Chapter 1395: 153. Summoning

The sea of stars formed from the core of the Origin Tower remained empty and deep.

Here, apart from those islands made up of various ruins and debris, there were no real stars.

It was like a curtain hanging in space, hollow, dull, lifeless, and at a glance one could tell the difference between it and a true starry sky or sea.

But now, whether it was Peles, or Muen and Ariel, all of them could clearly feel that this originally lifeless curtain had, in an indescribable manner... begun to "shake".

Invisible ripples spread outward with the mace that the black-robed figure was gradually raising as their center. The entire background behind him showed obvious distortion and deformation, as if the whole world had begun to collapse madly toward him!

Immediately afterward, the first level of that mace began to rotate slowly.

"Be careful, he should be changing his way of fighting."

Peles's expression was grave:

"That weapon in his hand... no, it should be a magical device, there is something strange about it!"

"You don't need to say it... I can see that too!" Muen bared his teeth.

Although his accomplishments in magic were slightly inferior compared with those of a true mage master, he was not blind.

The powerful magical aura surging from that long mace, no weaker than the Truth Rank, as well as those densely packed array patterns carved across the body of the mace, made even him feel his heart pound with alarm, not to mention... his long-silent death premonition had once again begun to buzz!

Damn it, deadly, deadly... absolutely deadly!

Time Slow activated, and without saying another word, Muen pulled Ariel beside him into his arms.

Boom!

Almost at that instant, the world shook violently!

Even Time Slow only allowed Muen to react just in time, with absolutely no room to dodge, and so at the same moment the phantom of the Divine Kingdom enveloped him and Ariel, that terrifying scene like the end of the world had already come crashing down!

First, the sea of stars was illuminated by dazzling crimson light.

Surging clouds of fire rapidly extended from one side of the sky to the other, as if a blazing sun were rising beyond the clouds, intending to completely melt everything in the world.

Then purple lightning thundered down from the clouds, inverted ancient branches flickering between heaven and earth, from time to time outlining terrifying phantoms. The shadows of the two of them were also instantly stretched very long, yet before these fluctuations of mighty power that connected heaven and earth, they appeared so tiny.

All the surrounding islands were drawn in by powerful gravity, then melted within the blazing sun and thunderstorm. The splashing molten iron turned into a torrential rain beneath the thunderous dusk, constantly trying to pierce the seemingly fragile boundary at the edge of the Divine Kingdom!

"Fuck..."

Muen's eyes widened, his pupils reflecting this scene that had completely surpassed the limits of understanding. His mental power was rapidly being consumed, and his face visibly turned pale:

"How many spells did that bastard use in one breath? And they're all this kind of large-scale magic, does magical power cost nothing?"

Every spell here, if placed in the outside world, would probably have enough power to directly erase a city, but here, most of them had merely evolved into the "atmosphere group".

Perhaps it was precisely to prevent this kind of disturbance from reaching the outside world that the magic had nearly evolved into a "new world"... but this level of extravagance still nearly made Muen burst into tears.

For the first time, in terms of smashing people with magic, he admitted defeat.

"So this is what a so-called Truth-Rank Grand Mage is like..."

Peles sighed softly: "There are two characteristics of the Truth Rank. First, unrestricted multiple compound magical arrays. There is no longer any need for incantation, no need for preparation in advance, and they can divide their attention among several things at once. So-called magical construction becomes as simple as instinct. Some experienced Truth-Rank Grand Mages who specialize in this path can even expand more than a hundred completely different magical arrays in an instant, and a single person can rival an entire magical military formation. Professor Prang at the academy is very skilled at this.

"And the second characteristic is a terrifying ability to devour and refine magical power. The upper limit of the magical power a person can contain is determined from birth, but a Truth-Rank mage can freely draw magical power from the outside world and refine it for their own use in an instant, taking it whenever they need it, without needing to pass through their own magical capacity at all. A battle between two Truth-Rank Grand Mages can even completely drain the magical power within a thousand-mile radius.

"It is precisely because of these two characteristics that, although under normal circumstances a Truth-Rank Grand Mage will be restrained by a Crowned one in a one-on-one fight, if we are talking about killing efficiency and destructive capability, ten Crowned ones tied together might still not compare to a single Truth-Rank mage."

"..."

Understood, so Truth-Rank Grand Mages were all human-shaped self-propelled cannons, and it was normal for their firepower to be a little fierce...

"Senior Peles, what you're saying is completely right, but what I want to know isn't this kind of basic information that can be learned from a textbook!"

