Chapter 753 - 518: The True Realm of the Nine-headed Demon Serpent and the Forbidden History
Chapter 753: Chapter 518: The True Realm of the Nine-headed Demon Serpent and the Forbidden History
They didn’t know the details or how the battle had unfolded.
And Raylo was the only one who had witnessed it all... the sole witness.
"Speak, Raylo."
Mage Delin said.
"Tell us everything you know and saw, without leaving a single word out."
"Alright."
Raylo hesitated no longer.
He gathered his thoughts, then recounted the entire process in detail: from luring the Six-winged Angel of Death into the swamp, to personally witnessing the Nine-headed Demon Serpent awaken, and finally, how that Catastrophe Level Angel of Death was utterly annihilated by the Nine-headed Demon Serpent in just over ten seconds.
As he spoke,
the atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly oppressive and heavy.
When Raylo described how the Six-winged Angel of Death was utterly obliterated by the Nine-headed Demon Serpent’s Ninefold Storm in just over ten seconds,
HISS...
A series of sharp intakes of breath echoed throughout the hall.
Even these Legendary Mages, who had long stood at the pinnacle of the world and were accustomed to great turmoil, all showed looks of utter horror upon hearing the outcome.
An instant kill!
An instant kill against a Catastrophe Level powerhouse!
"Impossible..."
Master Wendel murmured, his voice cracking.
"That was a Six-winged Angel of Death! Even if it was a manufactured War Weapon, it possessed genuine Catastrophe Level Power! How could it... how could it be killed instantly?"
"Indeed..."
another Legendary Mage said.
"Even another Catastrophe Level being shouldn’t be able to crush it so completely... This... this is entirely beyond our understanding of Catastrophe Level Power..."
"Unless..."
said Mage Morpheus, who had been silent until now.
"Unless the strength of that Nine-headed Demon Serpent has already... surpassed the Catastrophe Level."
Surpassed the Catastrophe Level!
Those four words seemed to suck all the air out of the hall in an instant.
Raylo raised his head, met Mage Delin’s gaze, and struggled to ask the question that had been weighing heavily on his mind.
"Master Delin..."
"That monster..."
"What... what level of existence is it?"
The hall fell terrifyingly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone unconsciously held their breath.
They were all waiting.
Waiting for Mage Delin, the publicly acknowledged greatest practitioner of Spiritual Magic on the Continent, to give the final, and possibly most brutal, answer.
Mage Delin did not answer immediately.
He just looked at Raylo quietly, his deep eyes seeming to hold countless Stars being born and dying, calculating and deducing.
He was deep in thought.
In that moment, every second felt as long as a century.
「After a long while.」
Mage Delin slowly opened his eyes.
"Its Power has not yet truly reached the World Destruction Level."
"However..."
"One of its feet has already... crossed the threshold of the Catastrophe Level."
"As it is now, it can no longer be measured by the standards of an ordinary Catastrophe Level being."
"It is a..."
"Half-Step World Destruction Level existence!"
"Furthermore, after that storm appeared, I sensed a change in the Jade Swamp. It has taken root deep within the swamp and is already plundering the Life Force of the entire area."
"It is devouring the swamp to help it take that final, crucial step..."
"I have a premonition. In perhaps three days, maybe five, when it finishes devouring the swamp’s Life Energy, it will complete its ascension!"
Half-Step World Destruction Level!
Master Wendel, who had always been so flippant, muttered distractedly.
"Half-Step... World Destruction Level..."
"Are you kidding me... How could an uncontrollable monster like this... be allowed to ascend in our world..."
"Are the Sages and Emperors just going to stand by and watch an uncontrollable World Destruction Level monster be born on the Continent?"
All composure had vanished from Mage Nancy’s beautiful and cool face.
"Three days? Five days? That’s too soon! We must contact the three Sages immediately!"
