Over the next three weeks, Nick designed a soul path magic formation with the intention of using it to help him deal with the tampering done to his soul by Xavier Gecko, the dean of Richter Order Academy. At the end of those three weeks, on the third basement floor, Nick sat at the center of a triangular magic formation that was designed using the D-Soul mystical language and that glowed with a dull-purple magic power; the triangular magic formation had a height of about two meters.
Nick was positioned cross-legged and seeing that the magic formation was stable, he mused:
(I named this magic formation, Soul Examination Formation. It is a rank 3, intermediate grade, soul path magic formation and it should be capable of projecting my soul outwards while keeping me conscious. Before I went to Humble Desert, I was unwilling to create this magic formation because I lacked rank 3, soul path magic materials, which would have been too expensive to buy on the market in the quantity that I needed. By using most of the rank 3 terra carcasses, the rest of the rank 3 terra souls and a few hundred rank 2 terra carcasses, I managed to create this new magic formation. Now, I will put it to use.)
Following those thoughts, Nick spoke the Soul Examination Formation's trigger phrase in D-Soul:
"Begin!"
The magic formation suddenly developed magical currents in the form of purple sparks all over its surface that soon converged at Nick's position and ran through him in moments. The magic power that was carried by the purple sparks was rapidly absorbed by Nick's soul and so within one minute, the purple sparks seemed to have vanished.
Following that, Nick's charcoal-black soul glimmered brightly and projected thick, black light outwards. The black light radiated out of Nick's body and filled the space over the magic formation, soon creating the appearance of a vertical standing triangular prism. Nick could not see through the black light with his naked eyes but he did not intend to.
Nick focused intensely on the black light around him and cast Tyrant Sense as well as activated his Eyes of the Fated talent. Nick could not necessarily force Eyes of the Fated to reveal information to him exactly when he wanted, but since becoming rank 3, he became able to actively choose the periods during which its effects could be realized just like his Spatial Awareness talent. Nick assumed that he became able to do this because at rank 3, there was a qualitative change in how much he could control his magic power.
After ten minutes of using his scouting method, Nick was finally able to perceive the laws embedded into the black light. Nick thoughts spun at this time:
(The black light represents projections of parts of my soul, including its laws. Producing this soul projection is the primary function of the Soul Examination Formation. Having it reveal my soul's laws itself would require a more complex formation and so the Soul Examination Formation does not have that power but thankfully, I have Eyes of the Fated. Hmmm...now that I think about it, I don't know what path the Eyes of the Fated talent belongs to...)
Nick put the latter thought on the back burner because he was unlikely to suddenly derive an answer. Nick spent two days studying the laws of his own soul, which conveniently appeared in Valteese, that is, until he discovered a set of laws that did not appear in Valteese. Nick's eyes squinted in suspicion when he perceived those latter soul path laws, thinking:
(Valteese is the universal mystical language, meaning that it is also nature's commonly used mystical language as well. This set of laws drawn in a different mystical language is likely the section of my soul that the dean tampered with. Hmph! Did that old bastard think that I had no way of dealing with this before his wicked schemes came to fruition?)
That was likely the case. Dean Xavier Gecko was a rank 6 Soul Magician and if Nick had to guess, he was likely a soul path scholar, which would allow him to easily formulate a complex enough method that remained on Nick's soul even after his long periods of soul cultivation. As to what rank the method was, Nick had his expectations:
(It is not likely that Dean Gecko would have wasted a method that is too high ranked on a mere rank 1 Magician. That would be like using an ox cleaver on a chicken or making a mountain out of a mole hill. If his method is at most rank 3, then I can deal with it using this magic formation. Dean Gecko would have never suspected that I am also a soul path scholar.)
Nick did not understand the dean's mystical language, could not perceive the rank of the method used to imprint these laws and had no idea what the laws meant but he did not need that information. If Nick had to directly counter and neutralize these laws, that might have presented an issue but if he just had to isolate the laws and rip away the part of his soul that was tainted by them, using his high attainment and the Soul Examination Formation, the task was only slightly difficult. Nick swore within his mind:
(Xavier Gecko, I will deal with you in the future for having given me this 'gift'.)
Nick quickly summoned one rank 3 terra soul from his space band, following which, he cast Tyrant Armor and covered his right hand in its sparking black soul magic power. Nick took hold of the terra soul using his right hand and let the black sparks generated by Tyrant Armor's power interact with it.
