Chapter 339: Tenth Spell

The moment Leon opened his eyes, he felt the presence behind him. The mighty being hovered in the air.

"Astral Phoenix." Leon whispered. Then he felt the strange change within his body. Something warm was coursing through the meridians. The power... It felt new. It felt wild. As he slowly clenched his right fist, a crimson aura enveloped it. After savoring the moment for a bit, Leon finally noticed the notifications on the panel.

[Congratulations, host.]

[You have established a connection with the ninth layer of the Astral River for a second ability.]

[Second Ability: Fire affinity.]

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully formed Phoenix Veins.]

[Description: One of the highest category veins. Category: Mythic grade. It allows the fiery mana to be directly channelled within the body instead of turning mana into fire. The Phoenix veins allow the Host to use fire magic more smoothly and faster. It consumes half the mana to cast any spell.]

[Congratulations, Host. You have condensed your second Astral Avatar. The Astral Phoenix.]

Leon read through each of the notifications. The expression on his face changed several times.

"Phoenix veins!" Leon whispered. "Half mana. Fire coursing through the veins. And..." His eyes remained glued to the last notification. "Astral Phoenix. Finally. But it’s only in the Body Refinement realm. I have to cultivate and make my both avatars reach the equivalent realm or even higher than the realm I am at now."

His eyes finally shifted. He saw Emily, Snow and Sol standing in the distance. Their eyes darted between Leon and the Astral Phoenix. They were too shocked to even speak.

Then there was Lamia. She looked happy, smiling at Leon.

There was another being staring at Leon. The last standing lizard man. It stood with an artifact in its hand. Lamia had no idea when that monster had brought it out. She was busy focusing on Leon. The monster looked horrified. Noticing Leon’s gaze, Lamia also looked at the monster. And the moment she did, she froze. Her eyes fixated on the artifact the lizard monster was holding. "The Enforcer." She whispered. Without any hesitation, she waved her hand. Multiple spikes erupted from the ground. "I need to break that before it can activate it." She looked panicked for a reason.

Leon had no idea what it was. He raised his hand to stop Lamia but the spikes had already struck the artifact and the monster. Whatever the monster wanted to do was prevented. Or that’s what Lamia and Leon thought.

Three spikes stuck the monster, piercing from one side and bursting out from the other. Six spikes had struck the artifact. Those spikes had pierced through the monster’s arm which was holding it. Blood splattered on the ground. Yet a smile spread across the lizard’s face.

Boooooooooooooom!

The artifact exploded with a loud bang. The ground shattered as dust and debris erupted outward. A suffocating pressure descended on the whole area. Everyone felt like mountains were pressing on them. All of them collapsed on the ground except Leon and Lamia. Leon had already achieved immunity to gravity. And Lamia’s cultivation realm, though suppressed, was enough for her to withstand the pressure.

Leon reached Lamia with a single jump. "What the hell was that?" Leon asked about the artifact. Considering Lamia’s earlier reaction after seeing the artifact, Leon could tell that she knew about it.

"That’s an enforcer. An artifact to bypass the law of realms."

"Law of realms?" Leon asked.

"Yes. Laws of realms. The Gods supervising the universe have placed different bindings within each world or planet. There is a limit to how much destructive force a planet can endure. As a result there is a limitation on the highest realm a being can reach within a specific planet. Anyone with higher cultivation realm or magical power can’t enter a different planet with lower cultivation realm restriction. Like me. If not for the bond with you, I wouldn’t be allowed to enter this world. And if I entered forcefully, the Gods would strike me with life-threatening force. But that artifact." Lamia looked ahead. The area was still covered with dust and debris and the monster couldn’t be seen. But it was here. The pressure was there. And the pressure was slowly rising.

Leon looked at Emily and the others helplessly. He wanted to help them but none of his affinities had the ability to defend against gravity magic. The only way to help them was to defeat the lizard as fast as possible.

"That artifact can lift the ban for a person." Lamia continued. "That means whoever uses the artifact, their true cultivation realm can be unleashed without any future consequences. The monster. It’s unleashing its true power."

Leon looked ahead at those words. "True cultivation realm, huh? So someone beyond Martial Grandmaster realm."

The fact that a powerful monster was about to unleash its full power didn’t make Leon afraid. The fact that he could lose didn’t bother him. For some reason, he was looking forward to it.

Leon looked at Lamia once more. "Can you do something about them?" Leon pointed toward Emily and the others.

Lamia nodded. "But what about the monster? I can unleash some of my power and deal with i..." Before Lamia could finish, Leon raised his hand. "Just take care of them. And leave that monster to me." Leon said. His voice was firm. Looking at his face Lamia couldn’t help but feel nostalgia. Memories flashed before her eyes. Memories Leon couldn’t remember about.

Lamia nodded and rushed toward Emily and the others. She quickly waved her hand. A thin layer of energy enveloped everyone.

Finally Emily, Snow, Sol and Frenrir could relax their bodies. One by one they stood up.

"Thank you." Emily said.

Lamia nodded and looked toward the storm of dust and debris. It had thinned out a lot. "Don’t get outside of this barrier." Lamia said without looking back. "You too, Frenrir. Your current power won’t be able to endure it."

Everyone nodded. They knew they had no way to help at the moment.

The storm finally cooled down. And the lizard finally revealed itself once more. But the scene froze everyone.

The monster had totally transformed. It was no longer a semi Disaster class monster. Its strength had surpassed beyond the Martial Grandmaster realm.

Leon’s eyes narrowed. "It’s finally time to test my tenth spell."