Chapter 324: The Strongest Spell
The Strongest Spell
Alibaba narrowed his eyes.
"...Interesting."
The Doom Knight suddenly extended its empty hand.
Dark mana condensed.
"[Death Chain.]"
Dozens of black chains burst from the ground.
They shot toward Victor from every direction.
Victor swung the Death Scythe.
One chain snapped.
Then another.
Another.
But more continued emerging.
Within moments they surrounded him.
Victor chuckled.
"Trying to restrict my movement?"
"You picked the wrong opponent."
He suddenly accelerated.
His figure blurred.
The chains missed nothing but afterimages.
Before anyone realized what had happened—
Victor appeared directly beneath the Doom Knight.
The giant looked downward.
Too late.
Victor drove the butt of the Death Scythe into the knight’s abdomen.
BOOM!
The armored giant staggered.
Victor followed immediately.
A sweeping kick.
An upward slash.
A spinning strike.
Each attack landed at a different joint.
Shoulder.
Knee.
Neck.
Waist.
Instead of attacking randomly...
He was carefully testing every weak point in the armor.
Alibaba watched everything carefully.
"...He’s analyzing it."
Victor suddenly retreated several steps.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"I found it."
The Doom Knight tilted its head.
Victor pointed his scythe toward the center of its chest.
"The mana circulation isn’t actually everywhere."
"It all returns there."
"The chest."
"The core."
Alibaba’s emerald flames flared violently.
"...Impossible."
"There is no way you discovered that during battle."
Victor merely laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"You really think this is the first Doom Knight I’ve fought?"
His golden eyes gleamed brilliantly.
"I know exactly where your masterpiece keeps its life."
The battlefield fell silent once more.
Everyone could sense it.
The battle had changed.
Victor was no longer testing his opponent.
He had found the path to victory.
Across the battlefield, Alibaba slowly raised both skeletal hands.
Ancient runes began circling around his body.
A terrifying amount of mana gathered overhead.
Victor noticed immediately.
He smiled without turning around.
"So..."
"You’re finally preparing your strongest magic."
"Good."
"I was beginning to lose my patience."
The Doom Knight lowered its stance once again.
This time...
It no longer fought merely to defeat Victor.
It fought to buy its master enough time to finish the spell that would decide the entire battle.
The Doom Knight lowered its stance once again.
This time...
It no longer fought merely to defeat Victor.
It fought to buy its master enough time to finish the spell that would decide the entire battle.
Behind it, Alibaba floated several meters above the ruined battlefield.
Dark green flames burned fiercely within his empty eye sockets as countless layers of magic circles unfolded around him. One after another, ancient runes appeared in the sky, overlapping until they covered nearly the entire battlefield.
The temperature dropped rapidly.
Frost spread across shattered stones.
Even the air itself seemed to slow.
Victor glanced past the Doom Knight and immediately understood.
"So that’s your plan."
He rolled his shoulders before twirling the Death Scythe once.
"Then move."
"Or I’ll simply cut through you."
The Doom Knight answered with action alone.
BOOM!
Its armored figure burst forward.
The massive greatsword descended with enough force to split the battlefield apart.
Victor stepped into the attack instead of retreating.
CLANG!
Steel screamed.
The collision sent violent shockwaves through the surrounding ruins.
The Doom Knight followed with another strike.
Then another.
Its attacks became faster and heavier, abandoning defense entirely.
Victor met every blow head-on.
The Death Scythe flowed like black lightning, redirecting enormous amounts of force while striking at the joints of the knight’s armor whenever even the smallest opening appeared.
Clang!
Boom!
Crash!
Every exchange shook the earth.
Watching from the city walls, everyone could only see flashes of black steel colliding again and again.
Max couldn’t suppress his admiration.
"Incredible..."
"He’s forcing the Doom Knight backward."
Ruby clasped her hands together.
"Come on..."
Natalia silently prayed, her exhausted body trembling as she watched the battle unfold.
Lane smiled despite the danger.
"I knew he wouldn’t lose."
Videl folded her arms, though the concern in her sapphire eyes never faded.
"Finish it, Victor..."
Meanwhile, Alibaba continued chanting.
The amount of mana gathering around him became so dense that cracks began appearing in space itself.
Victor noticed.
His expression sharpened.
"No more playing."
The Doom Knight roared soundlessly before unleashing another devastating slash.
Victor suddenly vanished.
The giant blade struck only empty air.
Before the Doom Knight could react—
Victor appeared beneath its guard.
His golden eyes flashed.
"So predictable."
He twisted his body and unleashed a single upward swing.
The Death Scythe, coated in both mana and that mysterious invisible power no one else could understand, drew a brilliant black crescent through the air.
SHHHHK!
The slash struck directly across the Doom Knight’s chest.
For an instant...
Nothing happened.
Then—
CRACK.
A tiny fracture appeared in the center of its breastplate.
Victor smiled.
"There you are."
The Doom Knight immediately tried to retreat.
Too late.
Victor stepped forward.
One strike.
Another.
A third.
Each slash landed on exactly the same point.
The crack rapidly spread across the armor.
Alibaba’s chanting faltered for the briefest moment.
"...Impossible."
Victor laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"You made one mistake."
"You relied too much on regeneration."
The Doom Knight raised its sword for one final attack.
Victor calmly lowered his stance.
His grip tightened around the Death Scythe.
"Disappear."
The battlefield fell silent.
Then...
One clean swing.
The black blade flashed past faster than anyone could follow.
SHING!
Time itself seemed to freeze.
The Doom Knight remained standing.
A heartbeat later...
A blinding beam of black light erupted from the crack in its chest.
BOOOOOOM!!
Its mana core shattered.
The enormous suit of armor exploded into countless fragments before dissolving into black particles that scattered across the battlefield like ash carried by the wind.
Silence followed.
Victor slowly rested the Death Scythe on his shoulder.
"Told you..."
"It was only a toy."
Alibaba stared at the empty space where his greatest summon had once stood.
The spell he had spent countless years perfecting...
Destroyed in only a few exchanges.
Even so, he didn’t stop.
Instead, his laughter echoed through the battlefield.
"Hehehe..."
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