Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst

[lordanl]

"Where did you get all this, Erik?"

Ethan asked as he looked over each of the materials with a complicated expression. Erik smiled calmly and replied.

"Trade secret."

"…"

Ethan looked at Erik with a somewhat helpless expression, at which point Christine stepped forward and remarked with a smile.

"There are things it's better not to ask about, Ethan."

Ethan looked at Christine for a few seconds, then at Chen, who was calmly inspecting the items with apparently not a shred of curiosity about their origin. Though curiosity was eating at him, Ethan let out a heavy sigh and nodded, then spoke in a steadier voice.

"… You're right. It's not a good idea to try to pry into other people's secrets." Ethan gave a slight bow to Erik and continued in a serious tone.

"I'm sorry, Erik. I overstepped."

"Don't dwell on it. Let's just focus on deploying the formations." Erik said, his tone calm but firm, and the others quickly nodded.

"Then let's get to work." Chen said seriously, then picked up metal ingots, a flask of blood, a bone, and a couple of pieces of wood and handed them to Erik.

"Erik, help me refine these ingredients a bit while I take the measurements."

"Then I'll ask for help with the 'ink' as well."

Ethan quickly took more blood, some charcoal, a copper ingot, and some herbs and passed them to Erik while speaking in a serious tone. Erik nodded quietly as he took everything, and Christine chimed in in a sing-song voice.

"Disciple Erik, allow me to help. I'm not an alchemist, but as an artificer, I can be of use when it comes to refining materials."

"Thank you, Disciple Taylor." Erik nodded with a calm expression, then looked at Ethan and Chen as he took a notebook and a pencil from his storage pouch.

"I need the specifications for each thing."

…

Once he noted all the specifications Ethan and Chen gave him, Erik pulled a worn piece of chalk from his storage pouch along with a stone mortar, a wooden bowl, and two boards. After dividing the tasks with Christine, Erik split the worn chalk and gave half to the beautiful blue-haired girl along with a board, then got to work.

While Ethan conjured different runes in the air—dividing them into two groups, one he spread evenly throughout the area and the other he arranged neatly in front of him—Chen performed eight hand seals, then formed a square with his fingers in front of his right eye. As if his fingers were a window that let him see the invisible, Chen began to study the surroundings in detail while stepping in different directions to measure the terrain.

Meanwhile, Christine and Erik drew different runic-geometric refining circles on the boards and began refining various materials. Christine handled the Falamite ingots, which, after she refined them a bit in the refining circle, she struck with an ice hammer, then refined again—slowly changing their shape, turning it into a flat hexagon.

At the same time, Erik ground the charcoal and some of the flowers in the mortar, then used his machete to shave tiny filings from the true copper ingot. Once everything was ready, Erik began adding a little blood to the mortar while activating the refining circle, which caused all the materials to fuse into a kind of iridescent ink.

Quickly, Erik poured the ink into one of the wooden bowls to the side, then drew two new refining circles. Leaving a mana crystal on one of the circles, Erik set the bowl of ink on it, then placed a broad bone on the second refining circle. He then began carving it with his machetes into a hexagon similar to the one Christine was making.

…

"Erik, do you have the ink?"

Not long after, Ethan asked in a serious tone, with what looked like a fractal hexagon made up of a great many runes in front of him. Using a phantom hand, Erik delivered him the bowl with the iridescent ink, and Ethan quickly took from his belt what looked like a handmade brush.

With a focused expression, Ethan dipped the brush into the ink and began drawing runes on the ground, using the fractal hexagon as a reference—though the runes he drew looked simpler. At that moment, Chen, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked at Erik.

Without saying a word, Erik sent over six different hexagons of wood, metal, and bone. Along with several mana crystals and several small vials of blood mixed with different proportions of plants, charcoal, and SARI, plus an improvised brush made from a branch and the hair of some magical creature.

"Thanks."

Chen thanked him in a serious tone, quickly took the brush, dipped it into one of the blood vials, and began drawing runes of the Zazen Discipline on one of the Falamite hexagons.

Erik watched with visible curiosity as Ethan and Chen used different magical systems to create the same thing: a "formation." Formations were artificial structures designed with different runes, materials, and patterns tied to the geographic location that allowed the surrounding Myst and mana to be manipulated in a stable, repeatable, and programmed way to achieve various goals.

In other words, formations were basically stationary spells many times more powerful than the mana user capable of deploying them. Essentially, they turned a "place" into a sort of extremely powerful "pseudo-magical artifact" with almost infinite applications. Setting aside the fact that they couldn't move, there was practically nothing a magical artifact could do that a formation couldn't replicate.

For that reason, formations were one of the most studied and developed disciplines in the galaxy, as they formed the cornerstone of territorial defense. For example, the shields that protected planets were "intelligent formations" that allowed passage only to those who met certain requirements and defended against any external attack.

As proof of the colossal power of a formation compared to that of an artifact, there was the case of the shield of the University planet. It was capable of withstanding the full onslaught of a Legend-level being and remaining intact as long as it had enough mana crystals to feed it—something practically no magical artifact could achieve.

To make the best use of such power, many formation specialists throughout history attempted to control and streamline the deployment of formations, which led to the birth of formation disks and formation flags.

Formation disks were extraordinarily complex artifacts that allowed formations to be deployed almost immediately. Their internal structure housed a wide variety of materials, formation runes, and wisdom runes that preconfigured the design. However, once activated, the formation remained fixed, and its power was less than that of one developed by traditional methods.

Formation flags, on the other hand, were created to improve the control and power. Each formation depended on different nodes interconnected through the Myst to function; those nodes were the system's weak point. The flags—magical artifacts designed to maximize efficiency—replaced those nodes.

Thanks to this, a formation that used flags reached at least 50% more power than an equivalent one without them and offered near-surgical control of its operation. Moreover, being specialized artifacts, they incorporated defensive mechanisms that made attacking the nodes exceedingly difficult, making the formation several times more resistant and robust.

…

(Maybe I should set aside some time to study formations in more detail…) Erik mused with a calm expression as he watched Ethan and Chen work, but he quickly shook his head and turned to look at Christine.

"Disciple Taylor, shall we complete our transaction while the formations are being deployed?"

"Sounds good to me." Christine nodded, then began explaining every aspect of the method for creating formation flags to Erik.

