Fire Mage

A second later, Charles reappeared 25 kilometers away from the city and went into stealth mode again.

After flying for a while, he finally saw Divine King Phoebe battling against the silver-haired Elre in mid-air.

Unlike the other battle, this one looked like a battle between Wind Mage and a Summoner.

Strange Nightmare creatures appeared out of nowhere and attacked Elre physically. Not only that, but Divine King also used strange Dream-related skills and attacked him mentally.

But Elre remained steady and intercepted every attack. Even when Elre got pushed into a corner, an Eclipse-like Shield appeared around him and protected him from all spells.

Alas, as minutes passed, Elre showed a sign of fatigue.

"You can\'t win against me, Elre. Give up." Divine King Phoebe spoke coldly and cast the next spell.

A second later, a strange dizzy feeling appeared within Elre, causing him to lose focus for a split moment.

"Wind Resonance!" Elre cast the next spell as he noticed he would be in a dangerous position the next moment and heightened his sense and perception to incredible feet.

Divine King Phoebe cast the next spell as if he had expected, resulting in a strange crack in the space above their head.

After a moment passed, a massive pillar emerged from the sky, filled with swirling, greyish light that seemed to pulse with chaotic dream energy. The pillar slowly descended, like an otherworldly monument, and encased Elre within its enigmatic aura.

In an attempt to safeguard Elre from the impending onslaught, Esim swiftly cast the powerful [Eclipse Shield] spell. However, despite the shield\'s shimmering protection, it proved futile against the overwhelming force of the mysterious pillar.

As the pillar of light lingered in the air for a few more seconds, Elre\'s composure shattered, and he let out piercing screams of both pain and horror. The enigmatic energies penetrated his being, causing unimaginable anguish and terrifying visions to assail his mind.

By the time the pillar of dream energy vanished from there, Elre\'s face showed a trace of panic and fear. Even though he still hovered mid-air, his hands and legs trembled continuously.

"D-Demon! W-Who the hell are you?" He asked with a pale face.

"What did you see, Elre?" Esim\'s voice came from his left side.

"That young lad is right, Esim. This guy isn\'t the Divine King we knew. He used taboo magic on me just now to probe my memories. Not only that, I even saw horrifying nightmare creatures eating me."

"Taboo magic? Humph, the original me is far worse than you dream of." Saying so, he again attacked Elre with another spell called \'Dreamcatcher Snare\' to drain his vitality.

But thankfully, Esim finally arrived before Elre and cast his secret spell.

A second later, a strange glowing light appeared from the deepest part of his heart and formed a strange illusionary hexagonal structure around him.

"Elre, I\'ll be taking the lead from now on." He spoke while conjuring a shadowy staff out of thin air, touched Elre\'s left hand, and cast a strange spell.

Then, he raised his hand and released a dense essence of shadows into the surroundings.

"Web of shadows to restrict my movement?" Divine King suddenly opened his mouth and cast a spell called \'Nightmare Cry.\'

A second later, a mysterious divine energy came from his mouth and completely erased the \'Shadow Energy\' from the surroundings!

What startled Esim was the density of the divine power in that earlier spell.

"Demi-God level spell? It still has yet to reach that stage. Elre, please take care of everyone."

While speaking, he no longer hesitated, cast the [Shadow Walk] spell, and disappeared from there.

He reappeared behind Divine King Phoebe a second later, raised the shadowy staff, and cast the final spell.

"Dark Eclipse Domain."

A moment later, Esim\'s whole body turned into pure shadow energy, enveloping the surroundings for a while.

The next instant, Divine King Phoebe felt that the whole world darkened. His wisdom power was also cut off, as well as his hearing, touch, and other senses.

\'He sacrificed his life force to create this domain? No good, this shadow force is absorbing my wisdom power! What kind of spell is this?\' A strange sense of déjà vu appeared within his mind.

As every second passed, he felt a strange sensation of losing something from his body.

At that moment, Esim drained his wisdom power and stabbed him all over.

\'Esim is hell-bent on killing me now.\'

As the gravity of the situation dawned upon Divine King Phoebe, he made a decisive move by unlocking his closed third eye. The eye had an eerie appearance, resembling a pitch-black ball that emitted an uncanny and unsettling aura, which seemed to pervade the surrounding atmosphere.

Simultaneously, the strange blackish bead inside his Bracelet glimmered faintly, establishing a mysterious connection with Divine King\'s third eye. There was an inexplicable link between the two, and the bead\'s energy seemed to merge with the awakened eye.

Within the span of a single second, an incredibly powerful suction force surged forth from the opened third eye. It devoured everything in its path, drawing in and absorbing the very essence of the Dark Eclipse Domain spell that had enshrouded the area. In an instant, the spell\'s shadows and darkness were pulled into the depths of the Divine King\'s eye, and the domain vanished without a trace.

Not only that, but the strange eye also absorbed Esim\'s consciousness and completely devoured him.

As Divine King Phoebe managed to break free from the suffocating grip of the Dark Eclipse Domain spell, an uncontrollable surge of pain assaulted his mind. The intensity of the torment left him momentarily disoriented, and he instinctively reached for his forehead, trying to grasp what was happening.

