Unedited*

"Is it really that strong?" he wondered.

His Komodo Dragon was already powerful enough to kill, on its own and in a head-on 1-on-1 battle, any of the Sanguines he had faced before.

Yet, he lost.

’It seems I have to stop holding back.’ He finally got serious and stopped experimenting.

His body glowed with a faint reddish hue the moment he activated his Reinforcement Group’s body magic.

At the same time, an imperceptible additional magic from the Convergence Group activated above him. A puff of energy that was shared with the Komodo Dragon.

Although he cannot currently use all his beasts in combat, he can use a variety of magics at the same time, provided they can overlap.

"That’s why I feel like I don’t have enough time to learn more spells. Fortunately, I’ve had some time these past few weeks. I’ve learned a few new ones." Edward wanted to put them to the test.

Even if they aren’t powerful, they’re several spells layered on top of each other. One on its own isn’t strong, but what about ten?

The Headless Horseman stood proudly before his two spirit allies and took a step forward, lunging fiercely the next second.

Edward responded with equal intensity. His glowing body collided with the dark spirit, causing an aura of light and darkness to explode outward.

Suddenly, the sound of a sword and a spear clashing repeatedly filled the air.

Meanwhile, the Komodo Dragon sprinted once more from the side and closed in on the Headless Horseman.

Just then, ritual magic flashed right beneath Edward’s body, and a sonic attack came from the other side. Even though the spirits were wounded, they possessed remarkable strength.

Even so, Edward smiled.

He stomped hard on the ground, and a strange set of patterns glowed in his left hand... ritual magic.

The only one he had learned.

Rank D Ritual Magic: Low-Grade Cancellation Ritual.

It fell beneath his feet and adhered to the magic attempting to consume him from below, which also covered the area where his Komodo Dragon was.

Trskkk!

The ritual magic vibrated the moment it was about to activate. However, the vibration eventually turned into a magical stasis.

The corners of Edward’s lips curved into a smile.

But right in front of him, the Headless Horseman’s spear was heading straight for his face, and he had no way to stop it. His sword was stuck in a position that made it impossible to move, and he had no magic at his disposal.

However, he wasn’t worried.

He simply smiled.

The spear that was heading toward him—and seemed as though nothing could stop it—was quickly deflected by the Komodo Dragon’s powerful tail.

The Headless Horseman passed right by and stumbled forward, falling on top of Edward’s defenseless body.

At the same time, the Komodo Dragon bit down hard on the Headless Horseman’s leg. A corrosive black liquid entered the spirit’s body, seeping gently through the thin mass that made it up.

The corrosive effects of a Komodo dragon’s bite usually have no effect on a dead being, but this was no ordinary Komodo dragon. It possesses abilities that make it a favored enemy of the undead and spirits.

The liquid that seeped through the spirit’s thin form began to strangely corrode the Headless Rider’s leg. Though it wasn’t flesh, it seemed to char it. Though there was no blood, it seemed to evaporate it.

The Headless Horseman and his allies did not expect that. However, it was the moment Edward had been waiting for to strike the Horseman and his allies with a powerful attack.

Edward advanced and struck the Horseman repeatedly, until he succumbed to his blows. At that very moment, he canceled the summoning of the Komodo Dragon, and a winged serpent appeared, floating in the air.

Instantly, Edward darted forward as a movement skill activated.

In a matter of seconds, he closed the distance in a way the spirits hadn’t expected and struck them one by one in rapid succession.

Malakor stared in shock at the Winged Serpent, which was soon put away as well, allowing the Komodo Dragon to reappear.

’Does he have more pets? That’s right, I saw a snake earlier too, but I didn’t remember it being a wind spirit...’

Although that left him in shock, one of the most striking things was the epic battle he was witnessing. Those three spirits were clearly not weak.

They were even stronger than the Corrupted Sanguines they had seen before. But Edward still managed to hold his own against the three and even defeat them when he used magic.

He witnessed how the fire magic began to quickly gain the upper hand against the spirits.

Edward finished with a horizontal swing, intending to split the ritualist in two...

