Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2913: Swamp Battle 4

Emery had already gained a solid understanding of his two opponents.

Maldrin’s brute demonic strength and Skylark’s deceptive venom techniques had both revealed themselves through their exchanges, but the moment the three-cosmos elder stepped forward, the entire battlefield shifted. Emery knew he could not afford even the slightest lapse in focus.

His divine sense locked onto the elderly figure, probing deeper, searching for patterns.

Something about him was fundamentally different.

The serpents that had emerged from the man’s limbs were not simple manifestations of energy, nor were they ordinary body transformation techniques. They carried presence—independent, alive, as though each one possessed its own will. When VIA completed its analysis, even Emery was taken aback.

[Identified: Diamond Fang Python]

An extinct god-level serpent, infamous for its diamond-hard fangs capable of piercing even the toughest defenses.

Emery’s eyes narrowed as he observed the writhing creatures more carefully, his thoughts sharpening.

”How could something like that... become part of his body?”

Before he could fully process the answer, the elder moved again.

The tattoos across his dark skin began to glow faintly, their patterns pulsing as his entire body gradually faded, dissolving into the surrounding space as though he were being erased from existence itself.

It was not simple invisibility.

It was concealment on an entirely different level.

Emery immediately expanded his divine sense to its limits, his soul perception sweeping across the battlefield in waves, searching for even the faintest trace of presence.

And yet—

There was nothing.

No body.

No aura.

Only subtle distortions in space, so faint they were almost imperceptible.

Then, without warning, the attack came.

Multiple Diamond Fang Pythons erupted from the space he had just occupied, their jaws snapping shut with lethal intent. Emery reacted instantly, bending space around himself to shift his position, narrowly avoiding the ambush.

But even then, he was not completely unscathed.

One of the serpents managed to graze his back, its fangs tearing through flesh and leaving behind a deep, burning wound that throbbed with residual energy.

Laughter echoed across the battlefield.

”Hahaha... interesting... You even possess high-level spiritual perception...”

The elder’s voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once, his tone laced with amusement.

”But unless you are a spirit champion... You will not survive this.”

Emery did not respond. Instead, he retreated swiftly, reappearing nearly a hundred steps away, putting distance between himself and the unseen threat.

Only to find his path blocked.

Maldrin stood directly ahead, his monstrous six-armed form looming like a wall of flesh and fury, each arm flexing as his claws cracked with explosive force.

”You are not going anywhere!” the demon growled, his three heads locking onto Emery with murderous intent.

Next to the Midnight demon, Skylark stood once more, his grotesquely regenerated body grinning as though death itself held no meaning.

The trap had closed.

Emery exhaled slowly, his expression tightening just slightly.

”This is... getting annoying.”

Even so, his mind remained calm, methodical.

He allowed his awareness to expand once more, briefly scanning the rest of the battlefield.

High above, Morgana had already fully unleashed her newly acquired bone wings, their skeletal structure glowing faintly beneath layers of blazing cosmic flame. With each powerful beat, she dominated the aerial space, her movements swift and predatory as she forced her opponent further onto the defensive. The sky around her burned with streaks of fire, each clash scattering embers like falling stars, yet through it all, her control remained absolute.

On the far side, Fjolnir had adapted as well, dragging the Phantom Blade into a knee-deep swamp, using the dense terrain and unstable footing to disrupt the man’s fluid movements. Though still under pressure, Fjolnir’s approach slowed the bald assassin’s deadly precision, buying himself precious time.

It was a smart tactic.

But Emery—

Faced a far more elusive enemy.

The elder’s concealment ability operated on an entirely different level, far beyond simple invisibility or masking techniques. His presence did not merely vanish—it slipped between perception and reality itself, existing in a state that made him almost impossible to grasp, even for someone with Emery’s heightened senses.

Emery exhaled slowly, forcing his thoughts to settle as he centered himself.

If his current divine sense were not enough to perceive the man clearly, then he would push it further, beyond its current limits.

Raising his hands, Emery began forming a series of intricate seals, each motion deliberate and precise, his focus sharpening with every movement. As the final seal was completed, he activated two abilities in unison.

[Prism of Light]

[Emperor Focus]

At once, his soul power surged.

Within his consciousness, the sixth-layer pagoda manifested, stabilizing his mind while amplifying his perception to its peak. His eyes gleamed with radiant light as his divine sense expanded outward, reaching deeper, sharper, probing into the very fabric of space itself.

And yet—

Even then—

He could not clearly see the elder.

Only a blur.

A faint distortion.

A presence that existed just beyond full comprehension.

Still—

It was enough.

Emery feigned a shift in position, deliberately exposing an opening as though he had failed to track his opponent. Then, in the very next instant, he reversed his motion and struck.

His primal-infused fist exploded forward, targeting the incoming blur.

BAMMMM!!!

The blow tore through the air with overwhelming force, and a moment later

Impact.

