《Abyssal Lord of the Magi World》


 Chapter 1058: Epilogue

    Billions and billions of years ago, there was a being of incredible power. This being of light had the might to rewrite reality at will and could twist the very flow of time. However, even he was not invincible since, just like he was born to reach the apex of existence, another entity was born to defy him.


    This being of incredible power and light faced the monster in a battle that was engraved in the very essence of existence and imprinted in the flow of time for all ages. To defeat his opponent, the being of light triggered a spell that consumed every fragment of his existence.


    While using that spell would mean his death, the being of light was more than happy to do it if it meant protecting the people he loved, realizing that the true goal of power was not to rise above others but to protect those you hold dear.


    However, as every atom of his existence burned, the being of light''s willpower reached a new stage right before his death. After the st of mes that covered everything in existence faded, a tiny particle of the being of light''s willpower remained.


    It floated across the endless space between universes for countless years but was recovered by his trusted friends and family. While the particle was too little to directly resurrect the being of light, his family and friends found a way to bring him back.


    They used the power of their home universe to generate a reincarnation cycle that covered all existences and sent the being of light''s will particle into it. That was the only way the being of light coulde back.


    It took several billion years for the being of light to return to life, appearing in a distant universe, but he did note back as a sentient life form. The first time he returned was as a small bacterium.


    The mere notion that an entity capable of twisting reality could exist as a unicellr entity was ridiculous, but it happened. It was a short life, but it allowed the soul of the being of light to heal enough so he could reincarnate as a small tree.


    After another nine reincarnations, he finally managed to be a flesh and blood life form with the body of a butterfly. More and more reincarnations went by as the being of light advanced in the food chain, finally bing a young man.


    The young man was unaware of his past life. He experienced all as mere dreams until his birth universe finally managed to reconnect with his original home, allowing him to recover his memories and for his family and friends to find him.


    "Master?"


    Zatiel opened his eyes as he heard Ezequiel''s voice. There were three powerful eyes on his forehead, majestic wings on his back, and a yin-yang heart on his chest that beat with the power to alter the very fabric of reality.


    "Oh, Ezequiel, is there something you need?"


    Ezequiel stared at Zatiel with some concern in his eyes. Less than one thousand years had been since they found him in the Invictus Daybreak Universe, yet he had already ordered them to march.


    "Master, isn''t it too fast?"


    Zatiel softly shook his head as he looked into the distance.


    "The Reality Override Realm is not just a cultivation realm, but a state of existence. My aura had flooded the Verse before my demise, and I just took it back. You will understand once you evolve."


    Ezequiel did not say another word and nodded as a powerful silver me appeared in his eyes. Evolving to the Reality Override Realm was a goal he wanted to achieve but was limited by the nature of reality as the Daybreak Verse could not contain another true Empyrean Paragon of Reality.


    "I assume everything is ready."


    "Yes, Master. As youmanded, we spread particles of your willpower across the Emptiness, reaching the confines where nothing but spreads of chaotic aura can be found."


    Zatiel smiled as he nodded. He had already scouted the entire Verse and knew there were no existential threats for the Daybreak Universe anymore.


    From now on, the other universes will continue being assimted into the Daybreak Universe until this one epasses the full range of the Daybreak Verse. It would take thousands of Epochs if not hundreds of thousands, and there was no way Zatiel could wait so long.


    That was why he asked Ezequiel and the other powerhouses of the Daybreak Universe to scatter his willpower across the Verse so he could monitor it even if he were far away, returning in case of any danger.


    "Then there is no reason to dy things. A new adventure is waiting for us."


    Zatiel smiled, and a sense of excitement and thrill he had not felt for a long time overflowed his heart.


    "Come to me."


    Zatiel''s voice spread across the Daybreak Universe, but only a few people could hear it, and they all smiled as they flew into the sky of the Daybreak Sector.


    A man was drinking a cup of tea in front of a massive gate. He had stood like that for countless eons and had been forced to break that stance very few times. All previous times had been an ordeal for the man, but this time was different.


    As the Guardian felt the life formsing in his direction, a smile appeared on his face, and he waved his hand, making the massive gates that even a Reality Override Empyrean Paragon needed his full strength to open split apart on their own.


    "Hahaha, thanks for that. You save me the trouble."


    The Guardian focused on the man leading thousands, and he sped his hands before performing a deep bow.


    "It was my duty. I am happy to see you again, Samsara Eternal."


    There was a tower whose majesty and power knew no boundaries, and that acted as the home for entities whose eyes could pierce into the true nature of reality itself. On the top of this tower stood a divine structure, a world with the form of a red sun.


    That red sun''s world was considered the most sacred entity in all the multiverse as the mightiest life forms, the Eternals, thought it to be The Creator''s Eye. Being in its presence was a transcendental experience, and today, something extraordinary happened.


    Two figures were fighting under the majestic light of the red sun''s world. One was bathed in glorious dark purple mes that seemed to dictate the life and death of Verses, while the other was a figure with a red mask covered in red energy that seemed to force all things into a state of absolute order.


    "Samsara sh!"


    The figure bathed in dark purple mes shouted as he waved down his sword.


    "King Thrust!"


    As for the one covered in red energy, he pushed his spear forward.


    Despite unleashing powers that could reshape all reality, there was a smile on the duo''s face as they battled with all they had under the gaze of the strongest life forms of the Red Sun World''s Multiverse!

 Chapter 0: Prologue

    In a great forest full of grey and huge trees, below one of the biggest trees, you can see a bloody thing.


    If you look closer, you can understand that it is a man with a thin build and low height. His name is Zatiel, a young apprentice from the Zanabi tower, an orphan that due to his magical aptitude was taken into the tower by other apprentices when they were in search of talented people.


    In the beginning, Zatiel was full of illusions of being able to throw powerful spells and fight with monsters, but the more he knew about the nature of Magi, the more he realized the horrors that surrounded him.


    Magi are pragmatic beings. To them, one''s morality and goodness were nothing more than words without meaning, and apprentice magi were a group that would do anything to be more powerful, things like friendship were nothing more than a joke to them.


    Because of his naivety, he was now about to die with nothing to show for.


    "So this is the end, how pathetic."


    Despite his body getting weaker and weaker his eyes show an exceptional coldness, something that should not be present in someone so young and inexperienced.


    But even more strange was the chaotic madness that hides behind those eyes and that makes his heartbeat stronger even when he was about to die. Zatiel''s eyes were closing for thest time when he heard a sound.


    [Bip... The minimum threshold of spirit has been reached. Initiating memories upload.]


    Zatiel did not have time to wonder about what the weird yet familiar voice was when an immense pain began in his head. The pain was so intense that Zatiel could swear someone had opened his skull and was inserting a hot piece of metal in his brain.


    "Aaaahh!"


    A dry scream came out from his mouth, but he was in so much pain and with injuries so grave, that he can''t even scream properly. After a couple of minutes that feels like years to the young man, the pain finally stopped.


    [Bip... Loading of memories from the first level done. The loading of the next level of memories will begin when the next threshold is reached.]


    Zatiel stops moving and his body remains still like a corpse, but after a couple of minutes, he finally opens his eyes.


    Coldness infinitely stronger than before appears in his eyes.


    " I Zatiel, Abyssal lord, Ruler of death and destruction, Nightmare of Dys, have finally AWAKENED!!!"


    "A.I. Chip, scan me!"

 Chapter 1: Third life

    In his first life, Zatiel was nothing more than a normal person, with a normal job and a normal life.


    His world was one without magic or supernatural beings, but with highly advanced technology that has altered the way of life of every person.


    The A.I. Chip is the crystallization of the technological advancement of that civilization, not only capable of analyzing and storing any type of data, it could be used in experimentations with the use of simtions and theirputations abilities that can make experiments and show the information that is generated.


    Every child at birth gets the imntation of the A.I. Chip that will apany them for their entire life.


    Zatiel lived a mundane life, without great inspirations. His life came to an end due to old age. If you have to define his life in one word, it will be "simple".


    In hisst moments, Zatiel only thought that he would cease to exist. As an atheist, he never believed in things like the soul and the afterlife. So when he closed his eyes, it was supposed to be the end.


    But he opened his eyes again and found out that he was alive. As he looked at his surroundings, he found himself in a decrepit ce with burning winds, and in the sky, there was a fiery red sun. The superficies were full of dark pits.


    If you look from the sky you could appreciate an immense river that goes through thend with hundreds of screaming silhouettes.


    It was the Abyss, the birthce of demons, a chaotic ne of pure evil that had an immense number ofyers.


    Scared and shocked, Zatiel tries to move but he feels heavy and weird.


    Full of fear he starts looking at his body. His hands were more than 3 sizes bigger than the ones of a normal person, with nail-like ws, a white skin full of scars and deformities. His body was hairless and his mouth has be a hole with hundreds of teeth. He was a "Mane".


    A Mane is the lowest level of a demon of the abyss. Usually, they are human souls who transform after arriving at the abyss and being twisted by the aura and natural energies of the ne. Manes are nothing more than cannon fodder to the rest of the demons and sometimes even just a source of food.


    Zatiel was terrified and confused due to the events that were happening, but as the minutes passed his thoughts where being assaulted by an extremely violent and savage will.


    It is the nature of every demon to be wild killing machines that act on their pure instincts, due to the abyss aura and natural energy that is in their essence, chaotic. This makes the mortality of all demons, especially the weaker ones incredibly high. After all, even if your enemy is weaker than you, if they make you walk into their trap where everything is nned by them, you will probably die.


    But there are benefits due to the chaotic nature of the abyss aura. This makes every demon incredibly powerful, not just in their physical bodies but also gives them very high spirit defense, making demons just as powerful as dragons in the same ranks.


    Of course, there are special demons that are more intelligent and have better control of their impulses than others, and the stronger the demon, the less the chaotic will of the abyss aura affects them.


    Zatiel was in no way special and after a couple of minutes, his thoughts were already being corroded by the abyss aura. Lucky for him, his soul was apanied by the A.I. Chip in his journey. Not only did the chip help him control the corrosion of his mind but it also gave him ways of surviving through danger and advancing through the ranks.


    After millennia of constant massacre and destruction, Zatiel not only bes extremely powerful, he rises to the level of an Abyss Lord, a Being of Laws with a life so long as the universe itself, but even such beings can die.


    In his third life, Zatiel was an orphan that got sent to the magic tower after an apprentice saw that he has the talent to be a Magus. Of course, this was not done by the kind nature of the person, it was done as part of the jobs that apprentices do in bringing new talent to the Magic Tower.


    His life in the tower was one of constant worry, after all, one moment he was just a normal boy not older than fifteen and the next he was thrown into a Magic tower that looks like a dungeon, full of people with sinister intentions.


    Zatiel spent his first year in the tower slowly increasing his spirit and reading all the books he could find or doing some menial task to earn some money.


    One day a group of three ranks 2 apprentice magus, offer him the chance to join them in a task of the Magic Tower. The job consists of getting a magic herb known as shadow sorrow which can increase the spirit of an apprentice with affinity with the darkness natural energy.


    Of course, Zatiel was skeptical of them, after all, he was a rank 1 apprentice with almost no battle power, but ording to them, his job was just being the lookout while they took the herb.


    After some pressure and the promise of giving him some of the herbs, Zatiel finally epted. On the way to the zone where the shadow sorrow was, the three apprentices were very warm and friendly to Zatiel making him rx and lower his guard, but at the moment they arrived near the herb, he was attacked by them and thrown in the direction where the herb was, as they began to hide.


    Zatiel didn''t have time to wonder what was happening when he heard a roar. As he looked to the ce where the noise was made, he saw a Shadow Wolf, a magical creature that was as powerful as a rank 3 apprentice, and like all magical creatures, it was very territorial so the moment it saw Zatiel, it attacked him immediately.


    Zatiel finally understood. They did not want him to be any kind of lookout but they wanted to use him as bait to distract the Shadow Wolf as they take the magical herb.


    Zatiel immediately runs as fast as he can, trying to dodge the attack of the shadow wolf, but how much can a rank 1 apprentice really do against a magical creature?


    In less than 3 minutes Zatiel was at death''s door. If it was not for the creature detecting something wrong and going back to his magical herb, he would have died.


    ....


    Zatiely beside the tree with his eyes closed without moving and was going through the information of his previous life.


    After some minutes he opens his eyes.


    "I Zatiel, Abyssal lord, Ruler of death and destruction, Nightmare of Dys, have AWOKEN!!!!!"


    "A.I. Chip scan me."

 Chapter 2: Death touch

    "A.I. Chip scan me."


    [Bip... Analyzing the host...


    Strength: 1.2


    Physique: 1.4


    Speed: 1.2


    Spirit Force: 4


    Serious injuries all over the body, vital organs are failing. The host must find a way to heal soon.]


    Although he was in danger of death, Zatiel remains calm and he was thinking about the possible ways out of this situation.


    "Spirit force? That is new, but it is to be expected. After all, humans and demons are different lifeforms and thews and natural energies of the Abyss and this world are not the same."


    Luckily, before awakening his previous memories, he was a typical bookworm who learned everything he could in the Magic Tower.


    Spirit Force is an inferior form of energy thates from the soul of every being. To increase it, there are several ways. The mostmon being the use of meditation techniques that take the natural energies of the world in the body and increases the amount of spirit.


    "My spirit force has reached the level of a Rank 2 apprentice magus, giving me the ability to use Rank 0 magic."


    Magi are supernatural beings with amazing abilities. They can fly and throw meteorites or blizzards with their hand, they can even resurrect the dead and alter fate. They are powerful life forms that can change the world at theirmand.


    Apprentice magus is the transitional stage that a human has to go through if they want to be a Rank 1 Magus.


    Generally, all humans can be an apprentice magus, but the speed at which the spirit force grows depends on the potential of the person. A rank 1 apprentice is just someone with a stronger spirit force than a regr person and he or she can manipte and store the energies of the world into their bodies.


    When someone reaches a spirit force of 4, one has be a rank 2 apprentice magus and can start learning rank 0 spells. Although they are stronger than normal people and can use mysterious spells, if arge enough group of mortal soldiers attack them, without care for their lives, they can be killed.


    A rank 3 apprentice magus is much stronger, having an immense spirit force. Being the final stage before a Rank 1 Magus, they have a deeper understanding of spells and their use inbat. They can instantly cast a spell if certain conditions are met, although they are not undefeatable against mortals, being able to escape with their life is very easy.


    "A.I. chip, give a list of the ways to heal myself that I can use with my current abilities".


    A list of options appeared. Unfortunately, almost every option was of no use at this moment. In the first level of memories, there is mostly general information about his previous life and the rituals that will be needed for his n.


    There were some spells, but all of them use abyss force, a power belonging to demons and he could not use them for the time being. After a moment he finally found something that was of use in this situation.


    [Death touch: rank 0 spell that uses negative energy to absorb life force. It needs to be in contact with the target to be used and the caster cannot move during casting which makes it not suitable for battle. Spirit Force consumption: 1]


    This was the only spell Zatiel was able to buy after an entire year in the magic tower.


    To learn a spell you need to know the spell rune corresponding to it. You have to inscribe the rune spell in your consciousness using your spirit and once it ispleted, you need to use your spirit force to activate it and use it.


    In the process of inscribing the rune in your consciousness, if there is a mistake, there will be a bacsh that will harm your spirit and you will have to wait a week before you try again.


    Luckily for Zatiel, the A.I. Chip can act as an intermediary and help him in guiding his spirit force to inscribe the rune. Even though Death Touch was one of the most basic spells there is, it still took him almost 1 hour to learn it even with the help of the A.I. Chip.


    Zatiel closes his eyes and concentrates to begin inscribing the rune.


    "Sess!"


    Zatiel couldn''t help but make a smile, after all, if he had failed just now, that would probably mean his death.


    Concentrating his magic force toward the rune he started channeling the negative force that makes a dark glow appear on his hand.


    "Death touch"


    The first target of the spell was the huge tree next to Zatiel, the moment his hand touched the bark, it started to rot and his injuries began healing.


    Now that his wound was no longer an urgent concern, Zatiel starts to wonder about the chip and his memories.


    "Why did the A.I. Chip activate at this moment, and the upload of memories only urred now?"


    Zatiel knows that the world is not a fairy tale where something always happens that saves the protagonist when he is in hisst breath. Luckily he now has the A.I. Chip which can give him an answer.


    [Host''s near-death state caused a burst of potential in the body that increased spirit by 0.2, reaching the spirit force requirement of a rank 2 apprentice magus and achieving the spirit threshold for the safe activation of the A.I. Chip.]


    " The A.I. Chip is connected to my True Soul. Its initial activation will generate a burst of memories in my consciousness that will severely damage my spirit if it is too low, and the division of my memories into levels was for safety reasons. After all, just the first level hurt so much that it almost destroyed my consciousness".


    Zatiel looks at his surroundings as he remembers the information that he researched before the mission. He was in the Grey Swamp, a danger zone close to a human kingdom under the jurisdiction of the Zanabi Magic tower. In this ce, it is verymon to find special herbs and magical creatures. This ce was also the hideout of several bandit groups.


    "The bandit''s groups should be my first target. They are the perfect materials for the ritual."


    Zatiel''s eyes were cold as he pictured the future of his target.

 Chapter 3: Bandit camp

    "The bandits'' groups should be my first target, they are the perfect materials for the ritual," Zatiel''s eyes were cold as he pictures the future of his target.


    "My body is too weak. If I want toplete my goal safely and fast, I need to improve it"


    The normal stat value of a grown man was of 1, so Zatiel''s body was barely stronger than an average person. Of course, he was only sixteen and was in no way athletic, but thankfully, the improvement in the Spirit Force produces a small but still useful overall improvement in the body.


    " A.I. Chip, show me the best ways I can enhance my body fast". Zatielmanded.


    Several options were shown, Zatiel reviews them and finally decides to use a Breathing technique.


    Breathing techniques are ways used by the soldiers of the mortal kingdoms to enhance their physical abilities and those that excel on them are given the title of a Warrior. Although it will never give the ability to defeat a true Magus, If a Warrior takes an apprentice by surprise, he can strike a fatal blow before the apprentice can even react.


    When Zatiel entered the tower, he was given a meditation technique and a breathing technique. Although the spirit force is much more important to most apprentices than their physical attributes, having a strong body not only reduces fatigue but also diminishes the time the body needs to sleep, giving more time for other tasks.


    Although using the breathing technique was tempting in the beginning, Zatiel''s improvement in his spirit force was very low, so he focused all his time on his meditation technique.


    Breathing techniques generally use a set of movements and a way of breathing to enhance the vital energy in the body. Although some give the user the ability to use some kind of spells like fire and lightning, they are nothing more than parlor tricks before a true spell used by an apprentice. So the breathing technique that is used in the tower just improves the abilities of the body and shows a set of moves useful inbat.


    As Zatiel was going through the information, something urred to him, ''if the goal of the technique was improving the vital energy of the user, why not use it inbination with Death Touch?''


    "A.I. Chip, is there a way tobine Death touch and the breathing technique?"


    [Bip... Calcting data, using a virtual module to experiment.


    Estimated time to result in 2 hours.]


    "That''s slow! Theputation abilities of the A.I. Chip is connected to my soul, the stronger I am, the faster it is. Expecting it to be as fast as my previous life is not realistic. Well, I suppose there is no other thing to do but wait, it is not like I can move in my current condition."


    Although his condition has improved tremendously using Death touch, it still will take a long time for him to be fully healed.


    After two hours the A.I. Chip finally gave the result.


    [Improved breathing technique: Use the life force of other individuals to enhance that of the user. Only useful in the initial stages of body strengthening.]


    "Good, transfer the way of using it directly to my brain and start immediately"


    The information was very little so Zatiel just felt an electric current in his brain and he learned immediately how to use the technique. Without wasting time, he starts to use the technique right away, using part of the life force of the tree to heal his injuries and a part of it to improve his body.


    ...


    Two dayster a massive crash was heard in the forest as a huge tree fell. The tree that once was full of life now was rotten inside and was so soft that it could be ripped to pieces easily with bare hands.


    Zatiel was beside the tree, but he was very different whenpared to the bloody person that was there a few days ago. Not only have his injuriespletely healed, but his body was now 10 cm taller, reaching 1.8m in height, and under his robe, you could appreciate his well-developed body.


    "A.I. Chip, show my statistics"


    [Bip...


    Strength: 2.1


    Physique: 2.7


    Speed: 1.9


    Spirit Force: 4]


    "Good, although the growth was very big, it will be reduced considerably as my body bes stronger, but it does not matter since after the ritual ispleted, I will have a more efficient way of improving it"


    Although it does not seem much, having 2 points in Physique is not so simple as being twice as powerful as a person with 1 point, as the improvement is exponential. For example, with his current physique if Zatiel finds himself with the same wound that threatened his life just 2 days ago, now he will just need to rest for a half a day to heal itpletely.


    "I am currently in the periphery of the Grey swamp, most of the bandit groups take refuge in this ce and don''t dare to enter further inside due to the fear of stronger magical creatures".


    "A.I. Chip scan my surroundings and let me know the moment you find any clue of humans"


    After giving the order, Zatiel begins to tour the swamp. Now with his 1.9 Speed, he was running almost 3 times as fast an Olympic medalist, hence it didn''t take long for him to find his first clue, a set of footprints, although whoever left them behind tried to erase it, with the help of the chip, finding the ce where he was headed was easy.


    After running a little more than 5 kilometers he found what looks like a camp, with a hundred tents give or take. There were lookouts in the trees and traps surrounding the entire ce.


    Of course to Zatiel this was no more than a child''s game.


    "This should be a rtive big bandit camp, I can''t enter directly or else they could surround me, and I will be in trouble if that happens, besides it looks like there is someone strong in this ce"


    Zatiel looks to the center of the camp where a huge tent was located. Whoever was there, he certainly had a high concentration of energy on his body, if it is vital or natural energy, he didn''t know at this moment.


    "I need to prepare some things before starting," Zatiel thought as he left the bandit camp

 Chapter 4: Poison

    Lucas was observing the surroundings with a bored face. As a lookout, his responsibility was to make sure that nobody approaches the camp without being noticed. Although he didn''t look very strong, thanks to his previous training in the army, he was skilled at his job.


    "Hey Jack, how long until our shift ends, this is so boring."


    "Lucas, you better focus on the job. If something happens and the Captain finds that it was your fault, you will end up like that kid from the mercenary group that we killed," Says a middle-aged man with a muscle figure and a scarred face, sitting about 10 meters away on top of a tree.


    Lucas'' face immediately shows fear when the fate of the boy was mentioned and starts to look at his surroundings with attention.


    "Come on, I am just kidding. Besides, it doesn''t matter if someonees, with the Capitan here, even if the magical creaturese, they can only die."


    Jack and Lucas are ex-soldier. Due to their habits of taking every opportunity to steal and rape during battles, they were expelled from the army and ended up as bandits. Due to their previous training, the Captain gave them the job of being the lookouts for the camp. Although they were talking to each other, they were constantly assessing the surroundings.


    "Anyway, speaking of the boy, is he still alive?"


    "He was alive thest time I saw him. After all, the Captain won''t let him go easy after he made him bleed."


    "I must say that was impressive, so young and yet so skilled. Although it was just a shallow wound, he still cut him. Well, he is doomed anyway, who told him to hurt the Captain," said Lucas indifferently.


    Lucas was going back tozily looking at his surroundings when he felt something approach him from the back. He was startled by the fact that someone came so close to him and he did not notice, but still, as an ex-soldier and a bandit he was used to life and death situations so he immediately reached for his sword.


    But before he could even take it out, a heavy punchnded on the back of his head knocking him out.


    ....


    When Lucas finally woke up, he realized that he was tied to a tree and together with him was Jack, who had just woken up just now. Before he could talk to his partner and try to figure out the situation, someone speaks to them.


    "Good, you are both awake. I have some questions. As long as you answer them, this will not need to get ugly".


    Lucas saw the person who was speaking, he was a young man with a strong body and a handsome face. Although he was scared at the beginning, the years of living in danger make him calm down and start to think out a way out of this situation.


    ''This person is strong and I definitely can''t defeat him, but he is very young and I should be able to intimidate him''


    If Zatiel could hear his thoughts he would find it hrious, a mortal human trying to frighten a demon, it should be the first time that this happens.


    Just as Lucas was about to try and threaten Zatiel, Jack spoke first. "Listen up you little brat. You better release us immediately and cut off a limb as an apology or we will show you how hell looks like. We have more than 100 brothers and they will hunt you down and will take their sweet time with a pretty boy like you if something happens to us."


    Lucas never stops looking at Zatiel so he saw the coldness in his eyes as he heard Jack threaten him, he was about to talk and try to calm down the situation when Zatiel looked at him. He became so scared that he didn''t dare to speak.


    "Which one do you want me to cut off?"


    "Wha.. what?"


    "I asked which part you want me to cut off!"


    Jack could not help but stammer due to the question, after all, he never thought that the opponent would cut a limb just because of a threat, he was hoping that he would get scared and run away leaving them tied.


    "The right leg," Although Jack knew something weird was happening he still answered.


    Just after speaking he saw how Zatiel''s hand got a dark glow, Jack didn''t have time to wonder what was happening when he saw how the hand grabbed his leg with so much strength that it almost breaks it, but the worst had yet to begin, he starts to feel his muscle rotting and his bones begin to break.


    "Ahhh!... Stop, stop I will tell you everything you want to know, please stop!"


    But no matter how much Jack screamed and begged, Zatiel did not let go. Only when the leg was no more than a puddle of blood did he retrieve his hand. Jack passed out from the pain and foam wasing from his mouth.


    Lucas was terrified, after all, the psychological pressure of seeing such a gruesome scene and knowing that the same could happen to you in the next moment, is enough to break most men.


    "I hope that you can be more useful than your friend," Zatiel''s expression was indifferent, as he approached the shaking bandit as if torturing a person was no different than breathing.


    ...


    "107 bandits, most of them are a bunch of thieves and killers with no formal training, 10 lookouts through the periphery of the camp, about 20 ex-soldiers with some degree of proficiency in vital energy and that guy they call the Captain should be a Warrior ording to the strength he has shown," Zatiel was thinking of ways to attack the camp as he was going through the information the bandit gave him.


    A frontal assault was not an option unless he had a death wish, after all with his current abilities defeating a Warrior will be difficult, much less if another 100 men were attacking from the periphery.


    Of course, things would be different if he has better spells or some magical equipment.


    "The source of water of the camp should be the well next to the river in the northwest corner of the camp, there are supposed to be 3 bandits protecting it at all times, if I manage to deposit this powder in the water, it will help me tremendously in defeating this group," Zatiel thought as he looks at the powder in a little bag tied to his waist.


    As soon as it bes night, Zatiel stealthily gets close to the well while avoiding the bandits. With the A.I chip scanning his surroundings, it was pretty easy arriving undetected. Although killing the bandits to sabotage the well would be easy unless they wereplete idiots, the rest of the camp will realize something was wrong with the well the moment they find the corpses of the men or notice that it was unprotected, so a distraction was necessary.


    Picking a rock, Zatiel aimed at an alligator that was by the side of the river, and threw it with all his strength, shattering the eye of the beast.


    The alligator screams in pain and filled with anger, it charges towards the direction of the projectile. Throwing more rocks, Zatiel manages to make the beast reach the well, alerting the bandits.


    The moment the alligator sees the bandits, he directs all of his anger at them and attacks them furiously.


    "Boss, an alligator."


    "Goddammit. What is this beast doing here?"


    "It is hurt, kill it quickly."


    Although the alligator was a strong beast, it was not a magical creature. Plus due to its injuries, the bandits defeated it easily, and as they were celebrating having defeated the giant foe, none of them noticed the powder that was dissolving in the well.

 Chapter 5: The bloody boy

    Zatiel was observing the camp as he was preparing to assault it, it has already been 2 days since the poison was mixed in the water, and everyone should have been affected by now.


    Although the protection team of the well finds it weird that a badly injured beast attacks them out of nowhere, after testing the water of the well and finding nothing, they thought that the alligator was chased out by an opposing beast and randomly arrived at the well.


    "The number of lookouts has increased sincest time, it is to be expected after all 2 of their men disappeared. The poison should be already in the system of every bandit by now."


    When the night came Zatiel started the attack, shing from tree to tree, the first thing he did was taking out the lookouts. Even though there were some experienced fighters, none of them could react before being knocked out.


    "Now let the real show begin," Zatiel says while taking a sword from his waist, a present from the first group of bandits he captured.


    Although he was about to fight 100 men, on his face you could see excitement and a fighting intent as if this was a very enjoyable game. Although during his first and third life he has been a human, his longest time alive was as a demon, and demons are in essence battle machines and to them fighting is a second nature.


    Actually if it wasn''t because he knew it was suicidal going without preparing beforehand, he would have attacked the camp the moment he found it.


    Without hesitation, Zatiel charges directly to the entrance of the camp. Having spent thest couple of days training his body, he now has almost 3 points of physique and 2 in agility, giving him the ability to run almost 100 meters every ten seconds.


    "Enemy!"


    "Attack him!"


    The two guards at the entrance barely had time to react before Zatiel appeared before them. Since the guards were experienced killers, they attacked him with ferocity.


    The first guard stabbed his sword directly to Zatiel''s head while the second aimed to his waist.


    Zatiel moves his head to the right just enough to let the sword pass by the side and using his sword he manages to deflect the attack from the second one. Without pausing, heunches a heavy punch to the chest of the first guard with his free hand.


    The guard was thrown away 2 meters before crashing on the ground and you could hear the sounds of bones breaking. The second guard tries to attack again but a kick hits him right in his face and throws him in the air.


    Without stopping, he advances to the camp and themotion alerts the rest of the bandits.


    Zatiel charged and attacked any bandit that stood before him, never stopping, dodging the attacks, and finding just the right moment to counter-attack. All the bandits were being thrown to the floor with broken bones and sometimes with their arms or legs missing.


    Sometimes some stronger bandits with some amount of training in vital energy attacked him but their fate was the same as that of the rest.


    "It should be starting to take effect about now."


    As if his words were magic, the bandits started to drop to the floor like they were flies.


    It was of course due to the poison Zatiel mixed with the water 2 days ago. The poison used was a powder made from a nt known as Fighter Doom. It was a tasteless poison that takes effect when the person suffers from a drastic rise in the blood flow like in a fight hence its name.


    With the riot andmotion going on, almost every bandit was battling or chasing Zatiel, increasing their heartbeat and worsening their current condition.


    Just as Zatiel was observing the now defeated bandits, a feeling of danger appeared. Without wasting time, he stepped back and put the sword in front of him.


    A heavy sword came down on him and crashed against his own, throwing him almost a meter before he could stabilize himself.


    A burly man, almost 2-meters tall with a square face full of scars and short hair wearing his full armor shows up.


    "So you are the bastard that thinks he can burst into my camp and kill my men."


    "You could say so, and who are you?" Zatiel spoke as he was giving the order to the A.I chip to scan his opponent.


    ''Strength and Physique of almost 3 points hence the poison didn''t work, luckily his agility and mine are around the same or this could be very difficult¡ä.


    Of course in the worst case, Zatiel would just escape, stuff like staying and fighting to death with honor, to him, was just stupidity.


    "Good! You are a brave little brat, you can say Captain Robert killed you when you reach hell."


    Zatiel could not help but show a little smile on his face as he heard those words. After all, imagining a demon, a resident of the abyss going to hell, thend of devils, after his death will be hrious.


    "Die you little shit!"


    The Captain charged at Zatiel and attacked with all his strength, shing with his sword straight to his head, trying to cut him in two.


    Zatiel moves to the left dodging the sword just by a few centimeters.


    The sword crashed on the ground and made debris fly away, a testament to the strength the blow carried.


    Angry at his attack missing, the Captain continues with a series of shes from all directions, but no matter how he attacked, Zatiel always finds a way to dodge his blow right at thest moment.


    After more than ten minutes, the fight continues the same way- the captain madly attacking and Zatiel skillfully dodging.


    Zatiel always dodges the attack using the minimum strength required and when it is possible, he counters with his sword making small wounds appear all over the ces that were not protected by the armor.


    Although not all of his memories were uploaded, the ones that were uploaded had hundreds of the fights he had as a low-level demon, so his battle experience is way greater than his opponent.


    "You coward, stop jumping around and fight like a man," screamed the captain with anger clear on his face, as he attacked with even more ferocity making the rocks fly when his sword touches the ground.


    Zatiel didn''t answer at his clear provocation, but he focuses on finding an opening, after all, when an opponent is angry is when he makes the mistakes.


    After a series of more attacks, the Captainnded his sword without control and made it crash on the ground, temporarily getting it stuck. Although it was just a second, in a fight that can be fatal.


    ''Now!''


    Zatiel attacked immediately throwing his sword like lightning at the neck of the Captain.


    But even blinded by rage, the Captain was an experienced fighter, moving at thest moment. Although his neck was badly cut and a lot of blood came out, he managed to save his life.


    Although he failed to kill his enemy, Zatiel didn''t show disappointment on his face. Instead of continuing the assault, he separated from the Captain and rxed his guard.


    "Where do you think you are going? The fight has to continue. This little cut is nothing."


    "But the fight has already ended."


    "What are you...?" The Captain didn''t finish speaking when he felt his head start to get foggy and his conscience starts to fade.


    "Although your physique keeps you from getting poisoned from food and water, if it is applied directly to your bloodstream it will work, especially in the neck."


    The Captain looked at the bleeding sword and realized what happened.


    "You poisoned your sword, this was a one on one fight, you have no dignity!"


    Zatiel sneered at those words.


    "If you do not use every tool at your disposal just because of what others may think, then you deserve to die because of your arrogance and stupidity."


    Zatiel stops paying attention to the now incapacitated Captain and starts to explore the rest of the camp. As he was walking, he arrived at what it seems like a burial pit, you could see bodies of all ages and races in there.


    As he was assessing the pit, he made a surprised face. Of course, it wasn''t because of the number of dead people, after all as a demon, he saw situations hundred of times worse. What impressed him was that the A.I. Chip detected that someone was still alive.


    Zatiel gets into the pit and takes him out, it was a boy of around ten years old, one of his hands was cut off and his left eye was missing. It was obvious that he was tortured for several days from the state of his injuries.


    "So what am I going to do with you," Zatiel says as he looks at the barely breathing boy.

 Chapter 6: True freedom

    Zatiel was speaking and looking at the boy as he notices how this one uses every strength he has left to straighten his head and look back at him with his only eye left.


    As Zatiel looks at the boy''s eye he could not help but be impressed by what he saw.


    ''What an immense will!''


    In the state that he was currently, any normal human will have already given up. Even some official Magi that take pride in their rationality will surrender to fate. But Zatiel could see in the boy''s eye a will that won''t allow him to surrender and force him to continue.


    ''Definitely a good seed, since I have enough material for the both of us, I could help him, and judging by what I saw, he will have no problem passing the ritual. But still, it is better to be sure.''


    Zatiel continued to stare at the boy for a minute and the boy never moved his remaining eye away.


    ¡§I am no saint, but since you have made an impression on me and it will not affect me, I can help you. I give you a choice, I can heal your wounds but your body is so badly damaged that even then, you will be a cripple for the rest of your life or... I take you out of your misery right now," Zatiel spoke emotionlessly as he looked at the boy and tried to see any change.


    After all, most people would rather die than be a cripple that can barely move, especially in a world like this where a human life was a lot of the time''s worthless.


    Even though the boy was shocked at first knowing that even if he survives he will forever be disabled, immediately that immense will came back, stopping him from surrendering.


    ¡§Truly impressive, even knowing that your life will be hell you still chose to go on, can I know why you do it?" Zatiel asked patiently, as he put the boy on the ground carefully.


    The boy looks at Zatiel as he gathers his strength to speak.


    "I want... to be... free."


    Zatiel was shocked at the answer of the boy, and how those words make him remember something.


    ...


    A lonely figure was atop a mountain. Darkness covered his body making it impossible to see his true appearance. His surroundings were full of dead bodies of all types of species. You could see demons and devil, dragons, even the mythical titans and leviathans were among the corpses. Although this scenario was a testament to his incredible power, he knows this was not what he seeks.


    Exhausted, he looked at his surroundings and he couldn''t stop himself from shouting with all his strength.


    "I will break every shackle that exists, be so powerful that nothing can restrain me. I will see how the universe looks like once I remove what makes me blind, I will reach the highest peak and feel true freedom!"


    .....


    Zatiel could not help but start tough as he remembers those aspirations that fueled his path to power.


    "Hahahaha, good, very good, from this moment on you will be my subordinate and together we will search for true freedom together, what do you say?" Zatiel asked the boy with excitement on his face.


    The boy could not understand why someone wants a cripple like him as a subordinate, but after a moment he epted.


    Some may say that being a subordinate to someone is not freedom, but deciding who to follow is freedom.


    Zatiel immediately starts to make a potion with the herbs he has with him, the ones he collected during his preparation before assaulting the bandit camp.


    Although none of these herbs could do something as magical as regrowing a hand or an eye, they were more than enough to heal the wounds of the boy.


    Zatiel helps the boy drink the potion and support him against a big rock.


    "Rest here, I have many things to do before I start the ritual, and don''t worry about your body. With what I am about to do, regrowing a hand and an eye is but a walk in the park."


    The boy only nodded as he watched Zatiel move around the camp picking the unconscious bandits and putting them all together.


    ....


    As long as he can remember, Ezequiel was always a ve, ording to what he was told by his masters, he was sold when he was a baby.


    He was brought up to be a ve warrior, a disposable tool to carry deadly missions. So when he was strong enough to stand, he was thrown into hellish training.


    The training in the ve camp was always brutal, most of the children died during the first year. But the ones that survived became incredible soldiers able to perform amazing feats.


    Because he was small and fast, Ezequiel was trained in the way of the Assassin. Although every day he was walking between life and death, he was able to ovee every trial and excel as a show of his immense talent.


    Through the years he bes more and more proficient in killing, being usually the one tasked with the more difficult tasks despite his young age. Although his identity as a ve never changed, he was often rewarded with every type of pleasure that his masters could arrange, but none of that ever brought him true happiness.


    If there was something he truly enjoyed, it was watching the birds fly. Seeing them move through the skypletely free and unrestrained was one of the few pleasures he had in life.


    Hisst job was to kill the Captain of a bandit group that killed the son of an important businessman. He was supposed to join a group of mercenaries that were hired to attack the bandit group and distract the Captain so Ezequiel could find an opportunity to kill him, unfortunately for the group, the information had failed to mention that the Captain was a powerful Warrior, hence they werepletely exterminated.


    Since he wounded the captain, Ezequiel had to suffer the wrath of the man because of which he was tortured for many days, and finally thrown alive into the burial pit to die.


    When Ezequiel thought his life was over, he did not feel scared, what he felt was frustration. He has always lived doing what others tell him to do, what others desire, and now he will die because of other''s decisions.


    What he has always wanted and will never have now, was freedom. Freedom to live how he desires, and to die because of his own choices.


    But then he shows up, a man not much older than himself but so incredibly powerful that not only did he defeat the Captain, whom he thought was invincible, but also all of the bandits in the camp by himself.


    When the man gives him the option that he can cure him and he will be able to live the life of a cripple or kill him to end his suffering, Ezequiel didn''t think much and chose to continue to live, so he could keep pursuing his wish.


    Who would have thought that the man would startughing when he told him his desire and would offer him to be his subordinate.


    At that moment Ezequiel felt something telling him that this is the most important decision of his entire life, that this was the point in which his true path will begin.


    ''I will follow this person., This will be the first real choice of my life!''

 Chapter 7: Ritual

    Zatiel was gathering all of the bandits in the center of the camp, he even brought the lookouts that were thrown outside.


    All the bandits were unconscious. But although most of the bandits were severely hurt, and despite the fact that some of them were missing limbs, every single one of them was alive.


    When all of them were put together, Zatiel picked up a jar from the captain''s tent and with his sword, he cut his arm and filled it with his blood. When there was about 10 liters of blood in the jar, he stopped and sat down to rest.


    A normal person has just about 6 to 7 liters of blood in their system and losing a fifth of that can kill you, but with his Physique of almost 3 points, it only makes Zatiel very tired and weak.


    Zatiel was sitting and focusing on getting to his optimal condition when he felt someone closing in.


    "So you are strong enough to walk already, good."


    The person that was closing in was a little boy with a hand and an eye missing, of course, he was Ezequiel whose body had already healed enough to move. After all, the potion that Zatiel gave him was potent enough to heal a Warrior, and since the stronger you are the more energy is needed to heal you, the vice-versa also applies.


    While Ezequiel was looking at Zatiel and the huge amount of blood by his side, he was a little startled, but after a moment he calmed down.


    ''I should not try to understand a monster like him, at least not yet.''


    Ezequiel stopped looking at Zatiel and focused on the bandit, but as he did, he started to get confused. Even though as an assassin he has excellent control over his bodynguage and he seems perfectly fine, how could he hope to trick Zatiel.


    "You are wondering why I didn''t kill them," Zatiel says as if he could read the boy''s thoughts.


    Ezequiel could just nod, already epting that he could not hide anything from his new master.


    "They have a purpose and you will soon find out what it is," As Zatiel says those words, for a moment coldness appears in his eyes as he looks at the bandits.


    "Anyways, you are my subordinate now, so I need to ask you a few questions. First of all, let''s introduce ourselves, I am Zatiel, what is your name?"


    "Ezequiel."


    "The second question, since we are leaving this ce very soon, do you have a loved one that you need to find or someone you need to ensure is safe?"


    "No."


    Ezequiel was a little surprised about that question but he answers without much thought, after all, with his previous identity as a ve, he knows that caring for someone just puts them in danger.


    "Ok, that is all," Zatiel says casually.


    Ezequiel was a little startled. After all, who would have a subordinate with a past that you know nothing about.


    "Master I..." Ezequiel was about to speak when he saw how Zatiel just raises his hand to stop him.


    "I don''t care about your past. Since the moment you decided to be my subordinate, your life started over. The only thing I need from you is your loyalty. As long as I have it, I will always be there to help you. But you need to remember something..." Zatiel made a pause as he looked at the boy''s eye while coldness and savagery radiated from him.


    The feeling was so suffocating that Ezequiel could swear that he was drowning in mercury, he felt like in front of him, there was not a man but a nightmarish lifeform that could swallow him at any moment. If it wasn''t for his incredible will, he would have ckout already, but even so, he could not stop himself from kneeling.


    "Never betray me. If you even think of doing that I will know, and when that happens you will never know the sweet release of death."


    After Zatiel stopped speaking, the pressure vanished like it never existed.


    Ezequiel''s state was understandable. After all, if you put a normal man in front of a tiger, even if the animal does not attack him, the pressure that it generates can put him in a terrified state, and even though Zatiel was no longer a powerful being, his years of ughter were still with him.


    Ezequiel started to stand up slowly as he looked at Zatiel. When his breath was normal again, he kneeled on one knee.


    "I have chosen to follow you, and I will never regret the decisions I made in my life." Determination radiated from his eye as he spoke.


    Although words of eternal loyalty were easy to say, they were rarely true. But with his knowledge, Zatiel could easily see that the boy spoke with absolute resolution with his soul.


    "Hahaha, I didn''t make a mistake with you! Since Ezequiel is a bit long, I will call you little EZ," as Zatielughed, a trace of warmth could be seen in his eyes.


    ''This feeling is not bad at all,'' although in his second life as an Abyss Lord, Zatiel had millions of underlings, all of those demons would have stabbed him in the back the first moment they got the chance, if that means giving them some profit. So having a person that will give you true loyalty and friendship, it is a feeling that he didn''t have in a very very long time.


    Although Ezequiel could not help but feel awkward about the childish nickname, a little smile appeared on his face.


    After a number of hours of rest, Zatiel was finally in his peak condition again and was ready to begin the ritual.


    "Ok then little EZ, what I am about to do is veryplex and incredibly dangerous for normal people. I now need you to back out 1000 meters, and no matter what, you can''t, under any circumstance,e closer before I call you," Zatiel says with a serious face.


    Ezequiel could see that this was something very important and delicate, and he didn''t dare to misbehave and cause an ident, so he immediately moved away.


    Seeing that Ezequiel was at a safe distance, Zatiel picked up the jar and started to inscribe weird symbols made out of his blood on the ground surrounding the bandits.


    Weirdly enough, although every moment was skilled, Zatiel never looked directly at the symbols.


    ''I have to be careful. If I see these abyss runes directly with how weak my soul is at this moment, cking out will be the best scenario.''


    Runes are thenguage of thews, a way of using the energy of the universe. They are a set of symbols that, if put in the correct order using the right material, can bring about unimaginable effects. They are also incrediblyplex and full of variations. So understanding them and activating them before being powerful enough is a dream.


    A rune inscribed on a weapon like a sword can make it sharper or have the ability to produce mes if a source of energy is fueling it. But more incredible uses of runes is putting them in the body of a person. This can give someone incredible abilities.


    Knowledge of high-leveled runes is incredibly hard to get, and the ones that have them are powerful groups that will never reveal them.


    What Zatiel was drawing was a set of runes that will allow him tomunicate and make a direct sacrifice to the Abyss!


    This was 1 of the 2 more important pieces of information present in the first set of memories.


    To make runes work, two core things cannot be missing. First, the right materials to make the rune and second, the source of energy to activate them.


    For the materials for this rune, it is necessary to have blood tainted with the Abyss Aura and although Zatiel was no longer a demon, his True Soul will always carry the Abyss Aura from his second life.


    The hard part was the source of energy, luckily the Abyss is a ne that takes any chaotic and evil soul that dies, and the bandits easily fulfill thest part. So the only thing that Zatiel has to do was to activate the secondary runes that will create a chaotic state of mind in the life forms that are inside the array, and make the bandits kill each other, making the Abyss itselfe for the souls by activating the runes. Although the sub-array will take energy, his current Spirit Force will be barely enough to activate it.


    Without wasting time Zatiel activates the sub-array runes, his face bes pale and he almost faints from the extreme depletion of spirit force.


    A small part of the runes started to activate making a red glow cover the bandits. After a moment all the bandits started to wake up, but their eyes werepletely red. Without wasting a moment, they start to attack each other.


    They madly attacked anything in their sight without regards for anything, it was a truly bloody and crazy scene. If their hands didn''t work, they used their feet, if their feet could not move, they used their teeth, one way or another they dismembered each other apart.


    After a couple of minutes, almost every single one of them was dead. Even the captain now was left with only half of his face and was on hisst breath.


    The moment thest bandit dies, the rest of the runes start to activate and an immense pressure descends on the camp. It was so chaotic that just being close to it will make someone a crazy killing machine if their will is not strong enough. Even Zatiel felt difficult to be calm in front of it.


    ''So He finally arrives,'' Zatiel thought with a solemn expression.


    The entity that Zatiel was sacrificing the souls of the bandits was no demon, after all doing deals with a demon is one of the most stupid things you can do. Just getting a tenth of the worth of your sacrifice will be a miracle, and most of the time, the demon will just kill you and take everything for himself.


    So the one Zatiel wasmunicating was the consciousness of the Abyss itself.


    Every ne or World has a consciousness that it develops slowly through the years. Although most of the time, this consciousness is very basic, some are incrediblyplex as well. They are even able to achieve self-consciousness, meaning that they consider themselves as an individual.


    Although the Abyss was an immense ne due to it''s chaotic nature, it''s consciousness was very basic. So it makes the perfect trading partner, of course only someone as Zatiel with his knowledge couldmunicate with the consciousness of the Abyss before being strong enough.


    As the consciousness of the Abyss was taking the souls of the bandits, Zatiel started to use the runes tomunicate what he desires. Although one hundred or so mortals were insignificant for the Abyss, and it will not give anything of true value, what Zatiel needs right now is something the Abyss has to spare. He needs the Abyss Aura, the one of the highest quality from the deepest part of the Abyss.


    The bodies of the bandits started to melt creating a ck liquid that started to gather in the center of the array. When all of the bodies were gone, a 1-meter orb in diameter was left. It was so dark that it looked like it could consume all light, and everything in its surroundings was beginning to decay, even the ground. After all, Abyss Aura is the source of energy for demons but a poison to any other life-form.


    Zatiel could not help but get excited as he saw the liquid concentration of the Abyss Aura.


    ''Finally! It is time for the most powerful life-form to be born!''

 Chapter 8: Chaotic-Core

    Zatiel looked at the Abyss Aura and started to meditate on the spot to heal his depleted spirit.


    Once all of the bodies were converted into the Abyss Aura, the consciousness of the Abyss started to retreat. Zatiel didn''t say anything and just watched as the chaotic pressure soon vanished.


    "It''s time to begin."


    Zatiel manipted the array runes again to split the Abyss Aura into two parts, one big and one small.


    "That should be enough for little EZ."


    After that waspleted, Zatiel walked to the center of the array, and stopped 1 meter aways from the biggest orb of Abyss Aura, adopting a meditation position.


    After a couple of minutes, Zatiel started to manipte the Abyss Aura again. The liquid started to turn into threads that moved into his body. It started to enter inside him from his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.


    If any other life form not having reached rank 1 were to do that, allowing such a high concentration of Abyss Aura to enter his body, they will die in the best case scenario, and if they were to survive miraculously, they will transform into a mindless killing machine which is even inferior to amon Mane.


    Here is where the second most important information became useful. The transformation into the strongest life form that exists, the one that resulted in millions of years of research even with the abilities of a Being of Laws, and it was only possible thanks to the help he got from the ones he called ''Greyish bastards''.


    The transformation into a Neo-Demon!


    Neo-demons are an artificial race that was created to be the perfect soldier, having abilities way superior to demons and racial traits so powerful that even titans, the race with one of the most powerful bloodlines created by the universe, would feel envy.


    Although Zatiel was very excited, he could not allow himself to be distracted, after all, even with the help of the array runes, manipting the Abyss Aura inside his body was extremely difficult andplex, and he constantly had to withstand the impact of the chaotic influence that the aura was releasing.


    As the Abyss Aura was entering his body, all of it started to concentrate on his heart. This is the most crucial part, the formation of the Chaotic Core.


    The Chaotic Core is the basic source of power for all the Neo-Demons. It is what allows the body of the carrier to make the transformation and not only give them ess to a myriad of incredible abilities, but also it is the most important part a Neo-Demon has to nurture if it wants to keep bing more and more powerful and ascend through the higher ranks.


    The Chaotic Core is made from thousands of minuscule runes which are in turn made from pure Abyss Aura. The runes were so minute that it was impossible for the current Zatiel to inscribe them.


    But this is where his always usefulpanion started to work.


    "A.I chip,mence the construction of the Chaotic Core," Zatielmanded hispanion as he was withstanding the horrifying pain that threatened to destroy his consciousness.


    [Bip.. initiating the creation of the Chaotic Core...


    Estimated time to finish is two hours and a half.


    The Host must withstand the impact of the Abyss Aura at all times inside his consciousness or it will result in severe bacsh and possible death.]


    ''Two hours and a half, a child''s game!'' Zatiel''s face showed resolution and he closed his eyes and stopped making any sound or expression, behaving as if the head-splitting pain didn''t even exist.


    As the minutes passed by, the Chaotic Core was beginning to be more and moreplete. The runes started to connect with each other and a mysterious glow was appearing in it.


    Once more than 50% of the Core waspleted, it started to spin. Using the arteries connected to the heart, it was pumping the Abyss Aura to the rest of his body.


    Every time the Core rotated, more and more of the Abyss Aura was filling his body. It was nurturing it and making it incredibly powerful. Soon Zatiel''s body started to grow and his hair began to turn into an ash color.


    With every single rotation of the Core, the body was being constantly nurtured by the Abyss Aura, and as for the innate chaotic nature that affects the consciousness of any being because of the Abyss Aura, the core was constantlypressing it and keeping it inside itself.


    As the Chaotic Core kept rotating, Zatiel started to rx since now the ability of the core to suppress the chaotic pressure was taking effect.


    After the two and a half hours were done, the Chaotic Core was finallypleted. It was like a sun, constantly rotating and releasing energy. It was truly a wonderful sight to see.


    Zatiel started to get up with his now two-meter body, a handsome face, and a muscr constitution. He moved little by little trying to get ustomed to his newfound increase in power.


    ''A.I. Chip, show me the state of my body.''


    [Bip.. scanning host...


    Race: Neo-Demon


    Strength: 4.7


    Physique: 5.4


    Speed: 4.2


    Abyss Aura:7.1]


    ''Excellent! I can barely be considered to be in the beginning of the infant stage of a Neo-Demon and I am already so powerful, and now thanks to the Chaotic Core''s ability to transform the energy of the body into the Abyss Aura, I can finally start using my Abyssal Spells.¡ä


    Zatiel''s excitement was understandable, after all, even if we don''t count his Abyss Aura, his physical attributes are amazing. Since 4 points is a threshold that no mortal can surpass even if they use the most amazing breathing technique in the world. Reaching it was only possible for the ones thatbine arcane knowledge and body experimentation like some body-refinement apprentice magus.


    ''My Abyss Aura is currently as powerful as the Spirit force of a rank 3 apprentice magi, and this is just the beginning. Truly worthy of being the race that I spend so much energy creating. Now that I have finished my transformation, it is time for that little kid.''


    Zatiel inhaled with all his strength and gave an extremely loud shout.


    "LITTLE EZ, COME HERE!" Zatiel could not help butugh at his childish attitude.


    ''Well, what is the point of being strong if you do not enjoy yourself when you are in a good mood.''


    While Zatiel was thinking, Ezequiel was already arriving at the array runes, and the first thing that caught his attention, was a ck orb made of liquid that gave him a terrifying feeling.


    But when he saw Zatiel, he was startled. After all, it was not more than 6 hours thest time he saw him and there was already such a huge difference, and especially the feeling he was having was that his master was much more powerful now.


    "Master, what happened to you?" Ezequiel could not help but ask.


    "You will find out soon enough. Little EZ, what I am about to give you now is a path to be someone truly powerful in the universe and being able to truly break the shackles. But I have to warn you, this process is extremely dangerous. If at any moment your will weakens, what awaits you is nothing but death."


    Ezequiel didn''t answer immediately but his remaining eye was shining with a resolution to take anything thates in his way and a desire to the path of true power.


    ''A good seed indeed, this kid will have no problem in withstanding this,'' Zatiel thought as he looked at the boy with pride.


    "Sit down and focus at all times. Remember to always maintain your concentration. I will begin now," Zatiel says as he started to manipte the Abyss Aura.


    Although this amount of Abyss Aura was smaller than the one Zatiel used, the initial power of the Chaotic Core has to be enough to carry out the transformation into a Neo-Demon but not so strong that it will kill its bearer because they are not powerful enough to sustain such a huge amount of energy.


    So the weaker the individual is, the smaller the Chaotic Core is at the beginning. Actually, the amount which Ezequiel needed was much less than this but Zatiel was going to use a part of the Aura to regenerate his hand and eye.


    The Abyss Aura started to enter Ezequiel, and he could feel the searing pain from having the liquid enter his body and the chaotic pressure that threatened to make him crazy.


    But one of the reasons why Zatiel picked him was due to his monstrous will. It helped him maintain sobriety and keep going.


    Zatiel was not wasting any time either.  Using the rune array and the A.I. Chip, he was constantly monitoring the Abyss Aura and creating a Chaotic Core in Ezequiel''s heart.


    If you could see the runes that created the Chaotic Core inside Ezequiel, you could realize that there were some small differences inparison with the ones in Zatiel. The reason was that Zatiel''s Core was a Primordialis-Core made to be the origin of every single other Chaotic Core that will exist and thus making Zatiel the ancestor of every single Neo-Demons that will be born.


    Ezequiel''s Core was a Genus-Core meaning a core made for the descendants. The difference in the abilities between the two cores is almost null, after all, Ezequiel was a direct descendant.


    But when he has kids, those children will be born as Neo-Demons with Genus-Core in their hearts and their potential will depend on the strength of their parents.


    The most important thing about the Primordials-Core is that it will make any Neo-Demons have an inherent desire to serve him.


    Ezequiel''s process took just about an hour, and when he was finished, his body waspletely different. He was now almost 1.5 meters tall, with white hair, and his body had just the right amount of muscle necessary to be able to use his maximum speed.


    "Well done, how do you feel?"


    "I feel powerful!" Ezequiel could not help but get excited as he felt the immense strength running through his body.


    "Is normal to get excited but remember little EZ.." Zatiel''s face got serious as he got to this point and Ezequiel didn''t dare to not pay attention. "... we are too weak right now, and there are millions of people that could kill us, so never reveal anything rted to the Chaotic Core." As Zatiel spoke thest phrase, he used his Primordiales-Core to make those words as an order that Ezequiel could not disobey.


    Although restricting Ezequiel didn''t feel good, especially knowing the loyalty of the little boy, the information of the Chaotic Core and the Neo-Demons was so important that it will doom them if the wrong people find out just how special they are.


    Ezequiel felt quite weird as he heard themand and felt as if something was ingrained in his heart ensuring that he would never speak to anyone about the Core. Of course, even without themand, he would not do it, at least not consciously. After all, even though he was technically a child, his years as an assassin taught him that having wealth without power is a sin.


    Seeing the expression in Ezequiel''s eyes, Zatiel nodded.


    "Well, it is time to leave this ce, but before we do that, it''s time for some payback," Zatiel said as he looked in the direction of a certain magical beast.

 Chapter 9: Innate spell

    Two figures could be seen moving through the forest. They were so fast that they reached an incredible speed of 2 kilometers per minute, and even then, you could see that it was not even close to their maximum speed since they had rxed expressions on their faces.


    Of course, they were Zatiel and Ezequiel that were going to the Shadow Wolf''sir.


    Zatiel has always been someone that returns every single grievance a thousand times more. Of course, if the creature is too powerful, he would just wait and take revenge on it when the time was right. After all, there is nothing wrong in seeking revenge. But if you do it when you are too weak, then you are just stupid.


    As Zatiel was running, he could see that Ezequiel was keeping up with his speed with no problems.


    Neo-Demons are not all the same. The Chaotic Core improves the body ording to their previous aptitudes before the transformation, and this is just the beginning. As they grow stronger, the changes are more and more pronounced.


    ''So speed is one of his main attributes. Interesting... A. I Chip, scan him''


    [Bip... scanning


    Name: Ezequiel


    Race: Neo-Demon


    Strength: 3.5


    Physique: 3.6


    Speed: 4.2


    Abyss Aura: 5.2]


    ''Not bad, not bad at all. His attributes are inferior to mine but that is to be expected. After all, before the transformation, I was already as strong as a warrior and little EZ was just a normal human, and his Abyss Aura is pretty strong already so it won''t be long before he reaches the 7 points to make him equal to a Rank 3 apprentice magus.''


    As Zatiel was running, he started to look through the Rank 0 spells that were in the firstyer of memories.


    Normally, someone will choose a spell ording to their affinity to natural energy. Like me or darkness. But Neo-Demons don''t need to worry about that. They can use their Abyss Aura to create any type of spell.


    Of course, it is better to reduce the range of types of energies you use to make it easier to improve your proficiency in a particr type of magic.


    As Zatiel was looking at the spells, 4 of them attracted his attention.


    [Shadow form: Uses darkness energy to cover the user in a shadow mantle that enhances his agility by 30%, and it also reduces the possibility of the opponent detecting him. Consumption: Abyss Aura -1 every minute]


    [Corrosive Fireball: Produce a fireball which generates mes when ites in contact with air, and attach themselves to the enemy and start to expand themself. Damage 10 degrees. Effective distance 15 meters. Consumption: Abyss Aura -3.]


    [Somber spear: Create a spear made of dark energy that generates itself from the target''s shadow and throw it at him. Damage 8 degrees. Effective distance- 10 meters. Consumption: Abyss Aura -2]


    [Death Enchantment: Can temporarily enhance a weapon with negative energy and adding 3 degrees of magical damage with each blow, and also infect the wound with death energy. Consumption: Abyss Aura -1 every minute]


    As Zatiel was looking at the spells, he started to search for the information about the ssification of the strength of spells that he got in the magic tower.


    ''The damage in this world is calcted ording to magical crystals.. They are the basic currency that Magus use and also the source of power for most types of magical machines and magic towers. Every magical crystal can release about 1 degree of energy when they explode.''


    Although he has even more powerful spells, these were the most battle effective spells at this moment with his current Abyss Aura, and besides they were pretty powerful themselves.


    After all, the maximum damage a rank 3 apprentice can hope to do is between 15 and 20 degrees of damage and that is only when they have reached the peak of rank 3 and are considered Pseudo-Magus.


    But Zatiel was barely beginning his path as Neo-Demon, and he is already capable of doing such damage. There is also a long path before he would reach the peak of the infant stage of a Neo-Demons.


    ''I will start with Shadow Form and Death Enchantment. They will be useful all the way upto to rank 1. As for ranged attacks, although Corrosive Fireball is powerful, the innate spell that all Neo-Demons have should be even stronger,'' while Zatiel was thinking about the innate spell, he could not help but get excited. After all, it is very simple yet so powerful that even when he bes stronger, it will still be effective.


    Now with his spell already decided, Zatiel started to think about a useful spell for Ezequiel.


    ''His main way ofbat is being fast and deadly, in that case, this spell should be an excellent choice for him.''


    As Ezequiel was running through the forest, a voice was heard in his head.


    "Little EZ, I will send you a spell. Practice it and if you have any doubt, ask me."


    Before he even had the time to wonder what was happening, information about a spell and the method of practicing it was sent directly into his consciousness.


    "Lightning armor: Uses lightning energy to coat the user, enhancing his speed and strength, and the lightning also offers protection against attacks. During this state, the user can''t use any other spell due to the constant transformation of the Abyss Aura into lightning natural energy. Enhances Strength and Speed by 30% and offers protection of 8 degrees of magical and physical damage. Consumption: Abyss Aura -1 every minute."


    Ezequiel was shocked, not only because he couldmunicate directly with Zatiel, but an immense amount of information was directly imprinted in his brain and he could feel like he knew it all this time.


    Zatiel almostughs at the face that Ezequiel made when he heard his voice in his mind.


    To supernatural beings at or above rank 1,municating with their consciousness is very easy, but being able to transmit knowledge will take time, and even then it will not be as clear as Ezequiel felt it in his mind.


    Zatiel was able to do it thanks to the Chaotic Core. All the Cores can establishmunication between them as long as they are in the same ne and transfer knowledge if they are in close distance.


    After Zatiel exined how he performed this type ofmunication, both of them began to practice their spells.


    Neo-Demons don''t need to inscribe spell runes into their consciousness, they just need to manipte the Abyss Aura and activate the spell, gain proficiency in them and the more they use the spell, the better the body can perform it, and not only does the consumption of Abyss Aura diminish, but the strength of the spell also grows. This is thanks to the Chaotic Core familiarizing with the way the spell works and making it easier for the Abyss Aura to activate them.


    As they were running, you could see shadows forming around Zatiel and lightning covering Ezequiel enhancing his speed.


    It didn''t take long before they arrived at the magical creature''sir.


    As soon as they arrived, a howl could be heard, and the Shadow Wolf appeared before them. Last time Zatiel was too busy to take a good look but now he could see the almost 3-meter wolf with a powerful body and furious expression.


    Zatiel looked at the beast and started to walk towards him as he activated his Shadow Form.


    "Do you remember me, little doggy?" said Zatiel as he looked at the wolf as if it was dead meat already.


    The Shadow wolf could notmunicate with words, but as a magical creature, he can understand the humannguage, and although the person before him looks familiar, the moment he heard the insult, anger showed on his face as he threw himself towards Zatiel with his jaw open to bite his head off.


    Zatiel dodges the attack with ease, and before the wolf couldnd, he grabs it''s hind leg, raises it over his head and smashes it against the ground making rocks fly.


    Before the wolf could even howl in pain, a heavy kicknded right in it''s ribs throwing it 7 meters in the air.


    Without waiting for the wolf tond, he jumped and punched it right on the head, throwing it through the air and making it crash against a tree.


    Zatiel looked at the badly wounded wolf without any joy or excitement, after all for him this beast was nothing more than an insignificant event in his life.


    "Things are in constant change. Once you are the hunter and the next moment, you are the prey. The moment you becent with your strength is the moment you sealed your fate. It''s time to end this."


    As Zatiel was about to give the finishing blow, shadows started to cover the wolf as he stood up and released a monstrous howl.


    His eyes were red and blood was falling through his mouth as his body was growing in size.


    "Ast desperate attempt. Ok, you will be the first to experience the might of the first innate spell of a Neo-Demon!"


    Zatiel''s eyes became serious for the first time in the fight as hemanded the A.I. Chip to analyze the might of the spell he was about to use.


    An Innate Spell is a technique that can''t be taught. They are usually the signature moves of a species, like a dragon''s breath or the petrifying gaze of gorgons, they are engraved in the mind of the species and they know it since the moment they are born.


    Zatiel seriousness was normal, after all, he is the first Neo-Demon so this attack was only theoretical and this will be the first time it is used.


    The now berserker Shadow Wolf attacked without any regard for anything with a speed almost twice aspared to before.


    Zatiel did not move or try to dodge, he just stood there, and as the beast was closing in, he raised his hands. When the beast was barely 5 meters from him, he activated the spell.


    "Abyssal st!"


    A concentrated beam of pure Abyssal Aura was released from his hand with a diameter of 2.5 meters, the attack was so fast and potent, that the wolf didn''t have the time to react before he was swallowed by the attack and disintegrated, and even then, the st travel for another 20 meters and destroy a couple of trees before stopping.


    Zatiel couldn''t help but make a surprised face as he saw the damage the attack made. After all, he wasn''t even close to bing a Rank 1 Neo-Demon, but this attack was almost as powerful as an attack from a newly ascended Rank 1 Magus.


    "Hahaha, Neo-Demons are truly the strongest race that exists," Zatiel could not help butugh from the excitement and pride that he felt for being able to create such a powerful life-form.


    "But of course, there is no way I can truly fight a rank 1 Magi at this moment. Even if they just stand still, and do nothing, their defensive spell will be enough to at least block the first attack, and this spell has an obvious restriction."


    The Abyssal st was certainly powerful. One of the reasons it is powerful is that it doesn''t use the Abyssal Aura that Zatiel has in his body, but the one that is concentrated inside the Chaotic Core and it is boosted with the chaotic mental impact that is being filtered from the Abyss Aura in the body.


    So not only does it generate immense magic damage but also affects the consciousness of the enemy. Due to this, it is only able to be released once a day hence making it not very practical in a prolonged fight.


    ''As my Chaotic Core grows, the number of times I will be able to release this attack will grow and so will its power, speaking of that, A.I. Chip show me the result.''


    [Bip...


    Abyssal st: User fires a potent beam made of pure and concentrated Abyss Aura that is generated in the Chaotic Core, along with a mental impact on the target if the attack reaches. The number of times it can be used per day: 1. As long as the Chaotic Core grows, the ability to store energy will grow as well. The quality of it will also increase, making the attack more strong and it will be able to be released more number of times. Current damage: 28 degrees]


    "Nice! Too bad that there is nothing left from the wolf, it would have made a good meal."


    As Zatiel was thinking of eating, 5 meters away, Ezequiel was stunned.


    Since the beginning of the fight, Ezequiel never intended to help, after all, he was certain that the fight with this beast was nothing but a little game for his master, and seeing how the wolf was so badly hurt at the beginning of the fight, proved him right.


    What shocked him was the Abyssal st that Zatiel used, after all, the attack was so powerful that it disintegrated a beast twice the size of a bull, and what shocked him, even more, was that he knows that he can use that spell too. Since the moment he became a Neo-Demon, the method to use the spell was already imnted in his brain.


    ''Can I be that powerful?'' Ezequiel thought as he looked at his hands.


    "Hey little brat, stop dreaming. It is time to leave this boring ce," Zatiel spoke as he started to leave the area.


    Zatiel could not help but make fun of Ezequiel as he saw him looking at his hand but said nothing more, after all, seeing someone release an attack so powerful and knowing that you can do it too can distract anyone.


    Ezequiel got a little embarrassed being found out that he was daydreaming, so he just nodded and didn''t say much as he started to follow Zatiel. Soon they left the Grey Swamp and started their journey towards their next destination.

 Chapter 10: Sinux Magic Tower

    The Magi World is a High World, meaning that it''sws are extremely well developed and the amount of natural energy it generates is immense. It can be considered one of the Principal Worlds of the multiverse, with the existence of Magi known to everyone as cruel, pragmatic, and warmonger''s that cause doom to many of the Middle and Lower Worlds and nes.


    The moreplete a world is, the easier it is to produce strong life forms that not only protects it against invaders, but also attacks other worlds and nes.


    The Magi World is incredibly huge, with hundreds of continents and the Magi are the dominant force of this world. There exist hundreds of organizations in the world but there are 3 that are the most powerful ones and divide the continents between themselves.


    One of these 3 is the Aeternum Empire, an organization made of hundreds of Magi ns of all sizes that upy the center of the Magi World.


    The Zanabi Tower that Zatiel was previously a part of, was owned by the Zanabi family, a small n that was part of the Aeternum Empire, and it was positioned at the periphery of the Empire.


    When Zatiel left the Grey Swamp, he didn''t have second thoughts of going back. If he were to do that, being questioned by the Magus that runs the tower was something that would definitely happen. After all, it has been less than 3 months since he departed from the tower as a rank 1 Apprentice Magus, and now he was as strong as a rank 3 Apprentice.


    They may want to extract his memories and dissect his body to find out how he did it. As for the consequences, nobody will question rank 1 Magus if he kills an Apprentice no matter how strong the Apprentice is.


    Luckily, he doesn''t need to worry about being searched for since those Apprentices that brought him to the swamp, and threw him to die will invent a story of their own, and say that he died due to some magical creature''s attack to cover their tracks.


    So the destination that Zatiel was going to was the Sinux Magic Tower, which was controlled directly by the Aeternum Empire. This magic tower was a strategic point because it was close to the entrance to the Underground Zone but was also bordering the Endless Forest.


    The Endless Forest was an uncivilized zone that was full of magical creatures, a few of them were as equally powerful as some of the strongest Magi that you could find in the Magi World.


    Although it was dangerous, it was also a ce full of opportunities and those that were powerful enough could obtain great wealth. So a lot of unaffiliated Magi and Apprentices go there. As for whether they could survive or not, it will depend on their ability and luck.


    ording to the information which Zatiel had, the Grey Swamp was around 10 thousand kilometers away from the Sinux Magic Tower. Luckily for them, most of the path which they had to follow was through some human kingdoms and danger zones that did not pose a threat to them.


    They started to run during the day to improve the efficiency of their agility spells, and in the night, they rested. If they are close to a ce with magical creatures, they kill and eat it to improve their strength.


    The cultivation of the Chaotic Core can be done in several ways, the mostmon one being attracting the natural energies of the world inside the body and letting the Core absorb it to improve itself, and the amount of Abyss Aura in the body.


    Another way is by eating something with a high concentration of energy like magical creatures, so hunting serves to improve their battle skills and overall power.


    Zatiel lets Ezequiel take care of the magical creatures to let the boy familiarize himself with fighting and battling powerful creatures. Of course, Zatiel was always ready to intervene if something bad were to happen.


    Right now Ezequiel was fighting a Metalic Bear. This was a bear-like magical creature with hair that looks like metal. Although the beast was stronger than Ezequiel, the moment the boy activated Lightning Armor, the fight was one sided.


    Ezequiel''s weapon was a double-edged dagger that he picked in the bandit camp, he chose it because it wouldplement his battle style.


    From time to time you could see how the weapon was covered with lightning, enhancing the damage that it gives to the opponent.


    ''Impressive! His proficiency in the spell reached the level that allows him to cover other objects surpassing the original limitation of only covering his body. Lightning is suitable for him,'' Zatiel thought as he looked at the boy fighting the beast.


    During the fight, Ezequiel only attacked when the time was right, and he could damage the vital organs of the beast, demonstrating his years of experience as an assassin.


    As the fight was ending, Ezequiel''s lightning was starting to vanish, so he hurried up and took the opportunity when the beast was hurt to make an opening and attack it on the back of it''s head, and burying the dagger all the way into its head, killing the beast.


    "Well done little EZ, but you have to remember to always have control over the amount of Abyss Aura you have left in your body, and never let it deplete entirely. Because if you were to do that you would be too weak to react to an unexpected situation," Zatiel said as he judged the boy''s battle power.


    ''With his abilities, fighting a rank 3 Apprentice should be easy, and if he takes them by surprise, perhaps he could even kill a Pseudo-Magus, not bad.''


    Ezequiel nodded and started to reflect over the fight trying to see what mistakes he made and how he can improve his fighting style.


    Zatiel and Ezequiel continue on their journey, constantly training their spells and killing magical creatures to either eat them or harvest their organs.


    ...


    After a little more than 3 months, Zatiel and Ezequiel arrived at the area controlled by the Sinux Magic Tower, both of them were carrying huge bags made with animal skin filled with parts of magical creatures.


    As they got closer and closer to the tower, more and more buildings began to appear in their surroundings. They could see inns and weapon shops and even some brothels in their surroundings.


    When they were about to enter the city, a wave of energy went through their bodies scanning them, and disappeared just a secondter.


    Although most of the Apprentices that enter the city won''t be able to know what happened, it could not escape Zatiel detection.


    ''This is a spell that detects the power of the individuals that enter the city. The moment it saw that our strength was inferior to a rank 1 Magus, it retreated immediately. It''s understandable since even the strongest rank 3 Apprentice poses no threat to the magic tower.


    Of course, Zatiel was never worried about his Abyss Aura or his Chaotic Core being exposed.


    His Abyss Aura was created from his Chaotic Core, using spirit force as the base. So everyone will just feel the spirit force when they detect his energy, and as for the Core, it was designed so that no external force could detect it. Unless someone incredibly stronger than him were to scan him, finding it out was almost impossible.


    As they went deeper into the city, they were startled to see a mind-blowing 300-meter tall tower. Its exterior was made out of obsidian metal, and you could see inscriptions surrounding the tower that emitted a mystic glow on it from time to time. The tower emitted a majestic pressure that makes most people afraid to look at it directly.


    It was the first time that Ezequiel saw something so impressive, and thanks to his high affinity for energy, he could feel the immense amount of energy that was concentrated inside the tower.


    Zatiel saw the look on the boy''s face but said nothing. After all, even he was impressed. Of course, what impressed him was not the size of the tower or the amount of energy it had, but it was the runes that were inscribed on its surface.


    ''Whoever inscribed those runes certainly has a high level of proficiency in them. Those runes are strong enough to augment the strength of whoever controls the tower to defeat someone a rank above them,'' Zatiel thought as he continued to walk towards the tower.


    They headed directly to the tower to register as apprentices there, and decide their next step.


    As they got closer and closer to the city, the number of apprentices increased exponentially, and by the time they arrived at the tower, the sight of rank 3 Apprentices was prettymon.


    As Zatiel and Ezequiel get closer to the tower, more and more apprentices started to pay attention to them, after all, seeing two new people with a concentration of energy in their body corresponding to rank 3 apprentices with a bag full of precious parts of magical creatures is something you don''t get to see every day.


    Although you could see greed in the eyes of most apprentices, none of them acted, it was as if they were waiting for something.


    It didn''t take long for an apprentice to interrupt their path. He was a man of 2 and a half meters with a brawny figure, and ording to the energy he released, he was a rank 3 Apprentice that followed the path of body refinement.


    On his square face, you could see a vicious smile as hees closer to Zatiel.


    "Stop there little brats, you are new so I will do you a favor for you, and exin how things are done here. I am Nick and I am in charge of checking any type of material thates to the tower. Now give me the bags so I can assess if there is anything wrong with what you have. If you resist I will be forced to consider that you are hiding something and will have to take them by force."


    This was robbery in broad daylight, but none of the other apprentices said anything, as if this was apletely normal thing to happen.


    "The neer got bad luck."


    "Hmph, is their fault for showing their wealth so openly."


    "Nick always does this type of thing."


    "What can we do? After all, he has his brother as his backer."


    Nick just stood there, and didn''t say anything else. He was used to this type of bullying, and it always ends up in one of two ways, either the neers resign themselves to their bad luck or they argue and try to resist, in either case, he always got what he wanted.


    But contrary to his assumptions, what he got today was somethingpletely different.


    "Ha ha ha, I''m sorry, it''s just that I never thought that such a cliche scene would happen just as I arrived here. But luckily, you arrived just at the right time. I was looking for a guide and you are perfect for the job," Zatiel spoke as heughed.


    Nick was furious, not just because of the reply of the boy in front of him, but because of how the rest of the apprentice started to look at him. He knows that if he doesn''t teach these neers a lesson, he will be theughing stock in front of everyone in the tower.


    "You little shit, I will show you the price of insulting me."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Nick threw a punch with all his strength directly at Zatiel''s head. If this attack connected, it would be enough to kill any apprentice magi.


    But before his fist could even get close to his opponent''s head, a lightning-covered figure showed up by his side, and threw a kick directly at his head.


    It was so fast that Nick could barely react in time and raise his arms to block the attack. The lightning exploded on his arm, throwing his body 5 meters behind before he could stabilize himself.


    "You bastar..." Nick was furious and was cursing at his enemy, but before he could even finish speaking, the lightning figure showed up again.


    This time, it appeared right in front of him, andunched a punch directly at his stomach.


    Nick didn''t have time to react as the punch buried itself on his body making him spit blood, but this was not the end. The lightning figure started to attack him from all directions, treating Nick like a punching bag.


    Nick was feeling like his bones were breaking under the hits, and his body was burning from the electricity that was running through the fists.


    Finally, the figure grabbed Nicks''s head, and crushed it against the ground, making some of his teeth fly away.


    As Ezequiel retracted the lightning, he could be seen standing by the side of the now badly wounded Nick, and was acting as if nothing happened.


    The rest of the apprentices were shocked, one of the reasons why Nick could bully neers beside his backer was his great strength. But who would have thought that of these two neers, the youngest one that looked like a kid would be so powerful that he was able to onesided defeat a Rank 3 Body-Refinement Apprentice and more so, using his body as the main weapon.


    "He is too strong!"


    "That boy is terrifying."


    "Nick is badly wounded, his brother won''t let this slide."


    Zatiel didn''t care for what the others were saying as he started to walk to the now wounded apprentice. Although he knows that getting attention couldnd him in some trouble, some degree of dominance has to be disyed or else it will be very difficult to establish a foothold in this ce.


    Once he arrives in front of Nick, he picks him up by the neck and speaks to him.


    "Now be a good guide, and tell us where the center to register new apprentices is."

 Chapter 11: Pseudo-Magus

    The interior of the tower was the same obsidian ck color as the exterior, it was very simple without extravagant stuff like pictures or trophies made of monster parts; truly fitting the pragmatic nature of the Magi.


    The first level of the tower was the ce where apprentices gathered, there were all kinds of stalls, some sold special metals, others potions and herbs, and some sold weapons.


    Some stalls were used for administrative purposes, like the management center or the exchange center.


    In a corner, you could see groups of apprentices that looked at the huge screens in the wall.


    At the entrance of the tower, there was a blue tform apanied by a statue of a lion. This was the portal to the upper floors of the tower.


    Zatiel and Ezequiel enter the first level of the tower and are headed to the ce where the management center of the tower was located. A lot of apprentices were looking at them and murmuring, but Zatiel ignores them.


    The reason for the attention was that Zatiel was dragging a wounded person by the neck.


    Of course, it was Nick who was so terrified from the duo that didn''t dare to be stubborn and did as he was told, bringing them to the management center. But beside fear in his eyes, there was hatred as he looked at Zatiel.


    Although he was trying to hide it, to Zatiel it was so obvious that he may as well scream, but he didn''t do anything.


    Firstly, because to Zatiel this person was insignificant and could never pose a threat, and second because if he were to kill him, they would definitely start a lot of trouble and maybe even Rank 1 Magus will involve themselves, after all, they were not part of the tower yet and although most magic towers don''t meddle if apprentices start fighting, killing was prohibited.


    Zatiel knows that he isn''t strong enough to fight against a Rank 1 Magus yet, and even if he is, from what he can tell about this tower, the person who controls it is definitely superior to rank 1.


    After a couple of minutes, they arrived at the management center. There were 4 apprentices in charge of the stall. From what he could see, every one of them was a Rank 2 Apprentice. Zatiel went to the one that was unupied and reading a book.


    The apprentice was a middle-age man, despite his age, he was barely a Rank 2 Apprentice meaning that his chance of bing a Magus was null.


    "Hello, I want to know the procedure to be part of the tower, and also where I can exchange some magical creature parts for magic crystals?" Zatiel asked.


    The apprentice barely looks at Zatiel with a tired face, but he was instantly startled, not because Zatiel and Ezequiel''s strength of Rank 3 Apprentices, after all, in this ce that level of power was not umon.


    What attracted his attention was the wounded person that Zatiel was carrying. He recognized Nick immediately, after all, the apprentice has made himself famous for being a brutal person, but now he was being dragged like an animal.


    "What are you doing with him!" The apprentice could not help but ask.


    "Oh, he is just our guide, don''t worry about it, now you haven''t told us what we asked," Zatiel responded like nothing happened.


    "Yes! Sorry for that, I am Richard. I will give you the information immediately," Richard was scared. He did not dare to offend someone who dares to drag a Rank 3 Apprentice like a dog.


    "Good, now that you are no longer needed, you can leave," Zatiel says as Nick falls, making him smash his face on the ground.


    Nick picked himself off the ground, and contrary to what most were expecting, he started to leave the tower without a word. But although he looked emotionless, if you could see his eyes, you would detect immense hatred.


    ''He is notpletely stupid,'' thought Zatiel.


    Ezequiel saw the man leaving, and his years as an assassin, and instincts as a Neo-Demon let him detect the hatred that he was hiding. He knows that it is never good to leave unfinished business so he was preparing to handle it immediately, but just when he was about to act, a voice was heard in his consciousness through the core.


    "Don''t do it, the problems that it will carry outweighs the threat that he represents. If you want to get rid of him, wait until you can do it without anyone knowing, and don''t worry, you won''t have to wait for long. I am sure that he wille back on his own very soon."


    Ezequiel looked at Zatiel and nodded.


    "I''m sorry for that, continue."


    "Ah, yes. To be part of the tower and be able to use the facilities, you have to sign a contract. Since you are an apprentice, the contract is very simple. The principal point is that you will have to undertake a certain number of tower missions at every determined amount of time.


    Of course, if you want toplete more missions, you can do it. The reward is in magic crystals, and merit points. Merit Points is a currency used to obtain certain materials that can''t be exchanged with simple wealth," Richard says as he delivers the contracts to Zatiel and Ezequiel.


    ''It is simple. Although it doesn''t provide much help, and we will have to pay to use most of the facilities, we will be able to use the tower to rest and experiment. The best part is that it isn''t anything that is too binding.''


    "Ok, we have no problem with this, what else needs to be done?"


    "We will also have to scan your maics force field to make an investigation and be sure that you are not wanted for some crimes."


    A maic force field is produced from the energies that all beings carried on their bodies.


    The higher the amount of energy, the stronger the force field, and since it is unique to every individual, it is normally used as a means to recognize someone. After all, making some changes in your physical appearance is very easy with spells.


    ''It''s normal that they investigate, but it doesn''t matter. When I became a Neo-Demon, everything about me changed, and that includes my force field.''


    "Ok, you can begin immediately with the scan."


    Richard nodded and picked a crystal from his desk. After giving themand to the crystal, a wave of energy scanned both Zatiel and Ezequiel.


    [Bip.. external energy trying to assess the host, permission to interrupt.]


    "Denied"


    ''This time it was able to act, I guess that the wave at the entrance of the city was too subtle for the chip current abilities.''


    The scansted 3 seconds, and information was being sent to Richard through the crystal in his hand.


    "We have no information about a crime associated with any of you, so as long you sign the contract, you will be part of the tower."


    Zatiel and Ezequiel delivered the signed contract to Richard.


    "I have uploaded the information in the contracts. Now if you follow me, I can take you to the ce where you can get your magic robes, and a guidebook about the tower. It is the same ce where you can exchange your carcasses."


    Richard guided them to another stall not far from the one they were, in which an old man who was a Rank 2 Apprentice was sitting.


    It is very normal for these jobs to be taken for people with little talent, after all, the other apprentices with a chance to be a Magus will never waste their time in this type of job.


    "Hey old Hal, these are the new apprentices. They need magical robes and also need to exchange some parts of magical creatures."


    "Who are the new ones and what do they bring?... Oh, so it is you."


    The apprentice named old Hal had already seen Zatiel and Ezequiel when they entered, bringing Nick with them, so he knew that these were people he should not offend. He immediately gives them their robes, ck for Zatiel and white for Ezequiel matching the color of their hair, and also a crystal to each one of them.


    "This crystal has all the basic information about the tower as the facilities, the sses you can take and much more. If you give me your sacs, I can evaluate the worth of the materials you brought."


    "Here you go," spoke Zatiel as he and Ezequiel gave their bags to the old man.


    Although he was old, the apprentice certainly has proficiency in his field. With a crystal, he starts to scan all the magical creatures.


    As they were waiting for the old man, Zatiel started to exin the use of the crystal to Ezequiel after seeing the boy not knowing what to do with it.


    "Little EZ, this crystal is the mostmon way of keeping the information. You just have to put the crystal on your forehead and try to guide your consciousness into it, and the information will start to appear in your mind."


    Zatiel nodded as he saw the boy starting to go through the information in the crystal. As for him, he has a more efficient and faster way of doing it.


    "A.I. Chip, scan the crystal, and imprint the information directly into my mind."


    [Bip... starting scan,


    Scanningpleted


    Uploading information.]


    Zatiel felt a current of electricity go through his brain as the information started to appear in his mind. As he went through the new information, a voice distracted him.


    "Ok, I have finished checking. Most of the magical creatures are on the border of the strength of a Rank 2 or 3 Apprentice. ording to the parameter established for the tower, you will receive 223 magic crystals."


    "That much!" Richard could not help but exim, after all, his sry was barely 10 crystals a month, and saw someone making a transaction for more money than he makes in a year.


    Old Hal was already used to this type of transaction, so he didn''t say much.


    Since Zatiel was satisfied with the amount, the transaction ended quickly and the old man handed him a bag with magic crystals. As for the expression of the apprentice, he didn''t take it into ount.


    "Thanks for the help."


    "It was nothing, also this is the ce where you deliver the material of the mission, so I guess we will see each other often."


    "See you soon then, and you too," Zatiel says to the old man and Richard, but he doesn''t go very far when Richard reaches out to him.


    "Is there something else?" Zatiel asked at the apprentice who was making a troubled face.


    After a moment, and seeing that no one was looking in their direction, Richard came closer to Zatiel, and started to whisper.


    "You have to be careful. Nick''s older brother is a Pseudo-Magus, and a very powerful one. He will definitelye to you for hurting his brother."


    Zatiel saw the apprentice and understood why he was helping him. Reaching into his bag, he took 30 crystals and gave them to him.


    "Thanks for the help."


    "You''re wee!" Richard said as he took the crystal and returned to his desk with a smile on his face.


    Ezequiel was listening to everything, and concern was shown in his face. He knows that it will be easy to kill a Rank 3 Apprentice with his strength, but a Pseudo Magus is supposed to be much stronger more strong, and he doesn''t know if he can defeat them.


    "Master, there will be trouble?"


    "Don''t worry little EZ, as long we are in the same rank nothing can present a threat to us," Zatiel spoke with carefree expression.


    Ezequiel nodded, and his expression returned to his usual calm one. To him, his master is always right.


    Zatiel looked at the boy and smiled.


    ''He still doesn''t understand how strong he is. Barely 3 months ago he was just a normal boy, and now he was able to defeat a Rank 3 Apprentice with just his body. If it wasn''t for his opponent having a strong body, he would have killed him in the first exchange.''

 Chapter 12: Abyssal Chain

    Zatiel and Ezequiel headed to the spot where most of the apprentices were gathering, the ce under the huge screens on the walls.


    One of these screens was showing the missions that were avable at the moment and another was showing the courses that you could take and how much you have to pay to attend.


    In these ces were podiums from which you could get more detailed information about the mission, and with which you could ept them.


    ording to the rules of the tower, every new apprentice has to take a mission when they be part of it. After every mission, you have time to rest before doing the next one. The times vary depending on the difficulty of the mission.


    For a mission with a difficulty that can be done safely for a Rank 1 Apprentice, you have a month of rest, for a difficulty corresponding to Rank 2 Apprentices, you have 3 months, for Rank 3 Apprentices difficulty you have 6 months of rest, and for pseudo-magus mission, you have a year of rest.


    Zatiel arrived at the screen and headed straight for the podium, activating it


    "A.I. Chip, search for the missions in which I can obtain the materials to start crafting runes, and have a difficulty level of pseudo-magus."


    [Bip.. beginning search¡­]


    ''With our power, we can take a mission for pseudo-magus without a problem. I should pick one that allows me to gather materials to start crafting runes that can enhance mine, and little EZ abilities.


    Although the ones I can craft are only basic runes at the moment, they should be enough for now, and I can also sell them to generate some ie.''


    It didn''t take long for the chip to show a list of missions that fulfill Zatiel''s requirements. After going through them, and deciding the mission they will take, he headed to the stall the other apprentices had pointed towards.


    "Little EZ, pick something that suits you," said Zatiel as he started to look at the magical equipment that was put on disy.


    Ezequiel''s previous weapon was destroyed before they arrived at the tower. This was prettymon. After all, normal weapons can''t withstand spells going through them for a prolonged amount of time.


    Most of what was shown was basic magical equipment with some minor enhancements or abilities, like a ne with an improvement for spirit force of 1 point or night vision goggles.


    Zatiel finally chooses a sword, it was a one-handed sword, Although it didn''t have any magical enhancement, what mattered to him was that it was made from mitratium, a very durable, and conductive magical metal, letting him worry about changing his weapon because it could not withstand his power.


    As for Ezequiel, he chose a short sword. It was pretty simple, but in its center, there was a green crystal. This sword could apply paralytic poison in his attacks that were strong enough to knock out a magical creature.


    Neither Zatiel nor Ezequiel chose anything else, after all, their funds were very limited at the moment, and besides their attributes were already very overbearing, and for defense, they both have their spells, and as Neo-Demons their bodies were extremely durable.


    Both swords cost Zatiel 120 magical crystals, plus the 30 that he gave to the apprentice named Richard, he now only has 73 crystals remaining.


    ''Wealth vanishes fast,'' thought Zatiel without really caring for the amount of crystals, after all, he never thought that the amount was anything significant.


    "Little EZ, I will transfer the information to you about the mission which we are going to do. We will be working separately this time and doing different missions."


    Ezequiel nodded at the words of Zatiel. Although it will be the first time they separate from each other since they met, Ezequiel wasn''t a child whose hand had to be held at every moment, he was more than capable toplete a mission alone.


    The information about the mission appears in his mind immediately.


    "Pseudo Magus level mission: Bring the brains of 5 Harpies. These magical creatures have the strength of Rank 3 Apprentices, with the ability to fly and able to use wind spells.


    Some of the strongest harpies have the power equal to a Pseudo Magus and can use a spell that affects the consciousness of the opponent. Reward: 300 magical crystals and 10 merit points."


    Together with the information was a map, and the most possible location of the harpies.


    "The more brains you gather, the better, and I will need you to bring the ws of those creatures."


    Ezequiel didn''t ask why they were needed and just nodded. For him, if Zatiel needed something, there was a good reason for it.


    Zatiel was already ustomed to the attitude of the boy, so he didn''t say much about hisck of words.


    "Remember little EZ, never overestimate your power or underestimate your opponent. The battlefield is always changing, and if you neglect your surroundings for a second, it could be fatal. If you find yourself in a dangerous situation escape immediately, that is an order," Zatiel says with seriousness in his face.


    Ezequiel again didn''t speak and nodded, but warmth could be seen in his eyes.


    "Master, that person from before, I think he will take the opportunity to attack during our mission taking advantage of the fact that we are separated from each other, and are away from the tower."


    ording to the regtion of the tower, apprentices that were part of it were prohibited from killing each other, but as long there was no witness, and unless the person has an influential background, no one will investigate the ''disappearance'' of an apprentice.


    "They will definitely do it, but don''t worry. If they act as I think they will, there won''t be a problem. I was going to give you another spell to practice, but I can see that you are breaking the limits of the spell which I taught you, and improving it to make it perfect for yourself. So you should keep with it"


    "Yes master, I also felt that the spell can be more powerful, and I can increase the ways I can apply it," Ezequiel was very satisfied with the spell so he didn''t want to split his attention with another one.


    Zatiel always thought that quality ovees quantity, especially as a Neo-Demon. Thanks to the core, the spell can be improved constantly, and the body can increase the proficiency in that type of energy very quickly. He was only going to learn another battle spell to ovee hisck of long-range attacks. And with that, it will be enough for the time being.


    "We should rest for today, tomorrow we will start with our corresponding mission," Zatiel spoke as he and Ezequiel headed to the portal to the second floor where the apprentices rested.


    As they were about to use the portal, Zatiel looked at the statue with the form of a lion that was beside it.


    ''A golem with a power equal to a Rank 1 Magus, I have to be careful in this ce or else if I catch too much attention, I could get into serious trouble.''


    Without stopping, he goes into the portal, and vanishes from the first level.


    After a couple of seconds, Zatiel and Ezequiel appear on the second level. Normally most apprentices will show some difort due to the teleportation, but thanks to their physique, neither of them felt different.


    The second level was full of rectangr houses, one next to the other, made of the same material as the rest of the tower was made, with nothing else but the portal.


    Zatiel and Ezequiel quickly found those houses corresponding to them. To enter them, you have to use the crystal in which the guidebook was present.


    Zatiel entered the house. As he inspected the ce, he saw that it was a two-floor house, with a bathroom, a ce to sleep, and a kitchen on the first floor, and on the second floor there was a ce that could be used for doing different experiments.


    ''Not bad, this ce is trulyfortable, and has most of the necessary stuff.''


    Zatiel leaves his stuff in a corner and heads to the shower. After a couple of minutes, he gets out with his magic robe on, and he heads to the second floor.


    On the second floor, there was a ce with all kinds of chemical and magical equipment, and there was a closed room with thick walls. Thest one was used to practice spells, and on the ground was a carpet which had the ability to calm the mind.


    Zatiel headed to the room and sat on the carpet as he was thinking about the new spell he was going to learn.


    "My current Abyss Aura has reached the threshold of 10 points. From this point on, growing it will be difficult without consuming high concentrations of energy. With my current aura, I should be able to use that spell."


    The spell that Zatiel was thinking of learning was known as Abyssal Chains and was one of the most powerful Rank 0 spells which he had. But it was also extremely difficult to control.


    "A.I. Chip, show me the information about the spell Abyssal Chains, and circte my Abyss Aura to activate the spell."


    [Bip...


    Abyssal Chain: Creates chains that appear from the air around the host, and can attack and bind the opponent. These chains are created from abyss energy making them apply fire and negative energy damage, and they are also extremely resistant. Every chain has to be controlled individually, putting great pressure on the host''s consciousness.


    Consumption: Abyss Aura- 2 every minute. Damage: every chain can make up to 10 degrees of damage, and also it can apply a corroding effect to the body of whoever is in contact with them unless this person can use abyss aura as well. Effective distance: 20 meters around the host.]


    Zatiel started to focus on the spell and used his abyss aura to activate it.


    After a couple of minutes, a chain that looks like it was made from burning metal with an arrow-like head in front of it materializes beside Zatiel. A minuteter, a second shows up, then a third, and finally a fourth.


    Zatiel opened his eyes as he started to assess the chains.


    ''I can control a maximum of 4 chains at the moment, and I will still be able to attack with my body.''


    Every chain is like a new limb that he has to control, so every single one takes a toll in his mental capacities. Right now, he can control 4 chains, and still use his body normally.


    As he grows stronger, his cognitive function and abilities will also improve, allowing him to increase the number of chains that he can control.


    Focusing his eyes in a corner of the room, hemanded the chains to attack. With an amazing speed, the four chains crashed against the walls making marks on it.


    With anothermand, the chains started to move through the room, sometimes moving as if they were crunching on something, or connecting with each other to make a wall before Zatiel.


    ''This spell is truly practical, let me see its maximum actual damage. A.I. Chip, record, and show me the information about my next attack.''


    The chain started to intertwine with itself and thus, the 4 chains became one. This new single-chain crashed against the wall, making a hole in its surface, and the surroundings starting to melt.


    [Bip... 19 degrees of damage, and 4 degrees of fire and negative energy every second.]


    "Very good, this will be more than enough. I should rest now, tomorrow will be a long day."

 Chapter 13: Endless Forest

    Zatiel and Ezequiel were leaving the tower toplete their mission in the Endless Forest. Zatiel was wearing his ck magic robe and carrying his one-handed sword on his waist and Ezequiel had his white magic robe on along with his short sword.


    As they were about to leave the first level of the tower, a group of three apprentices headed in their direction.


    The one in the lead came to Zatiel and Ezequiel and spoke.


    "Hello my name is Leonard, can we go somewhere more quiet to speak?"


    Zatiel looked at the man and his followers, and after a moment, he nodded and they moved to an unupied ce on the first floor.


    As they were moving, Zatiel assessed the apprentices. Two were male and one a female. The female is a Rank 3 Apprentice with blond hair and although she had a skinny body; it was very well defined. One of the males was also a Rank 3 Apprentice with a robust body of 2.2 meters high with huge muscles and an ape-like face.


    As for Leonard, he had a 1.9 stature, with a handsome face and although his body was thin, his maic force field was the strongest of the three, proving it by how it keeps his surroundings constantly in a state of coldness. Zatiel could feel that his power was that of a Pseudo-Magus.


    ''This Leonard should be following the path of an Elemental Magi, corresponding to the water energy and he probably specialized in the cold intent of water. In the woman I can''t feel a dominant element in her spirit so she should probably be following the Arcane path, as for thest man, I can feel a power in his blood constantly changing him, he should be a Bloodline Apprentice. A pretty well-made group covering all their individual weaknesses.''


    The Magi have a variety of paths they can follow to strengthen themselves, but the most mainstream ones are the 4 great paths corresponding to elemental magi, arcane magi, bloodline magi, and body-refinement magi.


    Every path has its advantages in certain areas, either battle power, versatility or endurance, so there is no superior path.


    The Elemental path is the one in which the magus transforms their body and spirit with the natural energies of the world. Although this path limits the type of energies and spells you can use, they create almost no restrictions in your path through the ranks and give you incredible battle power.


    The arcane path is for those who do not want to be restricted by the energies of the world and use arcane knowledge to improve their abilities. Although they are not the most useful in the battlefield, if you are marked by someone like this, hundreds of curses or strange phenomena await you.


    The bloodline path is the one where you use the blood or organ of a powerful magical creature to change your body and transform yourself into a humanoid magical creature.


    This is the path which generally has the strongest magi. After all, the rest of the paths still had their base as humans with vulnerable bodies. But there is a downside to this path; the bloodline shackles. This affects every bloodline magi, eventually making it almost impossible to advance past a certain point.


    As for the body-refinement magi, this path consists of constantly strengthening the body with some radioactive substance or poison to stimte the potential of the body. Although like bloodline magi, they are extremely resistant to physical damage, the human body has a limited amount of potential so most of them don''t advance very far in the ranks.


    There are always exceptions to this, and these exceptional geniuses be extremely powerful.


    After a moment, they arrived at a corner of the first floor where there was no one but themselves.


    "First of all, let me introduce ourselves. As I was saying, my name is Leonard, she is Beatriz and the big guy is Arnold," says Leonard with a rxed smile on his face.


    "I am Zatiel and he is Ezequiel, so what do you want?" answers Zatiel with an emotionless face. As for Ezequiel, he only nodded.


    The man named Arnold immediately shows anger on his face by the rude way of speaking, but Zatiel didn''t even look at him. Just as he was about to shout, Leonard raises his hand and stops him.


    "I want to give you some information. ording to some news I got recently, the brother of Nick, Arthur is back from his mission and they should be making a move very soon, I must warn you Arthur is a Fire Elemental Pseudo-Magus and he has a lot of people in his group," spoke Leonard with a smile still on his face as if he didn''t detect the previous tone of Zatiel.


    Just as Zatiel was going to respond, the chip''s voice was heard in his mind


    [Bip.. spells are being used in the host. The function of the spell appears to be to collect information about the emotional state of the host.]


    Zatiel looked at the arcane apprentice but chose not to expose her. After all, using this type of spell on him was useless.


    "Oh, is that all," says Zatiel without really caring for the content of the information, after all, as long his opponent is not Rank 1, they are in no way a threat to either him or Ezequiel.


    Leonard could not help but change the expression on his face when he saw the indifference on Zatiel and Ezequiel''s faces. He was expecting at least one of them to show some degree of concern, but nothing happened.


    Remembering his original intention, he continued to speak.


    "Actually, we can help you if you join us. Arthur won''t dare to attack you."


    "No need. If that is all you wanted to say, we need to leave," Zatiel spoke without even thinking about the proposition and started to leave.


    "Wait, don''t you think you''re being too selfish by imposing your decisions on others," says Leonard, now showing obvious anger in his face as he looks at Zatiel.


    Zatiel immediately understood the meaning of those words, and he could not help but make a mocking face at him.


    "Little EZ, I think he is talking about you."


    Ezequiel said nothing, but an immense killing intent radiated from him as he looked at Leonard, he understood the intention of the man right away; he wanted to create friction between them and separate him from Zatiel.


    How could Leonard know that to Ezequiel anyone who wants to hurt the rtionship with his master was someone he will kill in the first chance he gets?


    The reaction of the boy startled Leonard, and even more due to the threat that he felt.


    "There is your answer, thanks for the info," says Zatiel as he leaves.


    Ezequiel keeps looking at Leonard for a moment before following Zatiel.


    "Bastards!" Leonard shouted as he saw the duo leave.


    "Boss, that boy is truly terrifying."


    The one who spoke was Arnold, whose back was now soaked in sweat. As a bloodline Apprentice, his instincts were greater than the rest, and he could subconsciously feel how his bloodline was telling him that he was before a higher life-form.


    Leonard said nothing about Arnold''sment, after all, he also felt scared before the boy. After a moment, he calmed himself and looked at Beatriz.


    "I felt nothing from any of the two, but at the end, the boy was ready to kill all of us without hesitation."


    The reason that she didn''t say a word during the meeting was that she had to be in constant concentration to release the spell and try to felt the emotions of Zatiel and Ezequiel, unfortunately for her, both of them had an extremely strong will and unless they want to show it, their emotions will leave their control.


    "Let''s go, they are Arthur''s problem now, we will not meddle," spoke Leonard with an annoyed face.


    Both Arnold and Beatrix rxed, knowing that they will not be involved with those two.


    ....


    The moment Zatiel and Ezequiel left the tower, they used their agility spells and covered themselves in shadows and lightning respectively as they headed towards the Endless Forest.


    Both of them had reached such a proficiency level in their spells that the amount of Abyss Aura they use is almost the same as the amount that they regenerate, so as long they only use it to enhance their speed, the cost is almost null.


    After a couple of hours, they reached the Endless Forest; it was a ce full of gigantic trees and immense mountains could be seen at the distance. This is a ce that the Magi civilization has yet to conquer.


    This is the home of some truly powerful magical creatures of the Magi World, and it was also the ce where special herbs of all types could be found.


    Magical creatures controlled this ce and the deeper you enter, the stronger they get, until a point where finding magical creatures stronger than Rank 2 was easy.


    Either for the body of magical creatures or the special herbs, the Endless Forest was always full of apprentices and Magi, but of course, they do not always end up like a hunter, a lot of the times the Magi be the prey and end up as food.


    "Little EZ, remember what I told you. If you find yourself in danger, escape. Don''t enter the forest more than enough toplete your mission. We can only act in the forest''s periphery with our current strength.


    If you enter too deep, you could trespass on the terrain of a Rank 1 magical creature. If that were to happen, contact me through the core and I wille to help you," Zatiel spoke to the boy with a serious face. After all, even he could die in this ce.


    Ezequiel nodded, he already knows to never underestimate his opponent or overestimate his abilities.


    "Andstly, I am sure that we will have some ''friends'' from the tower giving uspany. You should take care of them when you get the chance," spoke Zatiel as he looked in the direction of the tower. He could tell that someone was looking at them, but they were very careful and made sure to stay hidden.


    Ezequiel nodded as he looked back. Although he didn''t have Zatiel experience, the instincts of a Neo-Demons were superb, so he also detected that they were being watched.


    "We will gather here in a month."


    Having finished speaking, Zatiel and Ezequiel split and headed in different directions as they entered the forest.


    Half an hour after they left, seven figures showed up, all of them had magical robes and there were two men in the lead, one was tall with red hair and a stoic face while the other had a skinny body and serpent-like face.


    "Benjamin, you will take Nick and Robert and take care of the boy and I will take the rest and head for the other one," said the red-haired man to the skinny man.


    "Brother this is too much, I alone can take care of that brat, thest time was just because he took me by surprise!" Nick says to the red-haired man.


    "Shut up, you useless garbage! Haven''t you already made me look bad enough?"


    Although Nick was angry at being insulted, he didn''t dare to show it on his face and just lowered his head.


    "Benjamin, don''t underestimate him, something tells me he is dangerous."


    "Don''t worry Arthur, I know what to do, let''s go," said the skinny man before heading towards Ezequiel apanied by two other apprentices.


    Arthur saw them leave before heading with the rest in the direction Zatiel left.

 Chapter 14: End of monitoring

    Zatiel was getting deeper into the Endless Forest, heading in the direction where his mission took ce, and as he was advancing through the trees, he looked back.


    ''The strongest ones are after me, well, the rest won''t be a problem for little EZ. Still, I must say they are really careful.''


    Zatiel could feel that the number of people who were following him has diminished, but the overall strength has not.


    ''They are constantly using spells to hide from me, the one they call Arthur is a cautious person, but it doesn''t matter, eventually they will reveal themselves,'' Zatiel thought with a calm face, not concerned for the threat that the group could present to him.


    As Zatiel was advancing, he was making sure not to draw attention from the magical creatures that made theirir in this ce.


    The ones that find themselves in this area barely have the power equal to a Rank 2 Apprentice and could not contribute anything to Zatiel, except a waste of time.


    Even though he will only be acting in the periphery of the forest, the periphery itself covers thousands of kilometers, after all, the Endless Forest in its entirety covers hundreds of thousands of kilometers.


    ''With my current speed it will take me around five days to arrive at the mission zone, I will take an opportunity to practice my spells.''


    As he was advancing, chains materialized around him only to disappear in the next second. Although abyssal chains were an extremelyplex spell to master, as a Neo-Demon, Zatiel''s talent was amazing so he was increasing his proficiency with every minute.


    After a couple hours stronger magical creatures started to show up, most of them with a strength rivaling Rank 3 Apprentices.


    As Zatiel was advancing, he found himself before an Earth Rhino. This was a 3-meter tall creature with earth-like armor covering his body and a weight bordering a ton.


    Although this creature could not use any type of spell, it has amazing strength and its resistance was incredible.


    ''This beast is extremely resistant to physical damage, so it is a suitable target to test the strength of Abyssal Chains.''


    Zatiel stood before the creature without taking his sword or adopting a fighting stance.


    The Earth Rhino detected Zatiel and roared in his direction, trying to intimidate him and making him leave.


    Even though the beast will normally attack anyone that dares to cross into his territory, it has already developed an intellect not inferior to that of a normal person, letting him know that something was off with the human in front of him.


    So instead of attacking blindly, it tried to scare the individual and make him leave, but unfortunately for it, the person didn''t react to its intimidation.


    Seeing as the human did not retreat, the rhino finally attacked charging with immense strength towards Zatiel.


    As the rhino advanced, it carried so much power that the ground was cracking, proving the amazing strength that the creature was carrying in its charge.


    Zatiel kept himself immovable before the creature and when the rhino was barely 20 meters from him, his eyes focused and his Abyss Aura burst as 4 abyss chains appeared around him, and with incredible speed and precision, theyunched themselves to the magical creature.


    The Earth Rhino felt an immense threat when it saw those chains, but he was charging with such strength and the chains were so fast that it could not dodge.


    The chains rotated as they headed for the creature, one headed right towards its throat inserting itself 50 centimeters inside the creature, and another crashed against its spine.


    Although it didn''t achieve too much, it carried so much strength that it fractured the first vertebra.


    Even though the chains hurt the beast, it was not enough to prove a threat to its life, but it momentarily paralyzed the rhino''s head, letting the other two chains attack.


    Each of these chains went towards one ear, piercing them and reaching the brain. The pain was so much that the beast gave a thunderous roar.


    Even though the beast was done for, and its charge was diminishing his speed considerably, it still arrived before Zatiel with considerable momentum and although he could have easily dodged the now dying beast, he didn''t move.


    ''Let''s see how strong my body is on its own.''


    Adopting a posture and focusing all the power of his body into his fist, Zatielunched a punch with all his strength at the rhino head.


    BOOOM!


    A bang could be heard as they collided against each other, the impact was so great that Zatiel was thrown 6 meters before he could stabilize himself and as he did, he could feel his arm shaking and his bones were cracked from the impact.


    As for the Earth Rhino, a depression in the shape of a fist appeared on its head and it was thrown 3 meters in the air before crashing on the ground.


    After taking a moment to calm his body and making sure the Earth Rino was dead, Zatiel assessed his strength.


    ''Not bad, although I was on the losing side, the strength of that impact was enough to severely hurt any Pseudo Magus even if they practice body-refinement and I merely end with some broken bones, and besides the creature was carrying huge momentum increasing the strength of its impact.


    Since my bones are fractured, it is a good opportunity to see how good the Abyss Regeneration is.''


    As he was thinking, a significant amount of Abyss Aura inside his body headed directly to his arm and started to mend the bones, and before a minute passed, these injuries werepletely healed.


    Neo-Demons, like all powerful life forms, have strong passive regeneration. But any injury can be healed quickly by using Abyss Regeneration.


    It consists of using the Abyss Aura to increase the speed at which the body heals. It was not a spell, but more like a natural function of the body.


    After healing his body, Zatiel headed towards the rhino and dissected it with his sword, taking the heart of the creature. After having done that, he left the ce, leaving the rest of the body behind.


    ''The sound of the fight and the smell of blood will surely attract other creatures, I should leave, besides I already have the most important part with me,'' thought Zatiel as he looked at the heart.


    Generally, the magical creatures before advancing to Rank 1 have most of their energy concentrated in the heart, so this part is very nutritious and is the most important part of their body.


    After a couple of minutes of moving and making sure that no beast was in the proximities, Zatiel cooked the heart of the Earth Rhino and once it was ready, he devoured it.


    As he consumed it, his body immediately started to digest it and the Chaotic Core began to absorb the energy umted to use it to improve itself.


    ''I should rest for today, it will be dark soon and will it be difficult to advance without deviating from the path.''


    Although seeing in the dark was no problem for a Neo-Demon, trying to move in a straight path in the forest during the night will be difficult and a waste of energy.


    So Zatiel jumped to the branch of a tree and closed his eyes to rest. Still, despite his eyes being closed, he was constantly assessing his surroundings.


    ....


    It was the third day of advancing towards the mission zone, and during those days, Zatiel kept practicing his Abyssal Chains with some magical creatures and used them as food to improve his power.


    This day he faced a Raging Hyena, a beast that was supposed to be a threat even for some Pseudo-Magi. This beast was especially skillful in agility, so it constantly dodged the attacks from the abyssal chains.


    But when it got overconfident and pounced on Zatiel, trying to tear his body with its ws, unfortunately for the creature, Zatiel used his Shadow Form to vanish from the beast''s view and appeared right by its side.


    The Raging Hyena tried to make some distance, but it didn''t manage to do it before a sword was buried in its neck and it didn''t even have time to scream as Zatiel rotated the weapon, killing the creature. After taking the useful part of its body, he left the ce.


    It was when the day was ending that something strange happened.


    ''The have stopped following me, how odd.''


    Although Zatiel could not pinpoint the location of Arthur and his team, he could always feel as though they were keeping an eye on him, but at this moment, the feeling disappeared.


    ''They wouldn''t have followed me three days, only to disappear without doing anything. They must have been tracking me to make sure of something, and now that they know something, they are implementing the next part of whatever n they have,'' Zatiel thought, and after a moment he looked in the direction where his mission would take ce.


    ''Interesting, they are even more careful that I think, but still, trying to trick me is futile.''


    Zatiel started to eat the heart of the Raging Hyena with a carefree expression as if nothing was happening.

 Chapter 15: Ambush

    Harpies are bird-like magic creatures, and like most birds they prefer to make their home in high ces like the top of a mountain. They have a high affinity for the wind''s natural energy and with their ability to fly, a mountain peak makes a perfect home for them.


    At the base of a mountain, there is a group of three men, two of these men were in a rxed state concentrating in their meditation with their eyes closed, but the third one was walking in circles with an annoyed expression on his face, and you could see how his face was getting more red with anger with every minute.


    Finally, the man punched a tree with such strength that it created a huge dent in its center, before he started shouting.


    "Goddammit! Why the fuck are we not going after that brat. There are 3 of us and he is all alone. Benjamin, since when has my brother''s number two be such a coward," screamed Nick at Benjamin.


    Benjamin opens his eyes to look at Nick, but the face he made was as if he was watching a clown in a show. The disdain in his eyes was obvious, and he made no effort to hide it.


    ''This retarded moron, if it wasn''t for his brother, just bing a Rank 2 Apprentice would have been a miracle.''


    "I already told you, the information we bought says that the boy''s mission consists of killing some harpies. We will wait until after he finishes the fight and attack him when he is exhausted. Now sit down and wait," Benjamin says before closing his eyes.


    Nick saw the face Benjamin made when looking at him and was furious. But although he was a small-minded person, knowing who to mess with, was maybe his only good point.


    He knows that unlike him that barely got to be a Rank 3 Apprentice even after all the resources he got, Benjamin is someone truly talented and although he has not reached the level of a pseudo-Magus, his battle strength is almost at that level.


    Benjamin was a very strong apprentice and thanks to the path he followed, he was pretty powerful in a fight. Actually, he could form a team of his own, not having to follow other pseudo magus. But when he saw that Arthur had a mentality of someone that will never underestimate his opponents, he chose to follow him.


    ''Killing that boy won''t be easy. Since we entered the forest, I have been feeling that something is off. I have to stick to the n and take him by surprise.''


    Just as he was preparing to go back to meditation, an immense feeling of danger assaulted him.


    "WATCH OUT!" shouted Benjamin at Nick.


    Nick was about to sit down when he heard the scream and felt how something was attacking him from the back. Mustering all the power he could, he tried to move his body out of harm''s way.


    Unfortunately for Nick, the attacker was someone proficient in assassination and his presence was only notable in thest moment. He could not stop the sword that was going towards his body, heading right for his heart.


    Nick saw the tip of a sworde out of his chest, and an immense pain assault him. But although he was not able to dodge the attack, he was able to move his body at thest moment just enough to save his heart from being pierced.


    ''I can still make it! I need to hold on until Benjamin and Robert help me.''


    As a body-refinement apprentice, Nick could still survive if someone helps him immediately, but unfortunately for him, what happens next shatters all of his hopes.


    The sword started to shine as lightning started to run through it and started to burn all of Nick''s organs.


    "SAVE ME!" Nick screamed, full of pain.


    Benjamin and Robert attacked the figure, trying to separate him from Nick and save him.


    A fountain of acid headed for the figure, followed by huge rocks that fall from the sky.


    When the attack was about tond on the person, he covered himself in lightning and moved behind Nick, moving away from the trajectory of the spells.


    Benjamin arrived beside Nick. Unfortunately for him, Nick one was already dead, but when he saw the state of his body, he was shocked.


    ''Not even ten seconds passed from the moment I found the attacker, but his attack was so fast and ruthless that he destroyed most of Nick''s organs before we could do anything.''


    "You fucking brat. Do you know who just killed? Once his brother Arthur the Pseudo-Magus knows this, you will beg for death," Benjamin saw the figure and knew this was the same person they were supposed to kill.


    Benjamin was always someone very cunning, and his words were meant to try to induce fear in the opponent and make him hesitate, unfortunately for him, his opponent this time was someone on which this type of threat will never work.


    Ezequiel looked at the two apprentices with a calm face. He was always someone proactive and waiting for his enemy to attack was not something he would do.


    Although they were covering their tracks very carefully, the angry attacks of Nick revealed their location easily.


    Not waiting for the enemy to take the initiative, he charged at the duo with his body covered with lightning.


    ''I should take care of the weaker one first,'' thought Ezequiel as heunched himself at Robert.


    But before he could reach him, Benjamin attacks him, positioning himself before Robert, and as he stands there, his body starts to expand, and he transforms himself into a gigantic 5 meters long snake.


    "Robert, maintain your distance and help me distract this brat."


    Robert knows that if he were to fight directly with Ezequiel, his only fate was death. So he backed off immediately.


    As Ezequiel looked at the huge snake, he started to distance himself from it.


    ''This should be a bloodline apprentice that Master told me. They can transform their bodies for a certain amount of time by stimting the blood in them. I should maintain a certain distance until I figure out how strong he is.''


    Benjamin, now in the form of a snake, chased after Ezequiel trying to crush him. He made rocks fly and trees fall as his huge body crashed at them.


    As Ezequiel dodged the attacks from the snake, the lightning in his sword started to elongate and became a 3-meter long whip.


    Benjamin opened his mouth and tried to spit acid as a lightning whip hit his face, creating a huge burn mark and making him scream from the pain.


    "Ahh! You fucking brat, I will devour you," yelled Benjamin as he chased after Ezequiel.


    As Ezequiel was preparing to attack again, a shower of rocks started to fall from the sky. Although the rocks were gigantic, they were also slow, so Ezequiel easily dodged them.


    But just as he was about to continue the attack, something happened. He saw how his legs were sinking in the ground. He was surprised as he looked in the direction of the other apprentice and saw him kneeling on the ground chanting a spell.


    Robert knows that his first attack was too slow and could not damage Ezequiel at all, but his objective was only to make him head to a ce where his other spell was waiting.


    Although this could stop him for just a moment, it was more than enough for the tail of the snake to crush him.


    Ezequiel put up his arms in front of him to defend, making a cross with them. He covered his body and channeled all of his lightning energy into them to defend against the attack.


    When the tail crashed on his body, the impact was so strong that he was thrown 15 meters away, breaking the trees apart as his body crashed into them.

 Chapter 16: Rat men

    A pit was created where Ezequiel crashed, making a curtain of dust appear and block the apprentice''s view. Although neither of them could see the result of the attack, both of them were sure about the oue.


    After all, any apprentice that received an attack with that much power was supposed to be severely hurt.


    "Well done Robert," Benjamin praised the quick mind of the apprentice, after all, even giving his all, he could not touch Ezequiel and he was getting hurt due to the lightning whip.


    "That brat may be strong, but he is too cocky. He thinks he can take care of both of us alone. Just a little spell and he was finished," Robertughed, making it seem like it was nothing great.


    Although he makes it look like it was easy, Robert knows that is the opposite. When he was making the rocks fall from the sky and distracting Ezequiel, he was also using all his power to liquefy the earth where hended, just in the right moment to surprise him, using almost all of his energy to make the spell instantaneous.


    Benjamin in his snake form headed where Ezequiel was, with his mouth open and spit dripping from it.


    "Brat, enjoy being eaten by me!"


    He yelled as he threw himself with his jaws open, but instead of a meal, what he got was only a raised hand and two words.


    "Abyssal st!"


    A beam full of concentrated abyss aura was discharged from Ezequiel''s hand, and unlike Zatiel''s st that was ck, this one had a blue color.


    Before Benjamin could react, the st hit him with such an immense power that it destroys the upper half of his snake body immediately.


    "Benjamin!"


    Robert could not believe what was happening. One moment they were enjoying the feeling of victory and the next, one of them disintegrated due to the strongest attack he has ever seen in his life.


    As the dust settled, Ezequiel walked out of the pit. Although his body looked all right, his left arm was so injured that bones could be seen and as for his right arm, it was healing with an amazing speed due to the Abyss Regeneration.


    After waiting a moment and seeing the rest of the corpse of his enemy, Ezequiel''s body was covered in lightning and he disappeared.


    ''Where has he gone?!'' Robert was terrified, his energy reserves were almost depleted and he could not fight in this state.


    Just as Robert was trying to think a way out of this situation, a lightning-covered hand pierced his body. Shocked, he barely had the strength to see behind him. What appeared in his sight were a couple of cold eyes that even at this moment can still terrify him.


    "Ahhhh!" Robert screamed as the lightning was destroying his body and killing him.


    Ezequiel was indifferent before the scream of his enemies and after a moment, he searched for any life close by and as he felt nothing; he left the ce.


    ''I was not careful. Master was right, I have to always be aware of my surroundings including even the most insignificant detail,'' Ezequiel''s face was serious as he assessed his performance in the battle.


    Actually, Ezequiel wasn''t aware how amazing what he did was. His current Abyss Aura makes him only as powerful as a newly advanced Rank 3 Apprentice and yet he was able to fight 3 people with energy reserves and battle experience way over his, yet could kill them all and his only injury was a broken arm that will heal in minutes if he could maintain Abyss Regeneration.


    ...


    "I have finally arrived."


    In front of Zatiel, there was a small mountain full of the entrance to underground caves, and as he inspected them he went through the information of his mission.


    "These are the caves of the rat men, ording to the information I got, the aim of this mission is to collect some magical herbs that grow in the nest of these creatures. The rat men are supposed to be weak, with Rank 2 Apprentices being able to kill them in a fight, but they live in packs and their number can reach the thousand making them deadly if they corner you. Although they could be annoying, they are not an actual threat to me with my current power. A. I Chip scan me."


    [Bip... Analyzing host


    Strength: 8.2


    Physique:9.3


    Speed:7.9


    Abyss Aura: 10.7]


    Zatiel''s physical prowess could make any apprentice green with envy. His stats are even more powerful than a Rank 3 Body-refinement Apprentice, but unlike them, he was not burning his potential to enhance his body, all the opposite, while his body grew stronger, his talent only increased.


    ''Good. With my current strength, killing the rat men and getting the herbs will be easy, as for Arthur and his group, they will probably attack me when I leave the cave,'' As Zatiel was nning, he assessed the mountain, but when he looked at it, he felt that something was off.


    After a moment and with the help of the chip, he identifies the reason.


    ''I am impressed. He knows practically nothing about me, yet he used something really powerful to kill me. Unfortunately for them, these traps are useless against someone like me,'' shaking his head at their futile attempt to harm him, he enters the caves.


    The cave was full of skeletons and waste, the tunnels looked like they were dug into the earth with the ws of some beast, and from time to time, you could hear the noise of something eating with ferocity and things crawling through the ground.


    It had an ominous vibe, but to Zatiel, this was like a yground. After all, in the Abyss, there are millions of ces much more terrifying.


    It didn''t take long before the noises grew stronger and the rat men appeared; they had bodies filled with gray hair, long ws and a height of one meter. Their faces were full of ferocity as theyunched themselves at Zatiel.


    Zatiel saw how dozens of rat men charged at him and he started using his Abyss Aura, making Abyssal Chains appear around him.


    The chains acted as if they had a mind of their own and attacked the rat men, going through their head or chest killing them instantly.

 Chapter 17: End of the hunt

    The nights in the Endless Forest were usually silent, but close to the cave of the rat men, four people were speaking, breaking the silence.


    "Arthur we have been waiting for a week and we have got no signal from him, maybe the rat men have killed him."


    A bulky apprentice with a magic robe covering all his body spoke to a tall red-headed man.


    "Richard, you have already seen the state of the beast he kills, that person can kill Pseudo-Magus level magic creatures with ease. Before I was just being precautious but now, we have to kill him no matter what." Arthur says with determination in his face.


    Arthur and his group have been waiting for Zatiel in a zone filled with trees 2 kilometers away from the entrances of the cave.


    Although they were three Rank 3 Apprentices and one Pseudo-Magus, they had chosen to hide and wait to surprise their enemy instead of directly fighting with him.


    ''Luckily we made ns or else, if we fight him head-on, in the best scenario only I could barely survive.''


    Arthur has always been someone who ns for every possible scenario and does everything in his power to eliminate every unknown variable.


    In reality, he was not angry at his brother for being hurt, but he knows that if someone abuses his men and he does not teach them a lesson, it will create a vicious circle and events like that will happen again, making it very difficult to increase his power in the tower.


    In the beginning, he was sure that with his group killing these two apprentices will be easy. But seeing the power disyed by Zatiel; he knows that his opponent is someone who can kill all of them on his own.


    Looking at the entrance to the caves, Arthur goes through the n.


    "Martin, is the spell ready to activate?" Arthur asks a thin apprentice by his side.


    "The parchment with the Rank 1 spell Mind Break is ready to activate the moment he leaves the cave. We were very careful in putting it in the entrances before he arrived so he couldn''t have discovered it."


    Martin responds as he focuses on a small mirror in his hand that shows him the scene of the entrance of the cave.


    "This is an overkill. No matter how strong an apprentice can get, faced with a Rank 1 spell that can only be created by a Rank 1 Magus, they can only die," Richard says, getting angry as he remembers how long they had to save to buy the parchment from the Tower.


    Arthur said nothing about the brawny man, as he looked at the only female of the group.


    "What do you think about this scenario Linda?"


    Linda was a beautiful woman with an impressive figure and a pretty face, but that was not everything about her. She was also powerful on her own, almost reaching the level of a Pseudo-Magus.


    "You have never disappointed us. If you think we should use this rank 1 spell to kill him, then you must have some valid reasons," Linda says smiling to Arthur.


    "Thanks," Arthus says smiling back.


    "I am just giving my honest op..." before Linda could finish speaking, an immense feeling of terror assaulted her.


    From the dark sky, a person covered in shadows materialized itself right above her.


    Before Linda could even react to the death threat, a sword fell from the sky passing from her head to her hips cutting her in two exact pieces.


    Arthur, Richard, and Martin could barely react to the grotesque scene when the blood of Linda sshed over them.


    But as elite apprentices, they got hold of the emotions in a moment.


    The first to react was Arthur who chanted a spell and created a dozen shields made of fire around him, the next one was Richard who made his hands glow as he charged at the shadow.


    Martin was an arcane apprentice and was not very proficient in battle so he was thest in react, but still, as he got hold of himself, he tried to chant a spell to affect the conscious of the enemy, unfortunately for him before he could even start, four chains came out below his feet and impaled him by going through his body, killing him instantly.


    "Bastard!" Richard saw another one of hisrades get killed and heunched a punch with all of his strength.


    The shadow reacted with the same move, a blow filled with strength with his free hand.


    Richard grinned at the response of the shadow. As a body-refinement apprentice, he was very confident in the strength of his body.


    But this feeling didn''tst long. The moment their fist shed, his hand exploded in a ball of blood and flesh, and the rest of his arm waspletely fractured.


    Richard could not help but scream from the pain he was currently experiencing.


    The shadow did not stop and tried to decapitate Richard, but before he could attack with his sword, balls of fire rushed towards him forcing him to separate from his enemy.


    Arthur was channeling all of his power trying to hurt the shadow, but unfortunately for him, no matter how many balls of fire he threw, none of them could hit the opponent.


    The shadow looked in the direction from where the fire wasing and with a movement of his hand, chains materialized close to Arthur and start attacking him


    Although Arthur''s shields were powerful, they could barely resist the chains, so he had to redirect all of his attention to defense.


    Now that the balls of fire were no more, the shadow attacked Richard again with ferocity.


    Richard was too hurt and could not hold for long before his head was separated from his body.


    Arthur saw how thest of hisrade was killed, and his heart was drowned in fear.


    Although he wanted to run, the chains were attacking from all ces and didn''t give him any opportunity.


    The shadow looks at thest person surviving, but no emotion could be detected from him, just aplete indifference before his enemies deaths.


    He bent his knees and you could feel how power was umting from the way the ground cracked. After a moment, he jumped towards Arthur.


    The only thing Arthur saw was a sh before he felt something crash against his chest. It felt like a mountain had fallen on him.


    The impact was so great that Arthur''s chest exploded. Being hit with such strength he crashed against some trees before falling dead to the ground.


    The person stood where Arthur was previously, and as the shadows dissipated, Zatiel''s figure was revealed.


    ''It was easier than I thought, I wonder if I can kill a Rank 1 being before advancing in rank myself.''


    As Zatiel was thinking, he gathered the bodies of the apprentices to see if they had anything that could be useful to him.


    When he got to Arthur, he saw how his face was full of regret and unwillingness.


    Although Zatiel was indifferent before the emotions of his enemy, he had to admit that this person was someone careful. Had there been anyone else, there is no way they would have detected the Rank 1 Spell.


    Knowing of the spell that awaited him at the exit and knowing his enemies were close, he opened a new cave with his chains to go out of the mountain with no one knowing, and tracked his enemies to take them by surprise and finally end this hunt.

 Chapter 18: Going back

    As Zatiel was searching the bodies of the apprentices, he found a lot of magic equipment.


    Although most of it wasn''t very useful to him, it could still be exchanged for magic crystals so he was taking everything with him.


    After finalizing the search, two things caught his attention.


    The first one was found in the apprentice''s body named Martin. It was a small ck orb.


    ''So this was the thing they used to hide from me. This small thing can cloak all the signals of a living body. This is very useful. As for the other one,'' Zatiel looked at the small sack that he found in the body of Arthur.


    Although it didn''t look like much, Zatiel knows that this sack worths more than all the other magical equipment together.


    ''How could a pseudo-magus get a Spatial Sack?''


    A Spatial Sack was magical equipment that had a certain amount of space inside where you could store stuff.


    Although it didn''t have a direct effect on the battle strength of a person, it could allow them to carry an arsenal with themselves heavily augmenting their versatility in all aspects of life, not only in fight but also in exploration.


    ''Ahh, I think this will get more troublesome than I expected,'' Zatiel sighs at this equipment''s meaning.


    Like everything that has a connecting with space, the spatial sack is very difficult to get, it was not only the great cost that it has, but even if you have the money, this type of article is almost always sold to official Magi, so for Arthur to have one, it means he should have had a decent background.


    ¡äWhat is done is done. It''s not as if a rank 1 Magus is a threat that I can not handle. The moment I show my abilities in rune crafting, I am sure that I will get some help from someone in the tower.''


    Although Zatiel was annoyed, he was not too worried about whoever woulde after him for the death of Arthur.


    Any other apprentice will be scared shitless if they know that they had offended a Magus, but Zatiel was once a low-level demon and had to ovee circumstances hundreds of times more difficult than this to survive.


    So this problem although annoyed him, it was not something that could make him feel helpless.


    ''This will be very useful to me. The ck sphere can be used without problem since I doubt that anyone can recognize it, as for the spatial sack I should change its external appearance and not keep it in in sight.''


    Zatiel knows that it is impossible for the people of the Sinux Tower to not find out he killed Arthur.


    Many people know that he has been followed by the red-haired pseudo-magus.


    But now when hees back and the person who was going to kill him disappeared.


    It doesn''t take a genius to figure out what happened.


    But it is very different from having spections of what happened to him and him tantly showing the equipment of someone he killed.


    After doing some modification to the external appearance of the sack, he collects all the equipment in it before hiding it inside his robe. Having finished, he looks back at the ce where the rat men have hidden.


    ''Before I only collected a limited amount of the heart of those creatures since I didn''t have a proper way to carry it back, but now I can collect much more and pick some other materials for my runes.''


    Having this thought, Zatiel headed back for the caves and continued his massacre of the rat men.


    As for the bodies of the apprentices, he knows that it won''t take long for magical creatures toe here and devour them and erase their existences.


    .¡­


    Screams of magical creatures resounded day and night in those caves for a full week. The caves that once were full of rat men now only have corpses with blood covering almost every inch of the walls, making the earth soaked in red.


    Zatiel was resting at the top of a pile of dismembered corpses, eating the heart of these monsters. Although the scene could make most people puke, it didn''t affect him at all.


    Although these creatures can barely help his Abyss Aura grow, eating hundreds of them still get him a very good overall increase in power.


    ''It''s about time for me to head back and meet with little EZ to return to the tower, I wonder how his mission went,'' having finished with his business here, Zatiel activated his Shadow Form and left for the meeting point.


    After five days of running, Zatiel was almost reaching the reunion point. Although he was stronger than when he entered the forest for the first time, he was constantly stopping in the way to get materials, so the way back took almost the same time as when he entered.


    When he reached the meeting point, he saw that Ezequiel was already waiting there and on his back were two bags made of animal skin almost the same size as him, filled with body parts.


    Ezequiel immediately notices Zatiel and heads towards him.


    As Zatiel looked at Ezequiel running with those two enormous bags on his back, he could not help butugh.


    "Ha haha, you brat when I told you that it will be good if you brought a lot of brains and ws of those creatures I didn''t mean for you to kill the entire tribe."


    "Anyhow you did very well, tell me, did you also take care of those apprentices that followed you?"


    "Yes master, I killed the three of them," Ezequiel was happy to change the subject so he describes how the fight happened.


    "Good job, now it is time for us to get back to the tower. I want to craft runes as soon as I can. Oh, right, give me those bags."


    Ezequiel did as he was told and gave the bags to Zatiel, who, when he touched them, made both of them disappear.


    Although Ezequiel was a little surprised, he was already used to this kind of things, so his reaction was subtle.


    "Let''s move on."


    They transformed in a sh of lightning and shadows as they headed to the Magic Tower.

 Chapter 19: Professions

    After a couple of hours, Zatiel and Ezequiel returned to the Magic Tower. They both were carrying enormous bags as they entered the first floor, making them the center of attention to most of the apprentices that were there.


    Although Zatiel could have brought all of this in his spatial sack, he brought out all the stuff he would sell or use in rune crafting and by carrying them in the bags, the sack could be kept hidden for the time being.


    Most of the stares of the apprentices were full of envy and greed, but everybody already knows the power that this duo has, so no one dares to do anything.


    Zatiel didn''t even look at them as he arrived at the ce where Old Hal was.


    "You have returned so soon and with such a great harvest, you two differ from the rest of the apprentices," says Old Hal as he watched Zatiele closer with those enormous bags.


    Normally when most apprentices that take the missions with the level of difficulty that Zatiel and Ezequiel had, they form teams and make ample preparations focusing all of their energy in it.


    "You can say so, anyway we came to deliver the mission materials and also see if you can handle some magical equipment we want to be sold," Zatiel says as he and Ezequiel leave their bags in front of Old Hal.


    "I can handle the mission materials right away but are you sure that you want to sell the material directly to the tower, since the price it will give you is inferior to the one you can get by trading with other apprentices."


    "Trading will be a waste of time. I''d rather get rid of them at once."


    Zatiel prefers to get fewer magic crystals and save time, than to sell all the equipment one by one, after all, he could use his time in a much more productive way than trading with other apprentices.


    "Ok, I will start immediately."


    As old Han scans the mission materials and the equipment that was in the bags, Zatiel speaks to Ezequiel about what they are going to do next.


    "Little EZ, for the time being, I will focus all of my time on rune crafting, and you should find something that attracts your attention and try to learn it. Although these professions are not very useful to us because of the abilities of our bodies, in the future, they be very important."


    Professions like alchemist or crafting are usually used for Magi to ovee the shoring in their bodies like making potions to speed up the healing abilities of the body or armor to protect themselves.


    But Neo-Demons have very strong bodies and amazing regenerating abilities, so the help they can provide is little.


    But as they advance in their profession, they be more and more useful so learning it from a young age can help to build a solid foundation for the future.


    Ezequiel knows that following Zatiel¡äs advice will be helpful, so he didn''t waste time and remembers the courses that are being taught in the tower, seeing if any of them attract his attention.


    After going through all the options, he finally chose the one that attracts him the most.


    "I would like to learn to create magical equipment."


    "Oh, are you sure, I must warn you, although creating magical equipment is very useful it is also veryplex, in reality, its difficulty falls second only to rune crafting."


    Zatiel didn''t want to discourage Ezequiel, but he also didn''t want him to learn something just to abandon it because he could not advance in it. Since most of his abilities in rune crafting are thanks to the help of the chip but Ezequiel doesn''t have such a tool to help him.


    "I''m sure," even after hearing the difficulty, Ezequiel didn''t doubt his decision and was resolute to embark on this journey.


    When Zatiel saw the resolution in the boy''s face, a smile showed on his and he could not help but feel pride for having someone like this to be by his side.


    "You are a headstrong brat aren''t you," Zatiel teases at the boy as he patted in his head.


    Although Ezequiel feels a little awkward at being treated like a child, it wasn''t ufortable.


    "Although I don???t know a lot about magical crafting if you need help, just ask."


    Ezequiel just nodded as both of them waited for the assessment to be over.


    Old Han was very used to this job, so it didn''t take long for him to finish.


    "I have finished checking everything. Your merit points are already loaded to your respective tower ounts. As for the magic crystals with the reward for the mission and the sale of the magical equipment, they are 2160 magic crystals. For a sum of this size, you can either chose to take them with you or deposit them in the tower"


    "How convenient, can you deposit them in an ount that can be essed both by me and Ezequiel?"


    Old Han makes a weird face at the request.


    After all, no matter how close the members of a team were, they will never let another person have control over their money.


    It would be understandable if one member was only using the other and the other one could not resist, but this was clearly not the situation here.


    "I say it again, you are really weird. But it is none of my business, consider it done." Old Han used his crystal for a moment, and both of the crystals that Zatiel and Ezequiel got from him gave a brief sh.


    "You can use that crystal to monitor your ount and also use it to pay for the services in the tower"


    "Thanks, I want to know where in the tower I can get the instruments to craft runes and also some Rank 0 Rune Diagrams?"


    Rune crafting needs tools like devices to process and mix the materials, and also rune pencils to inscribe the runes.


    Although Zatiel has already written runes before, those just used his blood and didn''t have a limit in the space they used, but if you want to create a rune that can be inscribed in the body of a person, you can''t possibly make it 10 meters long, so the tools were necessary.


    Old Han was a little surprised at the request.


    Rune crafting is very difficult even if it is just the most basic rune, but he still did his job and gave the information to Zatiel.


    "Before you could just have to try your luck with the other apprentices but now that you have an ount with over 1500 magic crystals, you can ess the storage at the third floor.


    There you can exchange your crystals and merit points for what you seek, it''s with the same portal that you used to arrive at the second floor. Just say to the statue that you want to go to the third floor and that''s it."


    "Ok, thanks for the help, see you soon" Zatiel spoke to the old man as he and Ezequiel made their way towards the portal to the upper floors.


    "Little EZ, you should go to see when the courses for magical crafting that are being taken and enlist in some of them. Don''t worry about the cost. After I buy the materials that I need, you can use the rest of the crystals however you like. If something happens, just contact me through the core."


    "Yes master," having said that, Ezequiel goes to the ce where the missions and courses were disyed.

 Chapter 20: Rune crafting

    The third floor of the Sinux Magic Tower was very simple like the rest of the floors. It didn''t have some beautiful crystals or pictures describing great scenes, just the in walls that the magic tower has, a sample of the pragmatic inclination of whoever designed it.


    The entire floor was filled with tidy shelves in which there were boxes of all sizes, some boxes attracted natural energies proving that whatever was in them was something precious.


    Before the shelves, there was a podium with a crystal sphere in his center, two lion-like statues like the one on the first floor were by its side and in front of it, there was a metallic humanoid of 2 meters.


    The portal of the floor shed as Zatiel''s figure was shown. The moment he arrives at the floor, the first thing that calls his attention are the statues around the podium, especially the humanoid one.


    ''With my current abilities, although I can''t defeat a rank 1 Magus, I can still escape with my life but I can feel that the metallic golem can kill me. This level of security is to be expected. After all, some of those boxes have items that are extremely valuable.''


    As Zatiel came closer to the podium, the statue''s eyes lit up, and the humanoid talked.


    "Apprentice Zatiel, use the podium sphere to go through the avable materials. You can currently only ess rank 0 and rank 1 materials," the statue spoke in a robotic voice before its eyes shut down.


    Zatiel stared at the statue for a moment before putting his hand on the sphere.


    Immediately, 5 rows were shown in his consciousness.


    The first one had rank 0 written on it and thest one had rank 4.


    Only the ones with rank 0 and rank 1 were lit while the others were gray.


    Zatiel tried to enter the one that says Rank 2 but words show up saying "rank and umtive merit points insufficient".


    ''I see, it doesn''t matter. Even if I could ess them, the prices will be too high for my current wealth.''


    Instead of going through the list searching for the items he needs, he gave this task to the chip.


    "Chip, scan the list and search for the material needed for rune crafting and also search for diagrams for rank 0 runes and present them to me"


    Immediately the chip''s robotic voice was heard in his consciousness.


    [Bip... Scanning items and searching for the material and runes.


    Done.


    Equipment for rune crafting costs 740 magic crystals.


    Disying a list of the diagrams of rank 0 runes avable.]


    A list of rank 0 runes appears in Zatiel''s consciousness.


    Although in his current memories, Zatiel has some diagrams, if he shows rank 0 runes from obtained from other ces, it will attract unwanted attention. So to save trouble, for the time being he will only use the ones he gets from the tower.


    After going through the diagrams, he finally chose two for the ones for which he already has the necessary materials to craft.


    After deciding the items he wanted, he used the crystal to pay for them. The moment the transaction was done, some boxes moved on their own andnded at his feet.


    Zatiel didn''t waste time and picked up the boxes, and he left straight for his house on the second floor to use the experiment room and start crafting the runes.


    Once he reached his ce, he organized the equipment and took out the materials to craft runes of his spatial sack.


    The first rune that Zatiel was going to craft was called Secondary Consciousness. It was a rank 0 rune that allows the individual to create another consciousness to act parallel to their own.


    Although the second consciousness had limited cognitive abilities, meaning that it could not be used forplex thoughts, it was still very useful.


    For example, it could allow someone to have a constant watch over their surroundings as their original consciousness focuses on their enemy.


    For this rune, a lot of materials were needed, but the most important was the brain of harpies.


    Processing the materials is a very important part in rune crafting and normally it takes a lot of time, but Zatiel was moving his hands without stopping, finishing with one part and going straight for the next.


    But even more amazing was that none of them suffered even the most minimal drop in quality, showing the great proficiency that he had.


    But of course, some credit was because of the chip that was constantly assessing the material and informing him if any error was going to happen.


    Having finished with the materials, he charges them in the rune pencil and takes a piece of magical creature skin to inscribe it.


    Rank 0 runes didn''t need exceptional abilities to be crafted, but you must have absolute precision, writing every rune in the right order and not making a single mistake or else all that you did before is lost.


    Having already memorized the diagram thanks to the chip, he starts to craft the rune.


    Zatiel uses the pencil and writes every single line of the rune in the right order. His movements were harmonious, not stopping at any moment.


    His eyes were focused as he moved the pencil just the right amount in every direction.


    As he continues working, he bes more and more tired.


    Crafting runes consume mental capacity and energy reserves, and this rune was in the upper end of the rank 0, so even with Zatiel''s abilities, it still took a lot of work.


    When he was finally finished, a beautiful rune was inscribed on the skin, periodically pulsing with energy.


    "Very good, its effect is even better than the one described in the diagram" Zatiel smiled as he assessed his work.


    The diagrams are only a standard of the rune. If the one who inscribed the rune does an excellent job, the effect will be better, and it will be worse if it is badly done.


    After having finished the rune, Zatiel goes to bed.


    Although meditation could also help him recharge his energy, sleeping is something that he still needs, besides the effect on his recovery will be better.


    .....


    As Zatiel was recovering, Ezequiel was in his own house going through the information in a crystal. As he researched, he was constantly making a troubled face.


    This crystal was given to him when he attended his first lesson in magical crafting.


    The course was taught by a Rank 1 Magus named Ruben, and the first thing he did was to give a crystal with the basic information one needed to know for those who want to learn to create magical equipment for every apprentice in the room.


    After that he ordered everyone to memorize the information and have a basic understanding of the principles that are taught.


    ording to the Magus, if they are not able to do this, then they are just wasting his time.


    "Master was right, magical equipment crafting is trulyplex, but still, it is not something that can defeat me."


    Ezequiel''s eyes were determined as he continued to go through the information.

 Chapter 21: Aerial walk

    It was past morning when Zatiel finally woke up. As he started to assess the state of his body, he was pleasantly surprised.


    ''Great! Although the amount of my abyss aura is the same as yesterday, now it''s flowing with more speed and power through my body. Being a Neo-Demon is full of surprises,'' Zatiel was excited as he saw the improvement in his body.


    Actually, one of the major concerns he had with rune crafting was that it takes a massive amount of time and energy so it will slow down the speed in which his abyss aura is enhanced, but now it turns out that using his energy to create runes generates a beneficial effect in his aura.


    Although it doesn''t grow it, if the aura moves faster and stronger, it will allow him to disy a greater fighting power and also enhance the speed in which it rises.


    Of course, this was only possible thanks to the constitution of a Neo-Demon and their amazing adaptability.


    ''I should create another two Secondary Consciousness runes, one for Little EZ, one for me and thest one will be sold, and do the same with the other rank 0 runes,'' Zatiel nned for the day as he ate the heart of some magical creatures.


    After he recovers his energy, he doesn''t waste time and continues to work.


    Having already created the rune before, this time it was a little more easy. The steps were the same; processing the material, charging the pen, and writing the rune ording to the diagram.


    This time although he was still very tired, he didn''t need to rest in bed to recharge his energy. With a couple of hours of meditation, he was in perfect shape.


    It was noon when the third rune was finished.


    As Zatiel assesses the runes, he couldn''t help but feel a little pride. After all, for an apprentice to be able to craft three peak Rank 0 Runes without making a single mistake is amazing, but immediately, that feeling disappears and he focuses again.


    ''No matter how good it ends up to be, they are just rank 0 runes, I can''t getcent with something so small.''


    Zatiel always has been very harsh with himself. If any other runemaster were to see him act like this, they will be furious.


    After all, apprentices can hardly create the most simple rank 0 runes and the sess rate they have is barely 20%, for him being able to craft three peak rank 0 runes consecutively and not having failed a single time was something that they can do only in their dreams but now, someone was saying that it was just a ''small'' aplishment.


    Like the majority of things in the universe, runes are separated in ranks, and so is a runemaster.


    Crafting rank 0 runes don''t allow you to be a runemaster. After all, there are some runes so easy that given enough amount of tries a lot of apprentices can do it. But to be a Rank 0 Runemaster you have to be able to craft peak Rank 0 Runes with a sess rate of 30%.


    As for Rank 1 to 3 Runemaster, you have to be able to craft runes of the same rank, no matter the difficulty, with a sess rate of 20%. The condition for a higher rank is inferior. After all, the higher the rank of the rune the moreplex they be.


    Normally to be a Rank 1 Runemaster, you don''t only have to be proficient in rune crafting but also be a rank 1 life-form yourself. After all, the amount of energy necessary to create a rune is immense and only grows as the rank goes higher, but of course, there are always geniuses that can break those unwritten rules.


    ''I should craft the other rune, at the end of the day,'' Having rest enough Zatiel starts to take the materials to craft the second rune that he picked.


    The rune was called Aerial Walk; it was a peak Rank 0 Rune. it allows you to walk in the air as if there is a solid surface.


    Although there are spells that allow you to fly, the dexterity that you can disy using them is very limited, making yourself a stationary target in most cases. But this rune allows you to disy all of your movements with the same abilities you can disy being on the ground.


    Two of the core materials of this rune were the ws of the harpies and the heart of the rat-men.


    The first one has a connection to the wind''s natural energy and the second with the earth''s natural energy. Using abination of these two is how the rune is made.


    Although to craft Rank 0 Runes, it''s not needed to learn the principles of how it works. As you go up in the ranks it bes essential to understand them. So starting from the bottom helps to create a solid foundation and is something that all true runemasters do.


    ...


    In hisboratory, Ezequiel was practicing his magical crafting. There were a lot of broken weapons, armors, and jewelry lying on the floor.


    Although this amount of failure can break even some greater spirits, especially when you are just starting. The boy''s eyes were lit and his will was like a sun that didn''t stop burning.


    Ezequiel was so focused that he didn''t realize that he was not alone in the room. A ck-haired man was looking at him with warm eyes, of course, the person was Zatiel.


    The houses were made to be impossible to break in with normal methods so the apprentices can focus on their activities without having to worry for their surroundings.


    The reason he was able to enter so easily was that Ezequiel''s house was programmed to allow Zatiel enter whenever he wanted.


    Although all the houses have this option, almost no one uses it, after all, that level of trust is something almost impossible for the other apprentices.


    As Zatiel saw the number of mistakes the boy had done; he was not disappointed at all. He was actually feeling even more proud. After all, reaching for sess when you know you can do it is easy, but doing it when the results tells you otherwise, is one of the hardest things you can do.


    Seeing how Ezequiel hadn''t still realized he was here, Zatiel made a smile before he shouted with all his strength.


    "BRAT WAKE UP!!"


    Ezequiel was startled and in less than a second, all of his body was covered in lightning, with tentacles made of the same energy starting to grow out of his back as he prepared to attack the intruder.


    Just when he was ready to throw himself to the enemy and face the threat, he saw the person that shouted at him.


    Ezequiel felt awkward for having fallen into such a juvenile prank, especially when he saw how Zatiel was starting tough.


    Seeing the expression of the boy and having enough fun, Zatiel stopped bothering him and changed the subject.


    "I see you are bent in pursuing magical crafting"


    "Yes master, but I must admit that is proving extremely difficult to me."


    Although Ezequiel wasn''t feeling let down for his mistakes, disappointing Zatiel was something he didn''t want to do


    Seeing the expression of the boy, Zatiel was able to understand his feelings.


    "Remember little EZ, sess is not final; failure is not fata, it is the courage to continue that counts. It doesn''t matter if you fail a million times, as long as you don''t give up, you will never disappoint me."

 Chapter 22: Get attention

    Although Ezequiel just nodded at those words, he could feel a great weight was lifted off his shoulder, and the will to continue in his path of magical crafting was burning even with more power.


    Having taken care of that, Zatiel starts to speak about the reason why he came here.


    "I have finished my runes, I already have them in my body and they work perfectly, so I brought some of them to transfer them into yours."


    "Master you have already finished!" Ezequiel was surprised by Zatiel''s news.


    Although he was certain that his master will be able to craft the runes, ording to what he has learned, even to someone extremely talented it takes at least a week just to finish a rune, but now he finds out that Zatiel has made runes for the both of them in just four days.


    Of course, this could be exined if the runes were the weaker and simpler there are, but knowing him, Ezequiel knows that they must be very powerful.


    "Of course, who do you think your master is?" Zatiel was having fun as he saw the boy only keep nodding like a bird at his bragging.


    "The runes are called ''Aerial Walk'' and ''Secondary Consciousness'', as for the functions, the names are already self-exnatory. You will find out how they work more easily as you use them. The first one will go in your legs and thest in the upper section of your spine. Get ready"


    "Yes, master!" Ezequiel uncovers the part where the runes will go and starts to focus so he doesn''t make a mistake.


    Although he doesn''t know much about runes, he has learned that when it is put in the body of a person it is apanied for great pain, after all, the runes not only have to be on the surface of the person''s body, but also connect with the energy inside them.


    Zatiel starts with ''Aerial Walk''. He takes the rune parchment made of animal skin and keeps it against the legs of Ezequiel, once there, he starts to send his energy to it, the moment the parchment is charged, the rune starts to leave the skin and begins engraving itself in Ezequiel''s legs.


    Ezequiel immediately felt immense pain, as if his legs were being burned, but he didn''t move a single muscle and maintained his concentration the entire time.


    After a couple of minutes, the process was done and in the boy''s legs, there was a tattoo pulsing with energy.


    "You should give the rune a try before we start with the next one."


    The next rune will be even harder to transfer because of the ce it will reside, so Zatiel wants Ezequiel to rx himself a little before they begin.


    The boy nodded and started to direct his abyssal aura at his legs; the rune started to glow as the energy charged them, and he immediately felt the effect it had.


    He started to walk and his footstepnded in the air as if he was on an invisible stair. As he moves through the air, he remembers the birds he liked to watch and how free they looked as they moved through the wind, and now he was able to do the same making his heart beat full of emotion.


    "Hahaha, this feels great!"


    Ezequiel got excited and began to jump in the air discing through the entire room without touching a solid surface the entire time.


    Zatiel was smiling as he saw the always quiet boyughing as he moved through the air and chose to let him have fun.


    After a couple of minutes, Ezequiel finally stops and stands before Zatiel. Although he didn''t look different from before, something about him had changed.


    "Thanks, Master!," says Ezequiel with a rxed smile in his face and an expression like if he had done something that his heart desires for as long as he could remember.


    "Hahaha, little brat there is no need to get so emotional, now that you are ready, let''s start with the next rune," Zatiel says as he patted the boy.


    "Yes." Ezequiel uncovers his back and regains his focus.


    "I will start, this one will be much more painful due to his proximity with your nerves, get ready."


    Zatiel put the parchment in the spine of the boys and started the process.


    Ezequiel clenched his teeth as he withstands the great pain. Although the feeling was torturous, he didn''t move during the entire transfer. Only when the process was done he was finally able to rx.


    "Give it a try and let me know how it feels"


    Ezequiel nodded and put his energy in the rune, as he did he started to feel like there were two of him, although the other one was more ''simple'', it was able to think in an entirely different way.


    It felt weird at the beginning, but as he continues using it he realizes how useful it is.


    "Thanks, master, this will be very useful with my experiments," He chooses to maintain this secondary consciousness reviewing his knowledge about magical crafting as he continues to talk to Zatiel.


    "Good, you understood the right way of using it. That rune it''s not only helpful in battle but in all aspects of life, now that you are ready, let''s go to the first floor. It''s time to get a little attention."


    .....


    Old Hal was resting on his desk. His job was pretty simple so most of the time he was just sleeping, waiting for the next apprentice to show up. He already knows that without a miracle, it will be impossible for him to advance to rank 1 so he prefers to spend his time rxing instead of boring himself with constant meditation.


    As he was resting in his chair, Zatiel and Ezequiel showed up in front of him.


    "Hey old man, I need to talk with you about something."


    "It is you two, what can I help you?"


    Although he was azy person, Old Hal knows that there are people that you should never offend, so he responds to Zatiel with a professional tone.


    "I was wondering if you could spread information about some items I am selling to the people in the tower."


    "Oh, I''m sorry but I am not interested in being the middleman in a transaction"


    "Are you sure?, this stuff has a very high price and you can get a percentage of it," as Zatiel spoke, he took two runes and handed them over to the old man.


    At first, Old Han was not interested in the runes, after all, there have been a lot of times when apprentices show some of their creations, but almost always they are so inferior that no one wants them, but when he assesses these, he bes greatly surprised.


    "These are peak rank 0 runes! But how? It wasn''t even a week ago when you ask for the equipment to craft runes and now you have created such a precious thing."


    "What can I tell you, I am very good at crafting," Zatiel says with a carefree expression as if it was nothing important.


    Old Hal was staring at Zatiel as if he was a monster.


    ''Can someone like this exist? ording to the news that is going around, Arthur and his team were after him in the forest, but he came back like nothing and now he is showing such talent like a runemaster.''


    "I don''t want to offend you, but I am not proficient in runes, so how can I know how good these runes are?"


    Although Old Hal doubts that someone of the bearing of Zatiel were to try such a dumb scam, he still could notpletely believe that he could do something so amazing in such a small amount of time.


    "Don''t worry, I came prepared, Little EZ"


    As if he was waiting for the signal, Ezequiel activates ''Aerial Walk'' and moves through the air on the entire first floor. His body was very strong, so he was able to move incredibly fast making all the disciples that were there surprised.


    After a moment and seeing that his job was done, the boy gets back to Zatiel''s side.


    "So are you satisfied?"


    "Yes, yes! Sorry for doubting you," Old Hal almost jumped from his chair from the shock.


    Seeing his surroundings and the expression on the faces of the apprentices, Zatiel knows that everything''s going ording to his n.


    The reason he was trying to make old Hal the person who will promote his runes, is because he is the person with the most information about his short time in the tower. So when the really important people get interested in his runes, they can use the old man for information.


    "Keep the runes, remember, I care more for the information about the runes being spread, than the price at which they are sold," Zatiel left the runes and started to leave.


    As for the possibility of the old man robbing him, he knows that he would not dare, and even if he does, it will only mean a couple of days of lost work.


    Just when Zatiel and Ezequiel were ready to leave the first floor, someone shouts at them.


    "WAIT!"

 Chapter 23: Lightning Giant

    "WAIT!"


    An apprentice with a magic robe way too big for her body and covered in bandages was running to Zatiel. Her whole body was covered and the only reason you could know it was a woman was by the tone of her voice.


    Zatiel will usually ignore this type of scenario, but when he assesses the apprentice''s body, his curiosity is piqued. It wasn''t that she had an alluring body, all the opposite, she was releasing a rotten smell and although her bandages were very tight, on some asion pus was leaking through it.


    ''Contamination due to a failed experiment?'', Zatiel looked at the apprentice and identified the possible reason for her state.


    The body of someone mutating in some horrible way due to some mishap is mostmon. It usually happens when a Magus tries some new elements and uses apprentices like guinea pigs. For the Magus, the mutation is only a source of information, but to the apprentice, it is the beginning of a living hell.


    The apprentice came in front of Zatiel and started to look at him as if trying to identify something.


    "How can I help you?"


    Zatiel''s face was immutable. Even though he was so close to the apprentice that he could see the parts of mutated skin that were visible through the bandages.


    Seeing that the expression of Zatiel didn''t change at any moment, the apprentice rxed and adopted a respectful attitude as she expressed her intentions.


    "Are you possibly a runemaster?"


    The voice of the apprentice was trembling, but her eyes were full of hope.


    When she made this question, a lot of apprentices that were around all focused on them, even old Hal was waiting for the answer.


    Zatiel didn''t respond immediately. After all, inscribing runes and being a runemaster is not the same, but since his ability was already in the open, he knows that the rest of the tower will find out eventually so he nodded to the woman.


    The moment he did, the rest of the apprentices immediately started to whisper among themselves, as for old Hal, he was full of smiles, after all, coborating with a runemaster, even a rank 0 one, is something truly profitable.


    "AWESOME! I need you to create this for me!"


    The apprentice was excited as she threw a parchment to Zatiel.


    Zatiel caught the parchment, but he didn''t look at it and focused on the apprentice.


    "It''s that an order?" His eyes became cold as he looked at the woman. The reason he was being so patient with her was that she reminded him when he became a demon for the first time and his body a true monstrosity, but if she thinks she can give him orders, then she is making a serious mistake.


    The woman notices the change in attitude and all her enthusiasm is reced with worry.


    "I''m sorry, I was too excited, it is just that I have been waiting for this opportunity for so long that I got carried away. I know I can''t force you to do anything but I can repay you for your work."


    The apprentice started bowing and adopted apliant position in front of Zatiel, hoping that this one listens to her.


    After hearing the apology of the woman and seeing the sincerity in her action, Zatiel''s coldness vanished, and he started to see the contents of the parchment. When he saw what it was in there, he understood the reason for the woman''s hope.


    "I must say, you are overestimating the abilities of a rank 0 runemaster a little."


    The contents were a diagram for the rank 1 rune ''Transfiguration'' that allows the wearer to take the form of anything that they want, and even though Zatiel could create it, it will take an immense amount of energy with his current abilities, and that was just for him. To any other rank 0 runemasters it will be impossible, after all, this rune is a high-grade rank 1 rune.


    "It is... really impossible." The woman''s voice was filling with desperation, after all, finding a rank 0 runemaster is very difficult for the apprentices, and as for doing business with a Magus Runemaster, in the best scenario they will only take everything from her and say that they tried to create the rune but failed. It wasn''t wrong to say that this was her only chance.


    Seeing the expression of the woman, Zatiel sighed.


    "Fine, stop making that face, I can do it but you better have something truly valuable to pay for it or else you can forget about the rune"


    "Really!, don''t worry I have something that will definitely satisfy you."


    The apprentice again became full of excitement and under her bandages, a smile could be seen.


    "Follow me, this ce is not suitable for negotiations."


    The ce was full of people and they were the center of attention, so it was better if they left before continuing.


    "Yes."


    The woman follows him and the three enter the portal to the second floor.


    Once in there, Zatiel speaks to Ezequiel.


    "Little EZ, you should continue with your creations, I don''t have a lot of advice to give you but I will provide you the matrix for a weapon, you should practice it," Zatiel transferred the information through the core to Ezequiel.


    Ezequiel started to go through the information and was surprised. The weapon not only was useful to rank 0 life-forms but even rank 1 could use it.


    "I will start right away!"


    Ezequiel leaves for his house immediately, excited about the chance to create such a powerful weapon.


    "That brat," Zatiel only smiled at the enthusiasm of the boy.


    The woman saw the care in Zatiel eyes but chose not to ask about their rtionship for fear of annoying him.


    "Follow me," Zatiel and the woman entered his house and headed for theboratory.


    Theboratory was full of items or magic creature skin in all the ces, there was some equipment lying on the floor and the room was full of dirt. The ce was aplete mess.


    "You were robbed!" The woman came to this conclusion after seeing the state of the house. After all, to her it is impossible for a runemaster, someone who takes pride in their precision, to be this sloppy.


    When Zatiel heard those words, even though it was just a little, he blushed.


    The reason for the state of this ce was simple, he was just a messy person. Of course for important stuff, he was incredibly dedicated and organized, but keeping his ce clean, that was his soft point, a habit of his time like a demon, after all, when have you heard of a demon keeping his house clean?.


    "What robbery are you talking about? This is just how I do things. Anyway, you have not even told me your name yet."


    Zatiel changed the subject immediately.


    "Oh, yes, my name is Sophia," she gave her name and didn''t dare to bring the subject of the mess again for fear of angering Zatiel.


    As for only giving her first name, Zatiel didn''t think much about it, after all, unless your family was a powerful n with official Magi in there, most people just give their first name.


    "Ok, Sophia, let''s get to business. The rune that you want is a very difficult Rank 1 Rune, and although I can do it, it will take me a huge amount of time doing it so the price is equallyrge."


    Although Zatiel had a good impression of the woman, he was no hero that helped the needy so unless she can give him something worthy, he would not waste his time.


    Sophia knows that this was the moment of truth, so she became very serious.


    "I have the whereabouts of theboratory of a very powerful ancient Magus," Sophia was concentrating on Zatiel''s face trying to pick something from him, but she was disappointed at seeing how his face kept his usual rxed expression.


    "I hope you understand that I can''t take just your word."


    Actually with Zatiel experience he could see that the woman was telling the truth but even if she thinks that the owner of theboratory was powerful, it may be just because of her little knowledge.


    Sophia makes a struggle face for a moment before her eyes show determination as she takes from her robe a tube with a drop of blood floating inside.


    "This should be enough."


    But just as she finished speaking, it vanished from her hand.


    "What happened!" Sophia was started, but a momentter she saw the reason. The tube was in Zatiel''s hands, and he inspected the blood with emotion on his face.


    ''Too strong! If he wants to kill me..,'' She became fearful of the idea.


    Zatiel didn''t note any of this as he was too focused in the blood. After a moment, the chip finally reaffirms his suspicion.


    [Bip...


    Analyzing blood.


    Most urate match: Lightning Giant.


    Lightning Giants: Members of the Giant race that has the blood of Titans running through them. When they reach adulthood, they be Rank 4 life forms. They can use the lighting energy to achieve an incredible speed thatbined with their immense strength gives them monstrous battle power.]


    "Hahaha, good, this is perfect," Zatielughed as he held the tube. ''The ce where she found this is exactly what I need to advance to rank 1.''


    When Zatiel finally calms down, he notices the expression that Sophia was making and he realizes the mistake he made.


    "Sorry I was too excited, and you were right. This is more than enough proof," Zatiel throws the tube to her, at which the apprentice almost does not catch it due to the surprise.


    "You are... giving it back," Sophia was truly surprised, after all based on the reaction she saw, she now knows that this blood is much more valuable than she thought.


    "I have not done the job yet, anyway I rmend you to keep that very well hidden, if a Magus sees it, they will kill you and take it," Although the blood was useful to Zatiel, the ce where she took it is much more alluring.


    Sophia immediately hides the tube in the safest ce that she could think of.


    "Thanks."


    She knows that had he wanted to kill her, she would be dead and the blood would have been his.


    "Don''t worry about it. So the location of theboratory and the blood for the rune, I must say that it still falls a little short, you will have to help me when I perform my experiments," Zatiel speaks and unknown to the woman, a smile was created on his face.


    When she hears those words, Sophia feels fear running all over her body. Experiments brought her to her current state.


    "What.. do I have to do," Her voice was full of fear as she asked. She knows that this is the only chance she has to change her body, so even if it means going through hell, she will do it.


    "Easy. You will clean this ce."

 Chapter 24: Rank 2 Magus

    "Help you clean?"


    Sophia was ready to face another tortuous set of experiments, but what she will have to do is just clean a house.


    "You were the one that says that this ce looks like it was robbed. So those are the conditions, do you ept?"


    Zatiel was making fun of the apprentice, after all, he never hoped that she could help him with his runes.


    "I will not be involved in some dangerous experimentations?" Sophia still could not believe her job would be so simple.


    "What are you talking about? I am a runemaster, how could you possibly help me in my experiments. As for trying my runes, if I say the word, there will be hundreds of apprentices willing to use them despite the risk."


    "Sorry, I was overthinking," Sophia finally rxed, and she smiled and thought ''Finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.''


    "But there is a catch, due to my constant experimentations this ce is always getting dirty so you will have to live here."


    Sophia was surprised by the request, it wasn''t that she had a problem living with someone, but she perfectly knows the state of her body and how the rest of the world sees her.


    "Do you really want someone like me living with you?"


    As she asked she could not help but feel contempt for herself.


    "If something so insignificant like physical appearance will affect me, then I would have gone crazy a long time ago," Zatiel words were truthful, after all, there are very few things more disgusting than a Mane.


    "Even if you don''t care, the rest of the apprentices will spread rumors about you," Sophia''s life is a truly lonely one, even if someone could see past her body, the looks that they get from the rest will do the trick and make them get away from her.


    "When have you seen a dragon caring about what a lizard says? If they annoy me, I will just kill them. Anyway, you are giving too many excuses, are you going to live here or not????


    Zatiel made an annoyed face as she looked at the woman, as if he was telling her to stop bothering him with such insignificant things.


    "Yes, I will!" Sophia was smiling from the bottom of her heart for the first time in a long time she found someone that makes her feel a little normal.


    "Ok then, you can begin immediately, this ce is a dump," Zatiel gives the order, and he started to familiarize himself with the diagram for ''Transfiguration''.


    Sophia didn''t waste time and started to clean the ce from top to bottom, all the time with a smile.


    Zatiel saw the expression she was making and understood how she was feeling.


    The feeling of being normal was something he truly desired when he became a demon, but unlike her, for him, there was no one that could give him that. But this wasn''t the only reason he asked her to stay here.


    As long as they lived in the same house, he could keep an eye on her and make sure that the information about theboratory stays a secret.


    As for the option of forcing her to give the information, that could easily cause a bacsh, and more importantly, he didn''t want to do it, and as long he doesn''t want something there is nothing that can force him.


    The days passed as they both reached a rhythm. As Zatiel created runes, Sophia was cleaning and when she had time, she prepared food with the corpses of magical creatures.


    To Zatiel there was no difference between eaten raw meat and something prepared but he had to admit that the woman really knows how to cook.


    Something out of the normal was the obsession of Sophia with not letting Zatiel see her body, although he told her that it was not important, she was really stubborn in this, choosing to wash only when Zatiel was sleeping or in deep concentration with his runes.


    Even when they were eating, she always adopted a posture that hides her face. Despite telling her to stop with this nonsense, she doesn''t listen and continues, so Zatiel eventually gives up and lets her do whatever she wants.


    ....


    In one of the upper floors of the Sinux Tower, you could see two men facing each other, one of them is a middle-aged man with a dignified aura sitting in a big chair while the other was an old man kneeling on the floor.


    The person that was kneeling was Old Hal. He was soaked with sweat with a pale expression and his body was stiff due to the tension. The reason for all of this was the person in front of him.


    Although the middle-aged man wasn''t even looking at him, he released such a pressure that made even breathing difficult to old Hal.


    The man had in his hands two parchment containing runes, of course, they were the ones Zatiel give old Hal to advertise them.


    "Are you sure you have given me all the information you have on that runemaster?"


    The man never stops looking at the parchments, but old Hal could have sworn that two immense eyes were staring at him when the middle-age man made the question.


    "Yes Lord Magus! I swear that I have told you all the information I have," The reason that old Hal was here was pretty simple. The fame of the runes spread even better than he thought, reaching the ears of this official Magus who summoned him to interrogate him about Zatiel.


    Even though the middle-aged man was only a Rank 1 Magus. To someone like old Hal who was barely a Rank 2 Apprentice, the pressure that his maic force field released was too much.


    "You can leave, I will be keeping these runes, you can have this for your problems."


    The man never looks at old Hal and just gives the order as he throws a potion.


    Old Hal catches the potion, and he bes excited when he finds out what it is.


    It was a simple vitality potion that can give a rank 0 life-form 25 extra years of life, although for old Hal it was something very precious, for a rank 1 Magus was nothing valuable.


    "Thank you, lord Magus, thank you, I will be taking my leave,??? Old Hal leaves the room, almost running when he does, as for the runes, he will never dare to ask a Rank 1 Magus to return them.


    ''If Zatiel asks me, I will just exin the situation, after all, he could not have expected me to fight against a Rank 1 Magus,'' Old Hal was a little fearful of returning empty-handed, especially with someone like Zatiel that gives him the sensation that is in front of a human-shaped monster.


    In reality, his fears were unfounded. The runes reached the hands of a rank 1 Magus was exactly what Zatiel was nning.


    "So Jhon, what have you found out?"


    When old Hal left the room, a person covered in shadows materialized in the air and started to speak to the middle-aged man.


    The moment the man sees the shadow, he immediately stands up and bows to the person.


    "Lord Clive, I have done as you told and searched the information about the new runemaster. His name is Zatiel, he has been in the tower for less than a year, and ording to what I could find out, he was able to create at least three peak rank 0 runes in less than two weeks. Also, it seems that he is responsible for Arthur''s disappearance."


    The Magus named Jhon gives the information with a respectful tone. This was normal, after all, the person named Clive was a Rank 2 Magus.


    Clive only nodded at the information, not expressing anything.


    "Lord Clive, the skills that apprenticeship is showing is too high, I think he must have some special artifact or something simr that helps him, I suggest that we bring him here and heavily interrogate him."


    In the eyes of Jhon, greed could be seen, after all, with the abilities Zatiel was showing, bing a Rank 1 Runemaster was not very far, and even to a Magus, achieving that is something truly glorious.


    "I have used the surveince of the tower to see his process of crafting and there is no such thing as a cheat, he is just talented," Clive could see Jhon''s greed but didn''t say nothing, after all, if there was an artifact that helps you create runes, he would have been the first in taking it.


    "Do as I instruct you and contact him, also handle the problem with Arthur''s master as we discussed," After he finished speaking, the shadow disappeared.

 Chapter 25: A Magi fight

    An old-man with crimson hair could be seen leaving the Endless Forest. He was flying on top of a huge ball of fire; the oxygen burned as he shed through the sky. If you see his trajectory, you could see he was headed towards the Sinux Magic Tower.


    Although he was moving at an amazing speed, his movement was very static and rigid. This was verymon. Spells that allow you to move in the sky freely were veryplex and most of the time needed some high-grade magic equipment to work properly.


    ''I could not get any evidence about Arthur''s death, parts of his body were split through all the forest for the creatures that ate him, making it impossible to use his remains to see his final moments. That brat is very clever,'' The man''s face was full of fury as he thinks of the future repercussions of his disciple''s death.


    The flying man was named Erick, it is a Rank 1 Magus and the master of Arthur, although they had a master-disciple rtionship, as in most cases with these rtions, there were no deep feelings between them. The reason for his rage was that he had a contract with Arthur in which he would help him to advance to Rank 1 and the other party would take his ce in the future ne invasion of his family.


    ne invasions were when powerful individuals infiltrate worlds or nes to conquer and dominate the native races, these wars usually have a high rate of mortality especially to a Magus like Erick who was not very proficient in battle.


    Initially, Erick was going to just kill the responsible for his disciple death just to calm his rage, as for the evidence he doesn''t feel it is necessary, after all, why will a Magus need evidence for the life of an apprentice, but when he searched for the information about the killer, he found out that the person was a runemaster.


    This changed his n entirely. He was going to gather evidence about the capability of Zatiel and use that as an excuse to arrest him. Once under his control, he will deliver him to his family and use the credit for that to not participate in the war.


    Unfortunately for him, the spell that will allow him to see the final moment of a person needs to have a major part of the body intact, so he wasn''t lucky.


    ''Since I can''t get you, I will just kill you and take everything you have with me. I don''t believe that type of ability is just because of talent,'' Erick''s face was a mix between anger and greed as he was reaching the magic tower


    When he was close to reaching the city that was surrounding the tower, he found a middle-aged man standing in the air. By the expression he made when he saw him, it was obvious that he was waiting for him.


    Erick stopped half a kilometer from the man, and although his expression was calm, his energy was surging.


    "May I know what I do to get the famous Poison Wind Jhon to receive me," Although Erick''s words sounded polite, they were full of hostility, having already deduced the reason why the Magus was here.


    "I just heard that the Magus Erick wasing to visit my magic tower, so I came to see you," Jhon''s expression was friendly as if he didn''t notice the tone in Erick''s words.


    "Enough! You know exactly why I am here. Give me the apprentice that killed my disciple and I will leave immediately, or else I will have to use force. You are not part of the Imperial Family so it is impossible for you to use the tower to augment your power," Whips of me as thick as a grown man started to appear around Erick.


    "Oh, actually there is something new that I had wanted to practice so you came just at the right time," Green spheres of wind start to show up as Jhon smiles preparing to fight.


    Erick didn''t say another word as hemanded his whips of mes to sh at Jhon.


    The whips looked like a giant me snake as it crashed at Jhon with amazing speed, threatening to devour him.


    Jhon raised his right hand and a wind swirl faced the me snake, stopping his advance while his left hand manipted the green spheres to head for Erick


    Erick immediately tries to distance himself from the spheres but unfortunately, although his flying spell was fast, the spheres were faster and the dexterity he could show above the ball of me was mediocre.


    Just when the spheres were about to crash on him, Erick concentrated a great amount of energy in his body andunched a spell.


    "me repulsion!"


    A st of mes originated from Erick and destroyed everything in his surroundings, including the green spheres.


    Without wasting his momentum, he increased the power of the fame snake to temporarily incapacitate Jhon andunched his second spell.


    "Meteor shower!"


    Meteors crashed at where Jhon was, covering a huge amount of terrain making it extremely difficult to dodge.


    Erick knows that the spell will not be enough to kill Jhon, but still. He was waiting for him to show a little panic, but before the immense ming rocks, the Magus just smiled.


    ''What is happening, although he would not die, if the spell hit him directly, he would be severely hurt,'' Erick didn''t have to wait long for the answer as he saw a glow appear on Jhon''s legs.


    Before Erick''s eyes, Jhon started to jump in the air with such a skill that he was able to distance himself from most of the meteorites and dodge the rest.


    Erick saw how his enemy got closer to him and tried to distance himself, but before he could get away, Jhon got in the right distance and attacked.


    "Poison Hurricane!"


    A green hurricane sted from Jhon''s hands and reached Erick''s body, making him crash on the ground. All the surroundings started to decay when the green wind touched them.


    Although his enemy was sure to be hurt Jhon didn''t continue with the attack and stood still.


    "Bastard!" Erick''s voice came from the ground and a pir of mes rose to the air. When the mes disappeared, you could see how his body had a cloak of mes that covered him, the cloak looked like it could disappear in the next moment and although most of his body was fine, some parts were green and you could see how they started to rot.


    "Enough, your Rank spell is barely holding,. If you continue fighting, this will only end badly for you."


