Chapter 159: Morro
This time, what appeared was a Void Stalker—a towering figure over ten meters tall, its massive body grotesquely twisted within the Bone Hall. Lined up behind it were more than a dozen Ash Imps, their bodies ablaze with Abyssal Fire, emitting a pungent stench of sulfur...
"Damn..." Leon couldn't help but curse. A Void Stalker was already troublesome enough—its physical strength rivaled that of a level thirty magical beast, and with its innate ability to devour magical energy, even Magisters would find it a headache. Now, with a dozen Ash Imps in tow, the combination of ranged and close attacks was far from a simple one plus one equals two...
Unfortunately, Leon had no choice in the matter.
As the Void Stalker let out a low, guttural roar, the Ash Imps raised their blazing claws. One fireball after another, accompanied by a heavy howling sound, came hurtling toward Leon.
Leon quickly activated the Icefire Shield, blocking the barrage of fireballs while keeping a wary eye on the Void Stalker. Everyone knows the Void Stalker's physical strength is monstrous, but for a mage, its ability to devour magical energy is the real nightmare.
The reason Void Stalkers are called Mage Slayers is precisely because of this loathsome ability. Even Magisters or Title Magisters, once drained of all magic by a Void Stalker, would be left helpless—ripe for slaughter.
Naturally, Leon dared not be careless. After Icefire Shield blocked the first wave of fireballs, he didn't counterattack—instead, he directly activated the Lava Dominator.
But this time, it wasn’t the Flame Wings he activated.
It was the so-called absolute defense—Lava Sanctuary...
All Leon saw was a blaze erupting with a thunderous roar. The Void Stalker, having just charged up to him, crashed straight into the shield—its terrifying strength, rivaling a level thirty magical beast, exploded in that instant, making the entire Bone Hall shake as if the earth itself trembled...
"What terrifying power..." Leon couldn't help but feel a chill. Thankfully, he had the Lava Dominator; without it, that single impact might have been more than he could bear.
There was no other way—he was now trapped between two overlapping spaces and dared not use too many third- or fourth-tier spells. Relying solely on Frostfire Shield, Flame Barrier, and Frost Armor simply wasn’t enough to withstand the Void Stalker's monstrous strength.
Luckily, he still had the Lava Dominator.
Strictly speaking, Lava Sanctuary's defensive power was at least equivalent to a fifth-tier spell. But since the spell operated within the magical artifact itself and was fully formed upon release, it didn’t affect the spatial boundaries at all.
Once Lava Sanctuary was in place, the rest of the fight became much simpler.
Leon practically stood behind Lava Sanctuary and subjected the Void Stalker to a slow, torturous death. Dozens of low-tier spells rained down on the Mage Slayer, and in the end, Leon used a barrage of Wind Blades to slice it into pieces.
With the Void Stalker dealt with, the Ash Imps were no trouble at all. Leon repeated his tactics—Frost Ring followed by Gale Whip—and in moments, the Ash Imps shattered into fragments.
Yet for Leon, this was only the beginning.
A mere dozen or twenty meters now felt so far away as to be almost hopeless...
With almost every step, Leon was forced into another battle—each enemy a lesser demon from the Abyss: Ash Imps, Void Stalkers, Hellhounds, Horned Fiends, Trinity Banshees, and more... It was as if Leon were flipping through a living encyclopedia of lesser demons within the Bone Hall.
And their numbers kept growing, their fighting strength increasing...
In the final battle, Leon even attracted the attention of a high demon who had awakened its True Name!
Fortunately, this high demon’s power was so overwhelming that its true body couldn’t descend—only a single claw managed to breach the realm...
But even just a claw was enough to give Leon a brutal lesson.
That battle was a storm of chaos—night turned to day, earth to sky...
Only after a full hour did Leon finally send that claw back to the Demon Realm.
But the instant the claw vanished, Leon heard a deafening roar.
"Worm—you dare harm Lord Morro’s body? One day, Lord Morro will descend upon your world and subject you to endless torment in wind and ice!"
"Morro..." The name echoed in Leon’s ears, and for a moment, he nearly lost his mind from fear.
