Chapter 1501
Even in the face of such a crisis, the Relic Spirit of the Death Tome showed no intention of submitting under threat. If it refused to yield to Leon, the God-Demon Soul of the Lord of Nightmares would arrive and devour them both. At that point, Leon would be utterly erased, the Lord of Nightmares would take over his body, and the Death Tome would become part of him as well.
A being born extraordinary, a relic born extraordinary—there really was a chance this guy could reclaim his former glory. It wasn't impossible at all.
Even in death, it would never bow its head or submit against its will. Leon actually admired the Relic Spirit's resolve. According to the normal course of history, after Bain obtained the Death Tome, the Relic Spirit never surrendered.
And when Bain was at his strongest, he truly did have the power to destroy the Death Tome, yet even then, he never managed to make the Relic Spirit submit. Bain also never chose to destroy the Death Tome because of this.
Whether it was due to the Relic Spirit's personality or some predetermined rule that forbade forced submission, Leon respected that rule.
The Relic Spirit hovered in front of Leon, a shield forming around its body—not a magical shield, but a thin layer of elemental protection. This way, no matter what spell Leon cast, it could defend against it under its own control.
"Merlin, you have no chance. You can't beat me. Even if I'm devoured by that foolish God-Demon Soul, I will never submit so easily. You've only got enough mana left for a single first-tier spell. You're out of options..."
In the distance, the God-Demon Soul of the Lord of Nightmares was racing toward them, vast soul waves surging like a tide. Even though there was still some distance, its impact was impossible to ignore.
Leon raised his hand, face pale and eyes sunken—he looked like a corpse. Even his raised hand trembled as he faced the Relic Spirit of the Death Tome, baring his teeth in a grim smile.
Then, a hint of red and blue light shimmered at Leon's fingertips. Judging by the mana fluctuations, the spell Leon was casting wasn't even a first-tier spell, but the Relic Spirit's expression suddenly changed...
There was no time to dodge. The tiny red and blue glow, no bigger than a fingernail, shot from Leon's fingertips and instantly struck the thin layer of elemental power shielding the Death Tome's Relic Spirit.
With his mastery over the elements, the Relic Spirit could normally block any spell Leon cast by manipulating elemental forces. It would drain his last reserves of mana, but in the end, it would just be a stalemate, wouldn't it?
But in a fight like this, a stalemate meant Leon's defeat. He couldn't make the Relic Spirit submit.
That tiny glow of red and blue was nothing more than pure Fire Elemental and Frost Elemental energy arranged in a specific sequence.
When the light struck the Relic Spirit's shield, the Fire Elemental and Frost Elemental collided. One fire, one frost—every element crashed into the very center point.
In an instant, the elements were annihilated...
Absolute balance—no trace of imbalance. Two perfectly opposed forces collided, and the only possible outcome was mutual annihilation.
A speck of black light appeared before the Relic Spirit's forehead. The elements it controlled were instantly broken and annihilated by that force. The black light, carrying its impact, shot into the Relic Spirit's head, leaving a fingernail-sized black hole on its forehead.
In that instant, it was as if the entire world was seized by an irresistible power. Space itself froze, and even the Lord of Nightmares' charging soul was locked in place.
The Relic Spirit looked like shattered glass, slowly turning ethereal, its expression frozen in a mask of disbelief.
Silently and without a trace, the Relic Spirit faded away, and in that moment, Leon felt he had truly mastered the Death Tome—he controlled everything about it.
The Relic Spirit of the Death Tome had fallen under his command. To truly master the Death Tome, one had to defeat its Relic Spirit.
The first time mastering the Death Tome's Relic Spirit is relatively easy—at that stage, there are no rules involved. But to control the Relic Spirit itself, one must be at the pinnacle of Sky Rank and truly defeat it.
The Relic Spirit of the Death Tome is essentially a mage perfected to the point of impossibility—a mage who controls everything. To defeat it with equal rank, mana, and soul strength, with all foundations identical, is basically impossible.
Leon had surpassed perfection in every aspect—his path as a mage was the epitome of flawless. Even Leon himself, if given another chance, might not achieve such perfection again.