Nick spent ten hours superficially embedding laws onto the terra soul using his own magic power that basically turned the soul into a space path bomb, similar to what he did in order to deal with the jade-green wyvern within Forgotten Peril years ago. During this time, he had to process black miasma magic energy outside of his body and draw it into his mindscape dozens of times in order to keep his magic energy reserves at an acceptable level. Nick mused:
(The laws are arranged in the style of a magic formation and basically uses the soul as the fuel for the base. This soul will effectively detonate at my will, using the soul path power that erupts to corrupt and degrade other souls that it influences. This would be an effective weapon on a rank 3 magic beast if they swallowed it or a rank 3 Magician if I was able to somehow draw their soul out of their body, even by a little. The soul bomb would not be effective otherwise because the various laws on the target's body would interfere with its influence on the target's soul from the outside.)
Nick then waved his left hand and purple sparks encircled the area of black light that the dean's laws were embedded into. This was evidently the method that Nick was using to isolate the affected section from the rest of his soul. Nick then thrust his right hand towards the affected area of his soul, following which the rank 3 terra soul was launched at the affected area and when the terra soul came into contact with the affected area, the terra soul silently 'popped'.
Two seconds after that, the area that was encircled by the purple sparks dissipated, that is, the thick, black light at that area vanished completely; Nick was then able to see a portion of the third basement floor through the resulting hole. Nick instantly developed an extreme headache in response to a portion of his soul being dissolved. The pain was so bad that he was forced to grit his teeth.
Although he was in pain, Nick did not neglect to control the situation. The power of the Soul Examination Formation prevented the degenerative effects of the soul bomb from spreading to areas beyond the purple sparks as well as prevented the dean's method from influencing any other parts of Nick's soul during the degenerative process.
This way of dealing with the dean's method was akin to cutting away the rotten portion of a fruit in order to enjoy the still edible portions. Nick muttered through gritted teeth:
"If I can't cure the disease, I will simply cut away the diseased organ."
Nick was able to do that much while being a soul path scholar. Nick continued to bear with the pain caused by his damaged soul and waited about eight hours, at which point, the thick, black light at the area within the boundaries of the purple sparks was restored and Nick's intense headache eased completely. He reasoned:
(My soul was restored due to the effects of my Soul Cradle talent. If I had used soul healing scrolls to heal such an injury, I would probably have had to have used thousands of those scrolls over a few days or weeks to achieve the same effect. By that time, who knows what could have become of me if I did not have a safe enough environment to cultivate in or did not have the resources to completely heal my soul. Obtaining the Soul Cradle talent is one of my greatest cultivation victories and this cultivation session proves it. My soul has not decreased in its charcoal black quality whatsoever despite the damage I had caused it. Ha!)
Nick then cancelled the Soul Examination Formation's methods, which resulted in the purple sparks vanishing and the black light around him receding into his body; the magic formation continued to glow a dull-purple color. Following that, Nick used his magic sense to check on his soul and was pleased to see that it still appeared as a floating charcoal-black sphere that had a grey ring, which represented his Soul Cradle talent, encircling it.
Nick soon stopped checking on his soul and stood up, following which, he willed for the Soul Examination Formation to self-destruct. The magic formation degenerated into free flowing magic energy over the next three minutes. Nick breathed in and out deeply before speaking with a tone of relief:
"I am finally free from Xavier Gecko's taint."
****************************************************************
Within Dean Xavier Gecko's room, Dean's Administrative Building, Richter Order Academy, at around the time that Nick dissolved a portion of his soul using the space bomb...
Dean Xavier Gecko suddenly looked up from the documents that he had on his desk and stared eerily at the space in front of him, his dark eyes glistening with malice. He soon squinted his eyes and spoke with displeasure in his tone:
"You are full of surprises, Nick Capitol, but since I had already marked you, I will not just let you go because you did away with my soul tag. There is more than one way to skin a cat."
Xavier was honestly surprised that Nick was able to remove the soul tag. He wondered:
(Did he get a soul path expert to help him? Although the method that produced the soul tag is only rank 3, the soul tag itself is not a simple marking and even soul path masters would struggle to find a solution to it. Since the soul tag was discovered and dealt with, I can safely assume that Nick Capitol and I are now enemies. Well...I'll just have to add one more name to the list of people that are destined to die at my hands. Nick will one day find out that these comfortable offices that we Magicians often work in while on Grand Earth is not where we gain our stripes. If I am remembering correctly, Nick has a sister that still attends this academy...)
The dean relaxed his expression before returning to his work.