Legend has it that the Frost Lord Tuun commands six Archdemon servants—one of whom is Morro.
Morro himself isn’t the real issue. Archdemons are powerful, sure, but Leon believes that once he reaches the rank of Magister, he might stand a chance against one.
But Frost Lord Tuun...
He’s a terror on par with Gallax, the Wasteland Lord—entities that transcend even the Heaven-tier.
Forget becoming a Magister—even as a Title Magister, Leon would be little more than an ant before Frost Lord Tuun.
"Damn, how did I get so unlucky—ended up living next to that guy..."
Leon cursed under his breath, then finally turned his attention to the floating Death Tome.
Now, the Death Tome was truly within reach—just a stretch of his hand, and he could grasp this transcendent artifact.
Leon took a deep breath and extended his trembling right hand...
Yet...
The moment Leon’s fingertip touched the Death Tome, a deafening roar erupted above his head.
"Damn, Bone Dragon!" Leon jumped in fright—was this just too much of a coincidence?
Before Leon could figure out how to react, the Death Tome beneath his finger suddenly unleashed a surge of power. Instantly, the surrounding space twisted—the eerie Bone Hall, the strange hexagram array, the mysterious black tome—all vanished in a blink, and Leon plunged into a black wasteland.
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Looking closely, it seemed to be the Demon's Rest where the Bone Demon slumbers.
"Wait, something’s off..." But Leon quickly realized that the Demon's Rest couldn’t possibly hold such terrifying death energy.
Not just Demon's Rest—even the Whitebone Pinnacle where the Bone Dragon sleeps couldn’t possess such overwhelming death power. In that instant, as Leon fell onto the black wasteland, he almost thought he’d entered the Death Garden. The death energy here was so intense, it was almost forming its own rules...
"Human, you truly overestimate yourself..." Just as Leon was lost in thought, a black figure slowly approached from the edge of the wasteland.
The seemingly endless wasteland was crossed in a single step by the black figure. Almost as soon as the voice sounded, it was standing right before Leon.
"Such pitiful power, and you dare dream of becoming my master!"
"You’re..." Leon was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Are you the Death Tome?"
"No, no..." The black figure shook its head, its face hidden by a hood. "You may call me Kain. As for the Death Tome... If you ever truly become my master, you’ll learn I’m far more than just the Death Tome."
"More than just the Death Tome? What does that mean?"
"Human, you ask too many questions. Does that really matter to you? Do you think that with such pitiful power, you could ever hope to be my master?" The black figure’s laughter carried a faint mockery. "Still, since you’re the first human to touch me in over a thousand years, I’ll grant you a fair chance to battle me."
"A fair fight?" Leon was almost speechless. He still couldn’t gauge the black figure’s true power, but just its ability to cross the wasteland in a single step meant it was at least at the Title Magister level.
And not just any Title Magister—the very pinnacle of Title Magisters!
For someone like that to talk about a 'fair fight'...
It’s like an elephant telling an ant, "Let’s arm wrestle—don’t worry, I’ll only use one hand..."
"If you can defeat me, then maybe I’ll consider serving you."
"And what if I lose?"
"Lose..." The black figure suddenly laughed. "If you lose, you’ll remain on this death wasteland forever."
With that, the black figure gave Leon no chance to respond. In an instant, it transformed into an Elemental Avatar—a blazing inferno—lunging straight at Leon.
"Damn, that’s cheating!" Leon cursed out loud. So much for a fair fight—Elemental Avatar is a third-tier spell, and even with five mana arrays equipped, he’d still need at least three seconds to chant the incantation.
Just look at Kain—he casts Elemental Avatar instantly, and still calls this a fair fight...
Isn’t this just a bit too fair?
While Leon cursed inwardly, he quickly retreated—this was no joke. Anyone who could instantly cast Elemental Avatar had mastered the spell to an astonishing degree. If he let Kain get close, he might not be able to defend himself at all...
Leon retreated a dozen steps on the spot.
But Elemental Avatar was even faster. Leon had barely retreated when the distance shrank to a single meter. With just a gesture, Kain’s fire-elemental hand could snap Leon’s neck effortlessly.
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