Ch. 801..810

Chapter 801 801 – Choose

Shang regained consciousness.

For just a moment, he wasn't sure about what had happened, but then, he realized that he had lost.

Shang slowly sat up, thinking back to the end of the fight.

The last thing he remembered was the Mage dispersing his Mana Shield.

And then, it was over.

It took Shang a couple of seconds to figure out what had happened.

'He took advantage of my Domain of Entropy,' he thought. 'That hasn't happened before.'

'Not only did my enemies find ways to counter my Void Break, but one of them even found a way to counter my Domain of Entropy.'

'In just this short fight, he managed to find the weakness of my Domain of Entropy.'

'A talented Peak Ancestral Mage…'

Shang thought about how strong his current enemies actually were.

Someone like the powerful Peak Ancestral Mage just now would certainly become a Mage Lord later, making him one of the 100,000 or so most talented people in the world.

How many new Mage Lords appeared in the world every year?

Maybe ten?

Maybe a bit more?

Only ten people or so in the entire world managed to become Mage Lords per year.

And there were trillions, if not quadrillions, of people in Aterium.

Assuming there were trillions, ten people per year becoming Mage Lords would be the equivalent of about one person per century becoming a Mage Lord on Earth.

Naturally, these kinds of people were insanely intelligent.

'I should be prepared for smarter enemies in the future,' Shang thought. 'I wanted to keep him here by stopping his Mana Step with my Domain of Entropy, but instead, I caused my own death.'

'In this case, I should have been more careful.'

'Luckily, this happened in my inner world, not outside.'

After going through the fight again in his mind, Shang decided to focus on something else.

Death.

He had just died again, and it was very different from usual.

Normally, Shang could anticipate his death when he was fighting in the inner world. After all, he knew when he was on the losing end.

But this time, he died very unexpectedly.

Just mere moments before his death, Shang's mind had been going through several different plans in case the Mage somehow managed to escape.

He had been fully focused on the battle.

And then, it was over.

Out of nowhere, it just ended.

This was another part of death.

Death could come very suddenly.

It could come when someone least expected it.

Shang focused on the sensation of death for a couple of minutes.

It was important to understand as much as possible.

Eventually, Shang stood up.

The jester had already jumped down from its Affinity Wheel and waited for Shang with a smirk.

"You done?" the jester asked.

Shang just nodded.

"Well then," the jester said, giving his hammer a little swing before leaning on it. "You got 30 points."

"16 from the beasts and 14 from the Mages."

The jester swung his hammer some more, twirling it around like he was in a parade as he walked back and forth.

"You know, I saw you become this strong, but I still feel like you shouldn't be that powerful."

"Naturally, you are this powerful, which means you deserve to be this powerful, but for some reason, I just feel like you shouldn't be."

"You actually jumped a full Realm against a beast, even though it was one of the weakest of its level."

"I didn't plan on that happening, you know? Talent and skill must be rewarded, but dedication and effort also need to be rewarded."

A moment later, the jester's smirk widened as he looked at Shang.

But he didn't say anything.

Just now, the jester had seen Shang's thoughts.

Shang wanted to tell the jester that he didn't care about all of this and that he was only here for his reward.

Yet, Shang decided against saying something like that.

The God had shown how crazy he was and how spontaneous he could screw Shang over.

If Shang became too disrespectful, the jester might think it would be even funnier if the Lightning Emperor died.

Because of that, Shang decided to remain silent and let the jester say whatever it wanted to say.

The jester decided not to comment on it and only smirked for a couple of seconds.

Shang also didn't say anything.

"What do you want?" the jester asked.

"In what sense?" Shang asked.

"For your reward," the jester added. "You have a far higher score than I would have ever anticipated. According to the rules I made, I would need to offer you like three items per choice, but that also feels a bit lackluster."

"Outstanding results require outstanding rewards, you know?"

"So, tell me, what do you want for your reward? Is there any specific item you want? Is there something you want me to do? Something you want me to change?" the jester said as he leaned on his little hammer again.

Shang remained silent as he thought about what he wanted.

Usually, Shang wasn't thinking about any specific rewards since the God had always offered him a selection, but now, he could choose whatever he wanted.

Of course, choosing a reward wasn't as easy as rubbing a lamp and making a wish.

Shang's "purpose" was to be a tool of entertainment, and if Shang's request didn't help him in fulfilling that purpose, the God might decide to go back to simply offering some items.

"No, don't even think about it," the jester said from the side with a short snicker.

Shang had just thought about asking the God about creating a couple of areas for Concept Comprehension in his inner world.

Like this, Shang wouldn't need to explain why he was looking at certain things.

"Also no," the jester said.

Just now, Shang thought about asking for a way to comprehend the level five Concept of Entropy, which was still unfamiliar to Shang.

Shang took a deep breath as he continued to think of something.

Then, he thought about a certain problem and got an idea.

"Sure," the jester said. "That's feasible."

"Is that what you want?"

 

 

Chapter 802 802 – Goodbye

Shang thought about asking for that reward, but he wanted to be sure about his choice.

The God had already confirmed that this reward was possible, but Shang wanted to think of a couple more things first.

Shang needed resources, opportunity, and security.

These were the three things that he needed to become more powerful.

Could he ask for resources? Sure!

Could he ask for opportunity? Kinda.

Could he ask for security? Depends.

Now, how difficult was it to get these things outside the trial?

Resources? No problem!

Opportunity? Kinda.

Security? Depends.

Sadly, none of these things seemed to be different, which meant that Shang couldn't ask for something in here that was very difficult to get outside.

Due to his allegiance to the Lightning Manor, Shang already had a lot of resources.

Although, these resources might shrink depending on what happens next.

After all, the God had killed Lucin and Queen Primordium before the trial.

A Mage King died.

Literally anything could happen outside.

A couple of minutes later, Shang had decided on what he wanted.

The jester's smirk widened a bit.

"I want to know whenever someone that isn't you is paying attention to me," Shang said.

And there it was.

This was Shang's request.

It was something that would give him more security.

There were several kinds of dangers, and the fewer dangers there were, the higher the security.

Shang was in no direct danger, like getting attacked by someone much more powerful than him.

There were nearly no Ancestral Mages in the world that could defeat him, and the Mage Lords weren't allowed to attack him due to the Lightning Manor.

Of course, this kind of danger could reappear with the death of Queen Primordium, but it wasn't certain.

Another kind of danger was the loss of resources.

Maybe Shang could lose his status as a Cloud?

Maybe someone would demand money from him?

That also wasn't a very big problem since Shang only needed power to keep his status and wealth.

And he had plenty of power.

The most important danger was someone finding out Shang's secrets.

Shang had several secrets with different levels of severity and importance, but his deepest secret was the fact that he was the Child of Calamity.

If his identity as the Child of Calamity got out, he would directly be hunted and killed by Mage Kings.

And that was exactly what Shang wanted to avoid with that request.

"Let me think about it," the jester said as it hummed to itself a bit.

The jester summoned a couple of Magic Circles and played around with them.

Then, it scratched its chin in deep thought before lifting its finger in an exaggerated manner to continue drawing more Magic Circles.

