A Test
An incorporeal ‘death-god’ had solemnly descended on the rebel camp.
On the ground, innumerable rank 1 and 2 Magi started collapsing with their acolytes in tow, dying despite multiple layers of protection, potions, magic artifacts and other defenses.
Even the surrounding buildings were not spared. They creaked and swayed as they crumbled down like sand faced with water.
Formless toxic ripples took aim at the three rank 3 Magi in the air and started attacking them, leaving them helpless as they watched their apprentices and the other members of their organisations fall.
With a single attack, except for a handful of Magi who managed to escape using their secret treasures, the rest had been turned into corpses that decayed rapidly.
“YOU!” Toram roared as she rushed ahead.
The terrifying power of a Kemoyin Warlock’s toxic attacks was common knowledge. However, Leylin’s ability had reached a level that allowed him to exterminate nearly everything on the ground, which was abnormal.
This attack of his was sudden and unexpected, which resulted in huge losses. Witnessing the deaths of their own apprentices, friends, and even families at Leylin’s hands, the two other rank 3 Magi hardened their gazes and dashed forward with tearful eyes.
“Phantom Hologram!” Multiple phantoms of gigantic creatures started appearing from behind an old rank 3 Magus. They surrounded Leylin and opened their huge, ferocious, and menacing mouths to trap him in their midst.
“Crimson Throne!” An illusory image of a bloody red throne appeared behind Toram, emanating a strong stench of blood.
The throne was simple and unadorned dull gold with marks on it from various swords and hatchets. It seemed as if it had gone through a lot of trials and tribulations, giving it an almost lifelike appearance of cruelty.
Under the illusory throne, the three of them donned a red armour, their auras having been raised to a level.
“Hmm! Aura amplification and removal of suppression... so such spell models exist!” Leylin’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement. He diligently recorded the opposite party’s domain into the A.I. Chip, intending to research it further.
This was the characteristic of the incomplete domain of a rank 3 Magus. Once Toram completely comprehended the strength of this domain, she would step into the Morning Star realm.
Of course, the current Crimson Throne only provided a limited amplification to Toram and the rest. It could not compare to Leylin’s own Intimidating Gaze.
However, under the brilliant glow of the throne, the eyes of the huge phantoms became bloodshot, and they dashed towards Leylin with full force, not an ounce of hesitation in them.
“Such a weak retaliation! Toram, I’ll be utterly disappointed if this is all you have...” Leylin sighed. The terrifying energy undulations from his body overflowed as the terrifying innate spell of a rank 3 Kemoyin Warlock, Intimidating Gaze, enveloped the region.
*Hiss Hiss!* It seemed as though an ancient Giant Kemoyin Serpent had been reborn in all its savagery. A tyrannical surge of dark energy descended on the ground, bringing with it a rather unusual and wild aura.
The force field immediately took over the territory previously under the Crimson Throne, almost instantly countering its effects.
Even though Leylin had suppressed the energy on his body, his abilities had been exposed to the huge phantoms and they went absolutely crazy, as if they had seen something horrifyingly bizarre. They roared in confusion, brutally attacking one another and even sprinting towards their original owner.
“Oh! A nice chance to witness the effects of the confusion!” Watching the opposing Magi fumbling about, Leylin smiled indifferently.
His innate domain had been steadily strengthened by the Lamia fingerbone, something that extended to the regions of energy amplification and suppression. If not for the fact that he’d experienced the bending of rules by a true Morning Star Magus’ domain, he would’ve thought that his had already been formed.
Still, even if it was a mere force field, its effects were already unimaginable.
The phantom image of the Crimson Throne started to retreat in defeat, as if stripped of its previous glory. And before the two other rank 3 Magi could retaliate, their force fields had been suppressed and defeated.
Toram was the only one who qualified to match Leylin in a collision of force fields.
As for those lower-level force fields used by the others, they could certainly not match those of these Hydro Phase Magi.
Due to the differing depth of understanding of a domain at different levels, there was a vast difference in their strengths. Thus, the force fields of Magi below the Hydro Phase were considered effectively useless.
The Magus with the tiger skull wore a look of defeat. He understood and admitted the huge disparity between Leylin and himself.
Yet, he roared ferociously, the muscles in his body tensing and swelling up as his gorgeous fur shone with a colourful radiance.
The joints on his bones popped loudly and soon his body swelled and expanded from a normal figure to a hulking three meters.
“You punk! I’m going to kill you! I will break your bones one by one, inch by inch without mercy!” He roared thunderously and delivered a high intensity punch, as strong gusts of wind hit him right in his face. The surrounding air seemed to have been so compressed by this punch that it became a substantial crystal body which surged towards Leylin like a projectile.
“A human Magus with a reinforced body, what a rare sight!”
