Ripples were forming in the middle of the Realm-Crossing Gate, followed by the reappearance of Mamon. There were no visible injuries on his body, but several parts of his clothing were ripped and burnt as if he had just returned from war. His face still brimmed with his signature contemptuous grin though.

“Those four were quite decent. I’m this exhausted despite the fact that I cheated. I guess I’ll need a long break after this.”

Clute raised his head. “Mamon? Where is Mister Sila?”

“Oh~” Mamon raised his voice without paying much attention. “He will be back soon, probably.”

“Please go back there and tell him to hurry up, will you? This gate consumes a lot of energy. My magic power is running out.”

“No. I’m lazy.” Mamon blatantly declined to help. He leisurely went to the gate’s control panel and input some commands, connecting the gate’s portal back to the place Sila was visiting.

The sound of firm footsteps could be heard from the stairs leading to the room above. The person walking down showed no hints of concealing his presence since he wasn’t an intruder like Sila. Rather, he was the house owner who could boldly visit any room in this place.

He was a man who even Mamon didn’t want to fight against if he had a choice.

The Magic Emperor Montra.

Mamon instantly shifted his gaze to the source of the sound while spreading Spider Blades out from his right arm. On the other hand, Montra seemed to be out of his mind. Not only did he not storm into the room, but he also didn’t put up any resistance. All he did was steadily walk down the stairs.

He stopped his feet at the third step from the last. He looked at Mamon and Clute, then observed the magic formula underneath them.

“You were the one fighting against Zazae... Sila’s pet whose name is Mamon, right? As for you, you’re using Rune Magic and are too young to be a player. I take it that you’re an ancient golem, with your rank being Lord or above.”

Mamon couldn’t tell whether Montra was underestimating him or not, but he was more than happy to converse with his opponent. He grew into a fully-grown man and quickly dumped bad Hidden Gifts on Montra.

“Your intel is dead wrong. My name is Mammon, and there was no fight between me and your minion. It’s more like a one-sided beating, I’d say.” Mamon revealed a mocking grin, but he immediately quit smiling as he discovered that his skills failed to work.

“Based on what Zazae told me, I guess your fighting style is centered around debuffs. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have lost so badly. Well, do you know that Infernee possesses the greatest defensive capability among all dragons?” Montra spoke casually and nonchalantly.

Mamon quickly utilized Asmodeus’ Hidden Gift, Skills Communication, to discern Montra’s ability. He then found out that Montra had cast a buff on himself even before he entered the room. It was one of the Heavenly Dragon’s spells—Dragon Queen’s Protection—that could invalidate and grant complete immunity to all debuffs for five minutes.

“You used a spell before a battle. What a cheater.”

“A certain someone told Zazae that using everything we have is considered fair. Come—” Montra challenged the two Lord Rank monsters as he summoned his magical spear. A sharp crystal attached to the tip of the spear emitted a dangerous glow. “—You may use everything you have.”

Mamon dove into his shadow and jumped behind Montra’s back. His Spider Blades emitted bright lasers, their sharpness a cut above the laser-based weapons belonging to the android race.

Heavenly Dragon’s Spell — Immortal Queen.

Montra activated the spell he had delayed. It was the same spell Infernee’s clone used against Sila, having the ability to make the user enter immortality state for ten seconds. As a matter of fact, Infernee possessed a total of 360 spells. Even a genius like Montra required time to study and test them. Currently he had practiced 50 spells, selecting only the ones he deemed useful for him and leaving the rest for later. For magic types, learning was a slow and steady process, unlike psychic type where a jump in power could be achieved instantaneously.

Montra abandoned defense and calmly strode forward before stopping at seven steps away from Clute, which was the perfect distance for a spear to show its full power.

“Based on the magic formula and the fact that you aren’t coming at me together, I believe you’re using a ritual-based spell that leaves you incapable of moving,” Montra shared his suspicions while his magic power flowed into the spear. He inhaled once, and his presence instantly disappeared despite the fact that he was still standing right in front of them.

Mamon continued his attacks on Montra, yet his blades had no effect on their target. “Oi! Don’t you dare ignore me!!”

God’s Realm Spear Art — Spear Readying Brionac.

Clute was maintaining a high-level spell, so he was unable to activate more runes. The most he could do was clad himself with magic power reinforcement.

The spear shot toward Clute. He had to divide his magic power into three portions. One for sustaining the magic formula, another for raising his defense, and the last for gluing his body to the floor, keeping himself from being knocked away from the magic formula. With this, he was completely disadvantageous even though he possessed enormous magic power comparable to Montra, who was at Emperor Rank.

His defense couldn’t negate the attack completely. The crystal spear tip slid in between his ribs and out the front of his chest. If the boy didn’t stop supporting the magic formula to heal himself, he would die in a minute.

Meanwhile, Montra pulled his spear out of Clute’s chest and let go while sending it spinning around his arm like a living dragon.

God’s Realm Spear Art — Spear Dropping Eight Trigrams.

The spear rotated faster than Mamon could handle, hitting him four times in a row. The attacks were so heavy that even Mamon’s psychic armor broke after the fourth hit. The scary part was that these attacks were done while Montra had his back to him.