After a while, as Erik took notes with a focused expression, he suddenly stopped writing and turned toward Ethan and Chen, which caught Christine's attention. While Erik curiously analyzed the movement of the Myst in the area, Ethan placed a mana crystal at the center of the fractal hexagon of runes. He then tossed another six mana crystals a few meters out from the corners of the hexagon.

At the same time, the runes Ethan had conjured that were floating in front of him—a fractal hexagon several times more complex than the one drawn—moved to align with the one on the ground. The moment they aligned perfectly, Erik could feel the Myst beginning to organize in a structured way around several large runes that formed over the mana crystals at the corners of the hexagon.

Soon, a strange mist began to fill the area, completely covering Ethan's figure, then started to rise into the air, somehow forming a "hexagonal castle." Immediately after, all the mist vanished at once along with the runes, as if it had only been an illusion—but Ethan could no longer be seen anywhere, as if he had turned invisible.

Though through the Myst, Erik could tell Ethan hadn't moved from his spot—he simply couldn't see him anymore. After a few seconds, Ethan reappeared, walking toward them looking a bit tired. When he reached Erik and Christine, Ethan let himself drop to the ground, then looked at Chen and said in a weary voice.

"I'll let you do the honors."

Chen nodded with a serious expression, then placed around "Ethan's hexagon" the six hexagons of different materials that Erik and Christine had made, which were filled with runes of the Zazen Discipline. As he positioned each hexagon, Chen set a mana crystal on top of each one, and once they were all perfectly arranged, he began executing at least a dozen hand seals with both hands in rapid succession.

When he finished, Chen struck the ground with his hand, causing the six mana crystals to light up along with the runes on the hexagons beneath them, and the Myst began to move erratically. In Erik's perception, the Myst soon reordered itself into a hexagonal pattern interconnected by threads, at which point large amounts of mana began circulating throughout the array.

Over each of Chen's mana crystals, what looked like doors made of shadow took shape. They remained for a few seconds, then all shut at once and vanished.

With the disappearance of the doors, the entire area returned to normal, making it practically impossible to notice anything strange. Even for Erik, he could only feel that the Myst was moving unnaturally in the area, but little else.

"It's done. This should hide us from anyone below the Illuminated level." Chen looked at the group and said with a satisfied smile. Christine quickly stood and spoke in a soft, sing-song voice.

"Can I test it?"

"Of course." Chen answered calmly, then formed a hand sign and stepped backward, disappearing like a mirage.

Seeing Chen vanish, Christine quickly extended her Ethereal Projection to the maximum, creating a sphere of just over 50 meters of pure mana around herself, then took a step forward. But no matter how hard she searched the place, even while staying as alert as possible, Christine couldn't find a single trace of Chen. Erik couldn't find him either—whether through the Myst or with his Mystic Awareness.

"How was it?" Out of nowhere, Chen appeared like a mirage a few meters behind Christine's back, taking a step forward, and asked with a smile.

"… Impressive."

Startled, Christine quickly spun around, then spoke in a somewhat complex tone. Chen and Ethan laughed enthusiastically. At that moment, Erik put his notebook and pencil away in the storage pouch at his waist, then stood up and brushed off the dust with light pats as he commented,

"Although this is more of a temporary base than a proper one, it's more than enough for now. Let's regroup with the others—our three hours are almost up."

"Sounds good. This is pretty much the best we can build without formation flags. For a more stable and durable base, we'll definitely need the flags." Ethan said, looking at Chen, who nodded in agreement and added,

"With Erik's and Disciple Taylor's help, getting the flags isn't just a dream, so we'd better make the most of the time to gather the materials."

"Then let's go. Tomás should already have arrived with what we had stored at the base, and there are some quite interesting things there for creating formation flags."

Christine rejoined the others and spoke with a smile, so the other youths nodded and started running toward the stairs.

***

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[lordanl]

Not wanting to run into the golems they had "defeated" before again, the group decided to head for another of the stairways Erik had pointed out on the map. After dodging a few groups of hunters, they finally reached the exit, where—after passing through a narrow tunnel—they could once again see the fading sunlight.

"I'll try to find the others."

After inhaling a lungful of fresh air, Erik announced calmly, and the others nodded, so Erik closed his eyes. Extending his perception to the limit with the help of the Myst, Erik was soon able to sense Frank approaching from afar with another group of youths. At that moment, Erik opened his eyes, looked at the others, and spoke in a steady voice.

"One of my companions is on his way back; the others shouldn't take long."

"How about we make the most of the time and continue with our business, Disciple Erik?" Christine remarked with a small smile. Erik nodded with a calm expression and picked his notebook back up, while Ethan and Chen started a discussion about formations for the base.

…

"I see everyone's here already!"

After a while—once they had all gathered, bringing with them at least a hundred carcasses of magical creatures of different sizes—Tomás landed and spoke in a powerful voice. Erik, who was making a small inventory along with a rationing plan, turned to look at Tomás and commented as he watched the nearly twenty-meter boar falling from the sky.

"We set up formations for a temporary base, but for something more lasting we'll need formation flags, so we want to see what we have and what we're missing to try to make them."

While creating a Myst platform with a magic circle to catch the giant boar, Erik spoke evenly. Tomás eyed the Myst platform with a hint of curiosity as he answered with energetic confidence.

"Good thinking. I brought the most important things from the base, so we can do a quick joint inventory while we start processing the meat for preserves."

"Sounds good. Let's do that."

Erik replied calmly; at that moment a magic circle appeared on the ground a few meters from the group, making the earth move as if it had a will of its own. Soon, several crates emerged from the ground, which were quickly enclosed in Myst barriers that flew toward Frank and Elara. Erik then spoke evenly.

"Frank, Elara, I'm counting on you."

"Understood."

Elara nodded quickly, her tone serious, and Frank nodded as well. For his part, Tomás glanced at the crates with a touch of curiosity, but he quickly loosened the pouch at his waist and tossed it to Ethan while ordering calmly.

"Ethan, Christine, I'm leaving it in your hands."

"Got it!" Ethan answered with a small, triumphant grin, while Christine turned to look at Elara, flashing her a mocking smile, which made the beautiful mage snort in annoyance.

Erik, meanwhile, approached Tomás and spoke quietly as he surveyed the large number of corpses around them.

"Although there's no one nearby for now, that could change at any moment, so we need to hurry. How do you want to handle this? Do we split the food among the groups that hunted it, or do we come to an agreement?"