Some seconds later, something white appeared in front of the jester.

It was a long bandage.

"Alright, this should do," the jester said as it cleaned the non-existent dust from its hands.

The jester threw the white bandage over to Shang, who caught it.

"Put that over your eye sockets," the jester said. "They will be your reward."

Shang took off his old bandages and put the new ones around his head.

They were even whiter than the old ones, and they also looked brand new.

A bit later, Shang finished putting them on, but he didn't feel any difference.

Suddenly, he felt like someone was watching him, and he subconsciously turned his head in a seemingly random direction, diagonally facing the sky.

There was nothing there.

A moment later, a powerful Mage became visible at that spot.

Then, the Mage vanished, and a second later, Shang felt a slight bit watched.

It wasn't very difficult for him to find the source.

An Adept had appeared.

"Understand?" the jester asked.

Shang nodded.

Whenever someone was watching Shang, Shang would simply feel like he was being watched.

Then, depending on the power of the person, he felt the sensation stronger or weaker.

This was essentially exactly what he wanted.

"And that's it," the jester said. "I think it's time to say goodbye."

For some reason, Shang felt like this was not just a random joke from the jester.

There was something up with how he said that.

"In what sense, goodbye?" Shang asked.

"We're done with the trials," the jester said.

"Forever."

Shang became a bit nervous.

"Why?" he asked.

"Mana shortage," the jester said. "Also, I'm kind of out of normal rewards. Lastly, the rewards become less and less useful for you."

"I can make a couple of early Mage Lords, but as soon as I have to create a strong Mage Lord for you, the Mana I have to use will become quite noticeable."

"You know, I don't really want to kill a Mage Emperor just because they found that all the Mana that suddenly vanishes leads to your body."

"Of course, I also can't give you unlimited access to the Affinity Wheel anymore. I think, at best, I can give you access to Mid Mage Lords and Late Beast Lords. Anything more than that, and some of the Mage Emperors might notice that something is up."

"Under normal circumstances, I would still hold one more trial. After all, who could possibly jump two entire levels against a very talented Mid Mage Lord?"

The jester sighed.

"Well, you can."

"And because of that, I decided that we don't need the trial anymore."

Shang understood where the God was coming from, and he preferred safety above rewards.

"And that's about it," the jester said. "If we meet again, it will be with our real bodies."

"Who knows? Maybe you will be strong enough to kill me," the jester said with a laugh.

Yet, for some reason, Shang felt this laugh to be very strange.

It was the laugh of someone that knew something important that someone else didn't.

"Goodbye. I wish you all the best," the jester said with a smirk as it slowly faded away.

Shang didn't say anything.

Instead, he left his inner world before the jester even fully faded.

The jester's smirk only widened.

And then, it vanished.

 

Chapter 803 803 – Fake

Shang reappeared inside his huge Isolation Chamber. Luckily, the God had fixed it before the trial.

What did Shang think about not seeing the God again until he became strong enough to fight him?

Nothing.

The God was not someone that interested Shang.

He was only someone that Shang wanted to kill.

A tiny part of his Isolation Chamber had been left open, but Shang didn't feel like anyone was watching him.

Shang touched the bandage that was wrapped around his head.

This tool would help him a lot.

Shang slowly stood up and walked to the exit of the Isolation Chamber.

He opened the exit, stepped out, and put it back into his inner world.

WHOOM!

At that moment, Shang felt like hundreds of eyes had fallen on him.

But over the next couple of seconds, the feeling faded substantially until there was only a very weak feeling of someone lightly glancing in his direction remained.

When the huge Isolation Chamber suddenly disappeared, all the Spirit Senses of the Bolts near the central area looked over since it was quite conspicuous for such a huge object to vanish.

When they saw Shang, they lost interest and looked away again.

Before the trial, Shang wouldn't have been able to feel all these gazes.

Shang also looked around with his Spirit Sense.

About an hour ago, the God had killed Lucin, and half an hour later, Shang had killed Queen Primordium.

The entire trial had only taken about half an hour, which meant that one hour had passed in total.

What had happened in the last hour?

Surprisingly, the world didn't look much different from before.

The only difference was that there were far fewer visible Bolts.

Shang could only see around two of them with his Spirit Sense.

However, thanks to the new bandage, Shang knew that there were far more Bolts. These Bolts just didn't show themselves to the Clouds.

Shang avoided inspecting all the different Clouds since Clouds could feel the senses of others as long as they were not far more powerful.

Shang looked around for a bit more.

If he didn't know what had happened, everything would seem normal.

Shang took out his Communication Crystal and tried to contact Lucin.

"Yes?" Lucin answered.

For just a moment, Shang's mind stopped.

But then, he realized that this was probably not the real one.

The Mages were probably using advanced Magic to make it seem like Lucin was talking through the Communication Crystal.

"I feel like something is going on," Shang said. "I feel like something happened."

"Hey, listen," the fake Lucin said with a bit of annoyance. "You're inside the Hibye. What can possibly happen? I'm currently busy with something. Is there something you need?"

Shang didn't say anything for a second.

"Never mind," Shang said. "I'm going to ask my teacher."

"Sure," the fake Lucin said before cutting the connection.

After that, Shang tried to contact Queen Primordium.

"The owner of the Communication Crystal can't be found," Shang's Communication Crystal said.

The fake Lucin might have put a tiny hope into Shang's mind that the God had faked their deaths, but when he heard that, that hope was obliterated.

This was the message that appeared when someone was dead.

Then, something surprising happened.

Nothing.

Nothing happened.

If a high-ranking officer died and someone rang their phone, wouldn't every investigator and colleague of that high-ranking officer immediately look at the person that tried to contact them?

Yet, absolutely no one looked at Shang.

This told Shang the current state.

They didn't know that Queen Primordium was dead!

As of now, only Lucin's death was known.

Shang realized that his current situation might become problematic.

If he simply didn't do anything and they found out that Shang had tried to contact Queen Primordium, they might decide to investigate him immediately.

'I have to act natural,' Shang thought.

Shang decided on an approach.

And then, he tried to contact Queen Primordium again.

After some minutes, he tried it one last time.

Lastly, he contacted Lucin again.

"Shang, I'm busy. What do you need?" the fake Lucin asked.

"I can't reach my teacher," Shang said. "She told me that I could reach her whenever. She even gave me the aura of her personal Communication Crystal. Yet, the Communication Crystal only gives me the same message as when someone died."

Five seconds of silence passed.

"Who was your teacher again?" the fake Lucin asked.

At that moment, Shang's aura became unstable for an instant.

Naturally, he had faked that reaction since this was how someone would react to such a question.

Shang could imagine how, in the last five seconds, a team of several Mages went through all the relevant documentation and information regarding Lucin to find out who Shang's teacher was.

Yet, there had been no documentation regarding Shang's teacher.

"Forget it," Shang said before cutting the connection.

The next second, Shang felt powerful eyes looking at him.

Shang acted like he wasn't feeling anything.

Then, he just motionlessly stood in one location for a couple of seconds.

After a while, Shang took to the skies and flew towards the west.

