The sky grew increasingly somber at this moment, the thick layers of black clouds looking as if they would collapse in the next second. The atmosphere was so oppressive it drove one to despair.
Buze gripped the reins tightly. The galloping wind felt as if it were trying to sweep him away. He bent his body as low as possible, pressing against the horse's back. Countless moans and whimpers were mixed into the wind whistling past his ears, but he closed his eyes and ignored everything.
He didn't know where he had found the courage to rush out like this, but when he heard that the source of all the disasters was in Axi Town, the urgent desire to resolve everything overrode all logic.
He only knew that this was what he had to do.
Even if his enemy was a god...
A golden barrier centered on him, moving at high speed across the plains like a brilliant golden star.
Within this field known as the Domain of Honor, all viruses were blocked outside. Both he and the warhorse beneath him displayed the most intense and fervent battle intent at this moment.
Meanwhile, at the former site of Axi Town, the area had already been reduced to a terrifying hellscape.
The giant gates of the abyss stood in the clearing, the wild winds rotating frantically around the portal, kicking up gravel, broken bones, and dust into a black storm that blotted out the sky. The howling was deafening.
Countless chaotic colors and forms collided, roared, and devoured each other in the center of the gateway, as if foretelling the birth of a terrifying existence within.
Alesta stood before the gateway, as pious as a faithful believer.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, he looked up and slowly furrowed his brows.
He then waved his hand in front of him, and a gray screen used for communication appeared out of thin air.
"Someone is approaching Axi Town. One of you go and intercept them; I can't leave here for the time being," he said.
The other side of the gray screen was clearly silent for a moment.
"Someone can actually rush over in this situation? It couldn't be Daggs or Wilson, could it? I can't beat a king-rank mage, and I'm not going to my death," Duoze's voice came from the other side of the gray screen.
"It won't be them. Normal people can't reach Axi Town at all," Alesta said confidently.
"Are king-rank mages considered normal people?"
"Even king-ranks can't make it. The closer one gets to Axi Town, the stronger the Plague God's virus becomes. Forget a king-rank, even if the Pope of the Original God Church came, he wouldn't be able to face the corruption of the Plague God in Axi Town," Alesta said with full confidence. "You can rest easy. That person is only level 15. Although I don't know how he managed to ignore the Plague God's virus, it shouldn't be hard for you to deal with him."
"Shouldn't be?" Duoze said, sounding somewhat annoyed. "I've already lost three magical creatures, Alesta. I can't accept any more losses!"
"I'll go," Moen's somewhat strange voice suddenly cut in.
"Good, then I'll leave it to you, Moen. Remember, you must not let anyone disturb the ritual," Alesta's expression turned serious as he looked toward the top of the gates of the abyss, where King Weis hung like a sacrificial offering.
"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
He spoke softly and slowly.
...
Moen cut off the gray screen communication. He stood on high ground, overlooking the person and horse galloping across the distant plains, and nodded slightly.
"Only level 15... where on earth does he get the nerve?"
He muttered to himself in confusion, then noticed the small bottle at his waist was somewhat restless. He frowned slightly as gray-white mana condensed into a sphere in his palm. After he injected it into the bottle, the small vessel finally calmed down.
"You're becoming more and more disobedient. Don't forget, your consciousness was birthed by me. Without me, you wouldn't exist," Moen said with a sinister expression. "In a sense, I am your father. Do you understand?"
There was no response from the bottle. It seemed that after the "punishment" just now, the consciousness inside was somewhat weak.
After doing all this, Moen turned back to look at the riding Buze and the golden domain moving with him. Moen let out a disdainful snort.
Then, his figure vanished from the spot.
In the next second, a pitch-black crow broke the sound barrier, forming a straight and sharp line in the sky as it dove toward Buze at high speed.
At that moment, as if sensing danger, Buze suddenly opened his eyes. His golden pupils clearly reflected the entirety of the crow.
In the moment of crisis, he slammed his legs against the horse's back and performed a backflip in mid-air, narrowly dodging the impact.
The crow was like a sharp blade, tearing the armored warhorse into a mess of flesh and blood!
Buze watched this scene with a pounding heart. If his reaction hadn't been lightning-fast, he would probably be a pile of shredded meat on the ground like that horse.
The black crow then transformed back into Moen in front of Buze.
Seeing that Buze had actually reacted in time, Moen's expression was visibly surprised, though it quickly returned to calm. Without wasting words, with a lift of his hand, he fully displayed his Life Crown title.
A gray-white light bloomed with the character for "Saint" under the radiance of mana.
He was a saint-rank archmage!
Buze's expression changed drastically, his heart sinking as if into an ice cellar.
Under the light of the opponent's Life Crown title, Buze's golden domain visibly dimmed for a moment. Then Buze's body stiffened, his expression turning grim.
His body couldn't move!
His will resisted frantically, and the invisible force binding him loosened slightly, but by then Moen had already walked up to him and gently raised a hand toward his face.
A blue Life Star hovered between Buze and Moen.
"What a pity. You could have died in the embrace of a god, but instead, you must be killed by me," Moen said with a hint of regret.
As soon as he finished speaking, the blue Life Star glowed brightly. A medium-sized magic circle appeared in Moen's palm, erupting with a pillar of pitch-black, profound magical energy that even distorted the surrounding air.
That terrifying pillar of light completely swallowed Buze's upper body. Once the pillar vanished, Moen lowered his hand, black smoke still rising from his palm.
He glanced expressionlessly at the corpse that lacked an upper body, his expression as flat as if he were looking at an ant he had crushed on a whim, without a single ripple in his heart.
As the corpse, consisting only of legs, fell over, Moen turned and walked away without looking back.
At the same time, he waved his hand to open the communication screen, his voice cold as he said:
"The bothersome bug has been dealt with. You can rest easy on your end..."
Before he could finish the last word, Moen suddenly froze, and his footsteps came to an involuntary halt.
His expression was one of unprecedented shock and amazement.
Because he suddenly realized that even though Buze's body had fallen, the golden domain centered on him had not disappeared!
"What the hell?"
He spoke in disbelief.
And then, a powerful voice, spoken through gritted teeth, reached his ears with absolute clarity from behind:
"Before my domain extinguishes, I can keep fighting you."
Buze drew his sword and pointed it directly at Moen's back!
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