Even so, he barely managed to win, teetering on the brink of collapse, outpacing the Relic Spirit by the slimmest margin—because his opponent truly embodied the rules themselves.
To defeat the rules themselves with the same rules is utterly impossible; that's why no one has ever truly mastered the Death Tome.
The frozen void returned to normal. The Lord of Nightmares' God-Demon Soul resumed its laughter, drifting closer, seemingly unfazed by the strange events just now.
Beside Leon floated a skull, utterly devoid of any aura of death. This was the true form of the Death Tome's Relic Spirit—a skull, its appearance shaped only by the fact that the Death Tome was born in the Undead Plane.
The skull floated beside Leon, no longer concerned about the Lord of Nightmares' God-Demon Soul. Instead, it gazed at Leon, the light leaking from its eye sockets growing ever more complex.
"Merlin, how did you come up with that?"
From the very start of the battle up to the final moment, everything was under Saimeron's control. The fight never strayed, even though Leon's mastery of rules, his use of them, his control of mana, and his spellcasting were all flawless.
From Saimeron's perspective, Leon was another version of himself—a true embodiment of the rules, absolutely flawless. No one could ever reach such a height again.
But even absolute flawlessness can't overcome another flawless being. As the incarnation of the rules, Saimeron couldn't be defeated by someone equally flawless.
If you can't defeat Saimeron, you'll never truly control the complete Death Tome.
Saimeron replayed the battle in his mind several times, yet still couldn't understand how it happened.
After mastering the Death Tome, Leon learned the true name of its Relic Spirit. Normally, chanting the full true name would take over ten minutes, but the shortened name was simply Saimeron.
"During the fight, you represented the Death Tome itself, and the rules that birthed it. Using the same rules to defeat the rules themselves is impossible. I understood that well.
To break the rules, you have to go beyond them. A mage's greatest strength isn't spells, or demi-planes, or mastery of rules—it's wisdom."
You became a mage to fight me, so you had to follow the rules. As a true mage, your spellcasting, combat, and mastery of rules were flawless—but you lacked a mage's wisdom."
Saimeron didn't understand, but he didn't argue either. He just pondered, unable to make sense of it.
Leon glanced at Saimeron. He hadn't planned to explain, but he knew Saimeron was confident he'd never submit to anyone, that no one could make him yield.
Now, even after losing, Saimeron still couldn't grasp Leon's meaning. Leon didn't explain, nor did Saimeron press him. But as Leon's most important relic, mastery alone wasn't enough to unleash Saimeron's full potential—Leon understood that well.
"From my first probing attack, I was already laying the groundwork. You didn't notice, because I knew the fight itself would have no outcome—I couldn't win. Only at the very end would there be a chance.
But you thought the end would play out exactly like last time. This time, though, I wouldn't win—because the power of rules was involved, and no one can master the rules better than the rules themselves.
Was I wrong?"
Saimeron was a little surprised. He thought it over, then nodded silently.
"To beat you, I had to abandon the rules themselves. That's why, when we were down to our last bit of mana for a single spell, the real battle began.
If I couldn't win by rules, by controlling elements or mana or anything else, then I could only use the final power—the power of annihilation."
It didn't belong to any element, held no mana, and carried no power of rules. I could guarantee only that final strike would be perfectly controlled—and you couldn't perfectly resist it. That's why you lost.
That's the greatest strength of a mage—wisdom, not power. It's also the greatest strength of humanity."
Saimeron nodded in silence, replaying the process in his mind. No matter how he analyzed it, the outcome was already decided. He knew he couldn't withstand that final spell—even if it was barely a first-tier spell...
To block that fingernail-sized annihilation sphere, you'd need at least a third-tier shield spell—and only if Saimeron himself controlled it could it possibly hold.
No matter how he replayed it, unless he'd known about the annihilation sphere ahead of time, the outcome was inevitable...
It left Saimeron feeling a bit dejected. No matter how much you understand or how strong you are, wisdom is always something hard to fathom.
As Leon and Saimeron discussed these things, the Lord of Nightmares' God-Demon Soul finally arrived, its colossal body—over ten thousand meters tall—bringing a terrifying pressure.