"Let's work on everything at once and then divide the meat and different materials into equal shares. That would be the fairest and most efficient."

Tomás spoke in an even tone, fully aware of the implications of Erik's words. They weren't a single team yet—they were two separate teams working closely together to survive, but they still had independent chains of command. Unless one group submitted to the other, there would be two leaders, and they had to treat each other with due respect in order to cooperate effectively.

"Sounds good to me. It's a deal." Erik said calmly as he extended his hand to Tomás, who quickly took it and replied with a confident smile.

"Then let's get to work."

"I'm already on it."

Erik spoke with a smile, which made Tomás turn to look around with a flicker of alarm. At that very instant, at least a dozen carcasses rose into the air headfirst, as if invisible hands were holding them by the legs. Tomás raised an eyebrow at the sight, then looked at Erik with a composed expression, finding only a kindly smile on the young man's face.

(You're anything but simple, Erik… and you even have a certain elegance to your displays of power.)

Tomás reflected without changing his expression, once again understanding the young man's implicit message. He was basically warning him, subtly, that although he was weaker, catching him off guard wouldn't be difficult—so assassination was always on the table. They were on similar footing, and it wasn't a good idea to underestimate them.

Smiling, Tomás nodded to Erik and, after releasing his hand, turned to look at the youths in his group and commanded in a firm, resonant voice.

"Family! Time to work—we have to finish this in under two hours."

""Os!!""

The group of six youths shouted in unison, then split up and began taking on a beast in pairs, while Tomás drew his sword and headed for the giant boar he had brought. Erik looked at his own team—Zoe, Chen, and his two companions—and began to assign tasks while reeling in the corpses he had grabbed with his ghost hand.

"Zoe will handle the butchering with me. Chen and Hiyori, you'll take care of the smoking. Haoran Leng will handle the smoke and storing the blood, and Dalai Lin will cut bamboo to make containers for the blood and boxes to store whatever doesn't fit in the storage bags."

""Understood!!""

The group answered in unison and each got to work, so Erik fashioned some temporary containers out of nearby rocks, then slit the corpses' throats and began draining the blood with the help of a small liquid-control magic circle. This greatly sped up the work without affecting the blood's properties, as it would be needed for formations and for crafting artifacts and potions.

Though a bit surprised at how the fox spirit obeyed Erik's orders, Tomás quickly focused on his task, as did his team. While Erik's group worked like an orderly assembly line, Tomás's group performed like seasoned butchers, managing to break down the beasts in pairs at great speed.

Moreover, unlike Erik's group, they had an ice mage who moved from pair to pair, freezing the meat, blood, and more, which spared them the need to smoke or prepare containers.

Even though their methods differed, the efficiency of the two groups was quite similar, and they managed to finish half the corpses in just under an hour. At that point, Elara announced in a calm voice that could distract anyone from their work.

"The inventory is ready."

"If we combine what both teams have, we've got more or less the ingredients to make some basic flags, though I'm a little worried about the cores—we might come up a bit short." Christine interjected in a sensual, melodious voice. Erik nodded calmly and replied.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's focus on preparing as best we can."

"I agree. I think it's better to start taking the supplies inside to make the most of our time." Tomás added evenly. Erik turned to nod and asked in a serious tone.

"Works for me—who leads?"

"I do. I want to go in and take the chance to get a few more storage bags. They'll make our lives much easier." Tomás said, resting his hand casually on the hilt of the sword at his waist. Erik nodded, understanding the implications.

"Fine by me. Same price for the modifications?"

"Same is fine. You can take your cut once we're set up." Tomás nodded, and so did Erik, who shortly after turned to Frank to give a firm order.

"Frank, you'll be in charge of carrying our stuff."

Frank nodded firmly, but in that instant he noticed Erik shoot a subtle glance at Lirio above his head, then shift his eyes to his feet, which left him a bit confused. After a few moments, though, Frank grasped the implications. Lirio and his shadow were key. Clenching a fist tightly, Frank replied in a serious voice.

"Understood, boss."

Meanwhile, Tomás's gaze narrowed ever so slightly when he saw the subtle change in the young air mage's expression. Although they had hidden it well, it became fairly obvious to Tomás that a message had been passed somehow, though it wasn't a sound transmission. And judging by Frank's subtle micro-expressions, the message had to do with him.

But though it seemed to involve him, instead of hostility or something like that, Tomás noticed Frank was concealing a subtle caution. So, if he had to guess, he'd say that rather than wanting to do something to him, it was more like Erik had told him not to let his guard down.

(Erik is pretty two-faced. Firm and full of confidence when he speaks and negotiates, but incredibly cautious and distrustful underneath… Although I don't much like that attitude, it really is what a leader needs in this situation. Plus, if he's that cautious, what he's shown is probably far from his true full capability… Interesting.)

After analyzing the whole situation in a matter of milliseconds, Tomás reached a conclusion that let him understand Erik a little better. But the blue-haired youth quickly dismissed his train of thought and looked at Ethan, then ordered in a calm voice that seemed inherently charismatic.

"Ethan, you're coming with us. Christine and the others will focus entirely on processing the rest of the hunt."

""Os!!"" the group of six announced in unison. Christine, for her part, smiled seductively and commented while looking at Erik.

"Then I'll help Disciple Erik. With my ice magic, it'll be faster to preserve the ingredients."

Tomás simply nodded, then turned to look at Erik, only to find him holding a pair of vines. At the same time, several magic circles materialized in front of the wooden crates and blocks of ice, conjuring Myst barriers to surround them. Erik handed the vines to Tomás and spoke in a steady tone.

"The barriers' relative position is linked to these vines, and they'll last a couple of hours, so you can carry things more easily."

"Your magic is quite convenient…" Tomás said, somewhat surprised as he took the vines, causing the barriers to move along with them. Erik smiled and replied.

"Only in this odd situation—a storage ring is much better."

"That's true." Tomás agreed; after all, outside of a ruin, running out of storage artifacts would be pretty unlikely.

After handing the vines to Ethan and Frank—who quickly tied them around their wrists—Tomás took his leave and headed into the strange mountain. At that moment, Zoe spoke calmly while shooting Christine a venomous look; Christine made no effort to hide her obvious intentions toward Erik, sidling up to him like a cat in heat.

"Let's continue; we can't waste time."

"Chen, let me help you with the smoking." Elara approached Chen and said evenly, and he nodded.

