Just as the tremors were about to intensify and faint waves of magical energy began rippling through the air, a voice suddenly rang out from behind the shadowy figure.
"Guess I wasn't wrong. You were the one who showed up after we entered this city and have been watching us the whole time, right?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the shadowy figure's body stiffened before immediately springing to their feet.
In that instant, the magic circle on the ground dimmed, making everything silent again.
*BOOM!*
Suddenly, a blinding flash, shaped like a meteor, streaked through the air.
As the glow of the magic circle dimmed and the shadowy figure rose to their feet, that very flash suddenly erupted from their body, shooting toward the source of the voice with explosive force, rumbling the air with a deafening roar.
Such an intense rumbling and deafening roar—this meteor-like flash was just too fast, causing the atmosphere itself to tremble.
Targeted by this sudden flash, Riezel, who had silently appeared behind the shadowy figure and spoken, reacted instantly.
"Greater Teleportation!"
In the blink of an eye, Riezel vanished, causing the meteor-like flash to strike nothing but air before crashing into the wall.
*BOOM!*
As this explosive blast resounded, the top of the tower was instantly blown off—smoke and dust rose from the shattered tower tip, while chunks of debris rained down, hitting the ground with heavy thuds.
*ROOOAAARRR—!*
*ROOOAAARRR—!*
In the distance, faint, deep roars of Autonomous Guardians echoed from all around, seemingly drawn by the commotion—maybe they were already on their way, but the sound of the commotion evidently hadn't reached the city center, where the temple was located, due to the sheer distance.
Amidst this chaos, Riezel reappeared outside the tower, his gaze fixed on the destroyed tower with a transparent gleam flickering in his eyes.
*Swish!*
Holding a golden scepter in their hand, wearing a pure white robe, and having a mask on their face that looked just like the kind used by tribal priests during rituals, they gently floated down and landed right in front of Riezel.
Riezel, staring at the mysterious priest with a blank expression, immediately spoke up.
"Who are you? What're you doing here?"
As Riezel questioned the priest, his gaze subtly shifted to their chest.
Unlike the magic dolls that had previously attacked him, whose chest cavities were completely empty, this one had a heart, yet it was strangely not beating and completely still, unnervingly lifeless.
It was because his instincts told him that this priest was likely an important figure connected to the magic dolls that Riezel started questioning them.
Unfortunately, the priest clearly had no intention of answering Riezel's question, as they simply raised their golden scepter toward him before golden radiance erupted from it, transforming into several meteor-like flashes, tearing through the air with a deafening roar as they shot toward him at incredible speed.
Just how fast?
If it were anyone else, even a seasoned Sword Saint like Raven would only see a brief flicker before the flashes were already upon him, crashing into his body before he even had a chance to react.
Riezel, luckily, managed to respond in time, thanks to the Transparent World, which had already predicted the enemy's movements, and Fast Attack, which granted him reflexes and reaction speed far beyond that of ordinary people.
"Greater Teleportation!"
Riezel used teleportation magic once again, instantly appearing on top of a building, narrowly avoiding the blindingly fast flash attack.
However, the priest simply pointed their scepter at Riezel, and the meteor-like flashes, moving at an incredible speed, suddenly curved midair, making a sharp turn and continuing to shoot straight at him.
'A tracking attack?'
By the time Riezel realized it, the meteor-like flashes had already reached him, slamming into him head-on.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
A series of meteor-like flashes struck Riezel one after another, triggering powerful explosions that not only engulfed him but also blew apart the rooftop of the building beneath him.
Riezel's figure was sent flying out of the explosion's shockwave before a faint blue magical energy flickered around his outline, allowing him to stabilize himself and hover in midair.
"I see..."
Smoke rose from Riezel's body as he felt the stinging pain spreading through him—his eyes gleamed sharply as he looked at the priest.
"I don't know who you are, but there's no doubt you're strong."
Indeed, the fact that the priest had managed to injure Riezel at all was proof enough of that.
"Hmph!"
At Riezel's remark, the priest merely let out a cold snort, not wasting a single unnecessary word as they raised their scepter again.
