"I know I am powerful. More powerful than Sixth-Circle Mages, or Rank Six Aura users, but this...?" Glenn rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "I can't even try to replicate half of this shit."

He was still floating above the battlefield, beside the regal Lucian, and watching as Exan and a giant dark knight destroyed kilometers of monsters with each move. The monsters as large as hills would be destroyed with a single swing of a sword, while the countless smaller bastards were crushed under their feet. 'I'm not even sure these Colossi know they are killing so many monsters. This is simply brutishly stupid!'

Diamanes grunted inside Glenn's mind. 'They're stronger than you for now, sure. But they're still weaker than my prime, I can tell you that much!'

Glenn raised an eyebrow. 'How much weaker?'

The entity didn't even hesitate. 'They're equivalent to two of my toes. Hmm. Maybe three toes for that Exan guy.'

"Excuse me, I didn't get your name...?" Lucian suddenly interrupted Glenn's inner bickering.

"That's because I didn't give it to you. I'm Glenn." He shook Lucian's outstretched hand. "That was some impressive magic. 'Duskwave', huh?"

Lucian's face brightened. "Right? It is the perfect spell to rid Munirp of these filthy beasts that dared to disturb the peace!"

"...For sure." Glenn tried to contain an awkward smile. Lucian's patriotism was a little too overbearing for him. Out of curiosity, he activated his Mana Sight and checked the regal fellow's power. He almost gasped in surprise when he found...nothing. Well, no, actually there was some sort of dark veil covering the area where a mage's Mana Heart is usually situated.

"Comte Noir and Sir Exan the Omniscient are as impressive as ever!" Lucian exclaimed as he looked at the two titans clearing out the battlefield. "I wonder, Glenn, what do you think will happen to Comte Noir?"

Glenn shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lucian laughed casually, unbothered. "Comte Noir was the main line of defense protecting the Black Gate, but now that the Dark Wall is gone, and the fortress with it, what is he going to do?"

"Hmm...Munirp will probably declare some sort of arbitrary border to their territory, and the Comte will be protecting it. After this whole..." Glenn gestured in the general direction of the countless monster-spitting Rifts. "...Mess is over, the war between Munirp and the other countries will probably resume at ten times the previous intensity. We won't have the Dark Wall as a safety net anymore, after all."

Lucian's face darkened. "The Celestial Gods, the Dreadland, and the Kyrvos Archipelago...These fools dare to face the might of Munirp. We shall crush them like the bugs that they are! How dare they try and unite to fight us? Their combined strength is still nothing compared to the...!"

Glenn silently watched as Lucian's face progressively turned to a deeper shade of red. The regal man continued to curse and repeat multiple versions of 'How dare they...something, something!' like a broken record.

'This guy loves his country,' remarked Diamanes. 'And let's not even talk about his magic. It's some of a strange mix between darkness and light magic, very weird but very powerful. I would love to eat it!'

Glenn glanced at his left hand, taking his eyes off Lucian for an instant. 'What use would that be? Taking his magic won't make me progress whatsoever. I need more insight into Astral Sorcery, not...whatever that was.'

Diamanes sneered. 'I wouldn't be so certain. A magic that controls dusk...doesn't that strangely sound like something related to, you know, the sun?'

"Pardon me, Brother Glenn," Lucian rubbed his forehead, his 'They dare?!' rampage finally over. "I have the terrible habit of going on small tangents concerning the kingdom's enemies. Anyway, I was curious about something..."

Glenn almost interrupted him but restrained himself. 'Who's your brother?'

He clasped his hands together and smiled curiously. "How come the pressure I feel from you is higher than these other Archmagi, even though you're only a Fifth Circle?"

Glenn paused. He almost tensed up but opted for another option. "Didn't they teach you at school that looking into other people's Mana's Hearts is impolite?"

Lucian chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "My deepest apologies, but I cannot help it. Your Mana Heart is as bright as the Sun, it is very hard to miss."

"Is it now...?" Glenn frowned as he watched Exan's Colossi and Comte Noir's Dark Knight freeze, their heads turned to the East, where the Dark Wall previously stood. They exchanged a glance before taking flight and heading there, leaving the battlefield in their hands.