However, before he could even glance at the source of the pain, something even more bewildering occurred. The strange suction force that had been unleashed from his third eye did not dissipate; instead, it grew stronger. This force now exhibited an insatiable appetite, pulling nearby nightmare creatures toward him as if drawn by an irresistible magnet.

In an astonishing display of gluttony, the awakened third eye began devouring everything in its vicinity—nightmare creatures, rocks, sand, trees, and even the very air seemed to be consumed by its insidious power. The eye\'s size expanded at an alarming rate, almost covering Divine King\'s entire forehead, leaving him looking almost fearsome and alien.

A painful scream reverberated from Divine King Phoebe\'s mouth as the third eye expanded further.

"W-What in the world is this?" Elre was scared shitless by the sudden appearance of the eerie eye on Divine King\'s forehead and hurriedly ran away to warn the others.

On the other hand, Divine King Phoebe tried his best to take control of the third eye but had no effect!

"SOMEONE, HELP ME!"

Before he could think, he noticed that the surroundings started to slow down and came to an abrupt halt.

But thanks to the strange black eye, he barely managed to think.

\'W...h....a...t.... i...s... H....a...p-\' Before he could even process his thoughts, the young Karr he had seen in the Throne Hall arrived before him.

No, he soon noticed that the young Karr started to transform and change into a being made of pure reddish flame.

\'E...l...e...m...e....n...t...a...l-?\'

\'I\'ve watched enough.\' Charles spoke telepathically to Divine King and unsheathed the long sword.

Then, he calmly raised the sword and slashed at his neck.

Even though he had decapitated the Divine King\'s head, the third eye on his forehead tried to devour Charles!

\'Humph, the suction force is not strong enough to devour me.\' He once again raised his sword and slashed at the strange third eye.

As the sword got closer to the eye, Grace released a pure madness essence towards the tip of the edge and covered herself in a blackish-red aura.

A second later, the blade cut through the eye like paper and severed the strange link between the third eye and the black bead of the Whisper of Gluttony.

\'That\'s good.\' Charles slowly raised his sword again and cut Divine King Phoebe\'s left hand.

As bluish-green blood droplets were hovering in mid-air, Charles casually extended his hand and removed the Bracelet from him.

\'Genesis, you can stop the time-stop spell now.\' He ordered and backed away a few feet in mid-air.

At the same time, a strange ripple came out of his body and caused the \'Time-Stop\' effect to go null.

On the other hand, the already decapitated Divine King Phoebe released a unique divine energy and reattached the severed head to his body. Although he managed to reattach his head, he noticed that his body had become skinnier and even had numerous wrinkles.

He instantly realized that the disappearance of his wisdom power caused his body to age rapidly and even demoted his Rank to Pseudo-Legendary Realm!

Although he could still use one Legendary Spell, he would be forced into a situation where his whole existence might vanish.

"Stop daydreaming and answer my following questions." Charles\'s cold voice broke his thoughts.

Only then did he realize that he was still on the battlefield and warily gazed at the flame elemental being.

"W-Who are you?" He asked in a stiff tone.

"You are in no position to ask such a question," Charles spoke as he deactivated the spell and became the young Karr.

"Why did you say no one can leave this dimension?"

A silence appeared. But after a few seconds, Divine King realized his position and answered.

"It\'s not that I\'m not stopping anyone from leaving this dimension. But anyone who leaves this dimension will completely lose their mind and become a cruel beast. They won\'t even remember anything and attack anyone who stands in their way. Moreover, they even eat the corpses and become Corpse Devourers."

\'So, the roaming Corpse Devourers are the previous Celestial Guards and the scapegoats sent outside as an experiment, huh?\' Charles furrowed his brows and slowly shifted his attention toward the strange Bracelet in his hand.

\'But my question is: Who is he? Is he the Will of the Fallen Dream God Phoebe? Or a puppet made by this artifact? Then, who are these Corpse Devourers? What\'s their purpose?\'

"I want the reason. Why is it that you can\'t leave this place?"

Meanwhile, Divine King Phoebe showed a hesitant look and soon revealed the truth.

"T-That\'s because we aren\'t Karr beings anymore. Although you think of yourselves as Karr beings, you all are clones of the real ones I\'ve created with the help of corpses."

\'So he is indeed responsible for creating the Corpse Devourers.\'

Nodding, Charles asked his doubt.

"But why did you create them? Why made this whole city a heaven-like thing? Why does everyone trust each other to the point that there is no hint of wickedness in this city? Is it related to the Bracelet in my hand?"

A surprised expression appeared on Divine King\'s face.

"Before answering that question, may I have some questions too? What\'s your purpose? Are you a Karr Being? If you knew about this Bracelet, can you break the seal and let me out?" He asked in a trembling voice.

\'He also wants to leave this dimension but couldn\'t? So, he isn\'t responsible for this strange phenomenon but something else.\' At that moment, Charles\'s gaze locked onto the Bracelet.

A smile appeared on Charles\'s face.

"I\'m neither a Karr Being nor a Corpse Devourer." He raised his left hand, touched his face, and started to shapeshift into his real human form. His third eye slowly vanished, his height reduced drastically, and multiple changes occurred on his face.

The Divine King Phoebe was completely stunned when he returned to true form.

"I\'m a Human from a High Plane called Edhen," Charles said calmly and added.

"Now, tell me why you created this city. And, who are you? A separate consciousness of Dream God Phoebe?"