****************************************************************
Three hours after he had caused the Soul Examination Formation to self-destruct, Nick sat at his work table. He was currently doing research on his laptop in order to plan his next visit to Forgotten Peril. At this time, he received a call from Riley; Nick accepted it immediately:
"What's going on, Riley?"
Riley spoke plainly:
"Bianca Daneel has returned and she has informed me that your magic tool is ready. Will you meet her in the fourth floor's first conference room?"
Nick raised both eyebrows, muttering:
"The magic tool has been created already? Is that a good or bad sign?"
Nick did not really know how long creating the kind of magic tool that he had asked for should take but he figured that it would have at least required a few months. However, since the item was already here, there was no point in speculating. Riley heard Nick's question and remained silent; she did not know the answer either.
Nick soon spoke to Riley:
"Yes, take her to the fourth floor's first conference room. I will get there within a few minutes."
Nick then hung up and spent a few minutes finishing up his research before storing his laptop into his space band and taking the elevator to the fourth floor. Nick soon arrived at the conference room and when he entered, Riley and Bianca were already sitting on the side of the oval table closest to the entrance. Bianca wore an orange and white colored magician's robe while Riley wore her usual all-black pants suit.
Bianca stood up and greeted Nick:
"It has been a while, Nick. Aren't you excited to finally be receiving your magic tool?"
Nick maintained his indifferent expression and replied:
"Sure I am...but is it normal for such an item to be manufactured in a few weeks?"
Bianca was not surprised by Nick's question, so she explained:
"I actually manufactured the magic tool within one of Delaware Smithworks small, private realms, taking advantage of the time difference between that realm and Grand Earth, so your item actually took me six months to design and manufacture."
When Nick heard that explanation, his doubts vanished:
(I should have thought of that possibility myself. That is a very intelligent thing to do in order to create magic tools that require a long time to make.)
After answering Nick's question, Bianca summoned an item from her space band and held it out towards Nick using her right palm. Nick observed the item and noticed that it was a small, black, cubed box, like the ones that would be used to hold a piece of jewelry. Nick took the black box out of Bianca's palm and opened it. Bianca had a proud expression on her face as her creation was unveiled.
When Nick opened the box, he discovered a copper-colored ring resting inside. The ring had no designs and looked similar to a simple wedding band. Bianca excitedly introduced the item:
"I named that ring, Sheer Soul. It is an advanced, apprentice grade soul path magic tool that was mainly made from the carcass of the rank 3 terra that you provided, infused with and strengthened by portions of rank 3 terra souls and coated with sorrow whisper metal, which I thought would suit the ring perfectly. This magic ring has only one active ability and it is focused on restriction. That ability is called, Sheer Hold, and it produces a formless pressure that acts in all directions on the body of whoever or whatever that you come into direct contact with; this pressure restricts the affected party's movements and it doesn't matter if the affected party or their wielded belongings are only touch by something that you are wearing or wielding, they will still be affected by the ring's power. Of course, the affected party has to have a soul for the ring's power to be effective and the effect only lasts up to two minutes after the last period of contact. Be aware that the ring is only as effective as the superiority of the quality of your soul compared to the affected party's soul; I could not do better than that using the magic materials that you provided."
Nick looked at the simple ring and wondered if it could really do what Bianca said; he could not even feel any magic power emanating from it at this time. Nick asked:
"Why can't I sense its magic power?"
Bianca's expression became even more proud as she replied:
"That is the passive effect of the sorrow whisper metal. Sheer Soul's magic power is only obvious when its restriction ability is active. Otherwise you will have to use a powerful scouting method to pick up on its soul path magic power."
Nick slowly nodded his head in response to Bianca's explanation. He then slowly placed Sheer Soul onto his right middle finger. Following that, he asked Bianca:
"May I?"
Bianca knew what Nick meant and although she had her concerns, because Nick was her client and Sheer Soul was her invention, she knew that she could not appear timid here:
"Go ahead, Nick."
After getting Bianca's permission, Nick simply tapped her on the left shoulder with his right index finger while willing for Sheer Soul's active ability, Sheer Hold, to activate, then withdrew his right index finger immediately after. At first, Bianca did not think that the effect would be too imposing since she knew that Nick had only recently graduated from his magic academy as a result of her own investigation. She thought:
(I am almost at rank 3 middle stage after graduating three years ago. I am a genius Metal Magician and I have put effort into cultivating my soul in order to make better magic tools, so Sheer Soul in Nick's hand at this point in time should be no real threat to me. He must be an aspiring Soul Magician to have wanted such a magic tool but he is still too young...)
