"Stay back."

  Pierce waved his hand behind him, his expression calm.

  Sophia and Payne exchanged a glance. Without a word, they pulled the Giant Eagles back and retreated.

  Meanwhile, Pierce raised his wrist. The liquid silver metal fell into his palm and rapidly condensed into a longsword.

  Eight Lightning Runes materialized in succession, sinking into the blade. In the blink of an eye, the sword was wreathed in crackling electricity.

  Back when he was conversing with Victor, Pierce had already layered dozens of Mage Armor spells on himself. Not needing to cast any protective spells now, he flicked his wrist and fired an Acid Arrow straight at Victor's face.

  However, just as the acidic projectile reached Victor, it was violently caught by a pitch-black hand. With a squeeze of its five fingers, the acid arrow dissolved into white smoke amidst a sizzling hiss.

  Pierce raised an eyebrow and looked behind Victor. Bizarre black mist was gathering into a blurry, hazy silhouette at his back.

  It had no facial features—only a vague humanoid outline and an incredibly profound, pitch-black darkness.

  The shadow seemed to be staring at Pierce, inexplicably sending a bizarre chill down his spine.

  "A Wraith?"

  "No, that's not it." Pierce suddenly thought of a specific creature, his gaze turning razor-sharp. "An Aberration!"

  A cold sneer crept onto Victor's face. "I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable."

  Hearing Victor admit it himself, Pierce's expression instantly turned solemn.

  Aberrations were extremely dangerous creatures!

  This kind of entity generated continuous negative energy that affected a person's emotions, will, and soul. It emitted malicious intent that seeped into the mind, gradually twisting a person into something wicked and evil, while their body slowly weakened until death.

  And that was merely the beginning.

  The soul after death would transform into a Malicious Spirit Entity, continuing to infect other living creatures. Over time, any area where an Aberration existed would become a paradise swarming with evil spirits.

  An Aberration that had absorbed enough life force would experience a surge in power that would terrify even formal Wizards.

  History recorded multiple instances of entire towns being converted into cities of the dead by Aberrations. There was even a precedent of an Aberration devouring the life of an entire plane, thereby metamorphosing into an Ancient Aberration.

  That was a terrifying monstrosity that even Rule Wizards wouldn't dare provoke lightly.

  Precisely due to their extreme infectiousness and danger, Aberrations were classified as ultra-high-risk creatures by many planar civilizations. Once discovered, they were eradicated at all costs.

  The Astral Alliance was naturally no exception.

  They had issued strict decrees prohibiting any Wizard from researching Aberrations in private. Anyone caught doing so would be executed immediately.

  To this day, Aberrations had largely become creatures of legend. At least in Aurora City, such creatures hadn't appeared in over a century.

  Pierce had never expected to encounter an Aberration at this time, much less that Victor would be deranged enough to fuse with one in an attempt to harness its extremely dangerous power.

  "To go so far as to use an Aberration... it seems you really hate me to the bone." Pierce narrowed his eyes slightly.

  From the moment he fused with the Aberration, Victor's fate was sealed. Whether he succeeded in killing Pierce or not, Victor would die. His body, including his soul, would become nutrients for the Aberration's growth.

  "As long as I can kill you, it will all be worth it!"

  The Aberration's influence was already beginning to show. Victor's expression carried a heavy dose of resentment and madness.

  He let out a sudden, low roar. The phantom behind him immediately lunged forward like lightning, carrying with it a bizarre black mist as it ferociously attacked Pierce.

  Without hesitation, Pierce threw a Flaming Sphere. At the same time, with lightning speed, he retrieved a bottle of Spirit-Warding Potion from his spatial ring and downed it, while his mind rapidly recalled all relevant intelligence regarding Aberrations.

  The essence of an Aberration was a collective entity of negative energy and malice. They were immune to physical attacks; only Elemental Power and energy particles could harm them. But even that damage would be significantly reduced.

  Furthermore, as a spiritual entity similar to a Wraith but far more powerful, an Aberration's attacks primarily targeted the mind and soul.

  And this was exactly the weak point of many Wizards.

  Aside from Wizards specializing in the Divination school, very few were particularly adept at psychic and mental defense.

  Pierce was no exception.

  Fortunately, he had considered this long ago and carried many Spirit-Warding Potions that enhanced resistance against illusions and psychic attacks. They came in handy right now.

  Another thing to be thankful for was that the Aberration before him appeared to be in its initial stage. If it were a fully matured Aberration, he would have no choice but to turn tail and run.

