Chapter 1014

Usually, Grey would perceive a person’s movement even if they attempted to jump through space.

That was how refined and powerful his spatial awareness had become.

But with this particular figure, he couldn’t sense a single vibration.

One moment the entity was on the ship, and the next, he had landed on the cobblestones below.

It wasn’t like any spatial transition he had ever witnessed. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

It almost felt as though the man existed in two places at once; one version was on the vessel, and another was on the ground.

When his focus shifted entirely to the one who had landed, the figure on the deck simply vanished from existence.

It was purely his instincts kicking in that forced him to glance downward the moment the deck became vacant.

Then, the earth moved as if it were being directly commanded by a god.

Grey could feel it through his elemental bond—the control over the terrain was so absolute that it seemed entirely possible for this being to rip the planet apart if he so desired.

But no... it felt strangely distinct from ordinary magic.

Soon enough, a structure rose from the fractured earth as if it had always been buried right there, laying in wait for the exact moment it would be summoned.

It was an obsidian metallic throne, possessing strangely twisted spires along its crest.

The seat seemed to actively devour light, rendering the ambient sunlight entirely insufficient to illuminate its surface.

’I initially thought it was earth magic... so is this metal magic instead? And a seemingly high-level variant that allows him to manipulate the ore right from within the crust. Powerful... deadly...’

Unhurriedly, the man sat upon the dark throne like he owned the entire world.

Smoothly, he crossed one leg over the other, then interlocked his fingers in front of his face while resting his elbows on the armrests.

As if following a meticulously rehearsed script, the six Zodiacs descended from the flagship in their own distinct manners.

The ship wasn’t hovering mere inches above the ground; it was suspended several meters in the air, yet with fluid efficiency, the six leaped downward.

They moved with such fluid, high-level velocity that it almost simulated teleportation.

In the blink of an eye, they stood behind the throne, flanking the seated figure on both sides.

Grey remained rooted in his position, Ki swirling tightly around his legs as he prepared for whatever might happen next.

He didn’t rush to attack; only a fool would commit to an uncalculated offensive against an unknown tier of power, and he was no fool.

Instead, he bided his time, waiting for reinforcements from Arondale while quietly trying to recover the small amount of mana he had exhausted during his sprint across the continent.

"...."

The masked leader glanced to his left for a brief moment before his gaze drifted back to anchor on Grey.

"Ah... Grey Dawn. The child of prophecy. Why?"

The Supreme Magus’ brows knit tightly at the strange, open-ended question.

Why what?

He wanted to demand clarification, but before he could voice the thought, the figure continued speaking.

"How cocky must you be to stand here all alone? I granted you three full months... you see, despite all the negative reviews regarding our organization, I consider myself a very benevolent leader."

"...!!!"

"I purposefully gave you three months to prepare before I launched this assault. I handed you a precise date and a location so you would understand how utterly fruitless all your defensive efforts truly are. Yet, you chose to face me entirely alone?"

"..."

Grey looked at the seated figure for a few seconds before offering a nonchalant shrug.

"I guess I am indeed cocky. I simply couldn’t wait to see this self-acclaimed ’Devil’ in the flesh, hence why I rushed over ahead of schedule."

He paused for a second before adding dryly,

"Also, I’m incredibly pissed off because you are crashing my birthday party."

The figure clearly smiled beneath the dark shell of his mask, tilting his head slightly to peer deep into Grey’s brown eyes.

"... Those eyes. I despise them immensely."

Grey lifted a brow, genuinely confused by the personal animosity.

The entity then exhaled a sharp, cold breath.

"Five years ago... our seer provided us with a prophecy regarding a certain red-haired child by the name of Grey, who would attempt to throw a wrench into all our grand designs.

Initially, I refused to take the prophecy seriously. Instead, I toyed around with the information for a while, sending my subordinates—the weaker ones—to intimidate you, or possibly eliminate the threat early on."

The man paused for a moment as he stared at Grey.

"But you have proved time and time again that you are one annoying cockroach. Hence, I came down here personally to put an end to you once and for all."

"Hm," Grey hummed with a small smirk. "So technically, you came over here for me to send you over to where I sent all your subordinates? Interesting..."

"..."

"Ohoy~ Grey. How can you be so strong yet so daft to realize the power seated before you?" one of the six uttered with chilling disdain.

Snapping his head to look at the speaker whose face was hidden behind a mask, the warrior mage smirked.

"Orion? Is that you, darling? I can recall your voice from anywhere, honey. Tell me, did you heal nicely after I literally blasted your torso and burned you alive repeatedly? Did you?"

"...."

The silence grew thick and oppressive as the ground began rumbling, as if resonating with Orion’s rising fury.

He was so close to lunging forward when the leader rose out of his seat.

Grey immediately turned his undivided attention toward the man.

’It will take approximately five minutes more for Amir to rally up the men. And it will take that same amount of time to recover my lost mana. I need to stall some more.’

"Tell me something... you are one of the original mages, right? One of the first ever mages in the history of Arondale, right? So tell me, what happened? Why are you doing all you are doing?"

The Original stared at Grey for several seconds.

"Oh. You figured that out? Hm... impressive."

Grey’s gaze narrowed as he shifted into a combat stance immediately. He could feel a certain wrongness in the air.

"I will tell you one thing," the leader spoke smoothly.

"I’m in somewhat of a good mood, as I’m about to take down a thorn that has been pricking me for years. So here, I will grant you a last wish, and I promise to fulfill it no matter what it is."

Grey lifted a brow as he tilted his head from left to right in surprise.

"Oh really? You will grant my requests?"

"Hm... shoot then. Ask and it shall be given unto you."

’Anything to delay...’ Grey thought.

"It isn’t nice, though. My face is on full display for you all to see, yet you are all playing superheroes with your visages hidden? Come on... I want to see the expressions on your countenances when I rip your soul out."

As he spoke, his tone rose in palpable anger.

"... Let me see the bastards who have been ruining my life for years. The same ones who killed off all my loved ones! SHOW ME!"

"...."

"You really want to see, huh?" the leader replied, the sound of his voice laced with a dark, mocking amusement.

"Will you even be able to handle what you see, kid?"