"That'll be a great help, Disciple Belmonte."

"Let's begin; we need to finish this as quickly as possible."

Erik looked at his teammates and commented calmly, fully assuming the role of his team's overall leader. Everyone nodded back, and soon the group started working again. With the addition of Christine and Elara, however, efficiency increased, allowing them to be even faster than the six youngsters in Tomás's group.

But after a while, just as everyone was growing accustomed to their tasks, a sharp sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the place. Erik's eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to look far off to his left. The others did the same, while an inexplicable chill spread through their bodies.

[The barrier collapsed.]

At the same time, Erik heard Ebonique's heavy voice in his mind, confirming his fears. With a solemn expression, Erik turned to the others and ordered in an incredibly serious voice, even as magic circles sprang up to surround all the crates, carcasses, and ice blocks.

"Inside, now!"

Erik's shout snapped everyone out of their momentary daze, and they quickly pushed their mana to the limit. In that instant, a brutal roar—accompanied by a terrifying shockwave and what seemed like an apocalyptic gale—hit them.

Simultaneously, magic circles and runes formed out of nowhere, preceding the appearance of layer upon layer of barriers that tried to interpose themselves in the shockwave's path. But as if they were made of paper, the barriers were torn to pieces, and several crates and beast carcasses were sent flying through the air. At that moment, Erik's voice rang in everyone's ears.

"Down!"

Almost instinctively, they all threw themselves to the ground, at which point the earth deformed as if it were a living liquid, covering them completely. This created an aerodynamic geometry of solid rock that deflected the hurricane-force winds, which were tearing down trees hundreds of meters tall, long enough for them to sink deep enough into the ground to avoid being blown away.

With an incredibly dark expression, Elara turned her head and saw Erik with his machetes driven into the ground and a massive magic circle glowing over the earth, wearing an expression not so different from her own.

***

You can support me on patreon.com/lordanl and get up to 19 advanced chapters.

 

[lordanl]

"Was that the basilisk…?"

At the same time, Christine's trembling voice rang out through the place, which only darkened the expressions of those present. Especially Tomás's teammates, who had always hoped Erik and his group were lying or exaggerating. But from the power a single roar had shown, not only were they not exaggerating—they had actually fallen short.

"I'm going to use a spell to move us underground and avoid the wind, but to get into the mountain we have to go out first, so mages, get ready—you'll have to use every drop of your mana to conjure barriers."

Without even looking at Christine, Erik announced in a serious, somewhat dark voice. Elara, who was already looking at Erik, replied in a solemn tone while taking all the mana potions from the woven bamboo pouch at her waist.

"I'll do everything I can."

Without blinking, Elara slid the potions along the ground to the mages in Tomás's group, who took them with serious expressions. That action managed to snap Christine back to herself; she bit her lower lip so hard it bled, then likewise reached into her storage bag to hand out several mana potions to the others and announced in a dark, slightly trembling voice.

"If anyone holds back even a single drop of mana, I'll kill them."

"I'll handle that."

Zoe soon added in a low voice as her hand went to her katana, and white flames began to spill from Hiyori's muzzle. Meanwhile, Chen took his mana potions and handed a pair to Haoran, then pulled a cork with his teeth and declared.

"We're ready to move at your command, Erik."

Seeing Chen raise the open potion to his lips, all the mages did the same, then looked at Erik and nodded. Erik nodded back and quickly created a new magic circle, which formed a barrier of light around them all and soon sank them into the ground as if it were liquid.

With solemn expressions, the mages gripped their staves tightly and crouched, taking advantage of the new space the barrier had given them. For his part, Erik closed his eyes and focused on the Myst without stopping the barrier's movement through the earth. Soon, the group reached their destination, so Erik opened his eyes and announced in an incredibly serious tone.

"Out we go!"

At the same time, the barrier shot upward at great speed. The mages formed magic circles, runes, or rapid hand signs in quick succession as they mobilized all their mana. Soon the group could see sunlight again, and they quickly conjured barrier after barrier with everything they had to protect themselves—barriers that were swept away by a brutal, unstoppable tide of wind.

Using every ounce of their strength, the group hurled themselves toward the narrow entrance, barely managing to slip inside. But even though they got in, they were sent flying, slamming hard into the walls and ending up with varying degrees of injuries. None were fatal, but even Hiyori came away hurt.

As for Erik, though the impact knocked practically all the air from his lungs, he didn't worry about the pain; instead, he looked around in surprise. Although there was a strong wind blowing into the mountain, it was far from as brutal as outside, losing much of its force and destructiveness and dropping to a level he could handle without too much difficulty. At that moment, Ebonique's worried voice echoed in Erik's mind.

[Are you okay?]

[Just a bit banged up, nothing serious.] Erik replied calmly as he tried to get his breath back and checked his companions' condition. Having managed to recover a bit of air, Erik asked in a hoarse voice.

"… Any serious injuries?"

Hearing the question, the rest turned to look at the star-haired young man and shook their heads as they too tried to catch their breath. In that moment, Erik felt a strong "presence" approaching at high speed, which put him on alert. But realizing it was Tomás, he relaxed a little and sat down on the ground.

"What happened?!" Not long after, Tomás's worried voice echoed through the narrow passage. Erik replied, still a bit hoarse, as he pointed outside.

"The basilisk woke up…"

Tomás's eyes widened in disbelief, but he quickly recovered and began checking his teammates' condition. Then Erik struggled to his feet and moved toward the exit to look out. Everything out there was a disaster; the wind and the shockwave had torn everything to pieces in their path, shredding the forest as if it were made of paper.

"That thing has to be at least Arcane level…" Tomás's solemn voice sounded from behind Erik, who nodded without taking his eyes off the outside.

"At least this place really can hold out…"

"…"

Tomás fell silent and stood gazing outward with a grave expression, running through countless scenarios before speaking in a serious tone.

"Even though you can only feel a strong wind at the back, the Hunters won't take long to come check out what's happening."

"We have to move."

Erik nodded, then turned to head in—but at that instant a great number of runes from the Zazen discipline began to appear on the walls, lighting them up completely.

Eyes full of surprise, Erik turned to look outside, where he saw an incredible scene. Even with the narrow field of view, he could see several pillars of light rising into the sky. At the same time, the Myst began to fluctuate so violently that he couldn't move it more than two meters from himself.

