The Ice Adept only looked in shock at Shang.
'But how?! Why?! Warriors have nearly no Mana, and they also need their Mana to unleash their own techniques! Spells use a large amount of Mana, and warriors don't have that much! By using Mana Step, he has essentially cleared his entire body of Mana! There's a reason why warriors don't use Mana Step! It's stupid!'
She was right. If a warrior used Mana Step, they would be emptied of Mana, and they would most likely collapse with a severe headache due to the overdraft, just like the Wind Adept.
And sure enough, Shang's head felt like it was about to split apart.
Luckily, Shang's incredible resistance to pain allowed him to stay clear-headed and focused.
Shang quickly grabbed two of the pieces of the Wind Adept's corpse and threw them into his Space Ring.
But that was just a ruse.
Shang had acted like he wanted to keep the corpse as evidence, but what he had actually done was absorb a huge part of the remaining life energy from the corpse without creating any suspicion.
Shang's body recovered mostly, but the Wind Adept simply hadn't had much life energy, to begin with. His body was pathetically weak.
'I have to run!' the Ice Adept thought in horror as she readied several Spells. Originally, she wanted to absorb the ice around her since that wouldn't cost any Mana, but she didn't have the luxury anymore.
BANG!
At that moment, Shang jumped into the air, and his feet exploded with ice, giving him a lot of height.
BANG!
Then, up in the sky, Shang's entire body exploded with ice, and he shot into the distance like an icy meteor.
In the air, Shang's left arm was on his sword, and his sword turned redder by the second.
At the same time, a shower of blood shot out of the icy meteor in the sky, creating a red rain.
A bit later, the sword began to burn.
Shang's body was leaving behind icy mist due to its insanely low temperature.
At this moment, the commander was evading another claw from the Ice Demon by jumping back.
He had heard several explosions in the distance, but he couldn't afford to look away. One moment of carelessness and the Ice Demon would kill him.
But he also wasn't very afraid of a sudden surprise attack. Not only was Shang fighting two Peak Adepts, but the commander would also hear him if he suddenly approached.
The commander landed as he readied a counterattack.
DING!
The commander's eyes opened widely, and then…
His eyes rolled into the back of his head.
A bloodied, icy meteor had arrived behind the commander's head, and the flat side of a huge burning sword had just hit the back of his head, cracking his skull.
The commander could hear if someone approached on foot, but the only sign of Shang's approach had been some distant explosions, of which there had been many in the last couple of seconds.
Shang's flying body pushed over the commander, and he landed in front of him, his sword above him.
The Ice Demon showed its terrifying teeth and jumped towards Shang.
And Shang slashed down with his sword.
BOOOOOOM!
A terrifying wave of fire left Shang's sword and hit the Ice Demon on the head, releasing a terrifying explosion.
The Ice Demon screeched in pain as it fell over, its remaining foreleg furiously rubbing its head.
Its face had melted, burying its eyes, nostrils, and mouth.
BANG!
The Ice Demon couldn't possibly defend itself in this state, and Shang quickly killed it by burying his sword in its head. Even with his power, Shang wasn't powerful enough to completely cut through the head.
Shang had known that an Initial Commander Stage beast was very powerful, which was why he had injured himself to the most extreme degree to push the Fire Mana inside his sword to the top.
Shang had put his absolute everything into this attack, but the Ice Demon had still survived, and one had to remember that it was a beast with an Ice Affinity. Fire attacks were very damaging to it.
If it hadn't been so exhausted and careless after fighting so long, this battle wouldn't have ended like this.
Shang quickly grabbed the corpse, absorbed a huge chunk of life energy, and threw it into his Space Ring.
Shang's body recovered in an instant.
BANG!
Shang's body exploded with ice again, and he shot at the Ice Adept, who was still trying to get rid of the ice around her.
As more time passed, the Ice Adept felt more and more terror.
This guy had dealt with two Commander Stage beings in less than five seconds!
She had believed that she had more time, but that wasn't the case.
BOOOM!
The ice exploded around her and flew into the distance.
Then, she quickly readied everything she needed to run away.
But she stopped.
Shang had appeared just a couple of meters in front of her, and he was looking deep into her eyes.
Her mind froze, and she felt like she couldn't move.
For a second, none of the two moved.
The Ice Adept waited for her death, but Shang didn't move.
"You don't need to die," Shang said.
The Ice Adept's mind froze.
What?!
"The punishment for being a Cleaner isn't death. You only have to give up all your valuables and serve in Duke Whirlwind's army for a decade," Shang said.
"You are only doing your job, and I'm more interested in the commissioner of the mission than you," Shang said.
The Ice Adept only looked with shock at Shang.
"Or you can try to flee and die," Shang said coldly. "Your choice."
The Ice Adept's mind went wild.
Three seconds passed.
"I surrender," the Ice Adept said with a sigh.
Shang extended his hand like he wanted something.
The Ice Adept gritted her teeth, and her Focus landed on Shang's hand.
Her connection to her Focus was cut, and the Focus was put into Shang's Space Ring.
"Follow me," Shang said as he walked to the unconscious commander.
The Ice Adept's body shook, but she followed behind Shang until they arrived.
Shang put his right foot on the commander's back. He did this to keep his life energy low so that he wouldn't wake up. If the commander's life energy decided to go to his head, Shang would redirect it into his body to keep him unconscious.
Then, Shang took out a Communication Crystal.
"Oh, hey, Shang. Do you need something?" the voice of Duke Whirlwind came from the Communication Crystal.
"Two dead Cleaners, one living cleaner that is willing to receive punishment, and an unconscious Initial Commander Stage traitor that most likely works for Duke Mithril," Shang said. "I need an Inquisitor."
Duke Whirlwind remained silent for a while.
That was… a lot.
Duke Whirlwind knew that Shang was very powerful, but that was a bit much, wasn't it?
'I'm glad I decided to invest so much into him!' Duke Whirlwind thought with a grin.
"I will send one right away. It should take about five minutes for them to arrive. Good job, Shang!" Duke Whirlwind said with a happy and praising voice.
"Thanks," Shang said before putting the Communication Crystal away.
And then, the Ice Adept and Shang waited in silence.
