The look on Dyer's clone's face changed drastically!

"How can they find me so quickly?" he thought, extremely surprised.

A humanoid figure, extremely handsome, appeared and looked down at Dyer from above.

"So, you came here personally just for my clone?" Dyer inquired.

Number 3 responded, saying, "Personally? Huh, I'm just an incarnation!"

Dyer was confused.

"You're rank 9?" he asked.

"My incarnations are also rank 9. Didn't you know? How can you call yourself the leader of the mages when you don't know these things?" Number 3 said.

Dyer was shaken.

"What happened in the last million years? To think that demons have rank 9 incarnations," Dyer thought in astonishment.

"Freeze," Number 3 cast a rank 9 spell.

Dyer's clone smiled bitterly and self-destructed directly before the 'freeze' spell could hit him.

He and all the other clones he created all exploded!

"A pity! I could have gotten a lot of information from him," Number 3 thought with sadness.

He could have captured any other rank 8 without a problem, but Dyer's clone was quasi-rank 9 with vast experience.

Quasi-rank 9 means his energy was already comparable to rank 9, but he was not officially there yet.

"Still, we should investigate the reason for his visit," he thought and then disappeared.

...

Dyer, who had been observing the river of time with his third eye, suddenly opened all his eyes.

"Rank 9 incarnations? This is unbelievable," he thought.

There are three types of spells: 'clone,' 'avatar,' and 'incarnations.'

Clones are limited by the energy given to them, unable to advance in their rank, and they disappear once their energy runs out. Furthermore, they think independently and possess self-awareness, not being directly controlled by their main body.

Avatars, too, are constrained by the energy bestowed upon them and cannot advance. But they are not self-conscious and are directly controlled by whoever casts them. They disappear whenever the caster wills it or when their energy runs out.

Incarnations are different.

They are not limited by the energy given to them and can advance in rank. They have a great deal of autonomy, and their personality might differ somewhat from the caster.

It is a dangerous thing to create an incarnation, as there is a possibility that they might rebel.

"To think that those demons take a risk like this, letting their incarnations reach rank 9. Now the threat of hell is much higher," Dyer thought, sharing the news with every other rank 9 mage.

...

Zagronan was standing in the arena.

"I hope we are lucky today!" Rachel said.

She already knew the opponent's ability.

It was named 'theft,' and it could randomly steal one of the target's abilities for 10 minutes.

Most Royal demons had only one ability, so this ability for royal demons who relied on their abilities was like a death sentence.

The weakness was that if the user could not kill the target in 10 minutes, they would be unable to use 'theft' again for 1 year.

With a loud bang, the match started.

...

Burch cast 'theft' as soon as the bang sounded.

'Theft' stole 'gone' ability from Zagronan. "This 'gone' ability looks great!" he thought.

He only stole the ability without its weakness.

He immediately used 'gone' on Zagronan.

Zagronan cursed. He didn't expect his luck would be so bad that 'gone' would be stolen.

He was about to cast 'blackhole' but suddenly felt a 'one move ahead' warning about an imminent attack.

He jumped, and the ground where he stood was consumed in fire afterward.

"'One move ahead' works! With this, I can survive for 10 minutes!" he thought.

Burch was stunned that Zagronan managed to dodge. He continued casting spells, and Zagronan kept dodging.

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Burch grew frustrated and cast several 'land mine' spells all around.

Zagronan finally found the chance, cast 'blackhole', and managed to spot his opponent again.

Burch noticed this and cast a 'fireball' directly into the blackhole.

Zagronan had noticed the 'mine spells' around, so he decided not to run and instead cast "super-ultra waterwall."

Spells are much more expensive when combined with enhancements, but that's for long battles. For short battles, it's not much of a concern.

The Fireball passed through the blackhole and hit the waterwall. Because the waterwall was enhanced, it completely resisted the Fireball.

"Super-ultra-massive-fast-double fireball," Zagronan cast after turning off the blackhole.

Two huge Fireballs, pushing the limits of rank 1, appeared and flew in two directions, greatly restricting the directions in which Burch could run.

Then, Zagronan showcased his amazing talent and immediately cast another spell before the fireballs reached Burch.

"Wide-sturdy-hard-thick-quick stone walls!"

'Stone walls' was a spell for imprisoning the opponent briefly. Burch realized that if he allowed the fireballs to reach him, along with the 'stone walls,' he would receive the full damage of the two fireballs. Demons have fire resistance but can still be harmed and killed by fire.

He chose the best option: flying to get away!

"Quick-fast-super-ultra-smart lightning," Zagronan aimed the spell at where Burch was attempting to fly from.

He could not see Burch because of 'gone' but knew his previous location and was confident that Burch would try to run from the loophole he intentionally created.

Burch knew he was in trouble. Lightning was already a very quick spell, and with the 'quick' and 'fast' enhancements, plus him being in the sky, avoiding it was impossible. He cast "soil shield."

Soil was the best defense against lightning.

A massive shield made of soil appeared in front of him.

The lightning hit with a gigantic explosion, causing the soil to solidify and then break and shatter into pieces.

The lightning continued, changing direction and following where Burch had run to.

This was because of the 'smart' enhancement, which allowed spells to follow the target.

