Suddenly, three tendrils shot forward from Vael's back and pierced the air around Ren's body.
They did not touch him.
They touched time itself.
The air thickened. Ren's motion slowed mid-strike, his limbs dragged through a liquid moment. His eyes widened, but it was already too late.
A second later, the air snapped.
Ren was flung backward. The force threw him across the broken valley, shattering trees, boulders, and a ruined altar as his body skipped and bounced like a stone across water.
He came to a stop nearly a thousand kilometers away.
Steam rose from his back. Dust clung to his torn shirt. Bones creaked as he moved, but he stood. His hands trembled. Then stilled.
He began to walk.
Step by step, he crossed the broken earth, the void-ridden peaks, and the scarred plains. In just minutes, he arrived again.
He stood in front of Vael, silent.
"You... Who are you?" Ren asked. His voice cracked. His breath came slower than before. Confusion remained in his eyes, but beneath it, a seed of anger.
Vael tilted his head.
"Hmmm... Hahahaha. You are late now, Ren," he said, his voice like silk dragged over glass. "Who I am? That does not matter. What matters is whether you can defeat me or not. That decides the future of humans."
The words had barely left his mouth when five tendrils burst from behind Vael's back.
They struck without warning.
Each one pierced Ren's body at a different angle. Through the ribs. The shoulder. The hip. The thigh. The stomach.
Pain exploded.
Ren screamed. Blood sprayed from the wounds. His body convulsed. He fell to one knee, but the tendrils twisted and drove deeper. His scream grew louder until it cracked the stones beneath him.
Vael did not stop.
He moved forward, and more tendrils came. They stabbed. Ripped. Twisted. Each strike left a hole. Each moment, Ren's vision faded further.
The last tendril struck through his collarbone, forcing him back into the dirt.
Vael stepped away, letting his prey bleed.
Ren's body was barely visible beneath the wounds. His limbs twitched. His blood stained the earth in thick pools. His eyes remained open, but they no longer saw.
And still, Vael changed.
His skin rippled.
The human form peeled away.
No longer confined by flesh, the figure before stretched. Twisted. Curved. The limbs grew longer. The bones vanished. A black silhouette bloomed like a cursed flower under moonlight.
He floated now. Never touched the ground again.
Eleven feet tall, maybe more. His body curled like glass spirals in motion, every inch covered in black skin that absorbed all light.
At the center of his face, a single eye opened.
It glowed violet. Galaxies shifted inside it, slow and endless.
There was no mouth.
Only a wound where a nose should be. It pulsed, like breathing meat.
Then the tendrils unfurled.
From his back, the fibers floated free. Not hair. Not flesh. Something else. Strings of translucent thought, each one glowing faintly as if alive. They swayed in air that did not move.
And the pressure came.
Not a sound. A weight. It crushed the sky.
Ren felt it in his spine.
Silver black mana wrapped around Vael like liquid chains.
Vael laughed again.
"Ren Calder. The strongest magician of the planet."
He paused.
"Oh. Sorry. Future strongest magician. About to collapse in front of me."
The violet eye narrowed. The fibers flared.
"You asked who I am?" Vael continued. "I am the commander of the Black Mask Army. We serve the descendants of an ancient civilization."
His smile grew wider, though he had no mouth.
After seen and heard this Ren collapsed.
His blood ran freely. His breath slowed.
His eyes closed.
He fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings severed. When he collapsed the ring shaped shield covered him.
★★★
A ripple passed through the broken mountain valley.
Light burst at the edges of the sky. Twelve figures descended, clad in flowing robes carved with runes that glowed like molten gold. They formed a ring around Ren's collapsed body.
In the center, an old man hovered above the earth, robes swaying, white beard tied with chains of emerald thread.
The Mage King.
His eyes scanned the battlefield. Then fixed on Vael.
"You…" he said quietly.
Vael hovered above them all. Still coiled. Still monstrous.
"You brought your bet so early. What a shame. The boy almost made it fun. He started admiring you. We saw everything with help of our spy," Vael replied. His voice did not echo. It pressed against their minds.
One of the twelve stepped forward.
An armored woman, face hidden behind a helm etched with fire sigils.
"You attacked the him directly. You interfered with the Seed. A seed that power source of him. You destroyed his seed now he will no longer able to use magic. You know that after awakening the seed form in the heart. That stores the mana inside the human body. How shameless you are."
"Hahaha," Vael laughed. "Correct. My original plan was that. Hmmm... you have spy too that follows me. Interesting! But I don't care about that now. Anyway you just did not understand the game. And I am succeeded. Our biggest threat is no longer exists."
The Mage King looked at Ren. His expression tightened.
"This is not a right path. You went too far. He is only a boy. He is not a threat for you. Not for your civilization too. I know you have some big plans."
Vael tilted mid-air. His tendrils flicked.
"Oh. Dear Mage King. You always surprise me. You know me well. Yes, we have big plans. But for that it's necessary to reminded him what true power looks like. This was mercy. You should thank me. Soon he realised what is true power."
"What? What are you trying to say? Soon he will realise. What he realise? He is near to death. I know the true awakening happens at this type of situation but his condition is severe. He barely survive. He is still young. His body can't handle so much pain and damage. You can see his condition."
Vael's eye glowed. The tendrils pulsed.
" Hahaha...Then I will show you why I was told that." After spoken this Vael was ready to attack on Ren's unconscious body.
To protect Ren the twelve counsiling members drew their weapons.
Light swirled across the sky.
But the Mage King raised a hand.
"No. Not yet," he said. "We take Ren. Then we return."
"And leave me standing?" Vael whispered. "That's bold. You told me shameless. Ohh. Not you that lady. But you are shameless too Mage King."
The Mage King's eyes turned sharp. That lady also show her angered too by released her pink mana.
"You revealed yourself too early. That was your mistake. The boy will remember you. He will come back after his treatment. That, I promise. But please give us a chance to heal him."
Vael laughed again. The pressure twisted around them.
"I hope so. I truly do. But as you guessed we have a plane. I don't give you that boy. I don't care he died or live until our plan not succeed, I can't give permission to you to take Ren with you."
The Mage King lowered his hand. Twelve spells cast in a single breath. Light shimmered around Ren's body, lifting him gently.
"Then you have only option to do fight against us," the King said.
All magicians charged up their body and weapons. Also activated the secret relics too.
And Vael remained silent, he started floating above the ruined valley, his tendrils curling in silence. He didn't answered.
He looked at the trail of blood. And smiled.
Without a mouth. Through his facial expressions.