The eyes watching Shang never vanished, which meant that the person impersonating Lucin was still watching him.

A couple of seconds later, Shang arrived in front of someone.

"Haven't seen you in a while," Fleros, the person responsible for resource acquisition for the Clouds, said with a laugh.

Shang's aura was tense as he focused on Fleros.

"I need to go to the Lightning Manor," Shang said.

Fleros blinked a couple of times in surprise. "You? Why?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" Shang asked. "How much for an escort to the Lightning Manor?"

Fleros looked at Shang with a concerned and uncertain expression. "I can't just let anyone enter the Lightning Manor. You should ask Lucin for permission first."

"No," Shang answered. "I need to go to the Lightning Manor without Lucin's input."

"This entire thing is specifically because of Lucin."

Fleros frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't tell you the specifics," Shang said. "This is something that goes far beyond my power, and the fewer people know, the better."

"Just bring me to the Lightning Manor."

Fleros looked at Shang with furrowed brows.

After that, he looked around a bit before contacting Shang via voice transmission.

"I know what you're talking about," Fleros transmitted. "I can only tell you this."

"Something happened, and we know about it."

"Just wait."

 

 

Chapter 804 804 – Not Good

Shang remained silent for two seconds.

"Alright," he answered. "I don't know why someone is impersonating Lucin, but I presume there is a reason for that."

When Fleros heard Shang directly refer to Lucin being impersonated, his eyes narrowed for a second.

He had no idea how Shang had found out.

"Everything will be explained in a couple of days," Fleros answered. "For now, I must ask you to keep all of this a secret."

Shang nodded.

"However, there might be an even bigger problem."

'Bigger than Lucin's death?' Fleros thought in ridicule.

"What?" Fleros asked.

"My teacher's Communication Crystal is saying that she isn't reachable," Shang transmitted.

"And your teacher is?" Fleros asked.

Shang didn't say anything for two seconds.

"She is inside the Lightning Manor," Shang answered. "I need to go to the Lightning Manor."

Fleros furrowed his brows again.

"Who's your teacher?" he asked again.

"I'm not telling you for your own good," Shang transmitted.

Fleros lifted an eyebrow. "For my own good?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes," Shang said. "You probably have some way to confirm whether I'm telling the truth or not. Just use that method. I'm not lying."

Fleros looked with a complicated expression at Shang.

"Your teacher isn't Lucin, right?" he asked.

"No," Shang answered.

Fleros looked at the sky with a worried expression.

If Shang's teacher was truly in the Lightning Manor and he couldn't reach her, it could mean that another Mage Lord had died.

Usually, Fleros wouldn't even entertain the thought that a Mage Lord died within the Lightning Manor, but after Lucin's head had just randomly exploded, he no longer doubted that something like this could happen.

A moment later, Shang felt more eyes looking at him.

Based on the intensity of the feeling, Shang knew that several Mage Lords were looking at him.

"You are not planning to damage or hurt the Lightning Manor or someone in it?" Fleros asked.

"No," Shang answered.

Silence.

A second later, most of the eyes stopped looking at Shang.

"Fine," Fleros transmitted after a sigh. "I'm bringing you to the Lightning Manor myself."

Shang nodded. "Thanks," he said.

Fleros also nodded and summoned a Transportation Plate.

Shang jumped on it, and the two of them shot toward the Lightning Manor.

It took them a couple of minutes to get there.

Eventually, the two of them landed in the courtyard.

"In which department is your teacher?" he asked.

"I know where I need to go," Shang answered before walking towards the entrance.

Fleros frowned. "Listen, I can't just let you walk around randomly."

"Then, just follow me," Shang said as he opened the door.

As Shang opened the door, he felt an apocalyptic pressure encompassing his body as Fleros glared at him.

"I said, I can't just randomly let you walk around, Shang," Fleros said with a threatening tone. "There are rules, and you must abide by them."

The pressure Shang was under was akin to being threatened by a Beast King.

It couldn't be described how much pressure this put on someone's mind.

Yet, Shang just kept walking as if nothing had happened.

Fleros' eyes widened in shock.

How could someone in the Sixth Realm resist his mental pressure?!

It should be impossible for Shang to move!

Shang entered the Lightning Manor under the immense pressure, and a bit later, Fleros gritted his teeth and shot after him.

"Wait!" Fleros shouted as he shot after Shang.

Inside the Lightning Manor, casting Spells that weren't part of one's duty was forbidden.

If anyone just summoned a fireball, a barrier, or whatever, the entire Lightning Manor would take note of what happened and get distracted from their work.

This would be akin to lighting a firecracker in the night in a residential district.

Fleros reached Shang and put his hand on his shoulder with a lot of force.

CRACK!

Shang slapped the hand away, breaking it.

Fleros took a deep breath as he looked at his broken hand.

He saw Shang as someone over a Realm below him, but he had forgotten that Shang was a warrior.

Fleros wanted to cast a Spell in rage but stopped in the end.

He grew enraged by the fact that Shang disrespected him to this degree and ignored his commands.

He decided that when Shang exited the Lightning Manor again, he would give him a lesson.

"Are you crazy?!" Fleros shouted as he followed behind Shang.

Shang completely ignored him as he shot with rapid speed toward his goal.

Fleros kept shouting at Shang, but Shang didn't stop.

Eventually, Fleros noticed where they were, and he grew very nervous.

This was where the Mage Kings lived!

He wasn't supposed to be here!

"Are you insane?!" Fleros shouted in a whispery voice.

Shang passed several doors until he reached two doors beside each other.

When Fleros saw Shang rushing towards one of the two doors, he felt like his heart had stopped.

No!

No, no, no!

"Shang! Don't!" Fleros shouted as he did his best to stop Shang with his mind.

BANG!

Shang's fist hit the door, shaking the entire thing.

Fleros stopped breathing and froze in terror.

What had Shang just done?!

At this moment, Fleros feared for his life.

The warrior he had escorted had just punched the Custodian's door!

The Custodian was the most powerful Mage King, and only other Mage Kings and the Thunders working below him were allowed to contact him!

Shang just stopped in front of the door.

A couple of seconds later, the door opened, and the Custodian walked out with an apathetic expression on his face.

Fleros felt like he was looking death in the face.

He had never seen the Custodian before, and he definitely never wanted to see the Custodian under such circumstances.

"Shang Sword, what a pleasure to see you," the Custodian said with a restrained but slightly sarcastic tone. "Is there a reason why you wanted to break my door?"

Shang took out his Communication Crystal and tried to contact Queen Primordium.

Then, he threw the Communication Crystal to the Custodian, who just looked at it with a raised eyebrow.

After a couple of seconds, the surroundings seemed to darken.

A moment later, the Custodian took out his own Communication Crystal.

More seconds passed.

Shang and Fleros felt like the world around them was about to explode.

"I presume this isn't supposed to happen," Shang said.

Wester's eyes shot towards Shang, and for just a moment, Shang could feel endless coldness, rage, and hatred come from them before Wester regained control.

Wester took a deep breath and cleaned his already immaculate suit.

"Oh dear," he said.

"That's not good."

 

 

Chapter 805 805 – The Lightning Sea Vanishes

The Custodian took a deep breath.