Contrary to Bianca's thoughts, however, the moment that Sheer Hold's soul magic power affected her, she was sent to her knees. Nick, Riley and Bianca's eyebrows raised in surprise in response to Sheer Soul's effectiveness or rather, Bianca was surprised at the implied quality of Nick's soul:
(What the hell? How much has he cultivated his soul?)
Bianca slowly raised herself up from her kneeling position with a fair bit of struggle evident on her face. She then asked Nick while maintaining a plain expression:
"Do you mind deactivating Sheer Hold, now?"
After Bianca spoke, Nick did exactly that, following which, he stored Sheer Soul's case into his older space band and thanked Bianca for a job well done:
"Thanks for this. The next time that I want magic tools made, I know who to find first."
Bianca's smile returned after she heard Nick's words. She replied:
"I'll be glad to take more of your money."
After saying that, Bianca indicated that she wanted to leave, so Nick had Riley escort Bianca to the ground floor entrance. Nick then eyed the copper colored ring on his middle finger for thirty minutes before snapping out of his stupor and declaring:
"I should get back to exploring Forgotten Peril, now."
Not only was Nick eager to find out just how much more powerful he was after having gained his new magic swords and Sheer Soul, he knew that the company's corporate account would soon be bottomed out and he needed to fill it quickly.
Nick did not hesitate. He went down to the third basement floor and after informing Dewy of his departure, he used his space path magic formation that was linked to his house within Sidon to travel there. When he appeared within his house in Sidon, Nick summoned his two new swords, Stoic Grave and Hard Marvel from his older space band. He holstered Hard Marvel to his left side and then holstered Stoic Grave to his right side.
Following that, Nick left the house and cast Tyrant Armor. He used the effects of the spell to cover him entirely in its sparking black magic power before running at inhuman speeds towards Sidon's gates. The people of the settlement, who Nick ran past, only saw a black blur as he moved but sensed his rank 3 soul magic power. Nick ran through Sidon's gates within a few minutes.
After running to five hundred meters beyond Sidon's walls, Nick retracted Tyrant Armor in order to just have both his arms covered with sparking black magic power. Nick then cast Saturn and used its effects to rise fifty meters into the air. Nick mused at this time:
(Without Silent Ark, I'll have to fly everywhere using the effects of Saturn, which will likely be slower but I can still do what I need to do.)
Nick flew off rapidly towards his next destination and reached its borders in eight days. Nick observed the vast woodland below him and muttered:
"I'm finally visiting Beast Land once again."
Nick did not come here to mine for resources, though. Nick continued to fly over Beast Land and arrived at a familiar section of the region within a week. At this time Nick processed black miasma magic energy outside his body and drew the magic energy into his mindscape until his mindscape was fully saturated.
Nick then cast one of his rank 3, advanced grade spells:
(Soul Haze.)
Starting at his own position, a haze of soul magic power flowed from Nick and rapidly spread into the surroundings until one kilometer all around him was saturated with his magic power, tainting the space with a faint black hue. Nick thought:
(The vegetation that I tore out of the region regrew perfectly within the few years that I was gone. This place apparently has nutrient rich soil and is very robust...)
While Nick was waiting for the intended result of his actions to manifest, the rank 2 Magicians that were caught within the area of influence of Soul Haze balked. Many cursed out loudly:
"What the hell is this shit? I suddenly feel like I'm being eaten alive."
"This is soul magic power. It is affecting my soul at a rapid rate. I need to leave this place!"
"This is definitely not a natural occurrence. Is the perpetrator a magic beast or a Magician?"
"Who cares, man? Can you deal with something that can produce this haze? If you didn't fucking notice, this is a rank 3 spell!"
...
The dozens of rank 2 Magicians within the area fled like ants. No one even bothered to find the source of the sudden haze, which would not have been difficult because Nick did not hide himself, and remained floating high above the woodland canopy.
Cries from hundreds of magic beasts could be heard at this time until two hours went by and those cries became silent. All the rank 1 and rank 2 magic beasts affected by the Soul Haze had apparently died en masse. Nick muttered while he continued to recover his magic energy reserves:
"Why aren't you coming out yet? Powerful magic beasts don't migrate from their area of influence casually. There is a good chance that the magic beast is still around."
Two more hours after Nick said those words, a certain magic beast could no longer stand the disturbance and made itself known by emitting a howl that saturated the atmosphere with soundwaves:
AAAAWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!
