The words were carrying as much authority as he could muster, and for a brief mont, there was silence.
Then, figure chuckled.
The sound was low and distorted, echoing unnaturally as the smoke that ford its body twisted slowly.
"Sorry," it said. "I can’t."
The tone carried no fear, or even hesitation even though he was ant to be standing in front of soone at peak of magic in this age.
"I am a ssenger of death."
The words felt heavy as they settled in the air.
"And unfortunately for you, the ssage of death has been passed the mont you revealed yourself."
As it spoke, the smoke around its body began to shift more violently.
Then—
From within that mass of darkness, two shapes ford.
A pair of black daggers, made entirely of the sa dense smoke.
They solidified within its grasp, their edges flickering as though they existed between form and formlessness.
The figure’s presence grew heavier.
Its voice deepened, becoming even more distorted than before.
"What use is a ssenger of death... if he cannot deliver his ssage?"
The mont the words ended, It vanished, leaving only a trace of black smoke.
One mont it was there, and the next, it was gone.
Noah’s eyes widened instantly.
His body tensed as his thoughts reacted faster than anything else.
’Limit-breaker!’
A violent surge of power erupted within Noah’s body.
It ca without warning.
One mont he was standing there, tense and uncertain, and the next, sothing exploded deep within his veins.
His eyes widened as the sudden flood of mana rushed through him, spreading to every part of his body in an instant.
It was overwhelming, far beyond anything he had ever felt before.
The energy did not flow calmly. It roared through him like a raging current, forcing its way through his circuits as though it could tear him apart from the inside.
Noah’s muscles tightened involuntarily.
His fingers twitched.
His breathing grew uneven for a split second as the pressure mounted.
It felt like his body would burst, like it could not contain what was happening inside him.
The sheer density of mana coursing through him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. A violent, unnatural jump that his body struggled to keep up with.
His vision flickered slightly.
Then, notifications began to appear.
One after another.
They blinked rapidly across his sight, stacking over each other without pause.
[You have used Limit-breaker!]
[Physical Capabilities tripled!]
[Magus Rank Increased: High High >> Peak High magus]
[Magus Rank Increased: Peak High >> Low Master magus]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[Magus Rank Increased: Peak Grandmaster >> Low Arch magus]
[Your rank is now Low Arch magus for the next five minutes]
[New Skills temporarily unlocked!]
[Mana Gloves]
[Mana Hand]
[...]
[...]
The ssages kept coming.
Faster than he could process.
Each one carried information that would normally take ti to understand, ti to absorb, ti to react to.
But Noah had none of that.
He did not even attempt to read through them.
He could not.
Because the situation in front of him did not allow it.
The only thing that registered clearly in his mind was the final result.
Low arch magus!
For five minutes.
That was all he needed to know.
Then, a voice spoke behind him.
"Goodbye, arch magus."
The words were low, distorted, and dangerously close.
Noah’s body reacted instantly.
He turned around almost on instinct, his mind not even fully catching up to his movent.
And what he saw, made his pupils shrink.
The smoky figure was already there.
Right behind him.
Its form stretched outward unnaturally, a portion of its smoky body extending forward from his back like a tree growing from his body.
The two black daggers were still in its hands, glistening as they were already in motion, swinging downward towards his neck.
There was no hesitation in the strike.
No wasted movent.
If it landed, it would end his life instantly.
Noah did not think.
There was no ti to think.
His body moved on instinct alone.
The overwhelming mana surging within him responded imdiately, as though guided by pure reflex.
A thick golden glove materialized over his hand.
It ford in an instant, wrapping around his fist like solidified light, dense and powerful.
The mont it appeared, he moved.
His arm shot forward, fast enough to match the incoming strike.
And just before the smoky daggers could reach his neck, Noah firmly grabbed the figure’s hand.
The golden glove clashed against the black smoke, holding it in place.
The mont Noah’s hand clamped down on the smoky figure’s arm, everything seed to freeze for a split second.
Then, the figure reacted.
Its entire body trembled violently, the smoke that made up its form twisting erratically as if thrown into chaos.
