Earth's Greatest Magus

The sudden shift in Veyarel’s expression startled Emery. It was subtle but unmistakable—his already dark eyes dulled further, as if a shadow passed through his soul.

Emery didn’t need to guess; the bone flute the childlike barbarian held was no ordinary instrument. It was an artifact laced with mind-control enchantments, most likely enhancing the parasitic symbiote that infected the grand magus.

“Now… kill him,” the barbarian growled, his tone dripping with bloodlust.

Still bound by the Warden’s Soul Hex Chains, Emery had no strength to fight. His only weapon now was his tongue and the hope that his words might buy him precious seconds.

“Wait—!” Emery shouted, “I’ve been working on this gate! I’ve almost broken it… Give me just a little more time, and I’ll open it.”

The barbarian gave him a look that mixed amusement with disgust. Clearly, he wasn’t moved. But Veyarel flinched. The man’s brow furrowed, and his lips trembled—his will struggling against the parasite’s grip.

“How long do you need?” Veyarel asked through gritted teeth.

Emery’s mind raced. He had no real way of breaking all five seals alone—but he had to bluff. “Five minutes,” he said, his voice sharp and urgent. “Five minutes. If I can’t open the gate by then, kill me.”

The barbarian scoffed, his claws twitching with impatience. But there was an obvious conflict in Veyarel’s soul. The bone flute might twist his mind, but it couldn’t overwrite everything—not yet.

The barbarian roared and suddenly lunged at Emery.

Claws shimmered with cosmic energy as they raked through the air. Emery flinched, certain his end had come—but instead of tearing him apart, the claws struck the chains that bound him.

“Five minutes, or you die,” the barbarian growled, his face inches from Emery’s.

Emery didn’t waste a second. He turned to the sealed gate and pretended to continue his work, weaving gestures in the air, mimicking a complex unlocking sequence. In reality, he sent a mental whisper through the void.

Veyarel’s aura fluctuated wildly, the dark clouds around him rippling with instability. For a moment, it seemed like he might break free… But the barbarian turned, eyes narrowing at Emery.

“You,” he growled. “It’s you messing with him!”

He launched, claws slashing the air. Emery quickly activated his [Elysian Embrace], vines with glowing runes rising around him in defense. A dome of light and root-like energy surrounded him—but it wasn’t enough.

The barbarian, a three-cosmos grand magus, hit like a meteor. The barrier cracked with the first strike. With the second, it shattered. Emery stumbled back, his body aching from the raw force.

He turned to Veyarel hoping for help—but the man was still fighting his own war inside his mind.

The barbarian’s claws gleamed, ready to carve into flesh.

But before the blow could land, a deafening boom filled the room. The gate behind Emery trembled violently. A deep, ancient energy pulsed outward, and from within the seal, a force surged.

CRACK!

A jagged fracture split the seal. One of the five restraints shattered. Then, with a low hum, a stone to the side of the gate lifted into the air and shot like a cannonball—slamming into the barbarian’s skull with a sickening thud.

BAMM!!

Blood sprayed across the room. The barbarian crashed into the wall with a feral scream.

In the hands of a supreme being, even a stone became a deadly weapon.

“You bastard!” the childlike figure shouted, staggering to his feet. More stones floated into the air—hovering, poised to strike again. He dodged them with unnatural speed, but as more cracks formed in the barrier and more debris levitated, he began to falter.

A voice—heavy, resonant, and cold—spoke through the tremors: “LEAVE!!… or ELSE…”

Power surged from behind the gate, and the sheer pressure forced the barbarian to retreat, growling curses as he disappeared into the shadows.

Emery quickly turned to the cracked barrier. Two of the five seals had shattered—no doubt thanks to the elder inside forcing his will outward.

“Elder—are you alright?”

A mental reply came, faint but resolute.

“I… I… can’t leave you!”

Emery turned and found Veyarel standing upright again, though barely. The dark aura around the Grand Magus flickered like dying embers—fading, but not yet gone.

“Master Rosin…” Veyarel muttered through clenched teeth, “I’ll get you out… no matter what.” His voice carried weight—raw conviction.

Emery took a step back as Veyarel raised both hands. The room darkened. Not from shadows, but from sheer gravitational pressure as cosmic energy coalesced around the magus. Space itself began to twist, as if the very laws of reality were being rewritten within the chamber.

The air pulsed, then warped, then split open with a thunderous crack.

A blinding surge of power struck the seal. With a sound like shattering bone, one of the three remaining layers exploded in a cascade of energy, its fragments evaporating mid-air.

Two seals left.

The second barrier pulsed in defiance. Veyarel screamed as he poured more of his essence into the spell. Veins of black and gold crawled across his arms as the toll of the magic consumed him. His body trembled. Blood spurted from his nose, ears, and even his eyes.

The entire dungeon began to quake. Pillars cracked. Stones groaned. Dust rained down from the ceiling as if the world itself was breaking apart.

“I… I cannot destroy the last two,” Veyarel gasped. His fingers were still outstretched toward the gate. “But I can open a portal… a path to him… just long enough.”

He turned his head toward Emery. “You… you have to go in. Reach him. Pull him out!”

“I understand,” Emery said, stepping forward with renewed resolve.

Veyarel slammed one bloodied palm into the stone floor. With the other, he continued channeling into the seal. The spatial distortion re-emerged, swirling violently as he tore open the fabric of space. The effort made him convulse violently. He vomited blood and hunched over, but he didn’t stop.

A rift shimmered into existence—narrow and unstable, like a window into a collapsing world.

Through it, Emery saw the chamber within, but the portal flickered. The opening was too small for any man to slip through.

Emery didn’t waste the moment.

He reached into his spatial ring and retrieved a leather pouch. Inside it were his valuable Tier 8 Dual Refinement Pills.

Emery tossed the pouch through the portal.

The moment their scent reached through the rift, Rosin’s flickering consciousness stirred. His head lifted. Even drained as he was, the Supreme Being instantly recognized its worth.

One by one, Rosin swallowed them, and with each orb consumed, the divine spark within him reignited. His aura swelled. Light returned to his body. Chains groaned under the pressure. Space trembled.

And then—

BOOM!

An explosion of raw energy ripped through the seal from within. The next barrier shattered like a fragile mirror. Cracks laced across the last remaining seal as a second detonation followed, echoing like thunder across the chamber.

CRACK!

The portal burst wide open.

From within, Rosin Karat emerged.

No longer broken. No longer bound.