Muen gritted his teeth: "What I want to know is how to deal with this guy!"

Even though the Divine Kingdom could isolate the effects of most magic, it was still not omnipotent. If it were complete, then that would be fine. With one Divine Kingdom covering the opponent, no matter how extravagant the other side was, they could only become an r b q for him to play with however he wanted.

But unfortunately, his Divine Kingdom was still only a Proto-Divinity, and its range was only about ten meters around him... too short. At present, he did not yet have the qualifications to play with the opponent, and if he was not careful, he might even be the one played with by the other side.

"Isn't dealing with this guy simple?"

Ariel in his arms, whether intentionally or deliberately, wriggled comfortably against Muen's body: "The weakness of all mages is the body itself. Just go up and cut him down with one strike, and it'll be over, won't it?"

"...Easy for you to say."

Muen directly slapped that soft, tender, raised butt hard.

You perverted, lewd lesbian, at a time like this you're still thinking about taking advantage of this big-breasted blonde beauty!

"Everyone in this world knows that mages are most afraid of being approached, but Truth-Rank Grand Mages just happen to be that difficult to deal with!"

And thinking about it carefully.

This was actually the first time he had truly faced a mage of this level.

Huggins from before did not really count, because that guy had completely regarded him as a mage and had never been on guard against him getting close.

But this black-robed figure in front of him... after suffering such a huge loss before the Twin-Serpent Timepiece reset everything, it looked like he absolutely would not let Muen approach him easily again.

"Speaking of which, it seems like all the magic this guy has used is Elemental Magic. Can we use that to lock down his identity? Even within the Elemental School, there shouldn't be many people capable of using this kind of large-scale magic, right?" Muen asked.

"That is indeed the case..."

Peles shook her head:

"But this guy is a little strange."

"Strange?"

"The magical fluctuations coming from the magical device in his hand are far too vast. It is as if all his magical power flow, all his spellcasting, has to pass through that magical device, but..."

Peles paused: "Logically speaking, at this level, there are basically very few people who still rely on external objects to strengthen their magic."

"In other words..." Muen looked over with expectation...

"It still needs to be confirmed further."

Peles shook her head: "After all, I am only a soul body now. My sensitivity toward magical power is far inferior to what it used to be."

"...Fine."

Muen helplessly exhaled softly.

His hope had fallen through, so he still had to rely on himself.

An old grandpa was not useful at all times... or rather, she was not even his old grandpa in the first place.

Huh? She was obviously not his, so why could he already ask her for help so naturally?

Wasn't this, in a way, also some kind of cuckold...

Cough cough, this wasn't cuckolding, it was merely drawing more experience from a senior.

"Looks like in the end I'll still have to be a little ruthless."

Those spells like the "end of the world" were still constantly assaulting the edge of Muen's Divine Kingdom. If this kept going, and it dragged on until his mental power was exhausted, then things would truly become troublesome.

Rather than that, it would be better to gamble.

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing, just trying out a new move."

Muen grabbed Ariel by the back of her collar, peeled her off his body, and tossed her to the side.

Then, he gripped both blades tightly.

The muscles throughout his entire body tensed, his body lowering slightly, arching forward like a beast about to hunt, as he began compressing all of his core strength.

Vast power moved throughout his entire body. After stepping through the threshold into Crowned-class, it had already been rare for him to make every single muscle in his body enter a state of tension on the verge of exploding like this.

And so.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The sound of his heartbeat echoed like war drums.

All the magical power began flowing along those magical patterns, pouring into the alchemical core on his back.

The high temperature caused wisps of white mist to rise from around his body...

Time Slow enhancement.

Stacked Force enhancement.

In short, enhancement enhancement enhancement... keep enhancing until the limit, even surpass the limit.

In fact, his recent rise in realm had not brought any obvious essential change to these two basic abilities of Muen's.

After all, this kind of multiplicative increase, the higher it went, the more difficult it became to cross the constantly appearing thresholds and chasms.

But even so, his strength had unquestionably undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.

Because even if the multiplying factor was stuck at a certain limit, his own base value, after crossing that final threshold, had undergone a rebirth-like sublimation!

So—

Whatever the hell you're doing, first take my four-thousand-meter-long blade and then we'll talk!

Without the slightest hesitation.

Muen swung his blades from such a distant range.

Clang——

The trembling sound of the twin blades was like the echo from the beginning of creation, when heaven and earth were first split apart.

Immediately afterward, there was deathly silence.

There was no longer any brilliant blade light, no longer any bright crescent arc.