But although he couldn't move the Myst, Erik could still feel it perfectly, and he could only widen his eyes in surprise as the Myst began arranging itself into thin threads that covered everything. Equally astonished, Tomás turned to Erik and asked in a heavy voice.

"Any idea?"

"It's a formation… Something's going to happen—something not very good."

[Erik, the spirit's aura is covering everything! If it keeps up, it'll be very hard for me to do anything!]

At the same time, Ebonique announced in a dark, worried voice, which only deepened Erik's expression. He gave the outside one last look, then turned and started to run, urgency filling his voice.

"We have to get to the base now! This isn't over yet!"

The first to react were Elara, Zoe, and Chen, who quickly tightened their grip on their weapons and ran after Erik, followed closely by Tomás, Christine, and the others. But the deeper they went into the mountain, the more solemn their expressions became, because the number of runes on the walls only increased, making them ever brighter.

Soon Erik could see Frank and Ethan in the distance running toward them, so without slowing, he shouted in an urgent voice.

"To the base—run with everything you've got!"

Without even blinking, Ethan and Frank wheeled around and started running back the way they'd come, soon being caught up by the others. The moment Frank's shadow, about to disappear, touched Erik's, something passed between the shadows, allowing Erik to let out a small sigh of relief.

From now on he was going to need every bit of power; it was no longer viable for him to separate from the wolves, especially since earlier Tiberius hadn't been able to open a portal to his shadow. Whether because Tiberius had been inside the mountain while he was outside or for some other reason, he had to take the situation seriously and move cautiously.

The wolves represented a very important part of his power, so he couldn't afford to be apart from them—especially now that Ebonique would be so sharply limited.

…

Running flat out, the group soon drew close enough to the staircase to see it from afar. But in that instant, Erik brought his hands to his waist and drew his machetes as the Myst began to move erratically, dark electric arcs flashing across his body while two magic circles formed behind him. In a cold, focused voice, Erik announced.

"Four hunters on the stairs. One Revealed-Peak, one Revealed-Expert, and two Revealed-Competent."

Right after he spoke, Erik shot forward at an impressive speed, though he ended up behind Tomás, who moved at the same time he did. Zoe, reacting a moment later, quickly formed three hand signs and launched herself ahead with her hand on her katana's hilt, while the mages began preparing their spells. But inevitably, the beautiful warrior stayed a step behind.

Upon reaching the stairs, Zoe saw Tomás suddenly appear in front of one of the Hunters as metallic flashes flared in different places at once. Zoe's eyes widened in disbelief as she realized what those flashes were: the result of an exchange of sword strikes so fast that not even she, with her heightened perception, could follow it.

Impactful as the high-speed duel was, Erik was in no way falling behind. Breathing raggedly, Zoe watched the magic circles behind Erik fire crystalline arrows that took the other Hunters by surprise. Meanwhile, Erik himself was shrouded in something like a mantle of dark lightning and moved at a terrifying speed.

Like a bolt, Erik zigzagged down the stairs, arriving just where the Hunters were leaping to dodge the arrows, taking them by surprise and managing to decapitate one and split another's chest open. Meanwhile, a third Hunter failed to dodge the arrows, and one struck him full in the forehead, followed by four more that hurled him into a wall.

Simultaneously, a fine line of light appeared before Tomás, and the Hunter in front of him ended up with his body split in two, flying backward to slam into one of the walls. Without stopping his run, Erik dispelled the shroud of black lightning around him and pulled a healing potion from the storage pouch at his waist as he spoke in a solemn voice.

"Don't stop!"

Immediately after speaking, Erik downed the healing potion in one go as some of the belongings of the Hunters he'd killed flew toward him. Tomás quickly took the storage bag from the Hunter he'd slain, then looked back to find the entire group staring with incredulous expressions. Although he too was surprised by Erik's performance, Tomás didn't let his mind wander and spoke firmly.

"I've got a really bad feeling too! Let's keep moving!"

"Erik! I can carry you!"

At that moment, Hiyori quickly announced in a solemn voice. Erik turned to the fox spirit with a hint of surprise but soon nodded and ordered in a serious tone.

"Go ahead, Hiyori! Everyone else, jump!"

In an instant, Frank, Elara, and Chen jumped—just as an explosion of white fire erupted from Hiyori's hind legs, hurling her down the stairs. Zoe, surprised by what she'd seen and by her contracted spirit's actions, quickly leapt as she saw Erik do the same.

"Jump!"

Remembering Erik's barriers, Tomás quickly ordered as he jumped as well, and his team promptly followed. Soon everyone landed on small, crystal-like platforms. The moment they touched down, they all heard Erik's serious voice again.

"Hold on tight!"

Without thinking, they all pushed mana into their feet to stick themselves to the platforms—just as they felt a powerful yank carrying the platforms down the stairs. Managing to steady herself, Zoe looked ahead, where she could see Hiyori racing down the passage, leaving a trail of white fire that exploded with force, propelling her forward.

At the same time, Elara noticed the light on the walls growing more intense and the Zazen runes upon them beginning to move slowly, which made her heart tighten with a sinister premonition. After taking a deep breath to calm herself, Elara slipped her hand into the bamboo pouch at her waist and took out a mana potion and a healing one while channeling all her mana and gripping her staff hard.

Seeing Elara's actions, the other youths in the group also felt a terrible foreboding in their chests, so they didn't hold back; they steadied themselves on their platforms, clutching their weapons, fully ready for a fight to the death.

[Ebonique, how are you doing—can you use any power?]

***

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[lordanl]

[Ebonique, how are you doing? Can you use some strength?]

As he merged all the platforms of Myst into one, Erik communicated with his trusted spirit while staring ahead with narrowed eyes, gripping his machetes tightly. The dragoness replied with a solemn voice, though traces of anger and frustration were clearly detectable in her tone.

[Nothing beyond what this contract incarnation allows, and I have to use your mana. It's too risky to use my own mana with that bastard collector's aura being so thick.]

[That's better than nothing. Your special ability and affinities will be a great help to me.] Erik responded with a composed tone, then asked.

[But who is this 'collector'? What can you tell me about him?]

[He's a spirit on the same level as Ignis and myself.] Ebonique paused briefly to gather her thoughts before continuing her explanation.

[Though under normal circumstances, he wouldn't pose a threat to either of us, in our current situation, he's the worst enemy we could have. He's an annoying bastard who distracts himself from boredom by collecting all sorts of things. From roadside pebbles to other people's treasures. Mainly because his ability makes it easy for him, and because of that hobby of his, he's sparked countless wars over time.]