"H-how?!" it shouted, its warped voice breaking apart in disbelief. "How are you—"
It did not get the chance to finish.
Noah did not wait.
His eyes remained fixed, cold and focused, as the golden gloves covering his hands suddenly began to glow.
The light intensified rapidly.
From a faint shimr to a blinding radiance in less than a second.
The mana within him surged again, responding instantly to his will.
Then, a powerful golden pulse erupted outward.
It burst from his hand like a shockwave, carrying imnse force as it tore through the smoky figure’s body without resistance.
The impact was imdiate.
The figure’s form distorted as the golden energy pierced through it, breaking apart the cohesion of its smoky structure.
It was sent flying backward.
Its body stretched unnaturally as it was launched through the air, as though it had no weight to anchor it.
A strained grunt escaped it.
At the sa ti, a strange black fluid sprayed out from where its mouth would have been, scattering through the air in thick droplets.
Thud!
The figure continued to fly backward until it slamd into the ground several ters away.
The force of the impact was imnse.
The ground cracked beneath it, forming a shallow crater where its body collided.
Dust and fragnts of stone scattered outward from the point of impact, spreading across the narrow street.
But the golden pulse did not stop there.
It continued forward.
Ripping through the space beyond, and rising upward.
It shot into the sky like a beam of concentrated light, cutting through the clouds above.
Then it exploded exploded.
Fhwoom!
A powerful wave of energy spread outward from the point of contact, dispersing the clouds in all directions and leaving a clear opening in the sky above.
The aftermath lingered for a mont.
The air trembled faintly before settling.
On the ground, the smoky figure lay within the crater.
Its body flickered, the black smoke around its body wavering and clearly unstable.
The once ominous presence it carried had shifted completely.
Now, there was sothing else.
Panic on its face as it stared at Noah.
Its form trembling as the black smoke that composed it wavered uncontrollably.
Across from it, Noah stood still.
His attention was no longer on the figure.
Instead, he was staring at his own hands.
The golden gloves still covered them, glowing faintly with residual energy.
His fingers moved slightly.
Then slowly, he clenched them into fists.
The sensation was overwhelming.
The power.
The control.
The sheer weight of the mana flowing through him.
’So much power...’ he thought.
The words echoed quietly in his mind.
’So much power...’
It felt unreal.
As though he had stepped into a completely different existence.
Everything around him felt smaller, to the ooont of being insignificant.
For a brief mont—
He felt like he was standing at the very top of the world.
As though nothing could touch him.
Nothing could threaten him.
Not even the strange smoky figure lying before him.
His gaze lifted slowly, finally returning to it.
The figure had not moved from where it crashed.
It remained there.
Its body still trembling.
Its presence no longer imposing.
Instead,It looked fragile, weak even.
Noah looked at it calmly, with no urgency or even fear in his eyes.
Then—
Sothing ford above him.
A large ice star.
It appeared suddenly, hovering in the air just above his head.
Its structure was intricate, made of dense, condensed mana that shimred with a cold, crystalline glow.
At its center, energy rapidly gathered, condensing into a single point.
Then—
A beam shot out.
A massive stream of energy burst from the core of the ice star, launching forward at an insane speed towards the smoky figure.
The beam tore through the air with terrifying speed.
As it moved forward, the very atmosphere around it began to change.
The air froze.
A sharp drop in temperature spread outward from the beam’s path, causing the surrounding space to crystallize almost instantly.
Tiny particles of frost ford midair, suspended for a brief mont before being violently pushed aside by the sheer force of the attack.
Everything in its trajectory was affected.
The ground beneath it began to crack and whiten, layers of ice forming rapidly as the beam advanced. Even the faint moisture in the air solidified, creating a chilling trail that followed behind the attack.
The smoky figure saw it coming.
Its already unstable form began to shiver even more violently.
For the first ti since it appeared, there was no trace of composure left within it.
All that was left on its face was fear, pure, unfiltered fear.
Its body trembled as it stared at the incoming beam, unable to fully process the overwhelming power contained within it.
Then, In the next second, the beam struck, hitting the ground exactly where the figure had been.
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