Following that epic sound, from within a cluster of trees to Nick's front, a ray of bright-green light shot upwards at incredible speed and when the ray dissipated, a green dog that looked similar to a German shepherd appeared hovering in midair at the same altitude as Nick, about twenty meters away from his immediate front. The dog magic beast had over a dozen bright-green twinkling lights hovering perpetually around its body and it glared at Nick with absolute rage in its expression.
Nick chuckled and thought:
(It seems really angry. I wonder if it remembers me.)
This dog like magic beast was Nick's entire reason for returning to Beast Land and he did not plan to leave until he had defeated it; he wanted to use the magic beast to clear away some doubts in his heart. At this time, Nick did not dare hold back against this powerful magic beast and so he unsheathed both his swords, gripping Hard Marvel firmly using his right hand and doing the same to Stoic Grave using his left hand.
Nick had already activated Spatial Awareness when he arrived within Forgotten Peril and so now, he activated Sheer Soul's magic ability, Sheer Hold, following which, he cast Tyrant Form and Tyrant Sense; he also cancelled Soul Haze, which resulted in the surrounding haze quickly dissipating. Having still maintained Saturn and Tyrant Armor, Nick was ready to do battle with the dog magic beast.
(I cancelled Soul Haze because the spell is more suited to group control and by my estimation, would take days to significantly affect the dog magic beast, anyway. That estimation is based on how slowly the Absorb Life Battle Formation took down the rank 3 terra within Humble Desert.)
The dog magic beast noticed that the Soul Haze went away and growled at Nick in response. At that time, Nick decided to take the initiative, so he cast Neptune in order to instantly appear near to the dog magic beast's immediate front amidst a flash of blue magic power. Nick then swung Hard Marvel towards the dog magic beast. Nick's right arm and Hard Marvel moved so fast that they appeared as a black blur. The dog magic beast, however, somehow followed Nick's sword attack and countered before Hard Marvel cut into it by enveloping Nick and itself using its bright-green light magic power. Nick also countered by casting another spell:
(Tyrant Aurora.)
Bright-green light and black blade light immediately mixed and soon appeared like a twinkling star positioned over Beast Land. After ten seconds passed, however, a ray of bright-green light shot away from the green-black twinkling star towards ten meters to its left before dissipating. The dog magic beast appeared at the latter spot with its left shoulder clearly cut and bleeding but the injury was quickly enveloped in green light and healed a few moments later.
At that point, a black blur rapidly flew away from the mix of green light and black blade light and reached the dog magic beast's position in less than a second. Within a split second, the black blur stopped in midair to reveal Nick's form, now covered entirely in Tyrant Armor's sparking black magic power but his entire body was emanating bright-green vapor for some reason; Stoic Grave had also been entirely covered with Tyrant Armor's sparking black magic power. Nick quickly swung stoic grave at the dog magic beast's head, still moving like a quick blur.
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
Although Nick's dominant hand was his right hand, having a well-developed mindscape allowed him to use his left hand just as well but doing so still felt a little awkward. Despite Nick's incredibly fast speed, the dog magic beast somehow followed his movements using its glowing green eyes and so shifted its head to its left, allowing Stoic Grave to cut into its right shoulder, which was the first sword placement of Nick's sword technique.
The dog magic beast then howled in response to being injured and by the time that Stoic Grave's Blade cut a few inches deep into its flesh, one of the bright-green twinkling lights hovering at its left side temporarily enlarged by four times and shot out a bright-green ray of light at Nick's chest.
Nick was hit squarely in the chest by the green ray and so was immediately sent flying towards the ground, over thirty meters away. Nick crashed into two trees as a result of his quick descent, bringing them down but he managed to keep himself airborne using Saturn's effects. Nick's chest emanated green vapor where he had been hit by the bright-green ray and some of Tyrant Armor's sparking black magic power had been stripped away, revealing Nick's ruined orange polo shirt and burnt flesh.
Nick quickly cast Tyrant Recovery, which healed him of the burn and the slight damage to his internal organs, converting some of the lingering light magic into about 100 magical units of magic energy in the process, which was then stored into his magic energy reserves. Nick then had the sparking black magic power cover that area again. No sooner than Nick had remedied his injury and secured his defense, the dog magic beast appeared near to his immediate front and bit at his head. Nick noticed that its body's movements without being enveloped in its light path power had become slower and so Nick could see the bite coming even using just his eyes. Nick's thoughts spun:
(That is no doubt because of Sheer Soul's power.)
