Edward slowly pushed himself up from the blood-soaked floor, rising to stand at the center of the Abyssal Cell. The heavy silence of the pits shattered as a sharp, piercing sound filled the air—the shrill cry of raw, concentrated lightning. Tendrils of bright blue electricity started to weave around his arms and legs, almost like snakes, crackling and spitting sparks as they bounced off his skin and scorched the stone beneath him. His entire body was wrapped in a flickering, violent stream of electrical discharge, a personal tempest that buzzed with destructive power.
He reached out his right hand into the empty air, and miles away, in his room within one of the annexes, the sword he had obtained from the blacksmith began to vibrate. The blade, forged from iron ore taken from the monster pit, tore free from its scabbard, shattered the window, and shot across the estate grounds like a shooting star. It raced through the tunnels beneath the estate and slammed into Edward’s open palm with a thunderous crack.
The blade was instantly engulfed in the blue lightning, turning white-hot as it became an extension of his magic.
"Suppression rune," Edward said quietly. "Release
For the past month, Edward had lived quietly, concealing his strength because he was not yet prepared to confront those around him. Now, with his cultivation having reached the High Mage realm, he decided it was time to reveal his true power, time to take the marquis title by force, because just like his previous regressions, there was no other way to do it.
The invisible barrier that had concealed his magical abilities for thirty days shattered. In its place, a dark-purplish spiritual pressure burst out from the Abyssal Cells, surging upward through layers of stone and the very foundations of the manor. It carried the oppressive weight of a High Mage’s will, a crushing, suffocating gravity that rained down upon every living soul within the Vistro estate.
Immediately, with a massive surge of his mana, Edward shot out from the Abyssal Cells, reducing the structure to dust in a single instant. The guards who stood watch and patrolled the cells did not even have time to scream before the shockwave from his ascent reduced them to nothing.
Outside, the Vistro knights, who were patrolling the grounds, experienced fighters at the Middle Apprentice and Adept stage, felt the world start to spin. As the purple energy washed over them, their knees gave way. Their armor felt like it was made of something too heavy, pinning them to the ground. Many of them vomited blood as their bodies struggled under the immense pressure of a High Mage’s spiritual pressure.
Inside his private chambers, Marquis Vistro was mid-breath in his own cultivation. The sudden arrival of the aura hit him like a physical blow. He was slammed into the floor, his knees cracking against the wood as blood trickled from the corner of his lips. He began to contemplate who it was, which person in the high mage realm had dared to openly attack him. He narrowed his list to two other Marquises, both inheritors of a Saint Flame.
’ Who is this?’ the Marquis thought in panic. ’Who has reached the High Mage realm and dares to openly declare war on my soil? Is it Count Aris? Or the Marquis of the North?’ He immediately narrowed his list to the two rivals he knew who possessed inherited saint flames to reach the High Mage stage. He couldn’t conceive of any other possibility.
High above the manor, the air rippled. Edward appeared, suspended in the sky by the sheer force of his mana. He looked down at the sprawling estate, overlooking the guards who were forced to their knees under the weight of his spiritual pressure.
Lightning continued to flash across his body as some of the guards managed to stare in utter disbelief at the sight of the Marquis’s third son.
As he took his first step forward in the air, the manor’s automated barrier spell immediately activated. A massive, transparent dome of blue energy enveloped the entire estate, designed to withstand attacks from an entire army. But it was futile. As Edward took another step forward, the barrier shattered instantly. The blue dome broke into millions of glowing fragments, raining down like falling stars upon the terrified guards below.
"The barrier... it broke from a single step?" the knight captain gasped, his voice trembling as he stared up through the purple haze.
"That’s not possible," another guard muttered, shaking his head in denial. "That barrier held back a True Mage assault during the ten day skirmish."
Another knight collapsed fully to the ground, coughing up blood. "Is that really... Lord Edward?"
Edward ignored the murmurs as he took a third step, and this time, he released his Killing Intent.
And with that, the air detonated.
It wasn’t loud, but it was absolute. A wave of intent tore through the estate, crushing minds before bodies could react. It felt like standing beneath an ancient god who had finally grown tired of restraint. Every living thing within range shuddered, their thoughts dissolving into static.
People forgot how to move. How to breathe. How to think.
The Marquis, still struggling on the floor of his room, felt the intent and shuddered. It didn’t feel like a rival noble. It felt like an ancient God who had been insulted by the very existence of the Vistro house.
In a desperate, instinctive reflex, the Marquis utilized his Teleportation. He vanished from his room and reappeared in the sky, three hundred feet from the intruder. He didn’t hesitate. He drew his own silver blade and unleashed a massive horizontal wave of sword energy.
Edward didn’t even raise his sword. He simply flicked his left hand.
The sword energy, which could destroy a mountain, hit an invisible wall of blue lightning just inches from Edward’s fingers and vanished.
The Marquis stopped in mid-air, gasping for breath. The purple energy was so thick he could barely see, but as the haze slowly dissipated, he was finally able to make out the attacker’s face.
Silence followed.
Slowly, the Marquis’s eyes widened in shock as he finally saw the face of the one standing before him.