    "Big words for someone who uses the runes of some brat to fight," Envy could be seen in Erick''s eyes when he remembers how Jhon used Aerial Walk to dodge his spell.


    "If you want to continue, I will apany you, but this orderes from Lord Clive. You are not allowed to harm the runemaster Zatiel or his subordinates in any way," Jhon''s energy calmed down when he finished speaking.


    The moment Erick hears the name of Clive, his fighting intent vanishes immediately. Although he dares to fight Jhon, against a rank 2 Magus he didn''t dare to behave rudely.


    Erick sneered and without saying anything, he left in the opposite direction of the tower, but still, his face was full of greed as he got away.


    ''If you think this is the end, you are severely mistaken.''

 Chapter 26: Contract

    Zatiel was in hisboratory creating the runes for ''Secondary consciousness'' and ''Aerial Walk'', as for ''Transfiguration'', he has already partially understood how the rune worked, diminishing the effort he will have to put to craft it, but still, he wasn''t familiarized enough with it to start creating it, and even if he was, the amount of energy that takes to create a rank 1 rune is something that he still doesn''t have.


    Even if the quality and quantity of the energy that a Neo-demon has is superior to one of a Magus in the same rank, to create a rank 1 rune even with the reservoir of a rank 1 life form it will be difficult, not counting that ''Transfiguration'' is a high grade one, and Zatiel is not even close to reaching the peak of rank 0.


    Just when Zatiel was preparing to rest and end the day, an indifferent voice was heard in his house.


    "Apprentice Zatiel, you are summoned to the fourth floor of the tower by the Magus Jhon, you muste immediately."


    The voice left as abruptly as it arrived, and gave themand as if it was an absolute one without waiting for an answer.


    "So they are finally contacting me, it was faster than I thought, I guess I underestimated the importance of the runes, It doesn''t matter. Let''s see what they want."


    Zatiel was not concerned with the summoning, although most of the apprentices will feel scared if they are called by a Magus, this fear originated from the unknown that surrounds them, but to Zatiel a Rank 1 Magus could not be moremon.


    But there was someone in the house that was not even close to being rxed.


    "Zatiel! What happened? What did you do? Why is there a Magus calling you? Did you offend someone?"


    Sophia seems like a machine gun firing question after question and terror could be seen in her face, an obvious sign of the fear that she has for Magi.


    "Rx, they probably just want to get information about my runes, and maybe some sort of transaction, there is nothing to fear."


    Zatiel will usually just ignore this type of behavior but seeing the concern in the apprentice''s face he chooses to exin the situation so she will calm down.


    Sophia was able to rx when understood that the calling was not to impart some punishment but to speak about rune crafting.


    "They may want to know your process and way of crafting your runes."


    Sophia may not know a lot about runes, but Zatiel''s talent was obvious even for her, so she was thinking that the Magus wanted to know his process.


    "They already have all the information about my entire process and my abilities in crafting."


    Zatiel was not worried that the way he created his runes was in the open, after all, they were just some rank 0 ones, this way it will help dissipate the notion of some type of external help.


    "How? I swear that I have not talked with anyone about what I have seen in yourboratory."


    Sophia knows that besides her there was no one in Zatiel workroom, and was scared that he would think that she was some kind of spy.


    "You are not very bright, right."


    Seeing the state of the woman Zatiel started teasing her.


    "Hey! What is that supposed to mean?"


    Sophia''s anxiety diminished greatly as she got upset.


    Zatiel just nodded as he saw how she rxed a little and started talking.


    "Tell me what are Magic Towers?"


    Although Sophia was confused by the question, after a moment, she gave the answer she thinks is the most correct one.


    "Magic Towers are the headquarters of Magus, they have the facilities they need to optimize their meditations and also the equipment needed to perform their experiment. They also can work as a stronghold to face enemies and enhance the abilities of the Magus that has control over it."


    Sophia''s answer was a simple but veryplete one, filling all the basic roles of the tower.


    "Correct. Then tell me, will you let hundreds of people be inside something so valuable without taking some precautions?"


    After a moment Sophia understood what Zatiel was getting to.


    "You are saying they have surveince in the entire tower?"


    Sophia could not help but start to look at her surroundings, trying to find some sort of device.


    "You will not find anything, and although they monitor us, it is not at all times. Most of it happens when someone gets close to an important part of the tower or some higher-ups want to find information about someone. Anyway, I must leave, I will get back in a while."


    Zatiel left the house in a rxed manner, not anxious about the meeting.


    .....


    It didn''t take long for Zatiel to reach the fourth floor. Once he reached there, a small golem receives him and guides him to the house that the Magus Jhon owned.


    The house looked very simr to the one apprentice had, but bigger and the materials were of a higher grade.


    The golem took him to the entrance of a big room. Once Zatiel entered, he saw a middle-aged man waiting for him.


    As Zatiel got closer to the man, he started to assess him.


    ''A rank 1 Elementium Magus, by the power of his maic force field, I can say he advanced not too long ago. Oh, he is using my runes.''


    "Apprentice Zatiel greets Magus Jhon."


    Zatiel made a bow as he greeted the man, although in his previous life a rank 1 being was no different than a mortal, now he is not Zatiel the Archdemon, but just Zatiel the apprentice.


    Besides, his ego was not so insignificant that he would feel inferior just for bowing to someone.


    ''So he is the runemaster, by what I know they usually are very slow in enhancing their power but he is so young and the energy in his body already rivals one of a pseudo-magus.''


    As Jhon evaluated Zatiel, some envy could be seen in his eyes.


    A Magus feeling envy from an apprentice was something no one will believe, but the feelings of Jhon were understandable.


    After all, even though humans have amazing potential, being able to reach great heights, trying topare themselves to Neo-Demons, beings that even dragons will feel inferiority, was absurd.


    "I will go straight to the point, Arthur''s master wasing to kill you but I intervened and forced him to leave"


    Jhon''s face was prideful for the feeling of superiority that he had for having, ording to him, saved the life of Zatiel.


    ''So he is just a middleman,'' Zatiel saw the expression of Jhon but didn''t care for that, what calls his attention was the information he revealed.


    He knows that no Magus will get the animosity of someone of the same rank just for the life of an apprentice, so there must be some more powerful who gives the order.


    Of course, Zatiel did his part to feign fear when the master of Arthur was mentioned and relieved when he found out he was expelled.


    "I must thank you, lord Magus."


    Gratitude could be seen on his face as he thanked Jhon.


    Jhon just nodded, but his mood improved immediately when he saw the gratitude on Zatiel''s face and his feeling of superiority was enhanced.


    "Of course I did not do this for nothing. I will continue protecting you for five years, during this time you must reach the level of a Rank 1 Runemaster, and when you do it, you must create eight runes of my choice."


    When Jhon finished speaking, he threw a parchment to Zatiel.


    Zatiel caught the parchment and inside it was a contract. The contents were the same that Jhon was saying but the one who would get the runes was another person named Clyde.


    ''I should ept it. If I don''t do it, that Clyde guy could do something drastic, and although a Rank 1 Magus does not present an absolute threat, taking care of him right now will be too troublesome and will call too much attention.''


    "I ept the proposition of lord Magus."


    After seeing that there was nothing out of the normal, Zatiel signed the contract.


    After the contract was signed, it floated back to Jhon''s hands.


    "Ok, then we are set, you can leave."


    The moment the contract was in his hands, Jhon dismissed Zatiel immediately.


    Zatiel made a small bow and left the room, heading to his house.

 Chapter 27: Underground Zone

    Zatiel was back in the house resting in his bed. Although with meditation he can replenish all the energy that he had lost, sleeping will do the trick better and besides it is rxing to do it from time to time.


    ''They gave me five years if, by that time I haven''t met their conditions, they possibly will be the first in killing me and take all my possessions with them for the trouble that I cause them. But that doesn''t matter. If I focus only on rune crafting, it will take me less than a year to be a Rank 1 Runemaster, but that will raise suspicions. After all, for a rank 0 apprentice reaching that level is supposed to be impossible due to the shortage in energy that humans have.''


    Zatiel logic was correct. After all, even if the person was a supreme genius, Rank 1 is one of the great breakthroughs of life-forms, triggering an immense change in the individual, especially in humans since they are one of the weakest races when they are in rank 0.


    ''I should first reach Rank 1 before advancing as a runemaster, with theboratory of the ancient magus, I will get the most importantponent in advancing, but those ces are often full of danger. I will need to do a lot of preparation before going there.''


    ...


    It was morning and two figures could be seen leaving the Magic Tower; they were Zatiel and Sophia.


    They were moving at a great velocity, of course, to Zatiel this was trotting but he had to slow down due to the presence of Sophia.


    Sophia was an elementium apprentice and her affinity was water.


    Usually, the body of these apprentices is very weak but those deformities that torment her so much allow her to reach the body strength of a rank 3 body-refining apprentice permitting her to keep up with the speed.


    "Zatiel, do we need to go to the Underground Zone? That ce is full of bloody races that attack in the first sight of anyone."


    Sophia was scared of going to such a dangerous ce. But the truth was that she doesn''t know anything about the underground, just the rumors that are passed among people.


    "That ce has some materials I need to craft runes, besides, if you are talking about bloody races humans definitely are in the top 10."


    In Zatiel view, humans were one of the more warmongers races of the entire universe especially those that came from High Worlds like The Magi World.


    "You don''t know what you are talking about! A lot of people are good and loving with those closest to them, especially in viges, where everybody takes care of each other."


    Sophia usually will never scream at Zatiel, but anger ovees her rationality at this moment.


    Most of Sophia''s anger with Zatiel words came from the memories she has before embarking on the path of magic. Those memories are something precious and what helps her in her darkest moments so she wants to protect everything she has.


    The moment she finished speaking she felt fear crawling his body making her stop, as she tried to find the origins of it, she saw Zatiel coldly looking at her.


    "Are you sure I am mistaken?"


    The coldness in Zatiel''s eyes just grew stronger as he waited for the answer.


    Fear started to grow in Sophia''s heart. She thought she had a basic idea of Zatiel for all the time they have been together, but at this moment the threat of death seems very clear.


    She knows that if she retracts she will be fine, but just as she was about to lie, memories start to sh through her mind and as they do a me could be seen growing in her eyes.


    After a moment she looked back at Zatiel and she held her head high as she responded.


    "Yes, you are wrong."


    The moment she finished talking, the feeling of how a little something was growing inside her showed up, as that feeling passed she was ready to ept what wasing next, but what she received was unexpected.


    "Ha haha, good, you have hope after all. You may not be the smartest or talented, but I don''t give a shit about that, remember what you are feeling now and do all you can to strengthen it."


    Zatiel nodded at the woman as he saw the resolve she disyed.


    "Are you really not angry?"


    Sophia was a little confused by what was happening. In a moment she felt he was ready to attack her and the next he wasughing andplimenting her.


    "Do I look so pathetic that I will attack the people next to me just because they have different opinions. Take this as a little test and congrats you pass wonderfully."


    Zatiel smiled at Sophia, as the image he had of her improved greatly.


    "This was a test, of what and for what reason?"


    Sophia was confused, after all, ording to her, the value she had to someone like Zatiel is very little and not something worth testing.


    "What I was testing was your will. Staying true to what you believe in the face of death is something truly brave. Of course, it is also truly stupid. The next time something like this happens, just lie. If what you need to be safe is to just say some false words, do it. As long as your heart stays firm, words do not matter. As for the reason, although you passed this test, you still have a long way to go."


    Part of the reason Zatiel brings her with him was that it will be dangerous for her to be alone in the tower. Now, the rest of the apprentices can do nothing to him, but they may want to try to get information about him from her, and the other part was that he was fond of the woman and if she manages to prove herself worthy, he has no problem helping her.


    As for Ezequiel, Zatiel was nning to bring him too, but the boy was at a crucial point in his creations so he chose to let him stay.


    The Magus already had all the information they wanted about him, and apprentices would be sending themselves to their graves if they messed with him.


    "Let''s keep going, the entrance to the Underground Zone is a long way to go, and rx. We will just be staying in the firstyers. I know my limitations," Zatiel didn''t waste time and continue his journey.


    Sophia stood still for a while as she touched her chest.


    After a moment, her eyes became determined as she followed after Zatiel.


    They continued traveling for about a week before they reached the entrance to the Underground Zone.


    The entrance was nothing fancy; it was just an immense mountain with a cave that leads to the firstyer of the underground, if something was worth mentioning was the darkness devoured all light in the cave.


    When Zatiel was about to enter, he abruptly stopped and looked at the sky. As he did, annoyance started to show up in his face.


    Sophia saw his reaction, and she looks at the sky but could not see anything


    "Is there a problem?"


    She could see that something bothered Zatiel but could not realize what it was.


    "It''s nothing, from now on do not stay more than 20 meters from me at all times," Zatiel was serious as shemanded Sophia, and she did not dare to disobey.


    After they entered the cave and disappeared in the darkness, a figure show up from the sky.

 Chapter 28: Kobolds

    The person that shows up in the sky was an old man with crimson hair.


    "Humph, it doesn''t matter how talented you are, before a true Magus you are just a toy. Even if I can''t kill you directly, I have other ways, soon all your secrets will be mine."


    Erick looked at the cave where Zatiel vanished, and his face was full of anger and envy, after all, Zatiel was very young and his possibility of bing a Magus in the near future were immense, and as for him, he was already in the twilight of his life without the possibility of bing a rank 2 magus, his life was already closing to his natural end.


    ''Although Clyde is dangerous, as long as I erase all the evidence of my involvement, he will have no proof and the family head will not let him kill me.''


    Ruthlessness radiated from him as he was thinking of the future of the pawns he made do his bidding.


    .....


    The Magi World was truly enormous, not just its surface but its interior as well. This world hasyers, although the surface is the most sustainable and where life can grow most easily, the loweryers have a great amount of life and civilizations, some of them were non-human races that due to one or other reason chose to make this ce their home.


    Theseyers are also the ce where those who are chased or did not want to be involved with the three great powers of the surface came to live.


    Although everyyer has a name of their own, a lot of the people just refer to them like the Underground Zone.


    Zatiel and Sophia were descending to the firstyer. Although the cave that connected to the firstyer has no light, with the first one being a Neo-Demons and the second having her eyes mutated, neither of them struggle to see in the dark.


    ''That old coward would not dare directly attack me, so he must have made some preparation for me to be killed for some races here, as for how he finds out that I wasing here, it is simple, someone of the tower must have told him.''


    Zatiel''s eyes were bing colder as he thought that someone dared to y games with him.


    ''Before, I was just going to kill you, but now, I think "He" will enjoy devouring a Rank 1 Magus alive.''


    As Zatiel was thinking, he hears a voice that distracts him. It was Sophia who was looking at him with a worry expression.


    "What happens?"


    Zatiel got confused at the expression of the woman, after all, they were not even close to finding enemies.


    "You have been acting weird since we entered the cave, are you alright?"


    Sophia was concerned that something bad was happening with Zatiel.


    "Oh, sorry, I guess there are some things that are difficult to get used to it. Don''t worry, I am fine," Zatiel''s expression returned to his usual rxed one after the talk.


    "As long as you are fine, it is ok I suppose."


    Sophia didn''t entirely understand what Zatiel meant but seeing him rx, she didn''t press the topic.


    Zatiel was feelingplicated. After all, epting that a Rank 1 Magus dares to n your demise, when there was a time when you could literally change fate with a move of your hands was hard.


    But he was not someone whoins about his situation and lives in his glory days, so after a moment, those feelings disappeared.


    They continued descending for a couple of hours before they reached the exit of the cave andnded in the first level of the Underground known as the Wastnds.


    Although this ce was under the surface of the and the ground was mostly rocks andnd not suitable for farming and the like, it was by no means small, with a height of fifty meters and andmass reaching several thousands of kilometers.


    This ce was the home of a lot of species, but of course, the ones that chose this ce to live are not very powerful, if they were, they would go to the inferior levels.


    ording to the information Zatiel has, the lower levels have a living condition not inferior to the ones on the surface and groups as powerful as them.


    Although the Wastnd didn''t have a sun that gave it daylight, there were rocks on the floor and ceiling that absorb energy and release as light so there was a certain level of visibility.


    "We are going to go for some materials that can be found in this level and after that, we will go to kill some races that habit this ce, remember, do not separate from me."


    Zatiel was serious as he talked to Sophia, as long she stays with him, he will be able to guarantee her safety, but if they split up, her fate will be an uncertain one.


    "I understand."


    Sophia knows that this is not a yground, so she was vignt as they advanced.


    Zatiel nodded as he saw her attitude and started tomunicate with the chip.


    "A. I. Chip, use the information I got in the tower about the underground to generate the most efficient path to collect the material and attack the tribes."


    Beforeing here, Zatiel got all the information he could about the Underground, like the geography, danger zones, and the races that inhabitedhabited this ce.


    This was so he could use the abilities of the chip to generate the best course of action, after all, the Wastnd is huge and if he starts to explore it in the search for all the things he needs, it will be a massive waste of time.


    As always, the voice of the chip was heard in the next moment after an order was given.


    [Bip... scanning environment.


    Tracing the most optimal path.


    Taskpleted, showing to host]


    As the voice of the chip ends, a line appears on the ground in front of Zatiel, showing him the path to take.


    "Let''s go," Zatiel and Sophia follow the path that the line marked and after a couple of hours they reached their first destination.


    In front of them were small mountains with caves that led to its insides, and in the entrance, you could see small humanoid creatures with a lizard appearance. They were kobolds, a race known for their hate for other species.


    ''Kobolds usually have a power bordering between a rank 2 and 3 apprentices, by what I can feel inside those mountains there must be around one hundred of them,'' Zatiel was assessing the enemies and preparing his n of action.


    "We havee here to kill those kobolds?"


    Sophia knew that with his power she would not be of much help in a fight, so she was nervous before a possible battle.


    "No, what we are after is some mineral that can be found inside those mountains, as for killing those kobolds, although they are dragon spawn, these here are too weak and even if we kill all of them and purify their blood, it will not get us a single drop of dragon blood. Besides, we need someone to mine this ce."


    "You are hoping that they obey you?"


    Sophia could not imagine how Zatiel was going to get those creatures to mine for him.


    "Of course, if the only choice they have is between certain death and obedience, I am sure they will take thest," Zatiel spoke with such a certainty like it had done this type of thing hundreds of times before.


    Sophia didn''t know what to answer to that, after all, although Zatiel is very powerful there is a full mountain of kobolds against him.


    Zatiel saw the confusion in her face but did say nothing andmanded the chip "A.I. Chip scan both of us."


    [Bip... Analyzing host.


    Strength: 12.3


    Physique: 14.8


    Speed:11.9


    Abyss Aura: 15.7]


    After eating hundreds of rat-mans, always having for meals the bodies of some magical creature and the eleration in his abyss aura thanks to his work in runes, Zatiel stats have grown tremendously.


    When an apprentice reach a Spirit Force of 15, they get the title of Pseudo-Magus, due to already reaching the level of energy they needed to initiate the process of advancing to rank 1, but Neo-Demons require much more energy before they advance, having to get to 20 points before they can begin.


    Although the difference didn''t look like much, thosest five points will take more effort to get that all the others before them, and from now on, only food that has the energy level of a rank 3 apprentice or more has an effect on his body.


    [Bip... scanning apprentice Sophia.


    Strength:5.1


    Physique:4.6


    Speed: 5.3


    Spirit Force:7.3


    Status of the body: Severe deformation is detected in the organism. Due to the contamination of the body, advancing to rank 1 life form is almost impossible.]


    ''The contamination allows her to get great physical power even though she has never trained her body, but it also contaminates her energy and constitution.''


    Zatiel figures out the condition of Sophia immediately with the chip. He had several ways in which he can help her, but now is not the time, and he focused back on his current mission.


    "Stay behind me," having said that, Zatiel walks directly to the mountains without trying to hide from the kobolds.


    Sophia didn''t know what he was nning, but after a little hesitation, she followed him.


    The kobolds detected Zatiel and started to scream threateningly as they called the rest of their members. It didn''t take long for a dozen of them to get together and charge at him.


    Zatiel saw them attack, and his abyss aura started to burst, but he didn''tunch any spell. What he did was releasing all the strength of his maic force field.


    The moment he did that, a pressure so huge originated from his body that made the kobolds that were running to attack them stop at once, almost falling.


    Their bodies started to tremble with fear showing up in their eyes and as Zatiel walked forward, they started to move back.

 Chapter 29: Draconic language

    The maic force field is the result of the umtion of energy inside a body. The greater the amount of energy, the more powerful the force field is.


    Due to its origins being the natural energy of the world, when the force field is uncontained, it can affect other organisms, the same way a nuclear reactor can affect the environment if there is a leakage.


    Apprentices do not need to worry about containing their force field, due to their weakness, even if they release it will not generate an effect in their surroundings and at most, it will be useful to scare mortals.


    But when ites to Magi, they must keep their force field contained. Otherwise if they don''t, the energy they release is enough to kill mortals in their surroundings and generate immense pressure that can affect those weaker than them.


    Zatiel should not be able to use his force field to generate a pressure strong enough that can affect kobolds due to the quantity of his energy not been high enough, but the type that runs through his body his Abyssal Aura, an energy of a higher level than Spirit Force, and also it contains the evil and chaotic presence of the Abyss so it generates an effect strong enough to be of use.


    Sophia was shocked at the scene that was urring in front of her. The number of kobolds was getting higher, but even then they didn''t stop moving back as Zatiel got closer to them.


    Due to her proximity to Zatiel, although the pressure was not headed in her direction, she could feel the power that was released.


    ''How can he be this strong? No matter how powerful an apprentice is, it is not possible to be able to scare these creatures just with your force field,'' Sophia was very confused but didn''t ask knowing that this was not the time.


    Zatiel keeps walking and only stops when the kobolds are with their backs against the mountains, his pressure keeps getting stronger as he coldly looks at them.


    By this moment all the kobolds have already got together, numbering a little more than a hundred, although most of the faces were showing fear, some also disy hatred and desire to fight.


    Even the most fearful person will be able to disy some type of courage when he is part of a big enough group, much less kobolds that are known for their aggressiveness. So it didn''t take long for one of them to straighten his body and start roaring.


    When Sophia saw this, panic inundated her heart, knowing that this would trigger a response in the rest of the tribe. But before the roar ended, chains appeared in the air and attacked the kobold.


    They moved with such a speed than the creature didn''t even realize when his body was pierced, although the chains were going in and out of his body they do it with such precision that all his vitals organs were fine, so although he was badly hurt he didn''t die, and his roar of rage became screams of pain.


    Zatiel didn''t even look at the direction of this kobold and kept his eyes with the rest of the group, as he raised his hand and clenched his fist.


    The moment he did that, the chains that were going through the kobold started pulling in different directions, making the creature scream harder with pain, until his body was dismembered and broken into pieces.


    Seeing the fate of theirrade, the rest of the kobolds started to tremble.


    "Surrender or die," The moment the kobolds hear those words the fear in their eyes grows exponentially. The reason was that Zatiel didn''t say them in themon tongue of the Magi world but in Draconic Language.


    Just like the final straw that broke the camel. After hearing those words, the Kobols started to kneel one by one until all of them were on the ground.


    "Whoever is the leader,e in front of me," Zatiel words were like a decree that can''t be refused.


    After a moment an older kobold starts to walk out of the group and stands before Zatiel.


    "Mighty being, I am Rax, what can we do for you?" Rax''s voice was full of fear, just hoping that the monster in front of him would leave sooner.


    "I will be staying here for five days, during that time all of your tribe will mine those mountains and bring all the minerals that you can find. After that I will leave, if you do a decent job nothing will happen, but if you do a mediocre effort half of your tribe will die," Zatiel released a will to kill that proved that he didn''t mind ughtering them all.


    "We will bring all the minerals!" Rax knows that the person in front of him would not hesitate to kill them all if he was displeased, so he was ready to make his tribe work the hardest. Just when he was about to leave, Zatiel spoke again.


    "Wait. One more thing. If you can bring me something precious I will give you a way to be stronger," Zatiel didn''t wait for the kobolds to respond before going away with Sophia.


    Rax looked at Zatiel with fear, but there was also a struggle in his eyes as he went back to his tribe to start the mining process.


    ...


    Zatiel and Sophia were resting on a small hill not too far away from the kobolds.


    "If you have something to ask to, do it," Zatiel could see that the woman was full of confusion, and was struggling to make a question.


    Sophia looks at Zatiel, and after a moment she speaks.


    "Are you an official Magus?"


    To Sophia the only exnation for Zatiel power was that he was a rank 1 Magus, that he was hiding his identity, after all, even Pseudo-Magus can''t possibly do what he did.


    "I have not reached rank 1 yet, as for my strength, you will find out the reason one day if you are lucky," Zatiel was ready to start meditating after answering but the woman hasn''t finished yet.


    "Then if you are not a Magus, what you did was truly risky and unlike you," The impression that Sophia has of Zatiel was someone who will always want to be in control of thing and never let something to fate, but with the kobolds, a lot of things could have gone wrong.


    "If you know your enemy like the back of your hands, then you will not be defeated. Kobolds can be dragon spawn, but the reason they were created was to serve those more powerful than them so it is in their nature to bow down to someone stronger.


    That plus the use of draconguage affects the most primitive part of their consciousness thatpels them to surrender. Of course, there will always be exceptions, like those who can ovee their instincts, that was why I had my energy ready to burst the moment I entered this ce."


    Since the moment he saw those kobolds Zatiel had already created a n to subjugate them, even if they somehow overcame their innate fear and attacked him, he was sure he could kill most of them before the escape.


    Sophia was surprised. To her it seems like a random act, while it was a coordinated n developed step by step.


    "Now, sit down and meditate, we will be here for five days before we leave for our next destination," Zatiel closed his eyes and started to meditate to replenish his lost energy

 Chapter 30: Path Technique

    It was at the beginning of the fifth day when Rax and some other kobolds started to walk to where Zatiel was resting. They carried shabby boxes full of all sorts of minerals and gems.


    When they were about 20 meters from Zatiel, they left the boxes in the ground and all the kobolds came back to the mountain, leaving Rax alone.


    The old kobold didn''t be surprised at their action, because he was the one whomanded to leave the moment they left the boxes. The n was in case the person in front of them became unsatisfied and nned to kill them, they would take their tribe and disperse in different directions, making the possibility of some of them escape higher.


    As for Rax, he will use his life to buy some time and improve their chances. Although the idea of sacrificing yourself for others was somethingughable ording to the standards of the Magi World, the kobolds in this level have never been in touch with another of their kinds so to them this tribe was their entire species, and there are very few things some creatures don''t do when the future of their kind is at stake.


    Zatiel was watching them the entire time, and it didn''t take him long to figure out their n, but the actions of the kobolds did not make him angry, instead, the impression he had of these creatures improved, ''Not bad, they could be of use.''


    "Mighty being, we have taken all the minerals and jewels that we could mine and bring them to you," Rax kneeled in front of Zatiel, nervous about the decision of the person in front of him.


    Zatiel stands up and goes to see the boxes, assessing the contents.


    "Rx, you did a decent job, although most of the minerals in here are not very valuable there are some that will be useful for my experimentation," Zatiel was satisfied with the result of the excavation, after all, he was not expecting something great out of this ce.


    Rax immediately rxed after hearing that this was over.


    "What you bring here ensures that I won''t hurt your people, but it is not enough to be exchanged for something to help you be stronger," The only reason the kobolds worked for him was because he forced them to do it.


    Zatiel knows that had he been not strong enough these creatures would have killed him, so he didn''t feel like he owed something to them for these boxes.


    Rax looked at Zatiel for a moment before speaking


    "Please wait here for a moment, I will be back immediately," After bowing to Zatiel, he heads back to the mountains.


    "Are you really gonna help them be stronger?" The one who asked that question was Sophia, who had seen the interaction with the kobolds but knowing it was not her ce, she didn''t meddle.


    "If they bring me something valuable, why wouldn''t I?" Zatiel believed in equal exchange, so as long the other party was willing to give something good, he didn''t have a problem helping them.


    "But most Magi say that working with non-human races is a degrading act," Sophia was concerned that Zatiel acts could bring him trouble in the future, if rumors begin that he was helping other races, it could bring him a lot of difficulty with the rest of the Magi.


    "Humph, those are rumors spread by hypocrites so the rest don''t meddle in their enterprises, Magi are pragmatic beings that have no problem doing business with anyone, besides, a great part of them have altered their body so much that calling them human is wrong."


    Zatiel would not let himself be influenced by the propaganda of some groups and will do business with anyone who he sees fit, regardless of their race, after all, he wasn''t human so how could he had a problem with non-human species.


    After hearing the words of Zatiel, Sophia understood once again how wrong her way of thinking was, affected by what the rest of the world wants her to believe.


    "Sorry," Sophia''s head was low as she was ashamed for making that question and proving her naivety.


    "Don''t worry, as you be stronger, you will be able to see how the world truly works, just remember thatmon knowledge is not true knowledge, is just something that those with power let the weaker believe it is true," Zatiel knows that the woman was not the brightest, but as long she was willing to learn, he had no problem teaching her.


    After they finished speaking, they saw how Rax was running at them to bring something covered with a cloth in his hands.


    "Mighty one, I bring you this rock I once found in my explorations, although I don''t know what it does, I am sure it is very valuable," Rax respectfully handed the rock to Zatiel.


    Zatiel took the rocks and removed the clothes. Inside was a beautiful gem that was pulsating with energy with the rhythm of a heartbeat and constantly changing color.


    "Is this something precious?" Sophia could not help but ask when she saw the beautiful gem.


    Rax didn''t stop seeing Zatiel''s face for a single moment since he delivered the rock, and when he heard Sophia question, he became even more focused, hoping that this gem was something truly valuable, but the words that came next destroyed all his hopes.


    "No, it isn''t. This gem is called Rainbow sh, its function is absorbing energy and then release it with such a frequency that can affect some magical equipment, as for the color is just an optical property of the mineral, nothing more," Zatiel was not lying to try to deceive the kobold, the gem has exactly the property that he said it has.


    Rax sighed at the information. As for the possibility of him being tricked, he knew that the person in front of him could just kill him and take the gem. There was no need for lying.


    "But you got lucky, although it is true that this gem is not very valuable it is exactly what I need right now," Without waiting for the old kobold to react, Zatiel put his hand on the head of Rax andmanded the chip.


    "A.I. Chip, send him the first level of Burning Blood and put a backdoor in the technique."


    Although Zatiel didn''t have a problem helping them be stronger, that was on the basis that they will not be a threat to him so altering a little the technique was something logical.


    When the transfer was finished, Rax started to go through the information of the technique, and the more he saw the more shocked he became.


    "This... this... this technique is truly that wonderful?" The look that Rax gave to Zatiel was not anymore one with fear but full of reverence.


    "Yes it is, but this is just the first level and will help you arrive at the peak of rank 0 but no more, I advise you to share this technique just with those you have absolute trust or else your entire tribe could be destroyed if the information is leaked."


    Although the technique that Zatiel gave him was very useful, it was just the first level and not something truly valuable for him, but if the races that habit the Wastnd find out about it, they will ughter the entire kobold tribe to get it.


    "I will listen to the Mighty One, and great lord, about the next levels..." Rax had a pleading expression as he asked, although he was scared of offending Zatiel, the temptation of the technique was too great.


    "I wille back, and when I do, if you have something valuable to exchange. I can trade with you the next level. I suggest you use the technique to be stronger first and then try to collect valuables, you will be able to get more precious things and your possibilities of surviving will be greater."


    Zatiel''s n for those kobolds was simple. He will help them get stronger and they will use that power to get wealth for him, as for the possibility of the kobolds could betray him, that was the reason the backdoor existed.


    "We will follow the instruction of the Mighty One, I will take my leave," Rax bowed to Zatiel before he left. But this bow was different from the others, it was one of respect and not of fear.


    "What did you give him?" The moment the kobold leaves, Sophia almost jumps to Zatiel as she asks. By what she heard of their conversation, she already has an idea, but it was too preposterous to be true.


    "I just gave him a Path Technique," Zatiel didn''t find the necessity to lie, so he just told her the truth.


    "WHAT!"

 Chapter 31: Danger approaching

    Zatiel said it in such a rxed manner that it seems like it was not a great deal, but by the expression of Sophia, it was clear that it was not so simple.


    "How could you give something so precious like a Path Technique just like that?" Sophia still could not ept that Zatiel has given that technique to some kobolds he just met.


    Although the expression of Sophia was a little exaggerated, Path Techniques are indeed very valuable.


    The most basic description of Path Techniques is that it is a method that allows someone to be stronger and shows a way to advance in the ranks.


    Apprentices use meditation techniques to enhance the amount of energy in their bodies so they canter advance to rank 1, but although this way is the easiest and has the least requirements, it is also the weaker way.


    Path techniques allow you to enhance your energy and improve the quality of it, as well as teach you spells that are the most suitable for you.


    Although Path Techniques are not an absolute necessity to advance in ranks, it helps you clear most of your doubts and shows you a way to advance from one rank to another. Hence the reason for their name ''Path''.


    Due to these reasons, path techniques are a dream for most apprentices and it is pretty weird seeing someone above rank 1 without one.


    "Calm down, that Path Technique has only one level and will help them get to the power level of Pseudo-Magus but not beyond. Besides, that technique has its bases in atavism, meaning going back to their ancestor. So it is very useful for kobolds because of their dragon heritage but for humans, is of no use."


    Zatiel wasn''t worried about someone tracking the origin of the technique to him. After all, although it is true that path techniques are valuable, finding one that allows you to get to peak rank 0 is not a great thing. So he was sure no one with real power would bother him for it.


    Sophia finally calms down once all of it is exined.


    "For any chance do you have one suitable for me?" She could not help but ask. After all, with a path technique her possibility of bing a Magus will improve greatly, and with the power of a rank 1 being, restoring her body will be easy.


    "Keep dreaming, if I had one useful for humanoids I would have use it on myself a long time ago," Zatiel was lying, actually in the first level of memories there were some useful path techniques for humanoids, but they will be of no use for Sophia due to the contamination of her energy.


    As for Neo-Demons, the chaotic core enhances their energy the most efficient way possible on their own, as for the quality of their energy, abyssal energy has always been one of the top sources of energy in the universe so altering it with some technique will just create troubles.


    So for him path techniques are useless, at least the ones focused on developing his energy and advancing in ranks.


    Sophia became very disappointed at the response. After all, in her mind a path technique would have solved all of her problems, but although she had not realized yet, her will had advanced a lot in the time they have been here, so she didn''t take long to get better.


    Zatiel smiled and nodded seeing the reaction of the woman.


    ''Getting better, I can count this as another approval.''


    Zatiel saves all the minerals in the spatial sack, beforemanding the chip to show the path to their next destination.


    "Let''s go," Zatiel and Sophia follow the indications of the chip to the next ce were the materials for his runes were there.


    .....


    In another part of Wastnd, a couple of hundred kilometers away from Zatiel, a group of about 50 Ogres we all marching.This was not too abnormal but the thing that makes this scene so weird was that there was 5 human at the head of this group, and the ogres who are known for the habit of eaten people were obeying all of their orders.


    All of the humans had magic robes and the energy inside their bodies was very strong.


    "Hey n, do we really need all of this power just to kill someone who is just at the peak of rank 0."


    The person who spoke was a young ck-haired man, who assessed at the ogres that followed them and as he did, a small amount of fear appeared on his face.


    Ogres are a very powerful race when ites to their bodies if it wasn''t because of their almost non-existent ability to use magic, the threat that they could represent will be of a pseudo-magus, so for the man, this was an overkill.


    "Luis, you have heard the order of lord Erick. We have to kill that person and we can''t leave anyone alive that can identify us. Besides, that individual was able to kill an entire group of apprentices led by a pseudo-magus by himself."


    The man named n was someone of short stature, with white hair and a solemn expression on his face, but despite being the smaller of the five the power that came from his body was the higher.


    "Rx you two. Magi have always been decisive beings that use their entire power regardless if their enemy is a mouse or a lion. Lord Erick even gave us magical equipment that can cloak our presence from other Magi so we can ambush that person, he is undoubtedly dead."


    The person who talked was a bald bulky man with a tattoo on his face who was ying with a clown mask that released a glow that covered the apprentices and ogres.


    "I guess you are correct, but will these creatures obey us when the time is right?" Luis was looking cautiously at the ogres. The reason was simple. He was the weakest of the five and if the creatures were to attack them, he would be the first casualty.


    "Don''t worry about them. Lord Erick did a deal with the leader of their tribe and they will follow our orders until the mission is over. Besides, we need these creatures and their abilities to hunt or else trying to find someone here will be impossible."


    n''s face was still solemn, the reasons of his concerns were not these creatures, but the amount of energy the Magus had sent in this mission.


    After all, the five of them were pseudo-magus and even with the decisive personality of a Magus this was a little too much. But what concerns him the most was the secrecy of the mission and the emphasis in the order of not leaving anyone who has seen them alive.


    No one who has reached the level of a pseudo-magus on his own is stupid, and n has always been someone very smart so he already has an idea of what was happening. But that only made his mood even worse, making him sigh.


    ''Ahhh, this will not end up well to any of us,'' n was feeling helpless. Even as a pseudo-magus if you have no backer, then against a Magus''s scheme there is little you can do even if you know it.


    "Is there a problem?" The bald man asked n, not because he was concerned about him, but to make sure that his problems don''t affect the mission, so his tone was cold.


    None of them was friends with the others and the only reason they were working together was that they weremanded, so they would not let anyone of them lose their focus and endanger their task.


    "Hmph, nothing that should bother you, Johann, let''s continue," n keeps his suspicions hidden and they continue on their way.

 Chapter 32: Real danger

    In a deste area of the Wastnd was a swamp. The only thing that grows in this ce is a type of nt known as a Ferocious Grower.


    It didn''t have many uses and it had the property of devouring every other type of nt in its surroundings and taking the ce they upy. Due to this, almost no race wants to live in this ce, but there was a species that inhabits this swamp, the goblins.


    Goblins were some of the lower life-forms in the Wastnd. Their main characteristic was their insatiable lust and rapid growth. So the tribe that habited this swamp had a little over one thousand members.


    Although goblins could not pose a threat to a Rank 2 Apprentice, a couple hundred of them could defeat even a pseudo-magus taking into consideration the stupidity of this race and their instincts of attacking without regard for their life.


    Due to the little value the corpse of a goblin has and the fact that there was nothing truly valuable in this ce, the swamp was usually a quiet ce. But today, screams could be heard throughout the entire region.


    A shadow-covered figure moved throughout the area and the fate of all the goblins that crossed his path was to end with their bodies shattered.


    This was not all. Chains were moving through the swamp. They were like demon snakes that went through every single living form in their path.


    All other races would have seen the fate of theirrades, but the goblins that habited the Wesnd are almost animals controlled by their instincts so they attacked at the shadow without care for their life.


    But their acts were useless. When they got within 3 meters of the figure, their bodies were cut in two, as for the ones further away, the chains took care of them.


    Sophia was at the periphery of the swamp and she was surprised. This disy of power was superior to the one any group of pseudo-magus could make.


    She could not really see Zatiel due to his fast movement and the fact he was in his Shadow form, but she could see the chains and the way that they destroyed every single thing in their path was amazing.


    ''Someday I will also¡­'' She clenched her fist as she saw this disy of power and her eyes started to shine. But in the next moment, she was startled by those thoughts.


    ''Since when did I dare to aspire so high?''


    Since her mutation, Sophie has thought herself of someone inferior and her most higher aspiration was going back to normal.


    So the idea of bing so powerful that the lives of hundreds could be decided with a movement of her hands had never passed through his head until now.


    As she was thinking about the reason for her changes a person came to her mind.


    ''It''s because of him!''


    Her fist gets stronger and the me of her will burned even brighter.


    After a couple of hours, the screams finally stop. The thousands of goblins that once ruled this little swamp were all dead and pieces of their bodies were thrown all over the ce.


    Zatiel left the swamp with his usual rxed expression and came to Sophia.


    "Ok then, now''s your turn. Go and pick the roots of the nts that grow in this ce. I just want the red ones, the others have no use," Zatiel didn''t wait for the woman to reply before he closed his eyes and sat to meditate.


    "Yes, right away. May I ask a question?" Sophia knows she is not very smart so she is trying to figure out the reason why things happen in her surroundings to develop her abilities.


    "You probably wonder why I take such a different approach with the goblins than with the kobolds," Zatiel didn''t even try to subjugate the goblins when he arrived at the swamp and started to kill right away.


    If he was someone who enjoys killing it would make sense, but by his interaction with the kobolds, Sophia knew that this was not the case.


    Sophia only nodded, already ustomed to her thoughts being revealed.


    "Easy. They were not worth it. If the kobolds use that technique correctly, they would be very useful, but the goblins are too stupid and savages, making use of them, even a temporarily is a huge problem. Since the energy used to kill them is less than the one used to subjugate and make them harvest the materials, it is better just to finish them off."


    Although killing just because it saves time sounds cold, for Zatiel that was a normal way of seeing things.


    Although his words weren''t meant to be hurting, Sophia became afraid.


    "So, if someone isn''t worth the effort, you will just throw them away," Sophia''s voice was trembling, due to the words reaching her most innate fears.


    "Yes," Zatiel keeps his eyes closed and it seems like he didn''t realize the state of the woman.


    Sophia''s heart fills itself with crippling fear and for a moment she feels as if it was suffocating her, but unlike before when she let herself be ovee by the fear, this time she fights against it.


    ''I will prove my worth,'' She looked back at Zatiel and her determination was obvious.


    "I will go to recollect them now."


    As Sophia left, Zatiel opened his eyes and a smile could be seen on his face as he looked at the woman.


    ''As long your will keeps growing like this, even destroying a world would be worth it.''


    Zatiel shakes his head and closes his eyes to start and meditate but in the next moment, his body disappears. He reappeared 30 meters away and with all the strength of his body he threw a punch at the ground.


    Zatiel strength was already at twelve points so his fist carrying all the power in his body had an impact that could be measured in tons, making the ground tremble and a crater form at the site of the impact.


    A figure could be seen leaving the debris, despite being fast enough to escape the bulk of the impact, his leg was bleeding badly.


    "Not bad, you managed to dodge most of the damage, but with your leg like that, I doubt you will be so lucky next time," Zatiel didn''t need to ask the reason this person was here, he has been waiting for the people sent by the Magus since the beginning.


    "Wait! I didn''te here to hurt you. You and I have a simr problem and we could help each other."


    n was shocked by the power of Zatiel. After all, he was a very strong body-refinement pseudo-magus and that attack alone had enough power to severely hurt him if itnded on his body.


    "There is nothing you can say to stop me. Yesterday your mission was to kill me and now you say you want to help me. If I were to trust someone like that I would be a fool," Zatiel''s eyes were cold as he prepared to finish his enemy when he hears someone approaching them.


    The one who was closing in was Sophia who came back when he heard the noise made by the fight.


    "Are you okay?" Sophia was running to Zatiel to see if he was fine, she knows he is very strong but could not help but feel worried.


    Zatiel was going to tell her to stay away when an immense feeling of danger appeared.


    From the sky, a ball of light came crashing with shocking speed, it was so fast that before any of three could try something to stop it, it exploded creating a ball of fire that covers all of them.

 Chapter 33: Abyssal way of fighting

    The ball of fire was immense and the heat that it generated consumed all the oxygen in 50 meters around the explosion.


    Of the three people covered by the spell, from the center of the ball of fire two were sted out. One of them was a badly wounded short man with a ring that created a glow that covered all of his body and the other one was someone covered in a cocoon made of chains.


    Although there were parts broken in all ces of the cocoon and it looks like it would vanish in the next second, the figure inside was still fully covered. As for the third one, it looked like it was disintegrated by the mes.


    Three hundred meters away the air started to change and four people and a group of ogres appeared.


    At the head of the four were a man and a woman. The man held a parchment that was glowing, this person had ash-colored hair, a delicate face, a height of 1.8 mt and he wasughing as he saw the explosion.


    As for the woman, she had a beautiful face and crimson hair. In her hand was a clown-like mask full of cracks. At the back of these two were Luis and Johann with a respectful expression on their faces.


    Erick, like most rank 1 Magi was someone who likes to put contingency ns. So in the group of apprentices he sent, there were two of his disciples.


    They were tasked to keep themselves hidden and make sure that there was no problem in the mission. When the acts of n raised suspicion, they revealed themselves and took control of the ogres, and the other two apprentices. They then tracked n and attacked them by surprise.


    "Hahaha. That assh*le of n really thinks that could trick us. He deserves tasting the power of a rank 1 spell made directly by Master," The man keepsughing as he watched the mes.


    "Concentrate Cristian. We wasted almost all the power in the mask to not be detected and take them by surprise, but the target is still alive," The woman looked at the direction the cocoon made of chains, and a grave expression appeared on her face.


    "Who cares? Even if he used his magical equipment to cover himself, he should be barely breathing in the 35 degrees of damage that the explosion caused. Don''t tell me that you are scared of him Barbara," Cristian was openly disdaining the fearful attitude of the woman.


    "Hmph, those chains are not magical equipment but a spell. I guess I don''t have to exin what that means," Barbara sneered at the foolishness of herrade.


    "Impossible! Even if a parchment can only bring out the weakest power of a rank 1 spell, it is impossible for a rank 0 spell to match. If those chains are truly a spell then..." Cristian''s smile vanished from his face and was reced by gloominess.


    The reason for the apprentices'' apprehension was simple. When two spells crashed, the one with the most power should eliminate the weaker one.


    Although the winner would lose potency, it will still manage to damage the target. So for the chains to be still active even after being reached by the explosion, it means that the spellunched by the apprentice has the power of a rank 1 spell.


    Even if it was the weakest one, it was still something that no apprentice should be able to do without external help.


    "Ogres, attack that cocoon with all you have," Cristian wasn''t stupid and will not put himself in danger when he has a disposable task force at hismand.


    The ogres were ordered by their leader to obey themands of the apprentices, so they immediately started to march to where the cocoon was.


    The four apprentices were focused in the ogres to see what the person in the cocoon would do, but just as they were at half the way, the ground under their feet started to tremble.


    A figure came out of the ground right in the center of the four of them.


    The person was Zatiel. His robe was destroyed and the upper part of his body was exposed showing his perfectly attuned muscles but also the severe burns all over his body. His eyes were cold and not letting the apprentices recover from the surprise, he attacked ferociously.


    His first target was the strongest of the four, Cristian. Zatiel grabbed the arm of the apprentice and with his other hand threw a punch with all his strength at his head.


    The moment the fist was going to impact, an armor made of earth covers his head. Although it managed to save his head from exploding, the power of the punch was so much that he was sted away, and since Zatiel had his arm grabbed, it detached from the rest of his body, making the apprentice scream in pain as he was sent flying away.


    ''Already in the process of developing his Rank Spell, how annoying,'' Zatiel didn''t chase after Cristian and attacked at his next target.


    Barbara barely managed to recover from the shock with Cristian''s scream and made the energy in her body explode as she prepared tounch an attack.


    "Wind ..." But just as she was about to finish the preparation andunch the attack, she saw two eyes staring at her with such coldness and savagery that made her lose focus.


    Although it was just for a moment, she was the closest to the ce Cristian was, so her carelessness allows Zatiel to reach her.


    Zatiel grabbed her head and sted it on the ground, but just like with Cristian, an armor, this time of wind, covered her head and allowed her to diminish the impact just enough to save her life.


    But still, she was severely hurt. Zatiel prepared to give her the finishing blow when spears made of bones came rushing at him. They were incredibly fast and he was barely able to dodge due to the close distance.


    Just when he managed to dodge thest spear, an enormous fist crashed into him, barely giving time to cover himself before being thrown away. He managed to stabilize himself twenty meters away.


    Zatiel looked in the direction where the spear came from and saw Luis surrounded by bone shields and a five meters gori by his side.


    "Johann, we have to dy him the most we can and wait for the ogres. Besides, by theck of spells he is throwing, I bet he barely has any energy left," Luis may not be the strongest of the four, but he had an excellent battle sense so the actions of Zatiel give him a lot of information.


    Johann nodded and adopted a defensive posture.


    Zatiel didn''t say anything and only looked at them. The guess of the apprentice was correct. After killing all the goblins his energy was already low, and with the explosion, he had to use an immense amount to maintain the chains and use Abyssal Regeneration to heal his body. So he was not able to use any spell by the moment.


    ''Darkness elementium and a bloodline apprentices. One has stealthy attacks and the other great vitality. I need to end this fast and I can only depend on my physical might...''


    Zatiel looked at the direction of the cocoon and a small sh of worry appeared in his eyes before he concentrated on the ogres that were alreadying back. When he refocused on the enemies in front, a smile formed in his face, and a smallugh came out. "Haha, It has been a long time since I fought like a true abyssal, defeating enemies with brute power."


    Zatiel took a sword from his spatial sack before shed at the five-meter gori, just when he was about to crash with him, he made a stomp on the ground lifting a huge curtain of dust.


    "Luis be careful, he is surelying for you," Johann believed that Zatiel rushing to him to just blind them was to trick them and take the opportunity to kill the weakest of the two.


    Luis arrived at the same conclusion and defused the spear he was summoned to focus all of his energy on his shields.


    Johann wasing to help Luis when he saw a sword pierce straight to his eye, he moved just at right the moment making it fly past him.


    "Hmph, if you think a trick like this is going to..." Johann didn''t finish talking when he heard a scream and he saw how Zatiel grabbed Luis''s head with a smile in his face before applying so much pressure that made it explode.


    If the two worked together they could stop Zatiel for a couple of minutes but the moment Johann focused on defending himself, Luis fate was sealed.


    Zatiel''s face was covered in blood but his smile only became wider as he looked at Johann, "I have forgotten how good this feels! now it is your turn."


    "You fu*king devil, die!" Johan roared and his body grew even bigger as he threw a punch with all his strength.


    The fist was the size of his chest and came with crushing power and impacted Zatiel, but instead of being sent flying away, he managed to catch the fist making marks in the ground as his legs sank in it.


    "Not devil... demon!" Zatiel roared and grabbed a finger with each hand he pulled in separated directions splitting the fist in two.


    "Aah!" Johann could not even stop screaming from the pain before Zatiel reached for his head and started bombarding it with his fist.


    "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!"


    Every time his fist crashed on his skull a st could be heard, and although the bloodline apprentice had great vitality it didn''t take long for Johann to be dead.


    But Zatiel continued punching until his skull opened and his brain matter sttered.

 Chapter 34: Too weak

    By the time Zatiel stopped hitting the head of Johann, the ogres already reached out to him. Instead of distance himself from the group, he just raised his hand and coldly looked at the group.


    "Abyssal st!"


    A beam made of pure abyss aura sted the ogres and due to the proximity between them, almost half died by the attack. As for the rest, most of them ended up hurt.


    Abyssal st uses the energy that is saved in the core. So even though Zatiel energy was low, he still could use it.


    Not letting them regroup, Zatiel attacked them, but unlike before with the apprentices, his face was emotionless.


    He shed to the closest ogre and he sent a kick at his back with so much power that it pulverizes his spine. Once the ogre was incapacitated, instead of killing him, he continued to do the same with the rest.


    All his attacks were brutal, destroying organs and bones with every hit. But although they were screaming from the pain, none of them died from the damage.


    Once he made sure that all the enemies were taken care of and checked the area in search of enemies and upon finding nothing, he ran to the ce the cocoon was.


    When he arrived next to it, he waved his hand and the chains moved, allowing him to see the interior of the cocoon.


    The person inside was Sophia, but despite the chains protecting her and saving her life, she was badly wounded and the mes destroyed most of her robe and bandages showing her body.


    Her body was full of tumors that showed through her skin and there were areas of putrefaction leaking puss. Her face was also deformed and looked like it was thebination of a pig and a human.


    Almost anyone would feel disgusted by what they saw, but Zatiel got closer to her and caressed her face with warmth in his eyes as he put a liquid in her mouth that he took from the spatial sack, and gave a sigh.


    "You are really dumb, aren''t you," Zatiel was remembering what happened right before the explosion urred.


    The ball of light was headed for him, so everyone''s first instincts should be getting away from him, but the girl started running faster in his direction.


    Zatiel''s original n was to divide the chains between the two, with that he was sure he would be fine, as for Sophia, her chances of surviving were low. But he will not risk his life for someone he has known for less than a year.


    But when he saw the determination of the girl reaching for him, the idea of leaving her to her luck infuriated him a lot.


    So of the five chains that he could use, four cover her, and using Aerial Walk he jumped in the air and buried himself in the ground.


    Luckily, the earth was broken for the impact when he attacked n. So he was able to enter easily and use one chain to create a shield over him, partially protecting himself from the mes.


    Later, using the chain he excavated to the ce where the apprentices were, and after the ogres left for the cocoon, he attacked them.


    He saw how the potion was starting to heal her, closed the cocoon, and went for the ogres and the two living apprentices to start the ritual.


    Although the ogres were heavy, with his strength it was easy to knock them and put them all together. Barbara was unconscious due to the strong blow to the head so there was no problem with her.


    As for Cristian, it looks like he had passed out from the pain but when he got closer to him, he shed to his side, punched him in the stomach, and ripped off his remaining arm.


    "AAAH," The apprentice screams from the pain, and bloodes from his mouth with pieces of organs with it.


    Zatiel didn''t even look at him and just took a small sphere that was in the hand of the now amputated arm.


    "Hmph, if you think I will fall for such a pathetic trick you are more stupid than I thought."


    Zatiel picked up the screaming man and threw him with the rest.


    Zatiel got to where Sophia was and made the chains disappear before covering her body with a robe and started meditating and eating the heart of some of the dead ogres to heal his body and recover his abyss aura.


    It barely took him a minute to devour the heart of an ogre. After an hour, his energy was mostly recovered, and he went where the apprentices and ogres were to start inscribing the runes on the ground with his blood.


    This time his body was stronger so he didn''t have to rest before activating the secondary array and affecting the mind of the group inside the runes.


    Likest time, the ones inside the array got crazy and started to kill each other. When they were all dead, the chaotic presence of the consciousness of the Abyss arrived to take the souls of the group inside.


    Zatiel manipted the runes and the bodies start to melt and be abyss aura. The two apprentices created almost the same amount of aura that all the ogres made together.


    This was because the natural energies were purer in the body of humans due to their being the ruling race of this world, so their souls were more useful to the Abyss.


    Once the process was done, the consciousness of the Abyss left and a two-meter sphere of abyss aura was left. Although it was only double the size fromst time, the concentration now was way superior.


    Once the process was over, Zatiel goes to Sophia and wakes her up.


    Sophia started to wake up slowly and the first thing she saw was Zatiel. Warmth filled her heart as she remembered how the chains protected her, but when she felt her face and knew that her bandages were off, she started panicking and tried to cover herself.


    "Enough! What we are going to do next will transform youpletely but if your will is so weak then there is no point in trying," The process of bing Neo-Demon relies heavily on will, so Zatiel was very serious with the panic disyed by the woman.


    Sophia focuses after being reprimanded and sees the ball of abyss aura and she bes terrified of it. It was normal, after all, the abyss aura is evil in its essence.


    "What will that make me?" Sophia was scared of what will happen if she uses that energy.


    "You will be like me," Zatiel didn''t give any more exnation, and for any other, that would not even be close to being enough, but the moment Sophia heard that all of her fear and doubt were reced by determination.


    "Good, now let''s begin."


    Zatiel moved her to the center of the runes and made her sit down.


    "Remember to always maintain your focus and never let your will weaken," Zatiel''s face was solemn and Sophia took his words with seriousness.


    Zatiel uses the rune array with the chip, and the abyss aura starts to enter Sophia.


    The pain was horrifying but Sophia''s concentration was absolute and her eyes were full of will.


    The most powerful someone was, the greater the pain will be and the longest will the process take.


    So by the end, the pain that Sophia was taking was almost too much but then she saw how a yellow liquid started to be excreted from her body and it started to change.


    Her tumors started to melt and were expelled from her body as well as her putrefying skin. By the end, her face started to transform.


    Although the pain was even greater, realizing that her body was recovering made her will even stronger and helped her endure the rest of the process


    When the transformation was over, Sophia could not wait and conjure a piece of ice to see her appearance.


    Her face was small and delicate with beautiful blue hair, her body was thin but voluptuous with a height of 1.8 meters, she was by all standards someone extremely beautiful.


    Tears fall from her eyes as she turns around to see the reason for all her happiness.


    Since the moment she saw how he risked his life to save her from the explosion, she was already in love and now the core makes those emotions even greater. So she could not resist and jumped at Zatiel.


    Zatiel was tired from the work, but the moment he saw Sophia jumping at him, he immediately dodged her.


    Sophia became fearful, seeing him not letting her get closer. After all, even when she was mutated it never happened.


    "Am I still not good enough?"


    "I have already told you that something like appearance could not affect me, but I admit you are indeed really attractive now," Zatiel indeed found Sophia beautiful, but there was a small problem with her now.


    "Then why?" The moment Zatiel says that he finds her beautiful, bliss fills her heart, but she became confused by the distance he was maintaining.


    "Easy. You are smelling," Zatiel was not trying to make fun of her, but the woman had not realized that some of the yellow liquid was still on her body.


    Sophia''s face became red, and as she started to smell her body. She realized it had indeed a bad odor.


    "Hmph, you should learn to have tact with women," Sophia created a great ball of water and started to clean her body and robe.


    Some intimate parts were being shown, but the only person in her surroundings was Zatiel and she didn''t have a problem with him seeing her, but when she turned to see him, he was leaving.


    ....


    Zatiel arrived next to a badly wounded person, he was n who was barely conscious.


    Despite using a piece of magical equipment to protect himself, the damage from a rank 1 spell was still too much for him and if he was not healed soon, he would die.


    "I can''t let you live and since I don''t consider you an enemy I will tell you the reason," Zatiel''s face was calm and his eyes were indifferent as he looked at the man.


    "I''m too weak," Zatiel pointed at him and a chain materialized and pierced his head, killing him instantly.


    Zatiel could not risk the possibility of n leaking any of his secrets. After all, the number of people that could kill him and search his soul were in millions.

 Chapter 35: Leaving Wasteland

    Zatiel and Sophia continue to explore the Wastnd in search of resources and body-parts of some species.


    Zatiel continued guiding the path but when it came to a fight, the one who takes the lead now was Sophia.


    This was the idea of Zatiel so she could get used to her abilities and also practice the spell he gives to her known as ''Ice Mind''.


    The spell allows the user to control the natural energy around them to summon a dome of ice that protects them and also can be used to attack the enemy. The defense of the spell can reach up to ten degrees and the attack almost the same.


    Of course, this was the basics. As Sophia improves her proficiency in it, the offense and defense will improve as will the versatility of the spell. This is thanks to the Chaotic Core and the fact that the spell is not limited to only follow a spell rune.


    After reading the description of the spell, he considered that this one was the most useful to someone like Sophia thanks to the fact that the spell also helps to calm the mind and to be cool-headed during a fight, something she wasn''t very good at.


    Sophia was able to prove the power of the spell when she had to fight a group of ghouls.


    The creatures attacked madly at her, throwing themself like mad beasts but the moment they got closer to the dome, their bodies started to freeze making them move slowly.


    But this was not all. Sophia moved her right hand and from the dome tentacles made of ice appeared and attacked these creatures sending them flying, breaking their bodies, and freezing them.


    But still, the ghouls were in the hundreds, and despite only having the power of a rank 2 apprentice, they could present a threat to Pseudo-Magis in the right quantity. So there were a couple of dozen that were already reaching the dome and were going to attack Sophia.


    Before even with her current power, Sophia would have been nervous before the horrifying creatures threatening her to devour her, but thanks to the spell, she was able to maintain calmness and using her left hand, she conjured a stream of frost that attacked the ghouls, freezing their bodies and ending their lives.


    Zatiel was a couple of hundred meters away seeing how Sophia handled the situation.


    ''The spell covers her weak points perfectly. It would not take long for her to be truly proficient in it. A.I. Chip, analyze her.''


    [Bip... scanning target.


    Name: Sophia


    Race: Neo-Demon


    Strength: 8.2


    Physique: 12.4


    Speed: 12.2


    Abyss Aura:13.1]


    ''Her strength is now her weakest attribute. But that is normal, after all, it is due to the mutations that they were so high before. Her main way of attacking should be at distance with her spells and with her speed and constitution plus that dome, harming her will be very difficult.''


    After all the ghouls were finished, Zatiel collected some parts from their bodies before continuing to their next destination.


    ....


    Zatiel and Sophia were around a campfire eating a stew made by thetter that contained the heart of some creatures. Zatiel was going to eat them raw but the woman started nagging him about not appreciating good food, and since the food of Sophia was indeed delicious and they were not in a hurry, he didn''t mind waiting.


    This looked like a beautiful scene of a couple, but not even ten meters away from them, hundreds of corpses were still bleeding in the ground.


    These creatures had bull-like heads and muscr bodies. They were minotaurs, one of the strongest races that could be found in the Wastnd.


    But now this powerful tribe was massacred.


    Some of them had their heads sted and there were holes in their bodies. As for the rest, they were frozen and their chest was split and their hearts missing


    To Zatiel a scene like this was nothing, but Sophia was different. She was inexperienced but by using ''Ice Mind'', she was able to calm herself and ignore the corpses.


    "We have been in Wastnd for four months already. I have all the materials I need, so it is time we leave," Zatiel has all he came looking for, and the spatial sack was full of high energy food enough for the three of them, so staying here was no longer useful.


    "Do you think that Magus will attack us?" Sophia already knows about the reason for the attack from the Pseudo-Magi and the contract that Zatiel made with Jhon.


    "He will definitely do it. The moment I leave this ce alive and the group he sent doesn''t, he will know that I can kill a group of Pseudo-Magi apanied by fifty ogres. No matter how I do it, the threat I will represent for him is too much."


    Although the situation Zatiel finds himself in was very dangerous, he didn''t look worried about it.


    Zatiel knows that the only reason Erick has not attacked him was that he was afraid that the Magus named Clive will find out about it and make him responsible. But with the abilities that Zatiel has shown, having taken care of the group he sent after him, killing Zatiel himself was the only possibility unless he wants a genius going after him the moment he advances to rank 1.


    "So we will fight against him?" Although Sophia was scared of facing a Magus and knew that her possibilities of surviving the match were very low, her will did not weaken at all.


    Zatiel saw the determination on the woman''s face and smile, but he shook his head.


    "Of course not. We were barely able to survive the attack of that rank 1 spell, and that damage is the lowest a Magus can create. We have a lot to do before we face him. Don''t worry, I have a way of leaving without being detected."


    Fighting against a rank 1 Magus was too much for the current him, but escaping undetected was very easy.


    ....


    Two figures could be seen running at an amazing speed, getting closer to the city that surrounded the Sinux Magic Tower. It was only when they reached the entrance to the city that the two stopped.


    They were Zatiel and Sophia, and by their faces, you could see they were exhausted. They had run at their maximum speed since the moment they arrived at the cave that connects the surface to the Underground.


    "We made it!" Sophia was practically jumping from happiness when she saw the tower in the distance. After all, since they left the cave, the threat of the Magus had been present like a sword above their heads.


    Although his reaction was much moreposed, Zatiel was also smiling. In his hand, a clown mask was disintegrating slowly.


    ''A shame, but it served its purpose,'' The mask was the same Barbara had used to cover her group and surprise Zatiel. Although it has almost no use left, it was able to hide the two of them from Erick until they arrived at the tower.

 Chapter 36: Preparations

    Ezequiel and Sophia were with Zatiel in his house on the second floor of the tower.


    They were not speaking but by the expression of their faces, it was obvious that they weremunicating in some way.


    They were talking through their cores to avoid being found out by someone in the tower.


    "None of us can leave the tower for the time being. I doubt that magus will dare to enter the city but it''s never good to underestimate a desperate enemy," Zatiel already had a n to take care of Erick and the trip to the Underground had given him all the material necessary to do it, so leaving the tower would only be an unnecessary risk.


    Sophia and Ezequiel knew that against a Magus, there is little they can do besides escaping. So they have nothing against Zatiel''s n.


    "Our priority should be reaching the peak of rank 0. Once we reach it, the number of times we can use abyssal st should be two and the damage should reach over 50 degrees. I will also use the time to prepare the necessary runes for the fight and also the search of theboratory. Little EZ how did the creation of the weapon from the matrix I give you turn out?"


    Zatiel didn''t have much hope. After all, the matrix was from peak rank 0 magical equipment, and Ezequiel had less than a year of training as a Magical craftsman.


    "Yes master, I have managed to create one," To the amazement of Zatiel, Ezequiel took out a white orb and handed it to him.


    Zatiel picked up the orb and started to assess it and it looked exactly like the type of magical equipment that the matrix described.


    "A.I. Chip scan it," Zatiel knew that Ezequiel would not trick him, but theplexity of the equipment was incredibly high and he was using the chip to make sure there were no imperfections.


    [Bip.. scanning magical equipment.


    Metamorph orb: Peak rank 0 Magical equipment. It can take different forms ording to the user''s desire varying from a single-handed weapon to a partial orplete armor. When it is used as aplete armor, it can offer protection of 15 degrees of damage both physical and magical, and the defense is enhanced as the range of protection is reduced. It can be stored inside the user''s body to be enhanced with the user''s energy.


    Status: Optimal condition, functioning perfectly]


    "Hahaha, little EZ this is a marvelous thing, awesome job!" Zatiel was truly amazed by the work of the boy.


    After all, when he gave him the matrix, he was hoping in the best scenario that he could create it when he was at peak rank 0 and had at least two years of practice, and even then the possibility of creating it will be low. But not even half a year has passed and he already has made it.


    "Thank you, Master," Ezequiel didn''t say much but the pride was obvious in his face.


    "Do you think you can create another two of these types of equipment?" With that magical equipment, the n of Zatiel would be much easier to implement.


    "I should be able to do it, but I would need more materials," Ezequiel was already very familiar with the matrix and as long he had enough material, he was sure he could create it again.


    "Don''t worry about that, I have brought a lot of things with me. Take whatever you need and if there is something that is missing, sell some of them, and use the crystals to buy what you need from the tower."


    As long as he could get one of those spheres for all three of them, the price was not something that worried Zatiel. So he handed the spatial sack to Ezequiel so he could take the thing he needed.


    Ezequiel nodded and started to check the spatial sack and took all the material he needed.


    Once the part of the n with Ezequiel was already in motion, Zatiel started discussing with Sophia.


    "Sophia, you told me you have chosen alchemy as your profession, right?" Once Zatiel ended the process of transforming her into a Neo-Demon, he asked a lot of questions so he could help her in choosing spells and other things.


    "Yes, but I have never been too good in it," Sophia wanted to help Zatiel, but her talent in alchemy was never too good.


    "Don''t worry about that. All of your abilities have been enhanced when you became a Neo-Demon. I am sure your talent in alchemy has improved as well. I will give you some recipes for pills that will be helpful. Don''t worry about the times you have to try before you create them. As long as you don''t give up I am sure you will manage to do it," Zatiel used the core and transferred some recipes to Sophia.


    Sophia started analyzing the information on the recipes and the difficulty was indeed high, but a resolution could be seen on her face. She didn''t give any promise, but by her attitude, Zatiel knew that she was going to prove with her action.


    "We all know what we have to do. So little EZ, you can return to your house. Let me know if you need anything during the process of creation. Sophia, I will inscribe the Secondary Consciousness and Aerial Walk runes in you, it will be very painful so prepare," Once he gave the order Zatiel started to prepare for the process of inscribing the runes.


    Ezequiel took all the material he needed and was leaving when someone stopped him. Sophia appeared in front of him with a smile on her face.


    "You have not introduced yourself, my name is Sophia. I always hear Zatiel calling you little EZ, but I haven''t heard your real name." Sophia''s attitude was friendly when she spoke with Ezequiel.


    "My name is Ezequiel," Ezequiel didn''t have a bad impression of Sophia, and since she was a Neo-Demon like him, he responded with a good attitude. After answering he was preparing to leave but he was stopped again.


    "Wait, I have seen you always call Zatiel, Master, so how about you start calling me Madam," Sophia was smiling and looking at the reaction Zatiel was going to make.


    When Zatiel hear that, he started to get angry, but when he saw the mischievous expression on her face he understood it was not that Sophia wanted to put herself above Ezequiel but the term was because the connection it will create with him, so he just shakes his head and continue with his work.


    Ezequiel also realizes that the woman was not trying to undermine him, so he didn''t get angry, but that didn''t mean he will follow her game.


    "Master?" Before saying something Ezequiel wanted to know what Zatiel''s opinion about the title.


    "You two are equal," Zatiel only says that before going back to preparing the runes.


    "So can you call me Madam? It will make me happy," Sophia smiled at Ezequiel and he smiled back but the word that came next was something entirely different from what she wanted.


    "Old hag," Ezequiel says with a straight face and there was not a noiseing from him, but augh started to be heard in the house just after he spoke.


    The source of theugh was Zatiel. Even with his abilities, predicting how this will develop was impossible and that made it hrious.


    Sophia became red when she heard the insult and even more when she saw Zatielughing.


    "You little rascal!" Sophia threw herself at him, but even though she had be very powerful, Ezequiel has been a Neo-Demon more time than her and his forte was speed so he dodged her and before she could act again, he left the house.


    "That brat has no manners," Sophia was still upset but she didn''t chase him. She knows that truly fighting between themself was prohibited, besides, she was not really angry.


    "Don''t give it more importance than it has. Anyway the runes are ready to be inscribed in you," Zatiel took the parchment with the runes and came closer to the woman.


    Sophia sees the runes and smiles yfully as she takes all her clothes off, disying her sensual body in all of its splendor, but what she got from Zatiel was his usual calm expression


    "Come on! Will it kill you to show something on your face?" Sophia didn''t know what to do before the alwaysposed man.


    "This process is delicate so I can''t allow myself to be distracted," Zatiel starts to inscribe the runes on Sophia and his movements were coordinated and proficient without a single mistake.


    The process was indeed very painful but Sophia had already resisted the transformation into a Neo-Demon so when it ended, she only felt tired.


    "I will go to sleep..." But before Sophia could even end her sentence, she was put against the wall by Zatiel.


    "Ok, we have finished the inscription, now I will teach you what happens when you entice a demon," Zatiel''s face had none of his previous calm, but pure lust and desire as he positioned himself behind Sophia.


    "Wait I am a little tired maybeter," Although Sophia was constantly tempting Zatiel, the truth was that she was a virgin and had no experience at all so she became timid and nervous when the real thing was going to happen.


    But her attitude only made the lust in Zatiel even greater. As he thrashed his manhood inside her, although it looked rough, he was very experienced and it didn''t take long for moans of pleasure to be heard.

 Chapter 37: Erick's wrath

    Close to the center of Wastnd, a thunderous fight was happening. Explosions and mes inundated the ce.


    The ones fighting were an old man and an ogre. The ogre had a height of 3.5 meters and his body radiated immense physical power. He had a muscr figure and arge head. In his hand was a giant club made of some rare metal. Every time he swung his weapon, air sts were created and although his body was heavy, his movement was impressively fast.


    The old man had red hair and surrounding him were shields made of magma, whips of mes moved by his side and he was constantly throwing balls of fire that carried great power.


    Surrounding the two there were hundreds of dead ogres, and from the way their bodies were disyed on the ground, it was apparent that they were trying to run but could not make it in time, giving the idea that this attack started as a surprise.


    The ogre roared as he attacked the man. He struck with his club at his opponent but the shield got in his way. Despite the attack destroying them, it forced the ogre to stop, making him a perfect target for the explosions of the man.


    A fireball exploded in the chest of the ogre, throwing him dozens of meters away and harming him greatly. But even so, the vitality of the creature was great and the injury didn''t diminish his ability to fight at all.


    "Treacherous Magus, how dare to kill my tribe after I help you!?" The ogre roared as he ran towards the man dodging some of the attacks and using his club to block the others.


    "Filthy creature, if it wasn''t for your race''s ipetence, how could a mere apprentice have escaped?" Erick''s face was full of wrath as heunched spell after spell against the ogre.


    Erick waited for the group for a long time. After all, the Wastnd was rather big, and finding someone could be very difficult, especially if they are in constant movement.


    But after 6 months of not receiving any news, he entered the underground himself and investigated. It didn''t take long for him to find out that all the people he sent were dead. In his fury, he attacked the ogres he hired to help the pseudo-magi.


    The ogre who was fighting Erick was a rank 1 creature and the leader of the tribe of ogres of the Wastnd. His days were usually ones of pure bliss, using his tribe for all his needs and enjoying himself all the time, but right now all he could feel was regret and rage seeing the fate of his people.


    The fight continued for some minutes. But the longer it prolonged the more obvious the advantage of Erick was. The movements of the ogre were too direct andcked variation so his body was umting wound after wound.


    Even though his attacks manage to get up to 40 degrees of physical damage with every swing of his club, the shields were enough to stop him and give enough time to the Magus to finish his spells and maintain a safe distance between the two.


    The ogre was already closing in on hisst breath, but you should never underestimate a wounded animal. The creature''s eyes got red as he roared with all his power and his body grew a size.


    He charged at Erick with all his power, breaking through all the spells that were through in his path and bulldozing his way to the old man. He finally reached the shields and threw his club, breaking it and taking advantage of the opportunity he tried to grab the magus.


    "Hmph, an animal who doesn''t know his ce," The eyes of the Magus were full of disdain as he saw the desperate attack of the ogre and his body start to disintegrate into mes and vanished.


    The ogre was shocked by what happened, but before he could figure out where he went, he heard a voice above him. It was Erick who had appeared two meters above the ogre and wasunching his spell.


    "Core explosion!"


    A small sphere of light impacted the ogre and immediately exploded, creating a miniature ball of fire. Although the size was not a big deal, the damage reached 75 degrees, finally killing the creature.


    "Your entire tribe deserves to die for failing me," Erick''s eyes were cold as he stored the body of the ogre. Once he made sure that there was no one left alive, he conjured a ball of fire and left flying.


    ''No matter what, I have to kill that brat and find out his secrets,'' Erick''s was full of fury but there was also fear in his eyes. The threat he felt from Zatiel was so much that even if it means offending a rank 2 Magus, he was going to act himself.


    Actually, his problems didn''t end up just there. The death of five pseudo-magi was something he will have to answer for.


    It is true thatpared to a Magus, a pseudo-magus has little value, but they are still valuable resources to any family. After all, they have the possibility of bing a rank 1 being themselves.


    Erick''s original n was to erase the memories of the ones he sent to hunt Zatiel. Although doing it will severely affect their future prospect, as long they were alive, he could just invent some lie to cover it.


    But now all of them died and his problems were too much for some simple charade to hide it.


    So his only choice was to kill Zatiel and take whatever it made him special and give it to the head of his family aspensation.


    ...


    Zatiel was in hisboratory and in front of him were two small spheres. One was from Cristian and the other was the one he took when he killed Arthur¡äs group.


    ''The sphere of Cristian should reach 25 degrees of damage and it looks like it has poisonous properties. If I can enhance its power andbine it with the stealth abilities of the other one, it will be very useful,'' There were dozens of materials in front of Zatiel and his job will take a lot of time.


    As he was working, someone started to get closer to him. It was Sophia who was walking in a little funny way.


    "Are you fine?" Zatiel found it weird that the woman was moving like that. After all, the physique of a Neo-Demon should heal any minor wound.


    "Hmph, you don''t know how to treat ady, you didn''t let me rest all night," Sophia was not hurt, but she was feeling weird hence her posture.


    "You were the one who was screaming for more," As soon Zatiel finished speaking, Sophia hit him on the head.


    "You need to learn how to treat a woman!" Sophia''s blow didn''t have any strength in it but the moment she did it, she started to feel awkward as two eyes stared at her.


    Zatiel said nothing and just continued looking at her.


    "Are... you angry?" Sophia was scared that she had offended him. Although to her their rtionship was significant, the idea that to him she was nothing special started to frighten her.


    Zatiel kept looking at her for a while before smiling and shaking his head.


    "No, actually it feels kinda nice. It is really weird. I guess I have changed," If anyone of his subordinates had dared to do something like that in his previous life, having their souls extracted and tortured until they vanished would have been a soft punishment, but now he just felt it was funny.


    ''It doesn''t feel bad, so I guess I will go with the flow,'' Zatiel saw how his answer made the woman smile and he just continued with his runes.


    "You have work to do, so get going."


    "Yes, boss!" Sophia could not stop smiling as she heard Zatiel respond and started to work on the recipes filled with liveliness.

 Chapter 38: Three main characteristics

    Zatiel was in hisboratory, inscribing a rune on his forehead. Due to the localization and the effect of the rune, the pain that it carried was immense even for him. But still, his hand was steady and his movement wless.


    Normally, it would be easier to just inscribe the rune on a parchment and then transfer it to the body as the loss in effectiveness on a rank 0 rune is almost null.


    But the one that Zatiel was inscribing was a rank 1 rune so to not lose power, he inscribed directly.


    When the process was finished, Zatiel almost crumbled to the floor and his face was pale due to the exhaustion. On his forehead now was a pentagram with strange symbols going around it.


    ''I guess now I can call myself a rank 1 runemaster,'' smile and pride were evident on his face.


    This was not the first rank 1 rune that Zatiel had created, some were for Ezequiel and Sophia, to enhance their abilities for a fight. Inscribing a rune on yourself is much harder than inscribing it on others so his abilities are more than enough to gain the title.


    Of course, Zatiel would not reveal his skills with the runes before advancing to rank 1. At that time although his abilities would be considered those of a genius, it would not be at the level that would attract too much attention. He was not worried about someone spying on him and finding his progress, after all, unless you are a much more powerful runemaster than the opposite party or you have seen the power of the rune yourself, trying to identify its rank just from the exterior appearance was foolish.


    ''It has been seven months since the trip to the Underground, there is not much left to do before fighting that Magus,'' Zatiel was serious as he went through the n for the fight.


    They were going to fight a Rank 1 Magus while being rank 0 and not only were they going to defeat him but the n was also to capture him alive. This was something that not even the greatest genius of this world could think it had absolute certainty of aplishing.


    Even though Neo-Demons are superior to Magi, their greatest advantages are unlocked when they advance to rank 1 so Zatiel needed to make sure that everything is taken care of.


    As for advancing in power during a fight, although it was not unheard of such a thing happening, he would not rely on something so uncertain, especially when defeating the Magus was what he needed to advance.


    Zatiel looked at the corner of theboratory where Sophia was finishing her pills. Her body had more runes than before and there was a particrly powerful one in her arms, ''She is also ready''.


    "Little EZ,e here," Zatiel used the core to call Ezequiel to make thest inspection and go through the n with the three before leaving the tower.


    It didn''t take long for the boy to arrive. His height was greater as was his strength, and just like Sophia, there were more runes in his body and the most powerful one was covering part of his legs.


    Zatiel looked at the runes of the boy and nodded. Although adding more runes could be helpful, the body has a limit of how much it can withstand. Actually, just a rank 1 rune would take all the capacity of a pseudo-Magus and it was only their constitution as Neo-Demons that allowed them to have more inscribed on them.


    "A.I. Chip, scan the three of us."


    [Bip... scanning the targets


    Name: Zatiel


    Race: Neo-Demon


    Strength: 16.5


    Physique:19.7


    Agility:15.9


    Abyss Aura:20.5


    Name: Ezequiel


    Race: Neo-Demon


    Strength: 16.1


    Physique:16.4


    Agility:19.5


    Abyss Aura:20.3


    Name: Sophia


    Race: Neo-Demon


    Strength: 12.1


    Physique: 18.9


    Agility:18.4


    Abyss Aura:20.2]


    ''All of us have reached the peak of Rank 0. Trying to enhance more of our energy will only be a waste of time and will not improve our battle power.''


    Now that all three were together and he was sure that they were individually prepared, he started tomunicate through their core.


    "Although our abilities allow us to kill Pseudo-Magi easily, when we face a real Magus it will be very different. There are three main characteristics that a Magus has that makes them so powerful."


    To Zatiel this was basic information, but to Sophia and Ezequiel this was something very important.


    The information about Magi is only given to apprentices that had signed a contract with some family or were part of one already. And since both of them have refused any type of recruitment they had very little valid information about what makes a Magus special.


    "The first one is the ability to use rank 1 spells. This type of spell is not only much more powerful than rank 0 but also they can be used in a faster way due to the mastery that the Magus has over their particr natural energies."


    "Second, their Rank Spell. When an apprentice reaches the level of a Pseudo-magus, they choose a spell and they start to learn how to use it without the help of a spell rune. The energies in their bodies start to familiarize themselves with this spell to the point that they can activate them with a single thought and it is almost instantaneous. Most of them chose a defensive type, and when they can activate them from every single part of their bodies, not only will their bodies be more powerful, they would fulfill one of the most important conditions for advancing to rank 1. When they advance to a rank 1 Magus, this spell that they master during their stage as a pseudo -Magus bes their Rank Spell, meaning that this rank 0 spells can be a rank 1 spell with them and can be continuously activated using an insignificant amount of energy like a cloak that protects them at all times."


    When Zatiel finished speaking, Ezequiel made a confused expression so he made a sign for him to ask.


    "Master, we have never needed a spell rune to use our spells, and I have mastered my Lightning Armor to the point it is almost instinctively activated, so that means I have already met the condition to my Rank Spell?"


    Ezequiel and Sophia were concentrating on the response of Zatiel, after all, this information was important in their advance to rank 1.


    "Yes, the reason I gave the two of you a spell that has defensive abilities is that I was hoping that they would be useful as your rank spell. As for the reason we don''t need to use spell runes since the beginning, it was because as Neo-Demon, our bodies are strong enough to withstand the natural energies going through them from an early stage unlike a human, and also the help our core gives us into gaining proficiency in them is important. The difficulty in mastering them is what makes a lot of Pseudo-Magi never advance, after all, there are hundreds of medicines that can increase your energy, but things that help you to master a Rank Spell are few because it has a direct connection with your proficiency in using the natural energies of the world. Of course, to us, there is another important thing we need to have to advance, and can give us something even more powerful than a rank spell."


    After hearing the words of Zatiel both of them nodded and a lot of questions were answered. As for the thing they needed to advance to rank 1, they already knew it. It was revealed to them the moment they achieved the peak of rank 0 by their cores.


    "Ok, the third one is Consciousness. The consciousness is rted to the soul and can be considered the part that gives us our sense of individuality and helps us interact safely with the exterior. If you were to eliminate the consciousness of someone and avoid injuring their soul severely you will get an ownerless soul. When you advance to rank 1 the soul is strengthened, so is the consciousness. In rank 1 you can make part of your consciousness leave your body, using it to explore your surroundings, among other things. Dragons call it Draconic Sense, for a Magus it is called Spiritual Mind, as for us we have Primal Chaos Consciousness. Going back to the point, the Spirit Mind of a Magus makes any attempt of a surprise attack not very effective unless you can use your consciousness to block theirs."


    When Zatiel finished, both Ezequiel and Sophia had a solemn expression.


    Any of those three points alone can make a fight against a Magus extremely difficult but all three together made it sound like a suicide mission.


    ''Good, they understand what we are going against.'' Zatiel was happy to see those expressions on their faces. After all, if you don''t trulyprehend what you are facing, only defeat awaits you. Besides, their will had not shaken it at all.

 Chapter 39: Severe injuries

    After giving them time so they could understandpletely the information and seeing that they were focused again, Zatiel continued.


    "Our main advantage is his arrogance and the fact that he will underestimate us. The moment he realizes what we are capable of doing, that carelessness will transform in cautiousness and a defensive attitude so we have to take that window to make the most damage possible, after that you two will follow the n and carry out my instructions without hesitation."


    "Yes!" Sophia and Ezequiel know that any ident could cost their lives so they were ready to act as a perfect soldier and obey orders without question.


    "Let''s go," Once everything was ready the three of them headed to the first floor to leave the tower.


    Once they reached the first floor, they became the center of attention for almost all the apprentices there. To them, they were extremely powerful pseudo-magi and unlike the rest, they had shown no intention of joining any type of family or n, making them an abnormality.


    Among the ones that were looking at them was a man at the corner of the tower. In his hand, there was a small crystal sphere. The apprentice used some of his energy to activate it and whisper at it, "Lord Magus, the target is leaving the tower apanied by two of hispanions."


    At first, there was no response, but a moment letter an old voice was heard from the sphere.


    "Well done, I will reward youter."


    ....


    On the fourth floor, Jhon and Clive were seeing how Zatiel was leaving the tower through a crystal that was floating in front of them.


    "Lord Clive, by what I know Erick has been surrounding this ce and I think he will attack them," Jhon didn''t care if Zatiel died, but he knows that the rank 2 Magus has a use for the promised runes, so he was seeing if there is an order to protect him.


    "If they are foolish enough to leave the tower and ignore the threat of a rank 1 Magus, then there is no need to continue helping them, and in the chance, they return, we will continue enforcing the contract," Clive was indifferent to the fate of Zatiel. Although his abilities like a runemaster were useful to him, he will not act as a guardian.


    "But still, you have informed Erick about my protection over them, so if he kills them, try to gather some evidence so we can demandpensation," after he finished, Clive vanished from the floor.


    ....


    Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia were heading to a part of the Endless Forest where there was a frozenke. This ce was close to where the periphery ended and the area where you could start finding rank 1 magical creatures.


    Close to the frozenke was where theboratory of the ancient Magus that Sophia found was located. She arrived at this ce after running from a magical creature and she didn''t dare to enter too deeply.


    Zatiel chose to go to this ce to hide after the fight, as for Erick following them all the way to theboratory and finding it, he was not worried about it. At the moment they were far away from any possible witness so he was sure that the Magus would attack them.


    As they advanced the three of them had the energy of their bodies ready to act and they had partially activated their most powerful spell.


    Around Ezequiel''s body little arcs of lightning were moving encircling him, improving his speed and on Sophia, a small amount of frost was covering her and in her hands from time to time sts of cold air wereunched around her body.


    Unlike the two of them, Zatiel had two spells active. One was the Shadow form that was only covering part of his legs to enhance his speed, the other was a thin thread of ck fire that was forming a ring at his back.


    This new spell was the one Zatiel had chosen for his Rank Spell, and this was a special one. It should be a rank 1 spell but thanks to the chip, he was able to downgrade it to a rank 0 so he could use it but still, it greatly drained his energy, and it was only when he was close to the peak of rank 0 and his physique has got over 19 points that his body was powerful enough to withstand the energies of the spell and he was able to start using it.


    ''Even now it is still difficult to control it. As expected from a spell that was previously rank 1,'' As Zatiel was practicing the spell, he remembered the information the chip gave him about the spell.


    [Ring of Abyssal Fire: Rank 0 spell ( Downgraded rank 1). It generates a ring of ck mes at the back of the user. You can control part of it tounch attacks to the enemy as well as cover a part of your body or weapon in it. This fire has special properties due to his connection with the abyss aura. The mes have a corrosive attribute and when it reaches the target, it can use the energy of the target to increase the power of the me and continue burning. There is also an effect on the consciousness of the target, harming it. Consumption: Abyss Aura- 2 every minute.]


    It was only thanks to his proficiency in the spell that the cost was only two points a minute. When he just started to use it, it could barely be active for a couple of minutes before draining all of his energy. As for having it partially activated, with his basic regeneration of abyss aura, the cost was almost null.


    .....


    It was on the seventh day of his travel as they were going through the forest Zatiel felt it. It was very subtle but thanks to him reaching the peak of rank 0 and having his consciousness strengthened, he was able to detect the killing intent.


    "Now!" As soon he gave the signal through their cores, the three of them ingested a ck pill.


    Just when they finished ingesting it, a group of mes formed over them and turned into an old man. Erick didn''t waste time and used a powerful spell that covered the three of them.


    "Fire Storm!"


    A sheet of mes fell from the sky and it was going to consume them, but unfortunately for the old man, instead of the screams of pain he was expecting to get, he only received three raised palms.


    "Abyssal st!!!"


    Three beams of pure abyss aura, one ck, one blue, and another light-blue crashed against the spell of the Magus, and although individually the spell was just as powerful as the mes, the three together disintegrated the mes immediately, and the st continued its way to the Magus.


    Normally Erick would have hisva shields to protect him, but to try to make a surprise attack and believing that there is no way an apprentice could harm him, he did not have the defensive spell activated, and the beams were so fast that didn''t give him time to react before they struck him.


    Erick sted away from the attack, and surrounding him was a yellow cracked sphere that originated from a pendant on his neck and over his body was a cloak of mes with some broken parts.


    He was badly injured and bleeding all over his body, and the pendant did not hold on longer and disintegrated taking the sphere with him, but still, it was thanks to it and his rank spell that he was able to survive.


    He managed to stop his body and conjured a ball of mes to stay in the air, and his consciousness was inundated with savage and chaotic thought making it difficult to concentrate and it was generating a splitting pain on his head.


    "Those pieces of sh*t, I wi.."


    But immediately, the attack continued. From his back, Ezequiel appeared enveloped in lightning with an armor covering his body and a small swordunching an attack to his lungs, and from above, spikes of ice with a dark glow were falling on his head and in front was Zatiel with a ring of mes at his back, covered entirely with chains and armor under it, his hands were covered in dark fire punching his stomach.

 Chapter 40: Escaping

    Erick was hurt and surrounded by attacks in all directions. His Rank Spell was barely functioning and his consciousness was full of voices threatening to consume his sanity, but still, he was a Rank 1 Magus. He used all his power to concentrate on evaluating his situation.


    ''From the three attacks, the ones with a higher degree of damage are the ones in front and back, they are powerful enough to pierce my Rank Spell, but there is something weird in those spikes,'' Erick''s energy was rising and he prepared tounch a spell. With his current condition, he could block two of them entirely and one partially.


    He was preparing to stop the two people when he realized the reason for the ck glow in those spikes.


    ''Magic Pration! But how? A rank 0 being can not possibly enhance their spells with this.''


    He focused on the woman covered in a dome of ice at the distance and saw the reason for the uniqueness of the spell, there were runes in her arms.


    If he uses a defensive spell to stop these spikes, most of the attacks will be able to trespass it and reach him.


    Having understood the nature of the attacks, he chose to respond with what he thought was the best option.


    Although this took some time to exin, it happened in less than a second.


    "me repulsion!"


    A st of mes originated from him and push away all beings in his surroundings, having made that most of the power directed to his back, he was able to stop Ezequiel from perforating his lung, but the repulsion that reached Zatiel was not enough and he was able to get closer to the old man.


    As for the spikes, they were able to pierce the mes but the Magus raised his hand tounch a spell at them.


    "Fire Bolt!"


    A ball of mes impacted the spikes and was able to destroy them, but before he could rx, a hand was buried in his stomach burning his insides and generating enormous pain.


    The pain reached directly to his consciousness and with the previous damage, it almost made him pass out from the agony but taking hold of all his rage, he managed to retain some focus and saw how Zatiel had his fist embedded in his stomach.


    "Die, you piece of sh*t!"


    From Erick''s hand, a st of mes came out and consumed Zatiel, throwing him away and making him crash on the ground.


    "Master!"


    "Zatiel!"


    The moment they saw how Zatiel was ravaged by the mes, both Ezequiel and Sophia could not help but panic. But luckily, all their fear vanished immediately when they heard a voice through their cores.


    "Continue with the n!"


    After hearing that order, both of them regained their focus, and their energies spiked as they attacked the Magus.


    Ezequiel''s eyes were cold as he started to throw spears of lightning at Erick, moving through the air never stopping making it extremely difficult tond a spell on him.


    Sophia wasunching her spikes as well, but this time they no longer had Magic Pration abilities.


    If she were to continue activating that rank 1 rune, she would be exhausted in a moment.


    Erick was able to conjure two of his magma shields, but even so, he was not able to control them well due to the splitting pain on his head and some of the spells manage to reach his cloak of mes weaken it even more.


    ''What the hell are these ck mes?''


    The most pressing matter for Erick was not the spells that reached him. After all, his rank spell was able to block all attacks inferior to 20 degrees of damage and although it was barely holding, it would withstand some time.


    The thing that was bothering him the most was the voices in his head and the me that was extending to the rest of his body. If he didn''t use his energy to contain it, it would have already expanded and covered him entirely.


    If Erick was alone, he could have easily used all of his energy to expel the mes, after all, they are formed by a rank 0 spell. But now with all this damage and the constant attacks, he could barely think, much less focus his mind into a concrete task.


    Sophia managed to reach the ce where Zatielnded and she used her tentacles of her dome to turn down the fire.


    When the mes were extinguished, Zatiel''s figure could be seen. The chains were gone, they exploded the moment the attacknded, and as for the armor, it was covered in cracks all over.


    His body was full of burn marks and his left arm was missing. It seems as if the damage had been immense but to have received a Magus point-nk attack and just finish with this injury is a miracle.


    Zatiel stood up, and took a pink pill from his sack and consumed it. The moment he does, the bleeding starts to stop and hisplexion gets better instantly.


    ''Her medicines are really helpful.''


    Both the ck pill and the pink pill were the creations of Sophia. It was thanks to the ck pill that the injuries on his body were so little, after all, the attack of Erick almost reached 60 degrees of damage and it was the me resist attribute of the medicine which protected him from the worst part.


    Having taken care of his injuries, he focused on the Magus.


    Erick had managed to consume a potion that healed some of his wounds, but unfortunately for him, the damage to his consciousness was not so easy to heal, and the attack of Ezequiel and Sophia did not stop at any time.


    "A.I. chip, scan him!"


    Normally, the chip could not scan a Magus due to the protective effect of their Rank spell and their maic force field but now, because of the damage, it was able to do it.


    [Bip... scanning target


    Name: Erick


    Race: Human (Rank 1 Elementium Magus)


    Strength: 12.3


    Physique:20.3


    Agility: 11.2


    Spirit Force:46.1]


    ''As expected from a Rank 1 being. Even though he is a pure Elementium Magi, and I bet he has never truly trained his body, his physique is even greater than mine despite my body being constantly enhanced by the core and my abyss aura.''


    Despite his attributes being inferior, Zatiel didn''t feel that there was anything wrong. After all, it had been less than two years since he became a Neo-Demon and his opponent was a Rank 1 Magus that had lived for hundreds of years.


    Zatiel saw how Sophia and Ezequiel were constantly attacking the Magus but he didn''t join them. All his attention was on Erick, waiting for the right time to make his move.


    He didn''t have to wait long before he saw how the Magus''s face became full of wrath and the energy in his body spiked.


    "I will show you insects, the price of making a Magus furious," Erick''s consciousness was influenced by the chaotic effect of the abyssal st and he used his energy without care as he tried to bring out his most powerful spell.


    "Now!"


    The rune in Zatiel''s forehead activated and his eyes started to bleed. The rune was known as Mind Shock, it allowed you to use your consciousness to attack the consciousness of your enemies.


    Due to him being rank 0, the effect that it should be almost insignificant, but there is something that helped the consciousness grow in power and that is will, and Zatiel''s will is stronger than Erick''s, that plus the fact that Erics''s consciousness already hurt, made the oue obvious.


    ''What is happening?''


    Erick didn''t understand what was urring. In a moment he was preparing tounch his spell Meteor Shower, and the next he felt a stake plunging in his brain, his eyes blurring, and lost control over his energy and body.


    Due to himunching a spell and not controlling the energies, it backfired and harmed him but what came next was worse.


    The ckout of Erick won''tst more than a couple of seconds, and that time would not be enough tounch a spell powerful enough to prate his Rank Spell, but at this moment Ezequiel acted.


    The runes on Ezequiel''s legs activated and he shed to where Erick was, the speed was incredible and even Zatiel was not able to see him before he reached the Magus.


    Erick was recovering the control over his body when he felt a sword burying in his chest and releasing a huge amount of lightning power destroying his left lung.


    "Ba*tard!"


    A torrent of mes generated in Erick''s hand and were going to reach Ezequiel.


    The boy separated immediately after attacking but still, he was too close to dodge the spell, but luckily, shields made of ice started to appear in front of him. Although they disintegrated almost immediately, they gave him enough time to dodge the mes and get away from the Magus.


    Erick didn''t follow after Ezequiel, instead, he created hundreds of small balls of fire and threw them at the three.


    The attack filled the sky but the damage that it could create was minimal, so it was more of an annoyance than a threat.


    As Zatiel and the rest were destroying the mes that headed in his direction, Erick put all that is left of his energy on the ball of mes under his feet and started to fly away.


    Using the me teleportation would be more effective but that spell uses too much energy and your concentration needed to be unaffected so it was impossible at the moment.


    ''I need to escape or else I will die.''


    Although the fight looked like a hard one for both sides, Erick knew that he was the absolute loser, and besides the first attack where he was able to hurt Zatiel, he was never truly able to damage any of them.


    Now one of his lungs was destroyed, he had a fist-sized hole in his stomach, his energy was almost depleted, not to mention the monstrous pain in his head.


    So his only option was escaping, as for honor and courage, since when has a Magus cared for that?


    As they saw Erick getting away, neither one of them started to chase him. Both Ezequiel and Sophia looked at Zatiel with reverence in their eyes, since from the beginning, every single thing that has happened was exactly as he said, even of the Magus leaving, and now they saw how he raised his hand and snapped his fingers, sealing the fate of a mighty Rank 1 being.

 Chapter 41: Advancing to Rank 1

    Erick had his Spirit Mind focused on Zatiel and the rest, and got confused when he saw how no one tried to stop him.


    But the moment he saw how Zatiel snapped his fingers, a feeling of pure danger appeared, and before he could figure out the origin, inside his stomach a small sphere started to glow before it exploded destroying all the organs in his abdomen.


    "When did..."


    That attack was more than Erick could withstand, and the ball of mes at his feet vanished and he fell from the sky.


    Before he crashed to the ground, chains appeared and covered his body, bringing him to Zatiel


    "We need to leave before someone else arrives," Zatiel picked the cocoon, and left the ce with Sophia and Ezequiel.


    When they were at a safe distance, Zatiel concentrated all the power of his Ring of Abyssal Fire on his hand and threw an immense Fireball at the ce of the fight. Immediately ck mes exploded in the area and started to consume everything in its surroundings, as they expanded.


    ...


    A couple of hourster, a man showed up in the sky where the fight happened and started to assess the mes that continued to burn it.


    The man generates a vortex of green wind and started to suck all the oxygen in the surroundings, but even then, the mes continued burning, although in a weaker way.


    Jhon concentrated his energy and des of winds started to destroy everything finally managing to turn off the fire.


    ''Since when Erick has been able to use this type of me?''


    Jhon never thought that the spell could be caused by an apprentice, after all, despite the mes not being too powerful they were persistent and propagated easily.


    As he scanned the area, he became disappointed. The fire had destroyed everything, and trying to get evidence from here was impossible.


    ''Forget it, I guess you got lucky old, man,'' Jhon returned to the tower, thinking that the death of Zatiel and his group was certain.


    ...


    After two weeks of travel, Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia managed to reach the frozenke.


    Thanks to the medicines of Sophia and his physique, Zatiel''s left arm had grown back and he was again in perfect shape.


    Zatiel was assessing the cocoon and the status of the Magus inside it. Erick was in aatose state and all his skin was green, but even so, his injuries had healed a lot and his stomach didn''t have that huge hole in it.


    ''It was more effective than I thought.''


    What created the explosion in Erick''s stomach and the poison in his body was a small sphere that Zatiel managed to deposit when his hand entered him during the fight.


    The sphere had explosion and stealth abilities and was thebination of the ones he obtained from Cristian and Arthur''s group, and the damage was so great that it resulted in the current state of the Magus.


    "Let''s enter!"


    Zatiel broke the surface of the frozenke and covered himself in dark mes before submerging in the water.


    Ezequiel and Sophia did the same with their spells and followed him. From the three, the one who had the easiest was the woman, after all, even before being a Neo-Demon, she had control over the natural energy corresponding to water and now, instead of the coldness, the men were feeling, what she felt was justfort.


    After submerging themselves 50 meters deep, they arrived at a submarine cave. This was the entrance to the Laboratory of the Ancient Magus.


    After advancing for a couple of hours, they arrived at two massive doors that were broken, pieces of magical equipment, and some shattered vials with blood were in front of them.


    Zatiel started to assess the broken doors and the things that were on the ground.


    "You didn''t advance past this point, right?"


    "No. The vial with the blood I showed you is the only thing I found here that wasn''t broken, I didn''t dare to enter deeper."


    Sophia was looking at the door and now she knew how lucky she was by not going further, as her instinct as a Neo-Demon was alerting her of a threat.


    "By what I can tell, someone came here before, and whoever it was, their power was superior to the one of a rank 1 Magus by the mark he made on the doors when he destroyed them. But I guess he died during the exploration or else this ce would have already been upied."


    Seeing the marks on the door and the material they were created, Zatiel was able to make an educated guess.


    "If even a Rank 2 Magus could die here, then does that mean it is impossible to explore?"


    Ezequiel knew that even though they were able to defeat a rank 1 Magus, thas was only because they nned everything, and against a rank 2 being they had no chance in a confrontation.


    "Not necessarily. Those marks are hundreds of years old, and the defensive protocol is surely defective after all this time. We must evaluate everything as we advance. I will enter first."


    Zatiel put his armor on and covered himself with chains as he advanced towards the door.


    He had only taken a step past the doors when he was sent flying and crashed into the cave wall. Blood came out of his mouth and his ribs were broken. If it was not for his armor and chain, the damage would have been much worse.


    Ezequiel and Sophia reacted immediately positioned themself in front of Zatiel, ready to face what harmed him, but nothing came out.


    Zatiel was gasping as he took a pink pill from a ring in his hand. This spatial ring was from Erick, as for the spatial sack, it was now owned by Ezequiel.


    After taking the pill, his injuries began to heal and he started to go through what happened.


    ''Whatever it was, there was no spell in the attack, just pure physical power. With those abilities, there is no reason to wait for us to enter to attack unless it can''t leave.''


    "Rx, whatever it was, it looks like its function is stopping anyone from entering theboratory. It should be some magical automaton or simr."


    When they heard that, both of them rxed. Something that could harm Zatiel without giving him a chance to react was something they had no chance of defeating, and even escaping would be difficult.


    "Zatiel, that means that we stop here?"


    Sophia didn''t see a way of defeating that automaton and explored theboratory with their current abilities.


    "No, we will continue. I was hoping to enter theboratory before doing this, but I guess that the istion of this cave should be enough."


    Zatiel started to draw runes on the ground with his blood.


    Ezequiel and Sophia did not understand what Zatiel was doing, but they had absolute trust in him so they just sat down and meditated.


    It didn''t take long for the array runes to bepleted and Zatiel put Erick at the center of it. But this time instead of using a secondary array to attract the consciousness of the Abyss with chaotic souls he used his energy to activate the runes and call it.


    This time, the pressure that the consciousness of the Abyss exercised was much greater than before. Because it was summoned here and it didn''te by itself, ck energy started to conglomerate and generated a massive disgusting mouth.


    Ezequiel and Sophia became alerted immediately and got as far away as possible from the runes as they could.


    The pressure was amazing but Zatiel stood firm and started using the runes toplete the transaction.


    Maybe it was because of him feeling that something horrible was going to happen or just a coincidence but Erick was able to wake up.


    Unfortunately for him, it would have been better to just remain unconscious because what he saw when he opened his eyes was a monstrous mouth devouring him entirely. He wasn''t even able to scream before he disappeared.


    At the moment the Magus vanished, Zatiel could feel the satisfaction of the Abyss. Not wasting time, he asked for what he wanted in return.


    What Zatiel requested was not something important but he wanted the consciousness to transport something that was kept in one of hisyers, in a safe location.


    The mouth made of abyss aura opened itself again, and from inside it, a vial with a fist-sized drop of blood came out. After that, the Abyss consciousness vanished.


    Zatiel moved immediately and grabbed the vial, and there was excitement in his eyes as he assessed the blood.


    When Sophia and Ezequiel saw the blood, they understood what Zatiel ''s n was.


    "Master, you are going to advance to Rank 1!" Ezequiel was excited. ording to the information of his core, the advancement to rank 1 was one of the most important thresholds for a Neo-Demon.


    Two of the conditions for Neo-Demons to advance to rank 1 is to reach 20 points in abyss aura and having mastered a spell that can be transformed into their Rank Spell.


    But even more important is that they need to obtain a bloodline that can be assimted by their Chaotic Cores, giving them the abilities of that race, but unlike Bloodline Magi, they don''t seek to transform their bodies into the one of another species, but to obtain total control over the bloodline and use the core to erase any type of connection that it had with the creator of it.


    This gives the Neo-Demons the abilities of a powerful bloodline without any of the restrictions that came with it like the bloodline shackles.


    This is one of the reasons why Neo-Demons can be considered the most powerful race. They not only can use abyss aura that enhances their bodies and gives them powerful spells, a chaotic core that gives them monstrous talent, but also the power of a bloodline without any restriction and even the possibility of evolving it. There is a third point that can be obtained due to their demonic heritage but to say that can be awoken in rank 1 is hard.


    Zatiel only nodded at the boy before he sat and started to meditate to be in his top condition before starting.


    Ezequiel and Sophia looked at each other before positioning themself around Zatiel and having their bodies ready to act in case of anything.


    After a couple of hours, Zatiel was ready and activated his Chaotic Core. The core started to rotate dozens of times faster and without wasting time, he picked his sword and made a cut that reached directly to his heart. The moment the wound was made, tentacles made of runes started toe out from it.


    Zatiel got the vial closer to his chest and broke it. The moment he does, the tentacles surround the blood and bring it directly to the core, closing the wound in the way.


    The moment the blood disappeared, the greatest pain he has felt since he awoke in this world started.

 Chapter 42: A fight outside the Abyss

    High Worlds usually have a unique sun that provides light and warmth to them and it moves along with them. But there are ces in the Universe where the sun is the primordial star of the gxy ands are circling it.


    In a part of the Universe, there was such a sun. The size of this was even bigger than some High Worlds or nes, but this was not the only thing that made it special, as its size was getting bigger, the amount of energy it was producing was growing. Thes that were in its surroundings either end up swallowed by it or destroyed by its radiation.


    As this Sun grows, it reaches a point that it explodes destroying absolutely everything in the gxy.


    But when the explosion ended, instead of nothing, nine small suns remained, and inside every single one of them was a humanoid life. They were very simr to a human but in their forehead, they had a third eye, around every single one of them different things happened.


    The suns were different, the colors and phenomenon that generated varied. One of the Sun had a golden color and surrounding it you could feel that the Laws of creation and life were active.


    The man inside the golden sun looked at his brethren but didn''t say a word to them before he left. His speed was amazing moving millions of kilometers with every dash, and from time to time he vanished only to appear gxies away from where he was before.


    The man explored the Universe for thousands of years, from time to time he found other beings but when they saw him, they always escaped.


    One day the man was outside a Lower World, the life in this world could barely reach the peak of rank 0 and the energies were extremely thin.


    The man looked at the world for a long time, before he released all the power of his sun and flooded this world in golden mes. All life in this world was consumed by the mes, and the more it consumed the more prominent the golden color was.


    When all the life of the was absorbed, the mes that surrounded this world were so brilliant that it made it look like a sun.


    The man saw the mes for a long time before he raised his hand and clenched his fist, the moment he did his third golden eye started to glow.


    The golden mes started to enter the world, reaching the core of it, but instead of harming it, the mes started to nurture it. The energy of this world started to improve and a new life started to grow at an elerated rate. This Low World that had barely begun his path was already in the way of bing a Middle World.


    Usually, when mes consume something, they release a great amount of energy to the exterior but the golden mes maintain all the energy of everything it disintegrated inside them, to be usedter.


    The man continued doing this in hundreds of Low Worlds, although he killed billions of lives. The worlds that were touched by his golden mes always end up in a better position than before. After a couple of thousand years, the man was able to manipte the Law of Life.


    The man stood before a Low World again, he looked at it for a long time before he acted. He releases his golden mes but this time the power in them was much greater and they not only consume the life in the world but the world itself.


    His third eye was monitoring the entire process and when it ended, there was no longer a world but a giant ball of golden mes.


    The man stood still for a long time and only looked at the mes. Eventually, he concentrated all his power and started to manipte the mes. His golden third eye started to bleed but he was able to transform that immense ball of mes into a ne.


    Although Worlds and nes have a simr function they are different so what the man did was take the energy of something and create a different thing. This moment the man started to manipte the Law of Creation.


    The man continues to explore the Universe practicing hisw of life and creation, there were times he faced some creatures but with his immense power they always died or ended up running.


    One day the man reaches a ce where uncountableyers of infinite variety connected haphazardly, dark and chaotic energy surrounded this ce, and even with his consciousness he was not able to see it entirely.


    The man felt weird about this ce and was going to leave when he felt someone approaching.


    The one who approached was a figure covered in darkness and you could only see his red eyes.


    For the first time the man felt threatened by someone, he knows that this person was able to harm him, the same way thews of life and creation surrounded him, thew of death and destruction were with this individual.


    The man understood the reason the person covered in shadows wasing and heunched himself at him.


    A figure cover in golden mes and another cover in shadows crashed against each other, every time their attack opposed the space around them broke and the energy they released was enough to kill any creature under rank 5 at fifteen hundred kilometers around just as the coteral damage.


    As the fight continued, the man was starting to lose. Although his mes were more powerful than the shadows, the shadows were moving in a way he could not predict and asionally were able to cross his defense and reach him.


    When they fought at a close distance the disadvantage was even more prominent, the man had a stronger body but the person covered in shadow was able to predict his every moment and attack in the most unexpected way.


    The man separates from his enemy and makes the energy in his body spike as an immense golden sun is created around him.


    The person covered in shadow saw this, and his energy also burst as a ck hole is formed surrounding his body.


    They reached monstrous speed as they struck each other. The sun and the ck hole fought to consume the other. The power was so much that any Middle World would be severely harmed and even a High world would find itsndscape affected horribly.


    The fight between the sun and the ck hole ended up in an enormous explosion, the space in the area was broken and the energy of the ce was vtile. When everything calmed down only one person remained.


    It was the shadow covered individual, and in his hand was a heart, he made it disappear inside the darknesses and departed from the area. By the way, he was moving. It was obvious he was severely hurt.


    ....


    As Zatiel was resisting the immense pain due to having a bloodline assimted by the core, this majestic scene was passing through his head.


    ''So those were his memories. It is really weird fighting against myself, even if it was just a recollection of someone else,'' Even though Zatiel was withstanding tremendous pain he made sure to focus on those memories andmanded the chip to save them since they will be very helpful in the future.


    As the process continued golden mes started to cover Zatiel body, and immense pressure started to originate from him.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were now away from him. The pressure he generated was already affecting them and those golden mes made the instincts of both scream in fear.


    As the mes rose in power his body started to grow to reach a height of 2.2 meters. His muscles started to increase but contracted immediately making him have a perfect body, and in his forehead, the rune he had was disintegrated by the mes and his skin was breaking as a third golden eye started to appear.


    In his interior, there were also changes. Next to his heart where the Chaotic Core was, another smaller heart started to form, and inside this one, a tiny sun started to form.


    It was not until a couple of hourster that the process finished and he opened his eyes, and the moment he did a st of golden mesunched at his surroundings.


    The ground around him was melting and bingva due to the high temperature, and everything the mes touched got burned. Luckily Ezequiel and Sophia were away and didn''t get hurt.


    Zatiel stood up and started tough as the golden mes surrounded his body and he felt the amazing power-up he had.

 Chapter 43: Regeneration against defense

    With the golden mes covering his body, Zatiel started to assess his current condition and with the help of the chip was able to see even the most insignificant change in him.


    ''My body has improved greatly especially my speed and physique. These mes are not originated from my abyss aura but by the small sun inside my new heart and I can feel that the way to control them is with my third eye.''


    The golden mes are truly special even by Zatiel''s standards.


    Zatiel started to manipte his abyss aura and sent it to the small sun in his heart, but the moment the energy touched it, it was burned down immediately and consumed.


    ''It can swallow energy of such a purity like my abyss aura so easily, and there was absolutely no loss in energy, amazing!''


    Zatiel marveled, after all, there is always a loss of energy when something is transformed in a different thing, the most simple example will be when his Chaotic Core transforms the food he consumes in energy for his body, even though the core was one of his proudest creation it could not do such a thing like a perfect transformation.


    Next Zatiel started to manipte the golden mes with his third eye. He could use the mes without the eye but bring out the amazing properties of the mes like using the life energy that was inside them, the third eye was necessary.


    The abilities of the golden eye didn''t end up here. He was able to see how the energies move inside everything, even the ground he was standing on. When he saw Ezequiel and Sophia he could see the abyss aura running through their bodies as well a huge amount concentrated in their hearts where the Chaotic Core was.


    After seeing the changes that the bloodline brought to his body, he started to inspect his abyss aura and core.


    The quantity of his aura has grown a lot but the biggest change was on his quality with the purity highly surpassing the one he had in rank 0 and as for his core, the size was bigger and he could see how it was releasing small parts of it and fuse them with his heart.


    Finally, he checked his consciousness. Now that he had advanced to rank 1 Neo-demon he was able to use Primal Chaos Consciousness, and let a part of his consciousness leave his body to explore his surroundings, but this was not all. He was also able to use it to affect the mind of weaker targets and create chaotic pressure on the enemy, and as it became stronger, more abilities would be unlocked.


    Having already seen his new abilities he turned off his golden mes that were covering his body and contracted his maic force field and the pressure he generated disappeared.


    Ezequiel and Sophia came running to him, amazement and anticipation in their faces. Before Zatiel advanced, although his fighting experience was greater than them, their physical abilities were simr but now the difference in their power was like day and night, and the idea that they will be that powerful soon was exhrating.


    "Zatiel, those mes are incredible. How powerful was the bloodline you assimted?" Sophia still could remember the fear she felt when those golden mes were near her, so she assumed that the race that could generate such power was amazing.


    The easiest way of determining the power of a bloodline is seeing the rank that the creature from which it originated reaches when it bes an adult.


    After that, those creatures could no longer depend on their racial heritage to advance and even worse the same thing that helps them advance in power now bes shackles that hinder their progress. For example, a Frost Dragon can reach rank 4 just by depending on the power of his blood, but after that, unless it gets help from a higher life form or some special heritage, advancing any longer is very difficult.


    "If you have to rank it, it should be a Law Bloodline. Meaning that on its own, it would provide help until I be a Law Being, and that is not counting if I manage to evolve it," Zatiel was smiling as he exined.


    A Law Being is the peak of the universe and every single one of them is a force to be reckoned with and the goal of every individual in the path to power.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were shocked by the answer, and although they don''t know exactly how powerful a Law Being is, they know that the true leader of the Aetereum Empire had reached such a level.


    Zatiel started tough when he saw the expression of the two. He usually won''t do such things but seeing how powerful the blood has made him from the beginning made him be in an excellent mood.


    After a couple of minutes of teasing the two, Zatiel concentrated on the broken door.


    He used his Primal Chaos Consciousness and started to explore the inside but even then he was barely able to detect the presence hidden in there.


    ''Impressive! It must be barely functioning and still, I can hardly detect it. Let try this then,'' Zatiel''s third eye focused on the weak presence he felt in his consciousness and he was able to see energy channels that take the form of a 3-meter man, but those channels were so wrecked that it was a miracle the energy could still move through them, and the area of the right arm was turned off.


    ''Let''s try this new spell,'' Zatiel smiled and a golden light started to cover him.


    Ezequiel was going to ask about the light when Zatiel disappeared. The speed was so fast that he didn''t even realize when he left, and the next thing he heard were explosions past the gates.


    Ezequiel and Sophia could only see how a golden light crashed against a grey figure and every time they did it, a massive boom could be heard. Eventually, the grey figure was sted outside the gates and they were able to see its appearance. It looked like an armored human with spikes all over him. It had old broken pieces all over its body and its right arm was missing.


    Zatiel came chasing immediately, and he was going to bash its head when the automaton moved with great dexterity dodging his attack and managed to punch him in the stomach with his spiked gauntlet prating his stomach and making him crash against the walls.


    The wound looked serious but immediately golden mes surrounded him and healed the damage in seconds. The moment Zatiel saw this he started tough andunch himself against the automaton.


    Ezequiel and Sophia saw how they continued fighting. Every time Zatiel struck, a st could be heard but whatever material the creature was made of was incredibly resistant and it was only thanks to the missing pieces of its armor that his attacks were able to harm it.


    As for the creature''s attacks, every time it managed to hit a blow it sent Zatiel flying with a great wound but those golden mes always appeared and healed him immediately.


    This continued for a time but neither of the two was able to truly harm the other, one had unbreakable defense and the other never-ending regeneration. Finally, Zatiel separated from the creature. The reason for his recovery was the golden mes originated from the sun inside his heart but the energy was diminishing at an rming rate so he could not fight in such a brutal way for too long.


    "I have a good hold of my current power, so I guess it is time to end this."


    Behind him, a ring of ck mes appeared. It was much more impressive than before with a diameter of 4 meters, a width of 1 meter and in his hand, a sword appeared.


    Immediately, all the mes of the ring started to enter the sword and by the end, the ring had disappeared and the sword had a ck color. Smoke came from it and the air was disturbed by the immense temperature.


    Zatiel looked like a deity floating in the air with a golden light covering his body and a sword that looked like it was made from dark mes in his hand.


    The creature did not remain still andunched itself at Zatiel, his dash had so much power that the ground he was standing on got destroyed.


    Zatiel concentrated his third eye on the automaton and attacked it. The moment they crashed against each other a massive explosion urred and the entire cave trembled.


    Zatiel was sted and crashed in the ground, his chest was bleeding badly but the golden mes acted and healed him. As for the automaton, the sword managed to break his defense and pierce all the way to his back.


    The creature fell from the air and stopped moving. Although a wound like this should not be enough to neutralize it, the sword passes through the most important channels of energy thanks to the ability of the golden eye to see them.


    "Zatiel, are you fine?" Sophia saw the grave wounds that he had in the fight and although the mes healed him she feared he had internal injuries.


    "Don''t worry. Although my energy is almost depleted, I am in perfect condition. Little EZ, sorry I think the weapon you gave me was destroyed."


    The metamorph orb was made from excellent materials but to withstand all the power from his ring of fire inside it was too much.


    "Doesn''t matter, I will be able to create something better soon. Master, what was that golden light? and your speed, I was barely able to see you during the fight. If it is a spell can you teach me?"


    Ezequiel''s specialty was his speed, but Zatiel''s movement with the golden light was faster than he could ever hope to be, so if he could learn it would be very helpful.


    "It is a spell and it''s called Sunlight Speed. But unfortunately, I can''t teach you. It is an Innate Spell that I was able to awaken from my bloodline and uses the energy that my new heart generates so it can''t be passed. But don''t worry this ce surely had powerful bloodlines for you two."


    The moment Sophia and Ezequiel heard about the bloodlines, excitement filled their faces.


    "Little EZ you should keep that automaton. Although now it has only the power of a peak Rank 1 being and only can use physical abilities by what I can see in his peak it should have the power of a rank 4 lifeform, and if you can fix it, it will be very useful."


    Zatiel may not know a lot about magic creation but he was able to identify some of the material it was constructed so he was able to guess the original power of the automaton.


    The moment Ezequiel heard the original strength of the automaton, he moved immediately and saved it in his spatial sack.


    Although he knew that he doesn''t have the expertise to fix it yet, just examining it will be very helpful in his path as a Magic Creator.


    "Let''s enter and see what theboratory of an ancient magus has to offer."

 Chapter 44: Reaching the center of the laboratory

    Zatiel, Sophia, and Ezequiel were going through arge tunnel that connected the doors with theboratory, and surrounding the three of them was a golden dome made of mes.


    Sophia and Ezequiel were nervous at first but when they stood inside the mes, instead of harm they sensed the warmth and even felt how their bodies were filling with vitality.


    This was the second andst innate spell that Zatiel awakened from the bloodline with his advancement to rank 1 and it was named Sun Domain.


    ''Interesting. To those I consider my allies, the mes release their restorative properties, and still, I can feel that it can generate considerable damage to anyone it enters,'' As Zatiel was evaluating the domain, he saw how Ezequiel and Sophia were looking in all direction and were being careful with every step they took.


    "What are you two doing?" Zatiel found it funny the way the two of them were walking.


    "What do you mean? We are in theboratory of an ancient magus, and we have to be careful from the traps," Sophia was serious and Ezequiel nodded, showing his approval of the woman''s words.


    But to their surprise, Zatiel started tough as if he heard a joke.


    "Haha, you two have read too many stories. Tell me, who in his right mind will fill his workce with traps, especially ones that could be activated by mistake if you touch the wrong ce?"


    "But there must be a safety protocol in this ce," Sophia felt embarrassed so she tried to argue, but her logic crashed right away.


    "Of course they are, but they are ced in important areas of theboratory and not in a mere tunnel. Remember that there was an automaton that once had a rank 4 power, and to anyone who manages to pass that, traps on the ground and such things are useless."


    Zatiel was smiling as he saw the embarrassed expression of the duo.


    "But still you can''t let your guard down. After all, this ce is severely damaged and there are leakages of energy that may have created some type of magical life form, so stay inside my domain."


    Even though the idea of hidden traps wasughable, Zatiel knew that there are dangers in here so he had his consciousness explore his surroundings and his third eye was active.


    Ezequiel and Sophia nodded and they concentrated. They were no longer looking for hidden artifacts but focused on their surroundings and summoned their energies, ready to act in case of anything.


    Zatiel nodded and got back to assess his mes and eyes. By what he can tell, when the mes consume something it can absorb the energy and potency the power in them. As for the eye, it can manipte the mes and use the energy that the mes consume to heal or enhance the vitality of the target. At the moment the mes can absorb the energy of living organisms to enhance itself but Zatiel knows that as the sun in his heart grows stronger, it will be able to consume the energy of inorganic objects and make it his own.


    After inspecting them for a long time, the chip was able to describe his changes and the innate spells.


    [All-epassing Sun-me: Golden me that has its origin in the sun upying the heart of the host. The mes can consume all types of energy and contain 100% of what it devours inside them. As the mes consume something its power will be enhanced, increasing the damage and its restorative properties.


    Eye of life and creation: Eye originated from the bloodline absorbed by the host. This eye allows the user to see the energy that moves through everything in his view. It''s able to give the user the ability to use a basic form of the principles of life and creation and can work together with the golden mes and use the energy that is contained in them.


    Sunlight Speed: Use the energy of the golden mes to enhance the speed of the user and allow the user to fly. The flight is soundless, it can negate things like inertia and the user is in total control of his body during movement. Cost: Sun Force-1 every minute


    Sun Domain: It generates a domain of golden mes surrounding the host that can generate 30 degrees of damage by second to any target inside and to the individuals the user considers allies, the mes do not harm them and their regenerative properties are activated. Area of effect: 10 meters surrounding the user. Cost: Sun Force-2 every minute]


    ''Sun Force?, A.I Chip, showed me my statistics.''


    [Bip... scanning host


    Name: Zatiel


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 1)


    Strength: 29.2


    Physique:44.7


    Speed: 42.5


    Abyss Aura: 45.6


    Sun Force: 40.3]


    ''So the energy of my new heart is considered an entirely different source. From the previous experiment I learned that I can use my abyss aura to enhance the Sun Force but I can''t do it the other way,'' Zatiel was assessing his changes when his eyes focused on the road.


    They were already reaching the end of the tunnel but what attracted his attention was the thing he felt in his consciousness that was crawling in his direction.


    It didn''t take long for him to see it. They were hundreds of huge vines with thorns that break the ground as they move.


    Zatiel activated his Sun Force and his body was covered in golden mes but he didn''t attack, he was going to use this mutated nt to see the power of his domain. Sophia and Ezequiel knew that they would not be of much help to Zatiel so they just maintained their energies ready to act in case of something and waited.


    The vines reached the dome and threw themselves without hesitation. But the moment they entered, they were consumed almost immediately by the golden mes. Still, more and more vines attacked but not only were they not able to reach the people inside but the more the mes consumed them, the brighter the golden color became, and the more powerful the domain became.


    The vines seem to act on pure instinct, so when it felt that it became dangerous, it started to leave. But how could Zatiel let it go after it attacked him?


    Zatiel concentrated all the energy that the dome had gained by consuming those vines, and created a 3-meter long whip of golden mes and threw it.


    The vines detected the danger and tried to flee but the whip was faster and managed to reach them, burning them entirely.


    When it all ended, the whip''s golden color was brighter. Zatiel used his third eye and called back the mes. The moment he had them in his hand, the mes entered his body and went straight for the sun in his heart. As soon as they reached it, Zatiel was able to feel that he had recovered all the energy he had used and although it was almost insignificant, the small sun in his heart grew a little.


    ''These mes are incredibly helpful fighting hordes of weaker enemies,'' The vines could pose a threat to a Magus due to the great number, but against Zatiel that numeric advantage only became a nutrient for his mes.


    After that setback was taken care of, the three of them advanced and reached theboratory. The ce didn''t have beautiful gems nor statues, just two rows of small square houses put one next to the other with a bigger one at the end in the middle. Truly fitting of the pragmatic character of Magi.


    "From now on we have to be careful. Those houses are the ces the Magus did his experiment or kept the material he used. Although this ce is barely functioning, there surely are safety protocols in the most important areas," Zatiel''s consciousness could not trespass the material those small houses were made of but luckily his third eye could see the energy channel that surrounded them.


    Ezequiel and Sophia knew that their experience was too shallow to be of any use here so they only followed Zatiel and didn''t act unless they were told.

 Chapter 45: Titan and Styx

    As Zatiel was assessing the defense of theboratory and their subunits, he came across a problem. His eye of life and creation allowed him to see the energies that go through these ''houses'', but knowing how something is powered up does not mean that you know how to safely deactivate it.


    Besides the defenses were reinforced with runes so the difficulty was even higher.


    Runes can be used for a myriad of things and inscribing them for a safety formation for aboratory is pretty basic, but the ones in this ce were fairly high leveled so to deactivate them will be very difficult.


    Lucky for him the ce has been abandoned for hundreds of years and the energy that once filled these runes barely was enough to make them work.


    Zatiel stood a long time seeing the energy channels of the formations and looking for a way to deactivate them.


    ''Haa, everything was so simple back then,'' Zatiel could not help but sigh when he remembered his past life when he was weak.


    He was too busy keeping himself alive and ughtering his path to power and when he became strong enough, he just used his immense power to break any obstacle in his way and rarely did this sort of work.


    So although he is an incredible runemaster, his abilities for this type of thing were regr at best, but still, he had something that could help him and that is his knowledge.


    ''My energy and consciousness should be more than enough to withstand the next level of memories, I will prefer to do it in a safe ce but I guess this ce is as good as any. A. I Chip, upload my memories.''


    [Bip... The host meets the condition for the safe upload of memories.


    Beginning upload]


    Zatiel was prepared and he had advanced tremendously since the first upload, so he was able to withstand it without a problem. But due to the massive amount of information, he was severely disoriented and he could not focus on anything.


    Ezequiel and Sophia saw the odd behavior of Zatiel and were going to cheek on him. But just as they got closer, golden mes sted out covering his body and creating a sort of cocoon around him.


    Both of them retreated immediately. They were able to feel that unlike when they were in the dome, the mes now considered them enemies and the power in it was enough to harm them severely.


    Zatiel was able to realize that something was happening but the upload was in progress and he could not do much so he just waited.


    It was not until the memories upload waspleted that he was able to see what was urring.


    Sophia and Ezequiel were 10 meters away looking at him with concerned expressions and the golden mes were covering him and burning with such a power that the ground on his feet was melting.


    ''This mes keep bringing surprises,'' Zatiel could feelplete control over the mes and can use them however he wants. But when he was defenseless, they acted on their own.


    He was able to feel something from the small sun in his heart, it was too basic to be called a concrete thought, but if he had to describe it, it was like a small child that wants to protect his father.


    ''It has some level of sentience, this could be troublesome,'' Zatiel eyes turn cold and he starts to concentrate all the power of his Primal Chaotic Consciousness inside the sun in his heart ready to release all the power in it and destroy any type of consciousness.


    Allowing someone else to inhabit inside him was not a pleasing feeling but in the end, he did not act. Obliterating the consciousness inside the sun could affect the abilities of the me. Besides, it was obvious that it acted thinking that it was protecting him. Of course, he will put safety measures in case of anything.


    Being cautious was always a good idea.


    Zatiel deactivated the mes and saw how Sophia and Ezequiel were looking in his direction but didn''te to him. It didn''t take him long to figure out what was happening to them and when he did, he shook his head and smiled.


    "Come on, don''t look at me like that, they act it on their own. It was not like I think you two would hurt me."


    "Really?"


    Sophia''s expression rxed greatly and a beautiful smile appeared on her face.


    As for Ezequiel although he didn''t show it, he also calmed down.


    "If I didn''t trust you two, you would have been dead the moment you find out about any of my secrets. Now sit down and stop disturbing me. I have to break these defenses and get you bloodlines."


    Zatiel did not bother with them anymore and went to the house with the most damaged defensive protocol.


    Although Zatiel''s words were harsh, it didn''t upset any of the two.


    With the time they have been with him, they know that although he shows genuine concern and affection to the two, he is a ruthless person for whom the rest of the world are just pawns and pieces in a chessboard that can be used and unless you show your worth, that is the only way he would ever see you.


    There are several ways to break magical defenses. Zatiel had the chip, his third eye, and his mastery in runes so he chose to sever the links that were more weakened in the energy paths and alter the runes that serve as the core of the defensive formation.


    It didn''t take long for the formation to be broken. Zatiel went through the door and used his consciousness to explore it inside. The ce was full of shelves with crystal and books of different sizes.


    This ce was the library of the ancient Magus, any other person would have been excited by the possibility that this represented, but to Zatiel, the knowledge that this person could have umted was not truly tempting.


    Still, he would not undervalue the work of any Magus, even if they were weaker than him in his previous life.


    After all, Magi has a reputation of always searching for diverse and obscure knowledge and although the amount of information he was able to collect with his power and the chip was immense, he was not so narcissistic to think that he knows more than everyone weaker than him.


    Due to the passage of time, only a few of the crystals still had information on them and most of the books were damaged with only some pieces remaining.


    Before, he would have to go from one on one to rpile the information, but now he only used his consciousness and all the information in those books and crystals was at his disposal. Aftermanding the chip to save everything, he went for the next house.


    The process was the same and before long the defensive formation was broken and he was able to see the inside.


    This one was used to save the ingredient for experimentation, there were nts and liquids of different colors and shapes. Most of them were in a very bad state and would not be useful. But when Zatiel''s consciousness arrives at a corner of the house, his expression changes.


    Zatiel shed and arrived in front of a box with 4 gems the size of a chicken egg that looked like they had a neb inside.


    ''Awesome! These are mirage crystals and are in perfect condition. With this, my time in this world will be much more simple.''


    Zatiel was smiling and his excitement was obvious.


    Mirage crystal is a type of gem that has space properties and is formed when the world is in its initial stage so the only way to get them for Magi was to take them from other worlds.


    They are incredibly precious and they are used as the main material from things as simple as a space sack to ne portals needed to connect different worlds to transport troops and materials. It was not wrong to say that there wasn''t anyone in the Magi World that wouldn''t want to have them.


    The ones he found here were too small to be of much use in the fabrication of equipment and much less in a portal, but to Zatiel they were more than enough because, in the second level of memories, the perfect way of using it was mentioned.


    Zatiel was excited and after checking the house again and making sure that he didn''t miss anything he went to the next one. Although he knew that obtaining something so precious again was difficult, he still was hopeful.


    But the next ones were a disappointment; he found broken energy pools, a meditation facility, and some other misceneous buildings that would not be of use to him.


    Finally, there were only three houses left. They were the central chamber and the ones at the right and left of it.


    Zatiel went for the left one and when he entered it, it turned out to be the ce where the magical equipment was stored. But the ce was almost empty, if it was not for some pieces being left, he wouldn''t know what the purpose of this ce was.


    ''So the broken equipment that was at the gates came from here.''


    He didn''t take long to figure out that someone was able to ess this ce and tried to escape with the equipment only to die. As for how it happened, to Zatiel it didn''t make a difference.


    What worried him was that since this ce was almost empty, the fate of the room where the bloodlines were stored could be simr.


    Zatiel headed to the house on the right, and as he assessed it, he realized that this one was different. The level of security was way higher, but still, he was able to pass it, although it took a lot more time.


    This was the ce where the bloodlines were kept and it was a mess, but luckily, his worst concern didn''t happen. The ce was divided into two sections. The front one was almost empty with only some broken vials left, but in the rear, there were containers covered in inscriptions and he was able to feel a high amount of energy inside them.


    Zatiel went to them and started to open every single one.


    The defensive formation of the containers was simr to the ones this house had but smaller, so it didn''t take long for him to break them open.


    Inside every single one of them was a vial with a great amount of blood, due to the long-time they have been stored, the blood should have been degraded but the containers can gather the energy in their surroundings to keep the bloodlines in prime condition, enhancing their purity.


    Finding the race to the one it belongs was very difficult by just seeing their blood with naked eyes, but Zatiel knowledge about bloodline was very deep and with the help of the chip, it didn''t take long for him to identify them.


    After assessing them, he put all but two of the vials in his ring.


    ''These are excellent for them, Titan and Styx, truly powerful bloodlines,'' Zatiel smiled with satisfaction as he saw those vials.

 Chapter 46: Golden Sun against Storm Titan and Styx Dragon

    Zatiel was in front of thest house, this one was in the center and was the biggest, the defense was moreplex than all the ones before and the runes that were used were even more obscure.


    But nothing that really troubled Zatiel. What was making him hesitate in beginning to break down the defense was the feeling his instincts were giving him about this ce.


    Although things like premonitions and instincts sound too vague to be trusted, they are actually a way of feedback that the natural energies andws give you about events that can affect you.


    The more powerful you are, the clearer they are up to the point that you can glimpse in the future when you are strong enough.


    Although Zatiel was not that powerful yet, the affinity of Neo-Demons with the energies andws is the highest in the universe, especially when they had assimted a bloodline.


    "Whatever it is inside there, I don''t feel that it is a direct threat to me. But still, those two will be in trouble if something truly dangerous happens and they are still in rank 0. I wanted to explore everything first but I guess they will have to use these bloodlines. Besides, I heavily doubt that this ce has a bloodline more powerful than Emperor level ones."


    Sophia and Ezequiel were waiting close to where the houses begin when they saw Zatieling to them with two vials in his hands, and their faces filled with excitement when they saw that blood.


    "You two got lucky, this ce has the blood of truly powerful races! Little EZ, you will assimte the bloodline of a Storm Titan and you, Sophia, will assimte the bloodline of a Styx Dragon."


    Ezequiel and Sophia didn''t have a problem with Zatiel choosing for them. After all, his knowledge was way superior to them, and even though they don''t know how powerful those bloodlines were, dragons and titans have always been top predators in the universe. So obtaining their abilities was something anyone would want to have.


    "Master, are these bloodlines as strong as yours?" Ezequiel had seen the immense upgrade in power that Zatiel had with his bloodline, so he was curious about how powerful his own would be.


    Sophia also focused on Zatiel when she heard that question.


    "Ha! You two keep dreaming. If the person who owned thisboratory was powerful enough to get bloodlines of my level, we would have died the moment we entered this ce. The bloodlines that you two will have, fall in the rank of Emperor, one level beneath mine.


    "But don''t worry much, bloodlines can be upgraded and the racial advantages you will have are particrly powerful," Zatiel saw how disappointed they were when they heard the first part but became excited when they found out that the bloodline could be strengthened and he could not help but smile.


    What he didn''t tell them was that trying to evolve a bloodline to his level would be not just difficult, but almost impossible for anyone. But he already had a n on how to help them and besides, it will be a long time before they can upgrade an Emperor bloodline.


    "Ok, I will enhance the purity of the blood and when I am finished, we will start immediately with the assimtion. Remember to always maintain focus, never let your will weaken, and try to engrave everything you see during your advancement in your memories."


    Zatiel saw that they were concentrated and started to work on the blood.


    The purity of bloodline is very important. It is very significant when ites to the upgrade in power that it will give you and the abilities and innate spells you will unlock with your advancements.


    If the purity was too low, you run the risk of the bloodline declining, bing a lower subspecies like giants or wyverns.


    The purity of the bloodline of a being depends on what stage of his maturity was when the blood was obtained and from which part of the body it was taken.


    The purity would be much more if the creature had already reached adulthood and if the blood was taken from a vital organ, with the highest in the heart.


    The bloodlines in this ce were taken from the vital organs of the creatures but the beings had not reached adulthood.


    One can improve the purity with spiritual ingredients, but luckily for Zatiel, his advancement gave him a new way of approaching this.


    The two vials in Zatiel''s hands broke and immediately, the blood inside was epassed in golden mes. The mes started to burn with more and more power but there was no damage to the bloodlines.


    Finally, when the golden color was at its peak, Zatiel activated his third eye. When he did, the golden mes started to change. The energy in them reached its peak and they started to fuse with the bloodlines.


    When he finished, the purity of the blood had reached its peak and there was a very faint golden glow inside them.


    "Now begin with the advancement!"


    Zatiel was fatigued and the golden color of his eye of life and creation was a little dark.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were long ready and they made a wound in their chest that reached their hearts. Just like with Zatiel, tentacles made of runes started to grow, ready to receive the bloodline.


    Zatiel didn''t waste time and manipted the orbs of blood to reach their chest. The tentacles took the bloodlines and brought them to their respective chaotic cores while closing the wound.


    The face of the two distorted in pain as the energies in their body started to increase.


    When he saw that the two started their advancement, Zatiel sat in the ground to rest. The moment he did, his eye of life and creation closed and vanished from his forehead.


    ''Using the eye for such aplicated task generates a great strain on it and my stamina,'' Zatiel was able to feel that his third eye would need some time before it was able to work at full strength again.


    Although the purification looked simple, it was extremelyplex. Zatiel had to use the eye to identify the part of the bloodline that had the most powerful part of the heritage and activate the life energy inside the mes to stimte this part to the point it reced all the others and fully upied the blood.


    Zatiel was very tired, but still, his consciousness was active making sure nothing happened in their surroundings. Part of it was examining Ezequiel and Sophia making sure that there was no problem with their advancement and waiting for the assimtion of the bloodlines to end.


    As time went on, changes started to appear in both of them.


    Ezequiel''s body was starting to grow rapidly in size but the next moment, his body shortened. This was happening constantly and every time his body reached over 2.5 meters, it shrunk to the original 1.7. But still, his size ended up a little higher every time a cycle ended and the ground beneath his feet was starting to crack as if the weight above it was too much.


    In Sophia''s case, ck orbs of water started to appear around her, and on her skin, scales of a beautiful dark-tinum color emerged. The dark liquid generated a pool at her feet and the ground was decaying at the contact as if the life in it was being erased.


    As the advancement to rank 1 was beingpleted, behind Ezequiel an illusion started to appear. It was a 10-meter tall man with a body full of muscles, he had a violet skin, dark blue hair, and silver eyes. And in those eyes bolts of lightning could be seen.


    Behind Sophia, the illusion of a serpentine dragon appeared. This creature was gigantic and beautiful wings were at his back. Around this draconic being, a river so dark was present that it looked like it could swallow all light.


    The moment both illusions formedpletely, they started to roar and an immense bloodline pressure started to originate from the two. These were the connections that the bloodlines had to the ancestor that created them, and the roar was the resistance they were disying to the assimtion of the Chaotic Core.


    If this connection was not broken, then both Ezequiel and Sophia would be bound to the living ancestor of these two races, and breaking it would be a very difficult task in the future once it was fully formed.


    Zatiel saw these illusions and his eyes became cold. The more powerful a bloodline the strongest the connection to their origin would be. He knew that Sophia and Ezequiel would not be able to break this connection with the power of their cores, so he acted.


    Behind Zatiel, an illusion started to appear. It was a beautiful golden sun. This sun looked like the physical representation of thews of life and creation and its golden glow engulfed everything in his surroundings.


    The moment the Storm Titan and the Styx Dragon saw this sun, their eyes were filled with fear like when a hyena sees a powerful lion. They may both be ancestors, but the one who was the peak in the food chain was obvious.


    But even so, the illusion behind Ezequiel and Sophia regained the courage and together they released all the power of their bloodline pressure in the direction of the gigantic golden sun.


    Unfortunately for them, the moment the pressure reached the sun, it evaporated, and as if it was offended that its might was challenged, the sun released an immense me that reached the titan and dragon.


    The roars of defiance became screams of pain as the two started to disintegrate. When they finally vanished, the illusion of the sun behind Zatiel also disappeared.


    What the Styx Dragon and Storm Titan were trying to do was use the bloodline pressure that every powerful creature had to crush Ezequiel and Sophia''s wills and reaffirm their connection with their origin.


    Of course, Zatiel would not let them. So he released his own bloodline pressure, and it was extremely more powerful than the other two, so the ending was obvious.


    The moment the illusion behind them disappeared, both Ezequiel and Sophia erased any type of connection their bloodline had and obtained absolute control over them.


    The aura of both expanded and the power in them reached that of a Rank 1 Neo-Demon.

 Chapter 47: Tao

    When the advance to rank 1 finished both Ezequiel and Sophia started to evaluate the changes in their bodies as well their new abilities and innate spells.


    Ezequiel''s height was now 1.9 meters and his weight was so high that when he moved, the ground under him was cracking. His body suffered repetitivepression which enhanced his power greatly as well his pration force and the resistance it had to physical damage.


    His strength had improved greatly, as well as his physique. But due to the transformation in his body, his speed was affected but the innate spells he unlocked solved those problems.


    One of the spells was Lightning Transformation which allows him to transform his body, partially into lightning, allowing him to achieve great agility and exceptional destructive power.


    In Sophia''s case, the dark-tinum scales were no longer visible, but they were still active. It was just that they were under her skin like active body armor. Her height was now 1.85 meters, and her eyes had turned to a deep red color.


    Now she was able to use the power of the corrupted waters of the Styx which inflected a corrosive and decaying effect as well as affecting the mind of the target.


    One of her innate spells was Oblivion Eyes, which could harm the intelligence of anyone she sees straight at their eyes and destroy their memories if the time of exposure is prolonged.


    The two were marveled at their changes, but the moment they saw Zatiel''s condition, all that excitement became a disappointment.


    They knew that if he had not helped them during the assimtion, their will would have been broken and they would have failed.


    So they just sat down in silence and waited for him to recover.


    Zatiel''s situation was not serious, but he was severely exhausted. Using the third eye with his golden mes to purify the bloodlines and then releasing his bloodline pressure to ovee the ones of the dragon and titan had depleted his stamina greatly and he could barely move right now.


    It took an entire day for him to be in top condition again and that was only because his sun had recharged and was able to use the vitality of the mes to elerate his recovery.


    Zatiel opened his eyes and saw the bodies of Sophia and Ezequiel. After assessing their condition, he nodded.


    ''They have not be as strong as me, but they are not too far apart. Although they had just reached rank 1, they should be powerful enough to kill rank 1 Advanced Magus and fight against those at the Master level,'' Zatiel was satisfied with their increase in power.


    Magi possess various ways of advancing through ranks, so focusing on a single aspect of the advance to describe how powerful they are was not effective. Because of that, the fighting ability is used as a measure of power.


    Novice are those who just entered rank 1 and are only able to use the most basic rank 1 spell. Advanced are those who are already able to use high power rank 1 spells and their battle experience and consciousness has reached a powerful enough level topletely dominate a recently advanced Magus.


    As for Master-level, they are the ones who are starting to learn their new Rank Spell, preparing to advance to rank 2, and their energies are beginning to change obtaining special properties.


    Erick would have fallen into the rank of Advanced level Rank 1 Magus, but that was only because he had followed the path of Fire Mastery giving him great damage power or else he would have been between Novice and Advanced level at most.


    Usually, one Advanced level Magus should be able to defeat 2 novice level ones and fight to a draw 3 of them.


    "Have you two familiarize yourself with the changes in your bodies?"


    Ezequiel and Sophia nodded and their expression was serious, they would not let themself be a burden the next time.


    "Ok, then let''s break thest defense in this ce," Zatiel took the two with him and headed towards thest part of theboratory he needed to search.


    Breaking the energy paths and altering the runes in this house took a lot more time than before, but by the end of the day, he had managed to break the defense.


    Zatiel sent his Primal Chaos Consciousness to explore the ce, but the moment it entered, he knew that he made a mistake.


    The ce started to shake and an immense amount of energy started to umte inside.


    Zatiel was able to realize immediately what happened. The moment his consciousness entered this house, it activated a secret protocol that must be followed. This way, any type of intrusion of a person other than the original owner will trigger the self destruct protocol.


    ''Dammit! I got too careless,'' Zatiel was surprised but immediately, his eyes focused.


    "Wait here!" The moment he said that he activated Sunlight Speed, and the golden mes covered him entirely as he entered the house.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were able to feel that the ce became dangerous and that Zatiel could be in trouble. But even though they wanted to help, they knew that they would be a hindrance if they followed him and they did not know what to do


    Zatiel entered and used his third eye to see the ce where the energy was gathering. It was just in the center of the house and he sped to it before he took a beautiful gem with ever-changing colors from his ring.


    This gem was the Rainbow sh he got from the kobolds but now its surface was covered with all sorts of runes.


    Zatiel put the gem against the core of the explosion and activated the runes in it. The moment he does that, the gems are utilized releasing a wave of energy that engulfs the entire ce.


    When the wave touches the energy channels, some are deactivated and others break, generating a chain reaction that neutralizes the explosion and the self destruct protocol.


    ''Just in time,'' Zatiel made sure that the explosion was detained and calmed down. Although he could just have run, this ce surely had something valuable. So he took the risk and used the Rainbow Dash he enhanced with runes to affect the magical equipment that was responsible for the self-destruction.


    Although it was risky, it paid off.


    Now that the problem was fixed, he could examine this ce correctly.


    This ce had an experimentation table, and by what he could tell, it was used on humans or some other living creature to dissect and search their bodies.


    There were also giant tubes with blue liquid and floating inside were all sorts of monstrosities, one trace that they all shared was dog parts and an immense stomach disproportionated to their bodies.


    In the back of this house was a smaller tube and inside it, a small dog was floating. But unlike the rest, this one didn''t have the horrible mutations but just looked like a simple dog.


    ''What are these things?''


    Although Zatiel could be considered a walking library with all sorts of obscure and arcane information, he could not figure out the origin of these creatures.


    After exploring the entire house and making sure he didn''t miss anything, he went back to the one creature that seems like a small dog.


    ''It seems to be some sort of chimera. Whoever owned this ce tried to create a new being from the part of others, but they were all failures, except this one.


    Unfortunately, they are all dead,'' Zatiel focused his consciousness on the little dog to try to understand him more. But he became shocked when he felt a little spark of life inside him.


    Immediately he activated his Eye of Life and Creation and focused on the animal, and after a little time, he realized that the dog still had life. Although it was very weak, it was present.


    ''It must have been in a sort of hibernation state that allowed him to hold on this long. But still, to be able to live all this time means his heritage must be very powerful,'' Zatiel assessed him for a while before breaking the crystal and taking the dog in his hand.


    Without wasting time, he made his mes cover the animal and used his third eye to start engulfing his body with vitality, trying to wake him up.


    After a long time, the dog finally started to react, his fur was grey and it had two small pointed ears.


    As he opened his eyes, he saw his surroundings and when he saw Zatiel, he became fearful and he tried to move from his hands. But his strength was so little that he could not escape his grip.


    Zatiel continued looking at him, not caring for the dog''s state but could not figure out what made him special.


    Finally, the fear of the dog reached its peak and he opened his mouth as if it was going to bite him.


    Zatiel was not worried. But immediately, a sensation of danger assaulted him and without hesitation, he threw the dog against a wall and a golden glow filled his body as he escaped the house.


    Just as Zatiel reached the door, from the dog''s mouth a small ck orb formed, and an immense suction force was generated swallowing everything in his reach.


    The first to enter the orb was the tubes with the failed experiments, and then everything else in the house was suctioned.


    Zatiel managed to leave the house just in time and almost crashed with Sophia and Ezequiel who were waiting outside the door.


    ''What is that dog?'' Zatiel kept his eyes on the house and after a couple of seconds, the swallowing force vanished.


    "Master are you fine?"


    "Don''t worry, I am not hurt," Zatiel was focused in the house and sent his consciousness inside to see what happened.


    Inside the house, everything had vanished and even pieces of the wall were missing, the only thing that remained inside was the little dog that looked like it fainted from the exhaustion and now it had strange symbols on its stomach.


    After making sure that the dog was indeed unconscious, he entered again. Zatiel picked up the dog from the ground and looked at him for a long time using his consciousness and third eye to assess him.


    The only thing that could detect an agglomeration of energy inside is the stomach but nothing else.


    After seeing him for a long time, he brought his head close to the dog''s head until they touched each other. Slowly he was sending his Primal Chaos Consciousness into the small mind of the dog and creating a connection between the two.


    With this, the next time he sees him, the dog will feel familiarity and fondness, but this is not absolute. If he does something that harms the animal, that connection will be broken.


    After a couple of hours, the dog opened his eyes again and when he saw Zatiel, there was none of the initial fear and he even started to move his little tail in showing his happiness.


    "You are a little glutton, so how about if I call you Tao?"


    Zatiel smiled at the dog, as he started to rub his head and he gave the first name thates to his mind.


    The dog only barked as if showing his approval and moved its small tail even more.


    By what Zatiel could tell the intelligence of this creature was no superior to the one of a 3-year-old human, and his strength was also very small. But his defense was on par with the one of a rank 1 being, after all, when he threw him against the wall, it didn''t harm him at all.


    Zatiel ced Tao on his shoulder and left the house.


    The moment the two saw the dog, their reaction was very different. Ezequiel was a little surprised but nothing more, as for Sophia her eyes sparkled and she came close to the little dog immediately and tried to pat him.


    Although she knows that her actions are not fitting of a rank 1 being, she was with people who she trusted, so what reason was the reason to pretend?


    Unfortunately for her, the moment she brought her hand to Tao, he bit her. She was frozen, the little dog looked so friendly but the moment she approached him, he attacked.


    "Ah, you little rascal! Zatiel, why did you get this insolent thing?" The bite was so weak that Sophia practically did not feel it. But she was ashamed, especially seeing the face of the other two who were about tough and the dog that had a prideful expression.


    "Enough, he is Tao and will be your newrade, so treat him well," Zatiel knows that this dog is special so he will take him with them.


    Ezequiel nodded and although Sophia was a little angry, she knew that the decision was already made so she just nodded.


    "Ok. With this, we can call the trip to theboratory finished. Our next destination will be a visit to the Wastnd and then we will head to the tower. But before that, I am going to inscribe a special rune in us."


    After he finished speaking, Zatiel took the mirage crystals from his ring and his runemaster tools.

 Chapter 48: White flame

    Three figures could be seen flying through the Wastnd, one looked like a bolt of man-shaped lightning, the other was like a small sun and the third had beautiful crystal-dark wings on her back.


    It''s rare to see people flying in the Underground due to the possibility of being noticed by some powerful race or creature. But everyone that saw them hid immediately. No need to speak about attacking, even the rank 1 beings did not dare to fight with them.


    Zatiel was using Sunlight Speed.


    As for Ezequiel and Sophia, the first one used abination between Lightning Transformation and Lightning Armor, which was now a Rank Spell, reaching such a high level of maniption over the natural energies that he was able to move through the air as if he was lightning itself.


    The other one used a spell that was given to her by Zatiel known as Dragon Wings that allowed the user to generate wings that not only help reach a great speed at flying but also can shield them. This spell is veryplex to use and utilize, but due to her talent as a Neo-Demon and emperor bloodline, using the spell and manipting her wings was as easy as moving her arms.


    Apart from the three, there was another figure that was on Zatiel''s shoulder. It was a little dog and despite the great speed, it was resting calmly and the wind just managed to move his fur and nothing else.


    The direction that they were heading to was their of the kobolds. It had been more than two years since thest time Zatiel saw them and he wanted to know how much they had aplished with the Path Technique.


    But when they were reaching their destination, Zatiel''s eyes started to get cold.


    Ezequiel and Sophia realized it and after using their Primal Chaos Consciousness, they understand the reason.


    Surrounding the territory of the kobolds, there were several scout teams from diverse races.


    It was obvious that they were not keeping an eye on the kobolds but watching for anyone that approached them.


    They would only do something like this if they were waiting for someone important toe to this ce.


    "Zatiel do you think they are waiting for you?"


    The only reason Sophia could think that could make all these races send teams was the temptation of a Path Technique.


    "We will know very soon..."


    Zatiel could have hidden the moment he detected them but didn''t. After flying to where the kobolds cave was, he just stood in the air along with hispanions.


    Thanks to his consciousness. he was able to detect some of the scouts leaving, possibly to inform their leaders but he just let them go.


    The second a kobold saw him, he immediately went inside of the cave and it didn''t take long for a group of kobolds toe out and meet him.


    These kobolds were different from the rest. Their bodies were taller and they had draconic characteristics, this was the result of using the Path Technique.


    Zatiel was able to identify one of them, it was Rax. But even though the old kobold had be stronger, he was essentially the weakest of the group.


    This was no surprise for him. The technique that he gave them was called Burning Blood, and the principles behind the technique were simple.


    It identifies the most ancient part of the bloodline in the creature and burns the rest of their blood to use as a power source for the ancient part. So it consumes a great amount of vitality making it difficult to be used by someone like Rax who was very old.


    What attracted most of the attention of Zatiel was the small child beside Rax. He looked exactly like a humanoid dragon with white eyes, dark scales, and almost none of his kobold characteristics were present.


    If he didn''t know, he would have thought the child was a Dragonborn.


    When Rax saw Zatiel, he roared and the rest of the kobolds began to leave the cave and stood behind Rax and the rest.


    This could be considered a call to arms, but Zatiel just stood floating and did not do anything. He even had another surprise, most of the children had Dragonborn traits.


    Although they had not reached a level so high as the child beside Rax, most of their kobold characteristics were reced by draconic characteristics.


    It didn''t take long before all the kobolds were out, and when Rax saw them he came closer to Zatiel until he was right under him, he spoke.


    "The kobolds race humbly greets the Mighty One!"


    The moment he finished speaking, he kneeled and the rest of the kobolds did the same.


    Zatiel kept looking at Rax and the rest of the kobolds and the coldness in his eyes started to diminish. By what he could see, almost every kobold sees him as some type of savior or benefactor, most likely due to the work of the old kobold.


    "Rax did you do as I told you with the technique?"


    Rax was a little confused by the question but he continued kneeling and answered.


    "Yes, Mighty One. We have put great focus on our young and channeled most of the resources we got in them."


    Zatiel could see this already, and it surprised him. Normally when someone finds a way to gain power, they keep it for themself or their close ones, but the old kobold was thinking about his race and focusing on the next generation.


    This made the image he had of Rax improve greatly, but it was not what he was searching for.


    "Forget it, it will be faster if I do it my way. Rax tells all the ones that are trained in the technique to rx their mind and do not resist."


    Rax made a troubled face not knowing what would happen, but he knew that the person in front of him was the greatest benefactor of their race but also a death god who should not be offended, so he instructed the rest of the kobolds.


    Although most had some reservations, the prestige of Rax was great and it didn''t take long before all did what he told them.


    Zatiel sent his Primal Chaos Consciousness and entered the mind of every single kobold that trained in the Path Technique. Immediately scenes started to appear in his mind, this was the memories of every kobold since the moment they started to use the technique.


    Reading the mind of someone else usually generates great damage in the target''s consciousness but in the technique, Zatiel had left a backdoor that worked as a recorder and using this, he saw their memories and since they were not resisting, he didn''t damage them at all and they didn''t even realize what was urring.


    After a couple of minutes, Zatiel''s consciousness left their minds and understood what was happening with the scouts.


    Zatiel''s body glowed and Rax saw him disappear only to return a momentter, but now his hand was choking the neck of the strongest of the kobolds, although this one tried to resist, he could do nothing to free himself.


    The moment the rest of the kobolds saw this, they were startled and some started to prepare to fight but a huge roar sounded, giving the signal to remain still.


    The one who roared was Rax, he knew that although they are more powerful now, they are still ants before the person in front of him. The old kobold put his forehead on the floor and kowtowed to Zatiel.


    "Mighty One, please tell us what we have done to anger you. If this old one had made a mistake please, just punish me and do not harm my race."


    "Don''t you dare hurt my father!"


    The small Dragonborn-like child came running and put himself in front of Rax and looked directly at Zatiel.


    Rax was terrified and tried to stop the child but an immense pressure descended on every single kobold freezing them all.


    Zatiel released the pressure of his maic force field on the rest of the kobolds but on the child, instead of physical pressure, he released his Primal Chaos Consciousness.


    The child started to feel immense pain in his mind and fear began to engulf his heart, but he remained still and kept looking at Zatiel.


    ''Not only his physical traits but even his personality also had the characteristics of a Dragonborn.''


    Zatiel continued looking at the child and increased the pressure he was releasing, always careful not to make permanent damage.


    The child felt immense pain and his will was about to break, but instead of looking away, he roared and from his mouth, a great ball of pale-red mes was fired.


    The ball of mes headed for Zatiel''s head, but he didn''t make any attempt to block it. Even if it was at point-nk range, this attack could not possibly harm him.


    ''A breath attack, and so young, this child is immensely talented. But still, he is too young and his attacks too weak, in a couple of yea... Wait!''


    The mes exploded in his face. But even though the red mes were not able to do anything, in the attack was a very small white me that crashed on his left cheek, and an almost invisible and unbelievable tiny burn mark was made, and it was erased immediately by his golden mes.


    Zatiel was shocked. His body was so strong that he could even swim inva for a little time and not be hurt but this small me fired by a child not older than 2 years old and that was barely in the middle of rank 0 was able to harm him.


    Even if breath attacks are the most powerful attacks a draconic being can make and are known for their destructive capacities, this should be impossible.


    Of the white mes, he was able to feel the same thing he felt from his golden ones, a connection with thews, and although a much weaker one, it was still present. Zatiel knew that there is only one way this small child could do such a thing.


    "Hahahahaha!"


    Zatiel started tough and the kobolds began to tremble with fear. With the demonstration that he did just now, they knew that they could not resist at all.


    "That little dragon baby got lucky!"


    "Master has always had a soft spot for loyal and strong-willed people."


    Unlike the kobolds, Sophia and Ezequiel know that Zatiel wasn''t angry at all. Actually, he was very happy.


    "Rax you have an excellent child, and answering your question, neither you nor the rest of your race did something wrong. Actually, you have done everything right, focusing on your children, being cautious, and never overestimating your abilities.


    "But this person has contacted other races and they nned to attack me and force me to reveal all my secrets."


    Zatiel kept looking at the small child that passed out from the exhaustion and contracted his maic force field.


    Rax''s worries decreased greatly when he heard Zatiel. Knowing that they had not made him angry and when he saw the kobold that was hardly breathing due to the choking, he just sighed in disappointment.


    He trusted Zatiel''s word. In one part because there was no reason to lie to them. After all, if he wanted to kill one of them, he could just do it and they would not be able to do anything, and he also had a question about this kobold.


    He was the most powerful of the race but also the greediest one, and on more than one asion, he implied to use force to obtain the rest of the technique. But Rax always reprimanded him when he brought that idea, but it looks like he didn''t listen and tried to use external help.


    "I''m sorry, Mighty One, I should have watched him closer."


    "Just make sure that this doesn''t happen again," When Zatiel finished speaking, the strength in his grasp grew and broke the neck of the kobold and he threw him on the ground, dead.


    "You should take your kobolds inside. This ce will soon be full of warriors from other races. That stupid traitor thought that they will share with him what they would find, but I am sure that they also n to eliminate your race."


    "Mighty One, should we escape?"


    Rax knew that they had no chance of surviving a fight against some of the most powerful races in the Wastnd, so their only way to survive was to escape.


    "I will handle them. But if your race doesn''t hide, I can''t say that they will not be influenced by the coteral damage."


    "Thank you, Mighty One! Thank you! We will make sure not to be a burden," Rax was incredibly happy when he heard those words.


    Although escaping was an option, if they do it, they will have to be on the run for the rest of their life since those races will hunt them down.


    "Take this one with you as well," Zatiel descended from the sky and handed Tao to Rax.


    Rax took him very carefully, but the small dog started to bark immediately. Although his intelligence was like one of a small child, he was able to understand what they were talking about.


    He barked with all his strength as if telling him that he was willing to help in the battle.


    Although Rax was a little troubled, he was able to hold on to the dog with one hand and his son with the other as he entered the caves with the rest of the kobolds.


    "You two make sure no one escapes but let me do the killing. There is something I want to try and I need a lot of lives to do it."


    Ezequiel and Sophia nodded. The three did not concern themselves at all with the next battle. Not to mention that even a rank 1 novice Magus can defeat a rank 1 being of a non-human race, every single one of them is as strong as a peak rank 1 Magus if they use all their power without withholding anything.

 Chapter 49: Letting your people die

    A group of about five hundred individuals were marching through the Wastnd. Most of them had power reaching the middle or high level of rank 0.


    Although to normal creatures the difference in ranks is an almost impossible thing to ovee such as- if a Novice Rank 1 Magus were to fight a group that big he would probably deplete all of his energy before killing even half of them.


    At the front of this group were three figures. One was a four-meter tall man with a single eye and a brutish appearance, a cyclops


    The other was a serpent-like creature with a humanoid upper body, member of a race know as yuan-ti, and thest one that was positioned between the two and from him you could feel the greatest amount of power, he was a 6-meter tall Yeti with a primate build and white hair.


    The three had reached rank 1 but there was a great difference between the other two and the yeti, that was because those two advanced simply because they umted a great amount of energy in their body and were able to force their bodies to the next level.


    Although they be more powerful, they don''t obtain an improvement in their consciousness nor any type of powerful abilities.


    But thest one advanced using a Path Technique, and although it was not designed specifically for his race, he was able to obtain amazing powers from it.


    "Lord Neix, we are very close to the territory of the kobolds."


    "By what our scouts have told us, the Magus that gave that technique to them is in there."


    The Yeti named Neix looked at those two rank 1 creatures and nodded.


    "I will take care of the Magus. I am confident in defeating him but they always have abilities that allow them to escape at thest moment. When that happens, you two will have to stop him long enough for me to incapacitate him. If you two fail, then there is no need for you to remain alive."


    When Neix said thest part, his eyes radiated killing intent.


    Although the cyclops and yuan-ti were angry about the threat, they didn''t dare to argue. They knew that against someone who was able to kill an Advanced Rank 1 Magus, they had no chance, so they only nodded.


    Neix didn''t care about the other two, and his entire focus was on obtaining the Path Technique and all the information that man had.


    He had managed to obtain a Path Technique from a ruin in the Wastnd and after using it, he understood how precious it was. The moment he advanced to rank 1, he became the most powerful member of his tribe and was able to kill the previous leader with ease even though he had been in rank 1 for dozens of years.


    But unfortunately for him, the technique he got only allowed him to reach close to the peak of rank 1 and had no way of advancing to the next level. So when he found out about the kobolds and the technique they got from a magus, he made sure to do everything he could to find out about that person and nned for the time he woulde back.


    The desire of the other two for a path technique was not a bit inferior. They may not be the smartest, but every being that advanced to rank 1 had an enhancement in his cognitive abilities and they can understand the importance of the technique.


    The three had a copy of the technique that they obtained from the traitor kobold but it was of no use for any of them due to them already reaching rank 1. As for giving it to their subordinates, that will never happen.


    Even if the effect was not great, neither of them would allow some in their tribe to reach the level that could threaten them.


    The three leaders had migrated their tribe long ago so they could be closer to the kobolds and they started marching the moment they found out about Zatiel, so they were less than half a day from the kobold territory.


    As they advanced, there was not a lot ofmunication. After all, in normal cases, their tribes would be fighting either for resources or simple items, but something happened that made them talk.


    Although Wastnd had a certain level of light, it was mostly a dark ce. But in the sky, small lights started to appear that made it shine with a golden glow.


    The three Rank 1 leaders also noticed this phenomenon, and they were able to see the orbs of light that started to appear. But unlike the other two, Neix was able to focus all of his consciousness in the direction of the golden light to get a better idea of what were those orbs, and the moment he did, his face turned grave.


    "Watch out!"


    But it was toote as the orbs were already falling in the direction of the rank 0 armies.


    And in the direction of the rank 1 leaders, an immense 2-meter ball of dark mes came crashing on each one.


    The cyclops roared as he stomped the floor at his feet and a wall of earth appeared in front of him. The wall was destroyed immediately when the dark mes struck it, but it managed to make the attack less strong and although some dark mes managed to reach the cyclops, it was able to survive.


    The yuan-ti did not have any good defensive ability so he tried to dodge the attack and threw his sword to the dark mes.


    Unfortunately for him, his attack barely managed to alter the direction of the mes a little before it exploded at his side, severely harming him by engulfing him in mes and making him scream from the pain.


    Neix was the only one that was able to neutralize the attack as heunched an Ice Storm at the dark mes making them disappear, and not wasting time, heunched a st of ice to the cyclops and yuan-ti to douse the mes on their bodies.


    After some time, the mes on the two rank 1 disappeared. The cyclops had some burn marks on his body but was mostly fine while the yuan-ti was missing one of his arms and had wound all over his body.


    Although both had their consciousness damaged by the mes, they were still able to fight.


    The three looked at their armies that now were scattered in all directions but even so they could not run very far as walls of ice and lightning stopped them.


    The golden mes burned more brightly with every being they consumed and continued to expand. In the center of this realm of mes was a man moving through the area and with every attack, he was able to kill tens of creatures.


    The cyclops and yuan-ti were terrified when they saw this. They were only now able to see their enemies yet they were both already hurt with one them losing an arm and their tribes being ughtered in front of them.


    "Focus! If we try to run, the owners of the ice and lightning will stop us. Our only option is to defeat that person and use him as a bargaining chip. Besides, I don''t think he has too much energy remaining after a spell of such magnitude."


    Neix knows that if he was alone, he would not be able to escape so he encouraged the other two and it was effective as in their eyes the savagery normal to their races appeared.


    Neix was not wrong. In this attack Zatiel had used an immense amount of energy, consuming almost 75% of his Sun Power. But he also had his Abyss Aura and although that attack with Abyssal Fire was expensive, he used his rank spell as an intermediary tounch them and he still has a little over 70% of this energy remaining.


    The rank 0 army was decreasing at an amazing rate but neither of the three chose to intervene. In their mind as long as their tribe members can deplete at least a small part of Zatiel energy, then their death was useful.


    Zatiel saw the action of the rank 1 leaders but it didn''t matter to him and before long all the rank 0 soldiers were dead, leaving only golden mes all around the area. They were so much that it looked like it was the day due to the light they were producing.


    Once they were all dead, Zatiel started to walk through the golden mes heading in the direction of the Yeti and the rest.


    "Ruthless enough to let all your people die for the chance to make me weaker, but too stupid to realize that it would not make a difference."


    Zatiel''s eyes were cold and his body radiated killing intent.

 Chapter 50: Kneeling for mercy

    Zatiel''s body started to glow as he activated Sunlight Speed and on his back, a ring of dark mes appeared.


    His third eye began to glow as a part of the golden mes filled the ce and started to gather in front of him creating dozens of small golden fireballs, then the ring split and two three-meter wide balls of dark mes appeared.


    The three rank 1 leaders didn''t waste time and made the energy in their bodies erupt before preparing themselves for a counterattack.


    The spheres of dark mes headed for the cyclops and yuan-ti and as for the yeti, he received the golden mes. They immediately distanced themselves from the attack, already knowing how powerful they were.


    Neix knew that his allies would not be able to withstand these spells without severe injuries so he roared and from his mouth, a deathly cold cone of air came out fighting against the mes.


    This attack was the most powerful the yeti had and was able to significantly reduce the power in the dark and golden mes.


    Zatiel saw this and he shot in the direction of the yeti. Neix could not be happier with the action of the man because his path technique may have focused on his energy, but still, his body was stronger than most Novice Rank 1 Body-Refinement Magi.


    So heunched himself against his enemy with his ws ready to split him into pieces.


    When they were about to crash against each other, Zatiel''s third eye acted again making the golden fire explode, but instead of mes what it released was a blinding light.


    The three rank 1 leaders screamed as their eyes burned due to the intense light and got temporarily blinded, but unlike the other two, Neix was able to use his consciousness to see his surroundings.


    The yeti knew that the opponent in front of him was no fool and understood that such a trick could not really affect him. So when he detected that there was no one in his surroundings, he sent his consciousness to the cyclops and yuan-ti but he was startled as he could find nothing.


    ''Where the hell is he!?''


    Neix was scared but he didn''t take long to find out where Zatiel was, as an immense feeling of danger assaulted him from his back


    He was not able to do anything as a fist with golden mes impacted him on the upper section of his spine.


    Although the ice armor came out to protect him, the punch had so much power that it was able to bypass the Rank Spell on its own, and with the mes that created an explosion on impact, it was more than enough to st the Yeti away and make his bones crack.


    What assaulted Neix besides the pain was confusion, he didn''t stop his consciousness from scanning for one moment during the entire fight, so he could not understand how Zatiel was able to reach his back undetected.


    What the yeti didn''t know is that although the consciousness is very useful to see your surroundings, if your opponent is stronger or uses his consciousness to camouge his from yours, your detection abilities are severely weakened.


    And Zatiel''s Primal Chaos Consciousness was superior to the one of the yeti.


    Zatiel was going to follow with his attack on the yeti when a huge rock almost twice his size came crashing at him.


    Due to concentrating all of his consciousness to hide from Neix, the cyclops was able to attack him and caught him by surprise.


    The rock came with such a power that it threw him in the air, and whether it was a coincidence or part of the cyclops n, he came crashing where the yuan-ti was.


    "Die you damn human!"


    The yuan-ti was infuriated due to losing one of his arms and he attacked with his sword shing at Zatiel''s head.


    When the sword was about to decapitate him, Zatiel''s body twisted in the air, dodging the attack and he ended up face to face with the now terrified yuan-ti.


    "Wai..."


    The serpent folk wanted to beg, but what he got was only three cold eyes and a hand that choked his neck.


    The next thing the yuan-ti felt was agonizing pain as mes started to burn his entire body and the golden fire continued consuming him even after he died.


    Immediately Zatiel threw the body to the ground, before shing to the side just in time to dodge another huge rock.


    The moment the cyclops saw his attack had failed and one of his allies died in such a horrible way, he became terrified and tried to escape. But Zatiel''s speed was superior to his and he was moments away from reaching him.


    When Zatiel was about to grab the cyclops, from the sky dozens of icence formed and came crashing in his direction.


    This attack came from Neix, who had managed to recover just enough tounch the spell.


    The cyclops became delighted when he saw this and turned around to smash Zatiel.


    Zatiel saw this but instead of moving back or trying to dodge the spell, his eyes filled with determination as he made his golden mes cover him before summoning the dark fire as a second cover, making a twoyer cocoon, sting his way through the spears.


    Although the fire was able to weaken the spell, most of them still managed to break his defense, reaching his body making him bleed and hurting him greatly. But his golden mes healed all those wounds immediately and before long, he was able to reach the cyclops.


    The cyclops was shocked. Not only was his opponent able to survive those huge ice spears but he also managed to reach him, and because he had foolishly tried to get close to him to strike Zatiel, now he had no way of dodging the attack.


    Zatiel reached the cyclops and with all his power he punched right where his eye was, making it explode along with his head in a st of fire.


    Neix''s heart filled with desperation. His two allies were dead, and although he managed tond one of the most powerful spells he could cast on his enemy, he could see how his wound disappeared in a blink of an eye and it was as if nothing happened.


    "Mighty Magus, please spare my life and I will follow your everymand," Neix kneeled and started to beg for mercy. He knew that his only way of getting out of here alive was if the monster in front of him lets him.


    Zatiel was not surprised by the action of the yeti. This type of scenario had happened thousands of times in his previous life.


    He said nothing and just sent his consciousness to explore the body of Neix andmanded his A.I. Chip to do the same.


    [Bip.. scanning target


    Name: Unknown


    Race Abominable Yeti (High Rank 1)


    Strength: 29.1


    Physique: 34.4


    Speed:17.2


    Energy Source: 71.6


    Body condition: Severe depletion of energy and great harm in the body]


    "You managed to reach rank 1 using some sort of path technique that focused on your control over the natural energies. Your spells are strong and due to your racial traits your body is still moderately powerful for your rank."


    Aloturgh it sounded like apliment, Zatiel''s face was emotionless and his eyes were still cold.


    Neix noted this but still, he was confident that his worth was more than enough to entice any Rank 1 being. But the next thing he saw was Zatiel disappearing from his view only to feel a hand covering his mouth.


    He tried to defend but before he could act, a st of mes came out from his hand and filled the inside of his body to the point that golden fire started toe out from his mouth and ears.


    "If I were to ept as my subordinate someone like you, who leaves all his people to die just for the possibility that they can weaken their enemy, then I could only me myself when they eventually betray me."


    Zatiel was indifferent to the drowned screams of pain from the yeti.


    Unfortunately for Neix, his constitution was strong so the time it took him to die was long and the pain was agonizing.


    When the Yeti finally stopped screaming and died, Zatiel let his body fall to the ground as the mes consumed him.


    Zatiel saw his surroundings and in all directions, golden mes were consuming the bodies of their victims making their golden glow brighter.


    Not wasting time, he sat down and started to rest. Although he managed to defeat all his enemies and his body was in perfect condition, his sun power was almost entirely depleted and his abyss aura had less than a fourth of its reserves.


    As Zatiel rested, Sophia and Ezequiel appeared by his side and waited for him to finish restoring his energy.

 Chapter 51: Experiment

    It took a long time for Zatiel to be in top condition before he opened his eyes. By now all the corpses had vanished and all that was left was the golden mes that were weakening by the moment.


    The All-Epassing Sun-me can absorb the entire energy of everything it consumes but that doesn''t mean it doesn''t use energy to be active, and after consuming the bodiespletely, it started to use its own energy to remain present.


    By now 20% of the energy of the mes has vanished, but Zatiel didn''t care. ording to his calctions and the ones from the chip, for what he is about to do next, he needs less than half of what was at the beginning.


    "Be ready to act in case a problem urs."


    What Zatiel was going to do next was entirely theoretical, and like in any experiment, the possibility of failure was always present.


    Ezequiel and Sophia did not ask a question and readied their energies eager to act. The first one made his entire body, both inside and outside, filled with lightning, and thest created dark-crystal wings on her back and a dome of ice surrounding her.


    Zatiel rose in the air before being 10 meters from the ground and activated his third eye.


    The Eye of Life and Creation started to glow with rich golden color and half of the mes that were on the ground started to concentrate in front of it. When the umtion ended, in front of Zatiel was a ball of golden fire of 5 meters in diameter.


    ''Now the truly important part begins,'' Zatiel''s face was serious before he activated the power in his third eye to the maximum.


    "Creation!"


    His eye opened to the point it looked like his eysh disappeared and the power it started to generate was greater than any rank 1 being could hope to use.


    As soon as the eye acted, the ball of mes in front of him started topress, little by little, enhancing his golden color and power inside it.


    When the diameter in the ball of mes reduced to 3.5 meters, his third eye started to tremble along with the ball of mes, and the pain began to assault his mind, but Zatiel resisted it, continuing with thepression and transformation.


    Sophia and Ezequiel be solemn when they see the pain on Zatiel''s face and the instability in the ball of mes. The more itpressed, the higher the sense of threat that it generated became.


    The process was slow, but the more Zatiel continued, the greater the pain and instability of his third eye and golden fire became.


    It was when thepression was about to reach 2 meters in diameter that his Eye of Life and Creation started to bleed and the instability in the ball of mes became too much to control.


    Zatiel was someone determined, who always seeks to aplish whatever he intends himself, but that doesn''t mean that he didn''t understand that sometimes things can''t be done with your current power, no matter how hard you try.


    So concentrating all the power he had left, heunched the ball of mes as far as he could, before his third eye closed itself and he started to fall from the sky.


    As soon as he did that, he felt someone hugging him as two cristal wings covered them and a dome of ck ice generated around the two, and in front of this dome, a 15-meter man appeared creating a shield of lightning with his body.


