At the center of the biggest continent of the Etterian Realm, a sole mountain stood supreme - Mount Everwatch. With an elevation of twenty thousand meters, its peak would be the highest altitude on the planet, if not for one simple fact... right at the mountain's top, a monstrous building loomed over the whole world. A thousand meters in height, Polus Tower dominated its surroundings with its immense presence.

At the summit of the tower, the concentration of Ambient Mana far surpassed the limits imposed on the rest of the world. An ordinary person would die one hundred times before they could even climb Mount Everwatch, but even a typical Magus wouldn't be able to survive the pure Mana Pressure of the highest place in the Realm.

Victor Solum wasn't an ordinary person, nor was he a mere Magus. The same could be said about the person who arrived at the tower's summit just a few minutes after Victor completed setting the World Barrier after whole three years of seclusion.

On the Etterian Realm, only chosen few could reach this place, also known as the World's Peak. A man entered Polus Tower's rooftop through a dimensional portal - the only thing that connected it to the ninety-nine Floor of this majestic building.

With silver shoulder-length hair that reflected the bright sunlight unhindered by non-existing clouds and with his pure cerulean eyes, the man who seemed to be in his early forties reminded one of a celestial being. His white robe shone with bluish magical runes, but it paled in comparison to the dagger he held in his right hand.

Exquisite multicolored runes decorated the weapon's ivory handle, and its blade made of golden light changed its size and form with each passing moment.

Any Archmage not ignorant enough would recognize the newcomer as the second strongest Supreme Magus, Mortimer Aetherius, but less than a dozen people in the Realm knew the name of his weapon - Aurora's Mercy.

The only detail that not matched Mortimir's otherwordly appearance was his expression.

The one who stood at the center of the rooftop before a floating sphere of blue Mana commented, "You look like a man who's already dead inside, Mort."

Without showing any surprise at the fact that the other man commented on his looks without even turning back, Mortimer replied emotionlessly, "Is this how you greet your best friend after three years of not seeing each other?"

Unlike unfairly handsome and tall Mortimer, the strongest of Supreme Magi in history had an unassuming face and an average built. After the three whole years that he used to set up the Barrier, his unkempt hazel hair grew to his waist, and his beard made him look like a homeless man.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized with a fake smile as he turned back to face the other man, "I didn't have even a minute of sleep for more than a thousand days straight. My mind is kind of cloudy, Mort."

Victor wore a simple long-hooded black robe that seemed really cheap and rather worn-out. With his appearance, he would be easily mistaken for a beggar or a drunkard if placed at a random street. Who would believe that this gentleman with dark circles under his eyes was the Etterian Realm's Sovereign?

The only exceptional feature of Victor's outer appearance was his bright, confident eyes. His violet irises hid the secrets of the universe, and his bottomless pupils devoured anyone thoughtless enough to gaze into them for too long.

With soulless expression, Mortimer watched as the unfathomable Magus approached him, step by step.

"Was it you, all along?" Victor asked as he calmly stood ten meters opposite of the shell of a man he once knew. "You was the one who assisted the Magi Butcher two hundred years ago, right?"

Mortimer replied absentmindedly, "He took their Mana, and my dagger took their souls. It couldn't be helped. You were just one step away from completing your Supreme Oath Ritual."

With an amused smile, Victor nodded. "I see, I see. Really smart. Using the crazy psycho to help you kill the Supreme Magi we imprisoned and then finishing him off to get rid of the evidence."

With an unreadable expression, the Realm's Sovereign advanced the conversation in another direction. "Mort, my dear friend... Can you please tell me why I can't sense a Soul Signature of any Supreme Magi other than you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Victor continued, "My two beautiful wives, Diana and Alethea... my mischievous son, Artemis... my cute niece and your dear daughter, Livia... our mutual friend, Leoric and his wife, the kindest lady alive, Olianna... our friends, our family, our allies, our rivals, each of them who achieved the title of Supreme Magus, what happened to them?"

As Victor made one single step forward, decreasing the distance between them by five meters, Mortimer replied, his body shaking, "They are dead."

The Sovereign tilted his head. "Oh, they are dead? Right, it makes sense. Why else would I lose their Soul Signature? It wouldn't happen even if, by some chance, they teleported to another Realm. So, Mort... why are they dead and you are alive? Honestly, I'm so glad that at least you escaped whatever finished them all off! At the very least, Mortemir The Heavenblessed is still alive!"

Victor didn't take another step. One moment he was five meters away from his closest friend, and the other, he stood just a meter away from him. It was a Space-Bending Blink - an ability no much different from the actual teleportation when it came to close combat.

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Mortimer felt week in his legs, his whole body violently shaking and his eyes starting to overflow with tears.

With his body hunched, the Heavenblessed lost his advantage in height, now being at the same eye level as the Sovereign.

"S-sorry," Mortimer mumbled, his face dirty with tears and snot, "I'm so sorry, Junior Apprentice Brother. I didn't want to do it... I didn't have a choice... To save our Realm... this is the only choice..."

With a gentle expression, Victor said, "How long it was since you last called me like this, Senior Apprentice Brother? Two hundred years? Three hundred? It sure is nostalgic."

Like a broken Recording Crystal, the man continued to repeat, "I'm so sorry... so sorry..."

As if it was none of his business, the Sovereign concluded, "So you've killed them, huh."

As the words escaped his lips, the whole atmosphere of The World's Peak changed.