  Facing the incoming Flaming Sphere, the Aberration let out a piercing screech. A massive amount of bizarre black mist erupted from its entire body, billowing outward.

  The moment the Flaming Sphere touched the black mist, it was like a match dropping into water—it extinguished instantly, dissipating into wisps of green smoke.

  The Aberration, carried by the rolling black mist, continued its pounce toward Pierce and phased directly through his body.

  Pierce's body instantly went rigid. Faint, agonizing screams echoed in his mind. At the same time, his blood boiled, and his heart felt as if it were being squeezed by a giant hand. Intense agony, accompanied by a bone-piercing chill, swept through his entire body in an instant.

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  Pierce bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, frantically channeling his mental and elemental power to dispel the anomaly in his body. The moment he regained control, he activated his Magic Tattoo without a word, casting Blink to teleport away and narrowly dodging the Aberration's second pounce.

  "You actually withstood it!" Victor's expression turned into one of shock and uncertainty.

  In his calculations, unless one possessed the formidable mental power of a Rank 2 Wizard, it was impossible to endure an Aberration's attack. Yet, Pierce not only endured it but recovered in time to dodge. This truly took him by surprise.

  "I want to see how many times you can dodge!" A vicious look twisted his face.

  Pierce's expression was now incredibly grave.

  The Aberration's power was even greater than he had anticipated. Over fifty layers of Mage Armor combined with the protection of the Spirit-Warding Potion had barely been enough to block its attack.

  "No wonder the Astral Alliance classified this thing as an ultra-high-risk creature."

  A chill went down Pierce's spine, and he dared not hold anything back. With a thought, the Silver Star in his hand instantly melted into liquid metal, seeping into his pores and vanishing.

  A brilliant silver hue rapidly spread from his palm across his entire body. In the blink of an eye, Pierce's body was gleaming with radiant silver light.

  At the same time, Earth Runes materialized out of thin air one after another, rapidly sinking into his body.

  And this was just the beginning. Subsequently, his legs and left arm lit up simultaneously.

  The Aegis, Focus, and Giant Magic Tattoos were activated concurrently.

  Following that, the halos of various spells flashed in quick succession.

  Resist Energy (Negative Energy), Endurance, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Mage Armor, Mage Armor, Mage Armor...

  By the time the Aberration lunged at Pierce again, he had dumped almost every single protective and buffing spell he had onto himself. The myriad glowing halos surging around his body almost entirely obscured his figure.

  The Aberration shrieked as it phased through Pierce's body once more.

  However, this time, Pierce's body only stiffened slightly before he recovered. He retaliated with a backhand punch, smashing into the Aberration's form.

  Violent lightning erupted, scattering a significant portion of the black mist surrounding the Aberration.

  The Aberration let out a piercing shriek of pain and instinctively backed away.

  "How is this possible?!"

  Victor stared blankly at this scene, his face full of disbelief.

  The Aberration's attack was ineffective against Pierce? What on earth was going on?

  "I refuse to believe I can't put you down!"

  Pierce sneered and chased after the Aberration. He threw punch after punch, lightning continuously erupting. The Aberration howled in misery as the black mist surrounding it visibly depleted.

  Driven by survival instincts, it frantically pulled away, not daring to get close to this terrifying human again.

  An Aberration was formless and intangible. It could change its shape at will and could fly at extreme speeds. When it focused entirely on dodging, Pierce truly couldn't catch it without buffing himself with Wind Runes.

  Seeing this, Pierce snorted coldly. Without a word, he turned around and charged straight at Victor.

  Victor's face drained of color in horror.

  He had used all his power to supply the Aberration; he had virtually no combat strength left. How could he possibly withstand Pierce, whom even the Aberration couldn't defeat?

  In his terror, he had no choice but to summon the Aberration back immediately.

  This newly birthed Aberration was in a state of symbiotic fusion with Victor. At this stage, it had to rely on him to survive. Therefore, Victor exerted a certain degree of control over it.

  For example, ordering it to attack a specific target. Or summoning it back to his side when his life was in danger.

  In an instant, a flash of black light appeared. The Aberration materialized in front of Victor, its illusory, mist-covered body perfectly blocking Pierce's fist.

  Boom!

  Lightning exploded, and the black mist around the Aberration diminished once again.

  Pierce didn't pause for a moment, frantically raining down punches.

  To be honest, the strength of this Aberration greatly surprised him.

  One must realize that in this state, the power of his every strike was incredibly close to that of a Rank 2 Wizard. Back then, those Rank 1 Priests couldn't even block a single punch from him.