'Ah, finally!' Diamanes sighed. 'I was starting to think they wouldn't let us try some other spells. That would have been a hell of a shame!'

"Hmm..." Lucian's eyebrows creased. "Seems like the enemy's elites are also done on their side. We won't be able to count on Sir Exan nor Comte Noir anymore."

Glenn grinned widely and rubbed his hands together. "Shall we step in again then, Lucian?"

Lucian pumped his fist to the sky, his Mana swirling around him. "For the glory of Munirp and honor, brother Glenn! Let us rip and tear!"

Glenn shook his head as he followed the strange fighter into battle. The place where Exan and the Black Count had fought was now nothing but deep gashes filled with crushed corpses and pools of blood. Hills had appeared where there had been none before, and deep crevasses led to abysses that had been dug into the ground.

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There were fewer monsters now, sure, but there was still a hell of a fight left. Glenn disregarded Lucian's movements and began preparing his spells. The Sun had been exactly what he had expected, which was very satisfying. He needed to see the effects of the other three spells he created. A spear of blue, condensed flames appeared in his right hand, burning with intense heat. Glenn aimed at the spot with the most monsters and without even a second of hesitation, threw the spell.

"The Lance of Prometheus."

The world seemed to twist around the projectile, struggling to support the piercing power of the spell. The bolt of pure, burning light consumed all in its path, propagating fiery plasma in its wake. The monsters in the way of the spell were reduced to ashes once again, unable to defend against it. Glenn shook the heat off his hand, unsatisfied.

"Hmm...I couldn't control the strength properly and still burned myself slightly..." He looked at the disaster he sowed, reality suddenly hitting him.

'I feel weird now...' Glenn scratched the top of his head. There were so many monsters in front of him, and yet, his excitement was dimming. This...this was too simple! 'Where is the challenge? The danger? I'm just like a butcher at the slaughterhouse! With all the forces on our side, it's just a one-sided destruction!'

Diamanes sighed. 'Just take it as testing more spells. Come on, let's see your improved Gravitational Singularities!'

Glenn moistened his lips and began to prepare his spell when a hand suddenly appeared before his face. A second later, his back encountered the ground in a violent meeting. Glenn coughed as he tried to shake off the shock, but something grabbed his neck and threw him in the air.

"The fuck—" He barely managed to put up a shield when a stone's feet crashed into his magic, shattering it to nothingness. Glenn swirled to the side, his spells flaring up to life as he fought back against his assailant, only to discover that he couldn't see him. Or it. He had no idea what attacked him, after all. Layers over layers of shield appeared around him, spinning like the astral formation that gave its name to the spell, Saturn's Rings.

"Seems like your desire for a strong enemy has been answered, bahaha!" Diamanes' laughter bellowed madly. Glenn's eyes darted to the side, searching with his Magic Sight, but he still couldn't find his opponent. One of his shields suddenly broke, proof of an attack he completely missed.

"Shit, a speedster?" he muttered, his mind racing for a solution. By the time he did find something, his Saturn's Rings completely exploded in particles of Mana and a hand grabbed his throat, crushing it. Glenn barely managed to stop it by creating a shield closer to his skin. Not even a second after he received the attack, he countered with a duo of gravity-defying existences: two small pearl-sized Blackholes spinning around each other.

"Gravitational Singularity!" Glenn's shout empowered the spell, intensifying its strength. He had discovered after multiple tests that, strangely, shouting the spell's name allowed for better conceptualization, and so, made it stronger. It was disgraceful, but not as much as dying.

An incredible force of attraction was created by the two objects and drew in Glenn's attacker: a humanoid creature, without a face or any recognizable features. Its skin was gray and oily, glistening like a shark's. It had two legs that seemed to be carved out of some sort of gray stone, with small stone wings attached to the ankles. The creature fought back against the attraction the best it could, but Glenn wasn't going to let it go free. His left, purple arm gleamed with power as he channeled one of the powers he took with Diamanes.