"Wait here," he said before entering the hallway to the Lightning Emperor's study.

Silence.

Fleros only looked with absolute shock, confusion, and fear at the door the Custodian had just entered.

What the hell was going on?!

Shang just waited.

This was the best thing for him to do.

This was the best way to hide that Shang had known that Lucin and Queen Primordium were dead.

Fleros had no idea what he should say and just waited in uncertainty.

It seemed like whatever Shang had come to tell the Custodian was quite important.

Nearly two minutes of nothing happening passed.

The two of them were only waiting.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Shang was doing his absolute best not to show a reaction, but it was very difficult, even for someone like him.

Just now, Shang had felt like the God had returned and that he was filled with unending fury.

It was like an apocalyptic cataclysm was directly looking at him.

The feeling of being watched had never been this powerful before.

It was unreal.

Naturally, this could have only been one thing.

The Lightning Emperor had thrown a glance at Shang.

This confirmed that even Mage Emperors couldn't hide from the bandages.

It was a terrifying experience, but it was also a relieving one.

Shang's biggest worry had vanished.

From now on, he would know when someone was looking at him or not, which allowed him to only summon Abominations in complete secret.

Naturally, Shang still had to be careful. After all, just like with the Isolation Chamber, anything that made a certain disturbance would attract the attention of anyone close enough to sense it with their Spirit Sense.

A second later, the impossibly powerful feeling of being watched vanished again.

Shang didn't move.

Silence.

A couple more minutes passed.

And then, the floor vibrated lightly.

It was so light that a normal human wouldn't even notice, but no one inside the Lightning Manor was a normal human.

After that, it became quiet.

Somehow, it grew even quieter than usual.

Several Bolts and Thunders became confused.

For some reason, the Lightning Manor felt very different from usual.

Then, one of them noticed what had happened, and his eyes widened in shock.

"The Lightning Sea is gone," he said in a slightly surprised but also somehow nonchalant manner. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he was just subconsciously narrating what he saw.

The others looked at him and confirmed it.

Silence.

Outside the Lightning Manor was a sea of black clouds, but the black clouds were silent.

There was no lightning.

It was peaceful, but since this was not something that was supposed to be peaceful, it felt very ominous.

The Bolts knew that the Lightning Emperor was the reason for the Lightning Sea.

His mere presence created this humongous sea of lightning.

The Lightning Sea had only calmed down a couple of times in recorded history, and every time, something major had happened somewhere in the world that required the Lightning Emperor to leave.

Did this mean that the Lightning Emperor had left?

Had something happened?

The Mage Lords talked to each other in worry.

"Is the Custodian available?"

Shang did his best not to show any reactions.

As his Spirit Sense perceived the new person that had arrived, a scene shot through his mind.

Back in the Skythunder Kingdom, Shang had once seen this person.

In the black pylon.

It was a beautiful young woman with long silver hair wearing purple robes.

It was the Starlight Queen.

She was looking at Fleros and Shang at this moment since they were standing directly in front of the Custodian's door.

Shang noted that there was no hint of suspicion or recollection in her eyes.

Naturally, a mere General Stage warrior in some distant place that she had seen for a couple of seconds a thousand years ago wouldn't stay in her memory.

Even if Shang looked identical to the past him, she probably still wouldn't suspect anything.

She probably wouldn't even find him familiar in any way.

This was how unimportant he had been.

Fleros was not sure how to react since he had also never seen the Starlight Queen before.

Even more, she had asked him a question!

He was concerned and only looked at Shang.

Fleros had no idea what was going on, but Shang did.

The Starlight Queen noticed Fleros' gaze and looked at Shang.

Now that she looked closer, she actually noticed that this person had a very strange aura.

It was very unique, but not in a good way.

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked Shang.

Shang nodded. "Yes, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you."

The Starlight Queen furrowed her brows.

Not allowed to tell her?

She was a Mage King!

However, she could confirm that what Shang had said was the truth since it conformed to the truth of the world.

"Oh, is Wester also out?"

The people turned to a new person that had appeared.

It was an older man with red hair that was slowly turning white. He wore casual and loose clothing as he smiled politely.

Since Queen Primordium had introduced all the other Mage Kings to Shang, he also recognized this one.

Jonathan, the Myriad King, the leader of the Research Department.

He was someone that had dedicated his entire life to researching Magic and Affinities.

"Glad to see you're doing well," the Starlight Queen said with a polite smile.

The Myriad King nodded. "Everything going well with the Research Department?"

"There are no issues," she answered.

"Good to hear," the Myriad King said. "You've been a tremendous help, Sarah."

"Thanks, John," she answered with a smile.

"So, what's going on?" Jonathan asked casually as he looked at the present people. "It seems like the Ancestor left. Is Wester available?"

Fleros and the Starlight Queen threw a glance at Shang, prompting the Myriad King to also look at Shang.

Shang pointed at the door leading to the Lightning Emperor's study.

"Unless he left through a different exit, he's still in there."

 

 

Chapter 806 806 – Unrealistic

The Myriad King had to chuckle a bit when he saw Shang's nonchalant attitude.

It was like he was talking to some people on the street instead of two Mage Kings.

The Starlight Queen, on the other hand, just furrowed her brows.

The Starlight Queen was someone that deeply respected her superiors.

In her mind, power and contributions deserved respect.

However, she also knew that this was her own philosophy, and she knew that she couldn't expect everyone to share that philosophy with her.

She had met enough humans with horrible attitudes.

She knew that trying to change all of them was an exercise in futility.

"Are you the reason why the Ancestor left?" the Myriad King asked as he inspected Shang with interest.

As the head of the Research Department, he knew a lot about other Paths, and he had also already noticed that Shang wasn't actually a Mage.

Shang nodded. "Yes, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you."

"Oh?" the Myriad King uttered with interest.

Then, he put his hand to his chin and rubbed it in thought.

The entire time, he kept looking at Shang.

"You have a fivefold Spirit Sense," he said.

At that moment, Fleros' eyes widened in absolute shock.

What?!

Fleros turned to look at Shang in disbelief.

A fivefold Spirit Sense?

Sure, Shang was a Cloud, but there was a difference between a normal Cloud and one with a fivefold Spirit Sense!

The Starlight Queen also looked at Shang with surprise.

Was this why his aura felt so strange?

Shang didn't answer.

The Starlight Queen wasn't the biggest fan of Shang's refusal to answer, but he wasn't part of her Department, which meant it was not her place to reprimand him.

The Myriad King kept looking at Shang with interest for a couple of seconds.

Then, he summoned his Communication Crystal and looked at it.

Very quickly, his smile vanished.

His face became more and more shocked the more time passed.

Shang noticed all of this and knew that the Myriad King had found out what had happened.

'It's shocking how quickly he combined all the clues,' Shang thought.

Something that would make the Lightning Emperor leave his castle had to be monumental.

Now, did this thing happen within the Lightning Manor's Empire or outside of it?

Since Shang was the one that brought these news, it meant that this monumental incident had happened within the Lightning Manor's Empire. After all, as a warrior and someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense, Shang wouldn't be outside the Empire, which meant that he wouldn't be the one that got the info first, which meant that he wouldn't be the one reporting.

