John slowly stood up.


    Although still pale, he now appeared much better than before, no longer resembling someone unconscious.


    "How is that possible?!"


    stair was shocked, staring in disbelief at everything before him.


    How could this be real?


    That was poison given by the master himself!


    Even a semigod-tier powerhouse was doomed to die from it.


    How could this man bepletely unharmed?!


    He was merely at the gold-tier.


    How could he possibly withstand such potent poison?


    stair''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Could it be..."


    Could it be because of the power of control?


    A realization struck stair almost visibly, his eyes nearly sparking with fury.


    Yes, it must be the power of control!


    He himself was only at the emerald-tier level but had been elevated to semigod-tier solely through the power of control.


    So, for a gold-tier like him to detoxify with the power of control wouldn''t be so difficult.


    "Sophia Winchester!"


    stair gritted his teeth as he uttered each syble of the name.


    Cursed be Sophia Winchester for giving the power of control to John!


    Otherwise, he would have wiped them all out in an instant.


    How could he have allowed them any chance of turning the tables?


    But then...


    A sudden thought made stair''s lips curl into a slight, sinister smile.


    "So what if you''ve detoxified? You''re all still going to die here! I want to see how long your protective shield canst!"


    stair''s skills crashed down one after another.


    Although he felt the power of a semigod-tier powerhouse rapidly draining from his body, he couldn''t afford to care about that now.


    Even if he dropped to apocalyptic-tier, he was determined to kill them all.


    They had survived far too long; they shouldn''t continue to live.


    John keenly noticed that something was off with stair.


    While stair was still furiously casting skills, with each skill unleashed, more dark spots appeared on his body.


    It seemed like something was corroding his body from the inside out.


    That was... the bacsh of the power of control!


    "Are you done on your side? We''ll be ready here in 15 minutes!"


    Just as John was pondering this, he suddenly received a message from Isabe.


    15 minutes?


    John felt slightly reassured.


    No matter what, as long as the magic array was sessful, even a god would have to face death here.


    "Get ready on your side; I''ll bring people over," John said, then stood atop the high tform.


    He looked at stair, his eyes reflecting disdain as if he were looking at a defeated foe.


    "I thought you were formidable, but it seems you''re just mediocre. You were once a semigod-tier powerhouse, but you can''t even break through a protective shield. You really are nothing more than a straw man."


    Upon hearing John''s provocative words, those around him were shocked and appalled.


    Had John lost his mind?


    To speak such taunting words now!


    They were already facing a nearly mad semigod-tier adversary, and to provoke him further?


    Wasn''t this simply courting death?


    "You!"


    stair clenched his teeth furiously, ring at John.


    Finally, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then, anger turning toughter, said, "Very well, if you''re so eager to die, I''ll grant your wish. I''ll send you to meet the prime god first!"


    Boom, boom, boom!


    One skill after another mmed heavily against the protective shield, stirring up wave after wave of ripples.


    The pale blue shield rippled like the sea, creating a beautiful spectacle that would have been admired under any other circumstances.


    But at this moment, no one had the heart to appreciate its beauty.


    Without exception, they all stared intently at the unfolding scene, their teeth gritted.


    Today, they faced a battle of life and death.


    They could not afford to step back.


    "You want to kill me? Then try it," John said, controlling himself to float mid-air, meeting stair''s gaze levelly.


    "I want to see whether you kill me, or I kill you!"


    Such an arrogant remark wiped the smile off stair''s face, his eyes now ring at John with venomous intensity, like a snake lurking in the shadows.


    It seemed as if he was ready to pounce and deliver a deadly bite at any moment of rxation.


    This feeling made everyone around so tense that their hearts jumped to their throats.


    "You''re courting death!"


    stair furiouslyunched one skill after another.


    John could clearly feel stair''s power rapidly diminishing within him.


    It quickly degraded from semigod-tier to apocalyptic-tier! While his rank had not yet fallen, the damage from his skills had decreased to this level.


    If this continued, it was only a matter of time before it dropped further.


    Just enough for John to lure him into a one-on-one duel.


    Boom, boom, boom! Skill after skill exploded like fireworks in front of everyone, leaving all spectators terrified.


    stair, frustrated and enraged, looked up at John, who appeared unconcerned and did not seem to take stair seriously at all.


    After another ten minutes passed, and seeing that the time was almost right, John spoke again.


    "You don''t seem all that formidable."


    With a light, indifferent tone, John''s simple statement was enough to breach defenses.


    "Why don''t we just test each other in a duel?"


    As John spoke, he maneuvered his body, flying out of the protective shield''s range.


    Watching John''s reckless action, the bystanders couldn''t help but gasp in shock.


    Has he gone mad?


    Is he really going out to duel a semigod-tier powerhouse?


    My God, has hepletely lost his mind?!


    That''s a semigod-tier powerhouse!


    Even with buff enhancements, even with that ursed power of control, level suppression is no joke.


    stair can afford countless failures, but John only needs to slip up once, and it would mean a sure path to death.


    "Has this kid gone insane? How can he dare to go out?"


    "Waiting inside is the best strategy right now!"


    "Good heavens, is this kid looking for death?"


    The spectators outside were shouting as if they had lost their minds.


    If John wants to court death, let him!


    He''s just a stranger, after all.


    But he shouldn''t drag their children into this.


    Their children are still inside!


    The situation is still unclear, but only John has the power of control, only John can lead them out.


    Surely, they won''t let so many children go down with John!


    "Sophia, look at who you''ve brought in! How can he be socking in strategic thinking?"


    One of the nobles firstshed out at Principal Sophia.


    The others quickly reacted, beginning to voice their criticisms.


    "He just needed to wait inside, why on earth would he go out? Isn''t that clearly courting death?"


    "I admit he''s a genius, but to fight a semigod-tier powerhouse, he simply doesn''t have the capability!"


    "Has he truly gone mad? If he has, he shouldn''t drag our children to their deaths with him!"


    Geoffrey too seemed hesitant to speak, but ultimately he calmed the nobles.


    "We need to trust the Principal!"


    Principal Sophia nced coolly at everyone and then spoke dismissively, "What other choice do you have but to trust him now?"


    Her terse remark silenced the crowd.


    Indeed... apart from trusting John, what other option did they have?


    Tension gripped everyone atop the city walls.


    Archibald, worried, watched John.


    He had received a message from John earlier and understood why John had chosen to act this way.


    But... it was incredibly risky.


    John had already drawn all of stair''s enmity, and now stepping out of the protective shield was perilous.


    One wrong move could cost him his life.