes in, the loser is the magician.

Duke Linqi dared to engage in close combat with Duge, relying on his exquisite magic equipment and the ability to cast instant spells.

But now, faced with Duge’s shameless fighting style, Duke Linqi was indeed having a hard time coping.

His eardrums must be ruptured; he felt intense pain within his ears, and the water controlled by Duge was desperately trying to penetrate further, as if aiming to drill into his head.

Water churned in his mouth and nose, cutting off his breath, and his feeling of suffocation intensified…

Above him was a threat to his life, and beneath him was an utter humiliation that pushed him to the brink of shame; his nostrils were stuffed, unable to smell, but Duke Linqi could clearly feel that his trousers had been desecrated and soiled.

He was forced to divert a portion of his spiritual power to intercept the water entering his body.

This was a fight that was anything but dignified.

Duke Linqi dared not imagine how the world would judge him if he died here and his corpse was discovered.

The Duke defeated by Holley and left incontinent?

That bastard was humiliating him, a Duke, in the most extreme way possible…

Despite having granted this rascal of nobility one last shred of dignity, not resorting to hanging him but rather using the guillotine.

Unforgivable.

With a strong sensation of suffocation, Duke Linqi took out another scroll from his storage ring—Earthshaker.

This was an ultimate forbidden earth spell, which once cast, could move mountains and divert rivers.

Normally, this spell was used in large army clashes or sieges to inflict massive area damage; its effect was not good when targeting an individual.

But now, Duke Linqi could no longer care about such considerations.

He had to force Duge out of the Rhein River, even if diverting the river caused a flood disaster.

Just as he was about to activate the scroll.

An intricately detailed water figure, identical to himself, suddenly rose from the surface of the Rhein River.

If it were just the water figure, it wouldn’t matter much, but then, several water serpents emerged from the river, voraciously burrowing into the orifices of the water figure…

Humiliation!

Damn Holley!

Duke Linqi’s hand hovered over the forbidden curse.

But at the next instant, his hand froze.

Duke Linqi watched in terror as tens of thousands of water serpents intertwined and surged toward him from the Rhein River.

Above the water, a Water Giant towering a hundred meters tall stood, with Holley perched on its shoulder, flashing him a mocking smile.

…

Holley possessed the same abilities as the Sea God’s Martial Spirit!

Therefore.

The Sea God had descended through Holley’s body!

A terrifying thought flooded into Duke Linqi’s mind, and in an instant, all the things he couldn’t understand seemed to be explained clearly.

Only a true God Spirit, upon awakening a Martial Spirit, would immediately possess such immense power;

Only a true God Spirit could possess magic power far beyond his own and control the Water Element at will, without the need for spells and gestures.

He thought he had perceived the truth.

Duke Linqi released the scroll in his hand, as mortals had no way to defeat a God Spirit.

Unable to speak, he could only endure the intense pain in his abdomen. In mid-air, he slowly knelt down before Duge, using his actions to signify surrender.

…

He surrendered?

He talked such a big talk before coming here, only to give up like this?

Could it be a trick?

Thoughts of notorious villains such as Fire Cloud Demon God and Dong Tianbao rapidly flashed through Duge’s mind.

When they couldn’t defeat the protagonist, the villains who would stop at nothing loved to first surrender and then launch a sneak attack.

Honesty is honesty, but one must not suffer a loss.

Duge did not cancel his Seven-Hole Touch, continuing to meticulously direct a few streams of water while also controlling the Water Giant to extend a large hand slowly toward Duke Linqi in the sky, “Duke Linqi, I accept your surrender.”

The massive hand of the Water Giant cradled Duke Linqi, who was half-kneeling in the air.

Duke Linqi’s face turned beet red, having reached his limit of endurance.

When he heard Duge’s words, his heart relaxed slightly, but the next second, the large hand suddenly turned into a water sphere, enclosing him within.

Then.

The water sphere quickly froze, trapping the panicked Duke Linqi inside and pushing him down toward the Rhein River.

In the end, the only thoughts left in the unconscious Duke Linqi’s mind were two words—despicable!

…

When Duke Linqi reopened his eyes.

All his magical items, including his magic wand, storage ring, defensive bracelet, magic power-amplifying belt, and even his clothes were frozen inside an ice sphere.

He was entirely submerged in water, with only his head floating at the surface, and there was not a single part of his body that didn’t ache.

Fortunately, the feeling of suffocation was gone, but he could feel that several special streams of water, like ropes, were tightly binding his limbs, rendering him unable to move.

This feeling was far from wonderful!

After all.

Duge had shown Duke Linqi what it was like for a water double that looked exactly like him…

“Duke Linqi, have you truly chosen to surrender?” Duge stood on the water’s surface, looking at the awakened Duke Linqi, his tone gentle.

He had thought that Duke Linqi was hiding some kind of trump card!

But there was nothing.

Indeed, he had been overthinking it.

This was his style of fighting! Efficient and decisive, it took only a few moves to defeat a Great Sorcerer. After the improvement of his spiritual power, the Seven-Hole Touch became even more effective in this world…

“Despicable,” Duke Linqi glared at Duge, angrily cursing.

He regretted not having activated the scroll just now, as Holley could never be the Sea God incarnate—no god would be as shameless as him.

“Duke Linqi, I am a noble person. I made such great sacrifices to save others, yet you insult me with such words, which saddens me,” Duge slightly furrowed his brow.

“…” Duke Linqi nearly couldn’t catch his breath, gasping heavily, “Even the dogs of the Duke’s manor are more noble than you, Holley. You have insulted the dignity of nobility…”

“Duke, you cannot speak like that,” Duge shook his head, “You are letting anger cloud your judgment and might not appreciate the significance of this battle. By choosing the Rhein River as the battleground, first, I avoided harming the city’s populace, and second, I helped maintain the image of a noble for the Duke…”

“You… helped me maintain my image?” Duke Linqi’s eyes widened in astonishment at Duge’s audacity.

“What else?” Duge said, “Duke, if our battle just now had taken place at the Duke’s manor, all the people would have witnessed the Duke being defeated by a scoundrel, and the defeat would have been extremely brutal.

“In that case, the Duke might survive by a fluke, but I fear he would not have the face to meet anyone again. Even Saima Linqi would feel humiliated! But on the Rhein River, with just the two of us, no one knows the course of the battle, so the Duke’s dignity is preserved!”

“So, I should thank you, too?” Duke Linqi, looking at his own clothes frozen in the ice sphere and growing ever angrier, saw his underwear, proof that Holley had stripped him naked.

“This is the refinement of a top-tier noble,” Duge leisurely straightened his clothes.

A righteous person using the Seven-Hole Touch did indeed tarnish one’s image, but everything has multiple perspectives. Bringing an enemy to a secluded place to defeat them with the Seven-Hole Touch could also be preserving the enemy’s dignity!

Duke Linqi broke down once again, hysterically screaming, “A noble person would absolutely not create such a vile and low-level spell.”

Duge fell silent.

For a moment.

He looked at Duke Linqi and shook his head, his eyes filled with sorrow, “Duke Linqi, I always thought you were a wise man, but I hadn’t realized your thoughts were also so narrow-minded. A knife in the hands of an evildoer kills, in the hands of a good person, it saves lives. Whether it kills or saves, does it have anything to do with the knife?

“Similarly, whether a person is righteous or not should be judged by his words and actions, not by the spells he uses.

“If the Pope misuses Holy Magic to slay innocents, and a Witch Monster uses Necromancy to fight against the Pope and rescue those he slaughters, who do you think is more righteous? The Pope or the Witch Monster?”

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