Light shimmered, flashes took form, and without hesitation, the priest launched their second attack, unleashing meteor-like flashes that tore through the air with a deafening roar.
"Magic Destruction!"
Using the Transparent World and his extraordinary reflexes, Riezel reacted in advance, casting magic that could nullify another's magic.
Unfortunately for Riezel, it didn't work—not in the slightest.
Realizing this, Riezel's eyes narrowed before he immediately switched to another magic.
"Force Sanctuary!"
Riezel cast the same absolute defense barrier once used by True Vampire Shalltear Bloodfallen, the Floor Guardian of the 1st to 3rd Floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, that could block all attacks from both sides, completely isolating the caster.
As soon as Riezel chanted, the barrier immediately formed, manifesting as a white, shield-like magical energy wall that intercepted the incoming meteor-like flashes.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Crashing into the white barrier, the meteor-like flashes set off a series of violent explosions, but thankfully, the barrier itself remained completely unmoved.
Even so, as the one maintaining the magic, Riezel could clearly feel Force Sanctuary's durability rapidly decreasing, obviously because the priest's meteor-like flash attacks weren't just fast but also packed immense power.
It was only natural.
If they weren't powerful enough, how could they possibly harm Riezel, whose END had reached SSS at every level and had now reached Level 7?
To put it bluntly, with Riezel's current END, not only would an attack weaker than 9th-Tier Magic be unable to even scratch him, but because of Pioneer of the Sun, he also had resistance to light and heat-based attacks.
Considering these meteor-like flashes were clearly light-based attacks, falling under the category of light and heat, and yet they still managed to deal slight damage to him, proving just how extraordinary their power was.
Taking repeated hits from such an attack, even the so-called absolute defense barrier, Force Sanctuary, saw its durability rapidly decrease until it eventually reached zero.
*PENG!*
Before long, the Force Sanctuary protecting Riezel shattered.
Seeing this, the priest quickly summoned additional flashes of light, transforming them into meteors that shot toward Riezel.
"Greater Teleportation!"
Riezel's eyes turned cold as his figure disappeared with the activation of teleportation magic, but instead of teleporting onto the rooftop of a building like before, he appeared right behind the priest this time.
"Maximize Magic - Dragon Lightning!"
Riezel extended a finger, sparks of electricity flickering at his fingertip before surging into a roaring lightning dragon that shot toward the priest.
Yet, without even turning around, the priest simply moved their scepter before a magic mirror, glowing with a mysterious radiance, appeared behind him, blocking the incoming lightning dragon.
In the next moment, the lightning dragon struck the magic mirror and was completely absorbed into it, causing the mirror's surface to flicker with streaks of lightning.
"What?"
Riezel was momentarily stunned as he saw Dragon Lightning get absorbed.
However, what stunned him more was that, in the next second, the Dragon Lightning absorbed within the magic mirror was suddenly unleashed—not toward the priest, but right back at him.
"Maximize Magic - Chain Dragon Lightning!"
Furrowing his brows, Riezel didn't hesitate to cast a 7th-Tier lightning-attribute magic two tiers higher than 5th-Tier Dragon Lightning, causing an even more massive lightning dragon to surge from his arm, crackling with electric arcs as it collided with the reflected Dragon Lightning.
In the next second, 7th-Tier Chain Dragon Lightning effortlessly overpowered 5th-Tier Dragon Lightning, tearing through it and continuing forward, roaring toward the priest.
However, just like earlier, the magic mirror behind the priest remained suspended in the air, meeting the attack head-on.
In that instant, Chain Dragon Lightning was absorbed into the magic mirror, only to be released again—this time, aimed directly at Riezel with full force.
*Buzz!*
Just as Chain Dragon Lightning was about to hit Riezel, a crimson wave spread across his body, which was none other than Decomposition Magic, personally taught to him by Strategic-Class Magician Yuri Frenzel.
*Pa!*
In that instant, Chain Dragon Lightning crashed into the crimson wave covering Riezel, but instead of harming him, it shattered like waves crashing against a rock.