[Sounds like a really troublesome guy, but how much damage can he do through this 'aura' you mentioned?] Erik asked with a serious tone. Ebonique replied solemnly.

[The 'aura' is more like a part of our mana, or rather, mana oversaturated with spiritual force—something all living beings, especially the powerful ones, produce unconsciously. Through it, various things can be achieved. For example, detecting others through their aura—though with limitations, allowing others to detect us, but more importantly, it's possible to activate certain abilities remotely through it.]

[…What is his ability?] Erik asked with an even darker expression. Ebonique thought for a moment before starting to explain.

[I don't know the exact details of his ability since no one is willing to fully reveal their weaknesses to others, but in our circle, he's nicknamed 'Possessive Bond.' He can basically create an almost unbreakable connection with nearly anything, and it inevitably returns to him. And when I say anything, I mean anything. I heard that once he 'stole' all of someone's mana in a fight.]

[The golden chains…?] Erik asked, feeling his heart tighten. Ebonique gently shook her head, still hidden within Erik's hair, and explained.

[Although those chains do carry some of his aura, it's not exactly the same as his ability… They're more like a low-quality imitation.]

[Can a spirit's special abilities be imitated?!] Erik asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. Ebonique replied with a composed voice.

[Well, special abilities also use mana to function, and even we integrate them into our affinities, so technically, it's possible to achieve a similar effect with a spell. Though in reality, many have tried, and only a few have had 'relative success.' Even when they manage to create something that works similarly, it's always been pathetically weak and absurdly inefficient.]

[… I think I'm starting to understand how they created the island… They used that 'Possessive Bond' to gather samples from everywhere.] Erik commented with a dark tone. Ebonique nodded and replied.

[It's likely, but there must be more than just a replica of that cunning bastard's ability, because even though his ability is powerful, it has some limitations, and an imitation should have even more.]

[…]

Erik fell silent as he reflected, splitting his focus between his Mystic Awareness and his thoughts, sending subtle guidance to Hiyori to change their route and avoid confrontation with other hunters. But as they neared the 'base,' Erik's attention inevitably shifted to the walls, which were already glowing so brightly that their original black color was no longer visible. Now, only endless runes could be seen moving as if they were lava lamps.

But at that very moment, with just one more intersection left before they could finally see the 'base,' something changed. As if some critical point had been reached, Erik felt the Myst slip entirely out of his control, only able to manipulate it within a one-meter radius around him. Simultaneously, the walls began to shine so intensely that it became impossible to see anything.

"Get ready!!"

As he shouted with force, Erik conjured a massive rune-geometric circle along with several smaller geometric circles. The rune-geometric circle was one of the countless tests he had developed in his attempt to understand the theory behind its functioning.

With a dark expression, Erik felt six angelic light wings materialize, then embrace the entire group, at which point a spherical light barrier formed to envelop them completely. At the same time, several prismatic Myst barriers formed inside the light barrier, offering multiple layers of protection.

Though the rune-geometric circles hadn't been fully tested, making him cautious about using them since they could be dangerous, Erik had no other choice. While his Myst barriers were powerful, without proper control over the Myst, he couldn't create anything too resistant. Therefore, in an unknown situation, the safest option was to use a light barrier.

But at the same time, unable to mobilize the Myst, he couldn't use Mystic Confluence to empower spells with Myst. This indirectly increased the mana cost of an elemental spell for him by a significant margin. This inevitably forced him not only to use the runic-geometric circles but also to push his overdrive to the limit, to the point where he could feel his body greatly straining.

Meanwhile, the team's mages quickly reacted and began conjuring barriers, but before they could achieve anything significant, the very space around them trembled. As a debilitating dizziness washed over them, everyone on the Myst platform felt something grab them by the waist and pull them with force, causing them to crash into each other but grouping them together.

While the world still spun for her, Elara forced her narrowed eyes to study their surroundings. But before she could examine anything, her field of vision was filled with the image of Erik behind her. The young man with starry hair had a dark, pained expression, the veins on his forehead bulging, blood trickling from the corner of his lips, and a strange smoke emanating from him.

"E-Erik!"

Elara shouted with a hoarse, trembling voice as she saw Erik bring a healing potion to his lips, revealing the muscles in his hands twitching violently and the veins in them even more pronounced than on his forehead. After downing the potion in one gulp, Erik gritted his teeth for a moment, and as four magic circles appeared around them, he announced in a rough voice.

"Prepare for battle."

Hearing Erik, Elara hurriedly turned to look around, but what she saw made her swallow hard. Beyond the barriers covering them, Elara could see they were in one of those gigantic halls, and there were hunters recovering from dizziness everywhere, as well as two individuals who seemed to belong to two other factions.

One appeared to be from the Lotus Union and the other from the Boreal League. But even more terrifying, golems began emerging from the walls. At that moment, Myst arrows formed in front of Erik's magic circles and shot out at high speed toward the recovering hunters.

Just then, in the middle of the hall, what appeared to be a hologram of a humanoid figure formed, though it was unrecognizable. Likely due to damage over time or something else, the figure looked like a whitish silhouette with volume. But the instant the hologram appeared, Erik's Myst arrows vanished into thin air along with the magic circles, followed by an almost robotic voice echoing through the space.

[Emergency security system activated due to a critical failure in the facilities. As no 'adult' presence has been detected, evacuation protocol 7854 is initiated. Please, 'little ones,' follow the logistic units to the nearest evacuation portal. Do not worry, you will find responsible adults outside the portal, and the logistic units will handle any intruders.]

Though the voice spoke in an unknown language, somehow, everyone present could roughly understand its meaning. The moment the message ended, the figure disappeared, but to the dismay of everyone present, strange music began to resonate in the area. The odd pattern of the unfamiliar song led Tomás to comment with a hint of disbelief.

"A lullaby…?"

"Let's worry about that later; they're coming for us…" Erik remarked with a solemn voice, then took another healing potion and conjured more magic circles.

With that report, everyone snapped back to reality and gripped their weapons tightly, as the hunters began to gather into two groups, and the two youths from the other factions looked at each other in terror and disbelief. At that moment, the golems, which had accumulated to nearly a hundred, raised their arms forward in unison as glowing runes began to shine on their forearms.