"My wives, my kid, even my niece..." Victor said as his expression turned grim. "Do you even understand what you did, Mort?"

A terrible Mana Pressure descended on the broken silver-haired man. Under this force, an ordinary person would become a meat paste in a moment. Anyone under the level of Grand Magus wouldn't have a chance to bear the weight of this Mana Domain.

Somnus Tower's rooftop was a circle with a five hundred meter radius, and its floor was made of Runic Everstone and enhanced by Victor to support the constant inflow of the highly concentrated Ambient Mana. And yet, small cracks started to appear all around its floor. Thankfully, the prismatic sphere that hovered a few meters above the center of the place restored the floor's condition in a few seconds.

Looking at his best friend with fury, the Sovereign roared, "You want to tell me that you've killed your precious, your beloved daughter?! You've murdered Livia with this dirty, disgusting dagger you love so much?! Have you gone completely crazy, Mortimer Aetherius?! Have the Mad Sage infected you with his insanity?!"

Without activating his own Domain, the Heavenblessed could barely stand without falling on his knees.

With a bit of reason returning to his eyes, Mortimer yelled, "Do you think I want any of this?! Do you think I enjoy watching the life of my most important person being taken from me by my own hands?! You don't understand, Vic! We are weak! I'm weak! You are weak!

"We don't have a fucking chance against the Void Eaters! Awakening the Goddess is the only way! She needs Souls! Our Souls! The Souls of Supreme Magi! Only then would Lady Aurora wake up and save our world!"

"Awakening the Goddess?!" Victor shouted as he slapped the disgusting coward with the force that sent him flying tens of meters. "This is your fucking reason?! This is your excuse?! Why you didn't tell me anything?! Together, we could've found another way, Mort! We always did! We always did!"

Standing up tall and wiping out the blood, tears, and snot from his face, Mortimer glared at the Sovereign, the look of determination appearing on his face.

With a tired voice, with a tone of someone who lost any hope, the Heavenblessed said, "I tried to find another way. I really did. I hesitated for hundreds of years. I thought of telling you everything millions of times. But it's too late, Vic. I wasted too much time delaying the inevitable. Hoping that there's another way. No. There's none. It didn't exist when I first received Aurora's Mercy. And it definitely doesn't exist now."

Suddenly, the air around Mortimer changed completely. As if whole other heaven replaced the space around him with its presence, his Domain protected him from the invisible pressure of the Magic Sovereign.

"So you want to fight, huh?!" Victor smirked. "Just as I guessed, you decided to attempt suicide after feeling guilty for everything you did. Why else would you challenge me, of all people? You should know better than anyone else how inexistent your chances are."

"You are right, Vic," he acknowledged, "in normal circumstances, that is. For the last three years, you worked on creating the Barrier that would keep our whole Realm safe for the next hundred years. According to my Mana Sense, your current Mana Capacity is at 7% of your maximum. I, on the other hand, came prepared."

With an unhidden disgust and a burning rage, Victor made a guess, "Livia. You devoured her Mana Core. You piece of shit, you inhuman trash, you fucking monster! She loved you! She admired you! How you even dared?! How you fucking dared?! Can you even imagine how it feels to have your Core eaten alive?!"

To temporarily amplify one's Magic Power and Mana Capacity, it's possible to absorb another mage's Core. But this process required a very high level of compatibility, which was very hard to achieve... Unless the other person was your blood relative and with the same Elemental Affinity... Core Devouring was a taboo among mages for many reasons, not least of which was the excruciating pain the victim felt in the process.

"I know," the Heavenblessed said, "I know, Vic. To lessen my guilt, even if a little, I used True Sense Exchange on Livi as I Devoured every bit of her Mana Core. It hurts. It hurts so much that you want to die each second that happens. And yet, I didn't have a choice. She didn't feel a thing, Vic. I did. I'm the only one who should suffer. Her death... it was painless."

"You insane motherfucker..." Victor couldn't believe his ears, and yet he knew that all he heard was the truth. "You Devoured her Core while being the one who feels all the pain? I see, huh. You are completely nuts. Let me put you out of your misery, Mort. It's the only thing I can do for you now."

Getting ready for the confrontation, Mortimer said, "My current Mana Capacity is 210% of the norm. Yours is 7%. Moreover, yours is four times below mine by default. It means that at the moment, I have 120 times more Mana than you do."

Not many people knew, but Victor Solum wasn't born to be a mage. He was a cripple - his Mana Core did have only 50% of a normal person's Capacity. And it couldn't be changed no matter what he did. Mortimer Aetherius, on the other hand, was born a genius. He did have the best possible Mana Core, which could hold twice as much Mana as a normal one.

Of course, everyone knew that as a mage grows in power, the Mana Capacity grows as well. But the proportion stays the same. At the same level of development, a normal person would have 100% of Mana, Victor would have 50%, and Mortimer would have 200%.

"Hahaha, are you what, a kid?!" Victor brazenly laughed as Mana around him started to solidify. "Have you forgotten all of your lessons? If the quantity of Mana and the Capacity of the Core were the deciding factors, you would be titled the Magic Sovereign, not me. Let me show you the difference in our skill, Senior Apprentice Brother."

The decisive battle between the number one Supreme Magus at his weakest and the number two Supreme Magus at his strongest was about to start. The decisive battle that was absolutely meaningless as both parties already knew the result long before it started. This wasn't a battle, but a goodbye between two bosom friends that ended up on the two opposite sides of Saving The World.