So, it had to be within the Lightning Manor's Empire.

Now, as someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense, Shang had to be part of the Contender Department, the small Department within the Reinforcement Department.

Which meant that the incident was likely related to that.

And the last clue was…

Queen Primordium wasn't here yet.

She was always in her room, and she should have been one of the first to arrive.

When he had combined all the clues, the Myriad King simply tried to call Queen Primordium, which told him everything he needed to know.

Sarah looked with surprise at the Myriad King's fallen, shocked, and stressed expression.

Something that could even shock him?

Someone of his age that had seen so many things?

After a while, he took a deep breath, but it was still difficult to calm down.

If the Lightning Emperor's disappearance hadn't already confirmed the truth, the Myriad King wouldn't have believed it.

A Mage King…

Dead…

Queen Primordium still had over 30,000 years left, which meant that it was impossible that she died of natural causes.

It could have only been her own doing, or someone else's doing.

And she definitely didn't seem like a careless or suicidal person.

A Mage King had been killed…

The impact of such a statement was hard to grasp.

The best comparison would be someone on Earth hearing that an intercontinental nuclear missile had been launched.

It was literally a precursor to doomsday.

This could mean war.

At that moment, the door to the Lightning Emperor's study opened, and the Custodian walked out.

The other two Mage Kings looked at him.

However, Wester looked at Fleros instead, who cowered in fear under the gaze.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I-I was escorting him," he stuttered nervously as he pointed to Shang.

The Custodian's eyes flashed with understanding. "I've heard of what happened to Lucin," he said. "Do you know of a second person that died today?"

Fleros shook his head. "No, I only know of Lucin."

The Custodian nodded. "Leave and keep any details you might have grasped to yourself."

"Y-yes, sir!" Fleros said with a bow before rapidly running away.

"Sir, what's going on?" the Starlight Queen asked.

Wester sighed and looked at her.

Then, he threw a glance at the Myriad King and noticed his expression.

'Of course, he would have already found out,' Wester thought with another sigh.

Wester turned to the Starlight Queen.

"Vana has been assassinated inside her room," Wester transmitted.

Over the course of several seconds, the Starlight Queen's face turned more and more horrified.

What?!

But she was the second most powerful Mage King in the Lightning Manor!

Who could kill her?!

Inside her room!

Without anyone noticing!

It was impossible!

This must have been an incredibly powerful Mage King with the support of a Mage Emperor!

Did one of the other Empires attack them?!

"The Ancestor is dealing with it," Wester transmitted to the two of them.

"We have to wait for further orders."

Meanwhile, many kilometers away, a humongous cloud of lightning, thousands upon thousands of kilometers wide, shot through the sky at unreal speeds.

In the center of this humongous cloud was the Lightning Emperor.

But he was very different from usual.

A determined, brutal, and cold expression replaced his usual relaxed smile.

The only two people that could have done something like this were him and Wester, and the Lightning Emperor was absolutely certain that Wester hadn't killed Queen Primordium.

This meant that it had been someone outside the Empire.

Killing one of his closest people right under his nose…

It didn't get more provocative and disrespectful than that.

When the Lightning Emperor had heard of what happened, he had looked into Queen Primordium's room.

The sight of the pile of meat had horrified him.

How had something like this happened right beneath his nose?!

This could only have been done with the help of at least one other Emperor!

The Lightning Emperor hadn't even thought for a second that the God Shang had told him about had been responsible for that.

Why not?

Imagine there was a religious general sitting in one of his bases.

One of his highest officers dies mysteriously in their room.

Now, even if that general were religious, would that general believe that the soldier had been killed by God, even though he didn't know who or how his officer was killed?

Of course not!

It was not realistic.

The God had never gotten involved in the world before.

Why would he now?

This must have been done by one of the other Emperors.

And today, the Lightning Emperor would remind them of the past.

There was a good reason why he had been Lucius' second-in-command!

 

Chapter 807 807 – Life And Death

Countless people noticed the gigantic storm cloud that passed overhead for just an instant.

They had no idea what was going on or where this storm cloud had come from.

In just a couple of seconds, the storm cloud left the Lightning Manor's Empire behind, entering the Empire to the southeast.

The Judgment Palace Empire.

Immediately, all the huge Magic Circles surrounding the Judgment Palace Empire began to activate and ring with alarms.

Several Mage Lords of the Judgment Palace had their faces turn white in shock.

Whatever had just entered was far beyond their power.

This meant that this had to be a Mage King!

Why would a Mage King suddenly invade the Judgment Palace?!

Was this war?!

BANG!

After an explosion, two Mage Kings appeared in front of the huge storm cloud with narrowed eyes.

"Who are you?! Why are you invading us?!" they shouted as they readied apocalyptic Spells.

Yet, the next moment, their eyes widened in terror.

Just now, they felt like a God had looked at them with killing intent.

H-How was this sensation so intense?!

This was even stronger than…

And then, they realized that this wasn't a Mage King, but a Mage Emperor.

Even more, based on the huge cloud filled with lightning and the direction it came from, this was most likely the Lightning Emperor.

But why?!

The Lightning Emperor was known as one of the nicest and most approachable Emperors!

They had all met the Lightning Emperor before, and they almost couldn't link the apocalyptic pressure in front of them with the nice old man they knew.

In the next moment, the storm cloud enveloped them.

At the same time, they felt like the reality around them was warping.

As Mage Kings, they were very familiar with all Affinities, including Space, Time, and Gravity.

Yet, they felt that the warping that appeared around them didn't only warp these three things but something even more fundamental.

It was almost like the very essence of Mana was changing around them!

An instant later, the Mage Kings began to fall from the sky.

They couldn't fly anymore!

They still had all their power, and they could still feel all the Mana inside their bodies.

Yet, it was like the reality around them had become unfamiliar.

It was like all the Concepts were written in a foreign language in the world!

It was like they had forgotten all of their Spells and Concepts, even though they could all remember them clearly!

The two Mage Kings couldn't believe what was happening.

The language of the Concepts around them had changed into something unfamiliar!

Reality was rejecting their power!

Their Mana Shields and all their enchantments vanished, and a moment later, their bodies were lifted by what felt like a huge invisible hand.

They were completely helpless!

Their Spirit Senses were smothered in the thundercloud of lightning, completely blinding them.

They, mighty Mage Kings, were now nothing but helpless puppies.

The storm cloud continued charging forward, pulling the two Mage Kings with it.

Some seconds later, the storm cloud appeared just 100,000 kilometers away from the Judgment Palace.

In front of the storm cloud was a humongous fissure, 50,000 kilometers wide and unfathomably deep.

The fissure was the deepest black and any being that saw it would feel terrifying dread.

They would feel like this was the most dangerous place in the world.

Falling into this fissure meant death!

This was the Pit of Death.

There were millions and millions of corpses inside the huge fissure at any given moment in time.

The pure density of Death Mana in there was far beyond comprehension.

Even more, the Death Mana didn't only stay in the fissure since more and more Death Mana was being produced there, pushing the Death Mana out of the fissure.