Before anyone could do anything, beams of pure energy shot out from the golems' fists, targeting everyone present indiscriminately. As the beams struck Erik's light barrier, the angel wings around them quickly began to vanish one by one, at which point Elara, who had created several magic circles, announced in a serious voice.

"Phoenix Veil! Fiery Plague!!"

Quickly, a fire barrier covered the group while hundreds of fireballs began to fall from the magic circles above, like an apocalyptic rain. At the same time, an ice barrier formed, complementing the fire one, followed by a whirlwind of ice dust.

"Frozen Aegis!! Chilling Cyclone!"

"Expansive Pressure!"

"Combustible Gas!"

"Twilight Rain!"

Simultaneously, Frank, Ethan, and Chen announced their spells, at which point a giant fire rune formed in the air, from which tiny 'fire drops' began to fall. At the same time, several spheres of what appeared to be compressed gas shot out to meet the falling fireballs and 'fire drops' from above.

At the moment of impact, brutal explosions began to occur throughout the enormous hall, creating powerful shockwaves laden with cutting ice dust, capable of piercing through most defenses.

But despite the impressive power, none of those present changed their expressions; all looked incredibly dark and apprehensive. After all, everyone knew how resilient the golems were, and now they seemed even stronger. They had seen how the hunters died like dogs under the onslaught of the golems' lasers, including the pair of youths from the other factions.

As if responding to their thoughts, even as furious shockwaves struck against the barriers, everyone could feel a new barrage of lasers hitting them. As if they were paper, Elara and Christine's barriers were destroyed, followed by Erik's light barrier. But the Myst barriers Erik had conjured managed to halt the onslaught, leaving just two layers of Myst barriers protecting them.

"I'll create illusions to buy time! We have to escape and reach the 'base' as soon as possible!"

As the other mages, along with Erik, conjured barriers with everything they had, Ethan announced in a voice full of urgency. Around Ethan, a large number of runes released a thick mist.

"All knights with me, we'll repel the approaching golems while heading to the third exit on the left."

Tomás announced with a solemn voice as six small magic circles formed on his sword. Erik, who still had smoke emanating from him and veins bulging across his body, announced in a similar tone.

"Hiyori, we'll do the same as before!"

"Understood." The fox spirit replied with an equally serious voice as white flames materialized around her.

Within moments, everyone was on a Myst platform, and Hiyori ran with all her strength, propelled by fire explosions while exact figures of them split into four different directions. But just before the illusions could separate enough, a new rain of attacks hit the group, though the mages noticed a significant difference. This time, it wasn't the laser rain; it was a combined spell striking their barriers.

Due to the brutal onslaught, the barriers weakened significantly, causing Christine to look back in panic, where she could see a group of surviving hunters surrounded by barriers and running toward the opposite exit. At the same time, Christine could see the golems' fists lighting up again, while new golems leaped into the air, heading toward them with an agility they had never shown before.

(Is this the end…?)

[Erik, run!!!]

***

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[lordanl]

[Erik, run!!!]

Suddenly, Erik felt the Myst begin to rush into his body on its own—hurried and disorganized, almost in a panic. Somehow that made the world around him slow down to the point that Ebonique's panic-filled "scream" in his mind sounded like a slow-motion recording—drawn out and elongated.

But instead of panicking, Erik felt completely calm, as if the death before him meant nothing. With a cold, almost calculating expression, Erik watched the beams of light from the golems' fists closing in on them. Then he lowered his gaze to his shadow, about to vanish, where he saw Kaiser and Tiberius begin to emerge in a panic.

With the same calm, Erik looked at his companions' panicked expressions—especially the mages, who were moving in slow motion to conjure barriers. They were so slow that even Tomás, the fastest person there, who was trying to swing his sword forward, seemed to take a full second to move it a few millimeters. Then Erik focused on the Myst around him.

The surrounding Myst, in addition to trying to force its way inside him in a rush, had a portion that remained outside, seemingly "battling" the Myst he couldn't control. This caused the Myst beyond his control to tremble violently, almost as if it were starting to "boil" somehow.

Meanwhile, the Myst inside him began to communicate with him, almost aggressively demanding that he mobilize his mana to follow it. Though a bit surprised by the Myst's "aggressiveness," Erik—already used to being guided by it—followed almost instinctively, and soon his mana was circulating through his entire body, then passing through the mana gathering point in his head and descending.

Soon, Erik could feel it moving through his chest until it found his third mana gathering point—one he had discovered some time ago and which had been the secret to "elementalization." That third point in his chest was known as Jianggong in the Zazen Discipline, Anima in Sacred Geometry, or Hjarteldr in the aegis system.

That mana gathering point, just like the one in the head, had "special functions," as it was the gateway to total connection between mind and body. Although, as he had heard from his masters, "touching" it prematurely could be potentially lethal, for those who succeeded, it translated into a total connection between their minds and bodies. This granted bodily control and mana control beyond what was "humanly possible."

But while that sounded incredible—and it truly was for an ordinary person—for Erik it had little to no use. Naturally, he had bodily and mana control beyond all norms, as if he had been born with a perfect mind-body connection. But this changed when he tried to circulate elemental mana through the three points.

Somewhat awed by achieving Elemental Synchronization by following Master Jessica's advice and making use of his contract with the wolves, one day Erik tried circulating a combination of elemental mana synchronized with the Myst.

When his mana interconnected across his three mana-gathering points, something magical happened. He became a being of pure energy—a living bolt of lightning—what he now knew was a master-level technique of mana control and harmony with the Myst called Mystical Transcendence.

But although Mystical Transcendence was impressive—making him intangible to physical blows and enhancing his speed and elemental mana control to an absurd level, among other advantages—it was not without problems. Among them, apart from how exhausting it was physically, mentally, and in terms of mana, was the fact that he could still be injured by spells or mana.

Therefore, Erik couldn't understand why the Myst was guiding him to that third point, especially without using Elemental Synchronization—something that wouldn't save him either but would at least make a bit more sense.

But although he didn't understand what the Myst wanted to do, Erik still followed its instructions as he stretched out his hand to touch Kaiser—the only thing that might save him. Since Tiberius had informed him he couldn't create a shadow portal. But just then, Erik realized that his body couldn't follow his mind's speed. He moves painfully slowly.