    The ball of golden fire reached 70 meters of distance from Zatiel before it exploded and in a couple of kilometers around, all the creatures in Wastnd were startled as the sunlight-filled their always dark homes.


    The three were at the periphery of the explosion but still, Ezequiel felt as if a mountain had crushed against himself when the st of mes impact on him, and although the innate spell known as Titan Form improved his body greatly, he was still hurt, and the mes that managed to reach the dome almost destroyed it before they vanished.


    When the explosion was over, the three of them descended to the ground and started to rest. Zatiel and Sophia were not hurt, but Ezequiel had burn marks all over his body.


    Luckily for him, his titan bloodline and Neo-demon physique allowed him to heal quickly, and by activation of the abyssal regeneration, his wounds healed at a speed that the naked eye could see.


    Zatiel could not help but sigh at the failure of the experiment. If he could have made it, it would have been of great help for his subordinates.


    "Ahh, I guess using the principles of Creation with my current power it''s impossible no matter how much help my bloodline gives me. Little EZ, are you ok?"


    "Don''t worry Master, it won''t take long for my body to be in top condition. But I must say, Master, that explosion was very powerful. If I was to be in the center of it, even with my two innate spells and rank spell activated, I would end up very hurt."


    Ezequiel was convinced that the power in that ball of fire was greater than any type of attack he could do, even his abyssal st ended up short.


    "True, the power that reached was close to the one a rank 2 being could use. But it is not useful in battle, after all, no one will let you be for minutes without restraint as you charge a spell."


    Even though he said that Zatiel had a few ideas on how to use it for the future.


    "Anyway, shouldn''t you let go of me already?" Zatiel was speaking to Sophia, who continued hugging him from his back, and due to him being very weak right now, he could not free himself.


    "Of course not! When would I have another opportunity to have you like this?" Sophia smiled and started to y with his hair.


    Zatiel could only shake his head at the actions of the woman. After all, she had done all in her power to protect him and this is the least he could topensate her.


    Once his condition improved a little, he opened his mouth and the golden fire that remained in the area started to be consumed by him, directing a part to his bloodline heart and the rest he kept in his stomach to be of useter.


    Although the amount was still great, as long he didn''t try to alter the properties of the mes, adjusting its size a little did not create any trouble.


    ....


    The kobolds were all grouped in the center of the cave and on the face of most of them, fear was evident.


    They knew that a great battle was happening outside their territory and depending on the winner, their survival was at stake, and not long ago they heard an explosion that made their entire cave tremble, increasing their anxiety.


    Rax was sitting and in his hand was his son that was still unconscious and to his side was the only one in this ce that was rxed, the little dog Tao who was ying with his tail.


    "Leader, should we not escape? The amount of fighting power of the races that wille for the technique is too great. I doubt only three people can defeat them?"


    The one who spoke was one of the kobolds that had used the path technique and after the death of the traitor, he was one of the most powerful warriors.


    "They will not be able to kill the Mighty One or his followers," Rax was confident in the power that Zatiel had shown.


    "I don''t mean they will be killed," The kobold looked at Rax with meaningful eyes.


    Rax was smart enough to understand the meaning in the kobold''s words and looked at the dog that Zatiel left with them.


    But by what he knew, humans are a cold and practical race, and they would not hesitate to leave one of their own to die if it means their survival, much less a group of other races.


    "Ahhh, enough Jax, we will wait here," Rax could not help but sigh at the bitter taste of letting the fate of his race on the actions of someone else.


    Jax nodded and didn''t continue. Although he was stronger, it was thanks to the effort of Rax that this small group of kobolds had managed to survive this long so he felt great respect for him.


    The anxiety and fear in this group were growing as the minutes passed, and by this point, most of the adults were with the small ones waiting for the inevitable end.


    Out of nowhere, steps started to be heard and unlike the kobolds that looked fearfully to the origin of the sound, Tao began running to the figure that appeared in front of them before jumping on his shoulder.


    Of course, they were Zatiel, Sophia, and Ezequiel that hade back after recovering.


    The first one to talk was Rax and made the question that every kobold had in their hearts.


    "Mighty One, what has happened with the enemies?"


    "They are all dead," Zatiel said as if it was an insignificant statement, but for the kobolds, it was the most beautiful news they could hear.


    "Thank you Mighty One! Thank you for fixing my mistake!"


    The origin of all this was the traitor that leaked the information, so Rax was feeling guilty for trusting him.


    "I don''t me you. You may have made a mistake, but I can see that you value your race much more than your own life and you are willing to ept the price for your mistakes without looking for excuses. That is more than enough, but learn from this and make sure it doesn''t happen again. So the little brat is still unconscious," Zatiel was looking at the little Dragonborn-like kobold in Rax arms.


    "Yes, but his breathing is normal and I didn''t detect anything weird with him," Rax was worried at the beginning but after checking him, he realized that the boy was just unconscious from exhaustion.


    "It is normal. After all, the reason for his condition was that he had used the power of his True Name without control when he attacked me. As long he rests long enough, he will be back to normal"


    "His name is Kylo, Mighty One. But I don''t see how that could have helped him be more powerful."


    Rax was confused as he had never heard the term True Name, and he was not the only one as both Sophia and Ezequiel were also curious.


    "I will exin it to you all when the child wakes up. Now Rax, prepare yourself. This will be painful but if you manage to withstand it, your power will greatly improve."

 Chapter 52: The will to defy death

    "Now listen well, I will give you two choices, both will put great stress on your body but one ispletely safe, and the other has a great possibility of failure. And failure means death," Zatiel''s face was serious as he exined, and after giving some time for the kobold to process the information he continues.


    Zatiel opened his mouth and from it, all the golden mes that were gathered in his stomach came out and started covering him.


    "Choice one, I use this mes to improve your vitality, we overload the technique Burning Blood to enhance your power up to rank 1 and give you a good enough foundation to get to rank 2 in a hundred years more or less, but once there your advancement through the ranks will be extremely difficult even with my help," Zatiel didn''t give the second choice immediately and let the old kobold assimte what he just said.


    Rax was struck with an immense desire when he heard Zatiel''s words, and he almost could not control himself to choose the first one without hearing anything else.


    The reaction of Rax was normal, after all, having a rank 1 being in a race means that as long you don''t go provoking powerful individuals, the security of your tribe was guarantied, and even more, when he heard that he could be rank 2 in the future, he could almost not believe it. You have to understand that in Wastnd there are almost no rank 2 beings, as those who reach that level had long gone to the lower levels of the Underground and have made their race recognized by some powerful organization granting them the rights that most Magi had.


    But if the old kobold had such a will so weak, Zatiel would have never helped him in the first ce, so after a moment and breathing deeply, Rax was back to normal.


    "Mighty One, what is the second choice?"


    "The second one is that we also overload Burning Blood, but we don''t use the golden mes to help your vitality and replenish your lost blood, instead we use the technique until the most primal and ancestral part of your heritage is all that remains and then we use the mes to enhance this part and replicate it to upy your entire body greatly increasing your potential and producing aplete transformation of yourself. I warn you, basically what we are going to do is burn all your blood until only a fraction remains, so in case you can not hold on, you will die. And due to your age, the chances of death are around 75%, but if you survive your path to power will be unrestricted," Zatiel didn''t rush the old kobold to answer and didn''t try to influence his decision, but if he chose the second path, he was willing to help him, increasing his possibilities through healing potions.


    Rax knows that this is the most important decision of his entire life but he was conflicted, on one side was a safe path that will lead him to a power where he could maintain his race safe for a hundred of years and the other was an option with only a 25% chance of survival but that will let him reach a power where he could achieve his deepest dreams.


    The more he thought it, the harder making a decision was, it was at this point that Rax started to see the rest of the kobolds and the small child that was in his hands and remembers the time when he was that young.


    Kobolds usually are a conflicting race and most of the time when they reach a poption like the one in this ce disputes arise easily, but this tribe was different. Maybe it was their will to see their race survive, or that they were isted from other kobolds, but most of the members of this tribe always put their race above themselves, of course, cases like the traitor had happened before, but they were in the minority.


    Rax still could remember when he was young and the older members of the tribe chose to be hungry so the weaker could survive, and how painful it felt when the ones who were too old to be of significant help, chose to leave the tribe and lie to the small ones, saying that they were going to explore and spent thest years of their life seeing the rest of the world, and as they left, they always had a smile in their faces because they know that they were doing the right thing for their race, and by choosing to die the rest of the tribe could have a better chance to survive. That smile was the same his father had when he said those words to the Rax when he was young.


    As the old kobold remembers that all the indecisiveness vanished and all that was left was a shocking determination as he looked at Zatiel.


    "Mighty One, if I chose option number two and fail, can you do me the favor of looking after my race?" As long his tribe was safe, Rax was willing to take any opportunity for a future where all the members of his tribe can live and die with pride and be ruled by the choices they made.


    Zatiel saw the eyes of the old kobold and when he heard the favor he asked, he started smiling.


    "Excellent choice! Don''t worry, no matter what, your race is under my protection from now on. If you manage to survive, then I will make you one of us," Zatiel was extremely happy with the attitude of Rax, even now when his life and the possibility of great power were in front of him, his choice was made with the future of his race in mind. Having someone like this with him would only bring pleasant surprises.


    "Thank you, Mighty One!" Rax didn''t understand thest part, but as long his people were safe, he was more than happy.


    "Call me Zatiel, being called ''Mighty One'' is bing embarrassing. Tell where I can find nts with healing properties and which race had brought you problems,"


    Rax became confused about the change of topic, but he answered immediately.


    "In direction to the west, there is a ce where some dark herbs are grown, despite their appearance those who eat them are healed very fast. And the one that has made the most trouble for us is the Arachne race, they enjoy hunting and eating us, they are around 50 kilometers south of here," Rax''s hate was obvious as he remembered all those friends he had lost to those disgusting bugs.


    "Sophia, you go to where the herbs are and pick what you need to create a healing potion that can preserve life but don''t regenerate his body. If his blood regenerates before the purest strain is all that remains, then we would have failed. Little EZ, go to where the Arachne tribe is and bring the one that is at rank 1, in case there is not one, bring all those at the peak of rank 0, incapacitate them but bring them alive, I need their souls."


    After hearing the order, they both left immediately to aplish their respective task.


    "Old man, you should rest, before we begin, it is better if you are rxed and in top condition," After saying that, Zatiel swallowed back the mes and sat down to rest and meditate.


    Rax did not ask questions and after giving Kylo to another kobold, he also started to meditate to concentrate on what was going to happen next.


    It didn''t take long for Sophia toe back with a great number of herbs of different colors. Not wasting time, she asked Zatiel for the equipment of alchemy he had in his ring and began to work.


    When Sophia was finishing with her work, Ezequiel returned dragging a three-meter long Arachne, this creature looked like the fusion between the upper body of a man and the lower body of a spider, by the energy you could feel in his body it was apparent that he had reached rank 1 long ago but now he was barely breathing, his arms and spider legs were missing, and his mouth was destroyed, not allowing him to speak.


    When the kobolds saw this Arachne in such a state, all the grown ones started to scream from happiness, as this was the leader of the Arachne tribe and the one who ate the most kobolds.


    When Zatiel saw that all was ready, he took the potion that Sophia had made and came to Rax putting his hand on his head before sending the entire Burning Blood technique to his mind.


    As the old kobold familiarised with the technique, he opened his mouth and made the golden mes cover Rax and open his third eye ready to act.


    "Drink this, it would not help you recover, but will enhance the tenacity of your organs so they can withstand the stress they are about to encounter," Zatiel handed the potion to the Kobolds, and this one takes it immediately.


    "We are going to start, you will activate the technique on your own and I will use my consciousness and energy to make it perform past its limits, the longer you withstand the higher the effect will be. Are you ready?"


    The old kobold says nothing, but by his expression, it was obvious that he was more than ready to take whatever came next.


    The rest of the kobolds look from the side, but no one made a sound. They knew that their leader was going to do something very dangerous, and no one wanted to disturb him.


    Zatiel saw that the old man was ready and nodded as he started to activate the technique and elerate his process, burning all the blood at an extremely fast rate. In reality, Zatiel could have skipped this and directly transform Rax into a Neo-Demon, but if he did that, then the old kobold would have to choose another bloodline to advance to rank 1 and forget his draconic heritage, so what Zatiel wanted was to enhance the bloodline to the point it could be assimted by the chaotic core and create a bloodline heart, and unlike Zatiel and the rest, because he made it with his bloodline he could use techniques that worked with atavism to improve his bloodline without the need of external help.


    ''I was once a simple Mane, the lowest of demons, but became an Apex-predator feared by all. You are a kobold, the weakest of the dragon-spawn, show me that you can soar higher than any dragon could do!''

 Chapter 53: Roar of will

    The moment he started to use Burning Blood and Zatiel overcharged the technique, Rax felt the greatest pain of his entire life. Even though he was old, as the leader of kobolds whenever there was a fight against other creatures or races, he was always first in line, which had given him countless wounds all over his body, but he could swear that even all that together was notparable to the torment he was feeling now.


    From his head to his legs, in every single part of his body, the old kobold felt like fire was running through his veins and the pain was excruciating. But even with that unimaginable torture, his eyes were focused and his will was unyielding.


    Zatiel was monitoring everything that was happening inside the old kobold body using all the power of his consciousness and the chip''s abilities, his hands were steady and his concentration had reached the point that everything besides the old kobold had vanished from his mind. He understood the immense agony that Rax was feeling, but he didn''t hold his power and continued pushing the technique to the maximum.


    "A.I chip, notify me at the moment that Rax''s life is about to end, get the powers of my third eye ready to act and inject all the vitality of the mes into his blood," After giving themand, Zatiel continued with the process.


    Regenerating the blood before Rax had reached the end of the burning process will make that the purity of his bloodline lower when he bes a Neo-Demon and although Zatiel has ways of helping him ovee that, it will be very difficult, but he was not willing to let the old kobold die.


    As the process continued, the feeling of fire corroding his body started to concentrate on his chest, what happened was that the amount of blood was diminishing and leaving his extremities, but this did not make the pain any lesser, it only made it worse, to the point the old kobold was wondering ifva had reached his guts.


    The image of the old kobold was deteriorating rapidly, his body was losing all his liquids and his skin started to dry and he began looking like a mummified corpse. If anyone else looks at him, they would think he was a dead body but those eyes that glowed with determination proved his thriving life.


    All the kobolds were looking as Rax was going through this transformation, and the anguish in their hearts was immense, most of the smaller ones even started to weep and some of the adults also did.


    Zatiel didn''t hide his voice when he made the offer to the old kobold so most of them realized that the reason Rax was going through this torment was that it will allow him to protect them and help their race improve, and the pain that caused them to see him in this state was something unbearable, but all of them stared at him, they know that they can''t help him but they will not look away as he takes this test.


    ''Keep going, keep going, keep going''


    By this point, the pain reached a point that Rax could not even think but he knows that he must continue. But as the agony increased, he started to feel his breathing grow weaker and no matter how much he tried, the feeling of suffocation was only growing.


    Rax tried to take big breaths, but it didn''t work no matter how much he tried, reaching a point that he felt like he was choking, even when oxygen filled his lungs. The blood is the one that takes the air from the lungs and distributes it to the rest of the body, so no matter how much he tries, if the blood was no longer present in his lungs, then the oxygen would not reach the rest of the body.


    Zatiel saw the condition of the old kobold deteriorating rapidly but the transformation of his blood had only reached 80% and if he stops now, it will severely affect his future development, but luckily the will in his eyes had not diminished at all, so he continues pushing all his energy to the limit trying to shorten the time it will take to finish.


    Rax''s face was hideous, it was contorted in pain and all his skin was stuck to his bones, and when the agony reached this point, a voice started to sound in his head pushing him to give up.


    ''You have done more than enough, just rest and all will go away.''


    ''Ke...ep going, ke..ep goi...g,'' The same message resonated in his head that fought that voice, but every time it became weaker and the voice telling him to give up grew stronger.


    ''He will take care of your tribe, there is no need for you to continue.''


    ''Kee..p go..i..g!''


    ''You have done more than any other could do, it is ok to give up. You are just a kobold, you can''t do this.''


    ''Keep go..'' By this point, even the light in Rax eyes was also starting to vanish and the life in his body was beginning to extinguish.


    Zatiel saw this and was ready to use the mes immediately to save his life. Although the process was not finished yet, the fact the old kobold had withstood this much was incredible, but then he felt that the will of Rax begin to grow again and the light in his eyes intensified. What he didn''t realize was that because he had to block everything besides the kobold, he didn''t hear the cries from the rest of the tribe members.


    "Leader, resist! You have always been our greatest warrior!"


    "Leader, you can do this!"


    "We believe in you!"


    "Show us your might!"


    As Rax hears those roars, his will just like his blood burned once again especially when he heard a young voice.


    "Dad! You can''t give up, you told me that we will make our tribe great together, so you can''t give up!" The small kobold was tearing as he screamed, he had woken up a long time ago but he was told by the rest not to interrupt his father so it wasn''t until he saw the light of his eyes fade that he roared with the rest.


    "I may be a simple kobold.. created to be a.. servant, I may not have great wings, or.. powerful ws, but there is some..thing that I have that no one gives me and that is mine a..lone..." Rax felt like his entire body was empty and all the power he had vanished just like someone ready to die but still he roared with such power and dignity that even the prideful dragon race will feel shame.


    "THE WILL OF MY RACE THAT HELPS ME OVERCOME EVERYTHING!"


    Along with that thunderous roar, inside of his body was now only a single drop of blood shining with beautiful crimson color and if someone looked carefully, he may see the illusion of dragons in it.


    "Now!" That was what Zatiel was waiting for, and he used his Eye of life and creation with all his power as he made the golden mes that covered the old kobold enter his body and reach this small drop of blood.


    The moment the mes reached it, the blood devoured it with ferocity and immediately started to multiply with great speed, reaching every single part of the old kobold''s body.


    Rax felt the change in his body and the first thing he did was take a great breath of air, the feeling of oxygen reaching his lungs and filling his body made him smile from ear to ear. His body started to fill itself, his withered skin was no more and his body started to grow up, filling him with energy. When he reached his top condition, he felt that his body continued rising in power and the sensation was so satisfying that he could not help butugh.


    The rest of the kobolds saw this and everybody began tough and roar from happiness, as the feeling of joy fills everyone''s heart.


    Now that it was over, Zatiel was able to see his surroundings and was surprised as he saw the sincerity in the other kobolds.


    "Hey, you should not be celebrating too soon, the process is not over yet."


    When Rax heard this, he became nervous as the process was so painful that going through it again was frightening, but Sophia and Ezequiel smiled as they saw the teasing expression on Zatiel''s face.


    "Jajaja, sorry, I am just messing with you. Indeed, your transformation is not over yet, but for the next part, even if you pass out it will not make a difference and there is no danger," Zatiel''s mood was excellent as the process was a great sess, so he wanted to mess a little with the old kobold.


    When he hears that, Rax rxes greatly but he was curious about what came next.


    "Mighty One, what part of my blood needs to change?"


    "First, I already told you to stop calling me Mighty One, you can just call me ''leader'' or something like that if you want. Second, we transform all the blood in your body but we don''t alter your marrow which is the origin of it, as doing it will be suicidal at this point, but even so, this will be affected to a certain level, and third, since we finished your internal transformation, now that will be reflected in your body, very soon it will start to change. But as I said, this has no risks and if the pain is too great, you can just pass out and nothing will happen."


    As soon as Zatiel finished, Rax started to feel his body but knowing what came next, he was calm and just sat down. The rest of the kobolds understood that the risky part had finished and all of them came to surround the old kobold with smiles on their faces.

 Chapter 54: True Name

    "Ok, now that we are all together I will exin what a True Name is and the importance of it concerning thews and the abilities it grants."


    Zatiel was in front of five people who had a serious expression as the information they were about to receive was very important.


    Of the five, two were Ezequiel and Sophia, and the other three consisted of two beings that looked exactly like a humanoid ck dragon would appear, they were Kylo and Rax, thest one had changed greatly after the transformation and his power had reached the peak of rank 0 and if Zatiel had not told him to maintain that level, he could have pushed his body and blood to rank 1, and thest one was a kobold that had some draconic characteristics. His name was Jax and was Rax''s most trusted warrior and friend, he was not included initially but after Rax spoke on his behalf and since Zatiel saw in his memories that he was someone worth trusting, he allowed him to be present.


    "True Name is a being''s hidden name unique to every individual, all beings in existence have one, but the ability to awaken them is present mostly in races that prevail in bloodlines such as dragons and demons. A true name is one of our greatest weapons but also incredibly dangerous if it is known by the wrong person," after giving them some time to understand what he just said, Zatiel continued.


    "True names are written in the Words of Creation, this is the originalnguage of the universe and is connected to the essence of the Laws. By awakening your true name you can create a connection with thews. Although it is very small and weak at the beginning, any type of connection can grant great power beyond your rank or level. True names can be enhanced and are connected to your bloodline, personality, andws that you practice between other things. I will give an example with the only one of us that has awakened his true name, Kylo."


    When Zatiel mentioned him, the rest looked at the boy and he had a prideful expression, a smile on his face and was a little cocky, but the other four didn''t give it importance. After all, the boy is barely two years old, and even though kobolds grow up much faster than humans, he was still a little child.


    "The reason his attack was able to harm me was because he infused the power of his true name in his mes that managed to increase their power exponentially, more specifically his heat. With this and the calctions I performed, I can say that his true name is of an offensive category and is rted either thews of fire or heat and if I am not wrong, his name should be pronounced something like Conbuztion Ignix, or simr," Zatiel looked at the boy and chuckled as he saw his surprised expression.


    Kylo was truly amazed, his true name had awoken not long before Zatiel arrived, although it didn''t provide him much help and was only used when he attacked Zatiel, that he realized how powerful it was. Something always tells him that it was very special and should not be told to anyone, but now the person in front of him had managed to figure out his greatest secret and although his true name was not the one Zatiel said, it was very simr.


    "Let''s continue. To awaken a true name several factors enter in y, the purity of your bloodline, your power, and connection with thews, the fortitude of your will, and luck are the mostmon. This little brat was able to awake his true name mainly because he was born with a specially pure bloodline, although it is rare, two normal parents can bear a powerful child and most likely what happened was that the parts that were inherited were the ones that were enhanced with atavism.


    "True names change as they grow more powerful but the essence in them rarely changes, meaning that if your name was of an offensive category, it will remain this way, but true names can also be separated, giving birth to two different true names just like someone can have a paternal name and maternal name, this happens mostly when you can use thews to a point they start to change your soul or you have more than one bloodline in your body. Ok, that is the information about the power and enhancement a true name can give you, there are more things but they will be left forter, the next part is about the danger a true name can cause," Zatiel became serious when he reached this part, and the rest detected this and focused in what came next.


    "If someone knows your true name, it bes extremely dangerous because by using it, they can affect your very soul. If someone weaker than you knows it, they can easily send a curse that will severely harm you in the best case or most likely kill you, and if the one who knows it is powerful enough, they can obtainplete control over you. Of course, the intonation and way of speaking, it is filled with variation so guessing a true name is impossible, and in case someone manages to find it, there are ways to ovee it, the simplest one would be to enhance your true name and that will change it, but still, it is very dangerous so by no reason tell you true name to anyone, even if you trust that person, they may not betray you but there are hundreds of ways of obtaining the information from an unwilling party."


    Even after Zatiel finished, everybody remained still and were thinking about what they just learned, even Kylo was concentrating as this information was something extremely important for their future, after all, anything that has a rtion with thews is fundamental in the ranks.


    "I have something to speak with Rax, so you two should go back with the rest," Zatiel spoke to Kylo and Jax, and after Rax nodded to the two, they bowed before retiring as they understood that it was something they are not allowed to hear.


    After the two were away Zatiel spoke to the old kobold.


    "The mother of Kylo is dead, right?"


    Rax was a little surprised, but he was already used to Zatiel''s mighty knowledge, so he nodded with a mournful face.


    "May I ask how the Leader knows it?"


    "When the child is too strong, he usually needs a greater amount of energy in the womb, this is not a problem as long the mother is powerful enough, but if she is not, the child will start to consume her vitality and if it is not sufficient, they are usually born dead."


    Zatiel saw the expression of the old kobold and after making some calctions he spoke again.


    "There is no need to feel depressed, I will see what I can do about her before I leave,"


    "It''s .. true, you can resurrect the.. dead."


    Rax didn''t know what to say. For him, death has always been something eternal that can''t be undone. And he was not the only one as Ezequiel and Sophia were also surprised, although they know that are ways of bringing someone back to life, the amount of power it is needed is greater than a rank 1 being has, even if they are a Neo-Demon.


    "There is no need to be so surprised, with enough knowledge about the soul, the correct spell, and materials, bringing someone back to life is possible. Of course, if she was killed, her body was gone, died of old age or any type of damage was done to her soul, it will be impossible with my current power, but since the reason was a depletion of life energy, I think I can do it, and if I don''t, then you just have to be strong enough to do it in the future, so the question is not about if she can be back, but when she will."


    To Zatiel bringing someone back to life was very normal, the number of people that made deals with demons and devils for this purpose was impressive, back then he just used his immense power to search for the soul of the person and there was no need to use spells or the like.


    Although the ability to bring someone back from death sounds amazing, the idea of transforming an entire world in a ball of mes and create a ne with that base is much more preposterous yet it happens.


    Of course, when fights between very powerful beings ur, they make sure to harm the True Soul to the point that it can''t be brought back and unless you have reached the peak of the universe, someone with a broken True Soul can''t be resurrected even with Zatiel''s power when he was an Archdemon.


    Happiness and hopefulness filled Rax''s eyes, and a smile filled his face at the idea of bringing the mother of his son back.


    "Ok, that is forter, I called you here so we can search for a ce where I can help increase your power and transform you into one of us, is there a ce where we can bepletely isted from the rest of your tribe and Wastnd?"


    Zatiel needed a ce where he could perform the ritual and sacrifice Arachne so he could transform Rax into a Neo-Demon.


    Although Rax trusted his tribe, he understood that sometimes too much information can be harmful, and some things should be kept secret.


    "There is a hollow ce around 1 kilometer under this mountain, it is about 1 kilometer wide and 100 meters tall, but the passage had copsed years ago, we could try to connect with that ce again if you like."


    Although a ce like that could be helpful to hide, if the entire race were to do it for a long time they will suffocate. So Rax had seen no need for reconstruction of that passage until now.


    "That will work well, we will help so it is finished in the least time possible."

 Chapter 55: Ux Bahamuti

    Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia, together with all the members of the kobold race worked tirelessly to reconstruct the tunnel that connected with the cave under this mountain. Kobolds were known for their abilities in mining and excavation and with their spells, Zatiel and the other two were able to remove tons of earth, but even so, making a tunnel that long was very hard, especially taking in consideration that they had to make sure it will remain stable for years toe and big enough that even a grown dragon could pass through it.


    After a week of hard work they finally managed to reach the area that Rax mentioned, it was one kilometer long and 100 meters tall, just like the old kobold said, and although it waspletely dark, kobolds have night vision.


    Once they reached this ce, they kept working, after all, this ce was inclined to copse, so they continue removing all the loose earth until a solid surface was all that remained and Zatiel used some basic earth spell topress it, making sure it will stay that way before generating an immense pir that connects from the ground to the ceilings.


    Once this part waspleted Zatiel started to work on some runes, and the rest of the kobolds together with Sophia and Ezequiel continue expanding and solidifying the foundation of the cave generating little tunnels that will connect to the surface and will allow air to enter this ce.


    By the time they ended, this underground ce was a 1.4-kilometer long and 120 meters tall with a 20-meter wide tunnel that connected to the surface, the earth on the wall was extremelypact and a metallic shine was in them, pirs grow up from the earth connected to the ceiling, it was by all standards a suitable living ce.


    But it was not over. Once Zatiel saw the work on the earth was finished, he started to inscribe runes all around the ce, filling the walls with inscriptions of beautiful color, and it included everything, even the passage to the surface. These runes made the wall extremely sturdy to the point it could resist the attack of a rank 1 being without problems and most importantly if the consciousness of anyone reached the area covered by them, the only thing they would see was some rocks covering everything. The center of this rune formation was in a corner of this cave and as long a rank 1 being injected all his energy for half a day it will work without a problem for a week.


    "Rax, we have finished, bring the Arachne here, and tell all of them to go up to the surface and not go down unless they are called," Zatiel assessed the ce and after making sure it would work, he gave an order to the old kobold.


    "Yes, leader. You hear him, all of you must remain on the surface and stay there no matter what," Rax was serious as he gave the order and all the kobolds left the ce, even Kylo who had Tao in his arms left. After making sure they all retired, he reached for the Archenee and brought him to Zatiel.


    This poor creature has lived in hell this past month, due to his vitality as a rank 1 being, his extremities and injuries were healing continuously but every time it happens a kobold came and once again beat him to the point he was about to die before ripping apart his growing extremities. It reached the point that the poor Archenee had already given up on life and the only thing he wanted was to die, which was reflected in his unfocused eyes. Still, no one felt sorry for him, as the hate of the kobolds was immense and every time they harmed him they did with a smile on their faces.


    Zatiel put the Arachne over the runes and initiated the ritual. And just like with Erick, due to the target being a rank 1 life form, the monstrous abyss mouth formed again.


    The moment it appeared, Rax felt immense fearing from his blood, due to his enhancement in his atavism, his bloodline was able to improve his sense and it was telling him that the thing in front of him was a monster beyond anything he could imagine, his will had made great progress but even so, his body was trembling and he could not help but distancing himself from the disgusting mouth until he was 500 meter away and yet the fear was still present almost paralyzing him and forcing him to roar so his courage could return.


    Sophia and Ezequiel saw the reaction of the old kobold and were surprised, even now the pressure they felt from the thing in front of them was great but still, even when they were at rank 0 their reaction was not that exaggerated.


    "It is normal, what we are seeing in front of us is a true part of the consciousness of the abyss that has reached the Magi World. Before, you two were not too affected because the nature of the core can be considered a sort of child of the Abyss, so it didn''t target you and all you had to withstand was a coteral effect of his presence, but to Rax is different, he can be considered a dragon by this point and to the Abyss, dragons are a delicious meal so his reaction is normal and if his will was not strong enough, he would have passed out or worse," Zatiel saw the old kobold sweating cold from the fear, but he just continued with the ritual.


    The disgusting and deformed mouth opened to the point all the twisted teeth could be seen and with a single gulp, it devoured the Arachne before it spit out an immense amount of liquid abyss aura and disappeared.


    When the abyss'' consciousness vanished, Rax almost crumbled to the ground, and he was still shaking. After a couple of minutes, he was able to get himself together and walked out to Zatiel.


    "I''m sorry, leader, for that shameful reaction," Rax was truly disappointed with his actions, after his power up and the enhancement in his will he was starting to think that he was truly strong but when he saw that ''thing'', he realized that he was being foolish.


    "Don''t worry, the fact that you were able to remain in this ce was more than good enough. This was one of the reasons I didn''t want the rest of your race to be present. If they interact with it, with their current power and will, they would probably be traumatized and their minds will be affected," Rax nodded, but still, now the desire for a greater power burned inside him, and Zatiel was happy with the defiant attitude of the old kobold.


    "Ok, let''s begin, the process takes a great determination and willpower but with the abilities you showed during your transformation, this will prove no problem for you but remain focused at all times."


    Rax nodded before entering the runes and adopting a meditative position. Zatiel separated a small part of the abyss aura and started the process of the Chaotic Core creation.


    Rax felt a great pressure in his consciousness and pain in his mind, butpared with what he had to withstand from the burning blood technique, this was more than bearable, so after a couple of hours, the fourth Neo-Demon opened his eyes.


    Rax''s height reached 2.7 meters and his scales took a metallic luster resembling obsidian metal, his muscles swelled up tremendously but still, they fit perfectly with his body, not hindering his movements at all, his eyes turned red and dragon horns appeared on his head. Right now the old appearance of Rax had disappeared, and he looked like an adult Dragonborn in the prime of his life with all the cells of his body filled with vitality, and he felt powerful energy running through his body, improving all of his aspects, even his blood, the sensation was so exhrating he could not help but release all his power and pressure of his maic force field.


    Zatiel, Ezequiel and Sophia did not feel anything from this, after all, they were Rank 1 Neo-Demons with a powerful assimted bloodline but if a rank 1 Novice Magus were to feel it, they will be shocked as the power was more than any peak rank 0 could hope to achieve even if they were dragons.


    After waiting for Rax to get used to his new power, Zatiel spoke again, "Now all you need to do is learn a rank spell and you will advance to rank 1. I will give you a very powerful Path Technique known as ''Ux Bahamuti'', this contains a series battle techniques and spells that are divided in Aspect of Heart, that concentrate in powerful spells and martial arts, Aspect of Wing, that concentrate inplete control over your body and speed, and finally Aspect of Mind that assists to improve the power of your consciousness and resistance to all type of curses and damage to your soul. I have other techniques that are equally efficient but due to your draconic bloodline, this one is most suitable," Zatiel used the core and transferred all the information to Rax, and even though the transference of information was fast, it still took a long time to finish because this path technique was so powerful that was efficient even when someone reaches the level ofws.


    Rax could not believe the power of this technique, because when he went through thest level it had some descriptions that refer to have spells that could destroy an entire continent, and although the temptation of going through it entirely was great, he knows what he needs to do first and choose one of the spells the technique says is the most suitable to be a rank spell and begins learning it.


    As Rax was training, Zatiel saw how the other two reacted, and he chuckled. Ezequiel was unfazed as always, but Sophia already started to make faces.


    She knows that anything that earns the term powerful from Zatiel is amazing, so of course, she wanted one, but she didn''t ask as she wanted to be given one just like with Rax.


    "Stop making that face, I will give you two a path like that as well. I just obtained them recently, that is why I am only giving them to you now, but it isn''t useful if you use rank 0, as the major function before rank 1 in this technique is of choosing a rank spell and the one I gave you two, is equally powerful to the ones in here. For you little EZ, the technique is named ''Dawn Titan Mual-Tar'' and for Sophia is will be ''Sanguis Draconis Flumine'', just like ''Ux Bahamuti'', they are divided into spells and battle arts,plete control over your body and speed, and enhancing your consciousness and the resistance of your soul. No matter what yourbat style is, the three aspects are important so trained well," Zatiel transferred the information to Ezequiel and Sophia, and the moment they got this Path Techniques, they also were surprised and without waiting they started to train.


    "Not even a thank you, you unruly bastards!"


    Sophia and Ezequiel heard him, but the techniques were so amazing that they just ignored him, and although Rax wouldn''t dare to do that, he was so focused so he didn''t listen.


    Seeing them, Zatiel just shakes his head and smiles, and he also sits down and starts to train.


    ''In my previous life I was a master of necromancy and death spells, It will be foolish to give them away, and the most efficient Path Technique for that will be ''Aumvor Sempiternus'', although I will not have a bloodline that helps me, with my talent as a Neo-Demon and experience it will be more than enough. Still, I will have to create a Path Technique from zero that can be used together with my bloodline, it will be difficult, but I am sure I can do it'' Zatiel knows it will be extremely difficult to create a path technique with his current abilities.


    Most Path Techniques are made by powerful individuals that have reached a level of power that allows them to enter in contact with thews, and by analyzing special life-forms or singrities that happen in the universe, they can obtain inspiration from them and create these techniques, so for a rank 1 being, trying to create one was supposed to be impossible, but Zatiel''s confidence did not diminish at all.


    After a couple of hours Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia wake up from their meditation as they felt a spike in energy near them, it was Rax that had managed to learn his rank spell and was advancing to rank 1.

 Chapter 56: Daybreak

    Rax''s face was stoic as the pain of the advancement assaulted him, the Chaotic Core had already reached for the purest part of his blood and brought it inside itself, beginning the assimtion process. Thanks to his work on atavism, the bloodline had reached rank 4.


    His body continued growing until it reached a height of 4 meters, it had a muscrplexion and the amount of brute power it carried was huge, his scales started to fall but immediately they were reced for others that were made of a metal-like material of obsidian color. Thest part was particrly painful and puddles of blood form at his feet.


    "Excellent! his heritage is linked to the metallic dragons, I have always found them annoying, but they are innately loyal and wise, although they are also very talkative and stubborn sometimes," Zatiel was very happy with the bloodline that Rax had obtained.


    Although your bloodline and race don''t define you, it certainly generates an effect on your habits and customs, just like a demon having a predisposition to being violent and evil, metallic dragons tend to care for their people, especially the young ones and loathe any act of betrayal.


    The body transformation was ending but the final part of his assimtion was about to begin as the severing of the connection to his origin started.


    Sophia and Ezequiel be solemn at this part, although the feeling of the bloodline that Rax had assimted in his core was inferior to their own, it was still plenty powerful, but unlike the great battle they were waiting, the connection was broken immediately without any problems or the need of assistance. This greatly shocked the two, they did not underestimate the will of the kobold but being able to ovee the resistance of a rank 4 bloodline was not something it could happen so easily.


    "His bloodline may have reached rank 4, but that was thanks to atavism, it was originally that of a kobold, and that connection is so insignificant that it can be broken automatically," Zatiel exined to the two after seeing their futile intent to understand what was happening.


    When Rax finally ended his advancement to rank 1, he stood up with his gigantic 4-meter tall burly body and dark metallic scales that looked like an armor; he was by all standards, a fighting machine, but in his eyes was the wisdom, characteristic of all metallic dragons making an interesting contrast between body and mind. He walked to Zatiel and when he was in front of him, he got down on one knee.


    "Rax, Neo-Demon of the kobold race, greets the Ancestor," his face was full of respect and dignity as he bowed to Zatiel.


    Although the atmosphere was serious, Zatiel could not help but find it a little funny, the old kobold was so huge that even when he kneeled, his head still ends up a little taller than him. Still, Zatiel nodded and helped him to stand up.


    "Well done, actually with your changes you can call yourself a dragon if you wish, and no longer need to refer to yourself as a kobold."


    "No, I was born a kobold and no matter how strong I became or how much my bloodline changes, I will always be a kobold," his face was determined and prideful as he said those words.


    "Kobold it is then. Ok, now the important part, we have to discuss what we are going to do with the rest of your race," Zatiel was serious as he evaluated the options.


    "I can guarantee that we are grateful to your benevolence and none will dare to betray you, if someone were to even harbor that though, then they are betraying our race and deserve to die!" Rax''s voice was filled with determination, although he loves the members of his tribe, if someone were to act at the back of the race and try to sell information of Zatiel for their selfish interest, then he has no problem applying the maximum punishment.


    "It''s good to hear those words, but I refer to another subject. There are two paths right now for the rest of the kobolds, first one, I give you a path technique that can work in conjunction with Burning Blood and help them advance in the ranks, if they chose this one, they would have to swear allegiance to me forever, but besides that, they will be free to do whatever they want. And the second, I transform all of them into Neo-Demons, but if I do this then, besides a selected few, everyone will have to remain in this ce until I allow them to leave, because with the help of the Chaotic Core, the advancement to rank 1 and enhancement in their bloodlines will be pretty easy, and I can''t allow hundreds of dragoning out of nowhere flying through Wastnd. Although the second option is tempting and the lifespan of a rank 1 Neo-Demon is around 600 years old, the time that they will have to remain isted could reach hundreds of years, so think well before you choose," Zatiel had no problem in transforming them all into Neo-Demons as the race was created in a beginning to be the perfect soldiers under hismand, but due to his power not being enough, it will be extremely dangerous if someone manages to connect them to him, so they will have to remain hidden.


    Rax knows that no matter what path techniques Zatiel gives them, it could notpare to the power of Neo-Demon, but the idea of being in this ce for hundreds of years without seeing the surface was something that made this decision very difficult.


    "Ancestor, can I discuss this with the rest of my race?"


    "You can, but don''t give them any concrete information about anything rted to Neo-Demons," just like with Ezequiel and Sophia, Zatiel had used his Primordial-Core to engrave themand of never revealing information about the Chaotic Core to anyone.


    Rax nodded and without wasting time he left to discuss with the rest of the kobolds.


    "Are you really going to convert more than one hundred kobolds into Neo-Demons," Sophia knows that the only reason he and Ezequiel were transformed was the absolute loyalty they had shown to Zatiel, and also know that the information of their race was one of his greatest secrets.


    "If they are willing to remain in this cave for hundreds of years, yes. Within that time, their loyalty will be probed and since the need for bloodlines is taken care of by themselves, I just have to wait and see how things will result. Of course, I will put a minuscule amount of my consciousness into every core, and if anyone has even the most insignificant treacherous thought, it will be detected and the core will explode, killing them," when he reached the end, Zatiel''s eyes were cold.


    Even if it was just a thought, he would kill them without hesitation.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were not surprised at this contingency, as they already knew that Zatiel would never let things go to luck.


    "You are not wondering if the same alteration was made to your cores?" Zatiel wanted to see the reaction of the two, but what he got was just a smile from both.


    "We are never going to betray you, so whether the alteration was made or not, it doesn''t matter," Sophia said with a prideful tone when she saw his reaction, and Ezequiel nodded.


    Zatiel was truly surprised. Logically, the idea of having something inside you that could kill you just for having an incorrect thought will be infuriating, but for them both, it didn''t matter. Their absolute trust and loyalty for him made him feel warmth in his heart and he started tough.


    "Well, there is nothing, after all, it was only when I reached rank 1 that my consciousness was able to leave my body."


    The three started to meditate and go through their path techniques as they waited for Rax and the rest of the kobolds.


    After a couple of hours, Rax came back and with him were all the kobolds, from the youngest to the oldest, approaching the three.


    They came in front of Zatiel and all the kobolds together with Rax kneeled before speaking in unison.


    "PLEASE ACCEPT OUR LOYALTY, ANCESTOR!"


    In the eyes of every kobold was a great resolution, the determination to remain hidden without seeing the exterior for a lifetime, all for the possibility of gaining the power so their race can finally rise to the sky and live a glorious life.


    The will of the kobold truly surprised Zatiel, proving to him that when a race is at the brink of extinction, either they sumb to their fate or they rise through pure willpower. As he was seeing the kobolds, he heard two other people kneel; they were Ezequiel and Sophia.


    In his past life, the number of creatures who knelt before him was millions and their power was enough to destroy Middle-Worlds with ease, but unlike them, the ones in front of him didn''t look at him with hate or fear, there was no greed or backstabbing schemes, all he could see in these hundreds of kobolds and two humans was respect, love, and the desire of following him.


    "HAHAHAHAHA!"


    As Zatielughed from the bottom of his heart, he started to rise into the sky and the golden fire covered him as he stood on a surface made of dark mes, making him look like a sun raised from the darkness.


    "From this day on, you are my race, we will force fate to bow before us, we will sculpt our name in the universe until every intelligent being knows us and any existence that dares to challenge us will feel the wrath of the Neo-Demons as we ughter them. Rise in the name of your ancestor, Zatiel Daybreak!"


    "ANCESTOR!!!"


    .....


    End of volume 1- "The rise of the strongest race."

 Chapter 57: Resurrection

    A human and a humanoid dragon were fighting against each other inside an immense cave, there were no spells or weapons, it was a contest entirely of brute physical power and martial arts, body against body.


    The humanoid dragon had a height of 4 meters and a weight around a ton, with every swing of his arms gales of wind were created, and the human had a height a little less than 2 meters and although his body was full of muscles, they could notpare with the ones the humanoid dragon had.


    Despite all that, every time their fist crashed against each other, it was the humanoid dragon that ended as the weaker party.


    ''It''s as if I am hitting the pointy end of a spear that threatens to prate my arm,''


    This was the feeling that the humanoid dragon had when he saw that ''tiny'' fist.


    The ones fighting were Ezequiel and Rax, and the kobold was constantly on the losing side even though his body looks so much more impressive than his opponent. The metallic scales on his body cracked every time Ezequiel managed to strike him and when the kobold connected his punches on the body of his opponent, it was like hitting a block of steel that was tempered to the maximum.


    Ezequiel''s body may look weak and smallpared to the immense draconic body that Rax has, but it was the opposite. His body had suffered dozens ofpressions as he advanced to rank 1, making his bones, muscles, and organs reach such a density that it will be easier damaging a peak rank 0 magic armor than him.


    The two continue fighting and every movement they take seems to be flowing perfectly, moving their bodies exactly the right amount putting them in the perfect position to continue their attacks, dodge or distance themselves, generating endless opportunities and variations that are maximizing their power with every step they take.


    The two were practicing their path techniques, more specifically, the part which describes the control over their body and martial techniques. In the beginning, neither of the two thought too much of them, after all, although they use their bodies during a battle, they mostly did it in a raw and brutish way, but the moment they begin practicing it, they were surprised by the possibilities that opened to them in a fight, so they werepeting against each other every day to polish their abilities.


    They were not the only ones in the caves, there were hundreds of kobolds in this ce, although calling them kobold felt wrong seeing that every single one looked like dragonborns. Some were meditating, others were practicing spells or martial arts, and a couple of them were processing the bodies of magical creatures to eat themter. The discipline and effort that everyone in the cave put in every single task were amazing, well except for a little dog that spent all his time running from one ce to another.


    Zatiel was in a corner of the cave and besides him was a wooden coffin, he was observing them and was pleased with they attitude everyone was showing and from time to time they came to him to ask about their doubts and he did his best to help them, but seeing the aura in this ce some thoughts came to his head.


    ''Why does this ce look like a sect from the Immortal ne, and I look like a sect master?''


    As Zatiel amuses himself with theparison with one of the major powers of the universe, someone enters the cave.


    It was a beautiful blue-haired woman with mysterious red eyes, she searched for Zatiel and came flying to him, in her face was a gorgeous smile and for some reason, it looked like she had dropped a great weight off her shoulders. The woman was Sophia that had returned after a couple of weeks of being out.


    Once she reached Zatiel, he looked at her and spoke, "By your expression, I guess that everything went well with the vige that you were in."


    "Yes, even though some years had passed all the people were still there, I moved them to a safe ce inside a mortal kingdom and manipted the minds of all the nobles so they would protect them, and just like you said, I make sure of leaving no evidence of my involvement."


    Sophia knows that those people are her soft spot, so she made sure of erasing any connection she had with them. Otherwise, they will be a target due to their weak power.


    "I almost forgot, here are the materials you ask me to collect, some of them were pretty difficult to get. What are they for?"


    Sophia handed Zatiel his spatial ring that was now full of all types of material that were full of negative natural energy.


    "It is for bringing back the mother of Kylo. The simplest spell that involves resurrection is a rank 3 one, but I was able to alter it so it will be rank 2, although this will limit greatly the abilities of the spell since I will only use it to bring back the soul of a rank 0 being, it will be more than enough, but even then a rank 2 spell is beyond my current capabilities so I will have to use runes to activate the spell."


    Zatiel assesses the content of the ring and nods as he finds everything he needs.


    "If you are going to use runes to generate the effect of a rank 2 spell, then you are already a rank 2 runemaster!?" Sophia knows that Zatiel is a monstrous genius, but even so, bing a rank 2 runemaster in less than two years since he manages to reach rank 1 was mind-blowing.


    "Not quite, it is a rank 2 rune, but since I will be inscribing it on the floor, I will not have to care for the space it takes and also would not have to connect it to a flow of energy, it could be considered at most a pseudo-rank 2 rune," while he exined, Zatiel was already taking out his instruments and beginning to processing of the materials for the rune.


    "I am impressed, all the kobolds were able to transform into Neo-Demons without a single casualty," Sophia was seeing the kobold and not a single face was missing.


    During the transformation, if someone didn''t have a strong will, they would transform into a mindless monster, so they would have to be killed but it looks like there was no need for that.


    "Our Primal Chaos Consciousness has a simr effect on the target that they have to withstand during the transformation, so by helping them in train with it before, plus their powerful will made the creation of the core smooth. Create some healing potions, after her soules back, she will be very weak."


    Sophia nodded and started to work beside him.


    Processing the material was easy, as it only takes a steady hand and practice to master, but when that part ended, Zatiel meditated for two days before opening his eyes and beginning the inscription process. Like always his hands were steady and his movements fluid, without a single hesitation or mistake.


    It took him a day to create the rune formation that ended up being 5 meters in diameter, but even then some runes were so small that they were almost invisible. By the time it was over Zatiel was pale due to the exhaustion which forced him to sit down and rest before he called Rax and Kylo.


    The father and son came running, full of excitement in their eyes as they saw the runes and coffin. When they saw Zatiel''s state, they didn''t dare to hurry him and they sat down waiting for hismand.


    After a couple of hours, Zatiel had rested enough and opened his eyes.


    "Put the body in the center of the formation and channel your energy in the runes to activate them. The spell will create a connection with the soul and try to bring it back, but it will only work if she is willing, so if the ones who call are her family the possibility of the spell working will be higher."


    Rax went to the coffin and opened, bringing out the body of a kobold female, the body was in perfect condition and if it was not for the fact, it was not breathing anyone would think she was sleeping. Zatiel had regenerated it with his golden fire a long time ago, although it took him a lot of time. By being in this state, the chances of the spell working will be better.


    When the rest of the kobolds saw this, they all stopped what they were doing and focused on the formation and body. To avoid those feelings of envy and resentment to rise in the rest, under the instruction of Zatiel, Rax had exined to everyone the special reasons why her wife could be brought back and also that it was a reward given to him for his merits performance, also he tells them that this could also be done to their family member but they needed to prove themselves worthy. For those that had the bodies of the deceased, they needed to reach rank 3 and they will be resurrected, as for those, who want to revive someone but no longer had the bodies for a reason or other, due to theplexity being much higher, they needed to reach rank 4. Everyone has a person they want to bring back, so when they heard this, the desire for power was enormous and it became an excellent goal. So when they saw the first instance of resurrection, all of their eyes were filled with hope.


    Rax put the body gently on the floor before he came back to Kylo. In the eyes of the two, nervousness could be seen, but there was also anticipation as they channeled their energy in the runes.

 Chapter 58: Drone

    The moment Rax and Kylo inserted their energy into the runes, they immediately started to glow and the natural energy of the world began to conglomerate around the body of the female kobold. As the power of the rune formation grows, all the ones present got an ominous feeling as they concentrated on the resurrection spell.


    Sophia and Ezequiel were also able to feet it, but it was even more clear that the rest as they were stronger, and they put all the power of their consciousness surrounding the formation, to try to find out the origin.


    "It is useless, what we are feeling is just the effect of thews in the natural energies. Trying to understand them with our current power is impossible," Zatiel exined to the two as he continues looking at the body.


    The glow reached its peak before vanishing abruptly, and the runes that created the formation disappeared, leaving burn marks on the floor.


    The female kobold remained on the ground and there was no response from her, making it look like the spell failed but the faces of both Rax and Kylo were full of happiness as they detected the weak but still present breathing.


    "Catch."


    Zatiel throws a potion at Rax before instructing the father and son, "Make her drink it to stabilize her condition. She will be in aatose state for between 6 months to a year, as the connection between her soul and body is restored. Make sure to feed her liquid with high amounts of energy."


    Rax took the potion and with great care and put it in the mouth of the kobold, making sure she drinks it all, watching with joy as her breathing became stronger, before taking her in his arm as he bows in Zatiel''s direction, followed by Kylo.


    "Thank you, Ancestor, for this great happiness!"


    In the eyes of Rax and Kylo, Zatiel could see such a devotion that could bepared with religious fanaticism, and they were not alone, as the same expression could be seen in the rest of the kobolds. Before they were just hopeful, but now they know that by following him, even death can be reversed.


    "If you want to thank me, be stronger, so powerful that you can be of use in the battles toe! That goes for everyone."


    Zatiel was pleased with the reaction of the kobolds. Although people with that kind of zeal usually be mindless idiots thatmit atrocities, that is because they follow fools with such an inferiorityplex thatmits the most grotesque acts they can think just to reaffirm their pathetic egos.


    Rax and Kylo bring the unconscious female kobold to a stone house in which the two of them lived, and the rest of the kobolds continued with their training with even more resolution and discipline than before.


    Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia were together as they discussed their next movements.


    "Remaining here is not a good option, as it will slow down our advancement not only in the ranks but also with our professions. So we will return to the tower, although there will be some questions about our power and the disappearance from that Magus, I already have a n, and in the worst-case scenario, we use the runes that I inscribed using the mirage crystal and teleport to this ce."


    The three of them had a rune inscribed above their chest, just where their heart was. It was created using the mirage crystal as the core material and will allow the three of them to use thews of space to teleport to any ce they want inside this world, but due to it being a single-use rune, they had to be careful. Even so, with this rune, the restrictions on Zatiel will be greatly weakened, as he will be able to take greater risks. The one thing that bothered Zatiel about this is that if his abilities as a runemaster were higher, the runes could be much more potent allowing them to use freely short teleportations and more than one greater teleportation.


    "Are we going to continue working with that Magus Jhon?"


    Sophia had a bad image of the man because, during the little interactions she had with him, he had always looked at her with disgust when she had her deformities.


    "No, that person is useless to us, and the one behind him should be a Rank 2 Magus. So if we attempted to do business with him, either they will try to rope us in their family or suppress our advancement to have greater control over us. So we will find a third party to negotiate and I already have an idea of who could be," Zatiel had a n to approach the one in the tower who could be the ideal business partner.


    "We will leave shortly as everything I needed to do in Wastnd has been taken care of."


    As the three finished their n, Tao came running to Zatiel and the symbols in his stomach glowed as he stood before him and opened his mouth. The ck orb appears again, but this time instead of swallowing everything it spits a 3-meter tall egg of grey color.


    The small dog put himself beside the egg and started to move his tail from one side to the other and by his expression, it seems as if he wanted to be congratted for a good job.


    Neither one of the three knew how to react, even Zatiel with his vast knowledge was caught unaware by the weird scene of a dog barely 40 centimeters long throwing up an egg almost 10 times his size and looking at him with a prideful face and making the expression a small child will make when they want their parents to praise them.


    But still, after a moment he got himself together and picked up Tao before rubbing his ears and caressing him, making the animal move his tail with more strength and start to fall asleep.


    Zatiel passed Tao to Ezequiel, beforeing close to the giant egg and using his consciousness to explore it inside. What he saw was a creature that looks very much like a werewolf would, floating inside and by the energy in his body had and the chip scans, it was apparent that it had the physical might of a Peak Rank 1 Magus, approaching Rank 2 in some aspects, greatly surprising him, but as he continues assessing it, and he realizes that although it was alive, it had no soul; it was a biological drone.


    Zatiel looked at the small dog sleeping cidly in Ezequiel''s hands and began to go through all the information he had over him before obtaining a better picture of his abilities.


    ''He can swallow biological organisms, and they reach some type of dimension inside his stomach that functions like a furnace, still I am not sure yet if the creature was created without a soul because he used corpses as the prime material or he is not able to create them with one, I need to perform some experiment with a living organism. I can detect some type of connection between the creature and Tao so it probably works by following the orders, but the little dog does not understand it so he didn''t even give themand for the being to leave the egg.,


    Zatiel continues assessing the creature and after some final checks, he conjures a spell that generates that pale energy gathers in his hand before pressing it against the shell.


    "Animate dead!"


    The spell that Zatiel was using was one of necromancy that allows someone to raise a dead body to fight as an undead zombie or skeleton, although they are warriors unafraid of pain, due to their condition, they can use less than a third of their original power and most of their abilities are lost.


    The werewolf was alive, but what Zatiel was doing was using the part of the spell that generates a pseudo consciousness made of negative energy, making the creature obey hismands without question. In any other living being, this would fail, but since the werewolf didn''t have a soul, it was a perfect target. Once the connection was made he gives the creature the order to get out.


    The werewolf inside the egg opened his eyes, but they were without light and only a small dark me was in their center, and following themand, it sted its way out breaking the shell.


    When the kobold sees him they were rmed but seeing it remain unmoving in front of Zatiel, waiting for hismands, they just took it as another mystery of their ancestor before continuing training.


    "Not bad, although it can only follow a simplemand, they will be the perfect cannon food for my future campaigns."


    Zatiel picked Tao and rubbed his fur.


    "You are a small bag of surprises."


    The small dog opens his eyes, and barks before going back to sleep, making the threeugh.

 Chapter 59: Arrogance

    This day was like any other in the Sinux Magic Tower, apprentices came in and out as theypleted their mission or did business, and from time to time, a mighty Magus showed up. Whenever that happened, they became the center of attention.


    Although most Magi disdained this type of disy and preferred to spend their times enhancing their power, looking for the way to the next Rank or doing an experiment in theirboratories, some of those that advanced recently to Rank 1 enjoy doing this due to the feeling of being feared and respected by the same people that were their equals, not long ago was pleasing for them. Today close to the entrance of the first floor, a Magus was doing that.


    The Magus was walking calmly around the tower, and as he saw the envy in the eyes of the other apprentices, a feeling of superiority filled him, making a grin appear on his face.


    He was not alone; apanying him there were two Pseudo-Magus, a man and a woman, and although they didn''t show it as much the Magus, their expression was also one of superiority and disdain to the rest of the apprentices because despite being technically in the same rank, due them being with a Magus, they believe themselves superior to the rest.


    The Magus was Leonard, the apprentice that once tried to recruit Zatiel. Not long ago, he had signed a contract with a small family of the Empire and managed to obtain the material necessaries for the advancement together with a Path Technique, although he will be connected with that n for the next one hundred years and would have to follow their orders, all those thoughts vanished when he felt his power.


    "Has there been any news of that self-important insect?"


    Leonard''s face fills with hate as he thinks of that person, but there was also a wicked aura as he imagined all the things he would do to him.


    "Nothing, boss, since the day he left the tower a couple of years ago, there has been no sight of him. ording to my sources, he and the other two died at the hand of a Magus."


    "Humph, so much for a genius, he got himself killed. Well, he can consider himself lucky, if anyone of them hade back, then I would have taken my sweet time with them, especially that bitch that always apanies him, how great it would have been having fun with her with him looking," as Leonard speaks, a wicked and perverted expression appears in his face, as did on the two Pseudo-Magus.


    "You arepletely right boss, that bastard whom we made watch us while we had fun with his daughter, he ended up killing himself. His expression was exquisite," Arnold smiled as he remembered those events that made his blood boil.


    "Of course he did; after all, he saw how you killed her by transforming into your bloodline as you ravaged her," Betrixughed as she remembers that scene.


    "Keep searching, in case they appear again so we can be the first in paying a visit to them."


    "Sure thing boss, and please, after you have your fun with that woman, can you lend her to me? The way they scream is addictive," Arnold''s expression was natural without a single thought of remorse or the feeling that what he was doing was wrong.


    The reactions and attitude of the three was moremon that one could imagine. The moment most people be a Magus, they start to see the rest of the humans as inferior beings that have to obey their desires and that there is nothing wrong with using them to satisfy their most wicked cravings, since they are not the same life-form to begin with.


    Although it would not happen in a Pseudo-Magus, since the two had the protection of a Magus, they started to see the world like them.


    Leonard did not feel anything wrong with the actions of his subordinates and was going to continue having fun with them when he became surprised as he detected three figures flying in his direction, but they were so fast that by the time he managed to see them, they had alreadynded in front of him.


    When Leonard, Arnold, and Beatrix saw the three people, they were shocked. Although their appearance had changed, they could still recognize that they were exactly the people they were discussing how they were going to torture and the expression of the two Pseudo-Magus filled with fear as they felt the power emanated from each one was way stronger than the one Leonard had.


    "How is it possible that the three of you have advanced to Rank 1?!" Leonard''s resentment was obvious as he saw Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia as the immense power that was in each of their bodies was something a Novice-Rank 1 Magus could not hope topete with.


    "Since someone like you could advance, why can''t we do it? Anyway, I seem to hear you three talking about us just now, it must have been pretty funny by the way you wereughing," Zatiel was smiling and there was no anger in his words, but the three immediately felt terror filling their bodies.


    Although he was afraid, no one that had managed to be a Rank 1 being on his own has stupid, they were next to the tower and although his family was not connected the Imperial n.


    As long as he made time and used the right amount of excuses, they could not kill him as thews of the empire protect Magus greatly. But before he even spoke, Sophia shed and grabbed Arnold by the neck, raising him in the sky.


    Although she looked small and weak, Sophia had assimted the bloodline of one of the most powerful dragons that existed so her strength was something a Pseudo-Magus could not hope topete with.


    "Come on, I am waiting, weren''t you going to make me scream?"


    To Sophia, the idea that any other man beside Zatiel touching her body was disgusting, so when she heard Arnold saying how he was going to vite her, she became furious.


    Arnold was choking and the pressure in his neck was so much that he felt like it was going to break in the next second, but the worst had yet to happen, as he saw a ck liquiding out from Sophia''s hand and beginning to enter inside him through his eyes, ears, and mouth.


    The feeling was as if acid was being shoved into his body, making him feel the most horrendous pain that he could imagine.


    Leonard saw how Arnold was being tortured, but he didn''t dare to act, he knew that Zatiel was only waiting for an excuse to kill him and by the disy of power he saw just now, he had no chance of even escaping any of the three.


    But still, his face was filled with hate, especially as he saw the other apprentices watching from a distance and murmuring between each other.


    The idea of those maggots making fun of a mighty Magus like him, makes him want to kill everyone here, but he must withstand that rage and wait for the time he could repay them.


    "Not bad, you are not as stupid as I thought."


    The contempt and mockery in Zatiel''s words were obvious, but it didn''t end as Leonard saw him vanish only to appear a secondter with his hand over Betrix''s head generating so much pressure that her bones were cracking.


    "So what now, are you going to do something or not?" Zatiel continued applying more and more strength in his grip, making the apprentice scream.


    "STOP!"


    A man descended from the upper level of the tower and surrounding him were green winds. It was Jhon that had identified Zatiel and there was anger on his face.


    The reason wasn''t for the fact that they were torturing two apprentices, all his rage was because he felt the power that Zatiel and his two friends had and the feeling of being inferior to someone that he not long ago treated like an insect that needs his help to survive was awful.


    When Leonard saw Jhon, he finally calmed down as he was thinking that Zatiel would not dare to go against a Magus that was part of the tower and had a powerful background, but what happened next shattered all his hopes.


    "Why do I need to hear the order from someone''s pet?"


    Zatiel increased the power in his arms to the level that it made the head of Betrix explode, shocking everyone.

 Chapter 60: The might of Rank 2

    John was startled. Not only did Zatiel disobey him but he also insulted him in front of all the apprentices present and also the Magi that were looking at this scene from the tower through their consciousness.


    John was almost 50 years old, and he was an Advanced-Rank 1 Magus, so he could be considered rtively young and with his talent reaching the Master level was not something truly difficult and even the opportunity of Rank 2 was present for him if he was lucky, so being called a pet by someone who wasn''t even was 20 years old made him angry.


    "Who the hell do you think you are! Not long ago you kneeled and begged me, so I took pity and saved you, but this is how you repay me. Truly an ingrateful animal!"


    John knows that his words were 99% lies, but he wanted to humiliate Zatiel and see him angry, and if he tries to defend himself, he would just continue to lie, after all, who would take the words of a newly advanced Rank 1 over him.


    Contrary to the anger that John was hoping to see in Zatiel''s face, there was only disdain as if he was looking at a clown making a show, making his rage only greater, but all that went away as he felt Ezequiel sting in his direction covered in lightning.


    John hasn''t given him much attention, as he had just remained beside Zatiel without doing anything, but as Ezequiel crashed against him, he felt as if a mountain was going to crush him.


    He sensed something weird as he saw so many openings in the attack, but the fear of being hit by him made him act.


    "Poison Hurricane!"


    A hurricane of green wind reached Ezequiel and covered his body entirely, creating a tornado that remained in that position harming everything inside.


    "HAHAHA! Shouldn''t you go and save your friend before he ends up like a poisoned corpse?" Leonard took the first opportunity he could to make fun of Zatiel, but he remained calm and the one that was upset was John.


    Although this should have made John happy, he was confused as his opponent did not make the smallest effort to dodge and took the spell head-on.


    Something was telling him that there was a problem, but he could not see it.


    When the green wind had finally vanished, Ezequiel remained standing, although some parts of his body were harmed and poisoned, due to his ability to transform into lightning and his titan constitution, they were superficial wounds and his lightning was already destroying all the poison in his body.


    "Little EZ, he attacked you without reason, so ording to thews of the Empire, even if you kill him, there is no problem."


    John understood everything. It was pretty simple, yet greatly effective.


    If they had attacked him first, then the Rank 2 Magus, Clive, would have every right to intervene since John was one of his men, and then Zatiel could have done nothing even if Clive imprisoned him.


    But now that he attacked first then John has to fight back or else, even if they kill him, they could just say that they were defending themselves.


    His thoughts were interrupted as he felt an immense amount of energying out from Ezequiel''s body as the Lightning Armor and Lightning Transformation were activated to the maximum and he dashed with a speed much greater than before.


    ''This amount of power is close to the Master level, but how?''


    John tried his best to distance himself as he threw 1-meter long des of green wind against him.


    Just like before, Ezequiel didn''t change his course, but when the des were about to reach him, he moved his body just the right way to pass through them, leaving him in the perfect position to dodge the next one and continue his chase.


    This control over his body made almost all the Magi that were seeing the fight impressed, several of them could have withstood the attacks of John with the same ease that Ezequiel did, but to dodge those des with such a mastery and without letting their speed slow down in the slightest was something even those Body-Refinement Rank 1 with the best reflexes will find difficult.


    John looked with horror as Ezequiel managed to reach him and punch him right in the stomach. Although his rank spell activated, creating apacted tornado around him, it did almost nothing as the lightning covered fist pierced it and reached his body.


    The attack had such a power that made him crash against the walls of the tower and burn marks were on his abdomen as his intestines were badly hurt, but even worse, John saw how in Ezequiel''s hand a spear of lightning that resembled a horrible serpent was formed before it was thrown on his direction.


    John knew that if that attack reached him he was dead, but the lightning of the previous attack remained in his body paralyzing him and the spell carried such a speed that he couldn''t move in time.


    Just as the attack was about tond, an immensely powerful consciousness descended and encapsted the spear, destroying the attack.


    This consciousness was different than the one a Rank 1 being had, this one was filled with natural energy, of the darkness type to be more specific, giving it the capability of affecting the surroundings and giving the one who owns it the ability to use it to attack andunch spell from a distance by channeling the energy inside it.


    The moment it arrived, most of the Magi that were seeing the fight withdrew their consciousness, as offending this person was not a wise choice, but still, some remained, meaning that they either were at least equally powerful or had a greater background.


    "Enough! The three of youe to my ce with John. Unless you refuse,"


    Although it was only his consciousness, the power it carried could make any Rank 1 shudder.


    Zatiel, Ezequiel and Sophia felt an immense pressure descending on them, although it was not to the level of making them powerless, if the three were going to fight against it, the most they could do was escaping.


    The pressure continued increasing as Clive waited for the answer, it appears that he wanted to make them kneel, but as it continued growing stronger, in the bodies of the three their two hearts started to beat faster increasing their energy and allowing them to resist.


    It was only until Zatiel was able to get an assessment of the power that Clive had, that he talked.


    "I wouldn''t dare to challenge a Rank 2 Magus," Zatiel made a small bow with a respectful expression.


    "Hmph!"


    The consciousness vanishes but the three know that he is still looking at them, and if they continue creating trouble, it will take direct action the next time.


    Ezequiel deactivate his spell and came back to Zatiel, as for Sophia, she was still torturing Arnold, making sure the decaying effect of her water did not harm his vital organs making the agonyst the longest possible, but realizing that there were important matters to attend, she destroyed the apprentice''s brain before gathering with the other two.


    "Using the consciousness to harvest the natural energy of the world, and no longer being restricted to having to use your body as a container is one of the main characteristics a Rank 2 has, remember, every advancement in the ranks has a qualitative change that makes the difference in power great, even though our race and bloodline are incredibly powerful, never underestimate your opponents, especially those of a higher rank," Zatielmunicates with the two through their cores, and after seeing the solemn expression of the two, he nodded.


    In his past life, the number of individuals he killed just because they think that their racial advantages make them superior to the rest was uncountable, so he was making sure it would not happen to Ezequiel and Sophia.


    Zatiel came to John who was standing up and recovering from the attack, "Come on, lead the way, your Master is calling you."


    John''s face once again filled with anger, but he contained himself by thinking that once they were with Clive, he would make sure of paying back all the offense, so he turned around and led them to the tower.


    When they entered the tower and left his sight, Leonard crumbled to the floor.


    Everything that has just happened was so surreal and terrifying, but it was finally over. As he was preparing to leave, he heard a voice in his head.


    "Don''t think I forgot about you, very soon I wille to visit you and we will have tons of entertainment, just like the fun you enjoy giving to others."


    It was Zatiel''s voice that had reached his consciousness.


    Leonard''s body starts to tremble uncontrobly and his heart is filled with dread as he starts to think what will happen to him if he falls into Zatiel''s hands.

 Chapter 61: Law of Killing

    The fourth floor of the tower was where the Magi had their houses, which functioned like aboratory and the ce where they could rest and meditate to enhance their powers.


    Although the exterior appearance was the same for almost every house, the sizes were different, and the degree that the natural energies were attracted also changed ording to the power of the ones who owned it.


    There were three tiers of houses, most of the floor was upied by houses of the first tier that were used by Rank 1 beings, the rest was divided between second-tier and very few third-tier.


    In a room of a second-tier house were five people, in one group was a man covered in shadows sitting in a big chair and next to him was John, whose hatred for the ones in front of him was obvious on his face.


    The man didn''t say a word and wasn''t acting in any way, but his presence generated pressure in the room, making clear that he was in control of the situation and his power was immense.


    Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia had arrived a long time ago, but Clive didn''t say a word to them and just remained looking at them.


    This was a basic intimidation tactic, making the uncertainty and fear grow in them, forcing them to talk first and giving him control of the subject, but unfortunately for the Rank 2 being, Zatiel just remained with a calm smile on his face and both Ezequiel and Sophia were also rxed.


    Zatiel had found himself in situation thousand times more dangerous and terrifying than this, so for him, the intimidation of a Rank 2 was nothing more than a child game, as for Sophia and Ezequiel, for the two as long they found themselves with Zatiel, there was nothing that could make them feel fear.


    The minutes passed and the silence continued, but opposite to what Clive was hoping, the three people in front of him just remained silent, waiting without a single worry looking at him.


    This scene was starting to upset the Rank 2 Magus, who was already used to having Rank 1 beings showing fear in his presence and always doing whatever they could to end their meeting the fastest they could.


    Finally, after an hour, Clive got impatient and started the argument.


    "So, what excuse do you have for your actions?"


    His statement was a vicious one, already dering the fault of Zatiel, and jumping to the part where he can say a few words to ease his punishment.


    If Zatiel were to try to use the witness, it would be useless as Clive would just intimate the ones present and since no Rank 2 would offer a testimony, his words would be useless.


    After that, he would take on himself to carry the punishment, since it was his man that they attacked and he would make some fake connection with the dead apprentices, forcing Zatiel and the other two to sign a contract of servitude as penitence.


    "Why do I need an excuse, I am sure the surveince of the tower has everything recorded," Zatiel''s statement was simple, but it disrupted all of Clive''s ns.


    Had Zatiel used any other type of verification, Clive could have altered it easily, but by using the tower as a backer it makes everything a hundred times more difficult, as that surveince was proof that they did notmit any fault.


    If he wanted to change it, he would have to ask for permission from the Tower Master, and Clive was sure it would be a negative answer.


    "Humph, you think you are very smart don''t you?" Clive became angry and the pressure of his maic force field was released, making the entire room tremble.


    Now Clive wanted nothing more than to kill the three of them and erase that smile from their faces, but if he were to do that, since there was no type of provocation by any of them, he would have been going against the codes andws from the Empire.


    Of course, they would not kill him, but they will use the opportunity by taking all of his possessions and forcing him to take some dangerous mission as a form of penalty.


    John didn''t know what was happening, in all scenarios that he imagine could happen, it never urred to him that a mighty Rank 2 would be incapable of forcing them to submit, even now that Clive was releasing the immense pressure of his body and disying an obvious killing intent, Zatiel remained calm and even worse, he had the time to look at him with a teasing smile making the rage in his heart erupt.


    Seeing that his intimidation didn''t work, Clive retracted his maic force field, before changing the subject.


    "You signed a contract with John, and since the period of protection is over, you need to hand over ten rank-1 runes of my choice."


    "I indeed signed a contract, but ording to it, you should have provided protection for five years, and during that time I was attacked more than once by the Magus named Erick due to the ipetence of your men, so ording to the codes of the Empire, since you did not fulfill your part, I don''t have to fulfill mine."


    Zatiel''s words were true, but any other Rank 1 in his position would not dare to argue even if they were in the right for fear of earning the wrath of a Rank 2 being, but he knows that Clive is already displeased with him, and if he were to try to be polite and helpful, the Magus would just take it as if he was someone who could him bully without consequences.


    "You are just a couple of newly advanced Rank 1''s, if we say that you have to hand 10 runes, then you have to do it, the codes of the Empire do not matter!"


    Having been insulted once again, the anger in John exploded, and since, ording to him, no one would dare to spy on a Rank 2 Magus, he didn''t think his words. But when he felt the angering from Clive and amusement in Zatiel''s face, he realized he made a mistake.


    Since he arrived at the tower, Zatiel''s n was always to draw attention from a certain individual, and Leonard was just a timely target, and although going against thews of the Empire in a public ce with so many spectators was not something he could allow, killing some apprentices was no problem.


    When John appeared, he purposely humiliated and infuriated the Magus, and now that he had let his guard down by being convinced that no one would hear him, heshed out, attracting the person that Zatiel was waiting for and giving him a perfect excuse to intervene.


    The space in the room broke as if someone was shing it, and from that broken space a young man came out.


    He didn''t look older than 20 years old, his body was tall and full of muscles giving him a perfectly attuned constitution, his hair was blonde and his eyes blue, his expression was indifferent but filled with a strange charm.


    He was wearing a dark martial robe and on his back was a sword and despite being in his sheath, to all the ones present, it felt like it could cut anything in his path.


    The moment he appeared the room froze as a monstrous killing intent radiated from his body, paralyzing everyone present, forcing Clive to reveal his body that was that of an old man, and different expressions could be seen on the faces of the ones present, with Zatiel having one of surprise.


    Zatiel didn''t be surprised by the power of this person, but by his killing intent. He was able to detect that its origin was not because of the emotions of the man, but it was something that came from his body and soul naturally.


    "The Law of Killing! Impressive, and by what I detect, he doesn''t follow the Magi path, but that of those lunatics."

 Chapter 62: Cultivator

    The man looked at Zatiel, Sophia, and Ezequiel maintaining his view on them for a while, before focusing on Clive and John making the duo tremble, especially John when he remembered the words he just said and guessed the identity of this person.


    "Clive of the Tribus family greets his Highness!"


    Clive stands up from his chair and kneeled immediately as he saw this man, leaving his prideful facade aside.


    "John of the Tribus family greets his Highness!"


    John was shaking, and he kneels so much that his head was touching the floor, not daring to look at the man in his eyes.


    "Clive, did you fulfill the part of the contract for which you were asking the runes?"


    The tone of the man was indifferent, as if, independent of the answer, his actions were already decided.


    Clive would want nothing more than to lie and say that he did everything he was asked, but he knows that it was not true and if it was any other Rank 1, he was sure that he could intimidate them so they will follow along, but in his short interaction with Zatiel, he already knows that fear would not work, so he just sighs and answered.


    "No, your Highness, my man failed to carry my orders and didn''t provide the protection that was specified in the contract."


    Although he admitted the failure, he put all the me on John, implying that if any fault wasmitted, it was not his but of his man.


    When John heard this, he felt a great injustice wasmitted to him, since it was the direct order of Clive that they should just let Erick do whatever he wants with them, but he didn''t show it on his face and also didn''t dare to argue with the words of the Rank 2 Magus.


    If he were to do it, it wouldn''t be weird if he ends up dead tomorrow.


    To the man, even though John tried to hide it, he was able to realize his state immediately, easily discovering the truth, but to him, there was no difference how much guilt either party had.


    "Since you fail to fulfill your part, the contract is null. And because you tried to extort the payment, you will have to pay him something of equal price aspensation."


    The words of the man were direct and carried a might that made those who hear it not dare to defy them.


    "Tell me your name, and what do you desire aspensation?"


    The man looked at Zatiel and spoke, but he was a little surprised, as he was the mostposed in the room, and his twopanions although a little nervous they were miles ahead of the Rank 2 Magus.


    "My name is Zatiel Daybreak, your Highness, and these are mypanions Sophia and Ezequiel," Zatiel made a small bow as he presented himself, followed by Sophia and Ezequiel.


    "Answering your Highness, what I need right now is a sword, I don''t care about special abilities but it is essential that it can resist high temperatures and is of durable material."


    The man was a little surprised at the request of Zatiel, but he focused on Clive again andmanded him.


    "Take your best magical equipment that fulfills those conditions, I guess I don''t need to tell you what will happen if you try to trick me."


    Clive was thinking of just giving a simple weapon to Zatiel, but when he heard the words from the man, he didn''t dare to test his luck and with a face full of reluctance, he took a one-handed sword from his spatial ring.


    The sword looked very ordinary, just like a sword from the mortal world would, but both the man and Zatiel were able to realize that it was indeed special.


    The man moved his hand, and the sword flew from Clive''s hand to his own. Once in his hand, he started to wave the sword and despite carrying neither strength nor energy, any sh had more than enough power to kill a Rank 2 being.


    "Not bad, it doesn''t have any sort of inscription or special ability but the metal that is made can withstand great amounts of energy going through it. It should be a rank 2 magical equipment, but just in durability, it canpare to some weaker rank 3. Take it," The man throws the sword to Zatiel before looking once again at the duo, this time focusing on John.


    "You were the one to say that the codes andws of my family do not matter."


    John started to tremble and when he was going to try to give an excuse, he saw the man make a shing motion with his finger.


    No de of energy, of any kind, came out, but John started to scream as thousands of small cuts started to appear on his right arm until they pulverized it.


    Although it didn''t seem like a great punishment since most Magi can regrow a limb with ease, this attack carried the power of thews, and the wound was affected by them, so unless John could get the help of someone at the same level that the man with the sword, that arm will never regrow.


    "Everything here is done, apany me."


    The man waves his hand, and a portal appears in front of Zatiel before he disappears into the broken space from which he arrived.


    Zatiel finished assessing the sword before keeping it into his space ring and looked in the direction of Clive and John, the two of them looked at him with poisonous hatred but it didn''t make any difference to him, at most it made him mark them to be killed at the first opportunity presented.


    He enters the portal together with Sophia and Ezequiel vanishing from the house.


    When they were alone Clive looked at John for a moment before speaking, "Do you me me?"


    John stares at the Magus and although his face didn''t show anything he knows that if he doesn''t answer correctly, then he will surely be recalled to the family territory and suffer an ''ident'' on the road.


    "I don''t me Master, as I would have done the same in your position. But that person, no matter what, I must repay him for all the humiliations he gave me."


    John''s hatred was obvious, making him forget the pain of his amputated arm.


    Clive looks at John for a while before nodding, "Don''t worry, If I allow an insignificant Rank 1 to take my possessions and live to tell, then I will be failing my title of Butcher Shadow, but we must not speak here."


    ....


    Zatiel, Sophia, and Ezequiel arrived at a room filled with all sorts of decorations, from pictures of strange creatures to scenes of warriors shing with their swords.


    On one of the walls, all types of swords were hanging, and in everyone was some amount of damage and small cuts proving that they were not mere decoration but weapons used to kill all sorts of beings.


    What calls most attention was a wall that had nothing on it but marks made by sword attacks, and despite the materials of this room being the same as the exterior of the Tower, the attacks made cuts one meter deep.


    When the man saw them, he used his consciousness, and after a moment he spoke.


    "The three of you don''t follow any of the paths of power of the Magi World."


    The statement was simple but made both Sophia and Ezequiel startled.


    They know that it is impossible for any being present in the Magi World to see their cores and their energy had the same feeling that spirit power would give so they don''t understand how this person could discover their secret.


    But contrary to the two, Zatiel remained calm.


    It is true that to most of their energy and body are the ones of someone who follow the Magi path, but if someone was strong enough, they could realize that their bodies were too powerful for someone did not focus on Body-Refinement and the amount of energy in their bodies was too much for a new advanced Magus, plus other small details.


    Even so, the number of paths to power in the universe are countless so having one that was not present in the Magi World was not a big problem, so he answered naturally.


    "No, we don''t, but neither does your Highness?"


    Zatiel''s attitude was respectful but extremely calm.


    The man was a little surprised before concentrating on Zatiel and trying to see through him, but all he got was a feeling of profundity, unlike anyone other men he had met.


    "I''m very surprised that a Rank 1 being has information about my path. My name is Heinz and I am a prince from the Empire. Can you tell me what you know about my path and how you found it?"


    Speaking as an equal to a Rank 1 being may be considered weird to someone of his power, but for some reason, Heinz felt that it was correct.


    "Answering your Highness, the information I got is from the libraries of the towers I have visited and also from some ruins I explored. Your Path should be that of those called Cultivators, and for your style, I can say you follow the branch of Sword Cultivator. ording to what I know, a cultivator must enhance their energy just like any other path, but the special part about this path is that they produce something called Dao Heart, that is a set of beliefs and ideas developed by the cultivator along his path of power," Zatiel chose to end the exnation here, as any more information could be suspicious.


    The information about Sword Cultivator was not very weird and was present in most of the libraries, but when Zatiel spoke about the Dao Heart, he surprised Heinz greatly, as that was something generally only those that follow this path knew about.

 Chapter 63: Sword fight

    "You also know about our Dao Heart, amazing! Although I have known a lot of people that call themselves learned with ample knowledge, they always give an overly deep exnation trying to make themselves sound mysterious, but end up bing aughing stock."


    The indifferent expression of Heinz vanished and now he looked just like a person who has finally found someone he could talk to about the things that he is passionate about.


    "Come on, tell me what more do you know, maybe we canpare notes," Heinz detected the weird atmosphere and realized that Zatiel remained quiet. Although he was a little ted, he understood the reason for the silence, after all too much knowledge could raise greed on others.


    What happened next shocked greatly at the three Neo-Demons, even the millennial old one was startled by the actions of the cultivator.


    "I, Heiz, prince of the Aeternum Empire, swear on my Dao Heart, that will not bring harm directly or indirectly to Zatiel Daybreak or hispanions, concerning the information shared today," Heinz expression was solemn as he made one of the most serious oaths a cultivator can do.


    When Zatiel saw what the cultivator was going to do, he tried to stop him, but it was so fast that he didn''t give him time to act, the reason was that if he refused to speak now, then Heinz will certainly take an offense, after all, if someone breaks a promise made on his Dao Heart, his future will be destroyed and he took this risk so they could continue with the subject.


    ''Truly a bunch of lunatics, even something so simple as a discussion, they take it to the next level,'' Zatiel sighs and just shook his head as he saw Heiz waiting for him to continue and he prepared to discuss with this ''crazy'' man.


    "As I was saying, cultivators have their Dao Heart, and as long they stay true to them, then it will grow stronger allowing cultivator to have a ''heaven-defying will'', there are great numbers of ways to interpret thest part, but mine is this; even if the entire universe says that it can''t happen, a true cultivator will fight against it and break the impossible, showing to all existences that their conviction was right and as long they remain firm, everything can happen. Although this doesn''t sound like a great boost in power, if you underestimate any of those ''heaven-defying cultivators'' then I can assure you will regret it."


    As Zatiel spoke he remembered some painful memories of his past life, and after seeing the intrigued expression of Sophia and Ezequiel, and the enlightened one of Heinz, he continued.


    "A Dao Heart also has a purely practical aspect, it allows the cultivator to improve their talent concerning thews, giving them the ability to improve their control over them through epiphanies, understanding their essence and the way they act in the universe, unlike Magi that use a more mathematical approach. But like most good things, a Dao Hearts has a downside, if the cultivator can''t maintain it or act against them, then they run the risk of harming and in the worst case even destroying them. This could happen for example with a cultivator whose Dao Heart was built on an indomitable fighting spirit, if they were to run from a battle because of fear, abandoning the ones important to him, then their Dao Heart will probably shatter killing him or in the best case cutting his path to the future," giving time for the three to understand his words, Zatiel continued.


    "Since the Dao Heart is the cornerstone of Cultivators, only those with great will and that don''tpromise their principles no matter what can achieve great power in this path," When Zatiel finished, he couldn''t help but feel a little annoyed by the way Heinz was looking at him as if he was some type of sage.


    "Brother Zatiel, your exnation was excellent, actually it helps me understand something. It keeps me confused until now, especially that part of ''Heaven Defying Cultivator'', I feel like a door I could not open has loosened up a little. Tell me, what is your personal opinion about us cultivators," Heinz''s expression was full of smiles, a difference like day and night with the first time they saw each other.


    Anyone in Zatiel position will say some ttering words about cultivators, even Sophia and Ezequiel thought that he will say that, and by the expression of Heinz, if he gets on his good side, he will get a powerful friend, but his words were different to what they hoped.


    "They are a bunch of lunatics, notpromising no matter what, and even if their enemy is countless times stronger, they will still fight, willing to sacrifice their life just to harm their opponents. And even worse they are the most stubborn beings that exist, once they decide on something, there is no way of making change their minds," Zatiel made an annoying expression like he remembered something he wished to forget.


    Instead of getting angry, after hearing Zatiel, Heinz startedughing with so much strength that all the aura of a mighty being that could kill a Rank 1 being with a movement of his fingers was gone.


    "HAHAHAHAHA, you are absolutely right, we are a bunch of lunatics, but so what, it takes a lunatic to reach the peak of the universe. Ok, I have decided, from now on we are sworn brothers," Heinz continuedughing as he patted Zatiel''s shoulder.


    "As I said, a lunatic! Why the hell would you want to be the so-called ''sworn brother'' with a Rank 1 being?"


    Although any other person would have been happy of creating such a connection with a mighty prince of the Empire, to Zatiel there were more problems than help in the long run, after all, in any great organization there were disputes for power and those with little strength were the unluckiest ones.


    "Quoting your words brother, when we cultivators decide on something, there is no way of making change their minds," Heinz only continuesughing despite the reluctance of Zatiel.


    "Whatever, but I warn you, I will squeeze every use that being your sworn brother can grant me," Zatiel may sound offensive, but it didn''t matter to him, since this rtion was practically forced and if it wasn''t because he knows that Heinz actions were honest, without a hidden schedule, and that this is the way most of this lunatics act, he would never have allowed him to continue with this even if it means offending a Cultivator that was already able to use thews.


    "As you wish brother, since we form our brotherhood we should be familiar with each other, and the best way is through a fight. Since the two of us use swords, we should test our skills, but don''t worry I will seal my cultivation to Rank 1 and use the power of the Tower so we can''t harm each other."


    Heinz didn''t wait for Zatiel''s answer before hemanded the tower making a translucent membrane cover both of them, and he restricted his strength before moving a couple of meters away and taking a sword from his space ring.


    Seeing the fighting intent burning in the eyes of the lunatic, Zatiel just shakes his head before he takes his sword and adopts a simple battle position.


    "Brother, I hope you can show me enough trust and disy your true abilities, my oath is still in ce, so there is no need to worry about anyone finding out about any of your secrets."


    Heinz disys a serious expression as his entire aura changed to the one of someone ready to give everything in a fight.


    Zatiel looks at him for a while, before closing his eyes. Even though he didn''t do anything, the same aura that Heinz was disying appeared around him, and as Sophia and Ezequiel saw him, they could feel that the sword in his hand was changing.


    The impression he gives continues bing more and more unique until he opens his eyes. The moment he did, he shed to Heinz direction with his sword piercing in straight to where his throat was.

 Chapter 64: Sword Realm

    The attack of Zatiel was not one you would use in a practice, but the one you will use against someone who you wanted to kill. But this only made Heinz''s blood boil as the thrill of the fight filled him.


    When the sword was about to prate his neck, Heinz parried the attack and shed straight to the eyes of Zatiel with great uracy and carrying all the power of his body.


    Zatiel manages to bend his neck in an impossible angle, dodging the attack, and taking the momentum of his body he reaches Heinz''s side, striking his sword to where his liver would be.


    Heinz rotated his body into the air, moving away from the sword path, before shing his sword straight for Zatiel''s head.


    Zatiel responded to the attack with his sword, making both of them st away. But as soon as they stabilized their body, they shot in the direction of the other and continued with their fight.


    Every attack they made was meant to kill or severely harm their opponent, always aiming for a vital organ or the soft part of the body, and this just became more and more intense as the battle continued.


    Both Heinz and Zatiel had a monstrous domain over their body, allowing them to dodge the attacks by hair-thin distance, and leaving in the perfect position to counterattack.


    Finally, after a couple of hundred moves, they were able to deal with an attack on the other, as Zatiel''s swordnded on Heinz''s forehead, and thest one managed to thrust him into where Zatiel''s heart would be.


    Of course, they were not harmed, as the membrane stops the attacks as if they were nothing, but still, they carried so much power that made the two separate for dozens of meters.


    As if this was a signal, both made their energies explode, making a golden glow appear on Zatiel''s body before a golden me covered him, as for Heinz, a red aura started to materialize engulfing him.


    Once again, they start to sh against the other, this time moving through the entire room, with such a speed that if Sophia and Ezequiel didn''t focus, they would only see a red and golden light impacting each other.


    The more they fight, the greater the strength of the attacks bes, generating explosions of golden and red color that illuminated the entire area.


    From time to time, one of them manage tond an attack on the other, but since they were protected by the membrane unless they manage to reach a power equal to a rank 3 spell, they would not be able to harm each other, so they remain attacking at the vital parts, just like you would do in a fight to the death.


    By this moment, their energy and power remained the same, as they were already releasing all the power they could bring, but their sword attacks became more and more insidious and difficult to predict, always following the most unpredictable path and managing to pierce the defenses of the other.


    They were improving their domain over their weapons as they fight, in Heinz case was because, even though he had great experience with sword fighting, this was messy and without order, only being able to reach a decent level due to the control over his body, but now with an opponent that pressure him to the limit and was showing him a more systematic way of using the sword, his abilities were improving greatly.


    As for Zatiel, in his past life, his mastery over the sword was legendary, but now even though he had his past memories, they were more like a movie he was seeing and not something he lived with his body and soul, but since the knowledge was there, with this fight, he was like a machine that was removing the old and learning to move again.


    Both had great stamina and since they were only using their energy to enhance their speed and strength, they were able to continue their fight for a long time.


    In the face of Zatiel and Heinz was a smile as they felt their ability to improve, especially in thest one as he finally approached a level of mastery in the sword that was mentioned in his cultivation technique.


    As Sophia and Ezequiel saw their fight, they were once again impressed by Zatiel abilities, after all, to them, even though Heinz had limited his power to be at the same level as his, he still had his hundreds of year of experience with the sword and yet they were fighting at an equal level.


    And as the fight continued, when they saw the sword in the hands of both, a strange sensation started to grow in them, as they felt like the sword and hand fuse into a single entity.


    After a couple of hundred more moves, Zatiel separated from Heinz, putting his sword down and calming his energy, making the mes and golden glow disappear, before sitting down and closing his eyes.


    "It is enough for now."


    "But why? We have reached such great momentum!"


    Heinz''s desire for continuing with the battle was evident.


    "Your mind may not be affected, but my consciousness is not strong enough to remain focused for such a long time, I am already at my limit and if I continue, it will be counterproductive."


    In the battle, Zatiel had to split his concentration at his opponent''s sword and his movements at all times, and that mental exhaustion was something that will affect anyone, even him.


    Knowing that Zatiel was right, Heinz could only sigh and retract his red aura as he saved the sword into his ring.


    "Ok, now sit down. I have something to tell you about your sword mastery. Sophia and Little EZ,e here, as this could be helpful for you too."


    If any other Rank 1 being were tomand him, Heinz would certainly punish him for his arrogance, but when he heard Zatiel speak about sword mastery, he sat down immediately followed by Ezequiel and Sophia.


    After a couple of minutes and feeling the pain in his mind vanishing, Zatiel began speaking.


    "From your technique, I take that you haven''t reached the first Sword Realm, and although you have trained for a long time with your swords, you did not follow a systematic progression and most of your abilitiese from the domain you have over your body."


    Sophia and Ezequiel were already used to Zatiel wisdom, but to Heinz, it was mind-blowing, as he could get so much information about him just from the first time they fought.


    "You are right brother, my cultivation technique has a course I can follow all the way to be a Being of Laws, but the part it concerned the domain over the sword is missing and it is just mentioned briefly, and since the Magi World don''t focus on weapon mastery, I have not found a Path Technique that is rted to the sword that can help those of my level."


    "It is best if you manage to reach the first level without following the technique from someone else, and only then using a Path Technique to seek insights for the next levels, if you do it this way your path will be more stable and even if in the future you found yourself with contradictions between your understanding of the sword and the one described in the Path Technique since your base is solid enough, it will not affect you much," Zatiel stops a moment and lets the three understand what he just said.


    "The first realm is known as ''Sword and body as one'', the objective of this realm is not just to see the sword as an extension of your body, but more like a natural part of it, just like a leg or arm," seeing the doubt in the three, Zatiel exins in a more practical way.


    "When you move your arm, do you think of moving it or you just do it, like it is something you have known how to do from the moment you were born. If you manage to achieve that with a sword, you would have reached the first Sword Realm."

 Chapter 65: Business

    "With your abilities and the information I just gave you, it should be enough for you to achieve the first Sword Realm, as for your sword techniques, you are using different ones at the same time and that makes your style sloppy, due to your Rank, I think that you should try to create a sword-art of your own."


    Having ended, Zatiel closed his eyes again and started to meditate to recover from the exhaustion.


    Heinz was truly enlightened, and the feeling he got from Zatiel was something even those elders from his family that had lived thousands of years could notpare.


    ''He is like an abyss, no matter how much you see of it, the end of it is impossible to reach.''


    Seeing that Zatiel was resting, he remained in silence and began to go through the information he received, as it was too important to pass even the smallest detail.


    Ezequiel and Sophia also were meditating, although neither of them used a weapon at the moment, the information could be helpful in the future.


    After a while, Zatiel finally opens his eyes, and the other three follow along.


    "It''s time to discuss the original intention I came here before you bring all that ''sworn brother'' thing, as you know I am a runemaster and I wish to use themercial channels that the empire has to sell my runes and also obtain a great amount of high energy food."


    Zatiel''s original n was to attract the attention of the Tower Master, and since that person should be connected to the empire, he will try to establish a business rtionship with him.


    "Yes, I was able to guess my brother''s intention from your performance outside the tower and then in Clive''s house. Actually brother, you could sell your runes directly to me, I assure you I will give you a price ording to the market value."


    Heinz wasn''t trying to be polite and help Zatiel with his runes, as they are truly helpful to him, and to his subordinates.


    "I don''t have a problem selling to you, but I need someone who can buy a great amount since I am technically a rank 1 runemaster, I n to sell runes in bulk and need someone like the Empire that has connections with a thousand of Rank 1 and 2 beings for which the runes are meant."


    To Zatiel, creating rank 1 runes was easy, and since rune creation enhances his abyss aura, he was nning to create thousands of them.


    Besides, to advance to Rank 2 the amount of energy a Neo-Demon needs is astronomical, especially now with the tribe of kobolds, and obviously, he could not go around killing thousands of Rank 1 creatures as he did with Rank 0.


    "I understand, since that is what you want, I will contact those in the empire that handle this type of transaction and see that they establish a contract with you, but since you are going to use theirmercial paths, sometimes they will request you a determined rune that they need, of course, they will pay for it. The fee for this type of transaction is usually 15%, but I am sure I can make it lower. If you can hand me some of your runes, I could show them directly to those that verify the quality of your work."


    Heinz decided to do his best, after all, the help that Zatiel gave him was something a task like this could not even remotely pay.


    "Good, here you have some Rank 1 runes I created a while ago. We will remain in the tower from the time being, can you handle the living arrangements?"


    Zatiel handed some rank 1 runes that he had created when he was preparing to fight against Erick.


    "These should be more than enough. You can use one of the houses in the fourth floor, usually, Rank 1 being to use those of the first tier, but since they are unupied, you can use those of the third tier, if you want."


    Since the tower was under his control, Heinz could do things as he pleased.


    "We will use those of the first tier, there is no need to call too much attention. We will need two, and one of them needs to have two differentboratories."


    The only practical improvement that those at the third tier have is that they have a higher concentration of natural energy, but to Neo-Demon, absorbing the energies of the world will be too slowpared to consuming powerful creatures.


    "Consider it done, the information about your houses should have arrived at the crystal that you got when you entered the tower. Brother, I don''t think I need to remind you, but Clive will surely target you for what you did. Although I could kill him, that will only make things worse for you."


    The samews that protected Zatiel from Clive, should protect Clive from Heinz, but he was a prince from the Empire and an extremely powerful individual, so at most, they will make a symbolic trial and make himpensate the leader of the Tribus Family.


    To any group, a Rank 2 is certainly a core member, and if Heinz were to kill him, since they could not harm him, the leader from his family wille for Zatiel, so in the end, he would just be changing an enemy for a more powerful one.


    "I know, don''t worry. I can handle a Rank 2 Magus. I will be leaving now. Call me when they give you an answer about the business. Before I go, when you try to create your sword-art, remember don''t go for an extremely bnced style but one that suits you perfectly, filling your gaps and enhancing your strong point, something that is average in everything is of no use, especially since you use thew of killing."


    To Zatiel, enhancing your strong point should always be a priority.


    Heinz nodded and proceeded to wave his hand and created a portal in which the trio entered and disappeared from the room.


    .....


    The moment Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia appear on the floor, numerous consciousnesses arrive at the area. This was normal as they had made quite amotion before being called to the house of a Rank 2 being.


    Most of them thought that it was the end for the three, but not much timeter, they arrived on the fourth floor, and by the look, they already had a house arranged for them.


    Zatiel couldn''t care less for these people, so he entered his house apanied by Sophia, and Ezequiel entered the one next door.


    Thest time he was in one of these houses, he was brought directly to John, and didn''t have the chance of exploring the ce. The design was simple and efficient, there was a dinner area, a ce to sleep and twoboratories, together with a zone meant for testing spells, almost identical to the one in the house for an apprentice, but there was a big difference, and this was the presence of a podium in one room with a formation in the ground.


    This podium worked as a catalog for the things essible in the tower that includes magical material and meat from powerful life-forms.


    By using the formation you could deposit the magic crystal and make what you bought appear directly here.


    As Zatiel was assessing the ce, he felt a body pressed against his back and a couple of hands started to go through his body, before hearing someone whisper directly into his ear.


    "It has been a long time since we were alone, shouldn''t we enjoy ourselves a little?"


    The seduction in Sophia''s voice was evident as she pressed her body harder against Zatiel''s, and her hand reached some sensitive areas.


    Zatiel was greatly aroused as he turned around and without a word, he removed her clothes exposing her body that could arouse desire in any being, before pressing her against the wall.


    During the entire day, moans of pleasure could be heard through the house.

 Chapter 66: Supreme skill from hard work

    Zatiel was in hisboratory and was deciding which runes will be the first he will sell to the Empire.


    Since the objective was making vast amounts of wealth, he needs them to be those that can be used by most of the Rank 1 and 2 beings, with few restrictions for the user, and that was not present for the moment in the market.


    "A.I. Chip, show me the most profitable runes in my memories and make sure that there is at least some notion of them appearing previously in the Magi World. Also, they need to be hard enough to push my abilities as a Rank 1 Runemaster to the limit."


    Zatiel knows that if he started to show some unheard runes, it would raise suspicion since technically, he had never left the world. Still, if they were mentioned in the history, even if it was just some words about them, he could just say that they were found in some ruins or ancientboratories.


    As for the difficulty part, he was going to try to achieve something as he works on these runes, and if they don''t present a challenge, it will not work.


    [Bip... going through the runes in the database that fulfill host requests.


    Search done...


    Disying runes:


    Ecolocalization: High-Rank 1 rune. It allows the user to scan his surroundings by generating a high-frequency sound that will impact on the objects. This rune''s principal function is not the generation of the sound but the interpretation of intensity, time, and frequency ording to the spatial position of the object that generates it. Its advantage over the use of the consciousness is that the possibility of the target detecting it is lesser, and the range is higher.


    Hunters Mark: Middle-Rank 1 rune. It allows you to put a mark on a target without this one knowing. Your target must be within 10 meters from you to nt the mark. Once marked, you will know the target''s specific position as long they are less than 200 kilometers from you. If it is used on a Rank 2 being, the probability of the target detecting the runes is high due to the unique characteristics of their consciousness.


    Magic Shield: Peak-Rank 1 rune. This rune must be charged before it can be used. The charging period takes around an hour for a Master-Rank 1 being andsts a week. Once charged, this rune can release all the energy saved to generate an invisible barrier of magic force that can withstand between 80 and 100 degrees of damage. Due to the spontaneous and high degree of energy that runs through this rune when activated, it can be recharged post-use between 3 to 5 times before bing obsolete.]


    ''All of those runes will sell pretty well as their uses are plenty, especially the Magic Shield since it is practically another life. Since they will need to buy it more than one time, the profits of it will be very high.


    As for the difficulty of these runes, it is high enough that even those genius rank 1 runemaster will find it challenging to create,'' Zatiel was satisfied with these runes. So he went to the podium and used it to buy the necessary material to create them, along with leather from powerful creatures.


    The leather will be used to inscribe the runes. He will use special ones, making the decline in the efficiency diminish as much as possible.


    Although in Erick''s ring, there were many magic crystals, since it was practically the wealth the Magus gathered during hundreds of years, once he ended up buying the materials, he was almost broke, as the amount he needed to train was immense.


    Without wasting time, he heads to hisboratory and prepares to work. But Zatiel did not begin immediately, he meditated during an entire day before starting.


    As always, the first part of rune creation was processing the material. Although this was a purely practical task and anyone could do it, it was essential. As the quality of the work will affect the result.


    If the job is done mediocrely, you run the risk of creating something without even 50% of the real power. If it was made correctly, then the finished product could be even better than the optimal one described in the diagram.


    Zatiel''s work was wless like always, with excellent precision and never taking one second less or more than the time needed as he processed the material. After a batch of materials was finished, the inscribing began. With the chip''s help, he was able to generate even the smallest part of the runes with almost nanometric precision. His hand moved steady and without stopping even once until the work was done.


    When he finished, what was left in front of him was a piece of beast skin with a beautiful glowing rune inscribed on it. It made those who see it feel that the natural energy of the world was dancing around it.


    Without a moment of pause, he starts to work on the next rune, with the same amazing abilities. Once a rune was finished, he began immediately with the next one. Every time he did, it took him a little less time, and the finished work was a bit better than the previous one.


    What Zatiel was doing was perfecting his abilities as a Rank 1 Runemaster. Since he didn''t have a pressing task and was able to get enough material in his hands for a long session of work, he could finally focus his entire mind on it and try and achieve the Kung Fu of Rank 1 runemaster.


    Kung Fu was an ancient word that Zatiel had heard in his first life. It was incorrectly associated with some types of martial arts when, in reality, it was much more profound and covered all kinds of skills. Kung Fu means ''supreme skill from hard work''. Anyone that has mastered something can have Kung Fu.


    As Zatiel worked, the quote from a great sage came to his head.


    "Practice. Preparation. Endless repetition. Until your mind is weary, and your bones ache. Until you''re too tired to sweat, too wasted to breathe. That is the way, the only way one acquires kung fu."


    He worked until his vision began to blur due to the exhaustion and his hands shaken, only then he stopped, but didn''t leave, as he just sits to meditate right where he was. After a couple of hours, when he was in peak condition, he took some food from his ring, and after eating it, he started to work again. His action could be resumed into three simple words; start, finish, repeat.


    Sophia came from time to time to watch him. But seeing his concentration, she didn''t dare disturb him, waiting for him to meditate before removing the waste that his work created and letting him continue.


    Zatiel''s objective was simple, he will achieve Kung Fu of Rank 1 Runemaster, making his path in the future a smooth and powerful one. As he continued, the days started to pass. However, he remained still, not moving from where he was, doing the same thing day after day. Each time he finished one rune, it was more impable than the previous one.


    On the third day of work, Heinz came to his house to inform him that two members of the Empire hade to establish the business contract. Sophia received and took him to Zatiel. Seeing the focus he was disying, Heinz did not disturb him and told Sophia to contact him when he finished.


    As the runes umted, Zaitel reached a point where he entered a trance. His movement started to be automatic without even the need to think, just performing them. It became a natural reaction to his body, just like breathing.


    It was on this, the ninth day, that he entered this state, and he achieved the Kung Fu of Rank 1 Runemaster. From this point on, every time he creates a rank 1 rune, the process will be so natural to him that it will be almost instinctive.


    Zatiel was so focused on his work that he didn''t realize this and continued inscribing runes. It was only at the end of the tenth day when the materials were finished that he stopped andy down in the ground to sleep.

 Chapter 67: Are these good enough

    Zatiel was sleeping in his bed, and his head was resting on Sophia''sp. She had brought him here when she found him sleeping in the ground.


    Sophia was looking at Zatiel sleeping face. In her eyes, you could see untainted love and devotion apanied by a beautiful smile as she caresses his hair and ys with his face, asionally pricking his cheeks, making her giggle.


    "Your face is so handsome when you''re sleeping," Sophia had always found Zatiel attractive. Still, when he is awake, his expression is always focused and alert, even when he is making a joke that was still present. Yet, now he was so calm that his charm was released entirely.


    As Sophia continues looking at him, she starts to chuckle. A mischievous smile rose on her face as some dark ink appeared on her finger and was going to drop on Zatiel''s face.


    "You are having a little too much fun, don''t you think," Sophia was like a cat when it is stepped on the tail as she hears Zatiel voice in her head and saw a smile that appeared on his lips.


    Zatiel wasughing as he stands up and stretches his body, making cracking sounds due to having stay in the same position for ten days in a row


    "When did you wake up!" Sophia was embarrassed as she has been acting like a little girl all this time and wanted to know how much Zatiel saw.


    "Don''t worry, I was awakened by your spell. Whenever there is an increase in energy around me, my consciousness perceives it and makes me regain my focus. It is a little trick you learn with time." Zatiel makes it sound simple, but having your subconscious always active with the task of scanning all in your surroundings and having it send a signal whenever something happens, takes a lot of training.


    "You better be telling the truth. Since you are awake, I must tell you that Heinz came here to look for you, due to some people of the Empireing about a business transaction."


    "When did hee?"


    "Seven days ago, you were so focused on your work that I didn''t dare disturb you."


    "He came way faster than I thought. This will be troublesome." Annoyance could be seen in Zatiel''s face as he thinks what will happen, due to him not showing up.


    "Do you think Heinz will bring you trouble?" Although Heinz has been acting friendly with them, Sophia has known him for a very short time, so she didn''t exactly trust him.


    "If he was the type of person who goes against his words, he would have never reached his level as a cultivator or understood aw so direct as killing. So he really sees me as some type of brother, and of course, he wouldn''t bother me for something so insignificant as a couple of days of wait. The problemes from the people that came from the Empire."


    Zatiel knows that most people who are part of a powerful organization see themselves as someone better than the rest, even if they are weak. So those two people who came must be displeased that they were made to wait by some ''unimportant character''.


    "Whatever, let''s end it fast, so I can go back to training." Zatiel grabs his runes and uses the crystal to contact Heinz.


    .....


    Heinz was training with his sword making different attacks against an immense wall. A red glow filled every attack and created different sword marks. Every attack was different, creating diverse phenomenons like red rain that generates holes of fifteen centimeters with every drop. Or a concentrated sword beam than when itnds makes thousands of small cuts in the surroundings, filled with killing intent.


    And despite their differences, every single one created a window for an endless amount of possibilities.


    After Zatiel told him about creating a sword-art of his own and having contacted the people that handle the business contracts, he dedicated all of his time to this.


    Although creating a sword art of your own is hard, Heinz had hundreds of years of practice. With the insights that got off the fight with Zatiel and his immense cognitive abilities, he was able toplete a part of it in days. Although it will take a long time for it to be perfected, the foundation was already made.


    In this room were two men looking at the Heinz from a distance, an old and a middle-aged one. Both had simr faces denoting some type of intimate connection. In the body of the two, there was no clear domain of some kind of natural energy, meaning that they followed the Arcane Path.


    Both were looking at the attacks of Heinz. Some fear was present in their eyes. They knew that if the cultivator did not contain his energy and released all, the power in any of those attacks would be enough to kill the two of them in seconds.


    "Master I don''t understand, the Magi Path is supposed to be the strongest there is, but the prince''s attacks are even more powerful than other individuals in his same rank, and it is obvious that he is holding back."


    The middle-aged man had brown hair, his eyes were green, and he had a square face.


    "The path that the prince is following is that of Sword Cultivator, a very powerful path in offense. The reason the Magi Path is supposed to be the strongest is that it is the mostplete path in this world, but it looks like his Highness has made significant progress in his own."


    The old man also had brown hair, but there was some grey in between. He was looking closely at the attacks Heinz was doing, searching for the smallest clue about his use of thews, in case he got lucky and got some inspiration.


    The middle-aged man nodded before showing a displeased expression and murmuring to the old man, "Master, we have been waiting for more than a week, and that person has not shown up. He is merely a Rank 1 Runemaster, and his work is average, yet he dares to make us wait."


    "There is nothing we can do. If we leave, we will be offending his Highness," although the old man was also displeased, it was just a little, as seeing someone use thews was of great help for individuals of his Rank.


    Both men were important people that handled business rted to runes through the Empire. Usually, they will not supervise a contract with a Rank 1 Runemaster. Still, since Heinzmanded someone toe in the least possible time, they were sent as there was no one else avable. But when they arrived, they were told that the person was doing some critical experiment and they needed to wait.


    This infuriated both, but they did not dare to argue with Heinz, so they just waited.


    Heinz knows of the anger of the couple. If it was just the middle-age man, he would have not cared, but the old man was someone important in the Empire, so as an apology, he allows the two to see him practice.


    All of a sudden, Heinz stopped his attacks and moved his hand, making a portal appear, and from it, Zatiel showed up.


    When Zatiel appears in the room, he focuses on the two men.


    ''Even though there are following the Arcane Path, the two are stronger than Clive, especially the old man.'' Walking up to the two, he made a small bow as he introduced himself. "Greetings members of the Empire, I am Zatiel Daybreak. I apologize for the dy, but there was an experiment that could not be stopped."


    The old man looks at Zatiel for a moment before signaling the middle-age man and focuses on the sword scars left in the walls.


    The middle-aged man didn''t stand up, and he neither tried to hide the annoyance in his face.


    "I am Nein, senior manager of the Imperial Commercial Association. I will go straight to the topic since you already made us waste so much time. Your runes are barely passable to be sold through ourmercial channels. The only reason we came here was due to his Highness request. If the ones you showed were the best you can make, I advise you to wait and improve your abilities. Since there are much better runes in the market that fulfill almost the same function than the ones you show. "


    Although Nein did undercut the quality of the runes Zatiel handed to Heinz, they were indeed only average amongst Rank 1 runes since they were made when he was Rank 0 and were his first work as a Rank 1 Runemaster.


    There were several ways that Zatiel could handle the situation, the simplest one would have been to use Heiz to pressure them. But he has never been someone that liked to ask for help and prefers to handle things by his own means.


    Zatiel moved his hand, and from the spatial ring, a stack of runes came out. "Are these good enough to be sold through the empire channels?"

 Chapter 68: Performing over their limits

    The moment Nein saw that significant amount of runes, the first thing that came to his mind wasn''t surprise, but disdain, as he has seen this type of performance more than once.


    ''Hmph, using quantity over quality to make your skill look better than they are, these are probably sub-rank runes that all they do is take the body''s capacity and give an insignificant boost.''


    An individual has a limit at the capacity of runes his body can bear. This is corrted to the energy and vitality of the body. So unless the rune can offer an improvement they can use in the long run they usually don''t spend their money on them.


    This is why most Rank 1 life forms don''t possess a rune and often save their money and wait to find a more suitable rune in the future. Besides, most of the basic runes can be reced by spells that are easier to obtain.


    Even though Nein was sure that going through these runes will be a waste of time, he was smart enough to know that Zatiel had some type of rtion with Heinz. Offending a prince from the Empire was not something he could afford to do.


    He will check these runes and then have a solid excuse to reject or put very harsh conditions in the contract.


    Nein took the piles of beast skin and started to appraise the inscriptions in one of them. The moment he did, he was surprised, but being someone who has lived hundreds of years, he was able to control his expression so the rest didn''t notice, or at least they chose not toment on it.


    ''These runes are not mere low-grade Rank 1 runes, the inscription that all of them carry is veryplicated, and there is not a single mistake in any of them. The precision and control needed to do this are impressive,'' Although he could not know the effect of the runes by just looking at them, Nein was a Rank 1 runemaster. He was approaching the level of Rank 2, so he was able to detect the general Rank of the work that Zatiel did.


    For the first time since he enters the room, Nein gives a detailed look at Zatiel.


    ''The amount of energy in his body is between Advanced and Master level of Rank 1, so if he made these, his talent is impressive.''


    Nein went back to the runes. This time carefully organizing them before he started to go from one on one, to see if the same quality was in all or there were some inferior ones in between.


    The old man had all of his focus in the red glow that was left in the sword marks and had not paid any attention to the runes that Zatiel left. Still, when he noticed the change in Nein''s attitude and the care he was giving his work, he became intrigued.


    Especially when he saw the surprise in the middle-age man so much. That he was not even bothering in hiding it anymore, as he was reaching the runes at the end that were different from the rest.


    There were only three types of runes in that stack, but the quality varied, especially the ones at the end, that were made on the ninth and tenth day.


    The old man moved his hand, and three runes at the end moved by themselves and reached his palm, and as he judged them, his eyes narrowed before he looked at Zatiel.


    "What is the name of these runes?"


    Although the old man''s voice was indifferent, it carried great pressure that will make any Rank 1 quiver.


    "They are Ecolocalization, Hunters Mark, and Magic Shield."


    Zatiel remained calm without fear as he stared back at the old man.


    The old man was a little surprised by Zatiel''sposure, but after hearing the names, he focused on the runes again. He took a strange orb from his spatial ring and put a rune over it before filling it with energy.


    When the orb appears, Heinz and Nein concentrate on it, waiting for the result to happen.


    The orb started to glow, and the rune began to float over it as a small hologram of a humanoid appeared. A strange tattoo starts to generate over the man, beginning in his throat, extending to the back of his ears.


    The humanoid roared, and no sound came out. In the hologram, you could see how a sound wave was generated, expanding with the man at the center, before returning. The runes in the back of the ears started to glow. The hologram ended, and a screen with the information describing the effect of the rune appeared.


    The old man''s face was severe, and without wasting time, he took the next rune and put it above the orb recing the previous one.


    Another hologram appears, but this time two humanoids were shown. On the first, a tattoo appeared on his arm, the man activated the rune. In the second humanoid, an invisible dot was sticking. The two humanoids separated inside the hologram until the rune glow turned off. Like before, the effects of the rune were disyed.


    Although his expression was moreposed this time, the old man was still impressed by it, and he put the final rune in the orb.


    The hologram with the humanoid was generated. A tattoo that covered a significant part of the upper chest appeared, before starting to glow as an invisible barrier covers him. A great ball of fire wasunched against the humanoid, generating an immense explosion. When the mes vanished, the humanoid was unharmed, and the barrier remained.


    The moment the old man and Nein saw this, they were both shocked.


    "Master, how much power did that spell carry?"


    "100 degrees of damage, and yet the barrier remained without a problem." The reason for the surprise of the old man was different from Nein, he had lived a long time and was a Rank 2 Runemaster with the ability to inscribe some Rank 3 runes.


    He had heard of the rune known as ''Magic Shield,'' and although it was rare to find it on the open market, some in the Empire were kept for personal use.


    He knew that the maximum degree of damage that the rune can handle is supposed to be 100 degrees, yet this one remained standing after that.


    There were several ways of making a rune disy power over the theoretical limit, like recing the material in the diagram for simr ones of a higher rank.


    But this was counterproductive as the value that the rune would be inferior to the cost it took to make it.


    The old man keeps looking at the rune for a long time, even using his consciousness to assess it. He was able to determine that the reason for its performance was due to a sublime work all the way from the processing of the material to the inscription, which could only be achieved with great talent.


    The old man focuses on Zatiel for a long time trying to see something from his expression. Still, he remains calm and indifferent no matter how long he looks at him.


    Once again, activating the orb, the same scene appeared. A more powerful explosion of fire reached the barrier, yet it remained.


    On the third trial, the barrier finally broke. Yet, the amount of power that reached the humanoid only made some light injuries and nothing more.


    When the screen with the rune''s effect appeared, both the old man and Nein were shocked.


    "Master, it was able to withstand 135 degrees of damage!"


    "Yes, It is a Rank 1 rune with a power simr to a Low-grade-Rank 2 rune. I guess I don''t have to tell you what this means and themercial value of this rune."


    Heinz was looking from the side and didn''t understand how the assessment of a runemaster works. But he was able to get that the runes Zatiel created were truly impressive from the expression of the two.


    When Zatiel first shows up, the expression of both was of indifference and annoyance, but now when they saw him, there was intrigue and praise.

 Chapter 69: Business partner

    The reason why the value of the enhanced ''Magic Shield'' was so great is simple. First, it has the effects of a Low-grade Rank 2 Rune. Still, it only needs the energy from a typical Rank 1 being to be activated, without causing any problems or diminishing their reserve to a dangerous level. Second, despite the other two runes having effects over their limits, not everyone needs a higher sensor or to mark an enemy. Still, no one wouldn''t need a powerful barrier that could save their lives.


    The old man begins to assess all the runes left and realize that there was a progressive advancement in the quality of the work. There were only a few of the runes that could disy a performance beyond their theoretical limits. He took this as a disy of the talent and hard work of Zatiel through the years.


    The old man''s guess was technically right. Zatiel was indeed talented and used the millennia of years of knowledge as a runemaster in his previous life to reach this level in such a little time.


    "I haven''t introduced myself, my name is Tritus Fonder, Vice-Head of the Empire Commercial Association. May I know your age, and how long have you been a runemaster?" Tritus could feel a great vitality in Zatiel, meaning he wasn''t very old. Still, the term could be rtive. After all, Heinz was also considered someone young, and his body was full of life, but he has lived hundreds of years.


    "I am less than thirty years old, as for my time as a runemaster, it''s been almost ten years since I inscribed my first rune."


    Zatiel didn''t feel the need to lie; after all, the identity of a genius will be helpful. For greed, anyone who knows the most essential thing about runes will be able to tell that the reason for their performance was just excellent work and nothing more.


    Tritus suspected that Zatiel was very young. But hearing that he was not even half a century greatly surprised him since he felt the high power on his body.


    That, together with the fact that he had trained as a runemaster for less than a decade, was enough to shock him.


    ''This person is an absolute genius in all aspects. There have been cases of talented runemaster that, due to the low amount of energy, cannot advance with their skills on inscriptions because of their Rank. But this will not be the problem here,'' The old man put a thoughtful expression as he evaluates some things.


    As for the chance of lying, no Rank 1 being will do something so stupid, that can be found out with ease through the record from the Tower, so Tritus trusted Zatiel words.


    As the old man deliberated, Nein was looking at Zatiel as if he was a monster. He has lived for hundreds of years, but his skills as a runemaster are inferior to the young man in front of him. In these cases, most individuals would feel envy and anger against those more skilled than them.


    But Magi are rational beings and bing an enemy of someone just because he is better than you was stupid. So besides shock, there was only praise in the middle-aged man''s mind.


    "It has been a long time since I saw someone so talented and young, I wonder if you would like to join the association as an internal runemaster?"


    By the aptitudes that Zatiel was showing, Tritus was sure that he would be a Rank 2 Runemaster in the future. If he continues improving himself, Rank 3 was possible, and having someone like that working under him would be extremely rewarding and helpful for his advancement.


    Although Zatiel''s expression was respectful to the old man, his proposal''s absence of interest was evident. Still, Tritus was not someone who would give up so easily.


    "Before you answer, let me tell you. If you join the association, we will give you all the materials and diagrams you need to practice your skill as a runemaster for free. Also, you will get 100% of the revenue your runes get on the market. Besides, we will also proportionate whatever resources you need for your ascension in the Ranks. Of course, there will be conditions and some tasks you need to realize, but I promise that it will be nothingpared to what you will get."


    The proposition that Tritus was offering was something anyone would want. Practically they give you all the things you need to enhance your abilities as runemaster and your power. Also, you will get a background that will protect you and ensure your safety.


    Despite all that, Zatiel wasn''t interested. Even though the deal sounds impressive, it will surely connect him to the Empire. Thus making him a center of attention of influential individuals due to his consistently extraordinary skills and will restrict his actions.


    Of course, he could be with them for the time being and leave them in the future, but he was sure that those connections would not break so easily, as no one would let a genius escape his grasp.


    "I thank Lord for hispliment and greatly appreciate his offer. But I don''t have the desire to join any type of power for the time being, and would like to remain a simple member of the Empire."


    Zatiel''s words were simple but also hinted that it was not just with the Empire that he didn''t want to create a connection, but any organization.


    "I see, although it is disappointing, I will not press the subject since you strike me as someone who doesn''t change his mind easily. Since we''re not going to be part of the same organization, I hope that we can create a profitable business rtionship."


    Although it was not what he wanted, having a connection with a genius was always helpful, so the attitude of Tritus was amicable.


    "You have handed 65 runes, divided into three different types, with two groups of 25 of ''Ecolocalization'' and ''Hunter''s Mark'', and a group of 15 of ''Magic Shield''. Runes that have an effect close to their theoretical power or not too great of a difference will be sold with a market value ording to their ranks. As for those runes that perform over their limits, for the first two, they will be sold at 1.5 their original price, and thest will be sold at 2.5. Usually, themission we charge for allowing an external individual to use ourmercial channels is 15%."


    When he reached this part, Tritus saw that Heinz signaled with his eyes and the old man nodded


    "But this time, we will charge just 8% since you are a member of his Highness group."


    After hearing this, Zatiel saw Heinz and gave a small bow, "Thank you, Your Highness."


    Heinz only nodded and signaled for Tritus to continue.


    "To all runemaster that wish to generate business transactions with the Empire, there is a use in the contract that allows us tomission them to create a rune of our election, two times a year. The difficulty for the rune will be ording to your Rank as a runemaster. We will provide the diagram and three sets of materials. If, after those three sets, you still haven''t created the rune, you will have to use your money until you manage to do it. There are the main conditions of the contract, do you have a problem with any of them?"


    Tritus'' expertise in this field was evident as he exined all the aspects of the contract with rity.


    "I have none, but can 50% of the revenue be transformed into high energy food instead of magic crystals?"


    Although Zatiel could buy the carcasses directly from the Tower, the amount of Rank 1 creatures in here was limited. It will be more practical getting them from the Empire right away.


    This type of request was not umon as most individuals do not really need magic crystals, and what they want is resources for experiments or to be used in their path techniques. Tritus nodded without much thought, taking a contract from his ring and making some alterations before handing it to Zatiel


    "Here is the contract, there are arge number of uses that include all types of situations. I have changed the part of the revenue to be divided into high energy food and magic crystal equally. Feel free to revise it."


    Zatiel took the contract and began reading it. All the points Tritus mentioned were there, and in essence, it says that he will create a purely business transaction with the Empire. This will bring no help whatsoever to him, besides selling his runes. But thanks to that, he will be able to break that rtion whenever he wants, without repercussion of any kind.


    After signing it, he returned it to the old man who took two crystals, with one he scanned the contract and the other handed it to Zatiel.


    "With this crystal, you will be able to see when your runes are sold and how much stock of them remains on the market. Also, it will allow you to contact us to deliver more runes. If 75% of your runes have not been sold yet, we can refuse to take more from you, and when at least 30% is sold, you can request your payment. That is all, do you have any questions?"


    "No, thank you for your help," Zatiel gave a small bow to the two. Before they were acting with arrogance, but now since they were showing him respect, he would reciprocate.


    "There is no need for our young friend to thank us, it is our job. Your Highness we have been here a long time already, we must leave,"


    Tritus and Nein say their farewell to Zatiel and Heinz, before thest created a portal in which they disappeared.


    Now that they were alone, Heinz''s attitude changed to a more rxed one as he came to Zatiel and patted him on the shoulder as heughed.


    "I knew my brother was talented, but not to the level that you could make those two forget the fact that you made them wait seven days. You never cease to amaze me."


    The reason why Heinz was acting differently before, was because letting others know that he has some type of rtion with Zatiel was fine, as he could just say he was his subordinate. Still, if he shows a genuine connection, it will be dangerous, as the inner schemes from the Empire were always present. The cultivator was not someone so naive to let others find out his soft spots.


    "There are very few things in the universe that with the right knowledge, and the power to apply can''t be done. Anyway, since I am here, should we practice?" Zatiel was happy to finish with this. It will allow him to focus his mind on enhancing his power and not bother with resources and feel in the mood for some training.


    "Hahaha, you don''t have to ask me twice."

 Chapter 70: Path to Rank 2

    In one of his house''s rooms meant for training where the concentration of the natural energy was the greatest, Zatiel was meditating. Every fixed time, he would take from his spatial ring a cube of meat and devour it. The moment it reached his stomach, it was immediately converted into pure energy that flooded his body.


    It has been five months since he signed the contract with Tritus to sell his runes through the Empire. They were really sessful because even though he was a new runemaster that no one has heard about, the reputation of the association was excellent. People know that they would not sell mediocre products, so after hearing the effects of the runes, they were sold at an impressive rate.


    A month ago, his runes werepletely sold out, and he had to create another batch. This time the number of runes that were able to perform beyond their limits was almost a third, greatly impressing the Rank 0 Runemaster that came to take them.


    With the wealth he obtained, he divided the food and magic crystals into four. Giving a quarter to Sophia and Ezequiel for their experiment and enhancement in power, leaving 35% for him and saving the rest for the kobolds.


    Although those cubes don''t look tasty and appear just likepressed meat, the reality was that the taste and energy inside were impressive since it was entirely made from Rank 1 creatures. They were made from carcasses that the Empire bought or creatures that they raise as livestock. A Rank 1 Magus would take a day to digest, but to a Neo-Demon, barely an hour was needed before they could consume another.


    As the energy fills his body, Zatiel divides it into four strands and sends them to his two hearts. Two of those strands were sent to the golden sun and the chaotic core that improves his energy pool. The other two entered directly to the cells that formed those hearts, enhancing the speed at which they were transforming.


    Neo-Demons were a race that focuses on their bodies and energies, both equally important. For the advancement in the Ranks, they need to increase their abyss aura and also transform their organs. In Rank 1, this transformation begins with their hearts. They have to grow the Bloodline Heart to a mature state and finish the transformation of the original heart into an Elemental Chaos Heart.


    Elemental Chaos was an energy of an even higher level than abyss aura. Taking small parts that the Chaotic Core generates and fusing them into their original heart is the first step a Neo-Demon must take for transforming themself into a life form so unique that they will be able to use this type of raw and dangerous energy directly with their bodies and soul, something even demons can''t do.


    As for the Bloodline Heart, it was created when the Neo-Demon advance to Rank 1. But it is notpleted and must be fully matured so more bloodlines can be assimted in the future.


    Due to these characteristics and the significant changes they go through, the amount of energy a Neo-Demon needs to consume to advance to the next Rank is monstrous. To the point that the resources required for ten Rank 1 Magus to progress to Rank 2 is the same as Rank 1 Neo-Demon needs.


    You have to understand that the Magi Path is a top tier path of the universe.


    As for Zatiel''s case, this was special. Since his bloodline was of such a high degree, the amount of energy needed to mature his Bloodline Heart was almost twice the one Sophia and Ezequiel would use, despite the difference in their bloodline being of a single grade.


    And he also needs to improve his second source of energy thates from the golden sun.


    Zatiel''s path would transform him into a ck hole for resources, always needing more. Despite the difficulty, as he advances, his superiority over the rest will be more evident.


    After depleting the energy that thest cube of food gave him, Zatiel opens his eyes. Using his consciousness, he starts to assess his condition.


    "A.I. Chip, show me the current status of my body and disy how much I have advanced with my two hearts."


    [Bip... analyzing the host...


    Strength: 41.6


    Physique: 61.2


    Speed: 59.4


    Abyss Aura: 66.1


    Sun Force: 62.3


    Bloodline Heart: 13%pleted


    Elemental Chaos Heart: 17%pleted]


    "I have a long way to go and as I advance the amount of resources I will need will only grow up. My speed is eptable for now, but if I continue at this rate, it would take me another thirty years to advance to Rank 2. I need to get my own Magic Tower, with that I will be able to obtain all the energy that I need, but they are really expensive and since signing a contract to be part of an organization as an individual, is not an option, I will have to find a different way."


    For Zatiel, it may be slow. But to any other person in the Magi World, advancing to Rank 2 before half-century was a disy of talent only achievable for those geniuses that only show up every couple of millennia. That was if they only focus on their raw power, not dividing their times with other things. Still, they are expensive to nurture, and they were part of a great power that would provide them with the best resources that exist. But being someone that was able to rise from an ant to an Overlord, his standards were almost impossible for anyone to achieve.


    "It''s enough for now," Zatiel stood up and went to hisboratory where some resources were in the final stage of processing and transformed into raw material for rune crafting.


    For Zatiel, his power''s improvement is a priority, as it was the cornerstone of every mighty existence in the universe. After all, no matter how good you are in rune crafting, if someone is powerful enough, they could just take it from you. But being an old monster and the creator of Neo-Demons, he knows that the improvement of his energy and body must be a gradual and systematic process. His body needs to rest from time to time to adjust to his changes. Otherwise, it runs the risk of generating a w in his transformation. This will make his future path difficult, like putting too much pressure into his Elemental Chaos Heart or Bloodline Heart, injuring them.


    There were diverse resources in front of Zatiel. All of them were already processed into raw material. From each one, the amount of natural energy you could perceive was higher than the one needed for any kind of Rank 1 rune.


    "Excellent, the processing was done without a w. Now the challenging partes, that it is inscribing the rune. However, creating it with a 100% certainty will require a set of skills that I don''t currently have. The sooner I create this rune, the better, as the amount of time it will save me is great."


    Zatiel was concentrating, and his mind was focused on this task, as the importance of this rune was incredible. The cost of the material was so high that even after using almost all the magic crystals he keeps for him, he could only buy three sets.


    Zatiel took a piece of skin from his ring and assessed his quality before nodding.


    "Using the skin of a rank 2 magic creature will allow me to retain almost all the efficacy of this rune. It will be preferable to inscribe it directly into my body, but if I were to do it, my chances of sess are less than 3%."


    Since enhancing his power only needs him to direct the energy to his organs and hearts since they absorb it for themselves, it doesn''t create an enormous strain on his mind. So after resting a couple of minutes, he starts the inscription.


    His eyes were focused, and his hands were steady, like always, as he started. The lines and figures that were part of this rune were thousands. They were interconnected in hundreds of ways. Some of them were so minimal that they were undetectable for the naked eye. You needed to have a consciousness, more potent than the one a Rank 1 being would have to see them. Still, Zatiel was able to use his A.I. Chip to guide him through these parts, generating a sort of hologram in his mind that shows him these invisible lines.


    As the hour''s pass, the lines start to take form inside the creature''s skin, and you could see how a palm-size rune was being conceived from hundreds of merged lines and figures, yet the unseen ones were thousands. The process was slow, and the concentration of Zatiel had to be absolute, exhausting him greatly.


    It was on the seventh hour of work when almost a fourth of the runes was remaining to be done. Due to the exhaustion and the fact that he could not see most of the lines and had to guide himself by the illusion in his mind created by the chip, Zatiel made a mistake.

 Chapter 71: Eye Tyrant

    This mistake would not make the rune useless. Still, it will definitely hinder Zatiel''s prowess. That was something he could not afford since it must be created correctly, or else its use will be almost null, so he just put it on the side and closed his eyes to rest.


    After a couple of hours, he was back in his top condition. After reviewing the rune in his head and identifying the mistakes he made, he took another piece of beast skin and a set of raw materials to start working.


    Just like the first time, Zatiel starts the inscribing process with high concentration, creating the rune lines and forms with absolute precision. When he reached the part where he made a mistake thest time, he was able to ovee it. Yet when the rune reached 85% ofpletion, he made an error.


    As he saw the small w in the rune, Zatiel''s eyes became cold, filled with anger and annoyance. Still, after a few seconds, he breathes deeply before going back to normal. Although in his old memories, the difficulties he had to suffer were way greater than this, he has never been someone with great patience for this type of thing. After all, demons were known for their short temper.


    In the beginning in the Abyss, he was basically an automaton directed by the chip. When he became strong enough to have clear and conscious thought, his soul was strong enough to maintain absolute control over his feelings. So he was always able to maintain control over his emotions during his time in the Abyss.


    "Haaa, even with the chip, inscribing this rune is tooplex. Since after 60% is aplished, the lines and forms are so small and in such a great quantity and interconnecting in so many different ways that using the illusion in my mind is not feasible enough. As trying to pass what I see in it to the beast skin is almost impossible."


    Zatiel could only sigh as he put the rune to the side and started to meditate to improve his condition. As he rested, he used the connection of the cores to send a small part of his consciousness and see what Sophia and Ezequiel were doing in order to distract himself a little and clear his mind.


    The first one he saw was Ezequiel. The boy was in theboratory of his house, and on a surgeon''s table was the three-meter tall automaton that Zatiel defeated when he advanced to Rank 1. Ezequiel was dismantling the automaton piece by piece in an organized and careful way, always scanning every part of it and making notes, trying to figure out how one worked with the rest.


    "Reverse engineering, very smart, he is going to disarm it piece by piece. When he is finished, he will try to put it back together, giving him an idea of how it works and figuring out the secrets of the Magic Creator behind the manufacturing of the humanoid weapon. By the annotation and conjectures he is making, I can take that he is advancing at a frightening speed. This must be the famous wisdom and intelligence that made Storm Titans so remarkable, that plus his hard work will make his abilities as a magic creator equal to mine as runemaster."


    Zatiel was truly happy for the boy. After all, the strongest he bes, the greater the help he would be able to provide to him and the rest of the race.


    Having seen enough, he was going to check on Sophia next, but became a little hesitant, as the woman had warned him that he must notify her when he wants to see her. The moment his consciousness reaches her, he realizes the reason for the secrecy, and Zatiel didn''t know whether tough or cry.


    The mighty Neo-Demon woman who has assimted the bloodline of the infamous and terrifying Styx dragon, a race so mighty that it could make demons and devils feel fear, was sleeping over a pile of food cubes in apletely rxed state.


    By her condition, it was apparent that she has been in this state for days. Still, despite doing nothing, the amount of power in her body was continuously growing. The meat was melting into energy that was going straight to her body, enhancing her.


    "So this is why she is always so well-rested, enhancing her power so fast and forbid me to enter her room without permission, she can use Dragon Sleep."


    However, the woman was literally doing nothing more than sleeping. She was technically training, so Zatiel didn''t really know how to react.


    Dragon Sleep is a powerful ability breeds of dragons can use. It allows them to enter a sort of hibernation state and absorb the energy in their surroundings at a very high rate.


    This was one of the reasons dragons were known for always stockpiling their wealth and sleeping with them.


    Seeing her in this state so calm as he and Ezequiel were breaking their minds working, Zatiel couldn''t do anything but shake his head and smile. But as he saw the two of them improving their power or skills by using their racial traits, an idea came to his mind.


    He took thest rune and brought it to his face, opening his third eye.


    One of the Eye of Life and Creation abilities is allowing Zatiel to see the flow of energy on everything in his surroundings, no matter whether it is organic or not. He was going to try and see if it was capable of showing him the lines of the rune, that even with the chip''s help, brought him trouble with his work.


    When he saw the rune with his normal eyes, he could only see some lines and forms. But now, the palm-size rune illuminated as if it was the starry sky, showing him all the things he could not see before.


    Even more impressive was that when he used the eye to see the rune, for some reason, his perception of it was enhanced as he was able to understand better how the channels of energy connected and why it was so important that it do it this way.


    "Hahahaha, this is awesome! let''s see if this god damn rune continues eluding me."


    With a smile on his face, Zatiel took another piece of beast skin and start inscribing,


    ....


    The inner areas of the Endless Forest had trees that reached several kilometers high and were ruled by truly powerful magic creatures. Whenever humans arrived at this ce, they would do it quietly and stealthily. Otherwise, the only thing that awaits them was to be persecuted by a horde of furious magic creatures. Today, those mighty beings were running as if their lives depended on it, and those imposing trees were crashing to the ground as two humans were fighting.


    The two men were moving with such an incredible speed that they created a sonic st due to their momentum, breaking the sound barrier. The only thing you could see was a red figure fighting a dark one.


    The power they released was so great that they altered thendscape, destroying mountains and creating crevices so deep that you could not see the end. Even when the spell vanished, the area was flooded with a type of energy that corroded everything in its reach.


    They were generating such significant coteral damage that hundreds of meters around them, everything was being destroyed.


    "Sword Oblivion!"


    The red figure made his energy burst. From his sword, an arc of energy a hundred meters long came crashing against his enemy.


    The dark figure saw this attack, and his eyes filled with shock as he felt the power that it carried. The sensation he got from it was like it wanted to erase or ''kill'' his existence, forcing him to immediately make his energy burst andunch a spell.


    "Underworld Hand!"


    A cadaveric hand almost the same size that the humongous sword energy was materialized, and surrounding it was dark and cold energy that made all the living beings in a radius of a kilometer wither.


    The cadaveric hand reached for the sword energy and grabbed it, trying topress and destroy it. But the sword energy was so potent that it made the bones start to shatter. In the end, both attacks nullified each other, generating an explosion that destroyed everything in a radius of 500 meters.


    After the explosion, neither one of the men continued fighting. They remained still, with a safe distance between them, showing their appearance.


    The man with the red glow was young and carried a ck sword filled with all sorts of inscriptions. This weapon gave an aura that gives the impression it was used to kill millions of individuals. In his arms, some runes were inscribed, which made his extremities look like they were made of pure blood.


    As for the dark figure, It was an old man of two-meter high, and he was bald. His face wasmon except for the fact that two extra eyes were on his forehead. These eyes were smaller than regr ones and, for some reason, matched perfectly with the man adding a certain charm to his face.


    From those two extra eyes, if you were strong enough, you could feel thews of death and a vast amount of negative natural energy concentration in them.


    "Heinz, since when the princes of the Empire have be so shameless to try and steal what rightfully belongs to others? I found this mineral deposit first, and everything inside should belong only to me, Sebastian, an Eye Tyrant."


    The face of the old man was filled with anger, but behind that was a small amount of fear.


    ''We are in the same Rank, but I have been at this level for hundreds of years already, enhancing my power greatly over time. Yet in our confrontation, this Sword Cultivator had the upper hand during the entire battle.''


    "Hmph, I don''t care for your excuses. You are a long way from the Dynasty. When you crossed the borders of the Empire, you were obligated to inform us of your arrival, as any individual of our Rank must do when reaching foreignnd. Since you failed to do that, It is my right to take everything here with me."


    Heinz''s eyes were cold, and his body exuded killing intent as he looked at the old man.


    Heinz would really like to kill the old man and take everything for himself. Although he was more powerful than the enemy, all those at this Rank have life-saving tricks, so he needed to opt for another way of handling this.

 Chapter 72: Expedition

    Zatiel was in hisboratory working. These past few days, he has spent all of his time making Rank 1 runes, only leaving this ce every few days to sleep. Besides him, there was a pyramid made from cubes of food that, from time to time, floated to his mouth for him to eat them, but even when he did that, he didn''t stop working.


    The thing that will raise interest in anyone who sees this is that even as he eats, all of his concentration remains on the runes.


    It was like if two people were controlling a body, the first had domain over his eyes and hands, focusing all of his attention in runecrafting and the second controlling his mouth and digestive system, monitoring the energy inside Zatiel.


    This feat was thanks to the glowing rune in the upper section of Zatiel spine, recing ''Secondary Consciousness'' that was there previously. This was the rune that he only was able to create thanks to the help of the Eye of life and creation, and it was called ''Mind Mirror''.


    ''Mind Mirror'' is a Middle-Rank 2 rune. It works by enhancing your cognitive abilities by a factor of two and letting you split your mind and focus on two different tasks simultaneously.


    What Zatiel was doing was using one mind to concentratepletely on runecrafting. The other was manipting his digestive system, directing the energy that was generated to his hearts.


    Neo-Demon use abyss aura as a source of energy, and their bodies have great vitality. But the power necessary to use a Rank 2 rune constantly was huge. Zatiel was not even close to the peak of Rank 1, so he had to focus almost all the energying from his Bloodline Heart.


    A significant part of the energy from the original heart was to use it, keeping the rest for inscribing runes. This was only because his reservoir was higher than any other Rank 1, even those of the Neo-Demon race.


    By doing this, Zatiel would not have to decide how much of his time to inscribe and will be able to enhance his power and improve his skill as a runemaster simultaneously.


    When he was about to finish a rune, he received a message from Heinz though the crystal from the Tower. Afterpleting his work, he took the crystal and checked the message.


    It appears that Heinz had some good news for him, and was calling him to his room. Since he had had nothing urgent to do, Zatiel eats a cube and calls the sword cultivator.


    ...


    In the room with a wall full of swords and another full ofcerations, Heinz was resting. On his body were some open wounds. Although they were shallow, there was a dark glow surrounding them. It was stopping the regeneration abilities of the cultivator from healing his body.


    This wound was caused by attacks that had thews of death on them, and Heinz was using his own energy to purge it from his body. Although purely in offensive terms, the Law of Killing is more potent than the Law of Death, the Law of Death had a connection with decaying, rot and the withering of life. So it was very persistent once ittched on a living being, but thanks to Heinz''s power, in a couple of hours, he will be able to erase it.


    When thest of the dark glow vanished from his body, Heinz received a message and stood up to create a portal, from which Zatiel came out.


    "Brother, I have some good news. An expedition party will be sent to the inner area of the Endless Forest, the task is to extract metal from a cave found in that ce. Due to the special condition of the mineral, only those at Rank 1 and above can touch it safely, so I wondered if you would want to form part of it. As a show of gratitude for the help you have provided me with my sword training, you will retain everything you earn in that ce, unlike all the others that will only get a percentage."


    It was thanks to the help from Zatiel that he was able to dominate his opponent in the battle for the cave, so Heinz wanted to repay him with this.


    Although Heinz had enough wealth and it would be simple for him to give something to Zatiel, he thought that doing something like that will harm their rtionship. So giving him a spot for a task in which he will be able to get his own wealth, will be perfect.


    "Thank you. But I need more information about this expedition like the power of the people who would be going and the possible enemies that we will face before making a decision. After all, the inner area of the Endless Forest is a dangerous ce."


    Despite Zatiel needing enormous wealth to create his Magic Tower, he would not take an expedition to anywhere lightly, especially to a ce where Rank 3 Magic creatures could be found.


    Heinz was not in surprise that Zatiel asked for more information. On the contrary, if he had said yes immediately, letting greed cloud his judgment, he would have found it weird and stupid. After all, even he would need to be cautious in some ces of the Endless Forest, much less a Rank 1.


    "I assume you will ask. As you may know, the Endless Forest works as a natural barrier between thends under the jurisdiction of the Aetereum Empire and the Eye Dynasty. The individual who found the cave with the mineral vein is an Eye Tyrant from Dynasty. Normally those who found a ce with great wealth in the Endless Forest could reim them for the power they are part of. Still, since he entered ournd without informing us before, I was able to get that ce in dispute. The two powers have decided to send groups of equal power to the ce and extract the mineral together, making it apetition, letting the more powerful and faster group to get the most of the mineral."


    Zatiel was not surprised at this type of arrangement to be done. After all, great powers rarely go to war for resources. Instead, they chose to engage in this type ofpetition instead of starting a conflict. After all, when a dispute begins, it is almost impossible to know for sure to what extent it will grow and who the winner will be, especially with those waiting in the darkness to take advantage from the weakened parties.


    "How many members will this expedition have, and which Rank of power will they own? And when will it start?"


    "The group sent by the Empire will have one Rank 3, five Rank 2 and twenty Rank 1. The Rank 3 Magus will be the one in charge of protecting the rest from the powerful magic creatures that round the area. Those at Rank 2 and 1 will be the main force in extracting the mineral and battling against the members from the Dynasty. I must warn you, although it will be mostly those of the same Rank fighting against each other, it could happen that a Rank 2 going against those weaker than him. Still, our Rank 3 and their Eye King are forbidden to enter the fight, so you will not have to worry about them."


    When he reached this part, Heinz made a pause and looked at Zatiel. Most of the Rank 1 who hear they may have to fight a Rank 2 will show hesitation, but in Zatiel face, he didn''t see any change.


    ''As expected from someone who makes me feel respect.''


    Nodding at the attitude of Zatiel, Heinz continues, "The expedition will leave in four years for the cave. This time will be used to select the ones who will go and make some arrangements in the area. Since it was thanks to me that the Empire got this opportunity, I will select one rank 2 and eight rank 1 for the expedition."


    Heinz gives a general idea of how thispetition will go and its dangers.


    ''When I reach the peak of Rank 1, I should have enough power to kill a Novice Rank 2 Magus, but in four years, just reaching 50% of the transformation of my hearts will be the most I can do. I may be able to enhance my power with some potent runes, and in the worst case, I will just escape with the mirage crystal.''


    Zatiel was assessing his options and the danger of the mission.


    "I will go, can you get another two spots for me?"


    "I guess you want to give them to yourpanions, I can put them in the group for the expedition, but unlike you, they will be like the rest and will have to give me a part of what they get. Those who go, retain 25% of whatever they get, but since they are with you, they only need to return half to me."


    Heinz did not have any type of rtion with Sophia or Ezequiel. The spots were in high demand, so only the act of giving them one was already a big favor.


    "Then I thank you in their name," Zatiel was grateful for the cultivator''s attitude, and he was gaining his trust little by little.


    "Four years can be a lot of time or little, so I must make most of it, goodbye," Zatiel stretched his hand at Heinz


    This may be just a small detail, but besides his race, this was the closest show of friendship that Zatiel has disyed. With the interactions they have had, Heinz knows how significant this was.


    "I am sure my brother will truly surprise me," After saying goodbye, Heinz made a portal that led to Zatiel''s house.


    Zatiel nodded and was going to enter the portal when his entire body stiffened, and his face filled with surprise.


    "Brother, are you fine?" This is the first time that Heinz saw Zatiel doing something like losing control, so he was worried, but it didn''tst long as he saw the smile on his face and the excitement in his eyes.


    "Don''t worry, I am more than fine. And you are right, I will definitely surprise you."


    Saying those words, Zatiel vanished from the room, leaving a confused Heinz.


    ...


    When Zatiel reaches his room, he closes his eyes and concentrates, making his smile even greater and the happiness vivid in his expression


    "Finally, my True Name has awakened!"

 Chapter 73: Zitra

    As Zatiel closed his eyes and concentrated, he could see a dark space where a glowing light was present, this was his soul, the purest and most important piece of his being.


    Above the core of his existence, he could see how two words were forming in anguage so strange that it makes him feel like it was able to epass anything.


    The awakening of a True Name was a slow process, so Zatiel remains motionless, focusing all of his mind into the Words of Creation that was forging his True Name. This name will apany him throughout his entire life until he dies, and his soul shatters.


    The racial aspect of the True Name in the case of Neo-Demon shoulde from abination of the characteristics from their bloodline and their Chaotic Core that contains the essence of the species due to the first being assimted by thest one, creating a singleposed name. But in Zatiel''s case, it was different.


    Due to the level of his bloodline being so ridiculously high from the beginning, to the point it was connected with thews of creation itself, it was able to materialize a separated part of the True Name, so in the end, Zatiel had a section created in part by the golden sun and another created by his chaotic core. However, still, they were his, and no matter if they were to copy his body to an atomic level, this name will never repeat.


    Even before they werepleted, the two names were showing great contrast. The one on the right looks like it was made from goldenva of the center of the brightest star in the universe. While the other waspletely different, it was like darkness itself materialized and forged the words. However, despite the feeling of inexistence, Zatiel could still see it.


    "I was under the assumption that the Words of Creation that will form my True Names, will be rted or at least simr to my previous name, even if I died and was born again, and my bloodline and race are different to demons. The changes in my personality must have been more than I thought."


    In Zatiel''s mind, the faces of a small boy, a dumb girl, and a group of underdogs came out, making him smile.


    "It''s for the better, even if it is the part rted to Neo-Demons, it gives a feeling much deeper than my previous True Name."


    When the names werepleted, Zatiel could feel how his body was enhancing itself, due to the appearance from the Words of Creation next to his soul. The one that was forged inva was ''Natux'', and the other, that seems emptiness itself, was ''Dexisus''.


    When Zatiel focused on Natux, it gave him the impression that he was seeing the birth of life and how it flourished, filled with vitality and endless possibilities. As for Dexisus, it was the opposite. It was like watching a world decaying and all the life in it ending, going back to nothingness.


    Despite the nature from one of theponents of his True Names being an antithesis from the other, for some reason, when he saw them one next to the other, he felt harmony. As if from the moment they existed, they were meant to be connected.


    Now they were finished, Zatiel was going to test the effects of these words. True Names have a passive and active effect, greatly varying depending on whichws they are connected to.


    From the passive effect, he was able to assess an increase in his vitality, which was already monstrous for a Rank 1 due to his bloodline and enhancement on all the spells rted to necromancy and the use of negative energy. Also, in this passive state, the Words of Creation will improve his soul''s affinity with thews that they are rted to.


    For the test of the active effect, Zatiel chose to start with Natux. The moment he does it, his skin turns golden immediately like it was made from pure gold. As he assesses his body with the help of the chip, he was able to estimate that his vitality was increased by a factor of two. His endurance was monstrous. For a moment, he felt like as long as a cell remains from his body, he would be able to regenerate himself. Of course, this was just an illusion due to the immense power, but it may be possible in the future.


    "Hahaha, this is awesome! As expected from a name that was born from the strongest bloodline that I have ever seen, together with my will and personality," Zatiel''s excitement could not be contained as he felt the amazing effects from Natux, after all, even after the third evolution, his previous True Name wasn''t able to provide a powerful enhancement like this one.


    Now using Dexisus, Zatiel felt a dark current originating inside him running through his body before it materialized itself in his hand like a dark aura. Conjuring a simple me, he adheres the darkness to it. His power was enhanced by almost 50%, with a decaying effect adhering to the spell that will rot the body of the ones who are touched.


    "The enhancement it provides is an offensive one, and even though its power is not at the level of Natux, it will be useful in a battle. Besides, as the transformation of my body continues and my existence as a Neo-Demon improves, the name will be improved and evolve to a higher version of itself. And even now, it is more powerful than my previous True Name when it first appeared."


    Zatiel was extremely satisfied with his True Name, especially when he remembers that this is just the beginning. They will evolve, improving his powers even more. Although he felt that more things remained hidden in those words, True Names and the Words of Creation are vast and obscure even for him.


    "With my True Name awoken, and my rune crafting skills improving by the day, I will be able to disy an immense power by the time the expedition happens."


    ...


    In an immense underground cave that extended for kilometers, an individual was floating in the center. What was unique about this was that every corner, even the most remote and hidden, was filled with light. Still, in the ce, no object could generate such a marvelous sight.


    The origin was the person in the air, the radiance came from her. She was a stunning woman with a perfect face and a delicate body. Anyone who sees her would feel like she was the purest and holiest being in the world.


    A man enters the cave running in the direction of the woman. His body was imposing, and his expression intimidating. Still, when he reached the area under the woman he kneeled with a respectful and somewhat fearful expression.


    "Princess Zitra, I came from the tower, the moment I heard your summons," The man didn''t dare to look at the woman directly as he spoke.


    Even after the man spoke, Zitra''s eyes remained closed and didn''t talk. A few minutester, she opened her eyes and looked at the visitor, making him shiver.


    "There will be an expedition to the Endless Forest. Since you, Siru, are the Rank 2 under mymand that has made the greatest contributions, you will go."


    Zitra''s words sound like apliment, but her expression was indifferent. Even though it was considered a favor, she gave no room for any negation.


    "Thank you, your Highness, I will do my best," The man nodded and expressed his happiness, but even now he keeps looking to the ground.


    "When you are there, I need you to gather some information about a new runemaster whose work is widespreadtely."


    "Is your highness referring to the Daybreak runemaster?" After thinking for a moment, the man gave a guess.


    "Oh, you know about him," For the first time, Zitra looked at the man with attention.


    "Yes, your Highness, his runes are appearing a lottely, and they have a sort of logo that looks like a sun rising in breaking the night, hence his name. Recently the amount of his work that is reaching the market is growing very high. Yet, the quality has not diminished at all."


    "Tell me what you think from his abilities as a runemaster," The expression of Zitra was still indifferent. Still, there was a glimpse in her eyes.


    Siru found it very weird about his master asking about a Rank 1 runemaster, but he didn''t dare to ask and just answered.


    "He is very talented, his runes have great effects, and the requirements are bearable, but it is not something other Rank 1 runemasters aren''t able to do," Siru''s answer was objective without any sort of prejudice.


    "And what if I told you he is less than twenty-four years old and the time he has spent as a runemaster is less than 7 years. Also, he is not part of any type of power. His abilities came from himself, without any type of apparent help."


    Siru was shocked when he heard that, having reached that level in so little time and only using his abilities to do it, it was something he finds almost impossible to believe. Still, he knows that the princess will not be wrong.


    "He is a genius! Compared to those talented runemasters that the empire nurtured."


    "During your trip, you will collect all the information you can from the ones sent by Heinz. In the remote chance he turns up, deliver my personal invitation for him," Zitramand was more profound this time, as an unbreakable order.


    "I will do, Your Highness, but if I may speak, is a Rank 1 runemaster worth your invitation?" No matter how good rank 1 runes were, they still could not be something that would inspire desire in a mighty Princess of the Empire, ording to Situ''s thoughts.


    "Rank 1 is indeed useless, but if I wait for him to reach Rank 3, do you think he wille to see me and ept to be part of my forces easily? And in the minimal chance that he breaks past that level, even I would not be able to have him as a subordinate."

 Chapter 74: Doom Bringer

    Shiyu was observing her surroundings, and no matter how many times she looks, it always seems like it was an illusion. In this beautiful dream, her race that once had to survive every day in danger and famine and now was living happily and improving their power day by day, reaching a level where they could move freely in the world, not afraid of being ughtered for fun.


    A ce where even those newborns were more powerful than the adults from her memories.


    Everyone who was of age spent their entire day training, either practicing their spells, martial arts, or increasing their power. Even though they worked to the point of exhaustion, in the face of everyone was a smile and excitement. Shiyu understood the reason for their expression. They were weak, and now they were finally given a chance to be strong enough to protect what they cherish.


    Everybody has significantly changed from what she remembers, having a body that was the vivid description of the master that her race was supposed to serve a long time ago, especially the man that was apanying her.


    Although he had changed greatly and the first time she saw him, she could not believe they were the same person. Looking at his eyes, she realized it was the same weak but brave warrior that will burn his soul if it means protecting his race.


    From the moment she awakens, she hasn''t left this ce, and they tell her that only the strongest ones were allowed to leave for safety. They inform her that this was an order from the one who brought her back to life and the Ancestor of the race she will soon be part of. Personally, she didn''t have a problem. As being here with her partner and son was pure bliss, and she didn''t need anything else.


    Her days were rxed, mostly upied with a technique. It was supposed to help her improve the power of her blood. Still, there were stressful moments, that was when her partner and son went hunting and didn''t reappear for several days, as the idea of losing them for the second time was fearful.


    Luckily they always returned, unharmed, and brought with them creatures that were once the source of nightmares for her race, but now were reduced to food. What makes her curious at the beginning was the fact that it was not the ones that hunted that got most of the spoil. But those younger and that were in their infant stage. When she asked her partner, he told him it was the will of the Ancestor. Everyone understood that he was someone wise who wanted the best for the race, so they all obeyed happily.


    Shiyu has always been curious about the Ancestor. After all, it was a person that can bring the dead back to life and transform a cave full of weak kobolds in and of humanoid dragons with amazing abilities and the talent to reach a level she believed was impossible unless you were born a god. He had appeared once when she was alive, but since it was the first time he showed up, he was considered a threat, and those too weak to fight, like her, were hiding.


    "What is going through your mind?"


    Shiyu looks at the origin of the sound and saw an elegant draconic face of a four-meter tall man looking at her with warmth and gentleness, as if she was the most precious thing in the word for him, making her heart beat faster as she felt his love, creating a smile on her face.


    "I was just thinking about how much our little tribe has grown and how this ce looks like the paradise we could only dream of obtaining, yet now it is a reality."


    "Everything is real. All of it is because we were given a chance to follow the Ancestor. He has transformed us into one of his people, a mighty race that can exceed the power of those who once were our master and have us as ves. So we will apany him to the abyss itself if it was necessary and extinguish his enemies, even if it means dying to achieve it." Devotion could be seen in Rax''s face as he spoke as if it was a creed he believed with all his soul.


    Shiyu was already used to this type of reaction in Rax when they spoke about the Ancestor. It wasn''t only in him; all the kobolds that have seen him have this same expression. In reality, she is the same, for the person who gave her the opportunity to see her partner and son and give her tribe power and safety, she was willing to give back the life she owns him.


    "You should continue training. So you can be at the peak of rank 0 when you transform into a Neo-Demon, and your bloodline bes strong enough. So when you advance to Rank 1, if you are lucky, it can be assimted into a Rank 4 directly, and you will not have to split your time enhancing it," as Rax spoke he could not help but find it a little funny, as reaching Rank 1 or having a powerful bloodline would be something almost impossible a couple of years ago yet now it wasmon.


    Shiyu nodded. Rax has already exined the importance of the atavism technique and the fact that having a powerful bloodline from the beginning will be very helpful but also difficult, as the ones that achieve assimtion with a Rank 4 bloodline were only her partner and son. The rest had done it with a Rank 3. However, they could enhance it with time and resources. It was easier if she improved to that level before advancing and solidifying the Bloodline Heart.


    Her son was able to have a Rank 4 bloodline because from the beginning he was born stronger than the rest, as for her partner, he told her that he went through special training with the Ancestor that allowed him to reach this level.


    Shiyu closed her eyes and continued her training as she did every day, improving her power and heritage, waiting for the time she will finally transform in the race that makes the dreams of everyone here a reality.


    Rax smiles as he sees the woman focusing on her meditation. When he was going to start with her, he suddenly looked in the direction of the entrance to the cave, before adopting a kneeling position, giving Shiyu a small pat on the shoulder to get her attention.


    Shiyu opens her eyes, and despite the fact she could not feel anyone, she realizes the atmosphere changed as all the adults and children were kneeling as well, with only the infants making noises and looking with sparkling eyes at the entrance. She hurriedly bent her knees. She saw a man cover in golden light entering the cave and remaining in the air, looking at every kobold with serious but also gentle eyes.


    "Stand up. You are improving greatly, but remember, you are Neo-Demons, the mightiest and most unique species of the universe, do not let your current power cloud your judgment, continue working until you are forced to break your limits, only when you are able to bend fate itself and earn the title of Doom Bringer, will you deserve the right to say that you are a champion of our race. But that is not the end; every single one of you has the capacity to achieve immortality. The only thing stopping you is your will. Tell me, will you follow me to eternity!"


    "We will follow the Ancestor!!!"


    Zatiel smiled as he saw the me in the eyes of the kobolds. He knew that maybe no one would truly achieve eternal life, after all, even he could fall in the path, but having a goal was important. It was true that Neo-Demons can achieve eternity as long as they continue increasing their powers. They don''t have any shackles that deliberately limit them.


    The kobolds continue with their training as Zatiel flies in the direction of Rax, and sees the only one in this ce that didn''t look like the textbook description of a Dragonborn.


    When Zatiel reached where Rax was, thisst one immediately bows as he speaks, "Greeting Ancestor, this is my partner Shiyu. She was able to awaken 6 months after you left."


    Shiyu was nervous as the man who was the absolute leader from the tribe and was able to manipte death was less than three meters from her. Still, when she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Rax looking at her, she calmed down a little.


    "Shiyu greets the Ancestor, I thank you for bringing me back from the dead."


    "If you want to thank me, be strong enough so you can follow me to battle."


    Shiyu looked back at Zatiel and nodded, not giving any fancy words, making him smile in satisfaction.


    "Good, I take it that you are going to prove it with actions. As you should know, the transformation will put great pressure on your will. Tell me, do you think that you can withstand it, or you need more time."


    "I can withstand it, Ancestor. Like you did with the rest, Rax helped me by using his Primal Chaos Consciousness to train my mind and will, so I could be ready the moment you arrive," Shiyu''s expression was determined, ready to face whates next.


    "Excellent, I don''t have much time and don''t know when I wille back, so we will begin with the transformation immediately."

 Chapter 75: The will of the race

    Zatiel and Rax were in front of nine big eggs that were the size of an adult man. Zatiel was using his consciousness to investigate the condition of the creatures inside and the chip''s abilities for a more detailed inspection.


    Shiyu''s transformation went without a problem. After making sure the new Neo-Demon had limated to her form, Zatiel didn''t waste time and came to inspect the drones that Tao has created during his time here. As he assessed them, he directed his attention to the small dog sleeping next to the area where the infants reside, with his belly up and his tongue out of his mouth.


    Seeing the small dog in this position broke Zatiel''s concentration, making himugh, but shaking his head, he focused as he spoke to Rax.


    "Did you obey mymand and make sure to collect information about Tao''s ability to create drones and his changes in this couple of years?"


    One of the reasons why Zatiel let Tao here, was that he needed a safe ce where he could practice his abilities freely. There was someone who could keep an eye on him at all times. Since the small dog enjoys spending all of his time ying with those newborn Neo-Demon, this was a scenario that benefits everyone.


    "Yes, Ancestor, I and a select group were always taking turns so Tao could be watched at all times. By what we were able to collect, the small dog spends most of his time ying and eating normal food, his intelligence seems to be increasing at a slow but steady rate. As for his personality, let''s just say he is curious," When Rax reached thest part, on his face a look of frustration and resignation could be seen.


    When Tao ys with the children, there is no problem. Still, whenever the dog sees something that calls his attention like someone using a spell that generates light or fire, or they are practicing martial techniques, he always runs to them and starts to meddle and interfere with their training. Since everybody knows how special he is to Zatiel, they can''t do anything else, but go with the flow and entertain the small dog.


    Rax has tried tomunicate with the Tao to see if he could change this behavior since he was already able to understand words. But unfortunately for the kobold, whenever they talk, the dog always keeps looking at him with a confused expression, leaving the 4 meters tall draconic warrior powerless against the thirty-centimeter dog.


    Zatiel saw Rax''s expression, but chose not toment, since he also didn''t have a way of handling the dog, at least not without harming him.


    "How has his abilities to absorb matter and create drones have developed?"


    "Tao canmunicate when he wants to activate his swallowing ability. It seems to have control over what he wishes to affect. By your instructions, we have only given him corpses from rank 1 creatures, and he has been able to create a total of 9 drones. As you can see, they remain in their eggs. Although they are not moving, they are alive in some sort of hibernation state," Rax has been very diligent with this task taking into consideration the smallest detail.


    Zatiel nodded. Since he had already checked every egg, he put his hand on one. He activated the necromancy spell that will generate a false consciousness in the drone.


    "Animate dead!"


    "Give me the specifics about his swallowing and the time it takes to create a drone," Zatiel split his mind, so he could work on the drones and hear Rax simultaneously.


    "The amount it can swallow seems to be limited not by the mass of the object, but by the amount of energy inside them. The first time it was the body of an Early Rank 1 Magic Creature and one peak Rank 0, but thest one was created using two Early Rank 1. During the drone creation process, it seems like he is unable to activate his ability again, and those strange inscriptions appear on his stomach. The time it takes to create a drone diminishes with every time he creates, even though the energy used is higher. His defensive abilities seem to be increasing as well, but his strength remains the same."


    Zatiel was satisfied with the report and had an idea of how the power of Tao worked and the path of development for him.


    "The first egg contains a drone with the power of a Novice Rank 1 Magus and thest that was created of the Advanced level. But unfortunately, that is just the amount of energy in their bodies. Their actual fighting power in less as they are not able to act withoutmand and the pseudo-consciousness I can develop for the moment are extremely basic. Since they have no soul, they can''t improve their power by themself. Still, since they are meant to be meat shields from the beginning, it will suffice with their capability," Zatiel''s disregard for these creatures may seem cold. Still, he was old enough to be able to see beyond their appearance and treat them by what they really are, weapons not different that the automaton he once fought.


    Rax agreed with Zatiel, as he was more than willing to sacrifice every single one of these drones if it meant protecting the lives of Neo-Demons, but he was also doubtful about their strength.


    "Ancestor, if I may ask, why the Werewolf was able to achieve the current level of power, but these drones are so weak," Rax looked at the only drone outside their egg that seems like a statue at the entrance of the cave.


    "There were some special conditions in his creation as the material he was made of were all of a rare heritage. Hence his outstanding capabilities despite using the energy of corpses long dead. Trying to replicate that scenario is not practical, so we will use quantity over quality and develop Tao abilities systematically. Continue giving him only corpses, as I don''t currently have the facilities to assess the creation of a drone that will form though individuals with souls."


    The ability to create drones through great amounts of energy and corpses of different species is something a great number of creatures in the universe can do, and actually, Zatiel has ns for one of those life forms in the future. But if Tao is able to fuse different souls into a single entity, it could create greed even in Law Beings.


    Not everything was good, as there were several dangers. If the creature was able to develop a consciousness, it could act hostile, so for the time being, he will only create soulless drones.


    "I will follow yourmand Ancestor."


    Zatiel finished creating thest pseudo-consciousness and started to do a more thorough assessment of the Neo-Demons present.


    "What is the current military might of the race?"


    Since he had Rax, Zatiel would not waste his time sending his consciousness from one individual to the other.


    "Including the newborns, the number of Neo-Demons is 145, from them neen are at rank 1, but only Kylo and I were able to assimte Rank 4 bloodlines, the rest has a Rank 3 and their power is around 20% less than my son and me. Sixty-four have reached the peak of rank 0, and from them, 29 have already mastered their Rank Spell but are waiting to enhance their blood more through atavism, or else they run the risk of assimting a Rank 2 bloodline. The rest of the adults are not very far behind as we consume a great number of powerful creatures we hunt, and as youmanded, we only target those that are very far away from the cave," Rax spoke in a calm voice, but pride was evident on his face. Before, just having someone at the peak of Rank 0 was something everybody in the tribe would celebrate, but now reaching Rank 1 was a given, and they were improving every day.


    "How are things going with reproduction, and what information you have been able to collect?"


    Zatiel looked in the direction where a group of draconic babies was ying and at which, five adults at the peak of rank 0 were keeping an eye.


    Despite the fact they were so young and barely 50 centimeters tall, every one of them has the physical prowess to smash a Warrior of the mortal world into pulp, as inside their small hearts was a chaotic core improving them.


    "As you requested, having children has been supported, and 34 babies have been born. The gestation is of 10 months, and it seems like the infant stage of the kobold branch of our race ends at three years old, and around five, they should be able to start rigorous training. The strength with which they are born varies depending on the power of the parents, for those who are at Rank 1, their sons are born at the Middle Rank 0 Neo-Demon, as for the rest, their children are at the Early Rank 0 Neo-Demon. Also, all those newborns have an enhanced bloodline from the beginning so even if they don''t train in atavism, they should obtain a Rank 2 bloodline in their assimtion."


    Rax was thrilled with this task. Previously, since they were so weak, having children only was allowed if you were strong enough, and the number of infants at the same time could not be high as they were a burden for the resources of the tribe. But now having babies was something that was rewarded and promoted, and every time he saw those small smiling faces, heughed from happiness and was sure that they must follow the Ancestor no matter what, a feeling that was shared by all the kobolds.


    "They have the heritage of metallic dragons from their parent running through their bodies, and this can be used to create the bloodline heart, so unless they are able to get the blood of a Rank 5 or above life form, they should stick with their own or else they lose the capacity of using atavism techniques," Zatiel spoke as he sends his consciousness to the babies that were looking it his direction with sparkling eyes and happy faces, making him smile and show warmth in his eyes.


    Rax nodded and made an annotation in his mind to speak to those children and their parentster when he saw Zatiel throw a spatial ring to him.


    "Inside the ring, there is an immense amount of high energy food that shouldst for a couple of years. Since you and Kylo have a Rank 4 bloodline, each of you is rewarded with twenty percent. For the rest, your job is to organize apetition that will be divided into two categories, one for those at Rank 1 and the other for Rank 0.


    "It will be a one on one battle between the participants, where the top five of Rank 1 will get nine percent of the food each, and the top ten of Rank 0 will get 1.5 percent each. Since it is a battle, injuries cannot be avoided, but intentionally harming or continuing attacking a defeated opponent is considered going against my will."


    When Zatiel says thest part, he gives Rax a meaningful re.


    "I understand Ancestor, your will is the will of the race, and going against it means death!"


    To Rax, Zatiel was the deity that fulfilled his dreams and protects the one he loves, so if anyone dared to go against him, even if it was the members of his race, he would not hesitate to tear them apart.


    "The strength of our race wille from their ability to act as a single entity under mymand, anyone that refuses that will be extinguished," Zatiel was extremely satisfied with the reaction of Rax, as he felt the loyalty of the kobold that ran as deep in his soul.


    When everything was resolved, and after ying a couple of hours with Tao, Zatiel returned to the tower.


    ''I have handled all of my concerns, now I must use every minute I have to enhance my power and runemaster skills.''

 Chapter 76: Do it

    From the Sinux Magic Tower, three figures could be seen flying away. One was covered in golden light, the other was like a bolt of lightning, and thest one had gorgeous dark crystal wings on her back. They were Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia that were heading to the meeting point in the outside of the Endless Forest, where the members of the expedition will gather before heading to the cave.


    Four years may seem long for an average human, but for life forms that can live hundreds of years, it was sometimes the amount of time they used to experiment, so before they noticed, the preparation period was over, and they needed to leave the tower.


    The external appearance of Zatiel had not changed, but the amount of energy inside him has increased dramatically, and his two hearts have developed considerably. He was using a white robe, and under it was a series of interconnected runes that upy most of his body.


    In Ezequiel''s case, his energy has also developed considerably, but the progress of his Elemental Chaos Heart and Bloodline Heart has only reached 40% due to him spending a significant amount of time working on the small automaton on his shoulder. This was the machine that Zatile had defeated, and he had managed to rebuild it to an operable state, making it small and light with a transmutation spell. By performing this task, he managed to obtain a useful weapon and significantly increased his Magic Creator skills. In his body, there were also some runes, with the two most notorious being the modified Magic Shield in his back, which was able to save two charges at once. The other one that covers both of his arms.


    Sophia''s development has been the most impressive of the three, with her hearts almost reaching 60%pletion. If it was not for the fact that Zatiel had another source of energy besides the core, her reserves would be the greatest. On her back, there was also an altered Magic Shield, and there was another rune on her forehead that connected to her eyes. Around her right wrist, there was a bracelet with eight dark pills.


    "Listen, even though we will be working with these people in the expedition and against the members of Dynasty, they are not our allies. At most, they can be considered a temporarypanion. The only ce where we can ce our trust is between ourselves."


    The number of times Zatiel has seen members of the same group attack each other is uncountable. Although these were rted in part to demons'' traitorous tendency, in situations of great danger, he would only trust in his race.


    Sophia and Ezequiel nodded. Although neither of them was going to trust in those people, hearing Zatiel''s words made them put their guard up and be even more vignt against these new ''expedition partners''.


    "Master, have you been able to recollect information about the individuals that will form part of the expedition?"


    "Not really, I don''t have the means for that, and Heinz didn''t find much. The Rank 3 Magus, is someone under the current Emperor, and has no rtion with anyone else, as for the individuals at Rank 2, I only have information about the one send by Heinz, he is named Nimir and is an Elementium Magus at the Advanced level with domain over the fire natural energy. You two will mostly interact with those at Rank 1, and they will surely be at the Master level, so don''t be careless."


    Zatiel was treating the members of the empire equally to those of Dynasty, as potential enemies.


    "What are our instructions if we are targeted by someone at Rank 2?"


    Most people at Rank 1 will only think of escaping if they find themselves in that type of situation, but Sophia wanted Zatiel to give clear instructions.


    She and Ezequiel can fight and possibly kill Peak-Rank 1. If they use their trump cards and work together, they should be able to fight a Novice-Rank 2 to a standstill. Still, all the ones sent in this expedition are powerful, and they would be at a minimum at the Advanced level. Despite the difference not seeming great, an Advanced- Rank 2 Magus can defeat three people of an inferior level, so if they find themselves attacked by one of them, their only choice is to escape.


    "The Eye Lords of Dynasty will be focusing mostly on the Rank 2 of the Empire, and in the scenario where they chase you, go to the camp that will be guarded by the Rank 3 Magus, and you will be safe. As for the members of our group, Heinz used my identity as a Runemaster andmanded Nimir to protect us. But in either case, depending on the goodwill of the others and hoping that they will save you is stupid. So if Nimir helps us, good, and if he doesn''t, then I will handle it myself."


    When Sophia and Ezequiel heard the statement of Zatiel, they were shocked.


    The two got from his words that he had the power to fight against an Advanced-Rank 2 Magus. If it was an inferior path, it would be understandable, but the Magi Path is an extremely powerful one, and since he was not even close to the peak of Rank 1, fighting on equal grounds to those of a higher Rank should not be possible.


    "Exactly how powerful you are?" Asking for the specifics of someone''s strength was rude ording to the customs of the Magi World, but Sophia didn''t find a problem in asking anything to Zatiel.


    "You should get an idea in our night sessions," Zatiel doesn''t have a problem telling her his power, but when he saw the woman''s expression, he decided to tease her.


    When Sophia heard him, she blushed as she sneered and didn''t speak back, as for Ezequiel, he acted as if he didn''t hear anything.


    "Hahaha, don''t get angry. Ok, I don''t know how much power I can disy or for how long I can do it, and I will need a battle to have a more clear idea, but it should be enough to maintain our safety. During your encounters against other individuals, either be Rank 1 of the Empire or Eye Master of Dynasty, fight to kill. But with those stronger, do your must to not be targeted by them, and in case you can''t escape, and I am not able to reach you in time, use the Mirage Rune if your life is in danger." Zatiel was very serious when he said thest part, as the value of these two people was more significant for him than any wealth they could get here.


    Ezequiel and Sophia nodded and concentrated on the small rune above their hearts and the reason they were able to be calm in a situation that involved individuals so powerful.


    After a couple of hours flying, they reached the gathering point, and there was already a group of people there. As the three of them approached, their friendly and rxed attitude changed to a cold and hostile.


    In the ce, there were already eighteen people, fourteen were standing in the ground, three of them were 50 meters above them, and one person was 100 meters in the sky. This was a perfect example of their difference in power and status.


    The Rank 3 Magus was a man that looked around sixty years old, his hair was grey, and even though his body seems fragile, everyone knows that he is the most powerful person here. Even if they all worked together, they could not defeat him. He looked at the three new additions, and after a nce, he closed his eyes again.


    Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophianded, not very far from the rest, and waited. The other members of the group didn''t know them. Still, they were sure that they were also part of the expedition, as the Rank 3 Magus was tasked with checking the identities of the ones selected.


    When they arrived, Zatiel noticed that two individuals of the group at Rank 2 were looking in his direction. One was a young man with orange hair and a feminine face, whom he identifies as Nimir, and the other was an old man with dark hair and savage expression.


    Nimir looks at him for a second, but he closes his eyes and gets back to meditation, but the old man keeps staring at him as he disys a vicious smile.


    Zatiel didn''t have to wait long to understand the meaning behind the old man''s expression as a group of three men at Rank 1 came in his direction. There was nothing special in their looks, but they shared the same savage expression that the old man had.