Even Mage Morpheus, who was always taciturn and so imperturbable that he wouldn’t flinch if Mount Tai collapsed before him, couldn’t help but sigh.
They were Legendary Mages.
Beings who stood at the very top of this world’s pyramid.
They had lived for hundreds of years, believing they had long seen through the essence of Power and looked down upon the ever-changing tides of the world.
"I’ve already contacted the Mage City. The three Sages are returning from Beyond the Heavens, but the fastest they can arrive is in about seven days,"
Master Fran said.
"Then what... what do we do now?"
"We absolutely cannot allow it to take that final step and ascend to the World Destruction Level."
"If it succeeds, it will be a catastrophe for the entire world!"
After a long pause, an elderly Legendary Mage forced out these few words through gritted teeth.
"Masters!"
Raylo’s voice shattered the suffocating silence in the hall.
"We... haven’t reached the point of true despair yet!"
Everyone instinctively looked up at the young man who still dared to say such a thing at a time like this.
’Not yet time for despair?’
’Facing a Half-Step World Destruction Level monster that could take its final step at any moment, and that’s not despair?’
"Raylo, you..."
Master Wendel opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end, all that came out was a helpless, bitter laugh.
"I know what you are all thinking, Masters."
"That Nine-headed Demon Serpent is certainly terrifying."
Raylo took a deep breath and continued.
"But it is not... invincible!"
"Oh?"
A glint flashed in Mage Delin’s eyes.
He looked at Raylo and asked in a low voice.
"What is your reasoning?"
"My reasoning is that it isn’t a true World Destruction Level being yet!"
Raylo’s voice was firm and decisive.
"Master Delin himself just said it—it has only crossed the threshold with one foot!"
"It hasn’t truly taken that final step!"
"That is our only chance!"
Raylo’s words revitalized the spirits of the Legendary Mages present.
That’s right.
A Half-Step World Destruction Level.
It was only half a step away, but in the end... it wasn’t a true World Destruction Level being!
"Moreover..."
Raylo continued.
"More importantly, it’s still trapped within the Jade Swamp!"
"We don’t know why it can’t leave the swamp, but we can be sure that it is under some kind of restriction!"
"Otherwise, with its Power, it wouldn’t have needed to wait until now."
Raylo’s analysis was clear, logical, and hit the nail on the head.
"The kid... has a point,"
a Legendary Mage murmured under his breath.
"Yes, if it could truly act without restraint, the entire Continent would have been plunged into death and destruction long ago."
"It must have a weakness! It must!"
The atmosphere in the hall was no longer as deathly still as before.
"Raylo is correct."
Mage Delin nodded slowly.
"Fear solves no problems."
"Now is not the time for us to sit here and wallow in self-pity."
He turned, took a thick, ancient tome from the bookshelf behind him,
and with a SLAM, slapped it down heavily on the table.
"In the long river of history, our ancestors have faced similar desperate situations."
Mage Delin’s voice became solemn and grave.
"This book, *The Forbidden Era*, records the ’Turmoil of the Ancient Deities’ at the end of the Third Era, an event that nearly destroyed the entire world."
"At that time, an Ancient Deity known as the ’Thousand-voiced Giant Beast’ awoke from the Abyssal realm and descended upon our world."
"Its Power also surpassed the Catastrophe Level, reaching the World Destruction Level."
"Wherever it passed, all things withered and all life was extinguished. Countless Kingdoms were destroyed before it as easily as if they were made of paper."
"At that time, all the intelligent races of the world fell into unprecedented despair."
"Everyone believed the end of the world had come."
Mage Delin slowly opened the heavy tome.
Upon its pages were written shocking passages of history.
"But our ancestors did not give up."
"Back then, our world had no one who could wield World Destruction Level Power, but all the strongest experts of that era put aside their racial prejudices and hatreds and joined forces for the first time."
"On the plains that would later be called the Divine Tomb, they engaged that Ancient Deity in a final, decisive battle."