Divine Ring of Life.
It was one of the ten rings worn across Riezel's ten fingers, hidden through the effect of another ring among them.
Its effect was exactly as he had mentioned in the past when he used the Hero Ring Lizbeth had given him to absorb his own power—it could detect every aspect of the wearer's condition and remove all abnormalities, including, but not limited to, poisoning, paralysis, curses, stamina depletion, mental exhaustion, illness, weakness, confusion, and all kinds of negative conditions.
As long as it detected that some aspect of the wearer's condition had fallen below its original state, then once the power of this ring was activated, it would restore the wearer to their normal condition.
Even though it carried the limitation of only being usable once every hour, the effect of this ring was still incredibly powerful. Wearing it was equivalent to carrying both the most precise instrument capable of perfectly monitoring one's condition and an extra life.
At this moment, to use the power of this ring, Riezel canceled the concealment effect placed upon his accessory items, causing all of them to appear at once.
In an instant, rings of different shapes and appearances emerged one after another across his ten fingers, each one radiating obscure yet powerful fluctuations of magical energy.
In addition to the ten rings, a green jewel pendant appeared around his neck, bracelets appeared on both wrists, and together with the amulet hanging from his waist, a total of fourteen mystical artifacts—fourteen accessory items—were fully revealed.
*Zing—*
At the same time, several rings lit up one after another.
A total of five rings glowed, and two of them had already been glowing from the beginning.
One was a ring capable of hiding accessory items while strengthening their effects, and the other was a ring capable of enhancing summon-type abilities.
Since Riezel had already activated the effects of those items earlier, they had remained lit this entire time.
The next two rings to light up were the Origin Ring, which enhanced warrior-oriented basic abilities, and Morgan's Ring, which strengthened magical abilities, both of which were items whose effects he had only activated now.
The final ring to shine was a stone ring embedded with green jade, the Divine Ring of Life.
As a result, Riezel felt the power that had been continuously absorbed by the Hero Ring suddenly begin to recover. A sense of fullness filled his entire body, causing an astonishing aura to erupt from him and stir the atmosphere itself.
"Hm?"
Alaya, who had been watching Riezel with a mocking expression, suddenly changed color.
Because at that exact moment, she also sensed a certain power within him rapidly recovering. As that power recovered, the aura radiating from his body actually began to make her feel threatened.
Clearly, this was something that had never happened before.
One had to know that even before Orario appeared, Alaya had already been an extremely powerful spirit, one that was not inferior to the legendary Great Spirit Aria.
After her corruption, throughout a thousand years, Alaya had constantly devoured magic stones and had even consumed other spirits that entered the Dungeon, gaining terrifying power as a result.
Why was she capable of wielding spirit magic of so many different attributes?
It was precisely because she had devoured other spirits.
Spirits were a magic race, with each spirit possessing their own attribute.
Ais's mother, Aria, had been a wind spirit capable of wielding extraordinary wind-attribute magic, though magic of other attributes had not fallen within her area of expertise.
As a spirit herself, the same had once been true for Alaya.
She had not been capable of wielding multiple types of extraordinary magic as she could now. Only after devouring spirits of other attributes had she gained the power to wield all kinds of spirit magic.
Just how powerful such a being was could easily be imagined.
One only needed to consider that even an avatar born from a split fetus after metamorphosis had been able to surpass the Monster Rex Balor of the Dungeon's 49th Floor, reaching a classification above Level 7.
In that case, how powerful would Alaya's true body be?
Even if she did not quite reach the level of the ancient calamity Nidhogg or the King of Monsters, the One-Eyed Black Dragon, from the Three Great Quests, the difference absolutely would not be great.
It could be said that Alaya was also a terrifying monster capable of forcing the former millennium factions, Zeus Familia and Hera Familia, into defeat. Her power unquestionably stood above Level 9, making her a being that would normally never encounter a threat in the Lower World.
For that reason, Alaya truly had not been fighting seriously earlier and had merely been toying with Riezel the entire time.
But now, she was actually feeling threatened by a mere human adventurer.
How could that not change her expression?
Yet the changes in Riezel's body still had not ended.
"Alter the old truth, forge a new one—Lost Truth."
Along with a low chant, a transparent magic circle appeared beneath Riezel's feet before shattering apart.
