Seeing they left, the magus smiled—cold and satisfied—then turned his gaze back to the pulsing dark sphere.
'Finally. The hindrance is gone. Now... time to get serious.'
His hand slipped into his sleeve. His lips began to whisper a chant, no sound escaping—just the thrum of syllables vibrating through the air.
A faint metallic sound echoed.
He pulled something out.
An iron bangle. Plain in appearance, but forged from a rare alloy—crafted specifically to suppress his strength.
"Hahaha…" The magus let out a low, demonic laugh as the transformation began.
His skin flushed to a deep crimson, nails sharpening into claws.
His frame stretched—broader, taller. Then he lowered his hood.
Golden hair spilled out.
Sharp ears twitched slightly. A single, jagged horn come out from his temple. His eyes burned blood-red.
Lightning surged across his body. He raised one hand to the sky, palm open.
From beneath him, arcs of lightning shot out like a spiderweb—then exploded upward, twisting and folding, condensing into a serpentine form.
One became two. Two became four. Four thunder-born beasts, each shaped like a qilin, crackling with deadly voltage.
He grinned, fangs bared. "Stop pretending you, beast." He thrust his arm forward.
The four lightning qilin surged forward, trailing arcs of thunder that tore through the ground behind them.
But just as they closed in. The cocoon split open.
Darkness peeled back like shattered obsidian, revealing the figure within.
The cavern trembled. Even the air bent around the pressure that poured out.
Standing at the heart of the collapse was a knight—tall, wrapped in layered black armor etched with twisting runes.
From his back spread six shadow-forged wings, each feather like a blade, radiating raw malice.
The Krell Alpha was gone.
What stood now was something else.
The only thing that remained of the creature they once faced were the six glowing eyes—burning across his helm like a constellation of death.
The voice that came from him was distorted, layered, not one but many—a chorus of whispers twisted into one.
The first qilin struck—only to be grabbed mid-charge.
One shadow wing intercepted it, folding like a guillotine—slicing the beast in half with a single movement.
The second qilin tried to dodge, spiraling to flank—but the knight raised one hand.
A dark greatsword formed instantly, longer than his own body, forged from the remnants of the cocoon's shadow.
The blade pierced the qilin through its core. BOOM!—detonating it in a blast of shredded energy.
The last two qilin attacked together, aiming for the sides.
But the knight spread his wings wide—six arcs of darkness shot out like lances, impaling both creatures mid-flight.
All four qilin… gone.
The magus stood still, eyes narrowed, lips curling into a smirk.
The knight raised his massive blade again. But this time, He pointed it forward.
"I will finish you now." And he charged—faster than before, fast enough to split the wind behind him.
The magus laughed, raising both hands as lightning coiled up to meet the attack.
Their weapons clashed lightning wrapped fist against a greatsword of living shadow.
The force of the impact sent a shockwave screaming through the cavern. Entire stone pillars shattered, walls split, and jagged cracks raced across the ground.
The magus slid back, boots carving twin trenches in the floor. He snapped his fingers lightning lashed out in a wild arc.
The knight raised one wing and absorbed it no resistance, no damage.
The knight swung again, this time in a wide arc. The blade carried a heavy gravitational pull, an aura of compressed darkness that dragged space and mana toward it.
The magus had to teleport mid-step to avoid being cleaved in half. He reappeared behind the knight and fired a barrage of lightning spears, each one twisting like serpents.
But the knight's six wings unfurled—spinning like a shield. Every spear vanished on impact.
The knight raised his left hand, palm facing the magus.
The air around it froze—not with cold, but silence. No sound, no vibration. A stillness so absolute it gnawed at the senses.
An invisible wave burst forth, erasing the mana field around the magus. His lightning faltered for a brief second.
The knight appeared in front of him again, greatsword sweeping down in a vertical slash.
The magus caught it with a lightning barrier—CRACK!—but the sword broke through, slamming him into the ground.
Dust and debris erupted upward.
The magus coughed, cloak torn, one shoulder bleeding where the blade grazed flesh.
Still smiling. Still thrilled.
"Is this really all?" he spat blood, rising slowly. While his body already begin to heal.
"No…" The knight's voice echoed again.
Suddenly, the cavern darkened even more.
All around them, patches of shadow peeled from the ground, rising like drops of living ink.
They spun and twisted—morphing into blades, beasts, and glaring eyes.
Dozens. Then hundreds. But just as their numbers swelled, something changed.
The shadow forms began to flicker—unstable. One by one, they vanished into thin air, leaving behind barely a dozen.
The magus narrowed his eyes.
"Tch… I suspected as much." He closed his eyes and exhaled, disappointment laced in his tone. "A relic from the Third Epoch... There's no way a beast like you can wield its full power."
His eyes opened, glowing red.
The air thickened as the pressure around him surged—heavy, suffocating.
Across the field, the knight snarled, lifting his greatsword to the sky. "Shut your mouth. Even this is more than enough to kill you!"
The magus didn't respond.
His lips moved, whispering a spell name —
Crimson lightning cracked into existence. It tore across the battlefield in an instan exploding into a world-shattering roar.
Distance away from the heart of the battle, Draeven and the others turned sharply toward the flash.
A primal fear settled into their bones. "That red lightning…" Tzarek muttered. "It's bad news. Really bad news."
Vek'tal's jaw clenched. Draeven stared silently at the glowing battlefield in the distance. "I just hope this Traveler we're chasing… is stronger than that beast. Otherwise…"He gripped his shovel tighter. "…we've no change."