Magic grid—every city in RML that used any type of large scale magic possessed one. Barriers, magic cannons, essential city functions, and many other things depended on a city's magic grid to function.

Just like the guards stationed at the main castle, the Skounae at this location did not move from their area to search the city for Izroth.

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'So this is a magic grid.'

Upon entering, a large white crystal approximately two meters in length hovered a few centimeters off the ground at the room's center. There was a series of numerous highly complex magic sequences and matrices that encompassed the white crystal. Izroth was unable to decipher everything as much of it was unrecognizable to him; however, he did understand the fundamental purpose of the magic sequences and matrices.

'It's more troublesome than I anticipated. If I went with my original plan to destroy this magic grid, then the chances of my success would have only been around 30%.'

Name: City Magic Grid(???)

Rank: ???

Durability: ???

State: Active

Mana Force: 98,502,613/100,000,000

Usage: ???

Special Note: A specially designed magic grid with enough magic energy to fuel an entire city for many years. Once installed, it cannot be removed from its location until its Mana Force runs out.

98 million Mana Force! That kind of energy output was the equivalent of six to seven Hearts of Magic!

'If I could take this thing, then... Forget it. It still has an abundance of Mana Force.'

Izroth had a rough estimation of what he would encounter, but this had gone well beyond that. Fortunately, he had a new helping hand.

"The magic grid room has been breached! Stop them!" One of the Skounae outside shouted as he fired multiple arrows at Izroth.

However, with Izroth's current agility and sense of perception, evading those arrows required little effort.

"Wait! Something's headed this way!"

"By the name of the Night King—what is that?!"

"Retreat! Mages, reinforce the- Ahhhhh!"

The black wisp pursuing Izroth caught up just moments after Izroth took his first step into Vostracane's Magic Grid building. But, due to how fast it traveled, it resembled more of a black bolt instead of a black wisp. On its arrival, the black wisp was at least ten times bigger, and it no longer required direct contact with someone to affect them. Being in its general vicinity alone was enough for some of the more unfortunate Skounae to whither away.

Izroth quickly spurred into action as he stood next to the City Magic Grid with his Sword of The Storm unsheathed.

Woosh!

The black wisp flew into the room and headed straight towards Izroth! Its speed was incomparable to when it first began its chase.

10 meters...

5 meters...

1 meter...!

When the black wisp approached the one meter mark, Izroth was suddenly encased within a beautiful crystal. However, the Crystallization skill was swiftly eradicated! It failed to survive a fraction of a second under the influence of the black wisp!

Clang!

The crystal that encompassed Izroth fragmented and lost its structural integrity. But, it was not over yet. Right before the black wisp destroyed the crystal, Izroth executed another skill as he summoned forth a gentle gale of protective wind.

The Warpath Blade: Gale Zone Guard protected Izroth from all incoming attacks and crowd control for five seconds. However, during the time it was active, he was unable to move or attack. It also converted 80% of all damage received into an attack with the wind element for his next sword strike!

But, not even the protective winds of a maxed out A-ranked skill could hold up for more than one second. This black wisp was even capable of withering something as intangible as the wind!

'This thing is too vicious. Initially, I assumed it was a poison-based skill given how it affects its targets. However, it goes well beyond simple poison. This black wisp—is it speeding up time? No, it's nothing so grand. There's something else to it.'

Now that he was face to face with the black wisp, Izroth could examine the smaller details. When he focused his vision on it, Izroth observed an abnormality. The reason the black wisp moved as if every part of it were alive was that every part of it was, indeed, alive!

'These are... Insects?'

Izroth noticed hundreds—no, thousands of tiny black insects that united together to form a single entity. These insects continually multiplied and seemed to feed off of anything with mana or magical energy. Izroth speculated that whether it was organic matter or inorganic matter, the insects devoured everything at an insane rate until there was nothing left of it!

When Izroth realized this, he felt that it was a shame that his Boundless Nullifying Expanse was still on cooldown. These insects would most likely be unable to thrive in its Nullification Zone.

As the black wisp crumbled away at the last of Izroth's protective winds, a surge of magical energy erupted from his body. In a flash, a fierce ancient warrior wielding a shield appeared behind him. This warrior was made out of pure energy and was known as the Champion of the North Shield—one of the two ancient warriors who belonged to the Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels!

Under normal circumstances, activating the Twin Lasting Epoch Sentinels took fifteen uninterrupted seconds. But, thanks to the Protector's Right effect connected to the Champion of the North Shield, Izroth avoided this delay. Of course, this was not without a price.

Without hesitation, the ancient shield warrior slammed its shield into the ground as a shielding aura enveloped Izroth just as the black wisp was about to collide with him.

This shielding aura held up much better than the Crystallization or the protective winds, but the process of decay was just slower and had not completely halted.

Suddenly, the mantle around Izroth vanished as he willingly deactivated the Second State: Heavenly Cloak's Full Mantle! Immediately after doing so, the backlash struck Izroth as his body underwent internal turmoil. However, Izroth knew that if he made one small error, everything would come crashing down. Therefore, despite the overwhelming backlash of the Compressed Lightning Movements, he maintained a firm stance.

As the shielding aura rapidly decayed, two arms of purple lightning emerged from Izroth's back right after he deactivated his Full Mantle.

'Call of the Thunder God. Third State: Heavenly Arms.'

Izroth's HP started to plunge as the shielding aura came to an end. However, before it did so, Izroth shifted his stance to match that of his second sword form with a slight reflection of his first sword form as a faint aura appeared around his blade.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

'Second Sword Form: Returning Wave. Sword Return.'

Izroth took two steps back as he swept his Sword of The Storm at the black wisp. He poured 200 points of his Essence into this sword strike. Along with the initial 100% attack boost from the Third State: Heavenly Arms, the bonus wind damage from his Warpath Blade: Gale Zone Guard, and the guaranteed critical strike from his First Sword Form: Converging Paths, the current strength of his Sword Return had surpassed that of an S-ranked skill!

However, Izroth was still being pushed back by the black wisp! But, support soon arrived as the two arms of lightning behind Izroth mimicked his Sword Return and clashed with the black wisp!

'If you want something to eat that badly, then I'll let you enjoy a feast.'

With every ounce of his strength, Izroth stomped his right foot forward and shifted his left foot. He twisted his body and swung his sword with all his might!

Woooosh! Bang!

The black wisp that clashed with his Sword of the Storm had been successfully deflected! However, Izroth did not choose just any direction. He steered it directly at the City Magic Grid! This instantly caused the surrounding magic energy in the atmosphere to lose control as the numerous magic sequences that contained the City Magic Grid failed one by one.

'I hope you're watching from the border, Commander. After all, it would be a shame to miss such a grand display.'

Izroth closed his eyes as a golden light appeared beneath his feet. Simultaneously, the City Magic Grid was breached by the black wisp as a crack developed on its surface. What followed...

Ooooooom...! BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

... Was a city in ruins!