The golden light sword pierced clean through Zenon's body, and a torrent of blood gushed from his chest.
His eyes widened in disbelief—utter shock carved across his face.
"Time magic… light magic… and before that, a meteor… but… where's his grimoire?"
Zenon's gaze lifted toward the figure high above.
No book floated beside him.
Yes, magic could still be cast without a grimoire—but never at this overwhelming scale.
"Could it be… this man's strength has already reached the point where he doesn't need one at all?"
[Fire Creation Magic – Heavenly Flame]!
In Ethan Hayes' hand, a palm-sized crimson flame suddenly bloomed.
Tiny though it looked, its sheer presence made everyone's eyes twitch.
The power inside it was enough to warp the very air.
Even from a distance, the scorching heat could be felt in their bones.
Around them, grass and trees withered instantly, as if life itself recoiled from the fire.
"Devil power—60%!"
Zenon unleashed his full might, no longer hiding a thing.
His body, riddled with wounds, regenerated instantly, the hole in his chest sealing as if it never existed.
A wave of dark energy burst forth, heavier and stronger than before.
"Heh. Fall."
Ethan's hand flipped, and the Heavenly Flame dropped.
With every meter it descended, the temperature soared.
Yet Yuno and the Golden Dawn squad noticed something strange—
though the flame's heat was suffocating, it pressed only on Zenon and his men.
They, standing just as close, felt no discomfort.
"What incredible magic control… Ethan's power has grown again!"
Yuno's eyes flashed, awe surging in his chest.
Only three or four months had passed since Ethan left Clover for the Heart Kingdom.
That wasn't enough time for a normal mage to fully master a high-tier spell…
but Ethan had climbed even higher, like scaling past the clouds.
"There's hope…! With that strength, he might actually defeat Zenon—and bring back Captain Vangeance!"
Yuno clenched his fists, spirit reigniting.
[Bone Creation Magic – Celestial Spine Wheel]!
Zenon roared, summoning countless white bones around him, spiraling into a massive wheel like the throne of a skeletal king.
The three Dark Apostles beside him also unleashed their strongest magic, hurling spells upward at the descending flame.
BOOM!
The bone wheel tore through the sky with horrifying force.
But when the Heavenly Flame touched it, fire spread like wildfire devouring dry grass.
In the blink of an eye, the colossal wheel was nothing but ash.
Ethan chuckled.
"Devil power? Heh. At the end of the day, it's just another form of amplification."
He'd figured this out back when he fought Dante.
Devil power was nothing more than a boost, like his own Spirit Assimilation.
20%, 40%, 60%—numbers that only increased strength temporarily.
But could such tricks ever surpass a true devil?
Back then, when he'd killed the Word-Soul Devil, he hadn't understood.
Only now did he realize how lucky he had been.
By his estimate, that devil's power—if translated into human terms—was at least Zero Domain, wielding fivefold momentum.
Stronger than anyone he had seen, even Dante of the Dark Triad.
Without Nether Domain's natural advantage over devils, without the Sword of the Emperor… he might not have survived.
And Zenon, no matter how much he "amplified," had a ceiling.
"At most, you've got twofold momentum.
But me? I'm wielding upper-tier momentum. There's no way you can withstand me."
The Heavenly Flame crashed down.
The bone wheel shattered like paper.
The Dark Apostles' spells disintegrated midair, undone before they even touched the fire.
"Upper momentum? Impossible!"
Zenon's face twisted in horror.
His devil power was supposed to rival momentum itself…
but in truth, it barely matched the lower tier.
And against an upper-tier strike—he stood no chance.
BOOOOOM!
The explosion swallowed the battlefield.
The earth cracked apart, the sky itself split open, revealing a glimpse of starlit cosmos beyond.
When the smoke cleared, Yuno and the survivors were untouched—shielded perfectly by Ethan's control.
They could only marvel.
"How… how strong…" Yuno whispered, trembling.
Ethan descended calmly, landing before them.
Looking at their battered, desperate forms, he felt relief that he had chosen to intervene.
Without him, the Golden Dawn would have been annihilated.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Yuno exhaled shakily.
"Thanks to you. But Captain Vangeance—he…"
"Don't worry." Ethan smiled faintly.
"My spirit clone already rescued him. He's safe."
"Really? That's… that's good…"
Relief flooded Yuno's face—until he glanced at the battlefield again.
A fierce wind howled, blowing away the smoke.
Zenon staggered out of a crater, barely alive.
His upper body was ruined, clothes incinerated, skin cracked and scarred.
He looked less like a Dark Triad general and more like a beggar crawling from the gutter.
Behind him, the three Dark Apostles lay sprawled, unmoving.
Their breath was faint, weaker than dying embers.
Klaus, Mimosa, and the others gasped, horror in their eyes.
These were Apostles—Zero Domain-level fighters, monsters who had once torn through their squad like paper.
Even Yuno alone had struggled to stand against one.
And now?
One spell.
One spell from Ethan had reduced them to corpses in waiting.
Even Zenon himself looked ready to collapse.
"H-he's a monster…" Cloud stammered.
"This Ethan… his strength might already surpass the Wizard King himself!"
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