Kyran looked at the burly man in golden armor with furrowed brows.
He immediately noticed how the man's magic level shot up to two whole levels; from being a Grand Master, the man's magic level was now comparable to a Magus!
'That pill just now...' Kyran thought, feeling an incoming headache.
He was positive the man's magic level was only at Grand Master. After the latter took the pill, he suddenly erupted with the power of a Magus. This change clearly meant that the pill could forcefully let a mage breakthrough mage levels. But that was not without a cost. Every boost in power meant one had to pay a huge price. It was likely that the cost would even affect the person's magic core and even his life.
On one of the planes Kyran had been to, there was a plane called the 'Red plane,' which he had stayed for almost three years. He met mages, combat mages, and even combat specialists who possessed items such as magic weapons, talismans, and so on, with the same ability as the red pill. And Kyran had the most challenging time dealing with them.
It was not because they had an immense boost in strength, but because if a person was willing to use such items no matter the cost, it meant that person was not afraid of death.
Based on his experience, people willing to throw away their lives to achieve their goals had nothing to lose.
That was something Kyran could not do.
He was not afraid of death. He was even willing to go to great lengths to save his clan. But he would never throw away his life. He would not even tolerate mutual destruction.
For one thing, if Kyran died, who would carry on his conquest to save his clan?
There was also the matter of the people he had taken under his wing. Those people might or might not carry on his will. But he did not take them in so they could replace him if something happened to him. On the contrary, he took them in to give them a chance to live differently, not to throw away their lives.
Yes, he would need their help from time to time, but that was it. After that, he would never ask for more.
Second, if Kyran's death caused his enemies' destruction, others might think it was still a good ending. For Kyran, however, it was not.
The destruction of his enemies would not be the end. His clan that barely survived a huge ordeal would be vulnerable and soon subjected to another opposing faction's attack.
Kyran did not want to save his clan so that they would once again suffer. For this reason, he would never allow himself to die.
What Kyran wanted to achieve was no longer a simple matter. He was aware that once he executed the final phase of his plan, it would affect the whole Ylfaen Empire. Maybe even the entire Human plane.
Such was the real world and what the empire would become once he destroyed the Royal Family.
Looking at the burly man's increasing power, Kyran sighed inwardly. He could kill the man quickly but was hesitant because he was genuinely interested in his Beast Arts.
But if the man was willing to die to let his comrades escape, his loyalty to them was something Kyran had to deal with.
There was one particular Dark Arts where one could erase a person's emotions and memories, then implant a new one. But he did not want to use that spell. He still had his principles. Besides, he had never done it, so he was not confident he would succeed.
'How should I deal with you?' Kyran wondered as he took a step toward the man.
He did not use the Dragon steps this time and even deactivated the Regis Blessing. If he did not do this, the man would end up dead before knowing what hit him.
There was another reason why Kyran did not immediately kill the burly man. Apart from his interest in the man's Beast Arts, Kyran also realized he did not take part in hurting Zephyr.
The fact that the man had a number of beasts with him said a lot.
Zephyr was not allowed to kill humans, but he could kill beasts. If the man had taken part in hurting Zephyr, then he definitely would have lost, if not all, several beasts.
After battling Zephyr, the man could not possibly retain several beasts in good condition. Even if he had a thousand, the few surviving would be severely injured or on the verge of death.
But the horde that charged at Kyran were all brimming with vigor. Though beasts heal faster than humans, there would still be signs of their life force weakening if they were injured.
"RAWRGH!" Max roared as he unleashed his magic pressure.
An invisible force erupted from him, spreading out in all directions. Then one after another, large-sized beasts appeared behind him. They roared ferociously, seemingly wanting to destroy everything around them by the sheer sound of their voice alone.
A smile tugged at the corner of Kyran's lips while he observed these newly summoned beasts.
At a closer inspection, there were legendary-tier beasts among this horde, all of which were four-legged beasts of the mixed bestial breed.
Three had the body of a comodo but the head of a basilisk, a Komorad. Then two looked very strange because they looked like a golden humanoid with a tortoise as its lower body. They were also known as Kurma. Then the last two were large monkeys with black serpent tails, called a Nue.
'One... two... seven legendary-tier beasts. Now, how did you get these beauties,' Kyran thought, looking at the beasts curiously.
These beasts could not be found in Ylfaen Empire as far as he knew. The Komorad were beasts that could only be found in Archadia. At the same time, the Kurma was from the north and the Nues from the east.
Reigning in his excitement, Kyran now had more reasons to win over the burly man. He would now win him by force. But he had to be careful not to kill his legendary-tier beasts accidentally.
It would be a waste to kill them.
"RAWRGH!" Max roared once again and dashed toward the masked man.
He only witnessed how the latter destroyed Freya once, but from that one time, he had wondered how such a small frame could possess such monstrous strength.
Of course, the masked man was not really small per se. However, he was only small compared to Max, who was about seven and a half feet tall and had a massive frame.
Kyran's height was also above average, and his body had been developed quite well at an early age, but once he stood in front of Max, he would have to look up at him.
Nevertheless, Max was not afraid to lose a limb once he confronted the masked man. His only concern was staying alive for more than five minutes to give the rest time to escape. For this reason, he would use all of his beasts and even took the Red-Demon Pill that could boost his magic level.
Now that his magic level was comparable to a Magus, he might be able to last.
"Charge!" Max roared, commanding all of his beasts to charge at the masked man.
Kyran stopped in his tracks and looked at the horde of beasts coming his way, with the burly man in front.
The magic aura that emanated out from the burly man was awe-inspiring in that it had taken an almost corporeal form that superimposed on him. It was like he was wearing another layer of red armor on top of his golden one.
Max slammed his fists together as he charged at the masked man, with all of his beasts right behind him.
The ground shook, creating something like an earthquake as they closed in on the masked man.
Kyran's silver eyes glowed. He did not want to waste the burly man's beasts and wanted to handle them with 'care.'
'First, remove the horde,' he thought as he stepped forward.
As he did, a silver-white force erupted from his step that spread toward the incoming horde and the burly man.
"Activate!" Max roared and immediately activated his golden armor's defenses.
With the superimposed magic aura around him, the golden armor's defenses overlapped on the red armor, making it look even more corporeal.
WHOOSH!
The silver-white force passed through Max's defenses, and as it did, his supposed red armor was crushed to pieces.
"Gwah!" Max keeled over as he coughed out a mouthful of blood after receiving the brunt of the silver-white force.
Behind him, miserable shrieks erupted as the silver-white force collided with the horde.
Unlike Max, however, the force pushed back his horde.
Kyran was not done. He took another step, and a fissure appeared on the ground, snaking its way toward the beast horde.
Max's eyes narrowed as he jumped to avoid the incoming fissure.
The fissure then split into two and encircled the horde.
"No!" Max exclaimed, belatedly realizing what the masked man was trying to do. He turned and was about to recall his beasts and resummoned them.
However.
BOOM!
Kyran slammed his right fist within the fissure before him. A surge of silver-white energy erupted from his arms, filling the fissure and instantly forming a barricade of pure Draconic magic energy that trapped the beast horde.
Max's eyes glowed as he tried but failed miserably in recalling his beasts.
"How—?"
It was only then that he noticed rune writings floating around the silver-white barricade.
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