Journey to Become the Zenith

The Strongest Magic

Victor slowly rested the Death Scythe on his shoulder.

"Told you..."

"It was only a toy."

Alibaba stared at the empty space where his greatest summon had once stood.

The spell he had spent countless years perfecting...

Destroyed in only a few exchanges.

Even so, he didn’t stop.

Instead, his laughter echoed through the battlefield.

"Hehehe..."

"So that is the extent of your knowledge..."

"Excellent..."

"Excellent!"

"The spell is complete."

Every magic circle surrounding him suddenly merged into one colossal formation that eclipsed the sky.

The battlefield darkened.

The earth trembled violently.

An endless sea of freezing mana descended from the heavens.

Victor slowly looked up.

His vicious smile returned.

Finally.

"This..."

"This is what I’ve been waiting for."

He pointed the Death Scythe directly at Alibaba.

"Come."

"Show me your strongest spell."

"Only after crushing it..."

"...will I truly be able to say that I’ve defeated you."

The entire battlefield held its breath as both monsters prepared for the decisive clash.

He pointed the Death Scythe directly at Alibaba.

"Come."

"Show me your strongest spell."

"Only after crushing it..."

"...will I truly be able to say that I’ve defeated you."

The entire battlefield held its breath as both monsters prepared for the decisive clash.

The sky above Fantom City darkened further as enormous layers of magic circles continued revolving behind Alibaba. Ancient runes stretched across the heavens like constellations, flooding the battlefield with freezing emerald light. Every soldier instinctively stepped back. Even the surviving undead remained motionless, as though they too understood that the next exchange would decide everything.

Seeing Alibaba preparing his final move, both Videl and Lane immediately rushed toward Victor without hesitation.

"Victor!"

"We’re coming!"

Their figures streaked across the ruined battlefield, determined to stand beside him.

Victor never turned around.

His golden eyes remained fixed on Alibaba.

Without even looking behind him, he spoke in a calm but unquestionable voice.

"Videl, Lane! Stand back! I don’t need your help."

Lane froze for only a heartbeat before biting her lower lip.

She understood.

If she stepped into this battle now, she would only interfere with Victor’s movements.

"...Fine."

"But don’t you dare lose."

She reluctantly retreated several steps before finally returning toward the city walls.

Videl, however, refused to move.

Her sapphire eyes remained fixed on Victor’s back.

"No."

"I’m staying."

Victor sighed.

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of anger in his voice, only absolute certainty.

"Videl..."

"I told you to leave."

"Against somebody of this level..."

"...you’ll be nothing more than a burden."

His words were sharp.

Brutally honest.

Yet everyone knew they came from concern rather than contempt.

Videl clenched both fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

She hated hearing those words.

Not because they were cruel...

But because they were true.

After several long seconds...

She slowly lowered her head.

"...Understood."

Without another word, she turned around and retreated beside Lane.

The moment she reached the others, she looked back once more.

"...Come back alive."

Victor simply smiled.

Across the battlefield, Alibaba watched the exchange before speaking in his hollow voice.

"That pride of yours will be your downfall."

Alibaba’s voice echoed across the ruined battlefield.

Even as he spoke, his hands never stopped moving.

Mana surged around him in relentless waves, pouring into the countless magic circles suspended behind his back. One after another, the circles began spinning faster, their glowing runes blurring together until they resembled radiant wheels of destruction.

He didn’t need much longer.

Just a little more time.

Once the incantation was complete, his strongest spell would finally be unleashed.

The Doom Knight had fallen.

That much was undeniable.

But the battle wasn’t over.

Not yet.

If his ultimate spell succeeded...

Victory was still within reach.

A burst of laughter shattered the tense silence.

"Hahaha!"

Victor’s carefree laugh carried across the battlefield without the slightest trace of fear.

"My downfall?"

He slowly lifted the Death Scythe and gave it a lazy spin in one hand, as though he were playing with an ordinary farming tool instead of a weapon capable of ending lives.

The massive black blade let out a deep, resonant hum.

Dark mana poured into it like a raging tide.

"With this much?"

A grin spread across Victor’s face.

"Against a toy like that?"

He shook his head with genuine amusement.

"You’re hilarious."

The Death Scythe suddenly became cloaked in two different forces.

The first was mana.

Everyone recognized that familiar power.

The second...

No one could identify.

It flowed around the blade like an invisible current, silent yet terrifying.

It had no visible form.

No recognizable element.

No known origin.

No one present knew its name.

No one understood what it truly was.

Yet every instinct screamed the same warning.

Danger.

The strange energy merged perfectly with Victor’s mana, causing the surrounding space itself to quiver. The air distorted. Tiny cracks rippled through the atmosphere as though reality struggled to endure the weapon’s overwhelming presence.

Without changing his relaxed expression, Victor casually swung the Death Scythe.

There was no dramatic motion.

No excessive display of power.

Just a single effortless swing.

A crescent of absolute darkness tore through the battlefield.

For a brief instant...

Everything fell silent.

The shattered remains of the Doom Knight disappeared.

Not destroyed.

Not scattered.

Erased.

Even the lingering mana that had sustained its existence vanished completely, leaving behind nothing—not a fragment, not a trace, not even residual magical energy.

It was as if the Doom Knight had never existed at all.

Silence swallowed the battlefield.

Alibaba remained motionless.

Had he still possessed the face of a living man, every drop of color would have drained from it.

His greatest summon...

The masterpiece he had spent countless years perfecting...

The monster he believed could crush nearly any opponent...

Had been erased by a single, effortless swing.

Not overwhelmed.

Not defeated.

Simply erased.

For the first time since becoming a Lich, something close to disbelief settled within him.

His undead mind immediately began calculating.

Thousands...

Millions...

Countless possibilities flashed through his thoughts.

Every strategy.

Every spell.

Every escape route.

Every conceivable future.

The result never changed.

Death.

Or retreat.

There was no third outcome.

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