"Then you can join them... in eternal sleep."
The words had barely faded.
Bazaar and Selas struck at the same time!
A crimson slash from the Battle Saber tore through the air.
A grayish-green needle shot out like a viper, aimed straight for the space between Ian’s eyes.
A pincer attack!
Ian’s eyes grew cold.
The instant they attacked,
Ian faced Bazaar’s Light Blade, his right hand open, palm aimed at the ground.
’Gravity Collapse Ball! Maximum power!’
A black dot the size of a Rice Grain shot into the stone platform, expanding in an instant.
VMMMM!
A Gravity Field, one hundred meters in diameter, erupted violently!
Centered on the black dot, the platform’s surface collapsed inward. Rock, wreckage, and even the flowing turbulence were forcefully pulled in.
The trajectory of Bazaar’s descending Light Blade was thrown off by the gravitational interference, grazing Ian’s shoulder before slicing into the Void.
Selas’s grayish-green needle was also warped by the Gravity Field, shooting off to one side.
But they were Level Two Wizards, after all.
Bazaar swept his Battle Saber horizontally, forcibly pushing back against the Gravity Field as he lunged forward.
Three ghastly white Skulls flew out from Selas’s sleeve, eerie green Soul Fire flickering in their eye sockets as they lunged toward Ian in a triangular formation.
’Wailing Cage! A Tier Two Curse Binding!’
Ian didn’t break stride. He raised his left hand, and all seventy-two of his Floating Crystal Cones shot out from his sleeve!
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
The Skulls instantly obliterated the Crystal Cones, then shattered Ian’s Crystal Shield in the same motion.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The three Skulls slammed directly into Ian’s body.
Ian staggered, then reached out and violently grabbed the Skull biting into his chest, squeezing hard.
’Hm?’ He hadn’t crushed it. He immediately slammed it onto the ground.
BANG!
The three Skulls rolled a few times, apparently unharmed, their Soul Fire still burning.
"CAW!"
Gaga leaped out from the shadows, its wingspan expanding to its thirty-meter limit, its pitch-black feathers shimmering with a deep luster.
’Shadow Storm! Full power!’
With Gaga at its center, the Shadow Energy within a fifty-meter radius instantly began to boil.
It transformed into countless sharp shards of shadow that rained down on Selas!
The spectral fire beneath Selas’s hood wavered slightly.
His withered right hand rose, tracing a grayish-green Rune in the air before him.
’Wraith Barrier.’
The shards of shadow struck the barrier, erupting with a dense SSSSSS, but they couldn’t break through.
But that momentary delay was enough.
Ian pointed with his right index finger.
’Frost Ash Beam! Full power, continuous fire!’
Three pale purple beams tore through the air, shooting toward three corners of the platform.
There, he had already secretly planted his last six Black Hole Potions.
FZZT! FZZT! FZZT!
The instant the beams struck the Potions, the energy vortexes inside were forcefully activated.
VMM! VMM! VMM! VMM! VMM! VMM!
Six Black Hole Potions exploded simultaneously!
Six miniature gravitational Singularities, each three meters in diameter, formed a triangular pattern at three corners of the platform.
And then...
Ian clenched his fist.
"Collapse!"
The six Singularities simultaneously collapsed inward. The gravitational turbulence they generated collided, compounded, and detonated.
BOOOOM!!!
At the center of the platform, space itself shattered like glass.
The dark blue energy turbulence was torn to shreds by the gravitational storm, becoming a violent maelstrom of the Void that swept madly in all directions.
Bazaar’s expression changed dramatically. He held his Battle Saber horizontally in front of himself, compressing its pale golden light into a Shield.
Selas retreated swiftly, his grayish-green barriers stacking one upon another.
But both were caught in the gravitational storm, their movements slowed for at least three seconds.
As for Ian...
The moment he had detonated the Singularities, he was already rushing toward the edge of the platform.
He pointed his right index finger into the Void. A full-power Frost Ash Beam shot out, forcibly tearing a gap in the turbulence.
"Go!"
He grabbed Gaga and leaped into the opening.
Behind them came Bazaar’s furious roar and Selas’s icy killing intent.
"After him!"
"We can’t let him get away alive!"