    ''They are not Magi, they aren''t even humans, it seems they are part of a different race. How annoying,'' It didn''t take a genius to know that they were going to provoke problems for Zatiel. This scenario was happening before they reached the cave, so they were not trying to hide their actions.


    The man at the led spoke, but his target was not Zatiel, but Sophia and his eyes werescivious, just like his twopanions.


    "Woman, you are lucky. Our master is attracted to you and wants you to apany him during a couple of nights. He will pay you well, so let''s go," The expression of the man was one of disdain and lust, as he looked at Sophia as if she was a ything to be used.


    He was almost screaming, so everyone was able to hear his words. Those in the sky didn''t care for it, and only the old man with the savage expression was looking in his direction. As for those at the ground, although some of them had pity in their expression, some were watching with amusement.


    When Sophia hears his words, her energy exploded, and an immense rage filled her heart, as he was practically treating her like a whore that could be bought and used at their will. The fury was so much that she wanted nothing more than killing the three of them, but she was not stupid and understood that the one directing them was one of the Rank 2 in the sky.


    Sophia''s abilities in handling different circumstances have increased. Still, this situation was too much for her, so she looked at Zatiel hoping for him to instruct her what to do, and saw him looking at the old man with the savage expression.


    "Hmph, what are you waiting for, do you think that this coward would offend a mighty Rank 2 Werewolf for you?" The man and hispanion had a mocking expression as they looked in Zatiel''s direction and spoke, "You, tell her to go and please our Master, and he will reward you for your obedience."


    Zatiel''s eyes narrowed as he continued looking at the figures on the sky, as the Rank 2 Werewolf was smiling viciously. But who he was really focusing on was Nimir, who maintained an indifferent expression.


    "Do it," Zatiel''s tone was cold, and he continued looking at the Rank 2 beings as he gave Sophia themand.


    As soon he did, the look of everybody in the ce was one of disdain and mockery, especially the three men thatughed at him.


    "Do you see, he is nothing but a terrified piece of trash, now go.." The man stopped speaking suddenly as an immense pain assaulted his head, and for a second, he forgot where he was and what was happening.


    This happens to his twopanions as well, and the only thing they could see was Sophia smiling as her red eyes shined.


    Unlike what they thought, Zatiel''smand was not for Sophia to obey them. After all, he already considers the woman her partner, and no one can touch her but him. What he meant was for her to do what she wished and kill them.


    The disorientation and loss of memory were thanks to Sophia''s Oblivion Eyes. Although it would onlyst a couple of seconds, it was more than enough tounch her spell.


    "Dark Ice Spear!"


    Three ck spears a meter long were fired to the three men, one for each. Due to the fact they were so close, they could not dodge, so they were only able to adopt a defensive position and receive the attack.


    Their Rank Spells activated as mantles of different colors cover them, but still, the spears were able to pierce it and make a huge hole in the stomach of every single one of them.


    They were severely injured. Just when Sophia was going to begin her next spell, immense pressure descended on her.

 Chapter 77: Overload

    The pressure that Sophia was feeling originated from the old man releasing all the power of his consciousness, forcing her to use the energy in her body to fight back. But she didn''t have to resist for long since someone appeared between them, shielding her.


    Recing the vicious smile of the Werewolf, Sophia saw a broad back that gives her the sensation it could carry the world''s weight and makes her feel safe, even against the threat of someone at Rank 2.


    Of course, the one standing in front of Sophia was Zatiel, who had a cold expression. He faced his opponent and used the energy on his body to restrain the consciousness of the Werewolf.


    On Sophia''s face, a gorgeous smile appeared. It was immediately reced by coldness and killing intent as she looked at Ezequiel. He shared the same expression and nodded to her. The energy inside them exploded, and they were about to activate their trump cards and attack the old man when a voice sounded in their minds.


    "Don''t act, no matter what, that is an order. I will handle this."


    Although they were unwilling, they know that Zatiel must have a reason for acting alone, so they calmed their energies and remained still.


    "Hahaha, who do you think you are, some sort of hero? It has been a long time since I have seen such a buffoon," Scorn was on the Werewolf''s face as heughed at the fact that Zatiel was trying to defend Sophia.


    The Rank 1 Magi was looking at Zatiel as if he was stupid for what they thought was a useless act. In the sky, the only woman among them remained indifferent to what was happening, and the Rank 3 Magus continued meditating.


    Nimir was looking at Zatiel and did not try to hide the disdain on his face, as if he was looking at a clown performing a show.


    "Since you make meugh I will be kind, move so I can grab the woman and I will only rip one of your arms for meddling," The old man revealed a bloodthirsty smile as he looks at Zatiel and the pressure of his consciousness increased as savagery radiate from his body.


    Zatiel was indifferent to the threat of the man. He acted like he didn''t even feel the pressure, as he looked at Nimir and saw his expression, a clearer idea of what was happening formed in his mind.


    As for the ones on the ground, to him, they were only a group of monkeys, and their opinion could not matter less. From his ring, he took a sword and rose to the sky until he was 200 meters away from the group before making the energy in his body burst.


    The expression of the people in the ground was filled with surprise as they saw Zatiel''s actions. This was a clear challenge to the old man, and something it could only end with his defeat, in their minds.


    The difference in Ranks is not something so simple as the ability to use spells with a higher degree of damage. After all, if it were like that, then using runes and magical equipment, anyone could fight against those stronger.


    When someone advances to the next Rank, not only is their energy reserve greater and the lethality of their spell higher, but their entire body and soul grows stronger, making their speed of thoughts, reflexes, reaction time, and even instinct more powerful.


    All that together, with a higher maniption of the natural energies, make a feat like fighting those above your Rank only possible to absolute geniuses that are the best of any great power. That is only when they are at the peak of their Ranks.


    "HAHAHAHAHA, you are a fool. This is the most hrious scene I have seen in many years," The old manughed even harder, and he was amused by Zatiel''s actions.


    "I have heard that a barking dog does not bite, I am starting to think that is true, with all your talk," Zatiel''s expression was indifferent, but his tone was filled with mockery.


    When Zatiel finished speaking, those at the ground were shocked, as they could not believe what they just heard, making total silence appear.


    Before, Zatiel actions could be considered a passive confrontation that could be resolved as long as he submitted and epted his punishment. Still, now that he called a Rank 2 Werewolf a dog, this could be considered creating an enmity that could only be resolved with someone dead.


    "What the hell did you just say!!! You darepare me, the mighty Feiner, member of the proud Werewolf race, with a fu*king dog?" Feiner''s face warped in rage, and as he heard the greatest insult the members of his race could receive, his body started to erge, and fur filled him.


    As soon as the transformation began, the energy in his body spiked. Just the physical might he released was something a Rank 1 could never achieve no matter what path he took. His jaw started to protrude, and fangs filled his mouth. His hand and legs grew muscr as his nails extended and took the appearance of small daggers. His dark fur got a metallic luster, and although it may seem soft in reality, it was even tougher than some rank 1 magical armor.


    Zatiel saw the transformation. Although the chip could not trespass Feiner''s energy barriers, he could use his experience and the energy that the Werewolf was releasing, to estimate his strength.


    ''A Werewolf at the Advanced Rank 2, his physical attributes are superior to mine by a great margin. Although they are a race that uses their bodies as the main weapon, he definitely has spells that can enhance his power and use his consciousness to use long-distance attacks. Let''s see how long I canst without external help.'' As Zatieel assesses his opponent, he adopts a fighting stance, with his sword ready to protect his head and hearts.


    It only took Feiner a moment for his transformation to bepleted. He ends up as a three and a half meters tall ck Werewolf, that radiated savagery and killing intent from his body. Not saying a word, he dashed to Zatiel with such a speed that it took him less than five seconds to reach him.


    With his immense ws that looked like it was made from knives, Feiner shed at Zatiel, and just the winds he created could heavily injure any Rank 0 lifeform.


    All the ones who saw this fight thought it was over, as Zatiel was receiving a direct attack from someone famous for his immense power. Even if he didn''t die, he would be severely injured.


    But contrary to what they believed, Zatiel used his sword and blocked the attack redirecting most of the power in it to the outside.


    Feiner wanted to end the fight in one moment to humiliate Zatiel. When he saw how he stopped his w, he was furious. He continued attacking with even more ferocity, not only using his hand but also his legs, disying the fighting style of werewolves.


    Every attack that the Werewolf was releasing had enough power to seriously injure an individual at Rank 1. His movements were erratic and incredibly fast, but somehow Zatiel always manages to block the ws or dodge them at thest moment.


    Except for the Rank 3 Magus, everybody was focused in the fight, even the woman in the sky was attentive.


    The Rank 1s at the ground were amazed by the ability of Zatiel to stop the attacks of someone at Rank 2, but both Nimir and the woman in the sky knew it was not so simple.


    The power that Feiner was liberating was so much that every time Zatiel stopped his attacks, even after using his swordsmanship to redirect most of the strength in them, he felt like he was crashing against a mountain, damaging all the muscles and bones in his arms. Since his opponent''s agility was superior, he could barely dodge twenty percent of the attacks, forcing him to be in absolute defensive mode.


    If Feiner were to use a spell to enhance his power, the fight would be finished immediately. Still, the old man knew that he would be aughing stock if people found out he could not defeat someone at Rank 1 even afterpleting his transformation.


    Eventually, after another dozen attacks, the anger of the Werewolf reaches his limits as he opens his mouth.


    "ROAR!"


    A thunder-like wolf howl assaulted Zatiel''s consciousness making his vision blur. Although itsted just a second, it was enough for the Werewolf tounch his attack.


    "Fu*king die!"


    Feiner''s w was filled with silver fire as he shed.


    Zatiel was able to put the sword in at thest moment to shield him, blocking most of the attack. However, the power was still so much that he was sent flying and impacted in the ground, creating a small crater.


    When Sophia and Ezequiel saw this, the fury in their hearts was immense and wanted nothing more than to attack the Werewolf with everything they have. However, remembering Zatiel''s words, they remained still. Still, their fists were clenched so hard that blood wasing out from them.


    "Hmph, you have to be stupid to go and challenge those above your rank."


    "You are right, the only reason hested that long was that lord Feiner was taking it easy and not really attacking."


    "Well, he deserves what he got, so weak yet trying to defend others."


    "Look, even hispanion do not dare to help him, how stupid."


    The ones mocking Zatiel were some of the Rank 1 on the ground, and although they tried to hide it, envy was evident in their faces. The power that Zatiel demonstrated means that he can kill any of them, but since they thought he was finished, they took the chance and made fun of him.


    The woman in the sky didn''t say anything and just shook her head. As for Nimir, he looked at the ce Zatiel crashed, and seeing the damage, he seemed satisfied.


    The Rank 3 Magus finally opened his eyes. Although it seems like he was not paying attention, his consciousness has been active all the time. He was about to act when he saw in the direction where Zatiel crashed a golden glow was appearing.


    Zatiel raised into the sky. A part of his robe was destroyed, showing his upper body and the runes that covered most of it. His ribs were broken as was his right arm, and there were cut marks all over his body, but the golden mes were healing them, and in his forehead, the Eye of Life and Creation appeared.


    "Time for round two," As soon he said those words, arge ring of ck mes appeared on his back, beforepletely entering his sword. The skin of his body turned golden when he activated his True Name.


    When Feiner saw those changes, he was a little surprised. Still, after seeing it was only an increase in the vitality and endurance of the body, he calmed down. Although the sword seemed dangerous, he was confident in his power.


    "Hmph, the only thing you managed to achieve is to make your sufferingst longer."


    But in the next moment, he saw how the runes on Zatiel activated, creating dark paths among his golden body. Feiner was startled as he felt the power in Zatiel''s body increasing beyond the level a Rank 1 could achieve.


    The woman, Nimir, and even the Rank 3 Magus focused all their attention on Zatiel, and their expression was ofplete surprise.


    "I will use you to test the power of my first runic set," The runes in Zatiel''s body finally lit uppletely as he felt as an immense amount of vitality and energy was being drained. Still, the enhancement of power was even more monstrous.


    "Overload!"

 Chapter 78: Defeating a Rank 2 Werewolf

    Zatiel activated his Sun Domain and dashed in the direction of Feiner, resembling a shooting star that moved through the sky.


    "Do you think an insect like you can challenge me!?" Feiner''s entire body was covered in a silver fire as he flew at Zatiel and attacked him with his ws.


    The speed that Zatiel was disying was superior to the one of the Werewolf. In a matter of seconds, the two crashed, generating a great explosion of dark and grey mes.


    The moment the silver ws and dark sword impacted each other, to the surprise of everybody, they negated mutually, and neither Zatiel nor Feiner prevailed in terms of power.


    Feiner was shocked, as, in this attack, he used all his power and wasn''t holding back at all, yet it ended up in a draw, and what was worse, a part of his ws wascerated.


    The ws of a werewolf were equally hard as a magic weapon of the same rank as the owner, so to be damaged, it was a testament of the immense power in Zatiel attacks.


    Not wasting the opportunity thatps in his opponent''s concentration, Zatiel focuses all his power in the ck sword and activates his True Name to the fullest, as he releases an arc of dark mes.


    Since they were so close, Feiner knew he could not dodge the attack, so he roared, and an illusionary wolf head appeared to shield him. Unfortunately for him, the dark mes destroyed the poorly made defense immediately, reaching him and engulfing his body with ck fire.


    "Ahhh!" The abyssal fire in the consciousness of Feiner caused incredible pain, forcing him to run and get away from Zatiel, as he tried to expel the spell.


    Overload mostly focuses on increasing Zatiel physical attributes and not the might of his spells. Using Dexisus, his abyssal fire was able to reach the next level, trespassing the defenses of someone at Rank 2.


    "Where do you think you are going," Zatiel''s eyes were cold as he chased the Werewolf and released arcs of dark fire.


    The Rank 3 Magus was intrigued as he saw this disy of power and focused his consciousness on Zatiel''s body and the runes he was disying.


    "So this is the maximum representation of runemaster abilities, runic sets. They are truly powerful, but to be able to activate it, means that this young man is certainly special."


    The woman in the sky saw the fight with excitement, all the opposite of Nimir that looked angry and frustrated.


    "What the hell is this me, and why is it so hard to expulse?" Feiner was using all the energy on his body to repel the abyssal fire. Still, the process was too slow, and the worst part was not the damage to his body but the pain that was assaulting his mind.


    When the Werewolf saw Zateil closing in, he manipted his consciousness and started to create small orbs of grey fire andunch them, hoping to at least stop his chase.


    Since theoretically, a consciousness that was filled with energy could release an attack from any part of it, it should be possible to create a spell right next to your enemy. That is why during a fight all those at Rank 2 create a small domain with their consciousness around them to stop this from happening,


    Zatiel was not able to do this. But by using his Sun Domain, he could alter the natural energy in his surroundings just enough to stop a spell appearing inside it, giving him the time to dodge the attacks of his opponent and shrink the distance between them.


    The distance between the two was almost null. Still, Feiner was an old man with tons of tricks, so he activated his energy making his body blur before five identical copies of him appeared, flying in different directions.


    "Hmph, parlor tricks," Using consciousness was not useful as all of them will give the same feeling. Still, Zatiel had his Eye of Life and Creation that was able to see the only one that had authentic vital energy on his body. He shed to him and, with all the strength of his body, made his sword crash on the werewolf''s back.


    "Ahhh!" The old man was sent flying and crashed to the ground. The mes once again filled his entire body, making him cry from the pain. He felt the great incision on his back together with some broken bones.


    Nimir''s eyes narrowed as he saw Feiner was being dominated. After a moment of consideration, he made the energy on his body burst and was going to move, when the woman appeared in front of him.


    "What do you think you are doing, Kira?" Nimir''s face was cold as he looked threateningly at the woman that was stopping him.


    "Ha, I should be the one who is asking that. How shameless can someone be to gang up on someone of an inferior Rank," The woman was indifferent at the threat of the man, and remained still.


    Nimir got impatient and was ready to attack when he felt a pair of eyes looking at him, which made him tremble. The origin was the Rank 3 Magus that was staring at him with disdain in his face, and seeing the coldness of the man, he didn''t dare to act.


    Zatiel didn''t want to lose his momentum. He was going to continue with his attack when he felt an immense amount of energy being released from the crater, and a green light appeared.


    The green light was a rune that Feiner has just activated that healed most of his injuries and erased the dark mes. This was a one-time use rune, and the Werewolf had saved it for the expedition in case he found himself in danger. Yet, he was forced to use it now. However, despite helping his body, the damage of his consciousness was still there, and his reserves were severely depleted.


    "Enough, the fight will end here, and we will consider that nothing happens. We will work together in the near future, so it will be better if we mend our rtionship," Although Feiner wanted nothing more than to tear Zatiel apart, he knew that his chances of winning were scarce, so he chose topromise his pride and dere a truce with the Rank 1.


    When he heard those words, the coldness and killing intent on Zatiel just increased, and the dark mes in his sword raged as he shed to Feiner. Stoping because your enemy says so, and hoping he will be grateful was incredibly stupid, so since the fight started, he was ready to kill the Werewolf.


    The only thing the old man''s words provoked was demonstrating his hypocrisy, angering Zatiel.


    "You dare!" In Feiner''s mind, he was being magnanimous for blowing himself and making a deal with someone at Rank 1. He got furious as he saw Zatiel''s action. Since his speed was inferior, he made his silver fire cover him, before attacking.


    The two started to sh at the opponent, one with his ws and the other with his sword. Even though Feiner attacked with his four ws, Zatiel''s superiority was bing evident, as more and more injuries appeared on the Werewolf. They seem to be affected by some type of energy that aggregated a corroding effect.


    In Zatiel''s body, there were also some injuries. Still, his skin was incredibly tough, and all the damage was healed immediately, making desperation appear on the Werewolf.


    After a series of attacks and the decrease in Feiner''s reaction speed due to the damage to his consciousness, Zatiel was able to cut his right arm off.


    An incredible pain assaulted Feiner, but it was immediately reced by a sensation of impending doom as he saw a sword cutting toward his brain.


    Just when Zatiel was about to kill the Werewolf, an invisible hand grabbed him and separated the two of them.


    "It is enough," It was the Rank 3 Magus who spoke, and despite the fact that he was hundreds of meters away, he was able to stop Zatiel effortlessly.


    The fight ended with those words. No matter if it was the ones in the ground or the Rank 2 in the sky, all of them were amazed by Zatiel power, as not only was he able to fight someone a Rank above him, but he almost killed him.


    "Why do you interfere now?" Zatiel looked at the Magus, and despite the immense difference in power, he was calm.


    If it was before, everyone would have thought that Zateil was too conceited by questioning the Magus, but now everybody felt it was right.


    The man looked at Zatiel, and the image he had of the young man just continued improving, as he saw the calmness he acted in front of him, something the Ranks 2 in here could not do.


    "My mission is stopping anyone under my watch from dying, when you were on the floor, I was also going to act."


    Hearing the man''s exnation, Zatiel could only sigh and resign himself. However, he still pointed his sword, and a ball of dark mes wasunched from it disintegrating the severed arm of Feiner.


    The Rank 3 Magus saw this but didn''tment, as for Feiner, his face deformed by the immense hate in his heart, but he could only keep it inside and did not dare to attack.

 Chapter 79: Departure

    Under the stares of wonder, envy, and curiosity of everybody, Zatiel flies back to Sophia and Ezequiel before deactivating Overload, his spells, and his True Name. He sat down and started to meditate as he took a cube of food from his ring and devoured at an impressive speed.


    Sophia and Ezequiel sit beside him, guarding him with eyes full of love and admiration, respectively.


    Although looking a little tired, Zatiel seems perfectly fine, as if he was in his top condition even after the fight. Still, the truth was all the opposite, as he currently had less than five percent of his energy left.


    Runic sets are able to give the user amazing abilities. Still, the more powerful they are, the greater is the burden they put on the body. A Rank 1 Magus at the Master level should be able to use a Peak-Rank 1 runic set. Even then, it would be only for a short time, but Overload was a High-Rank 2 runic set. Hence, the amount of vitality and energy it needed was something no Rank 1 should be able to achieve, even if we are talking about races like Titans and Dragons.


    It was thanks to Natux, the double source of energy in his two hearts, his advantages as a Neo-Demon, and the incredible boost to his vitality that his Law Bloodline gives him, that Zatiel was able to meet the requirement to activate Overload.


    And when he did, the amount of energy remaining in his body was so little that he could only use his Rank Spell and Innate Spells, as any other would drain him in seconds.


    Feiner also returned to his subordinates, instead of remaining in the sky with the other Rank 2.


    The Rank 1 werewolves were healing from the damage that Sophia spell had made to their bodies, and in their faces, there was immense regret, as they understood that the person they offended can kill all of them with a movement of his sword, and by the attitude he had disyed, it was obvious he would not let them go. Although all of this happened due to them following the order of the old man, they did not dare to reproach him, as that will spell ruin for the three.


    The Rank 2 Werewolf was healing his injuries as he channeled the regenerative abilities of his race and his powerful physique. As he felt the pain of his injuries, the hate on his face was clearer. Still, there was also fear, as he knew that if the Magus had not interfered, he would have died.


    The condition of Fenier was much worse than Zatiel. Due to the fact that his arm was destroyed, he would have to use a vast amount of vitality and energy to regenerate it. Before that, he would need to expel the energy that surrounded his injuries that stops them from healing. The worst part wasn''t the damage to his body, but the one on his consciousness, as it would affect his overall power, and it would take a lot of time to heal since he didn''t have the pills for that. All of this would make his task in the caves and encounter with the members of Dynasty truly dangerous.


    ''Useless piece of shit, I will make sure you pay for putting me in this situation. Had you informed me that that bastard had a Runic Set, all would have been different,'' Feiner was looking at Nimir, and he was pulling all the me of his defeat on him.


    Nimir feels the stare and animosity of the old man but ignores him as he has bigger problems. He had disregarded Heinz''s direct order, as he thought that even if there was some type of punishment, it would be nothing serious as he was a Rank 2 Elementium Magus, but now everything was different. He was smart enough to know that the abilities that Zatiel disyed made him incredibly valuable for any group, way more than him. Of course, he would never openly admit those thoughts.


    Exactly an hour after Zatiel sat down and devoured his third cube of food, someone walked in his direction. It was the Rank 3 Magus, and he carried a friendly expression as he approached the trio.


    Ezequiel and Sophia have been extremely vignt as Zatiel had informed them about his condition. They make sure that no one approaches them. But they understood that distance has nothing to a Rank 3 lifeform, so they remained still and let him get closer without interference.


    Zatiel opens his eyes and looks at the man before standing up. Still, even now, he keeps one of his minds working in replenishing his energy.


    "If your energy has been restored to a decent level, I hope we can discuss something," The man spoke in a tone you would give to an equal, a great disy of respect considering his identity.


    Zatiel looks at him for a moment before nodding. As for the fact he was able to see his condition, the perception of a Rank 3 was greatly developed due to their need to see past the natural energies of the world and perceive their essence. So detecting his condition by just looking at him was something normal.


    "I am Grigori, and my young friend must be Zatiel Daybreak. I have heard of your works as a runemaster, but seeing your skills today, I must say they were highly underrated. I will go straight to the point, I was hoping to obtain your runic set for one of my descendants, of course, I will pay handsomely."


    When Gregori saw the Runic Set that Zatiel disyed, and the fantastic increase in power it was able to provide, he was fascinated by it. Although it will be useless for him, he has lived a long life and had a great number of descendants. One of them had disyed an immense talent, and since it was his family, it was worth spending a great number of resources.


    "I won''t do that," Zatiel''s response was immediate as he turned down the Magus.


    As soon as he heard those words, the expression of the Grigori became distant. He knows that Runic Sets are exceptional and difficult to get. Still, he had shown respect to Zatiel and was willing to pay a great price for it, yet he was rejected without thinking twice.


    Everybody was focused on the conversation between the Magus and Zatiel. When they heard about Grigori''s request, their faces filled with envy at the chance of forming a rtionship with someone so powerful. But when Zatiel reject him, most of them showed smiles, especially Nimir and Feiner


    Zatiel saw those expressions, but he only sneered at them, before focusing once again on the Magus that was about to leave.


    "Hear me. Overload was a runic set I developed. It was meant to increase chiefly physical attributes. The only reason I was able to disy such an immense increase in power was that it was meant topliment me and the special characteristics of my Path. If someone else were to have it inscribed on his body, only activating it would be difficult as they would most likely pass out or be injured due to the depletion in vitality, and even if they manage to use it, disying 25% of their power would be the best scenario."


    When Gregori heard that statement, he remained silent and started to assess Zatiel''s words. Although lying to avoid selling the rune was an option, after a couple of moments, he confirmed the truth. He indeed felt a significant increase in the vitality of the young man before the runic set was activated, and after, he was exhausted.


    "Ahhh, thanks for exining it to me and increasing my knowledge. A runic set with those characteristics is indeed not suitable," Although it seems like the business was a failure, Grigori''s expression was again friendly as he talked to Zatiel.


    Zatiel look at the man for a moment, and after some calctions, he spoke, "If you want, I could create a specially made runic set for your descendant,"


    "Are you able to do that?" Grigori was surprised. His knowledge of runic sets may not be much. Still, he knows the difficulty of creating one, especially if it is made specifically for someone.


    "As long as the individual is in Rank 1, I haveplete ess to his path technique, and I can get a full assessment of his body and energy, I should be able to do it. But it will take a great amount of time, and it will be very expensive, even for someone like you."


    By this point, Zatiel''s runemaster abilities were so high that he could perform any Rank 1 runes. In his memories, there were several runic sets that could work as an inspiration.


    The only reason Zateil didn''t create a set for Sophia and Ezequiel, was that a rank 1 runic set would not be very helpful for the duo and that he spent almost all his wealth in Overload.


    "Don''t worry about the price. The resources my family has saved will surprise you. When the expedition is over, we wille to visit you, and we will provide you with everything you need."


    Grigori smiled at Zatiel, then suddenly he looked at the distance, before speaking again.


    "The ones we were waiting for have arrived. Are you in a condition to leave, or do you need more rest?"


    Zatiel closed his eyes, and after assessing his condition, he nodded.


    "Let''s go."

 Chapter 80: Initial confrontation with Dynasty

    Siru was flying with his subordinates, following the lead of the Rank 3 Magus, as they headed to the area where the excavation will take ce and where they will meet with the members of Dynasty.


    He had made a detour to meet with another Rank 2 Magus that was also going to the expedition and with whom he shared a rtion, before heading to the meeting point. But since he had another assignment, he made sure his men were the first to arrive so they could try to collect some information about the runemaster that Zitra was interested in.


    When he arrived, a pleasant surprise greets him as he saw the man he needed to invite in the name of his Highness, but he was confused by the way everybody was acting around him, especially the fact that some of the Rank 2 were looking him with anger and some traces of fear.


    This situation seems impossible and he even doubted his feeling, as someone at Rank 1 inspiring fear on those above his Rank should not happen. After speaking with his man he finds out about the fight and when they mention the Runic Set the tone of his men filled with envy.


    As a Rank 2 Magus at the Master level, Siru was confident in defeating the Werewolf, but having the power to kill him and by the end of the fight not having a single injury on your body was impressive, even if you are in the same Rank and level.


    "Ahh, I will need to adopt a totally different position now," Siru could not help but sigh, as he looked at the smallest group in the distance.


    There were six groups following Grigori, and five of them were under the protection by those at Rank 2, but there was one that only had three members and leading them was a young man with an imposing aura, but although the amount of power in his body was impressive, he was still in Rank 1.


    Despite this, nobody thought that this group would be in danger, especially since they know that if there was a situation that could pose a threat to those at Rank 2, they will be the first to be protected by Grigori.


    When he saw Zatiel, Siru ideated a simple but efficient n. He will get close to the runemaster, something that should be easy with their difference in power and status, he will offer some protection during the expedition and make him agree to be a subordinate to Zitra, saving the Princess the job and getting some merits. But now all that was gone, as there was no need for Zatiel to request his help and at most, they could work as equal partners.


    .....


    The Endless Forest made honor to its name, as even though they were flying at an impressive speed for several days now, they were not even close to their destination. During their fly Zatiel and the rest saw different ecosystems, that extended for kilometers.


    One time, they saw a poisonous swamp that was filled with all sort of creatures, from small bugs to 4 meter long snakes, in another ce there was an active volcano from whichva constantly fell and you could see gigantic humanoids at its top that seem to be made from rock and fire, but the most impressive was the one that looked like a frozen hell with spikes of ice that rose from the ground and extended for kilometers into the sky, with temperatures so low that made some of those at Rank 1 shiver, forcing them to activate their energies.


    This type of bioclimatdscapes was sometimes produced naturally and systematically, but there were also times that they were generated due to powerfull Magic Creatures that inhabit them and the immense energy their bodies released. They changed those ces to a more suitable one for them and their race.


    Neo-Demons, Magus, Eye Holder, and Cultivator can also have this type of effect in the environment, but they restain their power as the changes they provoke would make life impossible for normal humans.


    During their first weeks of travel, there was no altercation, since the immense power that Grigori released was enough to make all those Magic Creatures they saw them, crawl in fear and hide. But during a night in the frozen hell, as they rested all of them felt a powerful consciousness decedent and made them shivered, not just for fear, but by the fact the natural energy inside it was so high that made the temperature drop drastically.


    Immediately another consciousness acted and removed the cold one, it was Grigori that rises to the sky and searched for the origin of the attack. It didn''t take him long to find it and he made the energy on his body burst, generating a dark aura that covers him, making the ice crack despite not being in contact with his body.


    "Guard this area," After giving themand, the Rank 3 Magus fly to the distance like a meteor breaking the sky.


    In less than three seconds everybody was able to hear the thunderous explosion that generated blue light in the distance but that vanished rapidly into the darkness.


    Despite the distance been hundred of meters, the shock waves made the ground under their feet tremble. All the ones at Rank 2 charged their energy and released their consciousness to keep an eye on their surroundings. As for Zatiel he activated his True Name and bring out his sword before filling it with mes, ready to activate Overload in case anything happens.


    Those at Rank 1 get close to their leader and even though they also burst their energies, they know that they were so deep into the Endless Forest, that they would not be of much help in a battle. Even Sophia and Ezequiel get close to Zatiel, as although they could work together and use their trump card to fight a weak Rank 2 Magic Creature, this would certainly not be the only fight they would have on the journey and it was best to save their strength for when it really was needed.


    After proximally an hour, Grigori came back, he was a little pale and there were frozen areas all over his body as well some bruises and cuts. Floating behind him was the body of a Frost War Ape, that was thirty metal tall and most of his skin was cover in frozen spikes, the creature was no longer breathing as he had a huge hole right in the center of his forehead.


    The Magus ignored the look of admiration and envy that most of the ones present give him, and throw the body to the ground creating a small earthquake, before sitting on the head of the creature.


    "Keep watching the surroundings and make sure no one approach us," After giving themand and without waiting for an answer, Grigori made a sphere with green light inside it appear and put it on the hole of the creature head, having finished that, he closes his eyes and released a dark glow that was absorbed by the gigantic body of the ape.


    Everybody keeps a watch on their surroundings, but knowing the immense value that the body of a Rank 3 Magic Creature had, some of those at Rank 2 feel great greed but it was well hidden, as they knew that even tired, the Magus could kill them easily.


    The moment Zatiel saw the sphere, he knew exactly was the Magus was going to do with the body, as it was the same type of magic he master, necromancy. By using a dead body and some special ingredient, Gregori was transforming the Frost War Ape into an Undead Creature, and by doing it right after his death, he was able to conserve more of the power he had in life.


    After half an hour the creature once again opens his eyes, but they were hollow and only a green me could bee seen inside them. It rises showing to all his immense body, and although it was a lot weaker than when he was alive, it was strong enough to fight some at the Peak of Rank 2, since despite the fact he lost most of his abilities and his energy was severely reduced, his physical power was still immense and he no longer had vital points except for the green orb inside his head.


    Under the looks of amazement and envy, Grigori moves his hand and the body of the creature was swallowed inside a bag in his waist. The Magus closes his eyes and starts to meditate to replenish his energy, as did the rest since from now on this type of fight will happen more often and they would need to be in their top condition.


    When the first ray of light touched the frozen ground, the expedition party continue his journey. Although Rank 3 Magic Creatures were as smart as humans in their same Rank and were not ves to their instincts, they still had savage tendency, and since all those that reached their power were certainly arrogant, they were confident that they could kill those humanoids and devour them, increasing their power, so fights happen more than once as they traveled.


    Most of the time, there were only testing attacks and seeing that they could not ovee the Rank 3 Magus, the magic creatures stood away, but there were some that would not be resigned and would even send their race to join the fight.


    This happen when a Rank 3 Inferno Bear attacked, and as he and Grigori fought, some of his descendants attacked the rest of the party. Zatiel and those at Rank 2 were the main force of battle, protecting their respective subordinates.


    These magic creatures were not particrly powerfull so they were defeated easily and several of their members died, bing spoil for those who kill them.


    In the end, the Rank 3 Magic Creature runs away with severe injuries all over his body, and the Magus chose not to chase as it could end up in some sort of trap, besides the fact he was also injured.


    As they rested and replenish their energy, Ezequiel and Sophia received looks of envy as they were eating the meat of a Rank 2 Inferno Bear, as unlike them who didn''t receive nothing from their leader, Zatiel gives great part of the creature to them. The duo saw this, but didn''t care and just continue eating.


    Like this, the next month went by, asionally fighting powerful opponents, and sometimes even forced to run, due to the numeric disadvantage. Despite the great number of close encounters, by the time they were reaching the excavation zone, there was only one casualty, it was one of the werewolves. This happened due to the fact that Feiner''s consciousness being injured, led to a mistake from part of the old man, letting the creature pass his defense and reach his man, eating him entirely in one bite before escaping.


    The rest didn''t care about this since they had no personal rtionship with the man, and besides, they know that this was the possible fate of all the Rank 1 werewolf as they offended someone with enough power to kill their leader, much less them. If there was someone that was truly upset about this beside theirrades, that will be Grigori, but not because he cares about the man, but because it will affect his mission report.


    As they finally approached their destination, they all were surprised by the destruction in the ce, even the Rank 3 Magus was no exception. There was a mountain that was almost three kilometers tall, yet it was cut in two and not far away there was a section of grey earth of several kilometers wide right in the center of the forest. Scenes like this were present in all thendscape, proof of the immense power of the one who fought here.


    In the center of this ce that looks like if it was the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, was a huge hole that leed to a subterranean path. Exactly five hundred meters from it to the right and left there were ck tforms of a hundred meter wide that were filled with runes.


    In one of these, there was already a group of people. There were exactly 26 persons, the same number the Empire team will have if not by the one death. All of them were members of Dynasty, disying their characteristics four eyes.


    The moment Gregori arrived with the members of the Empire, those of Dynasty look in their direction.


    The two teams disyed hostility as soon they look each other, after all, despite this been considered an excavation mission, all of them knew that fighting and killing will happen.

 Chapter 81: Fallen star

    The two parties look at each other for a long time, but ultimately no one did anything since their respective leader didn''t act. The Eye King and the Rank 3 Magus knew that fighting will be futile since they are not alone, so Grigori took his team and headed to the ck tform.


    Zatiel follows the Magus, but he remained looking at the members of Dynasty, especially at the young man that was at the lead of those who will participate in the excavation, just behind the Eye King. The man looks very young, even infantile you could say, and although it was easy to fake these characteristics, thanks to his bloodline Zatiel was able to detect the thriving life-force in his body that detailed his youth.


    The man had ck hair, his normal eyes were blue and those in his forehead were grey, he wore a white robe, but unlike the rest of his team, this one was simr to the one Zatiel used, meant to let the body movement during a fight. Despite his expression been calm, he was giving an imposing aura and the sensation of being the alpha of the group.


    Like if detecting his presence, the young man looks in the direction of Zatiel, and unlike what you will hope to see from an Eye Lord, he didn''t dismiss his opponent just for being weaker than him but disy an analytic and serious expression.


    ''Dangerous,'' Zatiel eyes narrowed as he exchanged stares with the man.


    From the entire team of Dynasty, this young man was the only one that made Zatiel feel a threat.


    After a momentum the entire team arrives at the tform, this one was entirely ck and was five-meter tall and one hundred meters wide and long, there was all kind of runes in it and it had an indentation in his center the size of a fist. It didn''t seem like much and there was no clear use of it, but no one was dumb enough to think it was just a part of the view.


    Grigori took a ck orb from his spatial ring and the moment it was put in the tform all the runes activated, generating an alteration in the natural energies at their surroundings due to their high level and the great power generated. Yet nothing happens, but there was one person in the group who recognized these runes.


    ''Spatial containment, I guess whatever we are going to excavate has an immense amount of energy,'' Zatiel eyes narrowed as he scanned these runes and looks at the ce where the entrance to the cave was.


    Spatial equipment works by creating a pocket dimension, but this space is fragile and if something inside releases too much energy it can affect the integrity of the container and make the dimension copse, but to have that type of energy is must be something really special.


    After finishing the activation, Grigori was going to exin the specifics of work they were going to do and some basic rules when all of the sudden the sky started to break like if it was ss and two human figures appeared, it didn''t matter if they were the members of the Empire or Dynasty when they tried to see their looks, their eyes hurt like if they were seeing to the sun only glimpsing a blurring image, and barely been able to identify that they were both men and one of them had four eyes.


    The space that looks like it was broken started to close and if you look to what was at the other end you would see a barren ce of other-dimensional nothingness extending in all directions, and where no life should be able to survive.


    The two of them remained on the sky without moving, and the energy on their body was calm, yet their surroundings seem to be distorted like if the air itself was burning, their mere presence made all those beneath felt their energy go in disarray and loss control for a moment.


    They raise their hand making the earth around the tforms start to tremble and from the ground, two gigantic statues of fifty meters appear, in the side of the empire, it portrayed an adult male, with short hair and an indifferent face with cold eyes, as for dynasty side, it appears a man with a face that looks to be worn out by time but full of wisdom, with a long hair that reached his back.


    Despite the statues looking impressive, they were just lifeless objects that anyone in here had the power to destroy. But all that changed when from the forehead of those two men a small dot of light came out and enter those earth giants.


    From both statues, an invisible domain appears and the pressure it generates was so much that if it was targeting anyone present, it was enough to st to a pulp even someone as powerful as Gregori. The domain from the empire statue makes those inside it feel fear growing in their hearts, it was so powerful that some were paralyzed by it, as for the man of dynasty his statue made them feel tired and want nothing more to sleep and dream.


    Those two domains sh against each other making the earth crack and thunder and lightning appear in the sky, the power was so great that these type of phenomenon appear for kilometers, but when they notice no one could win they started to expand in other direction covering around twenty kilometers before stoping his expansion and the feeling that they gave to those inside them vanished.


    After finishing with these immense disys of might, the powerhouse from the Empire and the one from Dynasty, look at the Rank 3 Magus and Eye King respectively and nodded before vanishing.


    After the two men left, all those present rxed, after all, being in the presence of someone that could make you vanish with a single thought was something no one liked.


    Everyone was looking at the immense statues that were left, despite no doing nothing the power they had was so immense that made them feel intoxicated and was only when Grigori coughed that they turn to the man.


    Seen that everyone was paying attention to him Grigori starts to talk " Those were powerhouses that subdue the creatures that inhabit in this area and make sure they remain away from this ce, as long we stay in their domain we will not be in danger, but if you leave then we are so deep in the Endless Forest that we can be considered trespassing on the territories of Soul Forging creatures. I guess I don''t need to tell you what will happen then."


    Everyone present understood the meaning of the Magus words, since if they find themself in the range of creatures that strong then even escaping will be impossible.


    Rank 4 is a major threshold, as the individual suffers a major transformation, being able to use the power of their souls directly and no longer can be considered a biological being. This level of power has many titles depending on the world and race they are part of, like Legends, Eye Tyrant, Doom Bringer, Dao Awakening, Ancient Stage, among others but due to the special characteristics they all share, they aremonly called Soul Forging.


    It is in this stage when you became powerful enough to interact directly with the Laws, giving them impressive and obscure abilities than all beneath their Rank are unable to fight against.


    Seein they understood the seriousness of the situation, Grigori continues " Your task is the excavation of a special mineral named Fallen Star, this is part of a celestial body that had fallen into the world and due to it being flooded for hundreds of years in the energy that surrounds the worlds, they release pollution that is fatal for any life form under Rank 1, and it is still dangerous for those of you in Rank 1 and 2, so you need to slow down the pollution the most you can and take some time to expel it from your body every certain amount of time before the corruption reaches a critical level" After pausing a moment he continues.


    "This mineral can''t be put into normal spatial equipment, so you will have to use your bodies and spell to bring it here, where this tform will save it and make annotation of the amount you have recollected. The tunnels extend for hundreds of kilometers and the deeper you go the higher the purity of the mineral is. Although going deeper allows you to obtain a better spoil is also the ce where the powerful will be, so you should be self-aware of your power."


    Grigori words could be sum up as, the higher the risk the higher the reward, and those at Rank 1 understood that they will be crushed if they are in the way of those Eye Lords.


    "Questions?"


    "Is there a possibility that the Eye King will attack us in retaliation for the death of their members?" Siru asked as he looks at the middle age man at the distance, and whose eyes seem to be made of thunder and lightning.


    This question was important, as no one was so stupid to think that just because someone was stronger they would not be shameless and hurt those weaker than him in vengeance.


    "We are forbidden to attack those participating in the excavation because of a blood contract, so there is no need to worry."


    "Is there an estimate of how long this task willst," This time the person who asked was Nimir that was apanying Feiner.


    "Theplete excavation should take around a year, but that is an estimate made with all of you alive and not suffering injuries that take long recuperation."


    Death was no something that should happen too much since most of them will just abandon the minerals they excavated and will run, but injuries will definitely ur.


    After that question there was silence and it seems they were ready to leave when someone spoke.


    "What are the rules about infighting and killing, also will you be monitoring our movement in the tunnels"


    The expression of everybody changed as they understood the meaning of those words. He was practically asking what will happen if he kills one of them and whether they will be on constant vignce and protection from the Rank 3 Magus. But after seeing the expression of hate in the face of Feiner and his werewolves, most of them adopted an indifferent posture.


    The one who asked was Zatiel and despite the stares he received, he was indifferent as he waited for Grigori''s answer.


    Zatiel was not even trying to hide his intention, and the Magus understood his n immediately, but after looking at him for a moment he just shogged his shoulder, as he didn''t have any rtion with those werewolves, " The codes from the empire are in force and if you are found out killing someone without provocation, then you will be detained. As for watching over you, my task was escorting all of you here alive and make sure the mineral arrive safely in the tform, so I could not care less if someone kills another person and I will only act if there is evidence."


    Hearing those words the face of Feiner bes ugly, but those Rank 1 werewolf filled with despair, as the ways someone could kill others without leaving evidence was endless especially in a battle ce like what the tunnels will be.


    Although they could choose not to recollect mineral and stay under the watch of Grigori at all times, unlike Zatiel they have a quota to fill, so they need to enter the cave no matter what.


    Zatiel nodded to those words and look at Feiner¡äs group as he gave a kind smile, although there was no malice in his face, those two Rank 1 werewolves felt like were looking a monster that was ning to torture them in the worst possible way making hopelessness birth in their souls.


    This was one of Zatiel habits he developed in his time as an Archdemon, submit his enemies to psychological torture, making them spend theirst moments with fear and regret in their heart, so they can suffer thousands of death before he finally kills them.

 Chapter 82: Alliances

    After seeing the fear, hate, and regret in the expression of the werewolves and having his fun, Zatiel turns back to Ezequiel and Sophia to discuss their movements during this excavation and ns in case of emergencies.


    To Zatiel, Feiner and his men were an insignificant enemy, not because of their strength, as there was no small amount of cases in which those weaker manage to make considerable damage to entities that could be considered epic beings, but because of their overconfident nature born of their ignorance andcency with their power, and also the fact they let their wild nature dominate them and not even intended to control it. Enemies like those were meant to be just a small stepping stone in his path, so he just pushed them to the back of his mind and concentrated on the task at hand.


    Although the name Falling Start was new to him, any individual that has reached the power to leave the and explore the void with their bodies, was familiar with the mineral Grigori was addressing.


    The void is not full of nothingness as its name may suggest, in it, there are great currents of elemental chaos that washes over all the celestial bodies and life forms that inhabit it. The mineral that they were about to excavate had some of that energy and could be used to create a great number of items, among them there were portals meant to connect different nes, fundamental devices in world invasions.


    Everybody started to make small teams and discuss their next step. Zatiel took Ezequiel and Sophia to a corner and used their core tomunicate.


    "During the excavation, I will go to the deepest part of the cave but you two will restrain your movements to the area where those at Rank 1 will operate. Although working together you may equal an Eye Lord for a moment, most of them will be in teams of two, leaving you two with no choice but to escape with severe injuries if a fight happens."


    Ezequiel and Sophia were not happy about this arrangement, but they knew that Zatiel''s words were right, and although he didn''t say it, the duo understood that if they followed him they would only be burdens, so they eventually nodded but there was great disappointment in their faces.


    Zatiel saw their expression and warmth appear on his face as he understood the reason for their frustration was not the fact they would get less wealth during the excavation, as for the two of them their entire property was for Zatiel to manage how he sees fit. The reason for their feeling was because they felt they were bing useless to him, the distance in their power was only growing and they didn''t see how they could fix it.


    Zatiel spoke with a smile on his face. "There is no reason to feel dejected, when your Elemental Chaos Heart ispleted there will be a great change in your body apanied by a drastic increase in your physical aptitudes, especially your vitality, allowing you to use a Rank 2 Runic Set. Normally this will take years but in the cave, there is the energy that will help us speed the process tremendously."


    The faces of the duo filled with excitement as they heard about the particr energy that was filling those minerals and the effect it has on Neo-Demons.


    The Chaotic Core will transform the original heart into an Elemental Chaos Heart so it can withstand the elemental chaos that fills the void. Zatiel main purpose for having a Magic Tower was to channel a small part of that energy from the void, of course, if he were to use it before his heart finishes his transformation he will perish as the energy is a deadly poison to anyone weaker than Soul Forging and wasn''t born in the void, but by diluting it enough, the chaotic core could use it to increase the speed at which it works, and those minerals had the exact concentration of energy he needs. So the three of them would not have to worry about the pollution affecting their bodies, as it will help them instead of harming them.


    As the Neo-Demons were discussing, someone came walking in their direction, it was Kira who had removed his hood and was showing her face. She had beautiful green eyes and dark hair, a face so delicate and juvenile that makes her an absolute beauty. Although most Rank 2 didn''t look old, in reality, a lot of them were over one hundred years old, but her thriving life force means she was indeed very young, denoting her great talent and resources.


    As Kira walked to Zatiel`s group, she became the focus of attention as everyone was busy making their group, and instead of going with those at Rank 2, she headed to the mighty Runemaster. Those at Rank 1 whisper among them, but no one dares to speak out loud as both Kira and Zatiel were people they could not offend, but those at Rank 2 didn''t feel the necessity to hide their expression, and the scorn was evident in Feiner and Nimir. As for Siru and his friend, besides some surprise they didn''t show anything else since they didn''t have a bad rtionship with either the runemaster or the Magus, there was no reason to offend them.


    As Kira was about to reach Zatiel, she saw him turning around to look at her and what she saw made her freeze for a second. In his face instead of the hidden desire that most men will have in her presence, was emotionless eyes that make her feel like he could see her deepest thoughts and she could not hide anything.


    She staggers for a moment but being a Rank 2 Magus, she was able to recuperate immediately and continue walking. Kira had thought she understood Zatiel personality, a monstrous genius full of fighting spirit but also arrogant and with little control of his emotions, but now she realized that her assessment was wed, making her think again on how to proceed.


    Kira stopped in front of Zatiel and gave him a beautiful smile as she spoke. "Hello, I think we have not introduced ourselves, my name is Kira Zeitnar, a Rank 2 Magus and a curse master."


    Zatiel has a good impression of the woman, as she provided help during his fight with Feiner by stopping Nimir from interfering, and since she was showing him respect, he adopted a polite expression.


    "I am Zatiel Daybreak, Rank 2 Runemaster. I''m suredy Kira didn''te just to say hello, so how can I help you?"


    Kira''s expression rxed seeing Zatiel change of attitude and after making some alteration to her original n she spoke. "During our mining works, we are bound to have encounters with those Eye Lords, and the danger is not small, so I was hoping we could form a team. As for the spoils, either those from mining or fights, since you have shown a battle power equal to someone at Rank 2, we will split them into equal parts."


    When they heard her words, the expression of everyone was of surprise, most of them thought the intention of the Cursemaster of forming a team with Zatiel, but the fact she intended to divide the resources equally was shocking. Kira was at the Master level and even though curses could not generate great offensive might during a fight, they were very difficult to stop and anyone would want to have her in their team.


    The proposition of the woman was very tempting, as her curses will work perfectly in weakening the enemy and diminishing the time the fight will take, preventing Zatiel from falling into a state of severe exhaustion like the one he had after the first activation of Overload.


    Zatiel evaluated the pros and cons, and after a moment he spoke through the use of his consciousness so others could not hear. " If you are willing to follow my lead, we can work together. I can''t tell you the reason I want you to follow mymands, but I assure you it is not something so banal as ego."


    Zatiel''s reason for requesting the lead was that in situations like a battle among beings of their power a mere second can make a difference. With his experience, as long Kira follows his order immediately and doesn''t work on her own during a fight they will be able to disy great power. Of course, he could not exin this as technically he wasn''t even 30 years old, so how could he say he had experienced millennia of ughter.


    Kira frowned at the condition, and if he had said those words out loud she would have no other choice but to reject him, as it could affect the reputation of her family if word of her epting to follow the lead of someone at Rank 1 was known, no matter what kind of genius he was. She was thinking of rejecting the condition, as she thought it was impossible someone so young and that must have spent most of his life working in hisb could be more experienced than her, but seeing his confidence, and thinking that he may give her a surprise just like when he almost kills Feiner, she epted.


    When Kira and Zatiel shook their hands and sealed the agreement a voice was heard in the distance.


    "How pathetic you have to be to make a team with a piece of trash."


    The one speaking was Feiner that gave a stare full of disdain to Zatiel and Kira. The werewolf knows by the action of Zatiel, that he will not stop until he kills him, so he fell no need to hide his hatred for him, as for Kira, he knew she stopped Nimir when he was going to help him, and if it wasn''t for the action of Grigori, he would have died due to her interference.


    Kira''s eyes became cold as she looked at the old man, but the next moment she gave him a mocking smile as she sneered. "Great words from someone who let one of his men die, and who will eventually apany him along the rest of his dogs, because he infuriated the one he calls `trash`."


    Feiner became furious as he heard those words and saw the cowardly attitude in his men and the mocking expression of Siru and his friend. The energy in his body was exploited as he transformed, but in the end, he didn''t dare to act and fly with Nimir to the cave.


    The rest follow them, activating their battle spells and magical equipment to be ready in case of anything.


    The members of Dynasty also acted, like those from the Empire they formed teams but there was one person that was alone, it was the white-robed and back haired young man with grey eyes. Despite being an Eye Lord, the energy in his body made it seem like he had not advanced long ago, yet he was the most powerful of all and the one in the lead.


    As they encounter themselves in the air, the hostility they were showing in their first encounter vanished, but this wasn''t because they were peaceful, but because they understood fighting without a sense of the power of their opponent was foolish, everyone was like a beast that was assessing his prey, but the one who would be the hunter, in the end, is a mystery.

 Chapter 83: The price of arrogance

    The entrance to the cave was an immense hole in the ground that connected to a tunnel that extended for kilometers. This tunnel was 300 meters in diameters, and from it, hundreds of sidepaths grew like branches from a tree trunk.


    Something special about this tunnel was that its form was perfectly conical, without a single imperfection and some parts of it showed signs of crystallization as if it has withstood tremendous amounts of energy.


    The earth in this ce has been contaminated by the elemental chaos that the fallen star mineral released for decades, making it as hard as a piece of Rank 1 magical equipment.


    Everyone was able to realize that this cave did not form naturally but by the action of someone with tremendous power, whom with a single attack created a perforation of hundreds of kilometers into the ground and with such precision and control that manage to make an interconnected ned of tunnels.


    The member of the Empire and Dynasty were advancing at a great speed, and by the time they traveled one hundred kilometers, they started to see pieces of a metallic mineral with a greyish white color in the walls of the cave, some were the size of a fist while others were as big a grown man.


    This was fallen star, all of them have some sort of knowledge of this mineral, and despite seeing this pieces in here no one act, as the purity in them was so poor, that it will just waste space and since they would have to carry whit their body and spells, it was not practical harvest the one in here.


    As they advanced the color in the metallic mineral started to be darker, meaning his purity was greater. It was when they reached three hundred kilometers that those at Rank 1 from the empire and the Eye Masters, started to feel the effects of the pollution.


    The elemental chaos this mineral released had a very low concentration, and yet they still felt like their Rank Spell and defense start to weaken, forcing them to increase the output of energy into their spells.


    The case of Zatiel, Ezequiel and Sophia were different, they did not resist the invasion of the elemental chaos and focus the energy into their Chaotic Core, which immediately absorbed and begin to rotate faster and faster, speeding up the formation of the Elemental Chaos Heart, and filling their bodies with energy. It was incredibly effective, to the point that in just this couple of hours they have been flying their heart transformation has advanced the same it will in a week in the outside.


    Elemental Chaos has always been an incredibly powerful type of energy, and the beings that can channel it, have fast rates of growth and are able to disy exceptional might, unfortunately, the effect it has in corroding the consciousness is even greater that Abyss Aura, so most of the beings that use it are either warmonger monster or quiet and simple creatures with no concrete thoughts.


    It was when they reached seven hundred kilometers inside the tunnel, that some of those people started to show signs of fatigue and felt like their skin was burning. The concentration of elemental chaos at this point on Rank 1 life forms generated the same effect that ionizing radiation has on normal humans.


    This was the splitting point between the two groups, if those at Rank 1 were to advance beyond this point they would only be able to be safe for a couple of minutes top before going back, or else the elemental chaos will start to tear their cellr structure apart, with their skin beginning to necrotize, and the pollution will umte in their bodies. Of course, as individuals that have transcendedmon mortals, they can heal from this damage but if it is too extensive, their foundation will crumble and the path to power be shut down.


    Ezequiel and Sophia also stay here, even though elemental chaos doesn''t have the same destructive effect in them than in the others if they were to advance they would have to face those Eye Lords, and that will be equally dangerous that the pollution that the fallen star release.


    Those at Rank 2 of the Empire and the Eye Lords of Dynasty, proceed flying deeper into the tunnels, as for Zatiel he looked back to Sophia and Ezequiel nodding to them, he continued traveling beside Kira.


    Seeing that someone at Rank 1 dare to continuing forward with them, made the Eye Lords show all kind of expression, with the most prevalent being of mockery. The only exception was the young man at the lead, who look at Zatiel with an analytic expression for a second before advancing.


    Although the members of the empire knew that the reason Zatiel was able to disy a monstrous fighting power was his Runic Set, no one of them is dumb enough to think a normal Rank 1 could activate such runes. But there was one person that was constantly looking in his direction, it was Feiner, and in his face was a vicious expression as he looked at Zatiel hoping to see when he sumbs to the pollutions.


    Zatiel could not care less about the werewolf, and as he inspected the surface of the tunnel, he made his Eye of Life and Creation appear to be able to see the umtion of energy inside the earth.


    When Zatiel activates his bloodline, all the members of Dynasty immediately look in his directions and there was surprise in their faces, not for the fact that he had an eye on his forehead since the number of races with eye power was immense, but by the fact that being individuals that were born with bloodlines, they were able to feel the purity and power of the one of Zatiel.


    Their eyes filled with envy and malice as they look at Zatiel, by the feeling they got, it was obvious that his prospects were endless. The members of Dynasty had always prided themselves from their bloodlines and seeing someone with one better than theirs made them want to kill him, but in the end no one act and instead they look at him with the same expression that Feiner has.


    Zatiel saw this, but just like with the werewolf, he ignores them. He knew the fact that his bloodlines could incite envy and anger on others, but hiding his power and stop his growth was not something he would do just for the sake of some potential threat. To him, it was better to use all the cards at his disposal and grow powerful as fast as possible.


    It was when they reached twelve hundred kilometers, that again some people begin to such signs of difort and needed to increase the power of their defense. Among them was a member of dynasty with red eyes on his forehead and Feiner. It was expected since the two were the only members at the Advanced level.


    Ironically, it was the weaker members that show the better condition, with Zatiel and the young man in white robes looking perfectly fine.


    When Feiner saw how Zatiel condition was unchanging, meanwhile he felt his skin started to burn, made his face deform in hatred.


    Kira was also looking at Zatiel and was happy to see that he could keep up until this point, since if he were to stop in the same ce where those at Rank 1 had, then they would have to separate, and she would have to go with someone else.


    All of a sudden, Zatiel stops and begins to focus on the upper surface of the cave.


    When the rest saw this, some were indifferent while others sneered, especially Feiner whose face had a mocking expression as he saw Zatiel, as for the fact that he will only be able to advance barely a couple of dozen kilometer more before stoping, he chose to ignore it.


    As for the action of Zatiel, they looked like if he did it to hide the fact he could not withstand the elemental chaos anymore, but the young man at the lead of the Eye Lords narrowed his eyes as he saw him, but in the end, they all continue leaving only Kira behind.


    As Kira saw the rest leaving, she was indeed a little disappointment, but the pollution was bing more and more powerful, so excavating here was not a bad choice.


    Zatiel saw her expression but was indifferent, before entering they orded that he would be the leader and waiting for hismand was obvious. Although telling her about the ability of his eye to see the energy inside the ground could expel her doubt, he would not reveal his secrets just for some temporary alliance.


    Kira continues waiting and she begins to get impatient with Zatiel¡äs act.


    Zatiel looks at her and with amanding attitude he spoke. "Keep an eye on the surroundings and let me know if anyone gets close to us." Having said that he sted into the ceiling of the cave and begins to destroy the earth on his path until his entire body was inside it.


    When Kira saw this she could not help but sigh. "Did I make a mistake?"


    To her, Zatiel actions could only be considered an embarrassing act, she had tried to use her consciousness to explore the surrounding but the elemental chaos stops her, so of course, she was sure he could not do it.


    ¡äI guess I should take this as a lesson.¡ä Kira''s expression was one of great disappointment as she though Zatiel action was only a stupid charade to hide his weakness.


    But in the next moment, she bes shocked, as she felt a great amount of elemental chaos flood the ce, forcing her to increase her defenses and saw Zatieling out of the pit he excavated carrying a pile of fallen star three-meter tall over his shoulders and by the properties of the metallic mineral it should weight at least a couple of tons.


    Kira immediately goes to Zatiel''s side, and by the grey color the metallic mineral has, its purity was obvious. "How did you find it?"


    Zatiel didn''t respond andnded in the ground before looking in the distance with anger in his face. "Why haven''t you realize that they are peopleing in our direction!."


    Although being yelled by Zatiel made her angry, she wasn''t a Rank 2 Magus for nothing and was able to realize that individuals were approaching at a great speed, and they turn to be Eye Lords. Previously she thought that Zatiel was just ying so she didn''t maintain her consciousness extended causing this mistake.


    The two Eye Lord that headed in their direction were both middle-aged men, one had brown hair and the color of his eyes on his forehead was blue as for the other, his hair was ck and the color of his eyes was red. The man with blue eyes was at the Master level as for the one with red eyes, he was at the Advanced level.


    These Eye Lords had stopped a dozen kilometers ahead since the one at the Advanced level could not resist the pollution beyond this point, and they started to move back when they felt a great current of elemental chaos and came to investigate.


    When the man with blue eyes use his consciousness to explore ahead and saw that immense piece of fallen star, his expression was static. "Young Master Tritus we are truly lucky, it turns out the couple than remained behind find an immense piece of fallen star, at least three meters tall."


    When he heard those words, Tritus'' face filled whit greed and killing intent. "Hahaha, excellent, we just begin and turn out to have such luck. We will take the mineral, as for the Rank 1, Azel make sure he doesn''t escape, I want him dead."


    When Tritus though of the young man with such a powerful bloodline, and how his talent was greater than his, it made him remember another person and the killing intent in his body just increased, as a cruel expression appears on his face.


    The man with blue eyes only noded, to him no matter how great of a genius that person his, before that transform to power it was nothing. And that person can only die at their hands.


    Zatiel instincts were incredibly powerful and figure out the intent of the duo, making his eyes cold. "Activate your energy to the maximum and prepare your most powerful spell. When I give you the order concentrate all your power in the one at the Advanced level. I need you to incapacitate him for three seconds."


    After giving the order Zatiel activates the energy in his body and made his true name, rank spell and runic set ready to act in the next moment, yet in the outside, it looks like he had no power left whatsoever and was beside Kira, with a subversive expression carrying the metallic mineral.


    When Kira hears themand, she thought they were making a mistake since if she were to focus all of her power in one person, the Eye Lord at the Master level could generate great damage to them. But it was obvious by Zatiel tone that hismand was unquestionable and the anger for her slip was also present. So, in the end, she didn''t speak and burst her power as she prepares her spell.


    Tritus was looking at Zatiel, and the cowardly attitude he was disying made a vicious grin appear on his expression


    As for Azel, he bes serious as he felt the power in Kira''s body. "It seems like she intends to fight, Young Master."


    Tritus focus on the Magus and he forgets about Zatiel forplete as the energy of Kira, indeed makes him feel threatened, but after a second he ms downs. "There is no need to feel worried, she is alone and the two of us can defeat her quickly".


    After some thought Azel expression also rxed. As for Zatiel, the twopletely ignore him, they were sure a Rank 1 could not pose any threat to them.


    When they were around one hundred meters of distance, Tritus talked to Kira. "Hand over the piece of fallen star, and leave or else w..."


    But before Tritus ended his speech, both Eye Lords were shocked as they felt an immense spike in powering from Zatiel as his skin turn golden and runes activated all over his body.


    As soon Zatiel entered his maximum state of fighting power, he throws the incredible dense piece of fallen start to Azel, with such speed and power that resemble a cannonball.


    Theunch carries all of Zatiel body power, reaching such a high that the ground in his feet craked for thirty-meters around him.


    It was at this point when the duo was shocked by the incredible events, that Zatiel gives the order.


    "Now do it!"


    Azel, due to his tardy response, realizes he could not dodge the piece of fallen star crashing in his direction, so he made the energy in his body burst and the blue eyes on his forehead glowed as a cape of ice cover him.


    Tritus for his part was assaulted by a splitting pain on his head, he felt his blood burning, his eyesight blurred, he felt the defenses on his body weakened and the worst part was that when he realized he could no find Zatiel anywhere.


    Just as the pice of fallen star crashed with the manyyers of ice armor made around Azel, something came out from under the shadow of the projectile.


    Tritus was immediately assaulted by a feeling of absolute danger and he was barely able to discern a golden figure carrying a dark sword, as this one hacked at his head.

 Chapter 84: Blood snake

    As the ming sword approach him, Tritus felt the threat of death more clearly than ever before in his life and knew that if he receives this attack unhindered, he will die. Using all of his power, he channels all the strength of his consciousness to withstand the curses and regain focus as his red eyes glowed and activated.


    In front of Tritus, a shield made of blood appeared, it was three-meter tall and two meters wide and covers the path of the sword.


    As Zatiel sword crashed against this shield, he bes surprised by the toughness of it, despite been made in thest moment and the fact that Tritus energy was in disarray, this defense manage to momentary stop his attack, proving the man talent.


    If the shield would have been made with Tritus power unhindered, then it would have been enough, but unfortunately for him, he let his guard down letting Kira¡äs curses reach him during the moment of surprise due to Zatiel power uprise.


    Felling the power of the defense, Zatiel eyes be colder and he disys all the power of his True Name and physical might breaking the shield and hacking down with the dark sword at Tritus.


    Thanks to the time the shield gave him, Tritus was able to move, saving his head from being split in two, but still, the sword descended in the right side of his body breaking his breastbone, continuing with the ribs and due to his deep also destroying his lung.


    "AHHHH," Tritus screamed due to the monstrous pain, not only the sword made a cut in his body so deep that almost split him in two, but also dark mes exploded inside him damaging the rest of his body and burning his blood.


    Even to a Rank 2 life form, this type of damage was deadly if it was not healed immediately.


    Although his opponent was already incapacitated, Zatiel didn''t intend to stop and he was preparing to make all the abyssal fire in the sword consume Tritus when an immense feeling of danger assault him and without hesitation took the sword out of Tritus body and put it in front of him like a shield.


    Just as Zatiel protects himself, from a ne in Tritus neck a sanguineous light appeared and the immense head of a snake made of blood appear crashing into the sword with so much strength that generated an explosion and sent Zatiel flying away, bury him in the ground.


    When the full body of the snake came out from the ne, it reached a hundred meter long and it was made entirely of blood. It disys an immense might and if it wasn''t for the fact that his eyes were shallow, one could think it was alive.


    "ROAR!"


    After releasing that powerful roar that made the walls in the cave shake, instead of attacking, it opens his immense mouth and swallowed Tritus before flying to the surface.


    Although all of this takes a long time to exin, it was not even twenty seconds from the moment Zatiel threw the piece of fallen star to Azel until the blood snake appear and take Tritus away.


    Kira was truly surprised by the events that urred, especially with the brutal attack from Zatiel, that from the beginning was meant to ughter his opponent. To her, although this expedition will have battles, individuals with their power would only fight to defeat their opponent and stop when the winner is decided since killing will certainly infuriate the power behind the victim.


    After seeing Zatiel being attacked by the blood snake, she was worried as the power of the attack was equal to the damage a Rank 3 spell could perform, albeit a very weak one. So she flies in the direction of thending spot to see his condition.


    As she gets close, she saw how Zatiel came out from the crater and its body was full of injuries. His two arms were fully broken to the point pieces of bone could be seening out from the skin and they werepletely deformed, there were bruises all over his skin due to the impact and from the way he moves it seems like his ribs were also fractured, and this was after using his sword as a shield or else the damage would have been much worse.


    ¡äI guess everyone who was able toe here must have some trump card.¡ä As Zatiel remembers the power of the blood snake, he assesses the condition of his body and it was worst than what it seems in the exterior, his internal organs were also damaged by the impact. But luckily both of his hearts were intact.


    Zatiel deactivates Overload, channeling all the power of his golden sun and True Name to heal his body, and the golden fire immediately starts to heal him at a speed visible to the eye, surprising the Magus that was thirty meters away from him.


    Kira knew that there is no true trust between them since they barely know each other, and approaching a weakened party could be considered an offense in the Magi World, so she remained with a safe distance between them.


    She has already seen the ability of Zatiel but seeing how he was able to heal himself from such damage with that speed made her realize that she has underestimated his regeneration powers.


    "Are you going to be ok?"


    "If you make a mistake like that again, then there is no need for us to work together anymore, now focus, there is another opponent left." Zatiel looks in the direction from where Azel was rising after been hit by the fallen star. His attitude was cold to the woman, making clear his anger to her ipetence.


    Due to her mistake, they were forced to fight against a pretty powerful enemy, and if it wasn''t for the fact that he took advantage of their carelessness and arrogance, this battle could have gone in a different direction. And in their next fights, their opponents would know what he is capable of, so they could not depend on deception again.


    Kira has always disyed great talent, anding from a powerful family she was ustom to have other follow her order, so been treated with indifferent and coldness was something she was not ustomed, but although she felt angry, she knew that it was her mistake lead to this fight and Zatiel injuries, so she didn''t say anything and just turn to see Azel.


    Azel''s expression was furious as he saw the blood snake vanishing in the distance. Although the power the piece of fallen star carried was great, it did little damage to him after he put his defenses, but still, it was able to incapacitate him long enough to make him unable of helping Tritus.


    "Do you dare to try to take his life!, he is a core member of the Blood Eye n. You will die for this." Azel was looking at Zatiel full of killing intent, but there was also fear as he thought of the damage Tritus withstood.


    Zatiel sneered at the words of the man, from the moment they saw him, neither of them bother to hide their intention, so he responded with an even greater brutality, attacking from the start with the intention of destroying his head, and if he had done it differently, then the damage he was able to do after Tritus move his body would have been greatly inferior.


    Besides he could not care less about the background of someone who wasn''t even under the same power he was.


    Azel''s hatred only grew as he saw Zatiel expression, but in the end, seeing that Kira was perfectly fine and realizing that his chance of killing any of them was incredibly small, he didn''t dare to act and fly away in the direction of the blood snake.


    Neither Zatiel or Kira tries to stop him, the first one was already weakened and the second could at most equal the man but definitely could not stop him if he just focuses on escaping.


    Feeling his body condition was improving, Zatiel went for the piece of fallen star and pick it up.


    "Let''s go, make sure to stay 30 meters behind me and pay attention to the surroundings." Zatiel attitude was still cold, not waiting for the woman to respond before flying away.


    Kira could only sigh to the dynamic they were disying and followed behind.


    This piece of fallen star was worth a lot, and it was better to leave it at the tform beforeing back, especially since Zatiel was hurt and another fight will mean they would have to escape.


    As they advanced they started to encounter some people from the empire and those Eye Master that were left behind and remained in the main tunnel, not entering the sidepaths.


    The expression of everyone could be considered one of curiosity, especially those Eye Master. Not long ago they saw a blood snake flying with such a speed that almost crush some people on his path, followed by an Eye Lord whose expression was full of rage and then appeared Zatiel and Kira carrying an immense piece of fallen star.


    It doesn''t take a genius to figure out what happened, but to those Eye Master, it was impossible that a team consisting of a Rank 1 and a Rank 2 defeat two Eye Lords.


    As they advanced, Zatiel and Kira could detect the greed in some of the people present, but they didn''t care as the threat they could represent was null.


    After a couple of hours flying, they reached the surface and the moment they exited the cave, both felt a powerful hostility heading in their direction.


    The origin was the Eye King who was looking with lightning in his eyes at the duo. Beside him were Azel and Tritus, thest one was unconscious on the tform and his injuries were already much better as a sanguineous light was covering him, but by the expression of the man, it seems he was still in deep pain.


    Kira was immediately frightened by the Eye King and didn''t dare to look back, as for Zatiel after ncing at the man for a moment, he ignores him and flies in direction to where Grigori and the ck tform was.


    The Eye King saw the great piece of fallen star that they carried, but despite the hostility he was showing, he didn''t act. Blood contracts were no something someone of his Rank could ignore.


    The Eye King look back at Tritus wound and he furred his brows and he inspected his body.


    "Are you sure it was the man at Rank 1 the one who inflicted these injuries on Tritus."


    "Yes Lord Meinz, he used a Runic Set and a sword with mes to attack Young Master after he was weakened by the spells of the Magus." Azel didn''t dare to look directly at the man as he responded.


    Meinz eyes narrowed as he saw Zatiel, before turning to Azel and spoke with an indifferent expression.


    "The damage done to Tritus was severe, not only did his lung get destroyed by the sword but the mes in the attack also reached his heart, and it seems there is a type of energy in them that has a corroding effect making the injuries worse. Had it not been for the blood snake using the rest of his energy to heal him the moment he arrived here, he would have died, but still there will be sequels even if he healspletely."


    When Azel here those words his body shiver for a second, and his face bes pale. As a bloodline race, the importance of the heart to an Eye Holder was immense and any damage could mean a severe drop in his future prospects.


    Azel''s main job during this trip was not collecting fallen star but protect Tritus, as the man gains real battle experience. When he returns and the father of Tritus finds his son''s condition, his future would be bleak and the only choice he has is delivering those responsible and beg for mercy.


    Zatiel did not know any of this, and even if he did, he would not care. The moment Tritus show his intention of killing and torturing him, the fate of the man was sealed.


    Grigori saw all that happen, and he was able to deduct by the Eye King stare, that it was Zatiel who almost kill the Eye Lord but he didn''t care since there was no difference for him, even if all those from Dynasty die. What surprised the Magus was the fact that Zatiel was carrying an immense piece of fallen star with his body, yet he shows no sign of being affected by the elemental chaos.


    "Put the fallen star over the tform and this one will save it on its own, how do you want to split it?"


    "50% for each one." After Zatiel spoke, he follows the instructions of the man and the moment the piece of fallen start touched the ck tform it disappeared immediately.


    Kira has been quiet this entire time, she was very smart and was able to realize that Zatiel had a way of tracking the fallen star meaning that by working with him, their spoil will be amazing. Not to mention his fighting power is also impressive.


    So when she heard him splitting the fallen star evenly, despite her mistake she knew he was willing to continue working with her.


    "We will rest for a day before going back in."

 Chapter 85: Eve, the Holy Mother

    As Zatiel rested, he focuses on the changes in his body, particrly the transformation of his original heart into an Elemental Chaos Heart.


    To his delight, Zatiel finds out that during his stay inside the cave and by using the elemental chaos that those pieces of fallen star released, the transformation of his heart has advanced in 1%. This may not be considered much but it took him four years to reach 50%, so the improvement in the transformation speed is incredible.


    Another good news was that despite increasing his speed that much, it didn''t shake his foundation at all and even his heart and the chaotic core were more efficacious than before, so there was no fear of leaving some hidden damage by using this eleration method.


    Having made sure there was no problem with his heart, he focuses on the task he had put one of his minds to work since the moment his fight with Feiner ended.


    ....


    Two individuals wereing out from the cave, they were Eye Lords and floating beside them was a bag, that appears to be made from shadow threads, which contained pieces of fallen star of all sizes, and by the color they have, their purity was very high.


    The duo wasposed of a male and a female, both at the Master level. The man had brown hair, his body was around three meters tall and muscr, disying a great power, the eyes on his forehead werepletely white and there was no clear influence over a certain type of natural energy. As for the woman, she has red hair and her body was somewhat short and petite, her face was beautiful and there was a certain wickedness that could arouse most men, the eyes on her forehead werepletely ck.


    There was something special about the woman, and it was the fact that even though the sun was on its peak, she generated no shadow.


    They were flying without a worry to the tform from Dynasty, but they were both shocked when they saw Tritus lying on the floor and the bloody aura covering his body and trying to heal him.


    Both of them knew that although the man was only at the Advanced level and has not yet started to learn his next Rank Spell to reach the following level, he was someone very powerful as his bloodline was of the King level, and thanks to his background the trump cards he posses were impressive.


    "Azel, how Tritus condition can be so severe, merely days after the start of the excavation, especially since you were tasked to protect him?" It was the man who makes the question, and despite sounding like someone concerned for the condition of an ally, on his face was only curiosity.


    Azel has been under great stress this couple of hours, as he searched for a way out of this predicament, and hearing the tone the man used, made him frown, yet it was their help he needed so after taking a moment to calm down, he spoke.


    "It was the man at Rank 1 who inflicted the injuries, he used a runic set and took advantage of the fact that Young Master was afflicted by powerful curses making his energy go wild and weakened his defenses. Although the item given by his father saved his life, the attack was too sudden and it could not stop the damage."


    After hearing Azel words the duo look at Zatiel full of surprise, since being able to disy such power even with the help of a runic set was something only those great geniuses could do, but since there was no reason for the man to lie to them, they ept it as the truth, besides in their group there was also a talent like that.


    "Someone like that will grow to be a powerhouse from the Aeternum Empire, and his action shows aplete disregard for the Eye Dynasty." Having said those words, Azel gives a meaningful re at the duo.


    The association that the Empire and Dynasty have maintained during the dozen of thousands of years they have existed could be considered neutral, with neither power doing a formal attack on the other or trying to steal theirnd. Although some fights and deaths have happened, those were conflicts between individuals and did not represent the power behind them.


    But during thisst century, this rtionship has be more and more hostile, despite the fact that there has not been any fight between them in the Magi World. This friction between those influences happened for the conflict among the true leaders of those powers how are no longer in this world, those Law Beings that reside on the void.


    As Eye Lords, both the man and woman were aware of this conflict, as for the specific reason behind it, that was something individuals like them could not know. But even after hearing of the talent of Zatiel, the duo only sneered at Azel, since even someone at Soul Forging could not affect the action of those mighty Law Beings, much less them.


    Even after seeing the expression fo the duo, Azel was not let down since those words could only be considered a probing.


    "Besides there must be a lot of secrets on his body that could be helpful for whoever gets his hand on them," There was a wicked light on Azel eyes as he spoke and tries to incite the duo.


    This time they adopted a thoughtful stance and did not disregard Azel immediately. Any genius must have something worthy with them, and they didn''t mind dissecting him if it was necessary to get their hands on it.


    After some time, the man shows hesitation and eventually shook his head.


    "You can do whatever you want, but don''t count me in. Every genius has a trump card to save his life, and I am sure that man is not the exception if we attack him and he escapes, then we will have to be looking over our shoulders the rest of our life"


    The greed in the woman''s eyes reduces significantly after hearing these words, she knows that if you attack a genius you better kill them as the number of people who died regretting their choices are countless.


    When Azel saw their reaction, he was immediately infuriated. He was no fool and know that Zatiel can handle a fight even against someone at the Master level. With the retreat of the man, even if the woman were to ept, they may be able to defeat him, but the possibility of killing him was too little.


    "James, since when did you be such a coward that you don''t dare to attack someone at Rank 1, despite being three of us!?" Azel knew that if his life was in the line and hopelessness was filling him, so he didn''t care if he offended the man.


    "Hmph, you must be desperate thinking what Lord Finz will do to you, once he finds out the condition of his son. I bet the Blood Guards will have a new member very soon," James was not someone who would let others insult him, so he smiles as he strikes directly on the fears that were filling Azel mind.


    Blood Guards is not a title but a type of humanoid creature made by submitting a living person to a devious procedure in which they modify their bodies and consciousness by using the Blood Laws, increasing their power greatly and making them a fearless killing machine.


    As someone who has served the Blood Eye n for years, Azel has had some interaction with these beings, and he knows that the person they once were is still present but trapped on their own mind in an endless torment of perpetual darkness. Just thinking that could be his fate that made the Eye Lord tremble with fear.


    As the idea of that hell passes through his mind, determination fills the eyes of Azel as he looks at the duo.


    "James, Mira, if you help kill that man, I willpensate each of you with a High Rank 3 item of your choosing, no matter if you want a rune, magic equipment or medicine, you will have it. I can recite the sacred oath to prove my sincerity," Although a reward of that size will bankrupt Azel forcing him to sell all his belongings, and he will even need to ask for money to pay it, he was desperate enough to do it. Besides what use he has for his possessions if he was dead or worse.


    When they hear this offer, even James could not hide the desire on his face. By using a High Rank 3 armor, the damage a Rank 2 spell could do to them would diminish greatly and if they were to choose a rune, then it would give the duo the ability to face a Novice Eye King for a small amount of time.


    James looks at Mira for a moment, and after a small exchange of messages through their consciousness, they nodded and signaled Azel, so he would perform the oath.


    When the Eye Lord saw this, he finally rxed, it was like if he was seeing the light at the end of a long a dark tunnel.


    After calming down, Azel adopted a respectful expression as he prepares to recite the sacred oath. This was not just some words, but a verbal promise made under the watch of the most holy existence to the Eye Holders, and trying to use technicalities was of no use in this type of contract.


    "I, Azel Huminer, swear to pay the promised reward to James and Mira, as long they help me in my task. I make this oath under the watch of Eve, the Holy Mother of all Eye Holders and the beginning of our sacred bloodline."


    As soon he finishes talking, Azel felt something strange invades him for a second, but in the next moment, the feeling disappeared. He knew that this was a mark put by that mighty existence and if he were to break the contract then it would kill him.

 Chapter 86: Gwyn

    On one of the deepest parts of the tunnels where the pollution was so intense that you could catch some strands of elemental chaos visible to the sight, was a young man resting with his eyes closed. There was a grey fog covering his body and protecting him from the pollution and the quality of his defenses was impressive since even under this pressure it remained strong.


    He looked very tired, there were burn marks all over his body as well someceration that reached so deep that the bone could be seen, but despite these injuries his face was calm and not counting the fact he was a little pale, he seems to be perfectly fine with no pain at all. The grey fog was purging the harming energy that was present on him and healing his injuries.


    As he recovers, he frowned and took from his space ring a crystal.


    There was nothing special about this crystal, but it was glowing and after a moment, a sound came out.


    "Hello Gwyn, I have some interesting information that you may want to hear," The voice that came out from the crystal was that of Meinz, the Eye King that was protecting the party from the Dynasty.


    "Oh, I wonder what Lord Meinz thinks it could call my attention," Gwyn eyes narrowed and although he responded with a respectful tone, there was nopliant attitude that the other Eye Lords on the team showed to the man.


    Although his status on Dynasty wasplex, due to his immense talent and powerful bloodline, the number of individuals that wanted to form a rtionship with him was not small, but he knew to be careful at the moment of forming a connection with anyone.


    "It''s about an individual from the Empire, a young man that demonstrates amazing abilities and that was able to disy an incredible fighting power. By what I can collect, his aptitudes are not inferior to your," There was a probing tone on Meinz''s words and he didn''t give any more information as he waited for Gwyn''s reaction.


    "Oh, do you mean the man named Zatiel, someone at Rank 1 but with powerful runes thatplement his fighting style."


    "You hear about him!?" Meiz could not hide the surprise on his voice, Gwyn did not get out from the tunnels, and he was sure no one of the Eye Lords hadmunicated with him.


    "Someone mentioned his name a while ago, is that everything," The disinterest of Gwyn to this topic was obvious.


    The reason for Gwyn''s indifference wasn''t that he finds everyone under his Rank worthless, but that he doesn''t care about what genius could be out there. Although he is very talented, he never thought that there was no one who could surpass him, and if he finds such a person, as long they do not oppose him he did not see the need to antagonize them or trying to harm them just for spite, actually, he finds people that do such things disgusting.


    "I would not have contacted you if that was everything I have to say. This information also has a connection with Tritus"


    When Gwyn hears that name, his expression fluctuates a little before returning to normal and although it seems like nothing happens, there was a hatred so monstrous that he could not hide it from his eyes.


    "If you have something to say just say it, I don''t like to waste my time," Gwyn tone was indifferent and his attitude cold, although Meinz could be offended, he was not afraid of the Eye King.


    "Tritus had an encounter with Zatiel, and due to the carelessness and arrogance from both he and Azel, he ended up with severe injuries that reached his heart. Although the blood snake that his father left for him has stabilized his condition, some sequels will appear." Meinz''s tone was normal, and it seems he took no offense from Gwyn''s words.


    When Gwyn heard these words, unknowing to him a smile formed on his face but in the next moment he regained his focus and after a moment he sighed.


    "I thank you for the news, but although to a glorified guarding dog as Azel, a damaged heart could be considered an irreversible wound, both you and I know that to someone with enough resources and a decent mastery over thews can heal any damage made to the body. And I am sure Tritus'' father would not spare expenses to heal his son."


    "That is true, but there is something I didn''t tell anyone, and it is that during my revision, I detected that the damage was able to extend to his consciousness, and the energy in the attack is special as it has a corrosive effect that as long it is not purged would continue expanding. So the more Tritus treatment is dyed the worse the oue from his consciousness will be."


    Gwyn''s eyes openedpletely due to the surprise when he heard the severity of Tritus` condition.


    Damage to the body, no matter how great it was, it could be healed if someone at the Soul Forging Rank had the right medicines and was willing to work with all his power, but a harmed consciousness was apletely different matter.


    The consciousness is intimately connected with the soul, and it is what gives us our sense of individuality. Like anything rted to the soul, it is extremely precious to living beings and any damage to it was very serious. If the injury were to reach the core of the consciousness that inhabits within the soul, then developing severe cognitive impairment or a split personality will surely happen, and if the damage was too severe, then entering an irreversiblea was not out of the question.


    Trying to heal such damage was something even those peak existences that reside on the Magi World would find extremely difficult, and the only ones that could perform that task with confidence were Law Beings.


    Gwyn calmed the excitement that was running through his body and focused as he knew that Meiz wasn''t over and only stopped so he could understand the current situation. Just like he expected, the crystal glowed and the voice of the Eye King was heard again.


    "If someone of Tritus status was hurt so badly, then I should contact the members of his n for them to bring him back to Dynasty so they can stabilize his condition before it bes too severe," When he reached this point Meinz made a pause and after a moment he continued, " But I may be making a mistake, after all, how could someone at Rank 1 have spells that could generate such damage, even if they are using a runic set."


    As Gwyn hear this, he could not stop the excitement he felt at the idea of Tritus passing the rest of his life as a mindless retard. But he knew that everything has a price on this world so he took a moment to calm down and spoke to the Eye King.


    "Lord Meinz has been very busy during thest month, protecting us during our trip through the Endless Forest so a mistake with your perception is understandable, after all even with my bloodline, it is incredibly difficult for me to bring harm that severe to the consciousness of someone. If in the future, Lord has any problems, just contact me, I swear on the name of the Holy Mother, I will do anything in my power to help you," Although it wasn''t a sacred oath, bringing out the name of Eve showed the sincerity and resoluteness of Gwyn.


    "You are right, I must be getting old. But if in three months he doesn''t wake up, then I will be forced to inform his n."


    "Of course, Lord duties can''t be ignored," Gwyn knew that after three months, the damage will be so severe that there was no difference whether he was left here more time.


    "I am happy you understand, take care."


    Meinz cut themunication after that, and his tone was particrly joyful at the end. Although this could bring him some problems, it was only by luck that he detected the damage to the consciousness, so he can say that he didn''t notice if they ask and besides his n don''t have a good rtionship with the Blood Eye n, so ying dumb for a couple of months and winning the favor of a genius with a glorious future was something he was more than willing to do.


    After the glow of the crystal vanished, Gwyn made a ghostly aura appear over his hand and it started to corrode the crystal until it was only dust.


    Gwyn''s body started to shake from the excitement and happiness, as he began tough so hard that it could be heard for hundreds of meters away.


    "HAHAHAHAHA, if I could only see the expression that bastard will make when he finds out that the source of his hopes and dreams has been reduced to a retard, I am sure it will be amazing!." As he pictured that image, Gwyn continued tough harder and the smile on his face was radiant.


    Although it wasmonly known that a cold head and control over your emotions were essential in the path to power, those at the peak know that a clear mind was even more important. So letting yourself lose and enjoy the victories is important and it could bring direct benefits.


    Gwyn was feeling the changes right now, he felt that his understanding of the natural energies of the world was growing as heughed and enjoyed the sweet taste of revenge.


    "I must say that man named Zatiel has made a great favor to me, and you were not wrong, he is a great genius, maybe even greater than me," Gwyn looked to his left where his weapon was and after saying those word, he closes his eyes and continued resting, but now there was a smile on his face.


    The weapon of Gwyn was an immense halberd, its handle was so thick that the hand of a grown man could only grab half of it and it was two and a half meters tall.


    Half of the handle was buried on the ground and around it was a puddle of blood that came from the individual whose chest was being pierced by the spike on the head of arms. The person was still alive and his body would tremble for a second from time to time, but the light on his eyes was already lost.


    The man whose blood was dripping through the halberd was Feiner, he was in his werewolf form and the body that was once full of vitality and life force was now modified to the point the skin was attached to the bone.

 Chapter 87: Elemental Chaos Heart: 100% completed

    Zatiel had his eyes closed on the tform, and he had no idea that one of his enemies had died, and even if he knew, he wouldn''t have care.


    The threat that the werewolves represented to him was minuscule, and it was only growing smaller by the day as his power increased thanks to the elemental chaos that was improving his heart transformation and in a lesser measure the amount of abyss aura in his body.


    At this moment, all of his focus was on the new spell he developed and that it will improve his fighting power.


    Zatiel fighting style is through abination of physical power and spells, the first one being potentiated by Overload and the second by Dexisus, which not only increases the damage by 50% but also adds a corrosive effect. So his offense his enough and as a killing card he has Abyssal st, which should reach an impressive might when the amount of abyss aura generated by the Chaotic Core reaches the peak of Rank 1 Neo-Demon, especially if it isbined with his True Name.


    But even though Sunlight Speed helps him reach an impressive velocity, that is only among those at Rank 1 and even after his enhancement by Overload, Zatiel still felt that it could be improved so the spell he developed was named Sun Push and it works by using the energy of the golden sun, concentrating a great amount in a part of his body which can be released to eject him in a determined direction.


    This spell will give him great propulsion and make him so fast that it would be able to catch anyone at Rank 2, unfortunately the maneuverability is very limited and if he doesn''t control it well, he may end up crashing against a wall and at that speed, even Zatiel would be injured.


    Creating a spell was very time consuming, but thanks to the ample information that Zatiel had and by using his second mind together with the chip abilities, it only took him the month they spend traveling to reach the cave.


    Mastering the spell was a different matter but with the talent of a Neo-Demon, it will be pretty easy for him, and it should not take more than a week.


    Although the spell could be considered at Rank 1, due to it using the energy of the golden sun, as thisst one improve so will the might of the spell.


    Sun Push will be the first spell that will be part of the Path Technique that Zatiel chose to name Rising Sun, that will work specifically with his golden sun and the Sun Force that this one generated.


    Having taken care of that and since the period of rest is over, Zatiel and Kira fly back to the cave to continue the excavation.


    The three Eye Lords were looking at the duo as they disappear on the tunnels, but they did not act and remain on the tform discussing among them.


    A couple of hours after the entrance of Zatiel to the tunnels someone came out. It was Nimir and on his body there was all sort of wounds, most of themceration covered by a grey energy which stoped the Magus from healing.


    Nimir''s expression was full of anger, but there was also fear on his eyes as hended on the tform close to Grigori.


    When the Rank 3 Magus saw his condition and the absence of his partner, he immediately questions Nimir. Although there was no difference for him if the member of this team died, he must know the events than surrounds those at Rank 2 in case the Soul Forging that will came to take the ck tform were to ask about it.


    Although Nimir had no desire to talk about it, he didn''t dare to deny Grigori demand and told the events that led to his current condition.


    ording to him, he and Feiner had an encounter with a young man from Dynasty, whose name was Gwyn. Although the man was only at the Novice level, neither of them dare to underestimate him, after all, they saw the way the rest of the Eye Lords act around him.


    Feiner was proposing a business strategy to the man when all of a sudden Gwyn attacks him. The attack was very fast and full of power but the werewolf had his guard up the entire time, so he manages to defend, although with some injuries.


    Nimir obviously would not stand and do nothing, so he joins Feiner and the two attack Gwyn with all their might. At the start the duo thought it would be easy to defeat him, so they were very surprised when the young man was able to fight against the two of them alone.


    Although Nimir and Feiner had the advantage in the fight, it was too little to dere victory. But thanks to the fact that their energy pools were superior to that of Gwyn, it was only a matter of time before they defeat him.


    Unfortunately for the duo, the situation changes drastically when Gwyn took out his trump card, augmenting his power greatly and overpowering Nimir and Feiner, inflicting grave injuries in thest one.


    Gwyn bes powerful enough to kill the duo and, without hesitation, they try to escape but Feiner was too injured and although Nimir tries to save him, he could only see as the halberd pierced the werewolf body.


    When Nimir spoke thest part, he shows great remorse on his face as if he mes himself for the death of his teammate.


    Grigori saw his expression, but he only narrowed his eyes and didn''t speak.


    The Rank 3 Magus was very clear of the nature of Magi, and he didn''t believe even for a second that Nimir had risked his life trying to save Feiner.


    But since he found no fault on his actions, Grigori chose not toment. As for the proposition that Feiner gave to the man and the trump card of thisst one, he was not interested, so he just signaled for Nimir to go and rest before closing his eyes.


    ...


    The months pass and despite the bloody start of the expedition, no more casualties happen among those at Rank 2.


    Usually, on events like this, deaths among those at Rank 2 are extremely rare, since most of them would have some life-saving tools.


    Conflicts among them could develop in a fight, but the moment the winner was obvious, the defeated party would just leave and forget about the spoils, so there was no reason for killing.


    But abnormalities like Zaitle and Gwyn change all that.


    Among those at Rank 1, battles were happening constantly with those Rank 1 Magus and Eye Masters fighting whenever a piece of fallen star with great purity was found.


    It was at the end of the fifth week when the first death urs. It was an Eye Master named Rufus, he was at the peak of his rank and due to the confidence in his power, he was traveling alone.


    Rufus had detected an increase in the amount of pollution in the air, which signified that a very pure piece of fallen star was found.


    Knowing that others would feel it too, he went to the location employing great speed and as he flies his body seems to transform into a shadow, fusing itself with darkness.


    When Rufus reached the ce where the pollution was being released, he saw a piece of fallen star that should weight around a ton and beside it was a young boy whose body was covered by lightning.


    Still on his shadow form and sure the boy could not detect him, a vicious smile appears on Rufus as heunches himself and attacks the back of the boy''s head.


    Another two Eye Masters were also drawn to the ce, and they were very close when they felt the entire tunnel tremble as if a giant as trample on the floor.


    Caution appears on the eyes of the duo as they continue and when they finally arrive, they saw a young boy carrying a piece of fallen star over his shoulder and next to him was a bloody stain on the ground.


    This shocked the duo and although there was great greed on their eyes, in the end, they didn''t dare to act and just look at the boy as he leaves.


    Two weeks after that a couple of bodies were found. They were the werewolves that apanied Feiner and although their bodies seem fine on the outside, their insides werepletely rotten and by the agony disyed on their faces, it seems they were tortured before dying.


    Deaths due to the fights amongst those Rank 1 from the empire and the Eye Masters from dynasty were expected, so no one made a fuss about it, and although the situation with the werewolves raises some suspicion about the true killer, with Feiner dead no one would waste their time finding their murder.


    Especially since they were smart enough not to keep the bodies inside their spatial ring.


    Spell of fate and divination that track someone''s killer are extremely difficult, but those that track bodies are much easier. This information was not public knowledge and was guarded to make killers think they would only need to put the body on their spatial storage to erase the evidence, easing the job from those whose duty was to hunt criminals.


    In the fourth month, a new guest arrives at the tform of Dynasty and the one that weed him was Azel, whose expression was filled with fear.


    It was an old man with red eyes on his forehead and the amount of energy on his body made clear that he was an Eye King and a very powerful one.


    The moment the old man saw that Tritus unconscious body on the floor, he imminently sends his consciousness to explore his condition and after a moment his eyes widened before his expression filled with rage.


    The old man looks at the tunnels with killing intent, but after seeing the statue left by the powerhouse from the Empire, he withdrew his killing intent, picks up Tritus and flew away in direction of Dynasty, but not before giving onest look to Azel.


    When Azel felt those eyes he shivered and didn''t dare to look back, it wasn''t until the old man left that he crumbles to the floor with a pale face and cold sweat covering his body.


    At this moment Zatiel was flying through the tunnels and there was a pleased expression on his face due to his Elemental Chaos Heart being finallypleted.


    `Even though staying surrounded by this elemental chaos is like being nourish by the most optimal potion every single day, the speed of improvement is still impressive` Zatiel thought as hemanded the chip to scan his body.


    "Bip... analyzing host.


    Strength: 62.7


    Physique:113.2


    Speed: 83.4


    Abyss Aura:97.4


    Sun Force:76.5


    Bloodline Heart: 59%pleted


    Elemental Chaos Heart: 100%pleted"


    When Zatiel saw his stats he was extremely pleased, thepletion of his Elemental Chaos Heart gave him a great boost on his physique.


    Zatiel body right now would be the absolute envy of any Magus that followed the body-refinement path since the maximum that they could reach in any category was around sixty to seventy points and that was only if the main focus of their Path Technique was only in one aspect and leaves the other two with an average of thirty points.


    ''I wonder how they are doing, their advance should not be much slower than mine, especially the sleepyhead'' Zatiel smiled as he remembers the scene of Sophia sleeping over a mountain of food.


    ''When I get back to the surface, I will call them, so I can inscribe a Runic Set on them''

 Chapter 88: Impressive growth

    Zatiel and Kiranded in the ck tform and they deposit the pieces of fallen star they had collected during theirst journey on the tunnels.


    Some Magi were waiting in here, but they didn''t approach them since they had no rtion with the duo.


    Neither of them was tired, but they did not go back to the cave and remain on the tform. Kira needed to expel the pollution on her body and Zatiel had to wait for Ezequiel and Sophia.


    Zatiel had already informed the duo that he will be waiting on the tform for them, and after an hour he saw them exiting the cave.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were carrying a great amount of fallen star, and although the purity wasn''t of the same level that Zatiel was able to obtain, it wasn''t too inferior either and the quantity huge.


    All those Magi on the tform saw the great harvest the duo got and although there was greed in their eyes, there was also fear.


    At the beginning of the expedition, those Rank 1 Magus were sure that the abilities of the Ezequiel and Sophia were equal to theirs and the only reason they didn''t attack them was for their connection with Zatiel.


    But when the fights with Dynasty started the duo was able to show their overbearing might, making this clear a couple of days ago when Sophia fought alone against three Eye Masters.


    Those Eye Holders were sure that the victory was theirs but in the end, one of them died and the other two escape with severe injuries.


    Their appearance had not changed at all but the amount of energy their bodies and their maic force field were equal to the one a Novice Rank 2 Magus would have.


    Zatiel smiled at the duo and nodded in satisfaction as he saw their progress, andmanded the chip to scan them.


    Ezequiel and Sophia''s frowned as they feel the probing force trying to examine their bodies but when they track the origin, they let their down their magical defenses and let the scan go on.


    It only took a moment for the chip to finish the scan and sent the information to Zatiel.


    "Bip... targets scanned


    Name: Sophia


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 1, Styx Dragon bloodline)


    Strength: 52.4


    Physique:101.3


    Speed:79.3


    Abyss Aura:109.5


    Bloodline Heart: 78%pleted


    Elemental Chaos Heart: 100%pleted


    Name: Ezequiel


    Race: Neo-Demon ( Rank 1, Storm Titan bloodline)


    Strength: 92.6


    Physique: 138.7


    Speed: 55.3


    Abyss Aura: 89.4


    Bloodline Heart: 51%pleted


    Elemental Chaos Heart: 100%pleted"


    Their stats were amazing, especially on Ezequiel''s case as his body attributes were beyond what any Rank 1 life form could achieve, even those of the dragon, titan or leviathan race, but Zatiel wasn''t too surprised.


    The chip calcted physique based on several factors including vitality, regeneration abilities and resistance to physical and magical damage.


    As a Neo-Demon, Ezequiel''s body was already very strong, and bybining that with the bloodline of a Storm Titan, make him reach this level of physical power.


    Ezequiel''s body was even denser than some Rank 1 metals, making every punch carry monstrous heaviness with a devasting pration force and transforming his bone and muscles in a natural armor, of course, due to his weight his speed was affected but his Rank and Innate spells were a perfect solution for that.


    Although it looks like his growth was above Zatiel, despite his bloodline being a level beneath, that was because thisst one bloodline was not focused on the body and his true improvement was in the fact he had a secondary source of power, an eye that was connected to thews and regeneration abilities that were not quantified by the chip since they were not technically part of the body but given by the golden sun.


    If one used only the chip statement, then Sophia was the weakest of the trio, but this only serves to exemplify why stats can''t truly quantify the power of a person. The bodies of Styx Dragons had never been the most powerful, but still, they are considered one of the highest existence of the dragon race.


    The reason for their fame was the ability to use one of the most rotten and harming liquids on the universe, something that could inflict countless curses and degrade even the strongest being, the waters of the Styx river.


    Thanks to that, Sophia spells were so powerful that even Zatiel abyssal mes would need to be charged with Dexisus to equal her damage.


    As Zatiel was going through the information on his mind the duonded at the tform and deposit their pieces of fallen star.


    "Master," Ezequiel greeted at Zatiel and pred to remain silent.


    Zatiel was already used to the attitude of the boy, but what found rare was the way that Sophia was looking at him.


    "You better remember who is the first," Sophia nced at Kira before looking back at Zatiel.


    When Zatiel hears those words, he almost starts tough and he smiled as he was about to tease Sophia, but the woman had not finished and her next words would make any man tense.


    "You know, recently I found a little problem controlling my powers and Styx water is spilled from my body without my knowledge. It will be a shame if it were to touch a sensitive part when we are together," Sophia gave Zatiel a wicked smile as she looks at his lower body.


    They were talking through their cores so Ezequiel hears her words and when he saw at what her eyes were pointing he shivered and immediately took a step back and look away, making clear he was not part of want was happening here.


    As for Zatiel, the idea of that liquid touching ''that'' make even he, someone who wasn''t afraid of Law Beings, feel a chill running through his spine.


    Finally, he didn''t dare to tease Sophia and nodded, making thisst one adopt a victory pose as a beautiful smile fill her face.


    Zatiel coughed and change the subject, as he wonders when was thest time someone defeats him by just using words.


    He waves his hand and dark mes came out forming a dome in a corner of the tform.


    "Let''s go."


    The trio enters the dark mes and disappear of the sight of the rest.


    The abyss fire has a damaging effect on the consciousness so if someone were to try to spy them, it would harm them.


    Grigori saw this, and although his consciousness was more than powerful enough to ovee the mes, it would alert Zatiel and since he was not interested in what they were doing, he found no reason to provoke the hostility of a genius.


    Sophia and Ezequiel''s focused as they look at Zatiel and waited for his instruction.


    "I suppose you two have already awoken your True Name, do not pronounce them but activate and exin their effects"


    Sophia was first and as she activated her True Name, a white aura coats her body and it even covers her consciousness.


    "My True Name seems to be rted to spirits and the soul, all my attacks obtain an increase in damage around 75% that target the consciousness of the victim, also it seems that the defenses of my soul are enhanced."


    After Sophia, it was Ezequiel''s turn.


    When he activated his True Name, uncountable arcs of lightning so thins and small that were invisible to the eye appear on his body.


    "When I activate my True Name, I can interact with my body at a cellr level, increasing my physical power and the amount of energy I can release on every attack"


    Zatiel was surprised as he saw the power that those True Names bring to the duo.


    Comparing the might of True Names was difficult since they affect diverse aspects of the individual, but Zatiel was sure that the ones awaken by Sophia and Ezequiel were at an equal tier that Natux.


    Although True Names are influenced by several factors, the bloodline is a core element to decide its might and bybining the heritage of Neo-Demons with an Emperor Bloodline, the duo was able to obtain a True Name equal to the one created by a Law Bloodline.


    "Excellent, truly awesome!" Zatiel was exhrated as he felt the power of the duo.


    As someone who understands the path one as to take to be a Law Being, he knew how important thepression of thews is.


    A Neo-Demon, even with the worst possible assimted bloodline would be able to reach Rank 3 without a problem, but to reach Soul Forging and beyond, thews are essential.


    True Names constantly nourish the soul and enhance his affinity to thews they represent, so Zatiel knew that the duo will advance in the Rank without a problem and the moment they enhance their bloodline to the next level, they will be equal to him and if he does not work hard they will surpass him.


    If this happen when he was an Abyssal Lord, and one of those demon subordinates had shown that talent, he would have devoured them, but now he was happy for having people like that apanying him.


    When Sophia hears Zatiel words, she was exhrated and even the always stoic Ezequiel could not help but smile.


    In the mind of the duo, their ultimate goal was to be useful to the person that got them out of the darkness and gave them a glorious path, so seeing his happiness bring them the greatest joy they could have.


    Having taken a moment to regain his focus, Zatiel looks at the duo with a serious expression.


    "Pay attention, I will inscribe a runic set on each of you, they will be tailored to your fighting style and will enhance your power tremendously. During the next couple of days, try to get familiarised with them, because if my deductions are correct, very soon some Eye Lords will try to kill me."


    Zatiel had known for a while the intentions of those Eye Lords, after all, how stupid he would have to be to not realize that they were ning something.


    It was that only now when the two Neo-Demons finally obtaining the ability to use a powerful runic set that he was able to counterattack.


    When Ezequiel and Sophia hear his words they were shocked, but soon that surprise transform in rage.


    "We should attack them first and kill all of them," Sophia''s killing intent was as clear as water.


    "Don''t ever underestimate an opponent!" Zatiel knitted his brow as he looks at the woman, and he was displeased by her attitude.


    Sophia''s eyes widened as this was the first time she was reprimanded by Zatiel since she became a Neo-Demon and she immediately lowers her head and sadness fills her face.


    Ezequiel was beside her, and his expression was also a downcast one because even though he didn''t speak, his intention was the same as Sophia.


    When Zatiel saw their expressions, he could not help but sigh as he approached Sophia and starts to caress her head.


    "I know you care for me, but I equally care for you so I don''t want to see you hurt because you were careless."


    The expression of the duo brightened immediately and they make sure to remember his words.


    "The fact that we can jump an entire Rank and fight against those at the Master level, is already beyond impressive. But just defeating them will be very hard, not to mention killing them, so I need you to follow my n."

 Chapter 89: Swallowed by shadows

    After a day the dome of dark mes disappears showing the figure of Zatiel, Ezequiel and Sophia.


    Zatiel was sitting on the floor with a pale face, he was exhausted to the point that his breathing was rough. The energy on his body was mostly depleted and his head hurt due to the prolonged period of intense concentration he had to keep.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were by his side, they seem perfectly fine and the only difference from before entering the dome of mes was the traces of incredibly thin rune inscriptions that could be seen in the exposed part of their bodies.


    When those Rank 1 Magus saw them, all of them felt an immense desire and envy. They did not know the rank of those runic sets, but even if it was only a Rank 1 runic set, it was something most of them would find impossible to get.


    Despite that greed, all those Magus look away immediately when they saw the duo staring back.


    Before they obtained those runic sets, Ezequiel and Sophia were already undefeatable among those at Rank 1, so now that disparity only grew and no one wanted to follow the path of the werewolves.


    That scene also calls the attention of Gregori and Kira, although neither of them was a runic master, thanks to their experience they were able to realize that the runes that formed those runic sets were of equal quality to the ones in Zatiel''s body.


    To the duo, Zatiel was a supreme genius that should have trained a special path technique and whose body was altered with a bloodline or an especial source of vitality, letting him withstand a runic set that elevated his fighting power to the Master Rank 2 level.


    But beings like him were incredibly rare and that other two would show up just like that should be impossible but still, there was doubt in their eyes as they saw the man and woman covered by runes.


    Ezequiel and Sophia felt those stared but were indifferent to them and only give Zatiel a meaningful stare before flying away back to the cave.


    Zatiel remained sitting on the ground with his eyes closed and every certain time would take a piece of meat from his spatial ring and devour it, enhancing his recovering speed. He already gave indications to the duo, and they will be staying together from now on.


    For his part, he will continue working with Kira, so that the other party does not think that something has changed, but still, he didn''t make the Magus part of his n.


    It wasn''t that she did something that made him suspicious about her intentions or that he was unsatisfied with her power. The reason he didn''t include her was simple, Zatiel could not fully trust her and she was strong enough to provoke great damage if she were to try to disrupt his ns.


    This project had all his parts cover by him, Sophia and Ezequiel as for the Magus, whether she would help or not was a mystery.


    Ater Zatiel condition returned to his peak, he signaled Kira and the two continued with their excavation work.


    The days pass and there was no sign of those Eye Lords, but Zatiel was sure that they will attack soon and when they do, the situation will be very dangerous since they will obviously also have a n.


    The excavation work was advancing at a faster speed than the one Grigori thought and it won''t be long before this expedition would be finished, once that happens they would lose any opportunity of getting their revenge.


    It was in the seventh month that they finally acted.


    Zatiel and Kira were in the main tunnel, around twelve hundred meters deep and as they advanced he saw it, from one of the side paths a dot made of shadow so insignificantly small that was invisible to the eye and capable of hiding from their consciousness.


    The only reason Zatiel was able to detect it was because his Eye of Life and Creation allowed him to see therge amount of energy it contained.


    Zatiel felt an immense threat from that seemly insignificant dot that was approaching them at a ridiculous speed, but he didn''t loss calm and without hesitation, he activates Overload before pointing his palm at Kira and releases a beam of golden mes that reached her instantly and sent her flying away.


    They were very close to each other and due to the swift action of Zatiel, Kira was barely able to react when the golden mes reach her, but as they did her eyes be cold.


    From an outside perspective, this was clearly a surprise attack from Zatiel, and these were Kira''s thoughts until she realizes that the golden mes didn''t bring her any damage and only worked as an impulsion force throwing her in direction to the entrance of the cave.


    "Run!"


    This was the only response Zatiel give to her doubts before flying in the opposite direction, deeper into the tunnel.


    She had a lot of questions, but as a Rank 2 Magus she was not foolish, so taking advantage of the impulse, she fled with her maximum speed in direction to the surface.


    The dot of shadows seems to realize their actions and moves even faster, reaching in a mere instant their previous location.


    The energy on the dot augmented and it seems like it was about to explode, but then from Zatiel feet a great amount of golden mes were released pushing his body one hundred meters deeper into the tunnel in an instant.


    When this happens, the energy in the dot made of shadows froze, and after a moment, it flies in the direction of Zatiel.


    "It is too fast," Even after using his maximum speed and obtaining the help from Sun Push, Zatiel could only see how the dot was shorting the distance between them.


    In less than three seconds, the shadow dot was a hundred meters away from Zatiel, once there its energy once again grew and this time it finishes his charging, resulting in an explosion.


    Shadows were released form the dot and spread over a diameter of three hundred meters, epassing Zatiel in them.


    In less than a second after Zatiel was cover by those shadows, they started topress until they leave nothing left.


    After a moment, Kira''s figure could be seen approaching the ce where the dot exploded.


    Although her eyes could see nothing, as a Rank 2 Magus her consciousness was powerful enough to detect the thing that was hiding in this ce.


    "So he was sent into a shadow dimension, the price to do this type of spell with the powers of an Eye Lord is immense. They are set in killing him."


    Kira''s expression was indecisive, she could attack this dimension and try to free Zatiel, but by the time the dimension is broken, whether or not he remains alive, she will have to face the individuals inside it and they are definitely strong.


    Finally, Kira eyes be extremely cold


    "If you were targeting him alone, I may have left but it appears that you were also considering me your prey, so for that, you must pay!"


    Her energy exploded and a green pentagram made of mes was formed behind her, but just as she was about to begin her attack, she felt something approaching and the power it released made her eyes narrowed.


    ......


    When Zatiel opens his eyes after being swallowed by the shadows, he realizes that he was in a ce ofplete darkness that blocked his senses and consciousness.


    The only silver lining was the fact that his Eye of Life and Creation still could see sources of energy, but even that was weakened.


    He didn''t even have the time to explore the ce when a spear cover by a white aura and a lightning bolt were fired in his direction.


    Normally Zatiel would have been able to detect them sooner, but by the time he felt them, they were already too close.


    Just as the attacks were about to reach him, an explosion of golden mes was released from his shoulder moving his body away from the projectile trajectory.


    Before he could rest, another attack approaches him, but this time it was only the lightning bolt.


    Once again Zatiel was forced to use Sun Push to dodge the spell, but as his body was ejected, the spear appears on his path, forcing him to use his sword to block the attack.


    As the spear crash against the sword, Zatiel could felt as his arm trembled and his bones cracked due to the immense power the attack carried.


    ''Dammit, they are truly careful, despite my disadvantage they do not approach me. Luckily it was only me who end up in this dimension, had we attack head-on, all of us would have been trap here.'' Zatiel expression is calm as he evaluates the situation and makes arrangements for his n.


    The attack did not stop and every time he dodges one spell, another came crashing in his direction forcing him to block with his sword.


    This continues for half a minute but then a smile appears on Zatiel face as he felt them.


    ''They have arrived!''


    In that instant, the entire dimension started to tremble as if the world itself was cracking

 Chapter 90: Destroying the shadows

    At the beginning Azel was sure that the n was wless, not only they had taken into consideration external factors like the Magus that apanies Zatiel, but also utilized a magic item that could imprison Peak Rank 2 life forms for a long time and erase any escape route.


    The three Eye Lord had discussed for a long time how to proceed, and in the end, they decided to use Mira''s Shadow Cage as the battleground.


    Shadow Cage was a magic item that looks like a dot of shadows that could be used to momentarily trap an enemy inside the dimension it contained.


    This was Mira life-saving card since originally it wasn''t made to withstand the energy a fight between Rank 2 individual will release and his use was only to give the Eye Lord time to escape.


    Azel and James took out material from their storage and along the woman, worked together to transform the Shadow Cage into a stable battleground with tracking abilities.


    This took a long time, and since neither James or Mira could give themselves the luxury of ignoring the excavation of fallen star and infuriate the powerhouses behind them, they had to divide their time and in the end, it took them five months toplete the transformation.


    The ideal scenario would have been that Zatiel attacks them, in that case capturing him and anyone who would have followed him will have been very easy, but unfortunately that didn''t happen and seeing that the end of the excavation was approaching, they were forced to act first.


    Although they failed to capture Kira, Azel was still confident in the sess of the assassination.


    He was very old and know of the infamous nature of Magi and the fact that they will never put themselves in danger for another individual and even if she acted, the dimension defenses were strong enough to withstand until Zatiel was dead.


    But all that confidence was shattered when he felt the entire dimension trembling as if it was about to copse.


    When James and Azel realize the precarious situation of the Shadow Cage, they look at Mira who was in a meditative position with her eyes closed and a small sphere filled with all sorts of inscriptions floating two meters above her head.


    This was the core of the dimension and by putting part of her consciousness in it, was how Mira controlled this space.


    The Eye Lord''s face was ashen and a thin trail of blood came from the corner of her mouth as she used the consciousness inside the core to withstand the damage dealt to the dimension.


    "Mira, what is going on, how can a Rank 2 Magus release a power so high that surpass the dimension defenses?" Azel''s face was filled with distress. If by any chance Zatiel manages to escape, then his future was going to be a living hell.


    "She is not alone, there are two other individuals with her," Mira''s eyes remained closed as she moves her hand creating a screen that showed what was happening outside.


    Azel saw three figures attacking the air, but all their attacks seem to impact an invisible wall and cracks started to form due to the immense power they released.


    One figure corresponded to Kira, who had a green pentagram made of mes in her back and was constantly releasing fireball into the invisible wall.


    Next to her was a woman with ck crystal wings, her body was covered by runes that glowed with a dark light and her palms were pointing at the invisible wall but although nothing seems toe out from them, more and more crack filled the air.


    Thest one was a man, he was a fifty-meter tall lightning giant and just like the woman, his entire body was cover by runes, but these had a metallic light.


    Logically, such an immense body should be slow, but the man''s arms transformed into pure lightning and only returned to its physical form when they were about tond in the invisible wall, greatly increasing his speed and the amount of damage he generated.


    Although these Eye Lords were able to recognize both Ezequiel and Sophia as Rank 1 individuals of the empire, they didn''t have the time to figure out how could they bee so strong since the periphery of the dimension was already beginning to break.


    "You have to hurry up!, with the three attacking together, I can barely withstand another minute before having to shut down the dimension," Mira face was pale and more blood came from her mouth and nose as she focuses all of her power in enduring the bombardment from outside.


    The faces of James and Azel were solemn as they understood that they have to kill Zatiel immediately or else when the dimension is broken, they will have to face him and three other individuals equally powerful.


    The white aura covering James'' body increase greatly before most of it being redirected to his right hand where it started to rotate and transformed his entire arm into a gigantic drill.


    There was a great resolution on Azel''s face, as he made the blue eyes on his forehead glow and bleed.


    When the Eye Lord did this, his energy increased tremendously and he channels all of it making a thirty-meter tall dragon head made of pure ice appear behind him.


    The dragon head roared and apanied by James, theyunched themselves at Zatiel.


    The energy that those attacks carried was so immense that even the cloaking abilities of the dimension could not hide them, so Zatiel was able to see them immediately and the threat he felt from them was immense.


    ''Any of those attacks is enough to put me in a critical condition if theynd unhindered even with my vitality and regeneration, especially the dragon head,'' Zatiel was focus as he looks at the dragon head, James and finally in Mira''s direction.


    A cold and vicious light appears on Zatiel eyes as he decides how to respond.


    He raised his two palms pointing to the dragon head, and from each one, an immense beam of chaotic dark golden energy was released.


    "Abyssal st!"


    The beams were incredibly fast, reaching the dragon head in an instant, but even together and being potentiated by all the power of Dexisus, they were only able to equal the dragon head creating an immense explosion when they crashed against each other.


    Zatiel did not have the time to be happy for neutralizing a threat as the white drill that was James'' arm was about tond on his chest.


    Making the sword appear on his hand, he uses all of the power he could gather in such a short time, to hit the arm and try to change the trajectory of the drill, producing an explosion of dark mes.


    Unfortunately for Zatiel, James'' attack was too powerful and although he was able to save his chest from being perforated, the drillnded on the left side of his body destroying his shoulder, arm and harming greatly his lung before sending him flying away.


    James was surprised that Zatiel was able to redirect his attack in thest second and jump back to reduce the damage, taking advantage of the power in his attack to get away from him.


    He was about to chase after him when a great feeling of danger assault him.


    It took him less than a second to find the origin, it was a finger-sized humanoid figure cover by a grey armor filled with runes that had hidden in the mes.


    The runes on the automaton glowed with a blinding light before exploding.


    It happened so fast that James wasn''t able to escape the explosion range and could only focus his withe aura over his body to protect himself.


    The explosion of the automaton was the straw that broke the camel back, as it provoked the entire dimension copse.


    Mira coughed blood as the dimension core started to tear and was about to extract her consciousness when she hears a voice and saw Zatiel bloody figure that was less than fifty meters form her.


    "Take myst st and die!" Zatiel had a bloody smile and his eyes were full of madness as he pointed his palm at her.


    Mira''s mind filled with fear as she remembers the beam of energy that was powerful enough to stop the spell that needed Azel''s life force to be created.


    The Eye Lord created a set of shields made of shadow around her, but when the beam was released this time, it was only half as strong as the original, and she knew that this attack could not severy harm her.


    But then she saw Zatiel''s cold smile and realize that the beam of energy wasn''t directed to her, but to the core.


    The attack was to fast and before she could do something, the core was destroyed together with the piece of her consciousness that was in it.


    "AHHHHH!" Mira screamed due to the immense pain and blood came out from her eyes.


    With the core destroyed, the dimension exploded and four figures were sted out to the tunnels.

 Chapter 91: Savagery, fear and madness

    The moment the dimension broke, four bodies were sent flying away.


    The ones with better conditions were Azel since the only damage he took was because he hurt his life force to use the Ice Dragon spell and James that was able to resist the self-destruction of the automaton thanks to his white aura but the amount left surrounding his body was very thin.


    As for Mira and Zatiel, the two were severely injured, with the first having his eyes closed and face contorted by the immense pain she was feeling and the second having the left side of his body torn apart to the point that his lung was visible and a white aura was around the injuries trying to expand and continue the destruction, but being stopped by golden mes.


    Thanks to the energy released by the destruction of the shadow cage, all of the Eye Lords had their defenses hurt, allowing the A. I. Chip to scanned them and sent the information to Zatiel.


    "Bip... Targets scanned, sending data to host


    Name:??


    Race: Eye Holder ( Eye Lord, body refinement-rted bloodline)


    Strength: 148.1


    Physique: 120.7


    Speed: 99.3


    Energy Pool: 153.4


    Note: Energy is unable to leave the body naturally or be used to cast spells, but it can increase body functions and potential, create an aura armor or cover certain weapons to increase their power.


    Name:??


    Race: Eye Holder (Eye Lord, ice-rted bloodline)


    Strength: 54.2


    Physique: 99.3


    Speed: 67.6


    Energy Pool: 174.2


    Name:??


    Race: Eye Holder (Eye Lord, shadow-rted bloodline)


    Strength: 47.1


    Physique:72.3


    Speed:102.9


    Energy Pool: 187.8


    Note: Serious damage has been dealt on the consciousness which has hindered cognitive abilities, provoking a momentary state of unconsciousness and a failure in body defenses."


    Despite his monstrous vitality and regeneration abilities, Zatiel condition was extremely grave and the best path would be to distance himself from the fight and focus on recovering, but after seeing the condition of the Eye Lords, his eyes be cold and after sending amand to Ezequiel and Sophia, he released a jet of golden mes from his feet.


    Sophia and Ezequiel intend to go and protect Zatiel, but when they received his order, they turned to Azel without hesitation and pointed their palms at him.


    "Abyssal st!"


    "Abyssal st!"


    Four beams of chaotic energy were fired against Azel, making this one shudder in fear due to the immense power in the attack and forcing him to activate the rune on his chest.


    Dozen of ice shields were formed around the Eye Lord''s body, protecting him from the attack.


    Zatiel didn''t speak to Kira, but when the woman saw that the fight continue, she sent the most powerful weakening curses she had against James, taking advantage of the fact that he was still a little dazed from the explosion.


    With the two Eye Lord upied, no one stopped Zatiel as he sted his way to Mira, carrying the dark sword on the only arm he had left.


    Maybe it was the threat to her life or just luck but Mira eyes opened and she saw Zatiel about to reach her.


    Although the strength that Zatiel had left was little, the power in the sword was more than enough the divide her body in two since she could barely channel her energy.


    But of course, she would not just stay still and wait for death and as someone that has lived for hundreds of years, Mira battle experience was plenty so using the little amount of energy she had left she conjured dozens of shadow whips.


    Seeing the resistance of the woman, Zatiel eyes be colder and once again released a jet of golden mes shrinking the distance between them greatly, but worsening his injuries and allowing the white aura to extend.


    Mira manipted the shadow whips, focusing all of them on Zatiel arm and sword.


    The whips embraced the sword and arm, and even though Zatiel was able to break great part of them, in the end, they ovee him, stopping his attack merely ten centimeters from then Eye Lord''s neck.


    Blood wasing out from Mira''s eyes, but she was happy and a smile appears on his face, thinking that threat to her life was over.


    Unfortunately for her, she had never fought with demons and did not understand that every part of their body was a deadly weapon, so she failed to react when Zatiel extend his neck and bite down, ripping half of her skull of and leaving part of her brain exposed.


    Mira''s face froze and she still had the smile on her face as Zatiel chewed and swallow the piece of her brain that was on his mouth.


    Thanks to her vitality the Eye Lord remained alive, of course, she was beyond salvation and had lost the ability to think.


    Everyone had their consciousness released and saw this act of pure savagery, making diverse thoughts appear on their minds but the ones on Zatiel''s were simple.


    ''It tastes awful, but it is very nutritive.''


    Without Mira''s control, the whips disappeared and the first thing that Zatiel did was grab the Eye Lord by the neck and once again bite her skull eating the part of her brain that remained.


    Zatiel actions shocked everyone, before, the act of bitting Mira''s head could have been considered a decisive way of killing an enemy but now his attitude proved that he saw the woman as a source of food.


    Although his behavior could be considered bestial, in the Abyss demons devour among each other all the time and although he was different now, he doesn''t see a difference between the woman and those magical creatures he devoured in his way to this ce.


    As for the fact that they had a simr humanoid appearance, that could not matter less to him, after all, lions and zebras both walk on four legs, but when have you seen the king of the jungle conflicted when he devours those ck and white creatures.


    But it was the fact that he effectuated this action in a casual and rxed manner that generated such horror on those how saw him.


    When James saw his ally being eaten alive, his body froze and the moment Zatiel look back at him, he started to tremble and fear crawled to his heart as the idea of sharing the same fate pass through his mind.


    Without hesitation the Eye Lord made one of the rings on his finger explode, increasing the amount of white aura covering his body greatly, but even though his power was enhanced, on James mind the only thought was to escape from the monster in front of him so he immediately started to burn this white aura, destroying the curses on him and increasing his speed as he flies to the surface.


    The action of the Eye Lord was very decisive and don''t give Kira time to stop him.


    When the Magus was wondering whether to hunt him, she hears Zatiel voice.


    "Leave him, he is set on escaping and we will not be able to stop him before he reaches the surface. Focus your energy on the enemy left, we have to kill him."


    Kira looks to Zatiel and saw that he had just ripped Mira''s heart from her chest and was eating it with an easy-going expression on his face.


    Although his actions stunned the woman a little, she nodded and focus on where Azel crashed after being sted away by the attacks of Sophia and Ezequiel.


    Although the ice shields had impressive defensive abilities, four abyssal sts were more that it could withstand so although they manage to block most of the attack, there were still burns marks all over Azel body and his right leg was missing.


    And the worst part wasn''t the damage to his body, but the chaotic voices that filled his mind and that provoked on Azel a mind splitting pain.


    But he did not have the time to try to recover because Sophia had justnded above him and was pointing him with her hands.


    Although nothing seems toe out from them, he was able to perceive the dozens of small dark crystal spear that were being fired in his direction with a speed so fast that they were invisible to the naked eye.


    Immediately the Eye Lord made a wall of ice appear in front of him, and although it was able to withstand the barrage for a mere moment, it was enough to let Azel escape.


    But unfortunately for him, he wasn''t able to dodge the curses that slowed his body and the next thing he felt was how his bones broke when a gigantic leg crashed on his chest and sent him into the ceiling of the tunnel, making him spit mouthfuls of blood that had pieces of his organs inside.


    Ezequiel, Sophia, and Kira don''t stop and charger to the Eye Lord, to give the finishing blow.


    With the threat of death so close, instead of fear what appears on Azel''s eyes was pure madness as he roared and made his blue eyes explode.

 Chapter 92: True genius

    The moment Azel''s blue eyes exploded, his power spiked, and currents of ice covering a thirty-meter diameter were formed around him due to the effect the immense amount of energy on his body had on the natural energy on his surroundings.


    Sophia, Ezequiel, and Kira stopped immediately when they felt this power and the immense threat that carried.


    The power in Azel''s body was so strong that even Ezequiel feared being reached by it, so without hesitation, they moved backward.


    But unfortunately, due to the charge from before, now they were too close to Azel and before they could back up enough, the energy on the Eye Lord was released and one immensely powerful ice storm sted out in all directions.


    The speed of the storm was as impressive as his power and it reached the trio in an instant.


    The moment Ezequiel realized they could not run away, he acted decisively. The Neo-Demon grabbed Sophia and then Kira with his hands and put them close to his chest, before adopting a fetal position with the two women in the center.


    The energy on his body exploded, as he activated his True Name and Runic Set to the maximum and released an immense amount of lightning beforepressing them around his body like a cocoon.


    The lightning cocoon was so dense that it adopted a sma-like state as it covers the trio.


    The earth was left cover by a thickyer of ice as the storm passes by and when it reached the lightning cocoon, it assaulted it with its raw power and a great amount of the lightning vanished before ayer of ice formed around the trio creating a fifty-meter tall ice sphere before continuing its path of freeze and destruction.


    The storm of ice extended as it froze the tunnel for more than a hundred meters.


    It did not take long for the storm to reach where Zatiel was, luckily for him, he was far enough from its epicenter and had time to release a Sun Push from his chest moving his body dozens of meters in an instant.


    Still, the storm continues his traject, but now its power was beginning to lessen and Zatiel made golden and dark mes appear over his body to protect him, greatly reducing his power so the amount it reaches him wasn''t enough to truly harm him.


    In the end, the attack that Azel release by making irreversible damage to his bloodline and life force reached the power of a Rank 3 spell and cover a three hundred meter area transforming it into an ice hell, releasing a power that could destroy any Rank 0 life forms and most Rank 1''s as well.


    If this attack had been released in a popted city, the number of casualties could have reached the thousand easily.


    Had Zatiel been in the epicenter of this storm explosion like Ezequiel, due to his injured condition, he would have been forced to activate his Mirage Rune and teleport to save his life.


    As he erased the rest of withe aura and ice energy that remained on his body, Zatiel looked at the giant ice sphere with concern and used his Chaotic Core to probe the condition of Sophia and Ezequiel.


    It was only after confirming that they were both still conscious and the damage on Ezequiel''s body wasn''t life-threatening that he rxed.


    Unlike the transformation of Bloodline Magi, that stimte the bloodline they fused in their body to materialize an illusion from an ancient creature, Ezequiel transformation was thanks to his Innate Spell "Titanic Form", that allows him to increase the size and weight of his body and because his density remains the same, his physique increase greatly.


    Still, even with those advantages, resisting a Rank 3 spell and not ending with life-threatening injuries would have been impossible, but the Runic Set that was inscribed on his body was known as Hardening and itplemented Ezequiel''s body perfectly.


    Although the name of this Runic Set may sound simple, it was a Peak-Rank 2 Runic Set and itsplexity was even greater than Savage and Overload.


    The effect of this Runic Set was to alter the molecr structure on the wearer''s body, to increase its density making it harder.


    Due to the great amount of vitality and energy this Runic Set needed, Ezequiel was only able to have it active for a couple of minutes a day but when it was, his body in Titanic Form reached such a great density that his bones, muscles, organs, and skin be even harder than most Rank 2 magic metals and his body''s natural defense could equal a High-Rank 2 magic armor.


    As Zatiel observed the sphere and marveled at the boy''s impressive defensive abilities, his Eye of Life and Creation noticed something and after a moment his expression became cold and full of killing intent.


    He was trying to blend himself in the remains of the ice storm but wasn''t able to hide from Zatiel perception.


    The target of Zatiel''s killing intent was the blue and red light moving in the direction of the surface and if you looked more carefully you will notice that inside the light was Azel, although he now looked much older and was bleeding from his eyes, ears, and mouth.


    Despite his tragic appearance, it seems that some of the energy obtained by destroying his eyes continue filling him as his speed was impressive, moving more than fifty meters with each second.


    Zatiel saw the pitiful figure of Azel with coldness and started charging the energy on his body to pursue him, but as he did that, blood came out from his mouth and a wave of weakness filled his body.


    Although his condition improved a little after eating Mira''s brain and heart, his injuries were still too severe and he had not expelled all the white aura in his body.


    His eyes were full of killing intent as he saw the flying figure of Azel, but in the end, he could just sigh.


    ''Killing one and forcing the other to shatter his bloodline and escape is enough, after all, we are still at Rank 1 and the members of the other party were already close to reaching the peak of Rank 2.''


    But as he was epting the fact that Azel would escape, he saw how a soft blue glow wasing from the tunnel deeper part.


    Azel was escaping with all his speed, but when he felt the soft glow approaching his expression filled with terror.


    ''Him, if he were to grab hold of my now then...'' Resolution filled Azel''s face as he increased his speed, even more, increasing the amount of blood leaking from his body and making him age even more.


    The soft blue glow was a humanoid figure with golden lines all over his body and its speed was beyond impressive, as despite Azel''s intent of escaping the figure was able to shorten the distance rapidly.


    Before Azel could react the soft blue humanoid was beside him and the Eye Lord wasn''t able to do anything as the humanoid grabbed hold of his neck, choking him, and stopped his movements, frustrating his escape.


    "Gwyn! what... the he..ll do you think... you are ... doing"


    Azel could barely speak as Gwyn''s hand was squeezing his neck so tight it suffocated him and even worse was that his touch started to rot his skin and drain the little amount of energy that remained on his body.


    "It''s not obvious, I am killing you," Gwyn''s face was full of satisfaction as he saw the fear and regret on Azel¡äs face.


    "If you... kill... me, Lord Finz... will hunt you... down"


    Azel was hoping to use the name of the mighty Soul Forging being behind him to intimidate Gwyn.


    But unfortunately, the only thing he managed to obtain by mentioning Finz''s name was to make Gwyn''s killing intent increase together with the strength and rotting applied to his neck.


    "The fate of that old bastard will be the same as yours!" Gwyn says with immense hatred, but after a moment he calms down and coldness fills his face.


    "But you are right, if I were to kill you, he will have an excuse to attack me."


    When Azel heard that, he started to feel hopeful but the killing intent on Gwyn remained the same and his next words shattered his illusion of escaping.


    "Luckily, I am not the one killing you."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Gwynunched a blow with all the power of his body to Azel''s chest, breaking several bones and sending him flying away.


    Azel''s body was very fragile after burning so much life force and destroying his bloodline eyes to carry that immensely powerful spell, so Gwyn''s attack almost made him faint.


    But the pain did not stop there, as felt how a hand pierced his back and buried itself in his gut before releasing an immense amount of fire that started to burn his body from the inside out.


    "AHHHHH!" Azel could only cry in pain, as a golden fire started toe out from his mouth, ears, and eyes.


    As Azel screams filled the tunnel, another sound was heard when the ice sphere started to break and huge pieces of it crumbled into the ground, revealing the three figures inside.


    Although both Kira and Sophia were exhausted due to channeling all of their energy to reinforce the defense of Ezequiel, the amount of damage that reached them was very little.


    But Ezequiel situation was entirely different, he was extremely pale, there were frozen areas all over his body and the worst injuries were on his back,rge pieces of skin and muscles were missing, as they froze and broke apart, and there was arge amount of cold energy inside him trying to extend his damage.


    As soon as the ice broke, Ezequiel deactivated his Runic Set and True Name and with the help of the two womennded carefully on the ground and focused on healing himself.


    Ezequiel damage was severe, but it was expected after all the power of Rank 3 spell can''t be underestimated and normally, any Rank 1 life form that receives it at point-nk will have his body disintegrated.


    As this happened, Azel''s screams finally ended as his body was no more and the only thing that was left on Zatiel''s hand was a great number of golden mes.


    Zatiel divides the mes into two parts, sending one to Ezequiel and the other was used on himself.


    The moment the golden fire touched Ezequiel, the wound on his back started to heal rapidly and the cold energy on his body began to vanish, improving hisplexion greatly. As for Zatiel, the golden mes were able to regenerate the bones, muscles, and skin that cover his lung.


    When Kira and Gwyn saw Zatiel healing abilities, they became shocked.


    Skills that can heal you by absorbing the energy of your opponent were already rare, but the speed and efficacy of the healing that Zatiel was able to provide with the body of an almost dead Eye Lord were amazing and the fact that they were equally effective on others was even more impressive.


    Zatiel doesn''t really mind the stares of the duo and was focusing on analyzing the soft blue and translucid body of Gwyn as well the Runic Set inscribed on his body.


    Thanks to his knowledge and the help from the chip, he was able to obtain the information about his body transformation and runes.


    "So this is a true genius of this world, interesting."

 Chapter 93: Eternal Vengeful Body

    Although Gwyn''s physical prowess and abilities were impressive, in Zatiel eyes they were irrelevant and what calls his attention was his body transformation and the purity and immense power of his bloodline.


    ''A hybrid bloodline that has reached the peak of the Emperor level and one of the Eternal Temple''s body transformation techniques, to be able to train it without the temple facilities he must be pretty smart and talented but there seem to be some ws,'' Numerous thoughts pass for Zatiel''s mind as he examined the Eye Holder.


    Transformations on the body are verymon, especially on those that follow paths simr to the Magi or races that haven''t inherently powerful physiques.


    Most of these transformations focus on imnting organs of different creatures or special magic object but they don''t have a systematic method of advancement and at most, they give a momentary burst on power until you advance into the next Rank.


    There are also dangers by performing this type of transformations, as it could contaminate your body if the processing of the organs or magic object is not handled perfectly.


    Despite all that, the number of individuals that perform this type of transformation on their body is not small, after all, the races or paths that can improve the energy, soul, and body of an individual in a synergic way are pitiful on the universe.


    Of course, there are body transformation techniques that can systematically alter the body and the improvement they give do not enter in conflict with your bloodline or main path, but even if you don''t take into ount the difficulty to obtain them, most of them require the use of thews in the transformation of the body.


    No matter how much of a genius you are, it is only at the peak of Rank 3 when a life form''s soul is powerful enough to start understanding thews, so to train this type of body transformation techniques you will normally have to use special facilities or the help of a powerhouse that specializes in the use of thews that the technique uses.


    But there are other ways of using thews without the need of a powerful soul, such as the help provided by a Law Bloodline or your True Name, and Gwyn seems to be able to use thetter to advance.


    The body transformation technique that Gwyn use, is part of the techniques created by the Eternal Temple.


    The Eternal Temple was a powerful and extremely old organization in the universe, with several Being of Laws as members and an even more powerful existence as the leader.


    Zatiel had an encounter with this organization when he was an Abyss Lord, although calling it an encounter was wrong since what happened was that he found a stronghold of the Eternal Temple and kill everybody in it, stole their spells, techniques, and treasures before escaping.


    Although the Eternal Temple was known for their vengeful ways, when that happen Zatiel had already achieved a Rank higher than normal Being of Laws and by staying in theyers of the Abyss dominated by him, there was nothing the temple could do.


    What Gwyn was training was the Eternal Vengeful Body, one of the temple core techniques and although it don''t provide stunning offensive capabilities, its survival abilities were impressive and if one was able to train it to the sixth level, you could achieve eternal life, even if you don''t be a Being of Laws.


    The Eternal Vengeful Body is indeed impressive, but Zatiel would not train it, after all, a Neo-Demon''s body transformation is even better since it uses Elemental Chaos as the main material and that improvement was even more significant when it advance to Rank 4.


    As Zatiel was evaluating the Eye Holder, thetter was doing the same to the Neo-Demon.


    But unlike Zatiel''s calm and analytic expression, on Gwyn''s face, there was frustration.


    ''Why I can not see anything?'' Gwyn knitted his brow as he saw Zatiel and wasn''t able to detect anything.


    His bloodline was rted to the spirit, and his True Name was even more special as it gave him the ability to detect the other party feeling and intention generated from their soul.


    Although it was not very specific and it was more simr to an instinct, thanks to it was that Gwyn was able to survive this long despite being the target of animosity of a Soul Forging individual.


    Eventually, Gwyn broke the silence.


    "So you are Zatiel Daybreak, I am Gwyn Xinter, member of the Ghost Eye n. I had heard tales of your battle power and you are even more impressive in person, but if I have not helped you then Azel would have escaped, so I guess you owe me a favor," Gwyn expression was amicable and friendly as he spoke.


    Although the dead of Azel brings him great satisfaction, he did not reveal his rtion, so he could take advantage of this opportunity to obtain Zatiel''s favor, after all, the help of a powerful runemaster was very useful to him.


    Kira, Sophia, and Ezequiel were flying to Zatiel''s side and as they did, they focus on the other party and were vignt.


    Although Gwyn had helped them and it seems he had some problem with Azel from before, they know that an enemy from my enemy is just a party with simr interests, that could be an opponent in the next moment.


    And now that Gwyn was mentioning a favor, the trio knew the situation was bing tricky as most people on the Magi World like to use the philosophy of equivalent exchange, and although they could not be forced to repay if word gets out their future transaction could be affected.


    But unlike the trio, Zatiel expression remained calm, and a funny expression could be seen on his face as if he was watching a child try to argue with an adult and shook his head before speaking.


    "Point one, although you only showed for a moment and then try to hide it, your hate for that person was so deep that has taken root in your soul."


    When Gwyn hears this, his expression changed from a friendly to an indifferent one, but Zatiel doesn''t care and continues speaking.


    "To hate someone so much, he must have to do something unforgivable. Maybe he stole a precious treasure, rape your partner, kill your parents..."


    Zatiel has been watching Gwyn''s expression the entire time, and when he mentioned his family, his eye bes cold but there was also a sh of sadness in them.


    "So your parents, then taking into consideration this information, we help each other so no one owns anything to the other party." Zatiel voice was calm and indifferent as he spoke.


    But when Gwyn hears him, his eyes be colder and a wave of killing intent was released from his body.


    "You should be more careful when you mention some else''s family," Gwyn''s voice was chilling as he stares at the four people in from of him.


    Despite being one against four, Gwyn shows no fear and the killing intent around him only grown and neither Sophia, Ezequiel or Kira were confident in their chances since both Zatiel and Ezequiel were badly injured and the two women were exhausted.


    Despite being the party targeted by Gwyn killing intent, Zatiel remained calm and continue speaking,


    "Point two, your body transformation is wed and you can only maintain it during a brief period of time thanks to the vitality runes inscribed in you and it seems that you have spent a long amount of energy already. So ording to my calctions, you can barely maintain your power by a couple of minutes more."


    "So you better behave or else, we will retain you here until you are exhausted and then I will eat your brain while you are alive just like I did with that woman," Zatiel expression remained indifferent but his eyes be cold and as he spoke a monstrous killing intent was released from his body.


    If Gwyn killing intent was like a river, then Zatiel was an ocean formed with the blood of billions of lives, something capable of forming only in someone who can erase the life on a without second thoughts.


    It was so brutal and terrifying, that Kira was startled and begun to tremble just because she was close to Zatiel, and although Gwyn had lived a hard and cruel life, he still froze for a second.


    After a moment, Gwyn retracted his killing intent but still, his eyes were cold as he continues looking at Zatiel.


    "That is better, now let''s go to the third point. The piece of fallen star that you are hiding in your stomach has an impressive amount of energy, give it to me and I will fix your body"

 Chapter 94: Bring them back

    Gwyn was shocked when he heard those words. The piece of fallen star that Zatie was talking, was the greatest harvest he obtained in this expedition and something incredibly valuable.


    He did not know how Zatiel was able to find it, after all, he went to extremes and did not hesitate to hide it in his stomach despite the immense risk that is having something with such a high concentration of elemental chaos inside him.


    "How did you find out?"


    "You are not the only one with good eyes." Zatiel smiled as the Eye of Life and Creation showed him the ball of energy that was present on Gwyn''s abdomen.


    Gwyn eyes narrowed, but in the end, he could only sigh before opening his mouth and expelling a ck crystal the size of a fist.


    When the crystal shows up, the amount of pollution on the tunnel increased tremendously, to the point that Kira was forced to use the little amount of energy she had left to protect her body.


    As for the three Neo-Demons, the presence of elemental chaos was helping them recover the lost energy and improve their conditions.


    In Gwyn''s case, his body was able to diminish all types of damage thanks to its incorporeal attribute and as long it was not inside him, the crystal wasn''t able to affect him.


    "ording to my knowledge this is known as Star Heart and it should be the only one in this entire cave. My power will alwayse first so I do not have a problem to trade it if you can fix the problem with my technique, but how can I trust you." Gwyn was vignt and his guard was up. His interaction with Zatiel has been short, but he has already learned that the other party could not be belittled.


    Zatiel doesn''t mind the vignce of Gwyn, in fact, it improved the impression he had of the Eye Holder since despite the fact he was showing Gwyn something he truly needed, he was able to maintain a cold head.


    "What you are training is the Eternal Vengeful Body, but by what I see, you do not have the part that describes how to create the "Hate Pirs" which are meant to provide the vitality needed for your body."


    Gwyn was once again shocked, as in the technique he had there was a mention to the "Hate Pirs" that Zatiel spoke, but unfortunately, the part that described its use and how to make them was missing.


    Zatiel doesn''t care for Gwyn''s surprise and continues.


    "What you are doing is using runes to supplement the vitality that you need, but doing that is treating the symptoms and not the disease and the longer you advance in your body transformation the worst the ws will be." Waiting for a moment and after seeing that the Eye Holder had time to understand what he just said, Zatiel continued.


    "The "Hate Pirs" are formed using the vitality of powerful life forms and ording to the technique, in the first level you should have made three pirs, in the second there must be a total of twenty-seven and in the third level, the number must reach eighty-one, and from the fourth to the sixth level, you will have to transform the pirs into you own personal "Nine Hells"."


    "The creator of this technique made it so he could imprison the people that he hated inside his body, making them suffer for all eternity just like the condemned souls suffer in hell. Give me the Star Heart and I will hand over the technique up to the fourth level, in which it is exined how you must create the first circle of hell." After he finishes speaking and seeing the expression on Gwyn''s face, Zatiel knew that the Star Heart was already his.


    To Gwyn the temptation of the technique was immense and the fact that it was designed to torture your enemies only made him want it more.


    So, just as Zatiel thought after a moment, the Eye Holder agrees to the exchange.


    Zatiel took an empty crystal from his ring and put the information of the technique inside it, before giving it to Gwyn and taking the Star Heart.


    Gwyn was excited and without wasting time he sent his consciousness inside the crystal.


    The more he read, the greater his excitement bes, but of course, he will not start training it immediately and will first make some experiment to be sure that there were no hidden tricks in it.


    After obtaining the technique, Gwyn was preparing to leave as being in the presence of Zatiel made him feel as if all his secrets were exposed and that was very ufortable.


    But before he goes away, he hears Zatiel speak and the words he says made him freeze.


    "Do you want me to tell you how to bring your parents back?" There was a kind smile on Zatiel''s face as he spoke.


    When Gwyn heard those words, a glint of hope formed in his heart, as he had already realized that the person in front him was not normal and his knowledge was incredibly vast but after a moment, pain and sorrow filled his face.


    "Ahhh, their souls were shattered using the Laws, it is impossible to resurrect them," The sadness that Gwyn''s voice carried was immense and it was obvious that the wound that the loss created was not something it could ever heal.


    "As long they were not erased from existence by a Being of Laws, I have two ways of resurrecting them. So I ask you again, do you want me to tell them to you?" The kind smile on Zatiel''s face was still present.


    Gwyn''s entire body starts to tremble when he hears Zatiel voice, and although he understood the meaning of that smile, there wasn''t a price he wasn''t willing to pay to see their faces again, so he immediately nodded.


    The resolution of Gwyn''s faces made Zatiel smile even wider as he started to speak.


    "The first option is by using the power of a Being of Laws, to break the rules of the universe and reform their souls. By doing this, they will have to withstand the anger of the Universe Will and the damage to their soul will force them to enter deep sleep during a couple of thousand years minimum."


    "Although to a Being of Laws, the passage of time has already lost their meaning since they can live forever, to make them act is incredibly difficult as the things they need is almost impossible for those weaker to obtain."


    As someone who has already reached that level once, Zatiel knows that what most powerhouses of the great organizations in the Magi World find valuable, are nothing more than trash in the eyes of a Being of Laws.


    Although Gwyn''s vision wasn''t as big as Zatiel, he also understood that hoping to obtain the help of a Being of Laws was almost impossible but there was a spark in his eyes as he heard the information.


    ''If I can''t hope to obtain their help, then I will reach that level myself!'' Monstrous resolve was seen in Gwyn''s eyes as he found his goal.


    Seeing the resolution on Gwyn''s face, Zatiel nodded and after giving the man a moment, he continued.


    "The second option is to obtain the help of someone that has reached a domain over thews of life and death so high, that they transcended to something more profound. But what option is easier, I could not say for sure."


    When the second option was presented, there was a thoughtful expression on Gwyn''s face but after a moment he shook his head. He knows that thews that his True Name will help him to understand were not going in that direction.


    After a moment and having processed the information he received, Gwyn looked back at Zatiel and this time there was gratitude in his eyes.


    "Thank you very much for your help, I understand the price of the knowledge I have received." As soon as he finished speaking, Gwyn left for the surface and now his eyes were glowing with determination and hope.


    As Zatiel saw the genius from the Magi World leave, some expectancy was on his face.


    ''Let''s see if you either be a shining star in the sky or are erased by the sand of time.''


    "We will also go to the surface, the expedition is over."

 Chapter 95: Choice

    As the four were flying to the surface, Kira''s mind was a mess.


    Although she could be considered young, as Rank 2 Magi can live up to eight hundred years, she has experienced a lot and the wisdom thates with the Magi path was apanying her, but during these short couple of months, she has questioned a lot of things.


    She met a man that despite being at Rank 1, can fight and kill those veterans Rank 2 life form, could speak on equal ground with even those millennial old Rank 3 existences and whose knowledge was so vast that may even surpass those at the Soul Forging Rank.


    That despite being so amazingly young, has reached a high realm of mastery of one of the hardest profession on the world and that has under hismand two other individuals that could be considered supreme geniuses, equal to those core members of the empire.


    And if that was considered little, he could make another genius pass from hostility to gratitude and finally docility with just a few words.


    But what was the most shocking part to her was when he released his killing intent, at that moment Kira waspletely terrified and for a moment she even felt the need to prostrate herself as if a monstrous creature was patting her.


    Although it onlysted for less then a second and she was able to ovee the physiological effect from the fear, she was sure that the image of that monstrous palm would remain with her forever.


    If she had to summarize the man in a sentence, that will be, "a paragon that shines over those who follow him and a monstrosity that devour anything on his path".


    As Kira''s mind was floating in that sea of thoughts, a voice wakes her up.


    "There is something that we should discuss before we arrive at the surface."


    Kira immediately looks at the origin of the voice and saw Zatiel staring back at her with a calm smile, but even though the Magus did not feel any ill intention, the mind has a way of taking you to the worst ce possible sometimes and the moment the image of Mira being devoured alive appear on her mind, she felt terrified.


    "I promise that I will never reveal your secret or abilities!" Kira''s voice was incredibly fast and there was a hidden urgency on her face.


    The answer of Zatiel to the Magus perturbed expression and rash words was augh.


    "HAHAHAHA, rx I was not going to speak about that and besides even if you don''t say anything, the Eye Lord that escaped will, but I am not concern about that."


    Theugh diminishes the tension present and Kira sigh as she saw this, thinking that Zatiel wasn''t someone so cold as to kill her just because she saw him act.


    But what the Magus did not understand was that had she witnessed something that could pose a threat to the Neo-Demon race, Zatiel would have killed her without a word, making sure she could not escape.


    Regarding the information that James will reveal, he knows that the disy of power he showed during this expedition will raise the interest of several individuals, but he did not lie when he said that he wasn''t bothered about it, as he was sure he could handle those who would be interested in his secrets.


    As for those at the Soul Forging Rank and above, as someone that has already reach that power, he understood that his abilities would not awake greed on them, and even if it happens he would just seclude himself until he was powerful enough and then he would kill everyone who has force him to hide.


    "What I wanted to talk with you was about your reward for helping us."


    Kira made honor to her title as a Magi, because as soon as the topic of reward was brought up, her eyes started to sparkle.


    Although she was sure that the resources on the spatial ring from those dead Eye Lord were great, she did not think she could obtain anything since, being objective, the help she provided did not make a true difference in the battle against the members of Dynasty.


    Actually, she was still fascinated by the giant that could withstand a Rank 3 spell point-nk and not end up with life-threatening injuries and the woman whose spells had such a dangerous liquid and were shot at such speed that she could barely see them.


    And taking into consideration, that she was also the target of their vengeance, by killing them, she was helping herself. So by the way she saw Zatiel handling things, she thought that she would not obtain anything.


    "Even though the three of us could have handled the situation on our own, your help made everything much easier and prevent any truly dangerous situation to appear, so I will give you a choice, the first option is the two spatial rings from those Eye Lords," When Zatiel finished speaking, he made two rings appear on his palm and shows them to the Magus.


    The temptation of those spatial rings was amazing for Kira, as she was sure than in them there were resources that could help her make a smooth advancement to Rank 3.


    Most individuals generally maintain their most precious possession with them and since the other party was at the Master level of Rank 2, just like her, they must have treasures that could help advance to the next Rank.


    Of course, since they follow different paths, most of them would not be of much help to the Kira, but she could always trade and obtain what she needed.


    Then she could advance to the next Rank and bee one step closer to awakening her True Soul, bing a Soul Forging existence and be considered someone with true power in the world.


    But despite the great desire she felt, she was able to maintain a cold head and signals Zatiel so he could continue.


    "The second choice is a favor from me, but although there is no time limit to use it, I will only do it if I am one hundred percent confident in my capacities and I will also not act if the repercussions are too much."


    Between wealth that could help you advance to the next Rank and a favor full of condition, most people will choose the wealth, since in the Magi World, power rules absolute and there is no more reliable power than your own.


    And this would have been Kira''s choice as well, even if the one making the proposition was the mighty Rank 3 Magus outside the cave, but when the offer came from Zatiel''s mouth, her decision was instant.


    "I chose the favor!" There was decisiveness and excitement on Kira''s voice as she spoke.


    "Smart"


    "Good choice"


    The ones who spoke where Ezequiel and Sophia, and there was a smile on their faces as they nodded to the woman.


    The duo knows that no amount of wealth could everpete with a favor from Zatiel, especially if he does not ce a time limit on it.


    As for the part he stipted that he must be sure of being able to do it without repercussion, to a Being of Laws, make someone live a million years past their natural life span was effortless and as long he doesn''t die on his path to power, Zatiel would surely reach that level.


    "A favor it is then," Zatiel nodded and throw the matter to the back of his mind.

 Chapter 96: Arrival of Rank 4

    It didn''t take long for the team of four to reach the surface and the moment they did, they be the center of attention of everyone.


    The Rank 3 Magus Grigori and the Eye King Meinz had their full attention on the man that was at the head of the group.


    The meaning behind their stares was different but the reason was the same.


    When James'' sorry figure exited the cave with a face full of terror and flying with all his strength to the tform of Dynasty, both Rank 3 individual knew that something important has urred, and although Grigori could not interrogate the Eye Lord, the absence of his partner gave him some clues.


    And since apart from Kira, the only other Rank 2 Magus in the cave at the moment was Nimir, he had an idea of what happened.


    But when the eyes of the duo reached the crystal on Zatiel''s hand, they were shocked and immediately an immense greed appear on their faces.


    The Fallen Star mineral that the members of the empire and dynasty had collected during these months was meant to construct Void Gates that could help you reach any world or ne on the void and from where groups of powerful individuals could use their abilities to ovee their defenses and invade it.


    But with the Star Heart that Zatiel hand on his hand, you could build World Gates that could transport you directly into a different world, bypassing the world defenses and making any invasion much easier.


    Although to Soul Forging existence there is not much difference in terms of transportation, if a Rank 3 individual had the Star Heart, he could begin invading Low Worlds secretly and amass great fortunes.


    The desire in the eyes of Grigori and Meinz was immense, but in the end, they could only give up.


    Meinz has signed a blood contract that stops him from attacking any member form the empire, and Grigori''s thinks that the Star Heart was not the property of Zatiel, but from the powerhouse behind him and in the Magus mind there is no point in having wealth if you are dead.


    Zatiel did not react to the stares of the duo and continue flying to the tform, it wasn''t that he don''t notice them but he just not care.


    Even if your opponents are incredibly powerful, if they don''t dare to act then why bother with them?.


    It only took a moment for the four of them to reach the tform, and when they did, Zatiel immediately deposits the Star Heart in it before going to a corner apanied by Ezequiel and Sophia.


    As for Kira, she went with those Rank 1 Magus that were under the same powerhouse as her.


    The Magus wasn''t delusional enough to think that she had formed some sort of connection with Zatiel but she was not sad for their departure and there was a smile on her face, after all, secure the help of someone that would surely reach Rank 4 was something exciting and could possibly save her life in the future.


    "We will not enter again in the cave since the fallen star that remains is pitiful, so let focus on recovering and we will wait for the Soul Forging that wille for the tform."


    Seeing that there was no objection from the duo, Zatiel made a dome of ck mes cover them.


    As they waited, both Zatiel and Ezequiel were devouring a great amount of meat from some magical creatures and focusing on regenerating their bodies.


    Thanks to the help of the golden mes, Zatiel was able to regenerate his arm and heal Ezequiel wounds in less than a day.


    And after resting, he started to fix the Runic Sets that were damaged as the part on their bodies where they were inscribed was lost.


    The trio continue resting and enhancing their pool of energy as they waited and on the thirteen-day was when the members of the empire feel it.


    ''He has arrived,'' Zatiel made the mes disappear and looks at the distance, to the direction that all the rest where looking.


    He did note from the direction of the exit of the Endless Forest but from its core. It seems that the individual that the Empire sent had arrived a long time ago but has been staying on the deepest parts of the forest.


    This action already tells a lot of his power, since entering the core of the forest without the power of a Soul Forging was suicide, and even if you reached Rank 4 it was still a dangerous ce.


    He was flying at an impressive speed and did not take long for the rest to be able to see his appearance.


    The man was extremely old, to the point that he had a decrepit appearance and was wearing a brown robe.


    His face was dull, there was grey hair on his head, and his nose and ears were big.


    Although looking old would not be a clear depiction of the time you have left to live, since there were a lot of people that are fond of an older appearance, the death aura that surrounded the man was a clear indication that he was in thest years of his life.


    But when the members of the empire saw this, no one thought that the man could be belittled and there was actually apprehension on their faces.


    Someone that has reached Soul Forging could normally live up to ten thousand years, and the moment their life stars to vanish, they usually adopt bizarre personalities and they are unpredictable since there is little that can make them feel fear.


    Although they hide it immediately, their expressions were perceived by the old man and as he saw their fear a smile appear on his face, but instead of making him seem more approachable, there was a vicious and cruel feeling on it.


    The man''s eyes seem to not focus on anyone, but there was a person that was able to perceive that danger was approaching him.


    As a Neo-Demon, Zatiel''s instincts were extremely keen, so he was able to feel the evil intentions of the man, which make his eyes narrowed.


    ''They can make someone at Rank 4 act, it seems that I didn''t underestimate them,'' Zatiel eyes were cold as he turns to Nimir who was looking back at him with a smile.


    From the moment he was attacked by Feiner, he knew there was someone truly powerful was targeting him.


    The action of the werewolf could be motivated by different goals, and it may have been possible that he just wished to possess Sophia, but the fact that Nimir contradicted Heinz''s orders indicated that things were not so simple.


    Although Heinz was friendly when he interacted with Zatiel, anyone that has reached such a mastery over the Law of Killing was not a forgiving person, so for an insignificant Rank 2 Magus to disobey him, it means that he had someone to rely on.


    ''At first, they must have wanted to just humiliate me and affect my state of mind, but now that they realized what I am capable of, it seems that they are going for the killing.'' Zatiel ignored Nimir''s smile and looks at the old man who was approaching.


    Despite having to contend against an individual at Rank 4, a Soul Forging existence, someone so powerful that could kill a Rank 2 life form without having to move a finger, on Zatiel eyes there was calm, but behind that, there was a coldness and savagery that could only be born from one of the most chaotic and evil races on the universe.

 Chapter 97: The highest truth of the universe

    As the old man got closer, the members of the empire started to feel ufortable, the closer he gets the heavier the feeling was and they saw how the air around him was tainted by a brown glow.


    The difort that they were feeling was not a psychological response to the nefarious and intimidating aura of the man, but a physiological one generated by their bodies due to the immensely high amount of energy to which they were being exposed.


    It started as amon irritation on their skin, but it grew to the point that those at Rank 1 started to feel suffocated as if the air was too heavy and the little amount of oxygen they were able to inhale, made them feel like if dust was invading their lungs.


    Even those Rank 2 Magus and the three Neo-Demons, were forced to activate their magical defenses.


    The cause was simple, the old man wasn''t containing his maic force field and all the power in his body was being released to the outside.


    The immense amount of energy on the old man''s body is enough to change the environment, and seeing the effect on those Rank 1 Magus, one could imagine the effect that he would generate in a highly popted city full of Rank 0 individual.


    This was the terror of Soul Forging existence, they do not have to do anything and their mere presence could kill tens of thousands.


    Of course, the old man would not dare to do this in a city under the control of a powerful organization, like the empire or dynasty, unless he wants to have his soul extracted and tortured until its dissipates.


    Seeing the pain and struggle on the faces of those Rank 1 Magus, made the old man smile grow bigger and sinister.


    And when he saw how Zatiel was having an easier time oveing the energy of his bodypared to the Rank 2 Magus on the tform, his eyes sparkled.


    ''So this is the one, he was not lying when he said that there was an extremely young and talented man in here. Excellent!'' The smile on the old man continued to grow, and it reached the point it bes unnatural.


    Although Lun was able to reach Rank 4, it was only thanks to the fact he had a powerful background and obscene amount of resources were poured on him, otherwise reaching Rank 3 would have been the peak of his life.


    But even though he achieved Soul Forging, it was only thanks to a lucky encounter and even then, he was one of the weakest and if it wasn''t for the thousands of years of umtion, he could not speak on equal grounds with those in his same Rank.


    When he started to reach the end of his path, Lun began to feel life tasteless, physical cer was now insignificant to him, but there was one thing that brings him a wicked satisfaction even now and that was to use his power to crush geniuses and rising stars, make them feel despair and destroy their hopes.


    Unfortunately for him, most geniuses are smart enough to put themself under a powerful organization or obtain some sort of backer, so when he was contacted with the mission of killing a supreme genius, he happily epted.


    As for the statue of the powerhouse of the empire, he will only need to bring a decent excuse and was sure that the man will not offend him just for someone at Rank 1.


    Lun reached the sky over the tform and it was only when he saw those Rank 1 individual suffocating and fighting to breathe, that he retracted his maic force field.


    To him, those Rank 1 Magus were no different from ants, and killing them brings him no pleasure and the only thing he would obtain would be a debt to the ones they serve.


    When Grigori saw the old man floating in the sky, he silently cursed his bad luck for having him have to interact with such a crazy Soul Forging, of course, he didn''t dare to show those emotions and after adopting acent smile and polite posture, he flew to the man and bowed.


    "Grigori Feirr, humbly greet the mighty Soul Forging existence, can I know the Lord''s name?," Grigori speech and performance was imcable, leaving no excuse to move against him.


    As someone how as live thousands of years, Lun was able to notice Grigori acting immediately, but even though it annoys him, killing a Rank 3 individual without cause, was a great crime on the empire, so he only sneered and proceed to speak.


    "I am Lun, The Spirit of One Hundred Mountains, hand over the core of the tform and the record with the deposits made and important events, happening during this expedition," Lun words were harsh and severe, treating Grigori no different than a servant.


    But Grigori smile did not diminish, and he politely handed over the core of the tform and a crystal to Lun, before bowing and flying back to the tform.


    Lun did not waste time and immediately send his consciousness into the core to gain control over the tform and into the crystal to obtain the information about the important events that happened during the expedition.


    As he examines the information on the crystal he obtained a new understanding of Zatiel monstrous talent and the smile on his face filled with so much excitement that he was almost trembling.


    The more especial Zatiel was, the greater the cer he would feel by shattering his will and killing him. And as he read more, he paused when the Star Heart was mentioned.


    ''A perfect excuse, excellent!'' Lun''s wicked smile grew as he turns to look at Zatiel and he released a horrendous pressure against him.


    Zatiel saw the smile of the old man and in the next second a forceshed out on him, forcing him to kneel and he felt how his bones started to fracture.


    The actions of Lun shocked everyone, as he attacked Zatiel without a word and it was apparent that there was no prior connection between them.


    The response of the members of the empire was varied, but among those at Rank 1, there were smiles. Every single one of them was so inferior to Zatiel that they could never challenge him, but now seeing this genius was being humiliated by someone at Rank 4 gave them satisfaction.


    Those at Rank 2 were better at hiding their emotions, and Kira was the only one that was showing something.


    But on the woman''s eyes, there was no such thing as sadness or anger, it was resignation and a little regret, possible to the fact that she now thought she should have taken the rings.


    A stark contrast was the emotion on the two Neo-Demons beside Zatiel, there was coldness and killing intent as they saw Lun''s action, and they would have attacked even if that meant their deaths, had not Zatiel informed before that this could happen.


    Of course, this was only an emotional response as they understand that they could escape at any moment, but even so, the coldness and fighting will in their eyes did not decreased as both Sophia and Ezequiel remained by Zatiel side.


    Zatiel was able to feel the emotion on the duo hearts and warmth fills his and using all the power of his body he stands up and looks back at Lun, with calm and indifferent eyes.


    ''Yes!, resist and fight against it, it will only make destroying you more pleasurable.''


    Zatiel resistance made Lun''s smile grow to the point that all his teeth were visible.


    "Zatiel Daybreak, you obtained a Star Heart during your time inside the cave, due to the immense value of the object I will search your mind to make sure you are not hiding another piece," There was expectancy on Lun eyes as he waited to Zatiel''s despair


    Although Lun says he will just read his mind, what the old man will do is sent his consciousness into Zatiel soul and forcefully extract his memories, something him to horrendous torture and destroying the soul in the process.


    But Lun''s wishes were not granted, as Zatiel was looking at him withplete calmness even though the pressure the Soul Forging was releasing was making him bleed from every orifice on his head.


    "There can only be one Star Heart in any astral body since they are the core of this one. You are just using the power obtained by your age to bully me," There was no indignance in Zatiel''s words, it was like if he was exining something irrelevant to him.


    Seeing Zatiel calmness started to make Lun feel anger.


    "Yes I am bullying you, I am using my age to ovee you, you may be talented but you are weak so I can do whatever I want with you, this is the unfairness of the universe."


    With these words, Lun hoped to at least affect Zatiel but the answer he got was nowhere near close to what he hoped.


    "HAHAHA, you are right, fairness does not exits, just as you are using the power obtained by living thousands of years to bully me, I am using my talent and knowledge to dominate those garbage," Zatiel calmness broke as he spoke and pointed to those Rank 1 Magus that were looking at him.


    "The universe is unfair, there is no such thing as good and evil. If you are an embodiment of death and destruction killing trillions of lives, so what, you are right and they are wrong because you are the strongest!"


    When they hear those words, everyone was shocked, and even Lun was not an exception.


    What Zatiel just spoke was the highest truth of the universe.


    Power Reigns Above All.


    What Lun felt when he obtained this new knowledge wasn''t gratitude but hate.


    "How dares an insignificant ant like you try to teach me something, I will consume your soul and use my Law to shatter it," Lun''s face was filled with anger, and the power he released was increasing.


    But even in the presence of that, Zatiel don''t feel threaten and the smile was still on his face.


    "You don''t let me finish, I have another advantage and that is my brother!"


    The moment Zatiel words ended, Lun feels as if an ocean of blood assaulted him and paralyze his body, and before he could do anything a ck sword pierced him from the back, allowing him to see how the sword tip appear from his chest.

 Chapter 98: Law Avatar: Release

    When the sword pierced Lun''s body, it started to release a type of energy so deadly that terrified the old man as he was sure his soul will be destroyed by this power.


    But as someone that has fought for thousands of years, he was able to ovee that paralyzing fear in an instant.


    "AHHHH!" Apanied by that shout, Lun''s body exploded transforming itself into specks of dust, and if like it was conscious it fly away with impressive speed, separating itself three thousand meters from the swordman in less than a second.


    Once it reached a safe distance, the dust particles bonded together, and in the next moment, Lun''s body was reconstructed.


    Hisplexion was pale and his breathing rough, and if you look carefully you could see that there was a gaping hole in his chest. It seems that even after his body was disintegrated and rebuilt, the power that created that wound did not disappear.


    Lun''s face contorted by the pain and hate he was feeling, and without wasting time he put both palms on the hole in his chest and channels his energy to purge the power that stops him from healing.


    As he does that, he looks at the person responsible for the attack that almost cost him his life.


    The swordman was a young man with short golden hair and blue eyes, his face was extremely handsome and his entire being radiated great will and pride. He was wearing a red martial attire and there was a ck sword on his hand that shined with all sorts of inscriptions.


    Although the energy on his body stated that he was a Soul Forging existence just like Lun, the old man makes others feel as if they are watching dying moon but this young man was like a mighty sun that was only beginning his glorious path.


    The swordman was obviously Heinz and there was a killing intent around him so thick, that it took the form of a mantle, covering his body.


    The cultivator''s eyes were cold as he stares at Lun, but when he turns to look at Zatiel, a friendly smile appear o his face.


    Heinz''s sword vibrated and absorbed a great part of the killing mantle turning it into a sword light and sending it to Zatiel direction with an impressive speed.


    This sword light had enough power to disintegrate everyone in the tform without exceptions, but when Zatiel saw it, a smile also appeared on his face.


    When the sword light was three meters away from Zatiel, it stopped and it transformed into a dome, that shielded the three Neo-Demons inside it.


    When the rest saw this, after a moment surprise, rity fills their mind. The reason why the young Soul Forging swordman appeared and attacked Lun with such murdering intent was because of Zatiel.


    Of course, Lun was also able to figure this out, but now that the dome made from killing intent was protecting Zatiel there was nothing he could do, after all, even if he could focus only in attacking the dome, he will need at least ten seconds to break it.


    And if he were to remain ten seconds focusing his entire energy in attacking the dome, Heiz will be able to kill him easily, long before he even touches Zatiel.


    Lun''s eyes turn back to Heinz and seeing such an immense genius, full of life and power made an uncontroble envy appear along with his hate.


    "Heinz, how dare you attempt to kill me, a Soul Forging member of the Aeternum Empire," Lun''s face was filled with indignation when he remembers how close he was to dying.


    Heinz turned back to look at the old man, and he did not try to hide the coldness and killing intent in his eyes.


    A thoughtful expression appear on Heinz''s face and after a second he shook his head and sighed, and the moment he did that the energy on his body started to rise, reaching such socking levels that the ground started to trembled and brake apart.


    "Anyone who touches my friends deserve to die!" There was a chilling coldness on Heinz''s voice as he spoke.


    Lun''s eyes narrowed when he heard those words and nced at Zatiel before looking back at Heinz. By what he could see, it seems that the rtionship between Heinz and Zatiel wasn''t something so simple as master and subordinate.


    But in Lun''s mind, even if he killed Zatiel, Heinz had no right to attack him that way and the cultivator could only force him to paypensation, after all, he was a Soul Forging existence and his life was thousand times more precious than any Rank 1 individual.


    "Hmph, you dare to harm me just because of that, I will make sure the High Council hears about this and your punishment will not be small," When Lun say those words, courage appear on his face as if he funded something to rely on.


    But even if the High Council of the Aeternum Empire is something that can inspire fear and obedience in the heart of many Rank 4 existences, the person in front of him wasn''t one of them.


    So when Heinz hears those words, the killing intent and coldness in his eyes only grew.


    "There is where you are wrong, I did not just try to kill you."


    Heinz''s figure shed and appeared less than two hundred meters from Lun, and his eyes were burning with the desire to kill the person in front of him.


    "I will kill you!"


    When Lun saw this he was startled, not only did Heinz did not try to ease the situation, but he could see in his eyes that the swordsman was set on continuing the fight, so he immediately active his energy and dozens of giant shields made of earth appear around him.


    To people of their level, a distance of two hundred meters was insignificant, but instead of making his sword crash against Lun''s shield, what Heinz attacked was space itself.


    Like a window, space started to crack and in the next second, it shattered, creating a suction force that swallowed both Soul Forging individuals before healing itself immediately after.


    The people on the ground did not have to wonder what happened with the duo, as after a moment both Heinz and Lun appeared fifty thousand kilometers in the sky above the tform.


    Although even with his amazing eyes, Zatiel was only able to see two dots in the sky, thanks to the immense power that both Soul Forging existences were releasing, his consciousness was able to give him a clear picture of what was happening even if it was not able to reach them.


    When Lun saw the ce that Heinz transported them, his face filled with surprise wich in the next second transformed into pure wrath.


    He knows that there is only one reason why the swordman will bring him here to have their fight.


    "You really think that you, who is not even two hundred years old, can kill me!" Lun knew he could not escape, and facing such immense danger, his eyes filled with anger and hate as the energy on his body erupted.


    Heinz was indifferent to Lun''s wrath, and from every fiber of his being an immense fighting spirit was released.


    Both men proceeded to activate the power that makes Soul Forging existences virtually undefeatable, against those in an inferior Rank.


    "Law Avatar: Release!"


    "Law Avatar: Release!"


    The moment those words came out from their mouths, the energies of the world around them started to change, and even though those of the empire and dynasty were at such an immense distance from the duo, they were able to feel it like if they were right next to them.


    Behind Lun, earth particles started to gather at an impressive speed forming a boulder that grown to the point that reached the size of a mountain three hundred meters in diameter.


    The mountain was not formed by the mere use of the energy on Lun''s body, but just like thews create everything that exists in the universe, he used his control over the Law of Earth to create this mountain.


    This mountain was already beyond impressive, its hardness was greater than mortals diamonds and if it crashed against the surface of the it could kill everything weaker than Rank 3 in a radius of ten thousand meters.


    One of these mountains was already a killing machine, but behind Lun there was not only one, but one hundred of them!.


    Behind Heinz back, thews were also forging his avatar, but unlike Lun''s mountains that only had the Law of Earth constructing them, he had threews operating under hismand.


    The avatar that was forming behind Heinz was a sword of apocalyptic proportions.


    The first to act was the Law of Swords that materialized itself forming by his own the handle of the weapon and when the de was starting to appear was when the secondw acted.


    Thisw was the Law of Blood, and interacting with the Law of Sword, the formed the bloody de of the sword.


    These twows created a sword twenty thousand meters long, three thousand meters wide wich radiated such an immense power that the oxygen was burning for hundreds of kilometers around it.


    But despite his grandeur, something seems to be missing in this weapon and it was only now, that his physical aspect was created, that the thirdw that Heinz controlled acted.


    The Law of Killing materialized as a small red dot and although its appearance was simple, the power it released was greater than the other twows working together.


    The dot fused itself into the sword and the moment it did, the power of the avatar increased exponentially, to the point it gives the sensation that it could pierce a Low World if it had the chance.


    Now the sword was not merely a weapon, but a living creature with a spirit formed by thews and whose purpose for existence was to kill everything on his path.


    The price a Rank 4 individual has to pay to released their Law Avatar is huge, so the only reason they do it is either save their lives or when they have decided to kill their enemies no matter what.

 Chapter 99: One with the Law

    Although it took a long time to describe the forging of both Law Avatars, the truth is that they were constructed almost instantly.


    The mere presence of those one hundred mountains and giant sword radiated enough power to kill any life form under Rank 2 that were to be less than one hundred kilometers from any of them.


    The moment his Law Avatar finish his forging, Heinz immediately shed with the sword on his hand at Lun''s direction.


    As if it was a mirror from the weapon on his hand, the Law Avatar imitated the attack and despite his immense size, the speed of its movement was equal to the one-handed sword that Heinz was brandishing.


    The power that a sword twenty thousand meters long made by the Laws of Blood, Sword, and Killing could reach when it moved at supersonic speed could only be described as apocalyptic.


    Blood red hurricanes could be seen forming around the sword de as it shed at Lun''s body.


    Lun could feel the space around him solidified itself, greatly hindering is speed and stoping any sort of evasion, but despite the immense threat he feels from the sword, he did not lose calm as he analyzed the situation.


    He clenched his right hand, and when it did ny of those one hundred mountain fused together generating a giant fist made from earth that struck the sword.


    When the killing sword and mountains fist crashed against each other, a thunderous explosion was heard as if the sky itself was breaking, and a red and brown tornado was formed carrying so much power that the gales it generated were able to travel all fifty thousand kilometers and reach the members of the empire and dynasty.


    Although they only felt a harmless wind hitting their bodies, if any of them were to be within a five hundred kilometers radius from the epicenter of the explosion, then even if they are at Rank 3, their bodies will be disintegrated.


    The winner of the sh was evident as the entire fist was destroyed and although it fulfilled his purpose and stopped the momentum from the sword, some of the power that Heinz''s avatar released reached Lun''s body making his right-hand explode.


    But even though he was the absolute winner of this encounter, he did not have time to celebrate as the other ten mountains that hadn''t fused in the fist wereunched against him.


    The mountains were rotation at an impressive speed, giving the illusion that they were star sized drills meant to pierces.


    Even though every single one of those mountains carries deadly power, Heinz only sneered and proceed to swing the sword on his hand.


    The moment he did, the Law Avatar that was beside the debris of the mountain fist disappeared, only to appear immediately above those drills.


    Just like before, the avatar mimics the movements of Heinz''s sword and destroyed all ten drills in one single swift attack.


    Lun could not believe what he was seeing, he had just risked his life for the opportunity that those drills could have brought him, had they harmed Heinz. But the cultivator destroyed them as if they were nothing.


    And he understood that what Heinz did was not move his Law Avatar at an extremely fast speed, but teleported the sword from one ce to another instantly and there is only one way he could have done that.


    "You have already started toprehend the Law of Space, impossible!" Lun lost control over his emotions for a moment due to the monstrous envy he was feeling.


    The Law of Space was an extremelyplexw, and it was usually at Rank 6 that individuals were able to start toprehend it and obtain control over it.


    Being able toprehend the Law of Space at Rank 5 was already a disy of amazing talent, but being able to do it at Rank 4 gives you the right to be considered a genius even in the eyes of a Being of Laws.


    "As long I remain true to my Dao Heart, now can escape my grasp!" An immense pride could be seen burning in Heinz''s eyes as he says those words.


    Although hisprehension over the Law of Space was only on a beginning stage and it was not fit to be part of his Law Avatar, Heinz was able to use it to increase the speed and maneuverability of the avatar, increasing his offensive power immensely.