The land around the fissure was a land of death.

Yet, on the other end of the fissure was a platform, and this was the opposite of a land of death.

Beautiful flowers, humongous trees, peaceful beasts, and plenty of small animals were living there.

It was a paradise and beyond beautiful.

However, this platform filled with life was surrounded by the Pit of Death.

Yes, the huge fissure was actually something that could be considered a moat of a medieval castle.

The 50,000-kilometer-wide Pit of Death surrounded the peaceful land of life.

It was like the Pit of Death was both protecting and imprisoning it.

Death was doing something good and something evil.

However, the land of life was also not as peaceful as one might think.

Everything seemed nice on the surface, but the limited resources of the land of life forced its occupants to constantly war with each other.

The land of life was safe from the outside world, but it wasn't safe from itself.

There was good in death, and there was evil in life.

Life and death were not as different as one would think.

In the middle of the platform was a tall and beautiful white castle, stretching over 50 kilometers into the sky.

It was a symbol of harmony, beauty, peace, prosperity, and life.

Yet, there was a darker part to the castle.

In truth, the beautiful white castle was mirrored by another one.

A perfectly dark castle was stretching deep into the earth below the white castle, mirroring it.

This was the Judgment Palace, a beautiful and serene white castle with an identical but mirrored terrifying black castle beneath it.

The white castle was in the middle of the land of life, and the black castle had several huge tunnels leading to the Pit of Death.

Contrasting but adjacent.

Together but separate.

The Judgment Palace.

The storm cloud vanished, revealing the Lightning Emperor and the two Mage Kings.

Now, the Mage Kings could actually see the Lightning Emperor, and when they saw him, cold sweat ran down their backs.

Purple lightning was coming out from all over his body, creating several black holes in the space around them.

The lightning was so powerful that the mix of Space, Time, and Gravity was being ripped apart.

But the most terrifying thing was the Lightning Emperor's expression.

His face was distorted with rage!

 

 

Chapter 808 808 – Adam And Kali

The Lightning Emperor looked with unending rage at the distant Judgment Palace.

Silence.

The Judgment Palace wasn't doing anything.

Slowly, the lightning around the Lightning Emperor intensified.

"Arrogant as always," the Lightning Emperor's voice echoed throughout the world.

"You believe yourself to be invincible."

"Everyone must bow to you."

"You are right."

"You are just."

The lightning around the Lightning Emperor became even more violent.

"You ignore me?!" the Lightning Emperor shouted in anger as the world around him exploded in thunder and lightning.

Deep in the Judgment Palace, at its very core between the two contrasting sides, was a beautiful room where death and life met.

Two people were standing near each other, one of them embracing the other from behind with their arms.

"We should really go out," the embraced person said with a helpless sigh.

"He's throwing a tantrum," the embracing person said coldly. "He doesn't deserve a response."

The embraced person smiled awkwardly as they scratched the side of their head in embarrassment. "We don't even know why he's like that. Maybe there's a reason why he is like that. I think we should ask."

The arms embracing them tightened with terrifying power, causing the person great discomfort.

"You are mine," the cold voice behind the embraced person said in their ears.

The next moment, the long nails of the embracing arms slowly but sensually created deep scratches in the embraced person's skin, but it was like the nails were going through water.

The flesh and skin reappeared like water flowing back into place.

"You are not you," the cold voice said.

The embraced person only continued smiling in awkwardness as they became a bit embarrassed, their cheeks flushing red.

"You are mine," the cold voice said again.

"Fine, fine," the embraced person said as they looked to the side in embarrassment.

The cold breath of the person behind them created black spots of dying flesh and skin on their right ear, but they vanished just as quickly as they appeared.

Outside, the Lightning Emperor's rage reached new levels.

Kali had always disrespected and looked down on him.

She had always called him weak, telling him that the only reason why he was Lucius' second-in-command was that he had been the first to join.

Kali never believed that he had the power to back up his position.

Yet, Lucius had always told her that she was underestimating him.

Lucius always said that he was far more powerful than she thought and that she shouldn't underestimate him.

But Kali always only looked at him and his fragile nature.

He always only smiled and was polite to everyone, even when they weren't polite to him.

He was a pushover.

He was weak.

And, worst of all, he was too emotional.

He cried whenever anyone close to him died, and he very quickly lost control and threw tantrums.

He was a weak-willed child.

And yet, Lucius always kept saying that he was dependable, powerful, and capable.

Kali didn't hate him, but she had no respect or goodwill for him.

Adam, on the other hand, had always been the most approachable out of everyone.

Everyone respected him, and everyone was his friend.

But ever since he managed to win Kali's "love", he rarely talked to anyone anymore, and everyone around him grew distant.

And, worst of all, he didn't mind it.

He even seemed to embrace it.

He had thrown his friends and connections away with a happy smile and no regrets.

It all seemed so easy and effortless.

Had he ever been their friend?

In the end, Adam had seemingly completely disappeared, enveloped and consumed by Kali.

Adam was still alive, but he wasn't leading a life.

He was like one of Kali's accessories.

The Emperor of Life wasn't truly alive.

Yet, Kali felt intense, burning, and conflicting emotions at every moment as she encompassed Adam.

As someone with a Death Affinity, she was supposed to be cold, apathetic, and unfeeling.

But every moment around Adam was filled with intense emotions.

She loved him.

And because of that, she wanted him to die.

He could only truly be hers when he was dead.

Then, he and she would be at peace again.

But she couldn't kill him.

She loved feeling this conflict of intense emotions.

The Empress of Death wasn't truly dead.

What should be alive wasn't alive, and what should be dead wasn't dead.

It was a contradiction.

Kali kept clawing at Adam as her cold breath washed over him.

Adam only kept smiling in happiness and embarrassment.

And now, the two of them were only looking at the distant Lightning Emperor, who was hovering in front of their home.

Due to the powerful defenses, the Lightning Emperor couldn't see the two, but he could imagine what they were doing.

As always, they ignored him.

He had had enough!

He was sure that Kali was the one that had killed Vana!

He had never had any problems with any of the other Emperors, but Kali always wanted to humiliate and injure him.

And, even more, they actually both had a very clear motive for wanting to kill a Mage King.

King Sanctified Death.

King Sanctified Death was an enigma.

He had appeared out of seemingly nowhere with unparalleled power.

But the Mage Emperors knew where he had come from.

His mere existence was incorrect.

He shouldn't exist.

Life and death might be similar, but they can't be the same.

They can't combine.

They can't create.

Whatever they would create was either alive or dead.

It couldn't be both.

Yet, somehow, it happened.

Life and death had created something.

Something that shouldn't exist.

Someone with a Life and Death Dual Affinity.

And naturally, Adam and Kali wanted their creation to become a Mage Emperor like them.

King Sanctified Death.

Abaddon.

Their son.

When the Lightning Emperor had seen Vana's corpse, he knew that it was them.

There had been no more Mana in the room.

Someone had stolen all of Vana's Mana.

It had to have been the doing of those two.

Who else could do something like this and get away with it?!

Who else was crazy enough to commit such an atrocity?!