Nick did not hesitate to cast Pluto, following which, the dog magic beast's closed maw went through the sides of Nick's head but the dog magic beast could not feel that it had bit into flesh. Nick used that time to swing Stoic Grave into the right side of the dog magic beast's midsection using two sword placements of Cross Stream. A deep wound was created on the dog magic beast's body as a result, which caused it to cringe back, retracting its bite.
Nick was ready for this and used the effects of Saturn to envelop the dog magic beast within a cream colored sphere of space magic power. The cream sphere's push and pull forces immediately suppressed the dog magic beast and kept it firmly in place, but only for three seconds. That was sufficient time, however, for Nick to have raised Hard Marvel to his immediate front and cast:
(Tyrant Specter.)
The dog magic beast witnessed Hard Marvel's obsidian-black blade being exaggeratedly bent out of shape before its shape was corrected one moment later. At that time, all the twinkling stars hovering around the dog magic beast's body temporarily enlarged by almost four times and shot out bright-green rays of light. Nick opened his eyes wide, having cast Pluto to return his head to the original space and cast Neptune in order to escape from what he assumed would be an onslaught of light magic.
Nick disappeared from his current position and instantly reappeared thirty meters above it amidst a flash of blue magic power. Following that, green light radiated outwards and overwhelmed the cream sphere, destroying it. Nick looked down and watched as the trees and space within over twenty meters of his previous position became enveloped in bright-green light.
When the light dissipated four seconds later, the affected area had been completely cleared due to the trees and vegetation having been turned to ash that fell to the ground while emitting a faint, green vapor. The dog magic beast quickly ran on thin air in pursuit of Nick following its area of effect attack and its right side and right shoulder wounds had apparently vanished. Nick creased his brows when his discovered the latter point by using the effects of Tyrant Sense.
A few moments later, however, his expression eased when he also discovered that the dog magic beast was bleeding from its mouth, nostrils, ears and eyes. Nick concluded:
(Bleeding from those orifices simultaneously is a sign of damage to the soul. That must be the result of Stoic Grave's passive ability to harm the soul after making a direct cut. Not to mention that the dog magic beast would have been exposed to the effects of Soul Haze for a few hours even if the latter spell did not do much to the dog magic beast on its own.)
The dog magic beast ran rapidly towards Nick's position from below, seeming to not be planning to move enveloped in its green light magic power like usual. Nick thought:
(Its ability to use its light magic could have been impaired by its previous intense attack.)
Nick willed and used the effects of Saturn to generate grapefruit-sized spheres of red magic power in the dog magic beast's path that led to himself but the dog magic beast adeptly dodged and ran past every red sphere that appeared in front of it. Nick knew that the magic beast was too agile for him to generate one of the red spheres directly in contact with its body. Nick was forced to dispel the red spheres after he discovered that they would not be useful.
Within seconds, the dog magic beast crossed most of the distance between it and Nick and when it reached within five meters of him, the twinkling green lights that were hovering around its body temporarily enlarged by two times and it was then enveloped in bright-green light. Following that, the magic beast shot towards Nick like a rocket. Nick reacted quickly, his arms and swords appearing like blurs as he positioned both his swords in front of him in order to parry the dog magic beast's light path attack.
Within milliseconds, a cluster of hot, bright-green light hit against Stoic Grave and Hard Marvel, putting immense pressure on Nick's arms while forcing him to float backwards. The power of Saturn was evidently not enough to keep Nick in place against the force of the dog magic beast's attack. The heat from the green light immediately caused green colored vapor to emanate from Nick's entire body and soon, Nick coughed out three mouthfuls of blood and bled from his eyes and nostrils. His blood also emitted a green vapor at this time. Nick was alarmed:
(The dog magic beast has not even made direct contact. What the hell?)
Nick immediately countered by pouring magic power into both his swords as he cast Tyrant Aurora. Black and grey blade lights were immediately generated and mixed, contesting with the bright-green light magic power. A stalemate that lasted fifteen seconds was developed and Nick was pushed back by at least one foot with each passing second. Nick had bled from his face by quite a bit until the blood started flowing off his head towards the ground below but by the time that the blood fell a few inches away from his head, it turned into green vapor.
Nick gritted his teeth and just as he was about to cancel Tyrant Aurora and try something else, he sensed that the dog magic beast was now experiencing a false reality and so the green light covering its body immediately abated and it floated in midair with a blank expression on its face. Nick rejoiced internally:
(A chance!)
