The snake raged and tried to struggle. Its long body writhed and made dust and soil fly in the air. The threads tightened and formed a scratch on the black scales.

"It's useless for you to struggle." Ivo mobilized the magic energy that scattered in the air and formed other magic threads. Hundreds of strands formed and intertwined into ten thin threads that tied the snake's head. Its mouth opened wide and revealed a white fang that was aimed at him.

The large body swept towards Ivo, causing vibrations on the ground. The snake was only about 100 meters long but its body was quite large. Its weight of almost 300 kilograms shot out quickly trying to attack Ivo who was standing no more than 5 meters in front of it.

Ivo jumped to the side casually. His hands continuously mobilized mana in the air through the crystal he held in his hand. This time, Ivo did not use it to create another thread but instead made a pulling force with all that mana.

Crack…

The sound of bones cracking could be heard in this silent land. With the energy of death filling this place and slowly losing the vitality that flesh should have.

A foul odor could be smelled in the air along with the gray mist that seemed to eat and enter the black snake's flesh. The black rotten flesh fell to the ground making a small hole.

The snake that felt something wrong rebelled and became even crazier. Its long body wrapped around the magic threads. Amidst the threat of death that it felt with its instincts, the snake released the magic pressure that flowed through its body.

Ivo released the threads from his fingers and jumped back. His attention was directed to the black flesh that had turned to ashes. Under such strong death energy, even a monster in the first awakening stage would die.

"Veibel, he must have done something to me." Ivo looked at his skin which was still intact without a single blemish. Although the death energy eroded his skin, the movement of the death energy did not have a single threat.

His feet touched the ground with his body facing away from the sunlight. The dusk was slowly getting darker, and the death fog that covered this place slowly became thicker.

Although my mana senses were quite limited, the snake must have had the same problem. Ivo looked through the mist of the snake chasing him as he escaped from the grip of Ivo’s threads.

He stood expressionless as he felt a strong anger directed at him. It was even greater than the emotion Rachel had shown him when they met at the demon alchemist’s mansion.

“Maybe one is enough? Yeah, even if he doesn’t die, I can kill him in other ways.” Ivo held a mana crystal in his hand. It was the first mana crystal he had obtained at Ernest’s funeral.

With my current strength, killing this Black Snake would take too much time. That was if he fought the conventional way.

However, Ivo did not like to fight like that. If he could do it the underhanded way, then I would fight the sneaky way. If he could do it the best way, then he would use that way.

Pride? He didn’t care about that.

Honor? There was no honor for the dead and no use for the living.

Pride was useless in battle while honor was just a chain that bound someone. In a battle, there are only two who are above ground.

Those who live and those who die. Those who die with honor eventually die. Those who live on the battlefield will not think about honor.

Ivo, who had been tightly gripping the mana crystal from beginning to end, no longer did so. He casually threw the mana crystal into the air and raised his hand towards the snake that was charging towards him.

The aura that the monster emitted suppressed the surroundings and the Mana within its body was released massively. Although it could not use magic like humans, the snake instinctively prevented the rotting of flesh infected with death energy.

“In the end, you are just a stupid, mindless monster.”

The snake’s jaws opened wide, its large mouth and fangs almost touching the man in front of it when its head was forcibly stopped. The distance separating the two was only a few strands of hair.

The magic threads that were connected through the fingers of the man in front of it bound the snake for the second time. The snake looked at the man in front of it with an angry gaze and tried to devour the small human in front of it. Its jaws tried to devour Ivo but it didn't budge an inch.

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Ivo caught the mana crystal back in his hand. The crystal that was originally plain without any carvings was now engraved with a complicated magic circle surrounding the entire mana crystal. Casually, Ivo threw the mana crystal into the snake's mouth and left the monster in front of him.

Kieek…..!!!

A powerful mana current seeped from the mana crystal the monster swallowed and caused it to fall helplessly. Foreign mana that was as pure as natural mana entered its entire body and contaminated it. The magic energy it had previously released slowly disappeared and was disrupted.

The snake felt a strong sense of danger. Rotting flesh fell from its mouth, creating many holes where black blood flowed. Its thick, black scales lost their color. The snake lay on the ground like a corpse, leaving only flesh and blood that had rotted and decomposed back into the soil.

It was very different from Ivo who only experienced erosion on his skin.

“So he put death magic on me. Maybe, Energy Repulsion? If I’m not mistaken, it’s a mid-level magic that will prevent certain types of energy from harming someone.” Ivo sighed softly when he saw how the death energy immediately entered the black snake’s body so fiercely. The movement of death energy in this place was quite abnormal to begin with.

