Chapter 42: Silver Gem Anomaly

Naimi Xisi frowned; Naimi Xisi had thought Sgena had left long ago, but was surprised to find her still here.

"Looks like that twisted Mana affected it, huh."

Impatiently flicking their fish‑fin tail, Naimi Xisi really didn't want to fight a thick‑skinned black dragon.

All six levels were barred from spatial movement unless the controller permitted it. With mobility greatly reduced, Naimi Xisi had an inherent disadvantage.

Should have brought Volensa along from the start.

Thinking that way, Naimi Xisi helplessly extended a dragon claw, and massive Mana began to gather.

With a shift of thought, Mana tore the boundary between reality and illusion, turning into a surging elemental torrent.

Charging toward its target, Sgena let out a roar, not even dodging, and slammed its body head‑first to try to block the Energy Cone attack.

The maddened draconic beast was bombarded by various elements; the erupting energy wave knocked Sgena to the ground, but thanks to the True Dragon's powerful scales, she sustained little damage.

Seizing the moment Sgena struggled to rise, Naimi Xisi swiftly began casting a spell.

Three‑ring transformation spell—Blink! In the next instant, Naimi Xisi's body became ethereal, gaining the ability to jump into the Aether plane at will.

Sgena roared and spewed a highly corrosive acid breath, but with a thought, Naimi Xisi turned into a blue light and slipped into the Aether realm.

The acid missed, fell to the ground, and hissed "zzzz," leaving the raging black dragon bewildered, not knowing what had happened.

In the next moment, Naimi Xisi reappeared on the material plane; the frenzied Sgena charged forward like a bull spotting a red cape, panting heavily.

Seeing this, Naimi Xisi leapt again into the Aether plane; this immaterial plane that envelops the primary material plane is saturated with primal energy, causing each jump to have a chance of being knocked out by Aether plane energy fluctuations.

Sgena rammed back and forth several times, and Naimi Xisi unfortunately encountered an energy vortex in the Aether plane, being swallowed by a vortex comparable to a nine‑ring Evocation spell; when faced with the choice between that and the black dragon, Naimi Xisi chose the latter.

Sgena suddenly spotted the same white, hideous creature reappearing before her and, indignant, charged at it again.

She wanted to destroy that ugly thing; it had not a single tentacle, downright hideous enough to make a dragon despair! Wait, what was a dragon again?

Forget it, never mind.

A hint of doubt surfaced, only to be suppressed by the madness in her mind.

Naimi Xisi was also expelled from the true fire; since that foolish dragon was courting death, Naimi Xisi would satisfy Sgena.

All of the Mana surged out, over three hundred points of Mana were mobilized by Naimi Xisi, and the massive release even began to damage Naimi Xisi's scales.

The strengthening effect of Mana is limited; the more Mana infused into the same Mana, the smaller the enhancement.

At the same time, invoking a massive amount of Mana at once places a huge strain on a Psychic Sorcerer's body; a method like Naimi Xisi's—consuming three hundred points of Mana in one go to release a three‑ring Mana—can be said to be exceedingly rare.

Aside from Legendary Sorcerers, possessing three hundred Mana is an unattainable condition.

Naimi Xisi was enveloped by massive silver Mana, which floated in the air like burning silver fire; the scales were pried open by the Mana, leaking strands of silver dragon blood.

"Boom!!!"

In Gode's fearful gaze, a massive elemental tide erupted before Naimi Xisi, pouring out terrifying power that devoured the black dragon and the Gray Dwarf.

Violent flames exploded, bucket‑wide lightning danced, and within several hundred meters the area was cloaked by Psychic Ability.

Naimi Xisi gasped heavily, casually flicked the silver blood off the dragon claw, and the Mana vanished, as did the element tide formed by the twisted reality.

Gode had already perished in the horrific assault; only Sgena's shattered draconic body lay on the ground, barely breathing. Naimi Xisi was startled—this brutish black dragon's constitution was terrifying; that strike certainly reached the level of a six‑ring Evocation spell, yet it didn't kill it? Could it be a hybrid of Golden Dragon and black dragon?

Naimi Xisi looked at the obelisk; the mysterious structure had emerged from the recent attack completely unscathed, standing silently in the hall's center.

But Gode's death seemed to trigger something; the red Mana sphere in the obelisk's central cavity began to spin rapidly, emitting a massive Mana fluctuation.

But Gode's death seemed to trigger something, the red spirit sphere in the hollow at the center of the obelisk began to spin rapidly, and a huge surge of Mana spread out.

The twisted red Mana shot toward Naimi Xisi like a laser; the silver dragon was enveloped in crimson light, howling in pain.

The twisted red Mana shot toward Naimi Xisi like a laser, and the silver dragon's whole body was enveloped in scarlet light, it let out a painful roar.

Naimi Xisi could feel that the force didn't harm the body, only surged madly into the brain, yet Mind Power prevented it from breaking through.

But that twisted, frantic, absurd power was affecting the mind, and Naimi Xisi's consciousness gradually grew hazy.

Naimi Xisi strained to devise a way out, but although Mind Power could defend against Mana attacks, it could not control this force.

It was an inherently extremely powerful force; even if it fell short of Mind Power, the gap was small.

"Damn. The body is actively absorbing; must find a way to cut the link. Wait—absorbing?"

As if recalling something, Naimi Xisi endured the brain's searing pain and pulled a faceted silver gem from a spatial pouch.

As if suddenly remembering something, Naimi Xisi endured the intense pain in his head and took out a prismatic silver gem from his spatial bag.

The moment the silver gem appeared, a change occurred; the red Mana, like a whale drawing a long river, was ravenously absorbed by the gem.

The silver gem hovered, emitting a humming vibration as if satisfied, while the obelisk, seemingly limitless, never ceased before converting Naimi Xisi.

The silver gem hovered in the air, emitting a "humming" vibration, as if expressing satisfaction, and the obelisk, as if limitless, would not stop before transforming Naimi Xisi.

Finally freed from the twisted Mana, Naimi Xisi lay limp on the ground, gasping as if rescued from drowning.

The feeling of being enveloped by twisted Mana was terrifying; Naimi Xisi felt as if plunged into a mad world.

No, the entire world was mad, and only Naimi Xisi was not.

Madness became correct, sanity wrong; Naimi Xisi's mind felt out of place, even beginning to think they were an outcast monster.

"Rationality is a curse. Madness is the only freedom."

"Come. The power of embrace."

Those words lingered in Naimi Xisi's mind, shrouded in mystery; even a True Dragon with the power to comprehend all speech understood only a fraction.

The gem and the obelisk's duel continued, but both gradually began to collapse.

The obelisk's surface relief of tentacles came alive, then fell to the ground and turned to ash, while cracks began to appear on the gem's surface.

It seemed the gem could no longer endure the endless influx of Mana; while continuously absorbing red Mana, its opposite side suddenly emitted streams of silver Mana.

It seemed the gem could no longer endure the endless influx of Mana; as it continuously absorbed the red Mana, its other side suddenly emitted strands of silver Mana.

Endless Mana poured into Naimi Xisi's body.

(End of chapter)