Watson did not answer the question. Instead, he began to chant. The spell he was chanting was composed of runes. As the beautiful language fell, a long river of time appeared in the sky. It was the River of History projection, which had fused with a peak platinum-tier spell.
The River of History projection was considerably stronger because Watson was a platinum-tier mage, and he was also chanting in runes. Watson had called 100 of his past selves. Even his most insignificant counterpart was at the gold tier.
The World Tree branches wriggled out of Watson’s palm almost immediately. He used the Starfall spell to manufacture golden cards swiftly. Then, he utilized the God’s Descent spell to meld them into each of his past self’s bodies. He twisted the Wish for the World ring on his finger and made a wish to regain his strength for all the cards he created. However, he would need to use ten years of his master’s life.
He made several wishes until he cast the God’s Descent spell on all the clones.
When the clones merged with the God’s Descent spell, they had an aura different from other humans. Some had black crowns on their heads and wore black robes. Some were hung upside down on crosses; their bodies were charred, and their faces were twisted. There was also a grim reaper who held a huge scythe in his hand and wore a black cloak, but there was nothing inside the cloak.
A hundred magical beasts had descended. Even the Heaven-devouring Rat King, who had consumed many magical beasts, let out two anxious roars when he sensed the aura of those magical beasts. The purple-haired guy was also there; he was a little taken aback.
“My clones are equivalent to a hundred platinum-tier elites. Even without their abilities, I can transform into more than 30 forms by myself. How are you going to defeat me?”
Watson repeated the purple-haired man’s words back to him, word for word and full of mockery.
The purple-haired man was speechless. Watson was able to summon a hundred platinum-tier clones; he could not do it. He was even more suspicious of Watson’s identity. He must be the top elite in the kingdom; why was he at the border? What was the relationship between that youth and the border count?
As he thought about that, the black hole created by the Heaven-devouring Rat King shattered. The light and space were no longer distorted, revealing the scenery outside. Sylvan and Antonio stood side by side, their faces grim.
The goldbiter rats had just fled the Dragonspine Snow Mountain. They did not go after them. Instead, they tried to think of ways to prevent the Dragonspine Snow Mountain from a total collapse. They were unequivocal about what the destruction of the snow mountain would mean to them. Finally, they discovered that the mountain’s interior had been plagued with holes for a long time. They would not be able to save it even if they worked together to cast an earth-elemental spell.
In addition to that, there was a lot of black gas inside the Dragonspine Snow Mountain. It expanded along the mountain, which had collapsed. To keep the gas from drifting toward the border, the two of them worked together to shift the mountain’s collapse toward the north. The shock wave created by the destruction pushed the snow on the ground thousands of kilometers away. The snow had reached a height of more than a hundred meters.
The two of them did not have time to catch all the rats that had escaped from the mountain. They were afraid Watson would follow them when they saw the young man trapped in a pitch-black space. They broke into the same space and discovered that Watson and a hundred magical beasts were in the space. The Heaven-devouring Rat King and the man embedded in the huge skeleton were also there.
“You!” Antonio’s expression changed when he saw the purple-haired man. He had recognized the man in front of him.
“Antonio?”
The purple-haired man gave Antonio a sidelong glance. He was perplexed at first, but then he exhibited an even more doubtful expression. “Weren’t you an elderly man? How have you become so young? Did you use the Time Stripping method? No, you do not have the Time Stripping technique’s aura on you. What is going on?”
“Moriarty, you are my first disciple. Won’t you address me as Master when you see me? As for your doubts, I’m more puzzled about you. You should have died in the Demoness riot ten years ago.”
Antonio cast a puzzled glance at the purple-haired man, especially when he noticed the boney body on Moriarty’s left side.
As the kingdom’s representative, Moriarty had gone on a crusade against the Demoness Church ten years ago. Finally, everyone said that Queen Avril had killed him. Half of his body had been stripped of flesh and blood, and he had perished in agony. Antonio had examined his body and determined that his disciple could not have lived. Therefore he had buried him with his own hands. The Demoness Church was defined as exceedingly evil and detested by people due to the kingdom’s deliberate propaganda.
Why would a disciple, who was dead, stand in front of him?
Many thoughts went through Antonio’s mind in an instant.
“I will address you as Master if you want me to do so. I did not expect you to be at the border as well, Master, and not in the Temple of the Stars. It looked like you were here for a stroll; what an elegant mood to have, Master.”
The purple-haired man named Moriarty revealed a somewhat lonely smile. “Does that mean you and my junior brother, who is also the border count, are working together to obtain the supreme position, Master?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Antonio scolded him. “I am here to recruit a disciple.”
Recruit a disciple?
Moriarty’s gaze turned toward Watson.