「Deep within the turbulence.」
Ian landed on a relatively stable fragment of rock, dropping to one knee and gasping for breath.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The three wounds on his chest, deep enough to expose bone, were slowly healing.
His Furnace Body Tempering Skill operated at full capacity. A Jade-like Radiance flowed over his wounds, evaporating the invading Curse Energy bit by bit.
But the cost was immense.
Using the Entropy Change Domain, Gravity Collapse Ball, and Frost Ash Beam in quick succession had nearly depleted his Sea of Spirit.
"Ian... are you okay, caw?"
Gaga landed on his shoulder, its small eyes filled with worry.
"Don’t worry, I’m fine."
Ian gritted his teeth and stood up. He took a High Level Recovery Potion from his Dimension Ring and downed it in one go.
As the cool liquid flowed down his throat, the strain on his Sea of Spirit eased slightly.
He looked back the way he had come.
The figures of Bazaar and Selas were rapidly closing in through the turbulence.
Although they had been caught in the gravitational storm, their injuries weren’t severe. If anything, their killing intent had only intensified.
’I can’t fight them head-on...’
Ian muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping deeper among the floating fragments.
There, he could faintly make out the silhouette of an even larger palace, constructed from pale bones and dark blue crystals.
The entrance to the palace emanated a wave of exquisitely pure starlight.
It stood in stark contrast to the surrounding chaotic Abyssal Aura.
’Could it be... the Flame of Civilization...’
A flicker of resolve appeared in Ian’s eyes.
He wiped the blood from his lips and turned, charging toward the palace.
Behind him, the roars of Bazaar and Selas followed close behind.
"You can’t escape!"
"Your Soul... will wail for all eternity!"
The palace entrance was a giant, twenty-meter-high door.
The door was tightly shut, its surface covered in intricate Star Runes.
At this moment, some fifty figures had already gathered before the door.
The Silver Ring, the Immortal Heart, the Embrace of Nature, the Tide Association, the Storm Hall, the Shadow Moon Tower... and a few unfamiliar Wizards from the Outer Islands.
He could sense the auras of seven or eight Level Two Wizards among them.
Everyone was in a standoff, the atmosphere as taut as a drawn bowstring.
...Until Ian, drenched in blood, rushed toward them.
"Is that... someone from Shadow Moon Tower?"
Liam’s pupils shrank as he recalled the terrifying attack back in the passageway.
The members of the other factions also glanced over, their eyes full of caution and dread.
Ian stopped before the door and turned to face the pursuing Bazaar and Selas.
The blood-red and eerie-green killing intents pressed in on him as if they were tangible.
He slowly raised his right hand. Above his palm, a black dot the size of a Rice Grain appeared without a sound.
"If you want a fight, let’s do it right here."
Ian’s voice was hoarse, yet it carried clearly to everyone’s ears.
"But I promise you..."
He stared at Bazaar and Selas, enunciating every word.
"Whoever makes the first move... will be the first to die."
Pale golden flecks of Crystalization swirled deep in his eyes, mingled with the silver starlight from fragments of the Star Spirit Race’s knowledge.
He was calm, yet his resolve was absolute.
"Are you three looking to die?"
A powerfully built, three-meter-tall figure took a few steps forward, coldly eyeing the three arrivals.
"It’s Wizard Gunnar of the Immortal Heart. Those three are in for it now!"
Some people, including Herman, watched with schadenfreude. No one intervened.
Bazaar and Selas stopped in their tracks.
They exchanged a glance, and both saw deep apprehension in the other’s eyes.
It wasn’t just fear of Gunnar; they had grown wary of Ian as well.
In the battle just now, the strength, tactics, and almost fanatical viciousness Ian had displayed...
...proved he absolutely had the power to drag them both down with him.
And that was without mentioning the other factions watching them like vultures.
"You little bastard... Just you wait."
Bazaar gritted his teeth, his Battle Saber slowly lowering.
The spectral fire beneath Selas’s hood wavered, and he finally retracted his killing intent.
A strange equilibrium settled outside the palace.
Ian slowly let out a breath and turned to face the giant door.
On the door’s surface, the Star Runes were beginning to glow faintly.
As if waiting for something.
He reached out and pressed his hand against the door.
A cold sensation traveled up his arm, mingled with the final call of the Star Spirit Race.
’Flame of Civilization...’
Ian silently mouthed the three words.