And now, the Lightning Emperor had enough.

He had wanted to give them one last chance to talk things out, but they weren't even willing to do that.

'You think I won't do anything?!' the Lightning Emperor thought in fury.

'Lucius always told me to hold myself back.'

'But enough is enough!'

'Today, blood will flow!'

Suddenly, all the lightning around the Lightning Emperor vanished.

And then, the two Mage Kings beside the Lightning Emperor were lifted to the sky.

Silence.

Adam and Kali only looked at him with interest and ridicule.

They saw his eyes.

They were filled with determination.

The Lightning Emperor clenched his fist.

And the two Mage Kings exploded.

 

 

Chapter 809 809 – Gregorio

The world turned silent.

None of the watching Mage Kings or Mage Emperors could believe what they had just witnessed.

It was one thing to enter someone's home, but it was something entirely different to kill someone in it.

The Lightning Emperor had actually killed two Mage Kings!

This... had this ever happened before?!

"You forgot the past," the Lightning Emperor said with a cold voice.

WHOOOOOM!

Suddenly, the world transformed.

The sky and the earth turned an ashen grey.

The plants and animals in the land of life all withered and died.

In a second, the entire land of life had transformed into a land of death.

The next moment, an ashen grey mist floated out of the Judgment Palace's gates.

The grey mist wasn't imposing, huge, strong, or dominant.

It was merely a whisp like from a candle.

The mist slowly floated through the air until it stopped in front of the Lightning Emperor, who only looked at it with cold eyes.

The grey whisp slowly vanished, revealing the person inside.

It was a short woman with skin as white as a corpse's and hair as black as the universe. She wore a long black dress, and her lips were deathly black.

It was Kali, the Empress of Death.

At this moment, she was looking at the Lightning Emperor with an almost vacant expression.

Having known Kali for so long, the Lightning Emperor could tell that she was absolutely furious at the moment, even if it didn't seem like it.

"Gregorio," Kali spoke with a wispy and ethereal voice. "You were the one that forgot the past."

Gregorio, the Lightning Emperor, only snorted. "Did you expect that this would happen?" Gregorio said. "Or was this outside of your plans."

"Plans," Kali repeated with an alien tone. "What irony. You are the one that has to resort to planning."

Gregorio's eyes narrowed as they looked into Kali's. "I don't care what you want to call your plans. The truth is that you have gone too far this time."

Kali only looked apathetically into Gregorio's eyes.

"And what if I did?" she asked coldly.

When Gregorio heard that, his last reservations vanished.

Kali had just confirmed that she had been the one that had killed Vana!

Naturally, Kali wasn't the one that did it, but Gregorio didn't know that.

In fact, Kali didn't even know why Gregorio was so angry.

But all of that didn't matter.

She saw an opportunity to spite Gregorio, and she took it.

"Originally, I only wanted to pay you back double of what I owe you," Gregorio said, "but if you are this willing to admit to it, it might be for the better that you leave this world and go where you belong."

Lightning exploded out of Gregorio's body.

"And while I'm at it, I might as well send your Abomination of a son after you."

"You?" Kali asked with a ridiculing tone. "You plan on killing me?" she asked again.

"You're the one planning," Gregorio said as a sizable tome appeared in front of him.

"I'm doing."

The next moment, the world around Gregorio seemed to warp as he gathered all of his power.

Kali's almost dead eyes only looked at Gregorio's actions like they didn't concern her.

At the same time, Adam looked at the two of them with an uncomfortable expression as he scratched the back of his head.

'Man, these two are at it again,' he thought as if this situation happened constantly. 'Better to let them have their fun for a bit. I'll just look out for all the stuff around them. I don't want anyone to get hurt.'

More and more power gathered in front of Gregorio, and just a bit later, all of it exploded forward.

In an instant, it was like the world had transformed into a weapon bearing down on Kali.

A terrifying mix of different elements and kinds of Mana was singing a symphony of destruction as it annihilated everything between it and its target.

Kali just looked at it with boredom.

She slowly extended her right index finger and tapped it somewhere in the air.

All the Mana vanished.

The humongous wave of destruction had vanished just like that.

This wasn't just some random attack from the Lightning Emperor.

This had actually been one of his most powerful attacks!

Yet, in front of Kali, it had seemed barely stronger than the attack of a mere Apprentice.

Adam only watched with a worried expression.

He hoped that Kali didn't hurt Gregorio too badly.

Officially, Gregorio had counted as the second strongest in their group, but unofficially, it had always been Kali.

Adam still remembered how he had met Kali, or more precisely, her body.

Back then, Kali had been in a deep coma that she hadn't woken up from in hundreds of years.

No one knew how to wake her.

Until Lucius came.

Lucius had awoken her and got the payment for waking her from her family.

Lucius left with the group, but Adam wanted to stay.

Adam said that he had taken a liking to Kali, and he wanted to train her.

Additionally, Kali wanted to repay Lucius for saving her.

So, Adam and Kali trained for many years until they finally returned to Lucius' group during a deadly battle.

Kali had grown extremely powerful, and she had saved everyone in that battle.

That had already been quite late in their journey. Everyone had already been either Peak Ancestral Mages or Mage Lords.

The entire group had already formed by that point.

And when Kali joined, everyone was overwhelmed by her sheer power.

She was more powerful than everyone except Lucius, and Lucius might even need to go all out to win against Kali if they ever fought.

Gregorio had always been quite powerful, but he had been on roughly the same level as everyone else.

Yet, Kali seemed like someone that could bridge the impossibly wide gap between them and Lucius, which was almost unimaginable.

Was Gregorio truly the second most powerful?

Lucius kept saying that, but Gregorio had never shown powers that could reach Kali's.

 

 

Chapter 810 810 – Black Booklet

Kali just coldly looked at Gregorio. "Are you surprised?" she asked. "That your famed Symphony of Destruction is only worth this much?"

Gregorio didn't show any visible reaction.

A moment later, a terrifying amount of Mana flowed out of his tome, which then formed into a terrifying disk made of different kinds of Mana.

Then, the disk exploded, leaving behind three bolts of colorful lightning.

Gregorio's eyes narrowed as he performed one calculation after the other.

BANG!

One of the bolts shot at Kali.

Kali lifted her left hand and closed it gently.

The lightning bolt warped before it vanished, leaving a grey mist behind.

Gregorio rapidly spoke several words and shot the second lightning bolt at her.

Kali lightly moved the fingers on her right hand in a rhythmical pattern, and the lightning bolt scattered into colorful dust.

When Kali saw the colorful dust, just the slightest bit of surprise appeared on her face.

Gregorio spoke even more words and fired the third bolt.

Kali moved her left index finger forward.

The bolt warped a bit but moved back into place like a snake.

Her eyebrows narrowed slightly, and her right hand joined to help her left hand.

Kali moved her two hands away from each other.

BANG!

And the lightning bolt was split apart, missing her.

However, compared to the previous times, she couldn't fully disperse the power, which meant that the power would detonate.

How many people would die?

The pieces of the lightning bolts rapidly shot into the distance, but the further they traveled, the smaller they became.

It was like some kind of heavy force was grinding them down.