"Awaken—Ignis."
Blazing flames suddenly surged out from within Riezel's body, draping over him like a cloak woven from fire.
"Huuu... Haaa..."
Scorching breaths rose and fell from Riezel's mouth and nose as he slightly opened his mouth and inhaled a massive amount of oxygen.
*Zing—*
As though sensing the increase in its wielder's power, the black blade engraved with sacred text immediately responded—the lines across its surface lit up one after another as the weapon became stronger, sharper, and tougher.
Feeling the surging power flowing through his body, Riezel smiled for the first time since entering the battlefield, and that smile finally caused a sense of unease to rise within Alaya's heart.
"Flash, rays of light—"
Following the unease rising within her heart, Alaya chanted magic without the slightest hesitation.
*BOOM!*
In the next second, a gigantic flash with a diameter exceeding ten meters burst forth like a pillar of light piercing through the earth, shattering the ground as it engulfed Riezel.
Unlike the previous one, the scale of this flash was countless times greater. Compared to it, his figure resembled a tiny ant that could be effortlessly crushed beneath its might.
Evidently, this was Alaya's true power—the magic she could only unleash when fighting at full strength.
And in response to this...
"Magic Destruction."
Not only did Riezel refuse to dodge or defend, but he also calmly chanted a magic that could only be activated when one's magic power surpassed that of the opponent.
*PENG!*
In an instant, the pillar of light that seemed capable of piercing the earth suddenly trembled before exploding apart, scattering into countless particles of light.
Needless to say, Riezel's Magic Destruction had succeeded.
"What?"
Seeing the scene, the smile on Alaya's face disappeared, and her intense unease became tangible.
In the next moment, however, she loudly chanted again without hesitation, clearly having completely lost her composure.
"Flash, rays of light—"
"Run wild, darkness—"
"Your envoy beseeches you. The name bestowed upon me is Lux and Shade, embodiment of light and darkness, Queen of Light and Darkness!"
Two enormous magic circles, one white and one black, appeared before Alaya.
Light and darkness burst forth from them simultaneously, and the two magical powers unexpectedly fused together, transforming into a black-and-white torrent that ravaged the entire space.
*Rumble—*
Under the assault of this black-and-white torrent, the ground shattered instantly, the walls split apart inch by inch, and the ceiling collapsed into pieces in mere moments, causing the entire area to look as though it had been struck by a storm from another dimension, a scene resembling the collapse of heaven and earth.
Yet before he could be swallowed by the black-and-white torrent, Riezel stomped the ground apart first.
*BOOM!*
Amid a thunderous explosion, he transformed into a blazing streak of fire moving at divine speed and charged forward instead of retreating.
*Zing!*
At the same time, the green jewel pendant hanging from Riezel's neck lit up, covering his entire body in a faint layer of light.
Wrapped in that faint glow, he moved as though entering an empty realm, directly passing through the black-and-white torrent and weaving through the dimensional storm while completely ignoring the terrifying magical power contained within it.
Needless to say, this was precisely one of the two effects of the ancient divine treasure Divine Meloe, which allowed the user to slip into another dimension and isolate themselves from all interference from the outside world.
"!!!"
Alaya's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and she immediately manipulated her tentacles, sending countless of them toward Riezel.
But...
"Sun Breathing - Eleventh Form - Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance."
In an instant, within the fiery streak weaving through the storm torrent, a dancing fire dragon appeared.
Riezel held Hermit as his body spun and swept through the air like a flaming dragon in flight. He unleashed a high-speed continuous-strikes technique, causing the flame-covered black blade to slash endlessly.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
Riezel, in the form of a dancing fire dragon, moved between the countless tentacles lunging at him like roaming serpents, while the black sword within the dragon's jaws unleashed overwhelming slashes, smoothly and rapidly severing each incoming tentacle.
Not only were they cut apart one by one, but flames ignited at their severed ends and gradually spread across all of them.
Under the burning flames, every single tentacle was reduced to ashes.
"Arise, flames—"
Alaya began retreating, and as though she had witnessed something that should not exist in this world, she chanted loudly with a fearful expression.