Mamon flicked his hands, sending out ten bombs, each the shape of a frog. He possessed Beelzebub’s Hidden Gift—Universe Boundary—preventing his own attacks from harming him, so using powerful bombs in melee range was his trump card.

Unknown to Mamon, the reason Montra didn’t turn back wasn’t because he was underestimating him. Rather, due to Grand Deity’s Breathing, there was no need for Montra to rely on his eyes. He could clearly envision what was in front and behind him with his profound sense.

Montra seized his spear and thrust behind him ten times in a single breath, each strike displacing the air and sending the bombs flying.

Spellcasters, especially high-level ones, normally required tankers for them to unleash their full potential. They were vulnerable at melee range. However, Montra was a profound practitioner before he was a spellcaster. Strictly speaking, he excelled more in melee combat than magic battles.

—KABOOM!!

The bombs were sent upward before exploding, showing their destructive might. Along with the ceiling revealing Montra’s workspace being completely obliterated, the building itself started to fall apart. Montra threw his spear to the ceiling of the room above.

God’s Realm Spear Art — Spear Throwing Mokkhasak.

The spear smashed into the ceiling and destroyed the pieces, revealing the sky. It continued to ascend before releasing fireworks, signaling his guildmates to assemble.

Montra had no weapon in his hand. Noticing the chance, the back of Mamon’s cloth ripped apart, and an additional six Spider Blades protruded from his skin, letting off purple lasers. They were secret weapons attached next to his energy core, originally designed for any future battles against Clute.

Montra’s back was stabbed several times, each spot was vital. Mamon laughed evilly. At long last, the goddess of victory had smiled upon him.

“Kiekkiekkiek! Serves you right! Die, you human bastard!”

Montra turned around and confronted Mamon. His hands cleaved the air as if they were a pair of axes, striking and breaking Mamon’s mechanical arms. Concurrently, his body was clad with magic power reinforcement while all injuries on him were displaced, moving to six non-vital spots through the use of Reversed Holy Scale.

Mamon was strained. Depending on Asmodeus’ Hidden Gift, he could see through the characteristics of Montra’s art and choose to attack at the most perfect timing. Unexpectedly, that was still unable to kill Montra. It was due to none other than Heavenly Dragon’s Magic. What a terrible matchup.

Montra’s Grand Deity’s Breathing had moments of up and down like actual breathing. There were both the moments when his power peaked, granting him domineering strength far beyond what he would normally have, and the moments when his power deteriorated. Mamon noticed that Montra always took turns switching between offense and defense. It could be said that he attacked when his power reached its highest point and defended when his power regressed. Nevertheless, these peculiar characteristics were hidden from detection with Grand Deity’s Breathing itself. Other enemies would have failed to recognize its weakness; they would only dread the terrifying attack power and lose their chance to counterattack. Unlike them, Mamon could see through the art’s weakness and succeed in his attack.

Despite this, Heavenly Dragon’s Magic completely annihilated his success. Montra utilized God’s Realm Spear Art to attack while protecting himself using Heavenly Dragon’s Magic when his power went down, waiting for the next cycle of breathing to go on the offense once more. This proved Montra wasn’t as unstoppable as everyone believed he was. He still had weaknesses, though he tried his best to cover them.

Mamon quickly jumped backward as he realized that the next round of attacks was coming, yet Montra was quicker. He used his hand like it was a hammer while his arm was a whip, ripping through the air before slamming at Mamon’s shoulder, knocking him down.

With this attack, Mamon could increase his understanding of Montra’s offensive capability. In addition to alternating between offense and defense, Montra’s attacks could be further broken down into three ranges: melee, mid-range, and long range.

He utilized Heavenly Destiny Fist against enemies who were at melee range, God’s Realm Spear Art against enemies at mid-range, and magic against enemies staying beyond the reach of his spear. Unless there were other factors he had to consider, he didn’t change how he fought.

Mamon’s back hit the floor when Montra moved closer to him with smooth footwork. He stomped on Mamon’s chest and pressed him down. The magical spear flew back into Montra’s hand as he started casting a spell.

“The night is cold. The goddess in a white dress is dancing in the rain. She is serene and beautiful, yet lonely. Her dance continues with no audience, changing it into a dance filled with malice, suffering, and expectations. Be sure to glorify her with blood. Be sure to call for her with screams. Be sure to beseech her forgiveness with dances... Deranged Blood Dance.”

A high-tier water element spell was cast. A small drop of water flew into Mamon’s forehead. Montra removed his foot from him, no longer caring about his opponent. He walked past Clute, who remained in the middle of the magic formula and continued to support the gate despite the blood gushing out of his chest, and stopped in front of the Realm-Crossing Gate.

Mamon’s body shrunk into that of a boy. The drop of water was flowing inside his veins. Each internal organ it went past would give out a small explosion, blood splashing from the wounds. He writhed and moved around in great pain as if he was dancing to worship a wicked devil spirit.