"Mind Break!" Milena's mind powers broke through the creature's defenses, putting him into a comfortable illusion where countless, helpless humans were running around waiting to be slaughtered. The creature stopped fighting back, too concentrated on chasing the humans in his mind. Glenn heaved as he maintained both the illusion and the Gravitational Singularity. The latter crushed the monster's body little by little, before eventually imploding and destroying it entirely.

Glenn flew back to retreat, grabbing at his throat with a gasp. "Hah...hah...that was a close one. What was that?"

Diamanes gave his evaluation with a serious tone. "Whatever it was, it had surprising strength. Comparable to a Saint, I'd say. Had you not conjured Saturn's Rings close to your neck, you would have been reduced to a pulp."

"Let us all be thankful for my innate, incredible talent and focus back on the battlefield, shall...we?" Glenn trailed off as he watched a dozen other faceless monsters rise in the sky. They were all turned toward him, bouncing in the air with trepidation.

'Nelg, I'm going to need you now.' Glenn ordered his Soul weapon to return as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.

"You know, considering their specs—incredible speed and power but low durability, I think they could be considered perfect Mage-killers." Diamanes paused. "Huh. Well, here's the perfect name. Glenn, ten Magekillers at noon!"

Nelg appeared in Glenn's left hand and changed to its longsword form. His voice rang into the air despite the lack of organs to produce the sound.

"I'm here! It's surprisingly fun to fight against the others—holy fuck what are those things?!" Nelg's scream was lost in the battle as the Magekillers disappeared and lunged in Glenn's direction. The latter braced himself and used six Saturn Rings in addition to Nelg to defend himself. Without looking, he changed his weapon's form to the double-bladed axe and sent a Cleave & Double it in all directions. Sharp blades of dark blue Mana cut through the air, crashing against the Magekillers and slicing through their limbs.

Three stone feet pierced through Glenn's shield and struck him from every side. Glenn flew straight back into the ground. His right shoulder wing shattered, his left arm bent and his right knee displaced. But this time, the young man was ready. Time seemed to stop as his lips cracked open. Six Magekillers appeared in his sight, six targets to his spell.

"Absolute Zero." The spell's moniker left his mouth, ringing like the bell of death. A cloud of white steam escaped from his lips. The immediate vicinity around Glenn came to a complete halt, flooded with his Mana. Sounds disappeared, and projectiles stopped in place, all subjected to Glenn's whim. He carefully stood back up, coughing out blood and wincing from the pain. Without even thinking, he used his magic C.P.R. (Catalytic Pain Rejuvenation, as Diamanes liked to call it) to fix the broken bones and stand back up. The Magekillers moved sluggishly, a thick crust of ice covering their skin. They helplessly watched as Glenn approached them blade in hand—if they could even do so, considering they didn't have visible eyes.

"Fucking hell..." He sighed heavily as he used his axe to hack through one Magekiller after the other. He thoroughly made sure to leave nothing but diced bits before dismissing his Absolute Zero. Maintaining it required an absurd amount of Mana, but the efficiency was unparalleled.

With this spell, he could basically stop time in an area, freezing it to the quantum point of zero kelvin. At least that's how he conceptualized the spell. He was pretty sure that he just slowed his opponents to such a point it appeared as though they had completely stopped. True time stop was impossible, but an imitation such as this one was feasible. It was possible using a combination of Astral Sorcery and the Nitrogen he took with Diamanes.

The second his spell went down, another dozen Magekillers appeared in front of him. Glenn smacked his lips and pointed his finger forward.

"Not this time."

The Magekillers dashed beyond his senses, but it was already too late. Glenn's Mana rushed in as he muttered his spell.

"Orion's Rain."

Small, shining stars appeared above him. There were hundreds of them, shining in mystical lights. Without warning, they suddenly shot to the ground, killing every monster in the vicinity. A true rain of devastation. The Magekillers all fell to their knees, pierced through and through by countless stars. Even their speed couldn't do anything in the face of countless projectiles.

Glenn took a deep breath, lightheaded from the Mana expenditure.

"Phew..." He forced a grin as he raised his axe, "Let's go for round two, shall we?"