Chapter 1173
By human standards, Reina had already reached the pinnacle of a Ninth-Rank Title Archmage. As long as she comprehended the power of rules, solidified her foundation, and fully fused the Primordial Venom Dragon's empty mana crystal, her transcendence would be a simple matter.
Her very essence had already changed. Her mana crystal was constantly being transformed by the Primordial Venom Dragon's magic. If things continued this way, barring any untimely demise, it was only a matter of time before she surpassed the Northend World's first Frost Dragon.
Reina glided forward, while the fear fiends in midair shrieked and tried to drive her off with psychic spells. Yet, any that came within fifty meters of her instantly turned to ice sculptures and crashed to the ground, shattering into fragments...
Reina covered more than a thousand meters, freezing over a thousand abyssal creatures to death. Only when a Level Thirty-Nine minor demon lord challenged her did this bloodless massacre pause...
Meanwhile, the Mage Legion surged forth like an orange fire cloud. After months of battle and growth—especially in the last few months on the Blazeforge Battlefield—their commander Kurum had advanced to Fourth-Rank Title Archmage, while the rest had all gained a rank; now, even the lowest among them was at Second-Rank Title Archmage.
The elemental fire summoned by the Mage Legion had finally evolved: this was a hotter, orange elemental flame, which now could only be barely conjured through a combined array.
A cloud of fire spread outward, sending ripples of flame in waves, like a perpetual Ring of Fire Resistance. Every attack that charged at the Mage Legion was swept into fragments by these expanding rings of flame.
The flames rolled forward, engulfing countless abyssal creatures. When the hundreds-of-meters-wide fire cloud passed, only ashes remained.
The Crawlers died screaming in the flames, their bodily moisture evaporated, leaving only charred shells behind...
The poisonous water released by the evil water elementals was vaporized by the flames. Their bodies, which seemed to be made of flowing black water, were completely evaporated, leaving only black-blue elemental essences on the ground, untouched by the fire...
Soon, one of the four Level Thirty-Nine Lesser Demon Overlords split off to deal with the Mage Legion.
In the chaos of battle, everyone was fighting—everyone except the Bone Demon Lord and Leon.
The Bone Demon Lord sat upon his throne, one hand propping up his chin, the other toying with a smoky rune. Whenever the number of abyssal creatures dwindled, he would crush an abyssal rune and summon another horde.
Mockery shone in the Bone Demon Lord's eyes, his aura thick with transcendental magic.
"Foolish creatures. Cannon fodder like these are endless in the Abyss. To die for a great Demon Lord is their highest honor.
And you fools are no different. Your fate is the same—souls sinking into the endless Abyss. So kill, kill as much as you like.
Come, entertain me, foolish mortals!"
The Bone Demon Lord roared with laughter, and instantly, more and more abyssal creatures surged forth, wave after wave, endlessly pressing down on Leon's army.
The Alchemical Golems began to fall in large numbers, but even more abyssal creatures died—only to be replaced by fresh waves summoned without end.
Anderson and Theo floated on either side of Leon, following him as he drifted toward the Bone Demon Lord.
The last Level Thirty-Nine Lesser Demon Overlord hefted a massive bone sword and strode toward Leon, roaring in fury.
"Foolish mortal, you have offended the great Lord Dorablore. The great lord is but a step away from becoming a Black Iron Lord. You are courting death!
Let the servant of the great Lord Dorablore tear your soul apart!"
The Level Thirty-Nine Lesser Demon Overlord charged, while all three of Anderson's faces twisted in mockery.
"Idiot. Just a foolish little overlord, and you dare threaten to tear Merlin's soul? Your brain must be pure magma to be this stupid!"
A dense horde of demons surged from the ground toward Leon, while the Lesser Demon Overlord swung his giant bone sword.
Leon, eyes half-closed, suddenly opened them just a fraction. A terrifying surge of magical power erupted from his body like smoke, sending visible ripples outward.
A massive, four-colored Arcane Wheel appeared behind Leon. As it spun, the rippling aura instantly gained a hint of rule-bound power.