    ''Why!, why he is so talented and I am not, why can he create a Law Avatar with threews while I only can use one, why can heprehend the Law of Space and have such a brilliant future while I will die of old age. WHY!'' The envy and hate were burning on Lun''s heart and it only increased the more he saw Heinz''s glorious figure, making insanity appear on his eyes.


    The energy on Lun''s body exploded and he even started to burn what little life force he has to increase his power and immediately one hundred new mountains were formed around him.


    Heinz was indifferent to the changes in Lun''s condition and without hesitation, he made the Law Avatar appear above him and fall.


    The sword reached a supersonic speed as it crashed against Lun and it seems that intended to bury itself in him.


    Even though the hate Lun was feeling was immense, he was able to maintain a cold mind, so when he saw the sword above him, he immediately made all the mountains fuse into a single entity and sh with Heinz''s avatar.


    Another explosion and tornado appeared due to the sh of both Law Avatars and this time the power it generated was even greater, covering thousands of kilometers.


    Unfortunately for Lun, even after going to the extremes of burning his life-force, he was still the losing part in his sh against Heinz''s Law Avatar.


    When Lun saw this, instead of feeling desperation, what appeared on his eyes was madness and without hesitation, he continues burning his life-force and attacking.


    Heinz''s eyes narrowed when he saw this, and immediately he swung his sword, making his avatar continue the assault. But even though the power of the attack remained the same, hisplexion started to deteriorate and exhaustion appeared on his face.


    To maintain the Law Avatar an especial form of power must be supplied and the stronger the avatar was the more power it needed.


    Heinz''s avatar was incredibly powerful and this was shown by the fact that Lun needed to burn his life force and prematurely end his life only to resist his attacks.


    But it was that amazing power that makes him only be able to maintain it for a very little amount of time.


    Lun''s condition was awful, there were thousands of small cuts all over his body and he had already lost both of his legs, but the madness in his eyes was only growing as he continues attacking.


    Heinz did not stop at any moment, and he continued his onught, sending one sword attack after another with supersonic speeds.


    Even though Heinz knew that the victory was already his, killing Lun will be difficult as he was certain that the moment hepletely destroys his body, the old man will try to escape with his True Soul.


    And by that time, he was sure that he will not be able to maintain his Law Avatar, and without it killing him will be impossible.


    Of course, even if Lun escapes, he will be able to live another two years maximum, and although he could do nothing to Heinz, the cultivator knew that the target of the old man''s insane revenge will not be him but the people he cares about.


    Weirdly, Heinz did not feel worried about Zatiel, it was not that the cultivator did not consider him a true brother, it is just that something tells him that even if Lun were to try to kill him, he will be safe. But there are other people on his life that are not that capable so when he thought of them, his eyes filled with determination.


    Lun was to busy focusing all of his power and concentration on the giant sword that threatened to kill him, so he did not realize the change on Heinz, and as he was preparing to continue facing the assault, the sword stopped and vanished only to appear behind Heinz.


    The old man did not understand what was happening, even though he knew that Heinz could not maintain his Law Avatar much longer, he was sure that he still had the power to continue, and Lun was ready to lose his body before trying to escape.


    Heinz did not care for the old man doubts, and he proceeded to make a big inhtion and then exhale before closing his eyes. All the power and energy his body unconsciously releases started to contract itself inside him and it reached the point that he gives an aura no different than a mortal man.


    But all this did not calm Lun at all, and as the madness on his eyes started to vanish, fear appeared, and this terror only intensified when he saw what happened with Heinz''s avatar.


    The mighty sword made form the Laws of Killing, Sword, and Blood that could destroy entire cities and erase the life of millions with a single attack started to melt.


    The speed at which it did was impressive and in less than a second, the only thing behind Heiz was a boiling blood river with a silver glow of gargantuan proportions.


    It was only now that the avatar meltedpletely that Heinz opens his eyes, and the moment he did, he released a battle intent so powerful that even at a distance of fifty thousand kilometers, the members of dynasty and empire feel their blood froze.


    "Law Avatar: One with the Law!"

 Chapter 100: Brothers

    "Law Avatar: One with the Law!"


    The moment those words came out from Heinz''s mouth, the Law Avatar that was now a boiling blood river threw itself into his body and started to fuse with him.


    The moment the fusion began, Heinz started to irradiate so much power and energy that a pir of red light was released from his body with such much potency and majesty that all those that saw it feel that it was going to break the sky, leave the and reach the void.


    The pir of light continues growing in size and power as more and more of the blood river fuses with Heinz''s body.


    The power that Heinz started to produce, reached a level beyond what a Rank 4 life form should be able to generate and if he were to be inside a Low or Middle World, he will be ejected by the World Consciousness due to the threat he represented to the life inside them.


    When the river of blood finished his fusion with Heinz''s body the pir of light disappeared, and the power that Heinz generated now was almost ten times higher than the one he had when he originally released his Law Avatar.


    There was a drastic change in Heinz''s appearance once the fusion was over. His hair had a silver color and his eyes werepletely red with the exception of his pupils, that were now golden.


    His body reached fifteen meters in high and there was a ck armor covering it. The armor gives the illusion of being part of his skin, there were all sorts of inscriptions in it and it had a red-fiery glow on is connections as if mes were trying to escape from inside him.


    Although he could be considered minuscule whenpared with the twenty thousand meter sword form that his Law Avatar took originally, the might he generated now was countless times stronger.


    Unintentionally, from inside him a killing aura was released and it extended for thousands of kilometers, and just like the elements create natural disasters, this aura started to build something.


    Right behind Heinz, the killing aura generated a giant skull that seemed to be the personification of the Law of Killing.


    Although this was just a natural phenomenon due to the power andws now contained inside Heinz, when Lun saw that horrible skull, his entire body starts to shake and absolute terror reaches his heart.


    The terror that Lun was feeling was so much, that although every fiber of his being was telling him to escape, he could not do it due to his entire body being paralyzed by the petrifying fear that squeezed his heart and soul.


    Once the transformation was over, Heinz took a moment to appreciate the power that was running through every cell of his body and only when he understood how strong he was, did he turn to look at Lun.


    The condition of the old man was beyond pathetic and the fear has already destroyed his will, but when Heinz saw this there was no happiness on his face but only absolute indifference.


    Heinz extended his palm and above it, a drop of blood was created, shinning with a beautiful crimson color, giving the illusion that it was a heavenly gem.


    The moment the drop of blood appeared, all the killing intent that Heinz generated, started topress and fuse inside it.


    As the killing intent disappeared inside the drop of blood, this one started to change and in the end, it took the form of a crystal sword de.


    Once the de was finished, Heinz grabbed it and raises it into the air.


    "One blood sword to kill all existence."


    After saying those words, he swung the sword de down, and from it, an immense beam of red sword-light was released carrying power of apocalyptic proportions against Lun.


    Seeing the attack that threatened to pulverize his entire being, Lun''s survival instincts acted, helping him ovee the fear that paralyzed his body.


    "AHHHHH!" Along with his shout, Lun channels every single drop of power he has left, inside his one hundred mountains and made them appear in front of him, to shield him from Heinz attack.


    The beam reached the mountains immediately, and despite being object created by the Laws of Earth and having a hardness way above diamonds, when the sword light touched them, they disintegrated without resistance.


    Lun could only see as the beam of sword-light crashed against him, instantly destroying his body at a molecr level, and when that happened a bluish figure appeared.


    This was his True Soul, and when it appeared, it tried to break space and escape but just like his body, it was disintegrated by the sword light and vanished.


    Even after destroying those one hundred mountains and Lun''s body and soul, the beam did not stop and it continues his traject for another five thousand kilometers before disappearing.


    If this attack were tond on the surface of a Low World, then although it would not have been able to destroy it, it would have made the uninhabitable.


    When Heinz saw Lun''s True Soul be destroyed, he teleported right where it happened, and proceeded to deliver a punch.


    When he did, space broke creating a window to a small dimension, and in it, there were all sorts of treasures.


    Heinz waved his hand and made all of them disappear before immediately deactivate his Law Avatar and teleport.


    He appeared inside the dome made from killing intent where the three Neo-Demons were. He was extremely pale and blood was leaking from his eyes, his breathing was irregr and was coughing blood.


    It seems that the repercussion from using a star destroying power was extremely heavy.


    The rest of the members of the empire saw this, but the power that Heinz disyed terrified them to the bone, and even if they dare to do something, the dome from killing intent was something they could not ovee.


    As Heinz focused all of his power into stabilizing his condition, he felt someone approaching.


    The one approaching was Zatiel, and there was a sincere smile on his face as he saw the lengths to which the cultivator went to defeat Lun.


    From his back, and a ring of dark mes was generated and it covered the entire dome, hiding the four people inside it from the rest of the members of the empire.


    Although this could offend some of them, Zatiel did not care.


    "Being able to fuse with a Law Avatarposed of threews before reaching Rank 5 is something truly amazing, but also extremely dangerous. Your body and soul are not strong enough to withstand that much power." There was a deep admiration on Zatiel eyes as he saw Heinz.


    To fuse with your Law Avatar you must have reached the "Initial" level ofprehension over thews that formed this one.


    And it was also this the level ofprehension needed to advance to Rank 5.


    Normally, Rank 4 existences will strengthen every aspect of themself to the limit and only stop due to the limitation of theirwprehension, being forced to improve their control over thews before increasing their power even more.


    But Heinz''s situation was the opposite, hiswprehension had reached the level needed to advance to the next Rank, but since his time on the Rank 4 has not been too long, his soul, energy, and body needed it more training and growth.


    Even though Cultivators have the help of their Dao Heart, Heinz''s speed of improvement was beyond impressive.


    Zatiel activated his Eye of Life and Creation and made his golden mes spread over Heinz''s entire body.


    Heinz noticed the healing properties of the mes but although he feels thankful for Zatiel action, he knew it was futile.


    As a Rank 4 life form, the help that healing spells of someone at Rank 1 could bring him was null, but just as he was about to tell Zatiel to stop, he felt his condition improving.


    To someone like him, a panacea that could bring a Rank 2 life form from the brink of death to his top condition, could at most heal some superficial wounds.


    But although the speed at which this golden mes acted was very slow, it was able to heal every wound on his body, even the ones rted to his vital organs.


    But his wonder did not stop here, and Heinz could hardly believe what he hears next.


    "Lower the defenses around your soul and leet my mes touch it."


    Someone at Rank 1 treating the wounds on the body of a Soul Forging existence was impressive but been able to heal a True Soul was incredible.


    But Heinz did not hesitate for a moment and followed Zatiel instructing, letting the golden mes reach his True Soul.


    When Zatiel saw the trust that Heinz showed, he could not help but shake his head and smile.


    ''Truly a lunatic.''


    The True Soul of someone was extremely especial and now that Heinz had lowered his defenses if Zatiel were to act with malice, he could generate irreversible damage.


    Seeing the way the cultivator was treating him, Zatiel focused before taking from his spatial ring, corpses of Rank 2 magical creatures and burn them with his golden me.


    Once the mes started to consume the corpses, he used his Eye of LIfe and Creation to ess all the life force inside the mes and send them to Heinz''s soul.


    The proceed continued for almost twenty hours and despite the fact that he used some corpses as an intermediary to reduce the mes he needed to supply, he was forced to stop, as his reserves werepletely depleted.


    But although they were very far frompletely healing his body and soul, Heinz was very happy.


    The truly severe damage caused to his body and soul was already treated, and as long he does not fuse himself with his Law Avatar again, the wounds that remained could not hinder him in any way.


    This was amazing news for Heinz, as originally he was ready to enter deep seclusion for some years to heal himself.


    Now blood had returned to his face and his eyes were full of vitality.


    "HAHAHAHA, I did not make a mistake choosing you as my brother!" Heinz''s smile was glorious and none of the aura of the killing god from before was present as he extended his fist to Zatiel.


    When Zatiel saw this, he sighed but a smile also appeared on him as he connected his fist with Heinz.


    "Yes, we are brothers."


    Before, the only people that Zatiel truly trusted was his race and that was easy because he could always knew their feelings, but the man in front of him was different, he could not control him or see what his heart hides, but despite all that, from this moment on he truly considered him a brother.

 Chapter 101: Returning

    Nimir''s eyes were full of anxiety and unwillingness as he could not believe what has just happened.


    Originally his mission was extremely simple, he only needed to ignore Heinz''s order of protecting Zatiel, and do nothing when he was attacked by Feiner.


    Although the repercussions for disobeying the order of a superior, especially a Soul Forging existence, would not be small, Nimir though that as he long he founded a good enough excuse, the punishment will not be too hard, after all, he was someone at the Master level of Rank 2 with a great chance of entering Rank 3, while the other party was only at Rank 1.


    But all the n crumble to the ground, the moment that Zatiel disyed his amazing power and talent, and he understood that the value of this seemly insignificant Rank 1 will be much greater than his own in Heinz''s eyes.


    Luckily, he did not lose calm as he was informed that someone will be sent to take care of Zatiel, and there will be no possibility of failure this time. And when that was done, he will no longer need to be under Heinz orders anymore.


    When Lun arrived disying the might of a Rank 4 life form, Nimir could almost not control the happiness he was felling for being under someone capable of making a Soul Forging existence, do his bidding.


    But just when the situation was reaching the climax and he was waiting to see Zatiel''s soul destroyed, Heinz appeared.


    Initially, Nimir had the hope that Heinz will only reach a settlement with Lun, but not even on his wildest fantasy could have he imagine that the cultivator was powerful enough to disintegrate Lun''s body and soul with a single attack.


    Although the cost of using a power capable of annihting the life on a was immense and Heinz was badly injured, Nimir knew that the cultivator was still capable of killing him without even moving a finger.


    When the dark mes appeared and stop him from seeing what was happening inside the dome, fear began to take control over his mind.


    Escaping was not really an option, since they were so deep into the Endless Forest, that if he were to try to run, he will surely end up eaten alive by some magic creature, and of course, there is no way that Grigori would dare to help him.


    As the hours passed, the fear in Nimir''s heart grew without control, and the moment the mes disappeared he immediately focused on the dome, but to his surprise the only ones present in it where Zatiel, Sophia and Ezequiel.


    But instead of rxing by the absence of Heinz, the fear on Nimir only grew and when he saw the smile that Zatiel was sending on his direction he knew that something horrible was going to happen.


    The next thing Nimir felt was a palm grabbing his shoulder, freezing his energy and even his consciousness.


    "Are you looking for me, little rat."


    Although he could not see him, Nimir recognized the voice and knew that the individual responsible for his current condition was Heinz.


    The only reason for doing this, was if they wanted to stop him from doing something drastic and the Magus understood that whatever was going to happen next, will make him want to die.


    But now that he was under Heinz''s control, even killing himself will be impossible and thest feeling on Nimir''s mind was absolute terror before he passes out.


    There wasn''t a member of the empire that did not understand how horrible the fate of those that offended Soul Forging existences could be, as they were powerful enough to literally extract someone''s soul and subdue it to the worst imaginable pain.


    The Magi World may give the illusion of awful ce, but the truth was that it was a cruel and dangerousnd, and no one would say a word against Heinz no matter what he may do to Nimir.


    And of course, the ones present in the tform were not an exception, so despite whatever they thought of what was happening, not a single one of them dare to look directly at the cultivator.


    Heinz could not care less what was happening through those people''s minds, and he originally intended to soul search Nimir right here and now, to learn who was the individual that dare to put a traitor among his subordinates and act against his people.


    But was convinced otherwise by Zatiel, and he was assured by the Neo-Demon, that he could make Nimir spill all of his secrets without the need to destroy his soul.


    Zatiel told him that he had a use for the Magus, and since there was no really a difference for him if he obtained the information now or in a couple of days, he epted.


    Heinz made Nimir''s unconscious body disappear, before waving his hand and taking from his personal storage space the core of the tform.


    Just as Heinz was about to send his consciousness into the core, a humanoid figure made of light materialized on top of the statue of the empire and flew down.


    When hended on the tform, he scanned Heinz for a second, and when he saw his healthy condition his eyes narrowed, but without dy, he performed a polite bow.


    "Your Highness, I am the Rank 4 Magus Nate. It will be better if you hand over the core to me, my body will reach this ce in less than a day and will handle the tform. It will be easier this way, or else it could give the impression that you killed Lun to alter the spoil obtained during this expedition."


    Nate''s speech was very polite and give the idea that the Magus really wanted to help Heinz out of a difficult situation.


    Unlike when he first appeared, he now adopted a humble and reserved attitude. He knew that those sorts of disys he had performed before could wonder some people but if he were to do it in front of Heinz he will only embarrass himself.


    But even after hearing the man, Heinz did not stop and without even looking at him, he sends his consciousness in the core and took control over the tform.


    When Nate saw theplete disregard that Heinz was showing to him, he started to be angry, but the man understood that even if his body were to be here, a fight against the cultivator could only result in defeat.


    So without letting his emotions appear on his face, he prepares to continue his speech when Heinz looks at him.


    "The Star Heart is so precious that even if all the rest of the fallen star that it was collected where to be put together, it could not equal his worth. It would be very troublesome if some people were to try to im it, due to some losses."


    When he heard this, Nate immediately try to exin his intentions but before he could speak, Heinz spoke again and this time his eyes were cold.


    "I do not care about your goal, I will take this tform and those that want to collect the fallen star they own, can go to my tower and reim what the register says the people under them obtained. As for Lun''s death, he would not have acted the way he did, if you had done your job."


    Technically Nate''s responsibility was to secure the safety of the members of the empire, but that was against magic creatures, not a Rank 4 Magus, so if one were to look at the situation with an objective mind, one would find that he didn''t do anything wrong.


    But since when people were objective, they judge other actions ording to what they believe is right and Heinz was not different.


    A trace of anger was shown on Nate''s face, but he did not say anything and his body of energy transformed into dots of light before flying away.


    Heinz did not bother with the Magus, and once he got control over the tform, he shrinks it until it was the size of a fist before making it disappear.


    Since everything he needed to do here was done, Heinz did not dy any longer his departure.


    He released his consciousness and started to embrace every member of the empire inside it.


    "Brace yourself." An amused expression appeared on the face of Heinz as he pictures what was going to happen next.


    Once all the people were cover by his consciousness, Heinz used his control over the Law of Space and teleport along the rest.

 Chapter 102: Interrogation

    Less than a millisecond after Heinz performed the group teleportation, the members of the empire found themselves thousand of kilometers away from the excavation zone, and every single of them was disying symptoms of nausea.


    Even Zatiel wasn''t an exception, and the one with the best condition wasn''t Grigori who was the strongest, but Ezequiel due to his great physique.


    The feeling the members of the empire experienced when Heinz teleported them was like if they were moving at an unimaginable speed only to stop suddenly, going from one hundred to zero before they could even figure out what was happening.


    This made the content of their digestive system and blood flow go crazy for an instant.


    Heinz almost started tough when he saw some of the Rank 1 Magus about to puke and after giving them a moment to recover, he once again made everyone teleport.


    As they were reaching the exit of the Endless Forest, almost all those Rank 1 Magus had emptied their stomachs. Of course, this wasn''t something that could really affect them, being life forms superior to normal mortals, as long they rested a couple of minutes they will be perfectly fine.


    So Heinz did not stop their advancement and onlyughed quietly.


    It took more than a month for the members of the empire to reach the excavation zone from the meeting point, and they had to fight against hundred of magic creatures during the journey despite being protected by a Rank 3 Magus.


    But in less than two hours, Heinz was able to bring them to the exit of the Endless Forest without even seeing a magic creature.


    This simple disy of speed and capabilities was proof than even if Heinz were to be so injured that he could be killed by a Rank 3 spell, he could just focus on escaping and there was nothing that those beneath Rank 4 could do to stop him.


    Of course, an individual like him that could use the Law of Space at Rank 4 was almost inexistent, but there was no Soul Forging that did not have the ability to disy high-speed movements or some special tricks that could help them escape.


    "From here you can safely arrive at wherever your residence is. With regards to the tform and the fallen star in it, rte my previous statement to your superiors."


    Heinz did not wait for the rest to respond and proceed to teleport again, with only the three Neo-Demons this time.


    All the members of the empire that remained here, could not help but look at the ce where those four people were just now before leaving.


    Whether it was envy, admiration, or anotherplex emotion the one filling their hearts, all of them knew that they were individuals that will make their names know in the empire.


    Especially the one that was already approaching the limits of power that the world allowed, and whose killing aura, they will remember for the rest of their lives.


    ...


    It was midnight and inside the Sinux Magic Tower, in a room with white walls, there were three men.


    Two of them were standing and the other was sitting in a chair unconscious and his body seems to be glued to it, maintaining his chest and head perfectly straight.


    Right next to the chair, there was a small table with all sorts of surgical equipment above it.


    "Is this your n brother, physical torture?" One of the men had a doubtful expression on his face as he pictured what was going to happen to the person in the chair.


    Heinz did not doubt Zatiel capabilities to inflict pain, and his instincts tell him that the young man in front of him could make anyone talk, no matter how powerful their will was.


    What bothers him was not whether he could make Nimir talk, but the problems that all information obtained by this means carry.


    Zatiel understood from where the cultivator''s concerns were originated, so he proceeded to exin what he was going to do.


    "Of course I won''t use such a wed method of interrogation as torture, after all, when a man is subdued to enough pain, he will say anything you want but most of it or maybe all could be false. And in the worst case, you could be the victim of counterintelligence and end up with the wrong target"


    After Zatiel finished speaking, he moved to Nimir''s side and put his hand on his shoulder before sending a wave of dark aura inside his body.


    The aura did not hurt or awaken the Magus, and it makes his expression be calmer.


    What Zatiel did, was using a simple spell with anesthetics properties,pletely numbing Nimir''s body and turning off his pain sensor.


    "You know, the Magi path is certainly powerful and generates all sort of transformations in the body of those that use it, but before reaching Rank 4, they are still considered biological being and their brains anatomy did not truly change"


    Zatiel proceeds to take a scalpel from the table and y with it, and as he did a smile appears on his face and he even started to whistle a strange melody.


    Despite what may seem, there was no wickedness on Zatiel actions and his attitude was more simr to those people that like to work with wood in their free time as it rxed them and help them release some stress.


    He positioned himself behind Nimir and made a small but concentrated golden me appear on the scalpel''s de, before continuing his narration.


    "So since they are biological beings, their bodies are susceptible to physiological stimulus like the one created when certain areas of the brain are subdued to small and concentrated electric shooks. With the right knowledge, even a mortal could make a Magus reveal information withplete honesty."


    Once he was finished speaking, Zatiel made an incision on Nimir head, and with great precision continue cutting the bone without harming the brain, before removing the top of the skull.


    Even though this scene looks like something out of a nightmare, Zatiel had done it uncountable times on his past life and Heinz was someone that paved his way to power over the bones of his many enemies, so neither of them show any aversion to what was happening.


    Despite having his brain exposed, thanks to the powerful anesthetic running through his body, Nimir remained unconscious and there was no sign that he was feeling any sort of difort.


    With Nimir''s brain in his sight, Zatiel used the A.I. chip to scan it and made a model of it, performing hundreds of tests, and only when he had mapped every important region did he begin.


    He took dozens of small needles out of the table and proceed to insert it on diverse parts of the brain, with perfect uracy and control over his movements.


    Once all the needles were in the correct position. Zatiel generated small arcs of lightning on his hand and then send them into some of the needles.


    The moment the electric shock touched the needles, Nimir''s eyes opened. But you could see that he remained unconscious by the fact that his sight was out of focus.


    "Ok then, let''s see if I did not lose my touch" There was a little excitement on Zatiel face, as he proceeded to question Nimir.


    "Tell me your full name and age."


    Once he made the question, Zatiel releases stimulus into some of the needles and activates Nimir''s ability to speak and some motor functions.


    The Magus body trembled for a second and his eyes twitched but after a moment he started to speak.


    "My name is... Nimir Hamel Janer Crink and... I am two hundred and eighty years old." Although his voice was a little rough, Nimir''s words made perfect sense.


    Zatiel continued asking random questions to which he had the answer already, to calibrate the Magus responses and the way he needed to stimte his brain.


    Although he did tremble from time to time and blood wasing out of his eyes, nose, and ears, Zatiel had a perfect grasp over Nimir''s condition and knew that there was no real damage done to him.


    Once all the base questions were over, Zatiel proceeds to ask what he really wanted to know.


    "When did you betray Heinz and what were your orders."


    Unlike with the previous questions, Nimir did not answer immediately, but Zatiel increased the potency of the electric shocks, and although his entire body shivered, answers came out from his mouths.


    "From the beginning... I was approached by someone way before I enter... his service. My order was to collect all the... information possible about him and report his every... moment no matter how insignificant it was."


    When Heinz hears this, his eyes narrowed and fury appeared on his face. Someone has been surveilling him for decades and it was only now that he found out.


    Zatiel knitted his brows when he hears this. Whoever controls Nimir, it was someone that did not hesitate to put a spy on a Soul Forging existence and that was able to maintain it hidden for a very long time.


    But what really bothers him was that this person was willing to burn important assets just to kill him and even go to the point of making a Rank 4 Magus act.


    "Tell me the name of the individual who gives you your orders."

 Chapter 103: Divination

    The two men were waiting for Nimir''s answer, hoping that it will reveal the responsible for his and Lun''s actions. But unfortunately what they obtained was highly disappointing.


    "I do not know his real name."


    The moment Heinz heard those words, rage started to grow in his heart, the cultivator could not ept that Nimir has been spying him under someone''smand for decades and yet, he did not know his name.


    It reached the point that he wanted to extract his soul, and forcefully search his memories, making him die under an agonizing pain.


    But of course, this was just an impulse, and his will was too strong to let them truly affect him.


    Zatiel, on the contrary, wasn''t upset by the failure and after giving it some thought, he made another question.


    "Describe with luxury of details the first contact that you had with that individual." After asking that, Zatiel proceeded to releases electric shocks on almost all the needles following certain patterns.


    Arcs of lightning appeared over Nimir''s brain as if a miniature storm was generated on his head. And before long he started to speak.


    " It was when I reached the peak of Rank 1, due to an ident in one of my experiments, my consciousness was damaged, leaving me with horrible pain and destroying my path to Rank 2. I spent a long time trying to fix the damage but there was nothing I could do and when I was about to give up a man appeared. He was coveredpletely in a gray fog so I could not recognize him and told me that he was sent by the Sage."


    As he hears Nimir''s tale, a strange light appears on Zatiel eyes.


    "He told me that if I epted to be under the Sagemand, they will send me on a journey where I will be able to change my fate. Although it sounded like a joke, the man in the fog was incredibly powerful and I doubted that someone like that would waste his time ying pranks, so I epted."


    Although Nimir was still unconscious, the respect and admiration that felt by that person he knows as the Sage was so deep, that it was reflected in his words.


    " The journey was full of danger and the number of times I was close to death was uncountable, but by a reason I could not exin, I always end up fine and when I finish it, not only my consciousness was healed, but I also reached Rank 2. After that, I followed his instruction and started to serve under Heinz, collecting all the information I could about him."


    After hearing about Nimir''s epic journey and how he was able to ovee all sorts of dangers and finally rise out of a desperate situation with the help of this Sage, some memories appeared on Zatiel mind, and along with them a great coldness and killing intent.


    "Did you ever had direct contact with this Sage or other people under hismand beside the man in the fog?"


    "Never, all my reports were sent by disposablemunications crystals to a location I do not know. And in every physical interaction, the only individual present was the man in the fog, who never revealed his identity to me."


    Even after following his orders for decades and spy the actions of a Rank 4 life form, Nimir was never trusted with any sort of useful information about this Sage, or any other people working under him.


    This fact revealed to both Zatiel and Heinz, that the Sage was someone beyond careful and that he maintained ayer of secrecy over his identity even to those under hismand.


    But despite the apparent dead end, Zatiel knew that even if Nimir wasn''t trusted with the identity of the Sage, that does mean that he did not find out by himself.


    "Tell me, did you ever investigated the Sage?"


    Working for decades under someone with such a mysterious identity could rise curiosity on anyone, and Nimir certainly was not an exception.


    But strangely, there was some sort of resistance by Nimir part to ess those memories, unfortunately for him, he was unconscious and the only thing that Zatiel needed to do was increase the potency of those electric shocks to make him talk and brake his defenses.


    Due to the potency of the stimulus, a lot of blood vessels broke in Nimir''s eyes, but this did not stop him from talking.


    "Yes I did, but the shadow covering the Sage identity was impervious to any sort of investigation, and no matter how much I try, it was futile"


    Both Heinz and Zatiel were disappointed when they hear this, luckily for them, Nimir hasn''t finished talking yet.


    "But during the decades of research I was able to obtain a lot of information about the man in the fog, and I am sure that his name is Frederick Teiner."


    That name did not mean anything to Zatiel, but it was different with Heinz, as he frowned when he hears it.


    "Brother, how sure are you that what he says is true."


    Seeing Heinz''s expression, Zatiel knew that the identity of the man named Frederick was not simple.


    "Since it is something Nimir was able to deduce of decades of research, I can''t say for sure that he did not make a mistake but what he just say to us now, is what he believes it is true. By your expression, I take it that you know him."


    "Ahhh, yes I know him. Frederick Teiner is the number two man of Szar Rasputin, a Prince of the Empire like me," Heinz could not help but sigh when he spoke those words.


    His original n was to find out the person behind Nimir, and then go and kill him. This was an extremely direct way of doing things but it is what the cultivator was going to do, even if that means fighting more than one Soul Forging existence at once.


    Unforutunalldy, Szar Rasputin wasn''t someone that Heinz could just go and kill.


    "Are you rted to him?" Zatiel notices that troubled expression on Heinz face and knew that he will find extremely difficult to attack this person.


    "No really, our royal lines are different."


    Not because they shared the title of Prince of the Empire meant that Szar and Heinz were rted by blood.


    The title of Prince was given to any person that has reached Rank 4 and whose direct family had generated a Being of Laws.


    "Although we are both at Rank 4, I am sure I could kill him if I can fight against him without obstruction, and do not care for the damage done to my body. What makes it difficult to handle him, is his identity as an Origin Runemaster."


    When Zatiel hear that, he understood that this situation was bing more and moreplicated.


    An Origin Runemaster was someone that could inscribe Rank 4 runes, and although they were only one level above Rank 3 runes, the difference was immense and they are able to grant abilities that even Rank 5 and 6 life form could find useful.


    The Aeternum Empire has hundreds of billions of people living in their domains, with a military force of several thousand Soul Forging existences, but the number of Origin Runemasters does not reach the three digits.


    This was a perfect statement of how difficult bing an Origin Runemaster was and the importance of Szar to the empire and how deep his connections could be.


    But Zatiel was sure that he was not the one giving Nimir hismands. The Sage was someone that lived in anonymity and whose abilities gives the illusion that he could see the future.


    "Heinz, did Szar was once only an insignificant person, and then one day started to obtain one lucky encounter after the another, and disy amazing talent out of nowhere?"


    When Heinz hear that, he was surprised and with an inquisitive expression he answered.


    "There is indeed a rumor about it, that he was someone without any sort of talent during his youth. But that was hundreds of years in the past, how did you know?"


    After hearing Heinz''s statement, Zatiel bes sure of what sort of enemy they were facing but it doesn''t bring him any happiness and he could feel a headache approaching.


    "Whether Szar was involved in the n for killing me, is something we do not know. Our true enemy is the individual known as the Sage, and if I am correct, he is the type of person that likes to hide in the darkness and pull the strings of their puppets to see them dance. He is someone that has mastered the art of divination, a user of the Law of Fate."

 Chapter 104: Fusion of magic and science

    When Heinz heard Zatiel words, coldness and killing intent begun to appear on his eyes, and due to the intensity of his emotions and the immense power carrying inside him, a dark red aura was released from his body.


    The Law of Fate is an extremelyplexw toprehend and improve, and yet the battle power it granted is average at best.


    The reason for that is due to the Law of Fate not being meant to be used in battle but to perform divinations, to seek fortune, and scrying into the future see the possible oue of your decisions and those of your enemies.


    And if your control and mastery over thisw were great enough, you could use it to alter the destiny of other people and your own, of course, doing that carries a heavy price and it reached the point that if your target or the individuals around him were too powerful, the bacsh could kill you.


    The Law of Fate affected the path of every mortal, and it is only by bing stronger that you could free yourself from its influence.


    It is only when someone reaches Rank 4, that they are truly free from the Law of Fate interference. By then, even if you kill one of his chosen ones, there will be no repercussions at all.


    Although there are exceptions, most of those that seek control over thisw are maniptive individuals that enjoy the sensation of control over other people live. That plus their paranoid personality makes them a very difficult opponent.


    After all, what is the use of being hundreds of times stronger than your opponent and be able to kill him by just looking at them, if you don''t even know their appearance?.


    Heinz was an extremely proud person, and it was in his right since his talent could be considered top tier even by the standards of High Worlds.


    So the fact that someone has been trying to manipte him, generated an immense fury in him.


    Unfortunately, he had no concrete information about the Sage, and the only person he suspected that has contact with him, was not someone he could just go and forcefully interrogate.


    In the end, he looked at the man beside him and he could see that he had already started to formte a n to handle the situation.


    "What do you think we should do, brother?"


    "We cannot reveal the information that we have obtained to anyone. I can guess that the rtion between Szar and the Sage is not simple, and when we face him he will probably help him against us since the Sage is probably the reason behind his meteoric rise."


    The voice of Zatiel carried an immense coldness and it was obvious that his anger was not inferior to the one of Heinz.


    "So from now on, he is our enemy as well. If you ever find yourself in the position to kill him withplete certainty, do it, and the same goes for his guard Frederick."


    Even if he had no certainty that Szar and Frederick had ever done anything against him, they were connected to his enemy and since they were powerful enough to be a hindrance, Zatiel did not think twice about eliminating them.


    He may have changed during his time in this world and have found people he was willing to risk his life for, but he was still the Abyssal Lord that once destroyed an entire world only because his enemy was trying to hide in it.


    Heinz was a little surprised by Zatiel bloodthirsty way of handling things, but the cultivator was not someone indecisive and after a moment he nodded, and as he did a murdering light was reflected on his eyes.


    "You should send all your intelligence assets, to keep watch on both Szar and Frederick, and collect all the information they can about the people they interact. Make sure that they understand that by absolutely no reason they can directly interact with either of them and if possible maintain a distance of at least fifty meters from them." Zatiel tone was heavy and the expression in his face showed how serious he was.


    If the people sent to gather intel were to interact with any of them, Zatiel was sure that the Sage will notice something was happening, and he could use the Law of Fate to trace the spies back to Heinz.


    Once that urred, trying to find out his identity will be a hundred times harder.


    Heinz was not as well informed about the users of the Law of Fate as Zatiel, but he was able to guess the reason for his instructions so he made a mental note to make sure that his people understand the importance of their mission and that there is no room for mistakes.


    Although the cultivator did not say a word and it was no show in his face, Zatiel could see the doubt that was filling his mind.


    "Do not question yourself why he is doing it. Maybe he has seen into the future and saw that we be obstacles on his path, or that we will be a sort of destructive force and tries to stop us before we reach our full potential, but that does not matter. You only have to know this, he is our enemy, and when you have the chance, attack without hesitation and do not let his words reach you!."


    Zatiel''s words radiated an immense will, it did not matter to him what the enemy intentions could be. Even if he was trying to save the entire world, he will not hesitate to destroy him at the first chance he gets.


    Those words made Heinz realize his mistake, and he proceeded to nod and make sure to not make the same error again.


    "What are you going to do with him?" Heinz was looking at the unconscious figure of Nimir.


    Zateil was so focused on the matter regarding the Sage, that he almost forgot the reason he wanted Nimir alive in the first ce.


    Since there was nothing he could do right now about the threat in the shadows, he stops thinking about it and focuses on the next task, which will improve his power and the one of the Neo-Demon race.


    "I n to create life using him, but before I start, tell me brother can you destroy his consciousness without ruining the rest of his soul?"


    Heinz did not answer immediately as he was unsure whether he could fulfill Zatiel''s request. What he was asking him to do, is the same that telling a doctor to remove from someone''s brain the parts that save their memories and personality, essentially his identity, and not let the rest of the brain die due to the trauma.


    "I could try, but although I can say withplete confidence that I can erase his consciousness, there will be some damage made to his soul."


    "As long it doesn''t dissipate, there is no problem. Also, I will need some equipment and expensive supplies, can you help me?."


    "No problem, tower controller, present yourself."


    After Heinz spoke those words, a sphere of light appeared inside the room. This was the tower control, an artificial consciousness meant to manage the tower and help the owner during its work.


    It is simr to Zatiel''s A.I. Chip, but this one was made with magic and did not have the ability to fuse with a host and increase its ability along with him.


    "Tell it whatever you need, as long it is inside the tower vault, it will be transported here. I will start working on Nimir''s consciousness now."


    Heinz''s consciousness materialized carrying a deep red color due to being filled with the Law of Killing.


    He made his consciousness generate thousands of small threads and sent them into Nimir''s head.


    One second after the threads entered his head, Nimir awoke and immediately he started to scream due to the immense pain he was felling, but with Heinz standing in front of him, there was nothing he could do to stop the torture.


    The pain that Nimir was feeling was as if someone was skinning him.


    The screams were horrible, but neither Heinz or Zatiel showed anything else but indifference to the pain of the Magus.


    As Heinz continued destroying Nimir`s consciousness, Zatiel was preparing the materials needed for his experiment.


    After a couple of hours, there was a pool of four meters in diameter filled with a liquid that resembled amniotic fluid, and there were all sorts of runes inscribed in it.


    In his hand, Zatiel had a vial with a drop of blood but instead of red, its color was ck.


    "A.I. Chip, create a clone of yourself and be ready to fuse it with the target at mymand."


    There was excitement in Zatiel face, as he imagines how especial the individual born of the fusion of magic and science will be.

 Chapter 105: White spark

    "Bip... initiating cloning process.


    ...


    ...


    Estimated time for finishing the task, four hours and fifteen minutes."


    After hearing the chip update, Zatiel focused on Heinz''s work.


    The face of Heiz was already showing tiredness, but even so, his control over his power was perfect and the attack over Nimir''s consciousness did not stop for a single moment.


    Heinz continued working for another fifteen hours before Nimir''s consciousness vanishes along with his screams.


    As someone at Rank 4, Heinz could have destroyed Nimir''s consciousness in one swift attack, but that would have meant destroying the rest of his soul as well, so he was forced to do it in a very slow and careful way.


    Even though the rest of Nimir''s soul still existed, what remained now was just a mysterious and special source of energy and it could be considered a broken soul incapable of generating life.


    By all intent and purposes Nimir was dead since even if the soul were to be healed with the most heavenly power that could exist, it will not bring him back.


    And whoever is born using this broken soul, he will be apletely different person from Nimir.


    Once the destruction of the consciousness waspleted, Heinz carefully retired his consciousness from inside Nimir''s mind and conjure a chair to sit down.


    He was exhausted since he had to maintain full concentration over every single thread of his consciousness for almost twenty hours, use the Law of Killing all the time and make sure that the damage did not extend to the rest of the soul.


    "That was very hard, but I manage to destroy it and although there was some damage made to the rest of the soul, it will not dissipate any time soon. Tell me, brother, what are you going to do with it?"


    Heinz was very curious about Zatiel''s n. He was someone smart and his knowledge wasn''t shallow at all, but there was nothing that came to his mind that will need a soul without a consciousness.


    Zatiel inspected the broken soul that remained, and since he was very happy with Heinz''s performance, the less he could do is exin to the cultivator what his purpose was.


    "I am going to create a life and the first step is to transform Nimir''s body into one of a different race"


    Zatiel grabbed the body and throws it inside the pool, before activating the runes inscribed in it, which made the liquid start to soak Nimir''s brain and nurture it.


    "I suppose that you have heard of the mind rulers," Zatiel was controlling the runes as he asks Heinz.


    "Yes, they are a sadistic race that inhabit the Underdark ne and whose power is known through the universe." Heinz was someone that has explored the void and participate in world wars, it was normal for him to have knowledge about the races and dangers he could encounter.


    "The leaders of the mind rulers society are creatures known as elder brains. They are special life forms and every time a mind ruler is reaching the end of his life span, they will choose to fuse with them, increasing the elder brain intelligence and power."


    Zatiel took the container with the dark blood inside and activates his Eye of Life and Creation and golden mes to increase its purity.


    "It''s fortunate that you had this bloodline in your vault, or else I will have been forced to alter the transformation process and that would have certainly made the oue inferior. So how I was saying, an elder brain handles several aspects on the mind rules civilization, they are considered the guardian of the knowledge, history, and technology in their society."


    Once the blood purity was in his peak, Zatiel sent the drop of blood into the pool and made it fuse with Nimir''s brain.


    Immediately after, the brain starts to tremble, and Zatiel proceeds to activate the rest of the runes.


    The brain started to grow slowly and as it did, the rest of the body was degrading and transforming into nutrients, that were stored in the pool and then sent into the brain.


    "An elder brain''s role in the battlefield is of a strategist, and thanks to their god-like intellect, they are perfect for the job."


    When the brain finished his growth, it was three meters in diameter with some ck tendrilsing out from it and most of the amniotic fluid was gone.


    Zatiel flyes and remained floating above the pool, before releasing his golden mes and made them epass the brain.


    The golden fire was healing any damage that the brain had suffered during this transformation and also nurturing the broken soul that was inside it.


    After a couple of hours and making sure that the elder brain was on his top condition, he carries on with the next step.


    By using his consciousness as a bridge, Zatiel creates a connection between his soul and the broken one inside the brain.


    "A. I. Chip, carry on the imntation of the clone inside the soul," Zatiel concentration was absolute since from this point on any error could cause the broken soul dissipation and waste all of his efforts.


    "Bip... Target located, beginning imntation of the cloned chip inside the soul.


    ....


    ....


    ....


    Task finished, the clone has been imnted inside the soul.


    Aplete fusion between them has not been reached, and the broken soul is still not capable of generating live."


    Zatiel wasn''t disappointed when he heard this news, as he was sure from the beginning that the fusion could not be reached this ease.


    It was only after he died and his soul reach The Eternal River of the Afterlife, where it was affected by some of the most profound andplexws of the universe, that the chip was able to be a part of him forever.


    It was impossible for Zatiel to hope to recreate that, but as someone that made the transition to a Being of Laws by using the Law of Death and the Law of Destruction, his knowledge about the soul is extremely deep and he had other ways of achieving a simr result.


    Zatiel made an infinitesimally small thread generate from his soul, and using the bridge formed by his consciousness, he connected this thread to the broken soul inside the elder brain.


    He will use his own soul to generate a chain reaction that will fuse the broken soul and the A.I. chip, creating a soul stable enough to give birth to life and consciousness. Although it will no be aplete soul and its abilities will be hindered for a long time, it was the best that Zatiel could do for now since his power was too small.


    Just as Zatiel was preparing to start the chain reaction, he hears two different palpitations.


    It only took a moment for him to track its origin, it came from his True Names. Both Dexisus and Natux were throbbing with so much power that he could hear them as if they were right next to him.


    The palpitations only grew stronger, and finally, from Natux a golden spark that seems to represent genesis was created, as for Dexisus, it also created a spark but this one was dark and it gave the feeling of nothingness.


    The moment they appeared, both sparks crashed against the other instantly and from it, a white spark was birthed.


    Even Zatiel with all his memories and the wondrous phenomenons he has seen, could not help but be marveled by what was happening.


    Him trying to create life, made his True Names react and form this white spark. Although he did not know what it could do, when he looks at it, it gave him the feeling that he was witnessing the beginning and end of everything that has ever existed.


    Before Zatiel could even react, the white spark crashed against the thread that was connecting the two souls.


    The moment this happened, the thread that gave the impression it could break at any second, was transformed into a tunnel that extracted from Zatiel''s soul a small dot of light and sent it to the broken soul in the elder brain.


    When that happened, Zatiel body fell on top of the elder brain and started convulse due to him experiencing pain so monstrously great that even with his will, make him feel that he will die.


    When Heinz saw this, he was shocked and immediately teleported to Zatiel''s side, but no matter what the cultivator did, he could not find the source of the damage.


    When the dot of light reached the broken soul and A.I. chip, it causes a reaction and the three of them disintegrated into particles that started to fuse in the next moment.


    The pain that Zatiel was feeling did not allow him to even think, much less focus on the changes that were happening as the A.I Chip, broken soul, and dot of light fused.


    Thews involved in the fusion were so profound and mystical, that if someone powerful enough to stands on equal ground with thews of the universe were to be present, they could see how all sorts of phenomenons were being produced inside the elder brain soul.


    It was only when the soul finished its creation that Zatiel felt the pain go away.

 Chapter 106: Memories from the first life

    When the pain disappeared and Zatiel got control over his body again, he immediately jumps out from the elder brain and starts to assess his condition.


    As he was moving, Zatiel realizes something, his body and everything around him were moving extremely slow, reaching the point that he was feeling that time was stopping.


    Thanks to his knowledge, he understood immediately that the reason for this illusion was that his speed of though had obtained such an impressive rise that generated a desynchronization with his body.


    This sensation wasn''t unfamiliar for those that made a great increase in power in very little time so it only took him a moment to fix it.


    He knows that the reason for this upgrade was the connection that the withe spark created between him and the soul inside the elder brain.


    Zatiel was sure that the increase in his speed of thought it''s not the only thing he obtained with this connection but he did not have time to focus on that.


    What truly matters to him right now was the thing the spark removed from his soul.


    Losing that dot of light did not affect his body or consciousness in any way, and it did not damage his soul at all, the reason was due to this dot being something that almost all life forms can lose without repercussion since it will regenerate itself in a couple of days.


    Zatiel pain wasn''t generated for losing the dot of light, but by the forced extraction of this one by the white spark.


    Since he knew exactly what that dot of light was, he could not help but feel conflicted as he saw the elder brain.


    Before when it was only a broken soul and the cloned A.I chip inside the elder brain, this one did not radiate any sort of life or aura and it only seemed like a giant brain with some tendrilsing out from it, but now that a true andplete soul was born, it changed immensely.


    The energy that irradiated was equal to the one of a new Rank 3 life form, but this was not the most amazing thing.


    Golden mes just like the ones made by Zatiel were being generated from inside the brain, its exterior started to change and a golden color was covering its surface, increasing his physical defense tremendously.


    As the mes were inundating the brain, in the front part of it, something started to formed, and before long a golden eye appeared.


    And the greatest change was in his interior, where a small but very powerful golden sun was created and just like the one inside Zatiel, it was like a physical manifestation of the Law of Life and the Law of Creation.


    Seeing those changes, Zatiel could not help but feel his emotions were getting out of control.


    He has experience scenarios that could be unthinkable to some people and even when he was an Abyssal Lord and his life was reaching its end, he never felt this conflicted.


    One moment after the changes in the elder brain stopped, an immense consciousness was released from him, covering the magic tower and extending for thousands of kilometers, reaching far way distances and touching millions of people.


    His consciousness could not equal those of a Rank 4 individual in power, but its size was almost one hundred times greater than of a Soul Forging existence, something truly impressive for a Rank 3 life form.


    This was not the only thing special since no one beneath Rank 4 was able to detect it, and even those at that Rank only feel a strange sensation when it was passing through them.


    Zatiel and Heinz were able to felt the great confusion in the soul that was just born and that was inhabiting the elder brain.


    But less than ten seconds letter that confusion disappeared and he retracts his consciousness before looking intently at Zatiel with his golden eye.


    The moment Zatiel looks at that golden eye, his emotions go haywire and his always calm and collected expression was reced by one of uncertainty.


    Even though he did not have a mouth, it was ease for a life form at his rank to create sounds, and the word he spoke shocked Heinz.


    "Father?" The voice was very childish and there was some anxiety in it.


    When Zatiel hears him call him father, he did not know how to react. In his previous two lives, he never had children, and all the experience he obtained as an Abyssal Lord was proving itself useless in this scenario.


    It was the dot of light, that was extracted from his soul, that gave birth to him, and Zatiel knows that he is indeed his son.


    When someone dies, their souls disappear from the material ne of the universe and are pulled into the Eternal River of the Afterlife, where they will begin an extremely long process in which their souls will blend with the river and be pure energy.


    This process could take the soul of an individual at Rank 0 millions of years, and it takes longer the more powerful the soul is. But eventually, all of them fuse into the river and when that happens they virtually cease to exists and even resurrections spells would be useless on them.


    When mammals breed, the first thing that happens regarding the conception is not the physical aspect concerning the union between the spermatozoid and the oocyte, but the fusion between the primordial essence of the parents'' souls, that will work as the core of the new life and will give him his identity.


    It is only when this core is formed, that thews of the universe will act, supplying him with energy from The Eternal River of the Afterlife, making the soulplete, and letting the physical aspect of the individual being created.


    The withe spark was able to extract Zatiel¡äs primordial essence from his soul, and use the energy that was the broken soul as a recer for the one given by the Eternal River of the Afterlife, to make possible his birth.


    After a moment, seen Zatielck of response and as if noticing the state of his mind, he spoke again.


    "Master."


    Although there was no change in the voice, Zatiel was able to feel the immense sadness that he was feeling.


    His soul may have been constructed with the A.I. Chip, granting him unprecedented analytical abilities and his body may be that of an elder brain making his intellect reach god-like levels, but as someone that was truly born, he was experienceless and was just a child.


    He was not able to hide the pain that was feeling when he saw the person he recognized as a father was doubting of him.


    When Zatiel hears the sorrow in his voice, he felt as if someone was squeezing his heart, and along with that pain, a wave of immense anger was born.


    The anger he felt was not directed at the child, but rather at himself, and it was so powerful that he felt that he hated himself for making him feel sad.


    Zatiel closes his eyes and breath slowly has he try to understand what a father is. His mind went back all the way to his first life, to his childhood, to the memories he made with his father.


    His father was a simple and kind man who did not know much about the world, but Zatiel found exactly what he was looking for on his experiences with him.


    A father is someone who protects his children, who feel immense pride when they do something so simple as giving their first step and saying their first word.


    A father will always support their children and guide them on the right path. No matter how many times they fail, a father will always be by their side supporting them and helping them start again.


    But especially a father is someone that loves their children from the moment they exist and that will not hesitate to sacrifice everything for them, and they do it because they are the best part of him.


    The moment that Zatiel opens his eyes, all the hesitation was gone and the only thing left in them was tenderness and warmth as he approaches the giant brain.


    "You were right the first time, I am your father and your name is Dante Daybreak the firstborn of Zatiel Daybreak!." Zatiel gently patted the brain and his palm was carrying all the love he was feeling right now.


    The moment Dante hear those words and felt that palm touching him, he started to tremble due to the immense happiness he was feeling.


    Seeing the emotions on his son, Zatiel felt an immense joy filling his heart, and he could not help ut start tough.


    "My son, your birth may have been an ident, but sometimes the greatest miracles of the universe happen by ident."

 Chapter 107: New body

    Zatiel and Dante spent a long time talking, although the boy had an extensive encyclopedia of information in his mind, what he wanted to know was about his father''s habits and what he likes to do.


    Zatiel was happy to talk with him, so he answers his question calmly.


    It was only after three hours that they stopped, and after a moment Dante adopted a serious attitude before speaking again.


    "Father, I don''t think the body of an elder brain suits me."


    Zatiel wasn''t surprised for the words of the child, as he knows that although the body of an Elder Brain granted a lot of advantages, there are also some severe restrictions.


    He did not care for the appearance of his son, as he was able to see beyond that easily, the problem was another.


    Originally the life born in the elder brain, would take care of organizing all the aspects of the day to day life of the Neo-Demons, be the controller of his magic tower, the driving force of his production lines, and was not meant to be part in battles or explorations beyond the point of strategy.


    But Dante obviously did not want that type of life, and neither did Zatiel, since keeping someone with a Law Bloodline in a tower most of the time was a waste of talent.


    The problem was that the body of an elder brain is not fit for battle and although they could go through the transformation to Neo-Demon, the help that it would provide due to the peculiarities in their bodies is very small.


    "Your soul is strong enough to be changed to a different body, but that would mean losing the abilities granted by the elder brain, there is also the problem regarding the affinity that your soul will have with the next body and whether the transference will affect your bloodline."


    The primordial essence of Zatiel''s soul contained everything from him, and that obviously included the bloodline, but he did not know what problem could happen with the golden sun if Dante''s soul were to be relocated into a different body.


    Right now his affinity with the elder brain was perfect since his soul was formed using the energy of Nimir''s broken soul and the body was Nimir''s brain.


    As Zatiel was going through his memories and knowledge to find out a solution without drawbacks, he was interrupted by the child.


    "I already formted a n father and if it works, I will be able to keep the abilities of the elder brain and there will be no damage made to my bloodline." There was some pride in the child''s voice as he spoke.


    "You did?" Zatiel was amazed, he was used to be the one finding a solution to everything, and the habit was so rooted in him that he almost forgot that when ites to raw intellect and analytic abilities his son''s speed was superior to him.


    "With regards to the creation of my body, I will need father''s stem cells from your bone marrow. I n to energize those cells with my golden mes and induce the process of mitosis in them, increasing their number, so I can then guide them and create a body made based on yours, with some alterations in the part of my brain."


    Zatiel made some calctions and found out that Dante''s idea was indeed very effective.


    By using his cells as the raw material, he will create a body that could contain the golden sun, and that it will have a perfect affinity with his soul


    It was the part of the brain that made him feel doubtful, as any change on the brain was an extremely difficult task, and he was able to figure out what type of change Dante wanted to do.


    "You are going to try to generate a miniature version of an elder brain for your body, aren''t you?".


    "Yes father, I have run thousands of simtions and I am sure I can do it. Although it will no be able to equal the intellectual capabilities of an elder brain, the boost on my intelligence will not be small." Dante''s voice carries great confidence in himself as he spoke.


    To someone as Dante, it pretty easy to do more than one task at the same time with full concentration, so he had used the time he spoke with Zatiel to make the calctions of his experiment.


    Seeing the boldness of his son Zatiel smiled with pride, and signaled him to continue.


    "The next part will be separating a piece of my consciousness an make it work as the brain''s center ofmand. This will allow us to maintain our connection with the elder brain, and also to continue training it and increasing its Rank. "


    Zatiel found no fault in this n, as it will allow Dante to have a body that could be trained as a Neo-Demon and continue having ess to the elder brain supreme cognitive abilities and special powers.


    He was not worried about him splitting a part of his consciousness since it was something achievable for almost all life forms that were at Rank 2 or above, and it was exactly what the powerhouses of the empire and dynasty did when they created those statues.


    "Besides my stem cells, what else do you need?"


    "I will need a great number of resources since the life force I will require to produce mitosis in stem cells like yours, will be huge."


    If it was the stem cell from a normal human, Dante could do it without any supplement, but Zatiel was already a Rank 1 life form, whose body was altered by abyss aura and a Law Bloodline.


    Just the vitality on his body was more than one hundred times that of a normal human.


    "Brother I will use more resources, I hope that is ok." Zatiel turns to look at Heinz and found that the face of the cultivator was filled with surprise, confusion, and curiosity.


    Heinz had lived a long time and his experiences were not shallow, but what has just happened in this coupe of hours was a lot to process.


    He could not believe at first that the individual born inside the elder brain was Zatiel son, but he detected the simrities between their soul, proving that they were indeed connected.


    "Brother."


    It was only when Zatiel calls him, that he focused again.


    "Ah, yeah sure, take whatever you want from the vault, they are not truly valuable to me."


    Heinz''s true treasures were on his personal space storage, the wealth that was in the vault was the one destined to reward those Magus that fulfilled some mission for the tower.


    Zatiel did not waste time and started to ask the tower controller for all kinds of resources, the variety was immense but since they will eventually be transformed into golden mes it didn''t matter.


    As the resources were arriving, Dante immediately attracts them and start to use his golden me to consume them, it was only when a ball of golden fire, almost four meters of diameter was beside him that he spoke to Zatiel again.


    "Father, I have enough mes already, give me your stem cells."


    Zatiel nodded, he took his sword and made a cut that reached the bones of his ribs, making an incision on them.


    Although the pain was great, to Zatiel physical pain was not something that could affect him, and with great uracy, he continued.


    From the incision, he made a drop of blood came out and although it was red, a golden glow could be seen inside it.


    Zatiel sends the drop of blood to Dante, who grabs it with is consciousness and made it reach the center of the elder brain, right next to the golden sun.

 Chapter 108: Second Sword Realm

    Dante carefully manipted the golden mes and he slowly started to send them into the drop of blood containing Zatiel stem cells.


    When the golden mes touched the drop of blood, this one started to radiate a great amount of energy and in the next second it duplicated his size, This process happened over and over again, and as the stem cell increased their quantity, Dante made sure of guiding the specialization process.


    Even with Dante''s abilities, the process was extremely slow since the changes that he was making in his brain and nervous system, needed to be checked constantly, as any mistake in this part would ruin the body.


    As the hours pass and the body started to form inside the elder brain, the golden sun was moved inside him and the heart was formed containing it.


    It was after eleven hours, from the moment that the stem cells were charged with the golden fire, that the body waspleted.


    Dante made several inspections on the body and once he was sure that there was no problem in it, he integrated his soul with it.


    Once Dante''s soul entered the new body, some changes happened it the elder brain. The Eye of Life and Creation disappeared and it was no longer producing any golden me, but his golden exterior remained and the vitality that you could feel in it was certainly greater than the one a normal Rank 3 elder brain should have.


    It seems that although the time it was nourished by the golden sun and in possession of the Eye of Life and Creation was small, it still was affected by thews that they represented.


    A minute after the soul of Dante integrated with the body, this one opened his eyes ande out from the elder brain,nding outside the pool, showing his appearance to Zatiel and Heinz.


    The body was that of a child around ten years old, his facial features were very simr to the one of Zatiel, and although some small differences separated their looks, it was obvious for anyone who sees the two of them, that they were father and son.


    His hair was ck, the irises of his normal eyes were white, and there was the distinctive Eye of Life and Creation on his forehead that disyed his bloodline heritage.


    The boy was very handsome just like his father, and his eyes radiated an aura of great intelligence.


    Heinz moved his finger and a red aura reached Dante covering his body with a red robe.


    Dante walked to Zatiel and Heinz''s side and gave a small bow.


    "Father, uncle."


    "Why did you chose that age?" Zatiel was curious about his son''s choice since he could have made his body adult immediately.


    Of course, how old the body appearance was, did not affect his battle power at all.


    "I feel that this age, better reflect my emotional maturity."


    Dante knows that even though he may be able to process information hundred or even thousands of times faster than those in his same Rank, his life experiences were nonexistent, and the control he had over his emotion when ites to important matters was weak.


    Zatiel knows of the boy''s shorings when ites to his feeling, but he did not found it a problem, after all, he literally born today, and the fact that he was able to recognize his weakness was already a great disy of maturity.


    "Hahaha, so young and already speaking with such wisdom, he is definitely your son, brother." Heinz could not help butugh at the child''s words.


    When Dante hears those words, he straight up his pose, and pride appeared on his face, as for Zatiel he only proceeds tough along with Heinz.


    "I was going to give this to you, brother, but I think you would be happier if it goes to your son."


    Heinz made a drop of blood appear and sent it to Dante''s chest, where itnded right above the ce where his heart was and transformed in a tattoo of a sword.


    "That will allow you to release a one-time attack that carries a power equal to the one I can perform when I release my Law Avatar. After delivering the attack it will transport you to any ce you want in a radius of one hundred thousand kilometers."


    "Thank you, uncle!" Dante was ted with the presence of the sword tattoo since it was something it could save his life even in the most threatening of situations.


    Despite being only a one-time attack, if it were tond in a Rank 4 life form before he activates his Law avatar, it could end his life.


    Zatiel was also very grateful since he understood the great value of that drop of blood, and knew that it should have taken Heinz a lot of time and energy to create it, especially since it has such a powerful teleporting ability.


    "Brother, by what I saw in your battle against Lun, I take it that you already achieved the first Sword Realm, right?"


    "Yes I did, and I must tell it is impressive. Not only my attack increased in power but my Law of Sword advanced all the way to the "Initial" level ofprehension once I reach it." Heinz was still marveled by the upgrade he obtained by reaching the first Sword Realm.


    "Good, then it is time for you to start training in the next realm. To reach the first realm you needed to make the sword a part of your body, and the second is much harder since to reach it you will need to treat the sword as an extension of your consciousness." Seeing that Heinz was focused, Zatiel continued with his exnation.


    "The second Sword Realm is known as ''Sword spirit'', to achieve it the first thing you need to do is have a sword strong enough topany you during the entire time you spend training in this realm since if your sword were to be broken, you will have to start again from the beginning and it will be even harder the second time."


    Heinz fulfilled that condition immediately since the sword that was using now was very powerful and even, in the future, when he advances to the next Rank, he would not need to change it.


    "You will need to constantly nurture the sword with your consciousness until eventually, just like the stars, develop a consciousness itself. This consciousness ismonly known as sword spirit and it would not only increase your offensive power, but also the defenses of your soul. Here, take this." Zatiel took a crystal from his ring and engrave some information in it before throwing it to Heinz.


    Heinz catches the crystal, and since he had an idea of what was in it, he could not wait and immediately sent his consciousness inside.


    Exhration fills Heinz''s face as he read the title which says, Path Technique: Sword Empyrean.


    "Since you reached the first realm on your own, then you can use this Path Technique to guide you into the next realms safely. Although it is extremely difficult to reach the fourth Sword Realm, if you do it, you will reach the level ofprehension needed over the Law of Sword to use it, when you attempt to be a Being of Laws."


    "Awesome!" The more Heinz reader this Path Technique, the more he loves it and he could not wait to start training it.


    To be a Being of Laws, you needed to have perfect control over more than onew so even if Heinz reached the fourth Sword Realm, it did not mean that he could progress to that Rank.


    But he has always been very talented in the Law of Killing, so with the help of the Path Technique, his advance will be much easier.


    "We still have other matters to discuss." Zatiel feels the need to call the cultivator''s attention when he saw the way he was behaving.


    Something was telling him that if he doesn''t stop him, this brother of his was going to enter deep seclusion to train for several years, and for his next ns, Heinz was a fundamental part.


    "First, the less important matter, I will need your help to contact the Scientia Kingdom, it is my understanding that when ites to the creation of magic towers they are the best in the entire Magi World."


    The Scientia Kingdom that Zatiel was referring, is the third great power that ruled the surface of the Magi World, and although they are the oldest organization of the, thends under their control are much smaller than the ones from the Eye Dynasty and the Aeternum Empire.


    But this did not mean that they were the weakest since, in all of their millions of years of their existence, no power has ever dare to challenge them or invade their terrain.


    It was rumored that this was because those Being of Laws behind those powerful organizations have strictly prohibited any sort of aggression against them.


    "No problem, they are easy to contact and although they are very expensive, they are indeed the best in what they do."


    After saying those words, Heinz adopted a serious expression before speaking again.


    "I must warn you brother, you must not harm any of them, since the repercussions of harming a citizen fo the kingdom is something even I fear. But luckily you don''t have to worry about them offending you, because they are extremely pacifistic people and the only thing they seek is knowledge"


    Zatiel has heard a lot of rumors about the kingdom, and seeing Heinz''s expression, he knew that they were not unfounded, but it was to be expected that a Hight World with a civilization that has existed for millions of years has some mysteries.


    "Don''t worry, I only want them to create my tower and nothing more. Now before I go the next topic, tell me how are the rtions between the Magi World and the Heavenly Creator World"


    When Heinz hears Zatiel speak about the rtion between worlds, he could not help but sigh.


    "Ahhh, sometimes I wonder how extensive your knowledge can truly be."


    Heinz''s reaction was understandable since the only reason he even knew about the Heavenly Creator World was due to him bean a Rank 4 individual with an impressive background, who has explored the universe.


    To the cultivator''s words, Zatiel only shrugged his shoulder. He did not care that Heinz could deduce some information about his identity.


    "Ok, whatever. Answering your question, it is obviously a hostile one, after all, what kind of rtionship could we have with a race full of individuals who see the rest of the races of the universe as inferior beings, and they dare to look down on you even when you''re stronger than them." The disdain in Heinz''s face was obvious and it seems that the impression he has of that world is awful.


    ''I see, they have not changed at all, extremely xenophobic as always.'' Zatiel impression of the Heavenly Creator World was just as bad as the one of Heinz.


    "Tell me, how would you feel about starting a world war against them?."

 Chapter 109: Invading a Middle World

    The way Heinz was looking at Zatiel right now, was the same way you would see a madman.


    "Are you suicidal!?, if we try to attack the Heavenly Creator World, we will be erased from existence before we even touched the surface. Even the entire military might of the Magi World would not be enough to invade it. That is a world that can equal the Abyss and Baator in regards to power."


    All High Worlds were not equal and despite the Magi World being a top power in the universe, it was too young and the amount of Being of Laws that has produced could notpare to the other worlds and nes that have existed for hundreds of billions of years.


    When someone bes a Being of Laws, they are extremely difficult to kill, to the point that they are considered eternal and share their life with thews, so even though maybe less that one person in one hundred billion is able to be one, with enough time their number could reach the hundreds easily in a High World.


    In the mind of the Heavenly race, the rest of the life forms in the universe must kneel down and worship them, so if they were not so ridiculously powerful, then they would have been exterminated a long time ago


    "Hahahaha, of course not. Even those at Rank 4 are considered cannon fodder in direct battles among High World and nes. What I am talking about is invading a satellite world dominate by the Heavenly race."


    Most individuals and organizations in High Worlds have the tendency to invade and dominate other worlds, those that end up conquered are referred to as satellite world and are usually terraformed to be better suited to the invader race.


    The aboriginal people are usually either exterminated or enved and in the best cases when they invaders are merciful, those in power are reced and the masses remain oblivious to the fact that they serve an alien force.


    "You should have said that first, for a moment I thought you went crazy." Heinz''s expression rxed immediately after hearing Zatiel words.


    He may have an immense battle spirit, but that doesn''t mean he will enter a fight he knew he will lose just to for the sake of wealth.


    Heinz did not bother asking Zatiel how did he knew of this world or obtained the coordinates, and just took it as another disy of the ever growing list of knowledge he disyed.


    "How powerful is this world?."


    The power of the world was fundamental when nning an invasion since it determined the maximum power that the individuals inside the world could disy, with normal High Worlds having their limit at Rank 6 and Low and Middle World at Rank 4.


    If it was a Low World, then Heinz was sure he could invade it with his forces alone since in those worlds are not fit for those at Rank 4 to train due to the shortage in energy and at most the amount of Soul Forging existence inside it will be less than five.


    But if it was a Middle World, everything changes since those worlds are able to amodate dozen or maybe hundred of Rank 4 life forms without a problem.


    "It is a Middle World, and although I don''t know how many Rank 4 existences are inside it, I can tell you it was already altered by the members of the Heavenly race, to increase their numbers."


    After hearing Zatiel words, Heinz tried to figure out the best approach for this invasion.


    "We will need help, normally in cases with Middle Worlds at least another ten Rank 4 will be needed to establish a powerful enough stronghold from where we will start expanding. But since our opponent will be the Heavenly race then things are different."


    Heinz''s experience in world wars was evident, and although Zatiel had already figure out a n, he wanted to know the ideas that the cultivator have.


    "The Heavenly race has very strong bloodlines, and although due to myprehension over thews I can disy a power equal to Rank 5 for some time, if one of those with a Law bloodline were to appear I could at most equal him in battle, so the amount of Rank 4 that we will need participating in this invasion, is around twenty to thirty."


    Zatiel was satisfied with the way Heinz analysis of this invasion and the forces he thinks he needed. Most people on his situation would rather have less Rank 4 members involved, even if that means a higher risk and the possibility that the entire forces under themmand die.


    But even so, Zatiel experience was way greater than the cultivator when ites to invasion, and his n was different from the one of Heinz.


    "The amount of Soul Forging existences participating in this invasion will only be ten, including you."


    Although Heinz was surprised by Zatiel words, he knew that his brother was not foolish so he just waited for him to continue speaking.


    "With regards to the Law bloodline of the Heavenly race, you don''t have to worry too much, since it normally takes millions of years for one of them to be born and the possibility that they will meddle in the invasion of a Middle World is extremely low." When he says this, there was a little disappointment in Zatiel face, giving the aura of a hunter that could not find his prey.


    "I will enter with the first batch into the world, and I will do something that will submerge the entire inplete chaos. By then, even if they know that we are invading, there will be impossible for them to use the entire power of the world against us, so with ten Rank 4 will be enough to protect the stronghold and advance our conquest." In Zatiel eyes confidence born from his soul could be seen, he was sure that even with his current power the effect that his actions could produce in a world war will be apocalyptic.


    Although those at Rank 1 and 2 are merely scouts in the invasions of Middle World, Heinz was sure that his brother''s actions will have a bigger effect than all the other Rank 4 individuals together.


    "Can you exin to me your n, maybe I can apport something," Heinz knew that the possibility of him improving Zatiel n was small, but this was an opportunity to learn so the cultivator feels no problem in asking.


    "Of course, I was going to exin it to you anyway."


    Zateil started to exin what he will do and the more Heinz discovers, the greater his surprise was.


    To aplish his n, the only thing Zatiel needed was the use of his knowledge and some "resources" that could be found on any.


    In the end, it was not Heinz that helped Zatiel with his n, but Dante.


    The boy gave some advice from now and then, altering certain detail, and although the changes were very small in the end the help they provided was significant and the probability of sess increases greatly.


    "If we follow your n, then ten Rank 4 existence will be more than enough." Heinz very was confident in the n that the two of then created.


    "Be careful with who you pick, also just reveal a little about the n so they understand what we are going to do and tell them that it was your idea. I don''t have the time or the desire to convince them to follow my instructions."


    Zateil knows that most Rank 4 existences are so arrogant that even if they know that his n is the best path to follow, they will dismiss it just because of his power.


    Of course, if he were able to convince them to follow his n and then he was to achieve it perfectly, he will gain the admiration of those Rank 4 existence.


    But wy will he bother to impress some people that not long in the future will only be able to look up to him.


    .....


    A couple of hourster in Zatiel room, both Sophia and Ezequiel were looking attentively at Dante.


    When the boy first shows up, the duo was beyond shocked, after all, Zatiel was away for less than a day and he came back with a ten year old son.


    It was only when Zatiel exined the circumstances behind his birth that the duo calms down.


    Sophia''s eyes were sparkling as she yed with the boy''s face and despite Ezequiel disying his quiet personality, there was warmth and fondness in his eyes as he looks at Dante.


    Dante was happy at first when he meets his father''s trusted people, but he was bing frustrated as the woman that identifies herself as his father''s "first wife" did not stop ying with his face.


    The love that they were showing, made him feel extremely happy but as someone with great intellect, the boy didn''t like to be treated like a baby, unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to stop Sophia and when he looked at Zatiel for help, he only pretended he was not seeing.


    As Sophia yed with Dante, she looked at Zatiel direction and her eyes expressed an immense longing and desire.


    Zatiel understood immediately the feelings of the woman and what she was trying to express.


    "Eventually it will happen." Zatiel smiled as he spoke those words.


    The strongest the parents were, the harder for the primordial essence of their souls to fuse and create a life, so although they were both at Rank 1, their bloodlines were incredibly powerful, especially in Zatiel case and that made it difficult to conceive a child.


    But Zatiel knows that as his True Names advance so will his reproductive abilities, and he was sure that his offspring will not be small.

 Chapter 110: Mind Force

    In the cave where the kobolds were residing, Zatiel was arranging some pieces of a fallen star above a giant rune formation on the ground, and a few meters away from him was Rax, waiting for hismand.


    He and Dante arrived three days ago to have a secure ce where to perform the boy transformation into a Neo-Demon and improve the kobolds'' training grounds.


    The process of creating the Chaotic-Core went without a problem, and thanks to the fact that his body was made at the peak of Rank 0, the rate of growth of his abyss aura was impressive.


    And due to his intelligence, bloodline, and strength of his soul, his affinity with the world''s natural energy was top tier, and it could even prove its superiority above that of Elementals.


    Right now, the boy was sitting along with some other kobolds, focusing on increasing his abyss aura and mastering his Rank Spell so that he could advance to Rank 1.


    Ezequiel and Sophia had remained in the magic tower and were focusing on developing their Bloodline Heart to reach Peak Rank 1 and learn their new Rank Spell to advance to Rank 2.


    Initially, the duo was in no rush to improve their Rank, and they were preparing to enter a long period of experimentation to increase their professions'' skills. Still, when Zatiel informed them about the world war they will be participating in, they immediately focused on improving their power.


    To advance to Rank 2, a Neo-Demon needs to have developed to 100% both of his hearts and have an abyss aura of 120 points.


    Once those requirements arepleted, the Neo-Demons must store their abyss aura inside their consciousness and then use it to perform a spell.


    The spell learned will be very difficult to handle and too expensive to use in battle, but once they advance to Rank 2, this spell will be their new Rank Spell.


    The formation that Zatiel was creating now was meant to build a space where the elemental chaos inside the pieces of fallen start will be contained, so those at Rank 1 could remain here and improve the speed of transformation of their Elemental Chaos Heart and increase their abyss aura.


    The Middle World invasion will start in two years at thetest, and although it sounded like a lot of time, for individuals whose life span reaches more than half a millennium like a Rank 1 Neo-Demon, it was but a blink of an eye.


    Zatiel nned to bring some of the kobolds with him during the invasion. Since he will be in a world where the entire will consider him an enemy, the only people he will trust to fight by his side are his race.


    Although reaching the peak of Rank 1 will be too much to ask, with this formation, they will be able toplete the transformation of their Elemental Chaos Heart, and by that time, they will have the power to kill a Master level Rank 1 Magus quickly.


    The Heavenly race has a mighty bloodline heritage, but as long a Neo-Demon has assimted a Rank 3 bloodline, they should be able to defeat or at least equal them in a fight in the same Rank, and if their bloodline is at Rank 4, then they will be able to kill them.


    At the end of the third day, Zatiel finallypleted the formation, making a dome appear in which a greyish fog was contained.


    "The formation is ready. From now on, all those at Rank 1 will be training inside it. The elemental chaos in those fallen stars will be depleted in approximately three months. When that happens, rece them with new ones." Zatiel handed Rax a small ck tform.


    This was the tform that Heinz had taken from the excavation zone, and Zatiel was asked to borrow it.


    "Yes, Ancestor." Rax took the tform and gave a small roar.


    As soon as he did, eighty-one kobolds started to walk toward the dome, disying their impressive four-meter tall bodies and dragonborn appearance.


    They all moved withplete order and as one, disying the might of an extremely disciplined army.


    Eighty-one Rank 1 life form could not be considered much since in the Aeternum Empire alone, those at Rank 1 could be counted in millions, but by the disy of order and might that those Neo-Demons were giving, one could be sure that they could ughter an opposite army in the same Rank, even if they were fighting an enemy ten times their number.


    Zatiel was very satisfied with how the kobolds were behaving and signaled Rax so he would enter with the rest at the dome.


    Rax performed a respectful bow before disappearing into the fog.


    Zatiel looked in Dante''s direction, and seeing the boy focus on his training, he smiled and went to a remote corner of the cave before adopting a meditative position.


    His Elemental Chaos Heart and abyss aura have reached the boundaries to advance to Rank 2. Still, due to his bloodline, he not only needed to finish his Bloodline Heart but also increase the Sun Force up to the limit of Rank 1, which ording to his calction, was at one hundred and fifty points, and he had only reached ny.


    Before, he could only gradually increase the rate at which the heart and golden sun grew by eating Rank 2 creatures. There was a limit to how fast these two could absorb energy, and trying to use external methods to increase their speed was dangerous and could create ws in his body.


    Things were different now since the connecting created between his soul and the Elder Brain has allowed him to ess a new strength system known as Mind Force.


    Despite being a path of power as the Magi Path, to practice Mind Force, you normally have to be born with that ability since it is an inherent trait from a race.


    Although it is not unique to them, the mind ruler race is the most notable user of this strength system, and some even think that the name of their race was due to this power.


    By mastering Mind Force, you can perform all kinds of wonder, not only imitating the power of magic but going beyond, not being limited by the use of the natural energies of the world. If your mastery over it reached a certain point, you could even alter thews.


    But despite its marvelous power, mastering Mind Force isplicated, and any bacsh could result in death. Instead of using energy like abyss aura or spirit force, it is fueled by one''s mind and life force''s internal magic.


    Despite the wonders of Neo-Demons, they did not have the ability to train Mind Force, but Zatiel was channeling the magic of the Elder Brain and his life force to be able to use it.


    Outside of the mind rulers'' civilizations, those that use the Mind Force are known as Animus, and just like any path of power, it was divided into Ranks.


    ''Despite the elder brain being a Rank 3 life form, I can only use the power of a Rank 0 Animus since my brain itself can''t use the magic of my mind, but as I advance and grow proficient in it, my brain should change and allow me to advance in the Ranks.''


    Zatiel was beyond happy when he found out that he could use this type of power, as it was something that even with all the means at his disposal in his previous life, he was never able to use but continuously researched.


    ''Unlike the training of abyss aura, spells, or fighting tactics, I will not have any previous experience to guide me as I practice Mind Force. Let''s see how talented I truly am!'' Zatiel''s eyes disyed immense pride and confidence in himself before closing.


    Just like the Magi Path can divide into Elementium, Arcane, Bloodline, and Body-refinement, an Animus has several ''disciplines'' they can follow, but they are not mutually exclusive from the others, and they evenplement each other.


    Zatiel was trying to use the mind discipline that focuses on biological transformation, alteration, and healing.


    ''Psychometabolism!'' As he thought that word, Zatiel''s mind focuses on a single thing.


    The minutes passed, and nothing seemed to be happening, but if you could see Zatiel''s body at a cellr level, you could see that it was acting almost ten times faster, and the speed continued growing.


    His body metabolism was reaching a speed almost one hundred times faster than it normally would, and without opening his eyes, he takes cubes of meat almost one meter in diameter and starts to devour them at an impressive speed.


    They were not made from Rank 1 life form, but from Rank 2, and usually, Zatiel would need an hour to digest it and let its energy reach his heart and improve its formation, but now the moment they disappeared inside his mouth, they were digested immediately and transformed into nutrients for his body.


    ''With this speed, only a few weeks will be necessary to reach the peak of Rank 1 and advance!'' Although he tries to remain calm, Zatiel could not help but feel excited as he will be able to be a Rank 2 Neo-Demon before reaching thirty despite having to cover the energy needs of a Law Bloodline

 Chapter 111: See beyond good and evil

    Zatiel did not move for an entire week, and the only thing he did was continue devouring those giant cubes of meat as he maintained his body''s metabolism multiplied by one hundred.


    Normally a Rank 0 Animus could not maintain this condition for such a long time. Still, since Zatiel was using the magic from the Rank 3 elder brain''s mind and the immense life force and vitality that his bloodline gave him, he did not find it difficult to keep going for this long without resting.


    Of course, there was still the mental fatigue, but the feeling of his power growing at such an impressive speed was truly satisfying for Zatiel, so he did not find any problem in maintaining his concentration.


    He would have wanted to keep training for more time, but unfortunately, the date that Heinz told him the kingdom members would arrive to create his magic tower was approaching, so he needed to go and meet them at the agreed location.


    Zatiel stops consuming the cubes of meat and deactivates his Mind Power before slowly opening his eyes.


    Due to the changes in his body in such a short time, Zatiel could not objectively appreciate his new power, but luckily he had the A.I. Chip help, so hemanded the chip to scan him.


    "A.I. Chip scan my body and show the difference between my previous stats and the present ones."


    "Bip... scanning host


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 1, Daybreak Bloodline)/ Animus (Rank 0)


    Strengh: 67.3--->71.4


    Physique: 117.8 --->143.7


    Speed: 89.8--->95.2


    Abyss Aura: 120.3---> 121.1


    Sun Force: 90.2--->127.6


    Bloodline Heart: 65%--->89%pleted


    Elemental Chaos Heart: 100%pleted


    Note: Host bloodline has been designated with the name Daybreak, due to the absence of information about the original carrier of bloodline and the host being considered the new origin of this one."


    When Zatiel fought with that man, they never spoke, and in the dream he had during his advancement to Rank 1, no information about the identity of him or the other eight individuals was.


    He was sure that if they were still alive, they must have already made a name for themself in the universe and maybe even created a civilization under theirmand since the power which they were born was equal to a Being of Laws.


    His demise when he was an Abyss Lord was not much timeter than that fight, so he did not know about them, and now he did not have the means to get that type of information.


    But all that disappeared from his mind as he saw the impressive rise in his stats.


    ''Excellent!, each day spent with my metabolism multiplied by one hundred times is equal to the energy I could consume in three months of devouring high energy food. My Bloodline Heart and Sun Force will be fully matured with another week or so, and I will enter Peak Rank 1.''


    His speed and strength did not improve greatly since they are connected to the nurturing effect of the abyss aura and organ transformation by the Chaotic Core. But the creation of a new heart will always improve one''s vitality and life force, especially if it is one as special as the Bloodline Heart is.


    As for the fact that despite all that energy he consumed, his Abyss Aura only increased less than one point, Zatiel knew that before advancing to the next Rank, no significant increase would be avable to his energy pool.


    The one thing that bothers Zatiel was that his Mind Force was not expressed in the chip''s chart.


    ''It seems that is not able to quantify an intangible power as Mind Force yet. When I advance to Rank 2 it abilities should increase and be able to disy then.''


    The chip''s abilities grow as he advances in the Ranks, and although he wasn''t able to see the actual stats, he knew that this week of training had at less alowed him to improve a little Mind Force.


    Zatiel looked in Dante''s direction and was a little surprised to see that the boy as already reached Rank 1, but it didn''t take him long to figure out how he did it.


    Since the boy was also an Animus, just like him, he could increase his metabolism and speed up the abyss aura''s growth.


    "A.I. Chip, scan him."


    "Bip... scanning the target.


    Name: Dante Daybreak


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 1, Daybreak Bloodline)/Animus(Rank 0)


    Strength: 25.9


    Physique: 47.1


    Speed: 40.8


    Abyss Aura: 45.9


    Sun Force: 42.5


    Bloodline Heart: 0.1%


    Elemental Chaos Heart: 0.2%"


    The boy''s stats were very simr to his own when he advanced to Rank 1, but it was expected, after all, Dante''s body was made from his stem cells, and they shared the same bloodline with an equal purity since he was his direct descendent.


    Dante opens his eyes as he feels the scanning force and immediately recognized it as the one generated by the A.I. Chip.


    The boy looks at Zatiel and approaches him.


    "You will remain here for the time being and use the dome to improve your power. Do not use your Mind Force to increase your metabolism inside the dome, as it could make the elemental chaos blend with parts of your body other than your original heart."


    "Yes, father." Dante agreed immediately.


    He likes to be in a ce where there are other young people with whom he can interact, and also, the more he learned about those with whom he shared his race, the prouder he felt, as the atmosphere of camaraderie and brotherhood were always present.


    "You will have a task while you are here. It is to understand the power and abilities of everyone in here and train military tactics with them, focusing on blitzkrieg attacks or lightning wars, that takes advantage of theck of awareness of an enemy and deals a swift and potent attack before they have the chance to set a proper defense."


    Zatiel knows that he is not very talented when ites to leading armies. A quality verymon among Abyssal Lords since they usually onlymanded their demonic legions to do a task, and as long theyplete it, they do not care how they do it or the number of deads.


    But the boy has the ability to run hundreds or maybe thousands of different scenarios on his head without a problem. If he focuses onmanding an organized army, the power he could disy will be much more than the mere sum of their members.


    "Yes, father!" Dante was excited with the idea of leading an army of Neo-Demons in battle and probe the power of their race.


    But when Zatiel saw this, aplicated expression appeared on his face before kneeling and looking at the boy directly to his eye.


    "Listen to me, my son, you were born from my soul and had my bloodline coursing through your body, and because of that, they will follow your everymand due to the love and respect they have for me." Zatiel looks at all those kobolds and feels d of having them as his race.


    "But never forget this, we are going to war, death is inevitable, and we can''t say for certain that we can bring them back. They are the first of our kind, and despite the risk, they will not hesitate to give their life in the name of our race progress."


    Reaching this part, Zatiel stands up, and he releases a sovereign might as he looks at Dante again.


    "So you will use every second of your time to create the best tactics that will allow them to disy the greatest power they can, and if they die, then they must do it with the honor and dignity worthy of our race. If they fall, due to yourck of preparation or ineptitude, then even if you are my son, you will pay the price of your mistakes."


    When Dante heard those words, all the excitement left his face, and he understood that hisck of experience made himmit a huge mistake. He did not understand the responsibilities over his shoulder.


    But after a moment, all hesitation leaves his face and is reced by a strong will and determination.


    "I will not fail you, father, nor will I fail my race." Dante gave a small bow before going to the dome.


    Zatiel did not stop giving his mighty aura until Dante entered the dome, and once he did, his eyes disyed warmth, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.


    ''The fire of war will mold you, Dante, into someone that can carve his own path.''


    Zatiel knows that what he will do during this invasion could be considered truly evil, and it will be too much for the boy to be part of it before he grows a little.


    ''I will protect you from those horrible things I will do for the time being, but eventually, you will have to learn to see beyond good and evil and understand the true nature of the universe.'' Zatiel gives a final look at the dome before leaving the cave and meeting the people of the kingdom.

 Chapter 112: Kingdom citizens

    It didn''t take long for Zatiel to arrive at the location where he will build his tower since it was less than two hundred kilometers from the Underground entrance.


    Zatiel had decided on this location for a simple reason; it will allow him to grow the number of individuals under him at a fast rate since he was nning to ept anyone despite whatever race they could belong to.


    Of course, no matter how strong they are, they will only be peripherical members of the tower at the beginning, and they will be under constant surveince, which will work to detect those worthy of nourishing and those that should be removed.


    Although this tower will not be much of an enticement for most Magus since they could go to the Sinux Magic Tower, where they will have the same opportunities and safer environment, those that Zatiel was hoping to obtain were not them, but those that are not epted by the rest.


    To him, their original talent was meaningless, and what they wanted was those that survived in a cruel environment by sticking together, protecting the weak ones, and not shunning them away. Groups like that will not be easy to find, but if a hidden gem like those kobolds were to appear, it would be worth the effort.


    There was also a second goal he had by creating his tower here, and that was that he has a n for Wastnd. The firstyer of the Underground may be a ce not worthy of dominating due to theck of resources and poor living conditions, but there were a lot of uses for such a piece ofnd.


    As he was arriving Zatiel, saw three men floating in the air.


    Each of these men was wearing a blue robe with no special distinctions in it; the power in their bodies was mild and almost undetectable, they gave such a deep intellectual aura that if it weren''t for the fact that they were flying, you would mistake them with a mortal world erudite.


    Zatiel was a little surprised by the trio''s appearance since they had extremely simr physical features, corresponding to the one of a middle-aged man with ck hair, and one would think that they were rted by blood, but he knew that this was not the case.


    The three men were reading a book in which, instead of words, all kinds of inscriptions simr to the ones used in rune crafting were written, and it was only when Zatiel was arriving in front of them that they save them and look at him.


    "I am Zatiel Daybreak. I assume that you three are the stemmed Magus of the Scientia Kingdom." Zatiel made a formal greeting before proceeds to quietly assess the people in front of thin.


    "It is a pleasure to meet the fighting and runemaster genius Zatiel, I am Nathan, and these two are David and Henry. Indeed, we are the ones that his Highness Heinz contact for the creation of your Magic Tower," Nathan''s attitude was truly what you would expect about the people of the kingdom, calm and amicable.


    If anyone saw him acting like that before someone at Rank 1, they will never think that he was at the Master level Rank 3.


    As for David and Henry, they were both at Peak Rank 2, and it was a matter of time before advancing, and despite remaining quiet, it seems that their personalities were simr to the one of Nathan.


    What Zatiel founded interesting was the path of power that they trained; it was the Magi Path but not one of the four more mainstream directions. It was a more profound version of the Arcane path.


    The fighting power they could express was vastly inferior to the rest of the Magus in the same Rank.


    ''They have reced battle power for increased cognitive abilities. The three of them do it, and if everyone in the kingdom follows this path, then as a whole, they are fragile,pared to the empire and dynasty. There must be a reason for theck of hostilities against them.'' Although Zatiel was thinking all that, there was no expression on his face.


    There was definitely a great mystery about the kingdom since they could be an enemy that no one wanted to offend despite their military might.


    By seeing how the three people in front of him look and behave, plus some knowledge about the kingdom''s history, Zatiel was able to formte an idea of what the secret of the kingdom was and why every single one of their members is so valuable. Still, he did not bother to think too much about it since it did not affect him.


    "Yes, I want to use your services and construct my tower right in this ce."


    "Oh, we don''t have a problem creating your tower wherever you want, but ording to my knowledge, this ce can be considered under the circle of influence of the Sinux Magic Tower, and constructing any stronghold here could be considered an act of aggression or at least of provocation."


    Nathan''s pacifistic attitude was not only with himself but among others as well.


    But due to Zatiel and Heinz''s rtion, his fears were unfounded.


    "I thank you for your concern, but do not worry, I have already informed Heinz about the location of my tower."


    "Since that is the case, I will speak no more about the subject. We can start immediately, but before we do, we need some specifications about the type of tower you want and how many funds you n to invest."


    Zatiel had an idea of what type of tower he wanted a long time ago, so he spoke immediately.


    " My tower need to be able to withstand a great amount of damage, have ample spaces where all kind of experiment onrge creatures can be performed, his residents will have a size of approximately four to five meters tall, and the most important thing, I need something in the top of this tower that can contain high amount fo unstable energy and can be released with precision in a determined area, plusrge scale surveince equipment."


    Zatiel took a ring from his hand and sent it to Nathan. "In here, there are thirty million magic crystals."


    Since the amount of fallen star he obtained in the excavation was immense, Zatiel chose to sell a quarter of it, and by selling all the treasures in the spatial rings of those two Eye Lords that he killed, he was able to amass those crystals.


    "If we follow your specification, with this amount of resources, we can build you a Low Rank 3 Magic Tower" After making some calctions, Nathan gave that answer.


    Zatiel was a little surprised when he ears that. Thirty million magic crystals were not a small amount since normally, a Rank 3 Magus could only obtain amass a wealth of around two to three million crystal a year, and that is if they do not use any resource at all and save everything they earn.


    But Zatiel knows that Nathan was not lying, and the price of magic towers has always been immense, especially the ones constructed by the kingdom people.


    "What Rank of a tower could I get if I perform the inscription of the formations?" From the beginning, Zatiel was nning to inscribe the runes into his tower since he would make it possible to enhance them in the future, and it will be safer since that way, he could be sure that there was no tampering made at all.


    When the three men hear those words, a peculiar expression appeared in their eyes, but it was not disdained or anything simr; it was curiosity.


    "Since the inscription is the harder part, we can make your tower at High Rank 3, but..." Nathan looked at his partners, and once they nodded, he spoke again, " If you let us see your work and analyze your rune inscriptions, then we could make the tower at Psuedo-Rank 4."


    When Zatiel hears them, a strange light appeared in his eyes.


    ''So it''s true, they seek knowledge wherever they go, and they do not care for resources or loss of wealth as long they can obtain it.''


    A Pseudo-Rank 4 Magic Tower could cost at least fifty million crystal. That is not considering the price needed to pay for inscribing the several runes formation it needed.


    "I have no problem, but I can only inscribe Peak Rank 2 Runes for the moment."


    Although Zatiel spoke as if his abilities as a Runemaster were average when the kingdom''s trio heard him, they were shocked.


    "You are truly worthy of being called a genius and have your name already spreading to the empire and kingdom, being able to create Peak Rank 2 Runes at Rank 1 is beyond impressive. And although, indeed, diagrams of Rank 2 runes are not valuable to us, what we want to see is your techniques and abilities during rune inscription."


    Zatiel looked at Nathan attentively for a moment before nodding.


    "You people are sagacious and experts in the seek of knowledge."

 Chapter 113: Daybreak Magic Tower

    "Ok, then we will start immediately. Here are the materials needed to make the basic rune formations that the tower needs to operate along with its diagrams, you can decide whether you want to make some alterations or add new sub-formations." Nathan handed a ring to Zatiel before descending to the ground along David and Henry.


    The moment he touches the earth, Nathan starts to mobilize the energy in his body. Even though his path did not grant him great battle might, all Rank 3 life forms have an immense amount of power in their bodies, especially if they have reached the peak and are starting toprehend thews.


    The ground starts to tremble and noises could be heard as the creatures that lived close to this ce were running away.


    Unlike most Magus would do, Nathan waited until the creatures were far away beforeunching his spell. It seems that the pacific nature of the citizen of the kingdom was directed to all life forms.


    "Alter Earth!"


    The name of the spell sounded simple, but the power it carries was immense as the ground under Nathan''s feet started to break immediately, and you could feel how the entire power of an earthquake above magnitude 10 was concentrate in a radius of fifty meters around the Magus.


    The earth split apart and a hole more than one hundred meters deep was formed.


    Once the hole was created the earthquake stopped, but the spell didn''t, and now David and Henry made the energy of the body burst and the three focused their energy in the spell.


    The earth starts to change,pressing itself, the base and walls of the hole were bing uniform and you could see a metallic luster in it.


    The process was taking much longer than the creation of the hole itself, but as they worked, the hardness of the earth was reaching the standard of a Rank 2 metal, and it extended for kilometers.


    But this metallic earth was not just hard, it also had the properties of dissipating any sort of vibration or kic energy, so if a great impact was to reach the tower directly, it could disperse great part of the attack''s power to the surrounding.


    This alteration will also make it harder for any type of subterranean incursion since they will have to pass thousand of meters of magically reinforced earth to reach the tower and even if they do that undetected, there will still be the problem of how to pierce the walls of the tower.


    If the enemy was powerful enough to do all these without people detecting him, then it will be easier for him to directly attack the tower.


    As the members of the kingdom were working, Zatiel was processing the material. The diagrams were pretty simple and with his improved cognitive abilities thanks to his status as an Animus and connection to the elder brain, he was able to understand them in less than a minute.


    The processing of the material was simple, but still, Zatiel was fully concentrated, and his Eye of Life and Creation was acting atplete capacity since he was making some alterations in the materials.


    Every time the processing was about to end, Zatiel sends a small thread of golden fire into the material.


    Doing this will normally destroy the material since, a foreign agent entering during thest phase of processing will create a chaotic reaction, but by using the A.I chip he knew exactly when to add the mes and how much he could do.


    Zatiel was doing this because he wanted to add some of the attributes of his mes to the runic formations so they could enhance the sub-formation he will inscribe.


    It took Nathan and the other five hours to make changes permanent on the ground where the tower will be.


    Although they had to maintain aplete focus in the spell, thanks to their path, the mental fatigue they felt was almost null.


    Nathan flies to the side of the hole and extracted from his ring metal ques of all form and sizes, along with hundreds of small humanoid automaton that seem to be made of mercury due to their silver appearance.


    "We are ready to start building the tower, whenever you are." Nathan looks at Zatiel and there was curiosity on his eyes as he saw those materials that he had processed.


    Although the inscription of the rune formation could have been done after the tower was constructed, it was better to do the two together. This way, they will be able to detect any problem that could happen along the way and repair it.


    The number of materials was big, but just like the group of three, Zatiel did not feel any exhaustion just for some hours of processing.


    "Let start immediately." Zatiel flies to the trio and floating around him were containers carrying the already processed materials which had a golden glow in them.


    Nathan, David, and Henry nodded before flying into the sky and closing their eyes.


    The moment they do that, the hundreds of automatons started to move and carry those metal ques. Even though each of them weighed more than a ton, those automatons moved them as if they were weightless.


    They started to assemble the metal ques with perfect precision and coordination among themself, and the moment those ques joined together their conjunctions disappeared making it seem as if they were one from the beginning and not letting any physical entrance from the outside, besides those designed as such.


    Zatiel didn''tg behind and as those automatons built a piece of the tower, he inscribed the corresponding runic formations in it, and the entire time he had his Eye of Life and Creation and golden mes active improving the quality of the runes.


    As he worked he felt someone watching his every movement, and knew that there were those three Magus, that were focusing the part of their consciousness that was not controlling those automatons on him.


    He had agreed to this from the beginning and since they make sure to not let their consciousness reach his body, he just continues working.


    Every single line of runic inscription that Zatiel was creating could be considered a perfect work of a Rank 2 Runemaster, and despite the exhaustion that will usually apany his work on these high-level runes, he was going on without a problem.


    Zatiel and the trio continue working from more than twelve hours before taking a break, and even then, it was less than thirty minutes before resuming the tower construction.


    Whenever they rested, Zatiel used his Mind Force to enhance his metabolism and replenish his loss energy, before using it again to reduce the mental stress and fatigue.


    It was after a week that the construction of the tower was finished. It was obsidian ck with all sort of runic formations on it that appear to be forming a golden path.


    The part of it above the ground was more than two hundred and fifty meters tall, and it gave the impression that it could pierce the sky.


    In the peak of the tower, there was a spherical object of five meters in diameter, constantly spinning, and inside there was a red glow due to a magma nucleus. This is a special artifact known as Perpetual Dynamic Core created in the kingdom, and it could work as a container of unstable and always growing energy.


    Seeing that the construction was over, Zatiel finally rested and deactivates Mind Force, and after doing it a wave of exhaustion attacks him. The magic of the elder brain''s mind was a virtually endless source of fuel for his power but he needed to use his vitality as well and even though it was great, it is not unlimited.


    But there was good news, as he could feel the changes in his mind growing and was sure that he one step closer to be able to use his own mind magic.


    "Here is the control core of the tower, send a part of your consciousness inside and you will gain authority over it" Nathan passes Zatiel a dark core covered by runes.


    Zatiel took it and did as the Magus instructed.


    Once he sent his consciousness inside and took control over the tower, this one started to glow as the runic formation starts to activate.


    The tower acted as a ck hole and the natural energies of the world were disappearing inside it at an impressive speed.


    As this happened, more and more of those runic formations were being initiated, making those that see the tower think it has golden mes running inside it.


    Normally most of the natural energy that was suctioned by a Magic Tower would go to the energy containers located on the lowest floor, but here only half of it was going that way.


    The other half was injected in the sub-formation that Zatiel created which was sending threads of golden fire into the Perpetual Dynamic Core.


    As the mes reached the core, this one started to spin faster and faster, and the magma nucleus started to change adopting a golden color.


    It was slow at first but less than a minute after the golden mes reached the core, a giant golden ball of mes was created, inundating the space in a radius of three hundred kilometers in golden light.


    These mes could notpare to the one that Zatiel could create with his golden sun andck any control over thews, but even so, the vitally of everything in his touches grows, and its power only continues to increase.


    A smile appeared on Zatiel as he saw this, as for the three Magus they were surprised.


    This is where the story about the Daybreak Magic Tower begins, a ce that in the future will inspire fear and respect in every creature in the Magi World.

 Chapter 114: Blood Wars

    Nathan, David, and Henry were truly amazed by the effect of the golden light and the way that those formations were able to connect one with another, transforming the natural energy of the world and sent it into the core, constantly increasing its power.


    The runes that Zatiel inscribed could be considered the best of its Rank, but still, they were Rank 2, and the abilities they were currently showing were beyond what runes of its level should be able to perform.


    What Zatiel did was applying the concept of runic sets, in which groups of diverse runes are made to work together and empower each other disying a power above its Rank, into this runic formations.


    Although it did not sound too difficult, being able to connect the hundreds of formation that a tower carried and made them work as one was something even some Rank 3 Runemaster did not have the confidence to do.


    When Nathan feel that golden light touching his body he understood that these runes formation did not only probed Zatiel abilities as genius runemaster, but it was also showing its imagination to see beyond their original purpose of something and create new ones.


    The original purpose of the Perpetual Dynamic Core was purely for battle, but now was working as a source of vitality that affects all those under its light, and although in someone like him, a Rank 3 life form, the effect was almost imperceptible, he was sure that if someone at Rank 0 were to be under this light they will be able to work for days without stop and all of his wound would be healed in a matter of hours.


    As a citizen of the Scientia Kingdom, Nathan knew a lot of spells that could produce even better effects that the golden light was generating now, but they use too much energy, and having them active in a radius of hundreds of kilometers was not practical.


    But when Nathan analyzed the golden ball of mes and its light, he understood that the vitality it released did not take energy from the mes.


    And more impressive yet was that as the ball of golden mes increase in power, also did the vitality effects in its light.


    "The title of genius is truly fitting in someone like you. Tell me, is it possible to buy those diagrams and the way to connect them?." Nathan was truly fascinated with Zatiel rune abilities, and there was great respect in his eyes as he spoke.


    To the people of the kingdom, what inspires respect in them the most is not battle power but knowledge, intelligence, and the imagination to use them.


    David and Henry were also looking at Zatiel when Nathan ask for the diagrams. Even though the three of them have seen his every movement during the construction of the tower, how to connects the runes and made them work as one, was something they couldn''t understand just by watching.


    "There is no problem in selling it, but you must know that even if the runes are made perfectly, the effect will not be the same."


    Zatiel was sure that the kingdom must have simr runes formation and he had no problem selling this one.


    "I know, it is the source of energy which you used to alter the materials and inscribe the runes the responsible for the vitality effect. But although they are difficult to get, we have some sources of energy with simr abilities in the kingdom." Nathan was very smart and understood the secrets behind the runic formation.


    Of course, he lost an important part and that was that without the Eye of Life and Creation to use thews in the mes, the effect of the golden fire would have been mediocre and without the capability to grow.


    "Good, then how about those automatons for the runic formation" Zatiel found those silver humanoid very useful.


    They may not be fit for battle due to theck of fighting abilities and weak defenses, but they work as excellent construction machines and have the ability to transform their bodies into a liquid state before solidified again with all sorts of forms.


    There was a drawback in the fact the there was a need for someone to manipte them, but the elder brain containing a piece of Dante consciousness will be able to do it without a problem.


    "Done," Nathan was more than satisfied with the transaction, even though those automatons were expensive, to him wealth is only useful in the seek of knowledge.


    Zatiel handed a crystal that contained the diagram and the way of using those formations to Nathan and this one gave him a silver core.


    The moment the crystal reached Nathan''s hand, he along David and Henry sent their consciousness inside it.


    The reason for their actions wasn''t that they thought Zatiel could be tricking them, but due to the immense temptation that new knowledge represented to them.


    Zatiel also did not waste his time, and sent his consciousness in the core, making all the automatons enter inside the magic tower.


    The trio could have spent hours researching the diagrams andmunicating with each other about the ideas that this information has brought them, but knowing that they have still matters to attend they stopped.


    "We have finished our work here. If there is not anything else you need, then we will be leaving."


    "I do need something. Tell me does your kingdom also researched important events in the history of the universe and the current state and geography of some High nes."


    Nathan was a little surprised for Zatiel request since he could not think a reason why someone that has not reached Rank 4 could want that type of information, but he still answered.


    "There is a branch of the kingdom that does that type of work, and although I am not a part of it, I could contact them for you."


    "Excellent. I want information about the Blood Wars happening between Abyss and Baator, especially the period known as The Blight of the Nine Hells, and the current state of those nes." Zatiel expression was solemn as he asked the question and great interest was present on his eyes.


    There was confusion on David and Henry''s faces when they hear Zatiel request, although they known about the Blood Wars, they have never heard about The Blight of the Nine Hells.


    But Nathan was different and his eyes narrowed when he hears it.


    "Any urate information rted to The Blight of the Nine Hells is extremely expensive to obtain since it was a period that generated repercussion through all the nes and worlds in the universe and it involved fall of several Being of Laws." Nathan was very curious about the interest of Zatiel for this information, but since it could be considered impolite ask about it, he did not say anything.


    "We have that information in the kingdom, but it is not something that can be bought with just wealth."


    Zatiel was relieved to hear that the information he needed was in the kingdom, as for the way to obtain it, he knew what they want the most and he has plenty of that.


    "I have apendium describing the one hundred most umon breeds of demon that exist, it includes their bloodlines, anatomy, fighting strategies, and evolutionary paths. I can trade it for the information"


    When the Magus hear this, his eyes brightened. Research on demons is very useful as their bodies itself are treasure troves and the amount of spell and techniques created by studying them are countless.


    "Can I have a sample of that information," Nathan knows that the man in front of him wasn''t simple, but the type of information he was mentioning was extremely rare and it shouldn''t be possible for someone at Rank 1 to obtain.


    Zatiel did not have a problem with the request of the Magus and gave him a crystal, "Here is the information of ten different types of demon."


    Nathan immediately sent his consciousness and the information inside marveled him, as it was extremely detailed, and even with is abilities it took him a long time to go through all of it.


    "I will have to go back to the kingdom and ry your request to those that handle that information, but seeing this, they will surely ept. Here take this please" Nathan took a small ck book and pass it to Zatiel.


    "By using this book you can look at some of the services and information that our kingdom provides and buy it directly. It also has the ability to contact me directly if you need anything. I hope that our partnership maintains for a long time."


    Nathan was beyond happy with this trip since it has allowed him to interact with someone with immense knowledge and he was sure that as long they continue working together, the benefits will be impressive


    As for Zatiel, he was also d to find about this power, that despite being one of the greatest one of the Magi World only sought knowledge and did not think of using force to obtained


    After that, the trio gave Zatiel a small bow before flying away.

 Chapter 115: Daybreak Clan

    The next few weeks were very active for Zatiel.


    Even though the tower itself waspleted, it still needed a lot of resources to work and be a self-sustainable territory.


    He had bought some basic necessities a long time ago, but there was a need to have items that could be useful to a Magus.


    To get such items, Zatiel made some incursion into the Endless Forest and started to hunt Rank 1 and Rank 2 magic creatures for high energy food and materials useful for all kinds of professions and spells, as well magic herbs of different kinds and in great quantities.


    Due to his power, he did not face any sort of real danger as he hunted since he always remained outside the inner area of the forest.


    It was only after four weeks of hunting and gathering all sorts of material, that his ring was almost full and he returned to the tower.


    Once Zatiel was in front of the tower, he sent a message through his chaotic core.


    "You cane now."


    A couple of secondster, four individuals appeared out of nowhere in front of him.


    They were Heinz, Sophia, Ezequiel, and Dante''s Elder Brain body. The four of them were covered with the cultivator''s consciousness since he teleported them here.


    Zatiel contacted them since he had things to discuss with all of them, and now that his tower was finished and hepleted the things he needed to do outside, Sophia, Ezequiel, and the elder brain could move in.


    The moment the four arrived, they were immediately attracted by the ck magic tower that was filled withva-like golden inscriptions and an impressive sphere of golden mes on its peak.


    After a moment, Sophia, Ezequiel, and the elder brain came near Zatiel''s side, and they smiled at each other.


    "I must say brother, your magic tower is truly impressive. Although the material of the Sinux Magic Tower is of higher quality, when ites to runic formations, it certainly is inferior despite being done by a Rank 3 Runemaster. "


    As a Soul Forging existence, Heinz could see the impressive power that the sphere of golden mes contained, and although it was not a threat to him even if itnded directly on his body, the power it generated was growing with each passing moment.


    "Sometimes it is more important about the way you use your runes than the rank of the rune itself when ites to disying its power and abilities."


    Although the Rank of the runes itself was not great, Zatiel was very proud of the effect they were disying, especially as he felt the vitality in the light growing.


    "Tell me, did you obtain it?"


    "Of course, it was pretty simple. Here is the contract to make the position of the Daybreak n official in the Aeternum Empire, and also to mark thends surrounding your tower and any othernd that you take, which does not have a ruler yet, yours."


    Heinz smiled as he passed a parchment to Zatiel in which all sorts of inscriptions could be seen proving its authenticity.


    Although Heinz made obtaining the contract appear to be easy, the truth waspletely different.


    Normally before starting to be considered bing a n of the empire and obtaining the rights that title, one needs to have a magic tower that could work as a stronghold and at least have a Peak Rank 2 life form as the head of the n.


    But when someone with the power and background that Heinz has was the one who requested it, things werepletely different.


    Zatiel scanned the contract and was very satisfied with it.


    Normally, all sorts of uses and requirements would be on the contract, forcing the new n to do a lot of heavy work for the empire, but the one that Zatiel had was different.


    In essence, the only thing he needed to do was continue selling a high amount of runes to the empire, and in case a conflict with another powerful organization was to happen, he will have to join the battles.


    Zatiel has been selling runes to the empire for a long time and did not n to stop now, and with matters regarding battles between powerful organizations inside the Magi World, that will only happen when those Law Beings that ruled them were to shred all pretenses with each other and fight.


    And he knew that the probability of that happening was very small since fights among Law Beings of the same world were veryplicated.


    The main reason why Zatiel wanted to form his n was the fact that now he could make all the individuals under him obtain the status of a member of the Aeternum Empire, giving them the same right that a Magus would have, no matter what race they may be.


    Zatiel saved the contract before looking back at Heinz.


    "How are the preparations for war going?"


    "I already have the World Gate connected to the coordinates that you gave me, and the war resources that we will need are already in my possession. Nowes the hard part. I will have to search for those Rank 4 individuals that will join us during the invasion," replied Heinz.


    Heinz knew that having no partner was much better than picking a bad partner, so he was very careful in selecting the candidates.


    "Be alert, we can never be too careful, especially considering the threat in the shadows."


    Zatiel gave a meaningful nce at Heinz when he said thest part.


    Heinz bes serious when he hears Zatiel''s words and nods.


    "I will contact you when I have found our possible partners."


    After saying those words, Heinz teleported back to his tower.


    Zatiel turns to see the trio and when he scans them, he realizes that the two Neo-Demons have advanced a lot in thest month, especially Sophia who was already Peak Rank 1.


    "Sophia, how much have you advanced in the creation of your new Rank Spell?"


    "I have already started to charge my consciousness with abyss aura, but I have had problems in mastering my Rank Spell since I want it to be able to fuse with my previous one."


    When Zatiel heard this he nodded.


    Although merging the Rank Spell obtained in Rank 1 and 2 wasn''t necessary, it will greatly enhance the effect of the spell.


    Of course, it was extremely difficult to do and only those with great talent and control over the natural energies were able to do it.


    With this information, Zatiel already had a n and the task of everyone.


    "Dante, you will choose thirty kobolds and create a search party that will explore Wastnd in search of tribes that are worth nurturing and you will offer them the chance to join my n. Tell them that they will get the status of a member of the Empire and a Path Technique if they join us."


    "Yes father, I will start right away."


    Any information that Dante''s consciousness obtained was shared with the true body, so the boy was able to start working immediately.


    "I will let you decide how to approach them and the way to guide the kobolds, it will be a good trial practice before the war. If they refuse to join us, leave them, but if they ept, they must reach here unharmed, that will be your mission."


    Now that Zatiel had a n in the Empire, he could make the kobolds an official part of his power and make them obtain the rights that a Magus will gain.


    But if a hundred half-dragon-like creatures were to appear out of nowhere, it will raise questions about their origins, so by mixing them with thousands of other creatures and races, it will be more discrete and no one will find trouble with them.


    "Sophia, you will join them and use that time to practice your Rank Spell against some live enemies. Any migration of this scale could raise evil intentions of some Magus, if that happens, kill them."


    Although there was some disappointment in the face of the woman, since she was hoping to spend some time with Zatiel, she knew that the preparations for war were important, so she did not say a word and only nodded before flying away towards the Underground entrance.


    "Little..., I mean EZ you will remain in the tower until your Bloodline Heart is finished and then join themter."


    Ezequiel was already fully grown and his appearance was that of a young man around his twenties, so it was bing embarrassing for the two of them when he uses the term ''little''.


    So Zatiel decided to just call him EZ, although sometimes he makes mistakes due to old habits.


    Ezequiel nodded and without wasting time, he went to the top of the tower.


    "Let''s go. The elder brain will be kept at the lowest level. There it will train and also control the tower and its automatons. But before it starts with that, we will finish the Path Techniques that will be given to the new members of the n."


    "As you wish, father."


    Dante moved the elder brain body together with Zatiel and went inside the tower.

 Chapter 116: Sunlight Champion Path Technique

    In the lowest level of the tower, you can find the containers, where the energy of the world, absorbed by the tower, was stored.


    In the center, there was a giant pool connected to these containers which were filled with a liquid with a color that seems to be abination between golden and purple.


    "That pool is where the Elder Brain will remain. It is abination between the energy of the golden mes and the one absorbed from the world. It is highly nutritive and it will allow you to use the Elder Brain''s body at full capacity, as well as increase its power and help it make a biological advancement to the next Rank."


    Zatiel pointed towards the pool and signaled for the Elder Brain to be submerged inside it.


    Dante did not hesitate and manipted the Elder Brian to enter into the pool, and the moment he did, he felt how it was being enhanced and was constantly replenishing its energy.


    "You were right father. Here I can use the Elder Brain''s abilities to its fullest without worrying about depleting energy, and with time, its umted power will help it advance to the next Rank."


    Dante was extremely satisfied with the ce that the Elder Brain will remain from now on.


    Although advancement in Rank will not allow the Elder Brain to disy the power of a Soul Forging existence on in its own, due to the fact that it is a body controlled by Dante''s soul, it will still improve as a life form, meaning that his analytic and cognitive abilities will be enhanced and the extent to which it could be used to control the tower and perform different tasks at the same time will increase.


    Not to mention that the amount of mind magic in the Elder Brain will allow Zatiel and Dante to improve at a higher speed their power as an Animus.


    "Since you have settled, then let''s begin. The Path Technique I am designing is called Sunlight Champion, and it will work by absorbing the radiation released by the sphere of golden mes in the peak of the tower, that we will now call Sunlight Core."


    To create a Path Technique named Sunlight Champion, Zatiel used the experience given by working on Rising Sun, which is the Path Technique that he uses to manipte his golden mes and create spells.


    Thanks to that he was able to save a lot of time, but even though he has been using the chip''s abilities to figure out the Path Technique, from the moment he scanned the golden light, it was still taking too long.


    So Zatiel decided to work along with Dante and use the Elder Brain for the processing of the information since its current abilities were better than the chip''s current ones.


    "This Path Technique will transform their original energy pool into Sunlight Aura. This type of energy will grant them great endurance, life force, and regeneration abilities. It can be used to conjure spells or directly by applying martial techniques that will grant a form to the aura and use it as a weapon."


    Zatiel knew that many of the races that wille from Wastnd are not skilled in the use of spells and are more talented in the use of their own body as a weapon. So they can decide to specialize as a Sunlight Mage or a Sunlight Warrior.


    Dante analyzed all the information that Zatiel gave him and after a moment, he spoke.


    "Since they need to use the radiation of the Sunlight Core to practice and improve as Sunlight Champions, even if they be stronger, they will still be bound to the tower unless they want their path of improvement broken."


    When Zatiel hears this, he smiled a little but remains quiet


    "And I am sure that father also devised a way for them to improve even faster, which will give positive feedback to the tower."


    When Zatiel hears thisst part, his smile grows even bigger, since he understood that Dante was able to see through his n and figure out the next part.


    The reason for his smile was simple. Having a smart son will make any father happy.


    "You are really clever, aren''t you. You are right. I have created a sort of ''altar'' where they can leave things that will be consumed by the golden fire, and then 75% of the fire that is created will go to them to increase their speed of training."


    Zatiel was sure that a lot of the people that would arrive could discover his n with time, but even if they did, it will not matter since all the races that have lived in the cruel environment of Wastnd understand that every benefit has its corresponding cost.


    And besides, what Zatiel was needed from them was only for them to remain under his lead and nothing more, and even if they leave, they will not lose their power, so what more could they hope to get?


    Dante could not help but feel wonder at the Path Technique that his father wanted to create since it will bind those new members to the tower and also give them a way to improve their speed of training that will enhance the might of the Sunlight Core.


    "We will use the Elder Brain''s abilities to make calctions and process information. Meanwhile, you and I will take care of the details that appear along the way. Remember, it is essential that the Sunlight Champion Path Technique does not create any sort of problem when they make the transformation into a Neo-Demon."


    Zatiel''s ultimate goal for the new members of the tower was to find those that prove themselves worthy of bing a Neo-Demon.


    Also, a Sunlight Champion should have a body that can improve rapidly when it makes the transformation.


    Seeing that their mission was clear, Zatiel sits down. He closes his eyes and starts tomunicate with Dante and the Elder Brain.


    With the Elder Brain''s processing abilities plus Dante and Zatiel''s speed of thought that is hundreds of times faster than those at his same Rank thanks to their Mind Force, it only took four weeks to create the first three levels of the Sunlight Champion Path Technique.


    An unexpected discovery during their research was that they theorized a method for a Sunlight Champion to improve its power without the use of the Sunlight Core, but since it will still need Zatiel''s help, there was no downside.


    It was only now that Zatiel opened his eyes, and it was clear that he was very tired.


    Since even as an Animus, maintaining that level of concentration and speed of thought for so long was very difficult.


    After resting for a moment, he notices something and looks at the top of the tower.


    ''EZ has left, it seems right, he was very close to the next step when he reached here, so in these four weeks his Bloodline Heart should have beenpleted.''


    "Dante, how are things going with the recruitment?"


    "We have located several tribes, father, and after monitoring them for a while and discarding those that do not meet our standards, we have approached them.


    Currently, we have one thousand and forty-nine individuals that want to join us. I am waiting for the number to reach one thousand and five hundred before transporting them here and then continuing the search for more individuals."


    Despite being separated from Dante''s main consciousness, the piece inside the Elder Brian can be considered an extension and not a different part, so they shared all their memories and emotions.


    "Good, remember to ensure their safety. No one will join us if we cannot even do that."


    Zatiel was very satisfied with the number that Dante gave him.


    "Father I have a suggestion."


    "Go ahead."


    Zatiel was intrigued by what the boy was going to propose.


    The Elder Brain body shakes for a second and from inside it, a small tadpolees out and after Dante uses the tendrils to grab it, he shows it to Zatiel.


    The mind ruler race is an asexual one, and the way they increase their number is by inserting the tadpoles generated by an Elder Brain into a living being, letting the tadpole eat their brain, and then take control of the body of that being by creating a new mind ruler.


    Zatiel knows about those tadpoles, and although the control they will have over those parasitized by these creatures is great, an army of ves could never rece one that goes to battle with true fighting spirit.


    Not to mention that it could backfire in the future if they ever found the way to free themselves of his control.


    But Zatiel did not let any of his thought appear on his face and let the boy talk, besides he also was curious why the tadpoles, that should be a horrible parasitic aberration, looked like a simple tadpole of the mortal world but golden in color.


    "This tadpole has the ability to join with someone, and by channeling a small amount of their energy, less than 0.5%, it can scan its surroundings at all times and send the information to me, also it can allow me to establish a telepathic link with the carrier."


    Dante stopped for a moment, and seeing Zatiel signaling him to continue, he spoke again.


    "I propose that every new member gets one of them imnted in their hands. With it, I can ensure their safety, guide them in case of danger, maintain constant surveince, and make sure that no one with evil intentions is among them."


    Zatiel was truly surprised by the boy''s n and innovation, and more than anything, he was proud seeing that he found a way to maintain his n''s safety and also search for any threat near them.


    "Excellent! Great job Dante! We will do a trial test with the new members and see if it works. If everything goes well, every Neo-Demon will have one of them imnted."


    Zatiel''s smile was radiant as he congratted the boy.


    Dante did not say a word, but the happiness and pride he was feeling right now was immense.

 Chapter 117: Battle in Wasteland

    With the matters regarding the Path Technique and ns for the new members of the n arranged, Zatiel addresses the situation of the control of the tower and the automatons.


    "Here are the cores that will allow you to gain full authority over the tower and the automatons I bought from the kingdom."


    Zatiel gives Dante two cores, one dark, and another silver.


    Dante grabs the two cores with his tendrils and deposits them inside the Elder Brian''s body.


    One second after he did that, there was a spike in the energy of the tower, but it immediately vanished.


    "Done father, I have obtained full control over the tower and the automatons. Right now the tower defenses will allow us to withstand the barrage of a Rank 4 individual as long they do not use their Law Avatar, and the Sunlight Core can release ten consecutive attacks with a power equal to a Rank 3 spell, and due to the Elder Brain controlling it, I can assure the uracy of any attack is 98.2% on Rank 3 life forms."


    Dante remained quiet for a moment after making some calctions he spoke again.


    "If we are willing to destroy the Sunlight Core, it can release a one-time attack equal to the power of a Rank 4 spell. The power of the core is in constant improvement and in two and half years it should be able tounch a Rank 4 spell without the need for destruction."


    Although the power released only by a Rank 4 spell was inferior to the one that can be done by using a Law Avatar, unless there was a life and death situation, most people will not release their avatars since the price for doing it was not small.


    "It is good enough for now. Tell me how efficient are the current surveince features of the tower."


    Zatiel was satisfied with his tower being able to release a Rank 4 spell, and although it will cost him the Sunlight Core, he will only need to obtain another Perpetual Dynamic Core to rece the lost one.


    "In a radius of fifty kilometers around the tower, I can maintain total surveince. I can see and hear everything, and in a radius of five hundred kilometers I can identify every single individual and detect any unauthorized intrusion."


    "Good. For the time being, focus all of your energy on the migration of the hordeposed of those races in Wastnd. Be sure to have enough of those tadpoles for every single one of them when they arrive. I will be at the peak of the tower finishing my Bloodline Heart and prepare to advance to Rank 2."


    After seeing that Dante had everything under control, Zatiel flies to the peak of the tower andnds right beneath the Sunlight Core before activating his Mind Force.


    .......


    Far away from the tower, in a part of the Wastnd, there was a horde of more than one thousand members and although they were all together, almost everyone was onlymunicating with the members of their own races.


    Among the races found here, you could see dark elves, grey dwarves, frog people, centaurs, gnolls, and maurs, among others.


    A great variety of emotions could be seen from the members of the horde, in the young ones you could see anticipation and excitement, but in the older ones, there was incertitude and sometimes fear.


    Not too long ago, all of their tribes were visited by a group of six powerful dragonborn, and they were offered the opportunity to join a n of one of the powerful organizations of the surface.


    Although a lot of promises were made, among them a Path Technique that was something all the ones present here wished to possess, the old ones know that the number of individuals on the surface that sees them and their race as nothing more than ves is not small.


    In the center of the horde, there were four people talking, three of them were men, consisting of a gnoll, a grey dwarf, and a maur. As for the woman, she was a dark elf.


    They were the elders of their respective tribes, and although their age had weakened their powers. It was thanks to their leadership that their tribes were able to survive in such a cruel and violent ce like the Wastnd.


    "So, what are your thoughts about their proposal? And the fact that we will be joining that n. Did you believe them when they said that we will obtain the same rights a Magi possesses."


    The one that spoke was the dark elf, and although she was old, she was still very beautiful.


    "Ahh, it is hard to say, remember that it is not the first time some of those powers try to recruit us, but most of the time, those who ept end up like guarding dogs with no true rights.


    Although this person seems to not discriminate among races due to the way those dragonborn talk about him, that treatment maybe is only to those with powerful bloodlines and not us."


    Replied the gnoll man with a solemn expression.


    Gnoll''s are supposed to be a savage and war-like race that only follows their impulses, but in this man''s voice, there was great wisdom and maturity.


    "It is true that there are dangers in epting his proposition, but there are also dangers if we refused it.


    It is obvious that those dragonborn find following that person the greatest honor in their existence, and if we denied them, who can say how they will act next.


    Although my old bones are not afraid of death, I cannot let the young one of my tribe pay that heavy price."


    This time the one who spoke was a member of the Maur race.


    This was a race that had the blood of giants in their bodies, but due to their ancestors being forced to live in horrible environments, their bloodline and body have devolved, giving them a hunched like appearance with a body around three-meter tall.


    "The man they call Prince should be the son of their leader, and though I cannot understand why, I get the feeling that he is extremely concerned about our safety."


    The grey dwarf spoke, as he looked at the boy floating in the sky, with four dragonborn warriors by his side.


    When the grey dwarf spoke, the other three also turned to look at the boy, and although he had the appearance of a child, the might that they were feeling from his body and especially his blood, was superior to the ones that that four-meter tall dragonborn gave.


    Dante''s eyes were closed and although he detected those four elders looking at him, he did not bother with them since he had more important things on his mind right now.


    His face was serious, and it was apparent that all of his concentration was upied on something.


    All of a sudden he opens his eyes and looks at the distance before immediately raising both of his palms and making the four dragon-born do the same.


    In the exact ce Dante was staring, two men appeared, and from the energy of their bodies and the red eyes on their forehead, you could see that they were Eye Lords, one of them at the Novice level, and the other at the Master.


    The moment those men appeared, they made their energy explode, making hundreds of fiend-like ws made of blood appear.


    The man at the Master level finished first andunched them against the horde, but just as the other Eye Lord was preparing to attack, he felt an immense sense of danger and before he could react, his body was impacted by ten beams of chaotic energy, killing him instantly.


    Once the Eye Lord died, the ws of blood he made vanished, but the ones made by the man at the Master level remained, and they were about to reach the horde with enough power to kill ny percent of it.


    But despite that, Dante remained calm as he saw this, and the answer to his state showed itself immediately.


    Hundreds of shields of dark ice appeared above the horde, creating a perfect dome, protecting them from ws.


    Every single one of those blood ws had the power to kill a Rank 0 life form easily, but despite being hundreds of them, they were not able to trespass the shields and reach the horde.


    The man was surprised by the events happening, since not only did his partner die just when they appeared, but the attack he charged with all of his power was blocked and not a single member of the horde died.


    From the center of the horde, a woman rises into the sky, making a pair of dark crystal wings appear on her back and a dome of ice covers her entire body.


    Sophia looked at the man with cold eyes, and her entire body glowed as her runic set was activated.


    The man was well informed and knew that despite Sophia being at Rank 1, she could fight with those at Rank 2 at the Master level by using runic sets.


    Despite the danger, the man did not run since he knew that failure was not an option for him.


    Sophia did not wait for the man to act again and shes in his direction as sheunched dozens of dark ice spears forcing him to get away from the horde.


    The events that happened were so fast that only now the horde realized how close they were to death, and the next things they saw were Dante and the five dragonborn positioning themselves above them.

 Chapter 118: Oceanic Nothingness

    Although the Wastnd was technically ayer of the Underground, some people did not consider it as such and only viewed it as a transitory ce to the inferioryers.


    This wasn''t just due to the poor living condition that thisyer has, but more importantly, the height of this ce was less than fifty meters.


    With such a narrow space, any fight among individuals capable of showing a fighting power above Rank 1, will create a destructive force powerful enough to change the environment and reduce everything to nothing around them.


    That was exactly what was happening as Sophia and the Eye Lord were fighting. They were constantlyunching spears of dark ice and fiend ws made of blood against each other, destroying everything in their path.


    Both had great speed and control over their bodies, so they were constantly moving around the ce, and a field of destruction was apanying them as their spells crashed against the ground and the ceiling.


    As the fight continued, frustration was starting to appear on the face of the Eye Lord. The number of fiend ws he was conjuring was less than the beginning, but their power has increased and it was certainly greater than the one carried in Sophia''s dark spears.


    Unfortunately for him, every single one of his ws crashed against the spears and they neutralized each other, leaving no winner.


    Neither of them was willing to show weakness, so they increased the power of their spells, and the surrounding destruction grew as well.


    The Eye Lord knew that his chance of being victorious was great since his energy pool was greater than his enemy and it was depleting at a slower rate since he did not use a runic set.


    But even if he manages to debilitate her, that does not mean he will be able to kill Sophia since those dragonborn that could release an attack powerful enough to disintegrate an Eye Lord were still present, and by that time, he will be so tired that even escaping will be up to luck.


    After a moment, the Eye Lord became resolute and his red eyes started to glow as he channels all the energy in him beforeunching a spell


    "Blood Fiend Form!"


    Blood started to appear around the Eye Lord''s body, transforming him into a twenty-meter tall creature with ws, horns, and a tail that seems entirely made of blood.


    The power of Eye Lord increased tremendously, and without dy, heunched himself against Sophia.


    Despite the increase in her enemy''s strength, Sophia''s eyes remained calm, and channeling all of her Abyss Aura and the power of her runic set to the limits, she conjures hundreds of small spears of ice, before making them fuse with each other, forming a dragon tail thirty-meters long and sending it against the blood fiend.


    The moment the dragon tail and the blood fiend crash against each other, a shock wave is generated that makes the ce around them tremble and the ceiling and ground break apart.


    The dragon tail was destroyed and although some damage was made to the blood fiend, it still remainedplete but his momentum had dissolved.


    The Eye Lord was preparing to resume his attack when he felt two crimson-colored eyes looking at him, and for the fraction of a second, his mind was clouded.


    Sophia''s Oblivion Eyes only affected him for an instant, but it was enough to decide the battle.


    When the Eye Lord was able to focus again, the thing he saw were two dark beams, carrying the same chaotic energy that killed his partner, shing against him at point-nk range, right in his chest.


    A great part of the blood fiend''s body chest was destroyed, showing the Eye Lord in its center, and sending him to crash against the ground with impressive speed.


    The Eye Lord''s condition was serious. He had lost his right arm and his chest was severely damaged.


    Seeing the poor condition of his enemy, Sophia''s eyes be colder and she channels her energy again, creating another dragon tail.


    Just as she was about to send the dragon tail against the Eye Lord and crush his body, a great sense of danger assaulted Sophia.


    Behind her, outside her dome of ice, a man covering in shadows appeared, carrying a grey dagger in his hand.


    The moment he appeared, he acted immediately, destroying a part of the dome of ice with the dagger, beforeunching an attack against Sophia''s back with the same weapon.


    The actions of the man were ruthless, precise, and experienced, demonstrating great skill in this type of surprise attack.


    The power behind the dagger was by no means simple, it had the ability to kill a Rank 2 life form if the attack was precise, but despite realizing that, Sophia did not lose calm.


    She channels all of her Abyss Aura, but this time, she was using her consciousness tounch the spell, and she was doing it with such an impressive speed, that it seems like she was waiting for this to happen.


    The dome of ice repaired itself immediately and its thickness and density increased greatly. Once that was done, a typhoon of Styx water was released from Sophia''s bodypletely filling the interior of the dome.


    The figures of Sophia and the man in shadows disappeared and the only thing you could see were the incredible powerful current of Styx water moving though the dome, disying an impressive corrosive might and destructive pressure.


    The power that those waters were disying should be enough to break the dome immediately, but thanks to the two of them working together it was able to contain the typhoon and increase exponentially his power by concentrating it in a small space.


    Three secondster the Styx water calms itself before disappearing, showing the interior of the dome.


    Sophia''s face was extremely pale due to the severe depletion in energy and her left arm was bleeding badly due to theceration that extended from her shoulder to her hand, as for the man in the shadows, the only thing of him that remained was the broken skeleton that she was holding in her right hand.


    It was only now that the Eye Lord was able to stand up, and when he saw the skeleton on Sophia''s hand he was shocked.


    Despite the man cover by shadows being weaker than him, the Eye Lord knew of his impressive assassination skills, but now he had been reduced to a set of bones in less than five second


    Although he saw that Sophia''s condition was poor, he wasn''t better, so, despite the fact that the punishment will be severe, the Eye Lord prepared to escape.


    Just as he was going to run from the ground, next to him, a man covered in lightning came out breaking the earth.


    The Eye Lord wasn''t able to react before the man pointed his palm at him and fired a st of energy, destroying his upper body and killing him.


    Despite achieving the amazing feat of giving the finishing blow to someone an entire Rank above him, Ezequiel did not show any emotion and just took his spatial ring before flying to where Sophia was.


    "Are you ok?, that injury seems to be affected by some sort of poison."


    Ezequiel looks at theceration on Sophia''s arms and detects a type of energy inside that was trying to continue its destruction but was stopped by an invisible wall.


    "I am fine, thanks to my bloodline, my resistance to this type of injury is very powerful."


    Sophia took a vial from her ring, and sshed the liquid inside it on her wound, making a grey gas expel from it.


    Seeing this, Ezequiel nods. His bloodline gives him an incredibly powerful body, but he knows that when ites to resistance against altered states, Sophia''s body was better.


    "It seems that the members of the Blood Eye n, from the Eye Dynasty, are set on getting revenge. I searched for other people as you were fighting, and it seems that the only ones present are these three."


    "Yes, it was to be expected, after all, the person that Zatiel almost killed during the expedition seems to have been special. There were not just people from the dynasty. Since this person is someone we both know, he is Clive."


    Sophia raises the skeleton in her right hand for Ezequiel to see.


    "He may have been reporting information about the movement around the tower, or he may have been contacted by the Blood Eye n to hire him for this assassination. Either way, they are dead and no more threat shoulde in the near future. I will stay here, helping Dante. You should go back to the tower and focus on advancing to the next Rank."


    The typhoon of Styx water was Sophia''s new Rank Spell known as ''Oceanic Nothingness'', and now she only needed a ce with a high amount of energy to help advance to the next Rank and the tower was the perfect ce for that.


    "I will. You should be extra careful here. This time we were able to detect them thanks to Dante, but the next time we may not be so lucky."


    "I know. But I must say that the abilities of the Animus to detect danger are impressive, those three were able to hide their presence but their emotions revealed their whereabouts."


    Ezequiel looked at the boy, and affection was present in his eyes.

 Chapter 119: Advance to Rank 2

    It was only when Dante saw that Sophia and Ezequiel had killed the enemies and, not counting the wound on Sophia''s arm, they were in top condition, that he rested and deactivated his Mind Force.


    He knew that these two people were the ones his father trusted the most and that had followed him from the beginning.


    Despite being of the same race and having a more powerful bloodline, Dante could not help but be impressed by the power they were able to disy.


    After all, he channeled the power of ten Abyssal st and only was able to eliminate a Novice Eye Lord, meanwhile, Sophia alone was able to severely injure Eye Lord at the Master level and kill a Rank 2 Magus without any help.


    And Ezequiel''s ability to hide from the perception of an Eye Lord and act in the exact moment when he could make the most damage was impressive.


    The moment he rxes, Dante feels a wave of tiredness assaulting him, due to the fact of the great stress and energy that using his Mind Force to find those three enemies took.


    The reason Dante was able to find them was due to him using one of the disciplines that an Animus can practice, known as irsentience.


    This discipline focuses on developing an Animus extrasensory perception that gives them the ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or events, and if you are talented and powerful enough, it was not restricted to the present time.


    As an Animus, Dante''s perception was impressive and although he was not able to detect the presence of those three enemies at the beginning, he felt a great feeling of hostilitying in his direction.


    Once that happened and seeing that he was not able to localize the people, Dante knew that they were not only hiding but also very powerful, so he immediately focused all of his Mind Power into irsentience and informed Ezequiel and Sophia about the danger before giving themand to the kobolds to be ready to act.


    Due to him being only a Rank 0 Animus, he was barely able to detect the three of them, and it was only when they were about to show up that their presence became more clear, and he saw their location.


    If his Rank as an Animus had been greater, then he would have detected them before they even got close to the horde, and ording to the information he had about this path of power, when irsentience reaches a high enough level, you could even glimpse a couple of second into the instant future.


    Although seeing two seconds into the future did not seem like much help, it could allow you to predict your enemies'' first move and make a perfect response, taking advantage of any possible w they could have.


    Of course, there were several limitations to this power, but still, it is incredibly useful and a killing tool if it is applied in the right form.


    "Prince, should we contact our brothers, and tell them to return in case of a new threat present itself."


    The one who asked that was the strongest of the kobolds that were following Dante.


    "No need, with uncle EZ in here we are able to respond to any threat that a Rank 2 individual could pose, besides the possibility of their sending more people at Rank 2 just for the sake of eliminating this horde is not likely. There may be some Rank 1, but our people are more than able to handle them."


    After some thought Dante rejects the kobold n. Even so, he contacted the rest of the groups that were searching for tribes in Wastnd.


    "Be aware of a possible dangering in your direction, in case anything happens, contact us immediately. Speed up the search ande here immediate once you have found your target, so we can start moving the horde to the tower"


    "Yes, Prince." The leaders of the teams responded immediately before going back to their work.


    Once that was out of the way, Dante examined the current condition of the horde, and when he saw their expressions, his eyes narrowed a little


    ''There is an upside to this situation. They were able to see a disy of our power right in front of them.''


    There was shock in every member of the horde as they still could not fully process the event that just happened.


    Out of nowhere, two people show up and they were going tounch a spell powerful enough to kill almost all of them, but they were not only stopped but also killed with their bodies disintegrated.


    This proves to them that the woman with crystal wings and the man covered in lightning were powerful enough to kill all of them even if they work together.


    "The threat has been neutralized and as long you remain under our watch we can assure your safety. We will wait for other groups to arrive before going to the Daybreak Magic Tower. In the meantime, you should rest."


    Dante''s voice was calm, but there was a great strength in his words that made every member of the horde that heard them obey.


    ........


    Zatiel had no idea of what was happening in Wastnd, but from the moment he gave the instruction to Dante and sent Sophia and Ezequiel to help him, he stopped concerning with thatpletely.


    He wanted the people surrounding him to be those that can make their own decision and not someone to whom he should hold their hand in every turn and save them every time a powerful enemy was present.


    Besides, with the abilities of the trio, they should be able to handle any situation that will need him.


    Right now, Zatiel''splete focus was on finishing his Bloodline Heart and making his Sun Force reach 150 points, so he could reach Peak Rank 1 and insert his energy into his consciousness before mastering a Rank Spell.


    Zatiel was already very close to both of those goals, so after ten days of consuming an immense amount of high energy food with his metabolism multiplied by one hundred, he manages toplete them.


    Normally the next step would have been to inject his Abyss Aura into his consciousness, but due to him having two different energy pools, Zatiel needed to do the same with his Sun Force as well.


    When they were on his body, both energy never truly interacted with each other, besides when his golden sun devoured some of his abyss aura. But even then, that was not something special since it would have happened with anything next to the sun.


    But now that they will be inside his consciousness and not limited to his body, Zatiel was nning to fuse the two of them as one.


    Zatiel took control over the golden energy that was his Sun Force and the dark energy that represented his Abyss Aura and sent it to his consciousness.


    Due to him using two different energies, the process was even more slowly than usual, and it required all of his concentration.


    Since it was something rted to his consciousness and he was sending energy with great destructive power inside, any sudden interruption could create a severe bacsh.


    Time passed, on the third day of him slowly charging his consciousness with energy, he felt a spike of energy close to him, but since it was happening inside the tower and there was no way someone at Rank 4 or beneath could have reached this ce without being detected, he did not worry and continued his work.


    The reason for the spike of energy was due to Sophia advancing to Rank 2 and the great increase in energy that she obtained.


    Even if she has mastered her Rank Spell and was at Peak Rank 1, normally she would have to umte energy for a couple of years before advancing, but by tapping in the tower reserves, she was able to make a smooth advance.


    Once she reached Rank 2, Sophia immediately contracted the energy that she was releasing so she would not disturb Zatiel and focus on her new power and abilities.


    It was after five weeks that Zatiel was able to fill his consciousness with all the Sun Force and Abyss Aura that it could contain at Peak-Rank 1, making it look like a dark and golden fog was filling it.


    With that done, Zatiel could finally start with mastering his Rank Spell, which he had selected from one of the presents in the Path Technique Aumvor Serpiternus, the one rted to necromancy and powerful destructive spell that he was using.


    But Zatiel''s n was not just to copy that spell, he wanted to make some alteration and make it fuse, not only with his Ring of Abyssal Fire but also his Sun Domain.


    What Zatiel wanted to do was extremely difficult.


    Sophia had an Emperor Bloodline and was part of the race with the greatest talent of the universe, and yet she found it very hard to fuse both of her Rank Spell and was only able to do it, due to both of them having a simr nature in their origin.


    Of course, had she chosen to use a less powerful Rank Spell that Oceanic Nothingness, it would have been easier, but the goal of the Neo-Demon woman has always been, be strong enough to help Zatiel, so she wished the mightiest one around.


    With the ability to reduce a Rank 2 life-form to bones in less than three seconds, you could say it met her expectations.


    Zatiel wanted to achieve the fusion of three spells and since his Sun Domain usedpletely different energy, the difficulty increased exponentially, but if he were to achieve it, then the power of that spell could reach the standard of a Rank 3 spell once he advances to Rank 2.


    Before, it would have been impossible for him to fuse both the power of his Golden Sun and Abyss Aura, and at most he would have made a mix between them, but now that they were in his consciousness, there was a chance.


    Once everything was ready, Zatiel raises into the sky, five hundred meters above the tower and activates his Sun Domain, making a domain of golden mes appear in a radius of fifty meters around him, and immediately after that, he activates his Ring of Abyssal Fire before transforming it into thousands of small embers filling the domain.


    Zatiel closes his eyes and adopts a meditative position in the air, as he concentrates fully on the spell.


    The hours passed, one after another, but Zatiel''s focus continued the same and did not diminish for an instant.


    When the first day was about to finish, the embers of abyssal fire inside the domain started to blend with it, making it seem as if the golden and dark mes were bing one and the domain itself started to expand.


    When this happened, the skeletons of two creatures began to form inside the domain using the dark golden mes as material.

 Chapter 120: Undying Leviathan and Nether Crow

    A great horde was exiting the Wastnd by the tunnel close to the Sinux Magic Tower and the number of individuals forming it reached close to two thousand.


    This type of scene was bound to call the attention of those Magus that were nearby, and some of them were so terrified that they flew away immediately after seeing it.


    Of course, those that run away were mostly Novice Rank 1 as for the rest, they chose to see from the distance.


    A Rank 2 Magus was watching this horde as well and although he was curious and had the intention of approaching it. When he was about to do it, he felt a pair of eyes looking at him, which immediately made him stop.


    The Rank 2 Magus traced the origin of those eyes to the young man at the lead of this horde whose body seemed to contain a demonic storm inside it, and despite discerning that the man was only at Rank 1, the Magus did not dare to tempt his luck and he remained still.


    At the head of the horde, there was Ezequiel and Dante and nking it by its side, there were kobolds, disying their mighty Dragonborn constitution.


    The number of kobolds apanying the horde was almost three hundred, with eighty percent of them being very young and had not reached Rank 1 yet.


    Due to Zatiel order and Rax careful management and systematic promotion, the number of Neo-Demons that were born inside the cave was more than two hundred.


    Dante had chosen to bring these children first to the tower since the appearance of what will seem as several hundred Rank 1 Dragonborn''s will raise some questions.


    The rest of the kobolds that remained inside the cave were the members of the first generation that were transformed into Neo-Demons and were using the formation that Zatiel had constructed to increase their power.


    To them, remaining inside the cave longer was not something that truly matters but to those children that had never seen the exterior, it was entirely different.


    Those first-generation kobolds will be joining the n systematically, with small groups mixing with each new horde that they will recruit from Wastnd.


    As Dante guided the horde to the magic tower, there was annoyance on his face and the reason was that they were dyed.


    In his original n, they should have exited the Wastnd three weeks ago.


    The reason for this setback was due to the other groups that were searching for tribes were also attacked by Eye Masters of the Blood Eye n.


    Due to them having a numerical advantage and thinking they were just fighting Dragonborns, those Eye Masters were careless.


    And by the time that they understood that their enemies were not merely Dragonborn''s but Neo-Demons with the bloodline of Metallic Dragon, it was toote.


    Every Eye Masters was massacred and although the kobolds ended with several degrees of injuries, with some having suffered significant wounds, there were no casualties and Dante was able to heal all of them when they returned.


    Dante was sure that when the news that two Eye Lords and more than fifty Eye Masters died during this attack reaches the Eye Dynasty, the leaders of the Blood Eye n will be furious, but since they were already enemies, there is no point on being polite and the best way was to just kill everybody they sent.


    And now with the presence of the tower, and the fact that they will not dare to send a Rank 4 individual against them due to the threat that Heinz represented, there was little that the Blood Eye n could do in terms of direct confrontation.


    The Daybreak Magic Tower was very close to the entrance of Wastnd so, despite the horde having a great number of children and old people, they were approaching it very fast, and in no time they were able to see the tower at the distance.


    As they got closer, curiosity was among the integrants of the horde due to the two sources of light they were seeing above the tower, one smaller but brighter and another bigger and whose light had a dark golden color.


    After a couple of hours of marching, all of them were able to see clearly the magnificent might of the tower and the origin of those two balls of light, and they were shocked.


    It was not the imposing magic tower with inscriptions that resembled goldenva or the mighty mes of the Sunlight Core the reason for their surprise.


    The reason for their shock was the man floating in the sky, in the center of a domain of fire that covers more than two hundred meters in diameter and that contained the skeleton of two extraordinary creatures, that despite being only bones, seem to be alive from the way they were moving inside the dark golden mes.


    One of those skeletons was a massive one hundred meters long whale-like creature, with a pyramid-like head and a ''three-way'' jaw, in which the two sides of the lower jaw split apart at the middle giving it a terrifying appearance.


    The weight of this massive being was ridiculous, and yet it was able to swim through the golden mes at an impressive speed.


    The second skeleton corresponded to a bird-like creature with a ten-meter height and whose wings reached almost four times that size; in its skull, the number of eye sockets was three on each side of its head, each one next to the other.


    Each time this bird waved its wings, it vanished, only to appear on the other end of the dome instantly.


    The moment Zatiel''s figure was clear in the eyes of the kobolds, all of them immediately kneeled and an immense devotion and admiration could be seen in their eyes.


    The emotions on their faces proved that their actions were not due to politeness or etiquette due to them seeing their leader, but something that came from the soul of every single kobold.


    When the rest of the horde saw this, under themand of their elders they also kneeled but unlike the kobold who only had reverence in their eyes, some of these people were showing fear and apprehension for being in the presence of someone so powerful and whose spell made them feel terrified.


    The only people that were not kneeling were Ezequiel and Dante.


    Dante noticed these emotions in the members of the horde, but he did not have anything to say, after all, he did not expect them to be like those kobolds who from the moment they were born, were told about their mighty Ancestor that was responsible for their glorious life and heritage.


    The magic knowledge that Dante has is immense due to his soul being formed with the cloned A.I. Chip, so he knew the spell that Zatiel was training and there was immense admiration in his eyes.


    The Rank Spell that Zatiel was mastering was known as "Incarnation of the Undying Leviathan and Nether Crow".


    Just like its name says, this spell will allow you to summon an incarnation of those creatures to fight by your side, but there were several ws in the original spell.


    The incarnation of the Undying Leviathan was an incredibly powerful creature but due to its immense weight that could easily reach thousands of tons, its speed was too slow and the incarnation of the Nether Crow had the ability to move at incredible speeds but the controls over its body was wed meaning it could not stop whenever it wanted or make maneuvers as it moved.


    There was also the fact that to maintain this spell, even if it was transformed into your Rank Spell, the energy it needed was immense.


    The real creatures that these incarnations were based on did not have these problems due to the help of their bloodline and magic abilities, but these were made by using energy and it could notpare to the original, at least not until the spell was upgraded.


    Despite all these ws, Zatiel had chosen it, and Dante was able to see that his father was able to fix all the problems in the spell and make even stronger that the original version.


    Zatiel fused the Sun Domain and Ring of Abyssal Fire, so he could create an environment stable and with enough energy so he could make the incarnations grow inside it, and due to the Undying Leviathan and Nether Crow being created out of the special source of power that this dark golden fire was, the energy to maintain them will be much less.


    And since they were made from the same dark golden fire that filled the domain, as long they remain inside it they will be able to disy amazing power and the control over their bodies will be impable, erasing all the problems of the spell.


    Dante, Ezequiel, the kobolds, and the entire horde remained still and continued watching as the power in the domain increased and the might of those skeletons rose.


    The might of the spell that Zatiel was creating with his consciousness was so immense, that his power and energy had long gone reach a level that was the highest possible he could have in Rank 1, so while he was focusing all of his concentration on the Rank Spell, his advancement to Rank 2 was going on automatically.

 Chapter 121: Clan members

    Dante has been monitoring Zatiel''s condition from the beginning by using the Elder Brain, so he notices his advancement in Rank, and without dy, he increases the amount of energy that the tower was provided to him.


    A golden whipes from the Sunlight Core and a transparent one originating from the containers of natural energy reached Zatiel, charging in his body and consciousness with an immense amount of energy.


    With this immense amount of energy at his disposal, Zatiel''s promotion to Rank 2 continued without any problem.


    The amount of dark golden mes inside the domain started to increase to the point that they covered the figure of Zatiel and the Nether Crow, and it continued until even the massive figure of the Undying Leviathan vanished from sight.


    The amount of dark golden mes continued increasing, and it reached the point that the domain could not contain them, and some whips of fire were being discharged to the exterior.


    When the horde saw this, most of them started to be nervous, as they could feel the immense amount of power that was in that fire and knew that it could kill most of them instantly but seeing that neither the kobolds nor the two people at the lead moved, they remained still.


    The hours passed, and the amount of dark golden mes inside the domain continued increasing, releasing more whips of mes to the exterior that extended for dozens of meters.


    The members of the horde that were seeing this immense ball of mes, had the illusion of being in the presence of a dark golden sun that was releasing sr res.


    It was on the third day, since Zatiel started his advance to Rank 2, that the amount of fire inside the domain reached a point, where the whips of mes it released, due to its inability to contain all that power, extended for almost one hundred meters.


    Seeing this, the members of the horde started to feel fear, as the domain of dark golden fire gave them the feeling it was going to explode at any time and incinerate their bodies, but seeing that the elders of their tribes remained quiet, they just waited.


    It wasn''t that the elders of their tribes were not worried about the danger that the domain of fire present to them, but they did not believe that the man that was sent to recruit their tribes only did it so they will die, not to mention that they were in his tower and his people were together with them.


    When the domain shrinks it to almost half its size, an immense burst in power was felt inside it, and like the members of the horde feared, the dark golden mes exploded, covering everything in a radius of one thousand meters instantly.


    The people in the horde started to scream, as some parents were trying to grab their children, but before the hysteria could grow up, a harsh bird cry and monstrous roar were heard.


    "ROOOAAARRR!!!"


    "AWW! AWW!"


    The might inside the cry and roar was immense and made all the members of the horde freeze, and they felt their blood telling them they were in the presence of a superior being.


    It was only now that they had a moment to see their surroundings and really feel the effect of the mes in their bodies that they realized that no damage at all was done to them.


    The golden mes inside the domain may have been fused with the abyssal fire, but it did not mean that it loses its healing abilities. All the opposite they were increased, and the members of the horde were feeling that now.


    The wounds and damage done to their bodies by decades of fights and living in a horrible environment have been healed at an impressive speed.


    Dante and Ezequiel had seen through the effects of the mes from the beginning so they did nothing and allow them to reach them, as for the kobolds, they had a blind trust in their Ancestor so they did not feel any sort of fear when they me reached their bodies.


    Of course, these effects were only due to Zatiel considering them as allies, if the dark golden fire were to touch his enemies, not only will the mes burn their bodies, but now it will also severely harm their consciousness.


    Zatiel figure could be seen in the air, and the amount of power that was inside him had increased tremendously. There was no change in his body, besides the fact that his Eye of Life and Creation was now glowing even brighter and a great amount of energy was being contained in it.


    He had his domain active, its diameter had reached five hundred meters and the power of the dark golden mes inside it was immense.


    The Undying Leviathan and Nether Crow were no longer mere skeletons but fully developed now.


    The Undying Leviathan was covered in blue scales and an extremely hard exoskeleton was covering his head and other parts of its body, where you could find weak spots like the neck. Its size had duplicated and its length was now two hundred meters.


    As for the Nether Crow, its entire body was covered with feathers that seem to resemble obsidian crystals. Its six eyes were red, all with different forms of inscriptions inside them, and there was also an enormous red eye on each of its wings, carrying the same kind of inscription.


    Despite the fact that they were incarnations made of energy and not truly alive, one could feel some form of vitality and life force inside these creatures thanks to the Law of Life and Law of Creation that Zatiel golden fire carried.


    Zatielnded in the head of the Undying Leviathan, and the Nether Crow shrunk itself before sitting on his shoulder.


    The Undying Leviathan waved its fins, and with impressive speed, it moved its thousands of tons of body carrying the domain with him, like if it was swimming in a sea of dark golden mes, until it was in front of the horde.


    Zatiel resembles a divine god, with his body being bathed in dark golden mes, riding such a marvelous creature, and having another on his shoulder.


    "From now on you will be part of my n, there are several rules that you must follow and the most important ones are these two: My orders are absolute and no infighting is allowed. Anyone that break those rules will die"


    Zatiel''s words were firm, and it was obvious that he will not allow any refusal.


    Although being punished by death if you disobey someone''s order is harsh, the members of the horde did not have a problem with it, since they were going to be under his leadership, and a true leader will never allow any sort of insubordination among the people under him.


    What surprised them was the fact that he was forbidding infighting since it wasn''t umon for those that recruit such a great number of people to promote battles among them, so they could eliminate the weaker ones.


    This rule made a lot of the smaller tribes happy since it will mean they will have time to grow without the fear of being attacked by the rest.


    As the members of the horde were talking among each other, one person walks to Zatiel direction and stops right in front of the Undying Levithan head.


    The one who walked was the elder of the gnolls tribe and despite him trying to stay calm, being in front of a creature that could swallow him was terrifying, but still, he breathed deeply before bowing.


    "My Lord, I am Knox. May I ask you some questions?"


    This attracted the attention of every member of the horde since they wanted to see how Zatiel acted with those of a different race.


    The prejudice that Magus had shown them during their entire life was great, due to them having weak bloodlines and a poorly developed civilization.


    But to Zatiel, things like that were meaningless since he himself was of a different race than human, and no matter how weak their bloodlines are, in the future they could improve it or right away change it if they be Neo-Demon.


    So without any sign of dissatisfaction, he spoke.


    "A record that stiptes the rules and its operations will be given to you along with the Path Technique and other items, and it should answer any sort of question you may have. Since you were brave enough to stand in front of me and are showing enough respect, I will answer your question myself, but be concise."


    When Knox hears the way Zatiel spoke, and the way he was treating him, he calms down greatly and he bes excited when he finds out they will give them the Path Technique immediately without any sort of trial.


    But he focuses and proceeds to make the question that generated the greater anxiety among the horde.


    "What will be our status in the n, and what jobs we will have to perform."


    Your position in the organization and whether or not you will be forced to do dangerous missions was something that anyone joining a new power will ask themselves.


    "Every one of you is currently an ''outer member'' of the Daybreak n. To advance to the position of ''inner member'', you must reach Rank 1 using the Sunlight Champion Path Technique that will be given to you. How to reach the next levels, as well as their privileges and responsibilities will be in the record."


    Zatiel words were loud, and every member of the horde heard them.


    Happiness appeared on the gnoll''s face when he heard this. What Zatiel was describing was practically a meritocracy, where they will be rewarded by their actions and it will not take into consideration their origin or race.


    That was something that Knox was more than willing to ept, but he did not lose focus and waited for the next answer.


    "As for your jobs, I will not force one on you. The tower will have a list with all sorts of missions, you can choose among them. Each mission will give you a certain amount of points that can be used to buy resources or use the facilities in the tower. You could also trade them directly for magic crystals."


    When they hear this, not only Knox but every member of the horde smiled as they felt the stress leaving their body, now that they know that their biggest fear was not going to happen.


    Although those missions will obviously carry some sort of danger, they can choose by themselves whether or not they want to face those trials and will not be forced to be cannon fodder.


    "Thank you, my Lord."


    Knox bowed again and this time the sincerity in his action was greater since none of the fear from the beginning was present.


    "Follow my rules. Work hard and I can guarantee that your path to power will not be hindered by anyone."


    After saying those words, Zatiel signals Dante to continue, before going back to the tower apanied by Ezequiel.

 Chapter 122: Rank 3 Runemaster

    A year and a half had passed from the moment the first tribes of Wastnd reached the Daybreak Magic Tower and became part of the Daybreak n.


    Great changes had happened in the territories around the tower since now there was a city built around it, popted for thousands of people of dozens of different races.


    This city did not have an official name at first, but due to the fact that there was a golden light always immersing it and most of its inhabitants having the ability to release golden light from inside their bodies, it was called the City of the Sun.


    Due to the constant recruitment made from the Wastnd and the news about the great quality of life that people of diverse races could have inside the n, the number of tribes that joined was huge and it did not take long for the number of people forming part of the Daybreak n to reach over ten thousand.


    From time to time you could see some Magusing to the tower and buying all types of items.


    They were not members of the n, but external people that were using the tower to buy all sorts of articles, since like most, the Daybreak Magic Tower worked as amercial location open for everyone.


    Despite the tower being quite new, the amount of Magus that were buying stuff in it was not small and the reason was due to the price for Rank 1 runes, magic equipment and potions were incredibly low.


    Dante had created a factory in the level where the warehouse was and in there, with the use of the Elder Brain and automatons, was making all these items.


    Of course, even with the Elder Brain, the ability to start creating Rank 1 runes and other stuff out of nowhere was impossible, but Zatiel, Sophia, and Ezequiel had uploaded their memories about their profession and the diverse amount of things they created in it.


    With that information, Dante used the Elder Brain to make those automatons copy the patterns and movements he had recorded in his memory and create the magical equipment, runes, and potions.


    Due to they being only copies and not being created by someone with actual expertize, the quality of these items were average, but since there was almost no expense in creating them, besides the value of their raw materials, the price at which they were sold was very low, and their quantities were tremendous so the ie that the tower gained was immense.


    One thing interesting was that every Magus that visited the tower behaved very carefully when they interacted with the members of the n.


    This attitude was due to the events that happened not long after the first tribes of Wastnd joined the Daybreak n.


    A group of Magi, in which there was a Rank 2 Magus, were visiting the City of the Sun, and a group of children from the frog-people race passed by their side.


    The children didn''t do anything to them, but these Magus, especially the one at Rank 2, were extremely evil and vicious, and seeing a group of individuals of what they considered an inferior race near them infuriated them.


    The Rank 2 Magus did not say anything and sent a spell with enough power to disintegrate the bodies of those children. In his mind, this was a fair punishment to an individual of a race like that for daring to be near him.


    There was no way that these children could survive the attacks of a Rank 2 Magus, but luckily for them, on each of their hands was what they called a Sun Tadpole which has been monitoring them and their surroundings at all times.


    Before the spell of the Magus could touch the children, a beam of golden light was fired from the Sunlight Core andnded in their bodies, covering in a golden membrane and protecting them from any damage.


    Despite being a vicious and cruel person, the Magus was not stupid and understood immediately that the leader of the n values the life of these children greatly. And by the power he just saw in the beam of light, he knew that it was more than enough to kill him.


    This group of Magi were preparing to escape from the City of the Sun, but before they could leave, all of them feel a pair of crimson eyes looking at them, knocking unconscious all those Rank 1 Magus immediately and although the one at Rank 2 was able to withstand a couple of second, his fate was the same.


    When they woke up, they were at the periphery of the city floating in the sky, with their extremities extended, and their energy and body paralyzed


    The Rank 2 Magus immediately started to scream that they should be released or else their family head wille to look for them and the price they will pay was something they could not afford.


    The answer he got were small threads of a dark liquid infiltrating his blood vessels, as well as the ones on hispanions.


    All of them started to scream immediately once the Styx water entered their bodies, and started to rot them from the inside out, but despite the immense pain they were feeling, the water never touched their vital organs, ensuring that they could live for a long time.


    It was on the third day from the moment these groups of Magus started to scream due to the horrible torture, that an old man hade to the city.


    This man was the patriarch of the family to which this group was part of, and when he saw the state of his descendants, he became furious.


    He was ready to take the members of his family away and destroy the city under them, for daring to harm his people but before he could even charge a spell, from the Sunlight Core, a dozen beams of light were fired against him.


    The man was confident in his abilities and was sure that the power of a newly made magic tower could not harm him.


    Due to his overconfident attitude, by the time he felt the power in those beams of light, it was toote, and due to the amazing uracy of those attacks, all the twelve beams reached his body, creating an immense explosion of golden mes.


    By the time his figure was visible again, the Rank 3 Magus only had the upper side of his body left, and even that was badly wounded, so without a second thought, he immediately ran away.


    Unfortunately for the man, just like his people he was a wicked individual and the number of enemies he had was not small, so when they found out about his condition, they immediately attacked him, killing not only him but also his entire family.


    As for those being tortured in the sky above the City of the Sun, they lived for another entire month of pure pain before dying.


    A family headed by a Rank 3 Magus had a lot of power in the Aeternum Empire so when the news that they were exterminated due to the events that started with a member of this one trying to harm children of another race part of the Daybreak n, it raises a hugemotion around the empire.


    The name of Zatiel Daybreak was already known throughout the empire due to his marvelous rune master skill and the events happening in the expedition of the fallen star where he killed two Eye Lords, disying monstrous talent by jumping an entire Rank in battle power.


    And now, just a couple of yearster, he has established a thriving n with more than ten thousand members and the power to kill Rank 3 life forms if they try to invade his territory.


    The fact that he was able to achieve all of this, and not even being forty years old, made a lot of people wondering how could someone be so perfect.


    Although some people on the empire imed that he obtained all of it thanks to him being under the leadership of Heinz, those who know better understood that the rtionship between them was not so simple.


    Regardless of what the heads of those families and ns thought, they made sure that their people understood that if they offended the Daybreak n or harm their members, then they could be considered dead since no one will dare to try to rescue them, so they must be very careful when they visit the City of the Sun.


    ........


    Zatiel was in hisboratory, and there was an immense pile with all sorts of material on one side and a bunch of runes inscribed on the skin of magic creatures on the other.


    He knew that the amount of time left before the invasion started was not enough to increase his body transformation as a Neo-Demon nor to increase his energy pools, so he focused all of his time in two goals.


    One of those goals was to increase his skills as a Runemaster and the other was to reach Rank 1 Animus, so he could use his Mind Force without the need of tapping into the mind magic of the Elder Brain since he could generate it on his own.


    Luckily, he could advance in both of them at the same time by having his Mind Force activate to increase his body functions and concentration, increasing the speed at which he could practice his rune crafting as well the quality of it.


    Zatiel''s abilities as a Rank 2 Runemaster had reached his peak long ago and the only reason he was not able to progress was due to his energy shortage, so he was able to be a Rank 3 Runemaster very soon after advancing to Rank 2 Neo-Demon.


    What he wanted to do was create Rank 3 Runic Set for him, Ezequiel, and Sophia, and although the amount of time they will be able to have it active at the beginning will be less than thirty seconds before beingpletely exhausted, it will be an excellent trump card.


    The runic set he had in mind was veryplicated, and he needed more practice so he had been creating dozens Rank 2 Runic sets for the Neo-Demons as well hundreds of Rank 1 Runic sets for the Sunlight Champions that will be joining him in the invasion.


    Even though he would have wanted for the Sunlight Champions to also use Rank 2 Runic sets, they could not handle that amount of depletion in their vitality and energy.


    The ones that the kobold will use are only Low Rank 2, since that is the maximum they can handle unless they wanted to be drained in less than a minute, and in this world war the fights will not be short and the number of enemies they will have to face will be hundreds in each great battle.


    Zatiel was preparing to start a new runic set when he heard a voice in his head.


    "Father, the members of the Scientia Kingdom have arrived and they bring the information that you wanted."


    Dante has been waiting for Zatiel to be unupied before contacting him since he did not want to create a problem during his work.


    Zatiel''s eyes narrowed when he heard that, and a solemn expression appeared on his face as well as immense interest could be seen in his eyes.


    "Bring them here. I want to speak to them immediately"


    "Yes, father."


    ''They arrived just in time, or else they would have to wait until I came back from the war. Let''s see what information they have over the event that ended up in my demise as an Abyssal Lord.''

 Chapter 123: Incarnation of Death and Destruction

    Zatiel along with Nathan, David, and Henry were in a hall thatcked any sort of decoration, and the only things you could find in it were some chairs and a table.


    This was a ce meant to receive visits, and due to Zatiel''sck of interest for any sort of fancy things, he didn''t bother with decorating it.


    "I must say that I am impressed by how far you have advanced in less than two years since we built the tower. The people under you have reached a number above ten thousand, and your organization and strategies are very useful since I can see the separation between the races is being erased."


    There was a clear expression of admiration on the faces of Nathan as he spoke.


    When they arrived at the City of the Sun, the three Magus could not help but be surprised by how good the quality of life was.


    What impresses them the most was the fact that the diverse races interacted with each other and did not confine themselves to their own people, something verymon to see in organizations that had groups with different origins.


    The reason for their unity was due to the rewards being multiplied by a factor of 1.5 every time once more than one race was part of a group that performed a mission.


    In normal missions, there was not much effect, but in those that they risked their lives and had to always have the back of the other, the bonds that were created were very deep, and something that created reverberations among the entire members of their tribes.


    That was only one of the strategies that Dante put in motion to motivate the thousands of members of the n to not only increase their power as individuals but also as a single entity that can work as one, under the leadership of someone.


    To achieve that type of goal, an intense sense of belonging must be created in the diverse tribes and races, so they see the n not only as an organization that they joined but a home for which they are willing to die.


    Dante chose to create a sense of safety and happiness among the people of the diverse races, and he approached that by focusing on their children.


    The events in which the Daybreak n chose to torture a group of Magus that had a Rank 2 among them, and fight against a Rank 3 Magus all because they dare try to harm a couple of frog-people children made all the races extremely satisfied.


    More ns were made after this, in which the children could attend a school where they were taught all types of magic knowledge, history, war strategies among other things.


    Although the children did not find this very useful, rewards were implemented so those who prove their hard work will obtain help from the Sunlight Core, to make their advance as Sunlight Champion easier.


    The satisfaction that the parents and elders of the tribes feel seeing their young ones not only safely increase in power but also obtain the skill so they could choose all types of paths in the future was immense.


    Seeing their families and friends grow, in a ce where they were safe and allowed them to increase their power, made those races that were fighting just to survive not too long ago feel like they were in a dream.


    Zatiel did not have much to say about Nathan''spliments since from the moment the first tribes arrived at the tower, he handed all the responsibilities of management to Dante.


    The boy was perfect for the job thanks to the Elder Brain allowing him to do thousands of tasks at the same time, disying one hundred percent of his abilities.


    "Thank, I don''t want to be rude, but I have a lot of things to do and too little time, so we should go right to business."


    Zatiel did not like courtesy, especially when he had so much work left, but since he had a good impression of these people, he was being polite.


    "Oh, yes. Sorry for the dy but the information that you wanted, is even more special than I thought, and although your payment will be enough, the way to deliver the information will be through this."


    Nathan took a white orb from his rings carrying all sorts of inscriptions over it.


    Zatiel was surprised when he saw the orb since even with all his knowledge, he had no idea what it was.


    But Nathan immediately exined its effect and why he was using it to give the information.


    "This is known as the orb of distortion, and when I activate it, the message with the information that you want will be reproduced, but although you will haveplete ess to that information if you try to share it with someone else, your memories about that information will be clouded. Are you still willing to go with the transaction?"


    Nathan exined very carefully the effect of the orb and was waiting for Zatiel''s answer.


    Zatiel was impressed with the effect of the orb, since to be able to install such an impressive and precise effect on an object, the person who built it has to have a mastery over thews equal to a Being of Laws.


    "Can I have more people hear this information?"


    "Up to four people besides you can hear it," Nathan rxed greatly when he heard Zatiel answer since it meant that he was willing to continue with the purchase.


    Zatiel nodded and sent a message to Ezequiel, Sophia and Dante toe to the hall before passing a crystal to Nathan.


    "There is the payment."


    The Magus smiled when he obtained the crystal, and after a quick check, he saved it in his spatial ring.


    The three Neo-Demons arrive immediately and Zatiel proceeds to exin why he calls them and the importance of the information through the Chaotic-Core.


    "The information that we are about to obtain will help us understand the current situation on the Abyss and the Nine Hells, and will help us in case we made some incursion into those nes."


    The expression of the three be very serious when they hear that, since they understand that their race has a direct connection with the Abyss, and the usefulness of knowing the condition of the ne was immense, so they just nodded and proceeded to sit down.


    "You can start."


    Zatiel gave the signal to Nathan and he immediately sent his energy into the orb, making it act.


    The orb raises into the air, and after a second a voicees out. Despite being only a recording, the wisdom in it was so immense that you could feel it.


    It was clear that whoever recorded his voice in it, was someone very powerful and whose knowledge greatly surpassed most Being of Laws.


    "The Blood Wars is the ancient and endless conflict among the two great fiend nes of the universe, the Nine Hells of Baator popted by the cunning andwful evil, the devils, and the Infinite Layer of the Abyss home of the mad and chaotic evil, the demons. This fight has existed from the Beginning of Time before the Magi World was even created.


    Other evil races had also meddled in this conflict, like the inhabitants of Pandemonium and Hades, but they merely acted as backstage yers. The truly involved parties have always been the devils and demons.


    Its origin and why even after billions of years it has not stopped were things that have created hundreds of hypotheses among those who research it. My personal opinion is based on three points, geography, idealism, and power."


    When it reached this part, Zatiel''s eyes narrowed since as someone that was a main character in the Blood Wars, he knew that this individual''s understanding of the conflict was very deep.


    "The two nes were connected by the Styx River, and this connection was stable enough to let even billions of demons and devil use it, to sail into the other ne and wreak havoc, and since unlike portal, there was no payment needed, even Rank 1 fiend could use it.


    As for idealism, both fiend races believe that they represent the epitome of evil, with the demon defending chaotic evil and the devil supportingwful evil, making the two races hate each other the moment they are born.


    As for the third point and the reason I think Abyssal Lords and Archdevils truly care for this war, was that when a demon kills a devil and vice versa, they be stronger and their soul bes purer, helping them advance in the Ranks. The reason why this happens, ording to my understanding is that in one point devils and demons were a single mighty fiend race, that for an unknown reason split and now when one of these fiends kill its counterparts, they be closer to their origin."


    If before he was surprised, now Zatiel was shocked since what this person just spoke was one of the greatest secrets of the universe, and although he made some mistakes, he was still very close to the truth.


    Zatiel had to admit that when ites to knowledge, this person was possibly the greatest holder in the universe.


    "The Blood Wars mostly affected the first of the Nine Hells, Avernus, and the top sixtyyers of Abyss, creating great destruction in these two areas and damaging their origins, hence theck of guarding level Being of Laws in those ces.


    Despite the great implications that the Blood Wars had, and that it generated ripples that affected the entire universe, it was very rare to see Archdevils and Abyssal Lords act, since the way these fiends achieve their Rank was by signing a contract with their home nes to be guardians of their respectiveyer fusing their souls with the origin of these, making their power outside them greatly diminished.


    But all of that changed when he appeared, the first Abyssal Lord in the history of the universe that achieved the Rank of a Being of Laws, by his own means, without the need to seek the help of the Abyss.


    The one whose actions created such big repercussions, that the entire universe was affected by them, the ruler of the first seventyyers of the Abyss, although no one knows his name, due to his actions he was given the title of Incarnation of Death and Destruction!"

 Chapter 124: Transforming Hell into the Abyss

    "The Incarnation of Death and Destruction not only was able to be a Being of Laws by his own means, having a power that belongs only to him and that it did not diminish no matter what happened with the Abyss but also, like the rest of the Abyssal Lords, he was able to channel the Origin Power of theyers that he ruled.


    Even though the first sixtyyers of Abyss, that were ruled by him, had their origin damaged due to the billions of years of fights among the devils and demons, the increase in power that he could obtain by channeling their Origin Power, was enough to make him virtually undefeatable in them.


    And that was even more true in theyers from sixty-one to seventy that had their origin intact.


    The origin of this Abyssal Lord was unknown and trying to find anything about him was practically impossible. ording to my research, he can use a specialw that allows him to find out those that had a connection with him, so he used that to track them down and erases anyone who knew anything about him from existence, making his identity an absolute mystery.


    To this day, even after the things he did, no one truly knows his appearance due to him always being covered in shadows made from hisws."


    Zatiel was once again surprised by this man''s wisdom.


    He finally epted that this man was someone that had knowledge that could not be measured and proceeded to remain calm as he heard the recording.


    "Due to him ruling theyers of the Abyss in which the Blood Wars happened, he was a central character in it, and the number of devils that died by his hand could be easily counted in billions.


    It was a one hundred thousand years after he ascended to Abyssal Lord, an age that could be considered extremely youngpared to the other Abyssal Lords that had lived for hundreds of millions of years, that he made the unthinkable and alone charged to Avernus.


    Despite the first of the Nine Hells having its origin damaged, its size was not inferior to a High World and was able to create a few Archdevils of the level of Being of Laws.


    These Archdevils could use the Origin Power of Avernus to increase their powers and because they thought that the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was just like the rest of the chaotic and mad Abyssal Lords, only two of them went to intercept him.


    These actions were also motivated by the Archdevil''s neurotic and scheming mind, making it very difficult for them to work in big groups since they always thought that others would attack them.


    Although their way of thinking was not wrong since history has proven them right in more than one time.


    These two Archdevils were average in fighting powerpared to those of the same Rank, so they acted just like what you would expect from their race and developed all types of machinations, creating traps and ambushes along the path of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, to weaken him before attacking.


    Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the might of the only Abyssal Lord that was not shackled to theyers he ruled, and by using pure brute force, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction broke all obstacles on his path to Avernus.


    The moment he entered the first level of Hell, he tracked down the responsible for his problem and killed them before the rest of the Archdevils could do anything.


    An Archdevil like any other Being of Laws is extremely difficult to kill, and since they died in Avernus, in whose origin their soul was fused, they should have been able to revive without any external help in a couple of thousand years. Of course, they would have been very weak at first and it would have taken millions of years for them to be at their peak again.


    But the Incarnation of Death and Destruction made honor to his title, and although no one knows how, after he killed those Archdevils, their souls that should be resting in Avernus''s origin disappeared.


    This news immediately made those Archdevils, that thought themselves eternal as long they remained inside Baator, panic and after some discussion and nning, an army of billions of devil headed by five Archdevils marched against this Abyssal Lord.


    These Archdevils knew that even if this army of devils had reached such an immense number, they would never be able to truly harm the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, and the only reason they brought them was so they could drain some of his energy.


    As the army advanced, the Archdevils were ready to chase the Incarnation of Death and Destruction for hundreds and maybe thousands of years, employing all sorts of tricks.


    But even after finding that such an immense force was tracking him, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction did nothing but wait for them in the peak of the Pir of Skulls, a mountain made out of the head of the devils and demons killed in the Blood Wars.


    When the army finally reached the Pir of Skulls and saw the Incarnation of Death and Destruction just sitting there, even though they were literally billions against one, all of those devils and even the Archdevils, hesitated to march forward.


    Unlike the other Abyssal Lords that gave an aura of evil cruelty, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was more simr to a ck hole, a force of universal destruction, emotionless and indifferent to any form of life, something born with the single purpose of erasing existence.


    It was only after one of the Archdevil armed himself with courage, that he gave the order, and being forced by theirwful nature, the devils charged against what they knew was their end.


    The battle was so intense that everything in a radius of ten million kilometers was destroyed in the first couple of minutes.


    Even for someone as mighty as the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, fighting five Archdevils after disintegrating an army of billions of devils was too much.


    But just as the fight was about to end, and the Archdevils were practically burning their energy to give the finishing blow, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction channeled the Origin Power of Avernus, increasing his power tremendously.


    No one knows how it was possible, but the Incarnation of Death and Destruction essentially broke the rules of the universe and was able to channel the power of Baator for himself, something only Archdevils should be able to do.


    When the five Archdevils realized the immense increase in power that he obtained, all of them panicked and try to run, unfortunately for them, they have been to focus on winning and the distance between them and the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was too small, not to mention that the energy they had left was pitiful.


    The Incarnation of Death and Destruction killed the five of them, and just like before, their souls vanished from Avernus''s origin.


    When the events of this fight were known, it shook the devils of the Nine Hells to their core since an Abyssal Lord was able to use the power of their own ne to kill them.


    There was a great number of Abyssal Lords that were burning with greed when they found this since they wanted that power for themselves, but even when they were in Abyss none of them could face the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, and if they were to go to Avernus to question him, they were sure that they will die for angering this force of the universe.


    A massive invasion happened after that when the Incarnation of Death and Destruction made all the demons that inhabited theyers dominated by him, toe to Avernus.


