Chapter 683: Devilvine
The emergence of a Title is always tied to the laws involved. Typically, every Title Archmage's epithet is linked to the aspect of law they have mastered and reinforced.
Upon reaching Sky Rank, one gains insight into the laws, comprehending their mysteries and wielding their power in battle. This is the power that transcends mortals—the power of transcendence.
This is why everyone below Sky Rank remains fundamentally mortal. It’s no longer a mere gap in strength; it’s a difference in essence.
Without the power of law, no matter how strong a mortal is, they cannot stand against transcendence.
In the God-Demon Dominion, every law is a toy in the hands of the Primordials. Time, space, even the most fundamental laws, are all subject to their whims.
A Primordial can make the earth float overhead and the sky beneath their feet, force rivers to flow uphill, or grant a mere mortal near-infinite life. Anything imaginable, in the God-Demon Dominion, can be done by the Primordials.
Moreover, each God-Demon Dominion bears its own unique traits. Take the USS Dauntless, forged from the body of Sendros: it’s filled with illusions and nightmares, so potent that one might not even realize they’ve entered a dream. This kind of power is utterly beyond mortal comprehension.
Even the faintest lingering power in the USS Dauntless can completely override the will of Leon and his companions, manipulating them at will. So, just how immense is the power of a complete God-Demon Dominion...
Leon stared blankly at the dreamlike scene before him, realizing for the first time that no tome, no record, could ever convey such overwhelming power. Even standing here in person, he couldn’t truly grasp how mighty a living Primordial really was.
A frog that has only ever known the bottom of a well, even if it leaps out and sees the sky with its own eyes, still cannot fathom how vast that sky truly is. Some things simply defy words, defy feeling...
Taking a slow breath, Leon stepped off the prow of the ship. Beneath his feet was a single branch of the Tree of Wisdom. If he hadn’t just seen it projected by the USS Dauntless, he would never have guessed that this wide expanse was nothing but a branch.
Rich magical energy flowed beneath his feet. All around, knee-high grass radiated with magical fluctuations, and under the branch above—so vast it seemed to blot out the sky—countless vivid purple bellflowers grew, each occasionally catching a drop of pure mana.
A flock of tiny, fist-sized birds with dazzling feathers darted about, feeding on those falling drops of mana. Their chirping filled the air, yet not a single person felt at ease, because every one of those little birds radiated magical power above level twenty...
"Everyone, stay alert!"
Leon instructed gravely, his expression tense.
He hardly needed to say it. Anderson already had the Arcane Wheel primed and ready, and Hubert gripped Slaughter tightly, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings.
Seth’s knees were shaking. He was only a level seven apprentice, and had just barely advanced...
Here, even a flock of harmless-looking birds were all above level twenty. He couldn’t even take on a single bird...
There was nothing in this knee-high grass but the quiet rustling of leaves. Still, Leon cautiously summoned ten Stone Golems.
The ten Stone Golems circled the party, acting as reckless scouts and living targets as they probed ahead.
They walked several miles, yet nothing dangerous appeared. Other than the birds they saw at the start, there wasn’t a single living thing.
Suddenly, Leon’s expression changed. Thirty meters ahead, he lost contact with one of the scouting Stone Golems.
Less than two seconds later, all ten scouting golems—left, right, and behind—were cut off at once!
The instant the first Stone Golem went silent, Leon raised the Doombringer Staff. Two blazing Flame Vortexes, each three meters tall, erupted before him, unleashing half-meter long Flame Spears in a sweeping fan-shaped barrage.
Leon swung the Doombringer Staff, conjuring three Flame Vortexes overhead. From each, Flame Spears shot out relentlessly, igniting the grass and reducing it to ash in an instant. Every plant within dozens of meters ahead was cleared away in a heartbeat.
Whenever a Devourvine charged within thirty meters, a Flame Spear struck it. If it paused, a blue-tailed fireball blasted it apart. But at fifty meters, a series of metallic clangs rang out, echoing through the chaos.
Dozens of Flame Spears struck a mass of vivid green vines, but only sparked harmlessly, sending the vines writhing in frenzy. The severed vines had no chance to escape, incinerated by a precisely timed Hand of Flame.