Or so he thought.

But he failed to strike him, for the ritualist vanished.

Suddenly, everything around him seemed to freeze.

’An illusion?’ He looked at his Komodo Dragon, which was also paralyzed.

’How strange...’

"A human..." A strange and enigmatic voice suddenly rang out from every corner. "You really are a human. And one... of Royal Blood."

Edward finally turned around. A headless spirit was walking toward him, speaking as it approached.

He was perplexed and turned to look at the spiritual body behind him, the one he had just "killed." It was there.

But on the other side was an identical one, with the peculiarity that it was holding a head in its hand and was completely spiritual. There wasn’t a shred of physical matter in it.

The spirit noticed her shocked expression, and the head in her hand smiled. "Do you know how hard it is to materialize when you’re a spirit?" he asked as he approached.

He had no intention whatsoever of harming Edward. In fact, his intentions felt pure.

He walked toward his other "self" and looked at him thoughtfully.

"We always think that spirits are just lost souls that can scare people, but the reality is that, when we end up on this side, we have certain strange powers."

"And every spirit’s desire is to materialize again, but now with these powers. Did you notice that during the battle?"

Edward frowned, but didn’t answer.

"We don’t have a cooldown when casting spells. Not even ritualists do," he said.

’They don’t? I’m sure that ritualist spirit took quite a while to cast them...’

The spirit sensed his thoughts, so it laughed. "He was slow to cast them because, in life, he only learned difficult rituals that take time to complete," it said, glancing back. "You can ask him directly if you want."

Edward spun around and saw two spirits walking toward him from behind the spirits he had also killed.

’So I’ve been fighting fakes?’ Edward wondered.

And as if the first spirit, the Headless Horseman, could read his mind, it answered his question: "Don’t think they’re fakes. They actually have a lot of power. It’s just that so much time has passed that we’ve already lost power, so we can only manifest them that way. Manifesting them is as difficult as reaching the Saint Rank or higher on the evolutionary path."

"By the way..." The Headless Spirit didn’t let him answer or even think. "My name is Kikom," he said, pointing to the two behind him. "They are Anem and Czen. Anem was my wife when we were alive. Czen was our best friend back then. What’s your name?"

Edward didn’t even know what to think. There was so much to say and ask, but he was in such shock that his mind went blank.

"You... were you humans?" he asked after several minutes.

Kikom nodded. "We were, a thousand years ago. We lived in the vast territory of the Dragon Republic."

’The Republic?’ Edward swallowed hard. ’They’re from my world,’ he thought.

"I’m Edward Lux," Edward replied...

"Lux... just as I expected. You really do have royal blood."

Edward ignored his words, not because he wanted to, but because... he remembered something strange.

"A thousand years?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yes, a thousand years ago we were human," said Anem as he arrived.

"They died first, by the way. I was tougher," Czen laughed, looking proud.

"I don’t understand something. Where are you from?"

"How can you not understand?" Czen complained. "The Dragon Republic, to the north of the continent."

"Continent? I want to ask you something..." Edward paused there for a moment. "Do you know that you’re not in the same place you’re from?"

"Of course," Kikom replied. "We’re on the Holy Temple Continent. On the other side of the world."

’Another continent? So I’m in the same world, but on the other side? How the hell did he teleport me so far?’ Somehow, he found it more plausible that it was another world and that he had passed through a portal from a Cursed Earth than to say he was on the other side of the world...

But there was one more issue.

"If you claim to come from the Dragon Republic, you should know that it was founded in the same year as the Theocracy... And that was 700 years ago. The Lux Empire still existed back then, when those two organizations first emerged."

That was common knowledge in history books. Academies taught it in the early grades.

Kikom, Anem, and Czen stared at him, and suddenly, the energy around them dimmed slightly. Everything seemed to have come to a standstill, yet it all felt strangely nostalgic.

"Those outside can’t see us. To them, it’s as if time has stopped, so you can speak freely if you have any questions," Kikom said suddenly.

"But the Lux Empire didn’t fall 500 years ago... as your elders say."