"Rage, rage, rage. Vortex of fire. The crimson wall. Hellfire's roar. May the ardor of the gale plunge the world into grief and misery. The sky shall burn. The earth shall ignite. The seas shall boil. The fonts shall churn. The mountains shall erupt. All life shall turn to ash. May the lives of the great ones serve as atonement for the coming choler and grief. Your envoy beseeches you, Salamander. Incarnate of Fire. Queen of Flame—"
Unlike before, it was no longer a simple chant this time, but a complete chant.
In that instant, the terrifying high-speed chanting that had appeared countless times on the Demi Spirit in the past now emerged from Alaya with even more astonishing speed, causing her magic to complete at an unbelievable rate.
Under this horrifying chant speed, the super-long chant that should have required a tremendous amount of time to finish was compressed into only a few seconds.
"Firestorm!"
In the next moment, world-destroying flames erupted from the crimson magic circle covering the entire battlefield, instantly transforming the area into a scarlet inferno.
Under the burning of those karmic flames, everything aside from Alaya, who remained protected by a barrier, either ignited or melted directly from the heat. Even the ground gradually turned into magma, glowing red as it dissolved.
Unfortunately, no matter how terrifying the magic Alaya unleashed or how horrifying her attacks became, none of them could reach Riezel.
Under the effects of Divine Meloe, he truly seemed to exist in another dimension, so no matter how overwhelming the incoming flames were, they were all isolated by the faint light covering his body.
As a result, Riezel successfully advanced directly before Alaya.
"Stay away!"
Alaya let out a scream as countless magical energy circuits suddenly appeared around her, causing innumerable magic circles to manifest and unleash endless magic.
Ice, lightning, flames, flashes of light, rocks, floods, dark currents—all kinds of magic were desperately released by Alaya as though they cost nothing, subjecting the scarlet inferno to relentless devastation.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
A scene resembling an artillery bombardment immediately appeared throughout the scarlet inferno, causing untold destruction, devastation, and explosions.
Under that merciless assault, the entire battlefield collapsed instantly, and gradually, the magical bombardment spread into other areas of Knossos's 11th Floor, shaking the entire floor.
Yet amid that magical bombardment, only a single ultimate streak of fire continued flying straight ahead without deviation, like a meteor bringing hope into hell itself.
In the end, it successfully broke through the endless magic and arrived before Alaya.
"Dancing Flash."
Within that icy voice, a blazing slash moving at divine speed swept across Alaya before she could react.
*Pu-chi!*
In that instant, the flame-covered black sword sliced through Alaya's body, severing her at the waist.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Alaya released a shrill scream as massive amounts of blood sprayed from her waist, but then—
"Moan, mighty earth—!"
Shouting madly in utter insanity, the heavily injured Alaya appeared to fall into a state of complete loss of control.
"Rise, rise, rise. Husk of the earth. Sheen of iron. Hammer of the cosmos. May genesis's pact upheave rock and stone. The sky shall burn. The earth shall split. The bridge shall rise. Heaven and earth shall become one. May the axes of the ether rain down and bring about calamity's ruin. Your envoy beseeches you, Gnome. Incarnate of the Land. Queen of the Earth—!"
A pitch-black magic circle spread outward, covering not only Alaya but also Riezel, who was in the middle of swinging his blade.
"Meteor Swarm!"
A starry sky appeared above the collapsing battlefield, followed immediately by countless meteors descending from above as enormous meteorites crashed down and ravaged the entire area once again.
*BOOOM—!!!*
*BOOOM—!!!*
*BOOOM—!!!*
Clearly, this destruction was even more terrifying than the previous magical bombardment, as it was an all-encompassing bombardment that nobody could evade.
At this point, Knossos's 11th Floor was truly and completely engulfed, continuously collapsing, caving in, and trembling.
Until...
*BOOM!*
A blazing sun appeared within this collapsing world.
"Thirteenth Form..."
A low murmur somehow overwhelmed every explosion and echoed throughout the battlefield.
"Blooming Radiance!"
Within the blazing sun, an ultimate radiance appeared, transforming into a fire blade that slashed toward the bisected Alaya.
*BOOOM!*
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH—!!!"
As the fire blade descended, it completely engulfed the screaming Corrupted Spirit.
A scorching explosion of light swept through the area and lingered for a long time without dispersing.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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