It was just energy after all. Although its nature was quite opposite to life energy, death energy would not directly enter a living creature’s body so fiercely without a specific reason. But seeing the phenomenon in front of him, Ivo rejected his initial guess.

“Probably not. Energy Repulsion doesn’t have a long-lasting effect. Unless Veibel keeps casting this magic inside my body. Given how strange this situation is, maybe Favor from us?”

It was a mid-level magic that only the two largest faith organizations on the human continent possessed.

The Court of the Dead and the Worshippers of Light.

One was a believer in the teachings of death, where life would inevitably end and welcome the coming death.

The second was a worshipper of light who believed that light was the highest point of this world where everyone should follow and worship it.

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to have a significant impact on my body. Since it’s harmless, there’s no need to think too much about it.”

Besides, his relationship with the Court of the Dead was irreversible when he was forced to accept that Mana Nucleus. Since then, he had been on the list of people eyed by the Court of the Dead.

No matter what their goal was, Ivo couldn’t stand opposite them. But he also didn’t want to join the Court of the Dead.

Sighing softly, Ivo sat down beside Zariel. “My life at White Snow Academy seems like it’s going to be quite troublesome. Even if I manage to get in there, when I defend the Court of The Dead to save Raven’s ass…”

This would be a bit annoying and would bring trouble. But, isn’t that what makes life fun?

If the Regressor were to kill him even after he saved him from the Court of the Dead…

“Don’t worry about it. If that’s going to happen, everything will be even more fun.” The corners of his mouth lifted as he thought about this possibility. The shadow cast by his body slowly lengthened along with the darkening dusk. Under the night filled with stars, among the mist that covered this hill, a player sat while holding another crystal in his hand.

In the distance where the city of Ernest displayed thousands of bright lights like stars in the sky, 5 large towers that were visible in the distance shone in each window where the towers stood. The white towers that seemed unaffected by the darkness of the night radiated a majestic light that was incomprehensible to humans.

“Ugh… where… am I?” A small voice came from beside him. Zariel opened his eyes and saw several lights shining around him.

“You’re awake? It seems like you slept quite well.”

“Who are you?” Zariel asked. His eyes were slightly red from crying and his hands were still bleeding.

His body was weak but his voice seemed full of clarity. He looked like a child, but his eyes showed no hesitation at all. He looked unbecoming of his age and the gaze he gave was not something a child should have.

“I’m nobody. Just a traveler who lost his home and returned to the place he loved.” Ivo repeated the words he had once said. “My name is Ivo Graham.”

“Ivo Graham?” Zariel looked at Ivo who was sitting beside him.

“That’s right. You can also call me Ivo.”

“Did you lose your home, Ivo?” Zariel asked.

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve long considered my old home, the place I was born, as an empty, worthless box.”

Hearing Ivo’s answer, Zariel didn’t say anything for a moment. The two of them stared at the distant city of Ernest.

“Do you hate your home?”

“I hate it, but I also don’t. Then what about you? You’re part of the Rumanoff family, but what’s a little kid like you doing in a place like this?”

“Do you hate your home too?”

Zariel wasn’t surprised when Ivo mentioned the Rumanoff family. He just stared blankly for a few minutes before giving his answer. “I came here when I heard someone was called a genius in the Rumanoff family. Just visiting someone from the same family.”

Stumbling, Zariel stood up and looked towards the center of the ruins. Tears flowed once more but no cries came out. With his brow furrowed and his face pale, he walked even as his body refused to move.

Ivo followed Zariel and stopped at a grave that was now half-covered by sand.

“He left nothing behind. His swordsmanship may have been passed down, but that person doesn’t even know this person’s name. Isn’t it ironic that the one who has the eyes that can see the truth doesn’t even know the name of the one who created the sword technique he uses?” Zariel stood in front of the grave.

The cold sand that touched his flesh, and the pain that was unimaginable for such a small child, but he did not complain or scream. Calmly, Zariel threw a wooden plaque into the grave.

His first name had been crossed out and had thousands of scratches that made it impossible for one to read. Only the words ‘Rumanoff’ remained intact.

“Death has greeted you, poor soul. Be glad that your suffering is over. I hope we can meet again when all these lives end.” Under the gusts of wind, sand slowly filled the grave from the mound that Zariel had previously made. Now, it was just a flattened ground.

Zariel sat in front of the grave and began to cry.