Thick vines, each more than a meter wide and bristling with emerald thorns, rose up from all directions. As they lashed about, the air itself seemed to tear, filling the silence with a mournful wail. Having reached the peak of level nine Archmage, Leon displayed terrifying spellcasting prowess. Every spell landed precisely at the Devourvine’s weakest points.
Before anyone realized it, the party was completely surrounded by these vines. Each time the Devourvine tried to advance, it was struck down the moment it raised its head.
"Devourvine..." After five minutes, most of the Devourvines within a fifty-meter radius had been burned away.
Seth muttered the name, trembling with fear as he burrowed into the center of the group, terrified the Devourvine might snatch him away. Yet this Devourvine showed no sign of retreat, only attacking more frenziedly.
The legendary Devourvine—this thing supposedly went extinct in Northend back in the Nesser Dynasty. Dozens of thick vines rose around the party, layering and weaving together into a massive Devourvine Prison.
It’s hypersensitive to magical fluctuations, able to pick out a mage’s natural mana even in the chaos of a forbidden spell. Once it detects life, it appears without a sound, weaving a web to surround its prey before launching a sneak attack. All the vines began to contract, pushing against the party’s spells, trying to crush them inside.
Anyone caught is drained of mana and flesh alike, left as nothing but a dried corpse—fodder for the Devourvine. Many vines were burned to ash, but more kept appearing, seemingly endless, relying on sheer numbers to overwhelm.
The vine before them looked like just one strand, and only level thirty-eight, but in this saturated mana, and with plant beasts’ notorious vitality, unless you destroy nearly all its body, it won’t even try to flee. Leon’s expression was cold as Flame Spears poured from the three Flame Vortexes overhead, each one targeting the gaps between the vines, slowing their advance as much as possible.
Seth’s mind raced through every record of Devourvine—the Elder Age’s most insidious jungle predator. Once it evolved past level forty, nothing else survived where it grew. Minutes later, Leon sneered: "So, you’re here!"
For the first time, Seth wondered if knowing too much was actually a curse. He raised the Doombringer Staff and rapidly chanted a spell. In two seconds, the three overhead Flame Vortexes merged into a single massive vortex, seven or eight meters tall. A three-meter green fireball shot out, surrounded by nine blazing white fireballs.
While Seth was busy wallowing in self-pity, Leon struck first. He swung the Doombringer Staff, unleashing a Detonation spell at the charging Devourvine. The blast shredded its tip, but for the vine, that was barely a scratch. The nine white fireballs spun in a circle around the green fireball, twisting the air and unleashing invisible force.
Anderson, controlling the Arcane Wheel, sent dozens of Dragonfire Spells flying, turning the area around them into a sea of flames. The swirling fire held the Devourvines at bay, keeping them dozens of meters away. Whoosh...
Leon swung the Doombringer Staff, three Flame Vortexes swirling overhead. Flame Spears shot out in rapid succession. Blistering heat whipped up a gale. The nine white fireballs exploded simultaneously, while the green fireball vanished, leaving a green trail dozens of meters long in midair.
In an instant, the green fireball struck a point on the Devourvine Prison. A massive hole appeared in the emerald-glinting Devourvine Prison. Wavering green flames spread from the hole, burning vines to ash within a dozen meters.
With the prison breached, the party saw the Devourvine’s root behind the hole—a three-meter thick, dark green vine from which all the others sprouted. Dozens of green vines kept sprouting furiously from that thick, dark green root.
Leon sneered, his body transforming into flames as he darted through the hole in the prison. Seeing its core exposed, the Devourvine didn’t flee. Instead, the three-meter thick vine lunged at Leon like a giant serpent, its head bearing down with terrifying force.
Behind Leon, the green vines formed a lid, sweeping in from behind to trap him.
Then all the vines began to contract, pressing against the party’s torrent of spells, trying to crush them inside the prison.
Many vines were burned to ash, yet more kept surging forth, endless, relying on sheer numbers to overwhelm.
Leon’s expression was cold as Flame Spears poured from the three Flame Vortexes overhead, each one targeting the gaps between the vines, slowing their advance as much as possible.