As the Decomposition Magic instantly broke down Chain Dragon Lightning, under Riezel's control, he transformed the Decomposition Magic into a beam of light that blasted toward the priest's magic mirror.
*PENG!*
In that instant, the sound of shattering rang out for the second time, but it wasn't Riezel's defensive magic that broke this time but his opponent's.
Yes, as soon as the magic mirror that had absorbed both Dragon Lightning and Chain Dragon Lightning was struck by Decomposition Magic, it shattered completely, following the same fate as Chain Dragon Lightning just moments ago.
"What?!"
Now, it was the priest's turn to be shocked.
"Silent Magic - Arcs Ray!"
Not giving his opponent any time to react, Riezel raised his hand and fired a beam of light that scraped against the ground as it shot forward, leaving a deep trench in its wake.
"Tch!"
Seeing the beam of light, the priest finally showed signs of panic, clicked their tongue in frustration, and quickly raised their scepter, conjuring another magic mirror in front of themself.
Ultimately, as Arcs Ray struck the magic mirror, it was reflected right back just like Chain Dragon Lightning.
'So, that mirror can reflect all offensive magic?'
Observing the magic mirror, this thought flashed through Riezel's mind, but instead of retreating, he surged forward, stepping in to meet the incoming beam of light and smacking it with his palm.
*BOOM!*
With a dull explosion, the reflected beam of light was sent flying, disappearing into the distance.
'He smacked away the magic?!'
Such a shocking sight left the priest utterly stunned.
"Greater Magic Shield!"
Magical energy surged around Riezel as he cast this magic, causing a glow of it to flicker around him as he continued charging toward the priest.
Seeing this, the priest snapped back to their senses and immediately started retreating while swinging their scepter, summoning meteor-like flashes that shot toward Riezel.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Explosions rang out in rapid succession as the meteor-like flashes struck Riezel one after another, trying to blow him apart.
Unfortunately for the priest, all of them failed to do anything to Riezel.
Thanks to Greater Magic Shield, Riezel's body shimmered with magical energy, nullifying every attack that came his way.
Greater Magic Shield, as the advanced version of Magic Shield, could withstand even stronger damage than Magic Shield, so when combined with Riezel's high END, he simply charged forward, tanking every explosion head-on as he advanced through the chaos like a tank.
"Damn!"
Realizing their attack had become useless, the priest's voice grew even more agitated.
On the other hand, Riezel, after blocking all the meteor-like flashes, clenched his palm before a sword appeared in it.
"Thunder Breathing - First Form..."
Riezel's breathing rhythm shifted, and before long, a violent lightning bolt erupted from his body, making him look like a thunder god.
"Thunderclap and Flash!"
A slash wrapped in lightning was quickly unleashed, instantly tearing through the air and slashing toward the priest with such an ultimate burst of speed and power that they didn't even have time to react before the lightning-infused slash struck them directly.
However—
*Clang!*
Riezel's Thunderclap and Flash resulted in nothing but the metallic sound of impact.
"Huh?"
Riezel was truly shocked this time.
He could clearly see that his lightning-covered blade had struck down hard on the priest's body, yet it failed to leave a single scratch.
Needless to say, the pure white robe draped over the priest had blocked the blade completely, stopping both the lightning and the slash from breaking through.
"Get lost!"
Finally reacting, the priest, seeing Riezel appear before them in an instant and land a strike, let out an enraged voice from beneath their mask.
As if responding to their fury, a few meteor-like flashes suddenly burst from the priest's body before slamming into Riezel in an instant.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
As consecutive explosions rang out, both Riezel and the priest were sent flying by the shockwave, making the distance between them widen rapidly. Only after they had been blasted over a dozen meters away did they finally land, steadying themselves without retreating any further.
A fierce exchange of attacks, changing in the blink of an eye, seemed to have finally reached a brief moment of pause.
"..."
A suffocating silence filled the scene, shrouding the two as they faced each other from a distance—their gazes locked, both cold and unwavering.
Needless to say, those were gazes filled with murderous intent—gazes that only appeared when one was dead set on crushing their opponent beneath their feet.