Chapter 476: Chapter 475: Magi system effectiveness

Azar soon woke up, his head heavy and his vision still blurry.

He could see a faint light in front of him and hear voices nearby.

It did not take long before his eyes adapted to the darkness and he fully awakened.

He realized there was a burning fire in the middle while the survivors surrounded it.

But Azar could not see a single familiar face.

Meaning...

The veterans who had fought beside him were all dead.

Azar slowly sat up as a soldier walked past and handed him a plate.

Inside was rice, though it was mostly water with almost nothing else.

His hands trembled slightly.

Azar brought it closer to his face, but he almost vomited instantly.

The smell was terrible, and upon closer inspection, the food looked even worse.

It was nothing like anything he had ever eaten before.

But looking around...

No one cared whether he could eat it or not.

They simply focused on swallowing their so-called food.

Once they finished, they dropped the plates carelessly before lying down directly on the ground covered with dried blood and organs.

There was no concern for hygiene.

Nothing at all.

Azar slowly stood up and looked around.

Every now and then, he could see large groups of humans gathered around fires made to keep themselves warm through the night.

The weather was slightly cold, and they could only do whatever they could to stay warm out here.

Comfort no longer mattered.

But they still needed rest and sleep.

Otherwise, they would never recover by tomorrow, nor would they remain mentally stable enough to continue fighting this war.

"Kid... you’re part of the night watch. Let’s go," a soldier said as he dragged the still-stunned Azar away.

Looking at the food he could not bring himself to eat, Azar silently followed.

His body ached terribly, but he could still move.

Though he had to be careful.

Overdraining himself like that was dangerous.

If it continued...

Death might truly become inevitable.

**********

At the Fifth Layer of the Abyss...

Void’s eyes slowly opened as a massive arena appeared before him.

Ten kilometers long.

The ground trembled violently as hills, mountains, rivers, and cliffs formed rapidly around it, giving life to the environment.

Yet no animals or insects existed within it.

Only two silhouettes stood there.

The constructed arena stretched endlessly.

Broken hills.

Crumbling cliffs.

A massive waterfall roared from the side.

Rivers cut across the battlefield.

Black clouds hung above while violent winds swept across the land.

At the center of it all stood two figures.

One was a three-meter-tall demon covered in dark scales. Crimson lines flowed across its body like burning veins while its claws dug deeply into the ground.

The other was a man dressed in a black robe.

Completely calm.

Completely ordinary.

A Tier 4 Magi.

Both were clones of Void.

Both stared at each other silently.

Then...

Boom!

The ground exploded as the demon clone vanished instantly.

Its massive body shot forward with terrifying speed while the earth behind it shattered apart.

Seeing this, the Magi clone calmly raised his hand.

Dozens of magic circles instantly appeared behind him.

No chants.

No words.

Tier 4 spells no longer required such things.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Massive fireballs crashed downward like meteors.

But the demon did not stop.

Its claws tore directly through the explosions while flames spread across its scales.

The moment it got close...

Bang!

The Magi disappeared.

The place where he had stood exploded apart as the demon’s claws ripped through empty air.

Hundreds of meters away, the Magi reappeared.

Teleportation.

His expression remained calm.

But internally, countless calculations were already taking place rapidly.

Distance.

Speed.

Reaction time.

Mana consumption.

Everything was being analyzed continuously.

But the demon refused to give him time.

It roared violently.

Its instincts screamed as its heartbeat accelerated.

Danger.

Without hesitation, its body twisted.

And at that exact moment

Crackkkkk!

A massive lightning spear descended from the sky and pierced through the place where it had stood moments earlier.

The entire hill exploded apart.

The demon landed heavily before jumping once more.

Its speed became even faster.

Like a beast driven purely by killing instinct.

The Magi clone narrowed his eyes slightly.

The demon was adapting.

Every spell became less effective after being used once.

Its instincts were terrifying.

Boom!

The demon smashed directly into a mountain.

Not because it missed....

But because the Magi had suddenly manipulated gravity around it.

The mountain collapsed instantly.

But before the debris could settle...

Frozen chains erupted from beneath the ground, wrapping tightly around the demon’s body and nearly turning it into an ice sculpture.