Watson was the only one who met that profile. “No wonder he could reach the platinum tier at such a young age. Furthermore, the spell he used seems a little familiar. It looks like he is your disciple, indeed, Master. What a fantastic student! Alright, that’s enough gossip. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first.”
Moriarty took control of the massive skeleton body and grabbed the Heaven-devouring Rat King. A gigantic hole opened behind him, emitting a tremendous attractive force that drew him to another location.
“Stop! You haven’t told me how you’re still alive.” Antonio’s face shifted, and a layer of aura appeared on his body. The Time Stripping spell led him to transform into a diamond star and fly toward Moriarty.
He chanted a platinum-tier dark-elemental spell, the Black Hole, and summoned a massive black hole to fight against the Heaven-devouring Rat King’s Black Hole spell.
“And why did you destroy the Dragonspine Snow Mountain? Who are you working for? Tell me the truth!” Sylvan was right on his tail. He also cast the Time Stripping spell, and his strength immediately increased to the platinum tier level. Following that, he released the Vermillion Nova, the most extraordinary fire-elemental spell, and a little sun descended.
Moriarty appeared relaxed despite the fact that he was under attack by two persons comparable to diamond-tier elites. “Master, Junior Brother. Well, since we now have another junior brother, perhaps I need to call you First Junior Brother? Aren’t you guys too enthusiastic for a farewell?”
Moriarty controlled the massive skeleton and raised its six arms, two of which held a shield and the other a longsword, to face Sylvan and Antonio’s spells. The shield kept the Red Sun at bay, enabling the high-temperature flames to wash over it. The longsword slashed the black hole open.
Moriarty did not attempt to block any of their attacks at the same time. Black liquid oozed from the bones on his left side. It wiggled and wrapped itself around the bones and turned it black. The darkened skin formed wings from the back, a tail from behind his buttocks, and ultimately covered his face. It made a mask with jagged fangs.
A red texture was blended in with the black liquid. It flickered slightly, giving Moriarty the appearance of a demon that crawled out of hell. Moriarty’s aura immediately rose from platinum to diamond tier once the red-black liquid slithered out. The massive skeleton he had inlaid had likewise turned red and black.
Moriarty had truly entered the diamond tier, unlike Antonio. The latter exploited hundreds of his prior selves to stack together and attain the power of the diamond tier in his platinum-tier world.
“I am sure you did not expect it, Master. You abandoned me and buried me back then, but I persevered. I should thank you, Master. I would not be as powerful as I am today if it were not for you! When I was researching the magical beasts and figuring out how to get them to evolve, I came up with a strategy that could allow humans to evolve. I called it the Demon’s Blood. Speaking of which, I was inspired to create that solution by your Time Stripping technique. However, it is more powerful and has fewer adverse effects than the Time Stripping method. You are no longer my match.”
Half of Moriarty’s face was covered with a red and black mask, and his voice became low, hoarse, and confident.
“For the sake of our past friendship, I won’t kill you today. But you shouldn’t fight so needlessly either.”
No one knew how hard his life had been all those years ago. The King had pulled him out of the grave. Even though he did not know how the King had saved him, he was grateful for what he had done. That was why he worked for the King.
The prerequisite for his work was to live well.
He did not hesitate to apply the magical beast evolution fluid that he had tried on the goldbiter rats on himself to survive. Fortunately, he was successful. He had evolved into a demonic form. All of his powers had multiplied dozens of times under that guise. He had also received demonic powers which could taint everything, including magic and combat aura. He would pollute anything he touched.
The two magic spells that Antonio and Sylvan had cast had caused red patterns to form in the black hole. The attractive force drew closer to Antonio, and the flames of the Vermillion Nova turned turbid and burnt him. The demonic power had polluted the magical beasts that Watson had summoned before they ever came close—they were burnt into black and red ashes.
No one in the world, not even the most knowledgeable and strong mage, could harm him. Moriarty exuded confidence. Half of his body had already passed through the teleportation black hole. At that moment, he noticed a black shadow flash in front of him.
“System fusion, activate.”
A feeling of weakness washed over him. The Demon’s Blood that had spread on the massive skeleton had shrunk and turned into a fist-sized black and red ball that flew into the hands of the young man. It collided with the other blood in his hand and exploded with a bright light. The black-and-red blood immediately wrapped around the crimson blood and darkened it.
That youth was Watson.
“That’s impossible!”
Moriarty felt an incredible feeling of weakness as blood oozed from the corners of his mouth.
Even Antonio and Sylvan’s combined efforts could not break through the demonic power he used for defense. How could the young man in front of him quickly break in and grab more than half of his Demon’s Blood? After Watson did that, the young man looked at the massive skeleton with interest. It gave Moriarty a bad feeling about that.