    If an army of thousands of billions of demons tried to enter Avernus, the Archdevils would attack them immediately, but with the Incarnation of Death and Destruction protecting them, they were powerless to do anything.


    Once this demonic legion reached Avernus, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction immediately led them to attack the sanctuary of the Creator of the Evil Dragonkind.


    That fight was one of the greatest that has happened in the history of the universe, involving more than one hundred thousand billion fiends and generating such great destruction that some pieces of Avernus were broken and lost in the void.


    On the ground demons and devil were killing each other, performing a scene of such butchery that affected thews of the ne itself.


    But the most and maybe only important fight was happening millions of kilometers above them between a ck hole and a five-headed dragon.


    The Creator of the Evil Dragonkind was one of the mightiest Archdevils that existed and his control over the Origin Power of Avernus was superior to any other devil.


    But the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was able to channel exactly the same amount of Origin Power that the seven Archdevils he killed had control when they were alive, making him superior.


    After a fight that threatened to destroy Avernus itself, the Creator of the Evil Dragonkind was killed and his soul vanished from the ne''s origin.


    Her death was the event that started the period known as The Blight of the Nine Hells, the era where the devils, the race that is the nightmare of countless nes and worlds felt what it means to be a prey and felt fear every single second of their life.


    After achieving victory, the first thing the Incarnation of Death and Destruction did was to establish his fortress in the ce where the sanctuary of the recently deceased Archdevil was.


    This action created severe repercussions among devils since that was the ce that connected Avernus with the second of the Nine Hells, Dys.


    The demons of Abyss continue arriving without end, and the mission given by their lord was to start the genocide of the devil race in Avernus.


    Once the Incarnation of Death and Destruction healed from hisst fight, he joined his legion and started to hunt every Archdevil that remained in Avernus.


    For the next five hundred thousand years, a massacre happened in Avernus until it reached the point when the entire devil race was exterminated and reced by demons, transforming this, the first of the Nine Hells into what it seems anotheryer of the Abyss.


    Once he obtainedplete control over Avernus, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction started to send his legion into Dys, making all the inhabitants of the second level of the Nine Hells feel absolute terror."

 Chapter 125: Universal Existence

    Sophia, Ezequiel, Dante, and even those with a pacifistic nature like Nathan, David, and Henry could not help but feel admiration when they heard the recording.


    No matter their personal opinion about the actions of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was, they felt great respect for someone, who by himself and without the help of anyone, was able to influence the oue of a war that as extended for billions of years and who could make all the devils of the Nine Hells of Baator trembled when they think of him.


    You could even detect awe in the voice recorded by the mighty being, who had investigated him.


    The only one that maintained an indifferent expression was Zatiel, but that didn''t mean he did not feel anything, it was just he did not want to show them to the rest.


    The seven of them remained silent as the voice continued speaking.


    "When the Archdevils of Dys, saw the demonic legions that had already filled Avernus reach the level of Hell that they dominated, they acted immediately and kill all of them before they could establish a stronghold and give the Incarnation of Death and Destruction the opportunity of arriving unhindered.


    But even though they killed millions of them, the endless legions continue marching forward, without fear, like pure killing machines.


    The Archdevils understood that even if they kill every demon that marches to Dys, they will only be treating the symptoms and not the disease since the Incarnation of Death and Destruction could always make more demons of the Abyss reach Avernus and follow the path of those who had just died.


    The only way to truly stop these legion''s, was to regain control over Avernus, and erase every demon in there, but that would mean facing the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, who could now channel all the Origin Power the first level of Hell.


    Even if it were to mean the death of their race, no devil will ever sacrifice himself for others, so in the end they could only kill the demons that arrived at Dys and n for the time when the Incarnation of Death and Destruction arrives.


    Once he obtainedplete control over Avernus, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction spent the next fifty thousand years creating a runic formation that covered the entire level, and once it waspleted he left the Nine Hells of Baator.


    He did not return to the Abyss but instead went to Hades, the home ne of the neutral evil fiend race, the yugoloths.


    The yugoloths had always yed a very important role in the Blood Wars, second only to devil and demons, working mostly as mercenaries, but sometimes they acted as the hand in the shadows that seek to control the oue of the battles as they see fit.


    They have worked very hard to make the illusion that they are fiends whose only purpose in life was satisfying their greed, but in reality they were a maniptive and secretive race that saw every conflict between fiends as something they should rightfully manipte and control.


    The Altraloths, are the leaders of the yugoloths, but even these extremely narcissistic and arrogant creatures knew that there was no way they could manipte someone as the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, and they feared that he hade to their ne to perform some type of retaliation for their race involvement in the Blood Wars.


    Even though they were Being of Laws, their battle power has always been weak and even with the help of the Origin Power of Hades, they could only equal a normal Abyssal Lord, but they knew that the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was everything but normal.


    But to their luck, unlike his invasion in Avernus, where he killed a Being of Laws after another, in Hades the Incarnation of Death and Destruction restrained himself to explore the ne and disappeared from the eyes of everyone after a couple of years.


    After one hundred years, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction appeared again, but he wasn''t alone, apanying him were hundreds of skinny fiends with grey skin,nky and bony arms, a head that resembled thebination between the skull of goat and cattle and eyespletely empty of any sort of emotion.


    The moment the Altraloths saw these creatures following the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, they were shocked beyond measure since they were the legendary fiend race known as baernaloths, their ancestors, and the ones who hold the title of The Creators of Evil.


    The baernaloths were one of the universe''s greatest mysteries, and just like the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, their origin is unknown. Despite their modest battle prowess, these creatures are one of the most feared fiend races that have ever existed.


    They were creaturespletely without emotions and were known for propagating anguish and discord throughout the universe, with a mechanic and systematic behavior, without a greater purpose or to seek sadistic satisfaction.


    The reason for their title as The Creators of Evil was that they spawned a great number of the fiend races of the universe, and although they did not create the devils and demons, they indeed were the responsible for the birth of some of the most violent and powerful of their kind.


    Due to their knowledge, the number of mighty individuals in the universe that have sought their help was not little, but they never helped those who they did not want to, and when they did, it was just some words and advice. As for using torture to force them, it was useless against this type of creatures who feel nothing.


    But once again the impossible happened around the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, and he made hundreds of the creatures follow him. They did not go to Hell immediately, but instead explored hundreds of worlds and nes, abducting millions of creatures of all races, to the point that they even caused the extinction of some of them.


    After immersing the universe in fear for hundreds of years, they entered Avernus and isted themselves in the fortress that was created over the entrance to Dys.


    For millions of years the Incarnation of Death and Destruction and The Creators of Evil did not show themselves, but the legion of demons never stopped charging into Dys, with the casualties reaching the trillions already.


    At first, the Archdevils thought that this was some type of test that the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was doing to have a better idea of the power of Dys, but one day one of the most cunning Archdevils noticed something weird in one of the demons that arrived with a legion.


    After analyzing him, he found out that this demon was just an empty shell without a soul, and whose blood was altered, being thebination of the blood of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction itself and billions of nanometric runic inscriptions.


    When the rest of the Archdevils found out about this, they immediately investigated its effects and found out that whenever this blood was spilled in Dys, it fused itself with the origin of this level of Hell, changing it.


    If the number of these type of demons had been greater, the Archdevils could notice it sooner, but by mix one of them in billions of demons, they remained hidden for so long, that even though they found out about them, it was toote, since the alteration to the origin of Dys was already done.


    The Archdevils understood that their chances in a battle against the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, in which they could not use the Origin Power of Dys but he could, will be null.


    It was a little time after the Archdevils found out about his scheme and the Incarnation of Death and Destruction left his fortress with his power increased tremendously. As for the Creators of Evil, those that enter the fortress never came out.


    Without wasting time, he immediately assaulted Dys, and now with his power increased and control over the Origin Power, he was able to ughter all the Archdevils in his path.


    It took him a couple hundred of thousands of years, but just like Avernus, the devils of Dys were exterminated to thest one and reced by demons.


    Once he obtainedplete control over Dys, he created the same immense runic formation that was in Avernus over it.


    To the relief of the devils inside the third level of Hell, Minauros, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction did not send his legions to attack them and remained in Dys.


    Millions of years passed, but the Incarnation of Death and Destruction remained inactive, always in Dys, something that made all those that saw him feel perplexed.


    It wasn''t until the first changes in the origin of Avernus and the first seventyyers of Abyss happened, that the Archdevils and Abyssal Lords understood what he was doing.


    He was using those massive runic formations to extract the origin of the two first levels of Hell and the seventyyers of the Abyss dominated by him.


    Although both Archdevils and Abyssal Lords could use the Origin Power of their nes to increase their battle might, it was just channeling that power and not making it their own, like the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was doing.


    If the natural energies are the somatic cells who had already a purpose from the moment they are produced, creating water, air, fire, earth, and everything by following the matrix that is thews, then the origin of a ne are the stem cells, the ones that gave birth to everything, create anything and it is what makes possible for a world and a ne to have life in it.


    The actions of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction were equal to crippling these nes for billions of years, or maybe forever, and it could be considered a deration of war against the inhabitants of them.


    But by the time the Archdevils and Abyssal Lords realized the situation of their homes, more than fifty percent of the origin of Avernus, Dys, and the first seventyyers of the Abyss was absorbed, giving Incarnation of Death and Destruction enough power to challenge all of them.


    If they could have made their difference aside and all of them attack the Incarnation of Death and Destruction together, working as one, without caring for their life, they could have been able to defeat him, but even with a threat like this, no devil or demon was willing to risk his life for the sake of others.


    Years passed, and finally, after three million years, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction drained all the origin in the level of Hell andyers of Abyss marked by his runic formation, making them ces devoid of any life and so weak, that pieces of them broke and fell into the void.


    No one truly knows how powerful did the Incarnation of Death and Destruction be after absorbing so much power, but some think that he was able to be a mythical Universal Existence, a Rank 10 life form.

 Chapter 126: Battle at the end of Hell

    When Zatiel hears the recording assuming that the Incarnation of Death and Destruction had be a Universal Existence, he sighed and shook his head.


    ''Bing a Universal Existence after swallowing the origin of two levels of Hell and seventyyers of the Abyss. What a joke. How could Rank 10 be so easy to achieve?.'' There was a self-mocking expression on his face as he thought that.


    The other six were too busy imagining the event that the recording was describing to notice Zatiel changes and they continued hearing the voice in the orb.


    "In our universe, the highest peak of power has always been Rank 9. A level of power that when an individual reaches it, he immediately makes his world or ne a superior one.


    But in the historical remains that you can find in the universe like The Exodus Ark, The World Tree and the holy training ground of the Heavenly race, Eden, all sorts of depictions and mention about Universal Existences have appeared.


    A Universal Existence is someone whose every action can affect the entire universe and whose influence should expand into every world and ne that exists, but no one has ever heard about one of them appearing before.


    Hundreds of possible reasons have been hypothesized about the absence of these beings, but there has never been amon conclusion.


    When the Incarnation of Death and Destruction reached a level that we could only assume was the one referred to as Universal Existence, two main consequences were seen in the life of every being in the universe.


    First, due to his actions in Abyss and Baator, these two great fiend nes have lost too much power, and they were crippled, making their invading forces not appear in any world or ne for a long time, especially when it came to devils.


    The rest of the High Worlds and nes from the universe saw all of their Beings of Laws return home and prepare their defenses.


    The Being of Laws knew that their only chance against the now all-powerful Incarnation of Death and Destruction was working together and using the Origin Power of their homes without caring for the consequences.


    But contrary to what they believed, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction did not go from a world to the next affirming his supremacy or continued to control the next levels of Hell.


    The Incarnation of Death and Destruction left Hell, and by all intents and purposes, the only thing he did was explore the universe.


    He visited the historical remains, nes, worlds, and even some small dimensions.


    During the time he spends exploring the universe, he did not kill anyone, but even then, the High Worlds and nes did not let down their guard and were ready to face him if he attacked.


    The millions of years he spent exploring are known across the universe as the Epoch of Civilization, due to the immense development that happened in the Low and Middle Worlds and nes, now that the High Worlds and nes had all their force in defensive mode and had no time to perform invasions.


    The Epoch of Civilization extended for millions of years and it only ended when the Incarnation of Death and Destruction went back to Dys, but this time he did not stop there, as he proceeded to Minauros immediately.


    The moment he entered the third hell of Baator, he made hundreds of dark stars appear and threw them to the distance, before advancing to the next level, Phlegethos.


    These dark stars had immense power and the ability to track down Archdevils, so by the time that the Incarnation of Death and Destruction had reached the fourth hell, most of the Archdevils in Minauros died, and only the strongest ones were able to survive.


    The Incarnation of Death and Destruction did the same in every level he passed as he descended to the ninth hell of Baator, weakening the ne even more by stripping from it its greatest warriors.


    After killing more than eighty percent of the Archdevils of Baator, the Incarnation of Death and Destruction finally reached Nessus, the ninth hell."


    Once the recording reached this point, it stopped for a moment and the people hearing it though that maybe it was all.


    But to their delight, the voice spoke again.


    "From this point forward, the actions of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction on Nessus, are merely spection since there was no-one left alive to describe the events, and any sort of scrying will kill anyone who would try.


    Nessus is and of extremes, with volcanoes that could burn higher than a sun and regions so cold that could freeze a Being of Laws, with a sted and tornndscape.


    The inhabitants of Nessus were greater devils, who could be considered the strongest force of Hell, after the Archdevils, and who, when working together, could defeat a Being of Laws.


    The ruler of Nessus was the Prince of Evil, the one called the Supreme Master of all Devils, the Archdevil Overlord Asmodeus.


    Asmodeus was supposed to be the strongest and more capable devil that as ever existed, but due to certain reasons, he was unable to leave Nessus with his true body so he was forced to use avatars to interact with the other levels of Baator, as well some nes and worlds.


    The moment the Incarnation of Death and Destruction entered Nessus, he attacked immediately with a ferocity and power so immense, that even those watching Baator from the void, could see the explosion happening in the ninth hell.


    The explosions continued for a long time and the repercussions that it had in the other levels of Hell were not small, since it practically created massive earthquakes all over Baator, killing trillions of devils.


    When the explosion finally ended and silence installed itself for a couple of days, everyone thought that the fight was over, but then from Nessus, an aura so evil and foul that even Archdevils and Abyssal Lords would found it disgusting appeared and it extended until it covered all the Nine Hells of Baator.


    For a moment some people thought that it was the aura that the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was generating after killing Asmodeus, and possibly devouring his soul, but they immediately discarded that idea, when they saw how a beam of dark energy was fired from Nessus, with so much power that it left Hell, and extended into the void.


    At the end of the beam of energy was the Incarnation of Death and Destruction and his condition was unknown since he''s body vanished in the void instantly.


    Something peculiar that happened was that at the same time that the evil aura was generated from Nessus, a strand of the same type of aura was felt from thestyers of the Abyss."


    Even when the recording mentioned the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, being thrown out of Hell by a beam of energy so powerful that it could destroy a High World, Zatiel expression remained indifferent, but when it mentioned the strand of that evil aura in the Abyss, everything changed.


    For an instant he was unable to control his emotions and his fists were clenched so hard, that blood came out of them, but even then his expression remained peaceful, not letting the others know of his state.


    Zatiel''s eyes were calm but in his heart, a coldness and desire of destruction so immensely high was born, that it upied his every thought.


    After a moment, Zatiel was able to calm down his emotions and continue listening to the recording.


    "Up to this day, despite the several attempts made by several powerful individuals, the origin of that evil aura is unknown.


    The condition of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was unknown and probably very precarious, but it was confirmed that he was still alive since vestiges of his presence were found from time to time in different parts of the universe.


    More than ten million years have passed from that final fight in Nessus. During that time, new Archdevils have been born, and they have implemented a periodic purge of the weakest devils to feed them to Hell and increase the speed of recovery in the ne.


    Due to its weakened state, other worlds made incursions into Hell from time to time, and since the ne is uninhabitable to every race beside fiends, the ones who pige in it, only do it for a couple of days before leaving.


    As for the Abyss, their damage was greatly inferior to Baator and since there was no loss in Abyssal Lords, it was able to return to normal functions after a couple of hundreds of thousands of years."


    After saying thosest words, the orb created a map of energy above him, in which the geography of Hell and the Abyss were present, before returning to Nathan''s hand.


    Zatielmands the chip to scan the maps before standing up.


    "I am very satisfied with the information. I hope that we can work more in the future."


    There was a peaceful smile on Zatiel''s face as he spoke.


    Nathan could identify the hidden meaning in Zatiel''s words, so he stood up and gave a small bow.


    "I also hope that our transactions are prosperous and continue for long. I will not take more of your time," Nathan smiled as he left along with David and Henry.


    Once it was only the three Neo-Demons in the room, Zatiel spoke to them


    "Remember, even if you are at the peak of the universe, one wrong step and you can fall and lose everything. In two months we will march to the Sinux Magic Tower, and leave this world, be sure to be prepared before that," Zatiel didn''t wait for them to reply and went to hisboratory.


    The three Neo-Demons did not find anything weird in his advice, but when they saw his eyes, and felt the emptiness in them, they were shocked.


    This was the first time that they have ever see him truly angry, and although they were curious about the cause, they knew that it was not the moment to bother him, so they all went to make their final preparations

 Chapter 127: Arrival of the Daybreak army

    Close to the Sinux Magic Tower there were around one thousand Magi, and from the way they were behaving, they seemed to be an army.


    This army was divided into nine big groups, with each one of them having one hundred Rank 1 life forms, ten Rank 2, and led by an individual at Rank 3.


    Despite the asional conversation between the members of the groups, each one of them was maintaining their position and disying a great level of discipline. It was obvious that they were not your typical Magi that did not know how to follow orders or act as teams.


    All of them were on the ground, even those at Rank 3, and sometimes they would look at the sky with respect and admiration.


    In the sky, there were ten people, and despite being so much less than those in the ground, the difference in power was so immense, that every one of them was capable of killing this entire army without any sort of help, and the reason was that they were Soul Forging existences.


    Even though each one of them has great power and might, there were two that gave a feeling of being superior to the rest, not only in their power but also their temperament.


    One of them was a young man with golden hair and a pair of blue eyes that seem to have a silver light inside them. He had a sword on his back, and a wave of killing intent was unintentionally surrounding his body that made the rest feel apprehensive just by watching him.


    And the other was a woman, her face was delicate and with her skin like porcin, her hair was dark and she had eyes that were green. She was someone with extreme beauty, but this was not what made her special.


    The thing that made her being equal to the man with the killing intent was the particles of light surrounding her body that sometimes will transform into darkness, giving a sense of bnce and immense power.


    The man was Heinz, and the woman surrounded by light and darkness was the youngest individual to have ever possessed the title of Princess in the Aeternum Empire, Zitra.


    Those at Rank 4 were talking among each other, and although they did not show it, some of them were feeling annoyed, and the reason is that they have been waiting for thest part of the army to arrive for several days now, and to people like them, having to wait for someone was not something they were used to.


    Not to mention that this part of the army will be the one leading the first part of the invasion and it was the one under Heinz''s banner.


    They will asionally look at Heinz, hoping for an exnation, but the cultivator remained silent and although technically they were in the same Rank, the difference in power was immense so they did not dare to bother him.


    Some were hoping for Zitra to speak up, but despite the tales of the woman''s cold temper, she did not say anything and remained with an indifferent expression.


    Finally, a man approaches Heinz. For some reason this person''s body gave no sense of vitality, his skin was stuck to their bones and it looked as if it was petrified, and his eyes were filled with blue mes.


    Despite this man''s appearance and the threatening feeling that the immense amount of negative energy inside his body gave, there was a peace in his face that made people feelfortable.


    When Heinz felt someone approaching he knitted his brow, but when he saw the man he rxed and an amicable smile appeared on his face.


    "Professor Totto, I did not think that your old bones would also be impatient just for waiting a couple of days."


    By Heinz''s tone and the fact that he was joking with the man, it was obvious that they had a friendly rtionship.


    "Lad, you should show more respect to your teacher, maybe you are stronger now, but remember how I used to spank you when you misbehaved as a child," Totto said that with a serious expression, but it was just due to his face not being able to move too much, or else he would beughing now.


    When Heinz heard that, he almost blush a little, but as a Rank 4 he had immense control over his body. Despite that, he could not help but feel embarrassed, but there was little he could do against the man that had taught him as he grew up.


    Seeing that his joke broke the tension in the air, Totto continued speaking.


    "You know that for someone like me, patience has never been a problem, but I felt bad for them since they do not dare toe to you in case you get annoyed," Totto says as he looks at the rest of Rank 4 individuals that were now showing gratitude for his intervention.


    If the others would have asked him, Heinz would have just said that the rest of the army wasing and that they needed to wait, but since it was his teacher, he was being polite.


    "My brother should be arriving with the army today."


    "Oh, the brother that you are referring to should be Zatiel Daybreak, the runemaster, right? I have heard stories about him, and by what I can tell he is a great genius, but giving someone at Rank 2 theplete control and responsibility of an army of this size may be too much."


    Totto did not mean that Zatiel was unfit to lead the army and he did not have the abilities, but for a single person at Rank 2 to make dozens of Rank 2 Magi and hundreds of Rank 1 obey hismands without questioning him will be extremely difficult.


    Usually in an invasion in a Middle World, the first people to enter it will be those at Rank 2 and 1, who will be tasked with several jobs, such as recognizing more about the world and the creation of the magic tower that will work as a stronghold.


    The reason for the first ones to enter being those at Rank 2 and 1, is for two main reasons.


    The first being the fact that the moment that any invader forces enter a world, the world will generate a restrictive pressure that will limit their powers, and the strongest they are the higher the restriction will be and the more time they will need to recover.


    And the second is that if a Rank 3 life form or above, enters a world without the cloaking help of a magic tower, the effect that he will have in the world will be enough for those powerful native beings to track down their specific location immediately.


    Normally, an army that was formed by several groups will have one leader for each subdivision, but Heinz had been clear that the first part of the invasion will have only one absolute leader.


    Although the rest were not sure about this arrangement, the cultivator did not ept anything else so they could onlyply.


    The day was ending and when those in the sky were wondering if they would need to wait for another day, in the distance a source of light so potent appeared that made them feel like the sun was rising again.


    The first ones to detect it were Heinz and Zitra, and when they tracked its origin, the first one smiled and the second winded her eyes.


    The source of light was a domain filled with dark golden mes and inside it was a massive beast that seemed to be swimming in it.


    Above the beast''s head there was Zatiel, Sophia, Ezequiel, and Dante, and a few meters behind them were three ten-meter tall giants with bulky shapes covered with dark armor, that left no part of their bodies visible.


    upying the rest of the creature''s body were three hundred beings of all sizes and shapes, whose bodies were also coveredpletely with armor, but these were white, and there were metallic wings on their backs.


    Inside the five hundred meters diameter domain of dark golden fire were one hundred and fifty Sunlight Champions, whose bodies glowed with golden light and were covered by a ming armor, which for some reason seemed to be able to fuse with the domain and the Champion could just stand inside it, and use it as transportation.


    To the left and right of the domain were two massive one hundred and fifty meters long dragons with scales that seem to be made of obsidian mineral, with the one on the right having a white glow in his chest and the one on the left a dark red glow.


    Each one of these dragons had twenty-five of what it seems like four meters tall dragonborns on their back, each of them having silver armor that should weigh around a ton, but it seems as if it was weightless on them.


    When the Soul Forging existences saw this army, they were shocked, but it was not the power that brought them the surprise, but the fact that besides the four people on the massive creature''s head, they do not have a single human on it, and every one of members had their bodies filled with veryplex runic inscriptions and top tier armors.


    Although making an army of hundreds by grouping those of the weaker race was ease, they were usually very weak but the consciousness of those Rank 4 was powerful enough to detect the power in those Sunlight Champions and understood that at least when ites tobat; they are equal to the Magus under them, and those dragonborns were even stronger.


    All of them looked at Heinz and were wondering how he was able to create this army.


    The cultivator saw their stares, but he remained silent. He knew that although this army was technically his; it was formed by his brother. They were only under his banner to make it easier for the rest of Soul Forging to ept the entrance of an army belonging to a Rank 2 existence.


    Zitra was also looking at Zatiel and her eyes sparkled as she saw those dark golden mes that seem to be formed by the fusion of two contradictory but harmonious sources of energy

 Chapter 128: I am the strongest one

    The Daybreak army caused a bigmotion in the Magi army under the ten Soul Forging existences as they closed in at an impressive speed, with the immense figure of the Undying Leviathan carrying so much momentum that it could destroy anything in its path.


    This was the first time that many of them had seen such an impressive creature as an Undying Leviathan, but after analyzing it in detail, they were able to see that despite his living appearance and great power; it was a construct made of energy so they were able to ept it very quickly.


    But those one hundred and fifty meters long dragons were different since they were indeed creatures made of flesh and blood, with an impressive and thriving life force and a power corresponding to a Rank 2 life form.


    And although those dragonborns on their backs were at Rank 1, with their racial advantages, plus runic sets and armors, there was no one among the Rank 1 Magi that was confident in their chances in a battle against them.


    Some discontent could be seen on some Magi as they saw the Sunlight Champions carrying such armors and runes since unlike dragons that were a known race of the universe, they were all members of diverse races that were always considered inferior to them.


    So they did not think it was right for such creatures to have better equipment.


    Zatiel has been observing all the members of the army using his Eye of Life and Creation to see and have a better understanding of their power as well his Animus abilities to detect their emotions. So he was able to detect all those small and imperceptible actions.


    But he did not say anything and only made sure to mark those he determined problematic in his mind.


    He was wearing dark armor that covers all of his body and had patterns on it so he could channel his energy inside them and activate his magic abilities.


    This was a Rank 3 Magic Equipment known as Fallen Protector, due to its core parts being made of a fallen star mineral and was the most powerful creation of Ezequiel.


    Extending all over his skin and even covering his face were incrediblyplex runic inscriptions that carried a ck light.


    Most of the members of this army have heard stories about Zatiel, due to their leaders telling them that there was a great chance that he will be part of Heinz''s army.


    Those at Rank 1 did not dare to look back at him. As for those Rank 2, although they did not behave in such a submissive way, most of them felt apprehensive when that golden eye was fixed on them.


    It was only those Rank 3 Magi that looked at Zatiel and also analyzed him, not showing any of the fear that those under theirmand were disying.


    Although they were able to feel that he was indeed very strong among those in his Rank, he was still at Rank 2 and they did not think that he would be able to have the abilities to jump an entire Rank in battle power just as he did when he was at Rank 1.


    Their thinking was not unfounded since the difference between someone at Rank 1 and Rank 2, was inferior to the difference between those at Rank 2 and Rank 3.


    Zatiel did not really care about the personal opinion that those Magi had over him, as long as they followed his everymand without hesitation.


    After having a good estimate of the power of the army and marking all those who could be a problem in the future, he gives a subtle look at Dante.


    Immediately, the tadpoles in the hand of those Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons glowed and together with those warriors coveredpletely by white armors, they acted in unison, all of them moving at the same time.


    The Sunlight Champions and white warriors fly out of the Sun Domain at a great speed and as they do, they start to form groups.


    Each group consisted of fifteen Sunlight Champions and thirty white warriors, and without losing speed and before they touched the ground, the groups were already formed.


    As these happened, the two dragons were also descending and the dragonborns in their backsnded right in front of them, forming small groups of five.


    When the dragon''s ws touched the ground, the earth broke due to their immense weight, and a small earthquake urred around them, but those dragonborns did not move a single centimeter and remained like statues.


    When they saw these actions, even those stubborn Rank 3 Magi were impressed and had to admit that when ites to order and discipline, the Daybreak army is truly top tier, since even those dragons that were supposed to be an arrogant race were acting just like a part of the army and not as individuals.


    If they are able to disy this type of unity in battle, then their power will be significantly superior to the mere sum of their numbers.


    Zatiel was very satisfied with the behavior of his people. He saw all of them adopting a military formation with each group being ready to work alone or help the other in case of need.


    ''Now it is time to show my might,'' Zatiel thought as he flew in the sky.


    Zatiel did not waste his time trying to influence the opinion that the Magi army had over him, by disying his profound knowledge or exining the benefits of working under him.


    Abyssal Lords have always obtained control over their armies disying their powers and making clear that the only choice they have is to obey.


    Once he was ten meters above the head of the Undying Leviathan, Zatiel power starts to increase greatly as he activates both of his True Names, making his skin golden and a dark aura formed around his body.


    When he does this, not only those Rank 3 Magi but also the Soul Forging existences in the sky focus their entire concentration on him.


    The stories about his monstrous talent and battle power had already spread all over the empire, so they were curious about how truthful they were.


    Once his life force and vitality reached their peak, Zatiel proceeded to activate his runic set.


    The runes in his body start to burn with a dark light that seems to be breaking his skin, and a ck, violent and destructive force starts to form around him as incredibly pure dark mes cover his bodypletely.


    The runic set that Zatiel was using was a very powerful and dangerous one named Catalyst of Negative Energy, and the deadly force he was generating now was reaching the level of a newly promoted Rank 3 life form.


    Being true to their knowledgeable nature, the Rank 3 Magi and those Soul Forging existences were able to detect the type of power that was running through Zatiel bodies at this moment and that it increased his strength so much.


    But when they understood the origin of his power, there was disappointment in the expression of those Rank 4 individuals in the sky and some Rank 3 were showing disdain.


    This was due to although negative energy being indeed a very powerful source of destructive force, it was also the antithesis of life, and if your body was not one with undead properties, then using it to increase your strength will harm you.


    So in their minds, taking that risk just for a momentary impulse in power was foolish, and sometimes only those obsessed with the perception that others will have on them will do.


    Zatiel was oblivious to their thoughts and even if he knew it, he would not care. He would never do something so stupid as to sacrifice his future, merely to make an impression on others.


    He knew of the dangers of this runic set, but he already had a way to counter it, and without dy, once the negative energy inside him reached his peak, his Eye of Life and Creation activated to the fullest.


    From his golden sun, a great amount of golden fire filled with life came out and started to appear around him, discing the dark me made of negative energy that filled his body.


    Normally when negative energy enters in contact with a force of life, it will usually react in a violent manner, but even though their quantities were around the same, the quality of the All-epassing Sun-me was incredibly superior, so a harmonious equilibrium was created among the mes, in the right side of his body one dark and full of death and in the left side one golden and filled with life.


    Once that happened, Zatiel''s power rose even greater than did the dark golden me inside the domain.


    The equilibrium made between those two powers seem to be affecting the Undying Leviathan, and since it was a necromancy construct itself, the increase of negative energy, made his power greater and it roared to demonstrate its new might.


    "ROOOAAARRR!!!"


    Just the roar made some Rank 1 Magus almost faint.


    When they saw the power inside Zatiel body, the expression of all those Rank 3 Magi was filled with shock and even those Rank 4 in the sky were surprised, since right now, he was disying a power equal to an Advanced Rank 3 life form, and they could notice that his time in Rank 2 has been insignificant.


    There were two among the Soul Forging that were looking at Zatiel with immense interest and although they tried to hide it, there was also excitement.


    They were professor Totto and Zitra.


    Zatiel knew that his might in the heart and mind of this army was something equal to those Rank 3 Magi, and they understood that they needed to follow him. But he was not satisfied with it and wanted for them to feel it will be their honor to follow him, not something they need to do but something they wanted.


    So he proceeds to prepare for the most powerful attack he has, one he obtained thanks to his new Innate Spell.


    The Rank 2 Innate Spell he obtained was known as Life Release, and it gave him the ability to swallow energy with his Eye of Life and Creation before transforming it into an attack and releasing it as a beam of energy.


    So once he targeted a mountain five hundred kilometers away, Zatiel made the dark and golden me surrounding his body to enter the Eye of Life and Creation and he only stopped when there was a very thin thread of the mes surrounding his body.


    Once all the energy was ready to be fired, Zatiel made thest adjustment and prepared his Abyssal st to be fired from his eye as well, along with the Life Release.


    When Zatiel finishes his preparation and feels like his Eye of Life and Creation is about to explode from so much energy, he fires his attack, releasing six pairs of beams of energy to the mountain one after the other.


    The attacks reached the mountain at almost the same time and when theynded; they generated an explosion with a radius of total destruction of ten kilometers. One hundred kilometers around the st area, everything was inundated in dark and golden mes.


    Seeing someone at Rank 2, fire an attack that could kill almost all of them, the entire army including those Rank 3 Magi were amazed.


    "There are many reasons why you will follow me, but the most important one is that I am the strongest one!"


    The entire Magi army turns to look at Zatiel, and despite seeing his face pale due to the immense exhaustion and energy depletion, in the heart of most of them, there was admiration and respect, and also hope since following someone so powerful, will mean that their chances of returning alive will be greater.

 Chapter 129: Archangels

    Seeing the expression of the Magi army, Zatiel knew that his goal was achieved and that even those Rank 3 Magus would follow his orders. Although he also detected that there may be certain individuals that could generate a problem, he will handle them in due time.


    The immense increase in power that Zatiel obtained by activating the Catalyst Negative Energy runic set and creating a bnce with his All-epassing Sun-me drained his energy and vitality at a very fast speed.


    ording to his calction, if he does not activate any other spell besides his innate ones, and does not use Life Release, he will be able to fight with a battle power equal to an Advanced Rank 3 Magus for a 45 second.


    Despite that short amount of time, Zatiel found it a sess, since, without it, he would have the power to only kill at most a peak Rank 2 Magus.


    The attack he just released now drained all of his energy, so he immediately deactivated his True Names along with his domain and descended until hended in the head of one of the dragons.


    His action once again raises wonder in those Magi since normally a dragon will never let someone stand over his head, and at most they will let them ride on their back. But in this dragon there was no annoyance but instead a feeling of glory as if he found the act of Zatiel standing in his head an honor.


    Seeing that he had the attention of the entire army, Zatiel proceeded to speak.


    "I don''t have an understanding of the personal knowledge you have on our enemies so I will give a full exnation for you all."


    Zatiel''s voice was low, but due to theplete silence that was in the area, everyone was able to hear it.


    No Magus dared to neglect this information since it was something that directly affected their chances of sess and survival, after all, the greatest enemy was the one you know nothing about.


    "The invasion will be in a Middle World dominated by the Heavenly Race, that has already been terraformed by them, as to increase the size of their armies and produce more of their kind."


    The expression of everyone was serious as they heard the information since they were worried about their opponents.


    The Heavenly race was a top tier race of the universe and despite the Magi Path being very powerful, they are usually at a disadvantage during a fight with them.


    "The Heavenly race is very powerful and their bloodline heritage is superior to that of dragons, but due to the way they are born, their number is very low.


    The most prevalent bloodline of the Heavenly race is the Angel bloodline, which can be divided into four big categories, consisting of angel of order, angel of battle, angel of protection, and angel of supremacy.


    The mostmon of them is the angel of order, with a power equal to that of a Magus. The angel of battle and protection should be a little stronger than a Magus in the same Rank and level, as for the angel of supremacy, you could consider them as strong as the dragonborns that are apanying me."


    Zatiel had a very good understanding of the Heavenly race, and by his calctions, a Neo-Demons with a Rank 3 assimted bloodline should be equal to the strongest type of angel..


    This fact proves how powerful the Angel bloodline was since a Neo-Demons should be the strongest race of the universe, and those with a Rank 3 assimted bloodline can only equal an angel of supremacy, even though they can kill a Magus in the same Rank and level with ease.


    After hearing Zatiel''s words, all the Magi turn to look at the Neo-Demons, and after making some calctions and thanks to their powerful consciousness, those Rank 3 Magus were able to have an urate understanding of their strength.


    By their predictions, they will need three normal Magus at the same level of power to fight against them.


    After giving them enough time to process the information, Zatiel spoke again.


    "The other bloodline that the Heavenly race has is known as Angelic Paragon bloodline, which also has diverse categories mostly rted to the elements, and usually they are the ones that are inmand of those with the Angel bloodline. They are extremely powerful and also very scarce in numbers, with usually not more than one hundred in a Middle World dominated by them.


    If they are born in a satellite world of the Heavenly Creator World, they do it at Rank 2. They possess a battle talent that, as long they are in the peak of their Rank, allows them to fight against those in the next Rank on the Novice level."


    Zatiel looks at the two Neo-Demons with dragon forms that are apanying him. They are Kilo and Rax that had advanced to Rank 2 just in time for the invasion.


    Thanks to their bloodline and Neo-Demon abilities, when they were at Peak Rank 1, they had the skills to fight against a Novice Rank 2 Magus without the need for runes or armors, of course, that was only fighting on equal ground and not dominating them as Zatiel could have.


    The bloodline that the two of them had assimted has reached the peak of Rank 4 and their battle power should be the same as an Angelic Paragon.


    The expression on the faces of the Magi was solemn since even if all of those one hundred Angelic Paragons have never advanced and are still at Rank 2, which was impossible, they would be enough to kill the first part of the army that will enter the world.


    Although it may seem that a Magus was very weakpared to the members of the Heavenly race, it was not so simple. The members of the Heavenly race, even the mostmon angel of order, need hundreds of years to be born, but with each generation of mortals in the Magi World, at least 0.001 percent of them be Rank 1 Magus, reaching a number that can be counted into the dozens of thousands.


    Not to mention that there are always talented people among those Magus that can train auxiliary paths to increase their abilities and the Magi Path have almost no restrictions as you advance in the Ranks as long you don''t use the bloodline path.


    After seeing that they had assimted the information he gave and were waiting for more, Zatiel spoke again


    "There is another bloodline in the Heavenly race and although the probability of facing them is almost null, I will still inform you about them. I am referring to the Law bloodline of the Heavenly race, the Archangel bloodline. They are the most powerful individuals in the Heavenly race, with every one of them having the best equipment that their race could give them."


    When Zatiel spoke those words, even the Soul Forging existences in the sky felt uneasy, since among them the only one who could face them in the same Rank was Heinz. All the others could only run if they see them.


    "The Archangels born in the Heavenly Creator World, do it directly at Rank 6, as for those that do it in a satellite, terraformed and dominated by the Heavenly Race, they do it at Rank 4 but they advance to the next one incredibly fast, so they meddling in a war inside a Middle World is almost impossible."


    When he first spoke about the Archangels, most Magi were afraid, since just one of them will be enough to scare away most of the Soul Forging existence and stop any sort of invasion, but they were able to calm down when they understood their peculiarities.


    "Now that you know their power, I will exin their behavior and society. They are an enemy of any fiend race and ferociously hunt them down which is why they self proim themselves the embodiment of good. Among their members, the Heavenly race is loving, kind, generous, and helpful, so trying to make them turn one against another is foolish."


    The Magi were looking at Zatiel and seeing the disgust that was present on his face; they knew he had not finished.


    "Their conduct with other races ispletely different. They are sadistic and cruel. They enjoy harming and tyrannizing them to prove their superiority. To them, anybody besides their race are a beast, so if you ever are captured by them, I advise for you to kill yourself if you don''t want to be tortured until you lose your mind."


    Even if they were beyond cruel, Zatiel would not feel such revulsion against them, since he understands that in the universe if you are powerful enough you can do anything, but it was their hypocrite behavior that made him want to kill everyone of that race.


    After throwing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Zatiel focuses and calls for Dante.


    The boy flew to Zatiel''s side immediately, and behind him were the three ten meters giant following him.


    With Dante standing beside Zatiel, anyone could see their immense resemnce, and it was apparent that they were connected by blood.


    "He will be yourmander and strategist. Besides a few matters I will handle directly, every aspect of the first part of the invasion will be controlled by him."


    Immediately after saying those words, Zatiel could feel the discontent, not only of the Magi army but also of the Soul Forging existences in the sky. But he did not care about any of that and focused on Dante.


    When he saw the boy with a firm posture and confident attitude, he smiled and nodded, before looking up at those Rank 4 individuals, and with an indifferent expression, he spoke.


    "I will lead the first part of the invasion, and I will choose whoever I think is most fit for the task."


    Some of those Soul Forging existences feel annoyed with his attitude, but no one dares to do anything since it will mean offending Heinz.


    After saying those words to those Rank 4 individuals in the sky, he looks back at the Magi army and this time his attitude was a little less cold.


    "But I will give you a chance to prove to your talents. Select amongst yourselves your bestmander, to lead one hundred hundred Rank 1 and five Rank 2 Magi. They will have a fight against one hundred Sunlight Champions, the three giants in ck armor, and the two dragons led by my son.


    If your chosenmander defeats my son. Then they will share the responsibilities and obligations of the job and I will also give them a High Rank 2 runic set and High Rank 2 armor."

 Chapter 130: Betting

    When the Magi army heard Zatiel''s proposition, everyone cheered, and the dissatisfaction they were feeling was immediately erased and changed into fighting spirit.


    Even though Dante will remain in themander position regardless of the oue, if the best of them win, he will have the authority to interfere with the battle strategies, giving him the chance to correct any possible mistake happening due to the boy''s youth and apparent inexperience.


    They would have preferred to obtain full control of themander and strategist position, but they understood that Zatiel will not give control of his people to anyone he does not trust.


    Those who fulfill the role ofmander in the Magi army were satisfied with this arrangement, especially when they hear about the reward they will obtain if they win.


    The Daybreak runes were already very popr in the empire, due to their ability to always work over their limits, and although they did not know much about their armors, the ones that those dragonborns were wearing was something any one of them will want.


    It didn''t take long for those that considered themselves the best of their armies when ites to strategy to gather together.


    A fighting contest did not make sense since it was not their personal battle abilities that was being tested and after a small discussion, they decided the best method to choose the one who will fight against Dante will be a game of "go".


    "Go" is a strategy board game, very popr in the mortal world that despite its apparent simplicity, requires a great level of strategy. The one that the Magi were about to y was a little different, as it was yed in a three-dimensional board, with several battles at different battlefields, happening at the same time, separated from each other but that influenced the rest.


    This type of battlefield with diverseyers was useful to represent how battle among supernatural beings works.


    When two armies fight, the life forms with superior Rank will usually fight against each other not interfering with those weaker until their opponent is defeated but once the winner is set among them, they will interfere in the fight with those of lesser power, unless they are seriously injured and the number of their opponents is too much.


    Seeing that everything was in motion, Zatiel decided to focus on recovering his depleted energy. So he proceeds to sit down and starts taking cubes of food from his spatial ring and devours them.


    Dante was beside Zatiel, and despite everything, he was calm. He was wearing a ck Rank 2 armor and rotating around his hand were thousands of miniature arrows filled with runic inscriptions.


    Although he could have chosen a Rank 3 armor, the energy needed to activate its magic defenses will be too much for him, and it will mean he will only be using a piece of metal that could not protect him from the magic properties on his enemies attacks.


    He was not wasting his time, and with his Eye of Life and Creation, he was analyzing all of those Magi that were contesting for themander position, and simting thousands of different scenarios in his head and preparing the best possible strategy to fight against them and win.


    The sun was about to rise and currently, there were only two people left of those who are skilled in strategies and were testing their abilities to see who will lead the Magi army against Dante.


    All those Soul Forging existence were very interested in this battle, especially those whose people were in the final round.


    There is no one among them that is notpetitive and having the best people under theirmand was something they take great pride in since it meant that they had a discerning eye for talent.


    Finally, the winner was decided. He was an Advanced Rank 2 Magus named Rolo and was a middle-aged man with short ck hair and a very serious expression.


    No one was surprised that he would win since despite his battle power not being greatest, he has been in several world wars and his skills have improved with consecutive battles.


    Seeing that themander of the Magi side was decided, Heinz, spoke.


    "I am willing to bet fifty million magic crystals and ten high-quality origin stones on Dante''s victory," Heinz was giving a challenging smile at the rest as he made the bet.


    Some Soul Forging existences were surprised by Heinz''s bet.


    For them magic crystals, although useful, were very easy to obtain, but origin stones were things that everyone wanted. But even if you had the money, you could not just buy it.


    "You are very confident in the boy''s abilities," A man whose body resembled a Trent spoke.


    He was a Rank 4 Magus named Ronald and was the leader of Rolo. He has seen the capabilities of his man in diverse scenarios and he knew what he was capable of. So he was interested when Heinz mentioned the bet.


    "Do you want to bet or not?" Heinz has always been very straightforward, so he went straight to the point.


    He was there when the boy was born and knows his abilities so he was sure that leading an army of one hundred and five was something incredibly easy for him.


    In the end, Ronald along with four other Rank 4 individuals bet against Heinz. They could feel that the boy was extremely young, and they were confident in their chances of victory.


    As Heinz was epting those bets, all of a sudden he looked at Zatiel and after a moment he spoke again.


    "I have another thing to bet, a Star Heart and ten personalized High Rank 3 runic sets, but I will only do it for the soul and body of a Void Creature with swallowing abilities"


    Heinz''s bet and condition raised interest in a lot of the Soul Forging Magi, and they looked at the person on the dragon''s head since he was the only one in this ce that could create runic sets.


    Most of them were tempted since the Star Heart was something needed in any world war and although a High Rank 3 runic set was not useful for them, it will be a great reward for their most powerful people.


    Unfortunately, a Void Creature with swallowing abilities was not something easy to obtain and just when Heinz thought the bet was not going to happen, a soft voice was heard.


    "I am willing to bet but with the condition that in case I lose, I can buy those runic sets at ater date."


    Zitra was the one who spoke, and she nced at Zatiel before looking back at Heinz.


    Heinz did not respond immediately, but after a second, he nodded.


    With all the possible bets out of the way, they all looked at Rolo and were seeing how he was forming his army.


    The one hundred Rank 1 Magus were all chosen from his original group, the ones he was more familiar with, despite not all of them being at the Master level.


    His action made the rest of the strategists and some Soul Forging nod in approval. Although individual power was relevant, in a battle like this, it was more important to know your army''s weaknesses and strengths and being able to make them act as one.


    For the five Rank 2 slots, he chose four of the people of his original group and one from another.


    The new integration was not very powerful and his strength was only at the Advanced level, something that raises questions since there were more powerful Rank 2 Magi in his original group.


    Dante had also already selected his Sunlight Champions, with eighty Sunlight Warriors as the vanguard carrying a shield in their left hand and a spear in the right one, and twenty Sunlight Mages in the rear carrying each one a staff.


    Both groups have activated their Ranks Spells, with the Sunlight Warrior using Sun Form, which allows them to partially transform their bodies into sun mes, giving them impressive speed and also diminishing any type of physical and magical damage that reaches them.


    The Sunlight Mages were using the Sun Guard that created a dome of mes around them, shielding them from damage and also helping them channel their energy faster.


    All the people that were not going to fight had retreated to a safe distance and only the two armies facing each other in the center were left.


    The Magi army under Rolo was also in battle formation and had activated their Rank Spells, creating all sorts of phenomena around them.


    Most Sunlight Champions had just entered the Advanced level of Rank 1 and were weaker than those Magus that were mostly at Master Rank 1, but that difference was mended by those armors and runes in their bodies, which were much better than that of their opponents.


    Although they had obtained this power by the use of external means, neither Rolo nor the rest of the Magi thought there was something wrong with it since the equipment has always been a very important part of an army.


    After all, who could be so stupid as to think that in a war, your enemy will not use their armors and weapons, just because theirs were better than yours.


    Dante, along with the three giants in ck armor and the two dragons had flown in the sky, as did Rolo and his five Rank 2 Magi.


    Around Dante, a Sun Domain appeared, and a bow made purely of golden mes was generated on his hand.


    With both parties having finished their preparations, they were waiting for the Soul Forging existences to cover all of them with their consciousness.


    With their consciousness around every single person fighting, those Soul Forging could generate a membrane that will save anyone in case a fatal blow was tond on them, of course, that will mean they will need to leave the fight.


    Thanks to this, both armies will be able to fight without any restrictions and showing their true capabilities.


    Rolo and Dante were looking at each other, ready to make their move the instant they felt the consciousness touch them.


    Without alerting anyone and with an incredible speed, a red and green consciousness covered both armies and signaled the start of the battle.

 Chapter 131: Archery

    The moment Rolo felt the consciousness cover him, he instantly signaled his men so they would act ording to the strategy they had previously made, and after that, he proceeded to focus on the opponent''s movements.


    ording to his calctions, due to him being a Rank 2 life form, his cognitive abilities and the speed at which his orders weremunicated to his army should be superior to Dante.


    But before his man had even had the time to channel their energies andunch a spell, a blinding sh of light covered the entire area with such a potency that those Rank 1 Magi felt their eyes burning, and the worst part was that it also affected their consciousness, leaving thempletely blind.


    Those at Rank 2 were also affected, but due to their superior abilities and stronger consciousness, they were able to ovee the effect of the sh of light almost instantly.


    Rolo was able to track the origin of that blinding light to the staff in the hands of the Sunlight Mages, but he had a more serious problem to attend to.


    Half of the Sunlight Warriors had activated a rune in their arms, and had filled their spear with an immense amount of sun fire, before throwing them against the Magi army. As for the other half, they were already approaching their opponents with the same runes activated, and it seems they wanted to enter in a melee fight.


    And it was not only the Rank 1 Magi on the ground that were in danger since in the sky, approaching the Rank 2 Magi were two balls of fire forty meters in size, one white and the other dark red, were approaching them and the destructive power they carried was tremendous.


    What rmed Rolo the most was that the massive figure of the two dragons had vanished, he could not detect them in any ce and he could only see Dante, and the three giants in ck armor, one floating above the boy, and the other two by his sides.


    But despite his n being disrupted and his opponent had taken the initiative, as someone that has taken part in battles in which any mistake could mean the massacre of his entire army, Rolo did not lose calm and at a very fast speed, he sent orders to his men.


    A group of ten Rank 1 Magi in the rearguard, that were less affected by the light, acted immediately after receiving Rolomand and they channeled all of their energy, creating verypacted walls made of earth right in front of the army, just in time to stop the spears.


    In the sky, four of those Rank 2 Magi created two teams, with one duo conjuring a massive tsunami to fight the white fireball, and the other duo werebining a spell of wind and one of fire to create their own fireball and fight the dark red one.


    The only one that was doing nothing was the fifth Magus, the one picked up from another group, who just remained by Rolo''s side like a statue.


    The moment the earth wall appeared and blocked those spears, the Sun Tadpole in the hand of those Sunlight Warriors that had marched immediately against the Magi army glowed, and they adjusted their speed, slowing it down a little.


    The other half of the Sunlight Warriors haven''t stayed put after throwing those ming spears, they took all types of weapons from their rings and proceeded to advance.


    As for the Sunlight Mages, they had started to charge a spell from the moment they finished their Sun sh, and above their heads, there was a ball of sun fire three meters in diameter and it was growing in size and power every second.


    The spears had great power and pierced through most of the earth wall but thanks to those Magi putting all their energy in the spell; it didn''t break.


    The Rank 1 Magi rxed when they saw the attack blocked and were preparing tounch their counterattack when the fire around the spears increased and finally exploded, releasing a st of sun fire that broke the earth wallpletely and sent flying those that were near the explosion.


    Thanks to the slight adjustment in speed, those Sunlight Warriors were able to remain outside the explosion range and now with an unobstructed view of the Magi army, they proceed to throw their spears, creating explosions just in the perfect location to break the army formation entirely.


    The moment those forty spears of fire exploded, a green membrane appeared around fifteen of those Magi, saving them from being severely damaged, but also ending their involvement in the battle.


    The eighty Sunlight Warriors prated right in the center of the Magi army and split into small groups, before starting their attack and creating even more chaos among the disorganized army.


    Rolo sees the state of the Rank 1 Magi army on the ground and he feels frustrated. He was able to see that although those spears indeed incapacitated fifteen people, their true damage was due to separating the small subdivision that he had formed and whose members were now being attacked by the Sunlight Warriors without theirrades by their side, making ineffective most of the battle tactics they have learned.


    All of a sudden, as the image of that explosion of sun fire of the spears that gave the Sunlight Warriors the opportunity to generate great damage, he thinks of the dragons and the ball of mes, and immediately his eyes widened.


    "The four of you, retreat!"


    Hearing theirmander''s warning, the four Rank 2 Magi were alerted, but unfortunately, it was toote and they were not able to react to the Neo-Demonsing out from above the ball of fire and crashing in their direction.


    One of them was smashing with a war-hammer filled with dark red fire and the other with a battle-ax cover by white fire.


    The two Neo-Demons were incredibly fast despite their immense size, the strength of their attacks was increasing as they approached the two Magi.


    A green membrane appeared around both Magi before the attacknded, and when the weapons touched them, they released an explosion of fire that threw the two of them like a meteor against the ground.


    Seeing their partners being defeated, both Rank 2 Magiunched their most powerful spell, sending a tsunami and tornado against the Rax and Kilo.


    Due to both Neo-Demons attacking with all of their power, they were too exposed and were not able to dodge, and were forced to block the spell, so they activated their armor before roaring with all of their power, making a ming head of a dragon appear in front of them.


    The tornado and tsunami were very powerful since they were created by Master Rank 2 Magi, and were able to destroy the dragon head, but not before losing some power, so by the time it reached the Neo-Demons, and thanks to their armor, it only generated some wounds on Kilo and Rax and forced them to cough blood.


    What came next was a fight between the two Neo-Demons and the two Magi that filled the sky with hurricanes, huge waves, and a sea of fire.


    Rolo was finding hard to believe how everything has developed, despite a great number of things happening during this battle, the reality was that not even a minute has passed since the consciousness of both Soul Forging existences had covered them, and he had already lost two Rank 2 Magi and the amount of the Rank 1 had decreased by almost twenty.


    But things did not end up here since he saw how the battlefield among those Rank 1 was being drowned by arrows that carry such much potency that seems to be fired from a cannon.


    The one firing those arrows was Dante, and they were two types of arrows, a physical one that created great damage to the Magi and one made of golden fire, that when itnded in a Sunlight Warrior, it healed them and recharged their energy.


    Rolo was surprised by the precision with which Dante was firing those arrows since despite entering into a battle with hundreds of people moving and fighting at a very close distance, not one of them missed a target and even more impressive was when one of the physical arrows seemed to be about tond in a Sunlight Warrior, only for this one to move in the exact moment, and let the arrow crash into a Magus.


    Although he also wanted to help those Magi on the ground, unlike Dante that was at Rank 1 and whose interference in that fight could not be considered shameful, he was a Rank 2 Magus. Not to mention that he could send one of those giants to attack him, and he could feel the immense physical power that they were emanating.


    The Magus did not have much time to think about his next course of action, as an immense danger assaulted him and he could see how a beam of sun mes was approaching him.


    The ones sending that attack were the Sunlight Mages. From the start Dante had nned to use the spell against the only Rank 2 that was left alone and whose actions could have affected his n.


    Dante had chosen to take this battle as a test, and since in a real war, he could not hope for his enemy to maintain order and not start to kill those Rank 1 life from just because he got angry, he had nned to handle Rolo as well.

 Chapter 132: Leaving the Magi World

    In each Sunlight Mage, a great rune on their chest was activated, allowing them to increase their output of energy, enhancing the power of their spell.


    The Sun Beam was very powerful and Rolo did not dare to take it head-on, but due to the speed of the attack, he could not dodge it. So he channeled all of his energy and made dozens of shields of ice appear in front of him.


    The shields of ice were able to momentarily resist the Sun Beam, but those Sunlight Mages did not stop charging the spell and Rolo knew that he could not hold on for much longer against a spell that was using the energy pool of twenty Rank 1 life forms.


    Seeing that he was about to be defeated, and although it would have been better to wait a little more, Rolo knew that his time was running out so he sent amand to thest Rank 2 Magus under hismand.


    ''Do it now!''


    Right behind Dante''s Sun Domain, a man materialized himself. He was the Advanced Rank 2 Magus who had been standing by Rolo''s side during the entire battle.


    The reason why Rolo had selected this man was due to him being a very talented user of light and illusion magic.


    He was also a very experienced assassin, and that was proven when he used the blind spot that the two massive fireballs created in his enemy''s vision to rece himself with an illusion and turn invisible in order to reach Dante''s back and make a surprise attack.


    This was Rolo''s safety n, and although this was technically a test between the two of them, to see how he had the best skills to lead the army. If themander cannot maintain his life, then he is not fit to lead the battlefield.


    His speed was impressive and his hand was filled with light energy and it was about to grab the back of Dante''s head when all of a sudden he felt immense pain in his head and he cks out for an instant.


    The next thing the man saw was the three ten meters tall giants covered in ck armor, one on his left, one on his right, and one above him,unching a fist bigger than his chest filled with golden mes against him.


    When those fists impacted, they generated an explosion of golden mes with enough power to pulverize a Master Rank 2 life form. Luckily for the Magus, a green membrane appeared, saving his life.


    During the entire battle, Dante''s expression has never changed, and although the illusion of the Magus could have tricked most people, his Eye of Life and Creation showed him clearly theck of life force in the figure apanying Rolo.


    He even was able to see through the invisibility spell and had been waiting for him to reach close enough so the giants could attack.


    Those ten meters tall giants covered in ck armor that could use golden fire were Brain Golems, a life form sprouted from an Elder Brain and are supposed to be their ultimate guardians. They are made of modified brain tissue, in which cells can work as neurons and muscles.


    The Brain Golems can use their physical bodies and some basic Animus offensive abilities to fight against an enemy.


    Usually, a Novice Rank 3 Elder Brain should be able to create three Brain Golems at Advanced Rank 2, but Dante modified them, by using an immense amount of golden fire to affect their cells during their creation, increasing their power to Peak Rank 2 and giving them the ability to use golden fire in their attacks.


    What Dante liked the most about them was that he was able to use them as processing centers, greatly increasing his cognitive abilities, and they will rece the help that the Elder Brain gives him, when he enters the new world.


    Due to the immense distance between the Magi World and the one they will invade, the connection between Dante and the part of his consciousness inside the Elder Brain will be too weak to use the boost in cognitive abilities that the brain provides


    It took Dante a long time to create them, and they were the reason why they were dyed and made the rest of the army wait.


    After defeating that assassin Magus, Dante sends an order making the Sun Tadpole glow.


    Immediately after this happened, the two Neo-Demons in the sky and the eighty Sunlight Warriors made a coordinated retreat. As for the Sunlight Mages, they deactivated their spell and returned to formation.


    No Magus either on the sky or in the ground chase after their opponents They all were more than happy to stop fighting and they saw how the opposite army had returned to their battle formation with not a single member missing.


    One army had lost three Rank 2 members and almost forty Rank 1, and the other had lost no one and not counting the small injuries in some of them, they were no different from before the fight started.


    No matter how you see it, the absolute winner in this battle was Dante and the Daybreak army


    "Ahh, I admit my defeat, yourmanding, and strategic skills are superior to mine." Rolo knew that continuing fighting will only make his loss more striking, and was grateful for his opponent stopping his attack.


    Even after all had settled down, Rolo could not understand how could those Sunlight Champions make so many calctions in the midst of a battle and always have aplete understanding of their surroundings and the state of hisrades.


    He was not the only one since even some Soul Forging existences were impressed by how they could act as if they were a collective mind.


    It was not the Sunlight Champions, the ones that were actually aware of the things happening around them, it was Dante that had split his mind into one hundred and six pieces, each of them focused on one individual, sharing the information among them and nning for the best possible response to every action in the battlefield.


    With abilities like that, it was not possible for the boy to be defeated by an army of equal power to his own.


    It was only now that the battle was over that Zatiel stopped replenishing his energy and paid attention for the first time to the armies. The oue was something he had expected from the beginning so he wasn''t too surprised and he proceeded to ascend to the sky.


    "This is something called Sun Tadpole and it will allow my son to establish telepathicmunication with all of you as well as scan your surroundings. It will be imnted in your hands, you can ask your leaders if they are safe."


    Zatiel showed the Sun Tadpole to the Magi army before sending one to every Soul Forging in the sky.


    With the ability of a Rank 4 life form, all the people in the sky were able to analyze those Sun Tadpoles in a matter of seconds and they were impressed by the little thing''s abilities. Some of them even nned to figure out how to make them in the future.


    Unfortunately for them, Zatiel was not someone who they could rob, and those tadpoles were altered, so any type of replication will be a failure.


    Seeing those Soul Forging gave them the approval for them to use it, the Magi army knew they were safe, but still, the expression of most of them wasplicated as they saw the tadpole.


    Seeing that, Zatiel knew what they were thinking, and he found the situation hrious.


    "The Sun Tadpole will need a small amount of energy supplied from you to work."


    As if his words were magical, all the Magi lost their reservations about the tadpole and started to integrate them into their hand. The problem was not the tadpole scanning their surroundings during a battle, but they all had secrets and they did not want people watching them all the time.


    Seeing that everyone has imnted their Sun Tadpole and that Dante will now be able to have better control over the army, Zatiel spoke again.


    "Like any invasion into a Middle World dominated by a powerful race, this one will be extremely dangerous. As long as you all obey my orders and do your job, I will do my best to bring you back alive and full of fortunes."


    After saying those words, Zatiel''s eyes be cold, and monstrous killing intent was generated from his body as he looks at the army.


    "But any disobedience or rebellious actions will be punished by me personally extracting your soul and torturing it until it dissipates! And there is no one who will be able to save you from my wrath!"


    The Magi army immediately bes solemn as they hear those words, and by the fact that he dares to say them in front of the Soul Forging existences, meant that he did not care what type of background they have.


    Seeing that his message was received, Zatiel looks at Heinz and nods, making him release his consciousness and cover everyone before teleporting them all.


    Immediately after the cultivator''s group teleportation, the entire army found themselves in one of the subterranean floors of the Sinux Magic Tower where there was nothing except a gate twenty meters tall and whose portal had a white ectosm.


    This was a World Gate, and no matter if they were the Magi, Sunlight Champions or even Neo-Demons, they were all nervous in its presence, since once passing through it, they will leave the safety of the homeworld and reach a ce where practically everyone will consider them an enemy.


    This was considered a moment of truth in the life of many life forms that have never left their world, just like when a small bird is thrown out of the nest and it either flies in the sky and achieves true glory or falls to the ground and bes worthless.


    The only one that appears to be calm was Zatiel, but that was a facade as he was hiding the excitement that was filling his heart since when he looks at that gate, what he sees in it, is the entrance to the world that will give him the chance to be an even more special life form.


    ''This will be the first world to be part of the Neo-Demon Realm!''


    End of Vol. 2 Leaving the cradle

 Chapter 133: Prophesy

    In a zone full of frozen trees that had a cape of snow covering everything of hundreds of kilometers around it, a blinding light appeared. Once it was gone, the figures of Zatiel and the rest of the invading force could be seen.


    The entire army was feeling nauseous and looked like they were exhausted. It reached the point that some Rank 1 started to puke.


    Zatiel was not an exception. He was very tired, and there was concern on his face.


    He was not surprised by the physical state of the army since even if you do not count the impact that inter-nar teleportation has on someone''s body, the debilitating effect, produced by the restrictive pressure that any invader force will be subjected once they arrive a new was very powerful.


    If there was someone strong enough, he could see all sorts of shackles surrounding the bodies of every person in the army which increased in both quantity and quality, the stronger the person was.


    The most practical and efficient way of getting rid of the restrictive pressure was to enhance your understanding of the world''s natural energies.


    The reason for Zatiel worry was not the restrictive pressure, but due to the fact that the moment he entered the world, he felt as if someone was watching him. Although it was just an instant, and it disappeared immediately, he was sure that their arrival in this world had been noticed.


    Zatiel''s consciousness explored his surroundings and once he noticed that there was no one near them, he activated his Eye of Life and Creation, and immediately an immense amount of golden mes were released from his body and surrounded the entire army.


    The life force inside the mes was entering the bodies of every member of the army, filling them with energy and vitality, and although it did not remove the restrictive pressure, it improved everyone''s condition dramatically.


    "Dante, we will need to move fast. Initiate the information gathering and exploration of the surroundings immediately. We need to find a ce with good natural defenses to construct the magic tower and also the location of cities and highly popted areas," Zatiel was sitting down and his face was even paler than before due to him using so much energy.


    Although acting too fast during the initial part of the invasion could be dangerous, Zatiel only needed to implement his n and then they would have enough time to calmly explore the rest of the world and collect its resources.


    They will also give them the time to create a safe haven for those Rank 4 when they arrive.


    Once he heard Zatielmand, Dante did not hesitate and divided the army into eight battalions, each one with the same amount of battle power, capable of facing multiple Rank 2 life forms.


    "Each battalion will move into one cardinal direction, taking this forest as the center. In case of finding any popted area, you will do initial surveince and with the information gathered I will decide whether to attack or retreat.


    In case of an attack, kill everyone at Rank 2, but the rest must be left alive. Erase the memories of any Rank 0 that saw you and bring back those Rank 1. I will read their minds and see if I can transform them into our spies," Dante''s expression was serious and his tone was firm, even though he was a child, he was a bornmander and he gives a fitting aura.


    He knew that any drastic fall in the poption of any area will raise some suspicions, and anyone smart enough will be able to use those ces to calcte their position.


    The army understood that time was of the essence, and since the threat of Zatiel was still very clear in their minds, they acted immediately, following the boy''s order and left the forest.


    The only ones that didn''t move were Dante, one Brain Golem, and Zatiel who was sitting on the floor and consuming food to replenish his lost energy.


    ......


    In another part of the world, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the forest where Zatielnded, there was a beautiful city where buildings were made out of white and pure stones that resemble marble, popted by beautiful winged humanoids with a massive castle in the center.


    In a room inside this castle, a man was floating in the sky with his eyes closed. He was two-and-a-half meters tall, with red hair, a muscr body, and a majestic appearance. The most striking thing about him was the three pairs of wings on his back.


    Each wing was two meters long, and they had no feathers at all. Instead, they were made purely fromva.


    The man was training and not containing the power inside him, so all sorts of phenomenons were formed around him, like the illusion of volcanos or fire elemental creatures.


    The entire room was filled with mes and it reached such a temperature, that if any Rank 2 life form were to be in here, they would die in a matter of seconds.


    The man was training his proficiency over hisws, using his bloodline as a guide. He was in deep concentration when repeated knocking was heard on his door.


    He frowned due to the disturbance, but since he knew that his people knew that it was prohibited to bother him as he trained, whatever it may be, it should be very important.


    He waved his hand, and all the fire inside the room and the phenomenons disappeared before the door opened.


    The figure of an old man appeared, but despite his advanced age, he was still very handsome. There were two pairs of wings made of lightning on his back.


    This characteristic should make the old man disy an impressive grandeur, but the only thing you could see on him was the worry and fear on his face.


    "Damian, this better be important, you know that I don''t like to be interrupted as I train myprehension over thews," Despite the man being displeased, his voice was soft, and anyone who hears it will feel rxed.


    But Damian''s condition did not improve and you could see that what had happened has affected him greatly.


    ???Lord Oliver, something terrible has happened!"


    Seeing the state of the old man, Oliver''s expression became serious, and he made his wing expand and release a red glow.


    When the red glow touched Damian, he calmed down, and hisplexion improved a little.


    "Speak, what has happened?" Oliver has known the old man for a long time and knew that he was not someone who could be disturbed by small things.


    "Lord Geiner has just died," Damian was barely able to say those words without losing hisposure


    "How could that happen!? Geiner was a Rank 3 Angelic Paragon. Even though he was not very skilled in battle, as a master of divination, there should be no one that could kill him inside the castle without me noticing them, even if the attacker was a Fallen."


    Oliver knew that his man will not lie with something so important, so although he did not want to believe it, he knew it was true, and the rage and killing intent in his eyes was immense.


    "No one attacked him, my Lord. I was by his side when it happened. It was during one of his divination training, everything was normal until out of nowhere he started to scream in pain and yelled some type of prophecy," When Damina remembers that scene, he started to shake uncontrobly.


    When Oliver hears that, his expression bes incredibly solemn. For users of divination, bacsh due to them seeing an event that carries too much repercussion or affects beings of immense power is normal and something they all try to avoid but even when it happens, as long as they are strong enough they should be fine after resting for a couple of years.


    For a Rank 3 Angelic Paragon to die due to the bacsh of divination, whatever he saw was something that will affect this entire world.


    "Tell me every single word you hearding out of his mouth."


    Oliver released an imposing presence that made Damian unconsciously kneel and a submissive look appear in his eyes.


    "Due to screaming from the immense pain he was feeling, he was only able to yell some phrases and nothing more. What he spoke was, ''the race of destruction has touched the world, the Eye of Life will open the door of chaos, the sun cocoon will open, eight wings will cover a golden sun.'' That was everything he said before dying."


    Damian could not stop the fear from reaching his heart as he remembers the apocalyptic prophecy and the screams that Geiner released as he spoke it.


    Unlike this man, Oliver was someone that had experienced many things and had battled through different parts of the universe, and yet he was shocked and frozen for a second when he heard those words.


    It was not the omen of death that affected him, but the mention of the golden cocoon and eight wings. As a Soul Forging Angelic Paragon, he was very clear what those words mean for his race.


    ''An Archangel will be born in our world, and whoever this golden sun is, they will sh against each other. The repercussions of their fight will affect the entire world and will be enough to kill a Rank 3 Angelic Paragon who dares to scry into it.''


    As the image of an Archangel passed through Oliver''s mind, a zealot light shed in his eyes but he immediately focused here.


    "You will not speak a word about what you saw or heard to anyone," Oliver''s voice carried a specialmand that was engraved in Damian''s mind.


    After saying those words, he disappeared from the room and instantly reached a throne before sending a message.


    "My generals! Come to me in this instant. An invader hase to our world!"

 Chapter 134: Elemental Bloodline Marrow

    Oliver was sitting on his throne, and in front of him were ten people. They were six men and four women, all of them with three pairs of wings.


    There were all sorts of things forming the wings of these people, with one even having what it seems like a tornado shaped wing.


    These men and women were extremely handsome, and absolutely no w could be found in them.


    Even though Oliver was the most powerful person in the room, they were not far behind, and by their attitude, you could see that although they respect him, they were not showing any sort of submission.


    "Lord Oliver, does a mere invader force really need the ten of us leaving our current missions ande here. We are very close to finding the hiding ce of the Fallen and once we do, we will be able to erase that gue from our world," The person who spoke was a four-meter tall man with a muscr body and wings made purely of blood.


    Hearing the words of the man, the rest of the Angelic Paragons exhibited disys of support. Like all members of the Heavenly race, these generals were extremely proud.


    And they had the right since they had the power to rip to pieces a normal dragon in the same Rank and were in a Middle World, meaning that the maximum level of power inside it was Rank 4, which all of them have.


    Normally, Oliver would have agreed with them, but the situation surrounding this invasion was special.


    "There is a prophecy connected to this invasion, a part of it says ''the sun cocoon will open, eight wings will cover a golden sun''," Oliver''s expression was serious as he said those words.


    The moment the Angelic Paragons heard those words, they were shocked and their carefree attitude vanished immediately and was reced with a solemn look.


    "How it is possible!? This Beta Heavenly has only reached thete stage of a Middle World a couple millions of years ago. The umtions for the supreme being of our race to be born will need hundreds of thousands of years more," The one who spoke was a woman with ck hair and green eyes, whose wings seem to contain a raging ocean inside them.


    Seeing that all ten generals were focused, Oliver proceeded to exin the origin of the prophecy and the death of the Angelic Paragon that spoke it.


    "I also don''t understand how the Archangel can be born so soon. I will go to the Garden of Creation and speak with The Seven to see if there is any abnormality we should know. You ten will mobilize our forces and find those invaders."


    "For the invaders to provoke a prophecy like that, they must be from a peak High World. The initial search will be very dangerous and we cannot let our people be exposed to that danger, so I propose to use the Archons.


    "They are great in numbers and in order to motivate them, we can kill one thousand beasts every day they don''t find news," The man with the blood wings spoke with apletely natural tone as if killing thousands of people that work for them was something normal.


    Oliver and the generals found no error in the man''s reasoning and epted immediately.


    "Lord Oliver, should we inform the other two Dukes?"


    The person who spoke was a general, with wings made of silver des.


    Oliver shows hesitation, but after a moment, determination filled his face.


    "We will handle this threat ourselves, and then when the Archangel wakes up, we will be in his grace for having taken care of a problem that could have affected him."


    When he spoke those words not only his but also the generals'' eyes were filled with a dutiful and zealous light.


    The favor of an Archangel was something that even the most talented members of the Heavenly race will not hesitate to spend their lives in istion just for the chance of getting it.


    Once everyone had their jobs, Oliver and the ten generals left the city, flying with an immense speed that increased every time they pped their wings.


    .......


    Zatiel was in the frozen forest, focused on replenishing his energy and increasing his affinity and understanding of the natural energies of this world, in order to get free himself from the restrictive pressure that was limiting his power.


    As a Neo-Demon with a Law bloodline, Zatiel''s talent could be considered at the peak of the universe, so he was progressing at a very fast speed.


    As he waited for his energy pool to be full again, he was going through the steps that a Rank 2 Neo-Demon must go through to reach the peak of the Rank.


    As most races and paths had to do, he needed to fill his consciousness with an immense amount of energy until he is saturated with it, and in Zatiel''s case, he will be filling it with his Abyss Aura and Sun Force.


    By doing this he will be training his energy pool and soul, increasing the power of his spells, the control over the natural energies, and his cognitive abilities among other things.


    And as a Neo-Demons, he needs to progress in his body transformation. In Rank 1 he had to change his original heart into an Elemental Chaos Heart and finish his Bloodline Heart.


    Now in Rank 2, he will need to extract and fuse the blood essence of these two hearts, one containing the special abilities of his assimted bloodline and the other the fragmented runes that were taken from the Chaotic Core in order to make it.


    This special blood essence will need to prate into the core of his bones and reach the marrow, the one which handles the creation of blood, in order to start to change it, creating what is called the Elemental Bloodline Marrow.


    By transforming your marrow into Elemental Bloodline Marrow, your body will obtain powers even more impressive than the ones owned by the original holder of your bloodline and it could also give you some special skills.


    In Zatiel''s case, once his Elemental Bloodline Marrow reaches a high enough percentage ofpletion, the healing abilities he obtains by using his golden mes will be a natural characteristic of his body.


    With regards to Sophia and Ezequiel, their Elemental Bloodline Marrow will allow one to have lightning running through his veins, which will increase his speed and striking power and the other will be virtually invulnerable to any sort of poison or curse and will have an immense resistance to any type of energy that tries to invade her body.


    ''At this rate, it won''t take me long to free myself from the world''s restrictive pressure. A. I. Chip, scan me.''


    [Bip... scanning host


    Name: Zatiel Daybreak


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 2, Daybreak Bloodline)/ Animus (Rank 1)


    Strength: 95.7


    Physique: 189.2


    Speed: 117.3


    Abyss Aura: 153.2


    Sun Force: 168.9


    Mind Force: 23.4


    Elemental Bloodline Marrowpletion: 0.0%


    Note. The host is in a weakened condition and can disy 49% of his power]


    Zatiel had managed to be a Rank 1 Animus a few weeks before leaving with his army, giving him ess to arge range of abilities, but since he was a Rank 2 Neo-Demon, the help that it could bring in battle was very small.


    That didn''t mean it was not very useful since it was thanks to his Mind Force that he was able to detect when someone saw him entering the world.


    What bothers him was thepletion of his Elemental Bloodline Marrow. To create the fused blood essence of the two hearts and make it change the marrow, a great amount of energy was needed.


    Also, the process is extremely painful and needed a great level of concentration so Zatiel could not divide his focus as he trained.


    If a Neo-Demon were to consume great amounts of energy and spent all of his entire time inpleting his Elemental Bloodline Marrow, he could advance 3% every year.


    Rank 2 Neo-Demons can live up to one thousand and five hundred years, so they have the time to gradually change their marrow.


    But Zatiel has never been some that take the normal path when there is a more efficient way at his disposal.


    ''The special characteristic that stops me from taking the bloodline of the members of the Heavenly race I will kill, it''s what makes them a very useful source of energy now,'' Zatiel''s eyes were cold as he nned his movement in this world.


    Zatiel and Dante remained still in the forest, one focusing on recovering his power and the other guiding the actions of an army


    Five days went by and the army finally returned, bringing with them hundreds of chained humanoid beasts and also some people with two wings.


    There were no casualties in the army, but the damage in some of the members was significant, with a great number of them missing a limb and a few unconscious or in aatose state.


    It was only thanks to Dante''s impressivemanding abilities, with which he always found a way to save their life in thest second, that there were no deaths on their side.


    Zatiel knew that the number of lives lost during this war will not be small, so he did not bother with injuries that will be healing very soon.

 Chapter 135: Heaven Swallowing

    As the army arrived, Zatiel activated his Sun Domain and started to heal them and analyze the captives.


    Although the direct use of his golden mes would have been faster, it would have taken too much energy, and since they will need to wait for Dante to read the mind of every prisoner before deciding their next move, he was not in a hurry.


    As the army felt their wounds heal, they all rxed and dropped those humanoid beasts and members of the heavenly race to the ground.


    The humanoid beasts with an appearance simr to hunting dogs and scars all over their bodies were Archons.


    They were the cannon fodder in the Heavenly race armies, and like most demons, they were created by subjecting a person''s soul, usually the natives of the conquered world, through an extremely painful process.


    Through the transformation, the Heavenly race can produce a Rank 1 Archon by using a native at Rank 0, but although they have a very long life span, their fighting power is mediocre, and they lose any type of reproductive ability.


    They are pitiful creatures, forced to serve as ves for hundreds of years, always submitted to all types of torture by their masters for no reason besides existing.


    A great part of them would rather die than living hundreds of years like that, but the Heavenly race always keeps their rtives alive, to force them to act as they see fit.


    As for the captives belonging to the Heavenly race, you could determine by the single pair of wings in their backs that they were all Angels.


    After examining the Angels and Archons, Dante stood up and was going to them in order to read their minds. As a Rank 1 Animus, he could use Telepathy and enter the mind in order to see their memories. If he was stronger and with higher proficiency, he could even control them.


    He was going to start with the Angels since they were the ones who have true authority in the world. They should have more valuable information. But before he could reach them, a hand grabbed his shoulder.


    Dante turns back and sees Zatiel looking at him with seriousness.


    "Start with the Archons and then go with that Angel. Remember, son, the universe is unfair, acts of cruelty and savagery beyond measure aremitted every instant, regardless of your personal opinion, you should never let them affect your mind," There was a deep meaning in Zatiel''s voice as he guided Dante.


    The boy did not understand why Zatiel was telling him that and neither the reason he chose a specific Angel, but he knows that his father will not do things without a purpose, so he nods and proceeds to read the Archons'' minds.


    An Animus mind reading is not simply extracting some information, but instead going through all their memories, seeing everything that had urred in their life.


    Of course, this search could be directed to certain things to increase the speed, but since Dante needed to have a clear view of this world, he saw everything.


    Thanks to the Brain Golems, his processing speed was incredibly fast, and it did not take him long to see the life of this Archon. And when he did, he frowned, but after a moment, he focused and continued with the next one.


    The more Archons'' minds he read, the more pronounced his frown was, and he was unconsciously starting to look at the Angels, with eyes full of disgust.


    Zatiel was not surprised by the boy''s expression. He may be very smart, but he was still very young, and when ites to cruelty toward other races, the Heavenly race was not inferior to devils and demons.


    When Dante finished reading the mind of thest Archon, he could not stop the loathing he was feeling, toward those Angels, from showing in his face.


    He has never had a problem killing people, but that was when they were enemies of his race and n, and although he did not like to kill civilians that have done nothing to them besides being part of the opponent''s race or faction, he knows that being merciful with the enemy is akin to being cruel to your own people.


    Despite being a goodmander and skillful in leading armies, he wasn''t a cruel person and preferred peaceful ces like the kobolds cave or the City of the Sun, and also was someone that hated all type of xenophobia, since he was born as an Elder Brian, and the Neo-Demon race was made by different races.


    So the action of every member of the Heavenly race he saw in those memories made him feel revulsion.


    He took some time to rest and recover his Mind Force before going to an Angel with wings made of solidified fire, the one that Zatiel has pointed to, to read his mind.


    As Zatiel saw the boy approaching the Angel, he was tempted to stop him, but he didn''t since he knew that he needed to see it. The reason why he chose that Angel was because of the familiar sensation he felt when he used his Mind Force to detect his emotions, the one he has always felt in individuals with twisted personalities.


    Dante put his hand on the Angel''s head and proceeded to focus all of his power to read his mind.


    He could see years in mere moments, and the more he saw, the worst the expression on his face was, and it reached the point that his hand started to tremble.


    When he was finishing, he saw something that shocked him, and immense killing intent was born inside him.


    He unconsciously started to put so much strength in his grip that the bones on the Angel''s head started to crack.


    Due to the pain, the Angel was able to wake up, and when he saw his condition and the people surrounding him, what was shown in his face was not fear but repugnance, especially when he felt Dante''s hand on his head.


    "Beast, you dare to touch me, release me in this instant!"


    When he saw his eyes and heard his voice, the killing intent inside Dante soared.


    "Abyss..."


    But before he could act, someone grabbed his hand and took it out from the Angel''s head before throwing him back.


    "Don''t let your emotions cloud your judgment." Zatiel''s voice was calm, and there wasplete indifference in his eyes.


    Dante would normally act ording to Zatiel''s words without hesitation, always obeying, but this time he could not refrain from disobeying.


    "Father, that thing should die. He likes to abuse little children, and after that, he eats them! Sometimes he even does that with... youngers," As Dante remembered those images, the desire to kill the Angel increased even more, and his eyes were burning with hate.


    When the rest of the army saw how Dante lost his control, a lot of them shook their head at the start, but even they, warriors who have been in all types of wars, were shocked when they heard his words because ''youngsters'' could only mean one thing.


    "Humph, so what if I eat them? Beasts have only one purpose, and that is to satisfy our desires? They should be honored to be my food," The man had a righteous expression on his face as he spoke.


    A great part of the army felt surprised by the level of cruelty that the Angel had shown and how dark his mind was.


    The only one that has maintained an expressionless face this entire time has been Zatiel.


    "Although he is an extreme disy of his race''s behavior, there are worlds full of beings like him. Unless you be strong enough to kill all of them, you don''t have the right to ssify their actions as wrong."


    "HAHAHA, finally a beast that understands. We are the mightiest beings of the universe. You all should be our food and toy..." The Angel stops suddenly as he sees two immensely cold eyes looking at him.


    Zatiel was looking at the Angel as he spoke, "Dante, did you finish reading his mind?"


    The coldness in his voice made Dante calm down, and after a moment, he nodded.


    "If that is the case, I am going to start."


    After saying those words, Zatiel appeared behind the Angel and kicked his back before pressing his body to the ground with his feet.


    Seeing those eyes that make his blood cold, the Angel tried to speak, "But you just said..."


    "I am not dering your action as wrong, nor am I acting due to a sense of justice. The reason why I am going to torture you is that I am disgusted by your behavior, and I am stronger than you, so that gives me the right to do it."


    When he finishes speaking, Zatiel grabs both wings.


    "NO! Please don''t do it. I will give you whatever you want, just don''t do it!" The Angel started to scream with all his power as he felt the strength in the grip of Zatiel over his wings and realized what was going to happen.


    But the only thing that his words provoked in Zatiel was a smile while he started to pull both wings with all his power.


    "AHHHHH!!!"


    For the Heavenly race, have their wings torn off is the greatest torture possible, not only because of the unbearable physical pain but also due to the psychological effect that was losing their most precious.


    Zatiel could have finished in an instant, but he took his time and slowly ripped both wings out of the Angel''s back, maximizing the pain and making jets of blood sprout out of him.


    He was in so much pain that he could not even think, and the only things that came out of his mouth were screams.


    He only stopped when Zatiel grabbed his neck and raised him into the air, with a smile on his face as he did it.


    "You are very lucky. For people that I feel so much disgust, I will usually let them live for a long time, but I need to test something."


    Zatiel buries his left hand in the chest of the Angel and pierces his heart, killing him.


    The moment the Angel died, a light started to appear from his mouth and eyes as if he was being burned from the inside.


    This is what makes obtaining the bloodline of the Heavenly race almost impossible. From the moment they die, any part of them that could be harvested to obtain the bloodline was incinerated during a process known as bloodlinebustion, and it did not matter if you extracted the bloodline from the body before killing him since it will be destroyed as well.


    This was the moment that Zatiel was waiting since now there was an incredible pure amount of energy being generated inside the Angel body.


    On the palm of his left hand, a rune was activated and started to absorb this energy, and without wasting time, Zatiel sent it to his heart to generate the bloodline essence.


    The amount was too little to generate effects around the entire body, so he sends all of it to the marrow on the bones of his left hand.


    Normally the bloodlinebustion will be very fast, but with the rune acting as an intermediary, it was slowed down a lot, and it took an entire minute for Angel to stop generating that light.


    ''A. I. Chip, show me the result of the Heaven Swallowing rune.''

 Chapter 136: Parasite

    ''A.I. Chip, show me the result of the Heaven Swallowing rune.''


    [Bip... Analyzing rune''s effect.


    Rune sessfully intervenes with bloodlinebustion of the Heavenly race individual, slowing down the speed at which it happens and absorbing part of the energy generated.


    86% of the energy generated during the bloodlinebustion of the Rank 1 Angel has been absorbed, granting the host a 0.03% advance in the process of creating the Elemental Bloodline Marrow.]


    ''The help I obtain from a Rank 1 Angel is too little. If I only use them, I will have to kill thousands, maybe even tens of thousands since the advance will be slower when I start transforming the marrow on my spine. I need to focus on hunting stronger members of the Heavenly race, otherwise, I will be too slow.''


    Despite the rise in the Elemental Bloodline Marrow being so small, it was insignificant. Zatiel was very pleased with the Heaven Swallowing rune since it will improve the speed enormously at which his body transformation will advance.


    Once he was done with assessing the effectiveness of the rune, Zatiel went to pick up the wings he had ripped off the Angel''s back and stared at the army.


    "Dante, who among those at Rank 1 who used fire-rted spells achieved the greatest merits and whose action in the battlefield generated an effect beyond what was expected of him?"


    Who Zatiel was looking wasn''t the one who defeated the strongest opponent or disyed the greatest fighting power among those at Rank 1. Since if he used those search parameters, the winner will always be a Neo-Demon and it will not recognize those who can show great military might by working in teams, taking advantage of the enemies ws or assist in battles of a higher level than their own.


    Dante was still surprised by all the events happening just now, but he immediately focused when he heard Zatiel''s words and after analyzing all the data of the battles and exploration made, he spoke.


    "It is the Advanced Rank 1 Magus Jeriko, a man under Zitra''smand. Although his fighting power is not impressive, he is very ingenious, always finding ways to help others during fights with stronger enemies and sometimes acting as bait to guide the enemies to an ambush," Dante stared at a young man at the back of the army with red hair.


    Jeriko''s appearance was quite normal and he could easily blend in a crowd. But by his posture and the look in his eyes, it was obvious that he was someone who has been forged on the battlefield.


    After hearing Dante''s analysis, Zatiel agreed. Although he would have preferred for a member of his n to obtain the reward, it did not really matter since they could gain itter and he knows that objectivity and meritocracy are important for an army to be stronger and for its members to push forward and break their limits.


    "You cane here and reim your reward."


    Jeriko became very excited when he heard those words. But as a warrior that had experienced many life and death experiences, he had great control over his emotions and did not let them affect him. So he immediately moves forward until he was before Zatiel.


    "Rank 1 Magus under Soul Forging existence Zitra, Jeriko greets army leader, Zatiel Daybreak," Jeriko performed a bow as he gave the usual salute of a Magi army soldier.


    Although they were around the same age, Jeriko knew he could notpare with the man in front of him who was strong enough to kill everybody in the army by himself.


    "Every action has an effect. Your performance during this first battle was great, so you deserve a reward. I can imnt these wings on you, and they will work as a piece of upgradable magic equipment. This will grant you an increase in 35% in the power of your fire spells, outstanding flying abilities, and they can work like shields. If you advance to the next Rank, you will need to infuse magic items with fire properties in the wings if you want their effect to reach the standards of the next Rank. Are you satisfied with this reward?" Zatiel words were loud, allowing the entire army to hear him.


    All the members of the army were impressed with the abilities of those wings and even more when they found out that they could be upgraded when he advanced to the next Rank.


    This means that he will not have to change them once he reaches Rank 2. Unlike them who will need to obtain different magic equipment since their Rank 1 armors will no longer be enough to help them in battle because they cannot stop the might that a Rank 2 spell generates.


    Although some of the members of the army were feeling envy, most of the Magi knew of the help that the man provided during the battles, so they saw fit for Jeriko to get the wings.


    "Yes, I am very satisfied!" Jeriko also understood how useful those wings were so he immediately epted.


    "Ok. Then turn around, uncover your back, and deactivate your magic defenses," Zatiel activated his Eye of Life and Creation and filled both wings with golden fire, healing any sort of damage he had made when he ripped them off.


    Jeriko did not hesitate, and immediately followed Zatiel''s order before waiting for the procedure to start.


    Once both wings were healed, Zatiel made them float by his side and he took some rune inscription tools from his ring and started to work on both of Jeriko''s scap.


    The runes were not veryplicated, so Zatiel finished them rapidly, and then he made both wings touch the runes, before sending his energy into them.


    "Heavenly Polymorph!"


    The runes activated immediately, and Jeriko started to feel great pain on his back. His bones started to break, and generated spikes that prated these wings, filling them with his blood vessels and connecting them to his nervous system.


    Although it was very painful, the process was also very fast. So very soon, the wings fusedpletely with Jeriko.


    Jeriko was amazed by how he felt like the wings were an extremity just like an arm or a leg and not something external attached to his body, and although they were a little stiff, he was sure that with practice he could control them with ease.


    "Thank you very much!" Jeriko made another bow as he was very happy with the wings since they had increased his battle power to the one of a Master Rank 1 Magus.


    Zatiel just nodded and as he saw the desire in the rest of the Magi army a meaningful light appeared in his eyes.


    "Once we havepleted the magic tower and the Soul Forging existences of the Magi World reach this ce, you will be free to explore this world. During that period, you can bring me a member of the Heavenly race alive and I will imnt their wings in you."


    When the army heard this they all be excited, and they were already making ns and forming groups for future hunting.


    "Finish reading the mind of those Angels," Zatiel instructed Dante, before closing his eyes and focusing on recovering his lost energy.


    Dante knew that he had made a mistake before, so once he heard Zatiel''smand, he did not hesitate and started to work.


    Although he still frowned sometimes, he was able to maintain hisposure. It also was of help that although they were cruel as well, these Angels had not reached the level of depravity that the first angel had.


    Once he finished scanning the memory of thest Angel, and after organizing the information he just obtained, he spoke to Zatiel through the Chaotic-Core.


    "After analyzing all the information in the minds of the captives, I have made several findings. This world''s name was Juxis, but once it was dominated and altered by the Heavenly race, it was designated as Beta Heavenly, due to it being a Middle World. The ruling organizations are three Dukedoms, each one with a Duke and ten generals, all Angelic Paragons at Rank 4. There is no king in this world since that is a title that only an Archangel can possess.


    "We are currently in the Fornes continent, in its periphery to be more exact and the entire continent is under the ruling of the Sphinx Dukedom. Our presence has already been noticed by them, but they have no clue about our whereabouts since a message has been sent to every Heavenly race member to look for us.


    "I have also created a map that contains all the zones and territories on the continent. By your request, I have marked all the cities that have a high poption and also the best possible terrains to create the magic tower."


    Zatiel analyzed all the information, and once he understood everything, he waved his hand and made a dark golden fire appear that covered him, Dante, the three Brain Golems, and the captives, hiding them from the rest of the army.


    When the rest saw this, although they were a little surprised at first, they all understood that in every army there are things confidential.


    After making sure that no one could see them, Zatiel looked at Dante.


    "Initiate the imntation of the parasitic tadpole."


    Zatiel''s face was expressionless as he gave the order, but Dante was different and after a moment his eyes became cold and resolute.


    He signals the Brain Golems and the helmets covering their heads opened up, showing a huge brain.


    It did not take long for golden tadpoles to begin toe out from the Brain Golems, but these were different from the ones the army had imnted in their hand. They had eight sharp legs and a tail that had a mouth with sharpened teeth in the end.


    These tadpoles were simr to the ones the Mind Ruler race uses to infest their victims and transform them.


    Once they appeared, the tadpoles immediately went to the unconscious prisoners and began to climb their bodies until they reached their noses.


    Then they entered through a nostril, and advanced until they reached their brain, where they made their eight legs pierce in specific locations and sent their tail to prate the core.


    Zatiel was looking at Dante as he made those tadpoles parasite the brains of these people and seeing that he was able to do the task without hesitation, he remained quiet but there was an approval in his eyes.


    War is not a ce for mercy, and no matter what his feelings for those Archons were, they are the enemy and since they can''t harm a member of the Heavenly race due to the alteration made in their souls, their only remaining use is as disposable spies.

 Chapter 137: Sacrifice

    With the Parasite Tadpole inside their brains, the captive Angels and Archons were no different than puppets under Dante''s control, with everything that they see and hear being transmitted to him.


    Previously he could only use Telekinesis to read their minds and erase some memories due to him being only a Rank 1 Animus and his proficiency in that discipline not being high enough.


    But now by using the Parasite Tadpole as an intermediary, he could alter their memories and even imnt totally new fake ones, and if he wanted, he could take control over their body and energy. If their souls were stronger, they could have resisted and tried to fight back, but with their current power, there was nothing they could do.


    Dante did not waste time and once the Parasite Tadpole had taken control over their brains, he started to manipte their memories, erasing everything that happened from the moment they were attacked by the forces under hismand.


    He used the help of the Brain Golems, or else it would have taken too much time and he could not have erased everyone''s memory at the same time.


    "Stand up," Dante was tired due to manipting the memory of more than one hundred people at the same time, and his voice was soft, but the moment the captives heard him, they immediately obeyed.


    Seeing the control that those tadpoles gave to Dante over those Angels and Archons, Zatiel was satisfied and sent a whip of dark golden mes to destroy their bindings.


    "Father, I have taken total control over these Angels and Archons, and since they are still alive, they can act like their normal self when I am not controlling them, making them perfect spies. I can control their memories and actions but although they can do nothing to resist, those that knew them could find out their changes and be suspicious."


    Dante closed his eyes and once he detected that the tadpole had fusedpletely with the brains, he spoke again.


    "Anyone beneath Rank 4 can not detect the tadpoles since even if they use their consciousness, they will only see the tadpoles as part of their brains and nothing more."


    Zatiel had used his consciousness to explore inside their bodies, and indeed he found nothing, not even his Animus abilities detected anything weird.


    Seeing that their spy force was already created, Zatiel went to the next point and made his mes form a topographic map of the continent, using the information that Dante had provided him.


    "Send every Archon and all, except five, of the Angels back to the ce where they were abducted. Then leave them to act as they usually do and make sure that the Archon follows the order of the Dukedom about exploring the territories. Make the Angels send the information that the territory where we are and all the surrounding areas have all been cleared"


    After the misinformation strategy had been made, Zatiel pointed at a mountain range near the periphery of the continent that connected with the ocean.


    "There is where we will make the magic tower. The altitude will make any incursion of weak Rank 1 life forms impossible and also give us a clear view of any approaching enemy. In case of danger, we can also hide inside the ocean and use the magical creatures inhabiting it to conceal us and use them as food."


    Zatiel was looking at the map again, and focused on a city with the name of Berrak that was dozens of thousands of kilometers away, very deep inside the continent, and marked a ce not far away from there, where a settlement of Angels was located.


    "When I give you the signal, you will send all the Archons under your control to that area, all of them equipped with explosive devices. They cannot directly attack members of the Heavenly race, but they can kill them that way. I need to draw attention to that area, in order to make an armye there," Zatiel made hundreds of white orbs appear and sent one to every captive Archon.


    Zatiel did not feel anything when he nned for those Archons to explode themselves, after all, why would he need to feel bad for killing an enemy force, even if it was one that had been enved, but he knew that his son was not as cold as him.


    Dante did not show anything in his face when he heard thatmand, but he could not trick Zatiel.


    "Do not feel bad for them, they have been submitted to unimaginable torture all their lives and due to the alteration in their souls, I have no way to save them. Killing them is a way to set them free, besides, I bet all of them would be willing to die if they could kill a member of the Heavenly race."


    Zatiel''s knowledge was unimaginably deep, but trying to return a soul to its original form was something even he could not do, just with knowledge and without enough power.


    Dante knew that he could not hide things from his father and could only sigh as he saw the pitiful fate of the natives of this world.


    "Eat it," As he gave the order and saw the Archons swallow those white orbs, the boy''s eyes were burning with determination as he promised himself to be stronger.


    ''No matter what, I will make sure that our race never has to suffer a fate like this.''


    "We will split now. I will take Sophia, Ezequiel, Rax, Kilo, the five remaining Angels and the drones. You will take the rest of the army to the mountain range and start to create the magic tower. Be ready to act when I give you the signal and also hand over the control of the five Parasite Tadpoles in those Angels to me."


    Dante followed the instruction and very soon Zatiel could feel the five tadpoles under his control.


    Now that everything was ready, he waved his hand, making the dark golden fire disappear.


    "The location for the tower has been decided. Follow me," Dante did not wait for the rest of the army to speak and just fly away with the three Brain Golems behind him.


    The Neo-Demons and Sun Champions followed immediately and although the Magi were doubtful, when they saw that they were leaving the white warriors, Archons, and Angels, they eventually flew as well.


    The moment the army was away, the Archons and Angel also started to move, only leaving five Angels behind.


    Once everyone had left, Zatiel activated his Sun Domain and made the Undying Leviathan appear.


    "Lets go!"


    Sophia, Ezequiel, Rax, Kilo, the three hundred white warriors and five Angels, jump on the massive back of the creature and then start to advance.


    In order to not attract attention, Zatiel moved through the dangerous zones known by the Angels and was always using irsentience to detect any type of danger or life form close to them.


    During their trip, they kill a great number of magic creatures, including some at Rank 3, for which they were forced to use their runic sets, since even with their advantage as Neo-Demons and powerful bloodlines, the time since their advance has been too short and all of them could be considered at Novice Rank 2 Neo-Demons.


    Even though the time they could maintain their runic sets active was extremely small, by working together, they were able to kill Rank 3 Magic Creatures very fast.


    There were times that they detected members of the Heavenly race, and if Zatiel thought they could kill them without leaving anyone alive, they attacked.


    Three weeks were spent like that, and once they were close to the city of Berrak, he made his domain disappear and sent a message to Dante, before advancing along with the rest by foot.


    Berrak city was a very beautiful ce, like most constructions of the Heavenly race, it had a very impressive aesthetic; the buildings were not too big, and the walls were white with all sorts of delicate paintings surrounding them.


    There was no trash in the street and the members of the Heavenly race were flying in the sky and all had a smile on their faces.


    In the center of the city was a great tower, with all sorts of patterns, from which an immense power could be felt.


    Of course, this was just the visible face of the city. The things that happen in the dark, where the natives and Archons are tortured for their enjoyment was not shown.


    A Rank 2 Angel was flying over the northern gate of the city in his guard duty and he saw a big group approach his way. Although his expression was solemn at the beginning, when he saw the five Angels at the led he rxed and a smile appeared on his face as he waited until they were in front of him.


    "Brothers, I am Hikor. What brings you to the city of Barrak, and what are those things?"


    Hikor tone was very friendly and he would have invited the Angels to enter the city immediately if it was not for the three hundred warriors in white armors behind them.


    Although some of them resembled Archons, there were a lot that had different forms and he also found it weird for them to use armor since in his mind those beasts should only use clothes to cover their disgusting bodies and there was no sense in offering them protection.


    "Brother Hikor, I am Jason. My brothers and me were sent here by Lord Kasius, to bring these modified Archons to help in the finding of the invaders. We hope that the Lord of the city could inspect them.


    "They were altered by blending the armor into their skin, the process was extremely painful but now they will be able to improve their exploration abilities and there is also the benefit that they are more pleasing to the eye," Jason was giving a very cordial smile as he spoke, as did the other four Angels.


    The Lord Kasius he was talking to was the leader of another city not very far from this one, of course, Jason had no rtion with that person, and if Hikor were to ask some questions, he could have found the truth immediately.


    But due to the confident nature and trust that members of the Heavenly race have between each other, he was satisfied with the exnation of Jason.


    Of course, Hiker found something weird, but in his mind, there is no way a member of the Heavenly race would hurt another, besides all those people were at Rank 1 so they were no threat at all.


    "So that is why you came. We have sent our Archons to explore, but those useless beasts have found nothing. I hope that these are better. Follow me, I will take you to the Lord."


    Hikor sent a signal and made the invisible force field around the city open up in front of him and once the five Angels and the three hundred white warriors passed, he closed it again.


    Hikor and the rest were approaching the tower in the center of the city and although he found it odd how fast the Angels and white warriors were flying, he just followed their pace.


    One minute after entering the city, from the tower an immensely powerful consciousness appeared, and like a wave, it epassed the white warriors, and it seemed like it was about to crush them.


    But unfortunately, it was toote, since all types of runes appeared on the armor and in the next second, all three hundred of them blew up at the same instant,bining their power, creating an explosion of ck mes that covered a fourth of the city, including the tower from where the consciousness appeared.

 Chapter 138: Neo-Demon against Angelic Paragon

    The runes in those armors were known as Fiendfire and its original effect was simple yet very powerful. It allowed the carrier to use a very dangerous and powerful type of energy known as fiend fire which was a type of me that was able to prate magic defenses with ease and whose heat was superior to most of the magic mes that existed.


    The use of fiend fire had several downsides since its overuse can cause irreparable damage to the life force of an individual and it could corrode their consciousness twisting their personalities.


    Zatiel was able to alter the rune, changing its effect, making them consume the life force and energy in the carrierpletely before exploding into a ball of fire with the capacity of harming the consciousness of those who touch it.


    And the most important quality of the rune was that if an explosion of fiend fire happened next to another one, they couldbine themselves, increasing their destructive power beyond the mere sum of their individual damage.


    The white warriors were the drones that Tao had created.


    In the beginning, they were designed to be used as cannon fodder during battles, but their power was so mediocre that Zatiel had chosen to change their purpose, and with the rune absorbing all of their life force and energy, each one of them were able to create an explosion of fiend fire with power equal to a weak Rank 2 Spell.


    Zatiel had changed a lot, and although he was still incredibly cold to his enemies, he was not able to send his Neo-Demos nor even those Sunlight Champions into this type of suicide task.


    But with drones that were no different from an undead army, with no true life or soul in them, he had no problem killing them all.


    Bybining those three hundred explosions, the result was a dome of ck fire that covered a diameter of thirty kilometers and whose power was reaching the Pseudo Rank 4 level.


    Not all the mes were contained inside the center of the explosion, as whips and small fireballs wereunched in all directions, filling the entire city with ck mes.


    From the upper part of the dome of fire, a figure came out flying. He was a man with green eyes and red hair, his body was four meters tall with six wings made of blood on his back and a muscr constitution.


    Surrounding this man was a very thick red aura filled with all sorts of rune inscriptions. Although the aura was now all cracked and seems to be about to break, its abilities were impressive since even though the man was at the epicenter of the explosion, his body had no damage at all.


    Of course, that did not mean he was not hurt as you could see blood leaking from his eyes, mouth, and ears. This happened due to his consciousness grabbing all those drones at the moment of the explosion which resulted in it being severely damaged.


    The man was an Advanced Rank 3 Angelic Paragon, and his bloodline seemed to be focused on increasing his physical capabilities, which surely gave him outstanding regeneration abilities.


    But a damaged consciousness was something very serious since it restricted the amount of power he could release with his spells and also hindered his perception.


    But things were not over yet since at the moment he came out of the mes, an immense sense of danger assaulted him. But due to his damaged consciousness, he was only able to detect the eleven beams of chaotic energy when they were about tond on his body.


    As an experienced warrior, he was able to respond to the threat immediately making all the power on the red aura focus in the front of him and he covered himself with his blood wings.


    The rune that created that red aura must have been of great quality as it was able to resist most of the power of those eleven Abyssal sts even after being damaged.


    But just as the man believed that he had ovee the danger, another eleven beams of chaotic energy that had been fired right after the first onesnded straight on his body.


    The Angelic Paragon''s body was truly impressive since even after receiving those eleven Abyssal sts directly, he only ended up with his left arm destroyed, some of his wings broken and wounds all over his body.


    The explosion threw him back many meters, but he was able to gain control over his body before entering the dome of ck mes again.


    Unfortunately for him, his enemies seem to be determined on throwing him into that inferno, since as he was fighting the chaotic voice that threatened to rip away his sanity, the massive armored head of an Undying Leviathan, surrounded by a domain of dark golden fire crashed against him, submerging him, the creature and the man riding the creature whose body was covered in a golden fire of life and a dark fire of death inside the dome.


    The moment the figure of Zatiel disappeared inside the dome of ck mes, a voice was heard in the mind of Ezequiel, Sophia, Kilo, and Rax.


    "Kill every member of the Heavenly race in the city!"


    The eyes of the four Neo-Demons be cold as they separated from each other. Immediately after that, the city was filled with giant fists covered in lightning, tornados made of ck water, and a sea of dark red and white fire.


    Zatiel had just made the Undying Leviathan crash into the ground with the Angelic Paragon at the point of his head, and he jumped with his sword filled with negative energy ready to attack.


    Zatiel knew that although by activating his runic set, he could achieve an Advanced Rank 3 battle power, this Angelic Paragon could easily fight and kill multiple Peak Rank 3 life forms.


    The only reason he was willing to fight against him alone what due to its severe injuries, and the fact that they were inside the dome of fiend fire. Although it harms him as well, thanks to his mes the damage was minimal, and it was also the ce where he could charge his trump card.


    Just as Zatiel was about to reach the Angelic Paragon that was supposed to be trapped under the head of the Undying Leviathan, he saw a spear with a shaft as wide as his chest appear.


    The spear crashed against the Undying Leviathan''s head, making an incision that pierced the reinforced armor and tore half of its head, before throwing the creature with a weight of thousands of tons dozens of meters away as if it was nothing.


    The maneuverability of the spear was amazing since in the exact moment after the Undying Leviathan was out of the way, it changed direction and shed against Zatiel.


    Zatiel did not dare to let that attacknd on his body and summoned every inch of the physical power he had and he attacked with his sword at the point of the spear where he could neutralize most of the momentum that it carried.


    His swordsmanship was wless, but even though he was able to diminish a great amount of the power in the spear when his sword shed against it, he knew that he had misjudged the physical might of his enemy as the bones in both of his arms broke in several areas, throwing him away almost one hundred meters back.


    "You dare to kill members of the Heavenly race! DIE!!!" The eyes of the Angelic Paragon filled with blood and burning with holy fury.


    There were severe injuries all over his body, and it seems that most of the bones in his chest were pulverized due to the impact with the head of the Undying Leviathan but even then, the destructive force he could generate as he waved his spear with only one hand was impressive.


    The Angelic Paragon didn''t hesitate and mobilized the little amount of energy he could to charge his spear with blood and conjured dozens more around him.


    He was ready to send them all against Zatiel, when he felt a presence on his back, and attacked it with all the power in the blood spear.


    The presence was a ten-meter tall crow, with multiple red eyes filled with inscriptions, that was moving at an impressive speed.


    The spear skills of the Angelic Paragon were amazing. But just as it was about to split the crow in two, the inscriptions in the creature''s eyes glowed and it moved its body in the perfect direction and managed to dodge the spear.


    The Nether Crow''s beak impacted right in the area of the Angelic Paragon chest that was more damaged, but even then it was only able to pierce twenty centimeters due to its opponent''s impressive body defenses


    "Disgusting beast!"


    Along with his cry of rage, the Angelic Paragon made his spear disappear and sent a fist into the Nether Crow''s chest making a huge indentation in it, sending the bird flying away.


    At the same time, he threw those the blood spears surrounding him at Zatiel who was at his back and was approaching him.


    His damaged consciousness did not allow him to track the path of those spears that he threw behind him, but he was able to feel them crash against something and as he turned back to see the state of his enemy, he was shocked.


    Zatiel was right in front of him with a sword filled with an energy that was the antithesis of life, and as he saw the Undying Leviathan''s body full of holes, he understood that Zatiel had used the creature as a shield to get closer to him.

 Chapter 139: Graveyard

    The bones in Zatiel''s arms were broken and he could not allow himself to spend his golden mes to heal them. Because doing that will make his energy pool dangerously low, and maybe his runic set will be deactivated and although his natural regeneration abilities were impressive, the sh between the sword and spear started less than five seconds ago.


    Because of that, the strength he could put on his sword was decreased and not enough to trespass the Angelic Paragon''s impressive physical defenses, but Zatiel''s sword headed to the exact spot where the beak of the Nether Crow had pierced.


    Ignoring the pain in his arms, he used every ounce of strength in his body and buried the sword charged with an immense amount of negative energy into the Angelic Paragon''s chest until it almost came out from his back.


    The sword cut everything in its path, dposing the blood, bones, and organs that were in contact with the ck energy inside it. But the negative energy was not merely destroying those parts of the Angelic Paragon''s body, it was using his life force for itself.


    Those organs were now a source of contamination and they will affect the rest of the body until they were extracted since the energy needed to heal them was more than the one required to form apletely new organ.


    "AHHH!!!" The Angelic Paragon screamed due to the horrible pain and the feeling of having parts of his body being invaded by an energy that was thepletely opposite to life.


    He made energy in his body burst, without regard to the consequences that will act on his damaged consciousness, making red diamonds rece his arm''s skin before sending a punch at Zatiel.


    As the arm moved, waves of wind were formed and Zatiel was surprised by the power that the Angelic Paragon could generate despite having one of his legs destroyed, his consciousness damaged and invaded by the chaotic energy in the Abyssal st, and part of his heart corrupted by negative energy.


    Zatiel knew that he could not let that attack hit his head or chest, so in the short time frame he had, he jumped backward and raised his left leg, so that it could take the punch first.


    The moment the diamond arm touched the leg, it made the leg explode and sent Zatiel''s body flying away for hundreds of meters, making him throw mouthfuls of blood.


    The attack not only destroyed his leg but because of the immense power inside the fist, it also destroyed part of his hip, and it damaged the left side of his body, with his kidney and lungs severely hurt.


    ''Just one attack at full power was enough to injure me this bad. He is on the brink of death inside a realm of fiend fire and he is still this powerful. The Angelic Paragons are as strong as ever,'' Despite the severity of his condition, Zatiel was calm, and he analyzed his enemy''s condition.


    The Angelic Paragon knew how dire the state of his body was, with not only his heart affected by the negative energy but also his lungs and due to him using his energy without control, he had worsened the damage to his consciousness, making it easier for the chaotic voice to affect him.


    He was not the only Rank 3 Heavenly race member in the city, but he was the only Angelic Paragon, and since most of them had their houses inside the radius of the explosion, he was sure that even if they survived, their fighting power will not be enough to stop the other people apanying his opponent.


    Even inside the dome made of ck fire, the Angelic Paragon could feel the entire city trembling, and as the picture of his people being butchered appeared in his mind, his eyes were filled with absolute rage as he saw the enemy leader in front of him and madness filled his mind.


    "I WILL KILL YOU!!!" By this moment the Angelic Paragon''s consciousness was submerged into chaos, and he made the red diamonds cover his entire body beforeunching himself at Zatiel like a wild beast.


    The Angelic Paragon resembled a cannonball and a sonic boom was generated due to the power and speed of his body.


    Seeing his enemy closing in with insanity on his face and the power to destroy his body at the first contact, Zatiel remained calm, and when he was about to reach him, he finally activated his trump card.


    Using Life Release, Zatiel fired three beams of energy that he created by absorbing the fiend fire in the surrounding from the moment he entered the dome of ck fire.


    The Angelic Paragon was attacking without any type of defense so he was not able to stop the three beams of energy from reaching his head.


    The red diamond skin defenses were impressive since it took two beams at point-nk before breaking and when the third reached the head of the Angelic Paragon, it destroyed the upper part of it.


    The beams had diminished most of the Angelic Paragon''s impulse, and with his death, his diamond skin vanished.


    Zatiel threw himself against him, burying his right hand in his chest just before a light started to burn inside him.


    As the bloodlinebustion was happening, Zatiel was using Heaven Swallowing to absorb the energy generated and increased the amount of Elemental Bloodline Marrow inside him.


    Zatiel did not remain inside the dome of ck fire as he did this. He carried the body of the Angelic Paragon and flew away.


    The fight had left him in the periphery of the dome, so it only took a moment to exit the fiend fire and once he did that, he deactivated his runic set and focused all of his attention on changing the marrow inside his right arm.


    Using such an impressive pure amount of energy made the creation of the Elemental Bloodline Marrow incredibly fast and he felt as if thousands of small drills were piercing his bones and burning them inside.


    Even with that pain, Zatiel did not lose sight of the condition of his body and made dozens of pills appear before swallowing them.


    The energy that the bloodlinebustion of a Rank 3 Angelic Paragon was hundreds of times more than the one of a Rank 1 Angel, and due to the interference of the Heaven Swallowing Rune, the process went for more than five minutes.


    When the light inside the Angelic Paragon finally was turn off, the marrow inside Zatiel hand and forearm had all being transformed to Elemental Bloodline Marrow and the blood it was starting to generate was no longer red but golden.


    This blood could be considered an elixir and if a Rank 1 life form were to ingest it, it would not only heal any wound he has but also improve his vitality.


    Thanks to the golden blood and the pills, Zatiel''s body healed greatly, but there was still damage done to his vital organs and in order to regenerate his left leg, it would take more time and energy.


    He was in no condition to continue fighting due to his energy pools being almost empty, and he would need several days of rest before being in his peak condition again


    Despite the fights against the Angelic Paragon being incredibly dangerous, forcing Zatiel to give his best and put him at the edge of death more than once, the gains were impressive.


    ''A. I. Chip, how effective was the Heaven Swallowing rune now, and how much has the Elemental Bloodline Marrow increased with the consumption of the energy of this Angelic Paragon?''


    [Bip... Heaven Swallowing rune has managed to absorb 46% of the energy produced during the Angelic Paragon''s bloodlinebustion due to the amount of energy being too high and the speed at which it was generated too fast. The amount of Elemental Bloodline Marrow has advanced from 1.2 to 5.4%]


    Zatiel had killed almost a dozen Rank 2 Angels that he found on his path to here, but even all of their help was not half of the one obtained with this Angelic Paragon.


    ''The gains are impressive, but it was only thanks to breaking his red rune barrier at the beginning that I could win, or else there is no way for me to defeat him, even with the runic set activated. I need to increase my power if I want to hunt more Angelic Paragons.''


    Only now did Zatiel observe the state of the city and saw the immense destruction and thousands of dead Angels on the ground.


    Ezequiel and Sophia were both pale and there were injuries around their bodies, but their condition was not serious. It seems that their fight ended not too long ago.


    Rax and Kilo were together, both with serious injuries all over their bodies and with the first one being on his dragon form, and having lost one of his wings.


    Even with the city in chaos, the rest of the Rank 3 Angel weakened by the explosion and its most powerful warrior fighting with Zatiel. It was obvious that the battles the four Neo-Demons had as they butchered the city were not easy.


    The city of Berrak, one with more than one hundred thousand Angels, with a mighty Rank 3 Angelic Paragon and a shield that could stop a Rank 4 spellunched from outside was reduced to a graveyard less than half an hour after Zatiel arrived.

 Chapter 140: Midst of chaos

    Even though the four Neo-Demons were hurt and their energy pools were low, they did not stop hunting down and killing the members of the Heavenly race inside the city.


    They have already killed the strongest of the members of the Heavenly race and leveled the city to the ground, but some of the weaker ones remained alive, hiding.


    Although they were not a threat to any of the Neo-Demons. Since Zatiel hadmanded to kill every member of the Heavenly race, that was exactly what they would do.


    Some of the Angels were trying tomunicate with the exterior and ask for help, but unfortunately for them, the explosion of the Fiendfire runes had made the surroundings filled with very destructive energy.


    The massacre continued and all the Rank 1 Angels hiding were tracked down and killed, increasing the number of dead bodies on the ground.


    You could also see the body of human natives and Archons in the streets. They were the pets and servants that the members of the Heavenly race, that were kept inside the city to do their chores and have their fun.


    The four Neo-Demons did not directly attack them, but they were so weak that the coteral damage was enough to kill them.


    Most of the native''s faces were emotionless even in their death, possibly due to them giving up life a long time ago, but there were some that had smiles on theirs.


    Those were the ones that saw the city that was their nightmare reduced to crumbles and bodies of the monsters they hated with all their souls piling up in the ground.


    Neither of the Neo-Demons enjoyed seeing the death of those ves, but as people who had seen how cruel can the world truly be, they were able to continue with the task at hand without hesitation.


    Zatiel did not join them. He was forcing his body to get better and he replenished his energy pool fast by consuming tons of meat of Rank 3 magic creatures and dozens of pills.


    Seeing that most of the enemies with a decent battle power had been eliminated, Sophia rose into the sky and positioned herself in the center of the city.


    Her energy starts to rise, and a miniature ocean of Styx water starts to form behind her.


    Sophia closed her eyes as she starts to inhale, and the moment she does, the Styx water begins to concentrate in front of her mouth, creating a small sphere of extremely high density.


    The immense amount of Styx water behind Sophia''s back was transformed into a sphere with a diameter of one meter.


    When there was no more water to deposit inside the sphere, Sophia opened her eyes and released a dragon cry that transformed the sphere of Styx water into a wave of dark sonic force that covered the entire city.


    This was Sophia''s Innate Spell known as Styx Cry, and bybining it with Oceanic Nothingness, she had made a spell that could cover an entire city, rotting the bodies of those touched by it and also crushing them due to the immense pressure.


    Due to her increasing the range of the spell, the power in it was weakened and in the four Neo-Demons, it only caused a sensation of difort and could not trespass their magic defenses, but it was more than enough to kill any Rank 0 and weak Rank 1 life form in its reach.


    The cry continued for ten seconds and once it stopped, the entire city was submerged intoplete silence.


    Sophia''s face was extremely pale. She waspletely exhausted and her energy pool was practically empty as she flew slowly to Zatiel direction until she was in front of him.


    The two look at each other and their previous expressions of coldness and indifference as they destroy the city was reced by a smile full of warmth as they grab their hands and sat next to each other.


    Once the entire poption of the city was killed, Ezequiel, Rax, and Kilo started to rip the wings of those Angels and steal their spatial rings and anything of value they could find.


    Zatiel spent ten hours resting, and although his body was far from being on its top condition, it had healed greatly.


    "The army should not take too long to arrive at the settlement of Angels. I need to hurry."


    After assessing his body condition, Zatiel made his instruments appear to process material for rune crafting and started to work.


    Most of the materials were ones he took from his rings, but there was another that he got just recently. It was the body of the Angelic Paragon by his side.


    Once he finished with the processing, he started to inscribe runes all around the periphery of the city, and due to the immense size of this one, he had to work for more than twelve hours without end.


    Even with his Animus abilities, that extended period of intense concentration made his head feel like it was going to split apart.


    Zatiel did not activate the rune formation immediately and first called Ezequiel, Sophia, Kilo, and Rax and instructed them to focus on recovering as much of their energy as possible before resting for one hour.


    After resting and seeing that the others were better as well, Zatiel took a piece of Star Heart from his ring. This piece was one-fifth of the size of the original, but even so, the elemental chaos it was irradiating was impressive.


    "Once I deposit this piece of Star Heart inside the rune formation, we need to run as fast as we can," Zatiel''s face was solemn as he said those words, and the other four became serious and had their energy ready to act.


    Seeing that they were ready, Zatiel looked at the formation and the thousands of Heavenly race bodies inside it.


    "Like a wise man once said, ''In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity''," Excitement and coldness appeared in Zatiel''s eyes as he smiled and ced the Star Heart inside the formation.


    Once he did that, Zatiel along with Sophia, Ezequiel, Rax, and Kilo activated their spells, and flew away with their maximum speed, without waiting to see the effect of the rune formation.


    The moment the Star Heart touched the rune formation, it melted inside it and slowly the runes started to fill with energy until the entire periphery of the city was shining.


    The rune formation started to act and the bodies of the members of the Heavenly race began to dpose until a rotting liquid, in which some bodies could be seen, was formed.


    The liquid gathered in the middle of the city and raised into the sky where it started to form a circle with thousands of meters in diameter, and with ck ectosm in its center.


    ....


    In an area where hundreds of bodies of Angels could be seen torn apart and burned, was a Heavenly race army.


    The army wasposed purely with Angels of which five hundred were at Rank 1, thirty at Rank 2, five at Rank 3, and one at Rank 4.


    The Angel at Rank 4 was different from the rest, as he had two pairs of wings, instead of one. He was part of the strongest type of Angel, an Angel of Supremacy.


    His hair was white and his wings were made of solidified light and just like all members of the Heavenly race he was very attractive. But now his face was contorted by the hate he was feeling as he saw his people''s mutted bodies.


    "Those invaders dare to kill our innocent people. I will show them the price of harming a member of the Heavenly race!" The rage on the man''s eyes was burning with great intensity.


    "My Lord! We have analyzed the area and ording to our findings, the ones responsible for this hideous act were Archons. It seems that they were controlled by the enemy and they were carrying explosives," The man who spoke a Rank 3 Angel and his expression was furious.


    "They used those disgusting beasts to harm our people! Here my order, send the Rank 1 Angels to every city in a radius of five thousand kilometers and kills every Archon and native beast they can find. If someone asks why you are doing it, tell them it is an order from captain Janes."


    The man''s cruelty was impressive, he was sure that those Archons were forced to act, but even so, gave the order to kill millions of them, and in the eyes of the army there was satisfaction.


    "Also tell the men to make sure those beasts suffer before they..." Janes stopped his words and his entire body trembled for a second, and he looked at the distance with shock.


    Disregarding the confusion on the faces of his people, Janes transformed into a stream of light and with an unimaginable speed, he vanished into the distance.


    Jane''s face was somber as he felt an ominous auraing from the distance, and he was concerned as he knew that in that direction there was the city of Berrak.


    The man''s speed was beyond impressive and in a matter of minutes he was able to see the city, and his heart grew cold when he saw that gate made from the body of his people and from which thousands and thousands of beings wereing out.


    He was someone with a great experience and has explored the void multiple times, so he immediately recognized those creature''s origins.


    "Demons!"

 Chapter 141: Destroyed in body and soul

    Create a stable portal to another world or ne with enough energy to transport tens of thousands of powerful creatures, some of whom were at Rank 4, was an incredibly difficult thing to do.


    Most worlds and nes have great resistance to any type of portals made that wished to create a connection inside them to another ne with exterior forces. And even if the portals were created, the amount of energy that any individual will need to use it will be immense.


    But the Abyss was different. This was an evil and chaotic ne with an insatiable hunger to corrupt other nes, increase its domain and let the demons extend their ws into every world and ne in the universe.


    For this reason, not only did the Abyss not oppose any sort of connection made to it but it charged those portals with its natural energies, increasing the number of individuals that could pass through it, and if the ce where the portal was made was one of connected to great suffering and death, then it will send its demons to bring chaos to the ne and increase the destruction.


    Normal demons were happy to leave the Abyss and bring havoc into other nes since most of them constantly suffer from torments by the actions of their superiors, but those at Rank 4 were different.


    Unless they had a good reason, most Rank 4 or more powerful demons will not enter another world or ne, where the portal was made from someone else since the number of times that demons had been enved in situations like that was not small.


    But then is when the particrities of this portal were shown.


    The portal that Zatiel made was an ancient runic formation in which the bodies of special creatures were mixed with the chaotic energy in order to create a portal to the Abyss, and since he used hundreds of thousands of Angels'' bodies to do it, it released an aura that was incredibly tempting to those Rank 4 demons since eating the souls of Heavenly race members was something very useful for them.


    The demons that wereing out from the portal came in all sizes and shapes, some looked like deformed rats and others like gigantic red goris.


    The demons were passing through the portal at an impressive speed, upying the entire one thousand meters diameter when they did, crushing to death those weak ones that were moving too slow.


    In the few minutes that the portal had been active, almost fifty thousand demons had already passed through it and the number continued to grow at an impressive speed.


    When Janes saw those demons, loathing and killing intent filled his heart, and without hesitation, he shed through the air, nearing the portal and making the energy in his body rise to its peak.


    Around the Angel of Supremacy one hundred stars, each one hundred meters in diameter made of pure light were created, each one having immense power and enough heat to burn all the oxygen in their surroundings.


    Janes understood that time was of the essence. He could not let the number of demonsing to grow beyond control and neither could he allow them to disperse. Since if that happened, the number of casualties on the Heavenly race''s side will be uncountable.


    Now that they were under the effect of the restrictive pressure of the world and all packed together, it was the best moment to attack and kill them all.


    "Heaven Star Thrust!"


    All one hundred stars were fired with so much power and speed that they created sonic booms, and the area under their paths was incinerated, along with all the demons in it.


    Their target was the portal. Janes knew that destroying it was the best course of action before more demons came out.


    The speed of the stars was amazing, but before it could reach the portal, a massive dragon head came out from it, crushing to pieces all the demons in its path before producing a roar andunching a red fog against the stars.


    The red fog corroded the stars, making them explode, killing thousands of demons but not harming the portal.


    Janes could see the five thousand meters figure of a disgusting dragone out from the portal.


    It has purple scales, a slender and snake-like body, supported by dozens of legs like those of a centipede, it had dozens of small ck wings that were able to carry him despite his immense weight.


    The most impressive characteristic of this dragon was the deformed faces that could be seen between its scales, which kept screaming as if they were withstanding a horrible pain.


    Evil could be seen in the eyes of the dragon as he observed his surroundings and seeing all that life and beauty, a wicked smile appeared on his face.


    "Excellent, this world is full of life, ready to be contaminated and the winged delicacies are present here," The dragon looked at Janes, and acidic spit was drooling out of his mouth.


    Seeing the power of his enemy''s attack, Janes was shocked. He recognized that demon as a Deathmask Dragon, and he knew that it was powerful but with the restrictive pressure of the world chaining him, he should only be able to use twenty percent of his power.


    It was only now that he had taken a moment to analyze the dragon and other demons, that he found out the familiar aura around their bodies. This was an aura simr to the ones the Heavenly race had on them, and when he saw the portal from where they came, Janes understood everything.


    The portal not only helped the demons reach this world, but also cover their bodies with an aura that hides them from the World Consciousness. Although it was only temporary, it will save them from the weakening effect of the restrictive pressure.


    Janes knew he was at an immense disadvantage and his chances of winning were almost null, so he prepared to escape. But before he could do anything, a sense of danger assaulted him from behind.


    "Where do you think you are running, winged rat?"


    From behind Janes, shadows started to gather and in an instant, they materialized a demon of one hundred meters with horns in his head and a skin that seemed to be made of volcanic stones. He had six arms and in each of them was a red sword.


    He brandished his swords and creates a red tornado that swallowed the Angelic Paragon, along with thousands of demons.


    Janes was an experienced fighter, so although the attack took him by surprise, he was able to conjure his stars and put them around him to protect himself from the tornado.


    The stars were barely able to withstand the destructive might of the red wind, but unfortunately for Janes, his opponents grew in number and above him, another massive demon appeared.


    The creature was five hundred meters tall with a head that resembled a monstrous elephant, a humanoid body with oversized hands tipped with vicious ws. It had a serpentine trunk ending in a long, narrow spike.


    If we speak just about physical power, then this demon surpassed the other two greatly.


    Itunched a fist, carrying all the weight of his body against Janes.


    It was capable of destroying those stars weakened by the red winds with ease and when itnded on the Angel of Supremacy''s body; it generated an explosion that it seemed as if a nuclear bomb had exploded.


    James was buried in the ground after being sent flying away by that attack and his legs and abdomen had exploded. But as a Rank 4 life form, he was still alive.


    "I need to escape to warn the others," Janes knew that if he fell here, millions of his people would die. So without hesitation, he started to burn his own soul.


    His action would mean that even if he managed to escape, he will die very soon. But there was no hesitation on his part and he was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to help his race.


    His energy spiked and his body was transforming into dots of light. But before he could finish, from beneath him, a dark fire carrying an unbelievable power broke the ground and consumed his body until it was destroyed, leaving only his damaged soul.


    When the rest of the demons saw the soul, immense greed appeared in their eyes, but before they could act, a dark phoenix rose from the ground and swallowed it.


    The demonic swordsman, the demon with an elephant from, and the Deathmask Dragon showed anger in their eyes, but they did not dare to act and remained still.


    All of those at Rank 4 remained in the city protecting the portal, allowing more than a million demons to pass through it.


    Some more powerful demons were nning to create their stronghold around the portal. Allowing them to have a constant supply of soldiers and also connect with their Abyssal Lord of theyer they inhabited. But when the day was finishing, something happened.


    The runes formation that created the portal started to change and before any of those Rank 4 demons could do something, they exploded along with the portal.


    The Rank 4 demons were shocked when this happened, as they understood that without the portal their only way out of this world is by navigating inside the void that was full of dangers.


    If the ones present were devils, they would have made all types of ns and try to find out the origin of the portal. But since they were demons, they acted ording to their instinct, and it was telling them to hunt down and devour the members of the Heavenly race to increase their power.

 Chapter 142: Gives him the right

    The Heavenly race army has been remaining close to Angel''s settlement and has stayed in there, waiting for Janes toe back.


    They were all curious by the action of their captain. But the chain ofmand and discipline of the Heavenly race armies was very clear and strict, so they were in no position to question the choices of their leaders.


    Some of the Rank 3 Angels were discussing among each other, and there was concern on their faces since they have felt a battle urring among very powerful existences in the direction where Janes had left.


    They knew that instead of help, in a battle among Rank 4 individuals, they would be a burden for their captain. Besides, in their minds, there is no way an Angel of Supremacy could die in a battle inside this world, and in the worst case, he would have to escape.


    So they had decided to remain with the rest of the army to protect them.


    The Angels were waiting for their captain to contact them, but all their hopes vanished when a purple domain covered all of them, freezing their bodies, energies, and even their consciousness.


    "Hahahaha, so many delicacies waiting for me. How could I just ignore them?"


    Terror filled the hearts of all those Angels when they heard that voice apanied by thousands of screams filled with pain.


    Five minutester the demonic horde was marching through the settlement where Angel''s army had been,. But now not a single trace of these Heavenly race members remained, not even a drop of blood, and the same could be said of the corpses that were not long ago spread through all the settlement.


    The demonic horde was advancing at an impressive speed and their numbers were diminishing. This happens due to some weak demons not being fast enough. So they were left behind and other demons that have made groups among themselves and separated from the main horde.


    Those who separated willingly were those demons that knew that although following the main horde led by those at Rank 4 would be safer, it will also mean that they will only get the leftovers.


    The action of those demons could not escape the sight of those at Rank 4, but they did nothing about them. Since, in one part, the number of demons under their control could still be counted in the millions, and these groups will distract the Heavenly race''s forces.


    It did not take long for the demonic horde to reach a city, and the first ones to act were the Rank 4 demons.


    They killed and devoured the strongest of the Heavenly race members inside it and only when they were satisfied did they allow the rest of the demons to kill their way into the city and eat those who remained.


    As the demons were butchering everyone inside the city, a Heavenly race armyposed of one Rank 4 Angelic Paragon, ten Rank 4 Angels, and twenty thousand more warriors were closing in.


    The Sphinx Dukedom had be aware of the entrance of the demons not long after the death of Janes and they responded swiftly by sending the first army that could be formed to intercept them.


    But, unfortunately, they had arrived toote and the city with its hundreds of thousands of residents was being ughtered by the time they arrived.


    Absolute rage grew in the hearts of the members of the Heavenly race when they saw their people being eaten alive by those demons and they attacked immediately.


    Even though they were greatly outnumbered, just like Janes, these Heavenly race army thought that those demons were under the restrictive pressure of the world and could only use a fraction of their power.


    By the time they entered in a fight against the demons and realized their true power, it was toote.


    The Heavenly race was being decimated at an impressive speed and no matter how many demons they defeated, more and more attacked them.


    The Angelic Paragon was extremely powerful and should be able to defeat most Rank 4 demons with ease, but his opponent was the even more impressive Abyssfire Demon Phoenix.


    In the end, only the Angelic Paragon and two other Rank 4 Angels were able to escape, and although thousands of demons died, not a single Rank 4 on their side perished.


    By devouring those Rank 4 Angels and the thousands of people of the city, the most powerful demons were able to destroy the shackles of the restrictive pressure, and no longer needed the heavenly aura to hide them.


    The demonic horde continued its charge deeper into the continent, ughtering and devouring every Heavenly race member they found, increasing their power.


    The threat that they now represented to the Fornes continent and the entire world, was something the three Dukes needed to focus all their attention on.


    Even though they knew that there was another force in the world lurking in the dark waiting to see them weakened, they were hiding too well and the Dukes could not wait to find them before taking care of the demons who had already killed hundreds of thousands of their people.


    ........


    Far away from the battlefield that the center of the Fornes continent had be, in a mountain range close to the ocean, there was a force field that was hiding a three hundred meter magic tower.


    Inside the force field were two people discussing. One of them was an old man with a dark and cold aura around him and whose power was that of a Master Rank 3 Magus and the other was a young man with dark hair and white eyes.


    "Why are you prohibiting the entire army from leaving. They need to explore the continent to bring us news about the current situation and also valuable locations for those of us with the power to explore," The man was angry for being forced to argue with someone at Rank 1, and great pressure was being released from his body.


    If there were anyone else at Rank 1 in front of the old man, he would be trembling on the floor but Dante remained steady and the three Brain Golems were by his side, annulling all of the pressure''s effects.


    The Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons were ready to act, but the boy hadmanded them to remain still since even if they all worked together they could only equal the Rank 3 Magus.


    The rest of the Rank 3 Magi were looking from the distance and neither of them was interfering. Of course, if the old man were to really attack they would do something since if by any chance something were to happen to Dante, the fury of Zatiel was something none of them was willing to withstand.


    They were able to enter this world not long ago, thanks to the cloaking abilities of the tower that were powerful enough for those of their Rank to use.


    The Rank 3 Magi shared the sentiment of the old man, since before the Soul Forging existences arrive, it was the best opportunity for them to get some of the resources of this world.


    "This order came from my father, and the continent is extremely dangerous right now. The probability of dying to those that will explore it is past 90%," Dante''s voice was calm and waspletely disregarding the anger of the old man.


    When the Rank 3 Magi heard this news, they were surprised. They know that the leader of the Daybreak n was someone who will not show fear even if he fought against Rank 3 life forms so there was no chance that he could be scared by something insignificant.


    "If that is the case then we will send them. I willpensate your n for those who die, besides I am sure you can get more," The Magus pointed at the Sunlight Champions, and he did not even bother to look at them.


    When the Sunlight Champions saw these they were enraged. They were part of the first generation to join the Daybreak n so they were very familiar with the way that the Magus was treating them as if they were inferior beings, ves whose lives can be bought and used without care.


    Dante had been calm this entire time, even when the man was trying to pressure him with his power, but when he heard those words, his eyes became cold. Killing intent filled his heart and the sword tattoo on his chest glowed.


    "Who the fuck do you think you are for ordering my people?!"


    When the Sunlight Champions heard these words, happiness and a sense of belonging filled their hearts. Their eyes were filled with a feeling of union and determination, and they were ready to attack the Rank 3 Magus no matter the cost.


    When the Rank 3 Magi heard those words, most of them were upset. Even if the old man''s words were offensive, he was a Rank 3 life form just like them, and no matter the boy''s background, that deserved respect.


    The angriest of all was obviously the old man. He was a mighty Master Rank 3 Magus and in his mind, those Sunlight Champions were just beasts that could be discarded however he liked. So for Dante to speak to him like that, it was a great insult.


    Even though he knew that Zatiel was strong, and his most powerful attack could seriously harm him, it was something that could only be used once before ending exhausted and he was confident about surviving by using his trump card.


    So he made the power in his body burst as he looked at Dante with fury.


    "You little brat! What gives you the right to speak to me like that!?"


    Just after the old man spoke those words, a voice filled with a monstrous coldness appeared in everyone''s mind.


    "Being my son gives him the right!"

 Chapter 143: Fiend Essence Extract Chamber

    The message surprised everyone but the most shocked were the Rank 3 Magi since Zatiel was able to establish a telepathic link without them realizing it and before they even detect his presence in their consciousness.


    All of them were able to send their thought to someone else using their consciousness but the way Zatiel did it was more mysterious and the power was something they could not track or find its origins.


    As people that have live hundreds of years, the Rank 3 Magi understood the significance of this power, although the connection he created right now was very weak and could not pose a threat to any of them, if he was able to enhance that power then the link he could establish with his mind could reach the core of their souls, by then, he could maybe ve them.


    It did not take long for the figures of Zatiel, Ezequiel, Sophia, Rax, and Kilo to be visible for everybody.


    Zatiel, Sophia, and Kilo''s appearance had not changed since thest time they saw them, but on Ezequiel and Rax backs there were Heavenly race''s wings.


    Rax had two pairs of wings, that seem to be made of obsidian crystal. These were the wings of an Angel of Supremacy, the one that was able to injure the father and son duo in their fight in the city and rip one of the wings of his dragon form.


    These wings are able to increase the damage of Rax mes by 35% and also increase his physical and magical defense by 20%.


    The most impressive wings were the ones on Ezequiel''s back. They were the three pairs of blood wings of the Angelic Paragon.


    Zatiel had chosen to give the wings to Ezequiel. The wings effect was focus entirely on increasing the user''s physical capabilities, and although they would have increased his strength, his battle power was focused on the use of destructive types of energy.


    It was on Ezequiel where these wings could show the greatest effect since he uses his entire body as a weapon and crushes his opponent with overwhelming physical might.


    The wings increase Ezequiel''s physical offensive and defensive abilities by 40%, and he could also use the Blood Diamond Skin that the Angelic Paragon had used to double his physical power.


    Since this was the effect of the wings and he had not bloodline of the Heavenly race, the energy consumption is increased meanwhile the duration and the effect of the skill are weakened.


    When Dante saw Zatiel he calms down and deactivates the sword tattoo. He knows that the price that Heinz had to pay to create it was huge, so using it to kill a Rank 3 Magus was not worth it.


    Zatiel was smiling as he enters the force field, but his eyes were cold as he looks at the old man, and very subtle killing intent was being generated from his body.


    When the Rank 3 Magus saw Zatiel and the other four Neo-Demons, he understood that he had underestimated their powers but was surprised him the most was the fact that they all have be more powerful in a very little time.


    This not only impressed the old man, as the other Rank 3 Magi were also thinking the same. At Rank 2, if you have a significant increase in power every five years, you were considered a genius, but less than four months have passed since theyst saw them and they could feel the changes.


    This feeling was especially strong in the man with the blood wings, who now gave them the same sense of danger that Zatiel.


    The old man immediately made his energy recede, and as he analyzed the five individuals in front of him, he understood that the chances of surviving a fight against them were too small and at best he could escape.


    He looks at the other Rank 3 Magi, but except for one of them with whom he had a previous rtionship, all the others ignore him.


    ''Those bastards, I step forward so we could all obtain wealth and now they are ignoring me!''


    The old man looks back at Zatiel, and although he tries to maintain his calm, the killing intent that was targeting him was only growing and fear started to appear on his heart.


    "I, Romok, Rank 3 Magus under Soul Forging existence Carik, have broken no rule!" Romok voice was very loud and every person inside the force field was able to hear him.


    Everyone understood the intention of the man, by calling his backer and making clear that he had broken no rule at all, if Zatiel were to attack and kill him then he could be considered offending the Rank 4 Carik since he was killing his men without reason.


    But contrary to what Romok hoped, when Zatiel hears those words, his smile grew bigger and the killing intent inside him soared.


    When this happened, all the Rank 1 and 2 Magi, move away from the old man, and although there was a Rank 2 Magus who did not move at the beginning, he eventually follows hisrades.


    Morok and his friend made the energy on their bodies active and were ready to fight when all of a sudden the killing intent disappeared.


    Zatiel was no longer looking at the Magus but instead at the magic tower and the force field it was generating and that hid all the army.


    He couldn''t care less about the Rank 4 named Carik, but he was not strong enough to kill the man without their fight affecting the magic tower.


    He was sure that him opening the portal to the Abyss has made the Dukes of this world use all their power in order to track him and if by any chance they found the slightest clue about his location, then the entire army is doom.


    Zatiel turns to look at the rest of the Rank 3 Magi and his face was emotionless making an apprehensive feeling grow in them.


    "There is a very good reason why we need to remain inside the force field of the magic tower, and I was prepared to exin it to all of you when I arrived, but since you think you can force your ns I will only say this. I will kill anyone who leaves the force field!"


    Zatiel statement was extremely tyrannical and made all of the Rank 3 Magi angry, but when they saw his eyes, none of them dare to argue and just remained silent.


    Seeing that his message was clear, Zatiel turns to look at the Rank 1 Neo-Demons and Sunlight Champions and unlike the coldness from before, this time he was smiling and satisfaction could be seen on his face.


    The actions of the kobolds were no surprise since their loyalty has been proven long ago, but he was able to see the unity and resolution on the Sunlight Champions as they were ready to march to a secure dead against the Rank 3 Magus.


    He brought these Sunlight Champions to test them. His Animus abilities had allowed him to see their true feeling, and what he saw was exactly what he was hoping for.


    People who see themselves as part of something bigger, part of a home that has given them so much to them, and to those who they love, that they are willing to die for it.


    "You have done very well, continue working hard and what you will get is beyond your biggest dreams. In twenty days I will be imnting Heavenly race''s wings in all of you."


    Unlike the first set of wings that were obtained by thebined work of the Magi army and the Daybreak army, these were obtained by Zatiel, therefore he could give them to whoever he wants and it would not create a negative effect in the army.


    When the Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons hear that, they all cheered. On the Magi side although some of them were showing jealousy and envy, most of them understood that it was obvious that Zatiel will give them to his own people and they only sigh to the fact that they were not part of a n like that.


    Zatiel turned to look at those Rank 1 and Rank 2 Magi and although his attitude was not as friendly as with his own people, it wasn''t as cold as the one he showed to the Rank 3 Magi.


    "You should also prepare for the time you can explore the continent. I will be creating a special runic set that will be very easy for all of you to obtain as long as you work in groups. That, plus the wings of an Angel will allow you to get at least a seventy percent increase in battle power."


    Those Rank 1 and Rank 2 Magi be excited when they hear those words. They have seen at first hand how useful are the runic sets of Zatiel, but even so, they did not think too much about them since the price should be too high for them, but it seems that just like the Heavenly race wings, they could win it just by doing some missions.


    With all the army focused on the future battles, Zatiel knew that his job as the leader was done for the moment, and he started to speak to Dante through the core.


    "How long until the force field of the tower is able to cover the existence of someone at Rank 4?"


    "In one month, the first group of the Soul Forging existences should be able to arrive undetected." Dante''s had a perfect understanding of the magic tower abilities so he gave Zatiel an answer immediately.


    "Good. Start the creation of the Fiend Essence Extract Chamber, I want it to be done before they arrive, so we can start hunting immediately when the stronghold is truly formed."


    "Yes, father!"

 Chapter 144: Volcano Eruption

    In a throne room of a castle in the territory of the Sphinx Dukedom, there was a virtual map showing the state of the continent and the demonic horde that was razing everything on its path. There were three people and two of them were discussing.


    One of the people arguing was Oliver, with his impressive wings made ofva, but unlike his usual imposing attitude, he was adopting a defensive posture against the words of the man in front of him.


    The man was young and his face was very delicate. His hair was ck and his body looked weak but the power inside it was not any least inferior to the one in Oliver. He had three pairs of wings on his back that were made of ck fog.


    The wings seem to be able to hide the existence of the man to the point that, if you were not strong enough, you could not see him even if he was in front of you. But that was not all. There was extremely destructive energy running through them.


    Oliver was very arrogant, but the reason for the manshing out to him was something he could not excuse himself from so easily.


    He was very strong and his army had twenty-seven Rank 4 individuals and hundreds of thousands of Heavenly race members, but the first encounter with the demonic horde has cost him greatly.


    Counting the Angel of Supremacy that died trying to close the portal, he has lost nine of his Rank 4 warriors, and more than twenty thousand Heavenly race members and the worst part was that every single one of those deaths became fuel for the demons, increasing their power.


    The Angelic Paragon and the other two Rank 4 Angels that escaped were severely injured and they would not be able to fight anytime soon. So his military might had weakened by a third and if he were to fight on his own with the demonic horde now, he will fail so he was forced to ask for the help of the other two Dukes.


    At the start, the Dukes were very happy to help him. Since like any member of the Heavenly race, they loath any type of fiend and they value greatly the life of their people. But just before this meeting, where they were supposed to decide how to fight against the demonic horde, Martin discovered about the prophecy and the fact about Oliver hiding it from him.


    He did nothing to control his anger, and the moment he met Oliver, he immediately started to criticize him.


    "If you weren''t so selfish, then so many of our people would not have died!" The man''s words were very harsh, especially when they are said to a member of the Heavenly race.


    Even though he tried to maintain his control, Oliver finally lost his calm when he heard those words.


    "Martin, you hypocrite bastard! If you had been in my situation you would have done the same. So don''t think you can act so mighty now!" Oliver''s wings unfoldedpletely and the natural energies of the world raged along with them.


    The man named Martin was not a peaceful person, and when he saw Oliver''s action, his wings also unfolded, making the natural energies on his side extremely vtile.


    "You dare to speak like that to me after what you have done!" Martin''s expression was fierce as the energy in his body surged.


    Before the two of them could do anything, a voice was heard.


    "Enough!"


    Apanying the voice, a soft power appeared and unlike the one that both Oliver and Martin were generating, its momentum was very unimpressive but it made the natural energy inside the room return to their normal state, taking away control from the other two.


    Both Oliver and Martin looked at the third person inside the room, and unlike the way they behaved among themselves, neither of them dared to be aggressive with him, especially when they see those eyes, one ck, and the other white.


    The third Duke was a mature man with a muscr body. He had short white hair and a beard that entuates his age. But despite that, the vitality and life force in his body burned with just as much power as the other two. This made clear that the man''s looks were not due to the passage of time affecting him, but due to him preferring to be seen like that.


    On his back, there were three pairs of wings made of sword des, with the three of the left being dark blue in color and the ones in the right dark red.


    His name was Tomas, the most powerful of the three Dukes, and the strongest man in the world.


    "The most important matter right now is to handle the demonic horde before more of our people die. Everything else can be handled after that," his words made both Oliver and Martin look at each other and nod.


    "Good. Oliver, I assume that you went to ask The Seven about the Archangel''s birth. What did they tell you?"


    Oliver was not surprised with the man knowing about his trip since when it came to information about an Archangel, The Seven are the ones with the greatest knowledge.


    "They refused to answer me at the beginning. But when I spoke to them about the prophecy, they told me that when the Archangel feels the death of his people, he will wake to deliver punishment."


    The three of them were very smart and understood that the true reason why an Archangel will be born sooner than it should, was not something so simple. But they could see some clues in the message they obtained.


    Tomas closed his eyes for a moment and then spoke.


    "We can assume that the two first parts of the prophecy, the ones speaking about the race of destruction inside the world and the door of chaos, have already been fulfilled. Martin, have your divinators found anything about the location of the force hiding?"


    "Nothing yet. They have been extremely cautious. After the opening of the portal to the Abyss, not a single trace of them has appeared."


    The was hate and helplessness in Martin''s eyes as he thought about the enemy that had hurt them so much and yet they don''t know anything about them.


    "We cannot wait to find them before we handle the demonic threat. The number of our people that have died and be food to those things has been too much. Oliver, with the soldiers we brought and your people, what is our current military strength? Also how powerful is the demonic horde currently?"


    Tomas was frowning as he made calctions in his head and knew that the answer he would get was not a good one.


    "Currently we have thirty-eight Rank 4 warriors, of which seventeen, including us, are Angelic Paragons. As for those at Rank 3 and below, they reach fifty-nine thousand. On the demon horde side, they have forty-two Rank 4 and two and a half million weaker demons," Oliver frowned as he reported that information.


    Both Tomas and Martin have ten generals just like Oliver who are Rank 4 Angelic Paragons. But unlike him, who needed to handle the threat of the Fallen in his domain, the other two haveplete control over theirnds, so they have sent most of their powerful warriors to invade other worlds and having theme back in time for the fight was not realistic.


    The most problematic point was the millions of weaker demons that could ughter their troops and then disturb those at Rank 4.


    Even though a group of Rank 4 Angelic Paragons could kill all of the weaker demons if they are given enough time, they will have to use a great amount of energy and that will put them in a very dangerous position when they fight against those demons at Rank 4.


    Seeing that neither of the other two had a solution for the endless horde, Oliver sighed and made a red crystal appear.


    "I call it Volcano Eruption. It will greatly increase the power and the energy pool of every member of our race at Rank 3 and below, for an entire day but after that, they will be weakened for a month. It was something I obtained not long ago and the quantity I have stored should be barely enough for the entire army to use once."


    The Volcano Eruptions were very important for Oliver, and he would have preferred not to use it. But the battle was too important and could determine the fate of the continent.


    Martin and Tomas were surprised about the crystal''s abilities and although they were very curious, they knew that Oliver would not reveal more information about it.


    "With that, the battle on the ground is handled. I will fight against the Deathmask Dragon and the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, and the rest can determine their opponent ording to their strengths."


    From Tomas''s body, a very sharp force was generated that was not only very powerful but also unpredictable.


    He knew that if they want to win the battle, he will have to handle the two most powerful demons and although even for him, the danger was great, there was no fear in his heart.


    Oliver and Martin knew of Tomas''s capabilities, so they epted his n.


    "Although it would have been excellent if we could kill them all, the difference in power between us is too little. Our goal is to defeat them and send the horde away from the poptednd of the continent. We will march in a day and we will intercept them before they reach the next city."

 Chapter 145: Yin-Yang collision. Birth of all universal things

    In the center of the Fornes continent, a battle worthy of bing a mythical tale that would be told for millions of years was happening.


    On one side was the chaotic evil demonic horde, with millions of warriors on the ground. Even though they were totally disorganized, each of them had individual power capable of immense destruction.


    On the other side was the Heavenly race army, with less than seventy thousand members. But all those at Rank 3 and below had scars made ofva running through their bodies, giving them power capable of oveing levels and fighting multiple enemies without a problem.


    The Heavenly race army on the ground was using their increased power and army tactics to fight against the demonic horde.


    They charged with so much power that they literally pulverized all the demons in their path, and once they reached the center of the horde, they split into groups, separating the demons, taking away their advantage ofrge numbers.


    Spells of all types and kinds were being fired on the battlefield, destroying everything in their path.


    The Heavenly race was butchering the horde, but as the true killing machines, the demons were true to their nature and attacked without any fear about their lives, making the fight and the losses on both sides reach an equilibrium.


    Both forces were fighting with all they had, but they knew that the true oue of this battle would not be decided by them, but for those that are fighting thousands of kilometers above them, in the sky.


    If the fight on the ground was considered impressive, then the one in the sky could only be described as apocalyptic as it was something that escaped the levels ofprehension of a mortal being.


    All the Soul Forging existences of the Heavenly race had released their Law Avatars, increasing their destructive power beyond measure, forging all sorts of phenomena around them based on theirws.


    The demons were different, they also had their Law Avatars active. But they maintained it inside them, working as a source of power, increasing the might of their already impressive bodies.


    Most of the Rank 4 Heavenly race members were fighting one on one with their demon counterparts, but there were some who were fighting against more than one opponent at the same time, in order to make up for their inferior numbers.


    Behind Oliver, there was a river ofva that extended for thousands of meters, and from which all types of creatures and weapons were formed.


    He was fighting against the Maelephant who had participated in the killing of the Angel of Supremacy that tried to destroy the portal to the Abyss, and a Thousand Mouths Worm.


    Their fight had made the temperature around them high enough to instantly incinerate any Rank 2 life form that dared to approach them.


    Martin was also fighting using his Law Avatar which was a ck neb filled with starlight that gave the Duke the ability to disappear whenever he wanted.


    He was fighting against the Six Arms Swordfiend and Demon Spiked Hyena. Both demons were incredibly powerful and fierce, but Martin was able to disappear from their sight, only to arrive in the next instant behind them and attack them with beams of starlight.


    Both Dukes were fighting with all they had, not containing their energy in their body and releasing so much power that the surrounding natural energies became extremely vtile. asionally, they looked at the direction where the strongest individuals on both sides were fighting against each other.


    There were two demons of gargantuan sizes fighting against a winged man, that could not be bigger than their eyes. The three of them were moving faster than the speed of sound, and every time their attacks shed against each other, an explosion that covered hundreds of kilometers was heard.


    ck fire with destructive power greater than Oliver''sva surrounded the body of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, and he used it to throw attacks at Tomas. As for the Deathmask Dragon, he had a purple domain around him filled with deformed humanoid ghosts.


    Tomas''s wings were glowing due to the thousands of miniature inscriptions inside them and behind him were eight Taoist trigrams circling a yin-yang symbol.


    That was the Law Avatar of the strongest man in the world. It was named Existential Duality and it was forged with the Yin Law and Yang Law as its core.


    The fight between them reached a level so high, that they needed to maintain their distance from the rest of the Rank 4, and sometimes the World Consciousness will focus on them since their sh reached the destructive power of a Rank 5 life form.


    Dozens of attacks were fired between them each second, making red acid, ck fire, and sword lights fill the sky, but no one had been able to seriously harm their opponent.


    The Abyssfire Demon Phoenix had incredible regeneration abilities to the point that it was able to heal itself from a swordceration that covered half of his chest in an instant.


    As for the Deathmask Dragon, no matter the power of the attack that itnded on his body, he suffered no harm, and the only thing that happened was that part of the screaming faces that were between his scales disappeared.


    Despite an Angelic Paragon having a very powerful body, Tomas could notpare with the two demons in front of him in that regard. So he was using his control over thews to respond to the opponent''s attacks.


    A ball of ck fire a thousand meter in diameter was thrown against Tomas, and the destructive power in it was enough to kill most Rank 4 life forms.


    This was a killing move of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, but Tomas did not hesitate and just as the attack was about to strike him, his Law Avatar ignited, and he shed with his dark blue wings.


    A sword light was generated from his wings and shed against the ck fire. The power inside Tomas''s attack did not fight directly against the opponent''s spell but instead used softness to eliminate most of the strength in it.


    Tomas did not stop there. Once the ball of ck fire had lost most of its power, he attacked with his dark red wings which released sword energy filled with heat and hardness that destroyed the spell and shed against the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, sending it flying thousands of meters away.


    Unfortunately for him, his attack had left him open to the Deathmask Dragon''s tail attack which was covered by thousands of ghosts that rotated around it, making it adopt the form of a drill.


    The wings formed a cocoon around Tomas''s body, and they released a dark aura. When the tail''s attack shed against, it neutralized a great part of its power.


    Tomas was sent flying away and some blood came out from his mouth. But without stopping, he turned back, and before the Deathmask Dragon could respond, he attacked with his dark red wings, making a sword ray crash on the dragon''s head and threw him into the sky.


    A dragon cry was heard as more than half of the Deathmask Dragon''s screaming faces had already vanished and fear started to appear in the demon''s eyes as he looked at the man.


    Tomas''s power was evidently superior to the demons, but the fight has been going for a long time and at this rate, he would be exhausted before defeating them, and their fight will end in a draw.


    Not to mention that the injuries on his body were umting and unlike these two demons whose bloodlines were body orientated, he could not heal so fast.


    Seeing the situation of the army and how thousands of his people have already died in the battle of the ground and some of the Rank 4 have also fallen, his eyes be cold and decisive.


    The Law Avatar started to melt and an instantter it fused with his body, making the right side of his body white and the left side ck.


    Even his wings took those colors, but his eyes remained the same with his white eye on the ck side of his body and the ck eye on the white side.


    "Law Avatar: One with the Law!"


    The entire battlefield froze for a second as the warriors of both sides looked at the man whose power was making them feel so insignificant.


    Tomas could feel the immense power running through his body but also the expulsive force that the world was generating against him since he was now disying a strength beyond what a Rank 4 life form could create.


    Terror appeared in the eyes of the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix and Deathmask Dragon. Both demons did not hesitate and broke space to try and escape but unfortunately, they were too slow.


    Before the World Consciousness could expulse him to the void, Tomas channeled all of the power he had and made his attack.


    "Yin-Yang collision. Birth of all universal things."


    Tomas''s white wings and ck wings shed against each other making a bright sword beam strike the demons and creating an explosion that covered thousands of kilometers and made the entire continent tremble.


    The screaming faces on the Deathmask Dragon disappeared instantly and the next second, his body was pulverized. As for the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, his body was also destroyed, but it didn''t vanish, instead, it transformed into ashes that flew away at an unbelievable speed.


    After releasing that attack, Tomas was fired into the sky by an immense power until he left the world.

 Chapter 146: True Strike

    Tomas''s actions carried immense consequences on the battlefield, especially on the side of those at the Soul Forging Rank.


    It is true that despite having killed the Deathmask Dragon and fatally injured the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, the equilibrium between the battle power of both armies remained the same because he was flung to the void as his strength reached a level that threatened the world itself.


    But due to the unruly and chaotic nature of demons, the moment the two more powerful of them were no longer present tomand them, the organization between those at Rank 4 broke immediately.


    Those demons who were losing their battle against the Rank 4 Heavenly race members chose to escape, and those who were winning started to attack like crazy beasts without care for the situation around them.


    Both Dukes knew that although letting those Rank 4 demons escape would help them in their battle against the rest, it would also mean that they will ughter and devour all the Heavenly race members in their path before they are found and killed.


    Oliver and Martin attacked without care for their injuries andmanded the rest of the Soul Forging existences to chase after the ones that tried to escape.


    Little by little, the demonic horde and those Rank 4 demons in the sky were pushed to the east of the continent, to the location of a region known as the Void Canyon.


    This was a dangerousnd on the continent. A deste ce with no valuable resource and unsuitable for the growth of life as the natural energy of the world was in disarray and the level of pollution would kill normal Rank 1 life forms.


    It took an incredible amount of effort, and both Dukes suffered injuries so serious that it affected their souls. But they were able to pull the demons very deep into the canyon before retreating.


    Once they were in the periphery of the canyon, both Oliver and Martin took dozens of white orbs from their personal storage space and threw them to the ground making a white curtain appear.


    The curtain started to extend until it formed a dome that covered the entire Void Canyon, trapping all the demons inside.


    The curtain was known as Heavenly Guard, and even with the immense wealth that the Dukes had amassed as the leaders of the world, making it big enough to cover the entire canyon was very expensive for them and they were only able to do it once.


    The Heavenly Guard will only be able to resist the attacks of those Rank 4 demons for around two months, but the goal of it was never to contain them forever.


    The time will be enough for Tomas to return to the world and start healing his wounds, and since they no longer had their leaders, the Dukes hoped that the demons would start to fight and kill each other since there are no other life forms in there but themselves.


    Despite having won the battle, no one in the army was celebrating. This was due to the great number of casualties and the fact that some of the Rank 4 demons had managed to escape despite the great effort of the Soul Forging existences of the Heavenly race.


    There was also the fact that hundreds of thousands of demons that had separated from the horde long ago and had filled the continent and finding them all was going to be very difficult.


    On the faces of Martin and Oliver, there was immense rage and frustration. They had lost twelve Soul Forging existences and less than a third of the army on the ground remained.


    And the reason for their hatred was the force that had opened a portal into the Abyss and had caused hundreds of thousands of casualties and was still hiding. They still had no clue about their location.


    ...


    Inside the forcefield of the magic tower, all the Magi, Sunlight Champions, and Neo-Demons were discussing the immense energy they felt not too long ago that was apanied by the entire continent shaking.


    The Rank 1 and 2 Magi were all smiling and thanking their lucky stars that they were ordered not to perform investigations.


    They did not know what was happening exactly, but it was clear that a battle between incredibly powerful individuals had happened and if they were found by them, then even if they want to die, they will have to wait for suffering the horrible torture of having their souls searched and all of their memories extracted.


    Those Rank 3 Magi had thoughtful expressions as they looked at the top floor of the magic tower where the man who forbade them to leave was and they were curious about how he knew that the situation in the continent would be so vtile.


    They understood that their previous action had made the rtionship between them hostile, and most of them were trying to think of a way to fix it.


    There were also those that when they saw Zatiel''s abilities, it only made their resentment against him grow, but they were smart enough to hide it.


    Zatiel had also noticed the immense power that was released when Tomas released an attack powerful enough to destroy a considerable part of the continent.


    But, unlike the rest, his experiences were much greater. So after making some calctions and having an educated guess about the situation on the continent and that of the man that made it tremble, he returned to his training.


    He was healing the wounds in the Heavenly race''s wings which he had obtained when he attacked the city of Berrak and he also engraving the rune of Heavenly Polymorph on the skin of Rank 3 Magic Creatures.


    His hands were moving with such proficiency that it was hard to believe that he had split his mind, and most of his concentration was on his Animus training.


    As a Rank 1 Animus, his Mind Force had reached the level that allowed it to take the form of an invisible aura surrounding Zatiel body.


    The normal path of training of an Animus is focused on their disciplines and at Rank 1, they start to gain true proficiency in three of them, which are Psychometabolism, Telepathy, and irsentience.


    There is another path of training for an Animus that was created by Zatiel when he was the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, which he decided to call ''The Will That Guides the Heart'', and that primarily focuses on increased physical power.


    It was purely theoretical since he was not an Animus in his previous life, but it should be able to greatly increase his battle power.


    But since it will only be truly effective when his Rank as an Animus and Neo-Demon are equal, he had not trained it yet.


    His main focus right now was in irsentience, in a specific disy of this discipline that takes the form of a spell known as True Strike.


    By using that spell, Zatiel would be able to extend his awareness a fraction of a second into the future, allowing him to predict his opponent''s next movement and giving him the ability to respond with a counterattack if possible or going into defensive position if it was necessary.


    There were several restrictions in this power as it would only allow Zatiel to see the action of the enemy he was focusing on and not the ones in the surroundings. Like anything rted to the use of time, it was extremely exhausting, and only using it a couple of times would be enough to deplete his Mind Force.


    But its uses are plenty and the advantage it could give in battle was great, especially in a melee fight where you are right next to your opponent and the fight can be decided in an instant.


    The training of True Strike was very difficult but Zatiel practiced every day, and the only time he rested was when his Mind Force was depleted and he was forced to sleep a couple of hours before starting again.


    He would asionally make some of the automatons that were created to protect the tower fight against him, focusing on using irsentience at all times to predict their movements and dodge their attack and when the time was right, use True Strike, he performed a counterattack that temporarily incapacitated them.


    The days pass by, and his abilities continue growing, reaching a point that Zatiel is sure that if he would have to face that Angelic Paragon again, he would not end up in such a wretched situation where he could barely move.


    He received a pleasant surprise as his proficiency in irsentience increased. His ability to detect danger was enhanced greatly and if he focused all of his power on it and maintained his concentration for a long time, he could predict events that could be dangerous for him.


    It was very subtle and difficult to perceive, but he felt that there was something or someone that is trying to find him and if he left the cloaking force of the magic tower, his life would be in danger.


    ''A group of divinators or some special artifact is being used to track my location, or maybe both. They must hate my guts due to the people they have lost. But who cares, my goal has always been exterminating all of them from this world, so why will I care for their anger?''


    Absolute indifference was on Zatiel''s face, while he thought of his enemies and the hundreds of thousands of deaths that his action had caused them.

 Chapter 147: Admiration and respect

    Three individuals were entering the Beta Heavenly world, and inside each of them, there was power so immense that the natural energies in their surroundings were affected.


    Their impact in the world was so great that just like when a rock isunched into a pond, It creates ripples that anyone powerful enough or with the right magic expertise could detect.


    But from a tower that was built inside a mountain range, a cloaking force was generated that covered these three people.


    One of these was a man with golden hair and a very sharp aura surrounding his body. He was the most powerful of the three and in whom most of the tower''s cloaking power was acting.


    The other two were an extremely beautiful woman with ck hair and green eyes, and a man whose skin seems to be petrified and whose eyes shone due to blue mes inside them.


    They were Heinz, Zitra, and Totto. As the most powerful people of the group that was leading this invasion, they were the first to enter so they could ovee the restrictive pressure of the world the fastest.


    Once they can use their full power and with the help of the magic tower, this invading force would have a solid stronghold and it would not be too long before they start to expand their area of influence.


    As they approached the magic tower and saw the state of the people inside it, the three of them were greatly surprised.


    There were hundreds of individuals with wings of the Heavenly race flying all over the ce constructing a huge abode fifty meters tall and one hundred meters wide and long.


    For an instant, they almost thought that the Heavenly race had invaded the ce, but they were able to recognize all of the people with those wings, and thanks to their powerful consciousness, they could detect the power that they granted to their user.


    Although there was one Magus with those wings on his back, all the others with them were part of the Daybreak n. So they were able to guess who was responsible behind them.


    "That man is full of surprises. I already knew that his knowledge over the use of necromancy was impressive due to the two ancient creatures he could summon, but now it seems that he is also extremely skilled in transmutation magic. Something tells me that if we were topare our magical knowledge, I would lose by a great margin."


    There was immense curiosity in Totto''s eyes as he examined those wings and saw how the Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons could use them with such dexterity, especially when he detected the type of connection that was between the wings and the body.


    "It''s just the imntation of some body parts into someone else. It is really that impressive?" Zitra was looking at Totto and she was surprised by his words.


    It wasn''t that she thought that imnting those wings into the people was easy or that their effects were not impressive, but she knows that Totto was someone with one of the greatest magic knowledge in the Aeternum Empire.


    "Young Princess, you don''t understand. If it was merely joining those wings in their bodies through the use of magic then it would not have been impressive since the number of people that have changed their heart or other organs for those of powerful creatures is not small" As he spoke, Totto''s aura was one of a schr.


    "Those new organs could certainly increase the user''s power. But since they are not part of the body originally, they carry all sorts of problems, like contamination by the energy and bloodline in them. Also, strengthening them is very difficult unless you are following a special Path Technique.


    "But those wings are different. He managed to erase any sort of rejection from the user''s body, and also I can tell that they are connected not just by magic, but their bodies have been altered to fuse with them. In a few words, they have a new organ that increases their power without any repercussions, and from what I can tell it can be enhanced pretty easily."


    There was another thing that came out through Totto''s mind, but he was not sure how someone at Rank 2 obtained it, so he chose not to speak about it.


    ''To be able to alter someone''s body in this way, your knowledge about the anatomy of the Heavenly race must be extremely deep.''


    There was admiration in Totto''s eyes, and he was hoping to exchange some information with Zatiel.


    As the three approached the magic tower, Heinz looked at the distance, and immediately the other two did the same.


    Heinz knew about Zatiel''s n from the beginning and he originally thought that the demons that will enter the world will only be weak ones reaching Rank 3 as maximum, but the immense aura of those Rank 4 demons was something that he felt immediately.


    Totto and Zitra''s reactions were much less rxed since they were sure that some of those demons were as powerful as them.


    "So this was the distraction you had spoken about! How did you manage to bring so many demons into the world and let them retain so much power, that they were able to challenge the entire might of the Havenly race as soon as they entered this Middle World?" Zitra could not contain her curiosity as she spoke.


    She had always been very proud but thinking about the level of destruction that Heinz''s actions must have provoked, she could not help but feel inferior.


    But it was not Heinz who answered her question.


    "It was not his n. This was designed and carried by someone else, and the only one in the army who could do it is the person who can make ten Rank 3 Magi obey him despite being at Rank 2."


    When Heinz heard his Totto''s words, he looked at him and his eyes narrowed.


    "You cannot trick me, boy. It is true that when ites to battle power andwprehension, you have one of the greatest talents that I have ever seen. But the knowledge and expertise to create a portal through what I can only assume is an obscure ritual is something youck."


    There was great wisdom in Totto''s eyes as he looked at Heinz.


    The cultivator remained silent, but hisck of words was a form of acknowledgment.


    Heinz knew that this could have happened since those who knew him could figure out that this was not something he was able to aplish by himself. But when he asked Zatiel about it, he was told it did not matter if someone else found out about it.


    "How can some at Rank 2 could make a horde of the Abyss reach this world and cause such a cataclysmic event?" Zitra was shocked.


    If Totto''s words were right, despite Zatiel''sck of power, he could make an army of extremely powerful creatures unknowingly do his bidding.


    "I thought that my opinion of him was extremely high already, but it seems that I was underestimating him. Princess," Totto''s voice was solemn as he spoke.


    Zitra looked at him and saw his attitude and she became serious.


    "There are people who could only be described as singrities. Individuals whose actions escape reason and that affects all those around them. You are someone very arrogant and have the right to be, because of your talent and hard work. But I advise you to treat that man as an equal or else you will regret it."


    There was a profound meaning in Totto''s word, and he only spoke to them due to his rtionship with the woman.


    Heinz chose not toment, but hepletely agreed with Totto''s words. His brother was someone whose actions could affect the fate of a Middle World while he was at Rank 2, and he was sure that as he became stronger, he would be a force that could influence High Worlds too.


    Zitra did not speak, but by her expression, it was obvious that the words of the man had an impact on her.


    "Let us go. My brother will brief us about the situation on the continent and the n that he has for the next step of the invasion."


    ........


    "The Heavenly race''s army and the demonic horde had an important battle less than a month ago. Although I was not able to obtain information about it, the winner was definitely the Heavenly race.


    "The losses on both sides were great and that should have greatly weakened them for the moment. The strongest warrior of the Heavenly race is someone who could fuse with his Law Avatar, but due to his actions in the battle, I am sure he has been sent out of the and it will take some time for him to return and even then, he will have serious injuries.


    If my calctions are correct, based on the location where the demonic horde entered the world, the path they took and the actions of the Heavenly race to stop them, a great part of the demons must be trapped in this ce known as Void Canyon."


    Zatiel spoke without much emphasis on the event that urred as if it had no rtion with him. But the three people hearing him could not hide their surprise and the way they were starting to look at him was as if he was a monster who could destroy a world without feeling anything.


    But the most prevalent feeling in them was admiration and respect for his wless n.

 Chapter 148: Ten Towers Formation

    Zatiel did not think too much about the way the trio were looking at him. His actions may be impressive in their eyes, but in his mind, they were simple invasion tactics and they could notpare to the ns and schemes of his previous life.


    Now that he had given them all the information about the forces currently upying this world, and the battle that had happened between them, Zatiel raised to the next subject.


    "How long until the three of you get rid of the restrictive pressure of the world?"


    Heinz, Zitra, and Totto understood that before they were able to use their full power, the invasion could not continue. As just a single Soul Forging existence of the Heavenly race could stop the rest of the fighting force that came from the Magi World.


    The trio closed their eyes and focused their consciousness on the invisible chains around their bodies and checked the power they currently had.


    On individuals at Rank 4, the power they could disy under the world restrictive pressure was around twenty percent, and the amount of time it takes to get rid of it varied depending on their powers.


    Fifteen minutester, Heinz opened his eyes and after making some calctions, he spoke.


    "It will take two months for me to be able to use my full strength again," Heinz could feel the power of the shackles around him and their immense quantity.


    "For me, it will be approximately a month and two weeks," Zitra spoke immediately after Heinz.


    When Zatiel heard the two of them, he frowned. What they just gave him was the normal time that a Rank 4 life form will need to ovee the restrictive pressure of the world by increasing their proficiency on the natural energies to defeat it.


    He knew that as Rank 4 individuals they had a faster way to do it, but it seems that the duo has no knowledge about it.


    As he was thinking, Totto''s voice broke his concentration.


    "For me, it will only be a week."


    The time he will need is almost a fourth of the time that will take to Zitra despite the shackles in the two being around the same.


    Neither Heinz nor Zitra were surprised by his answer but Zatiel looked at the old man and his eyes narrowed.


    Totto knew that he had raised the curiosity of Zatiel. If it was any other individual beneath Rank 4, he would not feel the need to exin himself, but now he spoke immediately.


    "I have information about a method to increase my affinity with this world, but I got it as part of a deal and I made an oath, so I can''t share it."


    After hearing Totto''s exnation, Zatiel noded. The types of oaths powerful enough to bound a Rank 4 life form are special and breaking them could cause severe consequences.


    Zatiel started to think about how to handle this situation.


    Actually, the method to improve their speed was not very difficult and he could exin it with ease, but he was hoping that all of them would already have it to save himself some trouble.


    He had no problem sharing it with Heinz, but he had no rtion with the woman. As for helping her due to her beauty, that was just being stupid in his mind.


    In the end, though, he chose to share it with the three of them. Right now the Heavenly race is hurt and their attention is focused on the demonic horde, but that will not remain like that for a long time, so they need to act fast.


    "I will tell you a way to speed up the process so pay attention. Instead of using the natural energies to increase your attunement with the world, you should focus on thews."


    Zatiel''s words surprised the trio, especially Totto, as he had to pay a great price for the information that wasing from his mouth.


    "All thews are present in the universe, and the core of each one of them is constant, but the way they manifest themselves in some worlds change due to some particrities in the origins of these worlds. That is why in some worlds, the use of anything rted to fire is greatly intensified while water is weakened.


    "Use thews that you hadprehended and focus on the small change that you feel between thews of this world and the Magi World. By understanding that difference, yourws will be stronger and the restrictive pressure will be weakened quickly."


    To Zatiel, this was rather basic information. But it was something the duo found incredibly useful.


    Heinz did not wait and started to use the method Zatiel taught them. From inside him, monstrous killing intent was released, but just like on his body, there seem to be shackles around it.


    The killing intent maintained itself for more than an hour and nothing changed since the beginning, but then something happened.


    The nature of the killing intent seemed to be mutating, making itself more familiar with the world, and increasing its strength.


    Although its power grew only a little, the speed at which it urred was considerably faster than increasing the proficiency over the natural energies.


    "Hahaha, great! With this not only will myws be stronger, but it will also take me less than two weeks to be able to disy my full power!" Heinz wasughing but then he stopped as he saw the rest was looking at him and frowning.


    When he saw a way to be stronger, he used it immediately and made the other three wait for hours. Seeing their behavior he only coughed and proceeded to remain silent.


    Zatiel simply shook his head and sighed as he saw the way Heinz behaved and proceeded to continue speaking.


    "ording to my calctions, the tower will have enough power for another four Soul Forging existences to enter the world in two weeks. The moment they do, we will begin with the expansion process and start the creation of the Ten Tower Formation."


    Zatiel made a virtual map of the continent appear with ten dots marked in it, forming what looks like a pyramid, with the peak being where they are right now.


    The Ten Tower Formation was something the trio knew very well. It was the standard formation that the people of the Magi World use in invasions.


    Each tower will be connected with the other ones, siphoning the energy of the world to form a force field that will increase their strength and weaken the ones of their enemies, as well as allow teleportation between them.


    If the ten towers are ced, then a group of ten Rank 4 could fight against a number of enemies ten times higher without a problem.


    "Right now the continent is full of not only Heavenly race members but also demons. Most of them are weak but I cannot say for certain that there is not Rank 4 around them.


    "The main Heavenly race force is focusing on the demons and has no knowledge about our location, so we will use that window of opportunity to install the three of the closest towers.


    "We will send those at Rank 3 and below to capture any living being in those ces and bring them here. Then when those areas are secured, we will start with the creations of the towers.


    Each of you will be apanying one of the teams, but unless it is absolutely necessary, do not act as your power is high enough to be detected by those at Rank 4 near us or someone who uses divination spells. Do you have any questions or suggestions?"


    Zatiel''s n followed the basic strategy used to conquer worlds and by using the demons to distract the Heavenly race, the chances ofpleting the first step without casualties were very high.


    Although it would have been even better if they could install all the towers immediately, the trio knew that it would be too easy for the Heavenly race to notice them and they were not powerful enough to defend nine towers at the same time.


    Heinz, Zitra, and Totto, found no problem with the n, but one of them had a question.


    "I understand not killing the Heavenly race members as it could be noticed by their leader, but why not kill the demons and just bring their corpses?" Zitra spoke with patience in her eyes.