Leylin became serious, growing cautious of the man. Magi with reinforced bodies were known to belong to the barbarian beast clan. As for other types of Magi, they would generally be glad to use spells for the destructions of enemies.
As such, seeing how the tiger skull Magus transformed himself into such a powerful creature, he was sure there were some in the central continent that could do it, although it would be rare.
Generally speaking, Magi did not place much emphasis on strength and agility. Instead valuing the quality of the physical form more, as the corporeal body was the part that bore the foundations of any magic power.
Also, different Warlocks inherited different abilities from their elders, hence it highly depended on which area each ancestor placed their emphasis on. Leylin understood this and strived to polish all factors of strength and agility in himself to the maximum.
“Heh!” In a rush of excitement, Leylin drew his Meteor Sword and skillfully exhibited his cross blade techniques.
“Cross-blade Slash!” A big black cross shone and sliced through the sky, carrying with it terrifying Kemoyin toxins. The projectile shattered to tiny bits in the air, even as the aftermath traveled towards the enraged tiger skull Magus.
“Awooooo!” The tiger skull Magus covered his head with both hands and dashed forward.
*Crackle !* The sound of breaking glass could be heard as the gorgeous colourful shine from the tiger skull Magus burst forth in a flash and collided head on with the black cruciform, smashing it into a million pieces.
*Zzzz!* A slight tear appeared on his arm, and from it one could hear faint sounds of something decaying as white smoke arose.
Without hesitation, the tiger skull Magus dashed towards Leylin in a moment.
“Very high vitality indeed!” To be able to withstand the Giant Kemoyin Serpent’s poison, other than possessing excellent spell resistance, one’s vitality needed to be at least a hundred points and above.
In addition, the opposite side’s strength and agility had exceeded his own value of 30 by leaps and bounds. Seeing how he was able to use simple techniques to deal deadly blows, Leylin’s eyes brightened.
“Die now!” The right arm of the tiger skull Magus had morphed into a huge tiger claw, striking down on Leylin.
The huge tiger claw looked like a small millstone. The shiny sharp claw was glossy and menacing, with spell runes visible in the brilliant light it emitted.
*Bang!* The tiger claw was stopped abruptly mid-air by a palm.
Although Leylin’s build was tall and lanky, when compared to the tiger-headed creature, he was rather petite and his palm was equivalent to that of a baby.
Yet, it was this insignificant palm which had managed to tame the sharp tiger claw, disabling his ability to advance forward.
“How can that be?” The old man yelped in surprise. He had just defeated his phantoms a distance away.
He was absolutely certain of his friend’s strength.
The tiger skull Magus had mercilessly killed a rank 3 creature in this beastly state.
Even when he recalled it now, it had been shocking. Yet, a full attack from his friend had been blocked by a single palm, something that made no sense. What’s more, looking at the opposite party, it seemed to be effortless.
“Even for a Warlock, it is not possible to possess such terrifying power, unless you are a also a Magus who practices body reinforcement techniques?” The old man scrutinized Leylin, trying to analyze but unable to read him.
“How... How is that possible ?” Other than the shocked old man, the tiger skull Magus was speechless himself.
He had been extremely confident in his ability. Even in the face of several magic alloys put up by other Magi, he only needed to use his claw and they would have cracked and crumbled like soft sand. But now...
“There is nothing that is not possible!” Leylin tightened his grip, and cracking sounds rang out as the tiger skull Magus’ arm twisted abruptly into an odd, distorted curve.
“The difference between humans and animals lies in the usage of your strengths, be it for exploitation or as a tool. If you do not even know this, regardless of how strong you are, you are just a fool!” Leylin looked at the whimpering tiger skull Magus and he felt a tinge of pity.
Behind him, the black shadows of two arms appeared, attaching to his right hand and injecting a steady flow of energy into it.
Although Leylin’s strength was only thirty degrees of power, he could use his spells to break through that limit and massively increase his strength for a short period of time.
After all, his innate character was that of a Magus, not a competitive knight.
“Those who cannot keep up with the times, you will be abandoned like trash!” Leylin heaved a sigh, grabbed the tiger skull Magus’ arms, and raised him up.
“This is bad! We have to save Borgin!” The clash had happened too quickly. After all, both Leylin and the tiger skull Magus were agile, with at least 30 degrees of ability in that respect. From the initial assault, to Leylin drawing his sword, to the retaliation and counter-attack, everything had happened in a matter of seconds.
Even Toram did not have the chance to react, nor would she have expected Leylin to so easily defeat a rank 3 Magus.
“Shadowflame Plague!” Leylin was not going to show any mercy. He was completely ready to take everyone out.
A scarlet-black wall of fire appeared and, in a flash, the two rank 3 Magi that had charged forward were drowned in its blaze.