There was only a pitch-black trace, like a brushstroke, falling upon the black-robed figure from such a great distance.

One horizontal stroke.

One vertical stroke.

They intersected into a cross.

"Death Cry."

Muen whispered.

Pop.

Like a bubble bursting.

The black-robed figure's body, along with the appearance of that cross, was directly severed.

From left, to right.

From top, to bottom.

Those distortions and collapses seemed to be stopped at the same time, leaving only the black-robed figure's mutilated body fragments drifting within the sea of stars.

"Oh my..."

Peles looked toward Muen in slight surprise. Although she had already mentally prepared herself for Muen's increase in strength, after seeing this move, she still could not stop waves from rising in her heart.

Without the enhancement of a Crown, relying only on physical strength.

But as far as this single strike was concerned, there was already basically no difference between him and those true Crowned ones who possessed Crowns.

What he lacked might perhaps only be some accumulation and polishing.

"Don't think I'm that impressive, I've already done my best."

Muen felt that somewhat burning gaze and revealed a bitter smile.

The moment his words fell, both his arms actually exploded directly, becoming drenched in blood.

Amid the flying flesh and blood, even pale bone could be seen.

"Muen!"

Ariel immediately hurried over in anxiety: "Are you okay? I'll heal you!"

"I'm fine."

Muen shook his head and stopped Ariel: "No need for healing magic either, it'd be a waste."

"But you..."

"It's really nothing, don't forget, whose territory is this?" Muen blinked playfully.

Indeed, this move of his was completely the kind of technique that injured the enemy by a thousand while damaging himself by eight hundred.

After all, just as had been said before, under such an enormous base of strength, still maintaining the original multiplication of stacked enhancements meant that the burden on the body rose almost exponentially.

So even though he already possessed a Crowned-class body, fully stacking the enhancement instead caused even heavier injuries.

However, for the current Muen, this degree naturally did not count for much.

He did not even use the black flames.

"Reverse."

Within the Divine Kingdom, time reversed.

Five seconds.

Dong——

Amid the faint ancient toll of a bell, the scattered flesh and blood all flew back as if the scene were being played in reverse, pale bone once again filled with flesh and blood. In the blink of an eye, Muen's hands had already returned to their original state, as if nothing had happened.

Only his face had become slightly paler.

"Holy shit..."

Not only Ariel, this time even Peles could not help but be shocked: "You're cheating!"

"Cough cough, just a little trick, nothing worth mentioning. What's important now is what happened to the enemy. Launching an attack from this far away consumes too much for me, I can't keep throwing out several more strikes like that in a row."

Muen waved his hand, turned his head, and returned his gaze to the distance.

The black-robed figure's shattered corpse was drifting within the sea of stars, silent and lifeless.

The magical fluctuations had already dispersed, and those spells, because they had lost control, had also turned into mixed chaotic magical currents and soon completely disappeared.

It looked like Muen's strike had worked very well.

After all, according to common sense, there was probably no mage in this world capable of receiving this strike of his.

But...

"Strange."

Muen murmured: "Why do I always feel like... something is wrong?"

What was it?

The enemy's bloody remains had already been confirmed, so what else...

"The magical device!"

At that moment, Ariel suddenly said: "That strange magical device from just now is gone!"

"What?"

Muen suddenly woke up.

He focused his gaze, black flames igniting in his eyes.

Within his vision, those shattered chunks of flesh began to change. Originally, they were without question the remains of the black-robed figure, and one could even see those pale severed arms that had left such a deep impression on Muen.

But in the blink of an eye, those remains melted, and then turned into some kind of insubstantial soft-bodied creature, even still twisting continuously in midair!

"It's a demonic beast used as a substitute for death!"

With the help of Ariel's Delusion-Breaking Eye, Peles was the first to recognize what it was: "Summoning Magic!?"

"Summoning? What that guy had always been using... wasn't Elemental..."

Rustle rustle...

The eerie sound of scales rubbing together interrupted Muen's words.

Muen stiffly turned his head, looking in the direction from which the sound came.

In the place that had originally been empty, some enormous creature gradually revealed itself.

It was... a giant serpent.

The giant serpent coiled within the sea of stars, its body as huge as an island. The scales covering its entire body rubbed against one another, flashing with some kind of strange, dreamlike color. When Muen's perception made contact with it, he unexpectedly received absolutely no feedback!

This was precisely why he had completely failed to notice that the other party had already been "substituted for death".

And atop the giant serpent's head, that black-robed figure stood calmly, while between his hands... the second level of the long mace slowly rotated!