At the same time, Ebonique, her face full of panic, clenched her jaw hard and took a deep breath while her mind raced at full speed, searching for an escape route. This caused the dragoness to see the world even slower than Erik, but just like him, her incarnation wouldn't withstand moving at the same speed. Even thinking alone was taking a toll on her incarnation, threatening to fade at any moment.

But no matter how much she thought, the dragoness couldn't arrive at a satisfactory solution. Her Erik was about to die, and neither her incarnation nor anyone present had the power to prevent it. Space was sealed, so moving through shadows to another place was impossible; Kaiser was fast, and Erik could move at a terrifying speed with him, but it still wouldn't be enough to escape.

She also couldn't conjure a barrier on her own strong enough to protect him or flee with him in her current state. Therefore, her only option was to flip the table—materialize her true body to destroy the ruin—and to keep that bastard collector from discovering her Erik, she would have to erase any trace of him. In other words, she would have to erase Erik's entire home galaxy from existence without sparing anyone.

After lasting mere milliseconds—which for her felt like hours—Ebonique made a decision and let out a long, heavy sigh, which seemed to make space itself tremble. She was going to destroy everything; even if Erik hated her for thousands or millions of years, as long as he was alive, there would be a chance for reconciliation. Anything was better than letting him die.

(I'll make you pay for this… I'll tear you to pieces and seal them for the rest of eternity while I destroy any trace of what was once yours and those who remember you… Seraphius Archivum, this is a blood debt I will collect until the end of time.)

With the light beams just a few meters from them, Ebonique began to rise slowly into the air, emerging from Erik's hair, while her eyes turned incredibly cold—filled with infinite killing intent. At the same time, Ebonique's body began to grow as dark bolts started to coil around her, but at that very instant, the Myst went mad.

Under Ebonique's incredulous gaze, the Myst moved with such force and in such synchronization that the dragoness could feel a brutal gravitational wave spread through space, scrambling time itself for a few milliseconds. In that instant, the light on the walls dimmed slightly, and around the group there appeared a prismatic Myst barrier that managed to block the lasers just before they struck the group.

But although the barrier was transparent, within it the only thing that could be seen from the outside was darkness. A darkness that seemed to absorb light itself and let nothing escape filled the barrier completely. Soon the golems that had leapt from afar reached it and began pounding on it with fists entirely covered in golden runes from the Zazen Discipline.

After several seconds, the barrier finally couldn't endure anymore and cracked like glass before shattering into pieces. Without the barrier's support, the golems atop it fell to the ground, passing through a dark mist that soon vanished—revealing that there was nothing inside the barrier.

As if showing their confusion, the golems looked at one another for a few moments but quickly organized themselves into several orderly groups. Two of the groups began to pursue the hunters' party while the rest moved nimbly down different corridors with the goal of locating and eliminating any intruders.

…

(Did I die?)

With her heart pounding and her short life of less than a century flashing before her eyes, Christine moved her head in the total darkness surrounding her, so confused she even thought she had died. But at that instant, the darkness vanished all at once, allowing her to see her entire team with Erik at the center—but he looked strange.

His green eyes shone so intensely it was hard to look at him, while his starry hair rose against gravity, its tips almost fading into nothing, as if merging with space. But even more impressive were the patterns of stars and galaxies in his hair; they emitted light and moved at great speed, as if it were a true image of the universe.

But that almost divine image soon disappeared; Erik's face grew greatly paler, and his hair and eyes returned to normal—at which point the young man fell to his knees and vomited a great mouthful of blood onto the floor.

""Erik!!""

Elara and Chen shouted in unison as they ran toward Erik, snapping everyone out of their momentary stupor. But before they could touch Erik, a magnificent oriental black dragon a few meters long appeared, coiling protectively around him, surrounded by thick arcs of dark electricity.

"I'm okay… Let's move to the base… We're still on the second floor… Keep straight along this path, Hiyori…"

With a hoarse, broken voice, Erik ordered as he sat on the Myst platform they were still on. Hiyori, who was looking at Erik as if he were a monster, quickly reacted and looked around, realizing they were in a corridor and more golems were starting to appear in the walls—though much more slowly than in the hallway before, and far fewer.

Without a word, Hiyori rose into the air and began to run along it with paws wreathed in white fire, speeding forward near the corridor's ceiling. Meanwhile, Ebonique asked, full of concern, as she could see Erik's veins and muscles twisting violently, looking quite gross.

[What happened to you? Are you okay?]

[I'm fine. The Myst showed me how to force the 'rebellious Myst' in the surroundings to obey me, and that somehow let me use the shadow portal that Tiberius couldn't open on his own. But it's far too draining; my mana system is in rough shape. It's still manageable though. A few potions and some healing spells will do the trick.]

Erik replied through the contract in a calmer voice while moving his trembling hand toward his storage bag. Ebonique took in Erik's miserable state with a sharp gaze and, though she was still surprised by what had happened, decided to focus on something that worried her even more in the moment.

[…Why do you do this to yourself to save these kids? You could have fled alone; I'm sure it would have been less taxing for you.]

[The difference wouldn't have been much. The Myst's abrupt movement let me synchronize with Tiberius for a few moments and activate the shadow portal for an instant, though it wasn't free. Practically all my mana vanished at once just to open the portal; bringing them along didn't really cost me much.] Erik answered calmly, but Ebonique shot back in an angry tone.

[Don't lie to me! Your mana vanished all at once because you opened a portal bigger than necessary!!]

"Erik, let me help—I know some healing spells."

While Ebonique was "scolding," Elara spoke in a voice full of concern, gripping her staff tightly and conjuring barriers around the group with the other mages. Ebonique looked at the young blonde mage, then at the rest as her anger mounted.

Seeing that everyone was watching Erik with different expressions—but all with some apprehension—and given that Erik was struggling even to get his hand into his storage pouch, Ebonique let out a cold growl and spoke in an authoritative voice.

"You two—tend to Erik until he recovers." Ebonique looked at Elara and Zoe, then looked at the rest and continued, letting her killing intent seep out.

"The rest of you, form up around my Erik and say not a word. From this moment on you will breathe only to place yourselves between him and harm. If a single splinter so much as grazes him, I will dismember you piece by piece until you beg to die. Understood?"

The moment Ebonique finished her speech, her purple eyes shone with a dark purplish light while her dark arcs began to spread across her entire body. At the same time, her horns grew, more claws appeared, and her entire being changed from an elegant dark dragon into something closer to the pinnacle of what a dragon was—a goddess among dragons.

***

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