    She had been part of a great number of battles and was not any less cold to their enemies than the other two Rank 4 present.


    "I have a use for them, and they need to be alive."


    After Zatiel spoke, he felt the three of them looking at him in a meaningful way. He understood what they wanted to express.


    The prisoners should belong to the people that were able to capture them. They could not say anything about the members of the Daybreak n since that was his force.


    But if he uses his strength to rob the Magi of their possessions, he will not only be breaking an unspoken rule about spoils in world wars but also offending the Soul Forging existences behind them.


    "Don''t worry, I will buy all of them, and with what I am willing to pay, there is no one who will not sell them."

 Chapter 149: Daybreak vs Demon

    Two weeks passed very fast and another four Soul Forging existences reached the Beta Heavenly world under the cloaking force of the magic tower.


    Just like the other three, when they arrived they were surprised by the number of individuals flying with wings of the Heavenly race in their backs. They noticed the increase in power they brought, but unlike Totto, they were not able to detect their peculiarities so they did not think too much of them.


    The thing that truly surprised them was that Heinz, Zitra, and Totto were already able to use all of their power and have got rid of every shackle that restricted their bodies


    Heinz has already consulted Zatiel on how to proceed, so he informed them that he obtained a method beforeing to this world and after they paid a considerable amount of magic crystals, he shared it with them.


    For his n, Zatiel needed Heinz, Zitra, and Totto to be at full power as soon as possible, but the rest was not essential, so he took the opportunity to gain some wealth.


    With seven Rank 4 Magi already inside the world, they could start with the exploration and securing the areas where the next towers were nned to be ced.


    Dante had already organized the army, and they were ready to leave. There were three big groups divided into several battalions.


    The Magi forces made two of the groups and another was constituted solely of the Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons.


    Zatiel was analyzing the army from the sky and was satisfied with the battle power they disyed.


    The Magi groups had several Rank 3 life forms that secured their safety, and although the Daybreak n had no one at Rank 3 among them, Sophia could reach that level of battle power by activating her runic set, as could Kilo and Rax by activating theirs and working together.


    The most powerful one of the Neo-Demons was Ezequiel who could reach an impressive battle power if he activated his runic set and the Blood Diamond Skin ability of his Angelic Paragon''s wings.


    "Attention!"


    Zatiel''s voice was loud and resounded in the ears of every single person.


    Despite being in battle formation, you could still hear whispers, but when Zatiel spoke, they immediately became silent.


    "Your mission is to go to the designated areas, capture any Heavenly race members, and demons that you could find and secure those ces.


    "The strongest members of the Heavenly race are in the center of the continent, so you will not find much resistance for their part but the demons are another subject, and finding some of them at Rank 3 is possible.


    "Although some killing is eptable, they need to be captured and brought here alive if possible. Especially the members of the Heavenly race, as a great number of them dying could alert their leaders.


    Time is of the essence, so all of you must act fast. The best course of action will be given by the Sun Tadpole, so keep them active at all times."


    The army had be informed of the entrance of demons in the world when the groups were formed. Although their power was great, demons have always been difficult enemies, especially if they are cornered. So there was some tension among them as the chances of fatalities in their side will be high, especially if they try to capture them alive.


    Zatiel noticed their state of mind, but he had the perfect thing to help them surpass their apprehension.


    "All the captives will belong to you. You can hand over the members of the Heavenly race to me and I will imnt their wings on you.


    As for the demons, if you bring one of them alive, I will use them to craft the runic set I have mentioned before."


    The eyes of those Magi shined when they heard that. For this type of army, that was made to conquer a world in order to obtain wealth the best incentive was always profit.


    They knew that the conquerednd would belong to their leaders, and what they gain is mostly what they manage to steal in their battles, but most of the time it is not much when divided among all of them.


    But now every single one of them could get a runic set and Heavenly race wings.


    "The runic set is named Abyssal Heritor. The amount of energy needed to maintain it is not much and it has two effects. The first is Demonic Skin that will allow you to have a demon''s physical defense and the second is Demonic Conduit that augments the power of your magic attacks.


    "The Rank of the runic set will be equal to the demon used as material, so if you bring me a Rank 1 demon, I will give you a Rank 1 runic set."


    When they heard about the effect of the runic set and the fact that they merely needed to hand over a captive demon, every single Magus was excited.


    To a Neo-Demon, the effect of the runic set is not that useful since their bodies have already better defenses than a demon, but to those Magi, who did not have an innately strong body, it was incredibly useful.


    The Sunlight Champions were also showing some desire for that runic set. Even though they all have certain bloodlines that increase the power of their bodies, it could notpare with a demon''s physical might.


    Seeing the desire in their eyes, Zatiel smiled and signaled Dante to carry on.


    "Everybody has their designated areas. I will maintain constant surveince of your surroundings and inform you of any possible danger. Let us go!"


    After saying those words, Dante led the warriors of the Daybreak n out of the tower''s force field and they used their full speed as they flew away.


    The same happened with the other two groupsposed of Magi, both led by those at Rank 3.


    It did not take long for the only people under the force field to be the seven Soul Forging existences and Zatiel.


    The seven Rank 4 needed to be under the tower cloaking powers, in order to avoid the possibility of any of them being detected by the members of the Heavenly race. But it did not really matter since the distance to those groups was something that Heinz could cover very fast by teleporting.


    As for Zatiel, by using irsentience he had detected that the tracking force searching for him was still active, so he did not participate. Besides, the help he could provide in this mission was not much.


    But still, he made Dante update him as they advanced.


    Each group took less than a day to arrive at their destination despite having to travel approximately four thousand kilometers.


    This was thanks to those at Rank 1 using spells like ''Dispel Fatigue'' or some pills, so they could maintain their march at full speed for more than twenty hours.


    Once they reached their destination, they made an underground base.


    That will be the ce where the prisoners will be kept since carrying them as they explore is not an option and making trips to send back to the tower each time they capture a group is not practical.


    Once this was over, they rested for three hours and continued their mission.


    Just like Zatiel said, the settlements of the Heavenly race they found were very weak and they were able to easily capture them.


    They also found groups of demons, but most of them were not too strong and with their advantage in numbers and battle power, they defeated and captured them easily.


    It was on the fourth day that a true battle urred against a demonic horde of more than three thousand.


    They were in the area that was for the Daybreak n to secure. Dante was able to find them without being detected and he located theirir in a cave.


    Most of them were very weak, barely reaching Rank 1, but the amount of those at Rank 2 was not small.


    After seeing them for a day, he detected their pattern of conduct. The horde left the cave in the morning and they hunted magic creatures or searched for members of the Heavenly race.


    The only one that never left the caves was their leader, and Dante could feel thanks to his Animus abilities, great power wasing from him.


    He was possibly hiding and making those weaker ones bring him food.


    They chose to attack outside of a forest when the horde had finished their hunt and was returning to the cave carrying all sorts of magical creatures.


    Dante had hidden explosive devices, and when the horde passed through there, he activated them.


    The explosions were not very strong but they covered a great range, severely weakening most of the demons that were already tired from their battles.


    Before the horde could locate their new enemies, several beams of chaotic energynded on their most powerful warriors, along with hundreds of spears that exploded with golden mes.


    Five minutester, the Sunlight Champions and the Neo-Demons were battling against the demons on the ground, while Sophia, Rax, Kilo, and two of the Brain Golems were in the sky fighting against those Rank 2 demons.


    The three Rank 2 Neo-Demons had not activated their runic sets since the battle would take a lot of time and they would be fighting multiple opponents, so they could not let themselves be exhausted in less than a minute.


    Dante was helping those at the ground by firing hundreds of arrows each minute, making sure no casualty happened among his people, and one of the Brain Golems was by his side protecting him.


    Even though they were totally dominating their opponent, Dante''s face was very solemn and the reason presented itself ten minutester in the form of a roar.


    A towering creature four hundred meters tall approached through the sky. It had extremely long arms and a demonic bison''s head with horns and fire all around his body.


    This was a Goristro, a very powerful demon known for his extraordinary physical power. It was flying at an impressive speed despite his size and it seems that he intended to crash into the battlefield, damaging all parties by creating a st of fire.


    But before he could reach the Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons, a winged man that seemed to be made of lightning with a three hundred meters tall body filled with runic inscriptions and diamond as skin appeared by his side and struck him on his head with so much power that a sonic boom was created.

 Chapter 150: Fight between giants

    The power of a physical attack was influenced by several factors, epically in this universe filled with magic and all sorts of wonderful energies. But in the mortal world, they had a purer definition which is that ''a force is equal to mass times eleration''.


    And if Ezequiel''s strike could be defined in a single word that would be: Heavy!


    This Goristro was a Novice Rank 3 demon but thanks to his bloodline, his true power was much greater and he could use his unbelievable physical might to resist the attacks of an Advanced Rank 3 Magus and crush them with ease.


    But when Ezequiel''s punchnded on his head, it was carrying so much force that it fractured his jaw and sent him flying away like a cannonball, thousands of meters away from the battlefield between the Daybreak n and demons.


    When his massive body crashed on the ground, it created a pit and a st of fire was generated around him covering hundreds of meters.


    Even though he was a demon and was a chaotic being by nature, as a Rank 3 life form his soul was very strong. So he was not a mindless fiend, and instead of charging without a thought, he first wanted to identify his enemy and have a sense of how powerful he truly was.


    Unfortunately for him, before he could even locate Ezequiel, six beams of chaotic energynded in the ce where he crashed, creating a blue explosion that covered his entire body.


    Ezequiel''s figure could not be more impressive, with a three hundred meters tall body covered by lightning, six blood wings on his back, and a diamond skin.


    He was flying above the explosion that consumed the Goristro, with his eyes narrowed. He knew that although the explosion may seem impressive for a Rank 2 life form, the damage that could do to the demon was small.


    His objective with those six Abyssal sts was not to harm his body, but his mind.


    "ROOOAAARRR!!!"


    Along with the roar, a giant pir of mes was released into the sky from the crater where the Goristro crashed, dissipating the chaotic blue energy.


    The Goristro''s figure could be seen inside that fire, and although his body was slightly harmed, it could not affect his battle power, but his eyes werepletely red and any shred of intelligence was gone.


    The moment the demon saw Ezequiel, the energy in his body exploded, making his mes more powerful and his body stronger as he charged against him like an insane monster,


    Even though now the Goristro had be a mindless killing machine that would continue attacking no matter how much damage he received, Ezequiel showed no fear, and his body disintegrated into pure lightning as he shed to the demon.


    The moment they were about to crash against each other, Ezequiel''s body reformed instantly, and his diamond fist covered in lightning crashed against the burning fist of the Goristro.


    When the two fists impacted, a sonic boom along with an explosion of fire and lightning was created.


    Neither of the two was able to truly surpass the physical defenses of the other, but in Ezequiel punch, there was another type of power besides lightning and that was thunder.


    The thunder power transformed into energy waves that trespassed the Goristro physical defense and fractured the bones on his hand.


    There were two main reasons why Ezequiel''s body had be so impressively strong, and those were his new Rank Spell and runic set.


    The runic set was known as Star Crusher and its function was just one- increasing one''s body weight beyond measure.


    By using it, one''s physical power will grow exponentially but there is a severe downside- due to the immense weight, your speed will be extremely slow.


    Ezequiel, however, was moving impressively fast and that was thanks to his Rank Spell.


    The one he chose for his transition to Rank 2 was known as Storm Heart.


    The effect of the spell was not very impressive since it only increased your body affinity with lightning natural energy, but after Ezequielbined it with his Lightning Armor and Lightning Transformation, he was able to instantly pass between a solid body and a river of pure lightning, weightless and incredibly fast.


    This also increased his physical might allowing his Titan Form to reach three hundred meters instead of just the one hundred and fifty that it will normally have at Rank 2.


    Despite his bones being fractured, the Goristro acted as if nothing happened and continued with his crazy attacks.


    His other fist headed for Ezequiel''s head, but the attack was too easy to predict so when the Neo-Demon saw it, he dodged it and punched him in the stomach.


    Despite the demon literally having a fist buried in his stomach, with lightning and thunder destroying his organs, his bloodthirst did not diminish and grabbed Ezequiel''s hand before throwing a kick at his chest.


    The Goristro had charged that attack with some type of power since when it impacted, it created a very powerful butpacted me explosion.


    Even with his diamond skin, Ezequiel felt like the bones on his chest broke, but despite the pain, he did not lose control and made that an immense amount of lightning discharged from his hand.


    The lightning st sent the Goristro crashing to the ground and Ezequiel''s body was propelled to the sky.


    Both had severe injuries on their body, but the power inside them only increased.


    After smashing into the ground, the Goristro roared to the sky, and he stomped, creating an earthquake and making a river ofva appear that covered his body.


    In the sky, the natural energies of the world started to form lightning, and Ezequiel''s body was absorbing it, increasing his strength.


    Once they reached the peak of their power, the two of them threw themselves against their opponents, like a lightning deity against a me abomination.


    "AAHHH!!!"


    "ROOOAAARRR!!!"


    With their battle cries, the two giants crashed against each other, filling the sky with lightning and fire.


    The explosion was so loud that some of the Rank 1 demons and Sunlight Champions, started to bleed from their ears and were disoriented.


    On Ezequiel''s right shoulder, a gaping hole with the shape of a horn appeared and it was so deep that it almostpletely pierced his body. As for the Goristro, his left hand waspletely pulverized and was now useless.


    Even with that damage, the two of them continued fighting with the same intensity, and Ezequiel always found a way tond a hit near a vital organ and send thunder to wreak havoc inside.


    As the two were fighting, the battle among the demons and the Daybreak n continued.


    The Daybreak n was dominating the demons, with a great part of them already incapacitated.


    Thanks to Dante''s arrows, there has not been any casualty on his side, but they were all very tired, especially those fighting Rank 2 demons.


    Sophia, Kilo, Rax, and the two Brain Golem had defeated a great number of the demons, but there were still some that remained.


    Although none of the Neo-Demons had severe injuries, their energy pools were almost depleted.


    Sophia nced at the fight between Ezequiel and the Goristro, and her expression was serious.


    She knew that the only reason Ezequiel could fight against the demon was thanks to his runic set and Blood Diamond Skin, but it took a lot of energy and he would not be able to maintain it for a long time.


    That was the reason why Ezequiel took the risk of making the demon crazy, in order for the fight to end faster.


    Her runic set also allowed her to have Rank 3 battle power, but with her current reserves of energy, she could barely activate it for less than five seconds.


    So she was hoping that Ezequiel could defeat the Goristro on his own.


    Another massive explosion was heard as the Goristro was sent flying away and the area of his chest where his heart was located was burned.


    The demon coughed massive amounts of blood as thunder and lightning harmed his heart, but the insanity in his mind did not allow him to worry about that and he charged against Ezequiel immediately, with the intention of piercing him with his horns.


    Ezequiel''splexion was starting to get pale and as he saw the demon rushing in his direction, instead of dodging, he remained still.


    When the demon was about to impale him, with an unbelievable dexterity, he grabbed the Goristro''s horns and twisted his body.


    The bones of the Goristro''s neck cracked and he was sent to the ground with his neck bent in a strange position.


    But even after that damage, Ezequiel saw how the demon raised himself from the ground and he healed his neck as if nothing happened.


    The Goristro was severely hurt, but Ezequiel knew that before being killed or hurt to the point his body could not move, the demon would continue attacking. His energy pool was already reaching dangerously low levels, and at this speed, he would be exhausted before defeating the demon.


    Knowing he needed to end this fight fast, Ezequiel''s eyes became cold as arcs of lightning were released from his body and were started to construct something behind him.


    The Goristro did not stand still and continued his barrage against Ezequiel, and since the spell that the Neo-Demon was creating took time, he also charged back to battle.

 Chapter 151: Ancient Titan, Right Hand

    Explosions of fire and lightning were covering the sky as Ezequiel and the Goristro continued their fight and their giant bodies crashed against each other.


    The Blood Diamond Skin granted Ezequiel impressive physical defenses. But still, he now had deep wounds all over his body from where blood, whose color was abination between red and blue, was leaking.


    The condition of the Goristro was much worse, his left arm has be nothing more than a mangled mass of flesh. There were imprints with the form of a fist that had burned the demon''s skin all over his body and they were located where his heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, and stomach were present.


    Despite lightning and thunder harming his vital organs, and destroying his body from the inside out, there was not a single shred of fear in Goristro''s eyes and you could only see insanity.


    The two were severely hurt, but the killing intent in their attacks only increased. You could see in the eyes of one lighting and coldness and in the other fire and madness as their fight reached the climax.


    Ezequiel was winning the fight, as the damage he had taken was inferior. But his situation was very dangerous since his energy pool was almost empty and it would not be long before he could no longer have Star Crusher and Blood Diamond Skin active.


    The lightning that was leaving Ezequiel''s body was forming five giant fingers almost as big as him behind his back, and they began to connect with each other as a palm started to appear.


    This was Ezequiel''s Rank 2 Innate Spell. The power it was generating was impressive but it was the same for the energy it needed.


    "ROOOAAARRR!"


    Even in his enraged state, the instinct of the Goristro warned him about the danger of that hand, so he attacked with even greater ferocity.


    Ezequiel was feeling extremely tired and he knew that it was a matter of seconds before his energy was depleted, but that did not weaken his attacks.


    The Goristro tries to pierce him with his horns, but Ezequiel dodged them at thest moment and he sent a kick to the demon''s knee, breaking it.


    The pain must have been immense but the Goristro ignored it, and with his right hand, he punched Ezequiel in the chest, right where his kick hadnded at the beginning of the fight and had broken his ribs.


    Instead of resisting the attack, Ezequiel took the opportunity and taking the momentum of the punch, he sent his body flying backward, and as he did, he made hundreds of lightning spears appear in his path as he sent them to the Goristro.


    His runic set deactivated and his diamond skin disappeared, as he made thest of the energy in his body rush and sent it to the lightning hand behind him.


    Ezequiel was hoping that the distance between the Goristro and him would give him enough time to finish his Innate Spell now that he had spent all of the remaining energy he had at it.


    But the Neo-Demon realizes that he made a mistake as he saw what could only be described as a ming meteorite, charging at him without any intention of dodging those lightning spears.


    The Goristro was flying at an impressive speed and despite bleeding from every single part of his body, and having lightning harming his organs, he managed to get close to Ezequiel very quickly.


    Ezequiel knew that he could not fight against the Goristro directly in his current condition, and as he prepared to use his Mirage rune and teleport, he heard a dragon cry.


    Along with the cry, apacted column of dark sonic force was fired andnded on the Goristro''s unprotected chest.


    The demon was too focused on Ezequiel and did not notice Sophia''s attack, whose runic set was active and formed a ck witch outfit over her body.


    That attack had taken an immense toll on her. After using it, her runic set deactivated immediately and she flew away from the battlefield and hid behind the Brain Golem that was protecting Dante, as right now, her energy pool was practically empty.


    "AHHHHH!!!"


    The strength in the beam of dark sonic force did not do too much damage to the Goristro but after an instant, the skin where the attacknded withered at an impressive speed, and his sensibility to pain increased by a factor of ten.


    And that was just the beginning. Pustules started to develop all over his body, his blood started to rot, he lost sight, fever was so immensely high that it threatened to burn his brain. It was as if dozens of different curses attacked all at the same time.


    As a Rank 3 demon with a very powerful bloodline, the Goristro will be able to suppress those curses in a matter of minutes.


    Unfortunately, time was something he did not have since, with the help of Sophia''s distraction, Ezequiel had finished his spell.


    The lightning had formed a five hundred meters hand, almost twice as big as Ezequiel''s entire body in his Titan Form. Its power was immense and it seemed to be made of flesh and bones and not a construct of energy.


    "Ancient Titan, Right Hand!"


    Ezequiel could feel the titanic hand behind him as part of his body, and without waiting, he opened his palm.


    "Right Hand: Crushing Print!"


    Following the movement of Ezequiel''s hand, the titanic hand disappeared from behind him and appeared above the Goristro.


    The palm descended with such an unbelievable strength and speed that the demon wasn''t able to do anything as his body was struck by it before crashing into the ground.


    The moment the titanic hand touched the ground, an earthquake was felt for hundreds of kilometers and a palm imprint was created with the Goristro right in the center.


    But this was not all, as the hand disintegrated into lightning and appeared once again in the sky, but this time it was forming a fist.


    "Right Hand: War Fist!"


    A great killing intent was felt in Ezequiel''s voice as he clenched his fist and threw a punch.


    The Goristro could barely move and was not able to do anything as the fist crashed on his pitiful figure and exploded into a torrent of lightning.


    After a couple of seconds, when the lightning dissipated, the demon''s figure could be seen. All of his bones were broken, his left arm had disappeared as did his two legs and there was not a part of his body that was not burned by lightning.


    Ezequiel inspected the demon, and he was surprised when he noticed that it was still alive. The Neo-Demon was impressed by the Goristro''s vitality but of course, he knew that his injuries were too severe and it was a matter of time before he died.


    His eyes narrowed and after some thought, he flew to the demon''s side and put his hand over Goristro''s head.


    Ezequiel made thunder destroy certain parts of the Goristro''s brain, and once the demon''s body stopped twitching, he made him swallow all types of pills and potions.


    From the beginning, he was fighting with everything he had, making every attack a killer one. That was because he knew that if he were to try to capture him and he contained himself, he would have lost.


    But now that the Goristro was incapacitated, he chose to send him back to the tower, but not before making sure he could not move, even if his body was healed.


    Now that his part of the fight was over, Ezequiel returned to his normal size and consumed some healing pills before looking at the battlefield between the Daybreak n and the demons.


    The Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons were crushing their enemies and in less than an hour, all of them were either disabled or killed.


    It was an absolute victory since not even one member of the Daybreak n died.


    In the battlefield of those at Rank 2, it was not a surprise since even if Rax or Kilo were to be in danger, they could always activate their runic set, not to mention that their bloodline was already closing towards Rank 5 and once there, they will be almost undefeatable against other races in the same Rank.


    As for the Rank 1 battlefield, the reason for their absence of casualty was due to their enemies being weakened by explosions before the battle even started, Dante''s wless strategies beside his healing arrows, and the fact that every Sunlight Mage could use healing spells.


    But that was not everything, and the most important reason was that whenever Dante saw that one of those at Rank 1 was about to take a fatal blow, he made the Master Rank 2 Brain Golem by his side sent a Mind st against the attacking demon.


    If it was against another enemy, they would have detected the enemy intrusion of someone at Rank 2 in a fight between those at Rank 1 and would have responded doing the same, but demons could not care less for their kind, so even if they noticed, they did not waste their energy.


    Once the battle was over, Dante made everyone collect the corpses of the killed demons in their rings and carry those that remained alive to their underground base.

 Chapter 152: Harvest the materials from the demons body

    Almost all of the Sunlight Warrior and Neo-Demons were carrying at least two demons as they flew to the base, as for the enormous body of the Goristro, it was carried by the three Brain Golems.


    It did not take long for the Daybreak army to reach their underground base, and once they reached there, Dante used the three Brain Golems to affect the minds of those demons and put them in a state of deep unconsciousness.


    After handling the prisoners, Dante analyzed the state of the Daybreak army. After all, even if there were no casualties, that did not mean they still had their original battle power.


    The Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons at Rank 1 were the ones who could heal the fastest since their wounds were not severe and could be treated with the pills and potions avable with them.


    But the situation among the Rank 2 Neo-Demons was different. As the main force against more than a dozen Rank 2 demons, Sophia, Rax, and Kilo had umted a great number of injuries but the most serious part was their exhausted energy pools, especially Sophia.


    The one who was in the worst condition was Ezequiel. In his fight against the enraged Rank 3 demon, not only did he take an immense amount of physical damage but also the mes of the Goristro had invaded his body.


    If it was anyone else, they would have to focus all of their attention on fighting against those mes, but Ezequiel''s body was filled with powerful lightning at a cellr level, so he was automatically purging that harmful power. But still, it weakens him and consumes his energy reserves.


    Dante''s condition was not good either. He had not taken any damage during the fight, but his Abyss Aura and Sun Force were practically empty. So trying to elerate the healing speed of the others was not possible.


    After calcting the most efficient path to follow, Dante spoke to the army.


    "We will rest for eighteen hours and then continue our exploration. Since we are not in our top condition, we will be extra careful and in case an enemy as powerful as the demonic horde appears again, we will avoid them and wait until we are fully recovered."


    Dante spoke with amanding tone, but that was directed to the Rank 1 members of the army, for whom he manipted their every decision on the battlefield.


    But things were different with the Rank 2 Neo-Demons in whose fights his strategies will have not much effect since they are few and their battle instincts were more precise and faster than his instructions.


    So he looked at them and seeing that they agreed with his n, he carried on.


    Everybody used every single second they had, either eating food from powerful magic creatures to increase the speed at which their energy pool recovered or using potions to heal their wounds before returning to the surface and continuing with the exploration.


    Before the battle with the horde, they had already secured 80% of the area designated to them, so even though they were now moving very slow, it only took three more days before finishing their goal.


    During that time they did not find any true threat and their enemies were only small groups of demons and weak Heavenly race settlements.


    The two groupsposed of Magi had also finished their mission not long ago, but unlike Dante''s wless victory, they had taken casualties in their fights against the demons.


    One Magi group fought against a demonic horde led by two Advanced Rank 3 Demons. Those demon''s bloodlines were very weak so the five Rank 3 Magi did not have a problem defeating them and were able to capture one alive.


    They lost neen Rank 1 and one Rank 2 Magi in the fight against the horde of more than three thousand demons.


    This could be considered excellent since the ratio of death was beneath 4% and most of the Magi were thankful for the Sun Tadpole in their hands that were constantly giving them advice during the fight.


    It was the other Magi group, the one who suffered from catastrophic losses. Their enemy was a horde led by a single Master Rank 3 demon and due to the arrogance of the four Rank 3 Magi, from the start of the fight, they intended to capture it alive so they restrained themselves.


    This proved fatal when the demon, in his rage, had chosen to self destruct, taking with him an Advanced Rank 3 Magus and nine Rank 2.


    Luckily the explosion of the demon was very high in the sky and did not reach those Rank 1 Magi, so their losses only amounted to twenty-one.


    The death of a Rank 3 Magus, even if he was at the Advanced level, was a heavy blow since there were only nine of them, unlike the ny Rank 2 and nine hundred Rank 1.


    Trying to resurrect the Rank 3 Magus was not possible since even if his soul was not destroyed by thews, he was so powerful that he would need someone at the Law Engraving Rank that mastered necromancy at a very high level.


    Despite the setback, neither of the three groups wasted time and now that they had secured their designated areas, they began with the magic tower construction.


    The parts of the magic tower were already built and they only needed to create a solid foundation in which the tower would be erected and they made sure that the runic formations that would take control over the natural energies of the world would connect with the other towers and would work perfectly.


    For this part, there was a limit on how many people could work at the same time. So the three groups sent their weakest members back to the tower in the mountain range with the prisoners.


    ........


    Close to the magic tower where the Soul Forging existences of the Magi World were residing, there was a residence.


    This was constructed under Zatiel''s orders, and no one, not even those Rank 4 knew what he was doing inside it since the walls were made of a special material that blocked any form of probing.


    The only thing they knew was that hundreds of those demons that the army had captured were being stored in there.


    The abode was fifty meters tall and one hundred meters wide and long, so it should be impossible to amodate so many demons inside, especially with those like the Goristro who measure in the hundreds of meters.


    But that was easily fixed with spells from two schools in which Zatiel was very skillful.


    The first thing he did was use a necromancy spell in all the demons known as Suspended Animation, which put them in aatose state and deactivated all of their body defenses.


    Then he used a simple transmutation spell named Absolute Shrink, which decreased the size of those demons to a fifteenth of their original.


    This spell was not very useful in battle since an enemy would only need to use a small amount of energy and the effect of the spell will be gone, but now they were not able to resist.


    Right now Zatiel was in front of the Goristro and as he analyzed the creature, he could not help but be impressed.


    ''So with those Angelic Paragon''s wings, EZ has already reached a battle power equal to mine.''


    There was satisfaction in Zatiel''s eyes as he saw the damage on the Goristro''s body and recognized the power needed to cause it.


    He knew how powerful the Goristro demons are, especially when they are put in an enraged state and attack without regard for their lives.


    Zatiel did not waste too much time in those thoughts and started to work.


    The first thing he was going to do was harvest the materials from the demon''s body needed to create the Abyssal Heritor runic set.


    He took a set of tools from his ring. They were a collection of knives and other instruments whose purpose seemed to y creatures.


    For the runic set, he only needed two things, the skin of the demon and his blood. Since he needed the demon alive, as he had other uses for him, he was very careful not to produce damage in an artery or vein unless it was necessary.


    Zatiel movements were wless, and little by little, he removed the skin of the Goristro until nothing more than a disgusting bloody monstrosity remained.


    The walls and floor of the abode seem to be able to suck any blood that came in contact with it, so despite the demon constantly bleeding, nothing remained.


    Despite the ghastly appearance of the Goristro, Zatiel''s expression was always the same, and he was actually humming a song as he went to the demon''s head and proceeded to open his skull.


    Once that was done, he removed a third of the demon''s brain and kept it inside a special container, before throwing his immense body against one of the walls.


    Once the Goristro''s body touched the wall, chains appeared from it and pierced his body, nailing him to the wall.


    If someone were to see what was happening here, he would think it was one of the torture chambers of Baator, and the most terrifying thing was the man who continued humming his songs as he grabbed another demon and repeated the earlier process.

 Chapter 153: Heavenly races rage

    Heinz was in a room on the top floor of the tower and surrounding his body was an extremely sharp red aura.


    This aura was not made by a spell, but due to the cultivator''s effect on his surroundings as he trained hisws, more specifically his Law of Sword.


    He was in a meditative position with his iconic ck sword on hisp. His consciousness was nurturing the sword in order for it to obtain his spirit, allowing him to reach the Second Sword Realm.


    He had been training almost all of the time since he reached this world. He had not made any true advancement yet, but there was no impatience in his heart.


    Heinz knew very well how difficult it was to advance theprehension in thews, especially in his case since he had reached the ''Initial'' level ofprehension.


    If he were to advance to the ''Minor Completion'' level, hisws would have a qualitative change, and it was required to advance to Rank 6.


    He is an extremely proud person, but even with the help provided by his Dao Heart, he knew that reaching that level without enough experience and time was not possible. If it wasn''t for the world war, Heinz would have entered deep seclusion for strengthening his soul until he reached Rank 5.


    As he focused on developing his sword, amunication crystal glowed inside the cultivator''s personal storage space.


    Heinz made the crystal appear in his hand and heard Zatiel''s message in it.


    "Brother, we need to discuss our n in response to the Heavenly race''s action when they detect the towers. Come to my abode when you are free."


    Heinz was not in a deep state of meditation, and since he could resume his training whenever he wanted, he chose to go and speak with Zatiel immediately. He focused on the abode that was close to the tower and in the next second, he disappeared.


    The Fiend Essence Extraction Chamber was able to block the powerful consciousness of someone at Rank 4, but it wasn''t able to stop Heinz from teleporting inside it through the use of the Law of Space.


    The vision that weed Heinz after teleporting shocked him, and for a moment, he thought that he had entered a nightmarish dimension.


    The walls surrounding him were stacked with unconscious yed demons, whose heads were opened and were missing parts of their brain.


    There were chains that pierced all of these creatures and were glowing with runic inscriptions that seem to be able to absorb their essence and vitality.


    Due to their condition, they were constantly bleeding, but once the blood left their bodies, it disappeared.


    All the energy extracted from these demons concentrated in a circr formation in the center of the room, and above this formation was a man.


    This evil and chaotic power had formed a liquid tentacle and had connected to this man''s chest, depositing itself inside him.


    But this wasn''t all. Above the man was a giant container covered with runes and filled with pieces of brains.


    As the runes activated in the container, the brains inside it started to decay and transparent threads wereing from it and reached into the man''s head.


    The most bizarre thing of all was that the man, who had these energies filling his heart and brain, was not even in a state of deep concentration.


    He was making runes and by his calm expression and rxed attitude, it was obvious that he was not forcing himself.


    "You came right away. Good, then let''s start."


    Zatiel''s words woke up Heinz from his initial shock and after a second, a smile appeared on his face.


    Heinz was someone who preferred to use brute force to handle his problems, but that did not mean he was stupid.


    He had figured out a long time ago that Zatiel was special. He may have some direct connection with a powerful being or be the heir to some deep and ancient knowledge.


    Whatever it was, the two had reached an unspoken agreement, and they never spoke of it. So the fact that he had allowed to see him now that he was training with his special techniques that clearly showed some of his peculiarities was proof of the trust he had in him.


    Heinz knew that Zatiel''s trust was something very difficult to obtain, so he was very d, but after a moment he frowned.


    He was someone who had seen the truth of the universe a long time ago, so Zatiel using living creatures to increase his power was not the thing that bothered him.


    "Brother, having the knowledge to create this type of runic formation is impressive, but you need to be careful. Abyss Aura is a very dangerous form of energy that can affect someone''s personality and although I cannot identify the other source of the power, even for life forms like me who can remain alive without a body, modifications on the brain are extremely dangerous."


    Zatiel could detect the concern in Heinz''s voice, so he smiled and proceeded to calm down the cultivator.


    "Knowledge is only dangerous in the hand of those who do not know how to use it. The paths of power I am following allow me to increase my strength this way without any sort of repercussions."


    Although he was someone who was constantly looking for ways to increase his power faster, Zatiel would never use a method that would leave hidden danger or harm his talent.


    He was using the Fiend Essence Extract Chamber to absorb the purest Abyss Aura from those demons and channel it through his Chaotic Core, where it is cleaned from by the chaotic will, before nurturing his consciousness and increasing his energy pool.


    As for those brains, this was a way of increasing his Mind Force he took from the Mind Ruler race. That race was known for eating the brain of their ves to increase their power and although Zatiel did not have a problem doing it, his current method was more effective.


    The container keeping those brains had rune formation simr to the one used to extract Abyss Aura, and it only took Zatiel a couple of days before finishing it.


    Heinz knew that he could notpare with his brother when ites to knowledge, and although he was still a little worried, seeing that there was no problem and knowing that there is no way he could change his mind about using this dangerous method, he focused on the issue at hand.


    "So what n do you have?"


    Heinz was intrigued by what Zatiel would say.


    The time for the battle between the Rank 4 of the Magi World and the Heavenly race was nowhere near ording to his calctions.


    When the three magic towers are built and create a force field connected with the one they are under, they would be able to openly challenge the might of the Heavenly race.


    But even then, true fights between them should not happen yet since there is no way that the members of the Heavenly race will enter the force field.


    And the Soul Forging existences of the Magi World would not leave the force field under the watch of the Heavenly race for fear of their numerical advantage and will be forced to hide as they explore this world and only act when needed.


    Even Heinz, who was the strongest member of this invasion force was not willing to fight openly ahead with them since even if he fused with his Law Avatar and reached Rank 5 battle power, what he could achieve during that small window of time was not worth the price.


    "Logic dictates that we cannot fight right ahead with them right now, and our true battles will ur as we build the other six towers and fight to establish our domain inside this continent. We need to slowly expand as we gain strength and weaken them, and in the best-case scenario we will be able to finish the Ten Tower Formation in ten years."


    Zatiel words made perfect sense, but when he finished speaking, a scheming light appeared in his eyes.


    "But since when have I acted ording to logic? Remember Heinz, all warfare is based on deception!"


    ¡­


    It did not take more than a week for the two Magi groups and the Daybreak n to finish building their magic tower and once they were sure that there was no w in the runic formation, they activated them.


    Each magic tower started to absorb immense amounts of natural energy and the power inside them grew until the point the runic formations were able to establish a connection with the other three towers.


    A force field started to grow from the new towers and they fused with each other before connecting with the main tower where the ten Soul Forging existences were.


    Despite the force field extending for thousands of kilometers, the process was incredibly fast and now a considerable part of the continent was under the rule of Heinz and Zatiel.


    All the members of the army were smiling. With this force field, even if they were to lose their battles against the Heavenly race, they would have a stronghold where they could retreat and regain strength for their next assault.


    But their expressions immediately became solemn as they looked to the distance and sensed the immensely powerful existences approaching them, with rage and killing intent so intense that they could feel them as if they were next to them.


    They all understand the reason for that hatred. Since they established the Ten Tower Formation, it was a deration of war for this world''s control.

 Chapter 154: Welcome party

    Fifteen Soul Forging existences belonging to the Heavenly race were flying to the nearest magic tower, and they were not containing their power nor the killing intent in their hearts.


    Due to the tower being constructed in secrecy and every single individual in the area near it was either killed or captured, the Dukes of the Heavenly race had no idea of what was happening in the south of the continent.


    It was only when an immense amount of natural energy was swallowed by the towers and a force field stretching for hundreds of thousands of kilometers appeared that they were able to realize that the enemy in the shadow had made their move.


    The Rank 4 individuals of the Heavenly race had been guarding the Heavenly Guard day and night, focusing on healing their wounds from the fight against the horde, but when the Dukes felt the changes in the continent, they acted immediately and Martin along with another fourteen Soul Forging existences move out.


    Oliver and the others at Rank 4 remained to keep guard since they could not leave and let those demons find a way to escape due to their absence. If that were to happen, by the time they hunt down and kill all of them. this world would be a graveyard.


    Martin was at the head of the group and from his body, a neb was released covering the other fourteen Rank 4 individuals.


    The neb seemed to allow them to blend with space itself, increasing their speed to an unbelievable level. Thanks to it, the fifteen of them were able to cover the massive distance between the center of the continent to the tower in less than an hour.


    They stopped four thousand kilometers away from the tower, right outside of the periphery of the force field, and they could see the people hiding thanks to their consciousness.


    Of course, once their consciousness passed through the force field, it was severely weakened and it lost most of its long-distance offensive capabilities, but still allowed them to see.


    The rage and killing intent in Martin was immense at this instant. This was the force that had opened a door to the Abyss, allowing hundreds of thousands of demons to enter the world, killing millions of their people.


    Despite his feelings, Martin did not lose his mind and acted recklessly. He focused on the tower and the people inside it, and after a moment, he was able to find out their origin.


    "Magi!"


    There was an immense disgust on Martin''s face as he said those words.


    The Heavenly race was extremely xenophobic, and they considered all other races as inferior, but the ones they loathed the most were those weak races, like humans, that through hard work and constant struggles were able to be stronger.


    In their minds, the status quo must always remain the same. If you are born in a weak race, with a weak body and a weak soul, you must remain like that forever, and never defy your ce in the universe.


    So for them, the Magi World, a world of humans that through the use of magic and technology, that was able to carve a bloody path in the universe and be one of the Principal Worlds in existence was an abomination.


    Unfortunately for them, the Rank 9 of the Magi World was incredibly powerful, and not even the leader of the Heavenly Creator World was willing to fight against him in his domain.


    All of a sudden, Martin''s eyes widened due to the shock as he analyzed the wings on the individuals inside the tower, and in the next moment, he looked at the distance where the tower filled with the members of the Daybreak n was.


    He was able to figure out the origin of the wings in one of those Magi, and although due to the immense distance he could not analyze the wings on the Daybreak n, he knew they were alike.


    "FILTHY BEASTS!!!"


    The energy inside Martin exploded, and an aura filled with hatred and killing intent was released from his body, carrying so much power that the ground under him started to break and earthquakes appeared and extended for thousands of meters.


    "You dare to remove the wings of our glorious people and then imnt them on your disgusting bodies. I will personally extract your souls and make all of you suffer forever! I will make the most terrifying curse kill all of your loved ones!"


    When the rest of the members of the Heavenly race heard Martin''s words, they were surprised and immediately focused their consciousness on the wings of the man hiding in the tower.


    When they detected that it was indeed the wings of a Heavenly race member, their response was not any different from Martin, pure hatred.


    To them, someone using the wings of their race was no different than using their faces as masks.


    The rage and killing intent in Martin''s heart was so much that he released his Law Avatar, making a ck neb filled with starlight appear behind him.


    This moment the Duke wanted nothing more than to enter the force field, break that magic tower, rip the wings on the back of that Magus and search his soul for the identity of the person that dared to profane the body of his people.


    But after a moment he breathed deeply, deactivated his Law Avatar, and made his power recede. As someone who had reached Rak 4, his soul was extremely powerful, as was the control over his emotions.


    He knew that entering the force field would be extremely dangerous and before he could even destroy that tower, the Soul Forging existences of the Magi World would attack him and there will be zero chances of him winning.


    "Listen up you hairless monkeys! I will find the one responsible for desecrating the body of our holy people, I will make him feel the most horrible pain that exists and taste the greatest humiliations that he could..." There was great wickedness in Martin''s face as he spoke, but before he could finish, another voice was heard.


    "You speak too much!"


    Along with those words, what could only be described as an ocean of killing intent assaulted the members of the Heavenly race.


    For an instant, Martin and the other fourteen Soul Forging existences felt their eyes clouded by a monstrous red aura and the next thing they saw was a fifteen meters tall man with silver hair and red eyes standing in front of them.


    He was wearing ck armor and had a crystal sword de in his hand that was going to pierce Martin''s chest.


    The Duke understood instantly what was happening and the danger he was in. But the shock was still immense and he could not believe that the enemy had someone so powerful on their side.


    Despite everything, Martin was an experienced warrior and knew what needed to be done. Just like Tomas, the man in front of him had obtained his immense power by fusing with his Law Avatar so they needed to put some distance between them and with the fifteen working together they will be more than able to stop him long enough so the world will expel him to the void.


    The rest of the Heavenly race members thought the same, so they activated their Law Avatar and prepared to defend.


    Martin was able to make his ck neb appear, and he disappeared before the sword de reached him.


    But when Heinz saw this, a smile appeared on his face and he continued with his sword attack.


    "You think you can escape from me!"


    The power in his sword increased as the Law of Space filled it, and it seems to prate into another dimension since half of it disappeared.


    Just like a window, space started to crack and after a moment the missing part of the sword appeared, but this time it was buried inside Martin''s chest.


    The Duke could not believe what he was seeing, but before he could even think about discarding his body and trying to escape, a wave of sharp killing intent assaulted his soul, leaving him unconscious before covering his body in a red cocoon.


    Heinz did not lose time, and he threw the cocoon inside the force field beforeunching his strongest attack against the other fourteen Rank 4.


    "One blood sword to kill all existence!"


    He channeled all of his power, creating fourteen beams of red sword-light that assaulted the members of the Heavenly race.


    Felling the threat of those attacks, the Soul Forging existences of the Heavenly race were able to ovee the shock of seeing their leader pierced by a sword and used their Law Avatars to defend themselves.


    Each one of them was very powerful, thanks to their bloodline and racial heritage. So since the power in Heinz''s attack was divided into fourteen, they were able to resist, but even so, they were not able to stop the deadly energy from affecting their body and making their old wounds worse.


    Heinz was not surprised by this and while the world was expelling him to the void, he directed what little power he had to his fist and threw a punch to his left, breaking space and creating a portal.


    "Say hello to the wee party!" Heinz started tough after saying those words, and an immense power threw his body outside the world.


    The members of the Heavenly race did not have time to stabilize their condition before seeing how nine Soul Forging existences came out from the portal, all looking at them, like wolves looking at sheep.

 Chapter 155: Reaper

    The Soul Forging existences of the Magi World did not hesitate and the moment they passed through the portal they made the power inside them explode, making the natural energies around them go haywire, and they released their Law Avatars.


    The Law Avatars of the nine Magi adopted all sorts of forms ording to thews that they hadprehended.


    One of them took the form of a swarm of giant insects, another was an ocean of acid and there was one that created thousands of ghosts.


    Some people did not have their Law Avatar around them since due to some special characteristics of their Path Technique, they were able to use them to induce metamorphosis in their bodies.


    One of them took the form of a four thousand meters man of steel and the other was a giant infernal wolf with two heads that had chains constantly moving all over his body.


    Of all nine Law Avatars, there were two that were giving a significantly greater level of power. They were the ones created by Totto and Zitra.


    Unlike his usual friendly and rxed attitude, Totto''s aura was extremely cold, and his eyes were emotionless.


    His Law Avatar took the form of a skeleton humanoid covered in a ck robe that generated a ck fog around him. There was nothing special about the face of this skeleton beside the fact that his eyes were pure darkness and seemed to affect the soul of those who saw them.


    The avatar was fifteen thousand meters tall and there was a power around him that was able to affect the air, making it wither.


    Totto had used this Law Avatar to fight and kill a great number of Rank 4 individuals and with the pace of the years, it gained the title of Reaper.


    Unlike the terrifying aura of the Reaper, Zitra''s Law Avatar was much more harmonious, thanks to the bnce it generated between herws.


    Her Law Avatar took the form of what could only be described as an ocean of light, encircled by shadows.


    Even though the Law of Light and the Law of Shadows were opposing each other, they were able to work in conjunction, increasing their power.


    Although one side had fourteen Soul Forging existences,posed of nine Angels of Supremacy and five Angelic Paragons, and the other had nine Rank 4 Magi, the strongest party was not the Heavenly race.


    The members of the Heavenly race were suffering from a rpse of the injuries they took during their fight against the demonic horde, and the worst part was the energy that Heinz attacked them with remaining in their bodies.


    The beams of sword light used the powers of the Law of Blood and the Law of Sword to infiltrate inside them and ruin their bodies. But the worst part was that it carried the immensely destructive power of the Law of Killing, and when ites to offensive might, there are very fewws more powerful than it.


    As for the Magi side, they were all on their peak condition with their energy pool to the fullest, and in case anything went wrong they could always run into the force field that was right behind them.


    Realizing the immense danger of their current situation, all the members of the Heavenly race understood that staying and fighting will only lead to their ruin so without hesitation, they tried to escape.


    The Soul Forging existences of the Magi World noticed their attitude and attacked with immense ferocity. Their attacks carried certain urgency, but there was also a crafty light in their eyes as they fought.


    The sky shined with explosions of all colors as the two sides fought, one chasing, sending attacks filled with killing intent and the other escaping, using all types of defensive spells, and trying to counterattack when possible.


    Zitra and Totto, each were taking care of two Angelic Paragons, making the fight of the other seven much easier.


    Even though the two of them were very powerful, they were only able to do this thanks to the deep and severe wound of their enemies, after all, an Angelic Paragon was very powerful.


    Zitra''s opponents were an Angelic Paragon with wings made of des and another with wings made of fire. Their Law Avatars took the form of thousands of des and a storm of fire.


    In Totto''s case, the Law Avatar of his opponents took the form of a massive tornado and a meteorite.


    From Zitra Law Avatar hundreds of swords made of light were being fired every second, with an impressive speed against the weakest of the two Angelic Paragons.


    Even though their power was not great, theirbined force was incredibly threatening so the Angelic Paragon made his Law Avatar form a shield of des in front of him as he flew away.


    The de shield was constantly trembling as the swords of light shed against it, but it was able to resist the barrage which made the Angelic Paragon sneer as he looked at Zitra and continued escaping.


    "As expected from a mere beast!"


    But what he did not notice was that every time one of the swords of light crashed against the de shield, an imperceptible shadow trespassed it and they started to umte on the other side.


    Zitra''s expression has been ofplete calmness ever since the battle started and not even when the Angelic Paragon mocked her did it change.


    When the shadows on the de shield had umted long enough, she channeled the power of her Law Avatar, making them transform back into swords of light that attack the unprepared Angelic Paragon.


    The power in the sword of light had decreased, but their speed remained the same and in an instant, they reached the Angelic Paragon who could only cover himself with his wings and defensive spells.


    Thousands of cuts were made on the Angelic Paragon''s body and as Zitra was about to continue her attack, a torrent of fire with immense power charged at her.


    Facing the danger, Zitra narrowed her eyes as she focused on the Angelic Paragon that sent the attack, before making the shadows of her Law Avatar cover her body.


    The fire reached the shadows in a second and it destroyed them without any resistance, but when the Angelic Paragon with fire wings saw this, his face became solemn and his eyes widened as he saw Zitra appear five hundred meters away from the attack.


    "The Law of Space!" The Angelic Paragon could not hide the shock in his voice as he realized the way she had dodged his killing move.


    Zitra''sprehension over the Law of Space could notpare with Heinz, but by using her Law Avatar to transform her body into shadows, she was able to teleport to a safe distance.


    Killing intent filled the eyes of the Angelic Paragon as he understood what this means. Someone so young having such a greatprehension over thews means that in the near future she will be such an immense threat the same as the swordsman that defeated the Duke and severely harmed all of them.


    He knew that such threats must be eliminated as soon as possible, but unfortunately for him, he was unable to do it now. So once he saw that hisrade was safe he continued escaping.


    Seeing the two Angelic Paragon focusing all of their power on escaping, Zitra eyes shined, and she continued chasing them but this time her attacks were using very little of her energy.


    Totto''s fight against the other two Angelic Paragons was not any less impressive.


    His Reaper was constantly shing against the meteorite and tornado, and despite the great power in the two Law Avatars, after every encounter, they started to wither, forcing the Angelic Paragons to use more of their energy to reforge them.


    After one of the collisions between the skeletal hand of the Reaper and the meteor, when the Angelic Paragon was using her energy to fix her Law Avatar, there was a bacsh from the energy of Heinz in her body, which paralyzed her for a moment.


    It was just an instant, but in a fight between Rank 4 life forms, it was more than enough for Totto tond a devastating blow.


    The blue me in Totto''s eyes glowed intensely as he focused all of his power on the Reaper and raised his hand.


    The Reaper made the same movement and from its skeletal hand, and a dark and ominous aura was fired against the defenseless Angelic Paragon.


    The aura reached her body immediately making her grow older as if hundreds of years were passing in a matter of seconds and her skin was starting to rot.


    But that was not all, as a monstrous fear had invaded her consciousness and paralyzed any attempt of her to fight against the withering power.


    When the other Angelic Paragon saw this, rage and determination filled his eyes. He started to burn his life force to increase his power and made his tornado sh against the Reaper, severing its connection with the aura harming the woman.


    The Angelic Paragon stared at Totto and the killing intent in his eyes was immense, but instead of continuing attacking he went to the woman and used his energy to stabilize her condition as they flew away.


    Totto did not show any reaction to the Angelic Paragon''s killing intent, but when he saw that he waspletely focused on escaping with the woman, his eyes narrowed and sent a message to Zitra.


    "It''s time."

 Chapter 156: First victory

    The fourteen Soul Forging existences from the Heavenly race werepletely focused on escaping and defending from the ferocious attacks of the Magi.


    They had contacted Oliver the moment Martin was captured, and although the Duke knew that leaving the Heavenly Guard unsupervised was extremely dangerous for the continent, he could not leave fourteen of their strongest warriors in such a dangerous situation, so he along with the rest of the Soul Forging existences guarding the ce, left to their rescue.


    Unfortunately for the Heavenly race, the distance was immense and unlike Martin who could use his Law Avatar to increase their speed, Oliver did not have that ability so he could only focus all of his energy on his spells to increase his momentum.


    The Angels of Supremacy and Angelic Paragon that were escaping knew that it will take at least half an hour for Oliver and the rest of the Rank 4 to reach them and then the Magi will be forced to stop their assault and leave or else they will have to fight against a considerably higher number of enemies.


    In that amount of time, a lot of things could happen, so they were giving everything they had to remain alive.


    Two groups had been formed as they were escaping, with one consisting of nine Angels of Supremacy and one Angelic Paragon being chased by seven Magi and anotherposed by four Angelic Paragons that were pursued by Zitra and Totto.


    The first group had a better time since the seven Magi did not have the same battle power than Zitra and Totto and the Angelic Paragon was able to use his Law Avatar, which took the form of an oceanic tide, to protect them from the strongest attacks.


    But all of that changed when the group of four Angelic Paragons started to use some dangerous methods to increase the distance with their pursuers.


    When that happened the seven Magi received a message and then a part of them nked the ten Heavenly race members as they channeled all of their energy in their Law Avatars, before sending their most powerful attacks against them, slowing them down.


    The Angelic Paragon along with the other nine Angels of Supremacy were confused by the actions of the Magi, since despite their strength increasing, at this rate they would not be able to maintain their Law Avatar for a long time, but they did not have the luxury of analyzing the battlefield and could only fortify their defenses.


    Explosions that created earthquakes, despite their high altitude, were filling the sky as the Soul Forging existences of both sides were moving away from the periphery of the force field.


    The portal that Heinz had made remained there, and once the immense threat of those Rank 4 had left, another person came out.


    It was Zatiel with his Eye of Life and Creation, and he was watching the battle urring in the distance.


    The fight between such arge number of Soul Forging existences was an amazing spectacle to witness and if there was any other Rank 2 life form he would be excited, but in Zatiel''s eyes, there were no such emotions.


    His memories were full of fights between Law Beings, in which such devastating powers were released that Low Worlds would end up pulverized if they reached them, so watching a fight he was not part of and whose result was already decided could not stir his emotions.


    Therefore, he just focused on analyzing the condition of those involved.


    "The battle against the demonic horde should have been more intense than I thought. Good, this part of the n can be considered a sess," After making sure that everything was going ording to n, Zatiel turned to the cocoon inside the force field.


    It was only when he saw the red cocoon and felt the Duke trapped inside that Zatiel''s eyes showed some excitement and a smile appeared on his face as he flew towards it.


    When it detected someone approach it, the killing intent that formed the cocoon reacted, and a great power could be felt inside it, but after recognizing the identity of the person approaching, it calmed down.


    Giving sentience to your attacks was something very easy to do for a Rank 4 life form and they only needed to leave a small part of their consciousness inside them. Heinz did this since he could not allow just anyone to take such an important asset as the Duke.


    Thanks to the information that he obtained from the captives, he was able to recognize the man inside the cocoon as one of the leaders of this world, and there was a profound meaning in his eyes as he looked at him.


    There were several reasons why he made Heinz capture him alive, some of whom were rted to the war and others to use him to increase his power, but there was a more important purpose in his mind for this individual, something more personal.


    ''In his mind is the information I need, unfortunately, even in his current condition I cannot search his memories on my own.''


    Since there was nothing he could do, Zatiel proceeded to sit down beside the cocoon and wait for the Rank 4 Magi to return.


    ......


    Five minutes had passed since the seven Magi started to use their energy without any sort of restriction and attacked the nine Angels of Supremacy and the Angelic Paragon.


    Exhaustion started to appear on the faces of those Magi and it won''t be long before they can no longer have their Law Avatar active, but the oue of their unrestrained barrage was significant.


    This group of the Heavenly race was severely hurt and they could barely contain the killing energy that Heinz had left in their body, not to mention that their speed had significantly reducedpared to the other four Angelic Paragons that were already far ahead.


    But they saw the condition of the Magi and they knew that as soon as their opponent''s Law Avatars stop being active, they will be safe.


    Unfortunately, all of their hopes were destroyed when they felt an immense threat approaching ahead and the next thing the saw was a corrosive ck fog and giant swords of light charging at them with immense speed and power.


    The other seven Magi were waiting for this and they channeled as much energy as they could inside their Law Avatar before sending their most powerful attack yet, blocking any sort of escape route.


    Chains covered with silver fire, steel spears, tsunamis of acid, thousands of ghosts, giant insects, and other spells reached the ten Soul Forging existences of Heavenly race, from all sides creating an explosion that covered thousands of kilometers in a st of pure devastation.


    The other four Rank 4 Angelic Paragon were alerted by this and they looked to where the rest of theirrades were. At first, they thought that thanks to the use of destructive means to improve their speed, they had left Totto and Zitra behind, but now they understood that they were never their real target and their goal was just to force them to leave their weaker members behind.


    When they realized the situation in which theirpanions were, they wanted to go and help, but unfortunately, they were too far away.


    Not to mention that the damage they did to their bodies due to the use of those techniques to increase their speed was too great. So with immense remorse and pain in their eyes, they flew away.


    When the explosion ended, the figures of the Angelic Paragon and the Angels of Supremacy were seen, but now instead of nine, there were only seven.


    Two Angels of Supremacy had been disintegrated, and there were three that had lost their bodies and only their souls remained. As for the rest, saying that their condition was awful was an understatement.


    Their casualties would have been worse if not for the Angelic Paragon using his Law Avatar, making oceanic tides protect them, but before they could even take a breath another set of attacks was sent against them, creating once again a destructive explosion.


    Thisst attack took all the power that the Magi had and their Law Avatars dispersed, but they had managed to destroy the body of every single person inside the st and only the soul of the Angelic Paragon and three Angels of Supremacy remained.


    Without their bodies and having only their souls, the Heavenly race members were able to use some special type of spells and run away.


    The Magi obviously tried to kill them as well, but without their Law Avatars, there was little they could do.


    No matter if it was the group of seven Magi or Zita and Totto, they were allpletely exhausted so without hesitation, they returned to the force field to heal and replenish their energies safely.


    Despite their weakened state, there was a smile on the faces of all the Soul Forging existences. Their first battle in this world had been an absolute victory.


    They killed six Angels of Supremacy and destroyed the bodies of another three along with one of an Angelic Paragon, which will reduce their power greatly and will force them to spend years fixing.

 Chapter 157: Seed of misinformation

    It did not take long for the nine Soul Forging existences to get close to the force field, and they could see that even now, the magic tower was filled with Magi who were hiding.


    But there was one person that was in the open. They could see him sitting beside the red cocoon which contained the most powerful warrior in the group of the Heavenly race they just fought, not too far away from the periphery of the force field.


    He saw them as they were approaching the force field, but unlike what any other individual in his Rank will do in their presence, he just remained sitting beside the cocoon.


    Zatiel''s actions upset some of them and made them frown. They were used to individuals beneath Rank 4, always showing great respect and fear in their presence, doing everything in their power to avoid offending them.


    Their feelings were even more intense as they focused on the red cocoon. The body of an unconscious Rank 4 Angelic Paragon had immense value, but Heinz has been very clear that the one handling it will be Zatiel.


    When they first heard this, some of the Rank 4 Magi immediately expressed theirints since leaving such an important asset in the hand of someone at Rank 2 was not logical.


    Unfortunately for them, the cultivator made clear that he was not asking for their approval and that if any of them tried to get his hands on the Duke, he would take it as they were not obeying his orders.


    Heinz''s power was very clear in the mind of everyone. It was thanks to him severely harming those Angelic Paragons and Angels of Supremacy and leaving that killing energy inside their bodies that they were able to defeat them with such ease.


    This disy of strength made clear that he could equal all of them alone.


    The moment they entered the force field, the nine Magi remained in the sky and immediately began to stabilize their condition. Their bodies and souls were not damaged, but their energy pools were dangerously low so they took the first chance they got to replenish them.


    As they floated on the sky, some of them were looking at Zatiel on the ground with a prideful look, as if their current position was a statement of their status.


    Zatiel noticed their behavior, but he couldn''t care less. They would not dare to attack him, so he did not feel the need to show fake politeness.


    As Rank 4 life form of the Aeternum Empire, they had a great status and killing someone at Rank 2 could not carry any negative consequences to them, much less in a different world, but there was no one among them that did not understand that the rtionship between Heinz and Zatiel was not simple.


    Heinz has already proved that he did not fear to kill a Rank 4 Magus from the empire, and none of them wanted to be the next Lun.


    After an hour, two of the nine Rank 4 flew in the direction of Zatiel. They were Totto and Zitra and their actions made smiles appear on some of the Magi.


    Although Totto was a special case with his cordial attitude, they knew that Zitra was extremely prideful, so they were sure that Zatiel''s actions had offended her, and she would remind him of his ce.


    But, contrary to their wishes, the moment the duo reached Zatiel''s side, he merely stood up, and then the three of them remained silent.


    It took them a moment to understand that they were using their consciousness tomunicate among themselves. This took the other seven by surprise, and they were curious about what type of information they were sharing.


    Totto and Zitra had long ago started to see Zatiel as an equal, and his actions had only proved them right.


    The two were giving a report of how the fight went and the amount of damage they were able to deliver to the Heavenly race.


    Although they were more than satisfied with this oue of this fight, they were doubtful of this n, especially considering the current situation in the world.


    "Although we were able to deal a heavy blow to the Heavenly race, they now have a clear understanding of our full power. Not to mention that Heinz has been expelled from this world and it will take him at least a month to be able toe back, and even then he will have severe injuries due to him fusing with his Law Avatar. Was this really the best path to follow?"


    Zitra did not consider the n wed, especially since they were able to capture one of the enemy leaders, but from now on their advance on conquering this world will truly be slow.


    "I share a simr opinion with her. Without Heinz, we will not be able to make direct attacks against the Heavenly race or advance in the constructions of the towers and we will lose the distraction that is the demonic horde very soon."


    Totto knew that although Heinz had told everyone it was his n, the true architect was Zatiel, and he was wondering about the wisdom in it.


    The n that Zatiel had created was based on deception and when he heard the question of the duo, he smiled. If your actions were able to deceive your own people, then your enemies will not be able to see through them.


    Since they were an important part of it and he will need their help with the Duke, he chose to exin.


    "Right now the Heavenly race knows about our power and that our most powerful warrior will not be able to help us for several months. They also know that they will be safe as long as they remain together and that we don''t have the manpower to advance our invasion campaign for the time being."


    The duo focused as they heard Zatiel''s words. It was clear from his words that he knew of the n''s consequences.


    But his next words shocked the duo and made them understand the true goal of this first battle.


    "If you are able to manipte how your opponent thinks, then influencing their actions and making them act as you wish is not very hard. They will act ording to the information they think is right. But what if Heinz can return in a matter of days and we have a way to heal his wounds before the final battle between the demons and the Heavenly race happens?"


    There was a smile on Zatiel''s face as he spoke.


    Zitra and Totto understood that the true goal of this battle was not to kill the members of the Heavenly race.


    Their goal was to capture the Duke and then nt the seed of misinformation in the rest of the Heavenly race members that they will pass it to their leaders.


    The duo knew that working on a n with false information about your opponents was much worse than creating one with no information at all.


    As they looked at the man in front of them, they could not help but feel admiration.


    An immense speed of advancement in the Ranks, a Rank 3 Runemaster while being a Rank 2 life form, and having the ability to jump an entire Rank in battle power. Not to mention having created his own faction before being fifty and was a master in the art of war.


    After having a moment to focus, Zitra looked at the cocoon and spoke.


    "What are you going to do with him?"


    "I have a way to search his memories safely, but I will need professor Totto''s help," Zatiel spoke as he looked at the man.


    Totto nodded immediately. He was more than happy to help Zatiel, especially since he has some questions that he hoped he could answer.


    "Can you imnt his wings on me?"


    Zitra saw Martin''s abilities in action, and she thought it will greatly increase her battle power if she was able to ess them, but unfortunately, she did not obtain the answer she wanted.


    "I can currently make Heavenly Polymorph fuse the wings of any Heavenly race members on someone''s body without a problem up to Rank 3. To make it work in the wings of a Soul Forging existence, I will need to be an Origin Runemaster. There is also the fact that these wings do not work ording to yourws."


    Zatiel was speaking the truth since these types of wings were not of great help to him and he had no problem selling them.


    Although Zitra was a little disappointed, she was not surprised. When someone reaches Rank 4, every part of their bodies starts to change, and to stop any adverse reaction from the wings of Martin, the rune will normally need to reach Rank 4 as well.


    As for the part about the wings working with other types ofws, she knew that, but she hoped to be able to alter them


    "There are wings of an Angelic Paragon that are rted to light and shadows. If you are able to obtain them then I will imnt them in you in the future."


    Zatiel''s words attracted the attention of not only Zitra but also Totto. It was not the fact about him knowing about another type of wings but the fact that he was stating he will be an Origin Runemaster.


    That was clearly not some mere words, but absolute confidence in his abilities.


    Zatiel did not give much importance to their reaction and spoke.


    "Let''s go. Searching his memories will not be easy and there are a great number of other things we must do as well."

 Chapter 158: We dominate the laws

    In a room at the top level of the magic tower on the mountain range, there were Totto, Zatiel, and Martin, whose body was no longer covered by the killing aura.


    The Angelic Paragon was in the center of the room above a rune formation that was releasing a green glow all over his body, and this was not the only rune working on him since he also had one on his forehead.


    Unlike with Nimir, where Zatiel could take advantage of the Magus still being a purely biological being and use the physiology of his brain to obtain the information he wanted, Martin''s soul was too strong and could resist that type of interrogation.


    There was the option of doing an aggressive interrogation and making Totto extract his memories, but those at Rank 4 and above had all types of spells that protect them against soul invasion.


    Of course, in his current condition, Martin could not really resist, but there was a chance that the trauma could allow him to awake, at least partially.


    With how proud they are, if the Angelic Paragon found himself with no chance other than being a prisoner of his enemies, he may choose to self destruct, and there was little they could do in that scenario.


    Zatiel''s n was to use his Animus abilities, more specifically the Telepathic discipline to create a Mind Link and search through his memories in a manner that will not enter in direct contact with his soul.


    He was just a Rank 1 Animus and even though he had made a significant improvement by absorbing the energy and vitality in the brains of those demons, he was nowhere near able to do this type of information gathering in a Rank 4 life form on his own.


    That is the reason why he made the two runes affect Martin and asked for the help of Totto.


    The rune that was on the ground was named Healing Stasis and the one on his head was Mind Gate.


    Mind Gate''s use was to help the creation of the Mind Link and as for Healing Stasis, it works by putting the target in a state of deep unconsciousness and sending a signal to his body so it will focuspletely on healing itself.


    In this state, any sort of magical defense is weakened, and since his body is improving, the chance of him awakening due to him feeling danger or threatened is less likely.


    But even with the help of these runes, a Soul Forging existence''s natural defenses are too great. This is where Totto enters.


    "Are you ready?" Zatiel''s face was serious as he spoke to the Magus.


    This is the only part that he will not be performing himself and if Totto were to make a mistake, the consequences will be dire.


    Totto did not speak and just limited himself to a nod before making a mantle of negative energy cover his hand.


    When it first appeared, this negative energy was disying his inherent deadly power, but slowly it started to change and adopted a more neutral property. If before it would have destroyed the life in someone''s body, now it will put it in an inactive state.


    When Zatiel saw the level of control that Totto managed to obtain over the negative energy running through his body, he was impressed. The amount of experimentation and research needed to reach this level was very extensive and takes a great amount of time.


    For life forms that could be considered gods in the eyes of mortals, recusing themselves inside aboratory for hundreds of years, making one test after another takes great determination.


    Totto put his hand over Martin''s chest and once he saw that there was no adverse reaction, he proceeded to fill Martin''s body with his energy.


    The negative energy started to act, weakening the Angelic Paragon defenses even further, but he will need a couple of hours before weakening Martin enough for Zatiel to be able to enter his mind.


    "Why did you go through the process to achieve lichdom?"


    When Totto heard this, he turns to Zatiel. There was no clear emotion or goal in his voice, but the man feels he was curious.


    With what he has seen, Totto was not surprised that Zatiel could track the effect of his Path Technique.


    Normally the individuals that transform into Liches are evil individuals with a twisted mind. After all, in this state, they are no longer able to experience any sort of body cer, and it not only applies to sexual ambition but also food and drink are no longer able to bring satisfaction.


    Despite those drawbacks, there are a great number of Magi that go through this transformation, since they obtain a great talent regarding necromancy and the use of negative energy and they also obtain a veryrge life span.


    A dejected smile appeared on Totto''s face at first, but the next moment it was reced by pride. He looked at Zatiel for a long time and in the end, he spoke.


    "Unlike you, my talent was always mediocre but there is something special about me, and that is my endless curiosity! I have always wanted to know why things happened, get an answer to the questions that clouded my mind, and understand what makes this universe work. I was in Rank 2 when I obtained the Path Technique I am currently using, I knew that it carries severe repercussions, but I was not willing to just die of old age," There was a great sense of purpose in Totto''s eyes as he spoke.


    Zatiel could see the determination in the eyes filled with blue mes of the man. Even though he did not share the drive of the old man towards knowledge, Totto''s wishes couldpare to his own, of being a peak existence that could not be bound by anything.


    He closed his eyes for a moment and focused on the picture of Totto''s Law Avatar he was able to see thanks to his Eye of Life and Creation. Since the old man was helping him he was going to return the favor and after going through his memories to understand better thews that were rted to it, he started to speak.


    "Fear and its origin are connected, trying to use them as separate entities is a mistake. Using fear as a simple attack is a waste, it should be something that can contaminate someone''s mind and will."


    When Totto heard Zatiel words his eyes widened, and after making sure that the negative energy going to Martin was regted, he focused on his words.


    "Some say that the birth of the greater fear is death, but I have always thought that seeing your body decay and rot slowly without you being able to do anything can cause fear so deep and potent that can twist your thoughts and emotions."


    Zatiel''s words would not be able of much help to any other Rank 4 life form but to someone like Totto who wasprehending the Law of Withering and the Law of Fear, they were important revtions.


    "Fear creates uncertainty and fills you with insecurity, and they will, in turn, nurture and make that fear grow, creating a cycle of constant strengthening. If it reaches the point that the fear bes powerful enough, it can evolve and give birth to despair, the ultimate state of hopelessness, something capable of breaking your will and parasitizing your soul."


    Totto could not help but develop a smile on his face as he heard him. What Zatiel just described to him was a path that could strengthen hisws and gave birth to even more powerful ones.


    As he stares at Zatiel all sorts of questions appear in his mind. This level of wisdom and knowledge was not something a Rank 2 life form could have obtained on his own.


    Despite his curious nature as someone who has lived hundreds of years and has tempered his will through all sorts of trials, he knew that some questions were better not made.


    But still, there was something he could ask since it did not involve any sort of secret and was just an opinion.


    "Don''t you think that thesews will make me a scourge in the mind of every sentient being?"


    Totto has always enjoyed behaving like a schr, and one of the few enjoyments he had was teaching others. Unfortunately, hisws will practically make him a monster.


    But despite that, his thirst for knowledge did not allow him to give up, and no matter what he will continue bing stronger and search for the answer to the mysteries of the universe.


    When Zatiel hears his question, he looks at Totto''s eyes for a long time, and when he sees the determination to strive despite the cost he nodded.


    "We don''t follow the Path of Gods, and we are not ves of thews. We dominate thews and bend them to our will! They are tools that will work as we see fit. Who says that you must use yourws to harm others, you could very well focus on removing the despair from their hearts and consume them to increase your power. I have said more than enough to pay my debt, finish your task." Zatiel closes his eyes and no longer interacts with the Magus.


    If someone were to hear that a Rank 2 life form ordered someone at Rank 4, they would think he was crazy, but it just happened and when Totto heard him, he instinctively obeyed and focused on the job.

 Chapter 159: Ten years

    "It''s done."


    It took Totto three hours to put Martin''s body in a state where it should not be able to resist the Telepathic abilities of a Rank 1 Animus.


    Zatiel used his Eye of Life and Creation to analyze the Angelic Paragon condition and when he saw that his magical defenses were incredibly low, he put his hand over the Mind Gate rune on his head and starts the creation of the Mind Link.


    Martin''s defenses were low but that was only by the standards of a Rank 4 life form. Therefore, even with the help of having weakened the Duke''s defenses and putting him in a deep state of unconsciousness, it still took Zatiel fourteen hours to establish the Mind Link.


    This was a disy of the devastating power of a Soul Forging existence.


    Once the link was created, the Angelic Paragon mind bes a library for Zatiel, where he can select any book he wanted and explore the memories in it.


    There was an immense amount of information that could help the war efforts in the Duke mind, but the first thing that Zatiel did was look for his knowledge about the first contact of this world with the Heavenly race and the location of the Garden of Creation.


    It did not take him long to find the memories that he wanted and he was extremely focused as he went through them.


    An Angelic Paragon named Gonzo had managed to locate this world as he explored the void. At first, he was almost unable to believe his luck, since finding a world this way was almost impossible.


    The world had not long ago reached the standard of a Middle World and it barely had a couple of, very weak, natives Rank 4 life forms, so it was not very hard for the Angelic Paragon and his troops to invade it and kill the ruling force, before enving the rest.


    In the next years, Gonzo and his troops tookplete control over the world, harvesting his riches and increasing their power.


    Not too long before Gonzo reported about hisplete control over this world to the Heavenly Creator World, and an Archangel with the Shooting Star Bloodline appeared who started the process of terraformation as he built the Garden of Creation.


    Despite the mammal appearance of the Heavenly race, all of them are born in this Garden of Creation, and it is one of the most sacred ces of this world for them since it is where the Archangel is being conceived.


    The years passed and people of the Heavenly race were being born and filling this world.


    Gonzo maintained total control of this world until he reached Rank 5 and could no longer be inside it. But before leaving, he fulfills his final task and selected seven of his most talented and powerful warriors for them to fuse with the Garden of Creation and protect the Archangel until he is born.


    This was an immense honor in the Heavenly race, so despite having to spend possibly millions of years confined in there, the candidates for those positions were plenty.


    After Gonzo left, how it was custom in the Heavenly race, the next rulers would be selected from the most powerful Angelic Paragons born in this world and they would gain the title of Duke.


    Once any Heavenly race member born in a satellite world reaches Rank 5, they will migrate to the Heavenly Creator world and in case it was one of the Dukes, another will be selected from one of those at Rank 4 that stayed.


    The Dukes will have control over this world meanwhile they live in it, and they will need to send part of their riches to the individual who found it.


    This was the system of the Heavenly race and has allowed them to conquer and expand all over the universe.


    Hundreds of thousands of years as pass and a great number of Dukes hade and gone. As for Martin, he had be a Duke less than one hundred years ago.


    As he finished going through those memories, a smile appeared on Zatiel face.


    ''Everything went well.''


    This information that seems to have little importance was something that Zatiel needed to verify for his ultimate goal in this world.


    Now that he had finished with that, instead of review all the hundred of years of memories for the war information he needed, Zatiel orders the chip to act.


    "A.I. Chip. make a copy of all the memories of the Angelic Paragon, then ssify them and upload to my memory the ones concerning the military power of this world, their ns to deal with the demonic threat, and the identity and powers of the Rank 4 Heavenly race members."


    [Bip... analyzing information.


    Creating a copy of Angelic Paragon''s memories.


    Estimated time until finishing the task: 6 hours and 23 minutes]


    After hearing the robotic voice of the A.I. Chip, Zatiel remained sitting and took the time to replenish his Mind Force.


    When the chip ended and the memories were uploaded to his mind, Zatiel eyes narrowed.


    "So they trapped most of the horde in a Heavenly Guard, and before the effect of it is over, reinforcement will arrive and help them deal the final blow to the demons. That is the window of opportunity I need."


    Zatiel mind was already thinking of the way to take advantage of his opponent''s situation.


    "I have everything I need. I willmunicate our next movements in the following days." Zatiel deactivated the runes and took the Duke as he prepares to leave.


    But before he could exit the tower, Totto appears in his way which provoked Zatiel eyes to be cold since his action could have been considered hostile.


    But when Zatiel saw the cordial and submissive attitude he was taking as he stood in front of him, his coldness transformed into curiosity.


    "Is there anything else?"


    Totto expression was strange. He wanted to ask Zatiel for something and he was nning to obtain it in exchange for his help with the Duke.


    But Zatiel had already paid him for that with something even more valuable, so he was feeling a little embarrassed about asking it.


    "I know that you have paid for my help with something extremely useful and you don''t owe me anything, but I was hoping to obtain something from you. Of course, I will pay very generously for it."


    Zatiel founded funny the expression on the lich faces, and since the Magus was behaving with respect, he chose to hear him out.


    "What do you want?"


    "I was hoping to obtain the diagrams and information about the principles of the runic set you are using." Eagerness could be seen on Totto''s eyes as he mentioned the runic set.


    Zatiel was able to understand right away why Totto wanted it. As a lich, his energy pool is filled with negative energy and he needs to create a stable connection with the Negative Energy ne, in order to continue its growth.


    The runic set of Zatiel was able to establish that type of connection and Totto wanted to understand how it worked to increase his power and the speed of his training.


    If it was just the runic set, Zatiel would not have a problem, but by giving him the diagram and the principles of its work, this could allow anyone with enough skills as a runemaster to copy this runic set not to mention that Catalyst of Negative Energy was not exactly a Rank 3 runic set.


    "The reason why my runic set disys a Rank 3 force is due to myck of skills as a Runemaster, with the diagram and principles, someone with enough skills could create a Rank 4 runic set."


    Totto was surprised when he hears this and after some analysis, he reached the conclusion that Zatiel was telling the truth. After all, when he first saw the runic set he was impressed by how efficient the connection with the Negative Energy ne was, and now, knowing its true Rank, it makes sense.


    He felt downcast as he hears this, after all, the diagrams and principles of a Rank 4 runic set were a secret that no Runemaster will sell. At least that was his thoughts until he hears Zatiel speak again.


    "I am willing to sell them to you. But the only price I will receive will be a living Master Rank 4 demon and since I understand the difficulty of the task and the importance of increasing your power due to the war, I can give you the runic set now and allow you ten years to pay me." After speaking, Zatiel remained silent and his eyes were focused on the Magus.


    Totto was excited when he hears Zatiel proposal, but although he could fight against a Master Rank 4 demons, defeating it will be very difficult and trapping him alive impossible, even if he has ten years to prepare.


    The reason is that those powerful demons will rather explode than be prisoners.


    Of course, he could say he agrees to the deal, take the runic set, and then just invent an excuse.


    In the end, Totto just shook his head and sigh as he spoke.


    "I am not confident in being able to do that, even if I am given ten years."


    "Good, here take it."


    Totto was shocked when he heard those words and saw a crystal going to him. The old man could not hide his confusion as he looks at Zatiel.


    "If you had said yes, then I would not work with you, after all, to capture a Master Rank 4 demon alive you will need Rank 5 battle power. You still have ten years and the price is still a Rank 4 demon, but it can be a Novice one."


    Zatiel was satisfied with the Magus'' behavior, and since Totto growing stronger aids him in the invasion, he decides to negotiate with him.


    Totto was more than happy with the deal and was grateful for Zatiel help.


    "I will definitely pay you before the deadline"

 Chapter 160: Law of Space

    As Zatiel enters the Fiend Essence Extract Chamber, with the Angelic Paragon at hand, he saw five people already inside.


    Four of them were Sophia, Ezequiel, Rax, and Kilo. Each of them had a tentacle made of pure Abyss Aura connect to their hearts. In front of them was a big pile of unconscious people of the Heavenly race and behind, a pile was also forming, but the ones in that were dead.


    Under Zatiel''s instructions, they were using the chamber to increase their energy pool and also using the Heaven Swallowing rune to absorb the energy on those Rank 1 Angels and use it to advance thepletion of their Elemental Bloodline Marrow.


    Since the Heavenly race already knows about them and the fact they capture a great number of their people as they created the towers, Zatiel was free to use them.


    The marrow in the four Neo-Demons was undergoing transformation at an impressive rate and although this type of elerated training can create ws that could affect them in the future, Zatiel needs them to increase their power fast for the next battle.


    Of course, he also will be using this method and he knows that as long they spend a few years in intense training after the fight, there will be no permanent damage to their talent and potential.


    Seeing the increase in strength of the Neo-Demons, Zatiel looks at the other individual in the chamber that was floating in the air with his eyes closed.


    If the other Rank 4 Magi were to see this person they will be shocked since he was Heinz, who less than three days ago was ejected out of this world into the void.


    The cultivator was extremely pale and there were wound all over his body, but for some reason, the amount of power he was generating was greater than usual, and the space around him was behaving strangely, carrying some sort of instability and an extremely vtile power.


    Zatiel sends a small part of his consciousness at Hainz and tries to make it enter in contact with his body, but when it was about to reach him, the distance between that strand of consciousness and the cultivator seems to have increased thousandfold, and in the next instant the strand was destroyed.


    It was an insignificant part of his consciousness so, besides a small feeling of pain, Zatiel was not affected. There was a smile on his face after checking the peculiarities of the space around Heinz.


    "I can see that our bet worked better than expected, you have reached the ''Initial'' level ofprehension over the Law of Space."


    Zatiel was truly impressed, even for his standards, reach that level ofpression over the Law of Space is amazing for a Rank 4 life form, and something even a supreme genius of a High World could not equal.


    It was only when he hears Zatiel''s voice, that Heinz opens his eyes and there was an immense pride and will inside them.


    "As always you were right brother, the Law of Space can create all sorts of wonders at the ''Initial'' level, and returning to the world was very ease with it."


    The reason why returning to a world after being expelled was so hard is due to elemental chaos that fills the void and the Crystal Wall surrounding the world.


    A Crystal Wall is a spherical shell that contained an entireary system, it was made of a dark ceramic material that behaved like a high-density sma. It varied in size but typically they were twice the diameter of the orbit of the and one of its principal functions was to restrict the passage of powerful life form and chaotic energies.


    They are considered the absolute defense of a world. The strongest the life form the harder it is to pass through it, and in a Middle World only Rank 4 and beneath life forms can do it.


    As for using force to pass through it, even the strongest attack of a Rank 6 life form could not affect it, and only a very powerful Law Being could do it, but they generally refrain from that since if the Crystal Wall is broken, the world will be filled with elemental chaos killing 99.9% of the life inside it.


    It should have taken more than a month for Heinz to reach the Crystal Wall and pass through it, but things changed after the World Consciousness used its power to throw him into the void.


    What the World Consciousness did when Heinz reached a Rank 5 battle power, was to warp the space around him and throw that part of the space with the cultivator inside into the void. It was due to this, that the power generated was so overwhelming and that no Rank 4 or 5 life form can resist it.


    Being subjected to that type of experience is of little help to most people, but Heinz was a cultivator with a Dao Heart, and hisprehension of thews could be increased by understanding their essence and through epiphanies.


    So thanks to Zatiel advice, Heinz was waiting for that immense power to grab hold of him and he put hisplete focus in it, blocking everything else, allowing his Law of Space to advance from the ''Potential'' to the ''Initial'' level.


    "Of course the Law of Space is amazing, after all, if it''s only help was to allow you to teleport, it will be pathetic."


    The Incarnation of Death and Destruction had reached the peak of the Law of Space, so Zatiel had an idea of the abilities that Heinz now has.


    At the ''Potential'' level, that is the first level ofprehension, the Law of Space could merely allow you to teleport and create some small and unstable dimensions without the need for external help.


    The teleportation ability that it granted, was basically making a connection between the space that you are upying and the one you want to go. The farther you want to go, the harder it is and it is also affected by the state of the space around you, so teleporting in the void that is filled with elemental chaos was not possible.


    It is in the ''Initial'' level that the Law of Space shows it''s true might and opens the door to all types of powers starting with Void sh and Void Disruption.


    Void sh was the ability to sever space itself and everything upying it, and it was trough this that Heinz destroyed all the elemental chaos blocking its path and was able to locate the Crystal Wall so fast.


    As for Void Disruption, it allows you to fold space at will, granting you the ability to advance thousands of kilometers in one step without regard to the interference in your path. But that is not everything, you can also warp the space around you, making the distance formed by one centimeter incrediblyrger, creating a defensive space against all attacks.


    By using Void Disruption, Heinz was able to pass through the Crystal Wall with ease. Of course, if he had been at Rank 5, he would have found it impossible to advance.


    "How severe are your injuries?" Zatiel was using the Eye of Life and Creation and he could see the great internal damage inside Heinz''s body.


    "My body is very damaged, but by using the Law of Blood I have been able to stabilize its condition. It is my True Soul the one with the problem since it was heavily injured."


    An injury to the True Soul was a very serious subject since it could mean the destruction of someone''s future, but Heinz was very calm, almost like if it was not important, and the reason presented itself in the next moment.


    From Zatiel body, a torrent of golden mes appeared and inundated the body of the cultivator, extending all the way into his soul.


    Heinz rxed and a smile appeared on his face as he felt the healing power of the golden mes.


    "Brother, your mes are even more amazing now that you are at Rank 2. At this rate, the injuries involving my body will be healed very fast."


    "Focus on recovering, a big battle will be happening soon and you and I will be in the front line of it."


    Zatiel did not speak more and proceeds to put the Rank 4 Angelic Paragon on a corner of the chamber before going with the other Neo-Demons.


    There he made a tentacle of Abyss Aura connect to his heart and he starts to absorb the energy in the people of the Heavenly race.


    After hearing Zatiel words, Heinz focused on healing and used the Law of Blood to increase the speed.


    While the five Neo-Demons and the cultivator were increasing their power, the hundreds of Rank 1 Magi and Sunlight Champions that had brought the captive demons and Heavenly race members, received an order through their Sun Tadpole.


    Their mission was a highly confidential one and the Magi were warned that the punishment for revealing any information will be death.


    The rest of the army learned that a battle will be happening against the Heavenly race very soon and they should prepare themselves. Those that had gained the wings of the Heavenly race and the Abyssal Heritor runic set needed toe to the first tower, to reim it.

 Chapter 161: Decisive battle

    Close to the center of the continent, a grand battle between the Heavenly race and the demonic horde was going on.


    This battle started two days ago when the Heavenly Guard had lost its effect and the demons inside it were freed once again.


    High in the sky, the Soul Forging existences of both sides were fighting, creating explosions that were disying all types of energies and colors. But despite the grandeur of their fight, everyone could see that the winning party was obvious.


    One side had forty-one Rank 4 individuals, who were either Angelic Paragons or Angels of Supremacy, working in an orderly manner, and always helping theirrades in case of danger. They were encircling their enemies and slowly and safely draining them from their power.


    On the other side were twenty-seven Rank 4 demons, who could not care less for the rest and only wanted to kill anything in front of them and escape, since they had realized the futility of their fight.


    The Heavenly race was not taking any chances in this fight. Their losses have been beyond catastrophic in their previous battles and they have lost more than fifteen Rank 4 of their people.


    They were able to increase their numbers thanks to the warriors that were invading other worlds had returned to help them face the immense threat that was rising in their world, and they were doing everything possible to stop more casualties among them.


    With their power, they could have killed most of the demons in a very short time, but that would have been dangerous since they would be exposed to all types of suicide attacks and open the possibility of some of the Rank 4 demons escaping in the midst of chaos.


    The two most powerful individuals in the battle were Oliver and Tomas.


    Olivar was sending all types of weapons and beasts made ofva against the demons and Tomas was focusing on those demons that were close to escaping, using his Yin Law to weaken their attacks and the Yang Law to push them back to the encirclement.


    On the ground, there was also a fight, and although the destructive power generated in it could not equal the one on the sky, the number of people fighting could be counted in hundreds of thousands.


    The disparity in numbers was not as overwhelming as their first battle, and although the Heavenly race army no longer had Volcano Eruptions to increase their power, they were dominating the demons.


    Tomas was focusing on the entire Rank 4 battlefield, always looking for a problem that could ur. He had managed to return to this world a couple of weeks ago and thanks to his bloodline and some extremely precious medicines, he was able to heal all the wounds on his body and soul.


    He had just stopped a demon from escaping when a message was heard in his mind.


    "My Lord, we have terrible news from the Magi side!"


    The Angelic Paragon recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to the Rank 4 Angelic Paragon named Mirok, who had arrived in this world not too long ago. He was the leader of his scrying force, which was focused on tracking the Magi''s actions.


    Both Oliver and Tomas recognized the immense threat that those Magi represented, especially after they lost Martin and six Rank 4 Angels of Supremacy to them.


    Therefore, they had made a force to try to scry their movements and also sent a great number of spies to monitor their actions.


    The Duke became nervous when he heard Mirok''s voice. The scrying force has been incapable of truly seeing the actions of the Magi due to a red fog always appearing when theyunched their spells.


    Tomas was able to recognize that red fog as something created by a very powerful individual using thews. But since his spies on the ground had found nothing, he was hoping that they were waiting for the man who defeated Martin toe back from the void.


    "Tell me exactly what is happening."


    Tomas'' words were firm and his tone was severe as hemanded the man.


    "There was an alteration in the natural energies of the world and the red fog was not able to hide them this time so we were able to scry the Magi and it seems that they are creating magic towers."


    Tomas'' eyes widened, and he immediately tried to contact his spies but no one responded. Thest time he spoke with them was two days ago right before starting the fight with the demons.


    He was very smart, so in a matter of seconds, he was able to deduct that the Magi had managed to obtain the information about the time when the Heavenly Guard will vanish from Martin and had been waiting for them to be too focused on the demons to make their move.


    Using the red fog to protect from the scrying and killing their spies without them realizing anything.


    When he thought of the pitiful fate of hisrades and to what tortures they performed on the Duke to obtain the information, Tomas'' eyes filled with rage, but he did not let his emotions get out of control and focused on the threat.


    "Tell me immediately where are they building the next tower!"


    Tomas could not hide the urgency in his voice.


    He knew about the famous Ten Towers Formation from the Magi World. They have only put four of them, but that has given them great control over a considerable part of this continent, and the more towers they have the harder it will be to truly defeat them.


    "That is the problem my Lord, six towers are being built at the same time! Four of the towers have two Rank 4 life forms as guardians each and the other two have only one. By the energy we are receiving, they have advanced plenty and it won''t be long before the towers are finished. I will send you their locations right now."


    Tomas was shocked, and his heart grew cold. If the Ten Towers Formation was built, most of the continent will be under the control of the Magi, and they will be able to slowly extend their invasion until all of it was dominated by them.


    No matter what, the Duke knew that he could not allow them to continue so he started to figure out a n to stop them.


    After analyzing the battlefield, he reached the conclusion that he could at best take ten Soul Forging existences away withoutpromising the encirclement over the demons.


    Knowing that time was of the essence, Tomas contacted Oliver and another eight Rank 4 Angelic Paragon and informed them about the situation they were facing.


    After the initial surprise, each of them took a group of Rank 3 Heavenly race members and flew away with their maximum speed.


    It did not take them long to reach the point where they had to separate.


    Although it will be safer if they are together, they will only be able to destroy two towers by doing that, three if they are lucky, not to mention that the Magi will escape before they even get close if they see such a big grouping their way, so they decided to split.


    They were close enough to feel the aura of those Rank 4 Magi when they focused on where the towers were being built.


    As Tomas analyzed the power of their enemies, he was frowning. He could feel a very powerful duo in one of the towers, and after some consideration, he decided for Oliver and an Angelic paragon named Fin to go there.


    The other couples were not particrly stunning, so he did not worry too much about them. What was disturbing him were the two towers that only had one Rank 4 life form each.


    In one tower, he detected a dark auraing from the person guarding it and he was able to connect him with a necromancer.


    Although Rank 4 undead creatures reanimated by magic are not very powerful, they are excellent meat shields, and they will give the Magus a lot of time.


    Tomas sends against him a man named Tyron whose wings were purely made of bones. That Angelic Paragon will be the best opponent against that man.


    The Duke gave everyone their respective target, and since he was the leader of the army, they followed his instructions.


    "Remember, our goal is not to defeat them, but to allow those at Rank 3 to destroy the towers and then you must leave immediately."


    Tomas was solemn as he spoke and the others knew what his concerns were. They did not have significant injuries from their fight against the demons, but their energy pool was very low and they will not be able to fight with all their power for a long time.


    The Angelic Paragons left and Tomas flew to the tower that had the strongest guardian.


    Apanying Tomas were three Master Rank 3 Angelic Paragons. Despite their numbers, they are extremely powerful and a normal Magi at the same Rank could do nothing against them.


    It did not take them long for them to be able to see the tower and the surrounding individuals.


    The tower was being built by dozens of red automatons who were working at a very fast speed and there were three people flying in front of it.


    One of them was a giant covered by lightning, another was a woman with a ck ice dome around her, and thest was a man riding on a massive creature.


    The most striking of all was the man, high in the sky, from whom a monstrous killing intent was being released, covering everything for hundreds of kilometers.

 Chapter 162: Cultivator vs Angelic Paragon

    Heinz had also detected Tomas and the other three Angelic Paragons. His eyes were cold and a sharp killing intent could be seen inside them.


    Before Tomas could get close enough so that his attack could reach the magic tower, Heinz took a single step forward.


    The Rank 3 Angelic Paragons could not see how special that step was, but Tomas could and he immediately made the energy in his body burst to the peak in order to respond to the immense threat he was feeling from the man that had just appeared in front of him.


    Teleport arge distance and arrive right in front of your enemy was dangerous since as your body starts to appears, you will not be able to properly respond an attack


    But what Heinz did was not simply teleport in front of Tomas. What he did was fold the space between the two of them, allowing him to walk from the space he was standing to the one in front of Tomas in one step.


    Heinz did not attack directly against the Angelic Paragon, but instead broke the space beside the two of them, creating a suction force that swallowed both and threw them out thousands of kilometers into the sky.


    There wasn''t any need for words and the moment they appeared in the sky, they stimted every single ounce of power inside them and released their Law Avatars.


    Eight Taoist trigrams circling a yin-yang symbol appeared behind Tomas and his wings glowed due to the thousands of inscriptions inside them.


    Heinz''s blood sword also manifested itself, but it was different than before, as now surrounding its edge was a grey power that seems to be able to affect space.


    Previously the Law of Space was only able to grant external help to his Law Avatar since it was not able to achieve synergy with the rest of thews, but now, thanks to his increasedprehension, Heinz was able to channel that destructive might of thew into the avatar.


    When Tomas saw Heinz''s Law Avatar, he became nervous. Hisprehension of the Law of Space did not reach the first level yet, but it was enough to realize that the grey power was a phenomenon produced by space being broken.


    The next thing the Angelic Paragon saw was Heinz shing with the sword on his hand into the air, and then the massive Law Avatar appears right above him and mimics the movement.


    The speed of the attack surprised Tomas, but he reacted immediately and he responded with his dark blue wings, releasing a blue light that intercepted it.


    Tomas had reached a very high level in his Yin Law, due to the help of his bloodline, and it was able to use softness to diminish the striking power of an attack or even right away invalidating them.


    But when the massive sword touched the blue light, after a moment of initial slowness, the severing force in the Law of Space, Law of Killing and Law of Sword ravished it, shing space itself as it continued its march.


    When he saw this, Tomas was shocked. His usual pattern was weakening the enemy attack with the Yin Law and then counterattack with the Yang Law, but the offensive might of Heinz''s Law Avatar was too much.


    Immediately he channeled all the power of his Law Avatar and from his dark red wings, a beam of sword light was fired against the giant sword that was approaching him.


    The momentum of Heinz''s Law Avatar was finally stopped, but before Tomas could do anything, the twenty thousand meter sword appeared above the Duke and fell with immense speed and power.


    This time Tomas attacked with his Yin Law and Yang Law at the same time, managing to stop the sword in one movement, but in the next instant, he had to once again answer another attack from the Law Avatar.


    Unlike his opponent who was under the immense stress of the sword barrage, Heinz waspletely calm and he performed all types of attacks with the sword in his hand.


    There was no question about who had the lead on this battle. Originally when Heinz just arrived into this world, his power could only equal the one from Tomas, but with the improvedprehension of the Law of Space, everything changed.


    He was able to fuse the destructive might of space into his Law Avatar, making it reach a whole new level. His offensive, defensive, and survival skill made a qualitative leap and he could now be considered a true absolute powerhouse inside a Middle World.


    Of course, suppressing Tomas was the best he could do, and killing him will not be possible. At most he could destroy his body if he was willing to receive some grave injuries himself.


    But his mission was just to gain time, so he merely focuses on stopping the Angelic Paragon from doing anything.


    It took a lot to exin events between these two Rank 4 life forms, but in reality, from the moment when Heinz folded space and took that step until now, less than ten seconds had passed.


    .....


    Explosions were filling the sky as the two Rank 4 were fighting, but the situation below them was different.


    The three Neo-Demons and the Angelic Paragons had not started their fight yet, and they were analyzing the other party.


    Zatiel was looking at his opponents and his expression was solemn as he calcted the card they have at their disposal.


    Thanks to the training in the Fiend Essence Extract Chamber and them absorbing the energy in hundreds of Heavenly race members, their power has increased considerably and since they havepleted more than twenty-five percent of their Elemental Bloodline Marrow, they could be considered at the Advanced Rank 2 Neo-Demons.


    This is not a mere title since it means that now their Elemental Bloodline Marrow has generated enough blood in their body for them to activate a skill known as Blood Essence Combustion.


    As its name says, the skill will allow them to burn their new blood, increasing their power and also improving the characteristic granted by the Elemental Bloodline Marrow.


    But there is a severe shoring, and that was it will damage your body and could affect your potential. As long as it is not used in excess, the damage will not be too severe and after a couple of months of healing, any possible consequence will be mended.


    ''If our opponents were Master Rank 3 Magi, then by using Blood Essence Combustion and our runic sets, we could defeat them, but they are Angelic Paragons. Luckily we were prepared beforehand!''


    Zatiel looks for a moment at Sophia, and he remembers when she had asked him for the body of that Angelic Paragon they first killed for some experiment in alchemy.


    The Rank 3 Angelic Paragons were named Robert, Marvin, and Justin. Robert was a short man with a thin body and wings made of air, Marvin had a robust constitution and his wings were formed from metal as for Justin, he was very tall and his wings were constructed by grey fog.


    Both Marvin and Robert had impressive armors on their body, and Justin had what seemed to be a runic set inscribed in him.


    They had served under Tomas for a long time and were experienced warriors, so when their instincts told them that the three individuals in front of them were a threat, they discarded the fact they were Rank 2 life forms and took them very seriously.


    The trio was clear about their mission and they prepared to assault the tower and destroy the automatons before they could advance more.


    But then they felt something wrong in their bodies and the next second, they detect a foreign substance affecting their nervous systems.


    They were able to immediately realize that there was an undetectable poison in the air and they had been affected by it.


    Their bloodline grants them resistance to a great variety of toxins but this one seems to be made especially for them, and they were forced to use part of their energy to contain it, and even then, they only slowed it down and were not able to purge it.


    The three Angelic Paragon realized the danger of their situation and without waiting they flew to the tower as they channel all the power they could.


    Zatiel, Sophia and Ezequiel did not hesitate and activated their runic set and inside their chests, a golden, ck, and blue me started burning.


    The Neo-Demons flew to intercept the Angelic Paragons and the first to do it was Ezequiel who just reformed his body after transforming into lightning, right in front of Marvin.


    His skin was covered in diamonds and he threw a punch with all the power of his giant body at the Angelic Paragon.


    Marvin was surprised by the speed of Ezequiel despite his gigantic body. When he saw the fist that was as big as his entire body approaching him, he did not doubt its power and his skin became metallic while he punched with all of his power.


    A sonic boom filled the area, and the two were thrown back dozens of meters after the impact.

 Chapter 163: I got you

    Despite one being a three hundred meters Titan and the other being less than three meters tall, the winner in the fist collision was the Angelic Paragon.


    The two had been pushed back dozens of meters, but unlike Ezequiel whose entire arm was trembling and bones were fractured, Robert''s body was firm as a rock.


    Ezequiel''s attack was not ineffective since he was able to let some of his lightning and thunder enter the body of the Angelic Paragon, but the amount was too little and it will need to increase considerably to show a true effect.


    The disparity between the power of their bodies was not just due to their Rank. Unlike Ezequiel, whose Blood Diamond Skin only covered the surface of his body, Marvin''s bones and flesh obtained metallic properties.


    But the difference in power did not diminish the fighting intent in Ezequiel''s eyes, if anything, it only increased, and he dposed his arm into lightning before reforming it,pletely healed.


    He could use this type of regeneration, since, right now, every cell of his body was infused with lightning.


    When Marvin saw this, his eyes narrow, and he frowned. He was stronger than his opponent, but his energy reserves were already decreased due to his fight with the demons and he needs to suppress the deadly toxin affecting his nervous system, so the longer the fight continues, the worst it will be for him.


    The Angelic Paragonunched himself against the titan, and the power in his body was rising.


    "AHHHH!"


    Ezequiel did not even try to move away and with that roar, he made lightning concentrate on his arms and charged at his opponent.


    As this contest of physical power was going on, Zatiel and Sophia were intercepting their enemies.


    Robert was approaching the tower at an amazing speed, but before he could reach it, a man with a dark golden domain appeared in front of him.


    He saw how the man had released jets of golden mes from his feet to increase his speed, but he also detected the w in that technique and that was itsck of maneuverability.


    The dark golden fire domain forced him to use some of his energy to activate the magical properties of his armor, but he did not stop his march and with amazing dexterity, he evaded Zatiel and continued on his path.


    But right in front of him, the gargantuan figure of the Undying Leviathan appeared, and it tried to crush him.


    The Angelic Paragon did not falter in front of the creature, and without stopping, he raised his hand, releasing a tornado that sent the Undying Leviathan flying away.


    Robert''s path was unobstructed, but his eyes widened as he saw how, from the Undying Leviathan''s shadow, appeared the Nether Crow and with its incredible speed, it attacked him.


    The distance between the two was insignificant, especially with the crow''s speed, but disying astonishing flexibility and rapidly changing movements, Robert moved his body away from the attack trajectory.


    Despite having evaded the Nether Crow, Robert was impressed as he knew that neither of hisrades could have responded to that attack, but he did not have time to think much since a greater feeling of danger assaulted him.


    The origin was a sword charged with negative energy. The attack had a precise angle and the moment it appeared was perfect.


    This wless attack was thanks to Zatiel''s True Strike. He was able to see the actions of the Angelic Paragon before he made them, which allowed him to attack at the instant he could do the most damage.


    Robert knew he could not avoid this attack, so he moved his body in a way he could get less hurt and made powerful wind surround his body.


    Despite the armor and wind, the sword was able to trespass them and leave a deepceration on the Angelic Paragon''s thigh.


    The damage of the sword was not much, but the negative energy infected the leg and in his condition, the least Robert wanted was another power harming his body.


    The Angelic Paragon''s wings pped and dozens of wind des were fired against Zatiel.


    From Zatiel''s chest a jet of golden mes was fired, separating him from Robert, but even then some of the wind des still reached him, leaving numerous wounds on him.


    To the shock of the Angelic Paragon, the wounds healed immediately and in less than a second they all disappeared.


    Robert knew that he could not reach the tower without at least incapacitating Zatiel, so he attacked with everything he had. As for the healing abilities, that sort of skill took a lot of energy so he was confident his opponent could not keep it for long.


    What he didn''t know was that Zatiel''s regeneration was a natural condition of his body thanks to him having active Blood Essence Combustion, and it used a very small amount of energy.


    Zatiel did not hesitate and he attacked along with the Nether Crow and Undying Leviathan.


    Just like the other two, Sophia was also fighting against an Angelic Paragon. A great stream of Styx water was swirling around her dome and from it, dragon''s tails and ws were being fired.


    Unlike Ezequiel and Zatiel''s attacks, the attacks of Sophia did not have a great striking force, but the power in them was different.


    Her attacks were filled with all sorts of poison and curses that could greatly damage even Rank 3 life forms with powerful bloodlines. This was thanks to them being made from Styx water and were improved by her runic set.


    The runic set she was using, and that took the form of a witch outfit, was known as The ck Death and its function was increasing the power of all type diseases, curses, poisons, and as well as to grant great speed to the user.


    Justin''s power had simr functions, so he was able to detect the danger in Sophia''s attack. Grey fog was covering his body, blocking most of the attacks from reaching him.


    From the grey fog, bullets, arrows, and spears were created andunched against the Neo-Demon.


    Sophia had the Styx water moving through the exterior of her ck ice dome, and they protected her from most of the fog''s attacks.


    But the bullets were incredibly fast and powerful, so they were able to reach her body unless a great amount of Styx water was put in its path.


    Sophia could feel that the damage on her body as the bullets pierced it was not severe, but the fog was able to fuse into her bloodstream and it had corrosive properties.


    If this fog enters inside Zatiel or Ezequiel, they will have to spend part of their energy to contain them. But trying to harm Sophia''s blood with it was like trying to harmva by using fire.


    Still, every time some fog enters her blood, she gets paler and even coughs blood, showing to the Angelic Paragon a picture of great damage.


    Seeing this made Justin increase the power and frequency of his attack, focusing all of his minds on the offense, which weakened his defenses, making more and more Styx water enter his body from the dragon''s ws and tails.


    The battle between the three Angelic Paragons and the three Neo-Demons was getting more and more destructive.


    Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia were disying astonishing abilities and battle power, but they were still losing.


    Ezequiel and Marvin were sending all types of attacks against each other and every time their fist shed, explosions of lightning filled their surroundings.


    The titanic figure of Ezequiel was covered with injuries and since he did not have the energy to heal all of them, he focused only on those wounds that limited his battle power.


    Marvin''s body was also damaged since it was filled with lightning and thunder.


    Robert had three big incisions and a great number of small ones all over his body, but although Zatiel''s body was perfectly fine, the truth was that hundreds of attacks had alreadynded on him and he was starting to get exhausted.


    The Angelic Paragon with wings made of winds was also affected, and the negative energy in his body was reaching very dangerous levels.


    The most intense battle was the one happening between Sophia and Justin.


    The Angelic Paragon had suffered plenty of damage from the Styx water and he was coughing blood from time to time, but he had managed to make a great number of his fog projectiles harm Sophia.


    On Sophia''s body, dozens of open wounds could be seen, although the corrosive effect of the fog was not harmful to her, she still took damage from the physical aspect of the attacks and her regeneration abilities were not powerful enough to rapidly heal them from them.


    The three Angelic Paragons knew that it was a matter of time before they would win, but unfortunately for them, time was not something they had.


    They could feel the energy of the magic tower growing and it won''t be long before it is finished.


    Justin''s eyes became resolute, and he activated his runic set, which increased his power greatly, and he created a curtain of fog around him, covering him from everyone''s sight.


    When this happened Sophia''s eyes narrowed and she sent dozens of attacks against the fog but none of them was able to prate it when all of a sudden a figure was formed inside her dome.


    The Neo-Demon turned around and moved with great dexterity. But she was not able to stop the hand covered in grey fog from piercing her stomach.


    Justin was surprised by Sophia''s reflexes. His runic set allowed his entire body to turn into an undetectable fog that could trespass on any defense and reform instantly when he wished.


    The fog curtain was just to trick his opponent as he attacked them. His hand was targeting her heart, but she was able to move at thest moment. However, Justin did not worry as the amount of fog in his attack was enough to kill her.


    But when his skines in contact with her blood, he could feel the Styx water that had entered his body during the fight go crazy and a sense of imminent doom assaulted him.


    The Angelic Paragon acted without hesitation and was about to move back when he saw how Sophia grabbed his hand that was in her stomach and looked at him with her crimson eyes and a smile.


    "I got you!"

 Chapter 164: We have won

    Sophia''s blood, while she had activated Blood Essence Combustion, could be considered a source of all types of terrible curses and deadly poisons.


    The moment Justin''s hand entered in contact with it, countless magic diseases affected him, and when Sophia''s blood was able to enter his bloodstream, it acted as a catalyst to the Styx water that entered his body during the fight.


    Justin''s physical strength was superior to Sophia, but he was not able to get rid of the Neo-Demon''s grasp since right now he was in such a feeble state that he could barely move.


    He was feeling nauseous, his brain was burning due to fever, pustules appeared all over his skin, and his senses were shutting down except for his sense of sight that allowed him to see the crimson color affecting his mind and stopping him from thinking straight.


    Despite heavily injuring her opponent, Sophia did not rx. She was also in a critical condition, the physical damage done to her was severe and her energy pool was about to go empty.


    When that happens and the Angelic Paragon manages to suppress those curses and poisons, she would lose the fight.


    She concentrates on her Chaotic Core and sends a message. Then along with great killing intent, she channels all the power she has left in Oceanic Nothingness, pushing the spell to the limit.


    The currents of Styx water that were circling outside the ice dome enter in it with great power and from Sophia''s body more ck liquides out, covering the body of the Neo-Demon and Angelic Paragon with ferocious currents.


    Nothing could be seen in the dome other than the highly destructive currents of Styx water, but two words were heard.


    "Abyssal st!"


    Powerful explosions of chaotic energy were felt inside the ice dome.


    Everything happened so fast that Robert and Marvin were not able to react. They were shocked and worried about the condition of Justin.


    This made them lose focus in their battles for a moment, and it proved deadly because Zatiel and Ezequiel were waiting for it.


    From Zatiel''s feet jets of golden mes were released pushing him right in front of Robert, and once there, all of his energy concentrated into his Eye of Life and Creation performing his strongest attack that contained Life Release and Abyssal st.


    "Abyssal Life Release!"


    Six pairs of beams of energy were fired upon Robert, and although the Angelic Paragon tried to use his impressive speed to dodge them, Zatiel was too close and the attack was too fast.


    He was only able to focus all of his power into his armor and made a tornado appear around him before the attack reached him.


    As this was happening, Ezequiel had transformed his body into a river of lightning from which a titan''s hand arose.


    "Ancient Titan, Right Hand!"


    Right now Ezequiel''s blood was filled with powerful lightning so by using it as a medium, he was able to instantly cast this mighty spell. But something was different about it, and that was that inside it, he had left all the power of his Abyssal sts.


    Marvin felt an immense threat from that hand as it flew at him with impressive speed. The Angelic Paragon was only able to fill his armor with energy before making his wings grow and form a metal cocoon around him.


    The attack affected both Angelic Paragons almost at the same time and filled the sky with explosions of chaotic lightning and mes, making Marvin and Robert crash like meteors to the ground where they created immense craters.


    In the sky, Sophia''s ice dome broke and the Styx water vanished, showing the figure of the Neo-Demon and Angelic Paragon.


    Justin''s right arm was gone, as was his shoulder and part of his rib cage. All of his skin was rotten, and there was not a part of his body that was not crushed due to the powerful current.


    Light came out from his eyes and mouth, and the reason was the hand that had just pierced his chest and stabbed his heart, killing him.


    Sophia could barely maintain the rune in her hand active and was falling to the ground when the Nether Crow appeared and grabbed her along with the Angelic Paragon before flying back to the Sun Domain, where the Undying Leviathan swallowed them.


    Zatiel focuses on the belly of the creature and saw that Sophia was channeling all the energy obtained from the Angelic Paragon into her marrow and after there was nothing left, she fell unconscious.


    The reason why he and Ezequiel were able to take advantage of the Angelic Paragon''s concern on their friend was due to the woman''s message telling them she will be fine, allowing their focus to remain in the battle.


    When he heard that message, Zatiel knew that her situation was very dangerous, but he trusted her. The woman that had managed to gain a ce in his heart was not some trash that could not fulfill her responsibilities and needed others to always help her.


    By risking her life, she had managed to do what neither he nor Ezequiel achieved. She killed a Master Rank 3 Angelic Paragon alone.


    From the craters, movements could be seen and eventually, both Marvin and Robert came out.


    Marvin was feeling immense pain due to his wings being charred, and lightning had filled his body, wreaking havoc inside it.


    He had to focus all of his remaining energy on stopping the toxins and lightning from continuing its destruction, and worst yet was that his consciousness was damaged and was filled with a chaotic will.


    Robert''s condition was even worse since his body was weaker, so the damage to it was greater. He had lost both of his legs and the negative energy had invaded his blood and was destroying it.


    Ezequiel and Zatiel saw the horrible condition of their enemies, but neither of them acted and remained looking at them from a distance.


    The reason for theck of action was simple, they had no power left in their bodies and if it wasn''t for the Blood Essence Combustion still active, they would have fallen to the ground due to theck of energy.


    They had their runic sets deactivated, and Zatiel could barely maintain his Rank Spell. Ezequiel''s condition was worse since he had to sacrifice a great amount of his blood for the spell he just used.


    Neither of the four could truly continue fighting, but it was much worse for the Angelic Paragons than was for the Neo-Demons.


    Robert and Marvin''s mission was to destroy the tower and even if their path was clear now since neither Ezequiel nor Zatiel had the power to stop them, they will not be able to pierce the defense of the tower and destroy those automatons.


    There was immense rage and frustration in their eyes. They lost a friend and the tower that will bring immense harm to their people was about to bepleted.


    High in the sky, the battle between Heinz and Tomas was still going. They were both very tired due to the extended period that their Law Avatars had been active.


    The cultivator has not stopped his sword barrage from the beginning of the fight and has forced the Angelic Paragon to maintain his defense at all times.


    Tomas'' condition was not as severe as one may think, after all, he is the strongest warrior of the Heavenly race in this world. The damage he had received was not serious and his racial regeneration abilities would have been enough if it wasn''t for the Law of Blood in his opponent attacks, that make any injury grow and obstruct his healing.


    The worst part for him was that he did not know how things were going in the other battlefields and if the towers had been destroyed.


    The explosion from Abyssal Life Release and Ancient Titan Right Hand had drawn the attention of both and they sent a part of their consciousness to see what was happening.


    A smile appeared on Heinz''s face and he even started tough, but Tomas'' reaction waspletely opposite.


    He knew how strong those three warriors are and even if they were tired from their previous fight against the demonic horde; he found it hard to believe they were in such a terrible condition and that one of them was dead.


    Tomas could feel the energy of the tower growing, signaling that it was only moments away from itspletion, and then it will start to generate a force field that will force him to escape.


    The Angelic Paragon had only one card left, that could allow him to destroy the tower, but doing it so soon after thest time will have severe consequences, and even with his powerful bloodline, the damage could be permanent.


    "Ah, for my race," Tomas sighs, but in the next moment, determination filled his eyes.


    "Law Avatar: One with the Law!"


    The eight Taoist trigrams circling the yin-yang symbol melted and fused with Tomas'' body, greatly increasing his power.


    Heinz''s eyes narrowed as he saw this and a great fighting spirit was felt from his body, but he did not engage with the Angelic Paragon.


    Fusing with his Law Avatar will have even greater repercussions on him since he did not have a bloodline that could mitigate the damage.


    ''We have already won, there is no need to risk my life when there is nothing to gain and everything to lose. Unfortunately for them, from the beginning, they have been deceived for my brother''s n and they have not even realized yet!''

 Chapter 165: War casualties

    Heinz acted immediately when he saw Tomas fusing with his Law Avatar. He used Void Disruption to appear beside Zatiel and then covered the three Neo-Demons with his consciousness before teleporting far away from the tower.


    Tomas saw as this happened but he did not try to pursue them. His current power will allow him to easily defeat Heinz, but he knew that the cultivator should be able to fuse with his Law Avatar by thewprehension he was disying in their battle.


    The Angelic Paragon thought that Heinz would at least try to stop him and the fact that he discarded the tower without hesitation confused him, but he did not have much time so he focused on his mission.


    The power of the tower was growing and the Angelic Paragon knew it would be a matter of minutes before it waspleted.


    Tomas'' wings were able to cut space creating a portal in which he entered. Just as space was healing itself, another rupture appeared beside the tower in the sky.


    It took a second but Tomas was able to exit from it and without dy, he sent a beam of sword light into the tower, disintegrating it along with all the automatons in it.


    Heinz, Zatiel, and Ezequiel were able to see this from a distance. That was the tower they just fought to protect with everything they had and now it was destroyed in an instant, but they were calm as if the tower itself was worthless.


    Tomas was focusing on Heinz and when he saw hispleteck of interest in the tower, his confusion grew even stronger. Unfortunately for him, his time was running out and the power of the world was already acting on him.


    He appeared beside Robert and Marvin and covered both of them with his wings, before breaking space again and entering in it with the two Rank 3 Angelic Paragons.


    If he were to leave them behind, Tomas was sure that Heinz would imprison them. If that were to happen, their lives will be under the cultivator''s control.


    Despite the severe damage done to his body and soul, Tomas did not feel any regret. Without the towers, the Magi will never be a true threat against them and once the demons are killed, they will be able to focus all their attention on them and use their numeric advantage to purge them from this world.


    Heinz was calm but the power in his body was ready to burst in case of anything and he only rxed when he saw Tomas breaking space and leaving.


    "He did not find it even with his current power and control over thews. It is normal, our action had filled him with confusion and the time he had left before being thrown out into the void was too little."


    Zatiel had also his attention on the Angelic Paragon. If his soul had reached Rank 5, then he would have noticed it, but fusing with your Law Avatar only increases your power.


    The Neo-Demon looked at the destroyed tower and the crater left from the Angelic Paragon attack, but if you follow his sight, you will notice that he was actually looking at the ground under it.


    A great umtion of energy could be felt from the ground where Zatiel was looking and a momentter, a force field started to appear and extended into the sky.


    Tomas had managed to reach a safe distance with Robert and Marvin before no longer being able to resist the power of the world and being sent to the void. As if a cruel joke, thest thing the Angelic Paragon saw was the force field he had risked his future to prevent, begin to form.


    There was nothing Tomas could do, and a sense of disappointment and failure was filling his heart.


    The same was happening in the other five locations. All the Angelic Paragon had managed to either destroy or at least disable the towers, which should have prevented them from creating those force fields but like in a nightmare, their worst fear was happening in front of their eyes and there was nothing they could do to stop it.


    They were not the only ones who were confused since most of the Magi army and Daybreak n also did not understand what was happening.


    Their mission was to protect the tower until the automaton controlled by those Soul Forging existences finished their job, but as the fight was reaching its peak and heavy casualties started to appear, they were told to make a tactical retreat and focus on guarding their lives.


    It was only when Zatiel saw the force field rise and knew that it would soon fuse with the others making the part of the continent covered by it something dominated solely by them that he truly rxed.


    A smile appeared on his face as he saw his n working.


    The towers in the ground were decoys from the beginning whose only function was to hide the energy generated by the true towers being built hundreds of kilometers under them.


    This task was taken care of by those weaker Rank 1, who had been ordered to hide their activities from everyone else


    They had spent weeks making tunnels for thousands of kilometers before reaching their destination, where they started to build the true towers.


    Their mission was not truly safe, despite not being carried on the battlefield. If those Rank 4 Angelic Paragon had detected the true tower, they would only have needed to send a powerful attack to the ground and create an earthquake that would have killed them all.


    But since only those at Rank 4 and a few others knew the truth, the army fought with everything they have, so their actions plus the fact that there was an actual tower in their sight, was enough to mislead the Heavenly race.


    They were enjoying the feeling of victory when all of a sudden both Zatiel and Heinz looked at the direction where the tower that was being protected by the Daybreak n was.


    Heinz felt how the sword tattoo he had left in Dante was used and, thanks to the Primordialis-Core, Zatiel was able to realize that fourteen Rank 1 Neo-Demons had died, all of them at the same time, just now.


    Immense coldness appeared in Zatiel eyes when this happened but he did not lose control over his emotions.


    He analyzed the force field near him and when he saw that it was powerful enough and that it will be able to protect the tower from any sort of incursion long enough to send aid, he spoke to Heinz.


    "Let''s go."


    Heinz acted immediately and covered them with his consciousness before starting to teleport where the Daybreak n was supposed to be.


    Zatiel did not waste time. He uses his core to verify the condition of Dante, Rax, and Kilo andmunicate with them.


    Casualties were to be expected in a battle like this, after all, even he was in danger of death when he fought against that Master Rank 3 Angelic Paragon, but he had made arrangements to ensure the safety of his people.


    By only having him, Ezequiel, and Sophia protecting one tower, he was able to focus all of his people in the other apanied by a Master Rank 3 Magus.


    More important yet, he had put Zitra, who was the strongest Rank 4 after Heinz, as part of the duo designed to protect it.


    Less than four Neo-Demons had died before this, as for the Sunlight Champions, although he could not track them, their casualties should have also been very low. The fact that fourteen Neo-Demons died in the same moment meant that the attacker must have been someone at Rank 4.


    It did not take long for Zatiel to establish a link with Dante.


    "Tell me exactly what happened," Zatiel''s voice was calm, but it only made the coldness in it feel stronger.


    "It was the Duke named Oliver who attacked us. When he saw the force field rising, for some reason, he concentrated on me. More specifically, on my Eye of Life and Creation, and thanks to my Animus abilities I had, I was able to feel the immense hatred he had. It happened very fast and I do not know how he did it, but his power increased tremendously and he was able to get near me. Luckily I was able to fend him off with my sword tattoo and then teleport with it."


    There was immense hate in Dante''s voice. He also knows about the death of their people thanks to the Sun Tadpole and his memory allowed him to see the face of all of those who died.


    "How was he able to get near any of you? What happened with the Magi?" Killing intent was present in Zatiel''s voice.


    When the task was given, he had made the importance of protecting his n very clear to those Rank 4 Magi.


    Zatiel could ept the Neo-Demons and Sunlight Champions dying in battle since that was the risk every warrior epts when he goes to war, but being butchered without being able to resist due to theck of concern by the higher-ups was not something he would allow.


    He couldn''t care less for their status and power, if they let his people die, he will kill them both.

 Chapter 166: Gratitude

    Dante was not able to answer Zatiel''s question. By the time he noticed Oliver increase in power and he felt the animosity targeted to him, the Duke had managed to slip past the two Rank 4 Magi and was already sending what could be described as an ocean ofva against him.


    He had used the sword tattoo to stop theva attack since although it was targeting him, it will have killed all the Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons close to him. After that, the tattoo was able to teleport him very far from the battlefield and outside of the Angelic Paragon''s reach


    It was Rax who offered an answer. From the way the Neo-Demon was breathing it was obvious he was very tired.


    "Ancestor, I had maintained part of my focus in the battle among those Rank 4 and saw what happened. At first, both Magi were suppressing the Angelic Paragons since it seems they were already very tired before the battle even started. When they saw how some of his people had managed to harm the tower and destroy the automatons, they rxed but the moment they noticed the force field growing, the Angelic Paragon withva wings, the one named Oliver, went berserker and it seems he took something that increased his power.


    He sent one attack against the Magi, which sends the two flying away and then he charged against Dante and released that powerful spell. When he saw how he had managed to escape, he focused his rage on us and he made thousands ofva ball rain above us."


    When Zatiel hear from Rax how things happened his eyes narrowed. The way Oliver managed to increase his power was not important now, but he could see that the repercussion of whatever he did will be extremely harsh since he did not use it during the entire battle.


    What bothered him was that Oliver chose to use that method not to kill the Rank 4 Magi but to go after Dante. No matter how special the boy was or how good his strategies were, they should not have made a Rank 4 life form resort to self-harming methods just to kill him, after all, he was a Rank 1 life form.


    Zatiel could not have known that Oliver connected Dante''s Eye of Life and Creation to the prophesy and thought that he was the one who opened the portal to the Abyss. That and seeing the force field that will make them lose a great part of the continent, was enough to let his rage consume him.


    "How were you able to survive?"


    Zatiel was very clear of the power of an attack performed by a Law Avatar and it should have been more than enough to kill all of them.


    "It was thanks to the Magus named Zitra. She appeared in front of us and stop most of the ball ofva, but still, some of them manage to reach our people. Kilo and I are in our dragon form, carrying our people and flying away from the battlefield, under the cover of the force field.


    The Magus remained behind stop those Rank 4 Angelic Paragons from going after us."


    Under the force field formed by the Ten Tower Formation, the Havenly race will be able to show less than ten percent of their power, but Zatiel knows than that level of strength is more than enough for the Duke to kill all those Rank 2 and 1 life forms in a matter of second.


    Zatiel knew that the Magus has put her life in danger to help his people escape, and unlike before that his eyes were full of killing intent when he thought they have left them to die, gratitude could be seen on his face.


    "Rax and Kilo, lead our people to the first tower. We need to regroup and heal before we decide what to do next. Dante, you will intercept them in their path and start to heal those wounded."


    "Yes, Ancestor."


    "Yes, father."


    Despite what their feelings are, all of them were clear that they are too weak to do anything against the Duke that had just butchered their people, and try to go after him will be suicidal and stupid.


    Zatiel, Heinz, Ezequiel, and the Undying Leviathan were approaching the tower at an impressive speed and when they very close to it, they saw a pir of light carrying someone inside was moving to the direction of the mountain range.


    Heinz was able to see Zitra figure inside the pir, but when he saw that no one was going after her, he chose to maintain his path.


    When they finally reached the ce that the Daybreak n was protecting, they saw a river ofva extending for hundreds of kilometers and that consumed the bodies of all the people that had died during this battle.


    The consciousness of Heinz extended and he searched the surroundings but he was not able to find any clue of the Angelic Paragons.


    "They must have escaped when they saw that they will not be able to hunt your n and felt my presence."


    Zatiel was silent and all of his focus was on the river ofva, and after a moment coldness appears on his eyes.


    The power in that spell was enough to destroy the souls of his people.


    "You should remain here. Stabilize the area and bring the tower to the surface. Once you are done with that finish the teleportation formation in the tower. The force field is already established so we have more than enough time now."


    Zatiel voice waspletely emotionless but there was dormant wrath hiding behind his eyes.


    "What are you going to do?."


    Although Zatiel was not showing anything, Heinz saw the monstrous killing intent that was growing in his heart.


    "I will return to my abode, the damage umted in my body due to thest battle is extensive, I will need to spend some years healing."


    Zatiel looks at the river ofva that contains the bodies of his n and that was used to break their souls until the image was engraved on his mind.


    He and Ezequiel mounted over the Undying Leviathan that had Sophia on his belly, and fly away.


    ...


    It took several days for the Undying Leviathan to reach the mountain range. Zatiel energy pool was weakened due to the use of Blood Essence Combustion and he could not use all of his power.


    Sophia had awakened during the travel and was now sitting along Zatiel and Ezequiel on the creature''s head.


    All the Neo-Demons and Sunlight Champions were waiting for him. Their number was more than a third less than the one who entered this world.


    Zatiel used his Animus abilities and focus on their emotions.


    He could feel the anger they had against the Angelic Paragon that massacred their people and the sadness due to the loss of theirpanions.


    But what draws his attention was the immense desire for power that was growing in their hearts. Instead of giving up on revenge due to the immense difference in strength, they were all aiming to reach the level where they should not feel so impotent anymore.


    All of the people Zatiel brought to this war were first-generation, the first of their people to be Sunlight Champion and Neo-Demons, the ones that have experienced how cruel the world can truly be.


    Some of them were starting to forget that, due to the years of safety andfort, but seeing their friend and loved ones died has awakened them.


    Zatiel signals Dante toe near him and as he does, he saw in the eyes of the boy that he had changed.


    During all of the previous battles, Dante did not have a single casualty but now almost a third of the army was lost. The cruelty of war was forging his character.


    "How many of our people have died?"


    "One hundred Sunlight Champions and fifty Rank 1 Neo-Demons were on the battlefield, along with the Rank 3 Magus, Rax, Kilo, the three Brain Golems and me. Before the Duke acted, during the entire battle against the Heavenly race we lost three Neo-Demons and ten Sunlight Champions, most of the casualties were due to self-destructive attacks from some members of the Heavenly race."


    Dante stops for a moment, and as he remembers the sharp contrast of their dead after Oliver''s attacks, hate fills his heart.


    "After the Duke used his spell against our people, the total number of deads reached seventeen Neo-Demons and fifty-two Sunlight Champions. The fifty Sunlight Champions that were constructing the tower underground were unharmed, due to the tower defensive mechanism resisting the attacks on the surface."


    After hearing Dante¡äs words, Zatiel closes his eyes and sighs.


    "How easy things were back then."


    Dante, Ezequiel, and Sophia hear his word, but they did not understand what he was talking about.


    When Zatiel was the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, he could send billions of his subordinates to sure death and feel nothing, but now he had lost less than one hundred of his people and all sorts of emotions were affecting him.


    Zatiel opens his eyes and absolute calmness could be felt in them as he raises his voice, letting all of his n hear his words.


    "Remember what just happen and never forget. Power is everything, without it, your life is just an illusion that can be erased at any second."


    Different reactions appeared to his words, but they all the Sunlight Champions and Neo-Demons were showing a great will on their eyes.


    Zatiel noded as he saw this and spoke to Ezequiel and Sophia.


    "Go to the chamber and start to heal your injuries, we need to temper our bodies or else we run the risk of leaving ws that could affect us in the future. I will go after taking care of something."


    Zatiel eyes focus in one room of the tower, where Zitra was resting.

 Chapter 167: Evolution of duality

    Zatiel had reached the floor that was owned by Zitra and was standing outside arge gate. This was the only way to enter the residence unless you are strong enough to ovee the magical defenses of the tower.


    He waited just a few moments outside the gate, before they opened by themselves, allowing him to enter.


    Shadows were filling every inch of the residence, not allowing the slightest form of light to be present.


    Even with his night vision, Zatiel''s sight was impaired, but the shadows could not stop his Eye of Life and Creation.


    There was nothing special on the walls, not even a piece of furniture. Zatiel did not find it weird since this tower was just a temporary residence and its true purpose was the army headquarters.


    What called his attention was the sphere of light he could see with his Eye of Life and Creation in the center of the room. It was covered by shadows constantly feeding it and was stopping any dispersion of the light.


    In this sphere was a woman that seemed to be floating and was using the light in it to heal her wounds. Zitra''s condition was pitiful, burn marks were covering all of her body and they had some sort of energy that difficult any type of healing, the worst part was her right arm that waspletely carbonized.


    It was obvious that stopping both Angelic Paragons from attacking the Daybreak n by herself had carried a great cost.


    Zatiel saw all of this, but his face was emotionless and he continued advancing until he was right outside the sphere of light. His Eye of Creation allows him to see the extremely harmful energy inside the Magus.


    Her condition was even worse than her body was showing, but despite that Zitra''s aura was as firm as always and she refused to show any sort of weakness as she looked back at Zatiel.


    "Why did you do it?"


    Zatiel''s question carried a deep meaning, and he focused on Zitra as he waited for her answer.


    Seeing her condition, Zatiel could theorize how great was the danger she faced to protect Kilo, Rax, and the rest.


    By any intent or purpose, she went beyond what was expected of her.


    The other Magus that was working with her, Ronald, the one with a Trent body had escaped after being severely hurt by Oliver''s attack. His actions were justified, after all, Zatiel could not ask him to risk his life for his people.


    Of course, that was the rational way of thinking, but Zatiel had already marked that Magus and he will handle him in due time.


    Zitra was staring back at Zatiel. She felt that anything other than the truth will be a serious mistake.


    "I don''t know them and I don''t care about them. I will normally just fulfill my job as a protector, but I will never risk my life for people who I have no rtion to, even if we are on the same side. After all, this is a war for profit."


    Zitra''s words were cold and practical but despite her stiptedck of concern for the Daybreak n, when Zatiel heard her, instead of anger, a smile appeared on his face.


    The mind of the Neo-Demon worked the same as her. If it was his n, he would do anything in his power to protect them, but if he was defending another group, he would fulfill his obligation however if true danger appears he will definitely prioritize his safety over the others.


    This was the best anyone could expect of an army, made by different groups, that was formed with the sole purpose of just obtaining wealth.


    Besides, no matter how harsh Zitra''s words were, to Zatiel her actions meant everything.


    When Zitra saw Zatiel''s smile, her expression became a little less distant, and she continued speaking.


    "But I know that you truly care about them. You are an anomaly and you will reach a level of power and influence in the future that may surpass mine, so having you in my debt is worth the risk."


    As she spoke, Zitra was concentrating on Zatiel and saw that despite revealing her intentions, his smile did not falter.


    "Good, I can ept that."


    Zatiel was satisfied with the woman''s answer. If she had tried to deceive him, things would have been different, but by bluntly telling him his goal, she achieved it.


    Zatiel sits down on the ground and he takes the corpse of a Rank 3 magic creature from his ring. Before Zitra could ask what he intended to do, she saw how he used his golden mes to start to consume the carcass.


    The power in Zatiel''s golden me was much weaker than before since his injuries were still present. It will have been faster to directly use his golden mes on Zitra, but he has too little of them, so using the energy of the corpse was the best path to follow.


    The process will take a long time with the current power of his me, so Zatiel chose to pay part of his debt immediately.


    "Can you exin to me your understanding of the duality between the Law of Light and the Law of Shadows?"


    Zitra was surprised by Zatiel''s question, but there was also curiosity in her eyes. She saw how Zatiel was able to use the two opposite powers of the negative energy and his golden mes, to achieve an equilibrium that greatly increased his strength.


    She was curious about how he did it. Even if they are from different sources, the way he managed to find bnce could help improve hers.


    "Light and shadows are two opposite but connectedws, they empower each other and are one of the fundamental dualities of the universe. By making my shadows absorb the light in the surroundings and concentrate it in a single point, I can increase the reach of the first and strengthen the second."


    Zitra''s voice was soft, but as she spoke, the shadows and light in the surroundings behaved as she described.


    Zatiel nodded when he heard this. The Magus talent was impressive, and even more remarkable was her deep understanding of the way herws can act together despite her young age.


    "You are right, but your vision is too narrow, just focusing on shadow and light will limit you. If you manage to induce the ''devouring power'' of the Law of Shadows you could use it to consume all types of energy, not just light. By then the power of your Law of Light will be increased as its source will be greater and you can begin to use the ''power of order'' of thisw."


    Unlike with Totto, where Zatiel only gave some vague route to follow and let the Magus figure out things for himself, right now he was giving Zitra the best path for herws. One that can allow her to be a Being of Laws if she manages to reach the peak of it.


    After hearing Zatiel''s words, Zitra was doubtful. Yourwprehension was very important and if you were to follow someone''s guide but then you realize they were mistaken, the damage could be catastrophic.


    She closed her eyes, and slowly and safely started to see the effect of Zatiel''s pointers.


    Zatiel nods as she sees her behavior. He focuses on the carcass and prepares to show her the apex of her path.


    After several hours, Zitra''s body trembled, and the shadows and light seemed to change. The difference was too minuscule to truly notice it, but it was there.


    Zitra''s eyes opened, and they were sparkling as she looked at Zatiel. The time was too little for her to draw the power that he spoke, but she was able to prove they indeed were present and that they will help her be stronger.


    This realization fills her with excitement. To her the most important thing was not status or rtionships, it was power, only with it she will be able to control her destiny.


    After seeing that Zitra had focused again, Zatiel''s aura changed and a dark power that seems to be the representation of emptiness filled his right hand. Meanwhile, a bright power filled with life appears on his left hand.


    "Pay attention, I will show you the evolution of duality. It will be very fast and I can not control it, so try your best to understand the principles behind it."


    When Zitra heard his words, she starts to nod with all her strength and her eyes widen, as if she was afraid that something could escape her sight.


    Zatiel almost starts tough as he saw the alwaysposed figure of this mighty Magus genius behaving like this, but he did not lose focus and channeling all of the power of his True Names, he started to put his palms together slowly.


    The emptiness aura that was Dexisus was beginning to interact with the genesis power of Natux, and they slowly started to create something.


    What appeared between the two palms was a white spark, it was feeble and it gave the impression that it was an illusion as if it wasn''t really there. But the moment it appeared, all the light and shadows in the room froze on their own volition as if they were in the presence of something bigger than themselves.

 Chapter 168: The price to pay

    The Law of Shadows and the Law of Light in the room were being manipted by Zitra, and despite the might of the white spark if she were to channel all of her power into them, they will act again.


    But just like herws, the Magus was captivated by the white spark. She could feel all sorts of wonderful phenomena acting inside it, and she was even more impressed when she saw in it a reflection of her own younger self when she was an infant.


    It was as if in the spark, the beginning of her life was being disyed.


    The white spark was present less than a second before it vanished, making the shadows and light in the room act again.


    It took a moment for Zitra to focus after the white spark disappeared. But the image of it in her mind remained very clear.


    "Please, demonstrate it again!" Zitra could not hide the desire in her voice.


    In the white spark, she saw the path in which herws will attain a level she did not though it was possible before.


    However, when she saw Zatiel condition she saw how great was the price he had to pay to create it.


    The youthful appearance of the Neo-Demon had deteriorated greatly and it seems he had aged decades, his breathing was harsh and it was clear he was extremely exhausted.


    "I''m sorry for my thoughtlessness, are you all right?" Zitra voice was soft and her eyes were focused on Zatiel.


    If anyone who knows her were to hear her words, they will be surprised. Due to her appearance, her interaction with men had always been problematic, especially when she was weak, which made her attitude to most of them distant and cold.


    Zatiel did not have time to care for her words, as he was trying to control his breathing and focus on the Eye of Life and Creation.


    His eye glowed and took control over part of the golden fire that the corpse of the Rank 3 magic creature had produced and bathe his body with it.


    As the healing power of the mes touched him, his condition started to improve and youth returns to his face.


    "Don''t worry, I will be fine. This type of injury can be hard for others to heal, but not for me. I underestimated the effect that disying the white spark would have on me. Anyway, that is the final goal of those who seek dualisms between theirws, if you achieve that with yourws and fully control it, you will be able to be a Being of Laws."


    Zitra''s eyes shined with excitement. She was more than clear of the immense difficulty that the path that Zatiel has shown has, but no matter the difficulty, this was a clear path to eternity.


    Billions of lives are born in each generation in the Magi World, and yet one of them reaching the Soul Law Domain Rank will be a miracle.


    But more than ny-nine percent of those existences who can decimate continents with a move of their hand perish under the passage of time since they are not able to take thest step to be a Being of Laws.


    "I will send these mes to you. You must focus them on where the damage is more severe and is more difficult to heal."


    Zatiel''s Eye of Life and Creation once again glowed and he sends all the mes that remained to Zitra''s body.


    The Magus focus on the fire and at first, she was doubtful of how useful they could be after all she was a Rank 4 life form, but when they interacted with her body she was shocked.


    Her light also had healing properties, but although their quantity was much greater, they could notpare in their quality.


    She felt how even those wounds that had damaged her internal organs were healed, and immediately she made the mes fill her bloodstream before starting to forcefully purged the harmful energy inside her blood.


    This elerated method produced great damage in her body, but by using the golden mes she was able to withstand it.


    After an hour the me waspletely spent. Although Zitra was very tired and her face was pale, she was able to remove most of the energy that those Angelic Paragons left in her body, which will make her healing from now on much faster and smoother.


    Zatiel analyzed her condition once again with his Eye of Life and Creation and when he saw her great improvement he nods and stands up before walking to the door.


    Zitra saw as Zatiel was leaving and although she had many questions, she remained silent and did not stop him.


    The help he had given her was immense and she did not dare to ask for more.


    The Ancestor of the Neo-Demons continues walking until he was at the door, where he stopped and turns back to look at Zitra.


    "My love for my people is greater than you think, as is my debt to you. No matter the dangers, I will find a way to pay it in the future."


    Zitra saw how Zatiel disappeared after saying those words, and a smile appeared on her face before she was covered once again in shadows.


    ....


    The years passed and the invader force of the Magi World bes an immovable power in the Fornes continent.


    There was no need to speak about the immense hate and rage of the Heavenly race, but with the Ten Tower Formation already establish there was little they could do.


    The Soul Forging existences of the Magi World could instantly teleport between the towers, and inside the force field, the warriors of the Heavenly race could use less than ten percent of their powers.


    Once the domain over the continent became firm and their presence in the world could not be threatened, the harvest of the resources started.


    As the custom of the forces of the Magi World when they invaded a world, a council was created to take important decisions and divide thend and resources they obtained.


    As the strongest warrior and the one who had the coordinates of this world, Heinz obtained twenty-five percent of the area under their domain and two votes in the council.


    Normally the rest of the Rank 4 will divide the rest into equal parts and each will have a vote in the council, but things were different this time since there was an additional member in the council that was not a Soul Forging existence.


    It was Zatiel who was given a seat in the council under Heinz''s orders. Of course, the decision of the cultivator created a great dissatisfaction with those Rank 4 Magi.


    They all recognized the great part that Zatiel had on achieving an extremely fast and safe control on the continent, but most of them had the idea of just giving him some wealth as a reward since the idea of Heinz will diminish greatly their benefits.


    If they would have been able to establish a firm front and were all nine of them under the same banner, they may have influenced the decision of Heinz.


    Unfortunately for them not only did Zitra and Totto not support them but sided with the cultivator.


    With the three strongest of them choosing to give Zatiel a seat, the rest could only agree.


    The first subject of discussion that the council had to take was the proposition of the Heavenly race to buy the captives of their race back.


    When the force field was established, a great number of settlements and cities dominated by the Heavenly race were covered by it.


    Although Tomas and Oliver find it extremely shameful to trade with individuals who they considered beasts, their love for their people was greater than their pride and they were offering a great price for them.


    Most of the council agree with the doing trade deal since they had little use for those Rank 1 and Rank 2 Heavenly race members.


    Unfortunately, the number of captives they had was little since there was one of them who made his entire n hunted them day and night with impable strategies in the first weeks that the force field was established.


    Zatiel had more than ny percent of the captives under his control and when he saw the proposition of the Dukes, he only gives a cruel smile and rejects to sell.


    Although the other Rank 4 offered to sold their prisoners to the Dukes, when these ones hear the number of captives they offered rage filled their eyes, and decided to shut down any negation.


    This made the hate in the Heavenly race grow but Zatiel could not care less and he even went to the extreme of impaling those deceased Heavenly race members he had killed and put them in the periphery of the force field for all to see them.


    Their faces were distorted by the pain they had suffered before their deads, and not only had their wings missing but also their legs and arms were gone. Their skulls were open, showing that parts of their brain had been removed.


    This level of cruelty surprised even the most vicious of the Magi.


    After seven years the number of impaled people of the Heavenly race reached more than ten thousand and in the chest of all of them, a phrase was carved.


    "THE PRICE TO PAY FOR HARMING THE DAYBREAK CLAN"

 Chapter 169: Going for Peak Rank 2

    During these seven years, hundreds of Neo-Demons havee from the Magi World to the Beta Heavenly World. Their jobs were to take control of thend owned by the Daybreak n and harvest their resources.


    As for the Sunlight Champions that came to war, they all returned to the Daybreak Magic Tower. The reason for sending them back was that there is where the Sunlight Core, which is fundamental for their training, is present.


    The goal why Zatiel had brought them to war was to test them, to see who of them was worthy of bing a Neo-Demons, and what he has seen was extremely satisfying. But there is a problem with the bloodlines they needed.


    Most of them do not have an ancient heritage that could be harvest through atavism, so Zatiel needed to find suitable bloodlines for them and until he does, it better that they increase their power has Sunlight Champions since the path itself is meant to improve the speed of Neo-Demons training.


    Right now all of the Neo-Demons that entered this world when the war started were in the Fiend Essence Extraction Chamber.


    Including Dante, the number of Rank 1 Neo-Demons that remained alive after the Ten Tower Formation was established were thirty-four.


    Thanks to the constant battles, the huge amount of resources at their disposal plus the help of pieces of Fallen Star and the chamber all of them have reached Rank 2.


    They had been constantly increasing their energy pool with the Abyss Aura extracted from those demons and their Elemental Bloodline Marrow with the captives from the Heavenly race.


    This was the reason why they had so many corpses of Angels to be able to impale ten thousand of them over these years.


    The demons that were yed and chained to the wall were been constantly reced except for those at Rank 3.


    Zatiel had managed to secure a great number of demons over the years and had bought the ones owned by the other members of the council.


    Rank 1 and 2 demons could be reced easily, but those at Rank 3 could not. Every time these demons were about to sumb due to the drain of their energy and vitality, Zatiel will heal them and allow them to rest until they could be used again.


    Luckily for those demons, they were essentially brain dead, or else these would have to experience this perpetual cycle of torture.


    In the center of the chamber, there were Zatiel, Sophia, Ezequiel, Kilo, and Rax. They were surrounding the unconscious Rank 4 Angelic Paragon, Martin.


    The five of them had an immense amount of power running inside their bodies and consciousness. They were all giving a great sense of stability, clearly depicting that any damage done due to the elerated training and use of Blood Essence Combustion was mended.


    During these years Zatiel had remained almost every single day inside the chamber and his strength has increased considerably but the greatest improved he had was not as a Neo-Demon but in his Animus path.


    Bing a Rank 2 Animus was not very hard since he had hundreds of brains at his disposal to increase his Mind Force and his proficiency in the disciplines was very advanced, especially in irsentience.


    But there was something different about Zatiel''s Animus path, that even the Mind Ruler race did not have. That was the mantle of invisible Will Aura that was covering his body.


    Will Aura is a form of using Mind Force, that Zatiel was able to employ thanks to the Path Technique known as The Will That Guides The Heart.


    The Will That Guides The Heart has a multitude of uses, most of them focused on increasing the power of the body.


    As a Rank 2 Animus, Zatiel could currently use the Aspect of Endurance that creates a mantle of Will Aura around the entire body increasing his defense and attack, and the Aspect of Fortitude that consists on increasing the output of Will Aura, this amplifies the physical abilities by a huge margin, but it also spends an immense amount of Mind Force.


    The Aspect of Endurance and the Aspect of Fortitude, are the two most elementary uses of Will Aura, but they are fundamental as one progress as an Animus and trains The Will That Guides The Heart.


    The rest has also be very powerful but it was not Ezequiel or Sophia, the ones who battle power obtained the greatest increase. That feat belonged to Rax and Kilo who had advanced their bloodline to Rank 5, transforming it into a King bloodline.


    They were still weaker than the other two Neo-Demons with Emperor bloodlines but the difference has diminished greatly. Unfortunately for the two of them, the Metallic Dragon bloodline reaches its peak at Rank 5 and their atavism technique will be no longer of use.


    Of course, as Neo-Demons, Kilo and Rax will not be subjected to any type of bloodline shackle, and they can improve it by assimting other bloodlines into the Bloodline Heart, but they have to be careful.


    The information that they obtained from the Chaotic-Core when their Bloodline Heart was finished stipted that using inferior bloodlines will have negative effects, so they must assimte another King bloodline or better yet an Emperor.


    Zateil was analyzing the four them and he was very satisfied with their improvement.


    ''A.I. Chip, scan the five of us.''


    As usual, after Zatielmand, the voice of the chip was heard and the information was sent to his mind.


    [Bip... scanning targets


    Name: Zatiel Daybreak


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 2 Daybreak bloodline) / Animus ( Rank 2)


    Strength: 128.4


    Physique: 246.6


    Speed: 159.9


    Abyss Aura: 254.2


    Sun Force: 261.5


    Mind Force: 134.5


    Elemental Bloodline Marrow. 61.2%pleted


    Name: Ezequiel


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 2 Storm Titan bloodline)


    Strength: 221.4


    Physique: 258.2


    Speed: 100.2


    Abyss Aura: 252.9


    Elemental Bloodline Marrow. 60.8%pleted


    Name: Sophia


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 2 Styx Dragon bloodline)


    Strength: 112.1


    Physique: 199.2


    Speed: 145.2


    Abyss Aura: 261.2


    Elemental Bloodline Marrow. 62.4%pleted


    Name: Rax


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 2 Metallic Dragon Bloodline)


    Strength: 188.2


    Physique: 203.1


    Speed: 139.4


    Abyss Aura: 250.7


    Elemental Bloodline Marrow. 60.3%pleted


    Name: Kilo


    Race: Neo-Demon (Rank 2 Metallic Dragon Bloodline)


    Strength: 192.2


    Physique: 200.1


    Speed: 141.4


    Abyss Aura: 252.3


    Elemental Bloodline Marrow. 60.1%pleted


    Note: All targets have finished transforming the marrow in all of their bones to Elemental Bloodline Marrow with the exception of their spine.]


    To reach the peak of Rank 2, the Abyss Aura of a Neo-Demon must have reached over two hundred and fifty and have 100%pletion in their Elemental Bloodline Marrow. Zatiel case was special but by ingestion immense amount of Rank 3 Magic Creatures over the years, he had managed to reach the required amount of Sun Force.


    Fulfilling the first goal was easy with the Fiend Essence Extract Chamber constantly pumping refined Abyss Aura into their Chaotic-Cores, but the conversion of their marrow was something different.


    Each of them has consumed the energy of hundreds of warrior of the Heavenly race with their Heaven Swallowing rune, but now that they have reached the part where they will have to transform their spine, the energy of Rank 1 and 2 Angels is no longer useful.


    Right now they all could be considered to be Master Rank 2 Neo-Demons.


    But Zatiel wanted to advance to the next level and that is where the Duke of the Heavenly race enters.


    Martin''s entire body was covered in runes. These were very simr to the Heaven Swallowing rune on the Neo-Demons hands, and its sole purpose was to slow down the bloodlinebustion of the Rank 4 Angelic Paragon.


    The amount of power a Soul Forging existences has inside his body and soul is hundreds of times greater to the one of a Rank 3 life form. It is like the difference between an ocean and a river.


    Zatiel knows that even if the process of bloodlinebustion is slowed down if he alone acts a great part of the energy will be lost due to his inability to absorb it all. So he had decided that the five of them, the head of the spear of the Neo-Demon race, will be absorbing it together.


    "You can start." Zatiel looks at the four of them and gives themand.


    Ezequiel, Sophia, Rax, and Kilo werepletely concentrated on this task. They are very clear how incredibly valuable the energy inside this Rank 4 Angelic Paragon.


    They focus all of their power in their hands and use it to pierce at the stomach of Martin. Even though this was a soft part of the body and the magical defenses of the Angelic Paragon were deactivated, it still took a great effort for them to pierce his skin.


    Martin''s face contorted due to the pain, but Zatiel was not worried that he could wake up due to the pain and trauma.


    Before he did this, he had asked both Heinz and Totto to use their power to harm the soul of the Duke and then use theirws to imprison it, so he could not wake up by himself.


    Seeing that the rest were on position, Zatiel closes his eyes and actives Aspect of Fortitude, greatly enhancing the mantle of Will Aura around him and then he concentrates all of it on his hands.


    Focusing all of his power on his arms, he buries his hands on the Angelic Paragon chest breaking his rib cage and then piercing his heart.

 Chapter 170: Evolution of True Name

    The moment that Zatiel hand pierced Martin''s heart, the mouth and eyes of the Angelic Paragon open and an immense amount of light came out from them. It was so intense that all the Neo-Demons in the chamber feel their eyes burning for a second.


    Luckily the runes covering the Duke''s body acted immediately diminishing the power of the bloodlinebustion, decelerating the speed of the process thousands of times, and reducing the amount of light that was being generated.


    Zatiel, Sophia, Ezequiel, Rax, and Kilo had their eyes closed. There was an absolute focus on their faces as they absorbed the energy that the Angelic Paragon was generating.


    Before this point, ws could be epted since with enough time and tempering they could be mended and will not leave anysting damage. But the moment they started to fuse the blood essence created by the Elemental Chaos Heart and Bloodline heart in the marrow of their spine, everything changed.


    The vertebral column is the principal axis of their bodies and any damage done to it will provoke a severe reduction in their battle power. It is fundamental in every application of force, so the strongest it is the more physical power you can disy.


    But the most important function is its connection with the spinal cord since not only contains it but also brings protection. The spinal cord it''s an essential part of the central nervous system since it is the one whomunicates the brain with the rest of the body.


    The spinal cord is considered the tree of life. In most blood and flesh life forms, the brain and the spinal cord are the first things to be created and from where the rest of the body is formed.


    Right now the five of them were using the immense amount of energy obtained from the Rank 4 Angelic Paragon to transform the marrow on their vertebral columns.


    This will not only increase their physical power and enhance their bloodline abilities but once the Elemental Bloodline Marrow in their vertebral column reaches a high enough level, it will start to gradually and safely alter their spinal cord.


    The pain the five Neo-Demons were feeling was excruciating, like if acid was being pumped into the bones, but not one of them let it affect their concentration


    The days passed and the power on the five of them was steadily increasing. From time to time, the sound of bone cracking could be heard, and they were so loud that some of the Neo-Demons mistake them with thunders


    Zatiel could feel the changes in his body. His physical strength has increased considerably and his blood was carrying the healing properties of his me.


    It reached the point, that his blood could now be considered an elixir capable of healing any physical harm of a Rank 2 life form.


    Simr changes were happening on the rest, and they feel the power that was filling their veins.


    Thanks to the runes, it took four months for the bloodlinebustion on Martin''s body to be over. But even then, the five Neo-Demons did not open their eyes and merely removed their hand from inside his chest.


    The energy the had obtained from the Duke was still working in their bodies and they were analyzing the changes inside them.


    Two monthster Rax and Kilo open their eyes and the moment they did, a great sense of power could be felt from them.


    From between their scales white and dark-red mes wereing out and the heat in them was so high, that it could easily burn any Rank 2 life form that touched it. These were not a spell but merely a state of their body that did not require any energy to be active.


    A few hourster Sophia opens up her eyes. The scales that were always hiding under her skin now had a ck color, due to the Styx water being fused into them.


    With this, any attack on the Neo-Demon will need to pass through it to affect her, and it will destroy any sort of harmful power that tries to invade her body.


    All of a sudden the three of them were startled since they feel a burst in power way greater than the one urred on themselves.


    Zatiel eyes open and his Eye of Life and Creating was more bright than ever. His veins seem to create a golden path on his skin and there was an immense sense of life force filling his body.


    But despite these impressive changes, he was not the one who alerted the other three Neo-Demons. The burst of power also broke his concentration.


    The one who was generating the phenomenon was Ezequiel. The power on his body had just stabilized a few moments ago just like the rest but all of a sudden it started to grow again.


    The Neo-Demon still had his eyes closed, and to the wonder of all who were looking, he started to disintegrate into arcs of lightning so thin and small that they were invisible for most of them.


    The only one who could see them was Zatiel, thanks to his Eye of Life and Creation. And still, he could only see the energy in them and not their physical form.


    Zatiel eyes widen and wonder was filling his heart as he saw the transformations urring on the first person he had trusted in this life.


    Thanks to his experience and his Eye of Life and Creation, he realized that whatever was happening with Ezequiel, it was induced by thews.


    The only reason he could think something like this happened was that finishing his Elemental Bloodline Marrow has provoked his True Name to evolve.


    Ezequiel had a single True Name but thanks to his heritage as Neo-Demon and Emperor bloodline, it was as impressive as Natux, something created with the help of a Law Bloodline.


    Even Zatiel could only specte the might of the True Name of Ezequiel now, but it definitely is something incredibly powerful.


    Just like when Dexisus and Natux reacted to his actions and created the white spark that affected thews of the universe and gave birth to Dante, the True Name of Ezequiel was also affecting thews and transforming him into something different.


    "There are arcs of lightning filling the chamber, they belong to the Ancestor''s Right Hand. You must not hinder its actions and if they interact with any of you, do whatever you need to provide help. That is an order!"


    Zateil''s words resounded in the mind of every Neo-Demons and by the tone and seriousness, it was clear that he will not allow any mistake from anyone.


    The arcs of lightning started to enter the body of the demons and the unconscious people of the Heavenly race. It even enters inside the dead body of Martin.


    The arcs of lightning spend hours inside them, but no one in the chamber dares to do anything and they remainedpletely still.


    When the lightning came out from them, Zatiel saw with his Eye of Life and Creation that they were had changed and red energy was present in them.


    The next target of the arcs of lightning was the Neo-Demons. As they felt the new energy enter inside them, they all stop any sort of defense from their bodies had and let the arcs of lightning do whatever they want.


    The kobolds knew that Ezequiel is the most trusted warrior of their Ancestor and also the absolute guardian of their race, so even if Zatiel would not have ordered them, they would have done everything in their power to help him.


    The arcs were inside the Neo-Demons a couple of hours and as they exited their bodies, the red energy inside them was stronger and their changes greater. As for Dante and the kobolds, they were a little pale but nothing else happen.


    After finishing with them, the arcs of lightning concentrated on the strongest of the Neo-Demons.


    Zatiel, Sophia, Rax, and Kilo suppress the innate ability of the blood to destroy any foreign energy entering their bodies and let the arc of lightning fill their bodies.


    Zatiel was using his power as an Animus and tracking what the arcs of lighting were doing. Although he could not truly see them, he was able to deduce that they were interacting with the core of their cells, the genome.


    It seems that they were analyzing it and changing to improve themselves. Once they were done, the absorbed a small amount of blood and left.


    The arcs of red-colored lightning gathered in the center of the chamber and this time, they were visible. But they did not reform into Ezequiel''s body, it seems that something was missing.


    The answer came soon as in the sky a storm started to generate and lightning was filling it.


    As if answer a call, the arcs of red-colored lightning immediately went to meet it.


    Zatiel opened the door and let the lightning leave before he and the rest of the Neo-Demons exit as well.


    The lightning in the sky draw the attention of the Magi and their curiosity grew even stronger as they the red-colored lightning raising to the sky.


    Despite everything, the Magi still did not know what was happening but then they saw how all of the Rank 4 lifeforms, that were previously in the tower, appear in the sky.


    Their souls were strong enough to feel thews acting and knew that something important was happening.

 Chapter 171: Primordials

    A Rank 4 life form can manipte thews by using the power of their True Souls and energies inside them, but they cannot make thews of an entire world act by themselves and help them.


    Only at the Law Engraving Rank, when your body starts to be aw itself, is when you can freely drive thews and your movements can arouse thews that you haveprehended.


    Even Heinz whosewprehension had reached the level needed to advance to the next Rank was surprised by the event happening in front of him. But his concentration was broken when he hears his being called.


    "Heinz!"


    The cultivator tracks back the voice to Zatiel and saw how he was staring at with great seriousness.


    Immediately Heinz understood the meaning of his actions, and he released his mighty consciousness that covers the entire mountain range and all the life forms in it.


    The Rank 4 Magi were surprised by his actions, especially when they feel the immense power and killing intent contained in the consciousness.


    The process that Ezequiel was going through incited greed in most of the Magi. Although none of them trained in thews that were being disyed on the storm, by interfering with it and thoroughly analyzing it with their soul and consciousness, they could find a way to make that phenomenon happen with theirws.


    Of course, that will affect Ezequiel''s transformation and harm him greatly, but in their mind, they not experimenting with him to see how he did it was merciful.


    Heinz''s actions were very clear. If any of them were to act he will not hesitate to attack and kill them if necessary.


    Despite the immense threat that the cultivator was, some of them still feel a great desire as they saw the storm. After all, in it, they saw a path to advance theirws to the next level and be a great powerhouse even in a High World.


    But things changed as the seven Magi feel two more consciousness covering them. One was charged with light and shadows and the other gave them a feeling of fear and hopelessness.


    Zitra and Totto were standing beside Heinz and looking with cold eyes at the rest of the Magi.


    Now with the three of them working together, the Rank 4 Magi understood that they will die before they could even interact with the storm and there will be no chance of escaping. So they all suppressed their greed and remained quiet.


    Zatiel eyes were cold as he stares at some of the Magi, but when he saw that they did not dare to do anything he proceeds to ignore them and flew until he was with Heinz, Zitra and Totto and then he focuses on the storm in the sky.


    The arcs of red-colored lightning were in the center of the storm. It was constantly being struck by lightning as thick as a tree trunk.


    Every time that happens, the arcs of red-colored lightning tremble, and some of them broke but the energy in the rest increased and they started to condensate into a humanoid figure.


    "I can sense one of your people in that storm, but if I don''t recall wrong he is just a Rank 2 life form and he should not be able to even interact with thews. Can you tell us what is happening?"


    The consciousness of Zatiel, Totto, Heinz, and Zitra were connected. They canmunicate with each other without anyone else hearing them.


    The one who spoke was Totto. There was a deep interest in his eyes as he focuses on the arcs of red-colored lightning.


    Zatiel could see that unlike the greed in the other Magi, the most predominant feeling on the professor''s mind was a burning sense of curiosity.


    He remained silent for a moment and after some thought, he spoke.


    "We are a bloodline race. Ezequiel''s True Name has evolved and it induced this phenomenon by interacting with thews of the world."


    Understanding fills the faces of Zitra and Totto. The Bloodline Path wasmon in the Magi World and there was a bloodline race like the Eye Holders who upy a great part of the surface, but it was obvious that Zatiel''s race was more mysterious and profound.


    The trio knew about True Names and its connection with thews, but even waking them up was something most individuals with bloodlines were not able to do, much less evolve it.


    After hearing Zatiel''s words, Totto waved his hand and made the giant body of a Rank 4 Abyssal Snake appear. There was a dark aura all over his body, keeping it unconscious.


    "I manage to hunt it down a few months ago. It is the payment that I owe you, and I was going to deliver it after you were out of your chamber. Will it be of help to him?"


    Zatiel focuses on the demon as he analyzed his bloodline and body. It was just a demon with a King bloodline and its power was not impressive.


    But as someone who had reached knowledge about demons greater than anyone else, Zatiel saw in it a way to help Ezequiel.


    "Heinz extract the bloodline of the demon and use your Law of Blood to dpose it into its most basic elements."


    The cultivator did not understand the purpose of Zatiel''s instructions, after all, once the bloodline loses its integrity it will no be useful to anyone, but he trusted his brother''s knowledge.


    Heinz put his hand on the snake''s body, where his heart should be, and started to extract the essence of his blood. This process will permanently harm the demon and reduce his power.


    Zatiel entire focus was on the storm in the sky. He was using his Eye of Life and Creation and his Animus abilities to their fullest to understand what was happening.


    Lightning has always been a fundamental force of life. It was when lightning hit the oceans that the most basic forms of biological life were born.


    In the billions of microscopical cells, thatpose the body of flesh and blood life forms, arcs of electricity are constantly flowing through.


    It is also considered a divine tempering force that a great number of paths of power use to transform their body and shred their mortal cocoons.


    It took him a moment, but Zatiel finally understood what the True Name of Ezequiel was trying to do.


    Titans are a supreme race of the universe, and legends told that their rulers who had the Law bloodline of their race, the Dawn Titans, could trace their ancestors to the supreme and god-like beings known as Primordials.


    The Primordials were supposed to be the first life forms to be born in the universe. They were made of manifest entropy and elemental force.


    Some thought they were thews made flesh. Their physical bodies were considered supreme and they could use their bare hand to destroy worlds without effort.


    They were the first rulers of the universe but after a cataclysm event, happening thousands of millions of years ago, they disappeared and little information could be found about them.


    Zatiel spent a lot of time researching these beings, but even as the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, he was only able to find some information about them in historical remains.


    He was marveled by these beings and had used them as a model for the body of the race he created with the baernaloths. The Neo-Demon''s body was meant to emte them when they reach their peak.


    The objective of Ezequiel''s True Name is to transform his body at a gic level. It obtained information on the body of the demons, Heavenly race, and Neo-Demons to improve the bloodline of the boy and trace it back to its origins.


    In any other race, such a drastic change to the bloodline will be impossible, but the Bloodline Heart of a Neo-Demon is designed to have control over the properties of one''s bloodline and modify them.


    The True Name was using the power of lightning to drive this change, destroying parts of Ezequiel''s bloodline and empowering the core of it, the quintessence that connected him with the Primordials.


    Powerful lighting was impacting the arcs of red-colored lightning in the center of the storm, and the humanoid figure they were creating was bing more and more noticeable.


    But they could not fully stabilize it. It seems that the process could not bepleted and the storm was starting to weaken.


    When the Rank 4 Magi and Rank 3 saw this, some of them had smiles on their faces. They were initially jealous of someone at Rank 2 undergoing such a supernatural event, but it seems that he will not be able to go through all of it and the effect will be highly inferior.


    Zatiel saw the state of the storm and he focuses on the bloodline of the Rank 4 Abyssal Snake that was now a blood fog over Heinz''s hand.


    He did not waste time and immediately send his golden mes to the blood fog, consuming most of it but using the power of the me to nurture the rest.


    By the end, what remained was just a small sphere of blood fog. That was the part of the demons'' bloodline that gave them the ability to mutate and transform as they consume other life forms.


    "Send it to him." Once Zatiel saw it was done, he quickly directed Heinz.


    Heinz was also focusing on the storm and knew time was of the essence so he covered the sphere of red fog in sword light and send it to the humanoid figure made of red-colored lightning.


    The speed of the sword light was impressive and when it reached the center of the storm it fused with the red-colored lightning.


    When that happened the storm that was losing power froze for a second, and just like a chemical reaction when a catalyst is applied, the reaction started again, and now the storm was faster and stronger.

 Chapter 172: Primordial Bloodline

    With the new power of the storm, the arcs of red-colored lightning continue consolidating themselves into a humanoid figure.


    It did not take long for Ezequiel''s face to be visible. His entire body was made from red lightning and the power in him was increasing with every strike of the storm.


    Slowly he opens his eyes and at first, they were full of confusion. Everything from the moment his True Name evolved until now, was just like a dream and he could not control anything.


    His body was following thews as it strived to improve itself, generating changes on him at a molecr level.


    As rity filled his eyes, he feels the new strength of his bloodline and instinctively he gathered all of his power and he roared.


    "ROOOAAARRRR!"


    It was like a statement of an ancient creature who had just open up his eyes and was telling the world it was alive. It resounded through the entire mountain range.


    Like if it was a signal, after the roar, the lightning in the storm increased its power and continue hitting Ezequiel with every it had.


    The power of the lightning was extremely destructive and every time it hit the Neo-Demon, it makes him tremble but also it continues to improve his bloodline.


    Ezequiel could feel as the lightning was destroying the remnants of his Storm Titan bloodline, and along with that destruction came out the creation of his new bloodline.


    He knew the danger that the lightning strikes carried and it could reach a point where he will perish before the process waspleted.


    Even after realizing this, not only he did not stop but used the power of his True Name to the maximum increasing the force in the storm.


    All of those who were seen him were impressed. Each lightning had the power to kill Rank 2 life form, and Ezequiel was letting dozens of them struck him.


    Zatiel was looking at him and there was worry on his face. He could not help him since that will affect his transformation.


    He could see that the Ezequiel needed to withstand the destructive power of that storm if he wanted to truly get rid of his old bloodline and embrace the new one.


    As the power of lightning was reaching its zenith, the storm started to change and it raised into the sky like a tornado channeling the power of the void.


    Lightning started to form high in the sky. It was ck and you could feel the annihting might of the elemental chaos in it.


    Slowly the ck lightning increase in power and adopted the form of a massive thunder serpent.


    The Rank 3 Magi who saw it trembled at the idea of that touching them. They had no doubt their bodies will disintegrate if that struck them.


    Even Zatiel recognized the immense danger that the ck lightning represented. He could survive covering himself with his Will Aura and taking advantage of his body regeneration abilities, but still, he will end up with severe injuries.


    Ezequiel saw that ck thunder snake that was targeting him, but there was no fear on his eyes, just pure fighting will. With another roar, he took control of the lightning surrounding him.


    He used it to transform into a one thousand meter giant of red lightning and instead of waiting for the ck thunder snake to strike him, he charges at it.


    The thunder snake focuses on Ezequiel, and as if it was sentient, it responded to the Neo-Demon roar with one of his own andunched itself at him.


    Under the watch of everyone, the massive thunder serpent, and the giant red lightning humanoid crashed against each other creating an explosion of red and ck lightning that illuminated the sky, creating thunders that could be heard for thousands of kilometers.


    Along with the thunder, the storm disappeared but there was still red and ck lightning filling the air.


    Zatiel was using his Eye of Life and Creation to see everything. He and the Rank 4 life forms were all focusing on where the center of the explosion was.


    In there was Ezequiel, but now his body was no longer just red lightning, it has turned back to flesh and blood.


    There were injured all over his body and they were clearly severe, but the physical power on him has never been stronger despite having lost his Angelic Paragon wings.


    Even Zatiel with his experience was amazed by the changes in the boy and the might he felt from his bloodline.


    Before, thanks to his Animus power, he could have defeated him, even if he had the help of the Heavenly race wings and the abilities it gave. But now, after he had his own fortuitous encounter thanks to his True Name, he could at best equal him.


    This realization only made Zatiel smile and pride fills his eyes.


    Ezequiel remained in the sky with his eyes closed and as the new bloodline was filling him with power, memories appeared on his mind.


    He saw a giant so immensely big that his palms could cover a whole Low World, and his entire body could equal the size of a High World.


    His every movement could break space and shred thews on his surrounding. He can be considered the embodiment of physical might.


    The man waved his hand and created a cocoon of elemental chaos as big as him, concentrated to the fullest, before raising his hand, and like if it was an ax, he uses it to hack the cocoon in two.


    The attack itself reached the peak of destruction, but from the cocoon of elemental chaos, an entire world was birthed.


    After that, the memories stop, and Ezequiel opens his eyes. Despite how short the memories he obtained were, information about his bloodline filled its mind and he felt as if he had known it how to use it since ever.


    Red lightning was running through the surface of his body, but this was not like the previous lightning he could summon by using his energy or temporarily transform himself into it.


    This red lightning was a part of his body just like his skin or blood. It obtained its power from Ezequiel''s physical strength just like his arms or legs would, which work perfectly with his bloodline.


    His bloodline gave him immense physical power and it was connected to the Law of Inner Force and the Law of Strength.


    The Law of Inner Force guides him to train his existence, his life to the peak of what the body and soul could achieve. To erase the difference between soul, body, and energy and fuse them into a single perfect being.


    It was guiding him to free himself from thews of the universe and transform his entire existence into a universe itself.


    As for the Law of Strength, it was a way to reach absolute might through the use of physical power. To drive the force inside of him to destroy all physical and ethereal things, eliminate all magic, and even sever thews.


    But the Law of Strength was not just annihtion, by reaching the peak of it of destruction you could give birth to creation, just like that Primordial did when it split the cocoon and created a world.


    Ezequiel Primordial bloodline was beyond impressive and although it is difficult topare Law bloodlines, it could be considered better than the one of Zatiel.


    It was not that Ezequiel''sws were more powerful than the one of Zatiel, but his bloodline is one that is already whole. It carried constant strengthening as it guides him to the extreme.


    It seeks to transform him into a unique life form and Ezequiel just needs to follow the path until he reached the peak.


    As for Zatiel, its path was open to change and could give birth all sorts of variation. Unlike Ezequiel who follows the path of extreme, he seeks duality and his bloodline was notpleted yet.


    But with his new bloodline, Ezequiel realized a restriction. He could not assimte any other bloodline as it will create a w in his Primordial bloodline and the path that was given to him.


    This was a characteristic of the Primordials. They were born perfect beings and any change in their core could corrupt them.


    There was no way that Zatiel could have known this when he gave Ezequiel the Storm Titan Bloodline, after all, he had never meet a living Primordial.


    But even after realizing that he could not use one of the most important characteristics of a Neo-Demon, there was only excitement on Ezequiel''s face.


    His bloodline was already at the peak of the universe so there was no need for him to go look for another one. Besides, it is not like he could not train otherws, it only means that he will not have the help of a bloodline toprehend them.


    Ezequiel extended his arms and red lightning extend into the surroundings and devoured the arcs of ck lightning that were present in the sky.


    Although there was some resistance from the ck lightning, in the end, it was devoured in its entirety.


    The red lightning turns back to Ezequiel, and it fuses back on him, healing his injures at an impressive speed.

 Chapter 173: Auction

    Ezequiel felt his condition improve greatly. The red lightning could transform into flesh and blood and repair any damage done to his body.


    But still, he was very tired and his energy pool was almost depleted.


    He took a moment to stabilize his energy and concentrate on his new power.


    Red lightning started to surround his legs and he feels the strength in them increasing. Just as if the red lightning were new muscle fibers that could increase the force generated by his extremities.


    Concentrating his strength on the sole of his feet, he kicks the air impulsing his body like a cannonball and reaching an immense speed as he heads to where Zatiel was.


    Instead of transforming his body into lightning and then reforming it to ovee the problem with his speed, he was using his strength to impulse his body.


    This method is more efficient since, on his lightning form, his defense is weakened. But you could see by the stiffness of his movements that it will take time for him to dominate this type of eleration.


    Ezequiel continues kicking the air as he advances, increasing his momentum.


    As Zatiel saw him approaching, he moves to meet him away from the rest of the Soul Forging existences.


    When the Magi saw the two of them approaching each other, some of them were wondering what will happen with their rtionship. They could feel a power on Ezequiel''s body that was greater than Zatiel, and it was obvious that his talent was equally impressive.


    It was verymon in the Magi World, for an organization to suffer conflicts when an underling grew stronger than the leader.


    There were some Magi that were hoping to see a good show. It did not matter to them who end up in a better position, seeing two geniuses, whom they could never match, fight among themselves brings them a lot of fun.


    Zatiel couldn''t care less about what they were thinking, and he smiled as he approached Ezequiel.


    When Ezequiel was very close to Zatiel, he starts to slow down, but it was not so easy for him to reduce his drive, and in the end, he was forced to kick in front of him to stop his body.


    They were looking at each other but before Ezequiel could do anything he hears Zatiel voice on his mind.


    "Take a knee."


    When he hears thatmand, Ezequiel acted immediately and kneels in the air in front of Zatiel.


    When the Magi saw this they were shocked. They did not expect the individual with the greatest strength was kneeling to the other, and they saw no sense of burden on him.


    Unlike what the rest thought, Zatiel actions were not to prove his superiority but to symbolize the dignity of what was going to happen next.


    All of the Neo-Demons hear his next words through their Chaotic-Core.


    "Ezequiel, you are the first person I have ever fully trusted and our rtionship transcends blood. You have obtained a Law bloodline on your own and I hereby dere you as a Supreme of our race and I title you as ''The Will of the Neo-Demon''s Ancestor''. Your actions are my actions and yourmands are mymands. Only I can contradict you and no one else. Now rise as an embodiment of my will."


    When Ezequiel hears those words his body trembled and so many emotions filled his heart that made his eyes watery, but he did not let himself lose his calm as he felt it will be a dishonor to his title.


    He took a deep breath and as he stands up, on his eyes you could only see resoluteness.


    Zatiel smile grew even bigger as he saw this and then he looks at the rest of the Neo-Demons and speaks again.


    "Kneel to the Supreme!"


    His order was absolute and even Sophia and Dante were included. Power and loyalty deserve respect and status on the Neo-Demon race, and blood ties and romantic love don''t give you the right to ignore them.


    All of the Neo-Demons acted immediately and kneeled to Ezequiel.


    Sophia and Dante were also kneeling and they were smiling due to happiness for theirrade, but they also feel a little strange seen how someone who was just like them just a few hours ago, was now second only to Zatiel.


    They understood that the only way to stand equal to Ezequiel again was increasing their might and fighting spirit was filling their hearts.


    Zatiel saw this and was satisfied with the attitude of his n. Competition with respect and friendship could bring out the best in people.


    The scene the Magi saw filled them with confusion. First, they saw Ezequiel kneel to Zatiel and then he raised and the entire Daybreak n kneels at him.


    Zatiel could not bother to exin and battle intent could be felt from his body as he speaks.


    "Let''s see how strong you have be. Give it your all!"


    He made the entire power of his body concentrate on his right arm before using Aspect of Fortitude and concentrate all of his Will Aura on his hand.


    When Ezequiel hears him, he smiles, and just like always does, he follows Zatiel instructions. All of his physical force was concentrated on his right arm and a mantle of red lightning cover it, increasing his strength even more.


    The two threw their fist at the same time and they were carrying an immense force.


    In Ezequiel punch, there was an exceptional form of power that originated from his bloodline and made the force on his fist grow even higher. This was the Law of Strength guiding his movements and increasing his physical might.


    When their hands connected against each other a sonic boom was heard.


    Zatiel and Ezequiel remained still and were they are not moving, but even then, the winner was more than obvious.


    Ezequiel''s arm was steady and nothing had happened to it. On the contrary, all the bones on Zatiel arm broke and blood was leaking from the hundreds of cut on his skin.


    By concentrating all of his Will Aura on his fist, Zatiel should have made his physical power grew at least half a fold, but even with that, the difference in strength was immense.


    This exchange was witnessed by all the Magi, but not even those at Rank 3 dare to say anything about Zatiel condition. They knew that their situation will be even worse if that fist crashed on their bodies.


    Zatiel knew that Ezequiel''s body was powerful, but this disy of strength reaches a whole new level.


    "Goddam man, what the hell is your body made of. I will need to look for another runic set for you, with the red lightning and your bloodline, your physical power has be mind-blowing."


    Despite the gravity of the injuries on his arm, Zatiel did not worry and just made his golden mes cover it, healing him a matter of seconds.


    Just like Ezequiel had the help of his Law bloodline to improve his strength, Zatiel had the help of his to improve his regeneration.


    When Ezequiel heard Zatiel''s words a sense of pride fills his heart. He was now finally able to truly help the person that gave him everything.


    Just like always, he was a man of few words, so after everything was done, he proceeds to stand behind Zatiel and wait for hismand.


    When some of the Rank 4 Magi saw this, they could not hide their envy. Having such loyal subordinate, that was stronger than you and with a talent that will surely allow him to be a Soul Forging existence, was something they all will want to have.


    Heinz, Totto, and Zitra did not find it odd. It was obvious that their rtionship was not simple and it transcends things like the difference in power.


    When Totto and Zitra thought about it, their situation was simr. They are Rank 4 life forms way stronger than Zatiel, yet slowly they have started to follow his guide and they feel it was something natural, like if there was the aura of a perfect leader around him.


