Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2829: Insight

The synergy with his Light Avatar was far more violent than Emery had anticipated.

As he tore through the three Azure Tyrant Serpents, the accumulated comprehension stored within the avatar did not simply merge—it detonated.

Every fragment of law, every refined insight gathered from Gaia, surged back into his soul all at once, crashing through years of restraint.

Alarms rang endlessly in his consciousness.

[Your comprehension of the Law of Nature has increased]

[Soul force increased exponentially]

[Your comprehension of the Law of Light has increased]

[Soul force increased exponentially]

His soul ignited.

The long-standing bottleneck that had shackled him for years shattered under the pressure, collapsing inward before exploding outward with overwhelming force.

[You have successfully formed a second layer of Cosmos]

[Grand Magus Realm – Two Cosmos, Second Layer]

Spirit energy erupted from Emery’s core in a blinding wave, flooding every channel in his body. The power was too vast, too volatile to be contained—he had to release it, or risk tearing himself apart from the inside.

His gaze lifted, burning with authority.

”Stop wasting my time,” Emery snarled. ”Bring them all out.”

The voice returned, unmistakably intrigued.

”You asked for it!!”

Above him, the formation flared violently. Not one, but multiple concentric circles ignited at once, spinning in opposing directions as ancient runes screamed under the strain. A torrent of frozen mist poured down, carrying with it absolute cold.

The chamber transformed.

From the swirling mist, a dozen Azure Tyrant Serpents emerged, their massive forms coiling through the air, filling the entire space with oppressive god-level pressure.

But Emery’s attention locked onto something else.

At the center of the formation stood a figure that stood out from the rest.

Her lower body was that of an enormous serpent, coils layered in pale-azure scales. From the waist up, she bore the form of a woman—tall, elegant, and terrifying—her skin smooth and cold as eternal ice. Where her hair should have been, countless living serpents writhed and hissed, their eyes glowing with cruel intelligence.

A hybrid of some kind,

Even in soul form, her presence was suffocating.

Three cosmos.

Emery felt it instantly.

She smiled, slow and wicked, her gaze filled with predatory delight as her serpentine hair shifted restlessly.

”Now...” she said softly, her voice echoing through the pagoda like a curse, ”...let’s play.”

With a casual flick of her hand, the Azure serpents surged forward all at once, their killing intent crashing down like an avalanche.

Emery steadied his breathing as the Void Blades fully formed in his hands, the Dao of Heaven and Earth surging in perfect resonance with the newly stabilized second layer of his cosmos, and this time he made no attempt to restrain himself.

With a single step forward, he unleashed a Dao strike infused completely with Killgragah’s infernal flames, the power erupting outward like a dragon’s wrath as a sweeping arc of black-gold fire tore through the chamber, roaring across the frozen domain and instantly incinerating one Azure Tyrant Serpents while blasting several others backward, their soul-forms cracking and distorting under the overwhelming heat.

The powerful strike wiped the smirk from her face.

”Hmph,” she said coldly, her eyes narrowing. ”Don’t think that’s enough.”

She raised her hand.

”Glacial Pillars.”

At her command, the serpents stationed farther back reared up as their jaws opened unnaturally wide, releasing compressed pillars of icy-blue hellfire that warped the surrounding space as they surged toward Emery in converging streams. He twisted sharply through the barrage, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the attack, yet before he could fully recover his balance the remaining serpents lunged from all directions, tightening the battlefield until escape seemed impossible.

The situation had turned critical.

Emery considered calling the super golem to assist, but the answer came immediately—just like his physical body, it remained sealed on the lower level of the pagoda, cut off by layers of formation and barriers.

So he chose another solution.

”Killgragah.”

The ground beneath Emery detonated as infernal flames erupted upward, forming a roaring shield that slammed into the charging serpents and blasted them apart mid-lunge. The column of fire twisted violently, condensing and reshaping itself as scales formed, wings unfurled, and a colossal draconic head rose from the blaze.

RRRROOOAAARRR—!!!

The roar shook the entire pagoda, frost cracking along the walls as raw heat clashed against the ancient cold.

Emery was satisfied; his breakthrough had allowed him to summon a stronger, far more refined Khaos guardian.

He turned toward the serpent hybrid and leveled his blade at her.

”Now,” he said coldly, ”let’s see whose beasts are stronger.”

The two: human and dragon advanced together.

Killgragah’s wings swept wide, becoming a living shield that intercepted streams of frost and biting cold, while its massive tail lashed outward in blinding arcs, piercing through incoming serpents from behind and tearing their soul-forms apart. Sheets of hellfire poured from its jaws, forming a blazing firewall that forced the remaining beasts to scatter.

Within that chaos, Emery became a blur.

He slipped through gaps in the battlefield with ruthless precision, Void Blades flashing as each strike landed exactly where the serpents’ cores were weakest, his movements guided by divine sense and sharpened by fury.

One serpent collapsed.

Then another.

A third followed, its body split cleanly in half before it could even scream.

Within minutes, the chamber was littered with dissipating soul fragments.

The serpent hybrid’s confident expression finally cracked.

”So many tricks...” she hissed, her voice edged with genuine irritation.

Seeing yet another serpent fall beneath Emery’s flaming blade, she stopped holding back and join the battle.

A spear of absolute frost formed within her palm, its surface etched with ancient runes as three-cosmos authority compressed into a single point. The temperature of the chamber plummeted as she drew her arm back, power screaming through the air itself, before hurling the spear forward with overwhelming force.

The attack smashed straight through Killgragah’s firewall, tearing a burning hole through the inferno as Emery barely managed to intercept it. Even deflected, the impact was catastrophic, slamming him into the wall with bone-crushing force and triggering the pagoda’s defensive seal. The rebounding energy struck him a second time, sending pain ripping through his soul-form.

”Damn it...” Emery growled as he steadied himself.

She was terrifyingly strong.

The serpent hybrid was already forming another spear of frozen essence in her grasp, its tip condensing with lethal intent as multiple ice serpents closed in from all sides, sealing off every path of escape.

Before the clash could erupt, the entire pagoda shuddered.

”What is this now...”

Suprisingly the seal on the wall split open as another presence forced its way inside.

A man manifested in pure soul form.

The artifact owner,

Caelthar Astiel.

Annoyance flickered across his face as he took in the scene—the fallen serpents, the lingering frost, the blazing dragon.

”You make quite a mess,” he said coldly. ”Why can’t you just stay silent?!!”

Then he turned toward the serpent hybrid, his posture shifting. Caelthar lowered his head slightly, his voice losing its edge as unmistakable respect entered his tone.

”I hope he didn’t give you much trouble... Third Elder.”

The title struck Emery like a thunderbolt.

In that instant, understanding dawned.

The towering serpent woman before him was no mere guardian or summoned entity. She was one of Astiel’s true pillars of power.

The Winter Lord.