Nick moved swiftly against the dog magic beast and ruthlessly swung Stoic Grave and Hard Marvel into its right and left shoulders while the two swords were still emitting grey and black blade light, respectively. The swords cleanly cut through the dog magic beast's body and its right and left front legs were tragically cut away, falling towards the ground like two dropped stones.
The dog magic beast's resulting open shoulder wounds bled red-green blood like a fountain and within a moment, the dog magic beast overcame the false reality that it was experiencing due to the pain. It howled in agony while its mouth strongly radiated bright-green light and the twinkling green lights hovering around its body temporarily doubled in size. The dog magic beast then shot the green light emanating from its mouth at Nick at a speed too fast for even him to dodge using his space path spells.
Nick was immediately enveloped in burning green light and was blasted over thirty meters away from the dog magic beast. The power of the dog magic beast's attack was so great that Tyrant Armor's sparking black, defensive covering was stripped away and Nick's clothes, skin and flesh were badly burnt by the green light magic power. Nick's body emitted green vapor as he fell towards the ground below, crashing through a few tree branches but still gripping his swords firmly.
Nick's body currently appeared as a charred, bloody mess but as soon as he hit it the ground, he cast Tyrant Recovery to begin the healing process. After four seconds of healing, Nick's skin had been almost completely healed but much of his internal flesh and eyes were still very damaged; the secondary effect of Tyrant Recovery had recovered Nick a little over 3,000 magical units at this point. Nick was forced to rely entirely on the effects of Tyrant Sense to properly observe his surroundings. Nick then managed to somehow bear with the pain and stand to his feet.
However, within next moment, when a large cluster of green light shot towards him from above and many of the surrounding trees were burnt away and turned into ash that emitted green vapor, Nick was forced to sound a sigh but the look of resolve did not leave his solemn expression. At this time, Nick quickly mobilized the power of Cursed Vessel and spread its magic throughout the surrounding space with all his might:
(Dreadful Aura.)
A dark, fear inducing aura spread out into the surroundings like a common gale within moments. Immediately, the cluster of bright-green light stopped its descent and Nick could perceive the dog magic beast's current condition through the green light using the power of Tyrant Sense. The dog magic beast's shoulder wounds had already been closed, seeming to have been burnt shut.
The dog magic beast was stumped at this time and its fur stood up in response to the dreadful aura that now surrounded it. It witnessed as a large winged magic beast that was completely made of black miasma and that had glowing red and blue eyes take the place of the human that it had been fighting. The winged magic beast opened its mouth at the dog magic beast as if to roar but no sound came out of the winged magic beast's mouth. The dog magic beast's own instincts screamed at it and forced it to remain stationary.
Nick used this opportunity to let go of his two swords that he was keeping lowered at his sides, while using the effects of Saturn to keep them floating. Nick cancelled Tyrant Armor and then quickly folded both his hands into each other and used up more than 33,000 magical units of his remaining magic energy to cast another spell.
The surroundings were immediately enveloped within a void of seemingly solid, pitch-black magic power. Hundreds of scattered white bones of varying sizes appeared all over the ground and a decrepit temple that was about fifteen meters tall, stood behind the almost completely naked Nick.
(Malevolent Shrine.)
Sensing the power of Nick's method, the dog magic beast snapped out of its forced stupor and intended to immediately press forward using the bright-green light magic power enveloping itself but before it could continue its imposing descent, over a dozen thin streams of formless magic power flowed through the bright-green light cluster and then through its body. The dog magic beast instinctively reacted by saturating its body with as much light magic power as it could.
Despite the dog magic beast's best efforts, however, its bright-green light cluster was savagely cut away and forced to dissipate. Its two rear legs and practically all of its fur was also cut away by the blade magic power produced by Malevolent Shrine. The dog magic beast remained hovering in midair but it was bleeding profusely from its two new open wounds and its body had been partially flayed.
Nick wearily separated his two hands and dropped them to his sides, feeling absolutely mentally exhausted after making use of Malevolent Shrine's magic power. He mused at this time:
(Malevolent Shrine requires far more mental energy to maintain after it became rank 3, so much so, that I was only able to generate and deploy fourteen waves of blade path magic power towards the dog magic beast. That is why it is still alive. I have to admit, though, that Malevolent Shrine's magically generated space and its cutting power has been improved tremendously. Not only did I sense that the black void in this space suppressed the green light, the blade magic power directly cut away the green light magic power. That is a qualitative increase in power!)