  Yet, the Aberration had taken dozens of his attacks head-on, and the only price it paid was losing about half of its surrounding black mist. Looking at it, it was more than capable of enduring dozens more strikes.

  It was horrifyingly strong!

  And this was only an Aberration in its initial form. Just how terrifying would a fully matured Aberration, one that had absorbed enough life force, be?

  Pierce made up his mind. He absolutely had to kill Victor today. He could not give him the opportunity to nurture and strengthen the Aberration.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Deafening thunder echoed endlessly across the wilderness.

  Under Victor's control, the Aberration, unable to flee, was forced to bear the brunt of Pierce's furious assault.

  In just a few minutes, the black mist around it had thinned to the point of near invisibility, revealing its true form—a humanoid aberration composed of countless twisted souls.

  Hiding behind the Aberration, Victor's face was deathly pale.

  He never imagined that even an Aberration would be no match for Pierce!

  Who the hell is the real monster here?!

  Victor was drenched in cold sweat. His previous confidence and certainty of victory were entirely gone, replaced by immense regret.

  If he had known Pierce was this powerful, he would have risked the backlash from the Aberration and spent more time nurturing it before seeking revenge.

  But it was too late for regrets now.

  Seeing the Aberration's black mist completely depleted, its exposed core becoming even more illusory, despair washed over Victor.

  But right at that moment, Pierce suddenly pulled back, retreating rapidly.

  Victor froze. When he came to his senses, he realized someone had appeared beside him at some point.

  Upon clearly seeing the newcomer's face, Victor's expression transformed into one of pleasant surprise.

  "Zachary!"

  Zachary shot Victor a dark, profound look. He suddenly raised his hand, and a wisp of grayish mist shot instantly into Victor.

  Victor had been nearly drained of all his strength by the Aberration and was at his weakest. Moreover, he never expected Zachary to attack him. Caught entirely off guard, he took the hit directly. He slumped to the ground, feeling an echoing emptiness deep within his mind; his connection to his Spirit Crystal had been completely severed.

  The Aberration shrieked and involuntarily drifted toward Zachary, who sucked it back into his crystal ball.

  "Zachary, what are you doing?!" Victor roared, a mix of shock and fury.

  "Don't blame me," Zachary said expressionlessly. "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too weak."

  "It was only for the sake of our years of friendship that I agreed to give you an Aberration. Originally, if you had managed to kill Pierce, I would have taken the Aberration back and cleaned up the traces. No one would have ever known an Aberration was involved. Everyone would have simply assumed Pierce died by your hands."

  "But you were far too disappointing!"

  "In the end, I still have to come out and clean up your mess. This adds so many unnecessary variables!"

  Victor was rendered speechless. He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.

  He couldn't exactly say that Pierce was abnormally strong and that he hadn't anticipated it beforehand.

  Zachary ignored him and turned to look at Pierce. He said indifferently, "I must admit, your talent is truly outstanding. To possess strength close to a Rank 2 Wizard at this age... your future accomplishments would likely far exceed my imagination. No wonder House Godwin and House Irvine hold you in such high regard."

  "If possible, I really don't want to kill you. After all, if those lunatics from the Elemental Faction go crazy, I won't be able to bear the consequences."

  "So?" Pierce stared at him with a placid expression. "After all that talk, we still have to fight."

  From the moment Zachary appeared, the intense warning bells in Pierce's mind hadn't stopped ringing.

  His intuition screamed that the man before him was an extremely dangerous existence.

  And the deduction cost fed back by the Omniscient Eye—a whopping 17.3 Mental Energy Levels—proved this point.

  Without a doubt, the man standing before him was a Rank 2 Wizard!

  This was the most powerful enemy he had encountered so far!

  Facing an enemy of this caliber, Pierce didn't dare act rashly. While they were talking, he was frantically stacking Mage Armor on himself.

  "I have no choice. The existence of the Aberration absolutely cannot be leaked, so I can only ask you to die."

  "Your two followers will serve as excellent witnesses. With their testimony, House Godwin and House Irvine shouldn't suspect me. When the time comes, I'll push Victor out as the scapegoat. By paying a bit of a price, I should be able to smooth this over."

  "Although there are still quite a few flaws in this plan, this is the best I can do."

  "Having talked for so long, you should be done casting your spells by now. So, go to hell."

  The moment the last syllable dropped, the void behind Zachary distorted and violently tore open over ten dimensional rifts. From within, more than ten pitch-black tentacles, each as thick as a barrel, slithered out. Tearing through the air with deafening shrieks, they whipped viciously toward Pierce.