Realm of Myths and Legends

Shrieeeek!

Suddenly, a horde of demonic shadow beasts swallowed the sky as tens of new spatial doorways formed. It was as if nighttime had abruptly descended over Siren's main headquarters.

As the horde of creatures closed in on Empyrean from every direction, he employed Sky Culling, bursting through the encirclement. A wind stream flowed around Empyrean and forced the demonic shadow beasts that attempted to obstruct his path back.

After breaking through the crowd of demonic shadow beasts, Empyrean headed straight for Aurelianus. Since the mirror in their hands was capable of interrupting his magic, Empyrean planned to destroy the object with physical means. But, Empyrean did not make it halfway to Aurelianus before the edge of a blade appeared near his right shoulder just a hair's width away.

Empyrean did not bother reacting to such a direct physical attack. There was no strength behind the blade aimed at him. And, with his body's natural defenses, how could an attack that lacked any power reach him?

In the end, Empyrean ignored the blade as it struck his right shoulder. That's when something unusual transpired. Empyrean noticed that his movements had come to a halt. At first, he did not understand what was going on. After all, right now, he should be moving towards the mirror-wielding shadow creature. Yet, for some reason, he stopped.

Empyrean's gaze traveled to his right shoulder. He observed that a part of his clothing had been torn and the skin on his right shoulder had been bruised.

Although the blade was unable to pierce through his tough defenses, it was Empyrean's first time experiencing this level of damage. That single strike from the blade shaved off close to 10% of his HP!

The blade itself lacked any power; however, there was a mysterious energy pulsing through it.

Upon coming into direct contact with Empyrean's skin, the mysterious energy attacked to penetrate into his body; however, it could not travel any further than the first layer of Empyrean's skin. This was due to a mixture of his Quasi-Divine Body, Poison Immunity, and Innate Anti-Magic Body.

If not for this powerful combination of skills working with one another to suppress the mysterious energy, Empyrean would have received more than just a small bruise. If any other person had taken that blow just now head-on, it would have caused them to spiral into a miserable state.

After seeing the wound on his shoulder, despite his shock from the new experience, Empyrean did not panic. Instead, the mana in the surrounding started to converge at his location. As this took place, the owner of the blade's hand trembled slightly.

The one responsible for the strike against Empyrean was the ancient shadow warrior, The Great Embracer, Amplexus. Just like Empyrean, Amplexus was also confused by the results of his attack.

Most individuals who suffered a direct hit from his blade would die within seconds. However, this person was still standing as if he were completely unfazed by it.

Even Smiling Demon, who was observing the conflict from a distance, was left bewildered.

"How is this possible? This child actually withstood a direct blow from one of the Great Duke's ministers? Could it be that he possesses a legendary physique skill?"

There was a myriad of skills in RML that could improve one's base power; however, they were usually only temporary. As for the skills that could permanently increase one's overall base power, they were few and far between. This is why the pills produced by Apothecaries that could permanently enhance one's base power were always in such high demand.

The main reason behind Smiling Demon's shock came from the fact that Empyrean was supposed to be a magic caster with some minor physical attributes. After all, it was not uncommon for some magic casters to train themselves physically as to have another layer of protection in their arsenal.

However, this was the first time Smiling Demon confronted a magic caster with such monstrous mana and magic power who also had a physique power enough to receive a head-on strike from one of the Great Duke's ministers!

"If I knew this child had this kind of talent, I would have handled this matter myself. Now that the Great Duke has their eyes set on him, I can only swallow my losses. It is a shame such a talent will fall into the hands of the Underworld." Smiling Demon internalized as he could not help but inwardly sigh in regret.

While it was unfortunate that he would not be able to take Empyrean as his personal disciple, it was not a complete loss on his part.

"After he becomes a part of the Great Duke's shadow army, his talent may not belong to me directly, but it will still be within my grasp."

Smiling Demon redirected his gaze towards the remaining half of the Siren headquarters main building.

"That girl, Paradox, what is taking her so long? She should have already handled the intruder- Hm?"

Smiling Demon's swiftly redirected his gaze to the entrance of Siren's headquarters. The killing intent around him surged as a dark purple aura erupted from his body.

Just now, Smiling Demon felt the flames of life he placed inside of Enigma fade.

The flames of life created a connection between the caster and target to keep track of their life force. There were only two explanations as to why the flames of life would be suddenly extinguished.

The first was that the caster removed the connection themselves. As for the second—it meant that the person to who the flame of life belonged had perished!

"How is this possible? The connection to Enigma's flame of life has disappeared! With the blessing of the God of Disharmony, even if it was someone in the legendary realm, taking his life would not necessarily be a simple task." Smiling Demon internalized.

He found it difficult to accept; however, the flames of life were virtually impossible to manipulate. Without a doubt, Enigma had departed from this world. And, to Smiling Demon, this was a huge loss!

Enigma was personally chosen and trained by Smiling Demon. If all went well, Enigma would have eventually inherited the role of Siren's Head Master.

"Hmph, even if I take no action against that person, the Circle of the Six Gods will not let him go after killing one of their followers. However, since that person dared to kill someone I have taken under my wing, they will have no place left to live under the firmament!"

Suddenly, more than thirty demonic shadow beasts halted their actions and moved away from the horde. The creatures started their descent from the sky above Siren's main headquarters and made their way towards the entrance.

Smiling Demon was uncertain how that person defeated Enigma. After all, if that person was in the legendary realm, it would have been impossible for them to hide their aura after releasing a part of their strength. That is unless they were in the late or peak stages of the legendary realm.

But, Smiling Demon knew that this was unlikely. If it truly were someone who reached that stage, it would not have taken them so long to extinguish Enigma's flames of life.

Whatever the case, Smiling Demon decided that it was best to send the demonic shadow beasts to confirm that person's strength.

Smiling Demon turned his attention back to Amplexus and Empyrean as the two exchanged a series of blows that generated powerful aftershocks. It was to the point that the weaker demonic shadow beasts were unable to get close to the two!

...Bzzzzt! BOOOOM!

Out of nowhere, a group of gray clouds appeared in the sky, swirling into a vortex. The next moment, a loud thunderclap sounded as black lightning descended right through the great array of demonic shadow beasts.

All the creatures that came into contact with this lightning immediately perished under its might.

Seeing this fierce energy, the Great Duke's minister, Aurelianus, was ready to draw the black lightning into its mirror. However, it stopped abruptly at the final moment.

Aurelianus turned its head to face the Great Duke, Murmur, whose eyes glowed as if they were communicating with it—it was a warning from the Great Duke. If Aurelianus had attempted to absorb that black lightning with its mirror just now, the consequences would have been irreversible!

The appearance of the black lightning-caused Smiling Demon to instinctively shiver as he felt cold sweats run down his back. He sensed that one strike from this lightning was enough to destroy everything in its path!

But, where did this frightening lightning come from?