The demon roared violently as it tore through them.But then—

Boom!

The nearby river suddenly rose into the sky.

Thousands of water spears formed instantly as the heavens darkened beneath them.

Then they descended.

The demon crossed both arms as it growled.

Its scales glowed crimson while magma flowed between the cracks in its body.

The water spears exploded one after another upon impact, tearing apart the ground and sending devastating shockwaves across the battlefield.

Smoke covered the entire arena.

The Magi clone floated silently above the waterfall, his eyes glowing faintly blue as he calmly observed the destruction below.

Just then...

The smoke exploded apart as the demon burst out like a cannonball, space whistling like a howling ghost.

It was too fast.

The Magi clone almost did not have enough time to react as he hurriedly raised dozens of barriers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The barriers shattered one after another, barely slowing the demon at all.

Its demonic body smashed through every single one effortlessly.

Its claws stretched forward, glinting sharply as they came so close they almost touched the Magi.

But then...

The Magi suddenly smiled faintly, his eyes filled with mockery.

Boom!

The air around the demon compressed violently as space itself seemed frozen for an instant.

Then it exploded.

Compressed wind pressure erupted from every direction as invisible blades sliced across the demon’s body, drawing blood while several scales were torn apart.

Black blood splashed outward as the demon’s body skidded backward violently, creating a massive trail hundreds of meters long.

Yet it smiled.

A savage smile filled with growing excitement.

Its body lowered slightly before the ground beneath its feet cracked apart as it vanished once more.

The battle intensified.

Hills exploded left and right.

The waterfall was split apart multiple times.

The earth collapsed as entire sections of the arena were destroyed, cracks spreading toward all four corners of the battlefield.

Yet the demon continued chasing relentlessly while the Magi kept retreating and casting spells endlessly, his mana reserves falling rapidly.

At first glance, it looked as though the Magi was being completely overwhelmed.

But slowly...

The demon realized something.

The Magi always retreated toward specific locations. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Whenever the demon forced him away from those areas, he would deliberately circle back and lure it there again.

Just as the demon’s instincts screamed once more...

A deafening explosion rang out.

It could not react in time.

It was already too late.

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted directly beneath the demon.

Although it tanked the attack, several scales were ripped off while deep gashes spread across its body, bleeding nonstop.

Then suddenly...

The demon appeared directly behind the Magi.

Its claws pierced through the Magi’s chest instantly.

Victory.

At long last, even with its heavily injured body...

It had finally caught him.

The demon grinned savagely in triumph.

But then

The body before it flickered.

The "Magi" dissolved into shadows as the demon’s eyes widened.

A trap.

At that exact moment, the entire battlefield lit up.

Thousands of magic circles appeared across the arena.

On the ground.

In the sky.

Within the rivers.

Even inside the shattered mountains.

They had been placed there since the very beginning of the battle.

Every retreat.

Every spell.

Every movement.

All of it had been preparation.

The real Magi stood silently hundreds of meters behind the demon.

His robe fluttered calmly in the wind.

"You lost the moment you started chasing me," the Magi spoke softly.

The demon roared violently as it tried to escape.

But the magic circles activated instantly.

Space froze.

Gravity increased tremendously.

Lightning filled the sky.

The rivers rose upward.

The remaining mountains shattered apart.

Then...

Everything collapsed inward.

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!

A gigantic pillar of destruction swallowed the entire arena.

The ten-kilometer battlefield disappeared completely beneath the explosion.

For several seconds...

Nothing existed except light.

Finally, the explosion slowly faded.

The ground no longer existed.

Only a massive crater remained.

The Magi clone stood silently at the edge of the crater.

His breathing was slightly rough while his mana reserves were nearly depleted from severe overdraw.

Even for a Tier 4 Magi, such an attack carried an enormous cost.

Then he looked toward the center of the empty crater.

The demon clone’s body had completely vanished.

Not even ashes remained.

Seeing this, the Magi slowly closed his eyes before muttering softly,

"The Magi system wins in efficiency..."

"But only if distance is maintained."

"If the demon had touched me even once earlier..."

The Magi opened his eyes again.

"...I would’ve died."