The elder was forced out of concealment, his body hurled violently through the forest as trees shattered one after another under the force of the strike.

”Master!!”

Maldrin’s voice rang out in shock.

Emery did not pause.

With his spirit sense at its peak, he immediately followed up, unwilling to allow his opponent even a moment to recover.

A faint green light began to shimmer across his body.

Then—

It erupted.

Dozens of glowing blades manifested around him, swirling into existence as the Eightfold Willow Swords answered his command. With a single thought, they surged outward like a living storm, their movements fluid and coordinated, weaving together into a relentless assault.

Part of the formation broke off, intercepting Maldrin and Skylark, forcing both of them to retreat under the pressure as the blades cut through the air with deadly precision.

But the majority—

Focused on the elder.

The swords converged in tight formations, striking in rapid succession, each impact sending bursts of sparks and energy scattering across the battlefield as they pressed down with unrelenting force.

For a brief moment—

The elder was engulfed.

Then—

From within the shattered impact zone, something moved.

At first, it was only a faint silhouette behind the thinning smoke, but as the dust gradually settled, a figure stepped forward, and what Emery saw caused his expression to tighten slightly.

The elder’s dark robes had been torn apart, leaving his upper body exposed. Blood stained his mouth and chin, dripping slowly down his chest, while the center of his torso showed clear signs of damage—his ribcage partially collapsed inward, forming a shallow crater roughly the size of a fist. It was the kind of injury that would have crippled, if not outright killed, most Grand Magus.

And yet, he stood.

As the last wisps of smoke dissipated, the full extent of his transformation became clear, revealing a form that was no less grotesque than Maldrin’s, yet far more unsettling in its unnatural composition.

Other than his phyton limbs, from his back extended six extra elongated limbs, crystalline in structure and shaped like the legs of some ancient insect. Their surfaces gleamed faintly under the dim light, their edges sharp and rigid, yet they moved with unsettling fluidity, responding instantly to even the slightest shift in his stance.

It was not simply a transformation.

It was a fusion.

Before Emery could process further, the elder reacted.

The serpents coiled inward while the crystalline limbs crossed over his torso, forming a layered defensive barrier just as the Willow Swords descended upon him. The blades struck in rapid succession, their energy flaring brightly with each impact as sparks erupted and shockwaves rippled through the air.

Emery’s eyes narrowed.

Under normal circumstances, such a barrage would have torn through flesh and bone without resistance.

But this time—

It did not.

The crystalline limbs absorbed part of the force, while the phyton intercepted the rest, deflecting the blows with rigid precision. Each strike that should have penetrated instead met a strange combination of resilience and structure, as if the elder’s body had been reinforced by multiple layers of defense working in unison.

”Huh... I underestimated you...” The elder’s expression revealed irritation, the calm mask slipping just enough to expose tension beneath. However, the flicker passed quickly, replaced once more by a faint, knowing smile.

His remaining human hand rose, fingers forming another seal as the tattoos along his legs began to glow.

Then—

They changed.

Bone twisted.

Muscle reshaped.

His legs deformed into something entirely inhuman, taking on a goat-like structure covered in coarse red fur, the muscles beneath coiling with explosive power. The transformation radiated raw kinetic force, the ground beneath him cracking slightly as the new form settled into place.

”The hell is that?”

Emery barely had time to react before the elder vanished again.

This time, the disappearance was different. It was sharper, faster, more violent, as if space itself had been cut open and crossed in a single motion. Even with his enhanced divine sense, Emery could only perceive a faint blur—a fleeting distortion that vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

The new legs—

Had granted him terrifying speed.

Within a fraction of a second, the elder had already circled behind him.

The attack came immediately.

The elongated insect limbs struck first, piercing forward with lethal precision, their crystalline edges slicing through the air as they aimed to skewer him in place. Emery reacted on instinct, twisting his body and forcing a desperate dodge, narrowly avoiding the initial strike.

But that was only the beginning.

The serpents followed.

Their diamond fangs snapped forward with terrifying force as they lunged toward his exposed side.

In that instant—

Space bent.

Emery vanished.

Reappearing dozens of feet away, his body materialized with a sharp distortion of air.

But the escape was not clean.

His left arm—

Was gone.

Torn apart completely at the shoulder.

Blood poured from the wound in heavy streams.

In the distance, Maldrin and Skylark watched the exchange unfold, their expressions shifting into satisfied smiles as their master demonstrated his overwhelming superiority.

But Emery did not falter.

Instead, his gaze sharpened, his mind already racing as he replayed the exchange in precise detail. Despite his injury, Emery had uncovered the secret behind the elder’s power.

He saw it.

Five distinct runic formations were embedded within the elder’s body, hidden beneath the intricate tattoos that covered his skin. Each one pulsed faintly with a different energy signature, each one tied to a separate source of power.

With VIA’s rapid analysis, the conclusion became undeniable.

This was not a simple transformation.

The elder—

Was a Spirit Shaman.