    Zatiel and Ezequiel were going back to the chamber. The second needed to get used to his new bloodline and the two needed to start thinking about their new Rank Spell.


    But before they could advance, they saw Heinz, Zitra, and Totto appear in front of them.


    "Please brother wait, we need to discuss something with you." Heinz was smiling but his face was looking weird for some reason.


    Zatiel bes curious about what they wanted, especially when he notices the signs of embarrassment on their faces.


    "What is it?"


    Heinz did not speak immediately, and after giving a nce to the other two he stated his purpose.


    "We were hoping that you will apany us to the Magi World. There is an auction that urs every one hundred years organized by the Scientia Kingdom, and it will start in a few weeks."


    When Zatiel hears Heinz and saw the way they were behaving he almost started tough.


    "You want me to apany you, so I can help you pick up hidden treasures."


    When Heinz and Totto hear him they almost blush. Zitra was looking elsewhere and acted as if she had no rtion with the duo.


    Heinz coughed and after recovering hisposure, he spoke again.


    "Well yeah, but I assure you that you will want to go as well. The auction has a great fame for having objects that could incite desire on even Rank 6 life form."


    Zatiel was indeed interested and after a moment he nods. He could check thepatibility of his new Rank Spell anywhere, so it did not really matter to him where he was.


    "I will go,e look for me when you are ready to leave the world."

 Chapter 174: Back to the Magi World

    All the Neo-Demons in the Beta Heavenly World were going on with their life. Those hundreds of Rank 1 who had entered the world after the war, were still harvesting the resources of thend owned by the Daybreak n.


    They were working day and night, but with their bodies and bloodline, this type of job was pretty easy. It takes a lot of their time and diminishes the amount of training they get, but rewards were given ording to the number of resources they harvest so they were more than happy to do it.


    These were second-generation Neo-Demons and most of them had spent their first years of life in the caves of Wastnd. Exploring an entirely different world was like a dream to them.


    None of them were truly worried about their speed of advance in the Ranks. They were Neo-Demons with Metallic Dragon''s bloodlines and the resources they obtained were used to impulse their atavism techniques.


    Those at Rank 2 were all in the Fiend Essence Extraction Chamber. The ones at the Novice and Advanced level were increasing their energy pools and improving their body transformation.


    Zatiel, Ezequiel, Sophia, Rax, and Kilo have reached Peak Rank 2. Trying to increase their energy pool before advancing to the next Rank was not practical.


    They were focusing on their next Rank Spell so they could advance to Rank 3.


    The Rank Spell for Rank 1 required the individual to use a Spell without external help and let the energy run through their bodies freely. For Rank 2 they must be able to use the energy in their consciousness to create a spell.


    But to Rank 3 things changed and the Rank Spell was no longer rted to an application of your own energy.


    To be a Rank 3 life form you need to be able tomunicate with the natural energies of the world.


    Once you do that, your attack will not only carry your power but also the power of the energy surrounding you.


    This was a very important step sincemunicating with the natural energy of a world is the first thing you need to do before starting to understand their essence, which are Origin Power and thews.


    Those two are crucial in awakening your True Soul and bing a Rank 4 life form.


    Zatiel, Sophia, Rax, and Kilo have their eyes close and were in a meditative position but Ezequiel was different.


    The Supreme of the Neo-Demon race was floating in the center of the chamber, practicing all types of martial techniques and enhancing the control over his body


    Ezequiel was following a different path than the rest. He considers his body as the ultimate weapon and instead of conjuring a spell, he decided to make his flesh and blood a conduit to the natural energy surrounding him.


    This is countless times harder and if it was anyone else they would not know where to start. But he had the Law of Inner Force running through his bloodline as a guide, making him advance by leaps and bounds.


    However, even with his Law bloodline, it will take him a long time to perfect it so he was also improving his proficiency over the red lightning.


    The red lightning was like a mantle covering his entire body, which increased his overall physical might. But sometimes he channels all of it to his extremities, greatly increasing their strength or to the chest and head, improving their resistance.


    The more concentrated the red lightning was, the greater the enhance that part of the body will get.


    Ezequiel throws a punch with his right arm whose hand was filled with red lightning and just as the attack finished, the red lighting moved to his leg and he sends a kick upward, before finally letting the red lightning cover his chest, creating a sort of shield over his hearts.


    He was ustomed to manipting lightning and although this one was different since it was an extension of his body like his blood, his Ranks Spells made his proficiency grow very fast.


    Zatiel had noticed the peculiarities of Ezequiel''s system and although his understanding of body training was incredibly high, he knew that he could notpare to the help that his bloodline will give so he chose to not give his advice.


    He was focusing his entire attention on a small box on his hand and his consciousness was inside it.


    In the box was the three thousand meter body of a frog-like creature with hundred of giant spikes all over his skin.


    This was the Void Creature he won from Zitra before they entered the world.


    He will fuse the body of this creature into his Sun Domain, increasing the might of it, and even more important it will transform the Undying Leviathan from an energy construct to somethingposed of flesh and blood.


    Once that happens, the Undying Leviathan will obtain great physical power and some of the Void Creature abilities.


    For his Sun Domain to be able to integrate the body of a Rank 4 Void Creature, he will need to fuse his new Rank Spell in it and make the entire domain able to channel the natural energy of the world.


    All sorts of calctions and tests needed to be done and there was little that Zatiel could do other than advance slowly and steady. He has the help of the chip and his Animus abilities, but still, it will take him a long time.


    To Neo-Demons with a bloodline like them reaching Rank 3 is very easy. But since they wanted to fuse their Rank Spell with the rest, things be much harder.


    The days pass and as Zatiel continue focusing on his Rank Spell, his concentration was broken by themunication crystal glowing inside his spatial ring.


    He took the crystal form his ring and he hears the voice of Heinz.


    "We are ready to go back to the Magi World."


    Zatiel has been waiting for this message. He has already made all the arrangements needed before leaving.


    "Let''s go, it''s time to leave."


    The one he was speaking to was Sophia who opens her eyes after hearing his words.


    Only Zatiel and Sophia will be going to the auction and the rest had chosen to remain in the Beta Heavenly World.


    Dante had a part of his consciousness in the Elder Brain controlling the Daybreak Magic Tower, so unless he needed his body to be present in the Magi World, he saw no reason for going back.


    Rax and Kilo were not interested in the auction and since they were just going to continue training, there was no point in them leaving.


    The reason why Ezequiel has chosen to remain here was that this was a world in war, where there are hundreds of powerful enemies.


    The Magi World had too many restrictions and anyone with enough power to challenge him was part of an organization and had some sort of backing that will make things very difficult if he were to kill them without justification.


    The Beta Heavenly World was the perfect ce to increase his abilities through fights to the death. After all, is not like their rtionship with the Heavenly race could get any worse.


    Zatiel knew of his intention and he just advised him to be careful. Very soon the only ones who could threaten his life will be the Rank 4 life form of the Heavenly race and since he still had the Mirage Rune, he could still escape from them once.


    Zatiel and Sophia came out from the chamber and enter the tower before heading to the highest floor, where the World Gate was.


    It only took a moment for the duo to arrive and when they reached there, they saw Heinz, Zitra, and Totto waiting for them, but there someone else although it will be more correct to say something else.


    It was a humanoid made of blood without any sort of distinctive characteristic. The power in him was impressive and it reaches the peak of Rank 4.


    Although Sophia did not understand what it was, Zatiel was very familiar with it.


    "A Blood Incarnation made using the blood of a Rank 5 life form, a Blood Stone, Origin Power, a Seed of Consciousness, and the Law of Blood. Not bad, but if you were able to use the Law of Life as well, its power will be equal to yours." Zatiel was looking at Heinz when he spoke.


    When Totto and Zitra hear his words they chuckled. The information about Blood Incarnations is extremely rare and they are very hard to make so Heinz was hoping to shock or at least impress Zatiel with it.


    Not only the Neo-Demon recognized it but also mentioned the list of ingredients that cost him so much to obtain.


    Heinz looks at the other two, who were almostughing at him but he just shook his head and sigh. Trying to surprise Zatiel was a futile task.


    "It has seventy percent of my power and can use the Law of Blood and Law of Killing at the ''Initial'' level ofprehension. It will remain in here to protect the towers and also to keep an eye on the other Rank 4 Magi.


    Zatiel nods at the contingency of the cultivator. Their absence in the world could create problems but with the Blood Incarnation, they were solved.


    "Ok then let''s leave. I want to see what treasures an auction of the Magi World has."


    End of Vol. 3

 Chapter 175: 7 billion

    The Daybreak Magic Tower had be considerably popr over thest few years. The number of magical items they sell through the empiremercial channels is stunning and not only did were they sold at very low prices their quality is above average making them very popr among the masses.


    But this was not the only thing that made it famous. A few years ago there was an attempt against it, where several Rank 3 life forms had attack it.


    Each of them was more powerful than the Magus that first assaulted the Daybreak n, unfortunately for them, the magic tower had been upgraded and the Sunlight Core grew incredibly stronger with the years.


    All of them were pulverized by beams of golden mes before they could do anything to the tower or the members of the Daybreak n.


    The assants had their body covered and there was no way to identify them, and because the Daybreak n raise no usation against anyone the story end up there.


    However, this made clear that unless you are a Soul Forging existence attacking the Daybreak n was suicide.


    The City of the Sun had grown exponentially and was now more than two hundred kilometers long and one hundred kilometers wide, extending their territory over the Endless Forest and reaching very close to the entrance of the Underground Zone.


    The city was filled with new houses and buildings, with all sorts of recreation facilities like bars and there were even barbershops and ygrounds.


    Due to the constant number of tribes that came from Wastnd and the programs that incentivized procreation the number of Sunlight Champion was now counted in the hundreds of thousands.


    A great percentage of the adult mostly center on hunting and military training, but slowly groups started to form who were interested in training runecrafting, alchemy, magic creations, and other professions.


    Although there was not an actual wall that divided the city, two areas were formed as the poption grewrger. The mid and outer circle was where the ''outer'' and ''inner members'' of the Daybreak n lived and the center was inhabited by the ''core members''.


    In the beginning, the ''core members'' were only the Neo-Demon. The rest of the n did not know how to obtain that position, and some of them thought it was unreachable.


    But that changed when the Sunlight Champions that went to war came back. All of them obtained the position of ''core members'' as did their families and they move to the center of the city.


    This event sparked a me of excitement in the other Sunlight Champions and all of them focused on improving their abilities.


    In reality, when it came to safety and living conditions there was no difference between the center of the city and the rest, but it was rted to their status in the n and by being closer to the Sunlight Core their speed of training was better.


    Under the city, there were dozen of factories filled with automatons working day and night, who transformed the resources they got from thends they possess in the Beta Heavenly World and also the ones obtained by the n members in the Magi Wolrd.


    They were being controlled by the Elder Brain and charged with the energy of the tower, so they were constantly creating magic items to sell.


    The wealth that Dante had managed to umte during these years will make any other mid-level n go crazy with envy.


    The streets of the City of the Sun were filled with all types of races and you could see that there was not any sort of segregation, all the contrary, there was a sense of unity among all of them.


    Close to the periphery of the city a child of the werebear race was running with all of his power and if you follow his path you could see that he headed to the Endless Forest.


    "Xinti, you brat, stop now!"


    The voice came from a gnoll man that was chasing the werebear, but when the child hears him instead of stopping, he activated his Sunlight Aura and ran even faster.


    The man was flying and when he saw that the boy speed, anger appeared on his face and he also activated his Sunlight Aura increasing his speed greatly.


    The child was fast but could notpare to the man who was at Rank 1 and before he coulde out from the golden light that covers the city and enter the Endless Forest the gnoll man grabbed by his clothes and raise him the air.


    There were a lot of Sunlight Champions that saw how the man seizes the boy but they did not interfere and they were looking at them with smiles on their faces.


    The gnoll man stares at the boy and in this one there was a look of defeat.


    "You little brat what do you think you are doing. Once again I catch you skipping school and now you try to enter the Endless Forest on your own."


    When the people of the streets hear the man''s words, some of them were looking at the boy with amusement.


    When they saw him running, none of them thought that the boy was in danger, after all, they were under the watch of the magic tower and their Sun Tadpoles.


    "Teacher, why do I need to study when I can spend my time defeating magic creatures?. Very soon I will reach the peak of Rank 0 and I know that I must remain in the outer zones of the forest."


    "Brat, it is forbidden for those beneath Rank 1 to go to the Endless Forest without a group. Now I will take you back to school and you will spend the entire night reading books of history as punishment."


    The gnoll man flew away to where the school was under theughs of the Sunlight Champions.


    Some old people look at this scene and they could not help but sigh when they saw the carefree and naive attitude of the boy. They have spent most of their lives in Wastnd where every day was a battle for survival but since they became part fo the Daybreak n, things have changed so much that it was like the difference between day and night.


    They have safety and all their necessities covered. Their children could enjoy their childhood and did not have to face the cruelty of the world before they were old enough.


    There was not a single first-generation Sunlight Champion that did not consider the City of the Sun as a paradise.


    There were three people high up in the sky who had also seen this scene and on the face of two of them, there were meaningful smiles.


    Zatiel and Sophia felt warm in their hearts, while they focus on the boy and the school where thousands of children spent most of their days.


    "Your people are truly happy." Heinz saw the type of environment that the city presented and it was a sharp contrast with the rest of the groups that formed the empire.


    In those families and ns, there was a constant struggle. And even between blood rtives, there was all sort of schemes and you will never find a ce where everyone lives with such a sense of security and trust.


    Of course, those conditions give birth to extraordinary people that could strive on their own without the help of anyone but also destroyed hundred of hidden geniuses who could have enjoyed a glorious future.


    "Let''s move, we need to get to the tower."


    After seeing the state of the city, Zatiel and the other two reach the sky above the tower where a Neo-Demon was waiting from them.


    When the Neo-Demon saw Zatiel he immediately flew to him and bowed before handing a ring.


    When this happened Zatiel hear Dante''s voice on his mind. This was not done using the Chaotic-Core but though the abilities of the Elder Brain.


    "Father, this is the wealth we have umted over the years. You can use it as you please since there is no need to improve the tower again before advancing the Elder Brain to Rank 4."


    Zatiel nods when he hears that and signaled the Neo-Demon to leave before sending his consciousness into the space ring.


    In it, he saw an ocean of magic crystal and their number was uncountable.


    "How much is in here."


    "Thanks to the constant demand over our products and the business strategies we have implemented, even after the massive cost of improving the tower, the amount of magic crystal we have umted is seven billion."


    Zatiel was surprised when Dante told him how much wealth was in the ring.


    The value of a Low Rank 4 Magic Tower is between seven hundred million to one billion magic crystal and even the Sinux Magic Tower costs less than two billion magic crystal.


    Even for Rank 4 life form, seven billion magic crystal was an astronomical number and unless they have conquered several worlds for a lot of years, they could not obtain that much.


    "Good, with this I will have the chance to buy truly useful things."


    After the matter with the wealth was finished, Zatiel gives the signal to Heinz, and the cultivator teleports the three of them away.

 Chapter 176: True Lord

    Heinz and the two Neo-Demons appeared on the sky above the Sinux Magic Tower, where two people were waiting for him.


    They were Totto and Zitra. The two Magi had gone to their magic towers to collect their wealth for the auction and also some items they were looking to sell.


    The journey will be long, so Heinz did not waste time and cover the two new members of the group with his consciousness before teleporting.


    The group continues advancing like this for some time before they reached the coast, where The Ocean of a Thousand Wonders began.


    The Scientia Kingdom was located in a small continent, known as Wuxuan, surrounded by this ocean and they will need to travel through it if they want to go to the auction.


    Unlike what it''s fairy tale name may suggest, The Ocean of a Thousand Wonder is incredibly dangerous. There were areas in it where the natural energies of the world were in disarray creating all sorts of dangerous phenomena.


    But the greatest threat was the billions of life forms that dwelled their waters and it was not rare to find Rank 4 or 5 Magic Creatures in the deepest part of it.


    If they did not have the cultivator, the group would have to aboard some of the aerial ship that sails to the kingdom since not even Zitra and Totto dare to travel through it on their own.


    Heinz''s consciousness started to change as the power of the Law of Space fuse with it, making the consciousness and the five people inside it blend with space and disappear from sight.


    Once this was done, Heinz used Void Disruption and they embarked on their journey to the kingdom.


    Teleportation is faster, but it will create ripples through space that could be easily detected by powerful magic creatures, not to mention that there are sections in the ocean where the natural energies acted erratically and affected any sort of teleportation.


    The speed at which the group was moving was impressive and as they advance they saw all types of ships flying through the sky.


    Most of the people inside them were Rank 3 life forms, but there was no shortage of Soul Forging existences and at the helm of every ship was someone even stronger.


    Heinz did not focus too much on them, and he continues advancing leaving the ships behind.


    As they go deeper and deeper into the Ocean of a Thousand Wonders, the group started to found all types of phenomena like tornados that extend for thousands of kilometers into the sky or storm filled with whining faces.


    The most impressive scene they saw was a section for the ocean that extends for dozens of thousands of kilometers where there was a river of mes that was recing the water.


    This surreal sight impressed the Heinz, Totto, Zitra, and Sophia greatly. Despite being very far away from the mes they could still feel the heat reaching their bodies.


    Zatiel knows the reason for this phenomenon and it was something only individuals at the Soul Law Domain Rank could do. Thews have been altered and now the Law of Fire ruled that area.


    This was the effect of a battle between Rank 6 life forms and the reason why Middle and Low Worlds will never allow them to live inside them.


    Heinz, Totto, and Zitra focused on the river of fire for a long time, but unfortunately, when they send their consciousness inside it to try to understand the principles of it, these were hurt so they could only leave.


    The continue advancing for a couple of days when their attention was drawn to a powerful explosion not too far away from them.


    The uproar was due to giant jets of watering from inside the ocean that were targeting an aerial ship.


    The ship was impressive and there were all sorts of runic formations on it generating a force shield that was stopping the attacks.


    Instead of running away, the ship stops its advance and from inside it an old man came out.


    He was an Eye Holder and his bloodline eyes were silver. His body was very thin and gave the illusion that the wind could blow him away but his energy and vitality were so immense that made the surrounding natural energy go crazy.


    When the Eye Holder appeared, all of the jets of water focus on him, and their power grew exponentially.


    The man''s sneered when he saw the attacking his way. He waved his hand creating an electromaic field around him, that repelled all of the jets of water.


    Immediately dozen of steel spears hundred of meters long appeared beside the Eye Holder and were fired into the ocean with power and speed so high that created giant waves when they touched the waters.


    A howl of pain was heard from inside the ocean and blood started to taint the waters.


    Along with the scream, an increase of power was felt and the waters started to freeze before giant spikes of ice started to raise and attacked the old man and the ship.


    It was only now that the old man''s eyes be serious and the energy inside him burst.


    Metal ws that were thousands of meter tall appeared around the Eyes Holder and they charged against the ice spikes, breaking them and then entering the frozen ocean.


    The power in the ws was impressive and enough to kill most Rank 4 life form, yet they were not a Law Avatar. They were conjured by a spell that was able to channel the power of thews in the world.


    A scream of agony was heard and the metal ws raised from the ocean carrying a magic creature with the appearance of a lobster that was twenty thousand meters tall.


    This was a Crusher Lobster and it shell was incredibly hard and full of spikes, yet the ws had prated them and were destroying his inner organs.


    The Eye Holder neared the dying magic creature and when he was close enough the eyes of the Crusher Lobster glowed and he roared before using all of the power that was left on him to attack with his w.


    The speed of the w was very fast and it reached the old man in an instant, generating a shock wave that created a storm in the ocean.


    But to the shock of the magic creature, its w that was four thousand meters long and weight hundreds of thousands of tons was stopped by a small hand.


    The arm of the Eye Holder trembled for a moment but nothing more happened to him and he raised his free hand before clenching it.


    The finger in metal ws carrying the Crusher Lobster grewrger prating deeper into his body and released electromaic waves killing the creature.


    When the threat was terminated, two men came out from the ship.


    One of them had white hair and his bloodline eyes were like a starry sky. He was very handsome and there was a majestic aura around him.


    The other man had ck hair and his bloodline eyes were grey. This was someone that Zatiel knew, Gwyn.


    Gwyn had already reached Rank 3 and there seem to be a unique power running through his vein that was fusing with his blood and steadily changing his body.


    When the old man saw them approaching him, he frowned and there was concern in his face.


    "High Prince and True Lord should not leave the ship. This fight could draw the attention of other magic creatures in the surroundings."


    The man with white hair smiled and there was no fear on his eyes.


    "With uncle Onir here, what could harm us. Besides this guy wanted to see the Crusher Lobster."


    Gwyn ignored the words of the man. He approaches the magic creature and makes a grey aura appear on his hands before looking at Onir.


    "Can I?"


    Onir looks at him and after a moment he nods.


    When Gwyn''s hands touched the Crusher Lobster, the grey aura on them enter inside his body.


    The man with ck hair and Onir were focused on him and saw how his energy pool was increasing, but Gwyn was only able to maintain that state for a few seconds before being exhausted


    "True Lord''s bloodline is impressive. You were able to absorb part of the consciousness of this creature." There was a sense of respect on Onir''s eyes as he speaks.


    Despite the old man''spliment, Gwyn shook his head and was frowning as he focuses on his hands.


    "I can maintain the power of my bloodline active for too little time."


    "You are being too harsh with yourself. Your power will improve with time."


    After speaking Onir''s eyes narrowed and he looks at the direction where Heinz was.


    "It seems someone is looking at us."


    The Eye Lord seems to be able to pierce space and see the figure of Heinz and others hiding.


    The cultivator looks back at the old man, but he did not remains still and used Void Disruption to leave.


    Onir was shocked when he saw the way Heinz manipted space. He was more powerful than the cultivar by a great margin, but there was little use if he could not touch him.


    "What is happening?" The High Prince had noticed the expression of the old man and was curious.


    "Nothing, let''s leave." Onir did not exin and guide the two of them back to the ship, before departing.

 Chapter 177: Second Prince

    Zatiel and the rest continue traveling through The Ocean of a Thousand Wonders and they noticed that the closer they got to the Wuxuan continent the calmer the natural energy became and the Eye of Life and Creation showed that the life forms were bing weaker and weaker.


    It seems that the powerhouses of the Scientia Kingdom have neutralized any threat that surrounded their continent. This fits with the overprotective nature that the ruler of the kingdom has over his people.


    As they reached the kingdom the first thing that called their attention was the famous ''swimming inds''. These were inds that literally swam around the continent, sometimes submerging themselves underwater only toe out months or maybe yearster to the surface.


    Some of the inds were small but others were big enough to hold the entire capital of the Aeternum Empire on them.


    When they finally reached the sky above the continent they were able to have aplete view of the kingdom.


    Instead of how a normal organization works, the terrains were not divided and the entire kingdom was just one massive city that extended through all the continent.


    There was no division regarding power and you could see Rank 4 and Rank 0 life form discussing all sorts of scientific problems.


    The city was filled with ingenious machines, factories, and specialboratories where anyone coulde in and work together with the rest.


    The sense of unity in the people was superior to even the Daybreak n, despite being millions of them.


    The city was not just buildings and machinery, the vegetation filled the kingdom and you could see all types of magical flora that had special properties.


    Some trees took the impurities on the air and some natural energy to release an invisible gas that increased the vitality and energy pool of the people in the kingdom.


    The kingdom is truly amazing and what draws the attention of everyone was the massive magic tower in its center.


    It was fifty thousand meters tall and from it, a beam was fired into the sky that connected the peak of the tower all the way to the Crystal Wall.


    When Zatiel saw the tower he was shocked. It was not its size or the fact that drew its energy from the elemental chaos in the void that amazed him.


    It was the fact that his Eye of Life and Creation showed that the magic tower was a living being.


    He was only able to analyze it for a few seconds because when his Eye of Life and Creation focus on it, the eye starts to feel like it was burning, just like the eyes of a normal person would when they look at the sun.


    But it was enough to detect the immense amount of vitality that was running through it and the fact that it was incredibly old. Zatiel will not be surprised if this was the first magic tower in the Magi World and the rest were technological duplicates of it.


    With this tower, even a Rank 6 life form could not threaten the kingdom or its citizens.


    The group did not remain in the sky for too long and descended to a zone in the periphery of the continent where there are hundreds of white rooms without windows.


    As they closed in, a Rank 3 Magus with a cordial smile approached them.


    "Hello, my name is Sebastian. Please, state the purpose you havee to the Scientia Kingdom and whether or not you wish to enter it."


    Heinz was at the lead of the group and even though he was stronger than the man he acted with prudence.


    He could feel the dozen of Rank 5 life forms that were watching over this area and the Law of Space allowed him to detect an even more terrifying individual very close.


    "I am Heinz, Prince of the Aeternum Empire. I and my group havee to the auction."


    "In that case, you will need to take the Test of Threat. Is there anyone of you who is not familiar with it?" When Sebastian sees that everyone shook their head, he guides them to a room.


    In the room, there was a white tform with a screen beside it.


    The Test of Threat that the Magus spoke is something everyone who is an external individual to the kingdom has to take if they want to enter it.


    If they try to enter the kingdom without taking the test, they will be discovered and killed in the act. There is a tale about a Rank 6 life form that once tried to infiltrate the kingdom, but his body was incinerated and his soul destroyed.


    The test will analyze your power and determine how dangerous you are to the kingdom. They do this to decide how much security and surveince must be applied to any individual since just focusing on their Rank was not urate.


    A Rank 4 life form could create all sorts of catastrophe by using theirws and if you don''t have information about them, it was very hard to prevent it.


    About the danger of your secrets being exposed. Never in history, did the kingdom or any of his people reveal any information obtained by the test and even Rank 6 life forms trusted the confidentiality of it.


    "Please stand above the tform." Sebastian guided the group before moving to a corner of the room and waited for them to take the test.


    Heinz was the first to go in, and the moment he stood on the tform a white aura covered his body and the cultivator could be felt that it permeated all the way to his consciousness.


    The feeling of something analyzing you so thoroughly was not pleasant but luckily it just took a moment before it was over.


    On the screen beside the tform appeared a message that says: Beta level of threat. Surveince over target performed by a Peak Rank 5 Magus.


    The cultivator was not impressed by the assessment. Even though he can not defeat a true Rank 5 life form, he could fight against one and their battle will create an immense level of destruction so they will need someone at Peak Rank 5 to make sure they could defeat him without coteral damage.


    The next was Zitra, and just like with Heinz, the white aura analyzed her.


    After her test, the screen disys: Delta level of threat. Surveince over target performed by Rank 5 Magus.


    After her, it was Totto''s turn, and his result was the same as Zitra.


    Sophia stod over the tform after the Rank 4 life form had finished with it. The white aura permeated all of her body and she felt it was able to analyze her bloodline, the changes on her marrow, and even the nature of her runic set but when it passed over the Chaotic-Core, it could not perceive it.


    On her screen, the message was: Gamma level of threat. Surveince over target performed by Rank 4 Magus.


    The rest could see the message on her screen and Heinz, Zitra, and Totto were surprised. ording to the test, the only way to safely neutralize the woman who was at the Peak Rank 2 was with a Rank 4 Magus.


    Sophia was not surprised, after all, she was able to defeat a Master Rank 3 Angelic Paragon when she was at the Advanced level.


    Thest one to take the test was Zatiel. Just like with Sophia, the white aura was able to analyze everything about him except for the Chaotic Core.


    His message was the same that appeared for Sophia, but when he was about to move out from the tform, this one turned blue and another message appeared on the screen.


    ''Detected Zatiel Daybreak. Please remain in the room and someone wille to meet you very soon.''


    Everyone was surprised by the message on the screen and even Sebastian was not different but before they could understand what was happening the space in the room broke and from it, a man came out.


    He had ck hair and his feature were simr to most men in the kingdom but his aura was totally different and the power on him froze the natural energy in the room


    The appearance of the man shocked the three Rank 4 life forms, and they nced at each other before nodding.


    Heinz, Totto, and Zitra were going to position themselves in front of Zatiel but before they could move the man raised his hand, and the moment he did, they halted.


    The trio could still see and think but their bodies, energies were frozen. To do this type of feat, it was needed more than just battle power.


    What the man did was use the almighty Law of Time.


    "I am the Second Prince of the Scientia Kingdom, Gabriel Rebellion, and I havee under the orders of my Royal Father to meet Master Demonologist Zatiel Daybreak."

 Chapter 178: Book of resurrection

    Once the man who identifies himself as the Second Prince stated his purpose the power of time that was halting the energy and body of the trio vanished.


    "Please behave. I don''t like to use violence but I am not afraid of it either." Gabriel looks at the trio as he speaks.


    His attitude was peaceful but the trio felt like they were in front of a sleeping volcano that could wake up any second and destroy everything.


    Heinz, Totto, and Zitra knew that they will be only embarrassing themselves if they challenge the man and since it seems he just wanted to speak they did not interfere.


    Zatiel was looking at the man and although the events happening were unexpected, he had experienced countless life and death crises, so this did not make him lose hisposure.


    "I am happy to meet the Second Prince. I will like to know the reason for the title you just gave me and also why your father sends you to meet me." Zatiel attitude was not overbearing but neither submissive as he speaks to Gabriel.


    His Eye of Life and Creation was active and was trying to passively probe the man but thews around him blocked everything. However, by what he just saw, the man hadprehended the Law of Time to the ''Initial'' level which means he could kill everyone in the room without any effort.


    Gabriel was impressed by how calm Zatiel was in front of him and his image of the Neo-Demon improved greatly. Not everyone could be so rxed in front of someone who could kill you without you being able to do anything to stop him.


    "The reason for my arrival is rted to the ''Master Demonologist'' title. The information you trade with my kingdom was recently corroborated in its entirely. The depths andplexity of some of it made clear your level of dominion over the study of the Abyss and the demons inhabiting it. It is a custom of my kingdom to recognize those with extraordinary academic achievement whose research has improved our knowledge, even if it was through a business deal."


    Gabriel''s exnation makes sense considering the passion for knowledge that the kingdom always disys.


    Zatiel eyes narrowed and he believes the reason for his title, after all, some of the information was extremely hard to get unless you have lived in the Abyss for thousands of years, but also knew there was more to it.


    "I ept the title that your kingdom gives me with honor. But I highly doubt that your father, the King, will send someone of your power and status to fulfill such a simple mission"


    The Second Prince looks at Zatiel for a moment and he nods.


    "The reason my Royal Father send me here was to give you something else and deliver a message"


    Gabriel waves his hand and two objects appear in front of him. One was a ring and the other a small tablet the size of a palm.


    "This is a spatial ring capable of holding life, the space inside is five hundred meters tall and two thousand meters wide, this is the reward for your title. The tablet symbolizes your identity as an honorary member of the Scientia Kingdom."


    When Heinz and the rest hear him they were shocked. The value of the ring was great but it could notpare to the tablet.


    Although there doesn''t seem to be many uses, Zatiel could always hide in the kingdom in case he offended someone too powerful and even a Rank 6 life form will not dare to attack him here.


    Zatiel did not react to the reward. They were useful but soon he will have no need any of them and just waited for Gabriel to give the message of his father.


    He has many tricks up his sleeve and hundred of ways to get out of dangerous situations but he was not ready to handle someone who ruled the oldest organization in the Magi World, even if he was not the true leader.


    The Being of Law that created the kingdom will not leave someone ipetent at the head.


    "As for my Royal Father message, he says that you should meet him when you be a Rank 4 life form. I don''t know the reason for the meeting or why he stipted that Rank for you." Gabriel was also curious about the nature of the message but it was not his position to question it.


    When Zatiel hears those word he rxed greatly. He definitely did not want to meet that man when he was just at Rank 2, but the moment he bes a Rank 4 Neo-Demon, he will not need to be so cautious inside the Magi World.


    He doesn''t know the reason for the man''s interest in him, but things will reveal with time, and overthinking it will not help him.


    Zatiel takes the ring and keeps the tablet in it.


    "Thanks for them, they are very useful."


    After the delivery of the rewards was finished, Gabriel looks at Sebastian who was still trying to understand what was happening.


    "I will take the task of being their guide. You should go back to the kingdom and rest."


    This was too much for the Magus who spends most of his days reading books and making experiments and has never left the kingdom so he was more than happy to take a break.


    Gabriel sees as the Magus left the room before focusing on the rest.


    "I will take you to the auction house and then to the residence where you will remain during your stay in the kingdom. Please follow me." Gabriel spoke and left the room.


    Heinz and the rest did not have reason to refuse him. Unlike Zatiel, they were not allowed to roam freely through the kingdom, and with the Second Prince as their guide, they will finish faster what they need to do.


    They only had to fly for a few minutes before reaching the auction house that was located at the periphery of the continent. The reason for this location was that it reduced the interaction between external people and the citizens of the kingdom and the security was easy to implement since the number of variables was reduced.


    The auction house was a great building with white walls and ck runic inscriptions all over it. In the center of the building, there were glowing words that say ''Wisdom Auction House''.


    Under Grabiel lead, instead of entering through the lobby, they went directly to the highest floor.


    There were guardians around the building but when they saw who was at the head of the group they remained still and did not stop them.


    The Second Prince touched one of the walls creating a door, before entering with the group.


    Inside the room was a beautiful woman with brown hair and green eyes wearing a yellow robe. When she saw how there was someone who was directly entering the room she frowned but rxed as she saw Gabriel.


    "What brings Second Prince here?"


    "I am apanying them. He is Zatiel Daybreak, an honorary member of our kingdom and they are Heinz, Zitra, Totto, and Sophia. They havee from the Aeternum Empire to participate in the auction." Gabriel''s speech was casual and there was no sense of authority on his voice. It was like if he was speaking to an equal.


    The woman was surprised and she focuses on Zatiel. She could feel a power way above his Rank inside him but she has live long enough to know that wasn''t enough to be a member of the kingdom.


    "I am Sirin, Head of the ''Wisdom Auction House''. Please,dies and gentlemen, take these badges. They will give you a private suite from where you can participate in the auction."


    Sirin makes small golden badges appear and sends one to everyone.


    "If you have items you want to put in the auction, please hand them over and I will take care of them"


    Her mannerisms and conduct were excellent and it was apparent she has spent a very long time doing this.


    Zatiel walk until he was in front of the woman and look at her before speaking.


    "What level of secrecy does the origin of the objects that appears in the auction have."


    As someone how fast wealth can transform into a source of danger, Sirin knew exactly the meaning of Zatiel question.


    "The true organizer of the auction is the Royal family and they will never allow any information about the origin of the objects to be revealed. So, there is no chance anyone will be able to track them back to you."


    Zatiel was satisfied with the answer and from his ring, two books came out. One had a ck cover and the other a blue one.


    "These are the ''Book of resurrection'' and the ''Book of rune crafting''."

 Chapter 179: A forgettable book

    Despite the grandeur in the names of the book, Sirin did not think too much of it. As a high ranking member of an organization that was second to none with regards to magic knowledge, she has an ample understanding regarding the principles of resurrection.


    That was even more truth about rune crafting. She was not a runemaster herself, but she knows the requirement for every Rank and the capabilities of runes at Rank 4 and above.


    Of course, she did not make a judgment of the books before understanding the knowledge inside them. Zatiel may be a Rank 2 life form, but she knows someone who obtained the citizenship from the Scientia Kingdom could not be measure by normal standards.


    Everyone was waiting for Zatiel to exin the book and even the mighty Gabriel was focus on them.


    Seen that everyone''s attention was on him, Zatiel raised the ''Book of rune crafting'' before speaking.


    "The book is divided into two parts. The first has everything you need to know about rune crafting, from the most simple parts to the mostplicated ones. There is a step by step course in it that will take you from Rank 0 Runemaster all the way to Peak Rank 3 Runemaster as long your energy pool is high enough. Even for the less talented individual that exists, it will only take one hundred and twenty years toplete it." Zatiel voice was calm and it was obvious that he did not consider this section of the book important.


    When she hears this, Sirin''s eyes showed some interest and focuses on the book in Zatiel''s hand.


    The Runemaster profession is an extremely hard one to progress. For a book to be able to guide someone from knowing nothing to the Peak Rank 3 without any sort of external teaching or assistance, it means that the one who wrote it has an understanding of the fundamentals of rune crafting way higher than an Origin Runemaster.


    Runemasters are very important to any organization. The fact that it will take more than a century for someone with little talent toplete the course wasn''t that important since a Rank 3 life form can usually live thousands of years.


    "The second part of the book has a series of paths that can be taken to be an Origin Runemaster. Talent for this is essential but the paths are very clear and for someone who manages to be a Rank 3 Runemaster just with his abilities and without external guidance, there is a twenty percent chance of achieving it."


    It was only now that some trace of pride could be felt in Zatiel voice and his word surprised everyone in the room.


    The percentage of Rank 3 Runemasters that have managed to take the next step and be an Origin Runemaster is inferior to 1% and it was not rare for some of them to be a Rank 4 life form but never advance in rune crafting.


    There is no price those individuals will not be willing to pay for a book that offers them a path with a twenty percent chance to take the final step forward.


    After hearing the information about the ''The Book of rune crafting'', Sirin was waiting to hear what marvels the other book will have.


    Zatiel saw that he had managed to captivate the attention of the woman and proceeds to exin the ''Book of resurrection.''


    "This book is an encyclopedia containing all the necromancy magic and knowledge about the soul necessary to perform resurrections. The first section contains methods to apply that knowledge that will allow a Rank 4 life form to resurrect someone who had died less than five hundred years ago, who was a Rank 3 life form or inferior and whose soul is intact."


    Resurrection may seem impressive to mortal and to some lower Rank life forms, but to everyone in the room, it was something that could be done with magic and power. After all, Totto was someone who could resurrect people.


    But still, the were impressed with the book since not even the Lich who was a master necromancer could bring back someone who has died for so long and whose soul spend hundreds of years in The Eternal River of the Afterlife.


    Despite their surprise, Zatiel was far from over and continue speaking.


    "The second section has hundred of rituals that a Rank 4 life form can perform to bring back to life someone who has died due to old age and give them twenty years of life extra."


    If before they though the book was impressive, now they considered it a priceless object.


    Trying to resurrect someone who has died due to their life span being over was a hopeless task unless you have reached an incredibly high control over the Law of Life and the Law of Death, but that was virtually impossible for a Rank 4 life form.


    This happens due to thews affecting the soul of the persons who have died due to their life force naturally extinguishing and if they are brought back, even if their souls are put in a young body, they will perish in seconds.


    Sirin could imagine the immense mary value the information in that book could achieve.


    Who has not heard about individuals that have reached a great level of power, to only realize that the people they care about have died long ago and they can do nothing to bring them back.


    With the rituals in the book, they could bring their parents and lover back and use their current power and resources to transform those twenty years in two hundred or maybe even more.


    All sorts of calctions and ways to maximize the profit of those books came out through Sirin''s mind but she did not lose sight of what was important.


    "To validate those books and put them in the auction, assuring everyone that the information in them is real, we will need to examine them. It is not about trust but protocols that have been in ce from when the ''Wisdom Auction House'' was created."


    Sirin was telling Zatiel, that they will have to test those books before they are put in the auction. That will mean that they will obtain the magic knowledge in them for free.


    The Neo-Demon found no problem with her logic, after all, he could not ask her to break rules that have been put in ce for thousands of years just for him.


    To sell these books, Zatiel needed someone with immense prestige and fame and an impable reputation. That was certainly not him.


    He also needed that person to hide the origin of the book and with enough power that no one could use force to make them reveal his name. The information in the books was something that could create immense greed in some people and they will hunt him down without rest if they know they originated from him, a Rank 2 life form.


    "Don''t worry, I understand how important the rules put by your superior are," Zatiel spoke and waved his hand making both books raise in the air and open for all to see.


    To the shock of everyone, the pages in both books were empty, not a single word was seen in the pages.


    When Sirin saw this, she frowned and send her consciousness into the books. She was able to detect that something weird with them, but besides the fact that the paper was made with the skin of Rank 3 Magic Creatures, she could not find anything else.


    Zatiel did not make her wait and waved his hand making the ''Book of rune crafting'' appear in front of her.


    "Please touch the book and channel your energy through it."


    The Magus look at Zatiel for a moment but follow his instruction and as soon her energy enter the book, the pages in it started to glow with beautiful blue light and an extremely rare form of runes appeared in them.


    Sirin has never seen these runes, but she could read them without a problem and there were all sorts of profound and esoteric knowledge in the book.


    Seeing that his goal was achieved, Zatiel waved his hand and the book came back to him.


    When this happened, Sirin''s expression filled with confusion and after a moment a look of understanding filled her eyes and she was shocked.


    "I can''t remember anything about what I just read in the book!."


    She was very powerful, and photographic memory was something extremely normal for someone like her to possess. Even if she did not understand what she just read, she could have memorized the words and the order the way were written totter transcribe them, but she had forgotten everything about them.


    "I wrote the information in the books using a special type of rune that was altered with an energy capable of affecting the mind. You will need to maintain contact with the book to ess its information and any attempt of making a copy will result in the book''s self-destruction."


    There was admiration in the eyes of the Magus as she heard Zatiel means. She understands more than well that scarcity creates value.

 Chapter 180: The auction begins

    Sirin was truly impressed by Zatiel wits and capabilities. The problem with selling records with knowledge, it''s the fact that they are easily duplicated making his value plummet since a great number of copies could be done and flood the market.


    But with the alteration that Zatiel did to the book, that problem was handled.


    "We will perform the examination and if everything goes well, we will put the book in the auction and endorse them with our name. But I was wondering whether you will be willing to directly sell the ''Book of resurrection'' to the auction house, we will pay you greatly of course."


    The Magus was very interested in the rituals of the book. The knowledge about resurrection magic in the kingdom is not small, but the one rted to bringing back people who had died of old age was umon, and more so if it only needed the power of a Rank 4 life form to be able to use it.


    As for the ''Book of rune crafting'', it also draws her attention but the information in it was not something she could not obtain in the kingdom.


    "These two books must be sold in the auction." Zatiel posture was firm and it seems that no amount of wealth could change his mind..." but I have a proposition for you."


    Sirin was disappointed but she immediately focuses on Zatiel when she heard thest part and saw how he took four more books.


    Two of them were blue and two ck. These were exact copies that Zatiel had made and had the same information and type of runic writing made in them.


    "After the two books are sold in the auction, you will wait ten years. During that time, the ones who bought the books will start to disy some of the impressive features of it that will allow you to send these other four for a higher price, but you must be careful and make everyone believe that there is only one ''Book of resurrection'' and one ''Book of rune crafting''." There was a crafty light in Zatiel eyes as he spoke and he smiled.


    The rest were not very clear about the purpose of Zatiel strategies and wonder why he did not just sell the six books at the auction, however, Sirin was different.


    The Magus did not obtain her position just for her wealth, and much less for her looks since that was meaningless in the kingdom. She understood that Zatiel wanted to make everyone thought that there is only one each book in order not just to inte the price but to give it collective value.


    There is no small number of powerful individuals that will be willing to overpay for something, even if it is not useful for them, just to gloat that they have the only one in existence.


    The illusion could be easily broken if too many books were released, but with just three of each, it will not be hard for Sirin to maintain it.


    As for the ones sold in the auction. They just need to hint that the real ones are the ones they are selling and the other are just useless replicas put by the previous owner to avoid shame.


    The books are real and they are not really tricking anyone, so the Magus found no problem with the job


    "What do we get as payment?. The books cannot be copied and we will lose ess to their knowledge after ten years." No matter how ingenious a business deal was, Sirin was not willing to work for free.


    "It''s true that you will not be able to remember the words in the book once you lose physical contact with it. But if you can fully understand all the knowledge in the book, you will retain it."


    Zatiel word made it seem as if he had intentionally left that method, but the truth was different. He did not have the power to put conditions in the retention of the knowledge people obtain from the books and once they make it their own and fully understand it, the runes and Mind Force could not erase it.


    For someone like Sirin, ten years to learn the information in both books was enough, but she did not ept Zatiel proposition yet and looks at him carefully.


    "Are you not trusting too much on me?. What is stopping me from learning the information in the books, sell them and then keep the money, after all, due to the nature of it you could not tell anyone that I broke our business deal." Sirin''s expression was cold as she looked at Zatiel.


    Heinz, Zitra, and Totto were surprised by the woman''s change in attitude and were worry about Zatiel, as for Gabriel, his eyes narrowed but he remained silent. The only one who did not show any change was Sophia.


    When Zatiel hears the Magus words, he only smiled at this obvious test. There were several ways he could handle this situation, the most direct one will be using the might of his title and the fact he was an honorary member of the kingdom to put pressure on her.


    In the end, he chose to go with a more natural approach and closed his eyes before speaking.


    "If the money doesn''t reach my n in ten years, I will just have to ask you personally for it at ater time. Of course, I will also be collecting interest."


    Sirin was surprised by the fact he chose to only rely on himself but she shook her head. She was a member of the Scientia Kingdom and a Rank 4 life form, even a Rank 6 life form could not make her felt threaten.


    But everything changed when Zatiel opens his eyes. For an instant, she saw a figure covered in darkness who was looking at her with his monstrous red eyes.


    The figure disappeared in a sh but Sirin feels a chill down her spine. The next thing she saw was Zatiel hand on her face as he looks at her with emotionless eyes and a smile.


    "Your skin is so beautiful, I wonder how much do you think it could worth."


    Her eyes widened and absolute terror started to creep into her heart. She may be strong and have great negotiation skills but the truth was that she has always lived inplete safety and due to the peaceful nature of the kingdom, she has never faced true fear.


    Zatiel knew when to stop and he moves back before making the coldness around him disappeared.


    "You are too young to be ying games with me. The true world is not like your kingdom, and even the greatest backer could not protect you from people who are crazy enough to not care about consequences and just obey their most cruel instincts."


    Sirin did not feel happy when she heard those words but she had to admit they were the truth. Her aura changed and some of his naivety disappeared.


    When Gabriel saw this, he nods and remained silent. He was a mighty guardian of the kingdom and know very well that even the deterrence of their fierce retaliation could not frighten some people, especially those who had nothing to lose.


    "I ept your business offer. In ten years we will start the process of selling the copies and the money will be sent to you as soon as possible." Sirin was serious and there was no longer a smile in her face.


    Zatiel did not think too much of the change in her attitude and he just passes the books to her before signaling the rest to do the same with the items they were going to put for auction.


    Heinz, Totto, and Zitra deliver their items to the Magus. Despite the event that just happened, Sirin maintained her professionalism and inspected the items before storing them.


    "I have recorded your items and you can retrive the money at the end of the auction or use it to buy during this one. Your badges will teleport you directly to a Rank 5 suite, but if you chose to remain together it will be Rank 6."


    The group showed their understanding and they immediately configure their badges. One of the reasons why Heinz, Totto, and Zitra asked Zatiel toe was so he could help them find good items, so they will want to be together.


    "Since you are done I will take you to your residence. Except for Zatiel, all of you must remain in there until the auctions begin. Please obey these instructions or else we will be forced to detain you and expulse you from the kingdom." Seeing that they understood his words, Gabriel took everyone to a massive building that was close to the auction house.


    Everyone was given an individual room, but Zatiel chose to share his with Sophia.


    During their war in the Beta Heavenly World, they have been either fighting or in deep training so they were going to use this time to enjoy themselves.


    .....


    Six days passed and the day of the auction finally arrive. This was happening in an immense auditorium capable of holding thousands of people.


    Almost all of the seats were already taken. Most of them for Rank 3 and 2 Magi but there were some Rank 4 as well in the crowd.


    In one of the biggest suites, three shes of light appeared and the figures of Totto, Heinz, and Zitra appeared.


    There were five seats in the suite and each one had an orb floating beside them.


    Every seat had on orb not just the ones in the suites. Everyone could use their consciousness to privately send their bids through them.


    This was done to stop any sort of intimidation or feud over an item.


    It was only fifteen minutes after the trio arrived that Zatiel and Sophia appeared in the room. The two of them were breathing rapidly as if they have just stop exercising.


    Hein and Tottoughed when they saw this and they raised their thumbs to Zatiel. Zitra acted as if she did not notice anything, but there was a peculiar light in her eyes.


    "Enoughughing. Let see what riches destiny will present to us."

 Chapter 181: Underworld Forge

    In a tform at the head of the auditorium a podium raised and an old man along with it.


    The moment this person appeared all sound banish from the auditorium. This draws the attention of everyone and they understood that the auction was about to start.


    The old man shared the physical characteristic of the people of the kingdom but just like with Gabriel his aura was different, it was deep and mysterious.


    "Ladies and gentlemen my name is Minser and I wee all of you to this one hundred year auction presided by the ''Wisdom Auction House''. All of you should know the rules but I will give a friendly reminder. The orb by your side can be used to ce your bids and once you have won, it will directly subtract the magic crystals from your space rings or personal space withplete secrecy. Anyone who tries to use any type of intimidation tactic will be expelled from the kingdom immediately."


    The old man''s eyes disy the seriousness of his warning and no one thought he will not follow through with his threat.


    "Let''s proceed then with the auction. May fortune and luck smile to all of you."


    As soon the Minser finished speaking, a gate opens on the floor of the tform, and from it a huge container holding a fifteen-meter tall heart rose.


    The most impressive thing about the heart was not its size but the fact that it was still beating, and it was going it with such a strength that some thought it will break the container.


    The Rank 2 and Rank 3 Magus immediately started to discuss among themselves and show great interest in the heart since they could feel the immense vitality in it and they were sure it belonged to a very powerful creature.


    After giving enough time for everyone to see the heart and feel it characteristics, Minser speaks.


    "This is the heart of a Rank 4 Brown Dragon, a dragon with a King bloodline belonging to the Chromatic Dragon lineage. They are known for their ferocity and control over the Law of Sand. The heart was preserved with special magic right after it was extracted therefore it is in excellent condition."


    When this information was given the Rank 4 Magi in the crowd started to show interest.


    "The heart has many uses, varying from an ingredient for alchemy or rune crafting, to the use of it to follow the Bloodline path or for techniques meant to increase physical aptitudes.


    The initial price for this item is thirty-five million magic crystal, and any bids must be three million higher than thest."


    The moment Minser finished speaking, the price of the heart appears above the container with golden numbers.


    Several Rank 2 and 3 Magi sighed when they saw the number and give up immediately. Just the initial price was too much for them.


    The number above the heart grew in less than a second to forty million and it continues to increase.


    Zatiel was seeing this from his seat, and although he could extract the bloodline of the heart, he was not interested in it. A Brown Dragon has indeed a King bloodline, but it was at the lowest level and most of them never truly reach Rank 5 so it was not of much use for the kobolds nor the Sunlight Champions.


    The price continues ascending and in the end, it was sold for one hundred and ny-three million magic crystals.


    The container was retired from the tform and another item rose for the audience to see.


    This time it was just a pill useful for Rank 3 life forms who sought help to solidify their consciousness.


    The pill draw less attention than the dragon heart and its price was inferior, but everyone understood that the first item was to disy some of the greater goods that will be appearingter, and now there will be mostly things essible for Rank 3 life forms.


    Heinz, Zitra, and Totto were not interested in this part since everything they saw had little use for them.


    Zatiel was also not paying to much attention, his talent was sublime and his methods to increase his speed of training were better than the ones disyed. Regarding low-level equipment, he has Ezequiel whose abilities were that of a genius and he was already a Rank 3 Magic Creator.


    It was only after a couple of hours that the group once again started to focus on the auction when new high ranking articles appeared.


    Under the guidance of Zatiel, the Soul Forging existences started to buy some things.


    Totto bought two artifacts known as the Hand of Sorrow and the Eye of Despair. They were Rank 5 artifacts made using the body of a very powerful Abomination and they formed a set.


    With those two artifacts, the power of the spells created by the Lich will grow 70%, and more importantly, he could use them to potency hisws and the way he attacks with them.


    Normally a single Rank 5 artifact will cost around one billion magic crystals but Totto only had to pay nine hundred and forty-eight million for both.


    The reason was that the Hand of Sorrow and Eye of Despair are cursed and they will affect the mind of the wearer so prolonged use was not possible. But the Lich did not have to worry about that since Zatiel gave him a method to handle the curse.


    Heinz also bought an article. The cultivator had acquired a twenty-centimeter long centipede.


    The creature was a Rank 5 Blood Ruby Centipede. It was a special type of magic creature that inhabits the body of their prey and sucked their blood before creating rubies out of it, hence its name.


    It did not have great battle abilities but the rubies it created were an immense source of vitality and life force. There were a lot of people who wanted the creature but under Zatiel''s guide, Heinz did not hold back and finally pay 2.7 billion magic crystal for it.


    The reason why Zatiel told Heinz to get the creature was not for the rubies, but because a Blood Ruby Centipede could be raised as a living organism inside your body.


    There were several steps needed to take before this rtionship between the cultivator and the magic creature could be established and there are risks but Zatiel was certain he could handle them.


    If Heinz manages to establish a symbiotic rtionship with the Blood Ruby Centipede his body will grow stronger and he may even be able to reach true Rank 5 battle power and not just a temporary boost given by his Law Avatar.


    Zitra did not found anything that called his attention and as the day was ending, it seems she will have to wait until tomorrow to see if something useful for her appears.


    The auction continued and as it was ending a forge appeared on the tform.


    It was nothing special and whether you looked with your eyes or inspected with your consciousness it was no different than a forge you could found in the mortal world, but when Zatiel saw it his eyes widened.


    The rest noticed his reaction but no matter how they saw it, there was nothing special about that forge.


    After giving enough time for people to inspect the forge, Minser spoke.


    "This may seem like a normal forge but I assure the truth is different."


    The old man opens his palm and from it, a small arc of ck lightning was shot and shed against the forge.


    The attack was truly small but anyone could feel the immense power in it. It was more than enough to disintegrate the body of a Rank 4 life form yet when itnded in the forge, absolutely nothing happens to it.


    This shocked everyone. That attack will at least left a mark in a Rank 5 artifact, but it did nothing to the forge.


    "We don''t know much about this forge but we have tested it and even the full power attack of a Rank 5 life form did nothing to it. About its origins, I can only say it was found it a barren world devoid of any life.


    The initial price will be seven hundred million magic crystal and every bid must be at least fifty million higher than thest."


    Zatiel waited and saw how the price started to rise but did not bid.


    The price soon reached over two billion magic crystal. No one was dumb enough to think that the forge was normal since just its materials must be incredibly precious for them to have that type of durability.


    But still, there was a limit people were willing to pay for something they did not know their use.


    It was only when the price reached 2.4 billion and remained there that Zatiel ces his bid of 2.5 billion.


    "2.5 billion is the price to beat, someone offers more." Minser was surprised that the forge had reached this price already so he was not expecting much.


    As soon as his voice was heard, the price above the forge raises all the way to 2.8 billion magic crystal.


    When Zatiel saw these his eyes narrowed and without hesitation, he raises the bid to 3 billion.


    ''No matter what, the Underworld Forge must be mine.'' There was resoluteness on Zatiel eyes as he focuses on the forge.


    Zatiel knew the reason why the forge had that type of durability is because was created by a Being of Laws

 Chapter 182: The might of a roar

    Less than a second after the price rose to 3 billion, the number above the forge changed once again and this time it rose by four hundred million.


    When Zatiel saw this his eyes be extremely cold. If he was powerful enough, he would have not hesitated to charge to the podium and took away the Underworld Forge.


    The forge was something it could help him and his race greatly. His luck was incredible good since he finds it here, where he could buy it with magic crystals when its true worth was enough to provoke fights between Law Beings.


    "How much money do the three of you have left?" Zatiel voice was devoid of any emotion and he did not stop looking at the forge as he spoke.


    Heinz, Zitra, and Totto found his behavior unlike of him. No matter what kind of wealth or knowledge they found, Zatiel always treated like something inconsequential, no matter how wondrous it was in their eyes.


    But things were different now and the trio understood the seriousness of the current situation.


    "I have 5.9 billion magic crystals." Zitra was the first to answer.


    "I currently have 4.5 billion."


    "I have left 3.7 billion."


    After the woman, Totto and Heinz reported the amount of wealth they have left after their purchases. The trio did not have hundreds of thousands of people constantly searching for resources and factories to process them into magic items that were sold throughout the empire, but they have managed to amass considerable wealth over the years especially with thest invasion.


    "I will need them if the price rises too much. You will get it back in fifteen years." Zatiel only gives a small nce at the trio before focusing once again in the auction and cing his bid.


    The trio did not say anything and just nod. They have always had a friendly rtionship but they have never truly developed as an alliance. This was because everyone had their way of doing things and were not use to follow someone, but everything changed with Zatiel.


    The Neo-Demon was like a lightning rod that created an invisible attraction force and guide them to his side. Unconsciously they have started to form a group around him and his intentions were something they all followed.


    Zatiel ced his bid and the price above the forge raised to 3.6 billion magic crystal but an instantter the price changed to 3.9 billion.


    When he saw this Zatiel started to frown. He did not know the founds of his opponent and if the price continues to rise like this, it could draw the attention of others, since they could conclude that the forge was something worth investing their money.


    Zatiel did not act when he saw the new number and started to though how to handle this situation.


    Minser was impressed that someone was willing to buy the forge for such a high price and he started to think that it may have truly special functions. But his job was to lead the auction and not to meddle with the items that were in disy.


    When the old man saw the price maintain and does not change for a couple of seconds, he speaks.


    "The price to beat is 3.9 billion magic crystal. Unless someone gives a higher price for the forge, it will be sold in three seconds."


    As son the old man words finished, the price above the forge changed and this time it rose to 6 billion magic crystals.


    The immense rise in the magic crystal drew the attention of everyone since that amount of wealth will be difficult for even a Rank 5 life form to obtain.


    A secondter, from one of the Rank 6 suites a wave of killing intent was released and along with a miasma that was filled with all sorts of dangerous and foul powers.


    The miasma contained itself around the suite and it was present less than a millisecond. The Rank 3 Magi were not able to discern it but their bodies tremble uncontrobly and some of the Rank 2 were left unconscious for some time.


    Zatiel felt the miasma and killing intent, and his body grew rigid due to the immense level of danger he detected. But on his face, there was not a single shred of fear instead he started to smile as he saw the expression of Minser.


    The actions of the man were very smart. He expressed his might and dered the murderous intent in his heart against his opponent during an extremely small window of time. This could be exined as an ident due to the loss of control over his emotions.


    Of course, everyone knew his intentions it but the truth has always been written by the strong. And who will offend a monster like that for something so small.


    The answer was simple: The oldest organization in the Magi World.


    "I have warned what will happen if any attempt of intimidation was employed. Due to your power, we will give you the chance to voluntarily leave the auction house and the kingdom." Minser was furious and it was clear he was greatly offended by the actions of the man.


    Silence filled the auditorium and everyone understood that it was suicidal to meddle when a conflict between such powers ur.


    "I offer my apologies, I was just an unintentional burst of power due to some instability in my consciousness. I have just recently reached Soul Law Domain Rank and I am still not ustomed to my strength. I assure you, 6 billion magic crystal is not anywhere near my limit." The man''s voice was firm, charged with power, and there was also a trace of savageness.


    His words sounded like an apology but he was dering his power and the fact he could continue bidding for a long time.


    This will have been more than enough to satisfy any other organization and auction house in the world but Minser face only grew angrier and his posture was unwavering.


    "Since when the rules of the Scientia Kingdom are something one can break and just pretend that nothing happens by saying a few words. Leave now!"


    No one dares to make a sound after hearing Minser words.


    The people in the auditorium once again feel the miasma and killing intent from the suite in which the man resided but this time they were stronger and more vicious.


    "How dare you to speak like that to me, someone a the peak of the world!. Since when an ant has be so courageous to rebuke a god?."


    The man''s voice was tyrannical and filled with might that does not allow any defiance.


    His behavior was prettymon. To life forms who could act unrestrained inside the world, the rules were something they only obeying when it works for them.


    Of course, they will not dare to truly attack an organization built by a Being of Laws. Everyone is clear about the immeasurable difference in power between the two.


    When Zatiel saw how the man acted, his smile grows even bigger. The man could force his way into a great number of scenarios in the world with his power, but he had chosen the wrong opponent.


    For an organization that has never been challenged and whose might remain so unquestionable that only those who were willing to die would dare to harm their people, meant they were not just backed by a powerful individual outside the Crystal Wall.


    They also had unrivaled powerhouses inside the world and that was proved in the next instant.


    "SCRAM!"


    No one saw from where the voice came but they could all feel the inherent sense of majesty in it. It did not do anything to the people in the auditorium but when the sound waves touched the miasma, that had terrified everyone, they shredded them to pieces instantly.


    "AHHHHHH!"


    An inhuman shriek of pain was heard before silence filled the auditorium once again.


    Everyone was impressed with the roar and although they never saw who did it, one thing was sure, that person could effortlessly kill 99.9% of the people in the auditorium with just his voice.


    Minser looked at the now vacant suite and he just sneered. He coughed and call everyone''s attention before speaking.


    "I apologize to everyone for this minor inconvenience, let''s hope it doesn''t happen again. We will not allow more bids for the forge and it will be sold for 6 billion magic crystal."


    When they heard the words of the old man, more than one person in the suites feel discontent. They knew that the forge must be truly impressive if a Rank 6 life form had gone to the extremes of challenging the rules of the auction house of the Scientia Kingdom for it.


    However, with what just happened, no one dares to defy the rules so they remained silent.


    It was only when the orb subtracted the magic crystal from his ring, that Zatiel rxes.


    He had spent almost all the wealth that his entire n has managed to gather during these years and he was sure that the man who was expelled from the kingdom will be looking for him.


    Still, he felt that everything was worth it now that the forge was his.

 Chapter 183: The paths for Origin Runemaster

    Once he had secured the Underworld Forge, the coldness and calctive light in Zatiel eyes disappeared and he returned to normal.


    Only then the Neo-Demon noticed the way the others were looking at him. It was abination of confusion and concern.


    "Sorry about that, it is an old habit I have. When things truly important happens around me I turn to my most primal behavior." Zatiel was smiling and his expression was serene.


    "Can you tell us what is so special about the forge?" Zitra eyes were burning with curiosity.


    When Heinz, Totto, and Sophia hear the Magus question they all focus on Zatiel, and their expressions were the same that the woman.


    Unfortunately for them, Zatiel shakes his head immediately.


    "Sometimes only knowing something could bring you danger. I would not speak about the functions or history of the forge even to my Will." Zatiel expression was firm and it was clear he will not change his mind.


    When they heard this, they feel disappointed about not be able to satisfy their curiosity but that was it. They have an idea about the level of trust that Zatiel has on Ezequiel and the fact he would not tell him made clear that the secrecy was to ensure safety.


    "When I can activate it, I will invite you to see its wonders." Zatiel eyes shined with excitement as he thought about the Underworld Forge.


    "You are not able to use it yet?" Totto was surprised. By how urgently Zatiel wanted the forge he though he will be using it soon.


    "Hahahaha, of course not. To activate the forge, even the energy of a Rank 6 life form will not be enough." Zatiel gives a meaningful look at the others and then he proceeds to remain silent. This was the most they will get about the forge from him.


    But just this fact was more than enough to shock everyone. A Rank 6 life form has about the same amount of energy as the sun of a Low World and yet they could not power up the forge.


    The auction continues regardless of the state of the group and dozen of articles were disyed.


    The items that the trio put in the auction were also revealed and most of them were sold at rtively high prices increasing their wealth and allowing them to buy some items.


    The things they bought next were not very impressive and cost them just a couple of hundreds of million magic crystal.


    Heinz bought a sword sheath that could repair any damage done to his sword and also some pills that could help to improve his speed of training.


    Zitra and Totto were able to find some items that could help them heal injuries on their bodies and consciousness.


    It was when the first day of the auction was reaching its end that a book with a blue cover appeared on the tform.


    The book looks not different than the ones you could find in an old library and the only thing that calls the attention was the material which was used to make the pages.


    "This is the ''Book of rune crafting''. It was written with an ancient type of runes and altered with an energy capable of affecting the mind. To have ess to the knowledge contained in it, you will need to have physical contact with the book at all times, and once broken you will forget it. Any attempt to copy the information in the book will result in the self-destruction of this one."


    Minser description draws the attention of a lot of people. It was clear now that the book was special and someone went to great lengths to safeguard the information in it.


    "This book contains all the information you will need to know to embark on the path of a runemaster from the most basic procedures to the mostplicated ones. There is a guide that can allow anyone regardless of their talent to reach Rank 3 Runemaster as long as their energy pools are high enough." Minser stops there and he focuses on the reaction of the crowd.


    Desire could be seen in every Rank 3 Magi in the auditorium and also in some Rank 4.


    A Rank 3 Runemaster is useful for any organization but the runes they could make are useless to the high ranking individuals that control them so the book only draws a little of their attention.


    But everything changed when Minser says his next words.


    "There are several paths described in the book that can provide help for a talented person to advance from Rank 3 Runemaster to Origin Runemaster with a chance of sess of 20%."


    It was like a bombnded in some people and they could not believe that a mere book could be so amazing.


    Origin Runemasters have a very high status in any organization and they couldpare to Rank 5 life forms. To be one of it you need to be a Rank 4 life form but that did not diminish the desire in the eyes of the Rank 3 and Rank 2 Magi.


    This feeling was especially powerful in all those powerhouses that have trained as runemasters yet were not able to give the final step despite the increase in their battle power.


    "Minser can you tell us how urate the information about the paths to Origin Runemaster is?. Also is the person who wrote the book famous or someone with great achievements." The voice was deep and carried a great sense of dignity. There was also respect in it that was targeting the old man.


    Minser was waiting for that question and he smiles as he gave the most shocking piece of information yet.


    "We have examined the book for several days and its information is wless, but I cannot reveal anything about its creator. What I can tell is that one of our Soul Forging existences was able to use one path of the book to finally be an Origin Runemaster after being stuck at the Peak Rank 3 Runemaster for more than twenty years. I must rify that the person was a genius runemaster and his achievements in the profession were not small as he grew up."


    Facts speak louder than words and with empirical evidence that the paths in the book were indeed beneficial its value grew immensely. No one thought that Minser was lying since the reputation of the auction house is impable.


    As for the fact that the person who used the book was talented. All of them thought they were special and that their talent could not be inferior to that individual.


    "The initial price for the ''Book of rune crafting'' is 50 million magic crystal."


    The price started in a number that eve some Rank 3 Magi could pay, but in an instant it raises ten times, reaching 500 million.


    When Zatiel saw this, he just rxes on his chair and enjoys the show. The more the number grows the happier his smile became.


    It did not take to long for the price to reach over a billion but it did not stop there and it continues to raise.


    In the end, the book was sold for 5.3 billion magic crystal, a very high number and Zatiel was very please with it.


    The first day of the auction continues for an hour or so and once it ended, the group went back to the residence to rest and prepare for the next day.


    .....


    In the Beta Heavenly World, the battle between the Magi invader force and the Havenly race had reached a standstill since neither side was powerful enough tounch a decisive assault against the other.


    The Heavenly race has a higher number of Soul Forging existences and an individual power greater than most Magi due to their bloodline, while the Magi had the Ten Tower Formation and the force field that made any incursion suicidal unless their opponent had a number twenty times greater than their own


    Fights still urred but they were mostly among individuals and not between the two armies of both sides.


    An interesting event started to happen a couple of years after the force field of the Ten Tower Formation was established.


    The natives of this world, the ones who had yet to go through the Archon transformation, started to escape into the domain of the Magi.


    Although they did not know how this new force that had reached their world will behave with them, it could not be worse than the race who tortures them for fun and kill their loved ones in front of their eyes when they make the most insignificant mistake.


    Close to the periphery of the force field was a young woman running with a baby in her arms. She was malnourished and all sorts of old and new scars were present in her body.


    The most striking thing was the fact that one of her eyes was crushed to a pulp and constantly bleeding. Despite the immense pain that this should be provoking the woman did not utter a single scream and just hugged the baby as she runs with all the strength she could summon.


    Not too far away from her were three individuals of the Heavenly race and they have just butchered a middle-aged couple who had a great resemnce to the woman.


    There was a mocking smile in the faces of the people of the Heavenly race as they saw the futile attempt of the woman to reach the force field before they could catcher her.


    What no one of them notices was the arcs of red lightning that were moving in the sky and was approaching their location.

 Chapter 184: Despair

    Among the individuals of the Heavenly race, there were two males and one female. The men are an Angelic Paragon and an Angel of Protection while the female is an Angel of Supremacy.


    The status of everyone is very clear with the Angelic Paragon and his impressive wings made of earth and yellow sma at the lead apanied by the Angel of Supremacy, and behind them acting as some sort of servant is the Angel of Protection.


    A higher standing due to the bloodline they are born is one of the unbreakable rules of the Heavenly race and anyone who acts against them is considered a Fallen, someone who needed to be killed.


    "Liner, these disgusting creatures don''t know to appreciate our benevolence. They dare to try to escape into the domains of those wretched invaders." There was disgust in the Angel of Supremacy''s eyes as she looked at the woman running but there was also a sadistic smile in her face.


    "Paris, what can you expect from mere beasts?. We allow them the glory to be in our presence and serve as entertainment and still they act like this. They do not deserve a quick death." The Angelic Paragon''s face was filled with righteousness as if killing and torturing these people was upholding justice in the world.


    Both the Angelic Paragon and the Angel of Supremacy were Rank 3 life forms and people with their status should not be handling these types of mission but they had offered to do it. The reason was simple, they enjoy ying with people and destroying their hopes in order to prove their superiority.


    Every one of them can easily stop the woman who could barely be considered a Rank 0 life form instantly, but they did not do it, just to y a little longer with her.


    The woman was running with all her power and was hugging the baby in her arms who was sleeping and as the Angel of Supremacy saw this, her smile grew bigger.


    Paris waves her hand and she fired a small beam of energy thatnded in the woman''s face and destroyed her remaining good eye.


    The Angel of Supremacy was waiting for the woman to scream due to the immense pain that having her eye destroyed should have provoked but not such thing happen.


    The woman gritted her teeth and refuses to scream. Despite not longer been able to see, she knew she needed to move forward so after hugging the baby tighter she continues running.


    Her fortitude and resolution made the Angel of Supremacy and Angelic Paragon frow and dissatisfaction can be seen in their eyes.


    "How boring, didn''t those older beasts teach her that she should scream when we attack her." Paris'' face was exactly like the one a child will do went one of her toys did not work.


    Liner was also very upset and he waved his hand creating small rocks that were shot against the woman and destroyed her legs.


    As she was falling to the ground the woman twisted her body protecting the sleeping baby from the fall but even after that, she still did not scream.


    "Hmph stupid beast, if we want you to scream, then you should feel honored and scream!. Go and crush the newborn beast before killing her too." Liner''s face was filled with rage as hemands the Angel of Protection.


    The Angel of Protection limited himself to nod andnd in the ground before slowing approaching the woman. He knows very well the likes of his master, so this type of behavior that induces agony in their victim was something he was ustomed to doing.


    It was only when she hears the instructions of the Angelic Paragon and the steps of the man who was going to hurt the baby in her arms that the woman could not hold on anymore and starts to cry tears of blood.


    Her actions only made a smile appear on the Angel of Protection but before he could travel half of the path to the woman, thunder filled the area and an immense sense of danger assaulted him.


    Unfortunately, he was too slow, and before he could do anything from the sky a man surrounded by red lightning dives in and crushed his body.


    A small explosion of red lightning formed a crater where the mannded and you could see him crouching down above the bloody remains of the Angel of Protection.


    The red lightning that covered his body was devouring the blood in the ground strengthening itself with it.


    Liner waspletely shocked. His servant was a Novice Rank 3 Angel of Protection and yet, his entire body was destroyed with a single strike.


    He was able to see the attack and knew the reason for its might was because the natural energy in the surroundings was absorbed into the man''s body while he attacked.


    He is an Advanced Rank 3 Angelic Paragon and is bloodline gave him great physical might, yet there was no way he could reach that type of momentum with just his body and he could not understand how the man did it.


    However, he did not have time to think as he saw how runes started to glow in the man''s body. When this happens the red lightning increases its power and concentrates on the man''s arms and legs.


    The man formed a cross with its arms in front of his chest before leaping, breaking the ground under its feet and firing its body like a cannon against the Angelic Paragon.


    The speed he managed to achieve was so immense than in the next instant he was right in front of Liner and all the natural energy around him was being channeled into his body increasing exponentially the might of his charge.


    The Angelic Paragon could barely react and he channels all the energy he could into the rune he had on his chest creating a yellow sphere around his body beforepletely covering himself with his wings.


    The defensive rune that protected Liner was simr to the one that the Angelic Paragon with the blood wings that Zatiel fought had and that it needed thebined might of an explosion of Fiendfire and several Abyssal sts to destroy.


    The man had its arms in front of him and used the entire power of his body to crash against the yellow sphere.


    Cracks appeared immediately in the sphere and it was able to hold on less than a second before breaking down. However, it consumed a great amount of the man''s drive before crashing against the winged cocoon.


    When Liner felt the cross of red lightning touching him, he could swear that it was not a man but a meteorite the one smashing against his body.


    The Angelic Paragon was sent flying away and there were several fractures on his wings that would have been much worse if not for the yellow sphere.


    After that impressive attack, the man''s face grows pale and the power in the red lightning diminished considerably. His expression, however, remained the same and pure coldness could be seen in his eyes as he turns to look at the Angel of Supremacy.


    Paris'' heart was filled with absolute terror and helplessness when she saw those eyes. She has just seen how this man killed the Angel of Protection and sent Liner flying away in a matter of seconds and understood that she could do nothing against him.


    Without hesitation, she turns around and attempts to escape from the monster in front of her, but she was barely able to move a few meters before a hand grabbed the back of her neck and red lightning paralyzed her body.


    Unfortunately for Paris, her body was only paralyzed and could feel how the man grabs her wings and rips them from her back.


    "AAAAAHH!" An inhumane shriek came out from Paris'' mouth due to the horrible pain she was feeling.


    The man did not show anything when he hears the scream and after a few seconds that were pure torture for the Angel of Supremacy, he raises her above his head and his free hand grabs her waist.


    With one hand on the back of Paris'' neck and one on her waist, the man starts to pull making the screams louder before the Angel of Supremacy was torn apart, finally dying.


    The red lightning swallowed all the blood that was falling into the man''s body and it even enters into the Angel of Supremacy''s body and devoured its insides.


    Liner had juste out from the pit he created when hended in the ground and saw that gruesome scene and how the man and red lightning recovered all the energy they lost with the attack that destroyed his rune and hurt his wings.


    Panic and fear fill his mind and he could not believe what was happening. He is a member of the Heavenly race, one of the most powerful races on the universe and his bloodline was that of an Angelic Paragon and now he was facing a monster he could not escape.


    "Who are you!" Liner''s eyes were showing the despair that was crushing his will.


    The man with the red lightning looks at the Angelic Paragon and when he saw the state of his opponent, his eyes lose their coldness and became devoid of all emotion.


    "I am Ezequiel, the Supreme, the Will, and your death."

 Chapter 185: Unforgettable scene

    Ezequiel did not say anything more and the runic set glowed once again increasing the power of the red lightning before this one extended uniformly over his entire body enhancing his defenses and improving his reflexes.


    The Neo-Demon proceeds to kick the air andunches his body against Liner. His speed was slower now, unlike when he had channel great part of his red lightning to his legs, but the control over his body improved.


    Despite the fear crawling into his heart, Liner''s arrogance did not allow him to ept the fact he is terrified by someone of another race. His wings glowed and slowly his body started to change increasing in size and his skin was adopting a metallic yellow luster.


    The Angelic Paragon was an experienced fighter. Without wasting time he channels part of the energy in his consciousness and made hundred of giant hands raise from the ground and they attempted to grab Ezequiel in order to disrupt his charge.


    Each hand measures dozen of meters and they were altered with the energy of Liner which gave them great destructive might. They blocked the route of Ezequiel to the Angelic Paragon as they try to seize him.


    Ezequiel did not diminish his speed despite those massive hands in his path, on the contrary, he was constantly kicking the air and increasing his drive.


    He showed an unbelievable dexterity propelling his body through the gaps between those hands and those he could not dodge, he sts them to pieces with his fists.


    It took a moment for Ezequiel to reach in front of Liner. Eighty percent of the cloak of red lightning gathers on his right arm, leaving the twenty percent remaining to protect the rest of his body.


    Liner had finished his transformation and his strength increased exponentially. His body was one sizerger and he strikes at Ezequiel with everything he has.


    The fists of the Neo-Demon and the Angelic Paragon shed against each other creating a shock wave that destroyed the ground around them.


    Ezequiel''s hand was trembling and feels sore but his damage was insignificantpared with his opponent.


    Liner could feel how his muscles were torn apart and how thunder and lightning infiltrate his body wreaking havoc inside him.


    But the Angelic Paragon had not used only his body to attack as hundred of earth spikes appeared around them when their fist shed and they were now shot against Ezequiel.


    As the spikes were about to reach his body, the Neo-Demon starts to rotate forming a tornado of red lightning that destroyed all the projectiles around him.


    Without losing his momentum a kick filled with red lightning was sent at Liner, hitting his jaw andunching his body into the air.


    The Angelic Paragon was feeling an immense pain since his jaw was fractured and his mouth was filled with blood. However, he could not allow himself to decrease his concentration since Ezequiel was approaching him.


    He sends a blow at the iing figure. Unfortunately, he hasn''t gained control over his body after the kick and his attack was filled with ws.


    The Neo-Demon easily dodges that punch and impacted Liner''s chest with his shoulder, fracturing his rib cage causing him to cough blood.


    Before Liner''s body could be sent flying away due to the impact, Ezequiel grabs his wrist maintaining him in ce and strikes his stomach filling his bowels with thunder and lightning.


    Once again Liner coughs a mouthful of blood and this time there were parts of his internal organs in it. The agony awakens an immense rage in him as he stares at Ezequiel.


    "DAMN BEAST!" While he shouts the life force in Liner''s body starts to burn increasing his power and his wings twisted themselves forming spears of earth.


    This process was incredibly painful but his power increases to the peak of the Master level and every single one of his wings became a dreadful weapon that charges at Ezequiel with amazing speed.


    Ezequiel''s eyes narrowed as he saw those spears and without hesitation, he lets go of Liner''s wrist and moves backward.


    However, the spears were too fast and he was too close. Ezequiel manages to dodge four of the spear but two of them were able to pierce his shoulder and stomach.


    A shield of red lightning was present in those areas, stopping a great part of the power of the spears and allowing him to reach a safe distance.


    The hole in his shoulder reaches the bone and the one in the stomach almost connects with his back.


    The red lightning was healing his injuries and Ezequiel took a moment to size the increase in power of his opponent.


    Thest time he fought with a Master Rank 3 Angelic Paragon he was an Advanced Rank 2 Neo-Demon. The Angelic Paragon was already fatigued from his previous fight and his power was decreased even more due to the neurotoxin in his body.


    Despite all that, he was barely able to reach a draw by taking advantage of the Angelic Paragon carelessness and increasing his power by burning his blood essence.


    He was now a Peak Rank 2 Neo-Demon with a Primordial bloodline and his body was already able to partially fuse with the natural energy in the surrounding increasing his battle power even more. The runic set he now has was one designed to supply energy to his red lightning, which was fundamental to his battle style.


    Ezequiel could activate Blood Essence Combustion and safely win this fight but his goal was to fight battles that push his body to the limit so without hesitation he charged against the enraged Angelic Paragon in front of him.


    Liner attacks are fast and powerful and you could barely see the six spear of earth his wings had be as they try to pierce Ezequiel''s body.


    The Neo-Demon martial arts and control over his body were sublime, allowing him to dodge most of the attacks and those he could not, he made sure theynded in points that were not vital and covered them with his red lightning.


    Whenever he can, he sends counterattacks increasing the amount of thunder and lightning inside Liner''s body and the natural energy that fused in his body as he did that was improving.


    Liner knew that the only way he could truly damage Ezequiel was with his wings so he focuses all of his power in them. As for Ezequiel, his battle style was one that treated his body as a weapon and center in melee fight.


    Every time their attacks shed among themselves or theynded on the other, shock waves were generated and they made the area around them a death zone to any Rank 0 life form. And the power in the waves was only increasing and very soon they could shred to pieces a Rank 1 life form.


    Unfortunately for Liner, the longer the battle became the worst his condition grew. His face lost all of his youthfulness and now looks like the one of a man on his fifties.


    Ezequiel''s situation was theplete opposite. His attacks grew stronger as the amount of natural energy they were able to draw grew and it was reaching the point where every attack he performed with his body was potentiated with the might of a Rank 3 spell.


    The Neo-Demon momentum was reaching his peak and for an instant, he closes his eyes and remember the image of that Primordial employing the true meaning of ''Strength''.


    Ezequiel''s eyes open and there was a red light in them. He twists his right arm and body while throwing a punch that looks like it was drilling inwards and he directs it at the Angelic Paragon heart.


    When he performed this attack all the natural energy around him fully fused with his body increasing his might to a whole new level.


    "Unstoppable Heart Break Shot!"


    The threat of death ovee Liner''s rage and he puts both arms over his chest to try to protect himself while throwing his wings at the Neo-Demon.


    Ezequiel''s right arm was like a drill and it destroyed Liner''s arms without any resistance before prating his chest anding out from his back.


    The wings lose their strength and were not able to harm Ezequiel, meanwhile from Liner''s mouth and eyes light wasing out signaling his decease.


    Liner''s body disappeared into Ezequiel''s spatial ring in the next second. The expression of the Neo-Demon did not change after killing the Angelic Paragon.


    He was satisfied with his progress but it will take a long time before he can fully draw the natural energy of the world with his body at will.


    All of a sudden his eyes widen as he detected movement with his consciousness.


    He will remember what he saw next for the rest of his life.


    The woman with the baby, the one who was blinded and whose legs were destroyed. She was dragging her body through the ground using one hand while the other was holding the baby.


    She knows she will die due to the blood loss and she should not be able to move in her condition and yet she was advancing without stopping and never letting go of the baby.


    The Supreme of the Neo-Demon race was surprised by the woman''s resolution. She was not using spells or any sort of energy, only her will to excavate the hidden power of her body and move forward despite this elerating her death.


    He flies to the woman''s side and looks at her for an instant before sending an arc of red lightning that covers her and the baby.


    When the red lightning touches her, the woman stops moving and falls unconscious. The lightning was healing her body and improving the condition of both her and the baby.


    Ezequiel took both of them in his arm with care before flying back to the force field.

 Chapter 186: Path of Gods

    The second day of the auction started quietly. There were no major changes in the people of the crowd and there was still a lot of Rank 2 and 3 Magi.


    Most of them had understood that high-grade articles were not something they could obtain, but this was an opportunity to abroad their horizon and it could help them in the future when they be stronger and found such things in their explorations around the universe.


    Zatiel, Sophia, Heinz, Zitra, and Totto were sitting in their suite. The group was not paying to much attention to the items that wereing at the beginning since just like day one, the first things Minser disyed were not of much use for people like them.


    The three Soul Forging existences only began to buy after a couple of hours and most of the things they acquired were potions useful for training and those that could replenish their energies or heal deep wounds during battles.


    But nothing called the attention of the trio until a small dagger contained in a crystal box appeared on the tform.


    The dagger was extremely old and in very poor shape. It is full of indentations and has patches of rust all over the de showing a high level of corrosion.


    What draws the attention of everyone to the dagger is the erratic powers that were surrounding it and that they sh among each other releasing high levels of energy.


    Of the group of five, the ones who were more interested in the dagger were Zitra and Zatiel.


    Unlike the excitement that appeared on the Magus''s eyes, the Neo-Demon was frowning and his Eye of Life and Creation was inspecting the dagger.


    Seeing that the dagger seeded in obtaining the attention of the people in the audience, Minser begins to speak.


    "This dagger was collect from an ancient battlefield in a High World where billions of lives were lost and the continent where it happened was destroyed. The dagger itself was a powerful artifact but due to thousands of years of deterioration and the damage it took during battles, now its nothing more than a single piece of metal." Minser voice was soft but everyone in the auditorium could hear them as if they were next to him.


    The exnation of the old man surprised a lot of people and everyone focuses on the impressive powers that were moving around the dagger


    They know that Minser would not be lying but considering that the dagger had lost its abilities, then how could it release such destructive energy?.


    The old man knew the effect his words will have on people and he proceeds to exin.


    "The reason for the energy you see in the daggeres from the rust on it. The rust and corrosion were produced by the blood of a Rank 6 life form and it seems the dagger was used to pierce his heart and probably destroy his bodies.


    Like many of you know, as we be stronger our souls andws start to affect our body and it reaches the point where every single cell can disy all sorts of mystical powers.


    The dagger is no longer useful for fighting since it could copse in any second but it can help people increase theirwprehension."


    Lawprehension is something essential to advance to Rank 4 and beyond. Its also needed to increase the power of your soul and body.


    There is none who is not interested in it, but you also need to be sure thews in the dagger were useful for them and if they can reach some level of synergy with their otherws.


    The reason for Zitra''s feeling was the fact she could feel the Law of Light and the Law of Shadows in the dagger and they were at a higher level than hers.


    "You need to be careful with that dagger."


    Zitra was surprised when she hears those words and turn to Zatiel who was still looking at the dagger.


    She was confused and was not the only one since both Heinz and Totto could also feel the power of thews in the dagger but could not detect any problem in it.


    "There is only one path of power whosewprehension can be so erratic and chaotic despite reach such high level and that is the Path of Gods." Zatiel face was serious as he speaks.


    The Path of Gods is one of the most important paths of power in the universe, just like the Magi Path. There is a High World named The Divinity World that ispletely dominated by users of this path.


    This path of power is very popr due to the fact its speed ofprehension over thews is one of the faster that exists and it doesn''t rely on talent but in the use of prayers to channel the belief and devotion of worshipers.


    It grants the highest lifespan and it is not weird for theirs to be ten times higher than other life forms in the same Rank.


    They also have the ability to create Avatars that can express a decent level of the God''s power.


    At a certain Rank, a God can create something called Divine Kingdom. That is an immense dimension where their powers grow exponentially and they can literally channel the entire power of the kingdom into their attacks.


    The Divine Kingdom can also receive the souls of the devout people after their death and allow them to spend thousands of years in perpetual happiness before they are pulled into The Eternal River of the Afterlife.


    Like everything that seems too good, this path has severe disadvantages.


    A God must always follow thews with which he had chosen to be associated, for example, a God of gue must continuously spread diseases and epidemics. It reaches the point where it affects their mind and guides their desires.


    Failure to enact theirws, or worse, act in opposition to them can make a God fall and have their soul shatter.


    And that is not all, a God must always have living people devoted to them. That is why they form churches and spread their religions.


    If people forgot them, then they will slowly weaken until they be nothing more than a mortal.


    For those reasons is why the Path of God is mocked by some powerful individuals like the ve Path since you be a ve of thews.


    Zitra face was pale while she considers all the implications that studying thews in the dagger could carry.


    If she were to focus on thews around the dagger and try to emte their behavior with herws, herwprehension could be corrupted and her True Soul affected by the path of the God whose blood was left in the dagger.


    Once that happens, the only thing she could do is give up the Magi Path and be a God and for that, she will need to find a new world and conquer it since the Path of Gods is not a path that could prosper in the Magi World.


    "Then the dagger is useless?" Zitra was disappointed when she hears Zatiel description but she did not doubt him.


    She was smart enough to understand that Zatiel knowledge was something neither she, Heinz, or Totto could match. He has already proved his understanding of thews when he disyed the evolution of duality to her.


    "Not necessarily, there is a way you could benefit from thews in the dagger" Zatiel eyes were filled with wisdom and reminiscence.


    He is an expert on the Path of Gods. The Divine Kingdom and Avatars of a God are incredibly useful and he certainly wanted them for the race he created when he was the Incarnation of Death and Destruction.


    He captured thousands of individuals who follow that path and also searched in the most archaic tomes of knowledge to figure out the principles behind them.


    "You will need to identify the features of the Path of Gods that remain in thews around the dagger and eliminate them. Only then you can try to understand the essence of the Law of Light and the Law of Shadows and slowly enhance your ownprehension. The blood belonged to a Demi-God of Light and Shadows so I have a technique that can help you identify the qualities of its path." Zatiel speaks without much interest and it was clear he did not consider the information too important.


    Zitra was looking at Zaitel with admiration and was incredibly happy he hade with them to the auction.


    She was not the only one, Heinz and Totto were feeling the same. This time it was Zitra, but if thews around the dagger would have been rted to their own and if Zatiel was not here to warn them, they could have made an irreversible mistake.


    With Zatiel assistance to solve the problem in the dagger, Zitra was determined to buy it.


    She was not the only one interested in it but luckily there was no Rank 6 Magus that want it the dagger so she was able to buy it for 4.8 billion magic crystals.

 Chapter 187: Pit Fiends spine

    Zitra was very happy for obtaining the dagger. It will help her greatly at improving herwprehension and she will not need to waste time performing experiments, wandering through the universe in search of phenomena or in dangerous fighting to understand the essence of the Law of Light and the Law of Shadows.


    This is where individuals with bloodlines have a massive advantage. They can look at their bodies to understand the essence of theirws and they only look outside for inspiration or knowledge when they desire to increase the speed of their training.


    Of course, they have a drawback that is their bloodline shackles. Once they reach the limit of the help their bloodline can provide them, improving theirwpression will be dozens or even hundreds of times harder than people without a bloodline. That is why is very weird to find someone with a King bloodline who has reached Rank 6.


    Devils and demons were different since their bloodline can mutate as long they devour individuals form their race or one of their archenemies.


    Neo-Demons are even more special since they break all the disadvantages of their first bloodline when they form their Bloodline Heart. And they can fuse their bloodline with others from any race to improve their might.


    More items were disyed and among them was a bracelet known as Jupiter''s Night that creates a moon around your body allowing you to survive the attack of a Peak Rank 5 life form while they are fuse with their Law Avatar and transport you away through the void at an incredible speed.


    The bracelet is a one time use Rank 5 artifact and there are seven of them for sale.


    Totto and Heinz each bought one bracelet for 3.4 and 3.2 billion magic crystals respectively. Despite being a one-time use item, the two were willing to spend almost all of the wealth they had left since it will practically mean a second life form them.


    Just after the bracelets were sold, a strange one-meter long root appeared on the podium and there is a rainbow-colored me around it.


    The mes were peculiar since they radiated a great power yet there wasn''t any heat emanating from it.


    "This a Nirvanic Root and it is a core ingredient for some Rank 4 and Rank 5 pills and potions. It is also very useful for alchemists since those who are able to understand and examine it fully can see their skills increased. The initial price is one hundred thousand magic crystals." Minser''s spech was short and its goal was only to raise the excitement to a decent level.


    The old man knew that although the Nirvanic Root is a high-level magic nt, it is very hard to use and those who can truly take advantage of its properties are either high-Rank Alchemists or those with talent that want to use it to train their profession.


    The price for the Nivanic Root rapidly reached 400 million magic crystal and it continues rising. Among the people bidding for it was Zatiel.


    When Sophia saw this she became a little nervous and the higher the price became the more apprehensive her eyes became. She was confident in her battle power and has always pushed her body and spells to the limit in order to be able to match Zatiel and Ezequiel but when it came to her abilities as an alchemist she was not very confident in them.


    She could be considered talented but besides poisons, all of her other creations were not that remarkable and she could notpare with the other two.


    It was not due to theck of effort. Unlike Zatiel who had the A.I. chip and his Eye of Life and Creation to help him creating runes and Ezequiel whose wisdom and intelligence were enhanced for the Storm Titan bloodline and now for his Primordial bloodline, her bloodline did not provide any help with her profession.


    "You don''t have to worry, wealth is useless if you don''t spend it. Besides, I have a Rank 4 recipe that uses the Nirvanic Root, and although you are still not able to create it, it will help you if you are familiar with the ingredients at an early stage."


    Sophia looks at Zatiel and saw him looking at her with a warm smile. There was unmeasurable love in her eyes and also resolution as she once again looks at the root.


    In the end, Zatiel was able to buy the Nirvanic Root for 670 million magic crystal, a price very low considering how hard it is to obtain it.


    Once he secures it, Zatiel sent the recipe to Sophia''s mind through the Chaotic-Core.


    The pill that the recipe described was known as Nirvanic Fire and although it was a Rank 4 pill, in truth there was also a way for it to reach Rank 5 or even Rank 6 as long its ingredients were improved but the difficulty for higher ranks was much harder.


    When the recipe appeared in her mind Sophia did not lose time and immediately started to analyze it.


    Heinz, Zitra, and Totto saw these scene but they did not offerments. Individuals like Sophia that can kill an Angelic Paragon an entire Rank above them are people any organization will want to have and their suitors will be endless but it was clear that no one couldpete with the love and devotion she has for man by her side.


    As the second day of the auction was closing to its end, a book with a ck cover appears on the podium.


    The book was simple and it did not have any remarkable qualities at in sight, but that made a lot of people to focus on it.


    Minser was a professional in his job and only after allowing expectations to grow enough did he speaks.


    "This is the ''Book of resurrection''. As some of you may have deduced this book has the same origin that the ''Book of rune crafting'' and it shares the characteristics that make necessary have physical contact to ess its knowledge and the self-destructive mechanism that prevents any type of copy.


    The book contains all the magic knowledge regarding necromancy and the soul to allow a Soul Forging existence to resurrected any person beneath Rank 4 with an intact soul and whose death was less than five hundred years ago"


    The old man made a pause and allowed everyone to discuss and the thrill over the book to raise before continue speaking.


    "There are also rituals in the book that a Rank 4 life form can use to resurrect people who had die of old age and give them twenty years extra of natural life. These people can improve their life force by using the time they have to increase their Rank, with potions or special magics.


    The initial price for the ''Book of resurrection'' is 200 million magic crystal."


    When some people hear Minser words, an unbelievable desire could be seen in their eyes and they needed to contain themselves in order to not jump at the podium and search for the rituals in the book.


    In one of the suites, there were three members of the Eye Holder race. They were Gwyn, the High Prince, and Onir.


    "That book seems interesting. You should buy it, maybe it can help or at least guide you in a path that can allow you to resurrect people with broken souls." There was a cordial smile in the High Prince as he spoke. It was clear by his words that he knew about Gwyn''s history.


    Gwyn looks at him with an expressionless face and no one could know what he was thinking.


    "I already know what to do." After saying those words, he turns back to the auction and ignores everything else.


    When the High Prince hears him his eyes narrowed but in the next second, he returned to normal.


    A great number of people were interested in the book and the price rose at an incredible rate.


    Zatiel saw this and he only smiled when he saw how his fortune increased.


    In the end, the book was sold for 8.2 billion magic crystal. Objectively thinking, the knowledge in the book was not worth that much but when the possibility of bringing back the people that you love is in front of you, any price is small.


    After the book was sold and people had calm down, Minser continues with the next item.


    "Now we will present thest item of the second day of this auction. It a part of the body of a Peak Law Engraving existence in perfect condition."


    Law Engraving existences have immensely powerful bodies and even if they have never train them, they can use exclusively their physical might to fight a Rank 4 Dragon without a problem.


    Therefore any part of their bodies is immensely valuable especially if they were at the peak of their Rank.


    Minser did not make people wait and soon a four-meter long spine appeared with a force field around it. An extremely unlucky and ominous aura could be felt from the spine and anyone could see that to whoever it belonged, it must have been a being of pure, unimaginable evil.


    Zatiel did not have to wait for the old man to describe its origin and there was a smile on his face as he thought of those creatures.


    ''A Pit Fiend''s spine, how interesting.''

 Chapter 188: A new enemy

    Everyone was impressed by what they felt from the spine. Even for a Law Engraving existence, to have a part of their body release such a powerful and intimidating aura on their own was astonishing.


    That creature must have been an apex predator.


    From time to time you could see glowing runic inscriptions in the spine and every single rune was engraved with an unbelievable level of skill. This was not done by a Runemaster, but by the True Soul of the Pit Fiend.


    Minser let people analyze the spine for an entire minute, and even though some individuals among the crowd were still discussing it, he knows that the potential buyers have had enough time, so he waved his hand making silence return to the auditorium before speaking.


    "This spine belonged to a creature whose kind is known as the quintessential tyrants and overlords of devils, a group of beings upying the top hierarchy of the Nine Hells, the vassals of Archdevils, I am referring to the Pit Fiends." Minser face was solemn and was clear than even someone like him feel dread of such creatures.


    When he finishes speaking above the spine a hologram appeared depicting a creature that can be called a perfect killing machine.


    It can be described as evil made flesh. It has a massive four-meter tall humanoid form covered by red scales that ignited with hellish blue mes. Those mes were the physical representation of destruction in the Nine Hells.


    It has immense bat-like wings that gave it a gargoylish appearance and despite their apparent fragility, everyone could see the sharp edge that made them as deadly as any saber.


    Its ws and huge fangs secreted a ck poison. Its constricting tail disyed tremendous physical power and it has a pointy end with great prative might.


    After the hologram did its job, Minser continues to speak.


    "A Pit Fiend can be considered the devils with the highest battle power that exist and a great number of Archedevils belonged once to this kind of devils. They can defeat beings with Emperor bloodlines like Angelic Paragons or Golden Dragons and some of the special ones can equal individuals with Law bloodlines. This is not due to their bloodline but due to the process from which they were created.


    They are made from the most worthy, wicked, evil, and talented devils who were able to withstand the devil scorching hellfire from the Pit of mes that is fueled for the Origin Power of Phlegethos, the fourth circle of hell, for one thousand and one days.


    The mortality rate of this process is so unbelievably high, that despite the ones submitting to it are the best of the devil race, less than one in one hundred million are able to go through it.


    But those who can ovee it and be Pit Fiends, have their bodies and souls remodeled allowing them to obtain a perfect understanding of the natural energy of Hell as well a connection with thews of the ne that allows them to advance at incredible speed in the Ranks.


    They can even draw a small part of the power of Baator to them as they fight."


    The words of Minser shocked a great number of people. A Law bloodline is the highest type of bloodline that exits and their users can disy an unbelievable battle power, however, these types of devils can equal them.


    Every part of these creatures was contaminated by the power of Baator and people now understood the reason for the force field. It was to stop the wicked and evil power in the spine from affecting the minds and souls of the weak ones.


    Anyone who wanted to use the spine will have their consciousness constantly affected by the corroding power that the origin of the fourth cycle of Hell left in the creature''s body.


    If they are not strong enough they could have their mind so twisted that they can end up eating their children if they think that could give them power.


    Zatiel knew the danger the spine represented for the mind of people but that did not include him.


    His will is unbreakable and even if it wasn''t, the Chaotic-Core inside his Elemental Chaos Heart can filter the chaotic will of the Abyss Aura inside his body and consciousness and it should be able to do the same with the corruptive power of the spine.


    ''I am in the need of a new weapon and this seems perfect. A Neo-Demon using the spine of a Pit Fiend like a sword doesn''t sound bad. It will be difficult to use it with my current power but I can use refiners techniques to fix that problem.'' There was excitement in Zatiel eyes as he saw the spine and he was smiling thinking of all types of attack he can perform with it.


    His previous sword was no longer useful after thest battle with the Angelic Paragon with wings of winds due to the great umted damage it had taken over the years so this spine was excellent for him.


    To truly tap into the power of the spine he will need for a Rank 5 Magic Creator, meaning an Artifact Creator, to transform it into an artifact.


    But since he is energy pool is so small, he will not be able to use an artifact so instead, he intends to refine the spine that will allow to partially activate the runes in it and draw a decent level of its might.


    When Minser saw that everyone has processed the information he just gave them, he made the price for the spine appear.


    "The initial price for this Pit Fiend''s spine is 900 million magic crystal. Every bid must be one hundred million higher than thest."


    The number was exorbitant and that amount of wealth was something a great number of people in the crowd will never be able to own but less than a second after the number appeared above the spine it changed to 1.5 billion.


    The spine was not only useful as a weapon. It can be used as an ingredient for poisons or even as the core material for a high-rank runic set.


    Therefore the number of people interested in it was not small.


    When Zatiel saw how fast the price was growing he frowned but in the next moment, he rxed. The spine could reach a high level of synergy with his battle style but it was not something he must have so if he is not able to obtain it, he will not truly care.


    He remains in silence waiting for the price above the spine to remain steady for a couple of seconds.


    It took a few minutes but finally, the price maintains itself at 9.2 billion magic crystal.


    "The price to beat is 9.2 billion magic crystals, if there are no more bids in three seconds it will be sold." Minser voice resounded through the entire auditorium as he stated the price.


    Only now did Zatiel put his hand over the orb, making the price for the spine reach 9.4 billion magic crystals.


    A secondter it rose to 9.6 billion but Zatiel immediately makes it grow to 10 billion.


    In a suite, one man saw how the number grew and an ominous aura was released from his body. He was smart enough to not let it escape his room but the killing intent in his yellow eyes was immense.


    The man was eight meters tall with an enormous and muscr body but what truly was peculiar about him was the fact his appearance is simr to the figure of the Pit Fiend above the spine.


    He has ck leathery hides, powerful wings, and a long tail. A pair of huge curved horns wereing out from his head, apanying his sharp teeth and bestial eyes.


    There was another man in the room. He was two meters tall and has green skin and ck eyes. His power could notpare with the man by his side but that did not mean it was small.


    "My Lord, you should reserve your wealth. We can obtain a part of a Pit Fiend another time but important articles will be appearing tomorrow."


    The man''s eyes narrow when he hears this and although the killing intent in them was still present, the aura around him disappeared.


    "Fine, but starting today I want you to investigate any information about the buyer of this spine. I will allow him to have it for now, but what I desire always ends up in my hands."


    The man with green skin nods and offers no more words.


    Zatiel did not know what those two men were talking about but even if he knew, he would not care. He is not so stupid as to go exposing his wealth for everyone to see and by the time he finishes with the spine, no one will be able to recognize its origin.


    The crystals were subtracted from his ring and now he was the owner of the spine of a Pit Fiend.

 Chapter 189: The end of the auction

    Zatiel was not interested in the articles that will be exhibited during the third and final day of the auction. He knew by how previous auctions went that there will be mostly stuff useful for Rank 6 life form, and even if he wanted he did not have enough money.


    However, he still attended with the others. Maybe some unique items like the Underworld Forge could appear and even if he wasn''t able to buy it, he will be aware of their presence in the Magi World.


    Unfortunately, no such thing happened. What was disyed were potions that could help the training for Rank 6 life forms and also artifacts that can increase their battle power.


    Something that calls Zatiel attention was that thest articles disyed were world coordinates and possessions that belonged to Law Beings when they were still Rank 6 life forms.


    Buying world coordinates could be considered buying the right to invade and dominate those worlds. There were even coordinates for High Worlds introduced and they were sold at a very high price.


    Everyone understands that buying world coordinates was actually an investment since the profits they will be able to get once they dominate the world will be much higher than the price they were paying. Of course, that was counting they were strong enough to defeat the force of the world, otherwise, they will have to resell the coordinates at a much lower price.


    Zatiel is currently focusing on the development in the Magi World and the invasion in the Beta Heavenly World so he was not interested in spreading his forces even more. He knows the location of hundreds of worlds and the moment the Neo-Demon race bes strong enough he will start his expansion.


    Among the belongings of the Law Beings, there was a diary that described his experiences and inspirations. Even if the diary was absolute garbage and pure nonsense, it was made from an individual that reached immortality, so it wasn''t a surprise that it was sold for more than 30 billion magic crystals.


    Regarding things like that, Zatiel was even less interested. Most of the people who bought them were powerful beings with too much money that wanted to increase their status by having possession over an item that once belonged to a Being of Laws. This was not different than rich people in the mortal world that buys a piece of art just because the artist was famous.


    The auction ends without any new major surprise and Minser proceeds to say his departure speech.


    "Ladies and gentlemen allow me to thank you in the name of the Wisdom Auction House for attending this gathering and I hope all of you have found what you were looking for. Now you can use your badges to go back to your room in the residence and those who have bought articles in the auction will be teleported to a special dimension where they will be handed to you withplete privacy."


    In their suite, Zatiel and the rest were all holding their badges. The Neo-Demon looks at them and after some thought, he speaks.


    "We will gather in the lobby of the residence once we have our things and we will begin our journey back to the empire."


    "Are you not going to remain in here for a few days?" Heinz was surprised by Zatiel decision of leaving immediately.


    Unlike them who need to leave because the auction is over, Zatiel can stay here as much as he wants since he is a member of the kingdom.


    The Scientia Kingdom is the ce with the most advanced magic knowledge in the Magi World and exploring it was something anyone would want to do.


    But Zatiel was different and he did not feltfortable remaining in the kingdom. I wasn''t that he felt something wrong but by the level of concern that the true leader of the Scientia Kingdom show for his people, he was sure that thisnd was under the watch of a Being of Laws and thest thing the Neo-Demon wanted was to draw his attention.


    "No need, I wille back when the time is right." Zatiel shook his head and gave no more exnation.


    The rest saw these and did not question him. They knew that if he wanted to exin he would have done it, besides this will mean they will not have to wait for him.


    They all activated their golden badges and in the next second, they disappeared from the suite.


    Zatiel appeared in a white room with no doors or windows and the only piece of furniture was a table that has three small white boxes on top of it.


    He was not alone in the room, Sinir and Gabriel were waiting for him here.


    The Neo-Demon eyes narrowed when he noticed the duo. But when he saw the boxes that should contain the Nirvanic Root, Pit Fiend''s spine, and most importantly, the Underworld Forge he rxes and walks to them.


    "Why are you two waiting for me in here." Zatiel was smiling as he spoke.


    When Sirin saw how casual his behavior was despite he no longer having those three Rank 4 life forms by his side, she could not help but sigh and her eyes disyed a sense of defeat.


    She was hoping that Zatiel would act at least a little more modest do to their difference in power but it was clear he did not consider her a threat.


    Zatiel was very clear of the behavior of the people of the kingdom and he also knew that the Second Prince will not allow people to hurt him in his presence since the king was interested in him.


    "You have to examine the items you bought and I need to know that you find no problem with them."


    She was speaking the truth but of course, such tasks were not usually handled by someone of her position.


    Gabriel did not care too much by how Zatiel acted and merely nods before speaking.


    "I was sent here by my Royal Father. In case you have decided to leave right now, I was tasked to escort you and your friends back to the empire. We can assure that no one knows the identity of the buyers, however, fights on The Ocean of a Thousand Wonders are verymon after the auction is over." Gabriel''s face was calm and it was clear he did not consider traveling in an area full of battles, something worth worrying about.


    Zatiel did not have a reason to refuse so he wees the Second Prince of the Scientia Kingdom into the group before focusing on Sirin.


    "Since you are here, I was hoping we could embark on another business transaction."


    The Magus was surprised by his words and she already knew that anything rted to the man in front of her will not be simple. Theirst transaction has allowed her to obtain the knowledge of two books that reached abined priced of over thirteen billion magic crystal.


    She has a great business mind and did not let eagerness cloud her judgment so she waited for Zatiel to fully exin himself before making a decision.


    "I need a constant supply of bloodlines and although the purity doesn''t need to be perfect, it also must not reach the point where they have degraded to something inferior. They need to be at least King bloodlines, it doesn''t matter if theye from races with disabilities like the chaotic mind of demons or the depravity of devils. I need this business to be made with discretion as well."


    The need for bloodlines is verymon in the Magi World since there is an entire branch of Magi that follows that path but they are usually also apanied by a Path Technique that can guide their transformation. Just having the bloodline of a powerful creature is useless if you don''t know to use it.


    Sirin also found it very weird that Zatiel was not looking for a race in specific and did not care for the side effect of some bloodlines.


    But that did not concern her, so after making some calction about the rentability of the operation, she spoke.


    "Due to the standards that you have established, I am confident of being able to establish a steady supply of King bloodlines. For those at the Emperor level, I should be able to asionally procure some of them although they will have a price of over a billion magic crystal each one of them. I will need time to establish a secure and quiet channel with the hunters, therefore, the first batch will be ready in a year and then every month a new batch will be delivered." Sirin exuded a great charisma as she spoke.


    Neither of them even thought about Law bloodlines. That was something no amount of money could buy.


    Zatiel knew that this enterprise will need a great amount of wealth and his funds were pretty low right now. Luckily he has a way to handle that.


    "If you are willing to use the future money that the books will generate as payment for the bloodlines, I am willing to pay a ten percentmission."


    Sirin thought for a moment and since she was confident in her ability to sell the books and the money she will get from them, she agrees with his proposition.


    "Excellent. Please send the bloodlines to the Daybreak Magic Tower. There will be a dragonborn to receive them."


    Zatiel was very happy after having handled the problem with the bloodlines and once he inspected the contents of the white boxes he says goodbye to Sirin and leaves with Gabriel.

 Chapter 190: Admiration

    Heinz, Totto, Zitra, and Sophia were in the lobby of the residence where they have been living for the past few days.


    Unlike Zatiel who had met Sirin and Gabriel in the white room, they took less than a minute to inspect the items they have bought, and now they were waiting for the Neo-Demon.


    Zatiel appeared a little while after them, and he was apanied by Gabriel.


    The group was surprised when they found out that the Second Prince will be escorting them into the domains of the empire. His status and power made him someone who could roam through the entire Magi Wold unhindered and they found it very weird he will do this type of job.


    Of course, they were all very happy to have him in the group. The three Soul Forging existences knew very well how dangerous the trip through The Ocean of a Thousand Wonders will be now that individuals are lurking in the dark waiting for the right prey to appear.


    The territories governed by powerful organizations like the Aeternum Empire and the Eye Dynasty have codes that seek to maintain order so their civilization can flourish. These codes created ayer of security for people, a rtive one, but one nheless.


    However, The Ocean of a Thousand Wonders was different. No organization has control over it and the surveince in it is null. This made this ocean a paradise for robbers, especially now that there will be people traveling with all sorts of unique goods.


    The six of them left the residence and were heading to the exit of the kingdom. The force field that covered most of the continent made any attempt of teleportation in and out of it almost impossible, so they first needed to reach the shore before Gabriel could lead them away.


    All of a sudden Zatiel face bes cold and stops in mid-air before making the Eye of Life and Creation appear in his forehead.


    The rest were confused by his behavior but he did not have time to exin. He focuses on the direction from where he had just felt a sharp killing intent directed to him.


    It was extremely fast and hidden very well to the point that even with his instinct and experience he almost didn''t notice.


    It took him a moment but he was able to track it to a man in his mid-forties. He has dark hair and his most distinctive feature was the two red bloodline eyes he had on his forehead.


    He was an Eye Holder and his power had reached Rank 4, giving him the title of Eye Tyrant. He was not alone since he was part of a team of Soul Forging individuals that were following an old woman whose bloodline eyes were dark green and whose face was filled with arrogance.


    The old woman was the most powerful of the group by arge margin and there was an impure and nefarious aura around her. Despite her appearance, the Eye of Life and Creation showed Zatiel the immense life force inside her.


    Zatiel''s memory was perfect and he was able to see the simrities between the man with the red eyes and a naive and arrogant man he had crippled during one of his first mission on the Magi World after he reached Rank 1.


    ''He is the person that Azel threatened me with so many years ago, the Patriarch of the Blood Eye n, Finz Santorum.'' Zatiel eyes were cold and he was frowning.


    If you look him attentively you will notice that there was uncertainty on the eyes of the Neo-Demon.


    He was not fond of underestimating his enemies so after his magic tower waspleted one of the tasks he has given to Dante, was to find all the information he could about the Blood Eye n. That is why he was able to recognize the Eye Tyrant so fast.


    The Blood Eye n was a Rank 4 bloodline n under the Ominous Eye n. The reason for the man hatred was the fact that Tritus, his son, was born with a mutated bloodline and unlike the rest of the n whose bloodline reached maturity at Rank 4 he had a King bloodline, which made him extremely important.


    The reason why Zatiel was feeling confused was not the Eye Tyrant. Truthfully, he did not consider him a threat, since Totto and Zitra could easily equal him and Heinz could kill him without a problem, but the old woman he was apanying was a different subject.


    If she had been willing to help Finz in attacking them once they left the kingdom, then they would have been forced to escape with all their force and if the woman has a level of dominion over the Law of Space, then they would have been in real danger.


    But the moment Gabriel joined their party, that epic tale was reced for a boring journey.


    It seems a pure coincidence that they have met here and now but Zatiel could not shake the feeling that something more happening.


    He made some deductions with the information he had present and although the possibility was very low, Zatiel always trusted his instinct.


    ''Fate!'' Zatiel''s eyes became incredibly colder when he thought about it.


    Gabriel has been watching Zatiel behavior and when he saw the coldness with which he looked at the group of Eye Holders, his eyes narrowed.


    From the Second Prince a consciousness so immensely powerful that was like an invincible ancient creature was released and charged at the group of Eye Holders. It epasses all of them in less than a fraction of a second.


    The natural energy around the Eye Holders froze and the Eye Tyrants could not help but tremble as they felt in the consciousness a power high enough to crush their bodies in an instant. The old woman was moreposed but the arrogance in her face had disappeared and was carefully looking at Gabriel.


    Gabriel did not speak or try to exin himself, he just concentrated the energy of his consciousness and branded every single Eye Holder with a rune in their chest.


    When the old woman saw the rune, her eyes became frosty but she was not targeting Gabriel. She was staring at Finz, making his face pale.


    The old woman sneered when he saw the behavior of the man and she looks at Gabriel for a moment before bowing and leaving with the rest of his people.


    The Second Prince did not stop them and he concentrates a great amount of energy into his hand, creating a ck stone filled with runic inscriptions.


    "If they had attacked or at least threaten you, I could have killed them, but since they behaved and followed the rules of the kingdom this is the best I can do. This stone will show you their position at any time and if they get near you, you can use it to activate the runes I left in their bodies. It will fatally injure those at Rank 4 but it will only incapacitate the Law Engraving woman enough time so you can escape." Gabriel''s face was peaceful as he extends his hand with the stone to Zatiel.


    When Heinz, ZItra, Sophia, and Totto hear this they were shocked and could not help but look at Gabriel with admiration. He was very young with a thriving life force like a furious volcano and yet his control over thews and the energy of the world could only be described as godly.


    Zatiel did not immediately take the stone and look deeply at the man before speaking.


    "I am thankful but why did you do it, this was not something the Kingmanded you to do but something that you chose."


    Gabriel was a little surprised by the question but he founded it very easy to answer.


    "In my kingdom there is a saying, ''The Royal Family is above all his subjects''. It doesn''t mean we are superior to the rest of our people but that we watch over them and protect them from any harm. I am a Prince of the Scientia Kingdom and from the moment I was born, my purpose has always been to protect my people, and that includes you." Gabriel''s eyes disyed an immense sense of righteousness and honor.


    His behavior was not something that was indoctrinated to him or forced, it was something he believed from the deepest part of his soul and he takes great pride in it.


    When Zatiel hears him, for the first time in a very long time, he felt a sense of inferiority. It was not targeting the prince in front of him but to the man who created this kingdom.


    The sense of purpose and conviction he saw in Gabriel''s eyes, was the same that was present in Ezequiel and Rax.


    Right now every Neo-Demon was someone who put their race above themself and it was something Zatiel took great pride on, but what about those born after ten generations, or ten thousand. Even he could not say that every member of his race could still have such devotion to his people like the man in front of him.


    "I must say that the creator of the Scientia Kingdom is someone worthy of respect and admiration."


    After saying those words, Zatiel took the stone and keep it on his ring.


    For the first time since they met, the group saw Gabriel smiling. It was clear that hearing someone praise his leader made him happy.


    "Let''s go, my responsibilities are many so we need to move fast."

 Chapter 191: Soul Guardian Beast

    Gabriel''s control over the Law of Space is impressive and the six of them were traveling at an unbelievable speed through The Ocean of a Thousand Wonders.


    There was a crystal sphere containing the group and was protecting them. This was a high-level application of the Law of Space that was constructed by the Second Prince through thepression of space around them.


    The sphere was very thin, and yet its defensive might was amazingly high. And that was not all since the momentum of it was constantly increasing, along with its speed, making the kic energy it was generating soar.


    Zatiel was surprised by the high level ofwprehension that Gabriel was disying despite being so young and having no help from a bloodline. It was clear he has great talent and was hard working.


    The route the Second Prince took was a straight one. Whenever there were storms or some other type of phenomenon in their path, the sphere just pierces through them and break everything with its might.


    The crystal sphere remained very high in the sky for a long part of the journey when all of a sudden it descended until it was less than a couple of thousands of meters from the ocean surface.


    The group was surprised by Gabriel''s action but soon they got an answer when they hear an explosion so loud that seems like if the sky was falling apart. A fight between incredibly powerful life forms was happening above them.


    However, before Heinz and the rest could start to feel happy about distancing from that apocalyptic battle, from the ocean an octopus tentacle appears right in front of them.


    It was so wide and long that covered the sun and filled the group with shadows.


    Unlike what they thought it will happen, Gabriel did not slow down or changed the trajectory of the crystal sphere.


    The energy of the Second Prince rises and spatial cracks started to appear around the sphere. This made its offensive might reach a whole new level.


    The gargantuan tentacle did not remain still and like a whip, it shes at the group, making gales form around it.


    When the tentacle and the crystal sphere shed against each other a shock wave that created a vacuum in the ocean was generated.


    The sphere stopped for an instant before the spatial cracks managed to destroy the skin of the tentacle, allowing the sphere to pierce it.


    A roar of fury was heard from the bottom of the ocean but the sphere did not stop after piercing the tentacle and before this one could attack again, the sphere disappeared into the distance.


    Gabriel was not willing to truly fight against that magic creature since he had to protect the group he was traveling with.


    The shockwave that their sh produced was enough to disintegrate a Peak Rank 3 life form at a molecr level. And those strikes were not anywhere near the strongest attacks the magic creature or the Magus could disy.


    After a couple of minutes, the sphere raised once again into the sky and the rest of their journey went pretty uneventful.


    It was only when they reached the shore that the energy on the Magus subsided and the crystal sphere disappeared.


    "We have reached thend controlled by the Aeternum Empire, I will leave now. You can use the tablet that I gave you to contact me, even if we are in different worlds, but I may take a long time to respond. When I train or during an important mission, I don''t pay attention to my tablet." Gabriel''s face was calm as he spoke and it seems that this travel and the encounter with that magic creature did not have any effect on him.


    "Thank you for your help and please tell your Royal Father that I will visit him and thank him in person when I reach Rank 4." Zatiel has a very good impression of the Second Prince.


    Gabriel nods and concentrates the power of space inside his body before disappearing. Now that he did not have to worry about anyone else, his speed was much greater.


    Zatiel did not waste time and once they were alone he made two crystals appear, one for Totto and the other for Zitra.


    "In the crystals is the information about how to remove the curse in the Hand of Sorrow and the Eye of Despair, and the information about the Path of Gods necessary to handle the problem with the dagger."


    The duo took the crystal and was very happy but they remained silent while waiting for further instructions.


    The next person Zatiel focus was on Heinz.


    "We will go to the Daybreak Magic Tower and I will help you gain control over the Blood Ruby Centipede so you can fuse it into your body. After that, I will focus on my Rank Spell.


    We will all gather in the Sinux Magic Tower after I have reached Rank 3 and we wille back to the Beta Heavenly World so we can initiate our second expansion."


    Everyone understood their task. Totto and Zitra headed to their magic tower and Heinz covers Zatiel and Sophia with his consciousness before teleporting.


    ....


    In an underground level of the Daybreak Magic Tower where the Elder Brain resided, there were two people facing a red centipede that was caged in a transparent box and who has a rune on his forehead.


    The Blood Ruby Centipede was looking with hostility at Heinz and Zatiel. Apprehension could be seen in his eyes when he focuses on the small device that thest one had in his hand.


    "I am Zatiel and he is Heinz. What is your name?" Zatiel face was expressionless and it seems as if he did not notice the anger in the magic creature''s eyes.


    Just like any other life form, as magic creatures grew stronger and advance in the Ranks their intelligence also grows so Zatiel knew that the Blood Ruby Centipede could understand him perfectly and also speak.


    There was anger in the eyes of the centipede. He is a Rank 5 life form yet he is now someone''s property and due to the rune on his forehead, he cannot escape and neither kill himself. And worst yet, the device in Zatiel hand can induct in him pain so unbearable he can barely withstand it.


    "I am Juntu, Rank 5 Blood Ruby Centipede." Juntu manipted the air around him to create the sound of those words.


    Zatiel saw the behavior of the centipede and he nodded. If it was an obstinate one who did not care about anything, it will be very hard to proceed with his n.


    Magic creatures can also be considered a bloodline race with a Rank of maturity that usually depicts the final stage of their development. There are uncountable different kinds of magic creatures but there are characteristics that most of them present.


    Regardless of how high their intelligence grows, they tend to act ording to their instinct and disy living behavior simr to the rest of their kind. They are fiercely territorial and attack everyone who enters their domains as long the difference in power is not immense.


    Their soul and consciousness are weaker than the rest of life form in the same Rank and they find it difficult to fully take advantage of their energy pool.


    As for their bodies, they usually are very strong in that aspect but the Blood Ruby Centipedes were different. In a direct battle, their power is equal to a Peak Rank 4 Magic Creature even when they are at Rank 5.


    "You will fuse with the body of my brother, where he will use your abilities to condense an individual''s blood in order to temper his bones, nerves, and flesh as well as provide him with a second source of energy." Zatiel tone made clear that there was no form of rejection allowed.


    Heinz was seeing all of this but he did not interfere. What Zatiel hopes to achieve needs a level of maniption that he did not possess.


    The Blood Ruby Centipede remained silent when he hears this, but the anger in his eyes did not disappear. It grew since he feels humiliated by being used as a tool.


    Zatiel did not show anything when he saw the creature''s anger and continue to speak.


    "You are too strong to be left inside someone''s body with just the rune on your head to stop you from rebelling. Therefore you have only two options, first, we corrode your soul and consciousness until you essentially be a puppet and your body bes a prison from which you will never be able to escape. This will affect the system of strengthening I have in mind but we will haveplete control over you." Zatiel eyes were emotionless as he spoke.


    When the Blood Ruby Centipede hears those world he feels afraid. What Zatiel described was a hell worst than any torture he could imagine.


    "What is the second choice?" Juntu rage diminished greatly and now fear could be seen in his eyes.


    When he hears him speak, Zatiel aura changedpletely and a friendly smile appeared on his face.


    "You join us as apanion and be a Soul Guardian Beast. That will create a symbiotic rtionship between you and Heinz. If you betray him, you will die before you can harm him and if he intends to betray you, his soul will be severely harmed."

 Chapter 192: Blood Demodand Technique

    When Juntu hears Zatiel''s proposition he was surprised, instead of being used as a tool without free will they offer him the chance to work together and assure him that he will not be betrayed or discarded.


    The Blood Ruby Centipede has live for thousands of years and he knew of the cunningness of humans and how they can transform a horrible lie into a beautiful truth.


    He could not remain silent since that will mean having his ego destroyed, so his options were limited.


    "Can you exin to me what is exactly a Soul Guardian Beast?" Juntu was hoping to obtain more information before deciding what to do and was looking expectantly at Zatiel.


    The Neo-Demon smile grew wider when he saw this and his attitude became friendlier.


    "Of course, is it not tooplicated." Zatiel proceeds to exin the method and what will exactly happen with the Blood Ruby Centipede.


    The Soul Guardian Beast Technique is verymon among the powerful life forms in the Immortal ne, the ce where the Cultivator Path was born.


    A link will be established between the True Souls of the magic creature and the Cultivator, allowing them to share their thoughts and create a symbiotic rtionship.


    The benefits for the Cultivator are plenty. Firstly, his True Soul will be protected by the True Soul of the magic creatures, making any sort of spiritual attack send to him have to face the soul defenses of both of them.


    The magic creature can follow him in battle. In some cases like with the Blood Ruby Centipedes, the Cultivator can use his abilities to strengthen themselves.


    There are limitations and restrictions on this technique. The death of the Soul Guardian Beast will greatly damage the Cultivator with the exception in the case where the magic creature betrays this one.


    In the case of betrayal for part of the magic creature, the soul of this one will crumble and nourish the soul of the Cultivator. And if it''s the other way around, the cultivator will lose a part of his True Soul and the Soul Guardian Beast will be free of his responsibilities.


    There is a restriction with the level of strength of the Cultivator''s True Soul since this one can not be significantly weaker than the one of the Soul Guardian Beast.


    That is why the ones chosen for this role are usually magic creatures since even if they are one Rank above the Cultivator, their True Souls are not much stronger.


    Since it is a symbiotic rtionship, there are also benefits for the Soul Guardian Beast. Their True Soul will be constantly nourished by the True Soul of the Cultivator and theirwprehension will be boosted, which will essentially allow them to get rid of their bloodline shackles.


    This increase will be even more powerful if thews their bloodline helps them toprehend are also trained by the Cultivator.


    When Juntu hears Zatiel''s exnation he could not help but feel hopeful. He can feel the level of power in the Law of Blood surrounding Heinz and it was very close to his own, despite him not having any sort of bloodline and being so young.


    He will not be a ve or an insignificant pet but a truepanion with free will and if the Cultivator bes stronger, he will also grow more powerful. There is the possibility he may reach the mighty Soul Law Domain Rank, bing a hegemon of his kind.


    Regarding the inequality in the punishment for betrayal, it was something he can ept without a problem, after all, he is a prisoner right now.


    "How can I know you are telling the truth." Juntu could not let go of his fear of human''s cunningness. Everything sounded good, but what if after going through the process he just ends up bing a ve.


    Zatiel was not surprised for the magic creature apprehension, it was something he was expecting it will happen.


    "There is no reason for me to lie since the only other path you have is a waking nightmare that willst for eternity. But since you may be one of us, I will give you the Soul Guardian Beast Technique so you can analyze it and see by yourself if I am telling the truth. The technique is very simple so with the strength of your soul, you will not have any problem to detect tricks." Zatiel took a crystal and fills it with all the magic knowledge and principles of the Soul Guardian Beast Technique.


    The Neo-Demon gives a signal to the Elder Brain who made a golden force field appear around him before waving his hand and making the transparent box that contained Juntu disappear.


    The device in Zatiel''s hand could activate the rune on the Blood Ruby Centipede and incapacitate him in less than a fraction of a second. But the Neo-Demon knew that amount of time was more than enough for the centipede to destroy his head, with the current distance between them, if he did not have a shield protecting him.


    Juntu did not say anything regarding Zatiel actions and limit himself to make the crystal reach his head before analyzing the information in it.


    He spent hours analyzing the technique form every single point possible and the more he saw, the great the hope in his heart became.


    The Soul Guardian Beast Technique is just like what Zatiel described. A symbiotic rtionship between the True Soul of Heinz and his own that will severely punish any sort of betrayal.


    "I am willing to be his Soul Guardian Beast." Juntu knew that this was a path that will transform disaster into a blessing.


    Heinz has learned everything about the technique from Zatiel a while ago and he was ready.


    "Ok, you two should start right now. After the technique ispleted I will destroy the device and erase the rune." Zatiel distance himself from the duo and activate his Eye of Life and Creation to monitor the process.


    Heinz and Juntu look at each other with great solemnity before raising their energies to the peak. Bloodes out from their mouths and gathers in the air creating a three-meter orb.


    In the next moment from Heinz''s forehead, a blue figure exactly like him surrounded by a sphere of white energyes out and enters into the orb of blood.


    From Juntu head a the same thing happens and a small and blue Blood Ruby Centipede surrounded by white energy enters the orb and starts to orbit around Heinz''s True Soul.


    Slowly the white energy surrounding their True Souls starts to travel from one sphere to the otherbining themselves.


    This process continues for several hours before the faces of the True Souls of Heinz and Juntu started to disy an unbelievable amount of pain.


    A piece of Heinz''s True Soul was removed and sent to Juntu''s True Soul, and the same happens with the magic creature.


    Once this was done, the orb of blood nurtured their True Souls, healing some of the damage that was provoked.


    The True Souls of Heinz and Juntu return to their bodies. They open their eyes showing an immense sense of exhaustion and weakness.


    The amount of pain that extracting a piece of your True Soul will generate is beyond words and the damage will have been much worse, maybe even irreversible, if not for the piece of True Soul of the other filling the void and the connection that was created between them.


    The next time Heinz and Juntu look at each other, there was a sense of familiarity in their eyes. Their souls were connected and the bond they have created was extremely solid.


    When Zatiel saw this, he nods and made the device self destruct erasing the rune in Juntu''s head.


    When the Blood Ruby Centipede feels the rune disappear, he looks at the Neo-Demon and gives a small bow to disy his gratitude.


    "Good, now that is over, it''s time for me to pass the Blood Demodand Technique to the two of you. This technique will strengthen Heinz''s body by using blood energy to temper every part of him, which will give him a powerful physique and it will allow his blood to contain a great amount of vitality and energy.


    It is very difficult to advance in the Blood Demodand Technique by only using your blood. That is why the technique allows you to use the blood of others to speed up your training, but this will could create ws since the blood of powerful life forms is contaminated with all sorts of energies. This is where Juntu enters.


    As a Blood Ruby Centipede, he can purify the blood and allow only the purest blood energy to be used, making the speed of training hundred of times faster."


    After finishing speaking, Zatiel gives the duo the Blood Demodand Technique. They focus their minds on it and after a few hours, they learn what they need to do.


    Juntu looks at Heinz, and after this one nods he jumps into his chest and prates his skin, entering his body.


    Once inside him, the Blood Ruby Centipede travels to Heinz''s heart before epassing and piercing it with his legs.


    Heinz''s frowned a little due to the pain, but in the next second a wave of vitality fills him, healing all the damage Juntu made.

 Chapter 193: Purifying the spine

    Once their bodies have fused, Juntu and Heinz were ready to start training the Blood Demodand Technique.


    The principles behind this technique are extremely profound and without amazing talent, it was impossible to even understand them.


    The technique seeks to use blood energy to nourish the body enhancing its might and its goal is gradually mutate your constitution into one of a demodand.


    Demodands are a type of brutal and very powerful fiend race known for their strong bodies and destructive abilities. They can fight melee battles with Titans on equal ground and rip to pieces normal dragons without a problem.


    Despite their might, demodands are one of the least known fiend races, due to their low poption and the fact they mostly remain in the Wicked Throne, their home ne.


    Like most high-rank techniques, the Blood Demodand Technique uses the power of thews to work, and in this one, the Law of Blood is essential.


    In the minds of Heinz and Juntu, there were six levels of this technique. For the first level, one will need to have the Law of Blood at the ''Potential'' level just to start training it and once it waspleted, you will obtain a physical power that will allow you to fight with Rank 4 life forms with just your body.


    Of course, that was as long your opponent has not activated their Law Avatar, but in that case, you can activate your own and with the addition of your new physical might, your power will soar.


    Heinz and Juntu were truly impressed with the technique, especially since to advance, it only requires you to have the Law of Blood at a high level and it doesn''t matter if your Rank has not advanced.


    Once the third level of the Blood Demodand Technique ispleted, your body will go through a qualitative change pushing you one step closer to a true demodand constitution. Your body will have the strength of a Rank 5 life form and unlock very powerful abilities.


    Once that happens and since Heinz''swprehension allows him to fuse with his Law Avatar, he will have the power to fight against Rank 5 life forms at Rank 4 on equal grounds.


    What the duo did not know was that there is a seventh level for the technique and achieving it will make you undefeatable under Rank 7 and allow you to at least be able to run from a Being of Laws.


    The reason why Zatiel did not give them the entire technique was not a matter of trust. He knows very well that sometimes knowing too much could be extremely dangerous, besides nothing stops him from giving themst level when they be strong enough.


    The Blood Demodand Technique is very hard to practice and needs copious amounts of blood energy to work.


    Without Juntu, just finishing the first level will have taken Heinz over thirty years. As for the time needed to achieve the third level, hundred or even a couple of thousand of years would have been considered short unless the Cultivator was willing to use the blood of powerful life forms and run the risk of leaving ws in his demodand constitution.


    Zatiel was using the Eye of Life and Creation to analyze Heinz''s condition and make sure no problem urs. He could see the energy that was running through his blood and constantly nurturing his body, and he also saw how it was diminishing at an elerated rate.


    Just training the first level for less than an hour left Heinz exhausted and his face was pale but the strength in his body grew significantly.


    "I will remain in the Endless Forest from now on and will make periodical trips to The Ocean of a Thousand Wonders. Contact me when we need to go back to the Beta Heavenly World." There was a deep fighting intent in Heinz''s eyes as he spoke.


    Zatiel understood very well the intentions of his brother. He did not only wanted to use the blood of powerful magic creatures for training the Blood Demodand Technique, but also change his battle style and take full advantage of his increased physical might.


    When Heinz saw Zatiel nodding, he teleported out of the magic tower and disappeared into the Endless Forest.


    Now then that is over, Zatiel can focus on his power. Hemunicates with Dante''s consciousness inside the Elder Brain.


    "Is the purifying pool finished?"


    "Yes, father. I followed your instructions and since most of the ingredients were already in storage, I was able toplete it while you helped uncle." Dante uses one of the tendrils of the Elder Brain and pointed at a container filled with a blue liquid in a corner of the floor.


    This was one fo the container used to store the natural energy of the world and now, the liquid inside has changed and obtained purification properties.


    Zatiel took a white box from his ring and made the Pit Fiend''s spine, which was covered by a force field, appear.


    Without wasting time, he moves the spine above the container before making the force field disappear.


    The moment that happens, an evil aura was released from the spine filling the room and it remains floating in the air.


    Its power made it seem as if it was a living creature and not just a piece of a devil''s body.


    The Neo-Demon eyes narrowed when he feels that aura. All sorts of voices started to appear on his mind and tempt him with everything he desires if he obeys them, but to someone like Zatiel, they were no different than the sound of rain.


    That did not mean the corruption was not powerful since it was more than enough to contaminate the mind of a Rank 1 life form in a matter of minutes.


    Zatiel did not care about the effect of the voice. What matters to him was the Hell Aura that filled the spine.


    Hell Aura was the energy used by devils and just like Abyss Aura, it is poison for any other life form that enters in contact with it.


    The refining technique that Zatiel ns to use in the Pit Fiend''s spine needs for him to use his own body as a forge. That will exponentially increase the might of the corruptive power but with the help of the Chaotic-Core, it will not be a problem.


    However, the Chaotic-Core could not help him with the Hell Aura and he needed to purge it from the spine before starting to refine it.


    Zatiel gives a signal to Dante, and the Elder Brain takes control over the energy in the tower, creating a massive hand that pushes the spine into the container with blue liquid.


    The liquid starts to boil the moment the spine enters in contact with it, like water when heated metal touches it.


    Just the blue liquid will not be enough so Zatiel makes the All-Epassing Sun me fill the container and strengthen the purifying process.


    .....


    In the Beta Heavenly World, inside a small house close to a giant magic tower, there was a woman sleeping.


    She was the same person whose legs and eyes were destroyed and that had a body filled with scars and malnourished due to years of starvation and cruel punishments.


    But things were different now. Her legs and eyes have regenerated and all of the injuries in her body were healed.


    The reason for her change was the mantle of red lightning that was covering her body. Not only was it healing the damage she had taken but also strengthening her.


    Her hair was ck and although she was not stunningly beautiful, there was a sense of courage and determination in her face that made her very attractive.


    The eyes of the woman twitched for a moment before slowly opening themselves. She was confused, she clearly remembers how her eyes were destroyed yet now she could see and there was red lightning covering her body.


    Her mind and will has been temper through years of living with the constant threat of death so, despite the strange of the situation, she was able to maintain calm.


    But when her mind became more clear, her eyes widened and she starts to frantically look around the room.


    It was only when she saw the baby that was sleeping by her side in a crib that she was able to rx. The same red lightning that was covering her was also on the baby.


    There were love and concern in her eyes as she looks at the child.


    "Good, you are finally awake."


    When the woman hears those words, she instinctively grabs the baby and looks at the direction where the voice came from.


    In a corner of the room, there was a female humanoid dragon with ming wings in her back.


    When the woman saw those wings hatred filled her face but it disappeared immediately. She understood very well the nature of the monster that dominated her world and knew that they all have human forms so the person in front of her was not one of them.


    The Neo-Demon notices her vignt behavior and did not get closer to her or the baby so she would not get scared.


    "I am Shiyu, member of the Daybreak n. You were brought here by Lord Ezequiel. I have the task to watch over you and answer any question you may have." Shiyu was disying a friendly attitude as she spoke.

 Chapter 194: Numir

    Numir remained silent as she was trying to understand her current situation and deduce the intentions of the people who had brought her here and not only saved her life but also heal her wounds.


    The most obvious answer will be that they were benevolent people who just want to help her. But experiencing life as a ve from a race that seeks pleasure by torturing physically and physiologically people like her, she understands how dark and horrible the universe can be.


    More than once she has heard how powerful members of the Heavenly race made people feel special and give them hope of a better life, only so they could take away that hope and watch them go crazy in despair.


    She was vignt but the information she currently has is too little and since the woman in front of her has told her that she will answer her questions, she thought for a long time about her doubts before carefully speaking.


    "My name is Numir, and I express my deepest gratitude for saving me and my brother. Can you tell me the reason why Lord Ezequiel has saved me and what purpose he has for me?" Numir''s way of speaking was refined and it did not disy the slightest sense of impudence.


    She has seen how people were dismembered just because they say a wrong word or expressed themselves incorrectly so she has trained countless hours on how to speak to powerful beings.


    For someone who has been treated like a beast all his life, her skills were impressive.


    Thanks to her past, Shiyu notices the fear that gave birth to her behavior, but there was little that the Neo-Demon could do other than show a friendly attitude and calmly respond to her questions.


    "I am sorry but I am not able to answer that. I don''t dare to speak in the name of a Supreme of my n and you will have to wait until Lord Ezequieles back before directly asking him." Shiyu smiled at the woman and answer her question withplete honesty.


    Ezequiel has instructed Shiyu, that she could reveal any information to the woman, as long they were not secrets like the existence of the Chaotic-Core or the Neo-Demon race.


    Numir eyes narrowed when she hears those words.


    "Can I know more about the identity of my savior, Lord Ezequiel?" There was reverence in Numir eyes as she spoke, but whether it was true or not, only she knows it.


    Her question wasn''t a weird one since anyone will be curious about the person who has saved them. But her intentions were different, she was trying to understand what he intends to do with her.


    "Lord Ezequiel is the right hand of the n''s ruler, the most powerful member of the Daybreak n in the Beta Heavenly World and our current leader in this world." Shiyu''s respect was obvious and it was something all Neo-Demons share since he is the only one of them to have been titled by the Ancestor.


    It was very clear to Numir that Ezequiel was someone with a very high position and whose words carry an immense weight among his people.


    She remained silent and after a moment she looks at the ming wings that Shiyu has on her back. She was doing everything she could to repress the hate she feels when she thought about the people who also have them.


    "What is the rtion between your mighty n and the Heavenly race?" Only saying their name almost made Numir''s face distort by hatred but she still did not know how deep the animosity run between the invaders and the Heavenly race so she made sure to control her emotions.


    Shiyu has been expecting that question and before speaking she took a crystal and made pictures appear on the air.


    In the images, you could see thousands upon thousands of people impaled and with their backs shattered and bloodied. The pain in their faces was a clear depiction of the inhumane torture they were submitted before dying. There was a phrase carved in their chests and the words ''Daybreak n'' was present in it.


    This was a gory scene and would have raise repulsion in most people but when Numir saw them, she could not stop herself from smiling due to the immense sense of satisfaction that was filling her heart.


    She saw the undefeatable monsters that were her worst nightmare, disyed like pigs in a butcher shop, and just thinking about the pain that they had felt made her eyes sparkle.


    Shiyu''s expression was no different. She knew a lot of the Neo-Demons whose souls were destroyed by the Duke of the Heavenly race.


    Her kobold tribe was no longer a helpless group but members of a powerful race that will deliver the most bloody and brutal revenge imaginable against their enemies.


    "The Daybreak n and the Heavenly race are irreconcble enemies. That is one of the many reasons why we are constantly hunting down those who get near the force field and also why we will butcher them as we expand our domain in the continent." Shiyu''s killing intent was very deep and could be felt.


    When Numir detects it, instead of being frightened by it, she bes more rxed and her guard diminished a little.


    After that, Numir did not ask more question but Shiyu could see the struggle in her eyes. The Neo-Demon did not rush her and waited patiently for her to speak.


    The silence remains for more than ten minutes and finally, Numir looks at Shiyu and hugs tightly the baby before speaking.


    "I understand that you have done a lot for me and I am truly grateful, but I need to ask you for some medicine for my brother. He has a strange condition and every full moon he suffers from high fever and I don''t know how much longer he can withstand." There was great pain and fear in Numir''s eyes as she spoke.


    The main reason why her parents and she had taken the dangerous choice of running away from the Heavenly race was to help the infant.


    Try to ask the Heavenly race to help the baby will not have only have been futile but would have made the situation worse. They do not allow infants with unknown diseases close to them and the child would have been killed if people found out about his condition.


    The reason for her fear was that she did not know if the behavior of the Heavenly race to sick babies was just them, or if other powerful beings also act like that.


    With her parents dead, the only family she has left was her brother so she will do anything to save him.


    Shiyu only smiled when she saw that brotherly love and her next word surprised Numir.


    "I can certainly get medicine topletely heal those types of diseases, but it is no longer necessary. The red lightning that is covering your bodies can be considered an extension of Lord Ezequiel''s body and the nature of its energy is so high, that any type of w in your constitutions was already fixed."


    Those words made Numir''s body trembles and tears of joy appear on her eyes as she looks at the baby and caresses him.


    The small life in her arms what everything that matters to her so knowing he was already safe was the best thing she could hear.


    When she saw once again the red lightning, she feels it was the most beautiful thing she has ever seen and her heart was full of expectation when she thought about the person to whom they belong.


    "Please tell Lord Ezequiel that I will always remember his kindness. It is safe for us to leave this house?" Numir eyes were filled with gratitude and her behavior was a little more natural.


    "We are next to a magic tower in thends dominated by the Daybreak n, as long as you don''t go too far, your safety is guaranteed." Shiyu was sure she will be safe as long people of Neo-Demon were close to her since all of them could feel the energy of Ezequiel around her.


    "Thank you very much, I don''t want to be rude but I still feel very tired and I want to go back to sleep."


    "Don''t worry, you should rest. Here take this." Shiyu stands up and send a crystal to Numir''s bed.


    "Put that in your forehead and you will be able to contact me whenever you want, I will leave the two of you alone."


    When Numir saw Shiyu leaving the house, she lies down and puts the small baby by her side. Immense pain and sacrifice have been endured to help him and she would have done it all over again and she knows her parents would think the same.


    Slowly her eyes close and for the first time since she has memory, she falls sleep not trembling with fear and worrying what torture she would face the day of tomorrow.

 Chapter 195: Inner Fire All Creation Refinement

    In the Daybreak Tower, Zatiel has been sending his golden mes to the spine for days. His Eye of Life and Creation was monitoring the process and arousing the special properties in the mes.


    The process had to be done carefully since any damage done to the runes in the Pit Fiend''s spine will be irreversible which will weaken it tremendously, and making it lost most of its abilities.


    Even with the constant replenishment of his energy pool by the magic tower, Zatiel was growing more and more tired, but he did not stop and continues advancing.


    It was at the end of the seventh day when the blue liquid hadpletely evaporated that the purge of Hell Aura from the spine was over.


    The mind corroding power was still present but the foul energy in it has vanished and now you could see thin golden lines running through it.


    The paths that were previously containing Hell Aura were now filled with Sun Force. When Zatiel saw these lines he was surprised since this was not supposed to happen.


    It was only when he analyzed the spine with the help of the A.I. Chip and the Elder Brain and notice that there was no damage done to the spine due to this change that he rxed.


    He did not start with the refinement immediately since it will take a long time and it will be better if he was in top condition before starting.


    However, before he could start resting Dante''s voice was heard on his mind.


    "Father I have troubling information about aunt Sophia and I require your assistance to decide how to proceed."


    Zatiel eyes narrowed when he hears this and signal the boy to continue.


    "She asks me to gather and organize all the information about the demons that have entered Beta Heavenly World, more specifically those whose Emperor bloodline has a connection with the soul."


    Zatiel face was serious when he hears this information and he understood the source of Dante''s concern.


    Sophia was looking for a new bloodline among those demons that have entered the Beta Heavenly World and her requirements were especially high.


    Emperor bloodlines will be bought from the kingdom thanks to the deal Zatile made with Sirin, but they will mostly be those who belong to the bottom of that ssification and could notpare to the ones the Neo-Demon desires.


    Trying to capture a Rank 4 demon with an Emperor bloodline is incredibly difficult since they will usually attempt suicide attacks when they saw no chance of escaping.


    And that difficulty only increases when their bloodline gave their soul special abilities making restraining their bodies and energies to stop them from killing themselves useless.


    She will need to approach it through a different angle and the danger will be very high.


    Zatiel remained silent for some time as he was thinking what to do and in the end, his eyes disyed determination.


    "Give her all the information that she wants, including the one obtained through the Duke. Tell her that she will need to have a Sun Tadpole in her hand from now on and that tadpole will be connected directly to me."


    "As you wish father."


    ''The universe is full of dangers and I will not always by your side to help you. I hope you know what you are doing'' All sorts of emotions were present in Zatiel''s eyes but in the next second, they became void before closing themselves.


    Zatiel sleeps for two days before he finally felt all of the exhaustion leave his body.


    He made a two-meter diameter rune formation on the floor and sat in the center of it before making the Pit Fiend''s spine fly to his hand.


    Slowly Zatiel consciousness, energy, and life force started to soak the Pit Fiend''s spine and you could see how it trembled from time to time as the process advanced.


    The technique that Zatiel was going to use was named Inner Fire All Creation Refinement. The principle behind it was to make the item you seek to refine part of your body.


    This will allow you to give it form and more importantly, your energy will be able to fill the weapon with more ease. You will be able to draw part of its power and not need to fully activate it to use it.


    By nurturing the spine with the power of his soul, body, and energy thepatibility he can reach with it will be much higher and it is essential before the fusion.


    The nurturingsted for several hours before finally, the essence of Zatiel was able to infiltrate it.


    Right now Zatiel could move the weapon with his mind but the refinement was far from being over.


    The Neo-Demon''s eyes were cold before manipting the spine and making it pierce his back and bury under his skin.


    When the spine enters his body, the effect of the mind corrupting force became hundred of times stronger and although it could not break Zatiel'' will or twist his ego, it was powerful enough to be a burden in a fight.


    Right away the Chaotic-Core started to act, generating a suction force that traped that power inside it, eliminating the w that would have affected the prolonged use of the weapon.


    Protrusion could be seen in Zatiel''s back as the Pit Fiend''s spine moved before it finally positions itself above this one own vertebral column and starts circling it.


    The pain was intense but the Neo-Demon remained expressionless as he activated the rune formation under his feet that made his entire body glow with a red light.


    From the tower, a torrent of golden mes reached over Zatiel and immersed this one, making the red glow stronger and the heat it was producing was astonishing.


    Even with the power of his body, Zatiel feels like he was being burned alive but that did not stop him or affected his concentration.


    ''Brutal with other and even more brutal with yourself!.'' The eyes of the Neo-Demon glowed with ruthlessness and he increased the power of the mes bathing him, and by doing so he made the red light more powerful, reaching the level where it starts burning his skin.


    Zatiel could feel how the Pit Fiend''s spine was starting to embrace his vertebral column, forming a sort of exoskeleton around it.


    As the heat increased the bones from the two spines began to fuse. It was only now that the true pain began and Zatiel feels his back being shattered over and over again and mes incinerating his spinal cord.


    He did not let the pain distract him from his goal and guided the fusion. Slowly the protrusion on his back was diminishing as the fusion advanced.


    That unbearable torture remained for more than ten hours before finally the process was over and Zatiel''s body crumbles on the floor.


    The Neo-Demon had fourth-degree burn injuries all over his body. His golden mes and the ones from the tower started to heal him and you could see how they regenerated skin, bones, tendons, and muscles with impressive speed.


    Zatiel remains on the floor without moving until he waspletely healed.


    Although the damage seems very severe it did not reach his inner organs or affected his consciousness so after the golden mes heal his wounds, he was like new.


    He focuses on his palm and after a second, movements could be felt from his back before a sword that was formed by a segmented series of bones raises from his hand.


    It was one and a half meters long, filled with engraved runes that glowed with blue light.


    Zatiel was very happy with the sword and without wasting time, he gets out from the tower and raises into the sky before starting to perform all types of sword strikes with it.


    The destructive power of those attacks was much greater than the one Zatiel could perform with his previous sword but that was only the beginning.


    The Sun Force and Abyssal Aura of the Neo-Demon filled the spine and some of the runes in it were activated.


    Even after using his two energy pools and having refined and fused it with his body, Zatiel was able to activate only 1% of the runes in the sword.


    But that 1% made blue mes fill the sword and they consumed all the oxygen around the Neo-Demon instantly.


    Arcs of mes were now released with his attacks and he was sure they will be able to ravage any Rank 2 life form that came in contact with them.


    And that was not all, as Zatiel activated the second ability that the sword could activate, this one extends for one hundred meters in less than a second, and it continues growing in all directions.


    It was not moving in a straight line. The sword could make all sorts of twists and turn ording to Zatiel will.


    This scene calls the attention of many people and they saw in the sky a man grabbing what it seems to be the tail of a giant ming demonic snake.


    This was a scene that they will remember when tales of this sword are heard in the future.

 Chapter 196: Hidden enemy

    Zatiel was extremely satisfied with the sword. It covers both long-range attacks and melee fights, perfectlyplementing his battle style and the best of it was the blue mes.


    A blue me is the physical manifestation of the Law of Destruction in Baator and although it was far from the power that the Pit Fiend could have disyed because Zatiel was only able to activate 1% of the runes, it presented overwhelming might against Rank 3 life forms.


    After sending a signal, the sword returned to its original size in an instant and the blue mes disappeared. before entering Zatiel''s body and once again took the form of an exoskeleton around with his spine.


    There were thousands of people looking at the sky from all parts of the City of the Sun and you could see how their eyes sparkled as they saw Zatiel.


    Despite the dangerous and evil aura the sword generated, there was no fear or apprehension in the people''s faces, only happiness and a sensation of security, The felt that as long he remains with them, everything will be fine.


    This was especially true in the Neo-Demons who worship him as a holy being. Their hearts were burning with veneration and respect, and there were even some infants looking at him with a smile in their faces and they stretched their little arms as if they were trying to hold him.


    When Zatiel saw those little faces full of pure and unconditional love, his heart fills with warmth and there was a tender light in his eyes.


    He felt no need to speak and limit himself to remain in the sky for a couple of minutes and look at his city.


    The children wereughing and ying, protected from the danger of the world until they are strong enough to face them and survive.


    Adults will asionally enter the Endless Forest toplete missions and earn wealth. Unlike the tragic aura that surrounded those groups when they lived in Wastnd and had to risk their lives hunting so their tribes would not starve, they were now smiling and although there have been casualties through the years, they know that as long they follow the guidance that is provided to them through the Sun Tadpole their chances of returning alive are above 99%.


    Even the elders, the ones whose life force was reaching its natural end were happy. Living theirst years seeing their families safe and growing stronger was better than heaven for them.


    ''Something worth fighting for.'' Those words appeared in Zatiel mind before he disappeared inside the tower.


    Zatiel appeared once again in the subterranean level of the tower where the Elder Brain resided.


    Now the tenderness in his face was reced by coldness and abominable killing intent.


    ''With my weaponry handled, I only need to finish my Rank Spell, and all the upgrades in my battle power will be done. But before that, I need to take care of them.''


    "Dante, how has advanced the investigation in those ten Rank 3 individuals that attacked the city."


    The attack that Zatiel was speaking, was the one that happened while he was not in the Magi World and where all the enemies were pulverized by beams of golden mes.


    When Zatiel imagines what could have happened if the tower was not upgraded or the Sunlight Core would not have been strengthened, hate and the desire for revenge fill his heart.


    "I have done thorough research on them and even hire specialized organizations that handle intelligence in the empire but so far the identity of the perpetrators remains unknown. It would have been more sessful if I had contained the energy in my attacks and their bodies were not destroyed but they were toorge of a threat and I could not allow any mishap in their neutralization to happen."


    Zatiel shared the thinking of the boy, after all, if those individuals saw that there was no chance of leaving the City of the Sun alive, they could have chosen to kill a great number of people with suicide attacks.


    "However, I had managed to analyze their maic force field and some of their blood and I can say with certainty that they were Magi and not Eye Holders."


    When Zatiel hears that, his eyes widen and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. The race of the perpetrators did not necessarily mean that they weren''t under themand of an Eye Holder but it greatly diminishes the possibility.


    An Eye Tyrant can make several Eye Kings do his bidding and although he can also hire Rank 3 Magi, the obedience of thetter is much worse.


    The Magi could easily double-cross the Eye Tyrant or in the case that the danger in the mission is too high, escape and not fulfill their part of the deal.


    The options of the Eye Tyrant, in that case, will not be too many. They cannot just enter into the Aeternum Empire and kill a Magus since there are codes that protect thetter.


    But if Eye Kings were to do that, the Eye Tyrant could hunt them down wherever they were and if they ask him for a reason, he could just say he was hunting fugitives.


    Originally, Zatiel first suspect was the leader of the Blood Eye n, the Eye Tyrant Finz. It was beyond clear that the man hated him and he is pretty sure the Eye Holder was responsible for the attack on his people when Dante was recruiting in Wastnd.


    With this new information, he reconsidered things. Among the powerful enemies he has between the Magi, there were Szar Rasputin and the Sage, but Zatiel knew that thetter prefers to y in the shadows and would not do anything so direct as an attack to the Daybreak Magic Tower.


    As for Szar, with the abilities of an Origin Runemaster, the damage he could have provoked with a group of Rank 3 Magi will have been much worse and they would not have died so easily.


    Whoever was behind this attack must be at least a Rank 4 life form. They were able to make ten Rank 3 Magi go in a mission to a ce that has already prove it has the power to severely wound Rank 3 life forms.


    The reasons they didn''t attack themselves were simple. The empire has codes that stop unrestrained attacks over ns that form part of it without a logical reason.


    And more importantly, the Daybreak Magic Tower was very close to the Sinux Magic Tower, where is Heinz, a Soul Forging existence how has proven that has no problem killing Rank 4 Magi that threatens Zatiel.


    But with all this information the only thing that Zatiel was able to do is discarding suspects. Without knowing the identity of his enemy he could not formte a n against him.


    "Do you have a theory behind their motives or what they hoped to achieve with their assault?" Zatiel was frowning as he attempts to gather more information that could be useful in the investigation.


    Despite his great strategies and knowledge about war, things like investigation were never his fort. When he was a low ranking demon, he only needed to destroy the enemy he has in front of him, nothing else matters. And when he became strong enough, he had all sorts of powers to hunt down his opponents and there was no need to think too much about it.


    Luckily, his son was different. He seeks patterns and analyzes the most minimal detail of everything around him.


    "Yes, father. I can say with 95% certainty their goal was not destruction but distraction and burry. Three of those Magi attempted to go unnoticed and they entered the City of the Sun under the disguise of merchants who were at Rank 2. They were skilled and they must have had some sort of device that hide them because the tower was not able to detect them until they used their energy. But I found them the moment they enter the city with the help of the information I got from the Sun Tadpoles."


    "So seven were going to attack the city and created havoc, and when you were busy fighting them, the other three will have made their move and get what they wereing for." Zatiel frown when he thought about it.


    The Daybreak n is certainly wealthy but there was nothing in the tower that will be worth ten Rank 3 Magi risking their lives for it, at least not a few years ago.


    "The information we have is too little to decipher what they wereing from. Continue investigating and make sure you use what wealth we have left to upgrade the surveince systems of the tower"


    "I will father."


    Zatiel did not like to wait for his enemy to act but there was little he could do now. After a moment he calms down and sits on the floor before focusing on the energy in his body.


    ''No matter the scheme I will face, everything sumbs before absolute power''

 Chapter 197: Genesis Sun Seed

    Zatiel has never stop analyzing his Rank Spell, even when he was at the auction or helping Heinz to fuse with the Blood Ruby Centipede. For a Rank 2 Animus like him split his mind and carry two different trains of thoughts at the same time without affecting him was easy.


    There was also the A.I. Chip that was constantly carrying simtion for him, and before leaving the Beta Heavenly World, the diagram for the Spell was almost finished.


    Now that he could tap into the Elder Brain enhanced analytic abilities, he was able to advance even faster. Meanwhile, he let his energy replenish and body return to his peak condition.


    After a month of careful nning and thousands of simtions, Zatiel was ready.


    The Sun Domain formed around him with his mighty dark golden mes but it only covered a radius of five meters. The power was the same it could disy with his full length but this way he would not be covering the entire magic tower with it.


    The next thing he does is activate his Eye of Life and Creation and channels every ounce of the All-Epassing Sun mes from the golden sun that resides in his Bloodline Heart.


    Slowly those pure golden mes start to gather between his palms and under the control of the Eye of Life and Creation theypress and their nature starts to change.


    The Eye of Life and Creation was activating the special properties of the mes, enhancing their connection with the Law of Life and the Law of Creation.


    Natux was also active, making thews in the golden mes even stronger.


    Zatiel once already attempted to do something simr after he had killed the Abominable Yeti and transform him and his soldier into golden mes.


    Back then his goal was to create something with the golden mes by using the Law of Creation that was part of his Law bloodline. He failed and before a quality change could ur that would have transformed the mes into something else, he lost control.


    But things were different now. His domain over the natural energy of the world was higher, his energy pool was great enough so it would not need the use of external mes, he had awakened his True Name and he could draw more power of the Law of Life and the Law of Creation thanks to his advance as a life form.


    After ten hours of slowly channeling the golden mes andpressing it using all of the power of his Eye of Life and Creation and Natux what remained between Zatiel hands was a golden embryo.


    The Neo-Demon was tired but since he still had his full Abyss Aura energy pool, he could continue without the need to rest.


    Now that the embryo was ready, it was time to nourish it and fuse it with his Sun Domain.


    The embryo was constantly being feed by the energy of the Sunlight Core, the dark golden mes of the domain that was being energized by Abyss Aura, and the Sun Force that Zatiel was steadily replenishing with the help of the tower.


    Zatiel''s Eye of Life and Creation and Natux were still active, enhancing what was growing inside the embryo. His Rank Spell will not be a mere construction of solidified energy but something different, something alive.


    He knew the extreme difficulty of the task and the fact it would be near impossible to truly create a living being with his current power, so he is going to create something in the beginning stages of life.


    By using the Sun Domain with his golden mes to nurture the embryo, he was creating a connection between the two of them.


    More and more energy was being poured into the embryo and a blinding light could be seen inside it, that was equally majestic and powerful.


    On the ninth day of nourishing, a change urred in the embryo. It started to rotate and generate a suction force that draws the natural energy of the world inside it.


    When Zatiel saw this, he smiled, and excitement appeared on his eyes. It was not evenpleted but the creature inside the embryo was already able to draw the natural energy of the world to it and fulfill his job as a Rank Spell for a Rank 3 life form.


    On the thirty-fourth day of nourishing, the embryo fused with the Sun Domain giving it the ability to draw the natural energy of the world, not only increasing the might of the dark golden mes but also the power of the Undying Leviathan and Nether Crow that were part of it.


    Even for someone like Zatiel using his True Name and the Eye of Life and Creation for so many days without pause was impossible so every week he rested for a few hours before working again.


    It was on the forty-nine day when the golden lighting from inside the embryo was so powerful that illuminated the entire floor, that the first crack appeared.


    Zatiel felt a strong wave of vitality and life forceing from the crack that filled the entire Sun Domain with it and erased his exhaustion in an instant.


    The days pass and more crack filled the embryo until finally in the day sixty-three of feeding the embryo finally shatter and its broken pieces fused with the domain.


    What appeared in front of the Neo-Demon was a small seed, the size of a baby fist. It was golden in its entirely and three arcs of golden fire were circling it.


    It did not have a soul or even a consciousness but it was alive, capable of growing. Zatiel could intent to create a pseudo-consciousness in the seed but he chose no to do it.


    If his calctions were right, this seed will be able to generate a soul with time by absorbing the energies of the universe just like stars can do it.


    For stars, it usually takes millions of years of being constantly washed by the elemental chaos but as long Zatiel''s domain over the Law of Life and Law of Creation grows, the time that the seed will need to obtain his soul will diminish greatly.


    The moment the seed appeared, it became some sort of ck hole as it swallowed the natural energy in his surroundings with ferocious strength, making the Sun Domain reach an immense level of might.


    Zatiel could feel how the healing and destructive power of the domain growing at least two-fold. What was calling his attention were the arcs of golden fire and he made one of them enter his body.


    The moment it happens, the Neo-Demon feels an immeasurable amount of life force inside him and he felt that no matter how devastating the damage he could receive, with one of these arcs he could heal instantly.


    And not only that, his physical power grew fifty percent for an entire minute.


    "Hahahaha, awesome. With just this seed my battle power has raised by a factor of three and it will continue to grow stronger on his own. I will call you Genesis Sun Seed." Zatiel was smiling as he stares at the seed and he could not be happier about his new spell.


    "A.I. Chip, analyze the function of the Genesis Sun Seed."For the first time in a long time, Zatiel uses the abilities of the A.I. Chip to allow him to understand the might of the new spell he had created.


    "Bip... analyzing Rank Spell Genesis Sun Seed.


    Genesis Sun Seed: Living Rank Spell capable of growing stronger by absorbing energy from different sources and it can automatically draw the natural energy of the world toward itself without the need for external help.


    It has fused with the Sun Domain, giving the spell the ability to draw the natural energy of the word. Two hundred percent increase the power of the dark golden mes and the magical constructs that inhabit inside it.


    Creates arcs of golden fire that can be used for the host topletely heal any damage to his body as long his hearts and brain are not destroyed and increase the strength and physique for a factor of 1.5 for sixty seconds. It currently can have three arcs at the same time, and it will take twenty hours for each one of them to be restored after its use."


    With the fusion of his Genesis Sun Seed, his Sun Domain was approaching the might of a high-rank technique that needed the use of thews to be trained.


    "Good now the only thing I have left to do is to dissolve the body of that Void Creature into the domain and I will be ready to advance to Rank 3." Zatiel was very rxed now that he reached this part.


    With the current power of his Sun Domain, being able to contain the body of a Rank 4 creature will not be hard, although it will take a long time.

 Chapter 198: Evolution of the body

    In the inner area of the Endless Forest, where finding Rank 4 and even Rank 5 Magic Creatures is easy, two immensely powerful individuals were fighting a melee battle.


    One was a swordsman less than three-meter tall and the other was a magic creature that looks like an eight hundred meters tall four-armed gori.


    The magic creature is a Peak Rank 4 Abomination Gori. These creatures were known for their powerful body that allows them to crush to pulp other Rank 4 Magic Creatures with ease, but unfortunately, they were very weak with long-range attacks.


    It has bonesing out from his skin that covered his body and worked as an armor. His four fists had bone spikes all over them and a ck aura that increased their destructive might.


    Against Abomination Goris, the best path to follow is to maintain your distance and tire them with a flood of ranged attacks. And even then your victory is not certain since you may end up depleted of energy before their defenses are broken.


    But the man facing the Abomination Gori did not try in the slightest to keep his distance.


    Sword and fists were constantly shing releasing explosion and shock waves. If it wasn''t because they were fighting in the sky, everything for kilometers around them would have been destroyed.


    Both parties had released their Law Avatar. Like most magic creatures, the Abomination Gori maintained the Law Avatar inside his body, in order to obtain a massive increase in his energy and physical capabilities.


    The man had his Law Avatar in his hand. It was the one-handed sword that he was wielding. It was one and a half meters long and there were all sorts of devastating powers in it that were constantly cutting the fist of the Abomination Gori, despite the bones and aura protecting them.


    The Law Avatar did not only had deadly offensive might. Every time the magic creature bleed, the sword generated a vortex that absorbed the blood.


    Heinz''s Law Avatar had changed from the massive twenty thousand meters sword to the small weapon he had on his right hand. This not only increases the power of the Law Avatar since its attacks were more concentrated now, but it also diminishes the amount of energy that was needed to activate it.


    Before, the Cultivator''s body was not fit for melee battles so he preferred range attacks. But now with his Blood Demodand Technique,bining the destructive might of his Law Avatar with his physical aptitudes resulted in amazing battle power.


    Rage was umting in the Abomination Gori due to the hundred of deep cuts that were umting on his fists and seeing his blood being stolen.


    "RRRROOOAAARRR!!!" Along with that battle cry, the energy of the magic creature raises and he threw one of his fists against Heinz that was three times stronger and faster than his previous attacks.


    When he saw that powerful attacking his way, Heinz smiled and he gave a small step to the right disappearing from the trajectory of the fist by using Void Disruption.


    Fighting at close range doesn''t meant take every attack of your opponent head-on. It includes taking advantage of anyck of judgment or mistake to deliver the most devastating attack you can perform.


    The next time the Abomination Gori saw Heinz, he was on the shoulder of the arm with which he just attacked.


    The Cultivator buries his sword on the shoulder, shattering all of the defenses in his path.


    Although the sword size was insignificantpared with the eight hundred meter magic creature, a wave of destruction invaded the Abomination Gori''s body and he felt how his muscles were torn to pieces and his bones were shattered.


    The worst thing was that the suction of the sword was ferocious and in less than a second the arm was almost mummified due to the loss of blood.


    Pain invaded the Abomination Gori and he sends a punch to the hateful humanoid on his shoulder.


    This time Heinz did not dodge and with his left hand still on the sword that was absorbing the blood of the Abomination Gori, he responded with his right fist.


    For a second the arms of the Cultivator take a red metallic color just when his small fist and the massive one of the magic creature sh.


    A st could be heard as the two fists shed creating an explosion that ends up in a draw, with neither side overwhelming the other. The fist of the Abomination Gori was not only energized with his crazy physical might but also his Law Avatar and yet the Cultivator was able to use just his body to stop it.


    If Zatiel were here, he would be surprised. The red skin on the Cultivator''s arms was an ability known as Demodand Blood Drive, which means that Heinz not only finished the first level of the Blood Demodand Technique but he also made significant advances on the second level.


    Demodand Blood Drive is mastered when the second level of the technique ispleted and it can potentiate the body to the point you can fight against a Rank 4 life form who has active his Law Avatar with just your body.


    Heinz felt a metallic taste on his mouth but he continues smiling since he had managed to absorb all the blood in the arm and part of the one in the chest of the Abomination Gori.


    The Cultivator was not greedy and he moves away from the magic creature in the next second, just as his arms return to normal.


    Despite the damage and pain, the Abomination Gori did not show not a bit of fear. When Heinz saw this, his smile grewrger and he once again he dashed against his massive opponent.


    ....


    In the peak of a magic tower close to the center of the empire, a dark and dreadful aura was concentrating. Every day pulses of this aura were released and it covered the entire tower and also the city that was built around it.


    When they first appeared not only mortals but also Magi were scared of those pulses and they wonder what could have happened to their always gentle leader. But those questions faded away when they felt the effect that those pulses had on them.


    Despite being made of fear itself, when they touched people it did not harm them. On the contrary, they all felt their negative emotion and insecurities being wash aways.


    When the Magi realized this, they all move closer to the tower. There is no one who doesn''t understand how useful having a clear mind is on training and experiments.


    Rumor spreads easily and soon people from all parts of the empire wereing to this magic tower, to felt the healing power that the pulses of fear could create.


    ...


    On the highest floor of the Radiance Magic Tower, a woman was sitting in a meditative position and her eyes were focused on a small dagger floating in front of her.


    Waves of liquid shadows and light were moving around the floor with immense power, shing against each other.


    The only part that they did not touch was the center of the floor where a vacuum could be seen containing the woman and the dagger.


    Despite their constant collision, there was no rejection between the two forces and there were times when the impact between the waves of shadows and light gave birth to a different power but it disappeared instantly.


    The shadows and light were growing stronger with every moment the woman pass analyzing the dagger.


    When she thought about the way she obtained this dagger and the person responsible for her great progress a strange light appears on her eyes, but it was immediately reced by conviction and determination.


    .....


    Close to the force field built by the Ten Tower Formation, a three hundred meters tall giant was fighting against four Angels of Supremacy and one Angelic Paragon, all of them Master Rank 3 life forms.


    The warriors of the Heavenly race were overwhelming the giant sending attacks of all the elements against him. They were a kill squad send to neutralize the cause of death of so many of their kind in this area.


    Despite their great strength and numeric advantage, there were solemn expressions on the squad of the Heavenly race. None of them dare to approach the giant and limit themselves to send long-range attacks, which weakens their offensive might greatly.


    As for the giant, his body was full of injures but there was a bloody smile on his face as he felt his power and size growing.


    Ezequiel''s current size was not due to the use of a spell but an evolution provoked on his body by the Law of Inner Force as he advanced to Rank 3. Every single one of his cells was absorbing the natural energy of the world in a diameter dozens of a kilometer around him, driving his change forward.

 Chapter 199: Law of Inner Force

    Ezequiel has spent every day after ensuring Numir and her little brother''s safety, hunting down, and fighting against warriors of the Heavenly race.


    The most powerful the enemies were and the more dangerous the battle became, the better it was for him. Not only his attunement with the natural energy of the world was increasing at frightening speed, but he also felt how his Primordial bloodline was excavating the hidden power inside his body and amplifying it every time he was able to break his limits during a battle.


    Of course, he wasn''t reckless and always fought at a rtively close distance from the force field of the Ten Tower Formation so he could use his Mirage rune in the worst-case scenario. A fight against a Rank 4 life form will not be of any use to him, due to the immense disparity in power.


    This type of training was dangerous, and if it wasn''t for his great defensive abilities and regeneration he could not have done it for such a long time. Right now, with the help of his runic set, he can disy the power of a Master Rank 3 life form with an Emperor bloodline but more than once he was forced to flee due to numerical disadvantage.


    The squad with which he was currently fighting has been tracking him for days and they were able to ambush him.


    A white fog, that was able to cloud his senses, had surrounded Ezequiel before he could do anything about it. From four different locations, powerful attacks made of water, earth, fire, and air assault him.


    The two fastest attacks were long-range spells and they were an extremely thin de of air and jets of high-pressure water.


    As for the other two, one Angelic Paragon had his arms covered with rocks as he attempted to hit Ezequiel on his spine and the other was throwing a zing kick to his face.


    This tactic was very effective and the five warriors of the Heavenly race had used it in a great number of killing assignments, but unfortunately for them, the underestimated the instincts of a Neo-Demon with a Law bloodline.


    Ezequiel could barely see the direction the attacks wereing and they were to closing in very fast, so at that moment his only choice was to activate his Mirage rune otherwise his life will be in danger.


    But the Supreme of the Neo-Demon race chose another path and using every single drop of power he had on his body, he disys dexterity and speed beyond what he thought he was capable.


    He moves his body so the de of air and the jets of water would not hit vital organs before covering himself with his red lightning that was potentiated by his runic set.


    A cut, so deep that you could see the bone, appeared on his left shoulder. The bones and muscles on his left leg ended damaged.


    As for the two Angels of Supremacy that were stupid enough to get close to him, he made other arrangements. He responded with the most devastating counterattack he could create.


    Ezequiel dodges the kick to his head and at the same time, he redirects fifty percent of his red lightning to his right arm and the other fifty to his right leg and he attacks.


    A punch filled with red lightning was fired against the Angel of Supremacy in front of him and a back kick was sent to the one behind.


    The Angels of Supremacy could not believe what they were seeing. Their attacks had taken less than a second and yet the man in front of them not only manage to considerably diminish the damage done by two of them, he was also able to counterattack the other two even after his senses were weakened by the fog.


    Ezequiel couldn''t care less what they thought, especially since as he attacks, something ignited in him that made an immense amount of natural energy draw into his body.


    The strength of his punch and kick raises tremendously. Since he could not urately target his opponents due to the fog, he sends his attacks to the stomach of both,


    A rune appeared on the body of both Angels of Supremacy creating a force field that diminished the damage but still, their intestines were destroyed and the impact sends them flying away.


    The kill squad of the Heavenly race was shocked. They failed to kill their enemy and two of them end up his severy injuries and what happens next froze their minds.


    They saw how the natural energy around them was being sucked into their target''s body with ferocious strength.


    During that attack, something inside Ezequiel changed and the Neo-Demon was able to see what was happening to his body.


    He could see his cells, the billions of fundamental anatomical units that form his body, changing.


    Every time a life form advance in Rank, several changes are done to his cells, with the most important changes happening in Rank 1, 4, and 7.


    However, the Law of Inner Force was acting on the cells of Ezequiel, modifying some of itsponents and adding others, and the truly fundamental change was done to the mitochondria, the source of energy for the cell.


    In a normal human, when water enters the mitochondria, its molecules will be broken into an ionic state where the hydrogen atoms will fuse with different elements. During this process, the body obtains most of the amino acids which it requires to live and energy generated by the fusion reaction.


    As one advances in the Ranks, this process changes and one could see in powerful life form, that their mitochondria can even simte cold fusion, which is a nuclear reaction that generates energy more potent than the one released by a hydrogen bomb explosion.


    The existence of this type of mitochondria is the reason why powerful life forms do not need to eat or even breathe.


    But the change in Ezequiel that was driven by the Law of Inner Force was different. It was giving his mitochondria the ability to use the natural energy of the world directly to strengthen the cells and also work as a form of energy pool.


    Unlike before when he could momentarily draw the natural energy of the world to his body during his attacks, now every single one of his cells will be constantly absorbing the natural energy of the world.


    This alteration in the mitochondria was also producing a change in his cellr structure, which make his body grew stronger and bigger.


    The immense amount of energy that was umting inside him triggered Ezequiel''s advancement to Rank 3.


    There was a smile on the Neo-Demon''s face as he feels the power that was running through his body.


    As for the kill squad of the Heavenly race, their expressions could not uglier. Not only their opponent was getting stronger but due to the current behavior of the natural energy, they could not draw it into their attacks, making their offensive might weaken greatly.


    Ezequiel looks at the direction from where the attacks of air and water came and without hesitation, he kicks the air, creating a sonic boom, as his body was fired against his enemies.


    When the members of the Heavenly Race saw this, they acted immediately. The leader who was an Angelic Paragon with wings made of fog attempted to restrain Ezequiel''s movement but he was moving too fast and without hesitation, he and the two Angels of Supremacy move away from him.


    They did not intend to follow the step of theirrades and start to send long-range attacks, while they made sure to maintain their distance.


    Just as his charge ended, Ezequiel was received by spells from all sides. The worst part was that he was constantly being affected by the fog making it harder to urately locate his enemies.


    Despite that, Ezequiel''s smile did not diminish and he just focused on the spells and triangte their origins, before charging to the Angels of Supremacy, distracting them not allowing them to truly disy their power.


    A minuteter, spells of fire and earth were alsounched against Ezequiel. Both Angels of Supremacy were hurt but by suppressing their wounds they were still able to fight.


    Injuries were umting on Ezequiel''s growing body, but thanks to his increasing power and the fact that the squad could not disy their entire strength, it was not a true threat to him.


    The Angelic Paragon saw everything that was happening, and although he hated the notion, he knew that if his target was able to achieve his advance to Rank 3 and finish his transformation, their chances of killing him will be null, especially since two of them could barely fight.


    There was hate on his eyes as he increases the power of the fog obstructing Ezequiel, before ordering the Angels of Supremacy.


    "Proceed to perform the Oblivion Elemental st."


    When the Angels of Supremacy hear thatmand their eyes widened, but in the next second determination filled their faces and they gather together.


    The energy of the four begins to collect into a multicolored ball over their heads.


    Ezequiel could not see them, and without their attacks, he could not trace them. But he felt how a dangerous amount of energy was gathering close to him.


    Instead of running like crazy around the fog without a direction, he explodes with power and a beam of red lightning raises into the sky as he prepares to fight back.