The four-colored ripples spread out, and in an instant, the tide of abyssal creatures charging at Leon was stopped as if by a dam.
Abyssal creatures swept by the red ripples ignited from within, flames bursting from their eyes, ears, and mouths—within a blink, they were reduced to ashes...
Those struck by the blue ripples instantly turned into ice sculptures and fell, their shattered remains covering the ground in a dense carpet of frozen fragments...
Those swept by the green ripples were sliced apart as if by thousands of wind blades, their bodies reduced to countless tiny pieces...
Finally, those caught by the yellow light froze in place, their expressions locked, then exploded—showering the land with yellow sand...
Anderson sneered at the cannon fodder army of rank twenty-five to thirty.
"A bunch of brainless idiots. Merlin's power has reached the absolute peak for Title Archmages in history. With four elemental rules as his foundation, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind are nearly in perfect balance.
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He even controls a natural semi-plane where Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind are fully stabilized. Just the aura of rules emanating from it is enough to annihilate cannon fodder.
No matter how many come, they'll die. For Merlin, the sheer numbers of low-level creatures are meaningless—yet they still rush to their deaths?
And that Bone Demon Lesser Lord, just one step away from transcendence, could become a true overlord—yet still throws himself at a peak First-Rank Sky Class opponent just to die.
Honestly, demons really don't have a shred of intelligence in those heads..."
All three of Anderson's faces cursed at once, enraging the Bone Demon Lesser Lord. With a furious roar, countless bone spikes erupted from his body, swiftly weaving themselves into a suit of bone armor.
A chilling, ruthless aura surged forth. In a blink, he crossed a hundred meters, swinging his massive bone sword down at Leon's head.
Anderson's three faces wore sympathetic smiles, while Leon didn't even glance at the peak Level Thirty-Nine Lesser Demon Overlord—instead, his gaze was fixed on the Bone Demon Lord seated on the throne.
To Leon's left, Saedus, floating like a ball of fire, suddenly opened his mouth. As if spitting, he hurled a fist-sized ball of black-gray flame at the Lesser Demon Overlord.
In an instant, the flame swelled madly. By the time it reached the Bone Demon Lesser Lord, it had grown into a massive fireball over fifty meters tall...
The bone greatsword sliced through the fireball, but the billowing black-gray flame wrapped itself around the Bone Demon Lesser Lord's body.
Suddenly, the thin layer of flame erupted as if doused with accelerant, and the Bone Demon Lesser Lord was utterly engulfed. The flames soared hundreds of meters high...
A piercing scream rang out as the Bone Demon Lesser Lord writhed in agony, black smoke-like magic pouring out. His bones kept growing, but the flames only burned fiercer. In seconds, he collapsed, screaming in despair, his joints incinerated...
"I called you a fool and you didn't believe me. Saedus's Devouring Black Flame is drawn straight from the Spellbook of Ages with Sky Class power. Only a true idiot would expose his bones to that without any transcendental strength—just begging to die..."
With Saedus's instant kill, the Bone Demon Lesser Lord was slain. The Bone Demon Lord, who had been watching and mocking, suddenly froze mid-action.
The abyssal rune in his hand vanished in a puff of black smoke, and a furious, savage roar erupted. Instantly, bone spikes—still streaked with blood—sprouted from every joint of the Bone Demon Lord.
Tiny, blood-red bone spikes split off from the larger ones, forming barbs that looked like thorns sprouting from the massive bones.
The six labor demons supporting the throne screamed in agony as blood-streaked bone spikes pierced their skulls.
As the six thick bone spikes were withdrawn, the screams of the massive labor demons ended abruptly.
It was as if every bone in their bodies had been ripped out at once. Six towering, pale skeletons floated free, leaving behind only empty skins and flesh piled on the ground.
The Bone Demon Lord descended, and the six massive skeletons beside him were twisted and compressed by invisible hands. In seconds, they fused into four giant bone swords and two enormous bone shields.
A wave of savage pressure burst forth, and instantly, every demon and abyssal creature within a kilometer of the Bone Demon Lord fled in terror.