Immediately after Nick lowered his hands, the space generated my Malevolent Shrine as well as the resulting bones and decrepit temple vanished within a second as if they had never existed. Nick kept his dreadful aura active and gripped his two swords once gain. Tyrant Recovery had still not completely healed Nick and more than half of his internal flesh and his eyes were still damage; he only had less than 30,000 magical units remaining within his mindscape as well. He thought bitterly:
(This battle has only been going for about four minutes and I ended up in this state. Rank 3 magic beasts sure are tough.)
Nick somehow managed to still move his arms despite his internal injuries and manipulated the effects of Saturn in order to raise himself meters off the ground as well as envelop himself and the dog magic beast within a cream colored sphere of magic power, which had a radius of about twenty meters. At this time, the dog magic beast's two bleeding wounds glowed with bright-green light and after the green light dissipated, the wounds appeared burnt closed as a result of the dog magic beast's own magic power.
It sounded a loud but miserable howl towards Nick before the twinkling lights that still hovered around its body temporarily enlarged by two times. Following that, a cluster of bright-green light filled its mouth; the magic power that was gathered then gradually intensified. Nick's expression remained solemn and while he was still raising himself to the dog magic beast's altitude, he willed for the push forces within the cream sphere to act, forcing the dog magic beast's mouth closed but the green light still managed to shine through a little from the gaps between its lips.
The dog magic beast madly shook its head in response to the latter interference with its method and Nick immediately cast Neptune in order to appear at the dog magic beast's immediate front. Witnessing the winged magic beast appear so close to it, the dog magic beast attempted to float backwards while still shaking its head and occasionally glancing hatefully at its opponent. Nick, however, took advantage of the dog magic beast's weakened state and manipulated the pull forces within the cream sphere to forcefully drag the dog magic beast slowly towards him.
The dog magic beast seemed to have panicked and mobilized its magic power in a frenzy as the twinkling lights hovering around its body suddenly and temporarily tripled in size, following which, burning hot, bright-green light began to envelop it. Nick immediately used the cream sphere's push forces to launch the dog magic beast towards the bottom of the sphere at the speed of a fired cannon ball in response to the appearance of the hot light magic.
When the dog magic beast reached the bottom of the cream sphere, the push forces of the cream magic power kept it from being forced outside of the cream sphere and it was firmly kept in place. The dog magic beast purposely intensified the hot, bright-green light magic power that was gathering around it but within a few moments, it witnessed a vague, translucent human figure appear a few feet in front it while sitting cross-legged, seemingly staring at it before vanishing seconds later.
In response to the vague figure's disappearance, the dog magic beast's expression became blank and the hot, bright-green light enveloping it abated. The bright-green twinkling lights hovering around its body also shrunk to their normal size. Nick, who was floating a few meters above the dog magic beast's position, immediately sensed that it was experiencing a false reality and so he acted ruthlessly. Nick then manipulated the push forces of the cream sphere to propel himself rapidly towards the dog magic beast.
Within moments, Nick reached the dog magic beast's badly bleeding and ruined body and following that, he used the push and pull forces to instantly keep him in place immediately above the dog magic beast. Nick then swung Hard Marvel at the dog magic beast at speeds that made his right arm and the sword appear like a blur.
(Cross Stream Sword Technique.)
Nick then completed four iterations of his sword technique, completing all ninety-nine sword placements of each iteration after twelve seconds using his already superhuman quickness and agility that was further enhanced by the effects of Tyrant Form. The twinkling lights that usually hovered around the dog magic beast's body gradually vanished following the destruction of the dog magic beast's body during those twelve seconds. At the end of the twelve seconds, the dog magic beast's flesh and bones were revealed to be no more than a minced and partly scattered pile of bloody magic materials.
Nick then corrected his posture to appear straight and wearily stored both Stoic Grave and Hard Marvel into his older space band along with their sheaths that now sloppily hung from his ruined belt. Following that, he cancelled Tyrant Form and focused on healing himself of the rest of his injuries before his remaining magic energy reserves ran out. Two minutes later, when he had been healed of all his injuries, Nick cancelled Tyrant Recovery and Tyrant Sense.
He dispelled the cream sphere, which caused the dog magic beast's mangled flesh to drop to the ground with a 'plop', used the effects of Saturn to place himself onto the ground and then cancelled Saturn. Following that, Nick dispelled his dreadful aura and deactivated Sheer Soul's power. He then raised his face towards the sky and watched as the clouds passed by while muttering with an indifferent expression plastered on his face:
"That battle took up all of nine minutes. It was epic..."