Inside the Judgment Palace, Adam released a breath as he cleaned his forehead of sweat. "That was a tricky one," he muttered.

Outside, Kali looked at Gregorio with slightly narrowed eyes. "It seems like I took your Three Bolts of Heaven too lightly in the past. I actually needed to use two hands to deal with the third one."

Gregorio's face was sweating quite a bit. It seemed like he had used up a lot of his focus and Mana with that Spell.

"It's been over 250,000 years," he said. "Do you honestly believe that I am still the same as back then?"

Kali wasn't very impressed.

The next moment, Gregorio grandly stretched out his arms as white lightning came out of his eyes.

His arms moved to paint a picture of the sun, which slowly transformed into a picture of the moon.

As his arms moved, the color of his lightning also darkened.

Until it eventually turned completely black.

SNAP!

Suddenly, the color of the world inverted.

White was black.

Black was white.

Blue was red.

Red was blue.

Kali's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

She actually had no idea what Gregorio was doing or how he was doing it.

Was this a Concept?

At that moment, Gregorio just smirked and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the grey mist that had dealt with Gregorio's attacks reappeared, but this time, there was much more, and it was surrounding Kali.

Kali realized that this grey mist wasn't following her will but Gregorio's will!

BOOOOOOOM!

All the grey mist exploded at once, releasing all the power the grey mist had imprisoned.

All of Gregorio's earlier attacks were released with their full power directly at Kali from point-blank range.

Inside the Judgment Palace, Adam's eyes widened in surprise, and he let out a whistle of appreciation.

"Huh, he's stronger than I expected," Adam said. "Lucius wasn't talking crap."

Even more, the apocalyptic power Gregorio had unleashed had been so concentrated and on-point that Adam hadn't even needed to protect the surroundings.

All of the power had been focused on Kali.

However, Adam wasn't worried.

A moment later, black mist gathered around the spot where Kali had just been and expanded.

As the black mist expanded, the inverted colors seemed to get pushed back.

Gregorio focused on keeping the black mist suppressed, and it seemed to work.

The black mist couldn't stretch further and was struggling to maintain the small domain it had created.

A moment later, the black mist was being pushed back by the inverted colors.

Gregorio had the upper hand.

"Fine," the bored voice of Kali came from the black mist.

WHOOOOOOOM!

All the inverted colors broke apart and were destroyed as the world seemingly broke apart.

The black mist expanded and expanded, encompassing the surrounding 500,000 kilometers.

Inside the Judgment Palace, Adam smiled awkwardly as he was sweating buckets.

He had to protect all the living beings in this huge domain.

Luckily, Kali wasn't targeting the living beings. Otherwise, Adam would never be able to do this.

If Adam hadn't been there to protect everything, every living being in a radius of 500,000 kilometers would have been destroyed.

Beasts, plants, humans…

Even Mage Lords and Mage Kings.

Kali never truly cared about other living beings.

Just now, she hadn't cared if her stunt killed all the Mage Kings under her or not.

When Gregorio had killed the two Mage Kings, she also hadn't particularly cared about them.

However, Gregorio killing these two right in front of her home was obviously a slight at her.

He had disrespected her!

And that was why she was so furious.

A bit later, all the black mist gathered and formed a huge silhouette.

It was a huge beast with six arms, two legs, and tentacles.

An Abomination!

However, this wasn't just any Abomination.

This was the image of an Abomination King!

Back then, their group had once seen an Abomination King.

Usually, Lucius always dealt with the Abominations, but just this once, Lucius hadn't been there.

This meant that the group needed to deal with the Abomination King on their own.

This had been one of the most dangerous battles ever.

In the years after the battle, Kali had researched the Abominations and had created this attack.

The Abominations were the most terrifying beings in this world, and harnessing their powers would increase her power.

This resulted in the creation of this Spell.

The Abominable State.

Something that increased her powers severalfold.

Gregorio saw the gigantic misty Abomination and narrowed his eyes as he sweated bullets.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!

The Abomination released a terrifying howl, reverberating throughout the world.

And then, its right hand shot forward.

Gregorio rapidly spoke words, and his tome began to shine.

One colorful lightning bolt after the other shot out of the tome, hitting the black claw.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Every single bolt could kill a Mage King, but the humongous Abomination seemingly didn't care.

Its claw continued to stretch forward.

Gregorio spoke more and more words, launching more and more Spells.

Eventually, the number of lightning bolts reached a ridiculous degree, and the humongous claw slowed down.

Until it stopped.

A barrage of lightning bolts kept hitting the stationary claw under Gregorio's intense gaze.

BANG!

And then, the claw broke apart and dispersed.

But just a bit later, a new claw formed out of the huge black mist.

Adam just watched with a concerned expression.

It was already impressive enough that Gregorio could block one of Kali's attacks while she was in her Abominable State.

Adam looked at the exhausted Gregorio.

Sadly, Kali could use 20 more of these attacks.

There was no way that Gregorio could win.

Kali was simply far too powerful.

"I have to admit. You're stronger than expected," Kali's cold voice came from the huge Abomination. "But not by much."

"In the past, I didn't go against you because of Lucius."

"But Lucius is no longer here."

"It's time for you to find peace, Gregorio," Kali spoke coldly as the Abomination moved its claw forward again.

Gregorio looked at the approaching claw.

"So, you're truly willing to kill me, huh?" he said.

Then, he sighed.

"That makes this easier."

SHING! SHING!

Suddenly, two incredibly dense balls of Mana appeared beside Gregorio.

This was the Mana of the two dead Mage Kings!

These two dense balls of Mana represented two dead Mage Kings and two potential new Mage Kings.

Gregorio's eyes narrowed.

The next moment, the big tome in front of him disappeared, and a small black booklet appeared in its place.

Kali and Adam saw the booklet, and for some reason, they felt like this booklet shouldn't exist.

It almost felt like an Abomination.

Gregorio spoke words that no one in the world found familiar.

It was a forbidden language that no one knew.

The next moment, a black sphere appeared between the two balls of Mana.

The sphere absorbed the balls of Mana.

And the Mana vanished.

Two balls representing two Mage Kings completely disappeared.

The Mana wasn't transformed into a different kind of Mana or something like that.

It had vanished!

The Mana had actually vanished from this world!

Kali and Adam both understood what had happened.

And for the first time, Kali actually felt fear.

What?!

How?!

"You know, despite all of this, I think I'll still miss you," Gregorio said.

Then, he stretched out his hand towards the huge Abomination.

"Even if only a little bit."

Gregorio had sacrificed two Mage Kings worth of Mana.

Somehow, he had managed to grasp a part of the powers of Entropy.

The power of the Abominations.

This single attack was like two Abomination Kings sacrificing their lives in an all-out attack to destroy the entire world.

'This is why Lucius never wanted us to fight, Kali,' Gregorio thought.

'He never wanted you to die.'

'And he never wanted anyone to know that he wasn't the only Mage in the world that could use the power of the Abominations.'

'I might not even be nearly as good as him in it, but I know a thing or two.'

'Enough to end your life!'

And then, the black sphere vanished.

And with it, the entire world in front of it.