Burch didn't have time to cast any more spells; after all, he wasn't a spellcasting genius. The lightning struck, and Burch screamed.

"Blackhole," Zagronan cast it and located Burch. Then, immediately he deactivated it and cast "sharp-quick-super-ultra razor strike."

Burch, momentarily paralyzed by the lightning, cast "Stone shield."

A stone shield appeared, but the razor strike was too strong, cutting through it like butter.

Something was sent flying! After a while, it dropped to the ground.

Zagronan took a deep breath, picked up the head and body, and left the arena.

...

"You are pretty much the strongest in rank 1 now," Rachel said.

Zagronan was at the peak of rank 1, with three strong abilities. It's not strange that he can defeat his opponents easily.

The Royal demons are generally strong. If Zagronan now fights a normal demon, he can win with one spell.

"Yeah, I don't know who is in the final, but whoever it is going to lose," he said.

"Don't get arrogant! Let me predict it, and then we can make a plan," she said.

Zagronan went and traded the corpse.

Unfortunately, the corpse he got this time was not new, so he didn't gain any new abilities after absorbing the bloodline.

"I want to go and see Lana," he said.

Lana was the giant elf demon girl.

"Do it after this last match!" Rachel said, annoyed.

"I'm going to win anyway," he said, leaving the room.

Rachel sighed and stopped talking.

...

Iggad was playing with his Legos.

"Iggad, what do you want with the prediction ability?" Elizabeth asked, calling the baron by his first name.

"That brat is obviously hiding a lot, but the matter regarding the prediction ability should be mostly correct. He also should be rich, being able to steal abilities with rare pills," Iggad said.

"As for why I want the predictive ability, yes, it is what you think!" Iggad said.

"There is no need for that, Iggad. I already bought a new one," Elizabeth said, her face turning red.

"I caused you to lose it, and I will take it back," Iggad said firmly.

"I love you," Elizabeth cast the "flight" spell to kiss Iggad.

Just imagine a 5-meter-tall demon with a huge beard kissing a petite girl barely 1.6 meters tall. They continued kissing and went to bed to continue their intimate act.

...

Zagronan was thinking about that night with Lana.

Rachel, who had witnessed it all, rolled her eyes and said, "What exactly do you like about her? She is a giant compared to you!"

Zagronan replied, "Her being huge is a plus! Our children would inherit good genes that make them physically powerful like their mother!"

"But your children are going to be enslaved!" Rachel said.

"Most of them, probably, but there is a chance that our child might become a royal demon!" he said with anticipation.

"How many children do you want?" Rachel asked.

"Maybe a few hundred?" Rachel was speechless.

"Lana won't accept it!" Rachel said.

"She does! My Father, Tanoth, has millions of children a year! A few hundred is nothing! Lana understands that strength is in numbers!" he said.

"What will you do with a few hundred children?" Rachel asked.

"I'll throw the normal demons away and keep the royal-blooded ones!" he said as if it were normal.

"Parent of the year!" Rachel said sarcastically.

"I know I'm too kind, but I like to give them a chance," he said.

"Too kind?" Rachel asked.

"Most royal-blooded parents directly eat their non-royal children! You know, they say newborn children are delicious!" Zagronan said.

Rachel just now realized that she was dealing with demons.

She changed the subject and said, "The next match should be the most dangerous one you've ever faced! Her name is Horn, and her ability disables all other abilities, including your spellcasting ability. Her weakness is that if any ability manages to resist her, she will receive a great backlash," Rachel explained.

Zagronan, who already knew most of the information from Rachel, as she had repeated it several times, said, "I am at the peak of rank 1, so even without abilities, I should be fine."

"You are not fine! Horn has a great sword ability, and you only know some spells! As I see it, you're in trouble!" she said.

"You tell me, what should I do?" Zagronan asked.

"You have 5 days! Go and sell a few pills, and in return, buy good weapons!" she said.

"But you said selling pills is dangerous?" he asked.

"The baron already knows you have valuable pills, and if you don't do it now, you'll die anyway! In the last few days, in every single prediction, you've lost," she said.

Zagronan's face got serious, and he walked toward the 'exchange.'

He reached and went in, and after selling a few rank 3 pills, he amassed a lot of points. Still, weapons are much more expensive than pills, so with all the points, he only managed to buy six rank 1 equipments.

As for rank 2 equipment, they cannot be used in the tournament.

He took the equipment to the room and started looking.

One was a full-body armor. It was yellow, shiny, and covered every part of him, yet it was light and didn't restrict movements much.

"The armor is great!" Zagronan smiled widely.

The other was a long sword that looked very sharp.

The third one was a crossbow, just like the one he had sold before. "I finally have another crossbow!" he was very happy.

The fourth one was a storage ring, which is very useful for carrying things. He already had a storage ring, but his was rank 0, and this one was rank 1.

The fifth one was a staff. It added a 'boost' enhancement to all spells with extra mana cost.

The last one was a boot. It greatly increased his speed.

He also bought some spell crystals as trump cards.

Spell crystals were very expensive, but he gritted his teeth and bought them.

"Is this enough?" he asked.

Rachel checked the reflection and said, "It should be enough."

Zagronan smiled, looking forward to the fight!