Journey to Become the Zenith

The Clash of Shadows

Its emerald flames burned brighter.

”Once I finish experimenting on your remarkable body...”

The Necromancer slowly extended one skeletal finger toward Victor, its bony hand steady despite the chaotic battlefield around them.

”...I believe I shall transform you into the greatest undead warrior ever created.”

A sinister chuckle echoed across the battlefield.

”Hehehe...”

”Rejoice.”

”You shall become my right-hand man.”

The moment Alibaba finished speaking, the space around him distorted. His figure disappeared in a ripple of black mana before reappearing hundreds of meters away.

Without wasting a heartbeat, he began chanting an ancient spell. His skeletal fingers danced through complex hand seals while countless layers of magical formations bloomed beneath his feet.

Victor’s grin only widened.

”So you’re finally serious.”

He kicked off the shattered earth with explosive force.

BOOM!

The ground beneath him cracked as he shot forward like a golden comet.

At the same time, he began chanting as well.

Unlike ordinary mages who needed complete concentration, Victor sprinted across the battlefield while calmly reciting an ancient incantation. Every word flowed naturally from his lips as if he had spoken the spell thousands of times before.

Alibaba’s empty eye sockets flickered.

He’s chanting while moving...?

Impossible.

He teleported again, buying himself another few seconds.

Victor immediately changed direction, pursuing him without hesitation.

His terrifying speed erased the distance almost instantly.

”Too slow.”

The Death Scythe swept downward.

Just before the blade reached him, Alibaba completed his spell.

”[Ice Castle].”

CRRRRACK!

The battlefield shook violently.

Towering walls of crystal-blue ice burst from the earth, climbing hundreds of feet into the sky in an instant. Massive towers connected by frozen bridges emerged one after another until an enormous fortress stood between Victor and the Necromancer.

The air temperature plummeted.

Frost spread across the ruined battlefield.

Broken weapons became coated in ice.

Even distant corpses froze solid within seconds.

A knight watching from Fantom City’s walls shivered.

”What... what kind of spell is that?”

Another mage’s face turned pale.

”Don’t touch it!”

”That frost freezes everything it reaches!”

Snow-like particles drifted gently through the air, creating a strangely beautiful yet deadly scene.

Victor merely smiled.

”I knew you’d choose ice.”

From their previous battle, he had already understood Alibaba’s preferred element.

The Death Scythe rested casually upon his shoulder.

His chant reached its conclusion.

”[Pitch Black].”

The surrounding light vanished.

A sphere of absolute darkness rapidly expanded from Victor’s outstretched hand.

It wasn’t ordinary darkness.

It swallowed light itself.

The gigantic Ice Castle disappeared completely inside the black sphere.

For several seconds...

Nothing could be seen.

No sound escaped.

Then—

The darkness collapsed inward.

The magnificent fortress simply...

Vanished.

Not shattered.

Not melted.

It ceased to exist.

Alibaba had already escaped before the darkness consumed him, but even he couldn’t hide the surprise burning within his emerald flames.

”That spell...”

Victor wasted no time.

He appeared behind the fleeing Necromancer.

The Death Scythe whistled through the air.

Alibaba sensed the killing intent and twisted his body just enough to avoid a fatal strike.

Before he could regain his balance—

Victor calmly spoke another spell.

”[Shadow Bind].”

The shadows beneath Alibaba’s feet suddenly came alive.

Long black tendrils erupted from the ground, wrapping tightly around his legs before climbing toward his waist.

The Necromancer froze.

Victor’s eyes gleamed.

”Got you.”

The Death Scythe descended.

SHHHK!

The blade passed cleanly through Alibaba’s body.

Yet...

There was no resistance.

The figure shattered like broken glass before fading into mist.

An illusion.

Victor’s smile never disappeared.

”I expected that.”

At that exact moment—

Hundreds of bone lances materialized around him.

Each lance crackled with corrupt mana, their razor-sharp tips aimed directly at Victor from every direction.

Alibaba’s voice echoed through the battlefield.

”[Grave Lances].”

”[Cemetery Spears].”

”[Bone Rain].”

The sky darkened as thousands of skeletal projectiles descended together.

Watching from the walls, Ruby’s breathing stopped.

”So many...”

Natalia clenched her staff.

”He planned that from the beginning.”

Victor calmly raised one hand.

”[Black Hole].”

A tiny sphere of darkness appeared before him.

It looked insignificant.

Then it expanded.

A violent gravitational force erupted outward.

Every incoming bone lance curved unnaturally before being pulled into the miniature void.

One after another bone lance...

Hundreds bone lance...

Then thousands bone lance...

The attacks disappeared without exploding.

The battlefield returned to silence.

The dark sphere trembled once before collapsing into nothingness.

Victor lowered his hand.

”Still relying on tricks.”

His golden eyes swept across the battlefield.

Mana fluctuations.

Wind currents.

Tiny disturbances in the earth.

They all pointed toward one location.

”There.”

Without hesitation, Victor vanished.

BOOM!

He burst through a ruined tower before appearing directly before Alibaba once more.

The Necromancer retreated several steps.

Its mind raced.

Why...?

Why is this happening?

Every spell...

Every trap...

Every illusion...

Victor dismantled them effortlessly.

This battle wasn’t unfolding as Alibaba had calculated.

Victor was young.

Far too young.

Even if he were the greatest genius of this era, his understanding of magic shouldn’t rival centuries of accumulated knowledge.

Yet every spell Victor cast displayed flawless execution.

Complex formulas.

Original applications.

Perfect timing.

Alibaba couldn’t understand it.

The last time we fought...

He relied mainly on close combat.

Now...

He fights like someone who has studied magic for thousands of years.

Even stranger...

Several of Victor’s darkness spells felt oddly familiar.

Not identical.

But...

Similar.

As though they originated from a style Alibaba had witnessed long ago.

Before he could think further—

Victor was already in front of him again.

The Death Scythe descended with relentless pressure.

Alibaba abruptly thrust both skeletal hands forward.

A massive magic circle unfolded beneath the sky.

Dark mana erupted like a volcano.

”[Summon Doom Knight].”

The battlefield trembled.

A towering knight clad in pitch-black armor slowly emerged from the enormous summoning circle.

Its crimson eyes ignited.

An immense greatsword rested upon one shoulder.

The pressure radiating from it surpassed even the undead dragons.

The instant it stepped onto the battlefield...

Everyone on the city walls felt their hearts sink.