Montra wasn’t interested in the effects his spell did to Mamon. He knocked the end of his spear against the floor five times and lowered his body, tapping his blood on the point he had just knocked. He cast a specific spell and sent his magic power into it, making it transform into a magic formula the shape of a pentagram. He then tossed a pet-keeping ring he had in his system window into the middle of it. Soon, a white rabbit was released from the ring. It shuddered in fear.

“Sacrifice,” Montra declared, and the rabbit lost its life instantly. The moment the rabbit disappeared, five blurry figures rose from the magic formula. Their faces couldn’t be seen but their powerful aura could be felt clearly.

“What is it that you don’t desire?” Five voices echoed as one.

“My nemesis,” Montra replied.

“Then it shall be so. Once a creature from your nemesis race steps into your domain, they will meet their demise.”

Montra’s blood turned golden and then transformed into ancient letters surrounding the magic formula. Magic power continuously poured out from his body into it. He had to consume three bottles of magic potion to keep up with the rate of consumption. Finally, the golden letters completely surrounded the formula, glowed golden once, then vanished without a trace.

Montra floated back to the upper floor, leaving Mamon and Clute to die by themselves. Both of them were Sila’s monsters. They would simply respawn. Moreover, his level was already at Emperor Rank Level 1,000. Whether he killed them or not, it wouldn’t make a difference.

Up above there was a group of players waiting for him. One of the players at the front was Paiyuan, the master of the Heartless Steel Sword Dojo.

“Montra, you sent a signal to assemble us. Do you need anything?”

Montra nodded but said nothing. He muttered a spell while knocking his spear against the floor three times, consequently invoking a large-radius magic formula that covered the whole guild.

“I just expanded the effective range of my previous spell. No one will be able to use teleportation items for the time being. Sila will have to leave this headquarters first. Please ready your men for a fight, Senior. This is a good chance to test our people’s strength after practice.”

“I see, so that kid is down there,” Paiyuan said, “Go, everyone.”

Dozens of Paiyuan’s disciples scattered and formed a formation surrounding the building. Montra floated to the roof so he could watch everything clearly. He intended to witness the Heartless Formation formed by Paiyuan’s men. They were swordsmen in training even in real life, so their swordsmanship was supposed to be superior to other members of the guild.

“I’ll observe the fight from up here and try not to interfere. I’ll count on you, Senior Pai.”

Paiyuan was doubtful. “What if Sila escapes?”

“It’s fine even if he manages to escape. Killing him right now yields little value. It’s better to kill him after the war event starts.”

***

Ripples were forming in the middle of the Realm-Crossing Gate once more. This time the person coming out was Sila. The first scene he saw was Mamon writhing on the floor and Clute kneeling in the pool of blood. He hastily ran over to them.

“Don’t come—” Clute tried to give out a warning, yet his voice was exceptionally weak, causing Sila to become more concerned. After he took the third step, the floor underneath him emitted a golden light as the ancient letters reappeared and transformed into a chain wrapping around his body.

Mystical Mechanic Magic — The Five Kings’ Seal.

The magic formula was automatically activated due to his presence, yet he felt no different. Only the system window informed what happened to him.

[You can’t utilize racial skills and monsters for an hour.]

Although Mamon was technically not Sila’s pet, the boy was a monster related to him—being a monster residing in his armor. Both Mamon and Clute turned into lights and were absorbed by Sila’s armor.

Sila tried to call them out, but to no avail. He was restless. Unlike most traditional pet-keeping accessories, his armor didn’t grant the monsters a higher recovery rate. Those two seemed to be heavily injured. He was afraid they would die if he left them unchecked.

Sila turned to Julia. “Julia, I will seal you inside my armor. Please use the power of the Ocean Heart Aquamarine to prolong those two’s lives for at least an hour.”

“At your service, Master.” Julia transformed into blue light and went into the armor. Meanwhile, Sila detected the presence of several players. Fighting against them was unnecessary, so he took a Crystal of Connecting out and attempted to use it.

However, it failed to work. Sila now knew that he was trapped.

As he considered his options, a voice came from the hole above him. The owner was someone he had met before. He was Paiyuan, the master of the Heartless Steel Sword Dojo and the holder of the title the Sword Gentleman.

“Our guest has been here for quite a while, yet it has taken us so long to welcome him. How rude of us. We heard that you also use a sword as your weapon, Sila. How about you come up here and we exchange some knowledge as fellow swordsmen?”

The Realm-Crossing Gate finally crumbled, along with the two Gems of Catastrophe providing energy. Sila opened his system window and read the descriptions of the Dorolia Sword and the Solaria Sword he had recently obtained. The number of enemies was high and some of his abilities were sealed. He intended to make use of everything he had.

“You seem to be in a difficult situation, sir. What should we do?” Sebastian’s voice came from behind. Apparently, he had followed Sila at the last second before the Realm-Crossing Gate fell apart.

Sila wanted to ask why Sebastian was here, but he knew that this wasn’t an appropriate time. He could ask later when the situation had been resolved.

“For now, can you hear me out?”

Sebastian listened to the rough plan Sila came up with on the go before nodding. He thought to himself that coming back was the right decision.